Exodus 30
30
The Altar for Burning Incense
1“Make an altar out of acacia wood for burning incense. 2Make it square—eighteen inches long and eighteen inches wide—and make it thirty-six inches high. The corners that stick out like horns must be one piece with the altar. 3Cover its top, its sides, and its corners with pure gold, and put a gold strip all around the altar. 4Make two gold rings beneath the gold strip on opposite sides of the altar, and slide poles through them to carry the altar. 5Make the poles from acacia wood and cover them with gold. 6Put the altar of incense in front of the curtain that is near the Ark of the Agreement, in front of the lid that covers that Ark. There I will meet with you.
7“Aaron must burn sweet-smelling incense on the altar every morning when he comes to take care of the oil lamps. 8He must burn incense again in the evening when he lights the lamps, so incense will burn before the Lord every day from now on. 9Do not use this altar for offering any other incense, or burnt offering, or any kind of grain offering, or drink offering. 10Once a year Aaron must make the altar ready for service to God by putting blood on its corners—the blood of the animal offered to remove sins. He is to do this once a year from now on. This altar belongs completely to the Lord’s service.”
The Tax for the Meeting Tent
11The Lord said to Moses, 12“When you count the people of Israel, every person must buy back his life from the Lord so that no terrible things will happen to the people when you number them. 13Every person who is counted must pay one-fifth of an ounce of silver. (This is set by using one-half of the Holy Place measure, which weighs two-fifths of an ounce.) This amount is a gift to the Lord. 14Every person who is counted and is twenty years old or older must give this amount to the Lord. 15A rich person must not give more than one-fifth of an ounce, and a poor person must not give less. You are paying this to the Lord to buy back your lives. 16Gather from the people of Israel this money paid to buy back their lives, and spend it on things for the service in the Meeting Tent. This payment will remind the Lord that the Israelites’ lives have been bought back.”
The Bronze Bowl
17The Lord said to Moses, 18“Make a bronze bowl, on a bronze stand, for washing. Put the bowl and stand between the Meeting Tent and the altar, and put water in the bowl. 19Aaron and his sons must wash their hands and feet with the water from this bowl. 20Each time they enter the Meeting Tent they must wash with water so they will not die. Whenever they approach the altar to serve as priests and offer a sacrifice to the Lord by fire, 21they must wash their hands and their feet so they will not die. This is a rule which Aaron and his descendants are to keep from now on.”
Oil for Appointing
22Then the Lord said to Moses, 23“Take the finest spices: twelve pounds of liquid myrrh, half that amount (that is, six pounds) of sweet-smelling cinnamon, six pounds of sweet-smelling cane, 24and twelve pounds of cassia. Weigh all these by the Holy Place measure. Also take four quarts of olive oil, 25and mix all these things like a perfume to make a holy olive oil. This special oil must be put on people and things to make them ready for service to God. 26Put this oil on the Meeting Tent and the Ark of the Agreement, 27on the table and all its dishes, on the lampstand and all its tools, and on the incense altar. 28Also, put the oil on the altar for burnt offerings and on all its tools, as well as on the bowl and the stand under the bowl. 29You will prepare all these things for service to God, and they will be very holy. Anything that touches these things must be holy.
30“Put the oil on Aaron and his sons to give them for service to me, that they may serve me as priests. 31Tell the Israelites, ‘This is to be my holy olive oil from now on. It is to be put on people and things to make them ready for service to God. 32Do not pour it on the bodies of ordinary people, and do not make perfume the same way you make this oil. It is holy, and you must treat it as holy. 33If anyone makes perfume like it or puts it on someone who is not a priest, that person must be cut off from his people.’ ”
Incense
34Then the Lord said to Moses, “Take these sweet-smelling spices: resin, onycha, galbanum, and pure frankincense. Be sure that you have equal amounts of each. 35Make incense as a person who makes perfume would do. Add salt to it to keep it pure and holy. 36Beat some of the incense into a fine powder, and put it in front of the Ark of the Agreement in the Meeting Tent, where I will meet with you. You must use this incense powder only for its very special purpose. 37Do not make incense for yourselves the same way you make this incense. Treat it as holy to the Lord. 38Whoever makes incense like this to use as perfume must be cut off from his people.”
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Exodus 30: NCV
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The Holy Bible, New Century Version, Copyright © 2005 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.
Exodus 30
30
Altar of Incense. 1For burning incense you shall make an altar of acacia wood,#Ex 37:25–28. 2with a square surface, a cubit long, a cubit wide, and two cubits high, with horns that are of one piece with it. 3Its grate on top, its walls on all four sides, and its horns you shall plate with pure gold. Put a gold molding around it. 4Underneath the molding you shall put gold rings, two on one side and two on the opposite side, as holders for the poles used in carrying it. 5Make the poles, too, of acacia wood and plate them with gold. 6This altar you are to place in front of the veil that hangs before the ark of the covenant where I will meet you.#Ex 40:26.
7On it Aaron shall burn fragrant incense. Morning after morning, when he prepares the lamps, 8and again in the evening twilight, when he lights the lamps, he shall burn incense. Throughout your generations this shall be the regular incense offering before the Lord. 9On this altar you shall not offer up any profane incense, or any burnt offering or grain offering; nor shall you pour out a libation upon it. 10Once a year Aaron shall purge its horns.#Lv 16:18. Throughout your generations he is to purge it once a year with the blood of the atoning purification offering. This altar is most sacred to the Lord.
Census Tax. 11The Lord also told Moses: 12When you take a census#Nm 1:2–3; 26:2. of the Israelites who are to be enrolled, each one, as he is enrolled, shall give the Lord a ransom for his life, so that no plague may come upon them for being enrolled. 13This is what everyone who is enrolled must pay: a half-shekel, according to the standard of the sanctuary shekel—twenty gerahs to the shekel—a half-shekel contribution to the Lord.#Mt 17:24–27. 14Everyone who is enrolled, of twenty years or more, must give the contribution to the Lord. 15The rich need not give more, nor shall the poor give less, than a half-shekel in this contribution to the Lord to pay the ransom for their lives. 16#Ex 38:25. When you receive this ransom money from the Israelites, you shall donate it to the service of the tent of meeting, that there it may be a reminder of the Israelites before the Lord of the ransom paid for their lives.
The Basin. 17The Lord told Moses: 18For ablutions you shall make a bronze basin with a bronze stand. Place it between the tent of meeting and the altar, and put water in it.#Ex 38:8; 40:7, 30. 19Aaron and his sons shall use it in washing their hands and feet.#Ex 40:31–32. 20When they are about to enter the tent of meeting, they must wash with water, lest they die. Likewise when they approach the altar to minister, to offer an oblation to the Lord, 21they must wash their hands and feet, lest they die. This shall be a perpetual statute for him and his descendants throughout their generations.
The Anointing Oil. 22The Lord told Moses: 23Take the finest spices: five hundred shekels of free-flowing myrrh; half that amount, that is, two hundred and fifty shekels, of fragrant cinnamon; two hundred and fifty shekels of fragrant cane; 24five hundred shekels of cassia—all according to the standard of the sanctuary shekel; together with a hin of olive oil; 25and blend them into sacred anointing oil,#Ex 37:29. perfumed ointment expertly prepared.#Ex 40:9–11; Lv 8:10; Nm 7:1. With this sacred anointing oil 26you shall anoint the tent of meeting and the ark of the covenant, 27the table and all its utensils, the menorah and its utensils, the altar of incense 28and the altar for burnt offerings with all its utensils, and the basin with its stand. 29When you have consecrated them, they shall be most sacred; whatever touches them shall be sacred. 30Aaron and his sons you shall also anoint and consecrate as my priests.#Ex 29:7; Lv 8:12. 31Tell the Israelites: As sacred anointing oil this shall belong to me throughout your generations. 32It may not be used in any ordinary anointing of the body, nor may you make any other oil of a like mixture. It is sacred, and shall be treated as sacred by you. 33Whoever prepares a perfume like this, or whoever puts any of this on an unauthorized person, shall be cut off from his people.
The Incense. 34#Ex 25:6; 37:29. The Lord told Moses: Take these aromatic substances: storax and onycha and galbanum, these and pure frankincense in equal parts; 35and blend them into incense. This fragrant powder, expertly prepared, is to be salted and so kept pure and sacred. 36Grind some of it into fine dust and put this before the covenant in the tent of meeting where I will meet you. This incense shall be treated as most sacred by you. 37You may not make incense of a like mixture for yourselves; you must treat it as sacred to the Lord. 38Whoever makes an incense like this for his own enjoyment of its fragrance, shall be cut off from his people.
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