44 Bible Verses About Incense
Bible verses about Incense
Exploring the fragrant smoke of incense through scripture offers a profound glimpse into ancient worship and spiritual symbolism. In the Bible, incense transcends mere ritual, becoming a powerful metaphor for prayer ascending to God, a sweet-smelling aroma pleasing to the divine. Understanding the biblical context of incense illuminates the deep connection between the earthly and the heavenly, revealing how our devotion, like the rising smoke, can reach God's heart. Let these verses guide you to a richer understanding of how incense signifies purification, intercession, and the fragrant presence of God in our lives.
Featured Verse
2 Chronicles 2:4 (KJV)
Behold, I build an house to the name of the Lord my God, to dedicate it to him, and to burn before him sweet incense, and for the continual shewbread, and for the burnt offerings morning and evening, on the sabbaths, and on the new moons, and on the solemn feasts of the Lord our God. This is an ordinance for ever to Israel.
Incense in the Bible: Scriptures on Prayer & Worship
And put fire therein, and put incense in them before the Lord to morrow: and it shall be that the man whom the Lord doth choose, he shall be holy: ye take too much upon you, ye sons of Levi.
And when Aaron lighteth the lamps at even, he shall burn incense upon it, a perpetual incense before the Lord throughout your generations.
And the other lamb shalt thou offer at even: as the meat offering of the morning, and as the drink offering thereof, thou shalt offer it, a sacrifice made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the Lord.
One golden spoon of ten shekels, full of incense:
Howbeit the high places were not removed: the people sacrificed and burned incense still in the high places. He built the higher gate of the house of the Lord.
One golden spoon of ten shekels, full of incense:
They shall teach Jacob thy judgments, and Israel thy law: they shall put incense before thee, and whole burnt sacrifice upon thine altar.
One golden spoon of ten shekels, full of incense:
And the golden altar, and the anointing oil, and the sweet incense, and the hanging for the tabernacle door,
And Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, took either of them his censer, and put fire therein, and put incense thereon, and offered strange fire before the Lord, which he commanded them not.
One golden spoon of ten shekels, full of incense:
And he shall bring it to Aaron’s sons the priests: and he shall take thereout his handful of the flour thereof, and of the oil thereof, with all the frankincense thereof; and the priest shall burn the memorial of it upon the altar, to be an offering made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the Lord:
And the table and all his vessels, and the candlestick and his vessels, and the altar of incense,
And he shall put the incense upon the fire before the Lord, that the cloud of the incense may cover the mercy seat that is upon the testimony, that he die not:
And thou shalt put pure frankincense upon each row, that it may be on the bread for a memorial, even an offering made by fire unto the Lord.
And thou shalt make it a perfume, a confection after the art of the apothecary, tempered together, pure and holy:
For according to the number of thy cities were thy gods, O Judah; and according to the number of the streets of Jerusalem have ye set up altars to that shameful thing, even altars to burn incense unto Baal.
I will offer unto thee burnt sacrifices of fatlings, with the incense of rams; I will offer bullocks with goats. Selah.
Moreover he burnt incense in the valley of the son of Hinnom, and burnt his children in the fire, after the abominations of the heathen whom the Lord had cast out before the children of Israel.
Will ye steal, murder, and commit adultery, and swear falsely, and burn incense unto Baal, and walk after other gods whom ye know not;
And he made the incense altar of shittim wood: the length of it was a cubit, and the breadth of it a cubit; it was foursquare; and two cubits was the height of it; the horns thereof were of the same.
And the anointing oil, and sweet incense for the holy place: according to all that I have commanded thee shall they do.
And I will utter my judgments against them touching all their wickedness, who have forsaken me, and have burned incense unto other gods, and worshipped the works of their own hands.
And thou shalt set the altar of gold for the incense before the ark of the testimony, and put the hanging of the door to the tabernacle.
One spoon of ten shekels of gold, full of incense:
Your iniquities, and the iniquities of your fathers together, saith the Lord, which have burned incense upon the mountains, and blasphemed me upon the hills: therefore will I measure their former work into their bosom.
And for the altar of incense refined gold by weight; and gold for the pattern of the chariot of the cherubims, that spread out their wings, and covered the ark of the covenant of the Lord.
The golden spoons were twelve, full of incense, weighing ten shekels apiece, after the shekel of the sanctuary: all the gold of the spoons was an hundred and twenty shekels.
Thou hast not brought me the small cattle of thy burnt offerings; neither hast thou honoured me with thy sacrifices. I have not caused thee to serve with an offering, nor wearied thee with incense.
And did I choose him out of all the tribes of Israel to be my priest, to offer upon mine altar, to burn incense, to wear an ephod before me? and did I give unto the house of thy father all the offerings made by fire of the children of Israel?
And thou shalt make an altar to burn incense upon: of shittim wood shalt thou make it.
And he burnt sweet incense thereon; as the Lord commanded Moses.
To be a memorial unto the children of Israel, that no stranger, which is not of the seed of Aaron, come near to offer incense before the Lord; that he be not as Korah, and as his company: as the Lord said to him by the hand of Moses.
And likewise did he for all his strange wives, which burnt incense and sacrificed unto their gods.
Behold, I build an house to the name of the Lord my God, to dedicate it to him, and to burn before him sweet incense, and for the continual shewbread, and for the burnt offerings morning and evening, on the sabbaths, and on the new moons, and on the solemn feasts of the Lord our God. This is an ordinance for ever to Israel.
One golden spoon of ten shekels, full of incense:
Let my prayer be set forth before thee as incense; and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice.
And Aaron took as Moses commanded, and ran into the midst of the congregation; and, behold, the plague was begun among the people: and he put on incense, and made an atonement for the people.
And he shall take a censer full of burning coals of fire from off the altar before the Lord, and his hands full of sweet incense beaten small, and bring it within the vail:
A people that provoketh me to anger continually to my face; that sacrificeth in gardens, and burneth incense upon altars of brick;
Then shall the cities of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem go, and cry unto the gods unto whom they offer incense: but they shall not save them at all in the time of their trouble.
And oil for the light, and spices for anointing oil, and for the sweet incense,
One spoon of gold of ten shekels, full of incense:
And he made the holy anointing oil, and the pure incense of sweet spices, according to the work of the apothecary.
The Bible verses on incense, as explored here, reveal its multi-faceted significance. From a sweet aroma offered to God as a pleasing sacrifice, representing prayers rising to heaven, to its symbolic use in cleansing and sanctifying sacred spaces, incense held a prominent role in ancient worship practices. These passages highlight a deep longing for communion with the divine, a desire to purify ourselves and our surroundings in God’s presence, and the potent symbolism associated with prayer and intercession. As we reflect on these verses, we can consider how we cultivate an atmosphere of reverence and devotion in our own lives. While the literal use of incense may vary across traditions, the underlying principles of heartfelt prayer, spiritual cleansing, and seeking divine favor remain timeless and applicable to our contemporary faith journey.