5
You shall make the poles of acacia wood, and overlay them with gold.
6
You shall place it in front of the curtain that is above the ark of the covenant, in front of the mercy seat that is over the covenant, where I will meet with you.
7
Aaron shall offer fragrant incense on it; every morning when he dresses the lamps he shall offer it,
8
and when Aaron sets up the lamps in the evening, he shall offer it, a regular incense offering before the Lord throughout your generations.
9
You shall not offer unholy incense on it, or a burnt offering, or a grain offering; and you shall not pour a drink offering on it.
10
Once a year Aaron shall perform the rite of atonement on its horns. Throughout your generations he shall perform the atonement for it once a year with the blood of the atoning sin offering. It is most holy to the Lord.
11
The Lord spoke to Moses:
12
When you take a census of the Israelites to register them, at registration all of them shall give a ransom for their lives to the Lord, so that no plague may come upon them for being registered.
13
This is what each one who is registered shall give: half a shekel according to the shekel of the sanctuary (the shekel is twenty gerahs), half a shekel as an offering to the Lord.
14
Each one who is registered, from twenty years old and upward, shall give the Lord's offering.
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The rich shall not give more, and the poor shall not give less, than the half shekel, when you bring this offering to the Lord to make atonement for your lives.