Exodus 39 in plain modern English. New Ground English Translation.
Time Period
~1446 BC by the traditional dating, or ~1260 BC by the later dating, near the end of the year at Sinai
Location
The Israelite camp at the foot of Mount Sinai
Audience
The Israelites of the wilderness generation and their descendants, especially the priestly families who inherited these garments
Situation
The workers make the priestly clothing: the embroidered outer garment, the breastpiece set with twelve engraved gemstones, the robe with bells and pomegranates along its hem, and the gold plate worn on the high priest's turban. The finished work is brought to Moses, who inspects everything and blesses the people.
Key Background
Coloured dyes carried real weight in this world, since blue and purple came from a Mediterranean sea snail and required enormous quantities of shellfish per garment, which made them the colours of kings. Engraved gemstones served as personal seals across the ancient Near East, so twelve stones cut with the names of the tribes mean the high priest carries the identity of the whole nation on his chest when he enters the sanctuary. The inspection scene deliberately echoes the language of the creation account, presenting the completed sanctuary as a small ordered world.
From the blue, purple, and scarlet yarn, they made the woven garments for serving in the and they made Aaron's the ones for exactly as Yahweh had told Moses.
They made the out of gold thread, blue, purple, and scarlet yarn, and finely twisted linen.
They hammered gold into thin sheets and cut them into threads to weave into the blue, purple, and scarlet yarn, and the fine linen — expert-level work.
They made shoulder straps for it, attached at the two edges so it could be fastened together.
The skillfully woven waistband attached to the vest was made the same way — out of gold, blue, purple, and scarlet yarn, and finely twisted linen — exactly as Yahweh had told Moses.
They prepared the mounted in gold settings, engraved like a with the names of Israel's sons.
He set them on the shoulder straps of the vest as for Israel's sons — exactly as Yahweh had told Moses.
They made the with the same expert craftsmanship as the vest — out of gold, blue, purple, and scarlet yarn, and finely twisted linen.
It was square when folded — a long and a wide when doubled over.
They mounted four rows of stones on it. The first row: a ruby, a topaz, and an emerald.
The second row: a turquoise, a sapphire, and a diamond.
The third row: a jacinth, an agate, and an amethyst.
The fourth row: a beryl, an onyx, and a jasper. They were all set in gold mountings.
There were twelve stones, one for each of Israel's sons, each one engraved like a signature seal with the name of one of the twelve tribes.
For the chest-piece they made braided chains of pure gold, twisted like cords.
They made two gold settings and two gold rings, and attached the two rings to the two corners of the chest-piece.
They fastened the two gold chains to the two rings at the corners of the chest-piece.
They attached the other two ends of the chains to the two settings, fastening them to the shoulder straps of the vest on the front side.
They made two more gold rings and put them on the two lower corners of the chest-piece, on the inside edge next to the vest.
They made two more gold rings and attached them to the bottom of the vest's shoulder straps on the front, close to the seam just above the waistband.
They tied the chest-piece from its rings to the vest's rings with a blue cord, keeping it snug above the waistband so the chest-piece wouldn't swing loose from the vest — exactly as Yahweh had told Moses.
They made the that goes under the vest entirely out of blue yarn — all woven work.
There was an opening in the center of the robe like the collar of a leather armor piece, with a finished edge around the opening so it wouldn't tear.
They made of blue, purple, and scarlet yarn and twisted linen along the bottom hem of the robe.
They also made bells of pure gold and put them between the pomegranates all around the hem of the robe —
— a bell, then a pomegranate, a bell, then a pomegranate — all around the hem of the robe for serving in, exactly as Yahweh had told Moses.
They made the of finely woven linen for Aaron and his sons,
and the turban of fine linen, the decorative headbands of fine linen, and the linen undergarments of finely twisted linen,
and the sash of finely twisted linen with blue, purple, and scarlet yarn — embroidered work — exactly as Yahweh had told Moses.
They made the plate for the crown that to God out of pure gold and engraved on it, like a signature seal: to
They fastened a blue cord to it to tie it to the top of the turban — exactly as Yahweh had told Moses.
So all the work on the — the of — was finished. The Israelites did everything exactly as Yahweh had told Moses. They did it just like that.
Then they brought everything to Moses: the dwelling with all its equipment — the clasps, the frames, the crossbars, the posts, and the bases;
the covering of ram skins dyed red, the covering of fine leather, and the screening curtain;
the of the with its carrying poles and the of
the table with all its utensils and the of
the pure gold with its lamps arranged in a row, and all its utensils, and the oil for lighting;
the gold altar, the the fragrant incense, and the screen for the entrance of the tent;
the bronze altar with its bronze grate, its carrying poles and all its utensils; the basin and its stand;
the hangings for the courtyard, its posts and bases, and the screen for the courtyard gate; the ropes and tent pegs; and all the equipment for service in the dwelling, the Tent of Meeting;
the woven garments for serving in the Sacred Room, the clothes kept for God that Aaron the priest wears, and the clothes his sons wear to serve as priests.
The Israelites had done all the work exactly as Yahweh had told Moses.
Moses looked all the work, and — yes — they had done it exactly as Yahweh had said. So Moses a them.