Exodus 30
Lexham English Bible
Instructions for Making the Incense Altar
30 “And you will make an altar for burning incense; you will make it of acacia wood, 2 a cubit its length and a cubit its width—it will be square—and two cubits its height, its horns of one piece with it.[a] 3 And you will overlay it with pure gold, its top and its sides all around and its horns, and you will make for it a gold molding all around. 4 And you will make two gold rings for it; under its molding on two opposite sides[b] you will make them as holders[c] for poles to carry it with them. 5 You will make the poles of acacia wood, and you will overlay them with gold. 6 And you will put it before the curtain that is upon the ark of the testimony, before the atonement cover, which is on the testimony, there where I will meet with you.
7 “And on it Aaron will turn fragrant incense into smoke; each morning[d] when he tends the lamps, he will turn it into smoke. 8 And when Aaron sets up the lamps at twilight,[e] he will turn it into smoke—incense of continuity—before Yahweh throughout your generations. 9 You will not offer on it strange incense or a burnt offering or a grain offering, and you will not pour a libation on it. 10 And Aaron will make atonement on its horns one time in the year from the blood of the sin offering of the atonement; one time in the year he will make atonement on it throughout your generations; it is a most holy thing for Yahweh.”
Instructions for Numbering the People
11 And Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 12 “When you take a census of[f] the Israelites[g] to count them, they will each give the ransom of his life for Yahweh when counting them, and a plague will not be among them when counting them. 13 This they will give, everyone who is counted,[h] the half shekel, according to the sanctuary shekel, which is twenty gerahs per shekel. The half shekel is a contribution for Yahweh. 14 Everyone who is counted[i] from twenty years old[j] and above will give the contribution of Yahweh. 15 The rich will not give more, and the poor will not give less than the half shekel to give the contribution of Yahweh to make atonement for their lives. 16 And you will take the atonement money from the Israelites[k] and give it to the service of the tent of assembly, and it will be as a memorial for the Israelites[l] before Yahweh to make atonement for your lives.”
Instructions for Making the Basin
17 And Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 18 “And you will make a basin of bronze and its bronze stand for washing, and you will put it between the tent of assembly and the altar, and you will put water there. 19 And Aaron and his sons will wash their hands and their feet with it. 20 When they come to the tent of assembly, they will wash with water so that they do not die, or when they approach the altar to serve by turning to smoke an offering made by fire to Yahweh. 21 And they will wash their hands and their feet so that they do not die, and it will be a lasting rule for them—to him and to his offspring throughout their generations.
Instructions for Making Anointing Oil and Incense
22 And Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 23 “And take for yourself top quality balsam oils, five hundred shekels of flowing myrrh, half as much—two hundred and fifty shekels of fragrant cinnamon, and two hundred and fifty shekels of fragrant reed, 24 and five hundred shekels of cassia, according to the sanctuary shekel, and a hin of olive oil. 25 And you will make it into holy anointing oil, a spice blend of a fragrant ointment the work of a perfumer; it will be holy anointing oil. 26 And you will anoint with it the tent of assembly and the ark of the testimony, 27 and the table and all its equipment and the lampstand and its equipment and the incense altar, 28 and the altar of burnt offering and all its equipment and the basin and its stand. 29 And you will consecrate them, and they will be most holy things; anyone who[m] touches them will be holy. 30 And you will anoint Aaron and his sons, and you will consecrate them to serve as priests for me.
31 “And you will speak to the Israelites,[n] saying, ‘This will be my holy anointing oil throughout your generations. 32 It will not be poured on human flesh, and with its measurements[o] you will not make any like it; it is holy; it will be holy to you. 33 Anyone who compounds perfume like it and who puts it on a stranger will be cut off from his people.’”
34 And Yahweh said to Moses, “Take for yourself fragrant perfumes—stacte resin and onycha and galbanum—fragrant perfumes and pure frankincense, an equal part of each,[p] 35 and make it into a compound of incense, the work of a perfumer, salted, pure, holy. 36 And you will grind part of it to powder, and you will put part of it before the testimony in the tent of assembly where I will meet with you; it will be a most holy thing to you. 37 And the incense that you will make with its measurements[q] you will not make for yourselves; it will be holy to you for Yahweh. 38 Anyone who makes any like it to smell it will be cut off from his people.”
Footnotes
- Exodus 30:2 Literally “from it”
- Exodus 30:4 Literally “on two of its sides you will make on two of its sides”
- Exodus 30:4 Literally “houses”
- Exodus 30:7 Literally “in the morning in the morning”
- Exodus 30:8 Literally “between the two evenings”
- Exodus 30:12 Literally “when you lift up the heads of”
- Exodus 30:12 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
- Exodus 30:13 Literally “all of the going over to the being counted”
- Exodus 30:14 Literally “all of the going over to the being counted”
- Exodus 30:14 Literally “a son of twenty years”
- Exodus 30:16 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
- Exodus 30:16 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
- Exodus 30:29 Or “anything that”; literally “all touching”
- Exodus 30:31 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
- Exodus 30:32 Or “recipe” or “formula”
- Exodus 30:34 Literally “part by part it will be”
- Exodus 30:37 Or “recipe” or “formula”
Exodus 30
American Standard Version
30 And thou shalt make an altar to burn incense upon: of acacia wood shalt thou make it. 2 A cubit shall be the length thereof, and a cubit the breadth thereof; foursquare shall it be; and two cubits shall be the height thereof: the horns thereof shall be of one piece with it. 3 And thou shalt overlay it with pure gold, the [a]top thereof, and the [b]sides thereof round about, and the horns thereof; and thou shalt make unto it a [c]crown of gold round about. 4 And two golden rings shalt thou make for it under the crown thereof; upon the two ribs thereof, upon the two sides of it shalt thou make them; and they shall be for places for staves wherewith to bear it. 5 And thou shalt make the staves of acacia wood, and overlay them with gold. 6 And thou shalt put it before the veil that is by the ark of the testimony, before the mercy-seat that is over the testimony, where I will meet with thee. 7 And Aaron shall burn thereon incense of sweet spices: every morning, when he dresseth the lamps, he shall burn it. 8 And when Aaron [d]lighteth the lamps [e]at even, he shall burn it, a perpetual incense before Jehovah throughout your generations. 9 Ye shall offer no strange incense thereon, nor burnt-offering, nor meal-offering; and ye shall pour no drink-offering thereon. 10 And Aaron shall make atonement [f]upon the horns of it once in the year; with the blood of the sin-offering of atonement once in the year shall he make atonement [g]for it throughout your generations: it is most holy unto Jehovah.
11 And Jehovah spake unto Moses, saying, 12 When thou takest the sum of the children of Israel, according to those that are numbered of them, then shall they give every man a ransom for his soul unto Jehovah, when thou numberest them; that there be no plague among them, when thou numberest them. 13 This they shall give, every one that passeth over unto them that are numbered: half a shekel after the shekel of the sanctuary (the shekel is twenty gerahs), half a shekel for an offering to Jehovah. 14 Every one that passeth over unto them that are numbered, from twenty years old and upward, shall give the offering of Jehovah. 15 The rich shall not give more, and the poor shall not give less, than the half shekel, when they give the offering of Jehovah, to make atonement for your souls. 16 And thou shalt take the atonement money from the children of Israel, and shalt appoint it for the service of the tent of meeting; that it may be a memorial for the children of Israel before Jehovah, to make atonement for your souls.
17 And Jehovah spake unto Moses, saying, 18 Thou shalt also make a laver of brass, and the base thereof of brass, whereat to wash. And thou shalt put it between the tent of meeting and the altar, and thou shalt put water therein. 19 And Aaron and his sons shall wash their hands and their feet thereat: 20 when they go into the tent of meeting, they shall wash with water, that they die not; or when they come near to the altar to minister, to burn an offering made by fire unto Jehovah. 21 So they shall wash their hands and their feet, that they die not: and it shall be a statute for ever to them, even to him and to his seed throughout their generations.
22 Moreover Jehovah spake unto Moses, saying, 23 Take thou also unto thee the chief spices: of flowing myrrh five hundred shekels, and of sweet cinnamon half so much, even two hundred and fifty, and of sweet calamus two hundred and fifty, 24 and of [h]cassia five hundred, after the shekel of the sanctuary, and of olive oil a hin; 25 and thou shalt make it a holy anointing oil, a perfume compounded after the art of the perfumer: it shall be a holy anointing oil. 26 And thou shalt anoint therewith the tent of meeting, and the ark of the testimony, 27 and the table and all the vessels thereof, and the candlestick and the vessels thereof, and the altar of incense, 28 and the altar of burnt-offering with all the vessels thereof, and the laver and the base thereof. 29 And thou shalt sanctify them, that they may be most holy: [i]whatsoever toucheth them shall be holy. 30 And thou shalt anoint Aaron and his sons, and sanctify them, that they may minister unto me in the priest’s office. 31 And thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel, saying, This shall be a holy anointing oil unto me throughout your generations. 32 Upon the flesh of man shall it not be poured, neither shall ye make any like it, according to the composition thereof: it is holy, and it shall be holy unto you. 33 Whosoever compoundeth any like it, or whosoever putteth any of it upon a stranger, he shall be cut off from his people.
34 And Jehovah said unto Moses, Take unto thee sweet spices, [j]stacte, and onycha, and galbanum; sweet spices with pure frankincense: of each shall there be a like weight; 35 and thou shalt make of it incense, a perfume after the art of the perfumer, [k]seasoned with salt, pure and holy: 36 and thou shalt beat some of it very small, and put of it before the testimony in the tent of meeting, where I will meet with thee: it shall be unto you most holy. 37 And the incense which thou shalt make, according to the composition thereof ye shall not make for yourselves: it shall be unto thee holy for Jehovah. 38 Whosoever shall make like unto that, to smell thereof, he shall be cut off from his people.
Footnotes
- Exodus 30:3 Hebrew roof.
- Exodus 30:3 Hebrew walls.
- Exodus 30:3 Or, rim. Or, moulding
- Exodus 30:8 Or, setteth up. Hebrew causeth to ascend.
- Exodus 30:8 Hebrew between the two evenings.
- Exodus 30:10 Or, for
- Exodus 30:10 Or, upon
- Exodus 30:24 Or, costus
- Exodus 30:29 Or, whosoever
- Exodus 30:34 Or, opobalsamum
- Exodus 30:35 Or, tempered together
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