Beginning

The Altar for Burning Incense

30 “Make an altar for burning incense. Make it out of acacia wood. ² It must be one and a half feet square and three feet high. Make a horn stick out from each of its upper four corners. ³ Cover the top, sides and horns with pure gold. Put a strip of gold around it. ⁴ Make two gold rings for the altar below the strip. Put the rings across from each other. They will hold the poles that are used to carry it. ⁵ Make the poles out of acacia wood. Cover them with gold. ⁶ Put the altar in front of the curtain that hangs in front of the ark. The ark is where the tablets of the covenant law are kept. The ark will have a cover. It will be the place where sin is paid for. There I will meet with you.

⁷ “Aaron must burn sweet-smelling incense on the altar. He must do it every morning when he takes care of the lamps. ⁸ He must burn incense again when he lights the lamps at sunset. Incense must be burned regularly in front of the Lord. Do it for all time to come. ⁹ Do not burn any other incense on the altar. Do not use the altar for burnt offerings or grain offerings. And do not pour drink offerings on it. ¹⁰ Once a year Aaron must put the blood of a sin offering on the horns of the altar. He must do this to make the altar pure. He must do this on the day Israel’s sin is paid for. Do this for all time to come. The altar is a very holy place to me.”

Money to Pay for the People’s Lives

¹¹ Then the Lord spoke to Moses. He said, ¹² “Make a list of the Israelites and count them. When you do, each one must pay the Lord for his life at the time he is counted. Then a plague will not come on them when you count them. ¹³ Each one counted must pay a fifth of an ounce of silver. It must be weighed out in keeping with the standard weights that are used in the sacred tent. The payment is an offering to the Lord. ¹⁴ Each one counted must be 20 years old or more. He must give an offering to the Lord. ¹⁵ When you make the offering, rich people must not give more than a fifth of an ounce of silver. And poor people must not give less. The offering you give to the Lord will pay for your lives. ¹⁶ Receive the money from the people of Israel. Use it for any purpose in the tent of meeting. It will remind the people that they are paying me for their lives.”

The Large Bowl for Washing

¹⁷ Then the Lord spoke to Moses. He said, ¹⁸ “Make a large bronze bowl for washing. Make a bronze stand to put it on. Place the bowl between the tent of meeting and the altar. Put water in it. ¹⁹ Aaron and his sons must wash their hands and feet with water from it. ²⁰ When they enter the tent of meeting, they must wash with water so that they will not die. They will come to the altar to serve me. They will bring a food offering to the Lord. ²¹ When they do, they must wash their hands and feet so that they will not die. For all time to come, that will be a law for Aaron and the priests in his family line.”

Anointing Oil

²² Then the Lord said to Moses, ²³ “Get some fine spices. Get 12 pounds eight ounces of liquid myrrh. Get six pounds four ounces of sweet-smelling cinnamon and the same amount of sweet-smelling calamus. ²⁴ Also get 12 pounds eight ounces of cassia. All the spices must be weighed out in keeping with the standard weights that are used in the sacred tent. And get a gallon of olive oil. ²⁵ Have a person who makes perfume mix everything into a sacred anointing oil. It will smell sweet. ²⁶ Then use it to anoint the tent of meeting and the ark where the tablets of the covenant law are kept. ²⁷ Anoint the table for the holy bread and all its things. Anoint the lampstand and the things that are used with it. Anoint the altar for burning incense. ²⁸ Anoint the altar for burnt offerings and all its tools. And anoint the large bowl together with its stand. ²⁹ You must set them apart so that they will be very holy. Anything that touches them will be holy.

³⁰ “Anoint Aaron and his sons. Set them apart so that they can serve me as priests. ³¹ Say to the people of Israel, ‘This will be my sacred anointing oil for all time to come. ³² Do not pour it on anyone else’s body. Do not make any other oil in the same way. It is sacred. So you must think of it as sacred. ³³ Suppose a person makes perfume in the same way. And suppose that person puts it on someone who is not a priest. Then that person must be separated from their people.’ ”

Incense

³⁴ Then the Lord said to Moses, “Get some sweet-smelling spices. Get some gum resin, onycha and galbanum. Also get some pure frankincense. Make sure everything is in equal amounts. ³⁵ Have a person who makes perfume mix it all up into a sweet-smelling incense. It must have salt in it. It will be pure and sacred. ³⁶ Grind some of it into powder. Place it in front of the ark of the covenant law in the tent of meeting. There I will meet with you. The incense will be very holy to you. ³⁷ Do not make any incense for yourselves in the same way. Think of it as holy to the Lord. ³⁸ Whoever makes incense in the same way to enjoy its sweet smell must be separated from their people.”

Bezalel and Oholiab

31 Then the Lord spoke to Moses. ² He said, “I have chosen Bezalel, the son of Uri. Uri is the son of Hur. Bezalel is from the tribe of Judah. ³ I have filled him with the Spirit of God. I have filled Bezalel with wisdom, with understanding, with knowledge and with all kinds of skill. ⁴ He can make beautiful patterns in gold, silver and bronze. ⁵ He can cut and set stones. He can work with wood. In fact, he can work in all kinds of crafts. ⁶ I have also appointed Oholiab, the son of Ahisamak, to help him. Oholiab is from the tribe of Dan.

“I have given ability to all the skilled workers. They can make everything I have commanded you to make. Here is the complete list.

“The skilled workers must make them just as I commanded you.”

The Sabbath Day

¹² Then the Lord spoke to Moses. ¹³ He said, “Tell the people of Israel, ‘You must always keep my Sabbath days. That will be the sign of the covenant I have made between me and you for all time to come. Then you will know that I am the Lord. I am the one who makes you holy.

¹⁴ “ ‘Keep the Sabbath day. It is holy to you. Those who misuse it must be put to death. Those who do any work on that day must be separated from their people. ¹⁵ Do your work in six days. But the seventh day is a day of sabbath rest. You must rest on it. It is set apart for the Lord. Those who work on the Sabbath day must be put to death. ¹⁶ The Israelites must keep the Sabbath day. They must celebrate it for all time to come. It will be a covenant that lasts forever. ¹⁷ It will be the sign of the covenant I have made between me and the Israelites forever. The Lord made the heavens and the earth in six days. But on the seventh day he did not work. He rested.’ ”

¹⁸ The Lord finished speaking to Moses on Mount Sinai. Then he gave him the two tablets of the covenant law. They were made out of stone. The words on them were written by the finger of God.

Israel Worships a Golden Calf

32 The people saw that Moses took a long time to come down from the mountain. So they gathered around Aaron. They said to him, “Come. Make us a god that will lead us. This fellow Moses brought us up out of Egypt. But we don’t know what has happened to him.”

² Aaron answered them, “Take the gold earrings off your wives, your sons and your daughters. Bring the earrings to me.” ³ So all the people took off their earrings. They brought them to Aaron. ⁴ He took what they gave him and made it into a metal statue of a god. It looked like a calf. Aaron shaped it with a tool. Then the people said, “Israel, here is your god who brought you up out of Egypt.”

⁵ When Aaron saw what they were doing, he built an altar in front of the calf. He said, “Tomorrow will be a feast day to honor the Lord.” ⁶ So the next day the people got up early. They sacrificed burnt offerings and brought friendship offerings. They sat down to eat and drink. Then they got up to dance wildly in front of their god.

⁷ The Lord spoke to Moses. He said, “Go down. Your people you brought up out of Egypt have become very sinful. ⁸ They have quickly turned away from what I commanded them. They have made themselves a metal statue of a god in the shape of a calf. They have bowed down and sacrificed to it. And they have said, ‘Israel, here is your god who brought you up out of Egypt.’

⁹ “I have seen these people,” the Lord said to Moses. “They are stubborn. ¹⁰ Now leave me alone. I will destroy them because of my great anger. Then I will make you into a great nation.”

¹¹ But Moses asked the Lord his God to have mercy on the people. “Lord,” he said, “why should you destroy your people in anger? You used your great power and mighty hand to bring them out of Egypt. ¹² Why should the Egyptians say, ‘He brought them out to hurt them. He wanted to kill them in the mountains. He wanted to wipe them off the face of the earth’? Turn away from your great anger. Please take pity on your people. Don’t destroy them! ¹³ Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac and Israel. You made a promise to them in your own name. You said, ‘I will make your children after you as many as the stars in the sky. I will give them all this land I promised them. It will belong to them forever.’ ” ¹⁴ Then the Lord took pity on his people. He didn’t destroy them as he had said he would.

¹⁵ Moses turned and went down the mountain. He had the two tablets of the covenant law in his hands. Words were written on both sides of the tablets, front and back. ¹⁶ The tablets were the work of God. The words had been written by God. They had been carved on the tablets.

¹⁷ Joshua heard the noise of the people shouting. So he said to Moses, “It sounds like war in the camp.”

¹⁸ Moses replied,

¹⁹ As Moses approached the camp, he saw the calf. He also saw the people dancing. So he was very angry. He threw the tablets out of his hands. They broke into pieces at the foot of the mountain. ²⁰ He took the calf the people had made. He burned it in the fire. Then he ground it into powder. He scattered it on the water. And he made the Israelites drink it.

²¹ He said to Aaron, “What did these people do to you? How did they make you lead them into such terrible sin?”

²² “Please don’t be angry,” Aaron answered. “You know how these people like to do what is evil. ²³ They said to me, ‘Make us a god that will lead us. This fellow Moses brought us up out of Egypt. But we don’t know what has happened to him.’ ²⁴ So I told them, ‘Anyone who has any gold jewelry, take it off.’ They gave me the gold. I threw it into the fire. And out came this calf!”

²⁵ Moses saw that the people were running wild. Aaron had let them get out of control. The people had become a joke to their enemies. ²⁶ Moses stood at the entrance to the camp. He said, “Anyone on the Lord’s side, come to me.” All the Levites joined him.

²⁷ Then he spoke to them. He said, “The Lord, the God of Israel, says, ‘Each man must put on his sword. Then he must go back and forth through the camp from one end to the other. Each man must kill his brother and friend and neighbor.’ ” ²⁸ The Levites did as Moses commanded. About 3,000 of the people died that day. ²⁹ Then Moses said to the Levites, “You have been set apart for the Lord today. You fought against your own sons and brothers. And he has blessed you this day.”

³⁰ The next day Moses said to the people, “You have committed a terrible sin. But now I will go up to the Lord. Maybe if I pray to him, he will forgive your sin.”

³¹ So Moses went back to the Lord. He said, “These people have committed a terrible sin. They have made a god out of gold for themselves. ³² Now please forgive their sin. But if you won’t, then erase my name out of the book you have written.”

³³ The Lord replied to Moses. The Lord said, “I will erase out of my book only the names of those who have sinned against me. ³⁴ Now go. Lead the people to the place I spoke about. My angel will go ahead of you. But when the time comes for me to punish, I will punish them for their sin.”

³⁵ The Lord struck the people with a plague. That’s because of what they did with the calf Aaron had made.