Olive Oil, Bread and Incense

¹The Lord said to Moses, ² “Command the Israelites to bring you clear oil made from pressed olives. Use it to keep the lamps burning and giving light all the time. ³ Aaron must take care of the lamps in front of the Lord from evening until morning all the time. This is a law that will last for all time to come. The lamps are outside the curtain in front of the tablets of the covenant law in the tent of meeting. ⁴ The lamps are on the pure gold lampstand in front of the Lord. They must be taken care of all the time.

⁵ “Get the finest flour and bake 12 loaves of bread. Use seven pounds of flour for each loaf. ⁶ Arrange them in two stacks. Put six loaves in each stack on the table made out of pure gold. The table stands in front of the Lord. ⁷ By each stack put some pure incense. It will remind you that all good things come from the Lord. Burn the incense in place of the bread. The incense is a food offering presented to the Lord. ⁸ The bread must be set out in front of the Lord regularly. Do it every Sabbath day. It will be Israel’s duty to provide it for all time to come. ⁹ The bread belongs to Aaron and his sons. They must eat it in the holy area. It is a very holy part of their regular share of the food offerings presented to the Lord.”

A Person Who Speaks Evil Is Put to Death

¹⁰ There was a man who had an Israelite mother. His father was born in Egypt. The man went out among the Israelites. A fight broke out in the camp between him and an Israelite. ¹¹ The son of the Israelite woman spoke evil things against the Lord by using a curse. So the people brought him to Moses. The name of the man’s mother was Shelomith. She was the daughter of Dibri. Dibri was from the tribe of Dan. ¹² The people kept her son under guard until they could find out what the Lord wanted them to do.

¹³ Then the Lord spoke to Moses. He said, ¹⁴ “Get the man who spoke evil things against the Lord. Take him outside the camp. All those who heard him say those things must place their hands on his head. Then the whole community must kill him by throwing stones at him. ¹⁵ Say to the Israelites, ‘Anyone who curses me will be held accountable. ¹⁶ Anyone who speaks evil things against my Name must be put to death. The whole community must kill them by throwing stones at them. It does not matter whether they are an outsider or an Israelite. When they speak evil things against my Name, they must be put to death.

¹⁷ “ ‘Anyone who kills another human being must be put to death. ¹⁸ Anyone who kills someone’s animal must pay its owner. A life must be taken for a life. ¹⁹ Suppose someone hurts their neighbor. Then what they have done must be done to them. ²⁰ A bone must be broken for a bone. An eye must be put out for an eye. A tooth must be knocked out for a tooth. The one who has hurt his neighbor must be hurt in the same way. ²¹ Whoever kills an animal must pay its owner. But if they kill a human being, they must be put to death. ²² The same law applies whether they are an outsider or an Israelite. I am the Lord your God.’ ”

²³ Then Moses spoke to the Israelites. They got the man who had spoken evil things against the Lord. They took him outside the camp. There they killed him by throwing stones at him. The Israelites did just as the Lord had commanded Moses.