Open English Translation EXO Chapter 30

30 You must make an altar out of acacia word for burning incense on. 2 It should be square—half a metre on each side—and a metre high. Make projections that look like horns on top out of that same block of wood. 3 It must be overlaid with pure gold—its top and all around its sides and its projections—plus you shall make a gold moulding all around it. 4 Make two gold rings and attach them to the altar below the moulding—one on each side to hold the poles for carrying it with. 5 Make the two poles from acacia wood and overlay them with gold. 6 Put this incense altar outside the curtain that hangs in front of the sacred chest—the box containing the stone slabs and with a platform on it where I will meet with you.

7 Aharon must burn fragrant incense on this altar every morning when he looks after the lamps 8 and again every evening when he lights the lamps, so incense must be continually burning before me throughout your generations. 9 Don’t offer up any incense or burnt offering or grain offering on it that’s different from these instructions, and don’t pour a drink offering on it. 10 Once a year, Aharon must take the purifying blood from the annual atonement sacrifice and put it on the projections of the altar to compensate for the altar’s imperfection. Each high priest will cover the altar’s flaws this way throughout all future generations. The altar will be very sacred—dedicated to me.

11 Then Yahweh told Mosheh: 12 Whenever you take a census of the Israeli men, each man must pay a ransom to Yahweh for his life when they’re counted, and then the counting won’t cause a plague among them. 13 As each man crosses over to stand with those who’ve been counted, he must pay give a half-shekel coin as an offering to me. (That’s half of the official shekel weight of 12 grams.)[ref] 14 Every man who’s twenty or older must pay this contribution to me when he’s counted— 15 the wealthy aren’t expected to pay more, and the poor must not pass less than this amount when they pay this ransom to me to make atonement for your lives. 16 Then you must take that money from the Israelis and use it for work on the sacred tent—it will be a reminder to me that you all have made atonement for your lives.

17 The Yahweh told Mosheh: 18 Make a bronze washbasin with a bronze base. Place it between the sacred tent and the altar, and fill it with water[ref] 19 and Aharon and his sons must wash their hands and feet in it. 20 Before they go into the sacred tent, they must wash with water so that won’t die, and also when they’re going to the altar to burn offerings to me— 21 they must wash their hands and feet so they won’t die. This will be a rule for them and for all their descendants throughout the generations.

22 Then Yahweh told Mosheh:[ref] 23 Then you yourself must collect these spices: 6kg of fragrant sap named myrrh, then 3kg of fragrant cinnamon, 3kg of fragrant cane, 24 and 6kg of fragrant casia bark. (Use the official weight for everything.) Also, four litres of olive oil. 25 Get a professional perfumer to make this into a sacred, fragrant, anointing oil. 26 Use it to anoint the sacred tent and the box containing the stone slabs, 27 as well as the table and all its utensils, the lampstand and its utensils, the incense altar, 28 the altar for burnt offerings and all its equipment, and the basin and its base. 29 That will make them sacred and dedicated to me, and anything that touches them will also become sacred.

30 Then anoint Aharon and his sons, and dedicate them to become my priests. 31 Approach the Israelis and tell them, “This recipe will be my sacred anointing oil for all generations. 32 It must not be poured on anyone’s body, and you all must not use any similar recipe for yourselves—it’s sacred and must be treated as such. 33 Anyone who mixes together anything like that, or who puts any of it on a stranger, must be expelled from the community.

34 Then Yahweh told Mosheh: Collect equal amounts of stacte, onycha, and galbanum spices, and pure frankincense, 35 and get a professional ointment mixer to add salt and make it into pure incense that will be sacred. 36 Pulverise some of it into a fine powder and put it in front of the box containing the stone slabs inside the sacred tent. This incense must be regarded as being very sacred. 37 No one else should make any incense for yourselves with this same recipe—it must be regarded as sacred to me. 38 Anyone who makes anything similar for its fragrance must be expelled from the community.