Exodus 30:34-38·~1 min

The Incense

The LORD gives Moses the equal-measure spices for a perfumed incense, pure and holy, to be ground fine and placed before the Testimony in the Tent of Meeting.

T³⁴he LORD also said to Moses, “Take fragrant spices — gum resin, onycha, galbanum, and pure frankincense — in equal measures, ³⁵and make a fragrant blend of incense, the work of a perfumer, seasoned with salt, pure and holy. ³⁶Grind some of it into fine powder and place it in front of the Testimony in the Tent of Meeting, where I will meet with you. It shall be most holy to you.

The same formula must never be used for personal fragrance. Anyone who makes incense like it for private enjoyment is cut off from his people.

³⁷You are never to use this formula to make incense for yourselves; you shall regard it as holy to the LORD. ³⁸Anyone who makes something like it to enjoy its fragrance shall be cut off from his people.”

Section summaryThe chapter closes with the recipe for the holy incense placed before the Testimony where the LORD meets with His people. Like the anointing oil, it is reserved entirely for worship and cut off from private enjoyment.

Role in the chapterThis final section returns to the incense named at the chapter's start and closes the instructions by guarding another holy substance from ordinary use. It leaves the chapter with holiness concentrated at the place of meeting.