Chapter 16

  1. Now this is that which you shall offer upon the altar: two lambs of the first year, day by day continually. The one lamb you shall offer in the morning and the other lamb you shall offer at sunset. And with the one lamb, a tenth part of flour mingled with the fourth part of a hin of beaten oil, and the fourth part of a hin of wine for a drink offering. And the other lamb you shall offer at sunset, and shall do unto it according to the grain offering of the morning, and according to the drink offering thereof, for a sweet savor, an offering made by fire unto the Lord. This shall be a continual burnt offering throughout your generations at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation before the Lord, where I will meet you to speak there unto you. And there I will meet with the children of Israel, and the tabernacle shall be sanctified by my glory. And I will sanctify the tabernacle of the congregation and the altar. I will sanctify also both Aaron and his sons to minister to me in the priest’s office. And I will dwell among the children of Israel and will be their God. And they shall know that I am the Lord their God that brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, that I may dwell among them. I am the Lord their God.
  2. And you shall make an altar to burn incense upon; of shittim wood shall you make it. A cubit shall be the length thereof, and a cubit the breadth thereof; square shall it be, and two cubits shall be the height thereof. The horns thereof shall be of the same. And you shall overlay it with pure gold — the top thereof, and the sides thereof round about, and the horns thereof. And you shall make unto it a molding of gold round about. And two golden rings shall you make to it under the molding of it, by the two corners thereof. Upon the two sides of it shall you make it. And they shall be for places for the staves to bear it. And you shall make the staves of shittim wood and overlay them with gold. And you shall put it before the veil that is by the ark of the testimony, before the mercy seat that is over the testimony, where I will meet with you. And Aaron shall burn thereon sweet incense every morning. When he dresses the lamps, he shall burn incense upon it, and when Aaron lights the lamps at sunset, he shall burn incense upon it, a perpetual incense before the Lord throughout your generations. You shall offer no strange incense thereon, nor burnt sacrifice, nor grain offering, neither shall you pour drink offering thereon. And Aaron shall make an atonement upon the horns of it once in a year with 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 unto the Lord.
  3. And the Lord spoke unto Moses, saying, When you take the sum of the children of Israel after their number, then shall they give every man a ransom for his soul unto the Lord when you number them, that there be no plague among them when you number them. This they shall give, everyone that passes among them that are numbered: half a shekel after the shekel of the sanctuary (a shekel is twenty gerahs). A half shekel shall be the offering of the Lord. Everyone that passes among them that are numbered, from twenty years old and above, shall give an offering unto the Lord. The rich shall not give more and the poor shall not give less than half a shekel when they give an offering unto the Lord to make an atonement for your souls. And you shall take the atonement money of the children of Israel and shall appoint it for the service of the tabernacle of the congregation, that it may be a memorial unto the children of Israel before the Lord to make an atonement for your souls.
  4. And the Lord spoke unto Moses, saying, You shall also make a basin of brass, and his foot also of brass, to wash with. And you shall put it between the tabernacle of the congregation and the altar, and you shall put water therein, for Aaron and his sons shall wash their hands and their feet thereat. When they go into the tabernacle of the congregation, they shall wash with water, that they not die; or when they come near to the altar to minister, to burn offering made by fire unto the Lord, so they shall wash their hands and their feet, that they not die. And it shall be a statute for ever to them, even to him and to his seed throughout their generations.
  5. Moreover, the Lord spoke unto Moses, saying, Take also unto yourself principal spices: of pure myrrh, five hundred shekels; and of sweet cinnamon, half so much, even two hundred fifty shekels; and of sweet calamus, two hundred fifty shekels; and of cassia, five hundred shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary; and of olive oil, a hin. And you shall make it an oil of holy ointment, an ointment compound after the art of the apothecary. It shall be a holy anointing oil. And you shall anoint the tabernacle of the congregation with it, and the ark of the testimony, and the table and all his vessels, and the candlestick and his vessels, and the altar of incense, and the altar of burnt offering with all his vessels, and the basin and his foot. And you shall sanctify them, that they may be most holy. Whatever touches them shall be holy. And you shall anoint Aaron and his sons, and consecrate them, that they may minister unto me in the priest’s office. And you shall speak unto the children of Israel, saying, This shall be a holy anointing oil unto 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 it shall be holy unto you. Whoever compounds any like it, or whoever puts any of it upon a stranger, shall even be cut off from his people.
  6. And the Lord said unto Moses, Take unto yourself sweet spices: stacte, and onycha, and galbanum; these sweet spices with pure frankincense — of each shall there be a like weight. And you shall make it a perfume, a mixture after the art of the apothecary, mixed together, pure and holy. And you shall beat some of it very small, and put of it before the testimony in the tabernacle of the congregation, where I will meet with you. It shall be unto you most holy. And as for the perfume which you shall make, you shall not make to yourselves according to the composition thereof; it shall be unto you holy for the Lord. Whoever shall make like unto that, to smell of it, shall even be cut off from his people.
  7. And the Lord spoke unto Moses, saying, See, I have called by name Bezalel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah. And I have filled him with the spirit of God, in wisdom, and in understanding, and in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship, to devise clever works, to work in gold, and in silver, and in brass, and in cutting of stones to set them, and in carving of timber, to work in all manner of workmanship. And I, behold, I have given with him Oholiab the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan. And in the hearts of all that are wise-hearted I have put wisdom, that they may make all that I have commanded you: the tabernacle of the congregation, and the ark of the testimony, and the mercy seat that is thereupon, and all the furniture of the tabernacle, and the table and his furniture, and the pure candlestick with all his furniture, and the altar of incense, and the altar of burnt offering with all his furniture, and the basin and his foot, and the cloths of service, and the holy garments for Aaron the priest, and the garments of his sons to minister in the priest’s office, and the anointing oil, and sweet incense for the holy place. According to all that I have commanded you shall they do.
  8. And the Lord spoke unto Moses, saying, Speak also unto the children of Israel, saying, Truly my Sabbaths you shall keep, for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I am the Lord that does sanctify you. You shall keep the Sabbath therefore, for it is holy unto you. Everyone that defiles it shall surely be put to death, for whoever does any work therein, that soul shall be cut off from among his people. Six days may work be done, but in the seventh is the Sabbath of rest, holy to the Lord. Whoever does any work in the Sabbath day, he shall surely be put to death. Wherefore, the children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, to observe the Sabbath throughout their generations for a perpetual covenant. It is a sign between me and the children of Israel for ever; for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested and was refreshed. And he gave unto Moses, when he had made an end of communing with him upon Mount Sinai, two tablets of testimony, tablets of stone, written with the finger of God.