Exodus 29 - 32
Setting Apart the Priests
29“aNow this is 1what you shall do to them to set them apart as holy to minister as priests to Me: take one bull from the herd and two rams without blemish, 2and aunleavened bread and unleavened cakes mixed with oil, and unleavened wafers 1spread with oil; you shall make them of fine wheat flour. 3“And you shall put them in one basket and bring them near in the basket along with the bull and the two rams. 4“Then ayou shall bring Aaron and his sons near to the doorway of the tent of meeting and wash them with water. 5“And you shall take the garments, and put on Aaron the atunic and bthe robe of the ephod and cthe ephod and dthe 1breastpiece, and gird him with the skillfully ewoven band of the ephod; 6and you shall set the aturban on his head and put bthe holy crown on the turban. 7“Then you shall take athe anointing oil and pour it on his head and anoint him. 8“And you shall bring his sons near and put atunics on them. 9“You shall gird them with asashes, Aaron and his sons, and bind 1caps on them, and they shall have bthe priesthood by a perpetual statute. So you shall 2,cordain Aaron and his sons.
Slaughtering the Offerings
10“Then you shall bring the bull near before the tent of meeting, and Aaron and his sons shall alay their hands on the head of the bull. 11“You shall slaughter the bull before Yahweh at the doorway of the tent of meeting. 12“You shall atake some of the blood of the bull and put it on bthe horns of the altar with your finger; and you shall pour out all the blood at the base of the altar. 13“You shall atake all the fat that covers the entrails and the 1lobe of the liver and the two kidneys and the fat that is on them, and you shall offer them up in smoke on the altar. 14“But athe flesh of the bull and its hide and its refuse, you shall burn with fire outside the camp; it is a sin offering.
15“aYou shall also take the one ram, and Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands on the head of the ram; 16and you shall slaughter the ram, and you shall take its blood and splash it around on the altar. 17“Then you shall cut the ram into its pieces, and wash its entrails and its legs, and put them 1with its pieces and 2its head. 18“You shall offer up in smoke the whole ram on the altar; it is a burnt offering to Yahweh: ait is a soothing aroma, an offering by fire to Yahweh.
19“Then ayou shall take the second ram, and Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands on the head of the ram. 20“You shall slaughter the ram, and take some of its blood and put it on the lobe of Aaron’s right ear and on the lobes of his sons’ right ears and on the thumbs of their right hands and on the big toes of their right feet, and splash the rest of the blood around on the altar. 21“Then you shall take some of the blood that is on the altar and some of the aanointing oil, and sprinkle it on Aaron and on his garments and on his sons and on his sons’ garments with him; so he and his garments shall be set apart as holy, as well as his sons and his sons’ garments with him.
22“You shall also take the fat from the ram and the fat tail and the fat that covers the entrails and the 1lobe of the liver and the two kidneys and the fat that is on them and the right thigh (for it is a ram of 2ordination), 23and one cake of bread and aone cake of bread mixed with oil and one wafer from the basket of unleavened bread which is set before Yahweh; 24and you shall put 1all these 2in the 3hands of Aaron and 4in the 5hands of his sons, and you shall wave them as a wave offering before Yahweh. 25“aYou shall take them from their hands and offer them up in smoke on the altar on the burnt offering for a soothing aroma before Yahweh; it is an offering by fire to Yahweh.
26“Then you shall take athe breast of Aaron’s ram of 1ordination and wave it as a wave offering before Yahweh; and it shall be your portion. 27“You shall set apart as holy the breast of the wave offering and the thigh of the 1contribution offering which was waved and which was 2raised up as a contribution from the ram of 3ordination, from the one which was for Aaron and from the one which was for his sons. 28“It shall be for Aaron and his sons as a perpetual statute from the sons of Israel, for it is a 1contribution offering; and it shall be a 2contribution offering from the sons of Israel from the sacrifices of their peace offerings, even their 3contribution offering to Yahweh.
29“aThe holy garments of Aaron shall be for his sons after him, 1that in them they may be anointed and ordained. 30“For seven days the one of his sons who is priest in his stead shall put them on when he comes into the tent of meeting to minister in the holy place.
Yahweh Will Meet and Speak to Israel
31“You shall take the ram of 1ordination and aboil its flesh in a holy place. 32“Aaron and his sons shall eat the flesh of the ram and the bread that is in the basket, at the doorway of the tent of meeting. 33“Thus athey shall eat 1those things by which atonement was made 2to ordain them, 3to set them apart as holy; but a 4,blayman shall not eat them, because they are holy. 34“aIf any of the flesh of 1ordination or any of the bread remains until morning, then you shall burn the remainder with fire; it shall not be eaten, because it is holy.
35“Thus you shall do to Aaron and to his sons, according to all that I have commanded you; you shall 1ordain them through aseven days. 36“aEach day you shall offer a bull as a sin offering for atonement, and you shall 1purify the altar when you make atonement 2for it, and byou shall anoint it to set it apart as holy. 37“For seven days you shall make atonement 1for the altar and set it apart as holy; then athe altar shall be most holy, and whatever touches the altar shall be holy.
38“Now athis is what you shall offer on the altar: two one year old lambs each day, continuously. 39“The aone lamb you shall offer in the morning, and the second lamb you shall offer 1at twilight; 40and there shall be 1one-tenth of an ephah of fine flour mixed with one-fourth of a 2hin of beaten oil, and one-fourth of a hin of wine for a drink offering with the one lamb. 41“The second lamb you shall offer 1at twilight, and you shall offer with it 2the same grain offering and 3the same drink offering as in the morning, for a soothing aroma, an offering by fire to Yahweh. 42“It shall be a continual burnt offering throughout your generations at the doorway of the tent of meeting before Yahweh, awhere I will meet with you, to speak to you there. 43“I will meet there with the sons of Israel, and it shall be set apart as holy by My glory. 44“I will set the tent of meeting and the altar apart as holy; I will also set Aaron and his sons apart as holy to minister as priests to Me. 45“aI will dwell among the sons of Israel and will be their God. 46“They shall know that aI am Yahweh their God who brought them out of the land of Egypt, that I might dwell among them; I am Yahweh their God.
The Altar of Incense
30“Moreover, you shall make aan altar as a place for burning incense; you shall make it of acacia wood. 2“Its length shall be a 1cubit, and its width a cubit; it shall be square. And its height shall be two cubits; its horns shall be 2of the same piece. 3“You shall overlay it with pure gold, its top and its 1sides all around, and its horns; and you shall make a gold molding all around for it. 4“You shall make two gold rings for it under its molding; you shall make them on its two side walls—on 1opposite sides—and 2they 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“You shall put 1this altar in front of the veil that is 2near the ark of the testimony, in front of the 3,amercy seat that is over the testimony, where I will meet with you. 7“Aaron shall burn fragrant incense on it; he shall burn it every morning when he trims the lamps. 8“When Aaron 1trims the lamps 2at twilight, he shall burn incense. There shall be continual incense before Yahweh throughout your generations. 9“You shall not offer any strange incense on 1this altar or burnt offering or grain offering; and you shall not pour out a drink offering on it. 10“Aaron shall amake atonement on its horns once a year; he shall make atonement on it with the blood of the sin offering of atonement once a year throughout your generations. It is most holy to Yahweh.”
The Census and the Atonement Price
11Yahweh also spoke to Moses, saying, 12“When you take aa 1census of the sons of Israel 2to number them, then each one of them shall give ba price of atonement for 3himself to Yahweh when you 4number them, so that there will be no plague among them when you 5number them. 13“This is what everyone who 1is numbered shall give: half a 2shekel according to the shekel of the sanctuary (athe shekel is twenty 3gerahs), half a shekel as a 4contribution to Yahweh. 14“Everyone who 1is numbered, from twenty years old and over, shall give the 2contribution to Yahweh. 15“The rich shall not pay more and the poor shall not pay less than the half shekel when you give the 1contribution to Yahweh to make atonement for your souls. 16“And you shall take the atonement money from the sons of Israel and shall give it for the service of the tent of meeting, that it may be a remembrance for the sons of Israel before Yahweh, to make atonement for your souls.”
The Laver for the Priestly Washing
17And Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 18“You shall also make aa laver of 1bronze, with its stand of bronze, for washing; and you shall bput it between the tent of meeting and the altar, and you shall put water in it. 19“And Aaron and his sons shall awash their hands and their feet from it; 20when they come into the tent of meeting, they shall wash with water, so that they will not die; or when they approach the altar to minister, by offering up in smoke a fire sacrifice to Yahweh. 21“So they shall wash their hands and their feet, so that they will not die; and ait shall be a perpetual statute for them, for 1Aaron and his seed throughout their generations.”
The Holy Anointing Oil
22Moreover, Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 23“But as for you, take for yourself the finest of spices: of flowing myrrh 500 shekels, and of fragrant cinnamon half as much, 250, and of fragrant cane 250, 24and of cassia 500, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, and of olive oil a 1hin. 25“And you shall make 1of these a holy anointing oil, a perfume mixture, the work of a perfumer; it shall be aa holy anointing oil. 26“And with it ayou shall anoint the tent of meeting and the ark of the testimony, 27and the table and all its utensils, and the lampstand and its utensils, and the altar of incense, 28and the altar of burnt offering and all its utensils, and the laver and its stand. 29“You shall also set them apart as holy, that they may be most holy; whatever touches them shall be holy. 30“aAnd you shall anoint Aaron and his sons, and you shall set them apart as holy, that they may minister as priests to Me. 31“And you shall speak to the sons of Israel, saying, ‘This shall be a holy anointing oil to Me throughout your generations. 32‘It shall not be poured on 1anyone’s body, nor shall you make any like it in 2the same specifications; ait is holy, and it shall be holy to you. 33‘aWhoever shall mix any like it or whoever puts any of it on a 1layman 2,bshall be cut off from his people.’”
The Incense
34Then Yahweh said to Moses, “Take for yourself fragrances, stacte and onycha and galbanum, fragrances with pure frankincense; there shall be an equal part of each. 35“With it you shall make incense, a perfume, the work of a perfumer, salted, pure, and holy. 36“You shall beat some of it very fine, and you shall put part of it before the testimony in the tent of meeting awhere I will meet with you; it shall be most holy to you. 37“The incense which you shall make, ayou shall not make in 1the same specifications for yourselves; it shall be holy to you for Yahweh. 38“aWhoever shall make any like it, to 1use as perfume, 2shall be cut off from his people.”
Bezalel and Oholiab
31aAnd Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 2“See, I have called by name Bezalel, the ason of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah. 3“And I have afilled him with the Spirit of God in wisdom, in discernment, in knowledge, and in all kinds of 1craftsmanship, 4to devise artistic designs for work in gold, in silver, and in 1bronze, 5and in the cutting of stones 1for settings, and in the carving of wood, in order for him to work in all kinds of 2craftsmanship. 6“And behold, I Myself have 1appointed with him aOholiab, the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan; and in the hearts of all who are 2wise at heart I have put 3wisdom, that they may make all that I have commanded you: 7athe tent of meeting, and bthe ark of testimony, and cthe 1mercy seat upon it, and all the furniture of the tent, 8athe table also and its 1utensils, and the bpure gold lampstand with all its 2utensils, and cthe altar of incense, 9athe altar of burnt offering also with all its 1utensils, and bthe laver and its stand, 10the 1,awoven garments as well, and the holy garments for Aaron the priest, and the garments of his sons, with which to minister as priests; 11athe anointing oil also, and the bfragrant incense for the holy place, they shall make them according to all that I have commanded you.”
The Sign of the Sabbath
12Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 13“But as for you, speak to the sons of Israel, saying, ‘aYou shall surely keep My sabbaths; for this is ba sign between Me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I am Yahweh who makes you holy. 14‘Therefore you shall keep the sabbath, for it is holy to you. aEveryone who profanes it shall surely be put to death; for whoever does any work on it, that person shall be cut off from among his people. 15‘aSix days work may be done, but on the seventh day there is a bsabbath of complete rest, holy to Yahweh; cwhoever does any work on the sabbath day shall surely be put to death. 16‘So the sons of Israel shall keep the sabbath, to 1celebrate the sabbath throughout their generations as an everlasting covenant.’ 17“aIt is a sign between Me and the sons of Israel forever; bfor in six days Yahweh made heaven and earth, but on the seventh day He rested and was refreshed.”
18When He had finished speaking with him upon Mount Sinai, He gave Moses athe two tablets of the testimony, tablets of stone, bwritten by the finger of God.
The Golden Calf
32Then the people saw that Moses adelayed to come down from the mountain. So the people assembled about Aaron and said to him, “Arise, bmake us 1gods who will go before us; as for cthis Moses, the man who brought us up from the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.” 2And Aaron said to them, “aTear off the gold rings which are in the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me.” 3Then all the people tore off the gold rings which were in their ears and brought them to Aaron. 4And he took this from their hand and fashioned it with a graving tool and made it into a amolten calf; and they said, “1These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt.” 5And Aaron looked and built an altar before it; and Aaron made a proclamation and said, “Tomorrow shall be a feast to Yahweh.” 6So the next day they rose early and aoffered burnt offerings and brought peace offerings; and bthe people sat down to eat and to drink and rose up cto play.
7Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, “Go! Go down at once, for your people, whom ayou brought up from the land of Egypt, have bcorrupted themselves. 8“They have quickly turned aside from the way which I commanded them. aThey have made for themselves a molten calf and have worshiped it and bhave sacrificed to it and said, ‘1,cThese are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt!’” 9aAnd Yahweh said to Moses, “I have seen this people, and behold, they are ba stiff-necked people. 10“Now then alet Me alone, that My anger may burn against them and that I may consume them; and bI will make you a great nation.”
11Then aMoses entreated 1the favor of Yahweh his God and said, “O Yahweh, why does Your anger burn against Your people whom You have brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a strong hand? 12“Why should athe Egyptians speak, saying, ‘With evil intent He brought 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 concerning doing harm to Your people. 13“Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, Your servants to whom You aswore by Yourself, and You said to them, ‘I will bmultiply your seed as the stars of the heavens, and call this land of which I have spoken I will give to your seed, and they shall inherit it forever.’” 14aSo Yahweh relented concerning the harm which He said He would do to His people.
15aThen Moses turned and went down from the mountain. And the two tablets of the testimony were in his hand, btablets which were written on both 1sides; they were written on one side and the other. 16Now the tablets were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God engraved on the tablets. 17Then Joshua heard the sound of the people 1as they shouted. And he said to Moses, “There is a sound of war in the camp.” 18But he said, “It is not the sound of the cry of triumph,Nor is it the sound of the cry of defeat;But the sound of singing I hear.”
19Now it happened, as soon as 1Moses came near the camp, that ahe saw the calf and the dancing; and Moses’ anger burned, and bhe threw the tablets from his hands and shattered them 2at the foot of the mountain. 20aThen he took the calf which they had made and burned it with fire and ground it to powder and scattered it over the surface of the water and made the sons of Israel drink it.
21Then Moses said to Aaron, “What did this people do to you, that you have brought such great sin upon them?” 22And Aaron said, “Do not let the anger of my lord burn; you know the people yourself, athat they are 1prone to evil. 23“Indeed athey said to me, ‘Make 1gods for us who will go before us; for this Moses, the man who brought us up from the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.’ 24“And I said to them, ‘Whoever has any gold, let them tear it off.’ So they gave it to me, and aI threw it into the fire, and out came this calf.”
25Now Moses saw that the people were 1out of control—for Aaron had alet them 2get out of control to be a derision among 3their enemies— 26so Moses stood in the gate of the camp and said, “Whoever is for Yahweh, come to me!” And all the sons of Levi gathered together to him. 27And he said to them, “Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel, ‘Every man among you put his sword upon his thigh, and go back and forth from gate to gate in the camp, and kill every man his brother and every man his friend and every man his 1neighbor.’” 28So athe sons of Levi did according to the word of Moses, and about three thousand men of the people fell that day. 29Then Moses said, “1Be ordained today to Yahweh—for every man has been against his son and against his brother—in order that He may bestow a blessing upon you today.”
30Now it happened on the next day, that Moses said to the people, “aYou yourselves have 1committed a great sin; but now I am going up to Yahweh, perhaps I can bmake atonement for your sin.” 31Then Moses returned to Yahweh and said, “Alas, this people has 1committed a great sin, and they have made 2,agods of gold for themselves. 32“But now, if You will forgive their sin—but if not, please blot me out from Your abook which You have written!” 33And Yahweh said to Moses, “Whoever has sinned against Me, aI will blot him out of My book. 34“But now go, guide the people awhere I told you. Behold, bMy angel shall go before you; nevertheless cin the day when I 1punish, dI will 2punish them for their sin.” 35aThen Yahweh smote the people because of bwhat they did with the calf which Aaron had made.