Exodus 29-30

Easy-to-Read Version

The Ceremony for Appointing the Priests

29 “Now I will tell you what you must do to show that Aaron and his sons serve me in a special way as priests. Find one young bull and two rams that have nothing wrong with them. ² Then use fine wheat flour without yeast to make bread. And use the same things to make cakes mixed with olive oil. Make small thin cakes spread with oil. ³ Put this bread and the cakes in a basket. Then give the basket to Aaron and his sons. At the same time, give them the bull and the two rams.

⁴ “Then bring Aaron and his sons to the entrance of the Meeting Tent. Wash them with water. ⁵ Put the special clothes on Aaron. Put on him the white woven robe and the blue robe that is worn with the ephod. Put the ephod and the judgment pouch on him. Then tie the beautiful cloth belt on him. ⁶ Put the turban on his head and the special crown around the turban. ⁷ Take the anointing oil and pour it on Aaron’s head. This will show that he is chosen for this work.

⁸ “Then bring Aaron’s sons to that place. Put the white woven robes on them. ⁹ Then tie cloth belts around their waists, and give them cloth caps to wear. At that time they will begin to be priests. They will be priests because of the special law that will continue forever. This is the way you will make Aaron and his sons priests.

¹⁰ “Then bring the bull to that place at the front of the Meeting Tent. Aaron and his sons must put their hands on the bull’s head. ¹¹ Then kill the bull there in the Lord’s presence at the entrance to the Meeting Tent. ¹² Then take some of the bull’s blood and go to the altar. Use your finger to put some blood on the horns of the altar. Pour out all the blood that is left at the bottom of the altar. ¹³ Then take all the fat from inside the bull, the fatty part of the liver, both kidneys, and the fat around them. Burn this fat on the altar. ¹⁴ Then take the bull’s meat, his skin, and his other parts and go outside your camp and burn them. This bull is an offering to take away the sins of the priests.

¹⁵ “Then tell Aaron and his sons to put their hands on the head of one of the rams. ¹⁶ Kill that ram and save the blood. Throw the blood against the altar on all four sides. ¹⁷ Then cut the ram into several pieces. Wash all the parts from inside the ram and the legs. Put these things with the head and the other pieces of the ram. ¹⁸ Then burn everything on the altar. It is a burnt offering to the Lord. It is a sweet-smelling gift to the Lord.

¹⁹ “Tell Aaron and his sons to put their hands on the other ram. ²⁰ Kill that ram and save some of its blood. Put that blood on the right ear lobes of Aaron and his sons. Also put some of the blood on the thumbs of their right hands and on the big toes of their right feet. Then throw blood against all four sides of the altar. ²¹ Then take some of the blood from the altar. Mix it with the special oil and sprinkle it on Aaron and his clothes. And sprinkle it on his sons and their clothes. This will show that Aaron and his sons serve me in a special way. And it will show that their clothes are used only at special times.

²² “Then take the fat from the ram. (This is the ram that will be used in the ceremony to make Aaron the high priest.) Take the fat from around the tail and the fat that covers the organs inside the body. Then take the fat that covers the liver, both kidneys and the fat on them, and the right leg. ²³ Then take the basket of bread that you made without yeast. This is the basket you put before the Lord. Take these things out of the basket: one loaf of bread, one cake made with oil, and one small thin cake. ²⁴ Give them to Aaron and his sons. Tell them to hold these things in their hands before the Lord. This will be a special offering to the Lord. ²⁵ Then take them from Aaron and his sons and put them on the altar with the ram. Then burn everything on the altar. It is a burnt offering to the Lord. It is a sweet-smelling gift to the Lord.

²⁶ “Then take the breast from the ram. (This is the ram that will be used in the ceremony to make Aaron the high priest.) Hold the breast of the ram before the Lord as a special offering. Then take it back and keep it. This part of the animal will be for you. ²⁷ Take the breast and the leg of the ram that was used to make Aaron the high priest and make these parts holy. Then give these special parts to Aaron and his sons. ²⁸ The Israelites will always give Aaron and his sons these parts. These parts will always belong to the priests when the Israelites make an offering to the Lord. When they give these parts to the priest, it will be the same as giving them to the Lord.

²⁹ “Save these special clothes that were made for Aaron and his descendants. They will wear these clothes when they are chosen to be priests. ³⁰ Aaron’s son will become the next high priest after him. That son will wear these clothes seven days when he comes to the Meeting Tent to serve in the Holy Place.

³¹ “Cook the meat from the ram that was used to make Aaron the high priest. Cook that meat in a holy place. ³² Then Aaron and his sons must eat the meat at the front door of the Meeting Tent. And they must also eat the bread that is in the basket. ³³ These offerings were used to take away their sins when they were made priests. Now they should eat these offerings. ³⁴ If any of the meat from that ram or any of the bread is left the next morning, then it must be burned. You must not eat that bread or the meat because it should be eaten only in a special way at a special time.

³⁵ “You must do all these things for Aaron and his sons. You must do them exactly as I told you. The ceremony for appointing them to be priests must continue for seven days. ³⁶ You must kill one bull every day for seven days. This will be an offering for the sins of Aaron and his sons. You will use these sacrifices to make the altar pure, and pour olive oil on the altar to make it holy. ³⁷ You will make the altar pure and holy for seven days. At that time the altar will be most holy. Anything that touches the altar will also be holy.

³⁸ “Every day you must make an offering on the altar. You must kill two lambs that are one year old. ³⁹ Offer one lamb in the morning and the other in the evening. ^40-41 When you kill the first lamb, also offer 8 cups^[a] of fine wheat flour. Mix that flour with 1 quart^[b] of the best oil. Also offer 1 quart of wine as an offering. When you kill the second lamb in the evening, also offer the 8 cups of fine flour mixed with 1 quart of the best oil and offer 1 quart of wine. This is the same as you did in the morning. This will be a sweet-smelling gift to the Lord. When you burn this offering, he will smell it, and it will please him.

⁴² “You must burn these things as an offering to the Lord every day. Do this at the entrance of the Meeting Tent before the Lord. Continue to do this for all time. When you make the offering, I will meet you there and speak to you. ⁴³ I will meet with the Israelites at that place, and my Glory will make that place holy.

⁴⁴ “So I will make the Meeting Tent and the altar holy. I will also make Aaron and his sons holy so that they can serve me as priests. ⁴⁵ I will live with the Israelites. I will be their God. ⁴⁶ The people will know that I am the Lord their God. They will know that I am the one who led them out of Egypt so that I could live with them. I am the Lord their God.

The Altar for Burning Incense

30 “Make an altar from acacia wood. You will use this altar for burning incense. ² You must make the altar square—1 cubit^[c] long and 1 cubit wide. It must be 2 cubits^[d] high. There will be horns at the four corners. These horns must be made as one piece with the altar. ³ Cover the top, the horns, and all four sides of the altar with pure gold. Then put gold trim all around the altar. ⁴ Below this trim there should be two gold rings. There should be two gold rings on opposite sides of the altar. These gold rings will be used with poles to carry the altar. ⁵ Make the poles from acacia wood and cover them with gold. ⁶ Put the altar just outside the special curtain that hangs in front of the Box of the Agreement. So the altar will be in front of the mercy-cover that is above the Agreement. This is the place where I will meet with you.

⁷ “Aaron must burn sweet-smelling incense on the altar every morning. He will do this when he comes to care for the lamps. ⁸ He must burn incense again when he checks the lamps in the evening so that incense will be burned before the Lord every day forever. ⁹ Don’t use this altar for offering any other kind of incense or burnt offering or for any kind of grain offering or drink offering.

¹⁰ “Once a year Aaron must make a special sacrifice. He will use the blood of the sin offering to erase the sins of the people. He will do this at the horns of this altar. This day will be called the Day of Atonement, and it will be a very special day for the Lord.”

The Temple Tax

¹¹ The Lord said to Moses, ¹² “Count the Israelites so that you will know how many people there are. Every time this is done, each man must make a payment for himself to the Lord so that nothing terrible will happen to the people. ¹³ Each man who is counted must pay 1/2 shekel of silver. (That is 1/2 shekel by the official measure. This shekel weighs 20 gerahs.^[e]) This half shekel is an offering to the Lord. ¹⁴ Every man who is at least 20 years old must be counted. And every man who is counted must give the Lord this offering. ¹⁵ The rich must not give more than 1/2 shekel, and the poor must not give less than 1/2 shekel. All people will make the same offering to the Lord. This will be a payment for your life. ¹⁶ Gather this money from the Israelites. Use the money for the service in the Meeting Tent. This payment will be a way for the Lord to remember his people. They will be paying for their own lives.”

The Washing Bowl

¹⁷ The Lord said to Moses, ¹⁸ “Make a bronze bowl and put it on a bronze base. You will use this for washing. Put the bowl between the Meeting Tent and the altar. Fill the bowl with water. ¹⁹ Aaron and his sons must wash their hands and feet with the water from this bowl. ²⁰ Every time they enter the Meeting Tent, they must wash with that water so that they will not die. They must also wash every time they come near the altar to burn incense or to offer gifts to the Lord. ²¹ They must wash their hands and their feet so that they will not die. This will be a law that continues forever for Aaron and his people who will live in the future.”

The Anointing Oil

²² Then the Lord said to Moses, ²³ “Find the finest spices. Get 12 pounds^[f] of liquid myrrh, half that amount (that is, 6 pounds^[g]) of sweet-smelling cinnamon, and 12 pounds of sweet-smelling cane, ²⁴ and 12 pounds of cassia. Use the official measure to measure all these things. Also get 1 gallon^[h] of olive oil.

²⁵ “Mix all these things to make a special sweet-smelling anointing oil. ²⁶ Pour this oil on the Meeting Tent and on the Box of the Agreement. This will show that these things have a special purpose. ²⁷ Pour the oil on the table and on all the dishes on the table. And pour this oil on the lamp and on all its tools. Pour the oil on the incense altar. ²⁸ Also, pour the oil on the altar for burning offerings to God. Pour this oil on everything on that altar. Pour this oil on the bowl and on the base under the bowl. ²⁹ You will make all these things holy. They will be very special to the Lord. Anything that touches these things will also become holy.

³⁰ “Pour the oil on Aaron and his sons to show that they are separated from the rest of the people to serve as priests. ³¹ Tell the Israelites that the anointing oil is holy—it must always be used only for me. ³² This oil is holy and you must treat it as something special. Don’t use the same formula for making perfume and don’t let people use this oil like an ordinary perfume. ³³ Whoever makes a perfume like that and puts it on anyone except a priest^[i] must be separated from the people.”

The Incense

³⁴ Then the Lord said to Moses, “Get these sweet-smelling spices: resin, onycha, galbanum, and pure frankincense. Be sure that you have equal amounts of these spices. ³⁵ Mix the spices together to make a sweet-smelling incense. Do this the same as a perfume maker would do it. Also mix salt with this incense. This will make it pure and special. ³⁶ Grind some of the incense until it becomes a fine powder. Put the powder in front of the Holy Box that holds the Agreement^[j] in the Meeting Tent. This is the place where I meet with you. You must use this incense powder only for its very special purpose. ³⁷ You must use it only in this special way for the Lord. You must also make it in a special way. Don’t make any other incense in this way. ³⁸ There may be people who will want to make some of this incense for themselves so that they can enjoy the smell. But whoever does this must be separated from their people.”