Knox Bible

1

And now the Lord said to Moses,

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When the first day of the first month comes, set up the tabernacle that is to bear record of me,

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and put the ark in it, and screen the ark with the veil.

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Then bring in the table, and set out due offerings there; the lamp-stand, too, must be in its place, with lamps on it,

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and the golden altar upon which incense is burnt, there before the ark that bears record of me. Stretch out the hanging at the entrance to the tabernacle,

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and set down before it the altar for burnt-sacrifice,

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with the basin there, full of water, between altar and tabernacle;

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and screen off the court and its entrance with the hangings.

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Then bring out the anointing-oil, and hallow by unction with it the tabernacle and its appurtenances;

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the altar for burnt-sacrifice and all that belongs to it,

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and the washing-basin with its stand; all must be consecrated with the anointing-oil, to be holiness itself.

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Bring Aaron, too, and his sons to the doors of the tabernacle that bears record of me, and, when they have washed,

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clothe them with the sacred vestments in which they are to minister to me, and anoint them to be my priests for ever.

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Moses did as the Lord bade him;

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and on the first day of the first month, in this second year of wandering, the tabernacle was set up.

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To set it up, Moses must first dispose the frames, with their sockets and poles, and erect the posts;

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then he spread the tapestry over the tabernacle, and covered it, as the Lord bade him, with the canopy.

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He put the tablets of the law in the ark, and passed the poles through at the base of it, and fixed the throne above it.

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Then, bringing the ark into the tabernacle, he spread the veil in front of it, in fulfilment of the Lord’s command.

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In front of the veil, at the northern end of the tabernacle that bore record of the Lord, he put down the table,

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and on it, as the Lord bade him, he set out the consecrated loaves.

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On the south side of the tabernacle, opposite the table, he set up the lamp-stand,

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with all its lamps in position as the Lord bade him.

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And before the veil, still under the tabernacle roof, he placed the golden altar,

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on which, at the Lord’s command, he burnt incense made from spices.

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And now he must hang the screen at the entrance of the tabernacle,

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and by the door of the tabernacle must stand the altar for burnt-sacrifice, on which he offered the victims and sacrificial gifts which the Lord had prescribed.

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He put the basin, too, between the tabernacle and the altar, filling it with water,

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so that Moses and Aaron and Aaron’s sons could wash their hands and feet

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whenever they would enter the tabernacle that bore record of the covenant, or approach the altar, as the Lord had commanded him.

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He also set up the court round the tabernacle and the altar, and hung the screen at the entrance to it.

When all was done,

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a cloud covered the tabernacle, and it was filled with the brightness of the Lord’s presence;

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nor could Moses enter the tabernacle that bore record of the covenant, so thick the cloud that spread all about it, so radiant was the Lord’s majesty; all was wrapped in cloud.

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Whenever the cloud lifted from the tabernacle, the Israelites would muster and set out on the march,

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and while it hung there, they halted.

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The divine cloud by day, the divine fire by night, still brooded over the tabernacle for all Israel to see it, wherever they halted on their journey.