Exodus 30

¹“You shall also make an altar, for the burning of incense, from setim wood

²having one cubit in length, and another in width, that is, four equal sides, and two cubits in height. Horns shall proceed from the same

³And you shall clothe it with the purest gold, both its grating and the walls around it, and also the horns. And you shall make for it a crown of gold in a circle

⁴and two gold rings under the crown on each side, so that the bars may be set in them and the altar may be carried

⁵Also, you shall make its bars of setim wood, and you shall overlay them with gold

⁶And you shall set the altar opposite the veil, which hangs in front of the ark of the testimony, before the propitiatory with which the testimony is covered, where I will speak to you

⁷And Aaron shall burn incense upon it, a sweet fragrance, in the morning. When he lights the lamps, he shall burn it

⁸And when he assembles them in the evening, he shall burn an everlasting incense before the Lord throughout your generations

⁹You shall not offer upon it incense of another composition, nor an oblation, nor a victim; neither shall you offer libations

¹⁰And Aaron shall pray over its horns once a year, with the blood of what was offered for sin. And he shall make atonement over it in your generations. It shall be the Holy of holies to the Lord.

¹¹And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying

¹²“When you have taken the sum of the sons of Israel, according to their number, each shall give a price for their souls to the Lord, and there will be no scourge among them, when they will be reviewed

¹³Then all those who pass shall give by name: one half shekel, according to the measure at the temple. A shekel has twenty obols. The half part of a shekel shall be offered to the Lord

¹⁴He who has been numbered from twenty years and above shall give the price

¹⁵The rich shall not add to the half shekel, and the poor shall diminish nothing

¹⁶And the money received, which was collected from the sons of Israel, you shall deliver for the uses of the tabernacle of the testimony, so that it may be a memorial of them before the Lord, and he may act favorably toward their souls.

¹⁷And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying

¹⁸“You shall also make a bronze washtub with its base to wash in; and you shall place it between the tabernacle of the testimony and the altar. And when water has been added

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

²⁰when they enter the tabernacle of the testimony, and when they approach to the altar so as to offer incense to the Lord upon it

²¹otherwise, they may die. This shall be an everlasting law to him, and to his offspring, throughout their successions.

²²And the Lord spoke to Moses

²³saying: “Take for yourself aromatics: of the first and best myrrh, five hundred shekels, and of cinnamon half as much, that is, two hundred and fifty shekels; of sweet flag similarly two hundred and fifty

²⁴but of cassia, five hundred shekels by the weight of the sanctuary, and of the oil of olives the measure of a hin

²⁵And you shall make the holy oil of unction, an ointment composed with the skills of a perfumer

²⁶and with it you shall anoint the tabernacle of the testimony, and the ark of the testament

²⁷and the table with its vessels, and the lampstand and it utensils, the altars of incens

²⁸and of holocaust, and all the items that pertain to their rituals

²⁹And you shall sanctify everything, and they shall be the Holy of holies. He who will touch them must be sanctified

³⁰You shall anoint Aaron and his sons, and you shall sanctify them, so that they may exercise the priesthood for me

³¹Likewise, you shall say to the sons of Israel: ‘This oil of unction will be holy to me throughout your generations

³²The flesh of man shall not be anointed from it, and you shall not make any similar compound, for it has been sanctified and it shall be holy to you

³³Whatever man will have composed such a thing and have given it to a stranger, he shall be exterminated from his people.’

³⁴And the Lord said to Moses: “Take to yourself aromatics: stacte, and onycha, galbanum of sweet odor, and the clearest frankincense, all these shall be of equal weight

³⁵And you shall make incense composed with the skills of a perfumer, diligently mixed, and pure, and most worthy of sanctification

³⁶And when you have crushed all these into a very fine powder, you shall place some of it before the tabernacle of the testimony, in the place where I will appear to you. The Holy of holies shall this incense be to you

³⁷You shall not make such a compound for your own uses, because it is holy to the Lord

³⁸Whatever man will have made anything similar, so as to thoroughly enjoy its smell, he shall perish from his people.