Exodus 40

1 And the Lord said to Moses,

Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,

2 On the first day of the first month you are to put up the House of the Tent of meeting.

“On the first day of the first month of the new year you must set up the tabernacle, the tent of meeting.

3 And inside it put the ark of the law, hanging the veil before it.

You must place the ark of the testimony in it, and you must shield the ark with the curtain.

4 And put the table inside, placing all the things on it in order; and put in the support for the lights, and let its lights be burning.

You must bring in the table and set in order the things that belong on it. Then you must bring in the lampstand and set up the lamps.

5 And put the gold altar for burning perfumes in front of the ark of the law, hanging the curtain over the doorway of the House.

You must put the golden incense altar before the ark of the testimony, and you must put the curtain at the entrance to the tabernacle.

6 And put the altar of burned offerings before the doorway of the House of the Tent of meeting.

You must put the altar for burnt offerings in front of the entrance to the tabernacle, the tent of meeting.

7 And let the washing-vessel, with water in it, be put between the Tent of meeting and the altar.

You must put the large basin between the tent of meeting and the altar and you must put water in it.

8 And put up the hangings forming the open space all round it, with the curtain over its doorway.

You must set up the courtyard around it, and you must hang up the curtain at the courtyard entrance.

9 And take the holy oil and put it on the House and everything in it, and make it and everything in it holy:

You must take the anointing oil and anoint the tabernacle and everything that is in it. You must set it apart and all its furnishings to me; then it will be holy.

10 And put oil on the altar of burned offering, and make it and all its vessels holy; this altar is to be most holy.

You must anoint the altar for burnt offerings and all its utensils. You must set apart the altar to me and it will become very holy to me.

11 And put oil on the washing-vessel and its base, and make them holy.

You must anoint the bronze basin and its base and set it apart to me.

12 Then let Aaron and his sons come to the door of the Tent of meeting; and after washing them with water,

You are to bring Aaron and his sons to the entrance of the tent of meeting and you must wash them with water.

13 You are to put on Aaron the holy robes; and you are to put oil on him, and make him holy, so that he may be my priest.

You are to clothe Aaron with the garments that are set apart to me, anoint him and set him apart so that he may serve as my priest.

14 And take his sons with him and put coats on them;

You are to bring his sons and clothe them with coats.

15 And put oil on them as you did on their father, so that they may be my priests: the putting on of oil will make them priests for ever, from generation to generation.

You must anoint them as you anointed their father so that they may serve me as priests. Their anointing will make for them a permanent priesthood throughout their people's generations.”

16 And Moses did this; as the Lord gave him orders, so he did.

This is what Moses did; he followed all that Yahweh had commanded him. He did all these things.

17 So on the first day of the first month in the second year the House was put up.

So the tabernacle was set up on the first day of the first month in the second year.

18 Moses put up the House; placing its bases in position and lifting up its uprights, putting in the rods and planting the pillars in their places;

Moses set up the tabernacle, put its bases in place, set up its frames, attached its bars, and set up its pillars and posts.

19 Stretching the outer tent over it, and covering it, as the Lord had given him orders.

He spread the covering over the tabernacle and put tent over it, as Yahweh had commanded him.

20 And he took the law and put it inside the ark, and put the rods at its side and the cover over it;

He took the covenant decrees and put them into the ark. He also placed the poles on the ark and put the atonement lid on it.

21 And he took the ark into the House, hanging up the veil before it as the Lord had given him orders.

He brought the ark into the tabernacle. He set up the curtain for it to shield the ark of the testimony, as Yahweh had commanded him.

22 And he put the table in the Tent of meeting, on the north side outside the veil.

He put the table into the tent of meeting, on the north side of the tabernacle, outside the curtain.

23 And he put the bread on it in order before the Lord, as the Lord had said.

He placed the bread in order on the table before Yahweh, as Yahweh had commanded him.

24 The support for the lights he put in the Tent of meeting, opposite the table, on the south side:

He put the lampstand into the tent of meeting, across from the table, on the south side of the tabernacle.

25 Lighting the lights before the Lord, as the Lord had given him orders.

He lit the lamps before Yahweh, as Yahweh had commanded him.

26 And he put the gold altar in the Tent of meeting, in front of the veil:

He put the golden incense altar into the tent of meeting in front of the curtain.

27 Burning sweet perfumes on it, as the Lord had given him orders.

He burned fragrant incense on it, as Yahweh had commanded him.

28 And he put up the curtain at the doorway of the House.

He hung the curtain at the tabernacle entrance.

29 And at the door of the House of the Tent of meeting, he put the altar of burned offerings, offering on it the burned offering and the meal offering, as the Lord had given him orders.

He put the altar for the burnt offering at the entrance to the tabernacle, the tent of meeting. He offered on it the burnt offering and the grain offering, as Yahweh had commanded him.

30 And between the altar and the Tent of meeting he put the vessel with water in it for washing.

He placed the basin between the tent of meeting and the altar, and he put water in it for washing.

31 In it the hands and feet of Moses and Aaron and his sons were washed,

Moses, Aaron, and his sons washed their hands and their feet from the basin

32 Whenever they went into the Tent of meeting, and when they came near the altar, as the Lord had given orders to Moses.

whenever they would go into the tent of meeting and whenever they would go up to the altar. They washed themselves, as Yahweh had commanded Moses.

33 And he put up the hangings forming the open space round the House and the altar, and put the curtain over the doorway. So Moses made the work complete.

Moses set up the courtyard around the tabernacle and the altar. He set up the curtain at the courtyard entrance. In this way, Moses finished the work.

34 Then the cloud came down covering the Tent of meeting, and the House was full of the glory of the Lord;

Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and Yahweh's glory filled the tabernacle.

35 So that Moses was not able to go into the Tent of meeting, because the cloud was resting on it, and the House was full of the glory of the Lord.

Moses was not able to enter the tent of meeting because the cloud had settled on it, and because Yahweh's glory filled the tabernacle.

36 And whenever the cloud was taken up from the House, the children of Israel went forward on their journey:

Whenever the cloud was taken up from over the tabernacle, the people of Israel would set out on their journey.

37 But while the cloud was there, they made no move till it was taken up.

But if the cloud did not rise up from the tabernacle, then the people would not travel. They would stay until the day that it was lifted up.

38 For the cloud of the Lord was resting on the House by day, and at night there was fire in the cloud, before the eyes of all the people of Israel, and so it was through all their journeys.

For Yahweh's cloud was over the tabernacle by day, and his fire was over it by night, in plain view of all the people of Israel throughout their journey.