Exodus 31 in plain modern English. New Ground English Translation.
Time Period
~1446 BC on the earlier dating, or ~1260 BC on the later one, at the close of Moses' forty days on Sinai
Location
Mount Sinai, at the end of the instructions for the tent sanctuary
Audience
The people of Israel, and the skilled workers who would build the sanctuary
Situation
God names Bezalel of the tribe of Judah and Oholiab of the tribe of Dan as the chief craftsmen, filling Bezalel with his Spirit for skill in metalwork, stonecutting, woodwork and design. He then repeats the command to keep the Sabbath as the lasting sign of the covenant, and hands Moses two stone tablets written by God.
Key Background
This is the first place in the Bible where God's Spirit is said to fill someone, and it is given for craftsmanship rather than for prophecy or leadership, which sets a high value on skilled manual work. Ancient Near Eastern treaties often ended with a distinguishing mark or token of the agreement, and here the weekly rest day serves that role, a public sign visible to anyone watching Israel's calendar. Stone tablets written on both sides were a normal way of preserving a permanent legal text, and treaty documents were customarily deposited in a shrine, which is why these two tablets end up inside the ark.
said to Moses,
"Look — I've son of Uri, son of Hur, from the tribe of Judah.
I've filled him with the of — with and expertise in every kind of craft.
He can design artistic works — in gold, silver, and bronze,
cut and set gemstones, carve wood — he can make anything.
And I've also given him son of Ahisamach, from the tribe of Dan, as his partner. On top of that, I've put the of every talented craftsperson, so they can make everything I've told you about:
the the for the the that sits on top of it, and all the equipment for the —
the table and everything on it, the pure gold and all its equipment, the
the for and all its equipment, the and its stand,
the finely crafted clothing, the for that Aaron the priest wears, and his sons' clothing for serving as priests,
the and the aromatic incense for the They'll make everything exactly as I've told you to."
Then Yahweh said to Moses,
"Tell the Israelites: 'You absolutely must keep my because this is a between me and you for every generation, so you'll know that I am Yahweh, the one who you
Keep the rest day, because it is for Anyone who treats it as just another day must be put to death. Anyone who does any work on it will be from their people.
Work can be done for six days, but the seventh day is a kept for Yahweh. Anyone who works on the day must be put to death.
The Israelites must observe the rest day, celebrating it as a through every generation.
It's a sign between me and the Israelites forever. In six days Yahweh made the and the earth, and on the seventh day he stopped working and a
When he finished speaking with Moses on Mount Sinai, he gave him the two of the — stone slabs written on by own