30:1 “Now you shall make an altar as a place for burning incense; you shall make it of acacia wood.
30:2 Its length shall be ①a cubit, and its width a cubit; it shall be square, and its height shall be two cubits; its horns shall be ②of one piece with it.
▷ ①About 1.5 ft. long and wide and 3 ft. high or 45 cm and 90 cm ②Lit from itself
30:3 You shall overlay it with pure gold, its top and its ①sides all around, and its horns; and you shall make a gold molding all around for it.
▷ ①Lit walls
30:4 You shall also make two gold rings for it under its molding; you shall make them on its two sides—on ①opposite sides—and ②they shall be holders for poles with which to carry it.
▷ ①Lit its two ②Lit it
30:5 And you shall make the poles of acacia wood and overlay them with gold.
30:6 You shall put ①this altar in front of the veil that is ②near the ark of the testimony, in front of the ③atoning cover that is over the ark of the testimony, where I will meet with you.
▷ ①Lit it ②Lit upon; or over ③Also called mercy seat; i.e., where blood was sprinkled on the Day of Atonement
30:7 Aaron shall burn fragrant incense on it; he shall burn it every morning when he trims the lamps.
30:8 And when Aaron sets up the lamps at ①twilight, he shall burn incense. There shall be perpetual incense before the LORD throughout your generations.
▷ ①Lit between the two evenings
30:9 You shall not offer any ①strange incense on ②this altar, or burnt offering, or meal offering; and you shall not pour out a drink offering on it.
▷ ①I.e., prohibited ②Lit it
30:10 However, 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.”
30:11 The LORD also spoke to Moses, saying,
30:12 “When you take a ①census of the sons of Israel ②to count them, then each one of them shall give a ransom for ③himself to the LORD, when you ④count them, so that there will be no plague among them when you ⑤count them.
▷ ①Lit sum ②Lit for their being mustered ③Lit his soul ④Lit muster ⑤Lit muster
30:13 This is what everyone who ①is counted shall give: half a ②shekel according to the shekel of the sanctuary (the shekel is twenty gerahs), half a shekel as a ③contribution to the LORD.
▷ ①Lit passes over to those who are mustered ②A shekel was about 0.5 oz. or 14 gm ③Or uplifted offering
30:14 Everyone who ①is counted, from twenty years old and over, shall give the ②contribution to the LORD.
▷ ①See note 1 v 13 ②Or uplifted offering of the LORD
30:15 The rich shall not pay more, and the poor shall not pay less, than the half shekel, when you give the ①contribution to the LORD to make atonement for ②yourselves.
▷ ①Or uplifted offering of the LORD ②Lit your souls
30:16 And you shall take the atonement money from the sons of Israel and give it for the service of the tent of meeting, so that it may be a memorial for the sons of Israel before the LORD, to make atonement for ①yourselves.”
▷ ①Lit your souls
30:17 Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,
30:18 “You shall also make a basin of ①bronze, 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.
▷ ①Or copper
30:19 Aaron and his sons shall wash their hands and their feet from it;
30:20 when they enter the tent of meeting, they shall wash with water, so that they do not die; or when they approach the altar to minister, by offering up in smoke a fire sacrifice to the LORD.
30:21 So they shall wash their hands and their feet, so that they do not die; and it shall be a permanent statute for them, for ①Aaron and his ②descendants throughout their generations.”
▷ ①Lit him ②Lit seed
30:22 Moreover, the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,
30:23 “Take also for yourself the finest of spices: of liquid myrrh ①five hundred shekels, and of fragrant cinnamon half as much, 250, and of fragrant cane 250,
▷ ①About 15.5 and 7.75 lb. or 7 and 3.5 kg
30:24 and of cassia 500, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, and of olive oil a ①hin.
▷ ①About 1 gallon or 3.8 liters
30:25 You shall make ①from these a holy anointing oil, a fragrant mixture of ointments, the work of a perfumer; it shall be a holy anointing oil.
▷ ①Lit it
30:26 And you shall anoint the tent of meeting with it, and the ark of the testimony,
30:27 and the table and all its utensils, and the lampstand and its utensils, and the altar of incense,
30:28 and the altar of burnt offering and all its utensils, and the basin and its stand.
30:29 You shall also consecrate them, so that they may be most holy; whatever touches them shall be holy.
30:30 And you shall anoint Aaron and his sons, and consecrate them, so that they may serve as priests to Me.
30:31 Furthermore, you shall speak to the sons of Israel, saying, ‘This shall be a holy anointing oil to Me throughout your generations.
30:32 It shall not be poured on ①anyone’s body, nor shall you make any like it in ②the same proportions; it is holy, and it shall be holy to you.
▷ ①Lit the flesh of mankind ②Lit its proportion
30:33 Whoever mixes any like it or whoever puts any of it on a ①layman ②shall be cut off from his people.’ ”
▷ ①Lit stranger ②Lit even he shall
30:34 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Take for yourself spices—stacte, onycha, and galbanum, spices and pure frankincense; there shall be an equal part of each.
30:35 You shall make incense from it all, a skillful mixture, the work of a perfumer, salted, pure, and holy.
30:36 And you shall crush some of it very fine, and put part of it in front of the testimony in the tent of meeting where I will meet with you; it shall be most holy to you.
30:37 And the incense which you shall make, you shall not make in ①the same proportions for yourselves; it shall be holy to you for the LORD.
▷ ①Lit its proportion
30:38 Whoever makes any like it, to ①use as perfume, ②shall be cut off from his people.”
▷ ①Lit smell of it ②Lit even he shall