(from One New Man Bible translated by William Morford)
Vayak’hel
35.1. And Moses assembled the whole congregation of the children of Israel together and said to them, “These are the words which the LORD* has commanded, that you should do them. 2. Six days will work be done, but on the seventh day there will be a holy day for you, a Sabbath of rest to the LORD*: whoever does work on it will be put to death. 3. You will kindle no fire throughout your habitations on Sabbath.” 4. And Moses spoke to the whole congregation of the children of Israel saying, “This is the thing which the LORD* commanded saying, 5. Take from among you an offering to the LORD*. Whoever is of a willing heart, let him bring it, an offering for the LORD*; gold, silver, bronze, 6. blue, purple, scarlet, fine linen, goats’ hair, 7. rams’ skins dyed red, badgers’ skins, acacia, 8. oil for the light, spices for anointing oil, for the sweet incense, 9. onyx stones, and stones to be set for the ephod and for the breastplate. 10. And every wise-hearted among you will come and make all that the LORD* has commanded; 11. the Tabernacle, its Tent and its covering, its hooks, its boards, its bars, its pillars, its sockets, 12. the Ark, its poles, the cover, the veil of the covering, 13. the table and its poles, all its vessels, the showbread, 14. the menorah also for the light, its furniture, its lamps with the oil for the light, 15. the incense altar, its poles, the anointing oil, the sweet incense, the hanging for the door at the entrance of the Tabernacle, 16. the altar of burnt offering with its bronze grate, its poles, all its vessels, the laver and its base, 17. the hangings of the court, its pillars and their sockets, the hanging for the door of the court, 18. the pegs of the Tabernacle, the pegs of the court and their cords, 19. the crocheted garments, to do service in the Holy Place, the holy garments for Aaron the priest, and the garments of his sons to minister in the priest’s office.”
35:20. And the entire congregation of the children of Israel left from the presence of Moses. 21. And they came, each one whose heart stirred him up and each one whose spirit made him willing, and they brought the LORD’s* offering for the work of the Tent of Meeting, for all its service, and for the holy garments. 22. And they came, both men and women, as many as were willing hearted, bringing bracelets, earrings, rings, and beads, all jewels of gold: each person who offered an offering of gold to the LORD*. 23. And every person with whom was found blue, purple, scarlet, fine linen, goats’ hair, red skins of rams, and badgers’ skins, brought them. 24. Everyone that did offer an offering of silver and bronze brought the LORD’s* offering and every man with whom was found acacia wood for any work of the service, brought it. 25. And all the women who were wise-hearted spun with their hands and brought that which they had spun, of blue, of purple, of scarlet, and of fine linen. 26. And all the women whose heart stirred them up in wisdom spun goats’ hair. 27. And the leaders brought onyx stones and stones to be set for the ephod and for the breastplate, 28. and spice and oil for the light, and for the anointing oil, and for the sweet incense. 29. The children of Israel brought a willing offering to the LORD*, every man and woman whose heart made them willing to bring for all manner of work, which the LORD* had commanded to be made by the hand of Moses.
Work Begins on the Tabernacle
35:30. And Moses said to the children of Israel, “See, the LORD* has called by name Bezalel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, 31. and He has filled him with the Spirit of God, in wisdom, in understanding, in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship, 32. and to devise astute works, to work in gold, in silver, and in bronze, 33. and in the cutting of stones, to set them, and in carving of wood, to make any manner of skillful work. 34. And he has put in his heart so he can teach, both he and Aholiab, the son of Ahisamach of the tribe of Dan. 35. He has filled them with wisdom of heart to work all manner of work, of the engraver and of the skillful workman, and of the embroiderer in blue, in purple, in scarlet, and in fine linen, and of the weaver, of those who do any work and of those who devise skillful work.” 36.1. Then Bezalel will make and Aholiab, and every wise-hearted man in whom the LORD* put wisdom and understanding to know how to work all manner of work for the service of the Sanctuary, according to all that the LORD* had commanded.
36:2. And Moses called Bezalel and Aholiab and every wise-hearted man, in whose heart the LORD* had put wisdom, even everyone whose heart stirred him up to come to the work to do it: 3. and they took the entire offering of Moses, which the children of Israel had brought to make everything for the work of the service of the Sanctuary. And they still brought freewill offerings to him every morning. 4. And all the wise men who wrought all the work of the Sanctuary every man came from his work which they made 5. and they spoke to Moses saying, “The people are bringing much more than enough for the service of the work, which the LORD* commanded to make.” 6. Then Moses gave a command, and they caused it to be proclaimed throughout the camp saying, “Let neither man nor woman make any more work for the offering of the Sanctuary.” So the people were restrained from bringing. 7. For the stuff they had was sufficient for all the work to make it, even too much.
36:8. And all the wise-hearted among them who were doing the work of the Tabernacle made ten curtains of fine woven linen, blue, purple, and scarlet: they made them with cherubim of skillful work. 9. The length of one curtain was twenty-eight cubits and the breadth of one curtain four cubits. The curtains were all of one size. 10. And he joined the five curtains to one another and the other five curtains he joined to one another. 11. And he made loops of blue on the edge of one curtain from the selvage in the coupling. Likewise he made in the uttermost side of another curtain, in the coupling of the second. 12. He made fifty loops in one curtain and he made fifty loops in the edge of the curtain which was joined to the second: the loops held one curtain to another. 13. And he made fifty hooks of gold and joined the curtains to one another with the hooks, so it became one Tabernacle.
36:14. And he made curtains of goats’ hair for the Tent over the Tabernacle: he made eleven curtains. 15. The length of one curtain was thirty cubits and the breadth of one curtain was four cubits: the eleven curtains were of one size. 16. And he joined five curtains by themselves and six curtains by themselves. 17. And he made fifty loops on the uttermost edge of the curtain in the coupling and he made fifty loops on the edge of the curtain which joined the second. 18. And he made fifty bronze hooks to join the tent together so it would be one. 19. And he made a covering for the Tent of rams’ skins dyed red and a covering of badgers’ skins above that.
36:20. And he made boards for the Tabernacle of acacia, standing up. 21. The length of a board was ten cubits and the breadth of a board one cubit and a half. 22. One board had two pegs, equally distant one from another: thus he made for all the boards of the Tabernacle. 23. And he made boards for the Tabernacle; twenty boards for the south side southward. 24. And he made forty sockets of silver under the twenty boards, two sockets under one board for its two pegs and two sockets under another board for its two pegs. 25. And for the other side of the Tabernacle, which is toward the north corner, he made twenty boards, 26. and their forty sockets of silver; two sockets under one board and two sockets under another board. 27. And for the westward sides of the Tabernacle he made six boards. 28. And he made two boards for the corners of the Tabernacle on the two sides. 29. And they were joined beneath and joined together at its head to one ring: he did this to both of them in both the corners. 30. And there were eight boards and their sockets were sixteen sockets of silver, two sockets under every board.
36:31. And he made bars of acacia wood, five for the boards of the one side of the Tabernacle, 32. and five bars for the boards of the other side of the Tabernacle and five bars for the boards of the Tabernacle for the sides westward. 33. And he made the middle bar to slide through the boards from the one end to the other. 34. And he overlaid the boards with gold and made their rings of gold to be places for the bars and overlaid the bars with gold.
36:35. And he made a veil of blue, purple, and scarlet, fine woven linen. He made it with cherubim of skillful work. 36. And he made for it four pillars of acacia, and overlaid them with gold: their hooks were of gold and he cast for them four sockets of silver.
36:37. And he made a hanging for the Tabernacle door of blue, purple, and scarlet, fine woven linen, of needlework. 38. And its five pillars with their hooks and he overlaid their capitals and their joints with gold, but their five sockets were of bronze.
The Ark
37.1. And Bezalel made the Ark of acacia wood: its length was two and a half cubits, its width a cubit and a half, and its height a cubit and a half. 2. And he overlaid the inside and the outside with pure gold and made a crown of gold for it all around. 3. And he cast four rings of gold for it, for its four corners; even two rings on the one side of it and two rings on the other side of it. 4. And he made poles of acacia wood, and overlaid them with gold. 5. And he put the poles into the rings by the sides of the Ark, to carry the Ark.
37:6. And he made the cover of pure gold: its length was two cubits and a half and its width one cubit and a half. 7. And he made two cherubim of gold, he made them beaten out of one piece, on the two ends of the cover, 8. one cherub on the end on this side and another cherub on the end on that side; he made the cherubim on the two ends of the cover. 9. And the cherubim spread out their wings on high and covered the cover with their wings, with their faces one to another, the faces of the cherubim were toward the cover.
37:10. And he made the table of acacia: its length was two cubits and its width a cubit and its height a cubit and a half, 11. and he overlaid it with pure gold and made for it a crown of gold all around. 12. Also he made for it a border of a handbreadth all around it and made a crown of gold for the border all around it. 13. And he cast four rings of gold for it and put the rings upon the four corners that were in its four feet. 14. The rings were against the border, the places for the poles to bear the table. 15. And he made the poles of acacia, and overlaid them with gold to bear the table. 16. And he made the vessels which were on the table, its dishes, its spoons, its purifying vessels, and its bowls for pouring, of pure gold.
The Menorah
37:17. And he made the menorah of pure gold: he made the menorah of beaten work; its shaft, its branch, its bowls, its knobs, and its flowers were of the same 18. and six branches going out of its sides, three branches of the menorah out of the one side of it and three branches of the menorah out of its other side. 19. Three bowls made after the fashion of almonds in one branch, a knob and a flower and three bowls made like almonds in another branch, a knob and a flower; so throughout the six branches going out of the menorah. 20. And in the menorah were four bowls made like almonds, its knobs, and its flowers 21. and a knob under two branches of the same, and a knob under two branches of the same, and a knob under two branches of the same, according to the six branches going out of it. 22. Their knobs and their branches were of the same: all of it was one beaten work of pure gold. 23. And he made its seven lamps, its snuffers, and its snuff-dishes, of pure gold. 24. He made it and all its vessels with a talent of pure gold.
The Incense Altar
37:25. And he made the incense altar of acacia: its length was a cubit and its width a cubit. It was four-square and its height was two cubits, its horns were of the same. 26. And he overlaid it with pure gold, its top and its sides all around, and its horns: he also made a crown of gold all around for it. 27. And he made two rings of gold for it under its crown, by its two corners, on both sides, to be places for the poles to bear it. 28. And he made the poles of acacia and overlaid them with gold.
37:29. And he made the holy anointing oil and the pure incense of sweet spices according to the work of the perfumer.
The Altar
38.1. And he made the altar of burnt offering of acacia wood. Its length was five cubits and its breadth five cubits. It was four-square and its height three cubits. 2. And he made its horns on its four corners, its horns were from it, and he overlaid it with bronze. 3. And he made all the vessels of the altar, the pots, the shovels, the basins, the fleshhooks, and the fire-pans: he made all its vessels of bronze. 4. And he made for the altar a bronze grate of netting under its border to its center. 5. And he cast four rings for the four ends of the grate of bronze, to be places for the poles. 6. And he made the poles of acacia and overlaid them with bronze 7. and he put the poles into the rings on the sides of the altar to carry it. He made the altar hollow with boards.
The Laver
38:8. And he made the laver of bronze and its foot of bronze, from the mirrors of the women who gathered at the door of the Tent of Meeting.
The Court
38:9. And he made the court, on the south side southward the hangings of the court were fine woven linen, a hundred cubits. 10. There were twenty pillars and twenty bronze sockets; the hooks of the pillars and their bands were of silver, 11. and for the north side the hangings were a hundred cubits, twenty pillars and twenty bronze sockets, the hooks of the pillars and their bands were silver. 12. And for the west side were hangings of fifty cubits with ten pillars and ten sockets, the hooks of the pillars and their bands of silver. 13. And for the east side eastward fifty cubits. 14. The hangings of the one side of the gate were fifteen cubits with three pillars and three sockets. 15. And for the other side of the court gate, on this hand and that hand, were hangings of fifteen cubits, their pillars three and their sockets three. 16. All the hangings of the court all around were of fine woven linen. 17. And the sockets for the pillars were bronze, the hooks of the pillars and the platings were silver and the overlaying of their capitals was silver and all the pillars of the court were plated with silver.
38:18. And the hanging for the gate of the court was needlework; blue, purple, scarlet, and fine woven linen, and the length was twenty cubits and the height and the breadth were five cubits, corresponding to the hangings of the court. 19. And there were four pillars and their four bronze sockets, their hooks silver and the overlaying of their capitals and their platings of silver. 20. And all the pegs of the Tabernacle and of the court all around were bronze.
Next week’s Torah readings: P’kudei