Exo 39 | EE | STEP | The workers made clothes from blue, purple and red material. These clothes were for the priests. They would wear them when they worked in the Holy Place. The workers also made holy clothes for Aaron, as the LORD commanded Moses.

Exodus 39

The clothes for the priests

1 The workers made clothes from blue, purple and red material. These clothes were for the priests. They would wear them when they worked in the Holy Place. The workers also made holy clothes for Aaron, as the LORD commanded Moses.

The ephod

2 The workers made the ephod out of gold and out of blue, purple and red material. They also used soft white material. 3 They used a hammer to make gold into very thin pieces. Then they cut the thin pieces into long, thin pieces like hairs. A wise man took these gold hairs and he put them into the special material for the ephod. 4 The workers made pieces for the shoulders of the ephod. They fixed these to two of its corners, to fasten it.

5 They made the beautiful belt for the ephod completely out of the same materials. The belt and the ephod were one whole piece, as the LORD commanded Moses.

6 The workers fixed the onyx stones into thin circles of gold. They used a sharp tool to write on them the names of the sons of Israel. 7 Then they fastened them to the shoulder pieces of the ephod. They would cause all the people to remember the sons of Israel. The LORD had commanded Moses to do this.

The breastpiece

8 A very wise worker made the breastpiece. He made it like the ephod, out of the same materials. 9 They bent the cloth to make it a square, 22 centimetres long and 22 centimetres wide. 10 Then they fixed four sets of valuable stones on it. The first set was a ruby, a topaz and a beryl. 11 The second set was a turquoise, a sapphire and an emerald. 12 The third set was a jacinth, an agate and an amethyst. 13 The fourth set was a chrysolite, an onyx and a jasper. They fixed each stone in a thin piece of gold that they had made beautiful. 14 They used 12 stones, one for each of Israel‘s sons. On each stone, they used a sharp tool to write the name of one son. ^{▼▼39:14 Verses 10-13 Ruby, topaz, beryl, turquoise, sapphire, emerald, jacinth, agate, amethyst, chrysolite, onyx and jasper are all valuable stones. Each stone is a different colour.}

15 For the breastpiece, they made thin lines of gold and they put them together. They made two chains of gold like this. 16 Then they made two gold rings and two thin pieces of gold that they made beautiful. They fastened the rings to two corners of the breastpiece. 17 And they fastened the two gold chains to the rings at the corners of the breastpiece. 18 They fastened the other ends of the chains to the beautiful gold pieces. They tied them to the shoulder pieces of the ephod, at the front.

19 They made two more gold rings and they fixed them to the other corners of the breastpiece. These were on the inside edge, next to the ephod. 20 Then they made two more gold rings. They fixed these to the edge of the shoulder pieces, on the front of the ephod. They put the rings near to the ephod‘s belt, a short way above it. 21 They tied the rings of the breastpiece to the rings of the ephod with a line of blue cotton. They fastened the breastpiece to the belt so that they would not become separate. The workers made all these things as the LORD had commanded Moses.

The other clothes for the priests

22 The workers made the robe of the ephod completely out of blue cloth. A man who made many different materials made this cloth. 23 There was a hole in the centre of the robe, like the hole of a collar. The worker fixed a piece of material round the hole so that it would not tear. 24 They made pomegranates out of blue, purple and red materials and out of soft white material. Then they fixed them to the lower edge of the robe. 25 And they made bells out of gold and they fixed them between the pomegranates. 26 So there was a bell and a pomegranate, another bell and another pomegranate, round the whole lower edge of the robe. The priest must wear this robe when he worked for God. This was the LORD‘s command to Moses.

27 The workers made tunics out of soft white material for Aaron and his sons. This cloth was the work of a man who made many different materials. 28 They made a turban out of the same material and they made hats and trousers also. 29 A wise worker made the long belt. He put blue, purple and red lines of cloth on soft white material to make the long belt. The LORD told Moses that he must do this.

30 The workers made a thin plate, a holy thing, out of gold. They wrote on it with a sharp tool these words: HOLY TO THE LORD. 31 Then they fastened a line of blue cotton to the plate, to tie it to the turban. The LORD told Moses that he must do this.

Moses checks the tabernacle

32 So the workers finished making everything for the tabernacle, the Tent of Meeting. The Israelites made everything completely as the LORD commanded Moses. 33 Then they brought the tabernacle to Moses. They brought the tent and all the things that were in it. They brought the boards, the sticks, the bases and all the things that fastened it together. 34 They brought the different things that covered the tent and also the curtains. 35 They brought the Ark of the Covenant with its sticks and its special gold lid. 36 They brought the table with all its tools and the special bread. This bread showed that God was with the Israelites.

37 They brought the gold lampstand with its lamps and all its tools and the oil for the light. 38 They brought the gold altar, the special oil, the incense and the curtain for the door of the tent. 39 They brought the bronze altar with all its tools and its sticks. They brought the very large dish for water and its base. 40 They brought all the curtains that they had made for the yard and for its open space. They brought all the tools to fasten the yard to the ground. They brought everything that they had made for the tabernacle, the Tent of Meeting.

41 They also brought the clothes that they had made for the priests. There were the holy clothes that Aaron the priest would wear and the clothes for his sons. They would wear these clothes when they worked as servants of God.

42 The Israelites had done all the work completely as the LORD had commanded Moses. 43 Moses was careful to check all the work. And they had done it completely as the LORD had commanded. Moses saw this and he blessed the Israelites.