Exodus 40

¹ Yahweh then spoke to Moses and said,

² 'On the first day of the first month, you wil erect the Dwel ing, the Tent of Meeting,

³ and place the ark of the Testimony in it and screen the ark with the curtain.

⁴ You will then bring in the table and arrange what has to be arranged on it. You wil then bring in thelamp-stand and set up its lamps.

⁵ You will place the golden altar of incense in front of the ark of the Testimony, and place the screen atthe entrance to the Dwel ing.

⁶ You will place the altar of burnt offerings in front of the entrance to the Dwel ing, the Tent of Meeting,

⁷ and you wil place the basin between the Tent of Meeting and the altar, and fil it with water.

⁸ You will then set up the surrounding court and hang the screen at the gateway of the court.

⁹ Then, taking the anointing oil, you will anoint the Dwelling and everything inside, consecrating it and alits accessories; it wil then be holy.

¹⁰ You wil then anoint the altar of burnt offerings and all its accessories, consecrating the altar; the altarwil then be especial y holy.

¹¹ You wil then anoint the basin and its stand, and consecrate it.

¹² You wil then bring Aaron and his sons to the entrance of the Tent of Meeting, bathe them thoroughly

¹³ and then dress Aaron in the sacred vestments, and anoint and consecrate him, to serve me in thepriesthood.

¹⁴ You wil then bring his sons, dress them in tunics

¹⁵ and anoint them as you anointed their father, to serve me in the priesthood. Their anointing willconfer an everlasting priesthood on them for al their generations to come.'

¹⁶ Moses did this; he did exactly as Yahweh had ordered him.

¹⁷ On the first day of the first month in the second year the Dwel ing was erected.

¹⁸ Moses erected the Dwel ing. He fixed its sockets, set up its frames, put its crossbars in position andset up its poles.

¹⁹ He spread the tent over the Dwel ing and the covering for the tent over that, as Yahweh had orderedMoses.

²⁰ He took the Testimony and put it in the ark, positioned the shafts on the ark and put the mercy-seaton top of the ark.

²¹ He brought the ark into the Dwel ing and put the screening curtain in place, screening the ark of theTestimony, as Yahweh had ordered Moses.

²² He put the table inside the Tent of Meeting, against the side of the Dwel ing, on the north, outside thecurtain,

²³ and on it arranged the loaves before Yahweh, as Yahweh had ordered Moses.

²⁴ He put the lamp-stand inside the Tent of Meeting, opposite the table, on the south side of theDwelling,

²⁵ and set up the lamps before Yahweh, as Yahweh had ordered Moses.

²⁶ He put the golden altar inside the Tent of Meeting, in front of the curtain,

²⁷ and on it burnt fragrant incense, as Yahweh had ordered Moses.

²⁸ He then put the screen at the entrance to the Dwel ing.

²⁹ He put the altar of burnt offerings at the entrance to the Dwel ing, to the Tent of Meeting, and on itoffered the burnt offering and cereal offering, as Yahweh had ordered Moses.

³⁰ He put the basin between the Tent of Meeting and the altar and put water in it for the ablutions,

³¹ where Moses, Aaron and his sons washed their hands and feet,

³² whenever they entered the Tent of Meeting or approached the altar they washed, as Yahweh hadordered Moses.

³³ He then set up the court round the Dwel ing and the altar and set up the screen at the gate-way tothe court. Thus Moses completed the work.

³⁴ The cloud then covered the Tent of Meeting and the glory of Yahweh fil ed the Dwel ing.

³⁵ Moses could not enter the Tent of Meeting, since the cloud stayed over it and the glory of Yahwehfilled the Dwelling.

³⁶ At every stage of their journey, whenever the cloud rose from the Dwel ing, the Israelites wouldresume their march.

³⁷ If the cloud did not rise, they would not resume their march until the day it did rise.

³⁸ For Yahweh's cloud stayed over the Dwel ing during the daytime and there was fire inside the cloudat night, for the whole House of Israel to see, at every stage of their journey.