Exodus 40
1 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,
Then Yahweh said to Moses/me,
2 On the first day of the first month, at the new moon, you shall set up the tabernacle of witness,
“On the first day of the first month next year, [tell the people to] set up the Sacred Tent.
3 and you shall place [in it] the ark of the testimony, and shall cover the ark with the veil,
Put inside it the sacred chest [that contains the stone slabs on which are engraved] the Ten Commandments, and hang the curtain in front of it.
4 and you shall bring in the table and shall set forth that which is to be set forth on it; and you shall bring in the candlestick and place its lamps on it.
Bring the table into the Sacred Tent, and place on it all the things that are to be used with it. Bring in the lampstand and fasten the lamps to it.
5 And you shall place the golden altar, to burn incense before the ark; and you shall put a covering of a veil on the door of the tabernacle of witness.
Put the gold altar for [burning] incense in front of the sacred chest, and set up the curtain at the entrance of the Sacred Tent.
6 And you shall put the altar of burnt offerings by the doors of the tabernacle of witness, and you shall set up the tabernacle round about, and you shall hallow all that belongs to it round about.
Put the altar for burning sacrifices in front of the Sacred Tent.
Put the washbasin between the Sacred Tent and the altar, and fill it with water.
Hang the curtains that will surround the courtyard, and hang the curtain at its entrance.
9 And you shall take the anointing oil, and shall anoint the tabernacle, and all things in it; and shall sanctify it, and all its furniture, and it shall be holy.
Then take the oil for anointing, and anoint the Sacred Tent and everything that is in it, to (set it apart/dedicate it) to me. Then it will be holy/sacred.
10 And you shall anoint the altar of burnt offerings, and all its furniture; and you shall hallow the altar, and the altar shall be most holy.
Also anoint the altar for offering sacrifices that will be completely burned, and all the things that will be used with it, and set it apart. Then it also will be holy/sacred.
Also anoint the washbasin and its base, to set it apart.
12 And you shall bring Aaron and his sons to the doors of the tabernacle of witness, and you shall wash them with water.
Then bring Aaron and his sons to the entrance of the Sacred Tent, and wash them [ritually] with water.
13 And you shall put on Aaron the holy garments, and you shall anoint him, and you shall sanctify him, and he shall minister to me as priest.
Then put on Aaron his sacred clothes to (set him apart/dedicate him), in order that he can serve me as a priest.
14 And you shall bring up his sons, and shall put garments on them.
Also bring his sons there. Put their sacred tunics/gowns on them
15 And you shall anoint them as you did anoint their father, and they shall minister to me as priests; and it shall be that they shall have an everlasting anointing of priesthood, throughout their generations.
and anoint them just as you anointed their father, in order that they also may serve me by working as priests. By anointing them [and their descendants], you will cause them and their descendants to be priests throughout all coming generations.”
16 And Moses did all things whatever the Lord commanded him, so did he.
Moses/I did all these things exactly as Yahweh had commanded him/me.
17 And it came to pass in the first month, in the second year after their going forth out of Egypt, at the new moon, that the tabernacle was set up.
On the first day of the first month of the next year (OR, second year [after they/we left Egypt]), the people set up the Sacred Tent.
18 And Moses set up the tabernacle, and put on the chapiters, and put the bars into their places, and set up the posts.
Following Moses’/my instructions, they set up the Sacred Tent and its bases, set up the frames, attached the crossbars, and put up the posts [for the curtains].
19 And he stretched out the curtains over the tabernacle, and put the veil of the tabernacle on it above as the Lord commanded Moses.
Then they spread out the coverings over the Sacred Tent, exactly as Yahweh had commanded.
20 And he took the testimonies, and put them into the ark; and he put the staves by the sides of the ark.
Then he/I took the two stone slabs [on which the commandments were written] and put them in the sacred chest. He/I put the carrying poles [in the rings] on the chest and put the lid on top of the chest.
21 And he brought the ark into the tabernacle, and put on [it] the covering of the veil, and covered the ark of the testimony, as the Lord commanded Moses.
Then he/I took the chest into [the Very Holy Place inside] the Sacred Tent and hung the curtain. In that way, he/I prevented the people who were outside from seeing the chest. He/I did all this exactly as Yahweh had commanded him/me.
22 And he put the table in the tabernacle of witness, on the north side without the veil of the tabernacle.
He/I set the table inside the Sacred Tent, on the north side, outside the curtain.
23 And he put on it the show bread before the Lord, as the Lord commanded Moses.
He/I placed on the table the bread that was offered to Yahweh, exactly as Yahweh had commanded.
24 And he put the candlestick into the tabernacle of witness, on the side of the tabernacle towards the south.
He/I set the lampstand inside the Sacred Tent, on the south side, opposite the table.
25 And he put on it its lamps before the Lord, as the Lord had commanded Moses.
Then he/I fastened the lamps to the lampstand in Yahweh’s presence, exactly as Yahweh had commanded.
26 And he put the golden altar in the tabernacle of witness before the veil;
He/I set the golden altar for burning incense inside the Sacred Tent, in front of the curtain [that separated the Holy Place from the Very Holy Place],
27 and he burnt on it incense of composition, as the Lord commanded Moses.
and he/I burned some sweet-smelling incense on it, exactly as Yahweh had commanded him/me.
He/I hung the curtain at the entrance to the Sacred Tent.
29 And he put the altar of the burnt offerings by the doors of the tabernacle.
At the entrance to the Sacred Tent, he/I set the altar for offering sacrifices that were to be burned completely. Then he/I offered on it the meat that was to be burned completely and the grain offering, exactly as Yahweh had commanded him/me.
He/I set the washbasin between the Sacred Tent and the [bronze] altar, and he/I filled the washbasin with water.
31 And he set up the court round about the tabernacle and the altar; and Moses accomplished all the works.
Every time Moses/I and Aaron and his sons went into the Sacred Tent or went to the altar, they/we washed their/our hands and feet [ritually], exactly as Yahweh had commanded Moses/me.
Following Moses’/my instructions, they hung the curtains that surrounded the courtyard and the altar, and they hung the curtain at the entrance to the courtyard. So Moses/I finished that work.
34 And the cloud covered the tabernacle of witness, and the tabernacle was filled with the glory of the Lord.
Then the [tall bright] cloud covered the Sacred Tent, and Yahweh’s (glory/brilliant light) filled the Sacred Tent.
35 And Moses was not able to enter into the tabernacle of testimony, because the cloud overshadowed it, and the tabernacle was filled with the glory of the Lord.
Because that light was very bright, Moses/I was not able to enter the Sacred Tent.
36 And when the cloud went up from the tabernacle, the children of Israel prepared to depart with their baggage.
From that day, whenever the Israeli people wanted to move to another place, they went only when the bright cloud rose from above the Sacred Tent.
37 And if the cloud went not up, they did not prepare to depart, till the day when the cloud went up.
If the cloud did not rise, they stayed where they were and did not go on until the cloud rose.
38 For a cloud was on the tabernacle by day, and fire was on it by night before all Israel, in all their journeyings.
Wherever they traveled, the bright cloud that [indicated] Yahweh’s [presence] was above the Sacred Tent during the day, and a [bright] fire was inside the cloud at night, with the result that all the Israeli people [MTY] could see it [at any time].
