Read Parshat Vayakhel in English

And Moses assembled all the congregation of the children of Israel, and said unto them: “These are the words which the Lord hath commanded, that ye should do them.

Six days shall work be done, but on the seventh day there shall be to you a holy day, a sabbath of solemn rest to the Lord; whosoever doeth any work therein shall be put to death.

Ye shall kindle no fire throughout your habitations upon the sabbath day.’’

And Moses spoke unto all the congregation of the children of Israel, saying: “This is the thing which the Lord commanded, saying:

Take ye from among you an offering unto the Lord, whosoever is of a willing heart, let him bring it, the Lord’s offering: gold, and silver, and brass;

and blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine linen, and goats' hair;

and rams' skins dyed red, and sealskins, and acacia-wood;

and oil for the light, and spices for the anointing oil, and for the sweet incense;

and onyx stones, and stones to be set, for the ephod, and for the breastplate.

And let every wise-hearted man among you come, and make all that the Lord hath commanded:

the tabernacle, its tent, and its covering, its clasps, and its boards, its bars, its pillars, and its sockets;

the ark, and the staves thereof, the ark-cover, and the veil of the screen;

the table, and its staves, and all its vessels, and the showbread;

the candlestick also for the light, and its vessels, and its lamps, and the oil for the light;

and the altar of incense, and its staves, and the anointing oil, and the sweet incense, and the screen for the door, at the door of the tabernacle;

the altar of burnt-offering, with its grating of brass, its staves, and all its vessels, the laver and its base;

the hangings of the court, the pillars thereof, and their sockets, and the screen for the gate of the court;

the pins of the tabernacle, and the pins of the court, and their cords;

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.’’

And all the congregation of the children of Israel departed from the presence of Moses.

And they came, every one whose heart stirred him up, and every one whom his spirit made willing, and brought the Lord’s offering, for the work of the tent of meeting, and for all the service thereof, and for the holy garments.

And they came, both men and women, as many as were willing-hearted, and brought nose-rings, and ear-rings, and signet-rings, and girdles, all jewels of gold; even every man that brought an offering of gold unto the Lord.

And every man, with whom was found blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine linen, and goats' hair, and rams' skins dyed red, and sealskins, brought them.

Every one that did set apart an offering of silver and brass brought the Lord’s offering; and every man, with whom was found acacia-wood for any work of the service, brought it.

And all the women that were wise-hearted did spin with their hands, and brought that which they had spun, the blue, and the purple, the scarlet, and the fine linen.

And all the women whose heart stirred them up in wisdom spun the goats' hair.

And the rulers brought the onyx stones, and the stones to be set, for the ephod, and for the breastplate;

and the spice, and the oil, for the light, and for the anointing oil, and for the sweet incense.

The children of Israel brought a freewill-offering unto the Lord; every man and woman, whose heart made them willing to bring for all the work, which the Lord had commanded by the hand of Moses to be made.

And Moses said unto the children of Israel: “See, the Lord hath called by name Bezalel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah.

And He hath filled him with the spirit of God, in wisdom, in understanding, and in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship.

And to devise skilful works, to work in gold, and in silver, and in brass,

and in cutting of stones for setting, and in carving of wood, to work in all manner of skilful workmanship.

And He hath put in his heart that he may teach, both he, and Oholiab, the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan.

Them hath He filled with wisdom of heart, to work all manner of workmanship, of the craftsman, and of the skilful workman, and of the weaver in colours, in blue, and in purple, in scarlet, and in fine linen, and of the weaver, even of them that do any workmanship, and of those that devise skilful works.

And Bezalel and Oholiab shall work, and every wise-hearted man, in whom the Lord hath put wisdom and understanding to know how to work all the work for the service of the sanctuary, according to all that the Lord hath commanded.’’

And Moses called Bezalel and Oholiab, and every wise-hearted man, in whose heart the Lord had put wisdom, even every one whose heart stirred him up to come unto the work to do it.

And they received of Moses all the offering, which the children of Israel had brought for the work of the service of the sanctuary, wherewith to make it. And they brought yet unto him freewill-offerings every morning.

And all the wise men, that wrought all the work of the sanctuary, came every man from his work which they wrought.

And they spoke unto Moses, saying: “The people bring much more than enough for the service of the work, which the Lord commanded to make.’’

And Moses gave commandment, 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.

For the stuff they had was sufficient for all the work to make it, and too much. {S}

And every wise-hearted man among them that wrought the work made the tabernacle with ten curtains: of fine twined linen, and blue, and purple, and scarlet, with cherubim the work of the skilful workman made he them.

The length of each curtain was eight and twenty cubits, and the breadth of each curtain four cubits; all the curtains had one measure.

And he coupled five curtains one to another; and the other five curtains he coupled one to another.

And he made loops of blue upon the edge of the one curtain that was outmost in the first set; likewise he made in the edge of the curtain that was outmost in the second set.

Fifty loops made he in the one curtain, and fifty loops made he in the edge of the curtain that was in the second set; the loops were opposite one to another.

And he made fifty clasps of gold, and coupled the curtains one to another with the clasps; so the tabernacle was one.

And he made curtains of goats' hair for a tent over the tabernacle; eleven curtains he made them.

The length of each curtain was thirty cubits, and four cubits the breadth of each curtain; the eleven curtains had one measure.

And he coupled five curtains by themselves, and six curtains by themselves.

And he made fifty loops on the edge of the curtain that was outmost in the first set, and fifty loops made he upon the edge of the curtain which was outmost in the second set.

And he made fifty clasps of brass to couple the tent together, that it might be one.

And he made a covering for the tent of rams' skins dyed red, and a covering of sealskins above. {S}

And he made the boards for the tabernacle of acacia-wood, standing up.

Ten cubits was the length of a board, and a cubit and a half the breadth of each board.

Each board had two tenons, joined one to another. Thus did he make for all the boards of the tabernacle.

And he made the boards for the tabernacle; twenty boards for the south side southward.

And he made forty sockets of silver under the twenty boards: two sockets under one board for its two tenons, and two sockets under another board for its two tenons.

And for the second side of the tabernacle, on the north side, he made twenty boards,

and their forty sockets of silver: two sockets under one board, and two sockets under another board.

And for the hinder part of the tabernacle westward he made six boards.

And two boards made he for the corners of the tabernacle in the hinder part;

that they might be double beneath, and in like manner they should be complete unto the top thereof unto the first ring. Thus he did to both of them in the two corners.

And there were eight boards, and their sockets of silver, sixteen sockets: under every board two sockets.

And he made bars of acacia-wood: five for the boards of the one side of the tabernacle,

and five bars for the boards of the other side of the tabernacle, and five bars for the boards of the tabernacle for the hinder part westward.

And he made the middle bar to pass through in the midst of the boards from the one end to the other.

And he overlaid the boards with gold, and made their rings of gold for holders for the bars, and overlaid the bars with gold.

And he made the veil of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen; with the cherubim the work of the skilful workman made he it.

And he made thereunto four pillars of acacia, and overlaid them with gold, their hooks being of gold; and he cast for them four sockets of silver.

And he made a screen for the door of the Tent, of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen, the work of the weaver in colours;

and the five pillars of it with their hooks; and he overlaid their capitals and their fillets with gold; and their five sockets were of brass.

And Bezalel made the ark of acacia-wood: two cubits and a half was the length of it, and a cubit and a half the breadth of it, and a cubit and a half the height of it.

And he overlaid it with pure gold within and without, and made a crown of gold to it round about.

And he cast for it four rings of gold, in the four feet thereof: even two rings on the one side of it, and two rings on the other side of it.

And he made staves of acacia-wood, and overlaid them with gold.

And he put the staves into the rings on the sides of the ark, to bear the ark.

And he made an ark-cover of pure gold: two cubits and a half was the length thereof, and a cubit and a half the breadth thereof.

And he made two cherubim of gold: of beaten work made he them, at the two ends of the ark-cover:

one cherub at the one end, and one cherub at the other end; of one piece with the ark-cover made he the cherubim at the two ends thereof.

And the cherubim spread out their wings on high, screening the ark-cover with their wings, with their faces one to another; toward the ark-cover were the faces of the cherubim.

And he made the table of acacia-wood: two cubits was the length thereof, and a cubit the breadth thereof, and a cubit and a half the height thereof.

And he overlaid it with pure gold, and made thereto a crown of gold round about.

And he made unto it a border of a hand-breadth round about, and made a golden crown to the border thereof round about.

And he cast for it four rings of gold, and put the rings in the four corners that were on the four feet thereof.

Close by the border were the rings, the holders for the staves to bear the table.

And he made the staves of acacia-wood, and overlaid them with gold, to bear the table.

And he made the vessels which were upon the table, the dishes thereof, and the pans thereof, and the bowls thereof, and the jars thereof, wherewith to pour out, of pure gold.

And he made the candlestick of pure gold: of beaten work made he the candlestick, even its base, and its shaft; its cups, its knops, and its flowers, were of one piece with it.

And there were six branches going out of the sides thereof: three branches of the candlestick out of the one side thereof, and three branches of the candlestick out of the other side thereof;

three cups made like almond-blossoms in one branch, a knop and a flower; and three cups made like almond-blossoms in the other branch, a knop and a flower. So for the six branches going out of the candlestick.

And in the candlestick were four cups made like almond-blossoms, the knops thereof, and the flowers thereof;

and a knop under two branches of one piece with it, and a knop under two branches of one piece with it, and a knop under two branches of one piece with it, for the six branches going out of it.

Their knops and their branches were of one piece with it; the whole of it was one beaten work of pure gold.

And he made the lamps thereof, seven, and the tongs thereof, and the snuffdishes thereof, of pure gold.

Of a talent of pure gold made he it, and all the vessels thereof.

And he made the altar of incense of acacia-wood: a cubit was the length thereof, and a cubit the breadth thereof, four-square; and two cubits was the height thereof; the horns thereof were of one piece with it.

And he overlaid it with pure gold, the top thereof, and the sides thereof round about, and the horns of it; and he made unto it a crown of gold round about.

And he made for it two golden rings under the crown thereof, upon the two ribs thereof, upon the two sides of it, for holders for staves wherewith to bear it.

And he made the staves of acacia-wood, and overlaid them with gold.

And he made the holy anointing oil, and the pure incense of sweet spices, after the art of the perfumer. {S}

And he made the altar of burnt-offering of acacia-wood: five cubits was the length thereof, and five cubits the breadth thereof, four-square, and three cubits the height thereof.

And he made the horns thereof upon the four corners of it; the horns thereof were of one piece with it; and he overlaid it with brass.

And he made all the vessels of the altar, the pots, and the shovels, and the basins, the flesh-hooks, and the fire-pans; all the vessels thereof made he of brass.

And he made for the altar a grating of network of brass, under the ledge round it beneath, reaching halfway up.

And he cast four rings for the four ends of the grating of brass, to be holders for the staves.

And he made the staves of acacia-wood, and overlaid them with brass.

And he put the staves into the rings on the sides of the altar, wherewith to bear it; he made it hollow with planks. {S}

And he made the laver of brass, and the base thereof of brass, of the mirrors of the serving women that did service at the door of the tent of meeting. {S}

And he made the court; for the south side southward the hangings of the court were of fine twined linen, a hundred cubits.

Their pillars were twenty, and their sockets twenty, of brass; the hooks of the pillars and their fillets were of silver.

And for the north side a hundred cubits, their pillars twenty, and their sockets twenty, of brass; the hooks of the pillars and their fillets of silver.

And for the west side were hangings of fifty cubits, their pillars ten, and their sockets ten; the hooks of the pillars and their fillets of silver.

And for the east side eastward fifty cubits.

The hangings for the one side [of the gate] were fifteen cubits; their pillars three, and their sockets three.

And so for the other side; on this hand and that hand by the gate of the court were hangings of fifteen cubits; their pillars three, and their sockets three.

All the hangings of the court round about were of fine twined linen.

And the sockets for the pillars were of brass; the hooks of the pillars and their fillets of silver; and the overlaying of their capitals of silver; and all the pillars of the court were filleted with silver.

And the screen for the gate of the court was the work of the weaver in colours, of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen; and twenty cubits was the length, and the height in the breadth was five cubits, answerable to the hangings of the court.

And their pillars were four, and their sockets four, of brass; their hooks of silver, and the overlaying of their capitals and their fillets of silver.

And all the pins of the tabernacle, and of the court round about, were of brass. {S}