¹ Yahweh spoke to Moses and said,

² 'Tell the Israelites to set aside a contribution for me; you will accept a contribution from everyone whose heart prompts him to give it.

³ And this is what you will accept from them: gold, silver and bronze;

⁴ materials dyed violet-purple, red-purple and crimson, fine linen, goats' hair;

⁵ rams' skins dyed red, fine leather, acacia wood;

⁶ oil for the light, spices for the anointing oil and fragrant incense;

⁷ cornelian and other stones to be set in the ephod and breastplate.

⁸ Make me a sanctuary so that I can reside among them.

⁹ You will make it all according to the design for the Dwelling and the design for its furnishings which I shall now show you.

¹⁰ 'You must make me an ark of acacia wood, two and a half cubits long, one and a half cubits wide and one and a half cubits high.

¹¹ You will overlay it, inside and out, with pure gold and make a gold moulding all round it.

¹² You will cast four gold rings for it and fix them to its four supports: two rings on one side and two rings on the other.

¹³ You will also make shafts of acacia wood and overlay them with gold

¹⁴ and pass the shafts through the rings on the sides of the ark, by which to carry it.

¹⁵ The shafts will stay in the rings of the ark and not be withdrawn.

¹⁶ Inside the ark you will put the Testimony which I am about to give you.

¹⁷ 'You will also make a mercy-seat of pure gold, two and a half cubits long and one and a half cubits wide,

¹⁸ and you will model two great winged creatures of beaten gold, you will make them at the two ends of the mercy-seat.

¹⁹ Model one of the winged creatures at one end and the other winged creature at the other end; you will model the winged creatures of a piece with the mercy-seat at either end.

²⁰ The winged creatures must have their wings spread upwards, protecting the mercy-seat with their wings and facing each other, their faces being towards the mercy-seat.

²¹ You will put the mercy-seat on the top of the ark, and inside the ark you will put the Testimony which I am about to give you.

²² There I shall come to meet you; from above the mercy-seat, from between the two winged creatures which are on the ark of the Testimony, I shall give you all my orders for the Israelites.

²³ 'You must also make a table of acacia wood, two cubits long, one cubit wide and one and a half cubits high.

²⁴ You will overlay it with pure gold, and make a gold moulding all round it.

²⁵ You will fit it with struts of a hand's breadth and make a gold moulding round the struts.

²⁶ You will make four gold rings for it and fix the four rings at the four corners where the four legs are.

²⁷ The rings must lie close to the struts to hold the shafts for carrying the table.

²⁸ You must make the shafts of acacia wood and overlay them with gold. The table must be carried by these.

²⁹ You must make dishes, cups, jars and libation bowls for it; you must make these of pure gold,

³⁰ and on the table, in my presence, you will always put the loaves of permanent offering.

³¹ 'You will also make a lamp-stand of pure gold; the lamp-stand must be of beaten gold, base and stem. Its cups, calyxes and petals, must be of a piece with it.

³² Six branches must spring from its sides: three of the lamp-stand's branches from one side, three of the lamp-stand's branches from the other.

³³ The first branch must carry three cups shaped like almond blossoms, each with its calyx and petals; the second branch, too, must carry three cups shaped like almond blossoms, each with its calyx and bud, and similarly for all six branches springing from the lampstand.

³⁴ The lamp-stand itself must carry four cups shaped like almond blossoms, each with its calyx and bud:

³⁵ one calyx under the first two branches springing from the lamp-stand, one calyx under the next pair of branches and one calyx under the last pair of branches -- thus for all six branches springing from the lamp-stand.

³⁶ The calyxes and the branches will be of a piece with the lamp-stand, and the whole made from a single piece of pure gold, beaten out.

³⁷ You will also make seven lamps for it and mount the lamps in such a way that they light up the space in front of it.

³⁸ The snuffers and trays must be of pure gold.

³⁹ You will use a talent of pure gold for the lamp-stand and all its accessories;

⁴⁰ and see that you work to the design which was shown you on the mountain.'

Search the Bible:

Daily Readings   Daily readings of the Mass. 7 days/week. See Sample E-mail:    Select Gender Male Female    Zip Code:

The New Jerusalem Bible (NJB) is a Catholic translation of the Bible published in 1985. The New Jerusalem Bible (NJB) has become the most widely used Roman Catholic Bible outside of the United States. It has the imprimatur of Cardinal George Basil Hume.

Like its predecessor, the Jerusalem Bible, the New Jerusalem Bible (NJB) version is translated "directly from the Hebrew, Greek or Aramaic." The 1973 French translation, the Bible de Jerusalem, is followed only "where the text admits to more than one interpretation." Introductions and notes, with some modifications, are taken from the Bible de Jerusalem.

Source: The Very Reverend Dom (Joseph) Henry Wansbrough, OSB, MA (Oxon), STL (Fribourg), LSS (Rome), a monk of Ampleforth Abbey and a biblical scholar. He was General Editor of the New Jerusalem Bible. "New Jerusalem Bible, Regular Edition", pg. v.

Ten Commandments | Books of the Bible | Buy a Bible

---

Search the Bible:

Old Testament »

New Testament »