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Read Exodus Chapter 37

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1And Bezaleel made the ark of shittim wood: two cubits and a half was the length of it, and a cubit and a half the breadth of it, and a cubit and a half the height of it:

2And he overlaid it with pure gold within and without, and made a crown of gold to it round about.

3And he cast for it four rings of gold, to be set by the four corners of it; even two rings upon the one side of it, and two rings upon the other side of it.

4And he made staves of shittim wood, and overlaid them with gold.

5And he put the staves into the rings by the sides of the ark, to bear the ark.

6And he made the mercy seat of pure gold: two cubits and a half was the length thereof, and one cubit and a half the breadth thereof.

7And he made two cherubims of gold, beaten out of one piece made he them, on the two ends of the mercy seat;

8One cherub on the end on this side, and another cherub on the other end on that side: out of the mercy seat made he the cherubims on the two ends thereof.

9And the cherubims spread out their wings on high, and covered with their wings over the mercy seat, with their faces one to another; even to the mercy seatward were the faces of the cherubims.

10And he made the table of shittim wood: two cubits was the length thereof, and a cubit the breadth thereof, and a cubit and a half the height thereof:

11And he overlaid it with pure gold, and made thereunto a crown of gold round about.

12Also he made thereunto a border of an handbreadth round about; and made a crown of gold for the border thereof round about.

13And he cast for it four rings of gold, and put the rings upon the four corners that were in the four feet thereof.

14Over against the border were the rings, the places for the staves to bear the table.

15And he made the staves of shittim wood, and overlaid them with gold, to bear the table.

16And he made the vessels which were upon the table, his dishes, and his spoons, and his bowls, and his covers to cover withal, of pure gold.

17And he made the candlestick of pure gold: of beaten work made he the candlestick; his shaft, and his branch, his bowls, his knops, and his flowers, were of the same:

18And six branches going out of the sides thereof; three branches of the candlestick out of the one side thereof, and three branches of the candlestick out of the other side thereof:

19Three bowls made after the fashion of almonds in one branch, a knop and a flower; and three bowls made like almonds in another branch, a knop and a flower: so throughout the six branches going out of the candlestick.

20And in the candlestick were four bowls made like almonds, his knops, and his flowers:

21And a knop under two branches of the same, and a knop under two branches of the same, and a knop under two branches of the same, according to the six branches going out of it.

22Their knops and their branches were of the same: all of it was one beaten work of pure gold.

23And he made his seven lamps, and his snuffers, and his snuffdishes, of pure gold.

24Of a talent of pure gold made he it, and all the vessels thereof.

25And he made the incense altar of shittim wood: the length of it was a cubit, and the breadth of it a cubit; it was foursquare; and two cubits was the height of it; the horns thereof were of the same.

26And he overlaid it with pure gold, both the top of it, and the sides thereof round about, and the horns of it: also he made unto it a crown of gold round about.

27And he made two rings of gold for it under the crown thereof, by the two corners of it, upon the two sides thereof, to be places for the staves to bear it withal.

28And he made the staves of shittim wood, and overlaid them with gold.

29And he made the holy anointing oil, and the pure incense of sweet spices, according to the work of the apothecary.

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Explanation

Exodus 37

In short

Bezalel, a craftsman, builds the main objects God commanded for the tabernacle, the tent where God will meet the Israelites. The chapter describes his construction of a special chest, a table, a lampstand, and an altar, all made from wood and overlaid with gold, plus the holy oil and incense used in worship.

What the text says

Verses 1-5 describe the ark, a rectangular wooden chest overlaid with gold inside and out. Gold rings are attached to its four corners so poles can be placed through them to carry it. Verses 6-9 describe the mercy seat, a gold lid for the ark, with two gold creatures called cherubims on top with wings spread over it, facing toward each other. Verses 10-16 describe a wooden table overlaid with gold, also with gold rings for carrying poles, and all its serving dishes are made of pure gold. Verses 17-24 describe a lampstand made from one piece of beaten gold, with six branches extending from a central shaft. It has decorative bowls shaped like almonds, knobs, and flowers throughout, plus seven lamps, tools for the lamps, and a total weight of one talent of gold. Verses 25-28 describe an altar made of wood overlaid with gold, also with gold rings for carrying poles. Verse 29 states that Bezalel also made the holy anointing oil and pure incense according to a recipe.

Takeaways

  • Bezalel completed the major objects for worship exactly as instructed, using expensive materials like pure gold and fine wood.
  • The repeated details about gold overlay and rings for carrying show that these objects were valuable and meant to be moved and honored.
  • The chapter shows that the construction task involved both the work of shaping materials and preparing sacred substances like oil and incense.

Explanation written with the help of AI. The Bible text above is not changed. Context and interpretation are flagged as such; always come back to the text itself.