Exodus 19:1-34:30

Modern English Version

Israel at Mount Sinai

19 In the third month after the children of Israel had gone forth out of the land of Egypt, on the same day they came into the Wilderness of Sinai. ² When they set out from Rephidim, they came to the Wilderness of Sinai and camped in the wilderness. Israel camped there before the mountain.

³ Moses went up to God, and the Lord called to him from the mountain, saying, “Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob and tell the children of Israel: ⁴ ‘You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I lifted you up on eagles’ wings, and brought you to Myself. ⁵ Now therefore, if you will faithfully obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be My special possession out of all the nations, for all the earth is Mine. ⁶ And you will be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words which you shall speak to the children of Israel.”

⁷ So Moses came and called for the elders of the people and laid before them all these words which the Lord commanded him. ⁸ Then all the people answered together and said, “All that the Lord has spoken we will do.” And Moses brought back the words of the people to the Lord.

⁹ The Lord said to Moses, “Indeed, I am going to come to you in a thick cloud, so that the people may hear when I speak with you and always believe in you.” Then Moses told the words of the people to the Lord.

¹⁰ The Lord said to Moses, “Go to the people and sanctify them today and tomorrow, and have them wash their clothes, ¹¹ and be ready for the third day, for on the third day the Lord will come down in the sight of all the people on Mount Sinai. ¹² You shall set boundaries for the people all around, saying, ‘Take heed to yourselves so that you not go up onto the mountain or touch its border. Whoever touches the mountain will surely be put to death. ¹³ No hand will touch him, but he shall surely be stoned or shot through, whether it be beast or man. He shall not live.’ When the trumpet sounds a long blast, they shall come up to the mountain.”

¹⁴ So Moses went down from the mountain to the people and sanctified the people, and they washed their clothes. ¹⁵ He said to the people, “Be ready for the third day. Do not go near your wives.”

¹⁶ So on the third day, in the morning, there was thunder and lightning, and a thick cloud on the mountain, and the sound of an exceedingly loud trumpet. All the people who were in the camp trembled. ¹⁷ Then Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet with God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain. ¹⁸ Now Mount Sinai was completely covered in smoke because the Lord had descended upon it in fire, and the smoke ascended like the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mountain shook violently. ¹⁹ When the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder, Moses spoke, and God answered him with a voice.^[a]

²⁰ The Lord came down on Mount Sinai, on the top of the mountain. And the Lord called Moses up to the top of the mountain, and Moses went up. ²¹ Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go down, warn the people, lest they force their way to the Lord to look, and many of them perish. ²² Let the priests also, which come near to the Lord, sanctify themselves, lest the Lord break through against them.”

²³ Moses said to the Lord, “The people cannot come up to Mount Sinai, for You warned us, saying, ‘Set boundaries around the mountain, and sanctify it.’ ”

²⁴ Then the Lord said to him, “Go, get down, and come up, you and Aaron with you, but do not let the priests and the people force their way through to come up to the Lord, lest He break through against them.”

²⁵ So Moses went down to the people and spoke to them.

The Ten Commandments^(A)

20 Now God spoke all these words, saying:

² I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.

³ You shall have no other gods before Me.

⁴ You shall not make for yourself any graven idol, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water below the earth. ⁵ You shall not bow down to them or serve them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation of them who hate Me, ⁶ and showing lovingkindness to thousands of them who love Me and keep My commandments.

⁷ You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold guiltless anyone who takes His name in vain.

⁸ Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy. ⁹ Six days you shall labor and do all your work, ¹⁰ but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, or your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or your sojourner who is within your gates. ¹¹ For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.

¹² Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land which the Lord your God is giving you.

¹³ You shall not murder.

¹⁴ You shall not commit adultery.

¹⁵ You shall not steal.

¹⁶ You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

¹⁷ You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his manservant, or his maidservant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor’s.

¹⁸ All the people witnessed the thunder and the lightning and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking; and when the people saw it, they trembled and stood at a distance. ¹⁹ They said to Moses, “You speak to us, and we will listen, but do not let God speak to us, lest we die.”

²⁰ Moses said to the people, “Do not fear, for God has come to test you, so that the fear of Him may be before you so that you do not sin.”

²¹ The people stood a distance away as Moses drew near to the thick darkness where God was.

The Law About the Altar

²² Then the Lord said to Moses: Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, “You yourselves have seen that I have spoken to you from heaven. ²³ You shall not make gods of silver alongside Me or make gods of gold for yourselves.

²⁴ “You shall make an altar of earth for Me and on it you shall sacrifice your burnt offerings and your peace offerings, your sheep, and your oxen. In every place where I cause My name to be honored, I will come to you and bless you. ²⁵ If you will make Me an altar of stone, you shall not build it of cut stones, for if you use your tool on it, you will have polluted it. ²⁶ And you shall not go up by steps to My altar, so that your nakedness will not be exposed on it.”

The Law About Servants^(B)

21 Now these are the judgments which you will set before them.

² If you buy a Hebrew servant, he will serve for six years, but in the seventh he shall go out free without paying anything. ³ If he came in by himself, he shall go out by himself. If he is married, then his wife will go out with him. ⁴ If his master gives him a wife, and she bears him sons or daughters, the wife and her children shall belong to her master, and he will go out by himself.

⁵ However, if the servant plainly says, “I love my master, my wife, and my children. I will not go out free,” ⁶ then his master will bring him to the judges, then he shall also bring him to the door or to the doorpost, and his master shall bore his ear through with an awl, and he shall serve him forever.

⁷ If a man sells his daughter to be a female servant, she shall not go out as the male servants do. ⁸ If she does not please her master, who has betrothed her to himself, then he shall let her be redeemed. He has no authority to sell her to a foreign nation, because he has dealt deceitfully with her. ⁹ If he has designated her for his son, then he shall deal with her according to the customary rights of daughters. ¹⁰ If he marries another wife, then he must not diminish the first one’s food, her clothing, or her marital rights. ¹¹ If he does not provide these three for her, then she shall go out free, without paying money.

The Law About Violence

¹² He that strikes a man so that he dies shall surely be put to death. ¹³ However, if it was not premeditated, but God let him fall into his hand, then I will appoint you a place where he may flee. ¹⁴ But if a man willfully comes upon his neighbor in order to kill him cunningly, then you must take him from My altar, that he may die.

¹⁵ He who strikes his father or his mother shall surely be put to death.

¹⁶ He who kidnaps a man and sells him, or if he is found in his possession, shall surely be put to death.

¹⁷ He who curses his father or his mother shall surely be put to death.

¹⁸ If men fight and one strikes the other with a stone or with his fist, and he does not die, but must remain in bed, ¹⁹ and then if he gets up and walks around on his staff, then he who struck him shall go unpunished. Only he must pay for his loss of time and shall see to it that he is thoroughly healed.

²⁰ If a man strikes his male servant or his female servant with a rod so that he or she dies at his hand, then he shall surely be punished. ²¹ Nevertheless, if he survives for a day or two, then he shall not be punished, for it is his money.

²² If men fight and hurt a pregnant woman so that her child is born prematurely,^[b] yet there is no serious injury, then he shall be surely punished in accordance with what the woman’s husband demands of him, and he shall pay as the judges determine. ²³ But if there is any serious injury, then you shall give life for life, ²⁴ eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, ²⁵ burn for burn, wound for wound, bruise for bruise.

²⁶ If a man strikes the eye of his male servant or the eye of his female servant so that it is destroyed, then he must let him go free on account of his eye. ²⁷ If he knocks out his male servant’s tooth or his female servant’s tooth, then he shall let him or her go free on account of the tooth.

Laws About Property

²⁸ If an ox gores a man or a woman to death, then the ox must surely be stoned and its flesh must not be eaten, but the owner of the ox will be acquitted. ²⁹ But if the ox has had the habit of goring, and the owner has been made aware of it, and he has not kept it in, and it has killed a man or a woman, then the ox shall be stoned and its owner also shall be put to death. ³⁰ If a ransom is set for him, then he shall give for the ransom of his life whatever is demanded of him. ³¹ Whether it gored a son or gored a daughter, it will be done to him according to this rule. ³² If the ox gores a male servant or a female servant, then its owner shall give thirty shekels^[c] of silver to their master, and the ox must be stoned.

³³ If a man opens a pit or if a man digs a pit and does not cover it, and an ox or a donkey falls into it, ³⁴ the owner of the pit must make restitution. He must give money to their owner, and the dead animal will be his.

³⁵ If one man’s ox hurts another’s so that it dies, then they shall sell the live ox and divide its proceeds and divide the dead ox also. ³⁶ Or if it be known that the ox has had the habit of goring and its owner has not kept it in, then he shall surely pay ox for ox and the dead animal will become his own.

Laws About Restitution

22 If a man steals an ox or a sheep and kills it or sells it, then he shall repay five oxen for an ox, and four sheep for a sheep.

² If a thief is caught breaking in and is struck so that he dies, then there will be no blood guilt for him. ³ If the sun has risen on him, then there is blood guilt for him.

He must make full restitution. If he has nothing, then he will be sold for his theft. ⁴ If the stolen item is in fact found alive in his possession, whether it be an ox, or donkey, or sheep, then he shall repay double.

⁵ If a man causes a field or vineyard to be eaten and puts out his beast so that it feeds in another man’s field, he must make restitution of the best of his own field and of the best of his own vineyard.

⁶ If fire breaks out and catches in thorn bushes, so that stacked grain or the standing grain or the field are consumed, then he who started the fire must surely make restitution.

⁷ If a man gives his neighbor money or items to be kept for him, and it is stolen from the man’s house, if the thief is caught, he must repay double. ⁸ If the thief is not caught, then the owner of the house will be brought before the judges to determine if he has laid his hand on his neighbor’s goods. ⁹ For any kind of trespass, whether it be for an ox, for a donkey, for a sheep, for clothing, or for any type of lost thing, where another says it is his, the case of both parties shall come before the judges. And whoever the judges find guilty will pay double to his neighbor.

¹⁰ If a man gives his neighbor a donkey, or an ox, or a sheep, or any beast to keep for him, and it dies, or is injured, or is driven away while no one sees it, ¹¹ then there will be an oath before the Lord between both of them that he has not laid his hand upon his neighbor’s property. And its owner must accept this, and he will not have to make restitution. ¹² However, if it was stolen from him, he shall make restitution to its owner. ¹³ If it is torn in pieces, then let him bring it as evidence, and he will not have to repay for that which was torn.

¹⁴ If a man borrows anything from his neighbor, and it is hurt or dies when the owner was not with it, then he shall surely make restitution. ¹⁵ But if the owner was with it, he shall not make restitution. If it was a hired thing, it came with his hire.

Moral and Ceremonial Laws

¹⁶ If a man seduces a virgin who is not engaged and has relations with her, he must surely endow her to be his wife. ¹⁷ If her father absolutely refuses to give her to him, he must pay money according to the dowry of virgins.

¹⁸ You must not allow a sorceress to live.

¹⁹ Whoever has relations with a beast must surely be put to death.

²⁰ He who sacrifices to any god other than the Lord alone shall be utterly destroyed.

²¹ You must neither wrong a foreigner nor oppress him, for you were foreigners in the land of Egypt.

²² You shall not afflict any widow or orphan. ²³ If you afflict them in any way and they cry at all to Me, I will surely hear their cry. ²⁴ And My anger will burn, and I will kill you with the sword, and your wives will become widows, and your children fatherless.

²⁵ If you lend money to any of My people who is poor among you, do not be a creditor to him, and do not charge him interest. ²⁶ If you take your neighbor’s garment as a pledge, you shall return it to him before the sun goes down, ²⁷ for that is his only covering; it is his garment for his body. In what else will he sleep? And when he cries out to Me, I will hear, for I am gracious.

²⁸ You shall not curse God or curse the ruler of your people.

²⁹ You must not delay to offer the first of your harvest and of your vats.

You must give to Me the firstborn of your sons. ³⁰ Likewise you must do the same with your oxen and with your sheep. Seven days it shall remain with its mother, but on the eighth day you must give it to Me.

³¹ You will be holy men to Me; therefore you must not eat any flesh that is torn by beasts in the field. You must throw it to the dogs.

Laws of Justice and Mercy

23 You must not give a false report. Do not join your hand with the wicked to be a malicious witness.

² You must not follow the masses to do evil, and do not testify in a dispute that agrees with the crowd to pervert justice. ³ You must not show partiality to a poor man in his dispute.

⁴ If you meet your enemy’s ox or his donkey going astray, you shall surely return it to him. ⁵ If you see the donkey of someone who hates you lying under its burden, you must not ignore it; you must surely help with him.

⁶ You shall not turn justice away from your poor in his dispute. ⁷ Keep far away from a false charge, and do not kill the innocent and the righteous, for I will not justify the wicked.

⁸ You shall not take a bribe, for a bribe blinds those who see and subverts the words of the righteous.

⁹ Also you shall not oppress a foreigner, for you know the life of a foreigner, seeing you were foreigners in the land of Egypt.

The Laws of Sabbaths

¹⁰ You shall sow your land for six years and shall gather in its produce, ¹¹ but in the seventh year you shall let it rest and lie fallow, so that the poor of your people may eat, and what they leave the beasts of the field may eat. You shall do likewise with your vineyard and with your olive grove.

¹² For six days you are to do your work, but on the seventh day you must cease, so that your ox and your donkey may rest, and the son of your female servant and the foreigner may refresh themselves.

¹³ In all things that I have said to you, watch yourselves, and do not mention the name of other gods, nor let them be heard from your mouth.

The Three Annual Feasts

¹⁴ Three times in the year you must celebrate a feast to Me.

¹⁵ You shall observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread. For seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, as I commanded you, in the appointed time of the month Aviv, for in it you came out from Egypt.

No one shall appear before Me empty-handed.

¹⁶ You shall observe the Feast of Harvest, the first fruits of your labors, which you have sown in the field.

You shall observe the Feast of Ingathering at the end of the year, when you have gathered in the fruit of your labors from the field.

¹⁷ Three times in the year all your males shall appear before the Lord God.

¹⁸ You shall not offer the blood of My sacrifice with leavened bread, nor shall the fat of My sacrifice remain until the morning.

¹⁹ The first of the first fruits of your land you shall bring into the house of the Lord your God.

You shall not boil a young goat in its mother’s milk.

The Angel Prepares the Way

²⁰ Indeed, I am going to send an angel before you to guard you along the way and to bring you into the place which I have prepared. ²¹ Be on guard before him and obey his voice. Do not provoke him, for he will not pardon your transgressions, for My name is in him. ²² But if you diligently obey his voice and do all that I say, then I will be an enemy to your enemies and an adversary to your adversaries. ²³ For My angel will go before you and bring you to the Amorites, and the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Canaanites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, and I will completely destroy them. ²⁴ You must not bow down to their gods, or serve them, or do according to their practices, but you shall utterly overthrow them and break down their images in pieces. ²⁵ You shall serve the Lord your God, and He shall bless your bread and your water, and I will remove sickness from your midst. ²⁶ No one shall be miscarrying or be barren in your land. I will fulfill the number of your days.

²⁷ I will send My fear before you, and I will throw into panic all the people to whom you shall come. I will make all your enemies turn their backs to you. ²⁸ I will send hornets before you which shall drive out the Hivite, the Canaanite, and the Hittite from before you. ²⁹ I will not drive them out before you in one year, lest the land become desolate and the beasts of the field multiply against you. ³⁰ Little by little I will drive them out before you, until you become fruitful and inherit the land.

³¹ I will set your boundaries from the Red Sea to the sea of the Philistines, and from the desert to the River;^[d] for I will deliver the inhabitants of the land into your hand, and you will drive them out before you. ³² You must not make a covenant with them or with their gods. ³³ They shall not live in your land, lest they cause you to sin against Me, for if you serve their gods, it will surely be a snare to you.

The Covenant Confirmed

24 Then He said to Moses, “Come up to the Lord, you, and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel, and you shall worship from a distance. ² Moses alone shall come near the Lord, but they shall not come near, nor may the people go up with him.”

³ Moses came and told the people all the words of the Lord and all the ordinances. Then all the people answered with one voice and said, “All the words which the Lord has said we will do.” ⁴ Moses wrote all the words of the Lord, and rose up early in the morning, and built an altar at the foot of the mountain with twelve pillars for the twelve tribes of Israel. ⁵ He sent young Israelite men who offered burnt offerings and sacrificed peace offerings of young bulls to the Lord. ⁶ Moses took half of the blood and put it in basins, and half of the blood he sprinkled on the altar. ⁷ He took the Book of the Covenant and read in the hearing of the people, and they said, “All that the Lord has said we will do, and we will be obedient.”

⁸ So Moses took the blood, and sprinkled it on the people, and said, “This is the blood of the covenant, which the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words.”

Moses on Mount Sinai

⁹ Then Moses went up with Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel, ¹⁰ and they saw the God of Israel, and under His feet there was something like a paved work of sapphire stone as clear as the sky itself. ¹¹ He did not lay His hand upon the nobles of the children of Israel. Also they saw God, and they ate and they drank.

¹² The Lord said to Moses, “Come up to Me to the mountain and stay there, and I will give you the stone tablets with law and the commandments which I have written, so that you may teach them.”

¹³ Moses rose up with Joshua his attendant, and Moses went up to the mountain of God. ¹⁴ He said to the elders, “Wait for us in this place until we return to you. Aaron and Hur are with you. Whoever has any matters of dispute let him come to them.”

¹⁵ Moses went up to the mountain, and the cloud covered the mountain. ¹⁶ The glory of the Lord rested on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it for six days. And on the seventh day He called to Moses from the midst of the cloud. ¹⁷ Now the appearance of the glory of the Lord was like a consuming fire on the top of the mountain to the eyes of the children of Israel. ¹⁸ Moses went into the midst of the cloud and went up to the mountain. And Moses was on the mountain for forty days and forty nights.

Offerings for the Tabernacle^(C)

25 The Lord said to Moses: ² Tell the children of Israel to bring Me an offering. From every man who gives willingly with his heart you shall receive My offering. ³ This is the offering which you shall take from them: gold, silver, and bronze, ⁴ blue, purple, scarlet, fine linen, goats’ hair, ⁵ rams’ skins dyed red, porpoise skins, acacia wood, ⁶ oil for the light, spices for anointing oil and for fragrant incense, ⁷ onyx stones, and stones to be set in the ephod and in the breastplate.

⁸ Let them make Me a sanctuary that I may dwell among them. ⁹ According to all that I show you—the pattern of the tabernacle and the pattern of all its furniture—you shall make it just so.

The Ark of the Covenant^(D)

¹⁰ They shall make an ark of acacia wood two and a half cubits long, and one and a half cubits wide, and one and a half cubits high.^{[e] 11} You shall overlay it with pure gold, inside and out shall you overlay it, and you shall make a gold border around it. ¹² You shall cast four gold rings for it and put them on the four feet with two rings on the one side of it and two rings on the other side of it. ¹³ You shall make poles of acacia wood and overlay them with gold. ¹⁴ You shall put the poles into the rings on the sides of the ark in order to carry the ark with them. ¹⁵ The poles must remain in the rings of the ark. They must not be removed from it. ¹⁶ You shall put into the ark the testimony which I shall give you.

¹⁷ You shall make a mercy seat of pure gold, two and a half cubits long and one and a half cubits wide. ¹⁸ You shall make two cherubim of gold, make them of hammered work at the two ends of the mercy seat. ¹⁹ Make one cherub on the one end and the other cherub on the other end. From the mercy seat you shall make the cherubim on its two ends. ²⁰ The cherubim shall stretch forth their wings upward, covering the mercy seat with their wings and facing one another. The faces of the cherubim are to face toward the mercy seat. ²¹ You shall put the mercy seat above upon the ark, and in the ark you shall put the testimony that I will give you. ²² I will meet with you there, and I will meet with you from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim which are upon the ark of the testimony. I will speak with you all that I will command you for the children of Israel.

The Table for the Showbread^(E)

²³ You shall also make a table of acacia wood, two cubits long, one cubit wide, and a half cubit high.^{[f] 24} You shall overlay it with pure gold and make a gold border around it. ²⁵ You shall make a border around it of a handbreadth, and you shall make a gold molding for the frame all around. ²⁶ You shall make four gold rings for it and put the rings on the four corners that are on its four feet. ²⁷ The rings shall be close to the frame to provide places for the poles to carry the table. ²⁸ You shall make the poles of acacia wood and overlay them with gold, so that the table may be carried with them. ²⁹ You shall make the dishes, its spoons, its pitchers, and its bowls with which to pour drink offerings. You shall make them of pure gold. ³⁰ You shall set the showbread on the table before Me always.

The Gold Lampstand^(F)

³¹ You shall make a lampstand of pure gold. The lampstand and its base and its shaft are to be made of hammered metal. Its cups, its buds, and its flowers shall be of one piece. ³² Six branches shall go out from its sides, three branches of the lampstand from its one side and three branches of the lampstand from its other side. ³³ Three cups shall be made shaped like almond flowers with buds and blossoms on one branch, and three cups made like almond flowers in the other branch, with buds and blossoms, and the same for the six branches that come out of the lampstand. ³⁴ On the lampstand shall be four cups shaped like almond flowers, with their buds and their blossoms. ³⁵ There shall be a bud under two branches of the same, and a bud under two branches of the same, and a bud under the next two branches of the same, according to the six branches that proceed out of the lampstand. ³⁶ Their buds and their branches shall be of the same piece, all of it shall be one hammered work of pure gold.

³⁷ You shall make its seven lamps, and they shall light its lamps so that they may give light to the area in front of it. ³⁸ Its snuffers and their snuff dishes shall be of pure gold. ³⁹ It shall be made from a talent^[g] of pure gold along with all these utensils. ⁴⁰ See that you make them according to their pattern which was shown to you on the mountain.

The Tabernacle^(G)

26 Moreover you shall make the tabernacle with ten curtains of fine twisted linen, and blue, and purple, and scarlet. Make them with cherubim, the work of a skilled workman. ² The length of each curtain shall be twenty-eight cubits, and the width of each curtain four cubits.^[h] All of the curtains shall have the same measurements. ³ Five curtains shall be joined together, one to another. And the other five curtains are to be joined, one to another. ⁴ You shall make loops of blue on the edge of the end curtain in one set, and likewise you shall make loops in the outermost edge of the end curtain in the second set. ⁵ You shall make fifty loops in the one curtain, and you shall make fifty loops in the edge of the curtain that is in the second set. The loops are to be opposite to one another. ⁶ You shall make fifty clasps of gold and join the curtains together with the clasps so that the tabernacle shall be one unit.

⁷ You shall make curtains of goats’ hair to be a covering upon the tabernacle. You shall make eleven curtains. ⁸ The length of each curtain shall be thirty cubits, and the width of each curtain four cubits,^[i] and the eleven curtains shall all have the same measure. ⁹ You shall join five curtains by themselves, and six curtains by themselves. You shall double over the sixth curtain at the front of the tabernacle. ¹⁰ You shall make fifty loops on the edge of the end curtain in one set and fifty loops on the edge of the curtain that joins the second set. ¹¹ You shall make fifty bronze clasps, and put the clasps into the loops, and join the tent together so that it may be one unit. ¹² The part that remains of the curtains of the tent, the half curtain that remains, shall hang over the back of the tabernacle. ¹³ A cubit^[j] on the one side and a cubit on the other side of that which remains in the length of the curtains of the tent shall hang over the sides of the tabernacle on this side and on that side to cover it. ¹⁴ You shall make a covering for the tent out of rams’ skins dyed red and a covering above of porpoise skins.

¹⁵ You shall make boards for the tabernacle of acacia wood, standing upright. ¹⁶ Ten cubits^[k] shall be the length of each board, and a cubit and a half shall be the width of each board. ¹⁷ There shall be two tenons for each board, fitted to one another. You shall make all the boards of the tabernacle in this way. ¹⁸ You shall make the boards for the tabernacle, twenty boards for the south side. ¹⁹ You shall make forty sockets of silver under the twenty boards, two sockets under one board for its two tenons and two sockets under another board for its two tenons. ²⁰ For the second side of the tabernacle, on the north side, there shall be twenty boards, ²¹ and their forty sockets of silver, two sockets under one board, and two sockets under another board. ²² For the back of the tabernacle, to the west, you shall make six boards. ²³ You shall make two boards for the corners of the tabernacle at the back. ²⁴ They shall be doubled together beneath and finished together at the top of it into one ring. So it shall be for both of them. They shall form the two corners. ²⁵ There shall be eight boards with their sockets of silver, sixteen sockets, two sockets under one board and two sockets under another board.

²⁶ You shall make bars of acacia wood, five for the boards of the one side of the tabernacle, ²⁷ and five bars for the boards of the other side of the tabernacle, and five bars for the boards of the side of the tabernacle for the back to the west. ²⁸ The middle bar in the center of the boards shall reach from end to end. ²⁹ You shall overlay the boards with gold and make their rings of gold to provide places for the bars, and you shall overlay the bars with gold.

³⁰ You shall set up the tabernacle according to the plan which you have been shown on the mountain.

³¹ You shall make a veil of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen. It shall be made with cherubim, the skillful work of a workman. ³² You shall hang it on four pillars of acacia wood overlaid with gold. Their hooks also shall be of gold on four sockets of silver. ³³ You shall hang up the veil under the clasps, so that you may bring in the ark of the testimony within the veil; and the veil shall serve for you as a partition between the holy place and the Most Holy. ³⁴ You shall put the mercy seat on the ark of the testimony in the Most Holy. ³⁵ You shall set the table outside the veil, and the lampstand opposite the table on the side of the tabernacle toward the south, and you shall put the table on the north side.

³⁶ You shall make a screen for the doorway of the tent of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen, the work of an embroiderer. ³⁷ You shall make five pillars of acacia wood for the screen and overlay them with gold, with their hooks also made of gold, and you shall cast five sockets of bronze for them.

The Altar of Burnt Offering^(H)

27 You shall make an altar of acacia wood, five cubits long and five cubits wide.^[l] The altar shall be square, and its height shall be three cubits.^{[m] 2} You shall make its horns on its four corners. Its horns shall be part of it, and you shall overlay it with bronze. ³ You shall make its pots for its ashes, and its shovels, and its basins, and its meat hooks, and its fire pans. You shall make all of its vessels out of bronze. ⁴ You shall make a grating for it, a network of bronze, and on the net you shall make four bronze rings at its four corners. ⁵ You shall put it under the ledge of the altar beneath, so that the net will reach halfway up the altar. ⁶ You shall make poles for the altar, poles of acacia wood, and overlay them with bronze. ⁷ The poles shall be put into the rings, so that the poles shall be on the two sides of the altar when carrying it. ⁸ You shall make it hollow with boards. Just as it was shown you on the mountain, so shall they make it.

The Court of the Tabernacle^(I)

⁹ You shall make the court of the tabernacle. On the south side there shall be curtains for the court of fine twined linen one hundred cubits long^[n] for one side; ¹⁰ and it shall have twenty pillars with twenty bronze sockets. The hooks of the pillars and their bands shall be of silver. ¹¹ Likewise for the north side in length there shall be curtains one hundred cubits long, and its twenty pillars and their twenty sockets of bronze. The hooks of the pillars and their bands shall be of silver.

¹² For the width of the court on the west side shall be curtains of fifty cubits^[o] with their ten pillars and their ten sockets. ¹³ The width of the court on the east side shall be fifty cubits. ¹⁴ The curtains on one side of the gate shall be fifteen cubits^[p] with their three pillars and their three sockets. ¹⁵ On the other side shall be curtains fifteen cubits with their three pillars and their three sockets.

¹⁶ For the gate of the court there shall be a curtain of twenty cubits,^[q] of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen, the work of an embroiderer, with their four pillars and their four sockets. ¹⁷ All the pillars around about the court shall be furnished with silver bands. Their hooks shall be of silver, and their sockets of bronze. ¹⁸ The length of the court shall be one hundred cubits, and the width fifty^[r] throughout, and the height five cubits^[s] of fine twisted linen, and their sockets of bronze. ¹⁹ All the utensils of the tabernacle used in all its service, and all its tent pegs, and all the tent pegs of the court shall be of bronze.

The Oil for the Lamp^(J)

²⁰ You shall command the children of Israel that they bring you pure oil of olive pressed for the light, to cause the lamp to burn continually. ²¹ In the tent of meeting, outside the veil which is before the testimony, Aaron and his sons shall arrange it from evening to morning before the Lord. It shall be a perpetual statute for the children of Israel for generations to come.

The Priestly Garments

28 And bring near to yourself Aaron, your brother, and his sons with him from among the children of Israel, so that they may minister to Me as priests—Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar, Aaron’s sons. ² You shall make holy garments for your brother Aaron, for glory and for beauty. ³ You shall speak to all who are specially skilled, whom I have filled with the spirit of wisdom, that they may make Aaron’s garments to consecrate him, that he may minister to Me as a priest. ⁴ These are the garments which they shall make: a breastplate, and an ephod, and a robe, and an embroidered coat, a turban, and a sash. They shall make holy garments for Aaron your brother and his sons, that he may minister to Me as priest. ⁵ They shall take the gold, the blue, the purple, and the scarlet, and fine linen.

The Ephod^(K)

⁶ They shall make the ephod of gold, of blue, and of purple, of scarlet, and fine twined linen, the work of a skilled workman. ⁷ It shall have the two shoulder pieces attached to its two corners, so it shall be joined together. ⁸ The skillfully woven waistband of the ephod, which is on it, shall be of the same workmanship, of the same material: of gold, of blue and purple, and scarlet, and fine twisted linen.

⁹ You shall take two onyx stones and engrave on them the names of the children of Israel, ¹⁰ six of their names on one stone, and the other six names of the rest on the other stone, according to their birth. ¹¹ With the work of an engraver in stone, like the engravings of a signet, you shall engrave the two stones with the names of the children of Israel. You shall set them in filigree of gold. ¹² You shall put the two stones on the shoulders of the ephod as stones of memorial for the children of Israel, and Aaron shall bear their names before the Lord on his two shoulders as a memorial. ¹³ You shall make filigree settings of gold, ¹⁴ and two chains of pure gold. You shall make them of twisted cord and fasten the braided chains to the filigree settings.

The Breastplate^(L)

¹⁵ You shall make the breastplate of judgment, the work of a skillful workman. You shall make it in the same manner as the ephod. Of gold, of blue, and of purple, and of scarlet, and of fine twisted linen you shall make it. ¹⁶ It is to be square when doubled: a span^[t] in length and a span in width. ¹⁷ You shall set in it four rows of stones. The first row shall be a sardius, a topaz, and a carbuncle; ¹⁸ the second row an emerald, a sapphire, and a diamond; ¹⁹ the third row a jacinth, an agate, and an amethyst; ²⁰ and the fourth row a beryl, an onyx, and a jasper. They shall be set in gold filigree. ²¹ The stones shall be according to the names of the children of Israel, twelve, according to their names, each like the engravings of a signet, every one according to his name for the twelve tribes.

²² You shall make for the breastplate braided chains of pure gold. ²³ You shall make on the breastplate two rings of gold and shall put the two rings on the two ends of the breastplate. ²⁴ You shall put the two braided chains of gold on the two rings which are on the ends of the breastplate. ²⁵ You shall fasten the other two ends of the two braided chains in the two filigree settings and put them on the front of the shoulder pieces of the ephod. ²⁶ You shall make two rings of gold and shall put them on the two ends of the breastplate, on the edge of it which is toward the inner side of the ephod. ²⁷ You shall make two other rings of gold and shall put them on the two shoulder pieces of the ephod underneath toward the front, close to the place where it is joined above the skillfully woven waistband of the ephod. ²⁸ They shall bind the breastplate by its rings to the rings of the ephod with a blue cord, so that it may be above the skillfully woven waistband of the ephod, and so that the breastplate will not come loose from the ephod.

²⁹ Aaron shall bear the names of the children of Israel on the breastplate of judgment over his heart when he goes into the holy place, as a memorial before the Lord continually. ³⁰ You shall put the Urim and the Thummim in the breastplate of judgment, and they shall be over Aaron’s heart when he goes in before the Lord. And Aaron shall bear the judgment of the children of Israel over his heart before the Lord continually.

Other Priestly Garments^(M)

³¹ You shall make the robe of the ephod completely blue. ³² There shall be a hole at the top of it, in the middle of it. Around its opening it shall have a binding of woven work, like the opening of a coat of mail, so that it will not be torn. ³³ You shall make on its hem pomegranates of blue, and of purple, and of scarlet, all around its hem, and bells of gold between them all around: ³⁴ a golden bell and a pomegranate, a golden bell and a pomegranate, all around on the hem of the robe. ³⁵ It shall be on Aaron when he ministers. And its sound shall be heard when he goes into the holy place before the Lord, and when he comes out, so that he does not die.

³⁶ You shall make a plate of pure gold and engrave on it, like the engravings of a signet,

HOLINESS TO THE LORD.

³⁷ You shall put it on a blue cord, so that it may be upon the turban. It is to be on the front of the turban. ³⁸ It shall be on Aaron’s forehead, so that Aaron may bear the iniquity of the holy things which the children of Israel shall consecrate in regard to all their holy gifts. And it shall always be on his forehead, so that they may be accepted before the Lord.

³⁹ You shall embroider the tunic of fine linen, and you shall make the turban of fine linen, and you shall make the sash, the work of an embroiderer. ⁴⁰ For Aaron’s sons you shall make tunics. You shall make sashes for them, and you shall make caps for them, for glory and for beauty. ⁴¹ You shall put them on Aaron your brother, and on his sons with him, and shall anoint them, and consecrate them, and sanctify them, that they may minister to Me as priests.

⁴² You shall make linen undergarments for them to cover their naked skin. They shall reach from the waist to the thighs. ⁴³ They shall be on Aaron and on his sons when they come into the tent of meeting or when they come near to the altar to minister in the holy place, so that they may not bear iniquity and die.

It shall be a perpetual statute to him and his descendants after him.

Consecration of the Priests^(N)

29 Now this is the thing that you shall do to them to consecrate them, to minister as priests to Me: Take one young bull and two rams without blemish, ² and unleavened bread, and unleavened cakes mixed with oil, and unleavened wafers anointed with oil—you shall make them of wheat flour. ³ You shall put them into one basket and bring them in the basket with the bull and the two rams. ⁴ Then you shall bring Aaron and his sons to the door of the tent of meeting and wash them with water. ⁵ You shall take the garments and clothe Aaron with the tunic and the robe of the ephod and the ephod and the breastplate, and gird him with the skillfully woven band of the ephod. ⁶ And you shall put the turban on his head and put the holy crown on the turban. ⁷ Then shall you take the anointing oil and pour it on his head and anoint him. ⁸ You shall bring his sons and put tunics on them. ⁹ You shall gird them with sashes, Aaron and his sons, and put the headbands on them, and the priest’s office shall be theirs for a perpetual statute.

Thus you shall consecrate Aaron and his sons.

¹⁰ Then you shall bring a bull before the tent of meeting, and Aaron and his sons shall put their hands on the head of the bull. ¹¹ You shall kill the bull before the Lord by the door of the tent of meeting. ¹² You shall take of the blood of the bull, and put it on the horns of the altar with your finger, and pour all the blood beside the bottom of the altar. ¹³ You shall take all the fat that covers the entrails, and the lobe that is above the liver, and the two kidneys, and the fat that is on them, and burn them on the altar. ¹⁴ But the flesh of the bull, its skin, and its dung, you shall burn with fire outside the camp. It is a sin offering.

¹⁵ You shall also take one ram, and Aaron and his sons shall put their hands on the head of the ram. ¹⁶ You shall slay the ram, and you shall take its blood and sprinkle it around on the altar. ¹⁷ Then you shall cut the ram in pieces, and wash its entrails and its legs, and put them with its pieces and its head. ¹⁸ You shall burn the whole ram on the altar. It is a burnt offering to the Lord. It is a soothing aroma, an offering made by fire to the Lord.

¹⁹ Then you shall take the other ram, and Aaron and his sons shall put their hands on the head of the ram. ²⁰ You shall kill the ram and take some of its blood and put it on the tip of the right ear of Aaron, and on the tip of the right ear of his sons, and on the thumb of their right hand, and on the great toe of their right foot, and sprinkle the blood around on the altar. ²¹ You shall take some of the blood that is on the altar and some of the anointing oil and sprinkle it on Aaron and on his garments, and on his sons, and on the garments of his sons with him. So he and his garments shall be consecrated, along with his sons and his sons’ garments with him.

²² Also you shall take the fat and the rump of the ram, and the fat that covers the entrails and the lobe above the liver, and the two kidneys, and the fat that is on them and the right shoulder (for it is a ram of consecration), ²³ and one loaf of bread, and one cake of oiled bread, and one wafer out of the basket of the unleavened bread that is before the Lord. ²⁴ And you shall put all of these in the hands of Aaron and in the hands of his sons, and shall wave them for a wave offering before the Lord. ²⁵ Then you shall take them from their hands and burn them on the altar for a burnt offering, for a soothing aroma before the Lord. It is an offering made by fire to the Lord. ²⁶ You shall take the breast of Aaron’s ram of consecration, and wave it as a wave offering before the Lord, and it shall be your portion.

²⁷ You shall consecrate the breast of the wave offering that is waved and the thigh of the priest’s portion that is contributed from the ram of the consecration, from that which was for Aaron and from that which was for his sons. ²⁸ It shall be for Aaron and his sons by a statute forever, for it is a contribution. It shall be a contribution from the children of Israel from their peace offerings, their contributions to the Lord.

²⁹ The holy garments belonging to Aaron are to belong to his sons after him, so that they may be anointed in them and be consecrated in them. ³⁰ The son that is priest in his stead shall put them on seven days when he comes into the tent of meeting to minister in the holy place.

³¹ You shall take the ram of the consecration and boil its flesh in a holy place. ³² Aaron and his sons shall eat the flesh of the ram and the bread that is in the basket by the door of the tent of meeting. ³³ They shall eat those things by which the atonement was made in order to consecrate and sanctify them, but no one else shall eat them, because they are holy. ³⁴ If any of the flesh from the consecrations or from the bread remain until the morning, then you shall burn the remainder with fire. It shall not be eaten, because it is holy.

³⁵ Thus shall you do to Aaron and his sons according to all that I have commanded you. You shall consecrate them for seven days. ³⁶ Every day you must offer a bull as a sin offering for atonement, and you must cleanse the altar when you make atonement for it. You must anoint it to consecrate it. ³⁷ For seven days you must make atonement for the altar and consecrate it, and then the altar will be most holy, and whatever touches the altar will be holy.

The Daily Offerings

³⁸ Now this is what you are to offer on the altar: two one-year-old lambs every day, continually. ³⁹ The one lamb you must offer in the morning, and the other lamb you must offer at sundown. ⁴⁰ And with the first lamb will be a tenth of an ephah^[u] of flour mingled with the fourth part of a hin^[v] of beaten oil, and the fourth part of a hin of wine for a drink offering. ⁴¹ The other lamb you must offer at sundown and must offer with it the same grain offering and the same drink offering as in the morning, for a soothing aroma, an offering made by fire to the Lord.

⁴² This will be a continual burnt offering throughout your generations at the door of the tent of meeting before the Lord, where I will meet with you, to speak to you there. ⁴³ I will meet there with the children of Israel, and it will be consecrated by My glory.

⁴⁴ I will sanctify the tent of meeting and the altar. I will also sanctify both Aaron and his sons to minister as priests to Me. ⁴⁵ I will dwell among the children of Israel and will be their God. ⁴⁶ Then they will know that I am the Lord their God who brought them out of the land of Egypt, so that I may dwell among them. I am the Lord their God.

The Altar of Incense^(O)

30 Also, you must make an altar for burning incense. You must make it of acacia wood. ² It must be a cubit in length, and its width a cubit. It will be square. Its height will be two cubits;^[w] the horns shall be of one piece with it. ³ You must overlay it with pure gold, its top, its sides all around, and its horns; and you must make a molding of gold all around it. ⁴ You must make two golden rings for it under its molding. You must make them on its two sides, on opposite sides of it, and they will be holders for the poles with which to carry it. ⁵ Then you must make the poles of acacia wood and overlay them with gold. ⁶ You must put it before the veil that is by the ark of the testimony, in front of the mercy seat that is over the testimony, where I will meet with you.

⁷ Aaron must burn sweet incense on it. Every morning, when he trims the lamps, he must burn incense. ⁸ When Aaron lights the lamps at sundown, he must burn incense on it. It is to be a perpetual incense before the Lord throughout your generations. ⁹ You must offer no strange incense on it, nor burnt sacrifice, nor grain offering, and you must not pour out a drink offering on it. ¹⁰ Aaron must make atonement on its horns once a year with the blood of the sin offering of atonement. Once a year he must make atonement on it throughout your generations. It is most holy to the Lord.

The Atonement Money

¹¹ The Lord spoke to Moses, saying: ¹² When you take the census of the children of Israel according to their number, then each man is to pay a ransom for his life to the Lord when you count them, so that there be no plague among them when you number them. ¹³ This is what everyone who is counted must give: half a shekel according to the shekel of the sanctuary^[x] (a shekel is twenty gerahs). The half shekel will be the offering to the Lord. ¹⁴ Everyone who is counted, from twenty years old and above, must give an offering to the Lord. ¹⁵ The rich must not give more and the poor must not give less than half a shekel when they give the offering to the Lord, to make atonement for your lives. ¹⁶ You must take the atonement money of the children of Israel and give it for the service of the tent of meeting, so that it may be a memorial to the children of Israel before the Lord, to make atonement for your lives.

The Bronze Basin

¹⁷ The Lord spoke to Moses, saying: ¹⁸ You must also make a basin of bronze, with its base also of bronze, for washing, and you must put it between the tent of meeting and the altar, and you must put water in it. ¹⁹ For Aaron and his sons must wash their hands and their feet from it. ²⁰ When they go into the tent of meeting, or when they come near the altar to minister by burning incense as an offering made by fire to the Lord, they must wash with water so that they will not die. ²¹ So they must wash their hands and their feet, so that they will not die. And it will be a perpetual statute for them, even to him and to his seed throughout their generations.

The Anointing Oil

²² Moreover the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: ²³ Take for yourself choice spices: five hundred shekels^[y] of pure myrrh, half as much sweet-smelling cinnamon (two hundred and fifty shekels^[z]), two hundred and fifty shekels of sweet-smelling cane, ²⁴ five hundred shekels of cassia, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, and a hin^[aa] of olive oil. ²⁵ And you must make with it a holy anointing oil, a perfumed compound, the work of a perfumer. It will be a holy anointing oil. ²⁶ And you must anoint the tent of meeting with it, along with the ark of the testimony, ²⁷ and the table and all its utensils, and the lampstand and its utensils, and the altar of incense, ²⁸ and the altar of burnt offering with all its utensils, and the basin and its stand. ²⁹ You must consecrate them, so that they may be most holy. Whatever touches them must be holy.

³⁰ You must anoint Aaron and his sons and consecrate them, so that they may minister as priests to Me. ³¹ You must speak to the children of Israel, saying, “This will be a holy anointing oil to Me throughout your generations. ³² It must not be poured out on anyone’s body, nor shall you make any other like it in composition. It is holy, and it will be holy to you. ³³ Whoever makes anything like it or whoever puts any of it on a layman will be cut off from his people.”

The Incense

³⁴ Then the Lord said to Moses: Take for yourself sweet spices, stacte and onycha and galbanum, sweet spices with pure frankincense of equal amounts. ³⁵ You shall make of these an incense, a compound expertly blended, mingled with salt, pure and holy. ³⁶ You must beat some of it very fine and put part of it before the testimony in the tent of meeting where I will meet with you. It will be most holy to you. ³⁷ As for the perfume which you will make, you may not make it for yourselves using the same recipe. It must be holy for the Lord to you. ³⁸ Whoever makes anything like it in order to use it as perfume must be cut off from his people.

The Tabernacle Artisans^(P)

31 Now the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: ² See, I have called by name Bezalel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah. ³ I have filled him with the Spirit of God in wisdom, in understanding, in knowledge, and in all manner of craftsmanship ⁴ to devise artistic works for work with gold, with silver, and with bronze, ⁵ and in the cutting of stones for settings, and in carving of wood, to work in all manner of craftsmanship. ⁶ I, indeed, I have given him Oholiab, the son of Ahisamak, of the tribe of Dan, and I have given skill to all who are specially skilled, that they may make everything that I have commanded you: ⁷ the tent of meeting, the ark of the testimony, and the mercy seat that is on it, and all the furniture of the tent, ⁸ the table and its utensils, and the pure lampstand with all its utensils, and the altar of incense, ⁹ the altar of burnt offering with all its utensils, and the basin and its stand, ¹⁰ the woven garments, the holy garments for Aaron the priest and the garments of his sons, to minister as priests, ¹¹ the anointing oil and sweet incense for the holy place. They must make them according to all that I have commanded you.

The Sabbath Law

¹² The Lord spoke to Moses, saying: ¹³ Speak also to the children of Israel, saying, “You must surely keep My Sabbaths, for it is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I am the Lord who sanctifies you.

¹⁴ “You shall keep the Sabbath, for it is holy to you. Everyone who defiles it will surely be put to death. For whoever does any work on it, that person will be cut off from among his people. ¹⁵ Six days may work be done, but on the seventh is the Sabbath of complete rest, holy to the Lord. Whoever does any work on the Sabbath day will surely be put to death. ¹⁶ Therefore the children of Israel must keep the Sabbath, to observe the Sabbath throughout their generations, for a perpetual covenant. ¹⁷ It is a sign between Me and the children of Israel forever, for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, but on the seventh day He rested and was refreshed.”

¹⁸ When He had made an end of communing with him on Mount Sinai, He gave Moses the two tablets of testimony, tablets of stone, written with the finger of God.

The Golden Calf

32 Now when the people saw that Moses delayed coming down from the mountain, the people gathered themselves together around Aaron and said to him, “Come, make us gods which will go before us. As for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.”

² Aaron said to them, “Break off the gold earrings that are in the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me.” ³ So all the people broke off the gold earrings that were in their ears and brought them to Aaron. ⁴ He received them from their hand, and fashioned it with an engraving tool, and made it into a molded calf. Then they said, “This is your god, O Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt.”

⁵ When Aaron saw it, he built an altar before it. And Aaron made a proclamation and said, “Tomorrow will be a feast to the Lord.” ⁶ So they rose up early on the next day, and offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings. And the people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to play.

⁷ The Lord spoke to Moses, “Go, and get down, for your people, whom you brought out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves. ⁸ They have quickly turned aside from the way which I commanded them. They have made for themselves a molded calf, and have worshipped it, and have sacrificed to it, and said, ‘This is your god, O Israel, which has brought you up from the land of Egypt.’ ”

⁹ Then the Lord said to Moses, “I have seen this people, and certainly, it is a stiff-necked people. ¹⁰ Now therefore let Me alone, so that My wrath may burn against them and I may destroy them. And I will make of you a great nation.”

¹¹ But Moses sought the favor of the Lord his God, and said, “Lord, why does Your wrath burn against Your people, whom You have brought forth from the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand? ¹² Why should the Egyptians speak, saying, ‘With evil intent He brought them out, to kill them in the mountains and to destroy them from the face of the earth’? Turn from Your fierce wrath and relent of this harm against Your people. ¹³ Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, Your servants, to whom You swore by Yourself, and said to them, ‘I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heavens, and all this land that I have spoken of will I give to your descendants, and they will inherit it forever.’ ” ¹⁴ Then the Lord relented of the harm which He said He would do to His people.

¹⁵ Moses turned and went down from the mountain with the two tablets of testimony in his hand. The tablets were written on both their sides. They were written on one side and on the other. ¹⁶ The tablets were God’s work, and the writing was God’s writing, engraved on the tablets.

¹⁷ When Joshua heard the noise of the people as they shouted, he said to Moses, “There is a sound of war in the camp.”

¹⁸ But he said:

¹⁹ As soon as he came near the camp, he saw the calf and the dancing, and Moses’ anger burned, so he threw the tablets from his hands and shattered them at the bottom of the mountain. ²⁰ Then he took the calf which they had made and burned it in the fire, ground it to powder, and scattered it on the water, and made the children of Israel drink it.

²¹ Moses said to Aaron, “What did this people do to you, that you have brought so great a sin upon them?”

²² Aaron said, “Do not let the anger of my lord burn. You know that the people are set on evil. ²³ For they said to me, ‘Make a god for us which will go before us, for this Moses, the man that brought us up from the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.’ ²⁴ I said to them, ‘Whoever has any gold, let them break it off.’ So they gave it to me, and then I threw it into the fire, and this calf came out.’ ”

²⁵ Now when Moses saw the people were in a frenzy, for Aaron had let them get completely out of control, causing derision from their enemies, ²⁶ then Moses stood in the gate of the camp and said, “Whoever is on the Lord’s side, come to me.” And all the Levites gathered themselves together around him.

²⁷ He said to them, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘Every man fasten his sword on his side, and go back and forth from gate to gate throughout the camp, and let every man kill his brother, and every man his friend, and every man his neighbor.’ ” ²⁸ The Levites did according to the word of Moses, and about three thousand men of the people died that day. ²⁹ For Moses had said, “Consecrate yourselves today to the Lord, that He may bestow a blessing on you this day, for every man opposes his son and his brother.”

³⁰ On the next day Moses said to the people, “You have committed a great sin, and now I will go up to the Lord. Perhaps I can make atonement for your sin.”

³¹ Then Moses returned to the Lord and said, “Oh, this people has committed a great sin and have made a god of gold for themselves. ³² Yet now, if You will, forgive their sin, but if not, I pray, blot me out of Your book which You have written.”

³³ Then the Lord said to Moses, “Whoever has sinned against Me, I will blot him out of My book. ³⁴ So go now, lead the people to the place of which I have spoken to you. Indeed, My angel will go before you. Nevertheless in the day when I punish, I will indeed punish them for their sin.”

³⁵ And the Lord plagued the people because they had made the calf, the one that Aaron made.

The Command to Leave Sinai

33 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Depart, go up from here, you and the people whom you have brought up from the land of Egypt, to the land which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, saying, ‘To your descendants I will give it.’ ² I will send an angel before you, and I will drive out the Canaanite, the Amorite, the Hittite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite. ³ Go up to a land flowing with milk and honey. However, I will not go up in your midst, for you are a stiff-necked people, and I might destroy you on the way.”

⁴ When the people heard this disturbing word, they mourned. And no one put on his ornaments. ⁵ For the Lord had said to Moses, “Say to the children of Israel, ‘You are a stiff-necked people. If I went up among you for one moment, I might destroy you. Now therefore, take off your ornaments, so that I may know what I will do to you.’ ” ⁶ The children of Israel stripped themselves of their ornaments by Mount Horeb.

The Tent of Meeting

⁷ Moses took the tent and pitched it outside the camp, a good distance from the camp, and called it the tent of meeting. And anyone who sought the Lord would go out to the tent of meeting which was outside the camp. ⁸ So whenever Moses went out to the tent, all the people would rise up and stand, every man at the entrance of his tent, and gaze after Moses until he entered the tent. ⁹ And whenever Moses entered the tent, the pillar of cloud descended and stood at the entrance of the tent, and the Lord spoke with Moses. ¹⁰ When all the people saw the pillar of cloud standing at the entrance of the tent, all the people rose up and worshipped, every man at the entrance of his tent. ¹¹ The Lord spoke to Moses face to face, just as a man speaks to his friend. When he returned to the camp, his servant Joshua, the son of Nun, a young man, did not depart from the tent.

The Glory of God

¹² Moses said to the Lord, “See, You say to me, ‘Bring up this people,’ but You have not let me know whom You will send with me. Yet You have said, ‘I know you by name, and you have also found grace in My sight.’ ¹³ Now therefore, I pray You, if I have found favor in Your sight, show me now Your way, that I may know You, and that I may find favor in Your sight. Consider too that this nation is Your people.”

¹⁴ And He said, “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.”

¹⁵ Then he said to Him, “If Your Presence does not go with us, do not bring us up from here. ¹⁶ For how will it be known that I have found favor in Your sight, I and Your people? Is it not by Your going with us, so that we will be distinguished, I and Your people, from all the people who are on the face of the earth?”

¹⁷ The Lord said to Moses, “I will do this thing of which you have spoken, for you have found favor in My sight, and I know you by name.”

¹⁸ Then Moses said, “I pray, show me Your glory.”

¹⁹ Then He said, “I will make all My goodness pass before you, and I will proclaim the name of the Lord before you. I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy.” ²⁰ He said, “You cannot see My face, for no man can see Me and live.”

²¹ Then the Lord said, “Indeed, there is a place by Me. You must stand on the rock. ²² While My glory passes by, I will put you in a cleft of the rock and will cover you with My hand while I pass by. ²³ Then I will take away My hand, and you will see My back, but My face may not be seen.”

The New Stone Tablets

34 Now the Lord said to Moses, “Cut out for yourself two tablets of stone like the first, and I will write on these tablets the words that were on the first tablets, which you broke. ² Be ready in the morning, and come up in the morning to Mount Sinai, and present yourself there to Me on the top of the mountain. ³ No one is to come up with you. Do not let anyone be seen anywhere on the mountain, and the flocks or herds may not graze in front of the mountain.”

⁴ So he cut out two tablets of stone like the first, and Moses rose up early in the morning and went up to Mount Sinai, just as the Lord had commanded him, and took in his hand the two tablets of stone. ⁵ Then the Lord descended in the cloud, and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the Lord. ⁶ The Lord passed by before him, and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in goodness and truth, ⁷ keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of fathers on the children and on the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation.”

⁸ Moses made haste and bowed to the ground and worshipped. ⁹ He said, “If now I have found favor in Your sight, O Lord, let my Lord, I pray, go among us, for we are a stiff-necked people. Pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us for your inheritance.”

The Covenant Renewed

¹⁰ Then He said: Indeed, I am going to make a covenant before all your people. I will do wonders such as have not been done in all the earth nor in any nation. And all the people among whom you live will see the work of the Lord, for it is a fearful thing that I will do with you. ¹¹ Obey what I command you this day. Indeed, I am going to drive out before you the Amorite, the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite. ¹² Watch yourself so that you make no covenant with the inhabitants of the land where you are going, lest it become a snare in your midst. ¹³ But you shall destroy their altars, break their sacred pillars, and cut down their Asherah poles^{[ab] 14} (for you shall not worship any other god, for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God), ¹⁵ lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, and they prostitute themselves with their gods, and sacrifice to their gods, and someone invites you to eat of his sacrifice. ¹⁶ And then you take of their daughters for your sons, and their daughters prostitute themselves after their gods. They will make your sons prostitute themselves after their gods.

¹⁷ You shall make no molded gods for yourselves.

¹⁸ You shall keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread. For seven days you are to eat unleavened bread, as I commanded you, in the month of Aviv, for in the month of Aviv you came out of Egypt.

¹⁹ Every firstborn of the womb belongs to Me, and every firstborn male among your livestock, whether ox or sheep. ²⁰ But you must redeem with a lamb the firstborn of a donkey, and if you fail to redeem him, then you must break his neck. You must redeem all the firstborn of your sons.

No one may appear before Me empty-handed.

²¹ You shall work six days, but on the seventh day you must rest. Even at the time of plowing and harvest you must rest.

²² You must observe the Feast of Weeks, the first fruits of the wheat harvest, and the Feast of Ingathering at the end of the year. ²³ Three times in the year all your males must appear before the Lord God, the God of Israel. ²⁴ For I will drive out the nations before you and enlarge your borders. No man will covet your land when you go up to appear before the Lord your God three times in the year.

²⁵ You must not offer the blood of My sacrifice with leaven, nor is the sacrifice of the Feast of the Passover to be left until the following morning.

²⁶ The first of the first fruits of your land you must bring to the house of the Lord your God.

You must not boil a young goat in its mother’s milk.

²⁷ Then the Lord said to Moses: Write down these words, for in accordance with these words I have made a covenant with you and with Israel. ²⁸ So he was there with the Lord forty days and forty nights. He did not eat bread or drink water. And He wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant, the Ten Commandments.

Moses’ Radiant Face

²⁹ When Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of testimony in the hands of Moses, when he came down from the mountain, Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone while he talked with Him. ³⁰ So when Aaron and all the children of Israel saw Moses, amazingly, the skin of his face shone, and they were afraid to come near him.