Exodus 30-32 (New American Standard Bible)

Exodus 30

The Altar of Incense

 ¹"Moreover, 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 cubit, and its width a cubit, it shall be square, and its height shall be two cubits; its horns shall be of one piece with it.

 ³"You shall overlay it with pure gold, its top and its sides all around, and its horns; and you shall make a gold molding all around for it.

 ⁴"You shall make two gold rings for it under its molding; you shall make them on its two side walls--on opposite sides--and they shall be holders for poles with which to carry it.

 ⁵"You shall make the poles of acacia wood and overlay them with gold.

 ⁶"You shall put this altar in front of the veil that is near the ark of the testimony, in front of the ^(B)mercy seat 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"When Aaron trims the lamps at twilight, he shall burn incense. There shall be perpetual incense before the LORD throughout your generations.

 ⁹"You shall not offer any strange incense on this altar, or burnt offering or meal offering; and you shall not pour out a drink offering on it.

 ¹⁰"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."

 ¹¹The LORD also spoke to Moses, saying,

 ¹²"When you take ^(D)a census of the sons of Israel to number them, then each one of them shall give ^(E)a ransom for himself to the LORD, when you number them, so that there will be no plague among them when you number them.

 ¹³"This is what everyone who is numbered shall give: half a shekel according to the shekel of the sanctuary (^(F)the shekel is twenty gerahs), half a shekel as a contribution to the LORD.

 ¹⁴"Everyone who is numbered, from twenty years old and over, shall give the 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 contribution to the LORD to make atonement for yourselves.

 ¹⁶"You shall take the atonement money from the sons of Israel and shall give it for the service of the tent of meeting, that it may be a memorial for the sons of Israel before the LORD, to make atonement for yourselves."

 ¹⁷The LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

 ¹⁸"You shall also make ^(G)a laver of 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;

 ²⁰when they enter the tent of meeting, they shall wash with water, so that they will 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 will not die; and ^(J)it shall be a perpetual statute for them, for Aaron and his descendants throughout their generations."

The Anointing Oil

 ²²Moreover, the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

 ²³"Take also for yourself the finest of spices: of flowing myrrh five hundred shekels, and of fragrant cinnamon half as much, two hundred and fifty, and of fragrant cane two hundred and fifty,

 ²⁴and of cassia five hundred, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, and of olive oil a hin.

 ²⁵"You shall make of these a holy anointing oil, a perfume mixture, the work of a perfumer; it shall be ^(K)a holy anointing oil.

 ²⁶"With it ^(L)you shall anoint the tent of meeting and the ark of the testimony,

 ²⁷and the table and all its utensils, and the lampstand and its utensils, and the altar of incense,

 ²⁸and the altar of burnt offering and all its utensils, and the laver and its stand.

 ²⁹"You shall also consecrate them, that they may be most holy; whatever touches them shall be holy.

 ³⁰"^(M)You shall anoint Aaron and his sons, and consecrate them, that they may minister as priests to Me.

 ³¹"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 anyone's body, nor shall you make any like it in the same proportions; ^(N)it is holy, and it shall be holy to you.

 ³³'^(O)Whoever shall mix any like it or whoever puts any of it on a layman ^(P)shall be cut off from his people.'"

The Incense

 ³⁴Then the LORD said to Moses, "Take for yourself spices, stacte and onycha and galbanum, spices with pure frankincense; there shall be an equal part of each.

 ³⁵"With it you shall make incense, a perfume, the work of a perfumer, salted, pure, and holy.

 ³⁶"You shall beat some of it very fine, and put part of it before the testimony in the tent of meeting ^(Q)where I will meet with you; it shall be most holy to you.

 ³⁷"The incense which you shall make, ^(R)you shall not make in the same proportions for yourselves; it shall be holy to you for the LORD.

 ³⁸"^(S)Whoever shall make any like it, to use as perfume, shall be cut off from his people."

Exodus 31

The Skilled Craftsmen

 ^1(T)Now the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

 ²"See, I have called by name Bezalel, the ^(U)son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah.

 ³"I have ^(V)filled him with the Spirit of God in wisdom, in understanding, in knowledge, and in all kinds of craftsmanship,

 ⁴to make artistic designs for work in gold, in silver, and in bronze,

 ⁵and in the cutting of stones for settings, and in the carving of wood, that he may work in all kinds of craftsmanship.

 ⁶"And behold, I Myself have appointed with him ^(W)Oholiab, the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan; and in the hearts of all who are skillful I have put skill, that they may make all that I have commanded you:

 ^7(X)the tent of meeting, and ^(Y)the ark of testimony, and ^(Z)the mercy seat upon it, and all the furniture of the tent,

 ^8(AA)the table also and its utensils, and the ^(AB)pure gold lampstand with all its utensils, and ^(AC)the altar of incense,

 ^9(AD)the altar of burnt offering also with all its utensils, and ^(AE)the laver and its stand,

 ¹⁰the ^(AF)woven garments as well, and the holy garments for Aaron the priest, and the garments of his sons, with which to carry on their priesthood;

 ^11(AG)the anointing oil also, and the ^(AH)fragrant incense for the holy place, they are to make them according to all that I have commanded you."

The Sign of the Sabbath

 ¹²The LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

 ¹³"But as for you, speak to the sons of Israel, saying, '^(AI)You shall surely observe My sabbaths; for this is ^(AJ)a sign between Me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I am the LORD who sanctifies you.

 ¹⁴'Therefore you are to observe the sabbath, for it is holy to you. ^(AK)Everyone who profanes it shall surely be put to death; for whoever does any work on it, that person shall be cut off from among his people.

 ¹⁵'^(AL)For six days work may be done, but on the seventh day there is a ^(AM)sabbath of complete rest, holy to the LORD; ^(AN)whoever does any work on the sabbath day shall surely be put to death.

 ¹⁶'So the sons of Israel shall observe the sabbath, to celebrate the sabbath throughout their generations as a perpetual covenant.'

 ¹⁷"^(AO)It is a sign between Me and the sons of Israel forever; ^(AP)for in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, but on the seventh day He ceased from labor, and was refreshed."

 ¹⁸When He had finished speaking with him upon Mount Sinai, He gave Moses ^(AQ)the two tablets of the testimony, tablets of stone, ^(AR)written by the finger of God.

Exodus 32

The Golden Calf

 ¹Now when the people saw that Moses ^(AS)delayed to come down from the mountain, the people assembled about Aaron and said to him, "Come, ^(AT)make us a god who will go before us; as for ^(AU)this Moses, the man who brought us up from the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him."

 ²Aaron said to them, "^(AV)Tear off the gold rings which are in the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me."

 ³Then all the people tore off the gold rings which were in their ears and brought them to Aaron.

 ⁴He took this from their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool and made it into a ^(AW)molten calf; and they said, "This is your god, O Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt."

 ⁵Now when Aaron saw this, he built an altar before it; and Aaron made a proclamation and said, "Tomorrow shall be a feast to the LORD."

 ⁶So the next day they rose early and ^(AX)offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings; and ^(AY)the people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up ^(AZ)to play.

 ⁷Then the LORD spoke to Moses, "Go down at once, for your people, whom ^(BA)you brought up from the land of Egypt, have ^(BB)corrupted themselves.

 ⁸"They have quickly turned aside from the way which I commanded them. ^(BC)They have made for themselves a molten calf, and have worshiped it and ^(BD)have sacrificed to it and said, '^(BE)This is your god, O Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt!'"

 ^9(BF)The LORD said to Moses, "I have seen this people, and behold, they are ^(BG)an obstinate people.

 ¹⁰"Now then ^(BH)let Me alone, that My anger may burn against them and that I may destroy them; and ^(BI)I will make of you a great nation."

Moses' Entreaty

 ¹¹Then ^(BJ)Moses entreated the LORD his God, and said, "O LORD, why does Your anger burn against Your people whom You have brought out from the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand?

 ¹²"Why should ^(BK)the Egyptians speak, saying, 'With evil intent He brought them out to kill them in the mountains and to destroy them from the face of the earth'? Turn from Your burning anger and change Your mind about doing harm to Your people.

 ¹³"Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, Your servants to whom You ^(BL)swore by Yourself, and said to them, 'I will ^(BM)multiply your descendants as the stars of the heavens, and ^(BN)all this land of which I have spoken I will give to your descendants, and they shall inherit it forever.'"

 ^14(BO)So the LORD changed His mind about the harm which He said He would do to His people.

 ^15(BP)Then Moses turned and went down from the mountain with the two tablets of the testimony in his hand, ^(BQ)tablets which were written on both sides; they were written on one side and the other.

 ¹⁶The tablets were God's work, and the writing was God's writing engraved on the tablets.

 ¹⁷Now when Joshua heard the sound of the people as they shouted, he said to Moses, "There is a sound of war in the camp."

 ¹⁸But he said,
         "It is not the sound of the cry of triumph,
         Nor is it the sound of the cry of defeat;
         But the sound of singing I hear."

Moses' Anger

 ¹⁹It came about, as soon as Moses came near the camp, that ^(BR)he saw the calf and the dancing; and Moses' anger burned, and ^(BS)he threw the tablets from his hands and shattered them at the foot of the mountain.

 ^20(BT)He took the calf which they had made and burned it with fire, and ground it to powder, and scattered it over the surface of the water and made the sons of Israel drink it.

 ²¹Then Moses said to Aaron, "What did this people do to you, that you have brought such great sin upon them?"

 ²²Aaron said, "Do not let the anger of my lord burn; you know the people yourself, ^(BU)that they are prone to evil.

 ²³"For ^(BV)they said to me, 'Make a god for us who will go before us; for this Moses, the man who brought us up from the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.'

 ²⁴"I said to them, 'Whoever has any gold, let them tear it off.' So they gave it to me, and ^(BW)I threw it into the fire, and out came this calf."

 ²⁵Now when Moses saw that the people were out of control--for Aaron had ^(BX)let them get out of control to be a derision among their enemies--

 ²⁶then Moses stood in the gate of the camp, and said, "Whoever is for the LORD, come to me!" And all the sons of Levi gathered together to him.

 ²⁷He said to them, "Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, 'Every man of you put his sword upon his thigh, and go back and forth from gate to gate in the camp, and kill every man his brother, and every man his friend, and every man his neighbor.'"

 ²⁸So ^(BY)the sons of Levi did as Moses instructed, and about three thousand men of the people fell that day.

 ²⁹Then Moses said, "Dedicate yourselves today to the LORD--for every man has been against his son and against his brother--in order that He may bestow a blessing upon you today."

 ³⁰On the next day Moses said to the people, "^(BZ)You yourselves have committed a great sin; and now I am going up to the LORD, perhaps I can ^(CA)make atonement for your sin."

 ³¹Then Moses returned to the LORD, and said, "Alas, this people has committed a great sin, and they have made a ^(CB)god of gold for themselves.

 ³²"But now, if You will, forgive their sin--and if not, please blot me out from Your ^(CC)book which You have written!"

 ³³The LORD said to Moses, "Whoever has sinned against Me, ^(CD)I will blot him out of My book.

 ³⁴"But go now, lead the people ^(CE)where I told you Behold, ^(CF)My angel shall go before you; nevertheless ^(CG)in the day when I punish, ^(CH)I will punish them for their sin."

 ^35(CI)Then the LORD smote the people, because of ^(CJ)what they did with the calf which Aaron had made.