The Incense Altar
30 1 Make an altar for burning incense; make it of acacia wood.
Built of Acacia, Overlaid with Gold
2 It shall be square — about eighteen inches long and eighteen inches wide — and about three feet high, with its horns made of one piece with it. 3 Overlay it with pure gold — its top, its sides all around, and its horns — and make a gold molding around it. 4 Make two gold rings for it beneath the molding, on its two opposite sides, to hold the poles used to carry it. 5 Make the poles of acacia wood and overlay them with gold. 6 Place it in front of the curtain that hangs before the ark of the testimony, before the 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 tends the lamps. 8 And when Aaron sets up the lamps at twilight, he shall burn it — a perpetual incense before me throughout your generations. 9 Do not offer unauthorized incense on it, nor a burnt offering or a grain offering, and do not pour a drink offering on it. 10 Once a year Aaron shall make atonement on its horns; with the blood of the sin offering of atonement he shall make atonement for it once a year throughout your generations. It is most holy to me.
The Census Ransom
11 Our Father said to Moses,
Every Life Redeemed
12 "When you take a census of the Israelites to count them, each one shall give a ransom for his life to me when they are counted, so that no plague will come upon them as they are numbered. 13 This is what everyone who is counted shall give: half a shekel by the sanctuary shekel (the shekel is twenty gerahs) — half a shekel as an offering to me. 1 1 v13 A gerah was a tiny unit of weight — about one-twentieth of a shekel, the smallest measure used in the sanctuary. 14 Everyone who is counted, twenty years old and upward, shall give this offering to me. 15 The rich shall not give more and the poor shall not give less than the half shekel, when you give the offering to me to make atonement for your lives. 16 Take the atonement money from the Israelites and use it for the service of the tent of meeting. It will be a memorial for the Israelites before me, to make atonement for your lives."
The Bronze Basin
17 Our Father said to Moses,
Washed Before Drawing Near
18 "Make a bronze basin with a bronze stand for washing. Set it between the tent of meeting and the altar, and put water in it, 19 so that Aaron and his sons can use it to wash their hands and feet. 20 When they enter the tent of meeting, they shall wash with water so that they will not die; and when they approach the altar to minister, to burn a food offering to me, 21 they shall wash their hands and feet so that they will not die. This shall be a lasting statute for Aaron and his descendants throughout their generations."
The Holy Anointing Oil
22 Our Father said to Moses,
Spices, Oil, and Consecration
23 "Take the finest spices: about twelve and a half pounds of liquid myrrh, half as much — about six and a quarter pounds — of fragrant cinnamon, and about six and a quarter pounds of fragrant cane, 24 and about twelve and a half pounds of cassia — all weighed by the sanctuary shekel — along with about one gallon of olive oil. 25 Make these into a holy anointing oil, a fragrant blend, the work of a perfumer; it shall be a holy anointing oil. 26 With it anoint the tent of meeting, the ark of the testimony, 27 the table and all its utensils, the lampstand and its utensils, the altar of incense, 28 the altar of burnt offering with all its utensils, and the basin with its stand. 29 Consecrate them so that they will be most holy; whatever touches them will become holy. 30 Anoint Aaron and his sons and consecrate them to serve me as priests. 31 Say to the Israelites, 'This shall be my holy anointing oil throughout your generations. 32 It shall not be poured on anyone's body, and you shall not make any like it with the same formula. It is holy, and it shall be holy to you. 33 Whoever blends any like it, or puts any of it on an outsider, shall be cut off from his people.'"
Sacred Incense
34 Our Father said to Moses, "Take fragrant spices — stacte, onycha, and galbanum — these fragrant spices with pure frankincense, in equal amounts, 2 2 v34 Stacte, onycha, and galbanum are aromatic plant resins used in ancient Near Eastern incense blends.
Reserved for Our Father Alone
35 and make them into fragrant incense, the work of a perfumer, seasoned with salt, pure and holy. 36 Grind some of it very fine and place it before the testimony in the tent of meeting, where I will meet with you. It shall be most holy to you. 37 As for the incense you make, do not make any like it for yourselves; it is holy to you, for it belongs to me. 38 Whoever makes any like it to enjoy its fragrance shall be cut off from his people."