The Leaders Bring Gifts to the Sacred Tent
1 When Moses had finished setting up the sacred tent, he dedicated it to the Lord, together with its furnishings, the altar, and its equipment. 2 Then the twelve tribal leaders of Israel, the same men who had been in charge of counting the people, came to the tent 3 with gifts for the Lord. They brought six strong carts and twelve oxen—one ox from each leader and a cart from every two.
4 The Lord said to Moses, 5 “Accept these gifts, so the Levites can use them here at the sacred tent for carrying the sacred things.”
6 Then Moses took the carts and oxen and gave them to the Levites, 7-8 who were under the leadership of Ithamar son of Aaron. Moses gave two carts and four oxen to the Gershonites for their work, and four carts and eight oxen to the Merarites for their work. 9 But Moses did not give any to the Kohathites, because they were in charge of the sacred objects that had to be carried on their shoulders.
10 On the day the altar was dedicated, the twelve leaders brought offerings for its dedication. 11 The Lord said to Moses, “Each day one leader is to give his offering for the dedication.”
12-83 So each leader brought the following gifts:
a silver bowl that weighed one and a half kilograms and a silver sprinkling bowl weighing almost a kilogram, both of them filled with flour and olive oil as grain sacrifices and weighed according to the official standards;
a small gold dish filled with incense;
a young bull, a full-grown ram, and a year-old ram as sacrifices to please the Lord;
a goat as a sacrifice for sin;
and two bulls, five full-grown rams, five goats, and five rams a year old as sacrifices to ask the Lord's blessing.
The tribal leaders brought their gifts and offerings in the following order:
On the first day
Nahshon from Judah,
on the second dayNethanel from Issachar,
on the third dayEliab from Zebulun,
on the fourth dayElizur from Reuben,
on the fifth dayShelumiel from Simeon,
on the sixth dayEliasaph from Gad,
on the seventh dayElishama from Ephraim,
on the eighth dayGamaliel from Manasseh,
on the ninth dayAbidan from Benjamin,
on the tenth dayAhiezer from Dan,
on the eleventh dayPagiel from Asher,
on the twelfth dayAhira from Naphtali.
84-88 And so when the altar was dedicated to the Lord, these twelve leaders brought the following gifts:
12 silver bowls and 12 silver sprinkling bowls, weighing a total of almost 28 kilograms, according to the official standards;
12 gold dishes filled with incense and weighing over a kilogram;
12 bulls, 12 full-grown rams, and 12 rams a year old as sacrifices to please the Lord, along with the proper grain sacrifices;
12 goats as sacrifices for sin;
and 24 bulls, 60 full-grown rams, 60 goats, and 60 rams a year old as sacrifices to ask the Lord's blessing.
89 Whenever Moses needed to talk with the Lord, he went into the sacred tent, where he heard the Lord's voice coming from between the two winged creatures above the lid of the sacred chest.
The Offerings of the Leaders
1 On the day Moses finished setting up the Tent of the Lord's presence, he anointed and dedicated the Tent and all its equipment, and the altar and all its equipment. 2 Then the clan chiefs who were leaders in the tribes of Israel, the same men who were in charge of the census, 3 brought their offerings to the Lord: six wagons and twelve oxen, a wagon for every two leaders and an ox for each leader. After they had presented them, 4 the Lord said to Moses, 5 “Accept these gifts for use in the work to be done for the Tent; give them to the Levites according to the work they have to do.” 6 So Moses gave the wagons and the oxen to the Levites. 7 He gave two wagons and four oxen to the Gershonites, 8 and four wagons and eight oxen to the Merarites. All their work was to be done under the direction of Ithamar son of Aaron. 9 But Moses gave no wagons or oxen to the Kohathites, because the sacred objects they took care of had to be carried on their shoulders.
10 The leaders also brought offerings to celebrate the dedication of the altar. When they were ready to present their gifts at the altar, 11 the Lord said to Moses, “Tell them that each day for a period of twelve days one of the leaders is to present his gifts for the dedication of the altar.”
12-83 They presented their offerings in the following order:
Day Tribe Leader1st Judah Nahshon son of Amminadab2nd Issachar Nethanel son of Zuar3rd Zebulun Eliab son of Helon4th Reuben Elizur son of Shedeur5th Simeon Shelumiel son of Zurishaddai6th Gad Eliasaph son of Deuel7th Ephraim Elishama son of Ammihud8th Manasseh Gamaliel son of Pedahzur9th Benjamin Abidan son of Gideoni10th Dan Ahiezer son of Ammishaddai11th Asher Pagiel son of Ochran12th Naphtali Ahira son of Enan
The offerings each one brought were identical: one silver bowl weighing 50 ounces and one silver basin weighing 30 ounces, by the official standard, both of them full of flour mixed with oil for the grain offering; one gold dish weighing 4 ounces, full of incense; one young bull, one ram, and a one-year-old lamb, for the burnt offering; one goat for the sin offering; and two bulls, five rams, five goats, and five one-year-old lambs, for the fellowship offering.
84-88 The totals of the offerings brought by the twelve leaders for the dedication of the altar were as follows:
–twelve silver bowls and twelve silver basins weighing a total of 60 pounds–twelve gold dishes weighing a total of 48 ounces, filled with incense–twelve bulls, twelve rams, and twelve one-year-old lambs, plus the grain offerings that go with them, for the burnt offerings–twelve goats for the sin offerings–twenty-four bulls, sixty rams, sixty goats, sixty one-year-old lambs, for the fellowship offerings89 When Moses went into the Tent to talk with the Lord, he heard the Lord speaking to him from above the lid on the Covenant Box, between the two winged creatures.