Chronological Plan

¹“You are to make an altar for the burning of incense; make it of acacia wood.

²It must be square, eighteen inches long and eighteen inches wide; it must be thirty-six inches high. Its horns must be of one piece with it.

³Overlay its top, all around its sides, and its horns with pure gold; make a gold molding all around it.

⁴Make two gold rings for it under the molding on two of its sides; put these on opposite sides of it to be holders for the poles to carry it with.

⁵Make the poles of acacia wood and overlay them with gold.

⁶“You are to place the altar in front of the curtain by the ark of the testimony — in front of the mercy seat that is over the testimony — where I will meet with you.

⁷Aaron must burn fragrant incense on it; he must burn it every morning when he tends the lamps.

⁸When Aaron sets up the lamps at twilight, he must burn incense. There is to be an incense offering before the LORD throughout your generations.

⁹You must not offer unauthorized incense on it, or a burnt or grain offering; you are not to pour a drink offering on it.

¹⁰“Once a year Aaron is to perform the atonement ceremony for the altar. Throughout your generations he is to perform the atonement ceremony for it once a year, with the blood of the sin offering for atonement on the horns. The altar is especially holy to the LORD.”

¹¹The LORD spoke to Moses:

¹²“When you take a census of the Israelites to register them, each of the men must pay a ransom for his life to the LORD as they are registered. Then no plague will come on them as they are registered.

¹³Everyone who is registered must pay half a shekel according to the sanctuary shekel (twenty gerahs to the shekel). This half shekel is a contribution to the LORD.

¹⁴Each man who is registered, twenty years old or more, must give this contribution to the LORD.

¹⁵The wealthy may not give more and the poor may not give less than half a shekel when giving the contribution to the LORD to atone for your lives.

¹⁶Take the atonement price from the Israelites and use it for the service of the tent of meeting. It will serve as a reminder for the Israelites before the LORD to atone for your lives.”

¹⁷The LORD spoke to Moses:

¹⁸“Make a bronze basin for washing and a bronze stand for it. Set it between the tent of meeting and the altar, and put water in it.

¹⁹Aaron and his sons must wash their hands and feet from the basin.

²⁰Whenever they enter the tent of meeting or approach the altar to minister by burning an offering to the LORD, they must wash with water so that they will not die.

²¹They must wash their hands and feet so that they will not die; this is to be a permanent statute for them, for Aaron and his descendants throughout their generations.”

²²The LORD spoke to Moses:

²³“Take for yourself the finest spices: 12½ pounds of liquid myrrh, half as much (6¼ pounds ) of fragrant cinnamon, 6¼ pounds of fragrant cane,

²⁴12½ pounds of cassia (by the sanctuary shekel), and a gallon of olive oil.

²⁵Prepare from these a holy anointing oil, a scented blend, the work of a perfumer; it will be holy anointing oil.

²⁶“With it you are to anoint the tent of meeting, the ark of the testimony,

²⁷the table with all its utensils, the lampstand with its utensils, the altar of incense,

²⁸the altar of burnt offering with all its utensils, and the basin with its stand.

²⁹Consecrate them and they will be especially holy. Whatever touches them will be consecrated.

³⁰Anoint Aaron and his sons and consecrate them to serve me as priests.

³¹“Tell the Israelites: This will be my holy anointing oil throughout your generations.

³²It must not be used for ordinary anointing on a person’s body, and you must not make anything like it using its formula. It is holy, and it must be holy to you.

³³Anyone who blends something like it or puts some of it on an unauthorized person must be cut off from his people.”

³⁴The LORD said to Moses: “Take fragrant spices: stacte, onycha, and galbanum; the spices and pure frankincense are to be in equal measures.

³⁵Prepare expertly blended incense from these; it is to be seasoned with salt, pure and holy.

³⁶Grind some of it into a fine powder and put some in front of the testimony in the tent of meeting, where I will meet with you. It must be especially holy to you.

³⁷As for the incense you are making, you must not make any for yourselves using its formula. It is to be regarded by you as holy — belonging to the LORD.

³⁸Anyone who makes something like it to smell its fragrance must be cut off from his people.”

¹The LORD also spoke to Moses:

²“Look, I have appointed by name Bezalel son of Uri, son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah.

³I have filled him with God’s Spirit, with wisdom, understanding, and ability in every craft

⁴to design artistic works in gold, silver, and bronze,

⁵to cut gemstones for mounting, and to carve wood for work in every craft.

⁶I have also selected Oholiab son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan, to be with him. I have put wisdom in the heart of every skilled artisan in order to make all that I have commanded you:

⁷the tent of meeting, the ark of the testimony, the mercy seat that is on top of it, and all the other furnishings of the tent  —

⁸the table with its utensils, the pure gold lampstand with all its utensils, the altar of incense,

⁹the altar of burnt offering with all its utensils, the basin with its stand —

¹⁰the specially woven garments, both the holy garments for the priest Aaron and the garments for his sons to serve as priests,

¹¹the anointing oil, and the fragrant incense for the sanctuary. They must make them according to all that I have commanded you.”

¹²The LORD said to Moses:

¹³“Tell the Israelites: You must observe my Sabbaths, for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations, so that you will know that I am the LORD who consecrates you.

¹⁴Observe the Sabbath, for it is holy to you. Whoever profanes it must be put to death. If anyone does work on it, that person must be cut off from his people.

¹⁵Work may be done for six days, but on the seventh day there must be a Sabbath of complete rest, holy to the LORD. Anyone who does work on the Sabbath day must be put to death.

¹⁶The Israelites must observe the Sabbath, celebrating it throughout their generations as a permanent covenant.

¹⁷It is a sign forever between me and the Israelites, for in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, but on the seventh day he rested and was refreshed.”

¹⁸When he finished speaking with Moses on Mount Sinai, he gave him the two tablets of the testimony, stone tablets inscribed by the finger of God.

¹When the people saw that Moses delayed in coming down from the mountain, they gathered around Aaron and said to him, “Come, make gods for us who will go before us because this Moses, the man who brought us up from the land of Egypt — we don’t know what has happened to him!”

²Aaron replied to them, “Take off the gold rings that are on the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters and bring them to me.”

³So all the people took off the gold rings that were on their ears and brought them to Aaron.

⁴He took the gold from them, fashioned it with an engraving tool, and made it into an image of a calf. Then they said, “Israel, these are your gods, who brought you up from the land of Egypt!”

⁵When Aaron saw this, he built an altar in front of it and made an announcement: “There will be a festival to the LORD tomorrow.”

⁶Early the next morning they arose, offered burnt offerings, and presented fellowship offerings. The people sat down to eat and drink, and got up to party.

⁷The LORD spoke to Moses: “Go down at once! For your people you brought up from the land of Egypt have acted corruptly.

⁸They have quickly turned from the way I commanded them; they have made for themselves an image of a calf. They have bowed down to it, sacrificed to it, and said, ‘Israel, these are your gods, who brought you up from the land of Egypt.’”

⁹The LORD also said to Moses: “I have seen this people, and they are indeed a stiff-necked people.

¹⁰Now leave me alone, so that my anger can burn against them and I can destroy them. Then I will make you into a great nation.”

¹¹But Moses sought the favor of the LORD his God: “LORD, why does your anger burn against your people you brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and a strong hand?

¹²Why should the Egyptians say, ‘He brought them out with an evil intent to kill them in the mountains and eliminate them from the face of the earth’? Turn from your fierce anger and relent concerning this disaster planned for your people.

¹³Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac, and Israel — you swore to them by yourself and declared, ‘I will make your offspring as numerous as the stars of the sky and will give your offspring all this land that I have promised, and they will inherit it forever.’”

¹⁴So the LORD relented concerning the disaster he had said he would bring on his people.

¹⁵Then Moses turned and went down the mountain with the two tablets of the testimony in his hands. They were inscribed on both sides — inscribed front and back.

¹⁶The tablets were the work of God, and the writing was God’s writing, engraved on the tablets.

¹⁷When Joshua heard the sound of the people as they shouted, he said to Moses, “There is a sound of war in the camp.”

¹⁸But Moses replied: It’s not the sound of a victory cry and not the sound of a cry of defeat; I hear the sound of singing!

¹⁹As he approached the camp and saw the calf and the dancing, Moses became enraged and threw the tablets out of his hands, smashing them at the base of the mountain.

²⁰He took the calf they had made, burned it up, and ground it to powder. He scattered the powder over the surface of the water and forced the Israelites to drink the water.

²¹Then Moses asked Aaron, “What did these people do to you that you have led them into such a grave sin?”

²²“Don’t be enraged, my lord,” Aaron replied. “You yourself know that the people are intent on evil.

²³They said to me, ‘Make gods for us who will go before us because this Moses, the man who brought us up from the land of Egypt — we don’t know what has happened to him!’

²⁴So I said to them, ‘Whoever has gold, take it off,’ and they gave it to me. When I threw it into the fire, out came this calf!”

²⁵Moses saw that the people were out of control, for Aaron had let them get out of control, making them a laughingstock to their enemies.

²⁶And Moses stood at the camp’s entrance and said, “Whoever is for the LORD, come to me.” And all the Levites gathered around him.

²⁷He told them, “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says, ‘Every man fasten his sword to his side; go back and forth through the camp from entrance to entrance, and each of you kill his brother, his friend, and his neighbor.’”

²⁸The Levites did as Moses commanded, and about three thousand men fell dead that day among the people.

²⁹Afterward Moses said, “Today you have been dedicated to the LORD, since each man went against his son and his brother. Therefore you have brought a blessing on yourselves today.”

³⁰The following day Moses said to the people, “You have committed a grave sin. Now I will go up to the LORD; perhaps I will be able to atone for your sin.”

³¹So Moses returned to the LORD and said, “Oh, these people have committed a grave sin; they have made a god of gold for themselves.

³²Now if you would only forgive their sin. But if not, please erase me from the book you have written.”

³³The LORD replied to Moses: “Whoever has sinned against me I will erase from my book.

³⁴Now go, lead the people to the place I told you about; see, my angel will go before you. But on the day I settle accounts, I will hold them accountable for their sin.”

³⁵And the LORD inflicted a plague on the people for what they did with the calf Aaron had made.