Exodus 30

1 You must make an altar to burn incense. You must make it with acacia wood.

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

2 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.

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 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.

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 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.

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

5 You must make the poles of acacia wood, and you must cover them with gold.

And make these rods of the same wood, plating them with gold.

6 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.

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 Aaron must burn fragrant incense every morning. He must burn it when he tends the lamps,

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

8 and Aaron lights the lamps again in the evening so incense will burn on it regularly before Yahweh, 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 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.

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

10 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.”

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 Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,

And the Lord said to Moses,

12 “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.

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 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.

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 Everyone who is counted, from twenty years old and up, must give this offering to me.

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

15 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.

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 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.”

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 Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,

And the Lord said to Moses,

18 “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.

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 must wash their hands and their feet with the water in it.

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

20 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.

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 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.”

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 Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,

And the Lord said to Moses,

23 “Take these fine spices: five hundred shekels of flowing myrrh, 250 shekels of sweet-smelling cinnamon, 250 shekels of sweet-smelling cane,

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 five hundred shekels of cassia, measured by the weight of the shekel of the sanctuary, and one hin of olive oil.

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

25 You must make holy anointing oil with these ingredients, the work of a perfumer. It will be a holy anointing oil, reserved for me.

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 You must anoint the tent of meeting with this oil, as well as the ark of the testimony,

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

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

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 the altar for burnt offerings with all its equipment, and the basin with its stand.

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

29 You must set them apart to me so that they may be holy to me. Anything that touches them will also be holy.

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

30 You must anoint Aaron and his sons and set them aside to me so that they may serve me as priests.

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

31 You must say to the Israelites, 'This must be an anointing oil that is set apart to Yahweh throughout your people's generations.

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

32 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.

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 Whoever makes perfume like it, or whoever puts any of it on someone, that person must be cut off 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 Yahweh said to Moses, “Take spices—stacte, onycha, and galbanum—sweet spices along with pure frankincense, each in equal amounts.

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

35 Make it into the form of incense, blended by a perfumer, seasoned with salt, pure and set apart.

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 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.

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 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.

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

38 Whoever makes anything like it to use as a perfume must be cut off from his people.”

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