The Message Bible MSG
English Standard Version ESV
1 God spoke to Moses:
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The Lord spoke to Moses, saying,
2 "On the first day of the first month, set up The Dwelling, the Tent of Meeting.
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“On the first day of the first month you shall erect the tabernacle of the tent of meeting.
3 Place the Chest of The Testimony in it and screen the Chest with the curtain.
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And you shall put in it the ark of the testimony, and you shall screen the ark with the veil.
4 "Bring in the Table and set it, arranging its Lampstand and lamps.
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And you shall bring in the table and arrange it, and you shall bring in the lampstand and set up its lamps.
5 "Place the Gold Altar of Incense before the Chest of The Testimony and hang the curtain at the door of The Dwelling.
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And you shall put the golden altar for incense before the ark of the testimony, and set up the screen for the door of the tabernacle.
6 "Place the Altar of Whole-Burnt-Offering at the door of The Dwelling, the Tent of Meeting.
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You shall set the altar of burnt offering before the door of the tabernacle of the tent of meeting,
7 "Place the Washbasin between the Tent of Meeting and the Altar and fill it with water.
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and place the basin between the tent of meeting and the altar, and put water in it.
8 "Set up the Courtyard on all sides and hang the curtain at the entrance to the Courtyard.
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And you shall set up the court all around, and hang up the screen for the gate of the court.
9 "Then take the anointing oil and anoint The Dwelling and everything in it; consecrate it and all its furnishings so that it becomes holy.
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“Then you shall take the anointing oil and anoint the tabernacle and all that is in it, and consecrate it and all its furniture, so that it may become holy.
10 Anoint the Altar of Whole-Burnt-Offering and all its utensils, consecrating the Altar so that it is completely holy.
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You shall also anoint the altar of burnt offering and all its utensils, and consecrate the altar, so that the altar may become most holy.
11 Anoint the Washbasin and its base: consecrate it.
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You shall also anoint the basin and its stand, and consecrate it.
12 "Finally, bring Aaron and his sons to the entrance of the Tent of Meeting and wash them with water.
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Then you shall bring Aaron and his sons to the entrance of the tent of meeting and shall wash them with water
13 Dress Aaron in the sacred vestments. Anoint him. Consecrate him to serve me as priest.
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and put on Aaron the holy garments. And you shall anoint him and consecrate him, that he may serve me as priest.
14 Bring his sons and put tunics on them.
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You shall bring his sons also and put coats on them,
15 Anoint them, just as you anointed their father, to serve me as priests. Their anointing will bring them into a perpetual priesthood, down through the generations."
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and anoint them, as you anointed their father, that they may serve me as priests. And their anointing shall admit them to a perpetual priesthood throughout their generations. ”
16 Moses did everything God commanded. He did it all.
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This Moses did; according to all that the Lord commanded him, so he did.
17 On the first day of the first month of the second year, The Dwelling was set up.
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In the first month in the second year, on the first day of the month, the tabernacle was erected.
18 Moses set it up: He laid its bases, erected the frames, placed the crossbars, set the posts,
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Moses erected the tabernacle. He laid its bases, and set up its frames, and put in its poles, and raised up its pillars.
19 spread the tent over The Dwelling, and put the covering over the tent, just as God had commanded Moses.
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And he spread the tent over the tabernacle and put the covering of the tent over it, as the Lord had commanded Moses.
20 He placed The Testimony in the Chest, inserted the poles for carrying the Chest, and placed the lid, the Atonement-Cover, on it.
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He took the testimony and put it into the ark, and put the poles on the ark and set the mercy seat above on the ark.
21 He brought the Chest into The Dwelling and set up the curtain, screening off the Chest of The Testimony, just as God had commanded Moses.
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And he brought the ark into the tabernacle and set up the veil of the screen, and screened the ark of the testimony, as the Lord had commanded Moses.
22 He placed the Table in the Tent of Meeting on the north side of The Dwelling, outside the curtain,
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He put the table in the tent of meeting, on the north side of the tabernacle, outside the veil,
23 and arranged the Bread there before God, just as God had commanded him.
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and arranged the bread on it before the Lord, as the Lord had commanded Moses.
24 He placed the Lampstand in the Tent of Meeting opposite the Table on the south side of The Dwelling
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He put the lampstand in the tent of meeting, opposite the table on the south side of the tabernacle,
25 and set up the lamps before God, just as God had commanded him.
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and set up the lamps before the Lord, as the Lord had commanded Moses.
26 Moses placed the Gold Altar in the Tent of Meeting in front of the curtain
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He put the golden altar in the tent of meeting before the veil,
27 and burned fragrant incense on it, just as God had commanded him.
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and burned fragrant incense on it, as the Lord had commanded Moses.
28 He placed the screen at the entrance to The Dwelling.
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He put in place the screen for the door of the tabernacle.
29 He set the Altar of Whole-Burnt-Offering at the door of The Dwelling, the Tent of Meeting, and offered up the Whole-Burnt-Offerings and the Grain-Offerings, just as God had commanded Moses.
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And he set the altar of burnt offering at the entrance of the tabernacle of the tent of meeting, and offered on it the burnt offering and the grain offering, as the Lord had commanded Moses.
30 He placed the Washbasin between the Tent of Meeting and the Altar, and filled it with water for washing.
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He set the basin between the tent of meeting and the altar, and put water in it for washing,
31 Moses and Aaron and his sons washed their hands and feet there.
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with which Moses and Aaron and his sons washed their hands and their feet.
32 When they entered the Tent of Meeting and when they served at the Altar, they washed, just as God had commanded Moses.
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When they went into the tent of meeting, and when they approached the altar, they washed, as the Lord commanded Moses.
33 Finally, he erected the Courtyard all around The Dwelling and the Altar, and put up the screen for the Courtyard entrance. Moses finished the work.
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And he erected the court around the tabernacle and the altar, and set up the screen of the gate of the court. So Moses finished the work.
34 The Cloud covered the Tent of Meeting, and the Glory of God filled The Dwelling.
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Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.
35 Moses couldn't enter the Tent of Meeting because the Cloud was upon it, and the Glory of God filled The Dwelling.
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And Moses was not able to enter the tent of meeting because the cloud settled on it, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.
36 Whenever the Cloud lifted from The Dwelling, the People of Israel set out on their travels,
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Throughout all their journeys, whenever the cloud was taken up from over the tabernacle, the people of Israel would set out.
37 but if the Cloud did not lift, they wouldn't set out until it did lift.
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But if the cloud was not taken up, then they did not set out till the day that it was taken up.
38 The Cloud of God was over The Dwelling during the day and the fire was in it at night, visible to all the Israelites in all their travels.
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For the cloud of the Lord was on the tabernacle by day, and fire was in it by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel throughout all their journeys.
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®) © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. All rights reserved. ESV Text Edition: 2025