Exodus 30
New Catholic Bible
Chapter 30
The Altar of Incense. 1 “You shall build an altar upon which to burn incense. Make it of acacia wood, 2 one cubit long and one cubit wide. It shall be square, and two cubits high; and its horns shall all be one piece with it. 3 Cover its top, its sides, and its horns with pure gold, and make a gold molding around it. 4 You shall also make two golden rings below its molding on its two sides. Place them on opposite sides. They shall be used to insert poles with which to carry it. 5 You shall make the poles out of acacia wood and cover them with gold. 6 And you shall place the altar in front of the veil that hides the Ark of Testimony, in front of the seat of atonement that is upon it, where I will meet you.
7 “Aaron shall burn fragrant incense upon the altar. He shall burn it each morning when he trims the lamps, 8 and also in the evening when he refills the lamps. There shall be perpetual incense before the Lord throughout all your generations. 9 Do not offer any unholy incense upon it, nor burnt offerings nor sacrifices nor libations. 10 Once a year Aaron shall perform an atonement ritual upon it, upon its horns. He shall make atonement upon it with the blood of your sin offering once a year throughout all your generations. It is something most holy to the Lord.”
11 The Temple Tax. The Lord spoke to Moses and said, 12 “When you take a census of the number of the children of Israel, each man will offer a ransom for his life to the Lord, when you number them, lest there be a plague among them when you number them. 13 Each person counted in the census will give half a shekel according to the measure of the shekel of the sanctuary (a shekel is twenty gerahs). The half shekel will be an offering to the Lord. 14 Everyone who is counted in the census, from twenty years old and up, will give the Lord’s offering. 15 The rich will not give more and the poor will not give less than half a shekel, when you give the Lord’s offering, in order to ransom your life. 16 You shall take the money of this ransom of the children of Israel and designate it for the needs of the meeting tent. It shall be a memorial before the Lord for the children of Israel, for the ransom of your lives.”
17 The Basin for Washing. The Lord said to Moses, 18 “You shall make a basin out of bronze, with a base of bronze, for ablutions. Place it between the meeting tent and the altar and fill it with water. 19 Aaron and his sons shall wash their hands and their feet in it.[a] 20 When they enter the meeting tent, they shall perform an ablution with water, lest they die. Thus, whenever they approach the altar to minister, to burn an offering unto the Lord with fire, 21 they shall wash their hands and their feet so that they might not die. This shall be a perpetual statute for him and his sons, for all their generations.”
22 The Anointing Oil. The Lord said to Moses, 23 “Take the finest spices: five hundred shekels of flowing myrrh, half that amount of sweet-smelling cinnamon, namely two hundred and fifty shekels of it, two hundred and fifty shekels of aromatic cane, 24 five hundred shekels of cassia, all according to the shekel of the sanctuary, and a hin of olive oil. 25 Make a holy anointing oil out of them using the craft of the perfumer who blends oils. It shall be a holy anointing oil. 26 With it you are to anoint the meeting tent, the Ark of Testimony, 27 the table and all its accessories, the lampstand and its accessories, the altar of incense, 28 the altar of burnt offerings and all of its accessories, and the basin and its base. 29 You shall consecrate these things, and they shall become most holy. Whatever touches them will be holy.
30 “You shall also anoint Aaron and his sons and consecrate them so that they may serve me as priests. 31 Say to the children of Israel: ‘This shall be my holy anointing oil for all your generations. 32 You shall not pour it out on anyone’s body, nor shall you make anything else like it. It is holy, and it shall be holy to you.’
33 “Anyone who makes anything like it, or who pours it on an outsider, shall be cut off from his people.”
34 The Incense. The Lord said to Moses, “Gather sweet spices, gum of stacte, onycha, resin of galbanum, equal measures of sweet spices and pure frankincense, 35 and make an incense using the skill of the perfumer. It is to be salted, pure and holy. 36 Beat some of it very fine and put it before the Testimony in the meeting tent where I shall meet with you. It shall be most holy to you.
37 “You shall not make for yourselves anything like this incense according to its composition. You shall consider it to be holy to the Lord. 38 Whoever makes anything like it to use for its sweet odor shall be cut off from his people.”
Footnotes
- Exodus 30:19 Cleansing before worship was so important that failure to be properly washed before entering the tent was tantamount to a death sentence for priests. We can take from this the necessity of preparing ourselves (i.e., confessing our sin), before we celebrate Eucharist. We do this as a community with the Penitential Act.
Exodus 30
Common English Bible
Instructions for the incense altar
30 Make an acacia-wood altar for burning incense. 2 The altar should be square, eighteen inches long and eighteen inches wide. It should be three feet high. Its horns should be permanently attached. 3 Cover the altar with pure gold, including its top, all its sides, and its horns. You should also make a gold molding all around it. 4 Make two gold rings and attach them under the molding on two opposite sides of the altar. They will house the poles used to carry the altar. 5 Make acacia-wood poles and cover them with gold. 6 Place the incense altar in front of the veil that hangs before the chest containing the covenant, in front of the cover that is on top of the covenant document where I will meet with you. 7 Aaron will burn sweet-smelling incense on the incense altar every morning when he takes care of the lamps. 8 And again when Aaron lights the lamps at twilight, he will burn incense. It should be a regular incense offering in the Lord’s presence in every generation. 9 Don’t offer the wrong incense on the altar or an entirely burned offering or a grain offering. Don’t pour a drink offering on it. 10 Once a year Aaron should perform a ritual of reconciliation on its horns with the blood of the purification offering for reconciliation. Once a year in every generation he should perform a ritual of reconciliation at the altar. It is most holy to the Lord.
Census and compensation
11 The Lord spoke to Moses: 12 When you take a census of the Israelites to count them, each of them should pay compensation for their life to the Lord when they are counted. Then no plague will descend on them when they are counted. 13 Every one who is counted should pay a half shekel according to the official shekel of the sanctuary (the shekel is twenty gerahs). The half shekel is a gift offering to the Lord. 14 Every one who is counted, from 20 years old and above, should present a gift offering to the Lord. 15 When you bring this gift offering to the Lord to pay compensation for your lives, the rich shouldn’t give more and the poor shouldn’t give less than the half shekel. 16 Take the compensation money from the Israelites and use it to support the service of the meeting tent. It will serve for the Israelites as a reminder in the Lord’s presence of the compensation paid for your lives.
Instructions for the washbasin
17 The Lord spoke to Moses: 18 Make a copper basin for washing along with its copper stand. Put it between the meeting tent and the altar, and put water in it. 19 Aaron and his sons will use it to wash their hands and their feet. 20 When they go into the meeting tent or approach the altar to minister and to offer a food gift to the Lord, they must wash with water so that they don’t die. 21 They must wash their hands and their feet so that they don’t die. This will be a permanent regulation for them, for Aaron and his descendants in every generation.
Instructions for oil and incense
22 The Lord spoke to Moses: 23 Now take for yourself high-quality spices: five hundred weight of solid myrrh; half as much of sweet-smelling cinnamon, that is, two hundred fifty; two hundred fifty weight of sweet-smelling cane; 24 five hundred of cassia—measured by the sanctuary shekel—and a hin[a] of olive oil. 25 Prepare a holy anointing oil, blending them like a skilled perfume maker to produce the holy anointing oil. 26 Use it to anoint the meeting tent, the chest containing the covenant, 27 the table and all its equipment, the lampstand and its equipment, the incense altar, 28 the altar for entirely burned offerings and all its equipment, and the washbasin with its stand. 29 Make them holy so that they may be perfectly holy. Whatever touches them will become holy. 30 Then anoint Aaron and his sons and make them holy to serve me as priests. 31 Say to the Israelites: This will be my holy anointing oil in every generation. 32 Don’t allow anyone else to use this oil. Don’t make another oil like it by using the same formula. This oil is holy, and you should regard it as holy. 33 Whoever blends an oil like it or whoever uses the oil on someone else will be cut off from the people.
34 The Lord said to Moses: Take an equal amount of each of these spices: gum resin, onycha, galbanum, and pure frankincense. 35 Like a skilled perfume maker, carefully blend them together and make incense, seasoned with salt, pure and holy. 36 Beat some of it into a fine powder and put part of it in front of the covenant document in the meeting tent where I will meet with you. You should regard it as perfectly holy. 37 When you make incense according to this formula, you shouldn’t make any of it for your own use. You should regard it as holy to the Lord. 38 Whoever makes incense with this same formula to enjoy its fragrance will be cut off from the people.
Footnotes
- Exodus 30:24 One hin is approximately one gallon.
Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible