Exodus 30

1 “You shall also make an altar, for the burning of incense, from setim wood,

“You shall make an altar to burn incense on. You shall make it of acacia wood.

2 having one cubit in length, and another in width, that is, four equal sides, and two cubits in height. Horns shall proceed from the same.

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

3 And you shall clothe it with the purest gold, both its grating and the walls around it, and also the horns. And you shall make for it a crown of gold in a circle,

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

4 and two gold rings under the crown on each side, so that the bars may be set in them and the altar may be carried.

You shall make two golden rings for it under its molding; on its two ribs, on its two sides you shall make them; and they shall be for places for poles with which to bear it.

5 Also, you shall make its bars of setim wood, and you shall overlay them with gold.

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

6 And you shall set the altar opposite the veil, which hangs in front of the ark of the testimony, before the propitiatory with which the testimony is covered, where I will speak to you.

You shall put it before the veil that is by the ark of the covenant, before the mercy seat that is over the covenant, where I will meet with you.

7 And Aaron shall burn incense upon it, a sweet fragrance, in the morning. When he lights the lamps, he shall burn it.

Aaron shall burn incense of sweet spices on it every morning. When he tends the lamps, he shall burn it.

8 And when he assembles them in the evening, he shall burn an everlasting incense before the Lord throughout your generations.

When Aaron lights the lamps at evening, he shall burn it, a perpetual incense before the LORD throughout your generations.

9 You shall not offer upon it incense of another composition, nor an oblation, nor a victim; neither shall you offer libations.

You shall offer no strange incense on it, nor burnt offering, nor meal offering; and you shall pour no drink offering on it.

10 And Aaron shall pray over its horns once a year, with the blood of what was offered for sin. And he shall make atonement over it in your generations. It shall be the Holy of holies to the Lord.”

Aaron shall make atonement on its horns once in the year; with the blood of the sin offering of atonement once in the year he shall make atonement for it throughout your generations. It is most holy to the LORD.”

11 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

The LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

12 “When you have taken the sum of the sons of Israel, according to their number, each shall give a price for their souls to the Lord, and there will be no scourge among them, when they will be reviewed.

“When you take a census of the children of Israel, according to those who are counted among them, then each man shall give a ransom for his soul to the LORD when you count them, that there be no plague among them when you count them.

13 Then all those who pass shall give by name: one half shekel, according to the measure at the temple. A shekel has twenty obols. The half part of a shekel shall be offered to the Lord.

They shall give this, everyone who passes over to those who are counted, half a shekel according to the shekel of the sanctuary (the shekel is twenty gerahs); half a shekel for an offering to the LORD.

14 He who has been numbered from twenty years and above shall give the price.

Everyone who passes over to those who are counted, from twenty years old and upward, shall give the offering to the LORD.

15 The rich shall not add to the half shekel, and the poor shall diminish nothing.

The rich shall not give more, and the poor shall not give less, than the half shekel, when they give the offering of the LORD, to make atonement for your souls.

16 And the money received, which was collected from the sons of Israel, you shall deliver for the uses of the tabernacle of the testimony, so that it may be a memorial of them before the Lord, and he may act favorably toward their souls.”

You shall take the atonement money from the children of Israel, and shall appoint it for the service of the Tent of Meeting; that it may be a memorial for the children of Israel before the LORD, to make atonement for your souls.”

17 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

The LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

18 “You shall also make a bronze washtub with its base to wash in; and you shall place it between the tabernacle of the testimony and the altar. And when water has been added,

“You shall also make a basin of bronze, and its base of bronze, in which to wash. You shall put it between the Tent of Meeting and the altar, and you shall put water in it.

19 Aaron and his sons shall wash their hands and feet in it:

Aaron and his sons shall wash their hands and their feet in it.

20 when they enter the tabernacle of the testimony, and when they approach to the altar so as to offer incense to the Lord upon it,

When they go into the Tent of Meeting, they shall wash with water, that they not die; or when they come near to the altar to minister, to burn an offering made by fire to the LORD.

21 otherwise, they may die. This shall be an everlasting law to him, and to his offspring, throughout their successions.”

So they shall wash their hands and their feet, that they not die. This shall be a statute forever to them, even to him and to his descendants throughout their generations.”

22 And the Lord spoke to Moses,

Moreover the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

23 saying: “Take for yourself aromatics: of the first and best myrrh, five hundred shekels, and of cinnamon half as much, that is, two hundred and fifty shekels; of sweet flag similarly two hundred and fifty,

“Also take fine spices: of liquid myrrh, five hundred shekels; and of fragrant cinnamon half as much, even two hundred and fifty; and of fragrant cane, two hundred and fifty;

24 but of cassia, five hundred shekels by the weight of the sanctuary, and of the oil of olives the measure of a hin.

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

25 And you shall make the holy oil of unction, an ointment composed with the skills of a perfumer,

You shall make it into a holy anointing oil, a perfume compounded after the art of the perfumer: it shall be a holy anointing oil.

26 and with it you shall anoint the tabernacle of the testimony, and the ark of the testament,

You shall use it to anoint the Tent of Meeting, the ark of the covenant,

27 and the table with its vessels, and the lampstand and its utensils, the altars of incense

the table and all its articles, the lamp stand and its accessories, the altar of incense,

28 and of holocaust, and all the items that pertain to their rituals.

the altar of burnt offering with all its utensils, and the basin with its base.

29 And you shall sanctify everything, and they shall be the Holy of holies. He who will touch them must be sanctified.

You shall sanctify them, that they may be most holy. Whatever touches them shall be holy.

30 You shall anoint Aaron and his sons, and you shall sanctify them, so that they may exercise the priesthood for me.

You shall anoint Aaron and his sons, and sanctify them, that they may minister to me in the priest’s office.

31 Likewise, you shall say to the sons of Israel: ‘This oil of unction will be holy to me throughout your generations.

You shall speak to the children of Israel, saying, ‘This shall be a holy anointing oil to me throughout your generations.

32 The flesh of man shall not be anointed from it, and you shall not make any similar compound, for it has been sanctified and it shall be holy to you.

It shall not be poured on man’s flesh, and do not make any like it, according to its composition. It is holy. It shall be holy to you.

33 Whatever man will have composed such a thing and have given it to a stranger, he shall be exterminated from his people.’”

Whoever compounds any like it, or whoever puts any of it on a stranger, he shall be cut off from his people.’”

34 And the Lord said to Moses: “Take to yourself aromatics: stacte, and onycha, galbanum of sweet odor, and the clearest frankincense, all these shall be of equal weight.

The LORD said to Moses, “Take to yourself sweet spices, gum resin, onycha, and galbanum: sweet spices with pure frankincense. There shall be an equal weight of each.

35 And you shall make incense composed with the skills of a perfumer, diligently mixed, and pure, and most worthy of sanctification.

You shall make incense of it, a perfume after the art of the perfumer, seasoned with salt, pure and holy.

36 And when you have crushed all these into a very fine powder, you shall place some of it before the tabernacle of the testimony, in the place where I will appear to you. The Holy of holies shall this incense be to you.

You shall beat some of it very small, and put some of it before the covenant in the Tent of Meeting, where I will meet with you. It shall be to you most holy.

37 You shall not make such a compound for your own uses, because it is holy to the Lord.

You shall not make this incense, according to its composition, for yourselves: it shall be to you holy for the LORD.

38 Whatever man will have made anything similar, so as to thoroughly enjoy its smell, he shall perish from his people.”

Whoever shall make any like that, to smell of it, he shall be cut off from his people.”