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Exodus 38

1He made the altar of burnt offering of acacia wood, five cubits long and five cubits wide, square, and three cubits high. 2He made its horns on its four corners; its horns were of one piece with it, and he overlaid it with bronze. 3He made all the altar's utensils: the pots, the shovels, the basins, the forks, and the firepans. He made all its utensils of bronze. 4He made for the altar a grating, a bronze network, under its ledge, below, reaching halfway up it. 5He cast four rings for the four corners of the bronze grating as holders for the poles. 6He made the poles of acacia wood and overlaid them with bronze. 7He put the poles into the rings on the sides of the altar, to carry it with them. He made it hollow, of boards.

8He made the bronze basin and its bronze stand from the mirrors of the serving women who served at the entrance of the tent of meeting.

9He made the courtyard. For the south side, facing south, the courtyard hangings were fine twisted linen, a hundred cubits long, 10with twenty pillars and their twenty bronze sockets. The pillars' hooks and bands were silver. 11For the north side, a hundred cubits, with twenty pillars and their twenty bronze sockets; the pillars' hooks and bands were silver. 12For the west side, hangings fifty cubits long, with ten pillars and their ten sockets; the pillars' hooks and bands were silver. 13For the front side, eastward, fifty cubits. 14There were fifteen cubits of hangings on one side of the entrance, with three pillars and their three sockets, 15and on the other side, on either side of the courtyard gate, fifteen cubits of hangings, with three pillars and their three sockets. 16All the courtyard hangings around it were fine twisted linen. 17The sockets for the pillars were bronze; the pillars' hooks and bands were silver, and the overlay of their tops was silver. All the pillars of the courtyard were banded with silver. 18The screen for the courtyard gate was the work of an embroiderer, of blue, purple, and crimson yarn and fine twisted linen. It was twenty cubits long and five cubits high, measured by the width of its fabric, corresponding to the courtyard hangings. 19It had four pillars with their four bronze sockets, their hooks silver, and the overlay of their tops and their bands silver. 20All the pegs for the dwelling and for the courtyard around it were bronze.

21These are the accounts of the dwelling, the dwelling of the testimony, which were recorded at Moses' command, the service of the Levites under Ithamar son of Aaron the priest. 22Bezalel son of Uri, son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, made everything Yahweh had commanded Moses. 23With him was Oholiab son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan, a craftsman, designer, and embroiderer in blue, purple, and crimson yarn and fine linen.

24All the gold used for the work, in all the work of the sanctuary, the gold of the wave offering, was twenty-nine talents and seven hundred thirty shekels, by the sanctuary shekel. 25The silver from those enrolled in the congregation was a hundred talents and one thousand seven hundred seventy-five shekels, by the sanctuary shekel, 26a beka per head, half a shekel by the sanctuary shekel, for everyone passing among those enrolled, from twenty years old and upward, for six hundred three thousand five hundred fifty. 27The hundred talents of silver were for casting the sockets of the sanctuary and the sockets of the veil, a hundred sockets from the hundred talents, a talent per socket. 28With the one thousand seven hundred seventy-five shekels he made hooks for the pillars, overlaid their tops, and banded them. 29The bronze of the wave offering was seventy talents and two thousand four hundred shekels. 30With it he made the sockets of the entrance of the tent of meeting, the bronze altar and its bronze grating, and all the altar's utensils, 31the sockets of the courtyard around it and the sockets of the courtyard gate, all the pegs of the dwelling, and all the pegs of the courtyard around it.

Translation notes 5

38:1–7 — Altar. The full construction account is retained, including its hollow board construction. “Horns” names the projecting corners. The grating's exact arrangement remains less certain than the stated materials, rings, and halfway height.

38:8 — Women's mirrors and service. Ancient mirrors could be made of polished metal; glass mirrors are not implied. The Hebrew explicitly identifies women through a feminine form of the word for serving or assembling in a company. The Greek version describes fasting women; this Hebrew service wording does not itself specify fasting. Their specific duties and institutional status are not described. The translation neither removes their service nor invents a priestly office for them.

38:9–20 — Court materials. Pillar fittings, tops, sockets, screens, and pegs are separately named. The gate screen's five-cubit width supplies its standing height, matching the surrounding hangings; “fabric” clarifies the stated width rather than adding a new dimension. Exact modern unit conversions are not imposed.

38:21–23 — Accounts and workers. “Under Ithamar” renders the oversight expression literally by his hand. The text identifies both named craftsmen and their tribal relationships; its statement that Bezalel made the work does not exclude the other workers already described.

38:24–29 — Weights and enrollment. Talents and shekels are weight units. A beka is explained in the verse as half a shekel. The silver total corresponds to the stated census payment if one talent is three thousand shekels: 603,550 half-shekels equal 301,775 shekels, or 100 talents plus 1,775 shekels. This arithmetic agreement does not independently verify the historical census or the modern weight of the units.