¹ It pleased Darius to set over the kingdom a hundred and twenty satraps, who should be in all the kingdom;

² and over these, three presidents -- of whom Daniel was one -- to whom these satraps should render account, and that the king should suffer no loss.

³ Now this Daniel surpassed the presidents and the satraps, because an excellent spirit was in him; and the king thought to appoint him over the whole realm.

⁴ Then the presidents and the satraps sought to find a pretext against Daniel with respect to the kingdom; but they could not find any pretext or fault; inasmuch as he was faithful, neither was there any error or fault found in him.

⁵ Then said these men, We shall not find any pretext against this Daniel, unless we find [it] against him touching the law of his God.

⁶ Then these presidents and satraps came in a body to the king, and said thus unto him: King Darius, live for ever!

⁷ All the presidents of the kingdom, the prefects, and the satraps, the counsellors, and the governors have consulted together to establish a royal statute, and to make a firm decree, that whosoever shall ask a petition of any god or man for thirty days, except of thee, O king, he shall be cast into the den of lions.

⁸ Now, O king, establish the decree, and sign the writing, that it be not changed, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which may not be revoked.

⁹ Therefore king Darius signed the writing and the decree.

¹⁰ And when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went into his house; and, his windows being open in his upper chamber toward Jerusalem, he kneeled on his knees three times a day, and prayed and gave thanks before his God, as he did aforetime.

¹¹ But those men came in a body, and found Daniel praying and making supplication before his God.

¹² Then they came near, and spoke before the king concerning the king's decree: Hast thou not signed a decree, that every man that shall ask [anything] of any god or man within thirty days, except of thee, O king, shall be cast into the den of lions? The king answered and said, The thing is true, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which may not be revoked.

¹³ Then they answered and said before the king, That Daniel, who is of the children of the captivity of Judah, regardeth not thee, O king, nor the decree that thou hast signed, but maketh his petition three times a day.

¹⁴ Then the king, when he heard these words, was sore distressed thereby, and set his heart on Daniel to save him; and he laboured till the going down of the sun to deliver him.

¹⁵ Then these men came in a body unto the king, and said unto the king, Know, O king, that the law of the Medes and Persians is, That no decree nor statute which the king establisheth may be changed.

¹⁶ Then the king commanded, and they brought Daniel, and cast [him] into the den of lions. The king spoke and said unto Daniel, Thy God whom thou servest continually, he will save thee.

¹⁷ And a stone was brought, and laid upon the mouth of the den; and the king sealed it with his own signet, and with the signet of his nobles, that the purpose might not be changed concerning Daniel.

¹⁸ Then the king went to his palace, and passed the night fasting; neither were concubines brought before him; and his sleep fled from him.

¹⁹ Then the king arose with the light at break of day, and went in haste unto the den of lions.

²⁰ And when he came near unto the den, he cried with a mournful voice unto Daniel: the king spoke and said unto Daniel, O Daniel, servant of the living God, hath thy God whom thou servest continually been able to save thee from the lions?

²¹ Then Daniel spoke unto the king, O king, live for ever!

²² My God hath sent his angel, and hath shut the lions' mouths, that they have not hurt me; forasmuch as before him innocence was found in me; and also before thee, O king, have I done no hurt.

²³ Thereupon was the king exceeding glad, and commanded that they should take Daniel up out of the den. So Daniel was taken up out of the den, and no manner of hurt was found upon him, because he believed in his God.

²⁴ And the king commanded, and they brought those men who had accused Daniel, and cast them into the den of lions, them, their children, and their wives; and the lions had the mastery of them, and broke all their bones in pieces ere they came to the bottom of the den.

²⁵ Then king Darius wrote unto all peoples, nations, and languages, that dwell in all the earth: Peace be multiplied unto you.

²⁶ I make a decree, That in every dominion of my kingdom men tremble and fear before the God of Daniel; for he is the living God, and steadfast for ever, and his kingdom [that] which shall not be destroyed, and his dominion shall be even unto the end.

²⁷ He saveth and delivereth, and he worketh signs and wonders in the heavens and on the earth: who hath saved Daniel from the power of the lions.

²⁸ And this Daniel prospered in the reign of Darius, and in the reign of Cyrus the Persian.

¹ "You shall make an altar to burn incense on. You shall make it of acacia wood.

² Its length shall be a cubit, and its breadth a cubit. It shall be square, and its height shall be two cubits. Its horns shall be of one piece with it.

³ You shall overlay it with pure gold, its top, its sides around it, and its horns; and you shall make a gold molding around it.

⁴ You shall make two golden rings for it under its molding; on its two ribs, on its two sides you shall make them; and they shall be for places for poles with which to bear it.

⁵ You shall make the poles of acacia wood, and overlay them with gold.

⁶ You shall put it before the veil that is by the ark of the testimony, before the mercy seat that is over the testimony, where I will meet with you.

⁷ Aaron shall burn incense of sweet spices on it every morning. When he tends the lamps, he shall burn it.

⁸ When Aaron lights the lamps at evening, he shall burn it, a perpetual incense before Yahweh throughout your generations.

⁹ You shall offer no strange incense on it, nor burnt offering, nor meal offering; and you shall pour no drink offering on it.

¹⁰ Aaron shall make atonement on its horns once in the year; with the blood of the sin offering of atonement once in the year he shall make atonement for it throughout your generations. It is most holy to Yahweh."

¹¹ Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,

¹² "When you take a census of the children of Israel, according to those who are numbered among them, then each man shall give a ransom for his soul to Yahweh, when you number them; that there be no plague among them when you number them.

¹³ They shall give this, everyone who passes over to those who are numbered, half a shekel after the shekel of the sanctuary; (the shekel is twenty gerahs;) half a shekel for an offering to Yahweh.

¹⁴ Everyone who passes over to those who are numbered, from twenty years old and upward, shall give the offering to Yahweh.

¹⁵ The rich shall not give more, and the poor shall not give less, than the half shekel, when they give the offering of Yahweh, to make atonement for your souls.

¹⁶ You shall take the atonement money from the children of Israel, and shall appoint it for the service of the Tent of Meeting; that it may be a memorial for the children of Israel before Yahweh, to make atonement for your souls."

¹⁷ Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,

¹⁸ "You shall also make a basin of brass, and its base of brass, in which to wash. You shall put it between the Tent of Meeting and the altar, and you shall put water in it.

¹⁹ Aaron and his sons shall wash their hands and their feet in it.

²⁰ When they go into the Tent of Meeting, they shall wash with water, that they not die; or when they come near to the altar to minister, to burn an offering made by fire to Yahweh.

²¹ So they shall wash their hands and their feet, that they not die: and it shall be a statute forever to them, even to him and to his descendants throughout their generations."

²² Moreover Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,

²³ "Also take fine spices: of liquid myrrh, five hundred shekels; and of fragrant cinnamon half as much, even two hundred and fifty; and of fragrant cane, two hundred and fifty;

²⁴ and of cassia five hundred, after the shekel of the sanctuary; and a hin of olive oil.

²⁵ You shall make it a holy anointing oil, a perfume compounded after the art of the perfumer: it shall be a holy anointing oil.

²⁶ You shall use it to anoint the Tent of Meeting, the ark of the testimony,

²⁷ the table and all its articles, the lampstand and its accessories, the altar of incense,

²⁸ the altar of burnt offering with all its utensils, and the basin with its base.

²⁹ You shall sanctify them, that they may be most holy. Whatever touches them shall be holy.

³⁰ You shall anoint Aaron and his sons, and sanctify them, that they may minister to me in the priest's office.

³¹ You shall speak to the children of Israel, saying, 'This shall be a holy anointing oil to me throughout your generations.

³² It shall not be poured on man's flesh, neither shall you make any like it, according to its composition: it is holy. It shall be holy to you.

³³ Whoever compounds any like it, or whoever puts any of it on a stranger, he shall be cut off from his people.'"

³⁴ Yahweh said to Moses, "Take to yourself sweet spices, gum resin, and onycha, and galbanum; sweet spices with pure frankincense: of each shall there be an equal weight;

³⁵ and you shall make incense of it, a perfume after the art of the perfumer, seasoned with salt, pure and holy:

³⁶ and you shall beat some of it very small, and put some of it before the testimony in the Tent of Meeting, where I will meet with you. It shall be to you most holy.

³⁷ The incense which you shall make, according to its composition you shall not make for yourselves: it shall be to you holy for Yahweh.

³⁸ Whoever shall make any like that, to smell of it, he shall be cut off from his people."