The altar of incense: money to be gathered for the use of the
tabernacle: the brazen laver: the holy oil of unction, and the
composition of the perfume.
30:1. Thou shalt make also an altar to burn incense, of setim wood.
An altar to burn incense. . .This burning of incense was an emblem of
prayer, ascending to God from an inflamed heart. See Ps. 140.2; Apoc.
5.8, and 8.4.
30:2. It shall be a cubit in length, and another in breadth, that is,
four square, and two in height. Horns shall go out of the same.
30:3. And thou shalt overlay it with the purest gold, as well the grate
thereof, as the walls round about, and the horns. And thou shalt make
to it a crown of gold round about,
30:4. And two golden rings under the crown on either side, that the
bars may be put into them, and the altar be carried.
30:5. And thou shalt make the bars also of setim wood, and shalt
overlay them with gold.
30:6. And thou shalt set the altar over against the veil, that hangeth
before the ark of the testimony before the propitiatory wherewith the
testimony is covered, where I will speak to thee.
30:7. And Aaron shall burn sweet smelling incense upon it in the
morning. When he shall dress the lamps, he shall burn it:
30:8. And when he shall place them in the evening, he shall burn an
everlasting incense before the Lord throughout your generations.
30:9. You shall not offer upon it incense of another composition, nor
oblation, and victim, neither shall you offer libations.
30:10. And Aaron shall pray upon the horns thereof once a year, with
the blood of that which was offered for sin; and shall make atonement
upon it in your generations. It shall be most holy to the Lord.
30:11. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:
30:12. When thou shalt take the sum of the children of Israel,
according to their number, every one of them shall give a price for
their souls to the Lord, and there shall be no scourge among them, when
they shall be reckoned.
30:13. And this shall every one give that passeth at the naming, half a
sicle according to the standard of the temple. A sicle hath twenty
obols. Half a sicle shall be offered to the Lord.
Half a sicle. . .A sicle or shekel of silver, (which was also called a
stater,) according to the standard or weight of the sanctuary, which
was the most just and exact, was half an ounce of silver, that is,
about half a crown of English money. The obol, or gerah, was about
three halfpence.
30:14. He that is counted in the number from twenty years and upwards,
shall give the price.
30:15. The rich man shall not add to half a sicle, and the poor man
shall diminish nothing.
30:16. And the money received, which was contributed by the children of
Israel, thou shalt deliver unto the uses of the tabernacle of the
testimony, that it may be a memorial of them before the Lord, and he
may be merciful to their souls.
30:17. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:
30:18. Thou shalt make also a brazen laver with its foot to wash in:
and thou shalt set it between the tabernacle of the testimony and the
altar. And water being put into it:
30:19. Aaron and his sons shall wash their hands and feet in it:
30:20. When they are going into the tabernacle of the testimony, and
when they are to come to the altar, to offer on it incense to the Lord,
30:21. Lest perhaps they die. It shall be an everlasting law to him,
and to his seed by successions.
30:22. And the Lord spoke to Moses,
30:23. Saying: Take spices, of principal and chosen myrrh five hundred
sicles, and of cinnamon half so much; that is, two hundred and fifty
sicles, of calamus in like manner two hundred and fifty,
30:24. And of cassia five hundred sicles by the weight of the
sanctuary, of oil of olives the measure hin:
30:25. And thou shalt make the holy oil of unction, an ointment
compounded after the art of the perfumer,
30:26. And therewith thou shalt anoint the tabernacle of the testimony,
and the ark of the testament,
30:27. And the table with the vessels thereof, the candlestick and
furniture thereof, the altars of incense,
30:28. And of holocaust, and all the furniture that belongeth to the
service of them.
30:29. And thou shalt sanctify all, and they shall be most holy: he
that shall touch them shall be sanctified.
30:30. Thou shalt anoint Aaron and his sons, and shalt sanctify them,
that they may do the office of priesthood unto me.
30:31. And thou shalt say to the children of Israel: This oil of
unction shall be holy unto me throughout your generations.
30:32. The flesh of man shall not be anointed therewith, and you shall
make none other of the same composition, because it is sanctified, and
shall be holy unto you.
30:33. What man soever shall compound such, and shall give thereof to a
stranger, he shall be cut off from his people.
30:34. And the Lord said to Moses: Take unto thee spices, stacte, and
onycha, galbanum of sweet savour, and the clearest frankincense, all
shall be of equal weight.
30:35. And thou shalt make incense compounded by the work of the
perfumer, well tempered together, and pure, and most worthy of
sanctification.
30:36. And when thou hast beaten all into very small powder, thou shalt
set of it before the tabernacle of the testimony, in the place where I
will appear to thee. Most holy shall this incense be unto you.
30:37. You shall not make such a composition for your own uses, because
it is holy to the Lord.
30:38. What man soever shall make the like, to enjoy the smell thereof,
he shall perish out of his people.