ExodusChapter 40

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¹Then the LORD said to Moses, ²"On the first day of the first month, set up the tabernacle, the Tent of Meeting. ³Put the ark of the Testimony in it. Screen off the ark with the veil. ⁴Then bring in the table and set out the things that go on it. Bring in the lampstand too, and set up its lamps. ⁵Put the gold altar for incense in front of the ark of the Testimony. Hang the curtain at the doorway of the tabernacle. ⁶Put the altar for burnt offerings in front of the doorway of the tabernacle, the Tent of Meeting. ⁷Put the basin between the Tent of Meeting and the altar. Put water in it. ⁸Set up the courtyard all around. Hang the curtain for the entrance to the courtyard. ⁹Take the anointing oil. Anoint the tabernacle and everything in it. Set it apart to God, with all its things, and it will be holy. ¹⁰Anoint the altar for burnt offerings and all its tools. Set the altar apart, and it will be most holy. ¹¹Anoint the basin and its stand, and set them apart to God. ¹²Then bring Aaron and his sons to the doorway of the Tent of Meeting. Wash them with water. ¹³Dress Aaron in the holy clothes. Anoint him and set him apart, so that he may serve me as a priest. ¹⁴Bring his sons forward and dress them in tunics. ¹⁵Anoint them just as you anointed their father, so that they may also serve me as priests. Their anointing will make them priests forever, for all the generations to come." ¹⁶Moses did everything just as the LORD had commanded him. ¹⁷So the tabernacle was set up on the first day of the first month of the second year. ¹⁸Moses set up the tabernacle. He laid its bases and put its frames in place. He put in its crossbars and set up its posts. ¹⁹Then he spread the tent over the tabernacle. He put the cover over the tent, just as the LORD had commanded him. ²⁰Moses took the Testimony and put it in the ark. He put the poles on the ark. He set the mercy seat on top of the ark.a ²¹Then he brought the ark into the tabernacle. He hung the veil as a screen and closed off the ark of the Testimony, just as the LORD had commanded him. ²²Moses put the table in the Tent of Meeting. It was on the north side of the tabernacle, outside the veil. ²³He set out the bread on it before the LORD, just as the LORD had commanded him. ²⁴He also put the lampstand in the Tent of Meeting. It was across from the table, on the south side of the tabernacle. ²⁵He set up the lamps before the LORD, just as the LORD had commanded him. ²⁶Moses put the gold altar in the Tent of Meeting, in front of the veil. ²⁷He burned sweet-smelling incense on it, just as the LORD had commanded him. ²⁸Then he hung the curtain at the doorway of the tabernacle. ²⁹He put the altar for burnt offerings near the doorway of the tabernacle, the Tent of Meeting. He offered the burnt offering and the grain offering on it, just as the LORD had commanded him. ³⁰He put the basin between the Tent of Meeting and the altar. He put water in it for washing. ³¹Moses, Aaron, and his sons washed their hands and feet with water from it. ³²They washed each time they went into the Tent of Meeting or came near the altar. It was just as the LORD had commanded Moses. ³³Moses set up the courtyard around the tabernacle and the altar. He hung the curtain for the entrance to the courtyard. So Moses finished the work. ³⁴Then the cloud covered the Tent of Meeting. The glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle. ³⁵Moses could not go into the Tent of Meeting, because the cloud had settled on it. And the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle. ³⁶Each time the cloud lifted from above the tabernacle, the Israelites would set out. They did this at every stage of their journey. ³⁷But if the cloud did not lift, they did not set out. They waited until the day it lifted. ³⁸For the cloud of the LORD was over the tabernacle by day, and fire was in the cloud by night. All the people of Israel could see it through all their journeys.