1Jehovah said to Moses: 2»Set up the tabernacle of the tent of meeting on the first day of the first month of the year. 3»Place the Ark containing the words of my covenant inside it, and hang the canopy over the ark. 4»Bring in the table and place the equipment on it. Also bring the lamp stand and set up the lamps on it. 5»Put the gold altar for burning incense in front of the Covenant Box and hang the curtain at the entrance of the Tabernacle. 6»Place the altar for burning offerings in front of the Tabernacle. 7»Set the washbasin between the Tabernacle and the altar and fill it with water. 8»Put up the surrounding enclosure and hang the curtain at its entrance. 9»Then dedicate the Tabernacle and all its equipment by anointing it with the sacred oil, and it will be holy. 10»Dedicate the altar and all its equipment by anointing it, and it will be completely holy. 11»Also dedicate the washbasin and its base in the same way. 12»Bring Aaron and his sons to the entrance of the Tabernacle, and have them take a ritual bath. 13»Dress Aaron in the priestly garments and anoint him. Consecrate him so that he can serve me as priest. 14»Bring his sons and put the shirts on them. 15»Anoint them just as you anointed their father that they can serve me as priests. This anointing will make them priests for generations to come.« 16Moses did everything just as Jehovah commanded. 17The Tent of Jehovah’s presence was set up on the first day of the first month of the second year after they left Egypt. 18When Moses set up the tent, he put the sockets in place, put up the frames, inserted the crossbars, and set up the posts. 19He spread the outer tent over the inner tent and put the cover on top. Moses followed Jehovah’s instructions. 20He took the words of God’s promise covenant and put them in the ark. He put the poles on the ark and placed the throne of mercy on top of the ark. 21Then he brought the ark into the tent and hung the canopy over it to mark off where the ark was. Moses followed Jehovah’s instructions. 22Moses put the table in the tent of meeting on the north side of the tent outside the canopy. 23He arranged the bread on the table in Jehovah’s presence, following Jehovah’s instructions. 24He placed the lamp stand in the tent of meeting opposite the table, on the south side of the tent. 25He set the lighted lamps in Jehovah’s presence, following Jehovah’s instructions. 26Moses put the gold altar in the tent of meeting in front of the canopy. 27He burned sweet incense on it, following Jehovah’s instructions. 28Then he put up the screen at the entrance to the tent. 29He put the altar for burnt offerings at the entrance to the tabernacle of the tent of meeting. He sacrificed burnt offerings and grain offerings on it. Moses followed Jehovah’s instructions. 30He put the basin between the tent of meeting and the altar and put water in it for washing. 31Moses, Aaron, and his sons used this water to wash their hands and feet. 32They washed whenever they went into the tent of meeting or whenever they approached the altar. Moses obeyed Jehovah’s instructions. 33He set up the courtyard around the tent and the altar and put up the screen at the entrance to the courtyard. At last Moses finished the work. 34The column of smoke then covered the tent of meeting. The glory of Jehovah filled the tent. 35Moses could not go into the tent of meeting because the smoke settled on it and the glory of Jehovah filled the tent. 36In all their travels, when the column of smoke moved from the tent, the Israelites would break camp. 37But if the column did not move, they would not break camp. 38Jehovah’s column of smoke stayed over the tent during the day. There was fire in the smoke at night. This way all the Israelites could see the column throughout their travels.