Exodus 29

Appointing the Priests

1 “This is what you must do to appoint Aaron and his sons to serve me as priests. Take one young bull and two male sheep that have nothing wrong with them.2 Use fine wheat flour without yeast to make bread, cakes mixed with olive oil, and wafers brushed with olive oil.3 Put these in one basket, and bring them along with the bull and two male sheep.4 Bring Aaron and his sons to the entrance of the Meeting Tent and wash them with water.5 Take the clothes and dress Aaron in the inner robe and the outer robe of the holy vest. Then put on him the holy vest and the chest covering, and tie the holy vest on him with its skillfully woven belt.6 Put the turban on his head, and put the holy crown on the turban.

7 Take the special olive oil and pour it on his head to make him a priest.
8 “Then bring his sons and put the inner robes on them.

9 Put the headbands on their heads, and tie cloth belts around their waists. Aaron and his descendants will be priests in Israel, according to a rule that will continue from now on. This is how you will appoint Aaron and his sons as priests.
10 “Bring the bull to the front of the Meeting Tent, and Aaron and his sons must put their hands on the bull’s head.11 Then kill the bull before the Lord at the entrance to the Meeting Tent.12 Use your finger to put some of the bull’s blood on the corners of the altar, and then pour the blood that is left at the bottom of the altar.13 Take all the fat that covers the inner organs, as well as the best part of the liver, both kidneys, and the fat around them, and burn them on the altar.

14 Take the bull’s meat, skin, and intestines, and burn them outside the camp. This is an offering to take away sin.
15 “Take one of the male sheep, and have Aaron and his sons put their hands on its head.16 Kill it, and take its blood and sprinkle it on all four sides of the altar.17 Then cut it into pieces and wash its inner organs and its legs, putting them with its head and its other pieces.

18 Burn the whole sheep on the altar; it is a burnt offering made by fire to the Lord. Its smell is pleasing to the Lord.
19 “Take the other male sheep, and have Aaron and his sons put their hands on its head.20 Kill it and take some of its blood. Put the blood on the bottom of the right ears of Aaron and his sons and on the thumbs of their right hands and on the big toes of their right feet. Then sprinkle the rest of the blood against all four sides of the altar.

21 Take some of the blood from the altar, and mix it with the special oil used in appointing priests. Sprinkle this on Aaron and his clothes and on his sons and their clothes. This will show that Aaron and his sons and their clothes are given to my service.

22 “Then take the fat from the male sheep, the fat tail, and the fat that covers the inner organs. In addition, take the best part of the liver, both kidneys, and the fat around them, and the right thigh. (This is the male sheep to be used in appointing priests.)
23 “Then take the basket of bread that you made without yeast, which you put before the Lord. From it take a loaf of bread, a cake made with olive oil, and a wafer.24 Put all of these in the hands of Aaron and his sons, and tell them to present them as an offering to the Lord.25 Then take them from their hands and burn them on the altar with the whole burnt offering. This is an offering made by fire to the Lord; its smell is pleasing to the Lord.26 Then take the breast of the male sheep used to appoint Aaron as priest, and present it before the Lord as an offering. This part of the animal will be your share.27 Set aside the breast and the thigh of the sheep that were used to appoint Aaron and his sons as priests. These parts belong to them.

28 They are to be the regular share which the Israelites will always give to Aaron and his sons. It is the gift the Israelites must give to the Lord from their fellowship offerings.
29 “The holy clothes made for Aaron will belong to his descendants so that they can wear these clothes when they are appointed as priests.

30 Aaron’s son, who will become high priest after Aaron, will come to the Meeting Tent to serve in the Holy Place. He is to wear these clothes for seven days.
31 “Take the male sheep used to appoint priests and boil its meat in a place that is holy.32 Then at the entrance of the Meeting Tent, Aaron and his sons must eat the meat of the sheep and the bread that is in the basket.33 They should eat these offerings that were used to remove their sins and to make them holy when they were made priests. But no one else is to eat them, because they are holy things.

34 If any of the meat from that sheep or any of the bread is left the next morning, it must be burned. It must not be eaten, because it is holy.
35 “Do all these things that I commanded you to do to Aaron and his sons, and spend seven days appointing them.36 Each day you are to offer a bull to remove the sins of Aaron and his sons so they will be given for service to the Lord. Make the altar ready for service to the Lord, and pour oil on it to make it holy.

37 Spend seven days making the altar ready for service to God and making it holy. Then the altar will become very holy, and anything that touches it must be holy.

The Daily Sacrifices

38 “Every day from now on, offer on the altar two lambs that are one year old.39 Offer one lamb in the morning and the other in the evening before dark.40 In the morning, when you offer the first lamb, offer also two quarts of fine flour mixed with one quart of oil from pressed olives. Pour out a quart of wine as a drink offering.

41 Offer the second lamb in the evening with the same grain offering and drink offering as you did in the morning. This is an offering made by fire to the Lord, and its smell is pleasing to him.
42 “You must burn these things as an offering to the Lord every day, from now on, at the entrance of the Meeting Tent before the Lord. When you make the offering, I, the Lord, will meet you there and speak to you.

43 I will meet with the people of Israel there, and that place will be holy because of my glory.
44 “So I will make the Meeting Tent and the altar holy; I will also make Aaron and his sons holy so they may serve me as priests.45 I will live with the people of Israel and be their God.46 And they will know that I am the Lord their God who led them out of Egypt so that I could live with them. I am the Lord their God.

Exodus 30

The Altar for Burning Incense

1 “Make an altar out of acacia wood for burning incense.2 Make it square—eighteen inches long and eighteen inches wide—and make it thirty-six inches high. The corners that stick out like horns must be one piece with the altar.3 Cover its top, its sides, and its corners with pure gold, and put a gold strip all around the altar.4 Make two gold rings beneath the gold strip on opposite sides of the altar, and slide poles through them to carry the altar.5 Make the poles from acacia wood and cover them with gold.

6 Put the altar of incense in front of the curtain that is near the Ark of the Agreement, in front of the lid that covers that Ark. There I will meet with you.
7 “Aaron must burn sweet-smelling incense on the altar every morning when he comes to take care of the oil lamps.8 He must burn incense again in the evening when he lights the lamps, so incense will burn before the Lord every day from now on.9 Do not use this altar for offering any other incense, or burnt offering, or any kind of grain offering, or drink offering.

10 Once a year Aaron must make the altar ready for service to God by putting blood on its corners—the blood of the animal offered to remove sins. He is to do this once a year from now on. This altar belongs completely to the Lord’s service.”

The Tax for the Meeting Tent

11 The Lord said to Moses,12 “When you count the people of Israel, every person must buy back his life from the Lord so that no terrible things will happen to the people when you number them.13 Every person who is counted must pay one-fifth of an ounce of silver. (This is set by using one-half of the Holy Place measure, which weighs two-fifths of an ounce.) This amount is a gift to the Lord.14 Every person who is counted and is twenty years old or older must give this amount to the Lord.15 A rich person must not give more than one-fifth of an ounce, and a poor person must not give less. You are paying this to the Lord to buy back your lives.

16 Gather from the people of Israel this money paid to buy back their lives, and spend it on things for the service in the Meeting Tent. This payment will remind the Lord that the Israelites’ lives have been bought back.”

The Bronze Bowl

17 The Lord said to Moses,18 “Make a bronze bowl, on a bronze stand, for washing. Put the bowl and stand between the Meeting Tent and the altar, and put water in the bowl.19 Aaron and his sons must wash their hands and feet with the water from this bowl.20 Each time they enter the Meeting Tent they must wash with water so they will not die. Whenever they approach the altar to serve as priests and offer a sacrifice to the Lord by fire,

21 they must wash their hands and their feet so they will not die. This is a rule which Aaron and his descendants are to keep from now on.”

Oil for Appointing

22 Then the Lord said to Moses,23 “Take the finest spices: twelve pounds of liquid myrrh, half that amount (that is, six pounds) of sweet-smelling cinnamon, six pounds of sweet-smelling cane,24 and twelve pounds of cassia. Weigh all these by the Holy Place measure. Also take four quarts of olive oil,25 and mix all these things like a perfume to make a holy olive oil. This special oil must be put on people and things to make them ready for service to God.26 Put this oil on the Meeting Tent and the Ark of the Agreement,27 on the table and all its dishes, on the lampstand and all its tools, and on the incense altar.28 Also, put the oil on the altar for burnt offerings and on all its tools, as well as on the bowl and the stand under the bowl.

29 You will prepare all these things for service to God, and they will be very holy. Anything that touches these things must be holy.
30 “Put the oil on Aaron and his sons to give them for service to me, that they may serve me as priests.31 Tell the Israelites, ‘This is to be my holy olive oil from now on. It is to be put on people and things to make them ready for service to God.32 Do not pour it on the bodies of ordinary people, and do not make perfume the same way you make this oil. It is holy, and you must treat it as holy.

33 If anyone makes perfume like it or puts it on someone who is not a priest, that person must be cut off from his people.’ ”

Incense

34 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Take these sweet-smelling spices: resin, onycha, galbanum, and pure frankincense. Be sure that you have equal amounts of each.35 Make incense as a person who makes perfume would do. Add salt to it to keep it pure and holy.36 Beat some of the incense into a fine powder, and put it in front of the Ark of the Agreement in the Meeting Tent, where I will meet with you. You must use this incense powder only for its very special purpose.37 Do not make incense for yourselves the same way you make this incense. Treat it as holy to the Lord.38 Whoever makes incense like this to use as perfume must be cut off from his people.”

Exodus 31

Bezalel and Oholiab Help

1 Then the Lord said to Moses,2 “See, I have chosen Bezalel son of Uri from the tribe of Judah. (Uri was the son of Hur.)3 I have filled Bezalel with the Spirit of God and have given him the skill, ability, and knowledge to do all kinds of work.4 He is able to design pieces to be made from gold, silver, and bronze,5 to cut jewels and put them in metal, to carve wood, and to do all kinds of work.6 I have also chosen Oholiab son of Ahisamach from the tribe of Dan to work with Bezalel. I have given skills to all the craftsmen, and they will be able to make all these things I have commanded you:7 the Meeting Tent, the Ark of the Agreement, the lid that covers the Ark, and everything in the Tent.8 This includes the table and everything on it, the pure gold lampstand and everything with it, the altar of incense,9 the altar for burnt offerings and everything used with it, and the bowl and the stand under it.10 They will make the woven clothes and the holy clothes for Aaron and the clothes for his sons to wear when they serve as priests.

11 They will also make the special olive oil used in appointing people and things to the service of the Lord, and the sweet-smelling incense for the Holy Place.
“These workers will make all these things just as I have commanded you.”

The Day of Rest

12 Then the Lord said to Moses,

13 “Tell the Israelites, ‘You must keep the rules about my Sabbaths, because they will be a sign between you and me from now on. In this way you will know that I, the Lord, make you holy.
14 “ ‘Make the Sabbath a holy day. If anyone treats the Sabbath like any other day, that person must be put to death; anyone who works on the Sabbath day must be cut off from his people.15 There are six days for working, but the seventh day is a day of rest, a day holy for the Lord. Anyone who works during the Sabbath day must be put to death.16 The Israelites must remember the Sabbath day as an agreement between them and me that will continue from now on.

17 The Sabbath day will be a sign between me and the Israelites forever, because in six days I, the Lord, made the sky and the earth. On the seventh day I did not work; I rested.’ ”
18 When the Lord finished speaking to Moses on Mount Sinai, he gave him the two stone tablets with the Agreement written on them, written by the finger of God.