Exodus 30–31

Chapter 30

The Altar of Incense

¹“Moreover, you shall make ^aan altar as a place for burning incense; you shall make it of acacia wood.

²“Its length shall be a ¹cubit, and its width a cubit, it shall be square, and its height shall be two cubits; its horns shall be ²of one piece with it.

³“You shall overlay it with pure gold, its top and its ¹sides all around, and its horns; and you shall make a gold molding all around for it.

⁴“You shall make two gold rings for it under its molding; you shall make them on its two side walls—on ¹opposite sides—and ²they shall be holders for poles with which to carry it.

⁵“You shall make the poles of acacia wood and overlay them with gold.

⁶“You shall put ¹this altar in front of the veil that is ²near the ark of the testimony, in front of the ^3amercy seat that is over the ark of the testimony, where I will meet with you.

⁷“Aaron shall burn fragrant incense on it; he shall burn it every morning when he trims the lamps.

⁸“When Aaron ¹trims the lamps at ²twilight, he shall burn incense. There shall be perpetual incense before the Lord throughout your generations.

⁹“You shall not offer any strange incense on ¹this altar, or burnt offering or meal offering; and you shall not pour out a drink offering on it.

¹⁰“Aaron shall ^amake atonement on its horns once a year; he shall make atonement on it with the blood of the sin offering of atonement once a year throughout your generations. It is most holy to the Lord.”

¹¹The Lord also spoke to Moses, saying,

¹²“When you take ^aa ¹census of the sons of Israel ²to number them, then each one of them shall give ^ba ransom for ³himself to the Lord, when you ⁴number them, so that there will be no plague among them when you number them.

¹³“This is what everyone who ¹is numbered shall give: half a shekel according to the shekel of the sanctuary (^athe shekel is twenty gerahs), half a shekel as a ²contribution to the Lord.

¹⁴“Everyone who ¹is numbered, from twenty years old and over, shall give the ²contribution to the Lord.

¹⁵“The rich shall not pay more and the poor shall not pay less than the half shekel, when you give the ¹contribution to the Lord to make atonement for ²yourselves.

¹⁶“You shall take the atonement money from the sons of Israel and shall give it for the service of the tent of meeting, that it may be a memorial for the sons of Israel before the Lord, to make atonement for ¹yourselves.”

¹⁷The Lord spoke to Moses, saying,

¹⁸“You shall also make ^aa laver of ¹bronze, with its base of bronze, for washing; and you shall ^bput it between the tent of meeting and the altar, and you shall put water in it.

¹⁹“Aaron and his sons shall ^awash their hands and their feet from it;

²⁰when they enter the tent of meeting, they shall wash with water, so that they will not die; or when they approach the altar to minister, by offering up in smoke a fire sacrifice to the Lord.

²¹“So they shall wash their hands and their feet, so that they will not die; and ^ait shall be a perpetual statute for them, for ¹Aaron and his ²descendants throughout their generations.”

The Anointing Oil

²²Moreover, the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,

²³“Take also for yourself the finest of spices: of flowing myrrh five hundred shekels, and of fragrant cinnamon half as much, two hundred and fifty, and of fragrant cane two hundred and fifty,

²⁴and of cassia five hundred, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, and of olive oil a hin.

²⁵“You shall make ¹of these a holy anointing oil, a perfume mixture, the work of a perfumer; it shall be ^aa holy anointing oil.

²⁶“With it ^ayou shall anoint the tent of meeting and the ark of the testimony,

²⁷and the table and all its utensils, and the lampstand and its utensils, and the altar of incense,

²⁸and the altar of burnt offering and all its utensils, and the laver and its stand.

²⁹“You shall also consecrate them, that they may be most holy; whatever touches them shall be holy.

³⁰“^aYou shall anoint Aaron and his sons, and consecrate them, that they may minister as priests to Me.

³¹“You shall speak to the sons of Israel, saying, ‘This shall be a holy anointing oil to Me throughout your generations.

³²‘It shall not be poured on ¹anyone’s body, nor shall you make any like it in ²the same proportions; ^ait is holy, and it shall be holy to you.

³³‘^aWhoever shall mix any like it or whoever puts any of it on a ¹layman ^2bshall be cut off from his people.’ ”

The Incense

³⁴Then the Lord said to Moses, “Take for yourself spices, stacte and onycha and galbanum, spices with pure frankincense; there shall be an equal part of each.

³⁵“With it you shall make incense, a perfume, the work of a perfumer, salted, pure, and holy.

³⁶“You shall beat some of it very fine, and put part of it before the testimony in the tent of meeting ^awhere I will meet with you; it shall be most holy to you.

³⁷“The incense which you shall make, ^ayou shall not make in ¹the same proportions for yourselves; it shall be holy to you for the Lord.

³⁸“^aWhoever shall make any like it, to ¹use as perfume, ²shall be cut off from his people.”

Chapter 31

The Skilled Craftsmen

^1aNow the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,

²“See, I have called by name Bezalel, the ^ason of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah.

³“I have ^afilled him with the Spirit of God in wisdom, in understanding, in knowledge, and in all kinds of ¹craftsmanship,

⁴to ¹make artistic designs for work in gold, in silver, and in ²bronze,

⁵and in the cutting of stones ¹for settings, and in the carving of wood, that he may work in all kinds of ²craftsmanship.

⁶“And behold, I Myself have ¹appointed with him ^aOholiab, the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan; and in the hearts of all who are ²skillful I have put ³skill, that they may make all that I have commanded you:

^7athe tent of meeting, and ^bthe ark of testimony, and ^cthe ¹mercy seat upon it, and all the furniture of the tent,

^8athe table also and its ¹utensils, and the ^bpure gold lampstand with all its utensils, and ^cthe altar of incense,

^9athe altar of burnt offering also with all its ¹utensils, and ^bthe laver and its stand,

¹⁰the ^1awoven garments as well, and the holy garments for Aaron the priest, and the garments of his sons, with which to ²carry on their priesthood;

^11athe anointing oil also, and the ^bfragrant incense for the holy place, they are to make them according to all that I have commanded you.”

The Sign of the Sabbath

¹²The Lord spoke to Moses, saying,

¹³“But as for you, speak to the sons of Israel, saying, ‘^aYou shall surely observe My sabbaths; for this is ^ba sign between Me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I am the Lord who sanctifies you.

¹⁴‘Therefore you are to observe the sabbath, for it is holy to you. ^aEveryone who profanes it shall surely be put to death; for whoever does any work on it, that person shall be cut off from among his people.

¹⁵‘^aFor six days work may be done, but on the seventh day there is a ^bsabbath of complete rest, holy to the Lord; ^cwhoever does any work on the sabbath day shall surely be put to death.

¹⁶‘So the sons of Israel shall observe the sabbath, to ¹celebrate the sabbath throughout their generations as a perpetual covenant.’

¹⁷“^aIt is a sign between Me and the sons of Israel forever; ^bfor in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, but on the seventh day He ceased from labor, and was refreshed.”

¹⁸When He had finished speaking with him upon Mount Sinai, He gave Moses ^athe two tablets of the testimony, tablets of stone, ^bwritten by the finger of God.