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.

25 Then he made the altar for burning incense out of acacia wood. It was square—half a metre on each side—and one metre high. Its projections on the top four corners were part of it. 26 He overlaid it with pure gold—all four sides including the projections—and put a gold moulding all around it. 27 Then he made two gold rings and attached them below the moulding—two on each side for holding the poles for carrying the altar. 28 The two poles were made from acacia wood and then overlaid with gold.