Exodus 40

₁The Lord said to Moses: ₂‘You must put up the tent of the Lord on the first day of the first month. This is the tent where I will appear to the Israelites. ₃Put the covenant box with the 10 commandments in it into the tent, behind the curtain. ₄You must bring the table and put everything on the table that must be there. Bring the lamp-stand, and put all the lamps on it and light the lamps. ₅Put the golden incense-altar in front of the covenant box with the 10 commandments in it and hang the curtains at the door of the tent of the Lord.

₆You must put the burnt-offering altar in front of the tent of the Lord, where I will appear to you. ₇Put the wash basin between the tent where I will appear to you and the altar and pour water into the wash basin. ₈Close the courtyard around the tent and hang the curtains at the door to the courtyard.

₉Take the anointing-oil and anoint the tent of the Lord with oil. Consecrate the tent and everything in it. Then the tent will be holy. ₁₀You must also anoint the burnt-offering altar and everything with it. You must consecrate the altar, and then it will be most_holy.

₁₁You must anoint the wash basin and the stand and consecrate it. ₁₂Bring Aaron and his sons to the entrance of the tent where I will appear to you, and wash them with water. ₁₃You must put on Aaron's holy clothes for him, anoint him and consecrate him so that he can be my priest. ₁₄You must also bring Aaron's sons to the door and put on their cloaks for them. ₁₅Anoint them as you have anointed their father so that they can be my priests. You must anoint them, and then they and their descendants will always be my priests.’

₁₆Moses did everything exactly as God had told him.

₁₇They put up the tent of the Lord on the first day of the first month of the 2nd year after the Israelites had gone out of Egypt. ₁₈When Moses put up the tent of the Lord, he first put down all the stands and the frames and poles and he put the poles upright and fastened the crossbars. ₁₉Then he put the coverings over the frames and he put the other coverings over that. That was how God had told Moses.

₂₀He took the 10 commandments and put them in the covenant box. He put the carrying poles into the rings and he put the lid on the covenant box. ₂₁Then Moses took the covenant box, and he put it in the tent of the Lord and he hung the curtains on the poles. Then the covenant box, with the 10 commandments, was behind the curtain. It was like God had told Moses.

₂₂Moses put the table in the tent of the Lord. The table was in the northern side of the tent in front of the curtain. ₂₃He put the sacrificial bread on the table before the Lord, as the Lord had told him. ₂₄Moses took the lamp-stand and he put it in the tent of the Lord, near the table, on the southern side of the tent. ₂₅Then he put the lamps on the lamp-stand before the Lord, as the Lord had told him.

₂₆He put the golden incense-altar down in the tent of the Lord. The altar was in front of the curtain. ₂₇Then he burnt incense on the altar as the Lord had told him. ₂₈He hung the curtain at the door of the tent of the Lord. ₂₉He put the burnt-offering altar down at the door of the tent of the Lord, where the Lord appeared to them. Moses then sacrificed burnt-offerings and grain-offerings on the altar, like the Lord had told him.

₃₀He put the wash basin down between the tent of the Lord and the altar. Then he poured water into it to wash. ₃₁Moses, Aaron and his sons washed their hands and feet in the basin ₃₂when they went into the tent of the Lord and when they came closer to the altar. It was like the Lord had told Moses. ₃₃Moses took the curtains and hung them around the courtyard around the tent of the Lord and the altar. He also hung the curtain at the door of the courtyard. Moses finished all his work.

₃₄A cloud came over the tent of the Lord and the glory of the Lord filled the tent. ₃₅Moses could not go into the tent of the Lord, because the cloud stayed over the tent and the glory of the Lord filled it. ₃₆Every time the cloud went away from the tent of the Lord, the Israelites started to walk and they went further. ₃₇But when the cloud stayed over the tent of the Lord, the people did not go any further. They stayed there until the cloud went away. ₃₈The cloud of the Lord was over the tent of the Lord in the day, and at night it was a fire. All the Israelites saw it, wherever they went.