and they saw the God of Israel; and under His feet there appeared to be a pavement of sapphire, as clear as the sky itself.
But to the elders he said, “Wait here for us until we return to you. And behold, Aaron and Hur are with you; whoever has a legal matter, let him approach them.”
And to the eyes of the sons of Israel the appearance of the glory of the LORD was like a consuming fire on the mountain top.
“Tell the sons of Israel to raise a contribution for Me; from every man whose heart moves him you shall raise My contribution.
Let them construct a sanctuary for Me, that I may dwell among them.
“They shall construct an ark of acacia wood two and a half cubits long, and one and a half cubits wide, and one and a half cubits high.
You shall overlay it with pure gold, inside and out you shall overlay it, and you shall make a gold molding around it.
“You shall make a mercy seat of pure gold, two and a half cubits long and one and a half cubits wide.
“You shall make a table of acacia wood, two cubits long and one cubit wide and one and a half cubits high.
You shall overlay it with pure gold and make a gold border around it.
You shall make for it a rim of a handbreadth around it; and you shall make a gold border for the rim around it.
“Then you shall make a lampstand of pure gold. The lampstand and its base and its shaft are to be made of hammered work; its cups, its bulbs and its flowers shall be of one piece with it.
Three cups shall be shaped like almond blossoms in the one branch, a bulb and a flower, and three cups shaped like almond blossoms in the other branch, a bulb and a flower--so for six branches going out from the lampstand;
A bulb shall be under the first pair of branches coming out of it, and a bulb under the second pair of branches coming out of it, and a bulb under the third pair of branches coming out of it, for the six branches coming out of the lampstand.
It shall be made from a talent of pure gold, with all these utensils.
“Moreover you shall make the tabernacle with ten curtains of fine twisted linen and blue and purple and scarlet material; you shall make them with cherubim, the work of a skillful workman.
You shall make fifty clasps of gold, and join the curtains to one another with the clasps so that the tabernacle will be a unit.
“Then you shall make curtains of goats’ hair for a tent over the tabernacle; you shall make eleven curtains in all.
“You shall make fifty clasps of bronze, and you shall put the clasps into the loops and join the tent together so that it will be a unit.
You shall make a covering for the tent of rams’ skins dyed red and a covering of porpoise skins above.
Ten cubits shall be the length of each board and one and a half cubits the width of each board.
“You shall make a veil of blue and purple and scarlet material and fine twisted linen; it shall be made with cherubim, the work of a skillful workman.
You shall hang up the veil under the clasps, and shall bring in the ark of the testimony there within the veil; and the veil shall serve for you as a partition between the holy place and the holy of holies.
“You shall make a screen for the doorway of the tent of blue and purple and scarlet material and fine twisted linen, the work of a weaver.
You shall make for it a grating of network of bronze, and on the net you shall make four bronze rings at its four corners.
For the gate of the court there shall be a screen of twenty cubits, of blue and purple and scarlet material and fine twisted linen, the work of a weaver, with their four pillars and their four sockets.
“You shall charge the sons of Israel, that they bring you clear oil of beaten olives for the light, to make a lamp burn continually.
In the tent of meeting, outside the veil which is before the testimony, Aaron and his sons shall keep it in order from evening to morning before the LORD; it shall be a perpetual statute throughout their generations for the sons of Israel.
These are the garments which they shall make: a breastpiece and an ephod and a robe and a tunic of checkered work, a turban and a sash, and they shall make holy garments for Aaron your brother and his sons, that he may minister as priest to Me.
As a jeweler engraves a signet, you shall engrave the two stones according to the names of the sons of Israel; you shall set them in filigree settings of gold.
You shall put the two stones on the shoulder pieces of the ephod, as stones of memorial for the sons of Israel, and Aaron shall bear their names before the LORD on his two shoulders for a memorial.
“You shall make a breastpiece of judgment, the work of a skillful workman; like the work of the ephod you shall make it: of gold, of blue and purple and scarlet material and fine twisted linen you shall make it.
It shall be square and folded double, a span in length and a span in width.
You shall mount on it four rows of stones; the first row shall be a row of ruby, topaz and emerald;
and the second row a turquoise, a sapphire and a diamond;
and the third row a jacinth, an agate and an amethyst;
and the fourth row a beryl and an onyx and a jasper; they shall be set in gold filigree.
The stones shall be according to the names of the sons of Israel: twelve, according to their names; they shall be like the engravings of a seal, each according to his name for the twelve tribes.
They shall bind the breastpiece by its rings to the rings of the ephod with a blue cord, so that it will be on the skillfully woven band of the ephod, and that the breastpiece will not come loose from the ephod.
Aaron shall carry the names of the sons of Israel in the breastpiece of judgment over his heart when he enters the holy place, for a memorial before the LORD continually.
There shall be an opening at its top in the middle of it; around its opening there shall be a binding of woven work, like the opening of a coat of mail, so that it will not be torn.
a golden bell and a pomegranate, a golden bell and a pomegranate, all around on the hem of the robe.
“You shall also make a plate of pure gold and shall engrave on it, like the engravings of a seal, ‘Holy to the LORD.’
You shall fasten it on a blue cord, and it shall be on the turban; it shall be at the front of the turban.
“You shall weave the tunic of checkered work of fine linen, and shall make a turban of fine linen, and you shall make a sash, the work of a weaver.
They shall be on Aaron and on his sons when they enter the tent of meeting, or when they approach the altar to minister in the holy place, so that they do not incur guilt and die. It shall be a statute forever to him and to his descendants after him.
You shall gird them with sashes, Aaron and his sons, and bind caps on them, and they shall have the priesthood by a perpetual statute. So you shall ordain Aaron and his sons.
But the flesh of the bull and its hide and its refuse, you shall burn with fire outside the camp; it is a sin offering.
You shall offer up in smoke the whole ram on the altar; it is a burnt offering to the LORD: it is a soothing aroma, an offering by fire to the LORD.
“You shall also take the fat from the ram and the fat tail, and the fat that covers the entrails and the lobe of the liver, and the two kidneys and the fat that is on them and the right thigh (for it is a ram of ordination),
New American Standard Bible Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995
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