Exodus 38

1 Bezalel constructed the altar [of sacrifice, for burnt offerings] of burnt offering from acacia wood [shittim wood, a thorny tree]. It was square [foursquare, four-sided], five cubits [a unit of measurement, about the length of a forearm] long, five cubits wide, and three cubits [a measure of height or length] high. word study 2 He made [formed, constructed] a horn [a hill or peak] at each of its four corners, so that the horns [a horn; a hill or peak] and altar [place of sacrifice, worship] were of one piece [unified, whole], and he overlaid [covered, plated] the altar with bronze [a strong, durable metal]. word study 3 He made [created, fashioned] all the altar’s [place of sacrifice, worship] utensils [articles, vessels] of bronze [copper, a base metal]—its pots [cauldrons, containers], shovels [tools for digging, lifting], sprinkling bowls [basins, vessels for tossing liquids], meat forks [three-pronged forks, for turning sacrifices], and firepans [censers, metal pans for holding live coals]. word study 4 He made [constructed, fashioned] a grate [lattice-work, network] of bronze [copper, brass] mesh for the altar [place of sacrifice, table of offering] under [beneath, below] its ledge [rim, edge], halfway [half, middle] up from the bottom [base, foundation]. word study 5 At the four corners [corners or ends] of the bronze [copper or brass] grate he cast four [as places for] rings as holders [or places] for the poles [or staves, bars]. word study 6 And he made [to create, construct, or fashion] the poles [staves, bars, or rods] of acacia wood [shittim wood, a strong and durable tree] and overlaid [to cover, plate, or overlay] them with bronze [brass, a strong and resilient metal]. word study 7 Then he inserted the poles [rods, staves] into the rings [signet rings] on the sides [ribs, architectural supports] of the altar [place of sacrifice, where offerings are made to God] for carrying [to lift, to bear] it. He made the altar [hollow structure, empty within] with boards [planks, wooden tablets] so that it was hollow [empty, without substance]. word study 8 Next he made the bronze [copper or brass] basin [a round container, like a laver] and its stand [base or pedestal] from the mirrors [looking-glasses, polished brass] of the women who served [assembled, ministered] at the entrance [doorway, threshold] to the Tent [tabernacle, sacred dwelling] of Meeting [appointed time, sacred gathering]. word study 9 Then he constructed [made, built] the courtyard [court, outer area]. The south [Negeb, southern direction] side of the courtyard was a hundred [numerous, many] cubits [unit of measurement, forearm length] long and had curtains [hangings, screens] of finely spun [twined, twisted] linen [fine white material], word study 10 with twenty posts [pillars, columns] and twenty bronze [copper, a base metal] bases [sockets, foundations], and with silver [precious, valuable] hooks [pegs, nails] and bands [rings, rods] on the posts [pillars, upright supports]. word study 11 The north [Zaphon, direction of darkness] side was also a hundred [measure of completeness] cubits [unit of measurement, about the length of a forearm] long, with twenty posts [pillars] and twenty bronze [copper or bronze] bases [sockets, foundations]. The hooks [pegs or nails] and bands [rings, rods connecting posts] of the posts were silver [silver; money, a price]. word study 12 The west [side facing the sea, towards the Mediterranean] side was fifty [a multiple of ten] cubits [a unit of measurement, about the length of a forearm] long and had curtains [hangings, screens], with ten posts [pillars, columns] and ten bases [sockets, foundations]. The hooks [pegs, nails] and bands [rings, rods] of the posts [pillars, columns] were silver [silver; money, a price]. word study 13 And the east [toward the sunrise, facing the morning] side [the edge or border], toward the [direction of the] sunrise, was also fifty [a quantity of five times ten] cubits [a unit of measurement, about the length of a forearm] long. word study 14 The curtains [hangings, screens] on one side of the entrance were fifteen [about 22.5 feet] cubits long, with three [exactly three] posts [pillars, columns] and three bases [sockets, foundations]. word study 15 And the curtains [hangings, screens] on the other side [the second side, opposite] were also fifteen [consisting of ten and five] cubits [a unit of measurement, about the length of a forearm] long, with three posts [pillars, columns] and three bases [sockets, foundations] as well [in the same manner, equally]. word study 16 All [every single one, everything] the curtains [hangings, screens] around [surrounding, encompassing] the courtyard [court, village] were made [woven, crafted] of finely [exquisitely, with great skill] spun [twined, twisted] linen [fine white linen]. word study 17 The bases [sockets, foundations] for the posts [pillars, columns] were bronze [copper, a base metal], the hooks [pegs, nails] and bands [rings, fillets] were silver [precious metal, wealth], and the plating [overlaying, covering] for the tops [heads, capitals] of the posts was silver [valuable, pure]. So all [everything, the entirety] the posts of the courtyard [outer court, village] were banded [filleted, connected] with silver [precious, refined]. word study 18 The curtain [hanging, screen] for the entrance [gate, doorway] to the courtyard [open space, court] was embroidered [with needlework, woven] with blue [violet, purple dye], purple [royal, rich color], and scarlet [deep red, crimson] yarn, and finely spun [twined, twisted] linen [fine white fabric]. It was twenty [two sets of ten] cubits [forearm lengths] long and, like the curtains [hangings, screens] of the courtyard, five [a small handful of] cubits high [in height, tall], word study 19 with four [a simple counting number] posts [pillars, columns] and four bronze [copper or something made of it] bases [sockets, strong foundations]. Their hooks [pegs or nails] were silver [silver; money, a price], as well as the bands [rings or rods connecting posts] and the plating [overlaying with metal] of their tops [heads or chiefs]. word study 20 All [every single one] the tent pegs [nails, pins] for the tabernacle [a sacred dwelling place, the mishkan] and for the surrounding [enclosing, encompassing] courtyard [open space] were [made of] bronze [brass, a copper alloy]. word study 21 This is the inventory [sum, total count] for the tabernacle [portable place of worship], the tabernacle [sacred tent] of the Testimony [God’s witness, covenant], as recorded [counted, numbered] at Moses’ [the leader’s] command by the Levites [descendants of Levi, priestly tribe] under the direction [supervision, guidance] of Ithamar son of Aaron [the first high priest] the priest [spiritual leader, mediator]. word study 22 Bezalel [in the shadow of God, skilled artisan] son of Uri [fiery, passionate], the son of Hur [chief assistant, leader], of the tribe [family, community] of Judah [praise, worship], made [created, constructed, fashioned] everything [all things, the whole] that the LORD [Yehovah, the covenant God] had commanded [given orders, instructed] Moses [leader, prophet]. word study 23 With him was Oholiab [son of skill] son of Ahisamach, of the tribe [family group] of Dan, an engraver [skilled craftsman], designer [planner, thinker], and embroiderer [weaver, needleworker] in blue [violet, heavenly color], purple [royal, rich color], and scarlet [deep red, crimson] yarn and fine [luxurious, high-quality] linen. word study 24 All [every part, the entirety] the gold [a valuable metal] from the wave offering [a specific type of offering, lifted up to God] used for the work [labor, craftsmanship] on the sanctuary [the Holy Place, a sacred area] totaled 29 talents [a unit of weight or currency] and 730 shekels [a unit of weight or money], according to the sanctuary [the Holy Place, a sacred area] shekel [a standard unit of weight or currency]. word study 25 The silver [precious metal, wealth] from those numbered [reckoned, counted] among the congregation [gathering] totaled 100 talents [units of weight, currency] and 1,775 shekels [coins, measures of value], according to the sanctuary [holy place, set-apart area] shekel [standard unit of weight, coinage]— word study 26 a beka [unit of weight or money] per person, that is, half [exactly fifty percent] a shekel, according to the sanctuary [holy place] shekel, from everyone twenty [a significant age of maturity] years of age or older [above the threshold of adulthood] who had crossed over [passed from one state to another, transitioned] to be numbered [counted and reckoned], a total of 603,550 [six hundred thousand, three thousand, five hundred and fifty] men. word study 27 The hundred [one hundred, a multitude of] talents of silver [precious metal, wealth] were used to cast [pour, mold] the bases [sockets, foundations] of the sanctuary [Holy Place, set-apart area] and the bases [sockets, pedestals] of the veil [curtain, partition]—100 bases [sockets, foundations] from the 100 talents, one talent [unit of weight, currency] per base [socket, foundation]. word study 28 With the 1,775 [thousand seven hundred seventy-five] shekels of silver [a large quantity, used for sacred purposes] he made the hooks [pegs, nails] for the posts [pillars, columns], overlaid [covered, plated] their tops [heads, capitals], and supplied [made, fashioned] bands [fillets, connectors] for them [to hold them together]. word study 29 The bronze [copper, a base metal] from the wave offering [a specific type of sacrifice, lifted up to God] totaled [seventy] 70 talents [a unit of weight or currency] and 2,400 [two thousand four hundred, a large quantity] shekels [a unit of weight or money, like a coin]. word study 30 He used it to make the bases [sockets, foundations] for the entrance [doorway, gate] to the Tent [tabernacle, dwelling place] of Meeting [assembly, gathering], the bronze [copper, brass] altar [place of sacrifice, table] and its bronze [copper, brass] grating [lattice-work, screen], all [every, the whole] the utensils [vessels, tools] for the altar [place of sacrifice, table], word study 31 the bases [sockets, foundations] for the surrounding [encircling, encompassing] courtyard [open space, outer court] and its gate [entrance, doorway], and all [every, the entirety of] the tent pegs [nails, pins] for the tabernacle [dwelling place, sacred tent] and its surrounding [encircling, encompassing] courtyard [open space, outer court]. word study