Exodus 30
1 And you shall make the altar of incense of incorruptible wood.
“You shall also make an altar, for the burning of incense, from setim wood,
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.
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.
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.
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,
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 two gold rings under the crown on each side, so that the bars may be set in them and the altar may be carried.
5 And you shall make the staves of incorruptible wood, and shall gild them with gold.
Also, you shall make its bars of setim wood, and you shall 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.
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.
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 shall burn incense upon it, a sweet fragrance, in the morning. When he lights the lamps, he shall burn it.
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.
And when he assembles them in the evening, he shall burn an everlasting incense before the Lord throughout your generations.
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.
You shall not offer upon it incense of another composition, nor an oblation, nor a victim; neither shall you offer libations.
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.
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.”
11 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,
And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:
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 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.
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.
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.
14 Every one that passes the survey from twenty years old and upwards shall give the offering to the Lord.
He who has been numbered from twenty years and above shall give the price.
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.
The rich shall not add to the half shekel, and the poor shall diminish nothing.
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.
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.”
17 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,
And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:
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 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,
19 And Aaron and his sons shall wash their hands and their feet with water from it.
Aaron and his sons shall wash their hands and feet in it:
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.
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,
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.
otherwise, they may die. This shall be an everlasting law to him, and to his offspring, throughout their successions.”
22 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,
And the Lord spoke 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,
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,
24 and of cassia five hundred shekels of the sanctuary, and a hin of olive oil.
but of cassia, five hundred shekels by the weight of the sanctuary, and of the oil of olives the measure of a hin.
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.
And you shall make the holy oil of unction, an ointment composed with the skills of a perfumer,
26 And you shall anoint with it the tabernacle of witness, and the ark of the tabernacle of witness,
and with it you shall anoint the tabernacle of the testimony, and the ark of the testament,
27 and all its furniture, and the candlestick and all its furniture, and the altar of incense,
and the table with its vessels, and the lampstand and its utensils, the altars of incense
28 and the altar of whole burnt offerings and all its furniture, and the table and all its furniture, and the laver.
and of holocaust, and all the items that pertain to their rituals.
29 And you shall sanctify them, and they shall be most holy: every one that touches them shall be hallowed.
And you shall sanctify everything, and they shall be the Holy of holies. He who will touch them must be sanctified.
30 And you shall anoint Aaron and his sons, and sanctify them that they may minister to me as priests.
You shall anoint Aaron and his sons, and you shall sanctify them, so that they may exercise the priesthood for me.
31 And you shall speak to the children of Israel, saying, This shall be to you a holy anointing oil throughout your generations.
Likewise, you shall say to the sons of Israel: ‘This oil of unction will be holy to me throughout your generations.
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.
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.
33 Whosoever shall make it in like manner, and whoever shall give of it to a stranger, shall be destroyed from amongst his people.
Whatever man will have composed such a thing and have given it to a stranger, he shall be exterminated 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.
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.
35 And they shall make with it perfumed incense, tempered with the are of a perfumer, a pure holy work.
And you shall make incense composed with the skills of a perfumer, diligently mixed, and pure, and most worthy of sanctification.
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.
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.
37 You shall not make any for yourselves according to this composition; it shall be to you a holy thing for the Lord.
You shall not make such a compound for your own uses, because it is holy to the Lord.
38 Whosoever shall make any in like manner, so as to smell it, shall perish from his people.
Whatever man will have made anything similar, so as to thoroughly enjoy its smell, he shall perish from his people.”
