1‘Make an altar of acacia wood for burning incense.2It is to be square, a cubit long and a cubit wide, and two cubits high[1] – its horns of one piece with it.3Overlay the top and all the sides and the horns with pure gold, and make a gold moulding around it.4Make two gold rings for the altar below the moulding – two on each of the opposite sides – to hold the poles used to carry it.5Make the poles of acacia wood and overlay them with gold.6Put the altar in front of the curtain that shields the ark of the covenant law – before the atonement cover that is over the tablets of the covenant law – where I will meet with you.7‘Aaron must burn fragrant incense on the altar every morning when he tends the lamps.8He must burn incense again when he lights the lamps at twilight so that incense will burn regularly before the Lord for the generations to come.9Do not offer on this altar any other incense or any burnt offering or grain offering, and do not pour a drink offering on it.10Once a year Aaron shall make atonement on its horns. This annual atonement must be made with the blood of the atoning sin offering[2] for the generations to come. It is most holy to the Lord.’
Atonement money
11Then the Lord said to Moses,12‘When you take a census of the Israelites to count them, each one must pay the Lord a ransom for his life at the time he is counted. Then no plague will come on them when you number them.13Each one who crosses over to those already counted is to give a half shekel,[3] according to the sanctuary shekel, which weighs twenty gerahs. This half shekel is an offering to the Lord.14All who cross over, those twenty years old or more, are to give an offering to the Lord.15The rich are not to give more than a half shekel and the poor are not to give less when you make the offering to the Lord to atone for your lives.16Receive 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 the Lord, making atonement for your lives.’
Basin for washing
17Then the Lord said to Moses,18‘Make a bronze basin, with its bronze stand, for washing. Place it between the tent of meeting and the altar, and put water in it.19Aaron and his sons are to wash their hands and feet with water from it.20Whenever they enter the tent of meeting, they shall wash with water so that they will not die. Also, when they approach the altar to minister by presenting a food offering to the Lord,21they shall wash their hands and feet so that they will not die. This is to be a lasting ordinance for Aaron and his descendants for the generations to come.’
Anointing oil
22Then the Lord said to Moses,23‘Take the following fine spices: 500 shekels[4] of liquid myrrh, half as much (that is, 250 shekels) of fragrant cinnamon, 250 shekels[5] of fragrant calamus,24500 shekels of cassia – all according to the sanctuary shekel – and a hin[6] of olive oil.25Make these into a sacred anointing oil, a fragrant blend, the work of a perfumer. It will be the sacred anointing oil.26Then use it to anoint the tent of meeting, the ark of the covenant law,27the table and all its articles, the lampstand and its accessories, the altar of incense,28the altar of burnt offering and all its utensils, and the basin with its stand.29You shall consecrate them so they will be most holy, and whatever touches them will be holy.30‘Anoint Aaron and his sons and consecrate them so they may serve me as priests.31Say to the Israelites, “This is to be my sacred anointing oil for the generations to come.32Do not pour it on anyone else’s body and do not make any other oil using the same formula. It is sacred, and you are to consider it sacred.33Whoever makes perfume like it and puts it on anyone other than a priest must be cut off from their people.” ’
Incense
34Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Take fragrant spices – gum resin, onycha and galbanum – and pure frankincense, all in equal amounts,35and make a fragrant blend of incense, the work of a perfumer. It is to be salted and pure and sacred.36Grind some of it to powder and place it in front of the ark of the covenant law in the tent of meeting, where I will meet with you. It shall be most holy to you.37Do not make any incense with this formula for yourselves; consider it holy to the Lord.38Whoever makes incense like it to enjoy its fragrance must be cut off from their people.’
Exodus 30
English Standard Version
The Altar of Incense
1“You shall make an altar on which to burn incense; you shall make it of acacia wood. (Ex 37:25; Ex 40:5; Le 4:7; Re 8:3)2A cubit[1] shall be its length, and a cubit its breadth. It shall be square, and two cubits shall be its height. Its horns shall be of one piece with it. (Ex 27:2)3You shall overlay it with pure gold, its top and around its sides and its horns. And you shall make a molding of gold around it. (Ex 39:38; Ex 40:5; Ex 40:26; Nu 4:11)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 holders for poles with which to carry it. (Ex 25:27)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 mercy seat that is above the testimony, where I will meet with you. (Ex 25:21)7And Aaron shall burn fragrant incense on it. Every morning when he dresses the lamps he shall burn it, (Ex 27:20; Ex 30:34; Ex 31:11; Ex 37:29; Ex 40:27; 1Sa 2:28; 1Ch 23:13; 2Ch 2:4; 2Ch 29:11; Lu 1:9)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 unauthorized incense on it, or a burnt offering, or a grain offering, and you shall not pour a drink offering on it. (Le 10:1)10Aaron shall make atonement on its horns once a year. With the blood of the sin offering of atonement he shall make atonement for it once in the year throughout your generations. It is most holy to the Lord.” (Ex 29:36; Le 16:18; Le 23:27)
The Census Tax
11The Lord said to Moses,12“When you take the census of the people of Israel, then each shall give a ransom for his life to the Lord when you number them, that there be no plague among them when you number them. (Ex 21:30; Nu 1:2; Nu 26:2; Nu 31:50; 2Sa 24:2; Ps 49:7)13Each one who is numbered in the census shall give this: half a shekel[2] according to the shekel of the sanctuary (the shekel is twenty gerahs),[3] half a shekel as an offering to the Lord. (Ge 24:22; Ex 38:24; Ex 38:26; Le 5:15; Le 27:3; Le 27:25; Nu 3:47; Nu 18:16; Eze 45:12; Mt 17:24)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 the half shekel, when you give the Lord’s offering to make atonement for your lives. (Ex 30:13)16You shall take the atonement money from the people of Israel and shall give it for the service of the tent of meeting, that it may bring the people of Israel to remembrance before the Lord, so as to make atonement for your lives.” (Ex 28:12; Ex 38:25; Ex 39:7; Nu 16:40)
The Bronze Basin
17The Lord said to Moses,18“You shall also make a basin of bronze, with its stand of bronze, for washing. You shall put it between the tent of meeting and the altar, and you shall put water in it, (Ex 40:7; Ex 40:30; 1Ki 7:38)19with which Aaron and his sons shall wash their hands and their feet. (Ex 40:31; Ps 26:6; Isa 52:11; Heb 10:22)20When they go into the tent of meeting, or when they come near the altar to minister, to burn a food offering[4] 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 be a statute forever to them, even to him and to his offspring throughout their generations.” (Ex 27:21)
The Anointing Oil and Incense
22The Lord said to Moses,23“Take the finest spices: of liquid myrrh 500 shekels, and of sweet-smelling cinnamon half as much, that is, 250, and 250 of aromatic cane, (So 4:14; Eze 27:19; Eze 27:22)24and 500 of cassia, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, and a hin[5] of olive oil. (Ex 29:40)25And you shall make of these a sacred anointing oil blended as by the perfumer; it shall be a holy anointing oil. (Ex 37:29; Nu 35:25; Ps 89:20; Ps 133:2)26With it you shall anoint the tent of meeting and the ark of the testimony, (Ex 40:9; Le 8:10; Nu 7:1)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 basin and its stand. (Ex 40:11)29You shall consecrate them, that they may be most holy. Whatever touches them will become holy. (Ex 29:37)30You shall anoint Aaron and his sons, and consecrate them, that they may serve me as priests. (Ex 29:7)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. It is holy, and it shall be holy to you. (Ex 30:25; Ex 30:37)33Whoever compounds any like it or whoever puts any of it on an outsider shall be cut off from his people.’” (Ex 30:38)34The Lord said to Moses, “Take sweet spices, stacte, and onycha, and galbanum, sweet spices with pure frankincense (of each shall there be an equal part), (Ex 25:6; Ex 30:7; Ex 37:29)35and make an incense blended as by the perfumer, seasoned with salt, pure and holy. (Ex 30:25; Le 2:13)36You shall beat some of it very small, and put part of it before the testimony in the tent of meeting where I shall meet with you. It shall be most holy for you. (Ex 25:22; Ex 40:10)37And the incense that you shall make according to its composition, you shall not make for yourselves. It shall be for you holy to the Lord. (Ex 30:32)38Whoever makes any like it to use as perfume shall be cut off from his people.” (Ex 30:33)