Exodus 29-32

Exodus 29

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 the LORD 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 the LORD; it is a pleasant aroma, an offering made by fire to the LORD.

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 the LORD.

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

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

²⁶“You shall take the breast of Aaron’s ram of consecration, and wave it for a wave offering before the LORD. 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 the LORD.

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 the LORD.

⁴²It shall be a continual burnt offering throughout your generations at the door of the Tent of Meeting before the LORD, 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 the LORD their God, who brought them out of the land of Egypt, that I might dwell among them: I am the LORD their God.

Exodus 30

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 the LORD 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 the LORD.”

¹¹The LORD 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 the LORD 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 the LORD.

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

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

¹⁷The LORD 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 the LORD.

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 the LORD 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.’”

³⁴The LORD 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 the LORD.

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

Exodus 31

¹The LORD 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.”

¹²The LORD 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 the LORD 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 the LORD. 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 the LORD 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.

Exodus 32

¹When the people saw that Moses delayed coming down from the mountain, the people gathered themselves together to Aaron, and said to him, “Come, make us gods, which shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we don’t know what has become of him.”

²Aaron said to them, “Take off the golden rings, which are in the ears of your wives, of your sons, and of your daughters, and bring them to me.”

³All the people took off the golden rings which were in their ears, and brought them to Aaron.

⁴He received what they handed him, fashioned it with an engraving tool, and made it a molded calf. Then they said, “These are your gods, Israel, which brought you up out of the land of Egypt.”

⁵When Aaron saw this, he built an altar before it; and Aaron made a proclamation, and said, “Tomorrow shall be a feast to the LORD.”

⁶They rose up early on the next day, and offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings; and the people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to play.

⁷The LORD spoke to Moses, “Go, get down; for your people, whom you brought up out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves!

⁸They have turned away quickly out of the way which I commanded them. They have made themselves a molded calf, and have worshiped it, and have sacrificed to it, and said, ‘These are your gods, Israel, which brought you up out of the land of Egypt.’”

⁹The LORD said to Moses, “I have seen these people, and behold, they are a stiff-necked people.

¹⁰Now therefore leave me alone, that my wrath may burn hot against them, and that I may consume them; and I will make of you a great nation.”

¹¹Moses begged the LORD his God, and said, “LORD, why does your wrath burn hot against your people, that you have brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand?

¹²Why should the Egyptians talk, saying, ‘He brought them out for evil, to kill them in the mountains, and to consume them from the surface of the earth’? Turn from your fierce wrath, and turn away from this evil against your people.

¹³Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your servants, to whom you swore by your own self, and said to them, ‘I will multiply your offspring as the stars of the sky, and all this land that I have spoken of I will give to your offspring, and they shall inherit it forever.’”

¹⁴So the LORD turned away from the evil which he said he would do to his people.

¹⁵Moses turned, and went down from the mountain, with the two tablets of the covenant in his hand; tablets that were written on both their sides. They were written on one side and on the other.

¹⁶The tablets were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, engraved on the tablets.

¹⁷When Joshua heard the noise of the people as they shouted, he said to Moses, “There is the noise of war in the camp.”

¹⁸He said, “It isn’t the voice of those who shout for victory. It is not the voice of those who cry for being overcome; but the noise of those who sing that I hear.”

¹⁹As soon as he came near to the camp, he saw the calf and the dancing. Then Moses’ anger grew hot, and he threw the tablets out of his hands, and broke them beneath the mountain.

²⁰He took the calf which they had made, and burned it with fire, ground it to powder, and scattered it on the water, and made the children of Israel drink it.

²¹Moses said to Aaron, “What did these people do to you, that you have brought a great sin on them?”

²²Aaron said, “Don’t let the anger of my lord grow hot. You know the people, that they are set on evil.

²³For they said to me, ‘Make us gods, which shall go before us. As for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we don’t know what has become of him.’

²⁴I said to them, ‘Whoever has any gold, let them take it off.’ So they gave it to me; and I threw it into the fire, and out came this calf.”

²⁵When Moses saw that the people were out of control, (for Aaron had let them lose control, causing derision among their enemies),

²⁶then Moses stood in the gate of the camp, and said, “Whoever is on the LORD’s side, come to me!” All the sons of Levi gathered themselves together to him.

²⁷He said to them, “The LORD, the God of Israel, says, ‘Every man put his sword on his thigh, and go back and forth from gate to gate throughout the camp, and every man kill his brother, and every man his companion, and every man his neighbor.’”

²⁸The sons of Levi did according to the word of Moses. About three thousand men fell of the people that day.

²⁹Moses said, “Consecrate yourselves today to the LORD, for every man was against his son and against his brother, that he may give you a blessing today.”

³⁰On the next day, Moses said to the people, “You have sinned a great sin. Now I will go up to the LORD. Perhaps I shall make atonement for your sin.”

³¹Moses returned to the LORD, and said, “Oh, this people have sinned a great sin, and have made themselves gods of gold.

³²Yet now, if you will, forgive their sin—and if not, please blot me out of your book which you have written.”

³³The LORD said to Moses, “Whoever has sinned against me, I will blot him out of my book.

³⁴Now go, lead the people to the place of which I have spoken to you. Behold, my angel shall go before you. Nevertheless, in the day when I punish, I will punish them for their sin.”

³⁵The LORD struck the people, because of what they did with the calf, which Aaron made.