Exodus 39: The priests' garments, and all the work finished

In plain English: From the blue, purple, and scarlet they made finely worked garments for serving in the holy place, and made the holy garments for Aaron, as Yahweh commanded Moses.

Good to know: The words "as Yahweh commanded Moses", or very close to them, are in 19 verses from 38:22 to 40:32: in 38:22, seven times for the garments (39:1 to 39:31), in 39:32, 39:42 and 39:43, and eight times in chapter 40, from 40:16 to 40:32.

In plain English: He made the ephod of gold, blue, purple, scarlet, and fine twisted linen.

In plain English: They beat the gold into thin plates and cut it into wires, to work it in with the blue, the purple, the scarlet, and the fine linen, the work of a skilled workman.

The Hebrew word: "Wires" is pathil, which the dictionary gives as "twine". In Exodus the word is in 5 verses, and this Bible says "lace" in the other 4: 28:28, 28:37, 39:21 and 39:31.

Good to know: Exodus 28:6 says the ephod is made of gold, blue, purple, scarlet and fine twisted linen, and does not say how the gold is worked in. This verse does.

In plain English: They made shoulder straps for it, joined together. It was joined together at its two ends.

In plain English: The skillfully woven band that was on it, with which to fasten it on, was of the same piece, like its work: of gold, blue, purple, scarlet, and fine twisted linen, as Yahweh commanded Moses.

In plain English: They worked the onyx stones, enclosed in settings of gold, engraved like the engravings of a signet (a seal), with the names of the Israelites (literally: the sons of Israel).

In plain English: He put them on the shoulder straps of the ephod, to be stones of memorial (reminder) for the Israelites, as Yahweh commanded Moses.

In plain English: He made the breastplate, the work of a skilled workman, like the work of the ephod: of gold, blue, purple, scarlet, and fine twisted linen.

Good to know: Exodus 28:15, 28:29 and 28:30 call it "the breastplate of judgment", and 28:30 says to put the Urim and the Thummim in it. This chapter calls it only "the breastplate" and does not mention them. Neither "judgment" nor "Urim" is anywhere in Exodus 35 to 40. Leviticus 8:8 says that Moses "put the Urim and Thummim in the breastplate".

In plain English: It was square. They made the breastplate double. Its length was a span and its width a span, folded double.

In plain English: They set in it four rows of stones. A row of ruby, topaz, and beryl was the first row;

The Hebrew words: The text names the twelve stones and does not describe them. The dictionary gives the Hebrew name of 11 of the 12 with "perhaps", "probably" or "supposed", and gives the other, odem ("ruby" here), as "the ruby, garnet, or some other red gem". For 5 of the 12 its guess is a different stone from this Bible's. For example, it gives bareqeth ("beryl" in this verse) as "perhaps the emerald", and yahalom ("emerald" in verse 11) as "probably onyx". The same twelve stones are named in Exodus 28:17 to 20.

In plain English: the second row was a turquoise, a sapphire, and an emerald;

In plain English: the third row, a jacinth, an agate, and an amethyst;

In plain English: the fourth row, a chrysolite, an onyx, and a jasper. They were enclosed in gold settings.

In plain English: The stones matched the names of the Israelites: twelve, one for each name. Each was engraved like a signet (a seal), according to its name, for the twelve tribes.

In plain English: They made on the breastplate chains like cords, of braided work of pure gold.

In plain English: They made two settings of gold and two gold rings, and put the two rings on the two ends of the breastplate.

In plain English: They put the two braided chains of gold in the two rings at the ends of the breastplate.

In plain English: The other two ends of the two braided chains they put on the two settings, and put them on the shoulder straps of the ephod, at its front.

In plain English: They made two rings of gold and put them on the two ends of the breastplate, on its edge, which was on the side toward the ephod, inward.

In plain English: They made two more rings of gold and put them on the two shoulder straps of the ephod underneath, at its front, close to where it joins, above the skillfully woven band of the ephod.

In plain English: They bound the breastplate by its rings to the rings of the ephod with a blue lace (cord), so that it stayed on the skillfully woven band of the ephod and did not come loose from the ephod, as Yahweh commanded Moses.

In plain English: He made the robe of the ephod of woven work, all of blue.

In plain English: The opening of the robe in the middle of it was like the opening of a coat of mail (armor; or: a collar), with a binding around its opening, so that it would not be torn.

In plain English: They made pomegranates of blue, purple, scarlet, and twisted linen on the hem of the robe.

In plain English: They made bells of pure gold and put the bells between the pomegranates all around the hem of the robe, between the pomegranates:

In plain English: a bell and a pomegranate, a bell and a pomegranate, around the hem of the robe, to serve in, as Yahweh commanded Moses.

In plain English: They made the tunics of fine linen, of woven work, for Aaron and for his sons,

In plain English: the turban of fine linen, the headbands of fine linen, and the linen pants of fine twisted linen,

In plain English: and the sash of fine twisted linen, blue, purple, and scarlet, the work of an embroiderer, as Yahweh commanded Moses.

In plain English: They made the plate of the holy crown of pure gold and wrote on it an inscription, like the engravings of a signet (a seal): "HOLY TO YAHWEH."

In plain English: They tied a blue lace (cord) to it, to fasten it on the turban above, as Yahweh commanded Moses.

In plain English: So all the work of the tabernacle of the Tent of Meeting was finished. The Israelites did according to all that Yahweh commanded Moses; so they did.

In plain English: They brought the tabernacle to Moses: the tent, with all its furniture, its clasps, its boards, its bars, its pillars, its sockets,

In plain English: the covering of rams' skins dyed red, the covering of sea cow hides, the veil of the screen,

In plain English: the ark of the covenant (literally: the testimony) with its poles, the mercy seat,

In plain English: the table, all its vessels, the bread of the presence (show bread),

In plain English: the pure lamp stand, its lamps, the lamps to be set in order, all its vessels, the oil for the light,

In plain English: the golden altar, the anointing oil, the sweet incense, the screen for the door of the Tent,

In plain English: the bronze altar, its bronze grating, its poles, all its vessels, the basin and its base,

In plain English: the hangings of the court, its pillars, its sockets, the screen for the gate of the court, its cords, its pins, and all the instruments (tools) of the service of the tabernacle, for the Tent of Meeting,

In plain English: the finely worked garments for serving in the holy place, the holy garments for Aaron the priest, and the garments of his sons, to serve in the priest's office.

In plain English: The Israelites did all the work according to everything that Yahweh commanded Moses.

In plain English: Moses saw all the work, and look, they had done it as Yahweh had commanded. They had done so, and Moses blessed them.

Good to know: Several words here are ones that Genesis uses when God finishes creation. "Saw" and "behold" are in Genesis 1:31 ("God saw everything that he had made, and, behold, it was very good"), and "blessed" is in Genesis 2:3. The same verb for "finished" is in verse 32, in Exodus 40:33 ("Moses finished the work") and in Genesis 2:2 ("God finished his work"). These are common words: the Hebrew verb behind "saw" is in more than 1,200 verses of the Bible.

Church tradition: Some Jewish and Christian readers see the finishing of the tabernacle as an echo of the finishing of creation. Exodus does not say so.