Exodus 37

The Ark

1Bezalel made the Ark out of acacia wood. It was one metre long, ¾ of a metre wide and ¾ of a metre high. 2He covered it with gold, inside and outside, and then he built up the edges with gold. 3He made four gold rings for it and he fastened them to its four feet. He fixed two rings on one side and two rings on the other side. 4Then he made sticks out of acacia wood and he covered them with gold. 5He pushed the sticks into the rings on the sides of the Ark, to carry it.

6He made the special lid for the Ark out of gold. It was one metre long and ¾ of a metre wide. 7Then he made two angels from gold that he had hit with a hammer. He made these at the two ends of the lid. 8He made one angel on each end of the lid. The angels were part of the lid so it was one whole piece. 9The angels‘wings pointed to the sky and they made a shadow over the lid. Each angel‘s face looked toward the other angel, and toward the lid.

The table

10They made the table out of acacia wood. It was one metre long, ½ metre wide and ¾ of a metre high. 11They covered it with gold and they built up the edges with gold. 12They also put an extra edge of gold round it, 7 centimetres wide. 13Then they made four gold rings for the table. They fastened the rings to the four corners, one by each leg of the table. 14They put the rings near to the extra edge of gold. These rings would hold the sticks to carry the table. 15They made the sticks out of acacia wood and they covered them with gold. 16Then they made gold things to use at the table. They made plates and spoons and dishes. And they made pots and jars to pour out gifts of drink.

The lampstand

17The workers made the lampstand out of gold. They used a hammer to make it the right shape. They made its cups like open flowers and like flowers that are not yet open. The whole lampstand was one piece. 18They made six branches on the lampstand, three branches on each side of it. 19They put three cups like flowers on each of the six branches of the lampstand.

20On the lampstand itself, they put four cups like almond flowers. Some of the flowers were open but some were not yet open. 21They put one flower, not yet open, under the first pair of branches. They put a second flower, not yet open, under the second pair of branches. They put a third flower, not yet open, under the third pair of branches. There were six branches on the lampstand. 22They made the flowers and the branches from the same piece of gold as the lampstand. And they used a hammer to make the gold into the right shape.

23They made the seven lamps out of gold. They also made small tools out of gold to clean the lamps. 24They made the lampstand and all its tools from 34 kilos of gold.

The altar for incense

25They made the altar for incense from acacia wood. It was square, ½ a metre long, ½ a metre wide and one metre high. Its horns were part of it, one whole piece. 26They covered every part of the altar with gold. Then they made a gold edge round it. 27They made two gold rings for the altar, below the edge, on opposite sides. They would hold the sticks, to carry the altar. 28They made the sticks out of acacia wood and they covered them with gold.

29They also made the special oil that makes things holy and the incense with a lovely smell. This was the work of a wise chemist.