The Altar of Incense

30 ^r“You shall make an altar on which to burn incense; you shall make it of acacia wood. 2 A cubit¹ shall be its length, and a cubit its breadth. It shall be square, and two cubits shall be its height. Its horns shall be of one piece with it. 3 You shall overlay it with pure gold, its top and around its sides and its horns. And you shall make a molding of gold around it. 4 And you shall make two golden rings for it. Under its molding on two opposite sides of it you shall make them, and they shall be holders for poles with which to carry it. 5 You shall make the poles of acacia wood and overlay them with gold. 6 And you shall put it in front of the ^sveil that is above the ^tark of the testimony, in front of ^uthe mercy seat that is above the testimony, ^vwhere I will meet with you. 7 And Aaron shall ^wburn fragrant incense on it. Every morning ^xwhen he dresses the lamps he shall burn it, 8 and when Aaron sets up the lamps at twilight, he shall burn it, a regular incense offering before the Lord throughout your generations. 9 You shall not offer ^yunauthorized incense on it, or a burnt offering, or a grain offering, and you shall not pour a drink offering on it. 10 ^zAaron shall make atonement on its horns once a year. With the blood of the sin offering of atonement he shall make atonement for it once in the year throughout your generations. It is most holy to the Lord.”

The Census Tax

11 The Lord said to Moses, 12 ^a“When you take the census of the people of Israel, then each shall give a ransom for his life to the Lord when you number them, that there be no plague among them when you number them. 13 Each one who is numbered in the census shall give this: half a shekel² according to the shekel of the sanctuary (the shekel is twenty gerahs),³ half a shekel as an offering to the Lord. 14 Everyone who is numbered in the census, from twenty years old and upward, shall give the Lord’s offering. 15 The rich shall not give more, and the poor shall not give less, than the half shekel, when you give the Lord’s offering to make atonement for your lives. 16 ^bYou shall take the atonement money from the people of Israel and shall give it for the service of the tent of meeting, that it may bring the people of Israel to remembrance before the Lord, so as to make atonement for your lives.”

The Bronze Basin

17 ^cThe Lord said to Moses, 18 “You shall also make a basin of bronze, with its stand of bronze, for washing. You shall put it between the tent of meeting and the altar, and you shall put water in it, 19 with which Aaron and his sons shall wash their hands and their feet. 20 When they go into the tent of meeting, or when they come near the altar to minister, to burn a food offering⁴ to the Lord, they shall ^dwash with water, ^eso that they may not die. 21 They shall wash their hands and their feet, so that they may not die. It shall be a statute forever to them, even to him and to his offspring throughout their generations.”

The Anointing Oil and Incense

22 The Lord said to Moses, 23 “Take the finest spices: of liquid myrrh 500 shekels, and of sweet-smelling cinnamon half as much, that is, 250, and 250 of aromatic cane, 24 and 500 of cassia, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, and a hin⁵ of olive oil. 25 And you shall make of these a sacred anointing oil blended as by the perfumer; it shall be a holy anointing oil. 26 With it you shall ^fanoint the tent of meeting and the ark of the testimony, 27 and the table and all its ^gutensils, and the lampstand and its utensils, and the altar of incense, 28 and the altar of burnt offering with all its utensils and the basin and its stand. 29 You shall consecrate them, that they may be most holy. ^hWhatever touches them will become holy. 30 You shall ⁱanoint Aaron and his sons, and consecrate them, that they may serve me as priests. 31 And you shall say to the people of Israel, ‘This shall be my holy anointing oil throughout your generations. 32 It shall not be poured on the body of an ordinary person, and you shall make no other like it in composition. It is holy, and it shall be holy to you. 33 Whoever compounds any like it or whoever puts any of it on an outsider shall be ^jcut off from his people.’”

34 The Lord said to Moses, “Take sweet spices, stacte, and onycha, and galbanum, sweet spices with pure frankincense (of each shall there be an equal part), 35 and make an incense blended as by the perfumer, seasoned with salt, pure and holy. 36 You shall beat some of it very small, and ^kput part of it before the testimony in the tent of meeting where I shall meet with you. It shall be most holy for you. 37 And the incense that you shall make according to its composition, you shall not make for yourselves. It shall be for you holy to the Lord. 38 Whoever makes any like it to use as perfume shall be cut off from his people.”

Oholiab and Bezalel

31 The Lord said to Moses, 2 ^l“See, I have called by name Bezalel the son of Uri, son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, 3 and I have ^mfilled him with the Spirit of God, with ability and intelligence, with knowledge and all craftsmanship, 4 to devise artistic designs, to work in gold, silver, and bronze, 5 in cutting stones for setting, and in carving wood, to work in every craft. 6 And behold, I have appointed with him Oholiab, the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan. And I have given to all able men ability, that they may make all that I have commanded you: 7 ⁿthe tent of meeting, and ^othe ark of the testimony, and ^pthe mercy seat that is on it, and all the furnishings of the tent, 8 ^qthe table and its utensils, and ^rthe pure lampstand with all its utensils, and ^sthe altar of incense, 9 and ^tthe altar of burnt offering with all its utensils, and ^uthe basin and its stand, 10 and ^vthe finely worked garments,¹ the holy garments for Aaron the priest and the garments of his sons, for their service as priests, 11 and ^wthe anointing oil and the fragrant incense for the Holy Place. According to all that I have commanded you, they shall do.”

The Sabbath

12 And the Lord said to Moses, 13 “You are to speak to the people of Israel and say, ^x‘Above all you shall keep ^ymy Sabbaths, for this is a sign between me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I, the Lord, sanctify you. 14 You shall keep the Sabbath, because it is holy for you. Everyone who ^zprofanes it shall be put to death. Whoever does any work on it, that soul shall be ^acut off from among his people. 15 ^bSix days shall work be done, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, holy to the Lord. Whoever does any work on the Sabbath day shall be put to death. 16 Therefore the people of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, observing the Sabbath throughout their generations, as a ^ccovenant forever. 17 It is a sign forever between me and the people of Israel that in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, and ^don the seventh day he rested and was refreshed.’”

18 And he gave to Moses, when he had finished speaking with him on Mount Sinai, the two tablets of the testimony, ^etablets of stone, written with the finger of God.

The Golden Calf

32 ^fWhen the people saw that Moses ^gdelayed to come down from the mountain, the people gathered themselves together to Aaron and said to him, “Up, ^hmake us gods who shall go before us. As for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.” 2 So Aaron said to them, “Take off ⁱthe rings of gold that are in the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me.” 3 ^jSo all the people took off the rings of gold that were in their ears and brought them to Aaron. 4 And he received the gold from their hand and fashioned it with a graving tool and ^kmade a golden¹ calf. And they said, ^l“These are your gods, O Israel, ^mwho brought you up out of the land of Egypt!” 5 When Aaron saw this, he built an altar before it. And Aaron made a proclamation and said, ⁿ“Tomorrow shall be a feast to the Lord.” 6 And they rose up early the next day and offered burnt offerings and brought peace offerings. And ^othe people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play.

7 And the Lord said to Moses, “Go down, for your people, whom you brought up out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves. 8 They have turned aside quickly out of the way ^pthat I commanded them. They have made for themselves a golden calf and have worshiped it and sacrificed to it and said, ‘These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!’” 9 And the Lord said to Moses, “I have seen this people, and behold, it is a ^qstiff-necked people. 10 Now therefore ^rlet me alone, ^sthat my wrath may burn hot against them and I may consume them, in order that ^tI may make a ^ugreat nation of you.”

11 But ^vMoses implored the Lord his God and said, “O Lord, ^wwhy does your wrath burn hot against your people, whom you have brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand? 12 ^xWhy should the Egyptians say, ‘With evil intent did he bring them out, to kill them in the mountains and to consume them from the face of the earth’? Turn from your burning anger and relent from this disaster against your people. 13 Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your servants, to whom you ^yswore by your own self, and said to them, ‘I will multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have promised I will give to your offspring, and they shall inherit it forever.’” 14 And the Lord ^zrelented from the disaster that he had spoken of bringing on his people.

15 Then Moses turned and ^awent down from the mountain with the two ^btablets of the testimony in his hand, tablets that were written ^con both sides; on the front and on the back they were written. 16 ^dThe tablets were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, engraved on the tablets. 17 When Joshua heard the noise of the people as they shouted, he said to Moses, “There is a noise of war in the camp.” 18 But he said, “It is not the sound of shouting for victory, or the sound of the cry of defeat, but the sound of singing that I hear.” 19 And as soon as he came near the camp and saw the calf and the dancing, Moses’ anger burned hot, and he threw the tablets out of his hands and broke them at the foot of the mountain. 20 ^eHe took the calf that they had made and burned it with fire and ground it to powder and scattered it on the water and made the people of Israel drink it.

21 And Moses said to Aaron, “What did this people do to you that ^fyou have brought such a great sin upon them?” 22 And Aaron said, “Let not the anger of my lord burn hot. You know the people, that they are set on evil. 23 For they said to me, ‘Make us gods who shall go before us. As for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.’ 24 So I said to them, ‘Let any who have gold take it off.’ So they gave it to me, and I threw it into the fire, and out came this calf.”

25 And when Moses saw that the people had broken loose (for Aaron had let them break loose, to the derision of their enemies), 26 then Moses stood in the gate of the camp and said, “Who is on the Lord’s side? Come to me.” And all the sons of Levi gathered around him. 27 And he said to them, “Thus says the Lord God of Israel, ‘Put your sword on your side each of you, and go to and fro from gate to gate throughout the camp, and each of you ^gkill his brother and his companion and his neighbor.’” 28 And the sons of Levi did according to the word of Moses. And that day about three thousand men of the people fell. 29 And Moses said, “Today you have been ordained for the service of the Lord, ^heach one at the cost of his son and of his brother, so that he might bestow a blessing upon you this day.”

30 The next day Moses said to the people, “You have sinned a great sin. And now I will go up to the Lord; perhaps I can make ⁱatonement for your sin.” 31 So Moses returned to the Lord and said, “Alas, this people has sinned a great sin. They have made for themselves gods of gold. 32 But now, ^jif you will forgive their sin—^kbut if not, please blot me out of ^lyour book that you have written.” 33 But the Lord said to Moses, “Whoever has sinned against me, I will ^mblot out of my book. 34 But now go, lead the people to the place about which I have spoken to you; behold, ⁿmy angel shall go before you. Nevertheless, in the day when I visit, I will visit their sin upon them.”

35 Then the Lord sent a plague on the people, because they made the calf, the one that Aaron made.

The Command to Leave Sinai

33 The Lord said to Moses, “Depart; go up from here, you and the people whom you have brought up out of the land of Egypt, to the land of which I ^oswore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, saying, ‘To your offspring I will give it.’ 2 I will send an ^pangel before you, and ^qI will drive out the Canaanites, the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. 3 Go up to ^ra land flowing with milk and honey; but I will not go up among you, ^slest I consume you on the way, for you are a ^tstiff-necked people.”

4 ^uWhen the people heard this disastrous word, they mourned, and no one put on his ornaments. 5 For the Lord had said to Moses, “Say to the people of Israel, ‘You are a stiff-necked people; if for a single moment I should go up among you, I would consume you. So now take off your ornaments, that I may know what to do with you.’” 6 Therefore the people of Israel stripped themselves of their ornaments, from Mount Horeb onward.

The Tent of Meeting

7 Now Moses used to take the tent and pitch it outside the camp, far off from the camp, and he called it the ^vtent of meeting. And everyone who ^wsought the Lord would go out to the tent of meeting, which was outside the camp. 8 Whenever Moses went out to the tent, all the people would rise up, and each would stand at his tent door, and watch Moses until he had gone into the tent. 9 When Moses entered the tent, ^xthe pillar of cloud would descend and stand at the entrance of the tent, and the Lord¹ would speak with Moses. 10 And when all the people saw the pillar of cloud standing at the entrance of the tent, all the people would rise up and worship, each at his tent door. 11 Thus the Lord used to speak to Moses ^yface to face, as a man speaks to his friend. When Moses turned again into the camp, his assistant Joshua the son of Nun, a young man, would not depart from the tent.

Moses’ Intercession

12 Moses said to the Lord, “See, you say to me, ‘Bring up this people,’ but you have not let me know whom you will send with me. Yet you have said, ‘I know you by name, and you have also found favor in my sight.’ 13 Now therefore, if I have found favor in your sight, please ^zshow me now your ways, that I may know you in order to find favor in your sight. Consider too that this nation is your people.” 14 And he said, ^a“My presence will go with you, and I will give you ^brest.” 15 And he said to him, “If your presence will not go with me, do not bring us up from here. 16 For how shall it be known that I have found favor in your sight, I and your people? Is it not in your going with us, so that ^cwe are distinct, I and your people, from every other people on the face of the earth?”

17 And the Lord said to Moses, “This very thing that you have spoken I will do, for you have found favor in my sight, and I know you by name.” 18 Moses said, “Please show me ^dyour glory.” 19 And he said, ^e“I will make all my goodness pass before you and will ^fproclaim before you my name ‘The Lord.’ And ^gI will ^hbe gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy. 20 But,” he said, ⁱ“you cannot see my face, for man shall not see me and live.” 21 And the Lord said, “Behold, there is a place by me where you shall stand on the rock, 22 and while my glory passes by I will put you in a cleft of the rock, and ^jI will cover you with my hand until I have passed by. 23 Then I will take away my hand, and you shall ^ksee my back, but my face shall not be seen.”

Moses Makes New Tablets

34 The Lord said to Moses, “Cut for yourself two tablets of stone like the first, and ^lI will write on the tablets the words that were on the first tablets, ^mwhich you broke. 2 Be ready by the morning, and come up in the morning to Mount Sinai, and present yourself there to me on the top of the mountain. 3 ⁿNo one shall come up with you, and let no one be seen throughout all the mountain. Let no flocks or herds graze opposite that mountain.” 4 So Moses cut two tablets of stone like the first. And he rose early in the morning and ^owent up on Mount Sinai, as the Lord had commanded him, and took in his hand two tablets of stone. 5 ^pThe Lord descended in the cloud and stood with him there, and ^qproclaimed the name of the Lord. 6 ^rThe Lord passed before him and proclaimed, ^s“The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, 7 ^tkeeping steadfast love for thousands,^{1 u}forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will ^vby no means clear the guilty, ^wvisiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation.” 8 And Moses quickly bowed his head toward the earth and worshiped. 9 And he said, “If now I have found favor in your sight, O Lord, please let the Lord go ^xin the midst of us, for it is a ^ystiff-necked people, and ^zpardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us for your ^ainheritance.”

The Covenant Renewed

10 And he said, “Behold, ^bI am making a covenant. Before all your people I will do marvels, such as have not been created in all the earth or in any nation. And all the people among whom you are shall see the work of the Lord, for it is an awesome thing that I will do with you.

11 “Observe what I command you this day. Behold, ^cI will drive out before you the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. 12 ^dTake care, lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land to which you go, lest it become a ^esnare in your midst. 13 ^fYou shall tear down their altars and break their pillars and cut down their Asherim 14 (for ^gyou shall worship no other god, for the Lord, whose name is ^hJealous, is a jealous God), 15 lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, and when they ⁱwhore after their gods and sacrifice to their gods and you are ^jinvited, you eat of his sacrifice, 16 and ^kyou take of their daughters for your sons, and their daughters whore after their gods and make your sons whore after their gods.