¹ And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

² Speak to the children of Israel, that they bring firstfruits to me: of every man that offereth of his own accord, you shall take them.

³ And these are the things you must take: gold, and silver, and brass,

⁴ Violet and purple, and scarlet twice dyed, and fine linen, and goats' hair,

⁵ And rams' skins dyed red, and violet skins, and setim wood:

⁶ Oil to make lights: spices for ointment, and for sweetsmelling incense:

⁷ Onyx stones, and precious stones to adorn the ephod and the rational.

⁸ And they shall make me a sanctuary, and I will dwell in the midst of them:

⁹ According to all the likeness of the tabernacle which I will shew thee, and of all the vessels for the service thereof: and thus you shall make it:

¹⁰ Frame an ark of setim wood, the length whereof shall be of two cubits and a half: the breadth, a cubit and a half: the height, likewise, a cubit and a half.

¹¹ And thou shalt overlay it with the purest gold within and without: and over it thou shalt make a golden crown round about:

¹² And four golden rings, which thou shall put at the four corners of the ark: let two rings be on the one side, and two on the other.

¹³ Thou shalt make bars also of setim wood, and shalt overlay them with gold.

¹⁴ And thou shalt put them in through the rings that are in the sides of the ark, that it may be carried on them.

¹⁵ And they shall be always in the rings, neither shall they at any time be drawn out of them.

¹⁶ And thou shalt put in the ark the testimony which I will give thee.

¹⁷ Thou shalt make also a propitiatory of the purest gold: the length thereof shall be two cubits and a half, and the breadth a cubit and a half.

¹⁸ Thou shalt make also two cherubims of beaten gold, on the two sides of the oracle.

¹⁹ Let one cherub be on the one side, and the other on the other.

²⁰ Let them cover both sides of the propitiatory, spreading their wings, and covering the oracle, and let them look one towards the other, their faces being turned towards the propitiatory wherewith the ark is to be covered.

²¹ In which thou shalt put the testimony that I will give thee.

²² Thence will I give orders, and will speak to thee over the propitiatory, and from the midst of the two cherubims, which shall be upon the ark of the testimony, all things which I will command the children of Israel by thee.

²³ Thou shalt make a table also of setim wood, of two cubits in length, and a cubit in breadth, and a cubit and half in height.

²⁴ And thou shalt overlay it with the purest gold: and thou shalt make to it a golden ledge round about.

²⁵ And to the ledge itself a polished crown, four inches high: and over the same another little golden crown.

²⁶ Thou shalt prepare also four golden rings, and shalt put them in the four corners of the same table over each foot.

²⁷ Under the crown shall the golden rings be, that the bars may be put through them, and the table may be carried.

²⁸ The bars also themselves thou shalt make of setim wood, and shalt overlay them with gold to bear up the table.

²⁹ Thou shalt prepare also dishes, and bowls, censers, and cups, wherein the libations are to be offered of the purest gold.

³⁰ And thou shalt set upon the table loaves of proposition in my sight always.

³¹ Thou shalt make also a candlestick of beaten work of the finest gold, the shaft thereof, and the branches, the cups, and the bowls, and the lilies going forth from it.

³² Six branches shall come out of the sides, three out of the one side, and three out of the other.

³³ Three cups as it were nuts to every branch, and a bowl withal, and a lily; and Three cups, likewise of the fashion of nuts in the other branch, and a bowl withal, and a lily. Such shall be the work of the six branches, that are to come out from the shaft:

³⁴ And in the candlestick itself shall be four cups in the manner of a nut, and at every one, bowls and lilies.

³⁵ Bowls under two branches in three places, which together make six coming forth out of one shaft.

³⁶ And both the bowls and the branches shall be of the same beaten work of the purest gold.

³⁷ Thou shalt make also seven lamps, and shalt set them upon the candlestick, to give light over against.

³⁸ The snuffers also and where the snuffings shall be put out, shall be made of the purest gold.

³⁹ The whole weight of the candlestick with all the furniture thereof shall be a talent of the purest gold.

⁴⁰ Look and make it according to the pattern, that was shewn thee in the mount.

¹ And Solomon determined to build a house to the name of the Lord, and a palace for himself.

² And he numbered out seventy thousand men to bear burdens, and eighty thousand to hew stones in the mountains, and three thousand six hundred to over- see them.

³ He sent also to Hiram king of Tyre, saying: As thou didst with David my father, and didst send him cedars, to build him a house, in which he dwelt:

⁴ So do with me that I may build a house to the name of the Lord my God, to dedicate it to burn incense before him, and to perfume with aromatical spices, and for the continual setting forth of bread, and for the holocausts, morning and evening, and on the sabbaths, and on the new moons, and the solemnities of the Lord our God for ever, which are commanded for Israel.

⁵ For the house which I desire to build, is great: for our God is great above all gods.

⁶ Who then can be able to build him a worthy house? if heaven, and the heavens of heavens cannot contain him: who am I that I should be able to build him a house? but to this end only, that incense may be burnt before him.

⁷ Send me therefore a skilful man, that knoweth how to work in gold, and in silver, in brass, and in iron, in purple, in scarlet and in blue, and that hath skill in engraving, with the artificers, which I have with me in Judea and Jerusalem, whom David my father provided.

⁸ Send me also cedars, and fir trees, and pine trees from Libanus: for I know that thy servants are skilful in cutting timber in Libanus, and my servants shall be with thy servants,

⁹ To provide me timber in abundance. For the house which I desire to build, is to be exceeding great, and glorious.

¹⁰ And I will give thy servants the workmen that are to cut down the trees, for their food twenty thousand cores of wheat, and as many cores of barley, and twenty thousand measures of wine, and twenty thousand measures of oil.

¹¹ And Hiram king of Tyre sent a letter to Solomon, saying: Because the Lord hath loved his people, therefore he hath made thee king over them.

¹² And he added, saying: Blessed be the Lord the God of Israel, who made heaven and earth, who hath given to king David a wise and knowing son, endued with understanding and prudence, to build a house to the Lord, and a palace for himself.

¹³ I therefore have sent thee my father Hiram, a wise and most skilful man,

¹⁴ The son of a woman of the daughters of Dan, whose father was a Tyrian, who knoweth how to work in gold, and in silver, in brass, and in iron, and in marble, and in timber, in purple also, and violet, and silk and scarlet: and who knoweth to grave all sort of graving, and to devise ingeniously all that there may be need of in the work with thy artificers, and with the artificers of my lord David thy father.

¹⁵ The wheat therefore, and the barley and the oil, and the wine, which thou, my lord, hast promised, send to thy servants.

¹⁶ And we will cut down as many trees out of Libanus, as thou shalt want, and will convey them in floats by sea to Joppe: and it will be thy part to bring them thence to Jerusalem.

¹⁷ And Solomon numbered all the proselytes in the land of Israel, after the numbering which David his father had made, and they were found a hundred and fifty-three thousand and six hundred.

¹⁸ And he set seventy thousand of them to carry burdens on their shoulders, and eighty thousand to hew stones in the mountains: and three thousand and six hundred to be overseers of the work of the people.