Chapter 31

Bezalel and Oholiab

v1 Then the *Lord said to Moses: v2 Look! I have chosen Bezalel, the son of Uri, the grandson of Hur, from the big family of Judah. v3 I have filled him with the Spirit of God. I have made him very *wise in many different ways. v4 He knows how to draw beautiful pictures of things. Then he makes them out of gold, *silver and *bronze. v5 He knows how to cut valuable stones. Then he puts them into pieces of gold or *silver. He knows how to work with wood. He makes beautiful things and he always does good work. v6 And I have chosen Oholiab, the son of Ahisamach, from the big family of Dan, to help Bezalel. Also, I have made all the workers very *wise. They will make everything that I have *commanded you. v7 They will make the *Tent of Meeting and the *Ark of the *Covenant with its special lid. They will make all the other things in the *tent too. v8 They will make the table and all the things on it. They will make the *lampstand out of *pure gold and the *altar where you will offer *incense. v9 They will make the other *altar. On that other *altar, you will burn the animals that are gifts to me. They will make the very large dish for water and its metal *base. v10 These *wise men will also make clothes. They will make the special clothes for Aaron the *priest and for his sons. His sons will wear these clothes when they work as *priests. v11 The *wise men will also make the special oil and the *incense that has a lovely smell. These are for the *Holy Place. They must make them completely as I *commanded you.

The *Sabbath
v12 Then the *Lord said to Moses: v13 Say to the *Israelites: You must keep my *Sabbaths as special days. This will be something special for you and for me. The children that will be born will see it. Then they will know that I am the *Lord. It is I who make you *holy.

v14 Keep the *Sabbath special because it is a *holy day to you. You must kill anyone who does bad things on the *Sabbath. Anyone who works on that day must die. v15 You must work for six days, but the seventh day is a *Sabbath for rest. It is a *holy day to the *Lord. You must kill any person who does any work on the *Sabbath day. v16 The *Israelites must keep the *Sabbath as a special day and they must enjoy it. They must do this for all time. It is a special *covenant and it will always be with them. v17 It will be something special between me and the *Israelites for all time. This is because the *Lord made the sky and the earth in six days. Then, on the seventh day, he did not work but he rested. v18 The *Lord finished his words to Moses on *Mount Sinai. Then the *Lord gave Moses the two flat stones of the *Testimony. God had written on these stones with his own finger.