Beginning
The Altar of Incense
30 “Moreover, you shall make (A)an altar as a place for burning incense; you shall make it of acacia wood. 2 Its length shall be a [a]cubit, and its width a cubit; it shall be square. And its height shall be two cubits; its horns shall be [b]of the same piece. 3 You shall overlay it with pure gold, its top and its [c]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 [d]opposite sides—and [e]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 [f]this altar in front of the veil that is [g]near the ark of the testimony, in front of the [h](B)mercy seat that is over 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 [i]trims the lamps [j]at twilight, he shall burn incense. There shall be continual incense before Yahweh throughout your generations. 9 You shall not offer any strange incense on [k]this altar or burnt offering or grain offering; and you shall not pour out a drink offering on it. 10 Aaron shall (C)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 Yahweh.”
The Census and the Atonement Price
11 Yahweh also spoke to Moses, saying, 12 “When you take (D)a [l]census of the sons of Israel [m]to number them, then each one of them shall give (E)a price of atonement for [n]himself to Yahweh when you [o]number them, so that there will be no plague among them when you [p]number them. 13 This is what everyone who [q]is numbered shall give: half a [r]shekel according to the shekel of the sanctuary ((F)the shekel is twenty [s]gerahs), half a shekel as a [t]contribution to Yahweh. 14 Everyone who [u]is numbered, from twenty years old and over, shall give the [v]contribution to Yahweh. 15 The rich shall not pay more and the poor shall not pay less than the half shekel when you give the [w]contribution to Yahweh to make atonement for your souls. 16 And 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 remembrance for the sons of Israel before Yahweh, to make atonement for your souls.”
The Laver for the Priestly Washing
17 And Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 18 “You shall also make (G)a laver of [x]bronze, with its stand of bronze, for washing; and you shall (H)put it between the tent of meeting and the altar, and you shall put water in it. 19 And Aaron and his sons shall (I)wash their hands and their feet from it; 20 when they come into 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 Yahweh. 21 So they shall wash their hands and their feet, so that they will not die; and (J)it shall be a perpetual statute for them, for [y]Aaron and his seed throughout their generations.”
The Holy Anointing Oil
22 Moreover, Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 23 “But as for you, take for yourself the finest of spices: of flowing myrrh 500 shekels, and of fragrant cinnamon half as much, 250, and of fragrant cane 250, 24 and of cassia 500, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, and of olive oil a [z]hin. 25 And you shall make [aa]of these a holy anointing oil, a perfume mixture, the work of a perfumer; it shall be (K)a holy anointing oil. 26 And with it (L)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 set them apart as holy, that they may be most holy; whatever touches them shall be holy. 30 (M)And you shall anoint Aaron and his sons, and you shall set them apart as holy, that they may minister as priests to Me. 31 And 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 [ab]anyone’s body, nor shall you make any like it in [ac]the same specifications; (N)it is holy, and it shall be holy to you. 33 (O)Whoever shall mix any like it or whoever puts any of it on a [ad]layman [ae](P)shall be cut off from his people.’”
The Incense
34 Then Yahweh said to Moses, “Take for yourself fragrances, stacte and onycha and galbanum, fragrances 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 you shall put part of it before the testimony in the tent of meeting (Q)where I will meet with you; it shall be most holy to you. 37 The incense which you shall make, (R)you shall not make in [af]the same specifications for yourselves; it shall be holy to you for Yahweh. 38 (S)Whoever shall make any like it, to [ag]use as perfume, [ah]shall be cut off from his people.”
Bezalel and Oholiab
31 (T)And Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “See, I have called by name Bezalel, the (U)son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah. 3 And I have (V)filled him with the Spirit of God in wisdom, in discernment, in knowledge, and in all kinds of [ai]craftsmanship, 4 to devise artistic designs for work in gold, in silver, and in [aj]bronze, 5 and in the cutting of stones [ak]for settings, and in the carving of wood, in order for him to work in all kinds of [al]craftsmanship. 6 And behold, I Myself have [am]appointed with him (W)Oholiab, the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan; and in the hearts of all who are [an]wise at heart I have put [ao]wisdom, that they may make all that I have commanded you: 7 (X)the tent of meeting, and (Y)the ark of testimony, and (Z)the [ap]mercy seat upon it, and all the furniture of the tent, 8 (AA)the table also and its [aq]utensils, and the (AB)pure gold lampstand with all its [ar]utensils, and (AC)the altar of incense, 9 (AD)the altar of burnt offering also with all its [as]utensils, and (AE)the laver and its stand, 10 the [at](AF)woven garments as well, and the holy garments for Aaron the priest, and the garments of his sons, with which to minister as priests; 11 (AG)the anointing oil also, and the (AH)fragrant incense for the holy place, they shall make them according to all that I have commanded you.”
The Sign of the Sabbath
12 Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 13 “But as for you, speak to the sons of Israel, saying, ‘(AI)You shall surely keep My sabbaths; for this is (AJ)a sign between Me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I am Yahweh who makes you holy. 14 Therefore you shall keep the sabbath, for it is holy to you. (AK)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 (AL)Six days work may be done, but on the seventh day there is a (AM)sabbath of complete rest, holy to Yahweh; (AN)whoever does any work on the sabbath day shall surely be put to death. 16 So the sons of Israel shall keep the sabbath, to [au]celebrate the sabbath throughout their generations as an everlasting covenant.’ 17 (AO)It is a sign between Me and the sons of Israel forever; (AP)for in six days Yahweh made heaven and earth, but on the seventh day He rested and was refreshed.”
18 When He had finished speaking with him upon Mount Sinai, He gave Moses (AQ)the two tablets of the testimony, tablets of stone, (AR)written by the finger of God.
The Golden Calf
32 Then the people saw that Moses (AS)delayed to come down from the mountain. So the people assembled about Aaron and said to him, “Arise, (AT)make us [av]gods who will go before us; as for (AU)this Moses, the man who brought us up from the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.” 2 And Aaron said to them, “(AV)Tear off the gold rings which are in the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me.” 3 Then all the people tore off the gold rings which were in their ears and brought them to Aaron. 4 And he took this from their hand and fashioned it with a graving tool and made it into a (AW)molten calf; and they said, “[aw]These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt.” 5 And Aaron looked and built an altar before it; and Aaron made a proclamation and said, “Tomorrow shall be a feast to Yahweh.” 6 So the next day they rose early and (AX)offered burnt offerings and brought peace offerings; and (AY)the people sat down to eat and to drink and rose up (AZ)to play.
7 Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, “Go! Go down at once, for your people, whom (BA)you brought up from the land of Egypt, have (BB)corrupted themselves. 8 They have quickly turned aside from the way which I commanded them. (BC)They have made for themselves a molten calf and have worshiped it and (BD)have sacrificed to it and said, ‘[ax](BE)These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt!’” 9 (BF)And Yahweh said to Moses, “I have seen this people, and behold, they are (BG)a stiff-necked people. 10 Now then (BH)let Me alone, that My anger may burn against them and that I may consume them; and (BI)I will make you a great nation.”
11 Then (BJ)Moses entreated [ay]the favor of Yahweh his God and said, “O Yahweh, why does Your anger burn against Your people whom You have brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a strong hand? 12 Why should (BK)the Egyptians speak, saying, ‘With evil intent He brought them out to kill them in the mountains and to consume them from the face of the earth’? Turn from Your burning anger and relent concerning doing harm to Your people. 13 Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, Your servants to whom You (BL)swore by Yourself, and You said to them, ‘I will (BM)multiply your seed as the stars of the heavens, and (BN)all this land of which I have spoken I will give to your seed, and they shall inherit it forever.’” 14 (BO)So Yahweh relented concerning the harm which He said He would do to His people.
15 (BP)Then Moses turned and went down from the mountain. And the two tablets of the testimony were in his hand, (BQ)tablets which were written on both [az]sides; they were written on one side and the other. 16 Now the tablets were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God engraved on the tablets. 17 Then Joshua heard the sound of the people [ba]as they shouted. And he said to Moses, “There is a sound of war in the camp.” 18 But he said,
“It is not the sound of the cry of triumph,
Nor is it the sound of the cry of defeat;
But the sound of singing I hear.”
19 Now it happened, as soon as [bb]Moses came near the camp, that (BR)he saw the calf and the dancing; and Moses’ anger burned, and (BS)he threw the tablets from his hands and shattered them [bc]at the foot of the mountain. 20 (BT)Then he took the calf which they had made and burned it with fire and ground it to powder and scattered it over the surface of the water and made the sons of Israel drink it.
21 Then Moses said to Aaron, “What did this people do to you, that you have brought such great sin upon them?” 22 And Aaron said, “Do not let the anger of my lord burn; you know the people yourself, (BU)that they are [bd]prone to evil. 23 Indeed (BV)they said to me, ‘Make [be]gods for us who will go before us; for this Moses, the man who brought us up from the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.’ 24 And I said to them, ‘Whoever has any gold, let them tear it off.’ So they gave it to me, and (BW)I threw it into the fire, and out came this calf.”
25 Now Moses saw that the people were [bf]out of control—for Aaron had (BX)let them [bg]get out of control to be a derision among [bh]their enemies— 26 so Moses stood in the gate of the camp and said, “Whoever is for Yahweh, come to me!” And all the sons of Levi gathered together to him. 27 And he said to them, “Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel, ‘Every man among you put his sword upon his thigh, and go back and forth from gate to gate in the camp, and kill every man his brother and every man his friend and every man his [bi]neighbor.’” 28 So (BY)the sons of Levi did according to the word of Moses, and about three thousand men of the people fell that day. 29 Then Moses said, “[bj]Be ordained today to Yahweh—for every man has been against his son and against his brother—in order that He may bestow a blessing upon you today.”
30 Now it happened on the next day, that Moses said to the people, “(BZ)You yourselves have [bk]committed a great sin; but now I am going up to Yahweh, perhaps I can (CA)make atonement for your sin.” 31 Then Moses returned to Yahweh and said, “Alas, this people has [bl]committed a great sin, and they have made [bm](CB)gods of gold for themselves. 32 But now, if You will forgive their sin—but if not, please blot me out from Your (CC)book which You have written!” 33 And Yahweh said to Moses, “Whoever has sinned against Me, (CD)I will blot him out of My book. 34 But now go, guide the people (CE)where I told you. Behold, (CF)My angel shall go before you; nevertheless (CG)in the day when I [bn]punish, (CH)I will [bo]punish them for their sin.” 35 (CI)Then Yahweh smote the people because of (CJ)what they did with the calf which Aaron had made.
Legacy Standard Bible Copyright ©2021 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved. Managed in partnership with Three Sixteen Publishing Inc. LSBible.org For Permission to Quote Information visit https://www.LSBible.org.