11 The 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 4number 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.”

17 The 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;

20 when 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

22 Moreover, 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,

24 and 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,

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

28 and 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

34 Then 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

1 aNow 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,

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

5 and 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:

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

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

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

10 the 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;

11 athe 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

12 The 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.”

18 When 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.

Chapter 32

The Golden Calf

1 Now when the people saw that Moses adelayed to come down from the mountain, the people assembled about Aaron and said to him, “Come, bmake us 1a god who will go before us; as for cthis Moses, the man who brought us up from the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.”

2 Aaron said to them, “aTear off the gold rings which are in the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me.”

3 Then all the people tore off the gold rings which were in their ears and brought them to Aaron.

4 He took this from their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool and made it into a amolten calf; and they said, “1This is your god, O Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt.”

5 Now when Aaron saw this, he built an altar before it; and Aaron made a proclamation and said, “Tomorrow shall be a feast to the Lord.”

6 So the next day they rose early and aoffered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings; and bthe people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up cto play.

7 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, “Go 1down at once, for your people, whom ayou brought up from the land of Egypt, have bcorrupted themselves.

8 “They have quickly turned aside from the way which I commanded them. aThey have made for themselves a molten calf, and have worshiped it and bhave sacrificed to it and said, ‘1cThis is your god, O Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt!’ ”

9 aThe Lord said to Moses, “I have seen this people, and behold, they are 1ban obstinate people.

10 “Now then alet Me alone, that My anger may burn against them and that I may destroy them; and bI will make of you a great nation.”

Moses’ Entreaty

11 Then aMoses entreated the Lord his God, and said, “O Lord, why does Your anger burn against Your people whom You have brought out from the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand?

12 “Why should athe Egyptians speak, saying, ‘With evil intent He brought them out to kill them in the mountains and to destroy them from the face of the earth’? Turn from Your burning anger and change Your mind about doing harm to Your people.

13 “Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, Your servants to whom You aswore by Yourself, and said to them, ‘I will bmultiply your 1descendants as the stars of the heavens, and call this land of which I have spoken I will give to your 1descendants, and they shall inherit it forever.’ ”

14 aSo the Lord changed His mind about the harm which He said He would do to His people.

15 aThen Moses turned and went down from the mountain with the two tablets of the testimony in his hand, btablets which were written on both 1sides; they were written on one side and the other.

16 The tablets were God’s work, and the writing was God’s writing engraved on the tablets.

17 Now when Joshua heard the sound of the people 1as they shouted, he said to Moses, “There is a sound of war in the camp.”

18 But he said,

“It is not the sound of the cry of triumph,

Nor is it the sound of the cry of defeat;

But the sound of singing I hear.”

Moses’ Anger

19 It came about, as soon as 1Moses came near the camp, that ahe saw the calf and the dancing; and Moses’ anger burned, and bhe threw the tablets from his hands and shattered them 2at the foot of the mountain.

20 aHe took the calf which they had made and burned it with fire, and ground it to powder, and scattered it over the surface of the water and made the sons of Israel drink it.

21 Then Moses said to Aaron, “What did this people do to you, that you have brought such great sin upon them?”

22 Aaron said, “Do not let the anger of my lord burn; you know the people yourself, athat they are 1prone to evil.

23 “For athey said to me, ‘Make 1a god for us who will go before us; for this Moses, the man who brought us up from the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.’

24 “I said to them, ‘Whoever has any gold, let them tear it off.’ So they gave it to me, and aI threw it into the fire, and out came this calf.”

25 Now when Moses saw …