ExodusChapter 30

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¹"You are also to make an altar of acacia wood for burning incense. ²It is to be square, 18 inches long and 18 inches wide. It is to be 3 feet high. Its horns must be one piece with it.a ³Cover its top, all its sides, and its horns with pure gold. Make a gold trim all around it. ⁴Make two gold rings below the trim on opposite sides. They will hold the poles used to carry it. ⁵Make the poles of acacia wood and cover them with gold. ⁶Put the altar in front of the veil that hangs before the ark of the Testimony. It will be in front of the mercy seat that is over the Testimony. That is where I will meet with you. ⁷Aaron is to burn sweet-smelling incense on it every morning when he takes care of the lamps. ⁸Aaron must also burn incense when he sets up the lamps at twilight. Incense must always burn before the LORD for all the generations to come. ⁹On this altar you must not offer any incense I have not approved. Do not offer a burnt offering or a grain offering on it. Do not pour a drink offering on it either. ¹⁰Once a year Aaron is to make atonement on the horns of the altar. Every year, for all your generations, he will make atonement on it. He will use the blood of the sin offering for atonement. The altar is most holy to the LORD."b ¹¹Then the LORD said to Moses, ¹²"When you take a count of the Israelites, each man must pay the LORD a ransom for his life when he is counted. Then no plague will come on them when they are counted. ¹³Everyone who joins those who have been counted must pay a half shekel. Use the sanctuary shekel, which weighs twenty gerahs. This half shekel is an offering to the LORD.c ¹⁴Everyone twenty years old or older who joins those counted must give this offering to the LORD. ¹⁵You will give this offering to the LORD to make atonement for your lives. The rich must not give more than a half shekel. And the poor must not give less. ¹⁶Take this atonement money from the Israelites. Use it for the work of the Tent of Meeting. It will be a reminder for the Israelites before the LORD, to make atonement for your lives." ¹⁷And the LORD said to Moses, ¹⁸"Make a bronze basin with a bronze stand for washing. Set it between the Tent of Meeting and the altar. Put water in it. ¹⁹Aaron and his sons are to wash their hands and feet with this water. ²⁰Whenever they go into the Tent of Meeting, they must wash with water. They must also wash whenever they come near the altar to serve by offering a food offering to the LORD. This is so that they will not die. ²¹So they must wash their hands and feet so that they will not die. This is a law that will last forever for Aaron and his descendants, for all the generations to come." ²²Then the LORD said to Moses, ²³"Take the finest spices. Take 12 1/2 pounds of liquid myrrh. Take half that amount, 6 1/4 pounds, of sweet-smelling cinnamon. Take 6 1/4 pounds of sweet-smelling cane.d ²⁴Take 12 1/2 pounds of cassia. Weigh them all by the sanctuary shekel. Also take about 1 gallon of olive oil.e ²⁵Make a holy anointing oil from these. Blend it to smell sweet, the way a perfume maker would. It will be a holy anointing oil. ²⁶Use this oil to anoint the Tent of Meeting, the ark of the Testimony, ²⁷the table and all its tools, the lampstand and its tools, the altar of incense, ²⁸the altar of burnt offering and all its tools, and the basin with its stand. ²⁹You are to make them holy so that they will be most holy. Whatever touches them will be holy. ³⁰Anoint Aaron and his sons. Set them apart as holy to serve me as priests. ³¹Tell the Israelites, 'This will be my holy anointing oil for all the generations to come. ³²It must not be used to anoint an ordinary man. You must not make anything like it with the same recipe. It is holy, and you must treat it as holy. ³³Anyone who mixes perfume like it, or who puts it on an outsider, must be cut off from his people.'" ³⁴The LORD also said to Moses, "Take sweet-smelling spices: gum resin, onycha, galbanum, and pure frankincense. Use the same amount of each. ³⁵Make a sweet-smelling blend of incense, the way a perfume maker would. Add salt to it. It will be pure and holy. ³⁶Grind some of it into fine powder. Put it in front of the Testimony in the Tent of Meeting, where I will meet with you. It is to be most holy to you. ³⁷You must never use this recipe to make incense for yourselves. You must treat it as holy to the LORD. ³⁸Anyone who makes something like it to enjoy its smell must be cut off from his people."