BibleStudyIt Exodus 30
- Exodus Chapter 30
30 Use acacia wood to make an altar so that you can burn incense on it. 2 The altar must be square. Make it 45 centimetres long, 45 centimetres wide and 90 centimetres high. The altar's horns must be part of it, made from one piece of wood. 3 Cover all the altar with gold: its top, its sides and the horns. Build up an edge of gold around the four sides. 4 Make two gold rings for the altar. Fix them below the gold edge on two opposite sides. They will hold the poles for you to carry the altar. 5 Use acacia wood to make the poles. Cover them with gold.
6 Put the altar for incense in the Holy Place in the tabernacle. Put it in front of the curtain that hides the Covenant Box. It will be near the special lid that covers the Covenant Box. That is the place where I will meet with you.
7 Every morning, Aaron must burn sweet incense on this altar. He must do this when he goes in to take care of the lamps. 8 He must burn incense again when he lights the lamps in the evening. Incense must burn there as an offering to the Lord every day from now on. 9 Only offer proper incense on this altar. Do not offer any burnt offerings or grain offerings on it. And do not pour any drink offerings on it. 10 Once every year, Aaron must make the altar clean and pure. He must put some of the blood from the sin offering on the horns of the altar. A priest must do this every year from now on. The altar is holy because it belongs to me, the Lord .’
11 Then the Lord said to Moses, 12 ‘When you count the number of the Israelites, each person must pay the Lord a price for his life. Everyone must do this at the time when you count them. Then no bad illness will happen to them as you count them. 13 Each person that you count must give six grams of silver. That is the proper weight that they use in the tabernacle. The silver is an offering to the Lord . 14 You must count every person who is 20 years old or more. Each person must offer his gift to the Lord . 15 Rich people must not give more than six grams of silver. Poor people must not give less than that. That is the offering that you must each give to the Lord . It is the price that everyone must pay for his life. 16 Receive these silver coins from the Israelites. Use the money to take care of the Tent of Meeting. [ a ] Then the Lord will always remember that you belong to him. You have paid money for your lives.’
17 Then the Lord said to Moses, 18 ‘Use bronze to make a large bowl for water. Also use bronze to make a base for it to stand on. Put it between the Tent of Meeting and the altar. Fill it with water.
19 Aaron and his sons must use the water from the bowl to wash their hands and their feet. 20 Every time they go into the Tent of Meeting, they must wash in the same way. Then they will not die. They must also wash before they go to the altar to make a burnt offering to the Lord . 21 If they wash their hands and their feet, they will not die as they serve me. This will always be a rule for Aaron and for his descendants, the priests.’
22 Then the Lord said to Moses, 23 ‘Mix together these special spices:
6 kilograms of pure myrrh,
3 kilograms of sweet cinnamon,
3 kilograms of sweet grasses,
24 6 kilograms of cassia, [ b ]
and 4 litres of olive oil.
25 Mix these spices to make a special oil. A worker should use special skills to make it, so that it has a sweet smell, like perfume. It will be a very special oil to put on things that belong to me.
26 Then pour some of this special oil on these things:
the Tent of Meeting,
the Covenant Box,
27 the special table and all its tools,
the lampstand and its tools,
the altar for incense,
28 the altar for burnt offerings and all its tools,
and the large bowl of water with its base.
29 You must make all these things special for me. They will be very holy things. Anything that touches them will also become holy.
30 Pour some of the special oil on Aaron's head and on the heads of his sons. Make them special for me. Then they can serve me as my priests. 31 Say to the Israelites, “This will always be my special oil for all time. 32 Do not put it on the bodies of anyone, except priests. Do not use spices like this to make oil for yourselves. It is holy and you must always think about it as holy. 33 Nobody must make a perfume that has a sweet smell like this oil. Nobody must put this oil on any person who is not a priest. Anyone who does not obey this rule will no longer belong to my people.” ’
34 Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Use the same amount of each of these sweet spices to make some incense: gum resin, onycha, galbanum and frankincense. [ c ] 35 Give them to a worker who can use special skills to make the incense. It must have a sweet smell, like a perfume. Add some salt to it so that it is a pure and holy incense. 36 Beat some of the incense to make powder. Put this in front of the Covenant Box, in the Tent of Meeting. That is where I will meet with you. This incense will be a very holy thing for you. 37 Do not make any incense like this for yourselves. You must always think about it as very holy. It belongs to the Lord . 38 If anyone makes any incense like it for his own perfume, he will no longer belong to my people.’
30 “Make an altar from acacia wood. You will use this altar for burning incense. 2 You must make the altar square—1 cubit [ a ] long and 1 cubit wide. It must be 2 cubits [ b ] high. There will be horns at the four corners. These horns must be made as one piece with the altar. 3 Cover the top, the horns, and all four sides of the altar with pure gold. Then put gold trim all around the altar. 4 Below this trim there should be two gold rings. There should be two gold rings on opposite sides of the altar. These gold rings will be used with poles to carry the altar. 5 Make the poles from acacia wood and cover them with gold. 6 Put the altar just outside the special curtain that hangs in front of the Box of the Agreement. So the altar will be in front of the mercy-cover that is above the Agreement. This is the place where I will meet with you.
7 “Aaron must burn sweet-smelling incense on the altar every morning. He will do this when he comes to care for the lamps. 8 He must burn incense again when he checks the lamps in the evening so that incense will be burned before the Lord every day forever. 9 Don’t use this altar for offering any other kind of incense or burnt offering or for any kind of grain offering or drink offering.
10 “Once a year Aaron must make a special sacrifice. He will use the blood of the sin offering to erase the sins of the people. He will do this at the horns of this altar. This day will be called the Day of Atonement, and it will be a very special day for the Lord .”
11 The Lord said to Moses, 12 “Count the Israelites so that you will know how many people there are. Every time this is done, each man must make a payment for himself to the Lord so that nothing terrible will happen to the people. 13 Each man who is counted must pay 1/2 shekel of silver. (That is 1/2 shekel by the official measure. This shekel weighs 20 gerahs. [ c ] ) This half shekel is an offering to the Lord . 14 Every man who is at least 20 years old must be counted. And every man who is counted must give the Lord this offering. 15 The rich must not give more than 1/2 shekel, and the poor must not give less than 1/2 shekel. All people will make the same offering to the Lord . This will be a payment for your life. 16 Gather this money from the Israelites. Use the money for the service in the Meeting Tent. This payment will be a way for the Lord to remember his people. They will be paying for their own lives.”
17 The Lord said to Moses, 18 “Make a bronze bowl and put it on a bronze base. You will use this for washing. Put the bowl between the Meeting Tent and the altar. Fill the bowl with water. 19 Aaron and his sons must wash their hands and feet with the water from this bowl. 20 Every time they enter the Meeting Tent, they must wash with that water so that they will not die. They must also wash every time they come near the altar to burn incense or to offer gifts to the Lord . 21 They must wash their hands and their feet so that they will not die. This will be a law that continues forever for Aaron and his people who will live in the future.”
22 Then the Lord said to Moses, 23 “Find the finest spices. Get 12 pounds [ d ] of liquid myrrh, half that amount (that is, 6 pounds [ e ] ) of sweet-smelling cinnamon, and 12 pounds of sweet-smelling cane, 24 and 12 pounds of cassia. Use the official measure to measure all these things. Also get 1 gallon [ f ] of olive oil.
25 “Mix all these things to make a special sweet-smelling anointing oil. 26 Pour this oil on the Meeting Tent and on the Box of the Agreement. This will show that these things have a special purpose. 27 Pour the oil on the table and on all the dishes on the table. And pour this oil on the lamp and on all its tools. Pour the oil on the incense altar. 28 Also, pour the oil on the altar for burning offerings to God. Pour this oil on everything on that altar. Pour this oil on the bowl and on the base under the bowl. 29 You will make all these things holy. They will be very special to the Lord. Anything that touches these things will also become holy.
30 “Pour the oil on Aaron and his sons to show that they are separated from the rest of the people to serve as priests. 31 Tell the Israelites that the anointing oil is holy—it must always be used only for me. 32 This oil is holy and you must treat it as something special. Don’t use the same formula for making perfume and don’t let people use this oil like an ordinary perfume. 33 Whoever makes a perfume like that and puts it on anyone except a priest [ g ] must be separated from the people.”
34 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Get these sweet-smelling spices: resin, onycha, galbanum, and pure frankincense. Be sure that you have equal amounts of these spices. 35 Mix the spices together to make a sweet-smelling incense. Do this the same as a perfume maker would do it. Also mix salt with this incense. This will make it pure and special. 36 Grind some of the incense until it becomes a fine powder. Put the powder in front of the Holy Box that holds the Agreement [ h ] in the Meeting Tent. This is the place where I meet with you. You must use this incense powder only for its very special purpose. 37 You must use it only in this special way for the Lord . You must also make it in a special way. Don’t make any other incense in this way. 38 There may be people who will want to make some of this incense for themselves so that they can enjoy the smell. But whoever does this must be separated from their people.”
30 And thou shalt make an altar to burn incense upon: of shittim wood shalt thou make it.
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 the same.
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.
4 And two golden rings shalt thou make to it under the crown of it, by the two corners thereof, upon the two sides of it shalt thou make it; and they shall be for places for the staves to bear it withal.
5 And thou shalt make the staves of shittim wood, and overlay them with gold.
6 And thou shalt put it before the vail that is by the ark of the testimony, before the mercy seat that is over the testimony, where I will meet with thee.
7 And Aaron shall burn thereon sweet incense every morning: when he dresseth the lamps, he shall burn incense upon it.
8 And when Aaron lighteth the lamps at even, he shall burn incense upon it, a perpetual incense before the Lord throughout your generations.
9 Ye shall offer no strange incense thereon, nor burnt sacrifice, nor meat offering; neither shall ye pour drink offering thereon.
10 And Aaron shall make an atonement upon the horns of it once in a year with the blood of the sin offering of atonements: once in the year shall he make atonement upon it throughout your generations: it is most holy unto the Lord .
11 And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,
12 When thou takest the sum of the children of Israel after 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.
13 This they shall give, every one that passeth among them that are numbered, half a shekel after the shekel of the sanctuary: (a shekel is twenty gerahs:) an half shekel shall be the offering of the Lord .
14 Every one that passeth among them that are numbered, from twenty years old and above, shall give an offering unto the Lord .
15 The rich shall not give more, and the poor shall not give less than half a shekel, when they give an offering unto the Lord , to make an atonement for your souls.
16 And thou shalt take the atonement money of the children of Israel, and shalt appoint it for the service of the tabernacle of the congregation; that it may be a memorial unto the children of Israel before the Lord , to make an atonement for your souls.
17 And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,
18 Thou shalt also make a laver of brass, and his foot also of brass, to wash withal: and thou shalt put it between the tabernacle of the congregation and the altar, and thou shalt put water therein.
19 For Aaron and his sons shall wash their hands and their feet thereat:
20 When they go into the tabernacle of the congregation, they shall wash with water, that they die not; or when they come near to the altar to minister, to burn offering made by fire unto the Lord :
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.
22 Moreover the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,
23 Take thou also unto thee principal spices, of pure myrrh five hundred shekels, and of sweet cinnamon half so much, even two hundred and fifty shekels, and of sweet calamus two hundred and fifty shekels,
24 And of cassia five hundred shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary, and of oil olive an hin:
25 And thou shalt make it an oil of holy ointment, an ointment compound after the art of the apothecary: it shall be an holy anointing oil.
26 And thou shalt anoint the tabernacle of the congregation therewith, and the ark of the testimony,
27 And the table and all his vessels, and the candlestick and his vessels, and the altar of incense,
28 And the altar of burnt offering with all his vessels, and the laver and his foot.
29 And thou shalt sanctify them, that they may be most holy: whatsoever toucheth them shall be holy.
30 And thou shalt anoint Aaron and his sons, and consecrate them, that they may minister unto me in the priest's office.
31 And thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel, saying, This shall be an holy anointing oil unto me throughout your generations.
32 Upon man's flesh shall it not be poured, neither shall ye make any other like it, after the composition of it: it is holy, and it shall be holy unto you.
33 Whosoever compoundeth any like it, or whosoever putteth any of it upon a stranger, shall even be cut off from his people.
34 And the Lord said unto Moses, Take unto thee sweet spices, stacte, and onycha, and galbanum; these sweet spices with pure frankincense: of each shall there be a like weight:
35 And thou shalt make it a perfume, a confection after the art of the apothecary, tempered together, pure and holy:
36 And thou shalt beat some of it very small, and put of it before the testimony in the tabernacle of the congregation, where I will meet with thee: it shall be unto you most holy.
37 And as for the perfume which thou shalt make, ye shall not make to yourselves according to the composition thereof: it shall be unto thee holy for the Lord .
38 Whosoever shall make like unto that, to smell thereto, shall even be cut off from his people.
30 “Now you shall make ( A ) an altar as a place for burning incense; you shall make it of acacia wood. 2 Its length shall be [ a ] a cubit, and its width a cubit; it shall be square, and its height shall be two cubits; its horns shall be [ b ] of one piece with it. 3 You shall overlay it with pure gold, its top and its [ c ] sides all around, and its horns; and you shall make a gold molding all around for it. 4 You shall also make two gold rings for it under its molding; you shall make them on its two sides—on [ d ] opposite sides—and [ e ] they shall be holders for poles with which to carry it. 5 And you shall make the poles of acacia wood and overlay them with gold. 6 You shall put [ f ] this altar in front of the veil that is [ g ] near the ark of the testimony, in front of the [ h ] ( B ) atoning cover that is over the ark of the testimony, where I will meet with you. 7 Aaron shall burn fragrant incense on it; he shall burn it every morning when he trims the lamps. 8 And when Aaron sets up the lamps at [ i ] twilight, he shall burn incense. There shall be perpetual incense before the Lord throughout your generations. 9 You shall not offer any [ j ] strange incense on [ k ] this altar, or burnt offering, or meal offering; and you shall not pour out a drink offering on it. 10 However, Aaron shall ( C ) make atonement on its horns once a year; he shall make atonement on it with the blood of the sin offering of atonement once a year throughout your generations. It is most holy to the Lord .”
11 The Lord also spoke to Moses, saying, 12 “When you take ( D ) a [ l ] census of the sons of Israel [ m ] to count them, then each one of them shall give ( E ) a ransom for [ n ] himself to the Lord , when you [ o ] count them, so that there will be no plague among them when you [ p ] count them. 13 This is what everyone who [ q ] is counted shall give: half a [ r ] shekel according to the shekel of the sanctuary ( ( F ) the shekel is twenty gerahs), half a shekel as a [ s ] contribution to the Lord . 14 Everyone who [ t ] is counted, from twenty years old and over, shall give the [ u ] contribution to the Lord . 15 The rich shall not pay more, and the poor shall not pay less, than the half shekel, when you give the [ v ] contribution to the Lord to make atonement for [ w ] yourselves. 16 And you shall take the atonement money from the sons of Israel and give it for the service of the tent of meeting, so that it may be a memorial for the sons of Israel before the Lord , to make atonement for [ x ] yourselves.”
17 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 18 “You shall also make ( G ) a basin of [ y ] bronze, with its base of bronze, for washing; and you shall ( H ) put it between the tent of meeting and the altar, and you shall put water in it. 19 Aaron and his sons shall ( I ) wash their hands and their feet from it; 20 when they enter the tent of meeting, they shall wash with water, so that they do not die; or when they approach the altar to minister, by offering up in smoke a fire sacrifice to the Lord . 21 So they shall wash their hands and their feet, so that they do not die; and ( J ) it shall be a permanent statute for them, for [ z ] Aaron and his [ aa ] descendants throughout their generations.”
22 Moreover, the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 23 “Take also for yourself the finest of spices: of liquid myrrh [ ab ] five hundred shekels , and of fragrant cinnamon half as much, 250, and of fragrant cane 250, 24 and of cassia 500, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, and of olive oil a [ ac ] hin. 25 You shall make [ ad ] from these a holy anointing oil, a fragrant mixture of ointments, the work of a perfumer; it shall be ( K ) a holy anointing oil. 26 And ( L ) you shall anoint the tent of meeting with it, and the ark of the testimony, 27 and the table and all its utensils, and the lampstand and its utensils, and the altar of incense, 28 and the altar of burnt offering and all its utensils, and the basin and its stand. 29 You shall also consecrate them, so that they may be most holy; whatever touches them shall be holy. 30 And ( M ) you shall anoint Aaron and his sons, and consecrate them, so that they may serve as priests to Me. 31 Furthermore, you shall speak to the sons of Israel, saying, ‘This shall be a holy anointing oil to Me throughout your generations. 32 It shall not be poured on [ ae ] anyone’s body, nor shall you make any like it in [ af ] the same proportions; ( N ) it is holy, and it shall be holy to you. 33 ( O ) Whoever mixes any like it or whoever puts any of it on a [ ag ] layman [ ah ] ( P ) shall be cut off from his people.’”
34 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Take for yourself spices—stacte, onycha, and galbanum, spices and pure frankincense; there shall be an equal part of each. 35 You shall make incense from it all , a skillful mixture, the work of a perfumer, salted, pure, and holy. 36 And you shall crush some of it very fine, and put part of it in front of the testimony in the tent of meeting ( Q ) where I will meet with you; it shall be most holy to you. 37 And the incense which you shall make, ( R ) you shall not make in [ ai ] the same proportions for yourselves; it shall be holy to you for the Lord . 38 ( S ) Whoever makes any like it, to [ aj ] use as perfume, [ ak ] shall be cut off from his people.”
30 “Make an altar ( B ) of acacia wood for burning incense. ( C ) 2 It is to be square, a cubit long and a cubit wide, and two cubits high [ a ] —its horns ( D ) of one piece with it. 3 Overlay the top and all the sides and the horns with pure gold, and make a gold molding around it. ( E ) 4 Make two gold rings ( F ) for the altar below the molding—two on each of the opposite sides—to hold the poles used to carry it. 5 Make the poles of acacia wood and overlay them with gold. ( G ) 6 Put the altar in front of the curtain that shields the ark of the covenant law—before the atonement cover ( H ) that is over the tablets of the covenant law—where I will meet with you.
7 “Aaron must burn fragrant incense ( I ) on the altar every morning when he tends the lamps. 8 He must burn incense again when he lights the lamps at twilight so incense will burn regularly before the Lord for the generations to come. ( J ) 9 Do not offer on this altar any other incense ( K ) or any burnt offering or grain offering, and do not pour a drink offering on it. 10 Once a year ( L ) Aaron shall make atonement ( M ) on its horns. This annual atonement must be made with the blood of the atoning sin offering [ b ] ( N ) for the generations to come. ( O ) It is most holy to the Lord .”
11 Then the Lord said to Moses, 12 “When you take a census ( P ) of the Israelites to count them, each one must pay the Lord a ransom ( Q ) for his life at the time he is counted. Then no plague ( R ) will come on them when you number them. 13 Each one who crosses over to those already counted is to give a half shekel, [ c ] according to the sanctuary shekel, ( S ) which weighs twenty gerahs. This half shekel is an offering to the Lord . 14 All who cross over, those twenty years old or more, ( T ) are to give an offering to the Lord . 15 The rich are not to give more than a half shekel and the poor are not to give less ( U ) when you make the offering to the Lord to atone for your lives. 16 Receive the atonement ( V ) money from the Israelites and use it for the service of the tent of meeting. ( W ) It will be a memorial ( X ) for the Israelites before the Lord , making atonement for your lives.”
17 Then the Lord said to Moses, 18 “Make a bronze basin, ( Y ) with its bronze stand, for washing. Place it between the tent of meeting and the altar, and put water in it. 19 Aaron and his sons are to wash their hands and feet ( Z ) with water ( AA ) from it. 20 Whenever they enter the tent of meeting, they shall wash with water so that they will not die. ( AB ) Also, when they approach the altar to minister by presenting a food offering to the Lord , 21 they shall wash their hands and feet so that they will not die. This is to be a lasting ordinance ( AC ) for Aaron and his descendants for the generations to come.” ( AD )
22 Then the Lord said to Moses, 23 “Take the following fine spices: ( AE ) 500 shekels [ d ] of liquid myrrh, ( AF ) half as much (that is, 250 shekels) of fragrant cinnamon, ( AG ) 250 shekels [ e ] of fragrant calamus, ( AH ) 24 500 shekels ( AI ) of cassia ( AJ ) —all according to the sanctuary shekel—and a hin [ f ] of olive oil. 25 Make these into a sacred anointing oil, a fragrant blend, the work of a perfumer. ( AK ) It will be the sacred anointing oil. ( AL ) 26 Then use it to anoint ( AM ) the tent of meeting, the ark of the covenant law, 27 the table and all its articles, the lampstand and its accessories, the altar of incense, 28 the altar of burnt offering and all its utensils, and the basin with its stand. 29 You shall consecrate them ( AN ) so they will be most holy, and whatever touches them will be holy. ( AO )
30 “Anoint Aaron and his sons and consecrate ( AP ) them so they may serve me as priests. ( AQ ) 31 Say to the Israelites, ‘This is to be my sacred anointing oil ( AR ) for the generations to come. ( AS ) 32 Do not pour it on anyone else’s body and do not make any other oil using the same formula. It is sacred, and you are to consider it sacred. ( AT ) 33 Whoever makes perfume like it and puts it on anyone other than a priest must be cut off ( AU ) from their people.’”
34 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Take fragrant spices ( AV ) —gum resin, onycha and galbanum—and pure frankincense, all in equal amounts, 35 and make a fragrant blend of incense, ( AW ) the work of a perfumer. ( AX ) It is to be salted and pure and sacred. 36 Grind some of it to powder and place it in front of the ark of the covenant law in the tent of meeting, where I will meet ( AY ) with you. It shall be most holy ( AZ ) to you. 37 Do not make any incense with this formula for yourselves; consider it holy ( BA ) to the Lord . 38 Whoever makes incense like it to enjoy its fragrance must be cut off ( BB ) from their people.”