Exodus 40 :: New International Version (NIV)

Setting Up the Tabernacle

Exo 40:1

Exo 40:1Then the LORD said to Moses:

Exo 40:2

Exo 40:2“Set up the tabernacle, the tent of meeting, on the first day of the first month.

Exo 40:3

Exo 40:3Place the ark of the covenant law in it and shield the ark with the curtain.

Exo 40:4

Exo 40:4Bring in the table and set out what belongs on it. Then bring in the lampstand and set up its lamps.

Exo 40:5

Exo 40:5Place the gold altar of incense in front of the ark of the covenant law and put the curtain at the entrance to the tabernacle.

Exo 40:6

Exo 40:6“Place the altar of burnt offering in front of the entrance to the tabernacle, the tent of meeting;

Exo 40:7

Exo 40:7place the basin between the tent of meeting and the altar and put water in it.

Exo 40:8

Exo 40:8Set up the courtyard around it and put the curtain at the entrance to the courtyard.

Exo 40:9

Exo 40:9“Take the anointing oil and anoint the tabernacle and everything in it; consecrate it and all its furnishings, and it will be holy.

Exo 40:10

Exo 40:10Then anoint the altar of burnt offering and all its utensils; consecrate the altar, and it will be most holy.

Exo 40:11

Exo 40:11Anoint the basin and its stand and consecrate them.

Exo 40:12

Exo 40:12“Bring Aaron and his sons to the entrance to the tent of meeting and wash them with water.

Exo 40:13

Exo 40:13Then dress Aaron in the sacred garments, anoint him and consecrate him so he may serve me as priest.

Exo 40:14

Exo 40:14Bring his sons and dress them in tunics.

Exo 40:15

Exo 40:15Anoint them just as you anointed their father, so they may serve me as priests. Their anointing will be to a priesthood that will continue throughout their generations.”

Exo 40:16

Exo 40:16Moses did everything just as the LORD commanded him.

Exo 40:17

Exo 40:17So the tabernacle was set up on the first day of the first month in the second year.

Exo 40:18

Exo 40:18When Moses set up the tabernacle, he put the bases in place, erected the frames, inserted the crossbars and set up the posts.

Exo 40:19

Exo 40:19Then he spread the tent over the tabernacle and put the covering over the tent, as the LORD commanded him.

Exo 40:20

Exo 40:20He took the tablets of the covenant law and placed them in the ark, attached the poles to the ark and put the atonement cover over it.

Exo 40:21

Exo 40:21Then he brought the ark into the tabernacle and hung the shielding curtain and shielded the ark of the covenant law, as the LORD commanded him.

Exo 40:22

Exo 40:22Moses placed the table in the tent of meeting on the north side of the tabernacle outside the curtain

Exo 40:23

Exo 40:23and set out the bread on it before the LORD, as the LORD commanded him.

Exo 40:24

Exo 40:24He placed the lampstand in the tent of meeting opposite the table on the south side of the tabernacle

Exo 40:25

Exo 40:25and set up the lamps before the LORD, as the LORD commanded him.

Exo 40:26

Exo 40:26Moses placed the gold altar in the tent of meeting in front of the curtain

Exo 40:27

Exo 40:27and burned fragrant incense on it, as the LORD commanded him.

Exo 40:28

Exo 40:28Then he put up the curtain at the entrance to the tabernacle.

Exo 40:29

Exo 40:29He set the altar of burnt offering near the entrance to the tabernacle, the tent of meeting, and offered on it burnt offerings and grain offerings, as the LORD commanded him.

Exo 40:30

Exo 40:30He placed the basin between the tent of meeting and the altar and put water in it for washing,

Exo 40:31

Exo 40:31and Moses and Aaron and his sons used it to wash their hands and feet.

Exo 40:32

Exo 40:32They washed whenever they entered the tent of meeting or approached the altar, as the LORD commanded Moses.

Exo 40:33

Exo 40:33Then Moses set up the courtyard around the tabernacle and altar and put up the curtain at the entrance to the courtyard. And so Moses finished the work.

The Glory of the Lord

(Exo 13:21, 22; Num 9:15–23 )

Exo 40:34

Exo 40:34Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle.

Exo 40:35

Exo 40:35Moses could not enter the tent of meeting because the cloud had settled on it, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle.

Exo 40:36

Exo 40:36In all the travels of the Israelites, whenever the cloud lifted from above the tabernacle, they would set out;

Exo 40:37

Exo 40:37but if the cloud did not lift, they did not set out—until the day it lifted.

Exo 40:38

Exo 40:38So the cloud of the LORD was over the tabernacle by day, and fire was in the cloud by night, in the sight of all the Israelites during all their travels.

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