Exodus 35

₁Moses called all the Israelites to come together and he said to them: ‘This is what the Lord said you must do: ₂You must work for 6 days but the 7th day must be a holy Sabbath day, a Sabbath day for the Lord. If anyone works on this day, you must kill him. ₃You may not make a fire at your homes on the Sabbath day.’

₄Moses told all the Israelites: ‘The Lord said ₅you must take some of the things that you have and give an offering to Him. Anyone who wants to give a gift to the Lord may give gold or silver or bronze, ₆or blue or purple and red material made of wool or linen or goat hair. ₇You may also give sheepskin which is coloured red, or soft leather, or acacia wood, ₈or olive oil for the lamps or spices for the anointing-oil and for the incense. It pleases the Lord. ₉Or you may bring onyx or other gemstones to put into the priest's shoulder-cloth and breast-piece.

₁₀All the artisans must come and they must do what the Lord has told them. ₁₁They must make the tent of the Lord and the material that covers it, the hooks and the frames, the poles and its stands, ₁₂the covenant box, its carrying poles, the lid and the curtain in front of the covenant box, ₁₃the table and its carrying poles and everything with it, the sacrificial bread, ₁₄the lamp-stand and everything with it, the lamps and the olive oil for the lamps, ₁₅the incense-altar and its carrying poles, the anointing-oil, the incense and the curtain at the door where the people go into the tent of the Lord, ₁₆the burnt-offering altar and the bronze net around the altar, its carrying poles and everything with it, the wash basin and its stand, ₁₇the curtains around the courtyard, their poles and stands and the curtain at the door to the courtyard, ₁₈the tent-pegs for the tent of the Lord, the pegs for the courtyard and their cords, ₁₉the clothes that the priests have to put on when they work in the temple, the holy clothes for Aaron, the priest, and his children's clothes when they do their work as priests.’

₂₀All the Israelites went away from Moses, ₂₁and everyone who wanted to give a gift to the Lord came and they gave offerings that the priests could use at the tent and for the holy clothes. ₂₂The men and women who wanted to give something gave jewels that they wore, ear-rings, bracelets, neck-rings and jewellery made of gold. Everyone who wanted to, gave a move-offering of gold to the Lord. ₂₃And everyone who had blue, purple and red material made of wool or linen or hair of a goat gave it. They also gave sheepskins that they had coloured red, and soft leather. ₂₄Everyone who wanted to give a gift of silver or bronze gave it to the Lord, and everyone who had acacia wood gave it for all the work of the Lord.

₂₅All the women who could weave beautifully started to weave some material and they gave it for the work of the Lord. There was blue, purple and red material made of wool and linen. ₂₆All the women who wanted to do it wove beautiful material from goat hair. ₂₇The leaders gave onyx and other gemstones to put into the priest's shoulder-cloth and breast-piece. ₂₈They gave spices and olive oil for the lamps and for the anointing-oil and spices for the incense. ₂₉Every man and woman who wanted to bring something for the work of the Lord came and gave it. It was for all the work that the Lord told Moses to do. The Israelites gave these gifts because they wanted to give them.

₃₀Moses said to the Israelites: ‘The Lord has chosen Bezalel to do the work. Bezalel is the son of Uri, and Uri is the son of Hur. Bezalel comes from the Judah tribe. ₃₁God gave Bezalel wisdom and made him clever so that he is a very good artisan. ₃₂He can make drawings of beautiful pictures and make things from gold, silver and bronze. ₃₃He can make jewellery from gemstones and he can work with wood. He can do anything. ₃₄The Lord has helped him and Oholiab teach other artisans. Oholiab is the son of Ahisamak from the Dan tribe. ₃₅The Lord has made them clever and they can do all kinds of work. They can draw plans, they can sew on blue, purple and red material made of wool and linen and they can weave. These 2 men can do all the work and they can draw the plans.’