Exodus 30

English Standard Version

The Altar of Incense

30 ^(A)“You shall make ^(B)an altar on which to burn incense; you shall make it of acacia wood. ²A cubit^[a] shall be its length, and a cubit its breadth. It shall be square, and two cubits shall be its height. ^(C)Its horns shall be of one piece with it. ³You shall ^(D)overlay it with pure gold, its top and around its sides and its horns. And you shall make a molding of gold around it. ⁴And you shall make two golden rings for it. Under its molding on two opposite sides of it you shall make them, and they shall be ^(E)holders for poles with which to carry it. ⁵You shall make the poles of acacia wood and overlay them with gold. ⁶And you shall put it in front of the veil that is above the ark of the testimony, in front of the ^(F)mercy seat that is above the testimony, where I will meet with you. ⁷And Aaron shall ^(G)burn fragrant incense on it. Every morning when he ^(H)dresses the lamps he shall burn it, ⁸and when Aaron sets up the lamps at twilight, he shall burn it, a regular incense offering before the Lord throughout your generations. ⁹You shall not offer ^(I)unauthorized incense on it, or a burnt offering, or a grain offering, and you shall not pour a drink offering on it. ¹⁰^(J)Aaron shall make atonement on its horns once a year. With the blood of the ^(K)sin offering of atonement he shall make atonement for it once in the year throughout your generations. It is most holy to the Lord.”

The Census Tax

¹¹The Lord said to Moses, ¹²^(L)“When you take the census of the people of Israel, then each shall give ^(M)a ransom for his life to the Lord when you number them, that there be no plague among them when you number them. ¹³Each one who is numbered in the census shall give this: half a shekel^[b] according to the ^(N)shekel of the sanctuary (the ^(O)shekel is twenty gerahs),^[c] ^(P)half a shekel as an offering to the Lord. ¹⁴Everyone who is numbered in the census, from twenty years old and upward, shall give the Lord's offering. ¹⁵The rich shall not give more, and the poor shall not give less, than ^(Q)the half shekel, when you give the Lord's offering to make atonement for your lives. ¹⁶You shall take the atonement money from the people of Israel and shall ^(R)give it for the service of the tent of meeting, that it may bring the people of Israel to ^(S)remembrance before the Lord, so as to make atonement for your lives.”

The Bronze Basin

¹⁷The Lord said to Moses, ¹⁸“You shall also make a ^(T)basin of bronze, with its stand of bronze, for washing. ^(U)You shall put it between the tent of meeting and the altar, and you shall put water in it, ¹⁹with which Aaron and his sons ^(V)shall wash their hands and their feet. ²⁰When they go into the tent of meeting, or when they come near the altar to minister, to burn a food offering^[d] to the Lord, they shall wash with water, so that they may not die. ²¹They shall wash their hands and their feet, so that they may not die. It shall ^(W)be a statute forever to them, even to him and to his offspring throughout their generations.”

The Anointing Oil and Incense

²²The Lord said to Moses, ²³“Take the ^(X)finest spices: of liquid myrrh 500 shekels, and of sweet-smelling cinnamon half as much, that is, 250, and 250 of ^(Y)aromatic cane, ²⁴and 500 of cassia, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, and a ^(Z)hin^[e] of olive oil. ²⁵And you shall make of these a sacred anointing oil blended as by the ^(AA)perfumer; it shall be a ^(AB)holy anointing oil. ²⁶^(AC)With it 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 with all its utensils and the ^(AD)basin and its stand. ²⁹You shall consecrate them, that they may be most holy. ^(AE)Whatever touches them will become holy. ³⁰^(AF)You shall anoint Aaron and his sons, and consecrate them, that they may serve me as priests. ³¹And you shall say to the people of Israel, ‘This shall be my holy anointing oil throughout your generations. ³²It shall not be poured on the body of an ordinary person, and you shall make no other like it in composition. ^(AG)It is holy, and it shall be holy to you. ³³^(AH)Whoever compounds any like it or whoever puts any of it on an outsider shall be cut off from his people.’”

³⁴The Lord said to Moses, ^(AI)“Take sweet spices, stacte, and onycha, and galbanum, sweet spices with pure frankincense (of each shall there be an equal part), ³⁵and make an ^(AJ)incense blended as by the ^(AK)perfumer, ^(AL)seasoned with salt, pure and holy. ³⁶You shall beat some of it very small, and put part of it before the testimony in the tent of meeting ^(AM)where I shall meet with you. ^(AN)It shall be most holy for you. ³⁷And the incense that you shall make ^(AO)according to its composition, you shall not make for yourselves. It shall be for you holy to the Lord. ³⁸^(AP)Whoever makes any like it to use as perfume shall be cut off from his people.”

Footnotes

Exodus 30:2 A cubit was about 18 inches or 45 centimeters
Exodus 30:13 A shekel was about 2/5 ounce or 11 grams
Exodus 30:13 A gerah was about 1/50 ounce or 0.6 gram
Exodus 30:20 Or an offering by fire
Exodus 30:24 A hin was about 4 quarts or 3.5 liters

Exodus 31

English Standard Version

Oholiab and Bezalel

31 The Lord said to Moses, ²“See, I have called by name ^(A)Bezalel the son of Uri, son of ^(B)Hur, of the tribe of Judah, ³and I have ^(C)filled him with the Spirit of God, with ability and intelligence, with knowledge and all craftsmanship, ⁴to devise artistic designs, to work in gold, silver, and bronze, ⁵in cutting stones for setting, and in carving wood, to work in every craft. ⁶And behold, I have appointed with him ^(D)Oholiab, the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan. And I have given to all able men ^(E)ability, that they may make all that I have commanded you: ⁷^(F)the tent of meeting, and ^(G)the ark of the testimony, and ^(H)the mercy seat that is on it, and all the furnishings of the tent, ⁸^(I)the table and its utensils, and ^(J)the pure lampstand with all its utensils, and ^(K)the altar of incense, ⁹and ^(L)the altar of burnt offering with all its utensils, and ^(M)the basin and its stand, ¹⁰and ^(N)the finely worked garments,^[a] the holy garments for Aaron the priest and the garments of his sons, for their service as priests, ¹¹and ^(O)the anointing oil and the fragrant ^(P)incense for the Holy Place. According to all that I have commanded you, they shall do.”

The Sabbath

¹²And the Lord said to Moses, ¹³“You are to speak to the people of Israel and say, ‘Above all you shall keep my Sabbaths, for this is a sign between me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I, the Lord, sanctify you. ¹⁴You shall keep the Sabbath, because it is holy for you. Everyone who profanes it shall be put to death. ^(Q)Whoever does any work on it, that soul shall be cut off from among his people. ¹⁵^(R)Six days shall work be done, but ^(S)the seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, holy to the Lord. ^(T)Whoever does any work on the Sabbath day shall be put to death. ¹⁶Therefore the people of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, observing the Sabbath throughout their generations, as a covenant forever. ¹⁷^(U)It is a sign forever between me and the people of Israel that ^(V)in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and ^(W)on the seventh day he rested and was refreshed.’”

¹⁸And he gave to Moses, when he had finished speaking with him on Mount Sinai, the ^(X)two tablets of the testimony, tablets of stone, written with ^(Y)the finger of God.

Footnotes

Exodus 31:10 Or garments for worship

Psalm 27

English Standard Version

The Lord Is My Light and My Salvation

Of David.

27 The Lord is my ^(A)light and my ^(B)salvation;
^(C)whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the stronghold^[a] of my life;
of whom shall I be afraid?

²When evildoers assail me
to ^(D)eat up my flesh,
my adversaries and foes,
it is they who stumble and fall.

³^(E)Though an army encamp against me,
my heart shall not fear;
though war arise against me,
yet^[b] I will be confident.

⁴^(F)One thing have I asked of the Lord,
    that will I seek after:
that I may ^(G)dwell in the house of the Lord
    all the days of my life,
to gaze upon ^(H)the beauty of the Lord
    and to inquire^[c] in his temple.

⁵For he will ^(I)hide me in his shelter
in the day of trouble;
he will conceal me under the cover of his tent;
he will ^(J)lift me high upon a rock.

⁶And now my ^(K)head shall be lifted up
above my enemies all around me,
and I will offer in his tent
sacrifices with shouts of ^(L)joy;
^(M)I will sing and make melody to the Lord.

⁷^(N)Hear, O Lord, when I cry aloud;
    be gracious to me and answer me!
⁸You have said, ^(O)“Seek^[d] my face.”
My heart says to you,
    “Your face, Lord, do I seek.”^[e]
⁹    ^(P)Hide not your face from me.
Turn not your servant away in anger,
    O you who have been my help.
Cast me not off; forsake me not,
    ^(Q)O God of my salvation!
¹⁰For ^(R)my father and my mother have forsaken me,
    but the Lord will ^(S)take me in.

¹¹^(T)Teach me your way, O Lord,
    and lead me on ^(U)a level path
    because of my enemies.
¹²^(V)Give me not up to the will of my adversaries;
    for ^(W)false witnesses have risen against me,
    and they ^(X)breathe out violence.

¹³I believe that I shall look^[f] upon ^(Y)the goodness of the Lord
    in ^(Z)the land of the living!
¹⁴^(AA)Wait for the Lord;
    ^(AB)be strong, and let your heart take courage;
    wait for the Lord!