Bible in a Year.

On this day, Exodus 30–31 presents the altar of incense, the sacred anointing, and the importance of Sabbath rest. Leviticus 22 addresses the purity of priests and offerings, emphasizing that God deserves the best. Psalm 115 contrasts the living God with lifeless idols, calling the people to trust exclusively in the Lord. The readings emphasize holiness in worship and genuine worship.

Chapter 30

1. Thou shalt make also an altar to burn incense, of setim wood.

2. It shall be a cubit in length, and another in breadth, that is, foursquare, and two in height. Horns shall go out of the same.

3. And thou shalt overlay it with the purest gold, as well as the grate thereof, as the walls round about and the horns. And thou shalt make to it a crown of gold round about,

4. And two golden rings under the crown on either side, that the bars may be put into them, and the altar be carried.

5. And thou shalt make the bars also of setim wood, and shalt overlay them with gold.

6. And thou shalt set the altar over against the veil, that hangeth before the ark of the testimony before the propitiatory wherewith the testimony is covered, where I will speak to thee.

7. And Aaron shall burn sweet smelling incense upon it in the morning. When he shall dress the lamps, he shall burn it:

8. And when he shall place them in the evening, he shall burn an everlasting incense before the Lord throughout your generations.

9. You shall not offer upon it incense of another composition nor oblation, and victim, neither shall you offer libations.

10. And Aaron shall pray upon the horns thereof once a year, with the blood of that which was offered for sin, and shall make atonement upon it in your generations. It shall be most holy to the Lord.

11. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

12. When thou shalt take the sum of the children of Israel according to their number, every one of them shall give a price for their souls to the Lord, and there shall be no scourge among them, when they shall be reckoned.

13. And this shall every one give that passeth at the naming, half a sicle according to the standard of the temple. A sicle hath twenty obols. Half a sicle shall be offered to the Lord.

14. He that is counted in the number from twenty years and upwards, shall give the price.

15. The rich man shall not add to half a sicle, and the poor man shall diminish nothing.

16. And the money received which was contributed by the children of Israel, thou shalt deliver unto the uses of the tabernacle of the testimony, that it may be a memorial of them before the Lord, and he may be merciful to their souls.

17. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

18. Thou shalt make also a brazen laver with its foot, to wash in: and thou shalt set it between the tabernacle of the testimony and the altar. And water being put into it,

19. Aaron and his sons shall wash their hands and feet in it:

20. When they are going into the tabernacle of the testimony, and when they are to come to the altar, to offer on it incense to the Lord,

21. Lest perhaps they die. It shall be an everlasting law to him, and to his seed by successions.

22. And the Lord spoke to Moses,

23. Saying: Take spices, of principal and chosen myrrh five hundred sicles, and of cinnamon half so much, that is, two hundred and fifty sicles, of calamus in like manner two hundred and fifty.

24. And of cassia five hundred sicles by the weight of the sanctuary, of oil of olives the measure hin:

25. And thou shalt make the holy oil of unction, an ointment compounded after the art of the perfumer,

26. And therewith thou shalt anoint the tabernacle of the testimony, and the ark of the testament,

27. And the table with the vessels thereof, the candlestick and furniture thereof, the altars of incense,

28. And of holocaust, and all the furniture that belongeth to the service of them.

29. And thou shalt sanctify all, and they shall be most holy: he that shall touch them shall be sanctified.

30. Thou shalt anoint Aaron and his sons, and shalt sanctify them, that they may do the office of priesthood unto me.

31. And thou shalt say to the children of Israel: This oil of unction shall be holy unto me throughout your generations.

32. The flesh of man shall not be anointed therewith, and you shall make none other of the same composition, because it is sanctified, and shall be holy unto you.

33. What man soever shall compound such, and shall give thereof to a stranger, he shall be cut off from his people.

34. And the Lord said to Moses: Take unto thee spices, stacte, and onycha, galbanum of sweet savour, and the clearest frankincense, all shall be of equal weight.

35. And thou shalt make incense compounded by the work of the perfumer, well tempered together, and pure, and most worthy of sanctification.

36. And when thou has beaten all into very small powder, thou shalt set of it before the tabernacle of the testimony, in the place where I will appear to thee. Most holy shall this incense be to you.

37. You shall not make such a composition for your own uses, because it is holy to the Lord.

38. What man soever shall make the like, to enjoy the smell thereof, he shall perish out of his people.

Chapter 31

1. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

2. Behold, I have called by name Beseleel the son of Uri the son of Hur of the tribe of Juda,

3. And I have filled him with the spirit of God, with wisdom and understanding, and knowledge in all manner of work.

4. To devise whatsoever may be artificially made of gold, and silver, and brass,

5. Of marble, and precious stones, and variety of wood.

6. And I have given him for his companion Ooliab the son of Achisamech of the tribe of Dan. And I have put wisdom in the heart of every skilful man, that they may make all things which I have commanded thee,

7. The tabernacle of the covenant, and the ark of the testimony, and the propitiatory that is over it, and all the vessels of the tabernacle,

8. And the table and the vessels thereof, the most pure candlestick with the vessels thereof, and the altars of incense,

9. And of holocaust, and all their vessels, the laver with its foot,

10. The holy vestments in the ministry for Aaron the priest, and for his sons, that they may execute their office about the sacred things:

11. The oil of unction, and the incense of spices in the sanctuary, all things which I have commanded thee, shall they make.

12. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

13. Speak to the children of Israel, and thou shalt say to them: See that thou keep my sabbath: because it is a sign between me and you in your generations: that you may know that I am the Lord, who sanctify you.

14. Keep you my sabbath: for it is holy unto you: he that shall profane it, shall be put to death: he that shall do my work in it, his soul shall perish out of the midst of his people.

15. Six days shall you do work: in the seventh day is the sabbath, the rest holy to the Lord. Every one that shall do any work on this day, shall die.

16. Let the children of Israel keep the sabbath, and celebrate it in their generations. It is an everlasting covenant

17. Between me and the children of Israel, and a perpetual sign. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and in the seventh he ceased from work.

18. And the Lord, when he had ended these words in mount Sinai, gave to Moses two stone tables of testimony, written with the finger of God.

1. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

2. Speak to Aaron and to his sons, that they beware of those things that are consecrated of the children of Israel, and defile not the name of the things sanctified to me, which they offer. I am the Lord.

3. Say to them and to their posterity: Every man of your race, that approacheth to those things that are consecrated, and which the children of Israel have offered to the Lord, in whom there is uncleanness, shall perish before the Lord. I am the Lord.

4. The man of the seed of Aaron, that is a leper, or that suffereth a running of the seed, shall not eat of those things that are sanctified to me, until he be healed. He that toucheth any thing unclean by occasion of the dead, and he whose seed goeth from him as in generation,

5. And he that toucheth a creeping thing, or any unclean thing, the touching of which is defiling,

6. Shall be unclean until the evening, and shall not eat those things that are sanctified: but when he hath washed his flesh with water,

7. And the sun is down, then being purified, he shall eat of the sanctified things, because it is his meat.

8. That which dieth of itself, and that which was taken by a beast, they shall not eat, nor be defiled therewith, I am the Lord.

9. Let them keep my precepts, that they may not fall into sin, and die in the sanctuary, when they shall have defiled it. I am the Lord who sanctify them.

10. No stranger shall eat of the sanctified things: a sojourner of the priests, or a hired servant, shall not eat of them.

11. But he whom the priest hath bought, and he that is his servant, born in his house, these shall eat of them.

12. If the daughter of a priest be married to any of the people, she shall not eat of those things that are sanctified, nor of the firstfruits.

13. But if she be a widow, or divorced, and having no children return to her father's house, she shall eat of her father's meats, as she was wont to do when she was a maid, no stranger hath leave to eat of them.

14. He that eateth of the sanctified things through ignorance, shall add the fifth part with that which he ate, and shall give it to the priest into the sanctuary.

15. And they shall not profane the sanctified things of the children of Israel, which they offer to the Lord:

16. Lest perhaps they bear the iniquity of their trespass, when they shall have eaten the sanctified things. I am the Lord who sanctify them.

17. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

18. Speak to Aaron, and to his sons, and to all the children of Israel, and thou shalt say to them: The man of the house of Israel, and of the strangers who dwell with you, that offereth his oblation, either paying his vows, or offering of his own accord, whatsoever it be which he presenteth for a holocaust of the Lord,

19. To be offered by you, it shall be a male without blemish of the beeves, or of the sheep, or of the goats.

20. If it have a blemish you shall not offer it, neither shall it be acceptable.

21. The man that offereth a victim of peace offerings to the Lord, either paying his vows, or offering of his own accord, whether of beeves or of sheep, shall offer it without blemish, that it may be acceptable: there shall be no blemish in it.

22. If it be blind, or broken, or have a scar or blisters, or a scab, or a dry scurf: you shall not offer them to the Lord, nor burn any thing of them upon the Lord's altar.

23. An ox or a sheep, that hath the ear and the tail cut off, thou mayst offer voluntarily: but a vow may not be paid with them.

24. You shall not offer to the Lord any beast that hath the testicles bruised, or crushed, or cut and taken away: neither shall you do any such thing in your land.

25. You shall not offer bread to your God, from the hand of a stranger, nor any other thing that he would give: because they are all corrupted, and defiled: you shall not receive them.

26. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

27. When a bullock, or a sheep, or a goat, is brought forth, they shall be seven days under the udder of their dam: but the eighth day, and thenceforth, they may be offered to the Lord.

28. Whether it be a cow, or a sheep, they shall not be sacrificed the same day with their young ones.

29. If you immolate a victim for thanksgiving to the Lord, that he may be favourable,

30. You shall eat it the same day, there shall not any of it remain until the morning of the next day. I am the Lord.

31. Keep my commandments, and do them. I am the Lord.

32. Profane not my holy name, that I may be sanctified in the midst of the children of Israel. I am the Lord who sanctify you,

33. And who brought you out of the land of Egypt, that I might be your God: I am the Lord.

1. I have loved, because the Lord will hear the voice of my prayer.

2. Because he hath inclined his ear unto me: and in my days I will call upon him.

3. The sorrows of death have encompassed me: and the perils of hell have found me. I met with trouble and sorrow:

4. and I called upon the name of the Lord. O Lord, deliver my soul.

5. The Lord is merciful and just, and our God sheweth mercy.

6. The Lord is the keeper of little ones: I was little and he delivered me.

7. Turn, O my soul, into thy rest: for the Lord hath been bountiful to thee.

8. For he hath delivered my soul from death: my eyes from tears, my feet from falling.

9. I will please the Lord in the land of the living.