The Altar of Incense

301 And thou shalt make an altar for the burning of incense: of acacia-wood shalt thou make it; 2 a cubit the length thereof, and a cubit the breadth thereof—square shall it be; and two cubits its height; of itself shall be its horns. 3 And thou shalt overlay it with pure gold, the top thereof, and the sides thereof round about, and the horns thereof; and thou shalt make upon it a border of gold round about. 4 And two rings of gold shalt thou make for it under its border; by its two corners shalt thou make [them], on the two sides thereof; and they shall be for receptacles for the staves, with which to carry it. 5 And thou shalt make the staves of acacia-wood, and overlay them with gold. 6 And thou shalt put it in front of the veil which is before the ark of the testimony in front of the mercy-seat which is over the testimony, where I will meet with thee. 7 And Aaron shall burn thereon fragrant incense: every morning, when he dresseth the lamps, he shall burn the incense. 8 And when Aaron lighteth the lamps between the two evenings, he shall burn the incense—a continual incense before Jehovah throughout your generations. 9 Ye shall offer up no strange incense thereon, nor burnt-offering, nor oblation; neither shall ye pour drink-offering thereon. 10 And Aaron shall make atonement for its horns once in the year: with the blood of the sin-offering of atonement shall he make atonement for it, once in the year, throughout your generations: it is most holy to Jehovah.

The Atonement Money

11 And Jehovah spoke to Moses, saying, 12 When thou shalt take the sum of the children of Israel according to those of them that are numbered, then shall they give every man a ransom for his soul to Jehovah on their being numbered, that there be no plague among them on their being numbered. 13 This shall they give—every one that passeth among them that are numbered—half a shekel after the shekel of the sanctuary,—twenty gerahs the shekel; a half shekel shall be the heave-offering for Jehovah. 14 Every one that passeth among those that are numbered, from twenty years old and above, shall give the heave-offering of Jehovah. 15 The rich shall not give more, and the poor shall not give less than half a shekel, when ye give the heave-offering of Jehovah, to make atonement for your souls. 16 And thou shalt take the atonement-money of the children of Israel, and devote it to the service of the tent of meeting; and it shall be a memorial to the children of Israel before Jehovah, to make atonement for your souls.

The Laver

17 And Jehovah spoke to Moses, saying, 18 Thou shalt also make a laver of copper, and its stand of copper, for washing; and thou shalt put it between the tent of meeting and the altar, and shalt put water in it. 19 And Aaron and his sons shall wash their hands and their feet out of it. 20 When they go into the tent of meeting, they shall wash with water, that they may not die; or when they come near to the altar to serve, to burn an offering by fire to Jehovah. 21 And they shall wash their hands and their feet, that they may not die; and it shall be an everlasting statute for them, for him and for his seed throughout their generations.

The Anointing Oil and the Incense

22 And Jehovah spoke to Moses, saying, 23 And thou, take best spices—of liquid myrrh five hundred [shekels], and of sweet cinnamon the half—two hundred and fifty, and of sweet myrtle two hundred and fifty, 24 and of cassia five hundred, after the shekel of the sanctuary, and of olive oil a hin; 25 and make of it an oil of holy ointment, a perfume of perfumery after the work of the perfumer: it shall be the holy anointing oil. 26 And thou shalt anoint the tent of meeting with it, and the ark of the testimony, 27 and the table and all its utensils, and the lamp-stand and its utensils, and the altar of incense, 28 and the altar of burnt-offering and all its utensils, and the laver and its stand. 29 And thou shalt hallow them, that they may be most holy: whatever toucheth them shall be holy. 30 And Aaron and his sons thou shalt anoint, and shalt hallow them, that they may serve me as priests. 31 And thou shalt speak to the children of Israel, saying, A holy anointing oil shall this be unto me throughout your generations. 32 Upon man's flesh shall it not be poured, neither shall ye make [any] like it, after the preparation of it: it is holy—holy shall it be unto you. 33 Whoever compoundeth [any] like it, or whoever putteth [any] of it upon any strange thing, shall be cut off from his peoples. 34 And Jehovah said to Moses, Take fragrant drugs—stacte, and onycha, and galbanum—fragrant drugs and pure frankincense; in like proportions shall it be. 35 And thou shalt make it into incense, a perfume, after the work of the perfumer, salted, pure, holy. 36 And thou shalt beat [some] of it to powder, and put [some] of it before the testimony in the tent of meeting, where I will meet with thee: it shall be unto you most holy. 37 And the incense that thou shalt make, ye shall not make for yourselves according to the proportions of it; it shall be unto thee holy to Jehovah. 38 Whoever maketh like unto it, to smell it, shall be cut off from his peoples.

The Call of Bezaleel and Aholiab

311 And Jehovah spoke to Moses, saying, 2 See, I have called by name Bezaleel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, 3 and have filled him with the spirit of God, in wisdom, and in understanding, and in knowledge, and in every work, 4 to devise artistic work—to work in gold, and in silver, and in copper, 5 and in cutting of stones, for setting, and for carving of timber—to work in all manner of work. 6 And I, behold, I have given with him Aholiab the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan; and in the heart of every one that is wise-hearted have I given wisdom, that they may make all that I have commanded thee— 7 the tent of meeting and the ark of the testimony, and the mercy-seat that is thereupon, and all the utensils of the tent, 8 and the table and its utensils, and the pure lamp-stand and all its utensils, and the altar of incense; 9 and the altar of burnt-offering and all its utensils, and the laver and its stand; 10 and the garments of service, both the holy garments of Aaron the priest, and the garments of his sons, to serve as priests; 11 and the anointing oil, and the incense of fragrant drugs for the sanctuary: according to all that I have commanded thee shall they do.

The Sabbath as a Sign

12 And Jehovah spoke to Moses, saying, 13 And thou, speak thou unto the children of Israel, saying, Surely my sabbaths shall ye keep; for this is a sign between me and you throughout your generations, that ye may know that it is I, Jehovah, who do hallow you. 14 Keep the sabbath, therefore; for it is holy unto you; every one that profaneth it shall certainly be put to death: yea, whoever doeth work on it, that soul shall be cut off from among his peoples. 15 Six days shall work be done; but on the seventh day is the sabbath of rest, holy to Jehovah: whoever doeth work on the sabbath day shall certainly be put to death. 16 And the children of Israel shall keep the sabbath, to observe the sabbath throughout their generations—[it is] an everlasting covenant. 17 It shall be a sign between me and the children of Israel for ever; for [in] six days Jehovah made the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh day he rested, and was refreshed.

The Golden Calf

18 And he gave to Moses, when he had ended speaking with him on mount Sinai, the two tables of testimony, tables of stone, written with the finger of God.

321 And when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain, the people collected together to Aaron, and said to him, Up, make us a god, who will go before us; for this Moses, the man that has brought us up out of the land of Egypt,—we do not know what is become of him! 2 And Aaron said to them, Break off the golden rings that are in the ears of your wives, of your sons, and of your daughters, and bring [them] to me. 3 Then all the people broke off the golden rings that were in their ears, and brought [them] to Aaron. 4 And he took [them] out of their hand, and fashioned it with a chisel and made of it a molten calf: and they said, This is thy god, Israel, who has brought thee up out of the land of Egypt! 5 And Aaron saw [it], and built an altar before it; and Aaron made a proclamation, and said, To-morrow is a feast to Jehovah! 6 And they rose up early on the morrow, and offered up burnt-offerings, and brought peace-offerings; and the people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to sport.

7 Then Jehovah said to Moses, Away, go down! for thy people, which thou hast brought out of the land of Egypt, is acting corruptly. 8 They have turned aside quickly out of the way that I commanded them: they have made themselves a molten calf, and have bowed down to it, and have sacrificed thereunto, and said, This is thy god, Israel, who has brought thee up out of the land of Egypt! 9 And Jehovah said to Moses, I see this people, and behold, it is a stiff-necked people. 10 And now let me alone, that my anger may burn against them, and I may consume them; and I will make of thee a great nation. 11 And Moses besought Jehovah his God, and said, Why, Jehovah, doth thy wrath burn against thy people, which thou hast brought forth out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a strong hand? 12 Why should the Egyptians speak, and say, For misfortune he has brought them out, to slay them on the mountains, and to annihilate them from the face of the earth? Turn from the heat of thine anger, and repent of this evil against thy people! 13 Remember Abraham, Isaac and Israel, thy servants, to whom thou sworest by thyself, and saidst to them, I will multiply your seed as the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have spoken of will I give to your seed, and they shall possess [it] for ever! 14 And Jehovah repented of the evil that he had said he would do to his people.

15 And Moses turned and went down from the mountain, [with] the two tables of the testimony in his hand—tables written on both their sides: on this side and on that were they written. 16 And the tables [were] God's work, and the writing was God's writing, engraven on the tables. 17 And Joshua heard the noise of the people as they shouted, and said to Moses, There is a shout of war in the camp. 18 And he said, It is not the sound of a shout of victory, neither is it the sound of a shout of defeat: it is the noise of alternate singing I hear. 19 And it came to pass, when he came near the camp, and saw the calf and the dancing, that Moses' anger burned, and he cast the tables out of his hands, and shattered them beneath the mountain. 20 And he took the calf that they had made, and burned [it] with fire, and ground it to powder, and strewed [it] on the water, and made the children of Israel drink [it].

21 And Moses said to Aaron, What has this people done to thee, that thou hast brought so great a sin on them? 22 And Aaron said, Let not the anger of my lord burn! thou knowest the people, that they are [set] on mischief. 23 And they said to me, Make us a god, who will go before us; for this Moses, the man that has brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what is become of him! 24 And I said to them, Who has gold? They broke [it] off, and gave [it] me, and I cast it into the fire, and there came out this calf. 25 And Moses saw the people how they were stripped; for Aaron had stripped them to [their] shame before their adversaries. 26 And Moses stood in the gate of the camp, and said, He that is for Jehovah, [let him come] to me. And all the sons of Levi gathered to him. 27 And he said to them, Thus saith Jehovah, the God of Israel: Put every man his sword upon his hip; go and return from gate to gate through the camp, and slay every man his brother, and every man his friend, and every man his neighbour. 28 And the sons of Levi did according to the word of Moses; and there fell of the people that day about three thousand men. 29 And Moses said, Consecrate yourselves to-day to Jehovah, yea, every man with his son, and with his brother, and bring on yourselves a blessing to-day.

30 And it came to pass the next day, that Moses said to the people, Ye have sinned a great sin. And now I will go up to Jehovah: perhaps I shall make atonement for your sin. 31 And Moses returned to Jehovah, and said, Alas, this people has sinned a great sin, and they have made themselves a god of gold! 32 And now, if thou wilt forgive their sin ... but if not, blot me, I pray thee, out of thy book that thou hast written. 33 And Jehovah said to Moses, Whoever hath sinned against me, him will I blot out of my book. 34 And now go, lead the people whither I have told thee: behold, my Angel shall go before thee; but in the day of my visiting I will visit their sin upon them. 35 And Jehovah smote the people, because they made the calf, which Aaron had made.