Exodus 30

1 And you shall make the altar of incense of incorruptible wood.

“You are also to make an altar of acacia wood for the burning of incense.

2 And you shall make it a cubit in length, and a cubit in breadth: it shall be square; and the height of it shall be of two cubits, its horns shall be of the same piece.

It is to be square, a cubit long, a cubit wide, and two cubits high. Its horns must be of one piece.

3 And you shall gild its grate with pure gold, and its sides round about, and its horns; and you shall make for it a wreathen border of gold roundabout.

Overlay with pure gold the top and all the sides and horns, and make a molding of gold around it.

4 And you shall make under its wreathen border two rings of pure gold; you shall make it to the two corners on the two sides, and they shall be bearings for the staves, so as to bear it with them.

And make two gold rings below the molding on opposite sides to hold the poles used to carry it.

5 And you shall make the staves of incorruptible wood, and shall gild them with gold.

Make the poles of acacia wood and overlay them with gold.

6 And you shall set it before the veil that is over the ark of the testimonies, wherein I will make myself known to you from thence.

Place the altar in front of the veil that is before the ark of the Testimony —before the mercy seat that is over the Testimony—where I will meet with you.

7 And Aaron shall burn upon it fine compound incense every morning; whenever he trims the lamps he shall burn incense upon it.

And Aaron is to burn fragrant incense on it every morning when he tends the lamps.

8 And when Aaron lights the lamps in the evening, he shall burn incense upon it; a constant incense-offering always before the Lord for their generations.

When Aaron sets up the lamps at twilight, he must burn the incense perpetually before the LORD for the generations to come.

9 And you shall not offer strange incense upon it, [nor] and offering made by fire, [nor] a sacrifice; and you shall not pour a drink-offering upon it.

On this altar you must not offer unauthorized incense or a burnt offering or grain offering; nor are you to pour a drink offering on it.

10 And once in the year Aaron shall make atonement on its horns, he shall purge it with the blood of purification for their generations: it is most holy to the Lord.

Once a year Aaron shall make atonement on the horns of the altar. Throughout your generations he shall make atonement on it annually with the blood of the sin offering of atonement. The altar is most holy to the LORD.”

11 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,

Then the LORD said to Moses,

12 If you take account of the children of Israel in the surveying of them, and they shall give every one a ransom for his soul to the Lord, then there shall not be amongst them a destruction in the visiting of them.

“When you take a census of the Israelites to number them, each man must pay the LORD a ransom for his life when he is counted. Then no plague will come upon them when they are numbered.

13 And this is what they shall give, as many as pass the survey, half a didrachm which is according to the didrachm of the sanctuary: twenty oboli [go to] the didrachm, but the half of the didrachm is the offering to the Lord.

Everyone who crosses over to those counted must pay a half shekel, according to the sanctuary shekel, which weighs twenty gerahs. This half shekel is an offering to the LORD.

14 Every one that passes the survey from twenty years old and upwards shall give the offering to the Lord.

Everyone twenty years of age or older who crosses over must give this offering to the LORD.

15 The rich shall not give more, and the poor shall not give less than the half didrachm in giving the offering to the Lord, to make atonement for your souls.

In making the offering to the LORD to atone for your lives, the rich shall not give more than a half shekel, nor shall the poor give less.

16 And you shall take the money of the offering from the children of Israel, and shall give it for the service of the tabernacle of testimony; and it shall be to the children of Israel a memorial before the Lord, to make atonement for your souls.

Take the atonement money from the Israelites and use it for the service of the Tent of Meeting. It will serve as a memorial for the Israelites before the LORD to make atonement for your lives.”

17 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,

And the LORD said to Moses,

18 Make a brazen laver, and a brazen base for it, for washing; and you shall put it between the tabernacle of witness and the altar, and you shall pour forth water into it.

“You are to make a bronze basin with a bronze stand for washing. Set it between the Tent of Meeting and the altar, and put water in it,

19 And Aaron and his sons shall wash their hands and their feet with water from it.

with which Aaron and his sons are to wash their hands and feet.

20 Whenever they shall go into the tabernacle of witness, they shall wash themselves with water, so they shall not die, whenever they advance to the altar to do service and to offer the whole burnt offerings to the Lord.

Whenever they enter the Tent of Meeting or approach the altar to minister by presenting an offering made by fire to the LORD, they must wash with water so that they will not die.

21 They shall wash their hands and feet with water, whenever they shall go into the tabernacle of witness; they shall wash themselves with water, that they die not; and it shall be for them a perpetual statute, for him and his posterity after him.

Thus they are to wash their hands and feet so that they will not die; this shall be a permanent statute for Aaron and his descendants for the generations to come.”

22 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,

Then the LORD said to Moses,

23 Do you also take sweet herbs, the flower of choice myrrh five hundred shekels, and the half of this two hundred and fifty shekels of sweet smelling cinnamon, and two hundred and fifty shekels of sweet smelling calamus,

“Take the finest spices: 500 shekels of liquid myrrh, half that amount (250 shekels) of fragrant cinnamon, 250 shekels of fragrant cane,

24 and of cassia five hundred shekels of the sanctuary, and a hin of olive oil.

500 shekels of cassia —all according to the sanctuary shekel—and a hin of olive oil.

25 And you shall make it a holy anointing oil, a perfumed ointment [tempered] by the are of the perfumer: it shall be a holy anointing oil.

Prepare from these a sacred anointing oil, a fragrant blend, the work of a perfumer; it will be a sacred anointing oil.

26 And you shall anoint with it the tabernacle of witness, and the ark of the tabernacle of witness,

Use this oil to anoint the Tent of Meeting, the ark of the Testimony,

27 and all its furniture, and the candlestick and all its furniture, and the altar of incense,

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

28 and the altar of whole burnt offerings and all its furniture, and the table and all its furniture, and the laver.

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

29 And you shall sanctify them, and they shall be most holy: every one that touches them shall be hallowed.

You are to consecrate them so that they will be most holy. Whatever touches them shall be holy.

30 And you shall anoint Aaron and his sons, and sanctify them that they may minister to me as priests.

Anoint Aaron and his sons and consecrate them to serve Me as priests.

31 And you shall speak to the children of Israel, saying, This shall be to you a holy anointing oil throughout your generations.

And you are to tell the Israelites, ‘This will be My sacred anointing oil for the generations to come.

32 On man's flesh it shall not be poured, and you shall not make [any] for yourselves according to this composition: it is holy, and shall be holiness to you.

It must not be used to anoint an ordinary man, and you must not make anything like it with the same formula. It is holy, and it must be holy to you.

33 Whosoever shall make it in like manner, and whoever shall give of it to a stranger, shall be destroyed from amongst his people.

Anyone who mixes perfume like it or puts it on an outsider shall be cut off from his people.’”

34 And the Lord said to Moses, Take for yourself sweet herbs, stacte, onycha, sweet galbanum, and transparent frankincense; there shall be an equal weight of each.

The LORD also said to Moses, “Take fragrant spices—gum resin, onycha, galbanum, and pure frankincense—in equal measures,

35 And they shall make with it perfumed incense, tempered with the are of a perfumer, a pure holy work.

and make a fragrant blend of incense, the work of a perfumer, seasoned with salt, pure and holy.

36 And of these you shall beat some small, and you shall put it before the testimonies in the tabernacle of testimony, whence I will make myself known to you: it shall be to you a most holy incense.

Grind some of it into fine powder and place it in front of the Testimony in the Tent of Meeting, where I will meet with you. It shall be most holy to you.

37 You shall not make any for yourselves according to this composition; it shall be to you a holy thing for the Lord.

You are never to use this formula to make incense for yourselves; you shall regard it as holy to the LORD.

38 Whosoever shall make any in like manner, so as to smell it, shall perish from his people.

Anyone who makes something like it to enjoy its fragrance shall be cut off from his people.”