2. Make it square—18 inches long and 18 inches wide. It must be 36 inches high. Make the corners stick out like horns. These must be one piece with the altar.
3. Cover its top, its sides and its corners with pure gold. And put a gold strip all around the altar.
4. Make two gold rings beneath the gold strip on opposite sides of the altar. Slide poles through these gold rings to carry the altar.
5. Make the poles from acacia wood and cover them with gold.
6. Put the altar of incense in front of the curtain. This curtain is in front of the Ark of the Covenant. Put the altar in front of the lid that covers that Ark of the Covenant. There 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 take care of the oil lamps.
8. He must burn incense again in the evening when he lights the lamps. So incense will burn before the Lord every day from now on.
9. Do not use this altar for offering any other incense or burnt offering. Do not use this altar to offer any kind of grain offering or drink offering.
10. Once a year Aaron must make the altar ready for service to God. He will do it by putting blood on its corners. This is blood of the animal offered to remove sins. He is to do this once a year from now on. This altar belongs completely to God’s service.”
11. The Lord said to Moses,
12. “Count the people of Israel. At that time every person must pay to buy back his life from the Lord. Then no terrible things will happen to the people when you number them.
13. Every person who is counted must pay one-fifth of an ounce of silver. This is set by the Holy Place measure, which weighs two-fifths of an ounce. This amount is a gift to the Lord.
14. Every person who is counted and is 20 years old or older must give this amount to the Lord.
15. A rich person must not give more than one-fifth of an ounce. And a poor person must not give less than one-fifth of an ounce. You are paying this to the Lord to buy back your lives.
16. Gather from the people of Israel this money paid to buy back their lives. Spend it to buy things for the service in the Meeting Tent. This payment will remind the Lord that the Israelites’ lives have been bought back.”
17. The Lord said to Moses,
18. “Make a bronze bowl for washing. Build it on a bronze stand. Put the bowl and stand between the Meeting Tent and the altar. Put water in the bowl.