Exodus 29-32
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
The Ordination of the Priests
29 “Now this is what you shall do to them to consecrate them to serve me as priests. Take one young bull and two rams without blemish,(A) 2 and unleavened bread, unleavened cakes mixed with oil, and unleavened wafers spread with oil. You shall make them of choice wheat flour.(B) 3 You shall put them in one basket and bring them in the basket and bring the bull and the two rams. 4 You shall bring Aaron and his sons to the entrance of the tent of meeting and wash them with water.(C) 5 Then you shall take the vestments and put on Aaron the tunic and the robe of the ephod and the ephod and the breastpiece and gird him with the decorated band of the ephod,(D) 6 and you shall set the turban on his head and put the holy diadem on the turban.(E) 7 You shall take the anointing oil and pour it on his head and anoint him.(F) 8 Then you shall bring his sons and put tunics on them,(G) 9 and you shall gird them, Aaron and his sons, with sashes and tie headdresses on them, and the priesthood shall be theirs by a perpetual ordinance. You shall then ordain Aaron and his sons.(H)
10 “You shall bring the bull in front of the tent of meeting. Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands on the head of the bull,(I) 11 and you shall slaughter the bull before the Lord, at the entrance of the tent of meeting, 12 and shall take some of the blood of the bull and put it on the horns of the altar with your finger, and all the rest of the blood you shall pour out at the base of the altar.(J) 13 You shall take all the fat that covers the entrails and the appendage of the liver and the two kidneys with the fat that is on them and turn them into smoke on the altar.(K) 14 But the flesh of the bull and its skin and its dung you shall burn with fire outside the camp. It is a purification offering.(L)
15 “Then you shall take one of the rams, and Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands on the head of the ram,(M) 16 and you shall slaughter the ram and shall take its blood and dash it against all sides of the altar. 17 Then you shall cut the ram into its parts and wash its entrails and its legs and put them with its parts and its head 18 and turn the rest of the ram into smoke on the altar. It is a burnt offering to the Lord; it is a pleasing odor, an offering by fire[a] to the Lord.(N)
19 “You shall take the other ram, and Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands on the head of the ram, 20 and 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 the right ears of his sons and on the thumbs of their right hands and on the big toes of their right feet and dash the rest of the blood against all sides of the altar. 21 Then you shall take some of the blood that is on the altar and some of the anointing oil and sprinkle it on Aaron and his vestments and on his sons and his sons’ vestments with him; then he and his vestments shall be holy, as well as his sons and his sons’ vestments with him.(O)
22 “You shall also take the fat of the ram, the fatty tail, the fat that covers the entrails, the appendage of the liver, the two kidneys with the fat that is on them, and the right thigh (for it is a ram of ordination), 23 and one loaf of bread, one cake of bread made with oil, and one wafer, out of the basket of unleavened bread that is before the Lord,(P) 24 and you shall place all these on the palms of Aaron and on the palms of his sons and raise them as an elevation offering before the Lord.(Q) 25 Then you shall take them from their hands and turn them into smoke on the altar on top of the burnt offering for a pleasing odor before the Lord. It is an offering by fire[b] to the Lord.(R)
26 “You shall take the breast of the ram of Aaron’s ordination and raise it as an elevation offering before the Lord, and it shall be your portion.(S) 27 You shall consecrate the breast that was raised as an elevation offering and the thigh that was lifted up as an offering from the ram of ordination, from that which belonged to Aaron and his sons.(T) 28 These things shall be a perpetual ordinance for Aaron and his sons from the Israelites, for this is an offering, and it shall be an offering by the Israelites from their sacrifice of offerings of well-being, their offering to the Lord.(U)
29 “The sacred vestments of Aaron shall be passed on to his sons after him; they shall be anointed in them and ordained in them.(V) 30 The son who is priest in his place shall wear them seven days when he comes into the tent of meeting to minister in the holy place.(W)
31 “You shall take the ram of ordination and boil its flesh in a holy place,(X) 32 and Aaron and his sons shall eat the flesh of the ram and the bread that is in the basket at the entrance of the tent of meeting.(Y) 33 They shall eat the food by which atonement is made, to ordain and consecrate them, but no one else shall eat of it, because it is holy.(Z) 34 If any of the flesh for the ordination or of the bread remains until the morning, then you shall burn the remainder with fire; it shall not be eaten, because it is holy.(AA)
35 “Thus you shall do to Aaron and to his sons, just as I have commanded you; through seven days you shall ordain them.(AB) 36 Also every day you shall offer a bull as a purification offering for atonement. Also you shall offer a sin offering for the altar, when you make atonement for it, and shall anoint it, to consecrate it.(AC) 37 Seven days you shall make atonement for the altar and consecrate it, and the altar shall be most holy; whatever touches the altar shall become holy.(AD)
The Daily Offerings
38 “Now this is what you shall offer on the altar: two lambs a year old regularly each day.(AE) 39 One lamb you shall offer in the morning, and the other lamb you shall offer in the evening, 40 and with the first lamb one-tenth of a measure of choice flour mixed with one-fourth of a hin of beaten oil, and one-fourth of a hin of wine for a drink offering. 41 And the other lamb you shall offer in the evening and shall offer with it a grain offering and its drink offering, as in the morning, for a pleasing odor, an offering by fire[c] to the Lord. 42 It shall be a regular burnt offering throughout your generations at the entrance of the tent of meeting before the Lord, where I will meet with you, to speak to you there.(AF) 43 I will meet with the Israelites there, and it shall be sanctified by my glory;(AG) 44 I will consecrate the tent of meeting and the altar; Aaron also and his sons I will consecrate to serve me as priests.(AH) 45 I will dwell among the Israelites, and I will be their God.(AI) 46 And they shall know that 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.(AJ)
The Altar of Incense
30 “You shall make an altar on which to offer incense; you shall make it of acacia wood.(AK) 2 It shall be one cubit long and one cubit wide; it shall be square and shall be two cubits high; 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 for it a molding of gold all around. 4 And you shall make two golden rings for it; under its molding on two opposite sides of it you shall make them, and they shall hold the poles for carrying it. 5 You shall make the poles of acacia wood and overlay them with gold. 6 You shall place it in front of the curtain that is above the ark of the covenant, in front of the cover that is over the covenant, where I will meet with you.(AL) 7 Aaron shall offer fragrant incense on it; every morning when he dresses the lamps he shall offer it,(AM) 8 and when Aaron sets up the lamps in the evening, he shall offer it, a regular incense offering before the Lord throughout your generations. 9 You shall not offer unholy incense on it or a burnt offering or a grain offering, and you shall not pour a drink offering on it.(AN) 10 Once a year Aaron shall perform the rite of atonement on its horns. Throughout your generations he shall perform the atonement for it once a year with the blood of the atoning purification offering. It is most holy to the Lord.”(AO)
The Half Shekel for the Sanctuary
11 The Lord spoke to Moses, 12 “When you take a census of the Israelites to register them, at registration all of them shall give a ransom for their lives to the Lord, so that no plague may come upon them for being registered.(AP) 13 This is what each one who is registered shall give: half a shekel according to the shekel of the sanctuary (the shekel is twenty gerahs), half a shekel as an offering to the Lord.(AQ) 14 Each one who is registered, from twenty years old and up, shall give the Lord’s offering. 15 The rich shall not give more and the poor shall not give less than the half shekel, when you bring this offering to the Lord to make atonement for your lives.(AR) 16 You shall take the atonement money from the Israelites and shall designate it for the service of the tent of meeting; before the Lord it will be a reminder to the Israelites of the ransom given for your lives.”(AS)
The Bronze Basin
17 The Lord spoke to Moses, 18 “You shall make a bronze basin with a bronze stand for washing. You shall put it between the tent of meeting and the altar, and you shall put water in it;(AT) 19 with the water[d] Aaron and his sons shall wash their hands and their feet.(AU) 20 When they go into the tent of meeting or when they come near the altar to minister to make an offering by fire[e] to the Lord, they shall wash with water, so that they may not die. 21 They shall wash their hands and their feet, so that they may not die: it shall be a perpetual ordinance for them, for him and for his descendants throughout their generations.”(AV)
The Anointing Oil and Incense
22 The Lord spoke to Moses, 23 “Take the finest spices: of liquid myrrh five hundred shekels, and of sweet-smelling cinnamon half as much, that is, two hundred fifty, and two hundred fifty of aromatic cane, 24 and five hundred of cassia—measured by the sanctuary shekel—and a hin of olive oil, 25 and you shall make of these a sacred anointing oil blended as by the perfumer; it shall be a holy anointing oil.(AW) 26 With it you shall anoint the tent of meeting and the ark of the covenant(AX) 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 with all its utensils and the basin with its stand; 29 you shall consecrate them, so that they may be most holy; whatever touches them will become holy.(AY) 30 You shall anoint Aaron and his sons and consecrate them to serve me as priests.(AZ) 31 You shall say to the Israelites: This shall be my holy anointing oil throughout your generations. 32 It shall not be used in any ordinary anointing of the body, and you shall make no other like it in composition; it is holy, and it shall be holy to you.(BA) 33 Whoever blends any like it or whoever puts any of it on an unqualified person shall be cut off from the people.”(BB)
34 The Lord said to Moses, “Take sweet spices, stacte, and onycha, and galbanum, sweet spices with pure frankincense (an equal part of each), 35 and make an incense blended as by the perfumer, seasoned with salt, pure and holy,(BC) 36 and you shall beat some of it into powder and put part of it before the covenant in the tent of meeting, where I shall meet with you; it shall be most holy for you.(BD) 37 When you make incense according to this composition, you shall not make it for yourselves; it shall be regarded by you as holy to the Lord. 38 Whoever makes any like it to use as perfume shall be cut off from the people.”
Bezalel and Oholiab
31 The Lord spoke to Moses, 2 “See, I have called by name Bezalel son of Uri son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah,(BE) 3 and I have filled him with a divine spirit,[f] with ability, intelligence, and knowledge, and every kind of skill, 4 to devise artistic designs, to work in gold, silver, and bronze, 5 in cutting stones for setting, and in carving wood, to work in every kind of craft. 6 Moreover, I have appointed with him Oholiab son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan, and I have given skill to all the skillful, so that they may make all that I have commanded you:(BF) 7 the tent of meeting, and the ark of the covenant, and the cover that is on it, and all the furnishings of the tent,(BG) 8 the table and its utensils, and the pure lampstand with all its utensils, and the altar of incense,(BH) 9 and the altar of burnt offering with all its utensils, and the basin with its stand, 10 and the finely worked vestments, the holy vestments for the priest Aaron and the vestments of his sons, for their service as priests, 11 and the anointing oil and the fragrant incense for the holy place. They shall do just as I have commanded you.”(BI)
The Sabbath Law
12 The Lord said to Moses, 13 “You yourself are to speak to the Israelites, ‘You shall surely keep my Sabbaths, for this is a sign between me and you throughout your generations, given in order that you may know that I, the Lord, sanctify you.(BJ) 14 You shall keep the Sabbath, because it is holy for you; everyone who profanes it shall be put to death; whoever does any work on it shall be cut off from among the people.(BK) 15 Six days shall work be done, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, holy to the Lord; whoever does any work on the Sabbath day shall be put to death.(BL) 16 Therefore the Israelites shall keep the Sabbath, observing the Sabbath throughout their generations, as a perpetual covenant. 17 It is a sign forever between me and the Israelites that in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested and was refreshed.’ ”(BM)
The Two Tablets of the Covenant
18 When God[g] finished speaking with Moses on Mount Sinai, he gave him the two tablets of the covenant, tablets of stone, written with the finger of God.(BN)
The Golden Calf
32 When the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain, the people gathered around Aaron and said to him, “Come, make gods for us, who shall go before us; as for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.”(BO) 2 Aaron said to them, “Take off the gold rings that are on the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters and bring them to me.”(BP) 3 So all the people took off the gold rings from their ears and brought them to Aaron. 4 He took these from them, formed them in a mold,[h] and cast an image of a calf, and they said, “These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!”(BQ) 5 When Aaron saw this, he built an altar before it, and Aaron made a proclamation and said, “Tomorrow shall be a festival to the Lord.” 6 They rose early the next day and offered burnt offerings and brought sacrifices of well-being, and the people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to revel.(BR)
7 The Lord said to Moses, “Go down at once! Your people, whom you brought up out of the land of Egypt, have acted perversely;(BS) 8 they have been quick to turn aside from the way that I commanded them; they have cast for themselves an image of a calf and have worshiped it and sacrificed to it and said, ‘These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!’ ”(BT) 9 The Lord said to Moses, “I have seen this people, how stiff-necked they are.(BU) 10 Now let me alone so that my wrath may burn hot against them and I may consume them, and of you I will make a great nation.”(BV)
11 But Moses implored the Lord his God and said, “O Lord, why does your wrath burn hot against your people, whom you brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand?(BW) 12 Why should the Egyptians say, ‘It was with evil intent that he brought them out to kill them in the mountains and to consume them from the face of the earth’? Turn from your fierce wrath; change your mind and do not bring disaster on your people.(BX) 13 Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your servants, how you swore to them by your own self, saying to them, ‘I will multiply your descendants like the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have promised I will give to your descendants, and they shall inherit it forever.’ ”(BY) 14 And the Lord changed his mind about the disaster that he planned to bring on his people.(BZ)
15 Then Moses turned and went down from the mountain, carrying the two tablets of the covenant in his hands, tablets that were written on both sides, written on the front and on the back.(CA) 16 The tablets were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, engraved upon the tablets.(CB) 17 When Joshua heard the noise of the people as they shouted, he said to Moses, “There is a noise of war in the camp.” 18 But he said,
“It is not the sound made by victors
or the sound made by losers;
it is the sound of singing that I hear.”
19 As soon as he came near the camp and saw the calf and the dancing, Moses’s anger burned hot, and he threw the tablets from his hands and broke them at the foot of the mountain.(CC) 20 He took the calf that they had made, burned it with fire, ground it to powder, scattered it on the water, and made the Israelites drink it.(CD)
21 Moses said to Aaron, “What did this people do to you that you have brought so great a sin upon them?”(CE) 22 And Aaron said, “Do not let the anger of my lord burn hot; you know the people, that they are wicked.(CF) 23 They said to me, ‘Make gods for us, who shall go before us; as for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.’(CG) 24 So I said to them, ‘Whoever has gold, take it off’; so they gave it to me, and I threw it into the fire, and out came this calf!”(CH)
25 When Moses saw that the people were out of control (for Aaron had lost control of them, prompting derision among their enemies), 26 then Moses stood in the gate of the camp and said, “Who is on the Lord’s side? Come to me!” And all the sons of Levi gathered around him. 27 He said to them, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Put your sword on your side, each of you! Go back and forth from gate to gate throughout the camp, and each of you kill your brother, your friend, and your neighbor.”(CI) 28 The sons of Levi did as Moses commanded, and about three thousand of the people fell on that day. 29 Moses said, “Today you have been ordained for the service of the Lord, each one at the cost of a son or a brother, and so have brought a blessing on yourselves this day.”
30 On the next day Moses said to the people, “You have sinned a great sin. But now I will go up to the Lord; perhaps I can make atonement for your sin.”(CJ) 31 So Moses returned to the Lord and said, “Alas, this people has sinned a great sin; they have made for themselves gods of gold.(CK) 32 But now, if you will only forgive their sin—but if not, please blot me out of the book that you have written.”(CL) 33 But the Lord said to Moses, “Whoever has sinned against me I will blot out of my book.(CM) 34 But now go, lead the people to the place about which I have spoken to you; see, my angel shall go in front of you. Nevertheless, when the day for punishment comes, I will punish them for their sin.”(CN)
35 Then the Lord sent a plague on the people, because they made the calf—the one that Aaron had made.(CO)
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.