Exodus 30

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

And you are to make an altar for the burning of perfume; of hard wood let it be made.

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.

The altar is to be square, a cubit long and a cubit wide, and two cubits high, and its horns are to be made of the same.

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,

It is to be plated with the best gold, the top of it and the sides and the horns, with an edging of gold all round 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.

Under the edge on the two opposite sides, you are to make two gold rings, to take the rods for lifting it.

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

And make these rods of the same wood, plating 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.

And let it be placed in front of the veil before the ark of the law, before the cover which is over the law, where I will come face to face 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.

And on this altar sweet spices are to be burned by Aaron every morning when he sees to the lights.

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

And every evening, when he puts the lights up in their places, the spices are to be burned, a sweet-smelling smoke going up before the Lord from generation to generation for ever.

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

No strange perfume, no burned offering or meal offering, and no drink offering is to be offered 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.”

And once every year Aaron is to make its horns clean: with the blood of the sin-offering he is to make it clean once every year from generation to generation: it is most holy to the Lord.

11 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

And the Lord said to Moses,

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 are taking the number of the children of Israel, let every man who is numbered give to the Lord a price for his life, so that no disease may come on them when they are numbered.

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.

And this is what they are to give; let every man who is numbered give half a shekel, by the scale of the holy place: (the shekel being valued at twenty gerahs: ) this money is an offering to the Lord.

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

Everyone who is numbered, from twenty years old and over, is to give an offering to the Lord.

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

The man of wealth is to give no more and the poor man no less than the half-shekel of silver, when the offering is made to the Lord as the price for your lives.

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.”

And you are to take this money from the children of Israel to be used for the work of the Tent of meeting, to keep the memory of the children of Israel before the Lord and to be the price of your lives.

17 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

And the Lord said to Moses,

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 are to make a brass washing-vessel, with a brass base; and put it between the Tent of meeting and the altar, with water in it;

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

That it may be used by Aaron and his sons for washing their hands and feet;

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,

Whenever they go into the Tent of meeting they are to be washed with water, to keep them from death; and whenever they come near to do the work of the altar, or to make an offering 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.”

Their hands and feet are to be washed. so that they may be safe from death: this is an order to them for ever; to him and his seed from generation to generation.

22 And the Lord spoke to Moses,

And the Lord said to Moses,

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,

Take the best spices, five hundred shekels' weight of liquid myrrh, and of sweet cinnamon half as much, that is, two hundred and fifty shekels, and two hundred and fifty shekels of sweet calamus,

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 shekels' weight measured by the scale of the holy place, and of olive oil a hin:

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

And make these into a holy oil, a perfume made by the art of the perfume-maker; it is to be a holy oil.

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

This oil is to be put on the Tent of meeting, and on the ark of the law,

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

And on the table and all its vessels, and on the support for the lights, with its vessels, and on the altar for burning spices,

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

And on the altar of burned offerings with its vessels, and on the washing-vessel and its base.

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

And you are to make them most holy; anything touching them will become holy.

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

And put the oil on Aaron and his sons, making them holy to do the work of priests to me.

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

And say to the children of Israel, This is to be the Lord's holy oil, from generation to generation.

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 is not to be used for man's flesh, and no other is to be made like it: holy it is, and you are to keep it holy.

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

Whoever makes any like it, or puts it on one who is not a priest, will 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.

And the Lord said to Moses, Take sweet spices, stacte and onycha and galbanum, with the best frankincense, in equal weights;

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

And make from them a perfume, such as is made by the art of the perfume-maker, mixed with salt, and clean 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.

And put some of it, crushed very small, in front of the ark in the Tent of meeting, where I will come face to face with you; it is to be most holy.

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

You are not to make any perfume like it for yourselves: it is to be kept holy to the Lord.

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

Whoever makes any like it, for its sweet smell, will be cut off from his people.