Exodus 29–31

1“This is the thing that you shall do to them to make them holy, to minister to me in the priest’s office: take one young bull and two rams without defect,

2unleavened bread, unleavened cakes mixed with oil, and unleavened wafers anointed with oil. You shall make them of fine wheat flour.

3You shall put them into one basket, and bring them in the basket, with the bull and the two rams.

4You shall bring Aaron and his sons to the door of the Tent of Meeting, and shall wash them with water.

5You shall take the garments, and put on Aaron the tunic, the robe of the ephod, the ephod, and the breastplate, and clothe him with the skillfully woven band of the ephod.

6You shall set the turban on his head, and put the holy crown on the turban.

7Then you shall take the anointing oil, and pour it on his head, and anoint him.

8You shall bring his sons, and put tunics on them.

9You shall clothe them with belts, Aaron and his sons, and bind headbands on them. They shall have the priesthood by a perpetual statute. You shall consecrate Aaron and his sons.

10“You shall bring the bull before the Tent of Meeting; and Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands on the head of the bull.

11You shall kill the bull before Yahweh at the door of the Tent of Meeting.

12You shall take of the blood of the bull, and put it on the horns of the altar with your finger; and you shall pour out all the blood at the base of the altar.

13You shall take all the fat that covers the innards, the cover of the liver, the two kidneys, and the fat that is on them, and burn them on the altar.

14But the meat of the bull, and its skin, and its dung, you shall burn with fire outside of the camp. It is a sin offering.

15“You shall also take the one ram, and Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands on the head of the ram.

16You shall kill the ram, and you shall take its blood, and sprinkle it around on the altar.

17You shall cut the ram into its pieces, and wash its innards, and its legs, and put them with its pieces, and with its head.

18You shall burn the whole ram on the altar: it is a burnt offering to Yahweh; it is a pleasant aroma, an offering made by fire to Yahweh.

19“You shall take the other ram, and Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands on the head of the ram.

20Then you shall kill the ram, and take some of its blood, and put it on the tip of the right ear of Aaron, and on the tip of the right ear of his sons, and on the thumb of their right hand, and on the big toe of their right foot; and sprinkle the blood around on the altar.

21You shall take of the blood that is on the altar, and of the anointing oil, and sprinkle it on Aaron, and on his garments, and on his sons, and on the garments of his sons with him: and he shall be made holy, and his garments, and his sons, and his sons’ garments with him.

22Also you shall take some of the ram’s fat, the fat tail, the fat that covers the innards, the cover of the liver, the two kidneys, the fat that is on them, and the right thigh (for it is a ram of consecration),

23and one loaf of bread, one cake of oiled bread, and one wafer out of the basket of unleavened bread that is before Yahweh.

24You shall put all of this in Aaron’s hands, and in his sons’ hands, and shall wave them for a wave offering before Yahweh.

25You shall take them from their hands, and burn them on the altar on the burnt offering, for a pleasant aroma before Yahweh: it is an offering made by fire to Yahweh.

26“You shall take the breast of Aaron’s ram of consecration, and wave it for a wave offering before Yahweh. It shall be your portion.

27You shall sanctify the breast of the wave offering and the thigh of the wave offering, which is waved, and which is raised up, of the ram of consecration, even of that which is for Aaron, and of that which is for his sons.

28It shall be for Aaron and his sons as their portion forever from the children of Israel; for it is a wave offering. It shall be a wave offering from the children of Israel of the sacrifices of their peace offerings, even their wave offering to Yahweh.

29“The holy garments of Aaron shall be for his sons after him, to be anointed in them, and to be consecrated in them.

30Seven days shall the son who is priest in his place put them on, when he comes into the Tent of Meeting to minister in the holy place.

31“You shall take the ram of consecration and boil its meat in a holy place.

32Aaron and his sons shall eat the meat of the ram, and the bread that is in the basket, at the door of the Tent of Meeting.

33They shall eat those things with which atonement was made, to consecrate and sanctify them; but a stranger shall not eat of it, because they are holy.

34If anything of the meat of the consecration, or of the bread, remains to the morning, then you shall burn the remainder with fire. It shall not be eaten, because it is holy.

35“You shall do so to Aaron and to his sons, according to all that I have commanded you. You shall consecrate them seven days.

36Every day you shall offer the bull of sin offering for atonement. You shall cleanse the altar when you make atonement for it. You shall anoint it, to sanctify it.

37Seven days you shall make atonement for the altar, and sanctify it; and the altar shall be most holy. Whatever touches the altar shall be holy.

38“Now this is that which you shall offer on the altar: two lambs a year old day by day continually.

39The one lamb you shall offer in the morning; and the other lamb you shall offer at evening;

40and with the one lamb a tenth part of an ephah of fine flour mixed with the fourth part of a hin of beaten oil, and the fourth part of a hin of wine for a drink offering.

41The other lamb you shall offer at evening, and shall do to it according to the meal offering of the morning and according to its drink offering, for a pleasant aroma, an offering made by fire to Yahweh.

42It shall be a continual burnt offering throughout your generations at the door of the Tent of Meeting before Yahweh, where I will meet with you, to speak there to you.

43There I will meet with the children of Israel; and the place shall be sanctified by my glory.

44I will sanctify the Tent of Meeting and the altar. I will also sanctify Aaron and his sons to minister to me in the priest’s office.

45I will dwell among the children of Israel, and will be their God.

46They shall know that I am Yahweh their God, who brought them out of the land of Egypt, that I might dwell among them: I am Yahweh their God.

1“You shall make an altar to burn incense on. You shall make it of acacia wood.

2Its 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.

3You shall overlay it with pure gold, its top, its sides around it, and its horns; and you shall make a gold molding around it.

4You shall make two golden rings for it under its molding; on its two ribs, on its two sides you shall make them; and they shall be for places for poles with which to bear it.

5You shall make the poles of acacia wood, and overlay them with gold.

6You shall put it before the veil that is by the ark of the covenant, before the mercy seat that is over the covenant, where I will meet with you.

7Aaron shall burn incense of sweet spices on it every morning. When he tends the lamps, he shall burn it.

8When Aaron lights the lamps at evening, he shall burn it, a perpetual incense before Yahweh throughout your generations.

9You shall offer no strange incense on it, nor burnt offering, nor meal offering; and you shall pour no drink offering on it.

10Aaron shall make atonement on its horns once in the year; with the blood of the sin offering of atonement once in the year he shall make atonement for it throughout your generations. It is most holy to Yahweh.”

11Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,

12“When you take a census of the children of Israel, according to those who are counted among them, then each man shall give a ransom for his soul to Yahweh when you count them, that there be no plague among them when you count them.

13They shall give this, everyone who passes over to those who are counted, half a shekel according to the shekel of the sanctuary (the shekel is twenty gerahs ); half a shekel for an offering to Yahweh.

14Everyone who passes over to those who are counted, from twenty years old and upward, shall give the offering to Yahweh.

15The rich shall not give more, and the poor shall not give less, than the half shekel, when they give the offering of Yahweh, to make atonement for your souls.

16You shall take the atonement money from the children of Israel, and shall appoint it for the service of the Tent of Meeting; that it may be a memorial for the children of Israel before Yahweh, to make atonement for your souls.”

17Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,

18“You shall also make a basin of bronze, and its base of bronze, in which to wash. You shall put it between the Tent of Meeting and the altar, and you shall put water in it.

19Aaron and his sons shall wash their hands and their feet in it.

20When they go into the Tent of Meeting, they shall wash with water, that they don’t die; or when they come near to the altar to minister, to burn an offering made by fire to Yahweh.

21So they shall wash their hands and their feet, that they not die. This shall be a statute forever to them, even to him and to his descendants throughout their generations.”

22Moreover Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,

23“Also take fine spices: of liquid myrrh, five hundred shekels; and of fragrant cinnamon half as much, even 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 a hin of olive oil.

25You shall make it into a holy anointing oil, a perfume compounded after the art of the perfumer: it shall be a holy anointing oil.

26You shall use it to anoint the Tent of Meeting, the ark of the covenant,

27the table and all its articles, the lamp stand and its accessories, the altar of incense,

28the altar of burnt offering with all its utensils, and the basin with its base.

29You shall sanctify them, that they may be most holy. Whatever touches them shall be holy.

30You shall anoint Aaron and his sons, and sanctify them, that they may minister to me in the priest’s office.

31You shall speak to the children of Israel, saying, ‘This shall be a holy anointing oil to me throughout your generations.

32It shall not be poured on man’s flesh, and do not make any like it, according to its composition. It is holy. It shall be holy to you.

33Whoever compounds any like it, or whoever puts any of it on a stranger, he shall be cut off from his people.’”

34Yahweh said to Moses, “Take to yourself sweet spices, gum resin, onycha, and galbanum: sweet spices with pure frankincense. There shall be an equal weight of each.

35You shall make incense of it, a perfume after the art of the perfumer, seasoned with salt, pure and holy.

36You shall beat some of it very small, and put some of it before the covenant in the Tent of Meeting, where I will meet with you. It shall be to you most holy.

37You shall not make this incense, according to its composition, for yourselves: it shall be to you holy for Yahweh.

38Whoever shall make any like that, to smell of it, he shall be cut off from his people.”

1Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,

2“Behold, I have called by name Bezalel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah.

3I have filled him with the Spirit of God, in wisdom, and in understanding, and in knowledge, and in all kinds of workmanship,

4to devise skillful works, to work in gold, and in silver, and in bronze,

5and in cutting of stones for setting, and in carving of wood, to work in all kinds of workmanship.

6Behold, I myself have appointed with him Oholiab, the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan; and in the heart of all who are wise-hearted I have put wisdom, that they may make all that I have commanded you:

7the Tent of Meeting, the ark of the covenant, the mercy seat that is on it, all the furniture of the Tent,

8the table and its vessels, the pure lamp stand with all its vessels, the altar of incense,

9the altar of burnt offering with all its vessels, the basin and its base,

10the finely worked garments—the holy garments for Aaron the priest, the garments of his sons to minister in the priest’s office—

11the anointing oil, and the incense of sweet spices for the holy place: according to all that I have commanded you they shall do.”

12Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,

13“Speak also to the children of Israel, saying, ‘Most certainly you shall keep my Sabbaths; for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I am Yahweh who sanctifies you.

14You shall keep the Sabbath therefore, for it is holy to you. Everyone who profanes it shall surely be put to death; for whoever does any work therein, that soul shall be cut off from among his people.

15Six days shall work be done, but on the seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, holy to Yahweh. Whoever does any work on the Sabbath day shall surely be put to death.

16Therefore the children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, to observe the Sabbath throughout their generations, for a perpetual covenant.

17It is a sign between me and the children of Israel forever; for in six days Yahweh made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested, and was refreshed.’”

18When he finished speaking with him on Mount Sinai, he gave Moses the two tablets of the covenant, stone tablets, written with God’s finger.