Exodus 30:1–31:18

Instructions for Making the Incense Altar

30 “And you will make an altar for burning incense; you will make it of acacia wood, 2 a cubit its length and a cubit its width—it will be square—and two cubits its height, its horns ⌊of one piece with it⌋.a 3 And you will overlay it with pure gold, its top and its sides all around and its horns, and you will make for it a gold molding all around. 4 And you will make two gold rings for it; under its molding ⌊on two opposite sides⌋b you will make them as ⌊holders⌋c for poles to carry it with them. 5 You will make the poles of acacia wood, and you will overlay them with gold. 6 And you will put it before the curtain that is upon the ark of the testimony, before the atonement cover, which is on the testimony, there where I will meet with you.

7 “And on it Aaron will turn fragrant incense into smoke; ⌊each morning⌋d when he tends the lamps, he will turn it into smoke. 8 And when Aaron sets up the lamps ⌊at twilight⌋,e he will turn it into smoke—incense of continuity—before Yahweh throughout your generations. 9 You will not offer on it strange incense or a burnt offering or a grain offering, and you will not pour a libation on it. 10 And Aaron will make atonement on its horns one time in the year from the blood of the sin offering of the atonement; one time in the year he will make atonement on it throughout your generations; it is a most holy thing for Yahweh.”

Instructions for Numbering the People

11 And Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 12 “⌊When you take a census of⌋f the ⌊Israelites⌋g to count them, they will each give the ransom of his life for Yahweh when counting them, and a plague will not be among them when counting them. 13 This they will give, ⌊everyone who is counted⌋,h the half shekel, according to the sanctuary shekel, which is twenty gerahs per shekel. The half shekel is a contribution for Yahweh. 14 ⌊Everyone who is counted⌋i from ⌊twenty years old⌋j and above will give the contribution of Yahweh. 15 The rich will not give more, and the poor will not give less than the half shekel to give the contribution of Yahweh to make atonement for their lives. 16 And you will take the atonement money from the ⌊Israelites⌋k and give it to the service of the tent of assembly, and it will be as a memorial for the ⌊Israelites⌋l before Yahweh to make atonement for your lives.”

Instructions for Making the Basin

17 And Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 18 “And you will make a basin of bronze and its bronze stand for washing, and you will put it between the tent of assembly and the altar, and you will put water there. 19 And Aaron and his sons will wash their hands and their feet with it. 20 When they come to the tent of assembly, they will wash with water so that they do not die, or when they approach the altar to serve by turning to smoke an offering made by fire to Yahweh. 21 And they will wash their hands and their feet so that they do not die, and it will be a lasting rule for them—to him and to his offspring throughout their generations.

Instructions for Making Anointing Oil and Incense

22 And Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 23 “And take for yourself top quality balsam oils, five hundred shekels of flowing myrrh, half as much—two hundred and fifty shekels of fragrant cinnamon, and two hundred and fifty shekels of fragrant reed, 24 and five hundred shekels of cassia, according to the sanctuary shekel, and a hin of olive oil. 25 And you will make it into holy anointing oil, a spice blend of a fragrant ointment the work of a perfumer; it will be holy anointing oil. 26 And you will anoint with it the tent of assembly and the ark of the testimony, 27 and the table and all its equipment and the lampstand and its equipment and the incense altar, 28 and the altar of burnt offering and all its equipment and the basin and its stand. 29 And you will consecrate them, and they will be most holy things; ⌊anyone who⌋m touches them will be holy. 30 And you will anoint Aaron and his sons, and you will consecrate them to serve as priests for me.

31 “And you will speak to the ⌊Israelites⌋,n saying, ‘This will be my holy anointing oil throughout your generations. 32 It will not be poured on human flesh, and with its measurementso you will not make any like it; it is holy; it will be holy to you. 33 Anyone who compounds perfume like it and who puts it on a stranger will be cut off from his people.’ ”

34 And Yahweh said to Moses, “Take for yourself fragrant perfumes—stacte resin and onycha and galbanum—fragrant perfumes and pure frankincense, ⌊an equal part of each⌋,p 35 and make it into a compound of incense, the work of a perfumer, salted, pure, holy. 36 And you will grind part of it to powder, and you will put part of it before the testimony in the tent of assembly where I will meet with you; it will be a most holy thing to you. 37 And the incense that you will make with its measurementsq you will not make for yourselves; it will be holy to you for Yahweh. 38 Anyone who makes any like it to smell it will be cut off from his people.”

Provision of Skilled People

31 And Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “See, I have called by namea Bezalel the son of Uri the son of Hur, from the tribe of Judah. 3 And I have filled him with the Spirit of God, with wisdom and with skillb and with knowledge and with every kind of craftsmanship, 4 to devise designs, to work with gold and with silver and with bronze, 5 and in stonecutting for setting and in cutting wood, for doing every kind of craftsmanship. 6 And, look, I have given with him Oholiab the son of Ahisamach, from the tribe of Dan, and I have put skill in the heart of all the skilled of heart, and they will make all that I have commanded you— 7 the tent of assembly and the ark of the testimony and the atonement cover that is on it and all the equipment of the tent, 8 and the table and all its equipment, and the pure gold lampstand and all its equipment, and the incense altar, 9 and the altar of burnt offering and all its equipment, and the basin and its stand, 10 and the garments of woven material, and ⌊the garments of the sanctuary⌋c for Aaron the priest and the garments of his sons to serve as priests, 11 and the anointing oil and the fragrant incense for the sanctuary. According to all that I have commanded you, they will make it.

Provision of Rest from Work

12 And Yahweh spoke to Moses and said, 13 “And you, speak to the ⌊Israelites⌋,d saying, ‘Surely you must keep my Sabbaths, because it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations, in order to know that I am Yahweh, who consecrates you. 14 And you must keep the Sabbath, because it is holy for you; defilerse of it will surely be put to death, because anyone who does work on it—that person will be cut off from among his people. 15 On six days work can be done, and on the seventh ⌊is a Sabbath of complete rest⌋,f ⌊a holy day⌋g for Yahweh; anyone doing work on the Sabbath day will surely be put to death. 16 The ⌊Israelites⌋h will pay attention to the Sabbath in order to fulfill the Sabbathi throughout their generations as a lasting covenant. 17 It is a sign between me and the ⌊Israelites⌋j forever, because in six days Yahweh made the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh he ceasedk and recovered.”l

18 And when he finished speaking with him on Mount Sinai, he gave to Moses the two tablets of the testimony, stone tablets, written with the finger of God.