NAS - Exodus Chapter 30 to 31

30 The Altar of Incense

¹"Moreover, you shall make an altar as a place for burning incense; you shall make it of acacia wood. ²"Its length shall be a cubit, and its width a cubit, it shall be square, and its height shall be two cubits; its horns shall be of one piece with it. ³"You shall overlay it with pure gold, its top and its 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 opposite sides--and 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 this altar in front of the veil that is near the ark of the testimony, in front of the mercy seat that is over the ark of 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 trims the lamps at twilight, he shall burn incense. There shall be perpetual incense before the LORD throughout your generations. ⁹"You shall not offer any strange incense on this altar, or burnt offering or meal offering; and you shall not pour out a drink offering on it. ¹⁰"Aaron shall 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 the LORD."

¹¹The LORD also spoke to Moses, saying, ¹²"When you take a census of the sons of Israel to number them, then each one of them shall give a ransom for himself to the LORD, when you number them, so that there will be no plague among them when you number them. ¹³"This is what everyone who is numbered shall give: half a shekel according to the shekel of the sanctuary (the shekel is twenty gerahs), half a shekel as a contribution to the LORD. ¹⁴"Everyone who is numbered, from twenty years old and over, shall give the contribution to the LORD. ¹⁵"The rich shall not pay more and the poor shall not pay less than the half shekel, when you give the contribution to the LORD to make atonement for yourselves. ¹⁶"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 memorial for the sons of Israel before the LORD, to make atonement for yourselves."

¹⁷The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, ¹⁸"You shall also make a laver of bronze, with its base of bronze, for washing; and you shall put it between the tent of meeting and the altar, and you shall put water in it. ¹⁹"Aaron and his sons shall wash their hands and their feet from it; ²⁰when they enter 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 the LORD. ²¹"So they shall wash their hands and their feet, so that they will not die; and it shall be a perpetual statute for them, for Aaron and his descendants throughout their generations."

The Anointing Oil

²²Moreover, the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, ²³"Take also for yourself the finest of spices: of flowing myrrh five hundred shekels, and of fragrant cinnamon half as much, two hundred and fifty, and of fragrant cane two hundred and fifty, ²⁴and of cassia five hundred, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, and of olive oil a hin. ²⁵"You shall make of these a holy anointing oil, a perfume mixture, the work of a perfumer; it shall be a holy anointing oil. ²⁶"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 and all its utensils, and the laver and its stand. ²⁹"You shall also consecrate them, that they may be most holy; whatever touches them shall be holy. ³⁰"You shall anoint Aaron and his sons, and consecrate them, that they may minister as priests to Me. ³¹"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 anyone's body, nor shall you make any like it in the same proportions; it is holy, and it shall be holy to you. ³³`Whoever shall mix any like it or whoever puts any of it on a layman shall be cut off from his people.'"

The Incense

³⁴Then the LORD said to Moses, "Take for yourself spices, stacte and onycha and galbanum, spices 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 put part of it before the testimony in the tent of meeting where I will meet with you; it shall be most holy to you. ³⁷"The incense which you shall make, you shall not make in the same proportions for yourselves; it shall be holy to you for the LORD. ³⁸"Whoever shall make any like it, to use as perfume, shall be cut off from his people."

31 The Skilled Craftsmen

¹Now the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, ²"See, I have called by name Bezalel, the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah. ³"I have filled him with the Spirit of God in wisdom, in understanding, in knowledge, and in all kinds of craftsmanship, ⁴to make artistic designs for work in gold, in silver, and in bronze, ⁵and in the cutting of stones for settings, and in the carving of wood, that he may work in all kinds of craftsmanship. ⁶"And behold, I Myself have appointed with him Oholiab, the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan; and in the hearts of all who are skillful I have put skill, that they may make all that I have commanded you: ⁷the tent of meeting, and the ark of testimony, and the mercy seat upon it, and all the furniture of the tent, ⁸the table also and its utensils, and the pure gold lampstand with all its utensils, and the altar of incense, ⁹the altar of burnt offering also with all its utensils, and the laver and its stand, ¹⁰the woven garments as well, and the holy garments for Aaron the priest, and the garments of his sons, with which to carry on their priesthood; ¹¹the anointing oil also, and the fragrant incense for the holy place, they are to make them according to all that I have commanded you."

The Sign of the Sabbath

¹²The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, ¹³"But as for you, speak to the sons of Israel, saying, `You shall surely observe My sabbaths; for this is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I am the LORD who sanctifies you. ¹⁴`Therefore you are to observe the sabbath, for it is holy to you. 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`For six days work may be done, but on the seventh day there is a sabbath of complete rest, holy to the LORD; whoever does any work on the sabbath day shall surely be put to death. ¹⁶`So the sons of Israel shall observe the sabbath, to celebrate the sabbath throughout their generations as a perpetual covenant.' ¹⁷"It is a sign between Me and the sons of Israel forever; for in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, but on the seventh day He ceased from labor, and was refreshed."

¹⁸When He had finished speaking with him upon Mount Sinai, He gave Moses the two tablets of the testimony, tablets of stone, written by the finger of God.