Exodus 30
1 And thou shalt make an altar to burn incense upon; of acacia-wood shalt thou make it.
You must make an altar to burn incense. You must make it with acacia wood.
2 A cubit shall be the length thereof, and a cubit the breadth thereof; foursquare shall it be; and two cubits shall be the height thereof; the horns thereof shall be of one piece with it.
Its length must be one cubit, and its width one cubit. It must be square, and its height must be two cubits. Its horns must be made as one piece with it.
3 And thou shalt overlay it with pure gold, the top thereof, and the sides thereof round about, and the horns thereof; and thou shalt make unto it a crown of gold round about.
You must cover the incense altar with pure gold—its top, its sides, and its horns. You must make a surrounding border of gold for it.
4 And two golden rings shalt thou make for it under the crown thereof, upon the two ribs thereof, upon the two sides of it shalt thou make them; and they shall be for places for staves wherewith to bear it.
You must make two golden rings to be attached to it under its border on its two opposite sides. The rings must be holders for poles to carry the altar.
5 And thou shalt make the staves of acacia-wood, and overlay them with gold.
You must make the poles of acacia wood, and you must cover them with gold.
6 And thou shalt put it before the veil that is by the ark of the testimony, before the ark-cover that is over the testimony, where I will meet with thee.
You must put the incense altar before the curtain that is by the ark of the testimony. It will be before the atonement lid that is over the ark of the testimony, where I will meet with you.
7 And Aaron shall burn thereon incense of sweet spices; every morning, when he dresseth the lamps, he shall burn it.
Aaron must burn fragrant incense every morning. He must burn it when he tends the lamps,
8 And when Aaron lighteth the lamps at dusk, he shall burn it, a perpetual incense before the LORD throughout your generations.
and Aaron lights the lamps again in the evening so incense will burn on it regularly before Yahweh, throughout your generations.
9 Ye shall offer no strange incense thereon, nor burnt-offering, nor meal-offering; and ye shall pour no drink-offering thereon.
But you must offer no other incense on the incense altar, nor any burnt offering or grain offering. You must pour no drink offering on it.
10 And Aaron shall make atonement upon the horns of it once in the year; with the blood of the sin-offering of atonement once in the year shall he make atonement for it throughout your generations; it is most holy unto the LORD.'
Aaron must make atonement on its horns once a year. With the blood of the sin offering he will make atonement for it once a year throughout your generations. It is completely set apart to Yahweh.”
11 And the LORD spoke unto Moses, saying:
Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,
12 'When thou takest the sum of the children of Israel, according to their number, then shall they give every man a ransom for his soul unto the LORD, when thou numberest them; that there be no plague among them, when thou numberest them.
“When you take a census of the Israelites, then each person must give a ransom for his life to Yahweh. You must do this after you count them, so that there will be no plague among them when you count them.
13 This they shall give, every one that passeth among them that are numbered, half a shekel after the shekel of the sanctuary — the shekel is twenty gerahs — half a shekel for an offering to the LORD.
Everyone who is counted in the census is to pay half a shekel of silver, according to the weight of the shekel of the sanctuary (a shekel is the same as twenty gerahs). This half shekel will be an offering to Yahweh.
14 Every one that passeth among them that are numbered, from twenty years old and upward, shall give the offering of the LORD.
Everyone who is counted, from twenty years old and up, must give this offering to me.
15 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.
When the people give this offering to me to make atonement for their lives, the rich must not give more than the half shekel, and the poor must not give less.
16 And thou shalt take the atonement money from the children of Israel, and shalt 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.'
You must receive this atonement money from the Israelites and you must allocate it to the work of the tent of meeting. It must be a reminder to the Israelites before me, to make atonement for your lives.”
17 And the LORD spoke unto Moses, saying:
Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,
18 'Thou shalt also make a laver of brass, and the base thereof of brass, whereat to wash; and thou shalt put it between the tent of meeting and the altar, and thou shalt put water therein.
“You must also make a large bronze basin with a bronze stand, a basin for washing. You must put it between the tent of meeting and the altar, and you must put water in it.
19 And Aaron and his sons shall wash their hands and their feet thereat;
Aaron and his sons must wash their hands and their feet with the water in it.
20 when they go into the tent of meeting, they shall wash with water, that they die not; or when they come near to the altar to minister, to cause an offering made by fire to smoke unto the LORD;
When they go into the tent of meeting or when they go near to the altar to serve me by burning an offering, they must wash with water so that they do not die.
21 so they shall wash their hands and their feet, that they die not; and it shall be a statute for ever to them, even to him and to his seed throughout their generations.'
They must wash their hands and feet so that they do not die. This must be a permanent law for Aaron and his descendants throughout their people's generations.”
22 Moreover the LORD spoke unto Moses, saying:
Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,
23 'Take thou also unto thee the chief spices, of flowing myrrh five hundred shekels, and of sweet cinnamon half so much, even two hundred and fifty, and of sweet calamus two hundred and fifty,
“Take these fine spices: five hundred shekels of flowing myrrh, 250 shekels of sweet-smelling cinnamon, 250 shekels of sweet-smelling cane,
24 and of cassia five hundred, after the shekel of the sanctuary, and of olive oil a hin.
five hundred shekels of cassia, measured by the weight of the shekel of the sanctuary, and one hin of olive oil.
25 And thou shalt make it a holy anointing oil, a perfume compounded after the art of the perfumer; it shall be a holy anointing oil.
You must make holy anointing oil with these ingredients, the work of a perfumer. It will be a holy anointing oil, reserved for me.
26 And thou shalt anoint therewith the tent of meeting, and the ark of the testimony,
You must anoint the tent of meeting with this oil, as well as the ark of the testimony,
27 and the table and all the vessels thereof, and the candlestick and the vessels thereof, and the altar of incense,
the table and all its utensils, the lampstand and its equipment, the incense altar,
28 and the altar of burnt-offering with all the vessels thereof, and the laver and the base thereof.
the altar for burnt offerings with all its equipment, and the basin with its stand.
29 And thou shalt sanctify them, that they may be most holy; whatsoever toucheth them shall be holy.
You must set them apart to me so that they may be holy to me. Anything that touches them will also be holy.
30 And thou shalt anoint Aaron and his sons, and sanctify them, that they may minister unto Me in the priest's office.
You must anoint Aaron and his sons and set them aside to me so that they may serve me as priests.
31 And thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel, saying: This shall be a holy anointing oil unto Me throughout your generations.
You must say to the Israelites, 'This must be an anointing oil that is set apart to Yahweh throughout your people's generations.
32 Upon the flesh of man shall it not be poured, neither shall ye make any like it, according to the composition thereof; it is holy, and it shall be holy unto you.
It must not be applied to people's skin, nor must you make any oil like it with the same formula, because it is set apart to Yahweh. You must regard it in this manner.
33 Whosoever compoundeth any like it, or whosoever putteth any of it upon a stranger, he shall be cut off from his people.'
Whoever makes perfume like it, or whoever puts any of it on someone, that person must be cut off from his people.'”
34 And the LORD said unto Moses: 'Take unto thee sweet spices, stacte, and onycha, and galbanum; sweet spices with pure frankincense; of each shall there be a like weight.
Yahweh said to Moses, “Take spices—stacte, onycha, and galbanum—sweet spices along with pure frankincense, each in equal amounts.
35 And thou shalt make of it incense, a perfume after the art of the perfumer, seasoned with salt, pure and holy.
Make it into the form of incense, blended by a perfumer, seasoned with salt, pure and set apart.
36 And thou shalt beat some of it very small, and put of it before the testimony in the tent of meeting, where I will meet with thee; it shall be unto you most holy.
You will grind it into a very fine mixture. Put part of it in front of the ark of the testimony, which is in the tent of meeting, where I will meet with you. You will regard it as very holy to me.
37 And the incense which thou shalt make, according to the composition thereof ye shall not make for yourselves; it shall be unto thee holy for the LORD.
As for this incense that you will make, you must not make any with the same formula for yourselves. It must be most holy to you.
38 Whosoever shall make like unto that, to smell thereof, he shall be cut off from his people.'
Whoever makes anything like it to use as a perfume must be cut off from his people.”
