Exodus 37

1 Bezalel made the ark of acacia wood. Its length was two and a half cubits, and its width a cubit and a half, and a cubit and a half its height.

2 He overlaid it with pure gold inside and outside, and made a molding of gold for it around it.

3 He cast four rings of gold for it in its four feet—two rings on its one side, and two rings on its other side.

4 He made poles of acacia wood and overlaid them with gold.

5 He put the poles into the rings on the sides of the ark, to bear the ark.

6 He made a mercy seat of pure gold. Its length was two and a half cubits, and a cubit and a half its width.

7 He made two cherubim of gold. He made them of beaten work, at the two ends of the mercy seat:

8 one cherub at the one end, and one cherub at the other end. He made the cherubim of one piece with the mercy seat at its two ends.

9 The cherubim spread out their wings above, covering the mercy seat with their wings, with their faces toward one another. The faces of the cherubim were toward the mercy seat.

10 He made the table of acacia wood. Its length was two cubits, and its width was a cubit, and its height was a cubit and a half.

11 He overlaid it with pure gold, and made a gold molding around it.

12 He made a border of a hand’s width around it, and made a golden molding on its border around it.

13 He cast four rings of gold for it, and put the rings in the four corners that were on its four feet.

14 The rings were close by the border, the places for the poles to carry the table.

15 He made the poles of acacia wood, and overlaid them with gold, to carry the table.

16 He made the vessels which were on the table, its dishes, its spoons, its bowls, and its pitchers with which to pour out, of pure gold.

17 He made the lamp stand of pure gold. He made the lamp stand of beaten work. Its base, its shaft, its cups, its buds, and its flowers were of one piece with it.

18 There were six branches going out of its sides: three branches of the lamp stand out of its one side, and three branches of the lamp stand out of its other side:

19 three cups made like almond blossoms in one branch, a bud and a flower, and three cups made like almond blossoms in the other branch, a bud and a flower; so for the six branches going out of the lamp stand.

20 In the lamp stand were four cups made like almond blossoms, its buds and its flowers;

21 and a bud under two branches of one piece with it, and a bud under two branches of one piece with it, and a bud under two branches of one piece with it, for the six branches going out of it.

22 Their buds and their branches were of one piece with it. The whole thing was one beaten work of pure gold.

23 He made its seven lamps, and its snuffers, and its snuff dishes, of pure gold.

24 He made it of a talent of pure gold, with all its vessels.

25 He made the altar of incense of acacia wood. It was square: its length was a cubit, and its width a cubit. Its height was two cubits. Its horns were of one piece with it.

26 He overlaid it with pure gold: its top, its sides around it, and its horns. He made a gold molding around it.

27 He made two golden rings for it under its molding crown, on its two ribs, on its two sides, for places for poles with which to carry it.

28 He made the poles of acacia wood, and overlaid them with gold.

29 He made the holy anointing oil and the pure incense of sweet spices, after the art of the perfumer.

Around Exodus 37

Context

Context for this book is being written. A note appears here only once it names its sources.

AI explanation

Exodus 37 · Written by an AI model · Not reviewed by a theological reader

This explanation was written by an AI model to help you get started. It names no sources and can contain mistakes. Scripture comes first, and context with sources is shown separately on this page.

What this chapter says

Now Bezalel builds the furnishings, and each follows its plan. He makes the ark of acacia wood and overlays it with pure gold inside and outside, adds a gold molding, casts four gold rings, and fits the carrying poles. The mercy seat is pure gold, with two cherubim of beaten work, made of one piece with it, their wings spread above and their faces toward one another. The table of acacia wood is overlaid with gold and has its rings and poles, with dishes, spoons, bowls and pitchers of pure gold. The lamp stand is made of one piece of beaten gold, with six branches, almond blossom cups, buds and flowers, and seven lamps, and weighs a talent of pure gold. Last he makes the altar of incense, square and overlaid with gold, and the holy anointing oil and the pure incense of sweet spices.

Background

Bezalel, named in Exodus 31 and 35, is the one who builds. The text keeps close to the instructions of Exodus 25 and 30, with small changes in order: the maker says what he did, where the instructions said what to do. The ark is the center of the whole sanctuary; later books describe what happened to it, beginning with Joshua 3 and 1 Samuel 4. Tradition links these details with the Temple that came later.

About this explanation

Written by Claude Sonnet 5.5, an AI model, on 23 October 2026. It draws on the WEB text and general knowledge and was not checked against sources by a person. Every quotation from Scripture is checked automatically against the WEB text.

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World English Bible. Public-domain source and edition notes