Exodus · Bible in Basic English
Exodus 30 Bible in Basic English
Audio: World English Bible (WEB), read by Winfred W. Henson · About the recordings
1 And you are to make an altar for the burning of perfume; of hard wood let it be made.
1 “You shall make an altar to burn incense on. You shall make it of acacia wood.
2 The altar is to be square, a cubit long and a cubit wide, and two cubits high, and its horns are to be made of the same.
2 Its length shall be a cubit, and its width a cubit. It shall be square, and its height shall be two cubits. Its horns shall be of one piece with it.
3 It is to be plated with the best gold, the top of it and the sides and the horns, with an edging of gold all round it.
3 You shall overlay it with pure gold, its top, its sides around it, and its horns; and you shall make a gold molding around it.
4 Under the edge on the two opposite sides, you are to make two gold rings, to take the rods for lifting it.
4 You shall make two golden rings for it under its molding; on its two ribs, on its two sides you shall make them; and they shall be for places for poles with which to bear it.
5 And make these rods of the same wood, plating them with gold.
5 You shall make the poles of acacia wood, and overlay them with gold.
6 And let it be placed in front of the veil before the ark of the law, before the cover which is over the law, where I will come face to face with you.
6 You shall put it before the veil that is by the ark of the covenant, before the mercy seat that is over the covenant, where I will meet with you.
7 And on this altar sweet spices are to be burned by Aaron every morning when he sees to the lights.
7 Aaron shall burn incense of sweet spices on it every morning. When he tends the lamps, he shall burn it.
8 And every evening, when he puts the lights up in their places, the spices are to be burned, a sweet-smelling smoke going up before the Lord from generation to generation for ever.
8 When Aaron lights the lamps at evening, he shall burn it, a perpetual incense before Yahweh throughout your generations.
9 No strange perfume, no burned offering or meal offering, and no drink offering is to be offered on it.
9 You shall offer no strange incense on it, nor burnt offering, nor meal offering; and you shall pour no drink offering on it.
10 And once every year Aaron is to make its horns clean: with the blood of the sin-offering he is to make it clean once every year from generation to generation: it is most holy to the Lord.
10 Aaron shall make atonement on its horns once in the year; with the blood of the sin offering of atonement once in the year he shall make atonement for it throughout your generations. It is most holy to Yahweh.”
11 And the Lord said to Moses,
11 Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,
12 When you are taking the number of the children of Israel, let every man who is numbered give to the Lord a price for his life, so that no disease may come on them when they are numbered.
12 “When you take a census of the children of Israel, according to those who are counted among them, then each man shall give a ransom for his soul to Yahweh when you count them, that there be no plague among them when you count them.
13 And this is what they are to give; let every man who is numbered give half a shekel, by the scale of the holy place: (the shekel being valued at twenty gerahs:) this money is an offering to the Lord.
13 They shall give this, everyone who passes over to those who are counted, half a shekel according to the shekel of the sanctuary (the shekel is twenty gerahs); half a shekel for an offering to Yahweh.
14 Everyone who is numbered, from twenty years old and over, is to give an offering to the Lord.
14 Everyone who passes over to those who are counted, from twenty years old and upward, shall give the offering to Yahweh.
15 The man of wealth is to give no more and the poor man no less than the half-shekel of silver, when the offering is made to the Lord as the price for your lives.
15 The rich shall not give more, and the poor shall not give less, than the half shekel, when they give the offering of Yahweh, to make atonement for your souls.
16 And you are to take this money from the children of Israel to be used for the work of the Tent of meeting, to keep the memory of the children of Israel before the Lord and to be the price of your lives.
16 You shall take the atonement money from the children of Israel, and shall appoint it for the service of the Tent of Meeting; that it may be a memorial for the children of Israel before Yahweh, to make atonement for your souls.”
17 And the Lord said to Moses,
17 Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,
18 You are to make a brass washing-vessel, with a brass base; and put it between the Tent of meeting and the altar, with water in it;
18 “You shall also make a basin of bronze, and its base of bronze, in which to wash. You shall put it between the Tent of Meeting and the altar, and you shall put water in it.
19 That it may be used by Aaron and his sons for washing their hands and feet;
19 Aaron and his sons shall wash their hands and their feet in it.
20 Whenever they go into the Tent of meeting they are to be washed with water, to keep them from death; and whenever they come near to do the work of the altar, or to make an offering by fire to the Lord,
20 When they go into the Tent of Meeting, they shall wash with water, that they don’t die; or when they come near to the altar to minister, to burn an offering made by fire to Yahweh.
21 Their hands and feet are to be washed. so that they may be safe from death: this is an order to them for ever; to him and his seed from generation to generation.
21 So they shall wash their hands and their feet, that they not die. This shall be a statute forever to them, even to him and to his descendants throughout their generations.”
22 And the Lord said to Moses,
22 Moreover Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,
23 Take the best spices, five hundred shekels' weight of liquid myrrh, and of sweet cinnamon half as much, that is, two hundred and fifty shekels, and two hundred and fifty shekels of sweet calamus,
23 “Also take fine spices: of liquid myrrh, five hundred shekels; and of fragrant cinnamon half as much, even two hundred and fifty; and of fragrant cane, two hundred and fifty;
24 And of cassia, five hundred shekels' weight measured by the scale of the holy place, and of olive oil a hin:
24 and of cassia five hundred, according to the shekel of the sanctuary; and a hin of olive oil.
25 And make these into a holy oil, a perfume made by the art of the perfume-maker; it is to be a holy oil.
25 You shall make it into a holy anointing oil, a perfume compounded after the art of the perfumer: it shall be a holy anointing oil.
26 This oil is to be put on the Tent of meeting, and on the ark of the law,
26 You shall use it to anoint the Tent of Meeting, the ark of the covenant,
27 And on the table and all its vessels, and on the support for the lights, with its vessels, and on the altar for burning spices,
27 the table and all its articles, the lamp stand and its accessories, the altar of incense,
28 And on the altar of burned offerings with its vessels, and on the washing-vessel and its base.
28 the altar of burnt offering with all its utensils, and the basin with its base.
29 And you are to make them most holy; anything touching them will become holy.
29 You shall sanctify them, that they may be most holy. Whatever touches them shall be holy.
30 And put the oil on Aaron and his sons, making them holy to do the work of priests to me.
30 You shall anoint Aaron and his sons, and sanctify them, that they may minister to me in the priest’s office.
31 And say to the children of Israel, This is to be the Lord's holy oil, from generation to generation.
31 You shall speak to the children of Israel, saying, ‘This shall be a holy anointing oil to me throughout your generations.
32 It is not to be used for man's flesh, and no other is to be made like it: holy it is, and you are to keep it holy.
32 It shall not be poured on man’s flesh, and do not make any like it, according to its composition. It is holy. It shall be holy to you.
33 Whoever makes any like it, or puts it on one who is not a priest, will be cut off from his people.
33 Whoever compounds any like it, or whoever puts any of it on a stranger, he shall be cut off from his people.’”
34 And the Lord said to Moses, Take sweet spices, stacte and onycha and galbanum, with the best frankincense, in equal weights;
34 Yahweh said to Moses, “Take to yourself sweet spices, gum resin, onycha, and galbanum: sweet spices with pure frankincense. There shall be an equal weight of each.
35 And make from them a perfume, such as is made by the art of the perfume-maker, mixed with salt, and clean and holy.
35 You shall make incense of it, a perfume after the art of the perfumer, seasoned with salt, pure and holy.
36 And put some of it, crushed very small, in front of the ark in the Tent of meeting, where I will come face to face with you; it is to be most holy.
36 You shall beat some of it very small, and put some of it before the covenant in the Tent of Meeting, where I will meet with you. It shall be to you most holy.
37 You are not to make any perfume like it for yourselves: it is to be kept holy to the Lord.
37 You shall not make this incense, according to its composition, for yourselves: it shall be to you holy for Yahweh.
38 Whoever makes any like it, for its sweet smell, will be cut off from his people.
38 Whoever shall make any like that, to smell of it, he shall be cut off from his people.”
People & places in this chapter
From this site's family tree and Bible maps, only where those guides cite this chapter.
People
Aaron
Moses' brother and spokesman, Israel's first high priest.
Cited in the guide: Exodus 4–40; Leviticus 8–10
Moses
Drawn from the Nile, he led Israel out of Egypt and received God's Law.
Cited in the guide: Exodus 2–Deuteronomy 34
Cross references (33)
Related passages for each verse, from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge as collected and ranked by readers at OpenBible.info.
- 1 Revelation 8:3; Exodus 37:25–28; Leviticus 4:7; Exodus 40:5; Exodus 30:7–8
- 2 Exodus 27:2
- 3 Exodus 25:24; Exodus 25:11
- 4 Exodus 25:27; Exodus 26:29; Exodus 27:7; Exodus 27:4; Exodus 25:14
- 5 Exodus 25:13; Exodus 25:27
- 6 Exodus 25:21–22; Matthew 27:51; Exodus 30:36; Exodus 26:31–35; Exodus 40:26
- 7 1 Samuel 2:28; Luke 1:9; Exodus 27:20–21; 1 Chronicles 23:13; Exodus 30:34
- 8 Hebrews 9:24; 1 Thessalonians 5:17; Exodus 12:6; Hebrews 7:25; Romans 8:34
- 9 Leviticus 10:1
- 10 Leviticus 16:18; Hebrews 9:22–23; Exodus 29:36–37; Leviticus 16:29–30; Hebrews 9:25
- 12 Numbers 31:50; Exodus 38:25–26; 1 Peter 1:18–19; 1 Chronicles 27:24; Matthew 20:28
- 13 Leviticus 27:25; Numbers 3:47; Ezekiel 45:12; Matthew 17:24; Exodus 38:26
- 14 Numbers 1:20; Numbers 26:2; Numbers 32:11; Numbers 14:29; Numbers 1:18
- 15 Numbers 31:50; Exodus 30:12; Job 34:19; Ephesians 6:9; Leviticus 17:11
- 16 Nehemiah 10:32–33; Numbers 16:40; Exodus 12:14; Exodus 38:25–31; Luke 22:19
- 18 Exodus 40:7; Exodus 38:8; 2 Chronicles 4:14–15; 1 Kings 7:23; Exodus 40:30–32
- 19 Isaiah 52:11; Psalm 26:6; Exodus 40:31–32; Hebrews 10:22; Hebrews 9:10
- 20 Leviticus 10:1–3; 1 Samuel 6:19; Leviticus 16:1–2; Psalm 89:7; Acts 5:5
- 21 Exodus 28:43; Exodus 27:21
- 23 Song of Songs 4:14; Ezekiel 27:19; Ezekiel 27:22; Jeremiah 6:20; Psalm 45:8
- 24 Psalm 45:8; Exodus 29:40; Ezekiel 45:12; Numbers 3:47; Leviticus 19:36
- 25 Exodus 37:29; Psalm 89:20; Exodus 40:9; 1 Chronicles 9:30; Psalm 133:2
- 26 Numbers 7:1; 1 John 2:20; Isaiah 61:1; Leviticus 8:10–12; 1 John 2:27
- 29 Exodus 29:37; Matthew 23:19; Leviticus 6:18; Matthew 23:17
- 30 Leviticus 8:12; Exodus 28:3; Leviticus 8:30; Numbers 3:3; Exodus 40:15
- 31 Leviticus 8:12; Psalm 89:20; Exodus 37:29; Leviticus 21:10
- 32 Exodus 30:25; Leviticus 21:10; Matthew 7:6; Exodus 30:37–38
- 33 Exodus 30:38; Genesis 17:14; Exodus 12:15; Exodus 12:19; Leviticus 17:9
- 34 Exodus 37:29; Exodus 30:23; Leviticus 2:15; Exodus 25:6; Song of Songs 3:6
- 35 Leviticus 2:13; Exodus 30:25; John 12:3; Song of Songs 1:3; Song of Songs 3:6
- 36 Exodus 25:22; Leviticus 16:2; Exodus 16:34; Exodus 29:42–43; Exodus 30:6
- 37 Exodus 29:37; Exodus 30:32–33; Leviticus 2:3
- 38 Exodus 30:33
Cross references: OpenBible.info (CC BY), drawn mainly from the public-domain Treasury of Scripture Knowledge. · Sources & licences
What the Fathers said
Passages from the Church Fathers that expound or quote this chapter, verbatim from the public-domain Schaff edition (19th-century English translations).
How these were chosen
“Commentary” is the opening of a homily or exposition on this chapter (John Chrysostom’s homilies, Augustine’s tractates, sermons and expositions of the Psalms). “Quotes” are sentences where the edition’s own footnotes identify a quotation of a verse here, kept only when the wording matches the verse. Only works whose authorship is not in doubt are used. Psalms follow the Hebrew/English numbering (Augustine numbers them as the Septuagint does: his Psalm 50 is Psalm 51 here).
Perhaps it escaped the notice of the Saviour, or, while their Mother was sleeping, the Demiurge of himself gave instructions as to its weight; and on this account it is out of harmony with their Pleroma, consisting, as it did, of five hundred shekels of myrrh, five hundred of cassia, two hundred and fifty of cinnamon, two hundred and fifty …
… of harmony with their Pleroma, consisting, as it did, of five hundred shekels of myrrh, five hundred of cassia, two hundred and fifty of cinnamon, two hundred and fifty of calamus, and oil in addition, so that it was composed of five ingredients. The incense also, in like manner, [was compounded] of stacte, onycha, galbanum, mint, and frankincense, all which …