Exodus 29-31

New American Standard Bible 1995

Consecration of the Priests

29 “^(A)Now this is ^[a]what you shall do to them to consecrate them to minister as priests to Me: take one young bull and two rams without blemish, ² and ^(B)unleavened bread and unleavened cakes mixed with oil, and unleavened wafers ^[b]spread with oil; you shall make them of fine wheat flour. ³ You shall put them in one basket, and present them in the basket along with the bull and the two rams. ⁴ Then ^(C)you shall bring Aaron and his sons to the doorway of the tent of meeting and wash them with water. ⁵ You shall take the garments, and put on Aaron the ^(D)tunic and ^(E)the robe of the ephod and ^(F)the ephod and ^(G)the ^[c]breastpiece, and gird him with the skillfully ^(H)woven band of the ephod; ⁶ and you shall set the ^(I)turban on his head and put ^(J)the holy crown on the turban. ⁷ Then you shall take ^(K)the anointing oil and pour it on his head and anoint him. ⁸ You shall bring his sons and put ^(L)tunics on them. ⁹ You shall gird them with ^(M)sashes, Aaron and his sons, and bind ^[d]caps on them, and they shall have ^(N)the priesthood by a perpetual statute. So you shall ^[e](O)ordain Aaron and his sons.

The Sacrifices

¹⁰ “Then you shall bring the bull before the tent of meeting, and Aaron and his sons shall ^(P)lay their hands on the head of the bull. ¹¹ You shall slaughter the bull before the Lord at the doorway of the tent of meeting. ¹² You shall ^(Q)take some of the blood of the bull and put it on ^(R)the horns of the altar with your finger; and you shall pour out all the blood at the base of the altar. ¹³ You shall ^(S)take all the fat that covers the entrails and the ^[f]lobe of the liver, and the two kidneys and the fat that is on them, and offer them up in smoke on the altar. ¹⁴ But ^(T)the flesh of the bull and its hide and its refuse, you shall burn with fire outside the camp; it is a sin offering.

¹⁵ “^(U)You shall also take the one ram, and Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands on the head of the ram; ¹⁶ and you shall slaughter the ram and shall take its blood and sprinkle it around on the altar. ¹⁷ Then you shall cut the ram into its pieces, and wash its entrails and its legs, and put them ^[g]with its pieces and ^[h]its head. ¹⁸ You shall offer up in smoke the whole ram on the altar; it is a burnt offering to the Lord: ^(V)it is a soothing aroma, an offering by fire to the Lord.

¹⁹ “Then ^(W)you shall take the ^[i]other ram, and Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands on the head of the ram. ²⁰ You shall slaughter the ram, and take some of its blood and put it on the lobe of Aaron’s right ear and on the lobes of his sons’ right ears and on the thumbs of their right hands and on the big toes of their right feet, and sprinkle the rest of the blood around on the altar. ²¹ Then you shall take some of the blood that is on the altar and some of the ^(X)anointing oil, and sprinkle it on Aaron and on his garments and on his sons and on his sons’ garments with him; so he and his garments shall be consecrated, as well as his sons and his sons’ garments with him.

²² “You shall also take the fat from the ram and the fat tail, and the fat that covers the entrails and the ^[j]lobe of the liver, and the two kidneys and the fat that is on them and the right thigh (for it is a ram of ^[k]ordination), ²³ and one cake of bread and ^(Y)one cake of bread mixed with oil and one wafer from the basket of unleavened bread which is set before the Lord; ²⁴ and you shall put ^[l]all these ^[m]in the ^[n]hands of Aaron and ^[o]in the ^[p]hands of his sons, and shall wave them as a wave offering before the Lord. ^25 (Z)You shall take them from their hands, and offer them up in smoke on the altar on the burnt offering for a soothing aroma before the Lord; it is an offering by fire to the Lord.

²⁶ “Then you shall take ^(AA)the breast of Aaron’s ram of ^[q]ordination, and wave it as a wave offering before the Lord; and it shall be your portion. ²⁷ You shall consecrate the breast of the wave offering and the thigh of the heave offering which was waved and which was ^[r]offered from the ram of ^[s]ordination, from the one which was for Aaron and from the one which was for his sons. ²⁸ It shall be for Aaron and his sons as their portion forever from the sons of Israel, for it is a heave offering; and it shall be a heave offering from the sons of Israel from the sacrifices of their peace offerings, even their heave offering to the Lord.

²⁹ “^(AB)The holy garments of Aaron shall be for his sons after him, ^[t]that in them they may be anointed and ordained. ³⁰ For seven days the one of his sons who is priest in his stead shall put them on when he enters the tent of meeting to minister in the holy place.

Food of the Priests

³¹ “You shall take the ram of ^[u]ordination and ^(AC)boil its flesh in a holy place. ³² Aaron and his sons shall eat the flesh of the ram and the bread that is in the basket, at the doorway of the tent of meeting. ³³ Thus ^(AD)they shall eat ^[v]those things by which atonement was made ^[w]at their ordination and consecration; but a ^[x](AE)layman shall not eat them, because they are holy. ^34 (AF)If any of the flesh of ^[y]ordination or any of the bread remains until morning, then you shall burn the remainder with fire; it shall not be eaten, because it is holy.

³⁵ “Thus you shall do to Aaron and to his sons, according to all that I have commanded you; you shall ^[z]ordain them through ^(AG)seven days. ^36 (AH)Each day you shall offer a bull as a sin offering for atonement, and you shall ^[aa]purify the altar when you make atonement ^[ab]for it, and ^(AI)you shall anoint it to consecrate it. ³⁷ For seven days you shall make atonement ^[ac]for the altar and consecrate it; then ^(AJ)the altar shall be most holy, and whatever touches the altar shall be holy.

³⁸ “Now ^(AK)this is what you shall offer on the altar: two one year old lambs each day, continuously. ³⁹ The ^(AL)one lamb you shall offer in the morning and the ^[ad]other lamb you shall offer at ^[ae]twilight; ⁴⁰ and there shall be one-tenth of an ephah of fine flour mixed with one-fourth of a hin of beaten oil, and one-fourth of a hin of wine for a drink offering with one lamb. ⁴¹ The ^[af]other lamb you shall offer at ^[ag]twilight, and shall offer with it ^[ah]the same grain offering and ^[ai]the same drink offering as in the morning, for a soothing aroma, an offering by fire to the Lord. ⁴² It shall be a continual burnt offering throughout your generations at the doorway of the tent of meeting before the Lord, ^(AM)where I will meet with you, to speak to you there. ⁴³ I will meet there with the sons of Israel, and it shall be consecrated by My glory. ⁴⁴ I will consecrate the tent of meeting and the altar; I will also consecrate Aaron and his sons to minister as priests to Me. ^45 (AN)I will dwell among the sons of Israel and will be their God. ⁴⁶ They shall know that ^(AO)I am the Lord their God who brought them out of the land of Egypt, that I might dwell among them; I am the Lord their God.

The Altar of Incense

30 “Moreover, you shall make ^(AP)an altar as a place for burning incense; you shall make it of acacia wood. ² Its length shall be a ^[aj]cubit, and its width a cubit, it shall be square, and its height shall be two cubits; its horns shall be ^[ak]of one piece with it. ³ You shall overlay it with pure gold, its top and its ^[al]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 ^[am]opposite sides—and ^[an]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 ^[ao]this altar in front of the veil that is ^[ap]near the ark of the testimony, in front of the ^[aq](AQ)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 ^[ar]trims the lamps at ^[as]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 ^[at]this altar, or burnt offering or meal offering; and you shall not pour out a drink offering on it. ¹⁰ Aaron shall ^(AR)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.”

¹¹ The Lord also spoke to Moses, saying, ¹² “When you take ^(AS)a ^[au]census of the sons of Israel ^[av]to number them, then each one of them shall give ^(AT)a ransom for ^[aw]himself to the Lord, when you ^[ax]number them, so that there will be no plague among them when you ^[ay]number them. ¹³ This is what everyone who ^[az]is numbered shall give: half a shekel according to the shekel of the sanctuary (^(AU)the shekel is twenty gerahs), half a shekel as a ^[ba]contribution to the Lord. ¹⁴ Everyone who ^[bb]is numbered, from twenty years old and over, shall give the ^[bc]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 ^[bd]contribution to the Lord to make atonement for ^[be]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 ^[bf]yourselves.”

¹⁷ The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ¹⁸ “You shall also make ^(AV)a laver of ^[bg]bronze, with its base of bronze, for washing; and you shall ^(AW)put it between the tent of meeting and the altar, and you shall put water in it. ¹⁹ Aaron and his sons shall ^(AX)wash their hands and their feet from it; ²⁰ when 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 ^(AY)it shall be a perpetual statute for them, for ^[bh]Aaron and his ^[bi]descendants throughout their generations.”

The Anointing Oil

²² Moreover, 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, ²⁴ and of cassia five hundred, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, and of olive oil a hin. ²⁵ You shall make ^[bj]of these a holy anointing oil, a perfume mixture, the work of a perfumer; it shall be ^(AZ)a holy anointing oil. ²⁶ With it ^(BA)you shall anoint the tent of meeting and the ark of the testimony, ²⁷ and the table and all its utensils, and the lampstand and its utensils, and the altar of incense, ²⁸ and 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 (BB)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 ^[bk]anyone’s body, nor shall you make any like it in ^[bl]the same proportions; ^(BC)it is holy, and it shall be holy to you. ^33 (BD)Whoever shall mix any like it or whoever puts any of it on a ^[bm]layman ^[bn](BE)shall be cut off from his people.’”

The Incense

³⁴ Then 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 ^(BF)where I will meet with you; it shall be most holy to you. ³⁷ The incense which you shall make, ^(BG)you shall not make in ^[bo]the same proportions for yourselves; it shall be holy to you for the Lord. ^38 (BH)Whoever shall make any like it, to ^[bp]use as perfume, ^[bq]shall be cut off from his people.”

The Skilled Craftsmen

31 ^(BI)Now the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ² “See, I have called by name Bezalel, the ^(BJ)son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah. ³ I have ^(BK)filled him with the Spirit of God in wisdom, in understanding, in knowledge, and in all kinds of ^[br]craftsmanship, ⁴ to ^[bs]make artistic designs for work in gold, in silver, and in ^[bt]bronze, ⁵ and in the cutting of stones ^[bu]for settings, and in the carving of wood, that he may work in all kinds of ^[bv]craftsmanship. ⁶ And behold, I Myself have ^[bw]appointed with him ^(BL)Oholiab, the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan; and in the hearts of all who are ^[bx]skillful I have put ^[by]skill, that they may make all that I have commanded you: ^7 (BM)the tent of meeting, and ^(BN)the ark of testimony, and ^(BO)the ^[bz]mercy seat upon it, and all the furniture of the tent, ^8 (BP)the table also and its ^[ca]utensils, and the ^(BQ)pure gold lampstand with all its ^[cb]utensils, and ^(BR)the altar of incense, ^9 (BS)the altar of burnt offering also with all its ^[cc]utensils, and ^(BT)the laver and its stand, ¹⁰ the ^[cd](BU)woven garments as well, and the holy garments for Aaron the priest, and the garments of his sons, with which to ^[ce]carry on their priesthood; ^11 (BV)the anointing oil also, and the ^(BW)fragrant incense for the holy place, they are to make them according to all that I have commanded you.”

The Sign of the Sabbath

¹² The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ¹³ “But as for you, speak to the sons of Israel, saying, ‘^(BX)You shall surely observe My sabbaths; for this is ^(BY)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. ^(BZ)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 (CA)For six days work may be done, but on the seventh day there is a ^(CB)sabbath of complete rest, holy to the Lord; ^(CC)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 ^[cf]celebrate the sabbath throughout their generations as a perpetual covenant.’ ^17 (CD)It is a sign between Me and the sons of Israel forever; ^(CE)for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, but on the seventh day He ceased from labor, and was refreshed.”

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