Exodus 30 · Parashot Tetzaveh–Ki Tisa

And thou shalt make an altar for the burning of incense: of shittim wood shalt thou make it.

A cubit shall be the length of it, and a cubit its breadth; foursquare shall it be: and two cubits shall be its height: the horns thereof shall be of the same.

And thou shalt overlay it with pure gold, its top, and its sides round about, and its horns; and thou shalt make for it a rim of gold round about.

And two golden rings shalt thou make for it under its rim, by its two corners upon the two sides of it shalt thou make it; and they shall be for places for the poles with which to bear it.

And thou shalt make the poles of shittim wood, and overlay them with gold.

And thou shalt put it before the veil that is by the ark of the Testimony, before the covering that is over the Testimony, where I will meet with thee.

And Aharon shall burn upon it sweet incense every morning: when he dresses the lamps, he shall burn incense on it.

And when Aharon lights the lamps at evening, he shall burn incense upon it, a perpetual incense before the Lord throughout your generations.

You shall offer no strange incense on it, nor burnt sacrifice, nor meal offering; neither shall you pour drink offering upon it.

And Aharon shall sprinkle upon the horns of it once in a year the blood of the sin offering of atonements: once in the year shall he make atonement upon it throughout your generations: it is most holy to the Lord.

And the Lord spoke to Moshe, saying,

When thou dost take the sum of the children of Yisra᾽el after their number, then shall they give every man a ransom for his soul to the Lord, when thou dost number them; that there be no plague among them, when thou dost number them.

This they shall give, every one that passes among them that are numbered, half a shekel after the shekel of the sanctuary: (a shekel is twenty gera:) a half shekel shall be the offering of the Lord.

Every one that passes among them that are numbered, from twenty years old and above, shall give the offering of the Lord.

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

And thou shalt take the atonement money of the children of Yisra᾽el, and shalt appoint it for the service of the Tent of Meeting; that it may be a memorial to the children of Yisra᾽el before the Lord, to make atonement for your souls.

And the Lord spoke to Moshe, saying,

Thou shalt also make a laver of brass, and its pedestal also of brass, for washing: and thou shalt put it between the Tent of Meeting and the altar, and thou shalt put water in it.

For Aharon and his sons shall wash their hands and their feet thereat:

when they go into the Tent of Meeting, they shall wash with water, that they die not; or when they come near to the altar to minister, to burn offering made by fire to the Lord:

so they shall wash their hands and their feet, that they die not: and it shall be a statute for ever to them, to him and to his seed throughout their generations.

Moreover the Lord spoke to Moshe, saying,

Take thou also to thee the best spices, of pure myrrh five hundred shekels, and of sweet cinnamon half so much, two hundred and fifty shekels, and of sweet calamus two hundred and fifty shekels,

and of cassia five hundred shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary, and of olive oil a hin:

and thou shalt make it an oil of holy ointment, an ointment compounded after the art of the perfumer: it shall be a holy anointing oil.

And thou shalt anoint the Tent of Meeting with it, and the ark of the Testimony,

and the table and all its vessels, and the candlestick and its vessels, and the altar of incense,

and the altar of burnt offering with all its vessels, and the laver and its pedestal.

And thou shalt sanctify them, that they may be most holy: whatever touches them shall be holy.

And thou shalt anoint Aharon and his sons, and consecrate them, that they may minister to me in the priest’s office.

And thou shalt speak to the children of Yisra᾽el, saying, This shall be a holy anointing oil to me throughout your generations.

Upon man’s flesh shall it not be poured, neither shall you make any other like it, after the composition of it: it is holy, and holy shall it be for you.

Whoever compounds any like it, or whoever puts any of it upon a stranger, shall even be cut off from his people.

And the Lord said to Moshe, Take to thee sweet spices, storax, and onycha, and galbanum; sweet spices with pure frankincense: of each shall there be a like weight:

and thou shalt make it a perfume, a confection after the art of the perfumer, mingled with salt, pure and holy:

and thou shalt beat some of it very small, and put of it before the Testimony in the Tent of Meeting, where I will meet with thee: it shall be to you most holy.

And as for the perfume which thou shalt make, you shall not make it for yourselves according to its prescribed composition: it shall be holy for the Lord.

Whoever shall make like to that, to partake of its scent, shall even be cut off from his people.