Exodus 30
Incense Rising, and a Ransom for Every Soul
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The Altar of Incense
30:1You shall make an incense altar of decay-resistant wood.
30:2It shall be square, a cubit long and a cubit wide, and two cubits high, with horns of one piece with it.
30:3You shall overlay its grating, all its walls, and its horns with pure gold, and make a twisted gold rim around it.
30:4You shall make two rings of pure gold beneath its twisted rim, on its two flanks, on the two sides, as holders for the poles used to carry it.
30:5You shall make the poles of decay-resistant wood and overlay them with gold.
30:6You shall put it opposite the veil over the ark of the testimonies, where I will make Myself known to you.
30:7Aaron shall burn finely ground compounded incense on it every morning when he tends the lamps.
30:8When Aaron lights the lamps in the evening, he shall burn incense on it, a continual incense before the Lord throughout their generations.
30:9You shall not offer other incense, an offering, or a sacrifice on it; you shall not pour a libation on it.
30:10Once a year Aaron shall make expiation for it on its horns. With the blood of purification for sins, for expiation, once a year he shall purify it throughout their generations. It is most holy to the Lord.
Atonement Money
30:11The Lord spoke to Moses, saying,
30:12“When you count the sons of Israel in a census, each shall give the Lord a ransom for his life, so that no downfall comes among them during the census.
30:13Everyone who passes into the census shall give half a didrachma, according to the holy didrachma, which is twenty obols. Half a didrachma shall be the contribution to the Lord.
30:14Everyone counted, from twenty years old and upward, shall give the contribution to the Lord.
30:15The rich shall give no more and the poor no less than half a didrachma when giving the contribution to the Lord to make propitiation for your lives.
30:16Receive the contribution silver from the sons of Israel and assign it to the work of the Tent of Testimony. It shall be a memorial for the sons of Israel before the Lord, to make propitiation for your lives.”
The Bronze Basin for Washing
30:17The Lord spoke to Moses, saying,
30:18“Make a bronze basin with a bronze base for washing. Put it between the Tent of Testimony and the altar, and pour water into it.
30:19Aaron and his sons shall wash their hands and feet with water from it.
30:20When they enter the Tent of Testimony, they shall wash with water so that they do not die. When they approach the altar to minister and offer whole burnt offerings to the Lord,
30:21they shall wash their hands and feet with water. When they enter the Tent of Testimony, they shall wash with water so that they do not die. This shall be a perpetual statute for him and his generations after him.”
The Holy Anointing Oil
30:22The Lord spoke to Moses, saying,
30:23“Take spices: five hundred shekels of the choicest myrrh, half as much fragrant cinnamon, two hundred and fifty, and two hundred and fifty of fragrant cane,
30:24five hundred sanctuary shekels of iris, and a hin of olive oil.
30:25Make these into holy anointing oil, a compound prepared by a perfumer’s skill. It shall be holy anointing oil.
30:26With it anoint the Tent of Testimony and the ark of the testimony,
30:27the lampstand and all its utensils, and the incense altar,
30:28the altar of whole burnt offerings and all its utensils, the table and all its utensils, and the basin and its base.
30:29Consecrate them so that they become most holy. Everyone who touches them shall be sanctified.
30:30Anoint Aaron and his sons and consecrate them to serve Me as priests.
30:31Tell the sons of Israel: ‘This shall be holy anointing oil for you throughout your generations.
30:32It shall not be applied to human flesh, and you shall not make anything like it for yourselves according to this composition. It is holy and shall be a holy thing to you.
30:33Whoever makes anything like it or gives any of it to an outsider shall be destroyed from among his people.’”
The Sacred Incense Formula
30:34The Lord said to Moses, “Take spices: stacte, onycha, fragrant galbanum, and clear frankincense, in equal portions.
30:35They shall make them into incense, a perfumer’s compound, blended, a pure and holy work.
30:36Grind some of it fine and place it before the testimonies in the Tent of Testimony, where I will make Myself known to you. It shall be most holy to you.
30:37You shall not make incense for yourselves according to this composition. It shall be a holy thing to you for the Lord.
30:38Whoever makes anything like it to enjoy its fragrance shall perish from among his people.”
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Saints Translation · Liturgical reading edition · V1 · working draft awaiting specialist review.