2. It must be one foot six inches square and three feet high. Make a horn stick out from each of its upper four corners.
3. Cover the top, sides and horns with pure gold. Put a strip of gold around it.
4. "Make two gold rings for the altar below the strip. Put the rings across from each other. They will hold the poles that are used to carry it.
5. Make the poles out of acacia wood. Cover them with gold.
6. "Put the altar in front of the curtain that hangs in front of the ark where the tablets of the covenant are kept. The ark will have a cover. It will be the place where sin is paid for. There I will meet with you.
7. "Aaron must burn sweet-smelling incense on the altar. He must do it every morning when he takes care of the lamps.
8. He must burn incense again when he lights the lamps at sunset. Incense must be burned regularly to me. Do it for all time to come.
9. "Do not burn any other incense on the altar. Do not use the altar for burnt offerings or grain offerings. Do not pour drink offerings on it.
10. "Once a year Aaron must put the blood of a sin offering on its horns to make it pure. He must do it on the day Israel's sin is paid for. Do it for all time to come. The altar is a very holy place to me."
11. Then the Lord spoke to Moses. He said,
12. "When you make a list of the people of Israel and count them, they must pay me for their lives at the time they are counted. Then a plague will not come on them when you count them.
13. "Each one who is counted must pay a fifth of an ounce of silver. It must be weighed out in keeping with the standard weights that are used in the sacred tent. The payment is an offering to me.
14. Each one who is counted must be 20 years old or more. He must give an offering to me.
15. "When you make the offering, rich people must not give more than a fifth of an ounce of silver. And poor people must not give less. The offering you give to me will pay for your lives.