And the Lord told Moses, “Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow. They must wash their clothes

No hand may touch him; instead he will be stoned or shot with arrows. No animal or man will live. When the ram’s horn sounds a long blast, they may go up the mountain.”

Then Moses came down from the mountain to the people and consecrated them, and they washed their clothes.

Then Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain.

All the people witnessed the thunder and lightning, the sound of the trumpet, and the mountain surrounded by smoke. When the people saw it they trembled and stood at a distance.

“You speak to us, and we will listen,” they said to Moses, “but don’t let God speak to us, or we will die.”

“When a man’s ox injures his neighbor’s ox and it dies, they must sell the live ox and divide its proceeds; they must also divide the dead animal.

“When a man gives his neighbor money or goods to keep, but they are stolen from that person’s house, the thief, if caught, must repay double.

If you do mistreat them, they will no doubt cry to Me, and I will certainly hear their cry.

But during the seventh year you are to let it rest and leave it uncultivated, so that the poor among your people may eat from it and the wild animals may consume what they leave. Do the same with your vineyard and your olive grove.

“Pay strict attention to everything I have said to you. You must not invoke the names of other gods; they must not be heard on your lips.

They must not remain in your land, or else they will make you sin against Me. If you worship their gods, it will be a snare for you.”

Then he sent out young Israelite men, and they offered burnt offerings and sacrificed bulls as fellowship offerings to the Lord.

He then took the covenant scroll and read it aloud to the people. They responded, “We will do and obey everything that the Lord has commanded.”

and they saw the God of Israel. Beneath His feet was something like a pavement made of sapphire stone, as clear as the sky itself.

God did not harm the Israelite nobles; they saw Him, and they ate and drank.

“They are to make a sanctuary for Me so that I may dwell among them.

“They are to make an ark of acacia wood, 45 inches long, 27 inches wide, and 27 inches high.

The poles are to remain in the rings of the ark; they must not be removed from it.

“Make seven lamps on it. Its lamps are to be set up so they illuminate the area in front of it.

They are to be paired at the bottom, and joined together at the top in a single ring. So it should be for both of them; they will serve as the two corners.

Construct the altar with boards so that it is hollow. They are to make it just as it was shown to you on the mountain.

These are the garments that they must make: a breastpiece, an ephod, a robe, a specially woven tunic, a turban, and a sash. They are to make holy garments for your brother Aaron and his sons so that they may serve Me as priests.

They should use gold; blue, purple, and scarlet yarn; and fine linen.

“They are to make the ephod of finely spun linen embroidered with gold, and with blue, purple, and scarlet yarn.

and the fourth row,
a beryl, an onyx, and a jasper.

They should be adorned with gold filigree in their settings.

Place the Urim and Thummim in the breastpiece for decisions, so that they will also be over Aaron’s heart whenever he comes before the Lord. Aaron will continually carry the means of decisions for the Israelites over his heart before the Lord.

It will be on Aaron’s forehead so that Aaron may bear the guilt connected with the holy offerings that the Israelites consecrate as all their holy gifts. It is always to be on his forehead, so that they may find acceptance with the Lord.

Put these on your brother Aaron and his sons; then anoint, ordain, and consecrate them, so that they may serve Me as priests.

Make them linen undergarments to cover their naked bodies; they must extend from the waist to the thighs.

These must be worn by Aaron and his sons whenever they enter the tent of meeting or approach the altar to minister in the sanctuary area, so that they do not incur guilt and die. This is to be a permanent statute for Aaron and for his future descendants.

“The holy garments that belong to Aaron are to belong to his sons after him, so that they can be anointed and ordained in them.

They must eat those things by which atonement was made at the time of their ordination and consecration. An unauthorized person must not eat them, for these things are holy.

And they will know that I am Yahweh their God, who brought them out of the land of Egypt, so that I might dwell among them. I am Yahweh their God.

“When you take a census of the Israelites to register them, each of the men must pay a ransom for himself to the Lord as they are registered. Then no plague will come on them as they are registered.

Whenever they enter the tent of meeting or approach the altar to minister by burning up an offering to the Lord, they must wash with water so that they will not die.

They must wash their hands and feet so that they will not die; this is to be a permanent statute for them, for Aaron and his descendants throughout their generations.”

Consecrate them and they will be especially holy. Whatever touches them will be consecrated.

the anointing oil, and the fragrant incense for the sanctuary. They must make them according to all that I have commanded you.”

When the people saw that Moses delayed in coming down from the mountain, they gathered around Aaron and said to him, “Come, make us a god who will go before us because this Moses, the man who brought us up from the land of Egypt—we don’t know what has happened to him!”

He took the gold from their hands, fashioned it with an engraving tool, and made it into an image of a calf.

Then they said, “Israel, this is your God, who brought you up from the land of Egypt!”

Early the next morning they arose, offered burnt offerings, and presented fellowship offerings. The people sat down to eat and drink, then got up to play.

They have quickly turned from the way I commanded them; they have made for themselves an image of a calf. They have bowed down to it, sacrificed to it, and said, ‘Israel, this is your God, who brought you up from the land of Egypt.’”

The Lord also said to Moses: “I have seen this people, and they are indeed a stiff-necked people.

Remember Your servants Abraham, Isaac, and Israel—You swore to them by Your very self and declared, ‘I will make your offspring as numerous as the stars of the sky and will give your offspring all this land that I have promised, and they will inherit it forever.’”

Then Moses turned and went down the mountain with the two tablets of the testimony in his hands. They were inscribed on both sides—inscribed front and back.

When Joshua heard the sound of the people as they shouted, he said to Moses, “There is a sound of war in the camp.”

Then he took the calf they had made, burned it up, and ground it to powder. He scattered the powder over the surface of the water and forced the Israelites to drink the water.

They said to me, ‘Make us a god who will go before us because this Moses, the man who brought us up from the land of Egypt—we don’t know what has happened to him!’

So I said to them, ‘Whoever has gold, take it off,’ and they gave it to me. When I threw it into the fire, out came this calf!”

Moses saw that the people were out of control, for Aaron had let them get out of control, resulting in weakness before their enemies.

So Moses returned to the Lord and said, “Oh, these people have committed a grave sin; they have made a god of gold for themselves.

And the Lord inflicted a plague on the people for what they did with the calf Aaron had made.

When the people heard this bad news, they mourned and didn’t put on their jewelry.

Whenever Moses went out to the tent, all the people would stand up, each one at the door of his tent, and they would watch Moses until he entered the tent.

As all the people saw the pillar of cloud remaining at the entrance to the tent, they would stand up, then bow in worship, each one at the door of his tent.

Be careful not to make a treaty with the inhabitants of the land that you are going to enter; otherwise, they will become a snare among you.

“Do not make a treaty with the inhabitants of the land, or else when they prostitute themselves with their gods and sacrifice to their gods, they will invite you, and you will eat their sacrifices.

When Aaron and all the Israelites saw Moses, the skin of his face shone! They were afraid to come near him.

He has filled them with skill to do all the work of a gem cutter; a designer; an embroiderer in blue, purple, and scarlet yarn and fine linen; and a weaver. They can do every kind of craft and design artistic designs.

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They took from Moses’ presence all the contributions that the Israelites had brought for the task of making the sanctuary. Meanwhile, the people continued to bring freewill offerings morning after morning.

Then all the craftsmen who were doing all the work for the sanctuary came one by one from the work they were doing

After Moses gave an order, they sent a proclamation throughout the camp: “Let no man or woman make anything else as an offering for the sanctuary.” So the people stopped.

They were paired at the bottom and joined together at the top in a single ring. This is what he did with both of them for the two corners.

They had wings spread out. They faced each other and covered the mercy seat with their wings. The faces of the cherubim were looking toward the mercy seat.

They made specially woven garments for ministry in the sanctuary, and the holy garments for Aaron from the blue, purple, and scarlet yarn, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.

They hammered out thin sheets of gold, and he cut threads from them to interweave with the blue, purple, and scarlet yarn, and the fine linen in a skillful design.

They made shoulder pieces for attaching it; it was joined together at its two edges.

Then they mounted the onyx stones surrounded with gold filigree settings, engraved with the names of Israel’s sons as a gem cutter engraves a seal.

They made the breastpiece square and folded double, nine inches long and nine inches wide.

They mounted four rows of gemstones on it. The first row was a row of carnelian, topaz, and emerald;

and the fourth row, a beryl, an onyx, and a jasper. They were surrounded with gold filigree in their settings.

They made braided chains of pure gold cord for the breastpiece.

They also fashioned two gold filigree settings and two gold rings and attached the two rings to its two corners.

Then they attached the two gold cords to the two gold rings on the corners of the breastpiece.

They attached the other ends of the two cords to the two filigree settings and, in this way, attached them to the ephod’s shoulder pieces in front.

They made two other gold rings and put them at the two other corners of the breastpiece on the edge that is next to the inner border of the ephod.

They made two more gold rings and attached them to the bottom of the ephod’s two shoulder pieces on its front, close to its seam, above the ephod’s woven waistband.

Then they tied the breastpiece from its rings to the rings of the ephod with a cord of blue yarn, so that the breastpiece was above the ephod’s waistband and did not come loose from the ephod. They did just as the Lord had commanded Moses.

They made the woven robe of the ephod entirely of blue yarn.

They made pomegranates of finely spun blue, purple, and scarlet yarn on the lower hem of the robe.

They made bells of pure gold and attached the bells between the pomegranates, all around the hem of the robe between the pomegranates,

They made the tunics of fine woven linen for Aaron and his sons.

They also made the turban and the ornate headbands of fine linen, the undergarments,

and the sash of finely spun linen of embroidered blue, purple, and scarlet yarn. They did just as the Lord had commanded Moses.

They also made a medallion, the holy diadem, out of pure gold and wrote on it an inscription like the engraving on a seal:

HOLY TO THE LORD.

Then they attached a cord of blue yarn to it in order to mount it on the turban, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.

Then they brought the tabernacle to Moses: the tent with all its furnishings, its clasps, its planks, its crossbars, and its posts and bases;

Moses inspected all the work they had accomplished. They had done just as the Lord commanded. Then Moses blessed them.

Anoint them just as you anointed their father, so that they may also serve Me as priests. Their anointing will serve to inaugurate a permanent priesthood for them throughout their generations.”

They washed whenever they came to the tent of meeting and approached the altar, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.

If the cloud was not taken up, they did not set out until the day it was taken up.

You may present them to the Lord as an offering of firstfruits, but they are not to be offered on the altar as a pleasing aroma.

“Now if the whole community of Israel errs, and the matter escapes the notice of the assembly, so that they violate any of the Lord’s commands and incur guilt by doing what is prohibited,

then the assembly must present a young bull as a sin offering. When the sin they have committed in regard to the command becomes known, they are to bring it before the tent of meeting.

He is to offer this bull just as he did with the bull in the sin offering; he will offer it the same way. So the priest will make atonement on their behalf, and they will be forgiven.

Aaron and his sons may eat the rest of it. It is to be eaten in the form of unleavened bread in a holy place; they are to eat it in the courtyard of the tent of meeting.

This is the portion from the fire offerings to the Lord for Aaron and his sons since the day they were presented to serve the Lord as priests.

They brought what Moses had commanded to the front of the tent of meeting, and the whole community came forward and stood before the Lord.

They brought him the burnt offering piece by piece, along with the head, and he burned them on the altar.