Read Parshat Pekudei in English

These are the accounts of the tabernacle, even the tabernacle of the testimony, as they were rendered according to the commandment of Moses, through the service of the Levites, by the hand of Ithamar, the son of Aaron the priest. --

And Bezalel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, made all that the Lord commanded Moses.

And with him was Oholiab, the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan, a craftsman, and a skilful workman, and a weaver in colours, in blue, and in purple, and in scarlet, and fine linen. -- {S}

All the gold that was used for the work in all the work of the sanctuary, even the gold of the offering, was twenty and nine talents, and seven hundred and thirty shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary.

And the silver of them that were numbered of the congregation was a hundred talents, and a thousand seven hundred and three-score and fifteen shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary:

a beka a head, that is, half a shekel, after the shekel of the sanctuary, for every one that passed over to them that are numbered, from twenty years old and upward, for six hundred thousand and three thousand and five hundred and fifty men.

And the hundred talents of silver were for casting the sockets of the sanctuary, and the sockets of the veil: a hundred sockets for the hundred talents, a talent for a socket.

And of the thousand seven hundred seventy and five shekels he made hooks for the pillars, and overlaid their capitals, and made fillets for them.

And the brass of the offering was seventy talents and two thousand and four hundred shekels.

And therewith he made the sockets to the door of the tent of meeting, and the brazen altar, and the brazen grating for it, and all the vessels of the altar,

and the sockets of the court round about, and the sockets of the gate of the court, and all the pins of the tabernacle, and all the pins of the court round about.

And of the blue, and purple, and scarlet, they made plaited garments, for ministering in the holy place, and made the holy garments for Aaron, as the Lord commanded Moses.

And he made the ephod of gold, blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen.

And they did beat the gold into thin plates, and cut it into threads, to work it in the blue, and in the purple, and in the scarlet, and in the fine linen, the work of the skilful workman.

They made shoulder-pieces for it, joined together; at the two ends was it joined together.

And the skilfully woven band, that was upon it, wherewith to gird it on, was of the same piece and like the work thereof: of gold, of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen, as the Lord commanded Moses. {S}

And they wrought the onyx stones, inclosed in settings of gold, graven with the engravings of a signet, according to the names of the children of Israel.

And he put them on the shoulder-pieces of the ephod, to be stones of memorial for the children of Israel, as the Lord commanded Moses.

And he made the breastplate, the work of the skilful workman, like the work of the ephod: of gold, of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen.

It was four-square; they made the breastplate double; a span was the length thereof, and a span the breadth thereof, being double.

And they set in it four rows of stones: a row of carnelian, topaz, and smaragd was the first row.

And the second row, a carbuncle, a sapphire, and an emerald.

And the third row, a jacinth, an agate, and an amethyst.

And the fourth row, a beryl, an onyx, and a jasper; they were inclosed in fittings of gold in their settings.

And the stones were according to the names of the children of Israel, twelve, according to their names, like the engravings of a signet, every one according to his name, for the twelve tribes.

And they made upon the breastplate plaited chains, of wreathen work of pure gold.

And they made two settings of gold, and two gold rings; and put the two rings on the two ends of the breastplate.

And they put the two wreathen chains of gold on the two rings at the ends of the breastplate.

And the other two ends of the two wreathen chains they put on the two settings, and put them on the shoulder-pieces of the ephod, in the forepart thereof.

And they made two rings of gold, and put them upon the two ends of the breastplate, upon the edge thereof, which was toward the side of the ephod inward.

And they made two rings of gold, and put them on the two shoulder-pieces of the ephod underneath, in the forepart thereof, close by the coupling thereof, above the skilfully woven band of the ephod.

And they did bind the breastplate by the rings thereof unto the rings of the ephod with a thread of blue, that it might be upon the skilfully woven band of the ephod, and that the breastplate might not be loosed from the ephod; as the Lord commanded Moses.

And he made the robe of the ephod of woven work, all of blue;

and the hole of the robe in the midst thereof, as the hole of a coat of mail, with a binding round about the hole of it, that it should not be rent.

And they made upon the skirts of the robe pomegranates of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and twined linen.

And they made bells of pure gold, and put the bells between the pomegranates upon the skirts of the robe round about, between the pomegranates:

a bell and a pomegranate, a bell and a pomegranate, upon the skirts of the robe round about, to minister in; as the Lord commanded Moses. {S}

And they made the tunics of fine linen of woven work for Aaron, and for his sons,

and the mitre of fine linen, and the goodly head-tires of fine linen, and the linen breeches of fine twined linen,

and the girdle of fine twined linen, and blue, and purple, and scarlet, the work of the weaver in colours; as the Lord commanded Moses. {S}

And they made the plate of the holy crown of pure gold, and wrote upon it a writing, like the engravings of a signet: HOLY TO THE Lord.

And they tied unto it a thread of blue, to fasten it upon the mitre above; as the Lord commanded Moses. {S}

Thus was finished all the work of the tabernacle of the tent of meeting; and the children of Israel did according to all that the Lord commanded Moses, so did they.

And they brought the tabernacle unto Moses, the Tent, and all its furniture, its clasps, its boards, its bars, and its pillars, and its sockets;

and the covering of rams' skins dyed red, and the covering of sealskins, and the veil of the screen;

the ark of the testimony, and the staves thereof, and the ark-cover;

the table, all the vessels thereof, and the showbread;

the pure candlestick, the lamps thereof, even the lamps to be set in order, and all the vessels thereof, and the oil for the light;

and the golden altar, and the anointing oil, and the sweet incense, and the screen for the door of the Tent;

the brazen altar, and its grating of brass, its staves, and all its vessels, the laver and its base;

the hangings of the court, its pillars, and its sockets, and the screen for the gate of the court, the cords thereof, and the pins thereof, and all the instruments of the service of the tabernacle of the tent of meeting;

the plaited garments for ministering in the holy place; the holy garments for Aaron the priest, and the garments of his sons, to minister in the priest's office.

According to all that the Lord commanded Moses, so the children of Israel did all the work.

And Moses saw all the work, and, behold, they had done it; as the Lord had commanded, even so had they done it. And Moses blessed them.

And the Lord spoke unto Moses, saying:

'On the first day of the first month shalt thou rear up the tabernacle of the tent of meeting.

And thou shalt put therein the ark of the testimony, and thou shalt screen the ark with the veil.

And thou shalt bring in the table, and set in order the bread that is upon it; and thou shalt bring in the candlestick, and light the lamps thereof.

And thou shalt set the golden altar for incense before the ark of the testimony, and put the screen of the door to the tabernacle.

And thou shalt set the altar of burnt-offering before the door of the tabernacle of the tent of meeting.

And thou shalt set the laver between the tent of meeting and the altar, and shalt put water therein.

And thou shalt set up the court round about, and hang up the screen of the gate of the court.

And thou shalt take the anointing oil, and anoint the tabernacle, and all that is therein, and shalt hallow it, and all the furniture thereof; and it shall be holy.

And thou shalt anoint the altar of burnt-offering, and all its vessels, and sanctify the altar; and the altar shall be most holy.

And thou shalt anoint the laver and its base, and sanctify it.

And thou shalt bring Aaron and his sons unto the door of the tent of meeting, and shalt wash them with water.

And thou shalt put upon Aaron the holy garments; and thou shalt anoint him, and sanctify him, that he may minister unto Me in the priest's office.

And thou shalt bring his sons, and put tunics upon them.

And thou shalt anoint them, as thou didst anoint their father, that they may minister unto Me in the priest's office; and their anointing shall be to them for an everlasting priesthood throughout their generations.’’

Thus did Moses; according to all that the Lord commanded him, so did he. {S}

And it came to pass in the first month in the second year, on the first day of the month, that the tabernacle was reared up.

And Moses reared up the tabernacle, and laid its sockets, and set up the boards thereof, and put in the bars thereof, and reared up its pillars.

And he spread the tent over the tabernacle, and put the covering of the tent above upon it; as the Lord commanded Moses. {S}

And he took and put the testimony into the ark, and set the staves on the ark, and put the ark-cover above upon the ark.

And he brought the ark into the tabernacle, and set up the veil of the screen, and screened the ark of the testimony; as the Lord commanded Moses. {S}

And he put the table in the tent of meeting, upon the side of the tabernacle northward, without the veil.

And he set a row of bread in order upon it before the Lord; as the Lord commanded Moses. {S}

And he put the candlestick in the tent of meeting, over against the table, on the side of the tabernacle southward.

And he lighted the lamps before the Lord; as the Lord commanded Moses. {S}

And he put the golden altar in the tent of meeting before the veil;

and he burnt thereon incense of sweet spices; as the Lord commanded Moses. {S}

And he put the screen of the door to the tabernacle.

And the altar of burnt-offering he set at the door of the tabernacle of the tent of meeting, and offered upon it the burnt-offering and the meal-offering; as the Lord commanded Moses. {S}

And he set the laver between the tent of meeting and the altar, and put water therein, wherewith to wash;

that Moses and Aaron and his sons might wash their hands and their feet thereat;

when they went into the tent of meeting, and when they came near unto the altar, they should wash; as the Lord commanded Moses. {S}

And he reared up the court round about the tabernacle and the altar, and set up the screen of the gate of the court. So Moses finished the work.

Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.

And Moses was not able to enter into the tent of meeting, because the cloud abode thereon, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. --

And whenever the cloud was taken up from over the tabernacle, the children of Israel went onward, throughout all their journeys.

But if the cloud was not taken up, then they journeyed not till the day that it was taken up.

For the cloud of the Lord was upon the tabernacle by day, and there was fire therein by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel, throughout all their journeys. --