The Lord said to Moses, “Go, leave this place, you and the people whom you have brought up out of the land of Egypt, and go to the land of which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, saying, ‘To your descendants I will give it.’

I will send an angel before you, and I will drive out the Canaanites, the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites.

Go up to a land flowing with milk and honey; but I will not go up among you, or I would consume you on the way, for you are a stiff-necked people.”

When the people heard these harsh words, they mourned, and no one put on ornaments.

For the Lord had said to Moses, “Say to the Israelites, ‘You are a stiff-necked people; if for a single moment I should go up among you, I would consume you. So now take off your ornaments, and I will decide what to do to you.’ ”

Therefore the Israelites stripped themselves of their ornaments, from Mount Horeb onward.
The Tent outside the Camp

Now Moses used to take the tent and pitch it outside the camp, far off from the camp; he called it the tent of meeting. And everyone who sought the Lord would go out to the tent of meeting, which was outside the camp.

Whenever Moses went out to the tent, all the people would rise and stand, each of them, at the entrance of their tents and watch Moses until he had gone into the tent.

When Moses entered the tent, the pillar of cloud would descend and stand at the entrance of the tent, and the Lord would speak with Moses.

When all the people saw the pillar of cloud standing at the entrance of the tent, all the people would rise and bow down, all of them, at the entrance of their tent.

Thus the Lord used to speak to Moses face to face, as one speaks to a friend. Then he would return to the camp; but his young assistant, Joshua son of Nun, would not leave the tent.
Moses' Intercession

Moses said to the Lord , “See, you have said to me, ‘Bring up this people’; but you have not let me know whom you will send with me. Yet you have said, ‘I know you by name, and you have also found favor in my sight.’

Now if I have found favor in your sight, show me your ways, so that I may know you and find favor in your sight. Consider too that this nation is your people.”

He said, “My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.”

And he said to him, “If your presence will not go, do not carry us up from here.

For how shall it be known that I have found favor in your sight, I and your people, unless you go with us? In this way, we shall be distinct, I and your people, from every people on the face of the earth.”

The Lord said to Moses, “I will do the very thing that you have asked; for you have found favor in my sight, and I know you by name.”

Moses said, “Show me your glory, I pray.”

And he said, “I will make all my goodness pass before you, and will proclaim before you the name, ‘The Lord ’; and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy.

But,” he said, “you cannot see my face; for no one shall see me and live.”

And the Lord continued, “See, there is a place by me where you shall stand on the rock;

and while my glory passes by I will put you in a cleft of the rock, and I will cover you with my hand until I have passed by;

then I will take away my hand, and you shall see my back; but my face shall not be seen.”

The Tabernacle Erected and Its Equipment Installed

The Lord spoke to Moses:

On the first day of the first month you shall set up the tabernacle of the tent of meeting.

You shall put in it the ark of the covenant, and you shall screen the ark with the curtain.

You shall bring in the table, and arrange its setting; and you shall bring in the lampstand, and set up its lamps.

You shall put the golden altar for incense before the ark of the covenant, and set up the screen for the entrance of the tabernacle.

You shall set the altar of burnt offering before the entrance of the tabernacle of the tent of meeting,

and place the basin between the tent of meeting and the altar, and put water in it.

You shall set up the court all around, and hang up the screen for the gate of the court.

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 shall become holy.

You shall also anoint the altar of burnt offering and all its utensils, and consecrate the altar, so that the altar shall be most holy.

You shall also anoint the basin with its stand, and consecrate it.

Then you shall bring Aaron and his sons to the entrance of the tent of meeting, and shall wash them with water,

and put on Aaron the sacred vestments, and you shall anoint him and consecrate him, so that he may serve me as priest.

You shall bring his sons also and put tunics on them,

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 all generations to come.

Moses did everything just as the Lord had commanded him.

In the first month in the second year, on the first day of the month, the tabernacle was set up.

Moses set up the tabernacle; he laid its bases, and set up its frames, and put in its poles, and raised up its pillars;

and he spread the tent over the tabernacle, and put the covering of the tent over it; as the Lord had commanded Moses.

He took the covenant and put it into the ark, and put the poles on the ark, and set the mercy seat above the ark;

and he brought the ark into the tabernacle, and set up the curtain for screening, and screened the ark of the covenant; as the Lord had commanded Moses.

He put the table in the tent of meeting, on the north side of the tabernacle, outside the curtain,

and set the bread in order on it before the Lord ; as the Lord had commanded Moses.

He put the lampstand in the tent of meeting, opposite the table on the south side of the tabernacle,

and set up the lamps before the Lord ; as the Lord had commanded Moses.

He put the golden altar in the tent of meeting before the curtain,

and offered fragrant incense on it; as the Lord had commanded Moses.

He also put in place the screen for the entrance of the tabernacle.

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.

He set the basin between the tent of meeting and the altar, and put water in it for washing,

with which Moses and Aaron and his sons washed their hands and their feet.

When they went into the tent of meeting, and when they approached the altar, they washed; as the Lord had commanded Moses.

He set up the court around the tabernacle and the altar, and put up the screen at the gate of the court. So Moses finished the work.
The Cloud and the Glory

Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.

Moses was not able to enter the tent of meeting because the cloud settled upon it, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.

Whenever the cloud was taken up from the tabernacle, the Israelites would set out on each stage of their journey;

but if the cloud was not taken up, then they did not set out until the day that it was taken up.

For the cloud of the Lord was on the tabernacle by day, and fire was in the cloud by night, before the eyes of all the house of Israel at each stage of their journey.