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Exodus 39

1From the blue, purple, and crimson yarn they made service garments for serving in the holy place. They made the holy garments for Aaron, just as Yahweh had commanded Moses. 2He made the ephod of gold, blue, purple, and crimson yarn and fine twisted linen. 3They hammered out the gold sheets, and he cut them into threads to work into the blue, purple, and crimson yarn and into the fine linen, the work of a skilled designer. 4They made shoulder pieces for it, joined together; it was joined at its two ends. 5Its skillfully woven band, which was on it, was of one piece with it and made like it: gold, blue, purple, and crimson yarn and fine twisted linen, just as Yahweh had commanded Moses. 6They prepared the onyx stones enclosed in gold settings, engraved as seals are engraved with the names of the sons of Israel. 7He put them on the shoulder pieces of the ephod as stones of remembrance for the sons of Israel, just as Yahweh had commanded Moses.

8He made the breastpiece, the work of a skilled designer, like the work of the ephod: of gold, blue, purple, and crimson yarn and fine twisted linen. 9It was square. They made the breastpiece folded double, a span long and a span wide when doubled. 10They set in it four rows of stones: a row of carnelian, topaz, and emerald, the first row; 11the second row, turquoise, lapis lazuli, and moonstone; 12the third row, jacinth, agate, and amethyst; 13and the fourth row, beryl, onyx, and jasper, enclosed in gold settings in their mountings. 14The stones corresponded to the names of the sons of Israel, twelve according to their names, engraved like seals, each with its name, for the twelve tribes. 15They made for the breastpiece twisted chains like cords, of pure gold. 16They made two gold settings and two gold rings and put the two rings on the two ends of the breastpiece. 17They put the two gold cords through the two rings at the ends of the breastpiece. 18They attached the other two ends of the two cords to the two settings and attached them to the shoulder pieces of the ephod at its front. 19They made two gold rings and put them on the two ends of the breastpiece, on its inner edge facing the ephod. 20They made two gold rings and put them on the lower part of the two shoulder pieces of the ephod, at its front, close to its joining, above the skillfully woven band of the ephod. 21They tied the breastpiece by its rings to the rings of the ephod with a blue cord, so that it lay above the band of the ephod and the breastpiece did not come loose from the ephod, just as Yahweh had commanded Moses.

22He made the robe of the ephod, the work of a weaver, entirely of blue. 23The opening of the robe was in its middle, like the opening of a coat of armor, with a binding around its opening so that it would not tear. 24On the hem of the robe they made pomegranates of blue, purple, and crimson yarn, twisted. 25They made bells of pure gold and put the bells between the pomegranates around the hem of the robe, between the pomegranates: 26a bell and a pomegranate, a bell and a pomegranate, around the hem of the robe for serving, just as Yahweh had commanded Moses. 27They made the tunics of fine linen, the work of a weaver, for Aaron and his sons, 28the turban of fine linen, the fine caps of fine linen, and the linen undergarments of fine twisted linen, 29and the sash of fine twisted linen and blue, purple, and crimson yarn, the work of an embroiderer, just as Yahweh had commanded Moses. 30They made the plate of the holy crown of pure gold and wrote on it an inscription, engraved like a seal: “Holiness to Yahweh.” 31They attached a blue cord to it to fasten it on the turban above, just as Yahweh had commanded Moses.

32All the work of the dwelling, the tent of meeting, was completed. The sons of Israel did according to everything Yahweh had commanded Moses; so they did. 33They brought the dwelling to Moses, the tent and all its equipment: its clasps, its frames, its bars, its pillars and its sockets; 34the covering of rams' skins dyed red, the covering of tahash skins, and the screening veil; 35the ark of the testimony and its poles, and the atonement cover; 36the table, all its utensils, and the bread of the Presence; 37the pure lampstand, its lamps, the lamps in their arrangement, all its utensils, and the oil for the light; 38the gold altar, the anointing oil, the fragrant incense, and the screen for the entrance of the tent; 39the bronze altar and its bronze grating, its poles and all its utensils, the basin and its stand; 40the courtyard hangings, its pillars and its sockets, the screen for the courtyard gate, its cords and its pegs, and all the equipment for the service of the dwelling, for the tent of meeting; 41the service garments for serving in the holy place, the holy garments for Aaron the priest, and his sons' garments for priestly service. 42According to everything Yahweh had commanded Moses, so the sons of Israel did all the work. 43Moses saw all the work, and look, they had done it; just as Yahweh had commanded, so they had done. Moses blessed them.

Translation notes 5

39:1–7 — Garments and gold threads. The narrative moves between plural workers and a singular craftsman; it does not name that craftsman in each clause. The gold is explicitly hammered into sheets and cut into threads. The rare “service garments” expression remains uncertain as at 31:10.

39:8–21 — Breastpiece and stones. The gemstone names are the same provisional identifications used in chapter 28; several exact mineral identifications remain uncertain. The repeated dimensions, settings, names, chains, rings, and fastening instructions are retained rather than replaced with a cross-reference.

39:22–29 — Garment details. The term compared with the head opening is traditionally understood as armor; its exact construction is uncertain. Verse 25 repeats “between the pomegranates,” and the translation retains the repetition. Turban, caps, and undergarments remain distinct.

39:30–31 — Holy crown. The gold plate itself is associated with the holy crown; the translation does not add a second headpiece. Its inscription declares consecration to Yahweh.

39:32–43 — Completion and blessing. The inventory and repeated “just as Yahweh had commanded Moses” emphasize conformity to the instructions. The report preserves what is stated here rather than adding every earlier component or procedure that is not repeated in this inventory.