Exodus 19:1-34:30

Common English Bible

Arrival at Mount Sinai

19 On exactly the third-month anniversary of the Israelites’ leaving the land of Egypt, they came into the Sinai desert. ² They traveled from Rephidim, came into the Sinai desert, and set up camp there. Israel camped there in front of the mountain ³ while Moses went up to God. The Lord called to him from the mountain, “This is what you should say to Jacob’s household and declare to the Israelites: ⁴ You saw what I did to the Egyptians, and how I lifted you up on eagles’ wings and brought you to me. ⁵ So now, if you faithfully obey me and stay true to my covenant, you will be my most precious possession out of all the peoples, since the whole earth belongs to me. ⁶ You will be a kingdom of priests for me and a holy nation. These are the words you should say to the Israelites.”

⁷ So Moses came down, called together the people’s elders, and set before them all these words that the Lord had commanded him. ⁸ The people all responded with one voice: “Everything that the Lord has said we will do.” Moses reported to the Lord what the people said.

Preparing for a divine encounter

⁹ Then the Lord said to Moses, “I’m about to come to you in a thick cloud in order that the people will hear me talking with you so that they will always trust you.”

Moses told the Lord what the people said, ¹⁰ and the Lord said to Moses: “Go to the people and take today and tomorrow to make them holy. Have them wash their clothes. ¹¹ Be ready for the third day, because on the third day the Lord will come down on Mount Sinai for all the people to see. ¹² Set up a fence for the people all around and tell them, ‘Be careful not to go up the mountain or to touch any part of it.’ Anyone who even touches the mountain must be put to death. ¹³ No one should touch anyone who has touched it, or they must be either stoned to death or shot with arrows. Whether an animal or a human being, they must not be allowed to live. Only when the ram’s horn sounds may they go up on the mountain.”

¹⁴ So Moses went down the mountain to the people. He made sure the people were holy and that they washed their clothes. ¹⁵ He told the men, “Prepare yourselves for three days. Don’t go near a woman.”

¹⁶ When morning dawned on the third day, there was thunder, lightning, and a thick cloud on the mountain, and a very loud blast of a horn. All the people in the camp shook with fear. ¹⁷ Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God, and they took their place at the foot of the mountain. ¹⁸ Mount Sinai was all in smoke because the Lord had come down on it with lightning. The smoke went up like the smoke of a hot furnace, while the whole mountain shook violently. ¹⁹ The blasts of the horn grew louder and louder. Moses would speak, and God would answer him with thunder. ²⁰ The Lord came down on Mount Sinai to the top of the mountain. The Lord called Moses to come up to the top of the mountain, and Moses went up. ²¹ The Lord said to Moses, “Go down and warn the people not to break through to try to see the Lord, or many of them will fall dead. ²² Even the priests who come near to the Lord must keep themselves holy, or the Lord will break loose against them.”

²³ Moses said to the Lord, “The people aren’t allowed to come up on Mount Sinai because you warned us and said, ‘Set up a fence around the mountain to keep it holy.’”

²⁴ The Lord said to him, “Go down, and bring Aaron back up with you. But the priests and the people must not break through and come up to the Lord. Otherwise, the Lord will break loose against them.” ²⁵ So Moses went down to the people and told them.

The Ten Commandments

20 Then God spoke all these words:

¹⁸ When all the people witnessed the thunder and lightning, the sound of the horn, and the mountain smoking, the people shook with fear and stood at a distance. ¹⁹ They said to Moses, “You speak to us, and we’ll listen. But don’t let God speak to us, or we’ll die.”

²⁰ Moses said to the people, “Don’t be afraid, because God has come only to test you and to make sure you are always in awe of God so that you don’t sin.” ²¹ The people stood at a distance while Moses approached the thick darkness in which God was present.

Instructions about worship

²² The Lord said to Moses: “Say this to the Israelites: You saw for yourselves how I spoke with you from heaven. ²³ Don’t make alongside me gods of silver or gold for yourselves. ²⁴ Make for me an altar from fertile soil on which to sacrifice your entirely burned offerings, your well-being sacrifices, your sheep, and your oxen. I will come to you and bless you in every place where I make sure my name is remembered. ²⁵ But if you do make for me an altar from stones, don’t build it with chiseled stone since using your chisel on the stone will make it impure. ²⁶ Don’t climb onto my altar using steps: then your genitals won’t be exposed by doing so.”

Instructions about slaves

21 These are the case laws that you should set before them:

² When you buy a male Hebrew slave, he will serve you for six years. But in the seventh year, he will go free without any payment. ³ If he came in single, he will leave single. If he came in married, then his wife will leave with him. ⁴ If his master gave him a wife and she bore him sons or daughters, the wife and her children will belong to her master. He will leave single. ⁵ However, if the slave clearly states, “I love my master, my wife, and my children, and I don’t want to go free,” ⁶ then his master will bring him before God. He will bring him to the door or the doorpost. There his master will pierce his ear with a pointed tool, and he will serve him as his slave for life.

⁷ When a man sells his daughter as a slave, she shouldn’t be set free in the same way as male slaves are set free. ⁸ If she doesn’t please her master who chose her for himself, then her master must let her be bought back by her family. He has no right to sell her to a foreign people since he has treated her unfairly. ⁹ If he assigns her to his son, he must give her the rights of a daughter. ¹⁰ If he takes another woman for himself, he may not reduce her food, clothing, or marital rights. ¹¹ If he doesn’t do these three things for her, she will go free without any payment, for no money.

Instructions about human violence

¹² Anyone who hits and kills someone should be put to death. ¹³ If the killing wasn’t on purpose but an accident allowed by God, then I will designate a place to which the killer can run away. ¹⁴ But if someone plots and kills another person on purpose, you should remove the killer from my altar and put him to death.

¹⁵ Anyone who violently hits their father or mother should be put to death.

¹⁶ Anyone who kidnaps a person, whether they have been sold or are still being held, should be put to death.

¹⁷ Anyone who curses their father or mother should be put to death.

¹⁸ When two people are fighting and one hits the other with a stone or with his fist so that he is in bed for a while but doesn’t die— ¹⁹ if he recovers and is able to walk around outside with a cane, then the one who hit him shouldn’t be punished, except to pay for the loss of time from work and to pay for his full recovery.

²⁰ When a slave owner hits a male or female slave with a rod and the slave dies immediately, the owner should be punished. ²¹ But if the slave gets up after a day or two, the slave owner shouldn’t be punished because the slave is the owner’s property.

²² When people who are fighting injure a pregnant woman so that she has a miscarriage but no other injury occurs, then the guilty party will be fined what the woman’s husband demands, as negotiated with the judges. ²³ If there is further injury, then you will give a life for a life, ²⁴ an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, a hand for a hand, a foot for a foot, ²⁵ a burn for a burn, a bruise for a bruise, a wound for a wound.

²⁶ When a slave owner hits and blinds the eye of a male or female slave, he should let the slave go free on account of the eye. ²⁷ If he knocks out a tooth of a male or female slave, he should let the slave go free on account of the tooth.

Instructions about animals and property

²⁸ When an ox gores a man or a woman to death, the ox should be stoned to death, and the meat of the ox shouldn’t be eaten. But the owner of the ox shouldn’t be punished. ²⁹ However, if the ox had gored people in the past and its owner had been warned but didn’t watch out for it, and the ox ends up killing a man or a woman, then the ox should be stoned to death, and its owner should also be put to death. ³⁰ If the owner has to pay compensation instead, he must pay the agreed amount to save his life. ³¹ If the ox gores a boy or a girl, this same case law applies to the owner. ³² If the ox gores a male or female slave, the owner will pay thirty silver shekels to the slave’s owner, and the ox will be stoned to death.

³³ When someone leaves a pit open or digs a pit and doesn’t cover it and an ox or a donkey falls into the pit, ³⁴ the owner of the pit must make good on the loss. He should pay money to the ox’s owner, but he may keep the dead animal.

³⁵ When someone’s ox hurts someone else’s ox and it dies, then they should sell the live ox and divide its price. They should also divide the dead animal between them. ³⁶ But if the ox was known for goring in the past and its owner hadn’t watched out for it, the owner must make good the loss, an ox for an ox, but may keep the dead animal.

22 ^[d] When someone steals an ox or a sheep and then slaughters or sells it, the thief must pay back five oxen for the one ox or four sheep for the one sheep.

^2 [e] If the thief is caught breaking in and is beaten and dies, the one who killed him won’t be guilty of bloodshed. ³ However, if this happens in broad daylight, then the one who killed him is guilty of bloodshed. For his part, the thief must make good on what he stole. If he has nothing, he must be sold to pay for his theft. ⁴ If an animal (whether ox, donkey, or sheep) is found alive in the thief’s possession, he must pay back double.

⁵ When someone lets an animal loose to eat in another person’s field and causes the field or vineyard to be stripped of its crop, the owner must pay them back with the best from his own field or vineyard.

⁶ When someone starts a fire and it catches in thorns and then spreads to someone else’s stacked grain, standing grain, or a whole field, the one who started the fire must fully repay the loss.

⁷ When someone entrusts money or other items to another person to keep safe and they are stolen from the other person’s house and the thief is caught, the thief must pay back double. ⁸ If the thief isn’t caught, the owner of the house should be brought before God to determine whether or not the owner stole the other’s property.

⁹ When any dispute of ownership over an ox, donkey, sheep, piece of clothing, or any other loss arises in which someone claims, “This is mine,” the cases of both parties should come before God. The one whom God finds at fault must pay double to the other.

¹⁰ When someone gives a donkey, ox, sheep, or any other animal to another person to keep safe, and the animal dies or is injured or taken and no one saw what happened, ¹¹ the person should swear a solemn pledge before the Lord in the presence of the owner that he didn’t touch the other’s property. The owner must accept that, and no payment needs to be made. ¹² But if the animal was stolen, the person must make full payment to its owner. ¹³ If the animal was attacked and ripped apart and its torn body is brought as evidence, no payment needs to be made.

¹⁴ When someone borrows an animal from another and it is injured or dies while the owner isn’t present, full payment must be made. ¹⁵ If the owner was present, no payment needs to be made. If the animal was hired, only the fee for hiring the animal is due.

Instructions about social and religious matters

¹⁶ When a man seduces a young woman who isn’t engaged to be married yet and he sleeps with her, he must marry her and pay the bride-price for her. ¹⁷ But if her father absolutely refuses to let them marry, he must still pay the same amount as the bride-price for young women.

¹⁸ Don’t allow a female sorcerer to live.

¹⁹ Anyone who has sexual relations with an animal should be put to death.

²⁰ Anyone who offers sacrifices to any god, other than the Lord alone, should be destroyed.

²¹ Don’t mistreat or oppress an immigrant, because you were once immigrants in the land of Egypt. ²² Don’t treat any widow or orphan badly. ²³ If you do treat them badly and they cry out to me, you can be sure that I’ll hear their cry. ²⁴ I’ll be furious, and I’ll kill you with the sword. Then your wives will be widows, and your children will be orphans.

²⁵ If you lend money to my people who are poor among you, don’t be a creditor and charge them interest. ²⁶ If you take a piece of clothing from someone as a security deposit, you should return it before the sun goes down. ²⁷ His clothing may well be his only blanket to cover himself. What else will that person have to sleep in? And if he cries out to me, I’ll listen, because I’m compassionate.

²⁸ Don’t say a curse against God, and don’t curse your people’s chief.

²⁹ Don’t delay offering the produce of your vineyards and winepresses. Give me your oldest son. ³⁰ Do the same with your oxen and with your sheep. They should stay with their mother for seven days. On the eighth day, you should give them to me.

³¹ You are holy people to me. Don’t eat any meat killed by wild animals out in the field. Throw it to the dogs instead.

23 Don’t spread false rumors. Don’t plot with evil people to act as a lying witness. ² Don’t take sides with important people to do wrong. When you act as a witness, don’t stretch the truth to favor important people. ³ But don’t privilege unimportant people in their lawsuits either.

⁴ When you happen to come upon your enemy’s ox or donkey that has wandered off, you should bring it back to them.

⁵ When you see a donkey that belongs to someone who hates you and it’s lying down under its load and you are inclined not to help set it free, you must help set it free.

⁶ Don’t undermine the justice that your poor deserve in their lawsuits. ⁷ Stay away from making a false charge. Don’t put an innocent person who is in the right to death, because I will not consider innocent those who do such evil. ⁸ Don’t take a bribe, because a bribe blinds the clear-sighted and subverts the cause of those who are in the right.

⁹ Don’t oppress an immigrant. You know what it’s like to be an immigrant, because you were immigrants in the land of Egypt.

Sabbaths and festivals

¹⁰ For six years you should plant crops on your land and gather in its produce. ¹¹ But in the seventh year you should leave it alone and undisturbed so that the poor among your people may eat. What they leave behind, the wild animals may eat. You should do the same with your vineyard and your olive trees.

¹² Do your work in six days. But on the seventh day you should rest so that your ox and donkey may rest, and even the child of your female slave and the immigrant may be refreshed.

¹³ Be careful to obey everything that I have said to you. Don’t call on the names of other gods. Don’t even mention them.

¹⁴ You should observe a festival for me three times a year. ¹⁵ Observe the Festival of Unleavened Bread, as I commanded you. Eat unleavened bread for seven days at the appointed time in the month of Abib,^[f] because it was in that month that you came out of Egypt.

No one should appear before me empty-handed. ¹⁶ Observe the Harvest Festival for the early produce of your crops that you planted in the field, and the Gathering Festival at the end of the year, when you gather your crop of fruit from the field. ¹⁷ All your males should appear three times a year before the Lord God.

¹⁸ Don’t offer the blood of my sacrifice with anything leavened. Don’t let the fat of my festival offering be left over until the morning.

¹⁹ Bring the best of your land’s early produce to the Lord your God’s temple.

Don’t boil a young goat in its mother’s milk.

God’s promise: messenger and land

²⁰ I’m about to send a messenger in front of you to guard you on your way and to bring you to the place that I’ve made ready. ²¹ Pay attention to him and do as he says. Don’t rebel against him. He won’t forgive the things you do wrong because I^[g] am with him. ²² But if you listen carefully to what he says and do all that I say, then I’ll be an enemy to your enemies and fight those fighting you.

²³ When my messenger goes in front of you and brings you to the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Canaanites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, and I wipe them out, ²⁴ don’t bow down to their gods, worship them, or do what they do. Instead, you should completely destroy them and smash their sacred stone pillars to bits. ²⁵ If you worship the Lord your God, the Lord will bless your bread and your water. I’ll take sickness away from you, ²⁶ and no woman will miscarry or be infertile in your land. I’ll let you live a full, long life. ²⁷ My terrifying reputation will precede you, and I’ll throw all the people that you meet into a panic. I’ll make all your enemies turn their backs to you. ²⁸ I’ll send insect swarms in front of you and drive out the Hivites, the Canaanites, and the Hittites before you. ²⁹ I won’t drive them out before you in a single year so the land won’t be abandoned and the wild animals won’t multiply around you. ³⁰ I’ll drive them out before you little by little, until your numbers grow and you eventually possess the land. ³¹ I’ll set your borders from the Reed Sea^[h] to the Philistine Sea and from the desert to the River. I’ll hand the inhabitants of the land over to you, and you will drive them out before you. ³² Don’t make any covenants with them or their gods. ³³ Don’t allow them to live in your land, or else they will lead you to sin against me. If you worship their gods, it will become a dangerous trap for you.

Covenant at Sinai

24 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Come up to the Lord, you and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of Israel’s elders, and worship from a distance. ² Only Moses may come near to the Lord. The others shouldn’t come near, while the people shouldn’t come up with him at all.”

³ Moses came and told the people all the Lord’s words and all the case laws. All the people answered in unison, “Everything that the Lord has said we will do.” ⁴ Moses then wrote down all the Lord’s words. He got up early in the morning and built an altar at the foot of the mountain. He set up twelve sacred stone pillars for the twelve tribes of Israel. ⁵ He appointed certain young Israelite men to offer entirely burned offerings and slaughter oxen as well-being sacrifices to the Lord. ⁶ Moses took half of the blood and put it in large bowls. The other half of the blood he threw against the altar. ⁷ Then he took the covenant scroll and read it out loud for the people to hear. They responded, “Everything that the Lord has said we will do, and we will obey.”

⁸ Moses then took the blood and threw it over the people. Moses said, “This is the blood of the covenant that the Lord now makes with you on the basis of all these words.”

Covenant meal with God

⁹ Then Moses and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy elders of Israel went up, ¹⁰ and they saw Israel’s God. Under God’s feet there was what looked like a floor of lapis-lazuli tiles, dazzlingly pure like the sky. ¹¹ God didn’t harm the Israelite leaders, though they looked at God, and they ate and drank.

¹² The Lord said to Moses, “Come up to me on the mountain and wait there. I’ll give you the stone tablets with the instructions and the commandments that I’ve written in order to teach them.”

¹³ So Moses and his assistant Joshua got up, and Moses went up God’s mountain. ¹⁴ Moses had said to the elders, “Wait for us here until we come back to you. Aaron and Hur will be here with you. Whoever has a legal dispute may go to them.”

¹⁵ Then Moses went up the mountain, and the cloud covered the mountain. ¹⁶ The Lord’s glorious presence settled on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it for six days. On the seventh day the Lord called to Moses from the cloud. ¹⁷ To the Israelites, the Lord’s glorious presence looked like a blazing fire on top of the mountain. ¹⁸ Moses entered the cloud and went up the mountain. Moses stayed on the mountain for forty days and forty nights.

Gifts offered for the dwelling

25 The Lord said to Moses: ² Tell the Israelites to collect gift offerings for me. Receive my gift offerings from everyone who freely wants to give. ³ These are the gift offerings that you should receive from them: gold, silver, and copper; ⁴ blue, purple, and deep red yarns; fine linen; goats’ hair; ⁵ rams’ skins dyed red; beaded leather;^[i] acacia wood; ⁶ oil for the lamps; spices for the anointing oil and for the sweet-smelling incense; ⁷ gemstones; and gems for setting in the priest’s vest^[j] and chest piece. ⁸ They should make me a sanctuary so I can be present among them. ⁹ You should follow the blueprints that I will show you for the dwelling and for all its equipment.

Instructions for building the chest containing the covenant

¹⁰ Have them make an acacia-wood chest. It should be forty-five inches long, twenty-seven inches wide, and twenty-seven inches high. ¹¹ Cover it with pure gold, inside and out, and make a gold molding all around it. ¹² Cast four gold rings for it and put them on its four feet, two rings on one side and two rings on the other. ¹³ Make acacia-wood poles and cover them with gold. ¹⁴ Then put the poles into the rings on the chest’s sides and use them to carry the chest. ¹⁵ The poles should stay in the chest’s rings. They shouldn’t be taken out of them. ¹⁶ Put the covenant document that I will give you into the chest.

¹⁷ Then make a cover of pure gold, forty-five inches long and twenty-seven inches wide. ¹⁸ Make two winged heavenly creatures of hammered gold, one for each end of the cover. ¹⁹ Put one winged heavenly creature at one end and one winged heavenly creature at the other. Place the winged heavenly creatures at the cover’s two ends. ²⁰ The heavenly creatures should have their wings spread out above, shielding the cover with their wings. The winged heavenly creatures should face each other toward the cover’s center. ²¹ Put the gold cover on top of the chest and put the covenant document that I will give you inside the chest. ²² There I will meet with you. From there above the cover, from between the two winged heavenly creatures that are on top of the chest containing the covenant, I will deliver to you all that I command you concerning the Israelites.

Instructions for the table

²³ Make an acacia-wood table, three feet long, eighteen inches wide, and twenty-seven inches high. ²⁴ Cover it with pure gold and make a gold molding all around it. ²⁵ Make a frame around it that is four inches wide and a gold molding around the frame. ²⁶ Make four gold rings for the table. Fasten the rings to the four corners at its four legs. ²⁷ The rings that house the poles used for carrying the table should be close to the frame. ²⁸ Make the poles from acacia wood and cover them with gold. The table should be carried with these poles. ²⁹ Make its plates, dishes, jars, and bowls for pouring drink offerings. Make them of pure gold. ³⁰ Set the bread of the presence on the table so it is always in front of me.

Instructions for the lampstand

³¹ Make a lampstand of pure hammered gold. The lampstand’s base, branches, cups, flowers, and petals should all be attached to it. ³² It should have six branches growing out from its sides, three branches on one side of the lampstand and three branches on the other side of the lampstand. ³³ One branch will have three cups shaped like almond blossoms, each with a flower and petals, and the next branch will also have three cups shaped like almond blossoms, each with a flower and petals. So it will be for the six branches that grow out of the lampstand. ³⁴ In addition, on the lampstand itself there will be four cups shaped like almond blossoms, each with its flower and petals. ³⁵ There will be a flower attached under the first pair of branches, a flower attached under the next pair of branches, and a flower attached under the last pair of branches. So it will be for the six branches that grow out of the lampstand. ³⁶ Their flowers and their branches will be permanently attached to it. The whole lampstand should be one piece of pure hammered gold. ³⁷ Make its seven lamps and set up its lamps so that they direct their light in front of the lampstand. ³⁸ You should also make its tongs and fire pans out of pure gold. ³⁹ All these items should be made from pure gold weighing one kikkar. ⁴⁰ See to it that you make them according to the blueprint for them that you were shown on the mountain.

Instructions for building the dwelling

26 Make the dwelling with ten curtains of fine twisted linen and blue, purple, and deep red yarns. Work figures of winged heavenly creatures into their design. ² Each curtain should be forty-two feet long and each curtain six feet wide. All the curtains should be the same size. ³ Five curtains will be joined to each other as one set, while the other five curtains will be joined together as a second set. ⁴ Make loops of blue thread on the edge of the outer curtain in the first set. Do the same on the edge of the outer curtain in the second set. ⁵ Make fifty loops on the one curtain in the first set and fifty loops on the edge of the curtain that is in the second set. The loops should be opposite each other. ⁶ Then make fifty gold clasps. Join the curtains to each other with the clasps so that the dwelling becomes one whole structure.

⁷ You should also make curtains of goats’ hair for a tent over the dwelling. Make eleven curtains. ⁸ Each curtain should be forty-five feet long and each curtain six feet wide. The eleven curtains should all be the same size. ⁹ Join five of the curtains together, and join the six other curtains together. Double over the sixth curtain at the front of the tent. ¹⁰ Make fifty loops on the edge of the outer curtain in one set and fifty loops on the edge of the outer curtain in the second set.

¹¹ Make fifty copper clasps. Put the clasps into the loops and join the tent together so that it becomes one whole structure. ¹² The extra cloth that is left over from the tent curtains, that is, the half curtain that remains, should hang over the back of the dwelling. ¹³ Eighteen inches on one side and eighteen inches on the other side of the leftover length of the tent’s curtains will hang over the two sides of the dwelling to cover it. ¹⁴ Then for the tent, make a covering of rams’ skins dyed red and an outer covering of beaded leather.^[k]

¹⁵ Make acacia-wood boards to stand upright as a frame for the dwelling. ¹⁶ Each board will be fifteen feet long and twenty-seven inches wide. ¹⁷ Put two pegs on each board for joining them to each other. Do this for all the dwelling’s boards. ¹⁸ Make twenty boards for the dwelling’s southern side. ¹⁹ Then make forty silver bases to go under the twenty boards. There will be two bases under the first board for its two pegs, two bases under the next board for its two pegs, and so on. ²⁰ For the dwelling’s other side on the north, make twenty boards ²¹ and their forty silver bases, two bases under the first board, two bases under the next board, and so on. ²² For the back of the dwelling on the west, make six boards. ²³ Make two additional boards for the dwelling’s rear corners. ²⁴ They should be spread out at the bottom but joined together at the top with one ring. In this way, these two boards will form the two corners. ²⁵ And so there will be eight boards with their sixteen silver bases, two bases under the first board, two bases under the next board, and so on.

²⁶ You should also make acacia-wood bars: five for the boards on one side of the dwelling, ²⁷ five bars for the boards on the other side of the dwelling, and five bars for the boards on the back wall of the dwelling on the west. ²⁸ The middle bar, halfway up the boards, should run from one end to the other. ²⁹ Cover the boards with gold. Make gold rings to house the bars. Cover the bars with gold. ³⁰ Then set up the dwelling according to the plan for it that you were shown on the mountain.

³¹ Make a veil of blue, purple, and deep red yarns and of fine twisted linen. Work figures of winged heavenly creatures into its design. ³² Hang it on four acacia-wood posts covered in gold. They should have gold hooks and stand on four silver bases. ³³ Hang the veil under the clasps, and put the chest containing the covenant there behind the veil. The veil will separate for you the holy from the holiest space. ³⁴ Place the gold cover on the chest containing the covenant in the holiest space. ³⁵ Place the table outside the veil, and set the lampstand opposite the table by the south wall of the dwelling. Place the table by the north wall.

³⁶ Make a screen for the tent’s entrance of blue, purple, and deep red yarns and of fine twisted linen, decorated with needlework. ³⁷ Make five acacia-wood posts for the screen. Cover the posts with gold. Their hooks should be gold. Cast five copper bases for the posts.

Instructions for the altar

27 Make an acacia-wood altar. The altar should be square, seven and a half feet long and seven and a half feet wide. It should be four and a half feet high. ² Make horns for the altar and attach them to it, one horn on each of its four corners. Cover it with copper. ³ Make pails for removing its ashes and its shovels, bowls, meat forks, and trays. Make all its equipment out of copper. ⁴ Make for the altar a grate made of copper mesh. Make four copper rings for each of the four corners of the mesh. ⁵ Slide the mesh underneath the bottom edge of the altar and then extend the mesh halfway up to the middle of the altar. ⁶ Make acacia-wood poles for the altar and cover them with copper. ⁷ Put the poles through the rings so that the poles will be on the two sides of the altar when it is carried. ⁸ Make the altar with planks but hollow inside. All these should be made just as you were shown on the mountain.

Instructions for the dwelling’s courtyard

⁹ You should also set up the dwelling’s courtyard. The courtyard’s south side should have drapes of fine twisted linen stretching one hundred fifty feet on that side, ¹⁰ with twenty posts, twenty copper bases, and silver hooks and bands for the posts. ¹¹ Likewise along the north side the drapes should stretch one hundred fifty feet, with twenty posts, twenty copper bases, and silver hooks and bands for the posts. ¹² The courtyard’s width on the west side should consist of seventy-five feet of drapes with their ten posts and their ten bases. ¹³ The courtyard’s width on the front, facing east, should be seventy-five feet. ¹⁴ There should be twenty-two and a half feet of drapes on one side with three posts and three bases for them. ¹⁵ There should be twenty-two and a half feet of drapes on the other side with three posts and three bases for them. ¹⁶ For the gate into the courtyard there will be a screen thirty feet long, made of blue, purple, and deep red yarns and of fine twisted linen, decorated with needlework. It will have four posts with their four bases. ¹⁷ All the posts around the courtyard will have silver bands, silver hooks, and copper bases. ¹⁸ The courtyard will be one hundred fifty feet long and seventy-five feet wide. Its walls’ height will be seven and a half feet of fine twisted linen and its copper bases. ¹⁹ All the dwelling’s equipment for any use and all its tent pegs and all the courtyard’s tent pegs will be made of copper.

Olive oil for the lampstand

²⁰ You must require the Israelites to bring you pure oil of crushed olives for the light so that the lamp may be set up to burn continually. ²¹ In the meeting tent, outside the veil that hangs in front of the covenant document, Aaron and his sons will tend the lamp from evening to morning in the Lord’s presence. It will be a permanent regulation for the Israelites in every generation.

Instructions for the priests’ clothing

28 Summon to you your brother Aaron and his sons from among the Israelites to serve me as priests—Aaron and Aaron’s sons, Nadab and Abihu, and Eleazar and Ithamar. ² Make holy clothing that will give honor and dignity to your brother Aaron. ³ Tell all who are skilled, to whom I have given special abilities, to make clothing for Aaron for his dedication to serve me as a priest. ⁴ These are the articles of clothing that they should make: a chest pendant, a vest, a robe, a woven tunic, a turban, and a sash. When they make this holy clothing for your brother Aaron and his sons to serve me as priests, ⁵ they should use gold, blue, purple, and deep red yarns and fine linen.

Priest’s ornamental vest

⁶ They should make the vest of gold, of blue, purple, and deep red yarns and of fine twisted linen with embroidered designs. ⁷ The vest will have two shoulder pieces attached to its two edges so that they may be joined together. ⁸ The vest’s belt should be attached to it and made in the same way of gold, of blue, purple, and deep red yarns and fine twisted linen. ⁹ Take two gemstones and engrave on them the names of Israel’s sons, ¹⁰ six names on one stone and the other six names on the other stone, in the order of their birth. ¹¹ Like a gem cutter who engraves official seals, you will engrave the two stones with the names of Israel’s sons. Mount them in gold settings. ¹² Attach the two stones to the vest’s shoulder pieces as stones of reminder for the Israelites. Aaron will carry into the Lord’s presence their names on his two shoulders as a reminder. ¹³ Then make gold settings ¹⁴ along with two chains of pure gold, twisted like cords. Attach the corded chains to the gold settings.

Priest’s chest pendant used for making decisions

¹⁵ Make an embroidered chest pendant used for making decisions. Make it in the style of the vest, using gold, blue and purple and deep red yarns, and fine twisted linen. ¹⁶ It will be square and doubled, nine inches long and nine inches wide. ¹⁷ Set in it four rows of gemstone settings. The first row will be a row of carnelian, topaz, and emerald stones. ¹⁸ The second row will be a turquoise, a sapphire, and a moonstone. ¹⁹ The third row will be a jacinth, an agate, and an amethyst. ²⁰ The fourth row will be a beryl, an onyx, and a jasper. Their settings will be made of decorative gold. ²¹ There will be twelve stones with names corresponding to the names of Israel’s sons. They will be engraved like official seals, each with its name for the twelve tribes.

²² Make chains of pure gold twisted like cords for the chest pendant. ²³ Make two gold rings for the chest pendant and attach the two rings to the two edges of the chest pendant. ²⁴ Attach the two gold cords to the two rings at the edges of the chest pendant. ²⁵ Then fasten the two ends of the cords to the two settings, which you should attach to the vest’s two front shoulder pieces. ²⁶ Make two gold rings and attach them to the two ends of the chest pendant on its inside edge facing the vest. ²⁷ Make two gold rings and fasten them on the front of the lower part of the two shoulder pieces of the vest, at its seam just above the vest’s belt. ²⁸ The chest pendant should be held in place by a blue cord binding its rings to the vest’s rings so that the chest pendant rests on the vest’s belt and won’t come loose from the vest. ²⁹ In this way, Aaron will carry the names of Israel’s sons on the chest pendant for making decisions over his heart when he goes into the sanctuary as a reminder before the Lord at all times. ³⁰ Put into the chest pendant used for making decisions the Urim and the Thummim, so they will be over Aaron’s heart when he goes into the Lord’s presence. In this way, Aaron will carry the means to make decisions for the Israelites over his heart when in the Lord’s presence at all times.

Instructions for other priestly clothing

³¹ You will make the robe for the vest all of blue. ³² The opening for the head should be in the middle of it. The opening should be reinforced by a woven binding, a strong border so that it doesn’t tear. ³³ On its lower hem add pomegranates made of blue, purple, and deep red yarns all around the lower hem, with gold bells between the pomegranates all around it. ³⁴ A gold bell and a pomegranate should alternate all around the lower hem of the robe. ³⁵ Aaron will wear the robe when he ministers as a priest. Its sound will be heard when he goes into the sanctuary in the Lord’s presence and when he comes out, so that he will not die.

³⁶ Make a flower ornament of pure gold and engrave on it like an official seal: “Holy to the Lord.” ³⁷ You should fasten it on the turban with a blue cord. It should be on the front of the turban. ³⁸ It will be on Aaron’s forehead, and Aaron will take on himself any guilt connected with the holy offerings that the Israelites give as their sacred donations. It will always be on his forehead so that the people may be remembered favorably in the Lord’s presence.

³⁹ Weave the tunic out of fine linen. Make the turban out of fine linen. Make a sash decorated with needlework. ⁴⁰ For Aaron’s sons, you should also make tunics, sashes, and turbans to mark their honor and dignity. ⁴¹ Put these garments on your brother Aaron and on his sons with him. Anoint them with oil, ordain them, and make them holy to serve me as priests. ⁴² You should also make linen undergarments for them to cover their naked skin from their hips to their thighs. ⁴³ Aaron and his sons should wear this clothing when they go into the meeting tent or when they approach the altar to minister as priests in the sanctuary. Otherwise, they will bring guilt on themselves and die. This will be a permanent regulation for him and for his descendants after him.

Instructions for the priests’ ordination

29 Now this is what you should do to make them holy in order to serve me as priests. Take a young bull and two flawless rams. ² Take unleavened bread, unleavened flatbread made with oil, and unleavened wafers spread with oil. Make them out of high-quality wheat flour. ³ Put them all in one basket and present them in the basket along with the bull and the two rams. ⁴ Present Aaron and his sons at the entrance to the meeting tent and wash them with water. ⁵ Then take the priestly clothes and put them on Aaron: the tunic, the vest’s robe, the vest itself, and the chest pendant. Put the vest on him with the vest’s belt. ⁶ Set the turban on his head and place the holy crown on the turban. ⁷ Take the anointing oil and pour it on his head to anoint him. ⁸ Then present his sons and put the tunics on them. ⁹ Tighten the sashes on them, on both Aaron and his sons. Wrap the turbans on their heads. It will be a permanent regulation that the duties of priesthood belong to them. In this way, you will ordain Aaron and his sons.

¹⁰ Present the bull at the front of the meeting tent. Aaron and his sons will lay their hands on the bull’s head. ¹¹ Then slaughter the bull in the Lord’s presence at the meeting tent’s entrance. ¹² Take some of the bull’s blood and smear it on the altar’s horns with your finger. Pour out the rest of the blood at the altar’s base. ¹³ Then take all the fat that covers the inner organs, the lobe of the liver, and the two kidneys along with the fat that is on them, and burn them up in smoke on the altar. ¹⁴ Burn the rest of the meat of the bull, its hide, and the intestines with their contents with a fire outside the camp. It is a purification offering.

¹⁵ Choose one of the rams, and have Aaron and his sons lay their hands on the ram’s head. ¹⁶ Then slaughter the ram. Take its blood and throw it against all the altar’s sides. ¹⁷ Cut up the ram into parts. Wash its inner organs and legs, and put them together with its parts and its head. ¹⁸ Then turn the entire ram into smoke by burning it on the altar. It is an entirely burned offering for the Lord, a soothing smell, a food gift for the Lord.

¹⁹ Take the second ram, and have Aaron and his sons lay their hands on the ram’s head. ²⁰ Slaughter the ram. Take some of its blood and smear it on the right earlobes of Aaron and his sons, on the thumbs of their right hands, and on the big toes of their right feet. Throw the rest of the blood against all the altar’s sides. ²¹ Then take some of the blood on the altar and some of the anointing oil and sprinkle them on Aaron and on his clothes and on his sons and on his sons’ clothes. In this way, Aaron, his sons, and all their priestly garments will be holy.

²² Take the fatty parts of the ram: the fat tail, the fat around the inner organs, the lobe of the liver, the two kidneys with the fat around them, and the right thigh (because it is a ram for ordination). ²³ Add one loaf of bread, one flatbread made with oil, and one wafer from the basket of unleavened bread that was presented to the Lord. ²⁴ Place all of these in the hands of Aaron and his sons, and lift them as an uplifted offering in the Lord’s presence. ²⁵ Then take them from their hands and turn them into smoke by burning them on the altar with the entirely burned offering as a soothing smell in the Lord’s presence. It is a food gift for the Lord.

²⁶ Take the breast of the ram for Aaron’s ordination and lift it as an uplifted offering in the Lord’s presence. It will be your portion. ²⁷ Make holy the breast that was lifted for the uplifted offering and the thigh that was raised for the gift offering from the ram for the ordination. They belong to Aaron and his sons. ²⁸ Those parts will be given to Aaron and his sons from the Israelites as a permanent provision, because they are a gift offering. They will be a gift offering from the Israelites, their gift offering to the Lord from their well-being sacrifices.

²⁹ Aaron’s holy clothes should be passed on to his sons after him. His sons should be anointed in them and ordained in them. ³⁰ The son who is priest in his place should wear them seven days when he comes into the meeting tent to minister in the sanctuary.

³¹ Take the ram for the ordination and boil its meat in a holy place. ³² Aaron and his sons will eat the ram’s meat and the bread that is in the basket at the meeting tent’s entrance. ³³ They alone should eat the food that was used to purify them, to ordain them, and to make them holy. No one else should eat it because it is holy. ³⁴ If any meat for the ordination or any of the bread is left over until morning, then you should burn the leftovers with fire. It shouldn’t be eaten because it’s holy.

³⁵ Treat Aaron and his sons just as I have commanded you. Ordain them for seven days. ³⁶ Every day you should offer a bull as a purification offering for reconciliation. You should remove the sin from the altar through a ritual of reconciliation, and you should anoint the altar to make it holy. ³⁷ Seven days you should perform the ritual of reconciliation for the altar and make it holy. In this way, the altar will become most holy, and whatever touches the altar will also become holy.

Instructions for daily entirely burned offerings

³⁸ Now this is what you should offer on the altar: two one-year-old lambs regularly every day. ³⁹ Offer one lamb in the morning and offer the other lamb at twilight. ⁴⁰ With the first lamb, add one-tenth of a measure of the high-quality flour mixed with a quarter of a hin^[l] of oil from crushed olives and a quarter of a hin of wine for a drink offering. ⁴¹ With the second lamb offered at twilight, again include a grain offering and its drink offering as in the morning as a soothing smell, a gift offering for the Lord. ⁴² This should be the regular entirely burned offering in every generation at the meeting tent’s entrance in the Lord’s presence. There I will meet with you, and there I will speak to you. ⁴³ I will meet with the Israelites there, and it will be made holy by my glorious presence. ⁴⁴ I will make the meeting tent and the altar holy. Likewise, I will make Aaron and his sons holy to serve me as priests. ⁴⁵ I will be at home among the Israelites, and I will be their God. ⁴⁶ They will know that I am the Lord their God, who brought them out of the land of Egypt so that I could make a home among them. I am the Lord their God.

Instructions for the incense altar

30 Make an acacia-wood altar for burning incense. ² The altar should be square, eighteen inches long and eighteen inches wide. It should be three feet high. Its horns should be permanently attached. ³ Cover the altar with pure gold, including its top, all its sides, and its horns. You should also make a gold molding all around it. ⁴ Make two gold rings and attach them under the molding on two opposite sides of the altar. They will house the poles used to carry the altar. ⁵ Make acacia-wood poles and cover them with gold. ⁶ Place the incense altar in front of the veil that hangs before the chest containing the covenant, in front of the cover that is on top of the covenant document where I will meet with you. ⁷ Aaron will burn sweet-smelling incense on the incense altar every morning when he takes care of the lamps. ⁸ And again when Aaron lights the lamps at twilight, he will burn incense. It should be a regular incense offering in the Lord’s presence in every generation. ⁹ Don’t offer the wrong incense on the altar or an entirely burned offering or a grain offering. Don’t pour a drink offering on it. ¹⁰ Once a year Aaron should perform a ritual of reconciliation on its horns with the blood of the purification offering for reconciliation. Once a year in every generation he should perform a ritual of reconciliation at the altar. It is most holy to the Lord.

Census and compensation

¹¹ The Lord spoke to Moses: ¹² When you take a census of the Israelites to count them, each of them should pay compensation for their life to the Lord when they are counted. Then no plague will descend on them when they are counted. ¹³ Every one who is counted should pay a half shekel according to the official shekel of the sanctuary (the shekel is twenty gerahs). The half shekel is a gift offering to the Lord. ¹⁴ Every one who is counted, from 20 years old and above, should present a gift offering to the Lord. ¹⁵ When you bring this gift offering to the Lord to pay compensation for your lives, the rich shouldn’t give more and the poor shouldn’t give less than the half shekel. ¹⁶ Take the compensation money from the Israelites and use it to support the service of the meeting tent. It will serve for the Israelites as a reminder in the Lord’s presence of the compensation paid for your lives.

Instructions for the washbasin

¹⁷ The Lord spoke to Moses: ¹⁸ Make a copper basin for washing along with its copper stand. Put it between the meeting tent and the altar, and put water in it. ¹⁹ Aaron and his sons will use it to wash their hands and their feet. ²⁰ When they go into the meeting tent or approach the altar to minister and to offer a food gift to the Lord, they must wash with water so that they don’t die. ²¹ They must wash their hands and their feet so that they don’t die. This will be a permanent regulation for them, for Aaron and his descendants in every generation.

Instructions for oil and incense

²² The Lord spoke to Moses: ²³ Now take for yourself high-quality spices: five hundred weight of solid myrrh; half as much of sweet-smelling cinnamon, that is, two hundred fifty; two hundred fifty weight of sweet-smelling cane; ²⁴ five hundred of cassia—measured by the sanctuary shekel—and a hin^[m] of olive oil. ²⁵ Prepare a holy anointing oil, blending them like a skilled perfume maker to produce the holy anointing oil. ²⁶ Use it to anoint the meeting tent, the chest containing the covenant, ²⁷ the table and all its equipment, the lampstand and its equipment, the incense altar, ²⁸ the altar for entirely burned offerings and all its equipment, and the washbasin with its stand. ²⁹ Make them holy so that they may be perfectly holy. Whatever touches them will become holy. ³⁰ Then anoint Aaron and his sons and make them holy to serve me as priests. ³¹ Say to the Israelites: This will be my holy anointing oil in every generation. ³² Don’t allow anyone else to use this oil. Don’t make another oil like it by using the same formula. This oil is holy, and you should regard it as holy. ³³ Whoever blends an oil like it or whoever uses the oil on someone else will be cut off from the people.

³⁴ The Lord said to Moses: Take an equal amount of each of these spices: gum resin, onycha, galbanum, and pure frankincense. ³⁵ Like a skilled perfume maker, carefully blend them together and make incense, seasoned with salt, pure and holy. ³⁶ Beat some of it into a fine powder and put part of it in front of the covenant document in the meeting tent where I will meet with you. You should regard it as perfectly holy. ³⁷ When you make incense according to this formula, you shouldn’t make any of it for your own use. You should regard it as holy to the Lord. ³⁸ Whoever makes incense with this same formula to enjoy its fragrance will be cut off from the people.

Construction leaders: Bezalel and Oholiab

31 The Lord spoke to Moses: ² Look, I have chosen Bezalel, Uri’s son and Hur’s grandson from the tribe of Judah. ³ I have filled him with the divine spirit, with skill, ability, and knowledge for every kind of work. ⁴ He will be able to create designs; do metalwork in gold, silver, and copper; ⁵ cut stones for setting; carve wood; and do every kind of work. ⁶ I have also appointed with him Oholiab, Ahisamach’s son from the tribe of Dan. To all who are skillful, I have given the skill to make everything that I have commanded you: ⁷ the meeting tent, the chest containing the covenant, the cover that is on top of it, all the tent’s furnishings, ⁸ the table and its equipment, the pure lampstand with all its equipment, the incense altar, ⁹ the altar for entirely burned offerings with all its equipment, the washbasin with its stand, ¹⁰ the woven clothing, the holy clothes for Aaron the priest and for his sons for their service as priests, ¹¹ the anointing oil, and the sweet-smelling incense for the sanctuary. They will do just as I have commanded you.

Instructions for keeping the Sabbath

¹² The Lord said to Moses: ¹³ Tell the Israelites: “Be sure to keep my sabbaths, because the Sabbath is a sign between me and you in every generation so you will know that I am the Lord who makes you holy. ¹⁴ Keep the Sabbath, because it is holy for you. Everyone who violates the Sabbath will be put to death. Whoever does any work on the Sabbath, that person will be cut off from the people. ¹⁵ Do your work for six days. But the seventh day is a Sabbath of complete rest that is holy to the Lord. Whoever does any work on the Sabbath day will be put to death. ¹⁶ The Israelites should keep the Sabbath. They should observe the Sabbath in every generation as a covenant for all time. ¹⁷ It is a sign forever between me and the Israelites that in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh day the Lord rested and was refreshed.”

¹⁸ When God finished speaking with Moses on Mount Sinai, God gave him the two covenant tablets, the stone tablets written by God’s finger.

Worshipping the gold bull calf

32 The people saw that Moses was taking a long time to come down from the mountain. They gathered around Aaron and said to him, “Come on! Make us gods^[n] who can lead us. As for this man Moses who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we don’t have a clue what has happened to him.”

² Aaron said to them, “All right, take out the gold rings from the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me.” ³ So all the people took out the gold rings from their ears and brought them to Aaron. ⁴ He collected them and tied them up in a cloth.^[o] Then he made a metal image of a bull calf, and the people declared, “These are your gods, Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!”

⁵ When Aaron saw this, he built an altar in front of the calf. Then Aaron announced, “Tomorrow will be a festival to the Lord!” ⁶ They got up early the next day and offered up entirely burned offerings and brought well-being sacrifices. The people sat down to eat and drink and then got up to celebrate.

⁷ The Lord spoke to Moses: “Hurry up and go down! Your people, whom you brought up out of the land of Egypt, are ruining everything! ⁸ They’ve already abandoned the path that I commanded. They have made a metal bull calf for themselves. They’ve bowed down to it and offered sacrifices to it and declared, ‘These are your gods, Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!’” ⁹ The Lord said to Moses, “I’ve been watching these people, and I’ve seen how stubborn they are. ¹⁰ Now leave me alone! Let my fury burn and devour them. Then I’ll make a great nation out of you.”

¹¹ But Moses pleaded with the Lord his God, “Lord, why does your fury burn against your own people, whom you brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and amazing force? ¹² Why should the Egyptians say, ‘He had an evil plan to take the people out and kill them in the mountains and so wipe them off the earth’? Calm down your fierce anger. Change your mind about doing terrible things to your own people. ¹³ Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your servants, whom you yourself promised, ‘I’ll make your descendants as many as the stars in the sky. And I’ve promised to give your descendants this whole land to possess for all time.’” ¹⁴ Then the Lord changed his mind about the terrible things he said he would do to his people.

¹⁵ Moses then turned around and came down the mountain. He carried the two covenant tablets in his hands. The tablets were written on both sides, front and back. ¹⁶ The tablets were God’s own work. What was written there was God’s own writing inscribed on the tablets. ¹⁷ When Joshua heard the noise of the people as they shouted, he said to Moses, “It sounds like war in the camp.”

¹⁸ But Moses said,

¹⁹ When he got near the camp and saw the bull calf and the dancing, Moses was furious. He hurled the tablets down and shattered them in pieces at the foot of the mountain. ²⁰ He took the calf that they had made and burned it in a fire. Then he ground it down to crushed powder, scattered it on the water, and made the Israelites drink it.

²¹ Moses said to Aaron, “What did these people do to you that you led them to commit such a terrible sin?”

²² Aaron replied, “Don’t get angry with me, sir. You know yourself that these people are out of control.^{[p] 23} They said to me, ‘Make us gods who can lead us. As for this man Moses who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we don’t have a clue what has happened to him.’ ²⁴ So I said to them, ‘Whoever has gold, take it off!’ So they gave it to me, I threw it into the fire, and out came this bull calf!”

²⁵ Moses saw that the people were out of control because Aaron had let them get out of control, making them an easy target for their enemies. ²⁶ So Moses stood at the camp’s gate and said, “Whoever is on the Lord’s side, come to me!” All the Levites gathered around him. ²⁷ Moses said to them, “This is what the Lord, Israel’s God, says: Each of you, strap on your sword! Go back and forth from one end of the camp to the other. Each of you, kill your brother, your friend, and your neighbor!” ²⁸ The Levites did as Moses commanded. About three thousand people were killed that day. ²⁹ Moses said, “Today you’ve been ordained to the Lord, each one of you at the cost of a son or a brother. Today you’ve gained a special blessing for yourselves.”

³⁰ The next day Moses said to the people, “You’ve committed a terrible sin. So now I will go up to the Lord. Maybe I can arrange reconciliation on account of your sin.” ³¹ So Moses went back to the Lord and said, “Oh, what a terrible sin these people have committed! They made for themselves gods^[q] of gold. ³² But now, please forgive their sin! And if not, then wipe me out of your scroll that you’ve written.”

³³ But the Lord said to Moses, “The ones I’ll wipe out of my scroll are those who sinned against me. ³⁴ Now go and lead the people to the place I described to you. My messenger here will go in front of you. When the day of reckoning comes, I’ll count their sin against them.” ³⁵ Then the Lord sent a plague on the people because of what they did with the bull calf that Aaron made.

The Lord: “I can’t go”

33 The Lord said to Moses, “Go and leave this place, you and the people whom you brought up out of the land of Egypt. Go to the land I promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob when I said, ‘I’ll give it to your descendants.’ ² I’ll send a messenger before you. I’ll drive out the Canaanites, the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. ³ Go to this land full of milk and honey. But I won’t go up with you because I would end up destroying you along the way since you are a stubborn people.”

⁴ When the people heard the bad news, they were sorry. No one put on any jewelry, ⁵ because the Lord had said to Moses, “Tell the Israelites, ‘You are a stubborn people. If I were to go up with you even for a single moment, I would destroy you. So now take off your jewelry, while I figure out what to do with you.’” ⁶ So after leaving Mount Horeb the Israelites rid themselves of their jewelry.

Speaking with the Lord at the meeting tent

⁷ Moses took the tent and pitched it outside the camp, far away from the camp. He called it the meeting tent. Everyone who wanted advice from the Lord would go out to the meeting tent outside the camp. ⁸ Whenever Moses went out to the tent, all the people would rise and stand at the entrance to their tents and watch Moses until he had gone into the tent. ⁹ When Moses entered the tent, the column of cloud would come down and stand at the tent’s entrance while the Lord talked with Moses. ¹⁰ When all the people saw the column of cloud standing at the tent’s entrance, they would all rise and then bow down at the entrances to their tents. ¹¹ In this way the Lord used to speak to Moses face-to-face, like two people talking to each other. Then Moses would come back to the camp. But his young assistant Joshua, Nun’s son, wouldn’t leave the tent.

Moses pleads with God

¹² Moses said to the Lord, “Look, you’ve been telling me, ‘Lead these people forward.’ But you haven’t told me whom you will send with me. Yet you’ve assured me, ‘I know you by name and think highly of you.’ ¹³ Now if you do think highly of me, show me your ways so that I may know you and so that you may really approve of me. Remember too that this nation is your people.”

¹⁴ The Lord replied, “I’ll go myself, and I’ll help you.”

¹⁵ Moses replied, “If you won’t go yourself, don’t make us leave here. ¹⁶ Because how will anyone know that we have your special approval, both I and your people, unless you go with us? Only that distinguishes us, me and your people, from every other people on the earth.”

¹⁷ The Lord said to Moses, “I’ll do exactly what you’ve asked because you have my special approval, and I know you by name.”

¹⁸ Moses said, “Please show me your glorious presence.”

¹⁹ The Lord said, “I’ll make all my goodness pass in front of you, and I’ll proclaim before you the name, ‘The Lord.’ I will be kind to whomever I wish to be kind, and I will have compassion to whomever I wish to be compassionate. ²⁰ But,” the Lord said, “you can’t see my face because no one can see me and live.” ²¹ The Lord said, “Here is a place near me where you will stand beside the rock. ²² As my glorious presence passes by, I’ll set you in a gap in the rock, and I’ll cover you with my hand until I’ve passed by. ²³ Then I’ll take away my hand, and you will see my back, but my face won’t be visible.”

A deeper revealing of God’s character

34 The Lord said to Moses, “Cut two stone tablets like the first ones. I’ll write on these tablets the words that were on the first tablets, which you broke into pieces. ² Get ready in the morning and come up to Mount Sinai. Stand there on top of the mountain in front of me. ³ No one else can come up with you. Don’t allow anyone even to be seen anywhere on the mountain. Don’t even let sheep and cattle graze in front of the mountain.” ⁴ So Moses cut two stone tablets like the first ones. He got up early in the morning and climbed up Mount Sinai, just as the Lord had commanded him. He carried the two stone tablets in his hands. ⁵ The Lord came down in the cloud and stood there with him, and proclaimed the name, “The Lord.” ⁶ The Lord passed in front of him and proclaimed:

⁸ At once Moses bowed to the ground and worshipped. ⁹ He said, “If you approve of me, my Lord, please go along with us.^[r] Although these are stubborn people, forgive our guilt and our sin and take us as your own possession.”

Renewing the broken covenant

¹⁰ The Lord said: I now make a covenant. In front of all your people, I’ll perform dramatic displays of power that have never been done before anywhere on earth or in any nation. All the people who are around you will see what the Lord does, because I will do an awesome thing with you.

¹¹ Be sure to obey what I command you today. I’m about to drive out before you the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. ¹² Be careful that you don’t make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land to which you are going, or it will become a dangerous trap for you. ¹³ You must tear down their altars, smash their sacred stone pillars, and cut down their sacred poles. ¹⁴ You must not bow down to another god, because the Lord is passionate: the Lord’s name means “a passionate God.” ¹⁵ Don’t make a covenant with those who live in the land. When they prostitute themselves with their gods and sacrifice to their gods, they may invite you and you may end up eating some of the sacrifice. ¹⁶ Then you might go and choose their daughters as wives for your sons. And their daughters who prostitute themselves with their gods might lead your sons to prostitute themselves with their gods.

¹⁷ Don’t make metal gods for yourself.

¹⁸ Observe the Festival of Unleavened Bread. You should eat unleavened bread for seven days, as I commanded you, at the set time in the month of Abib,^[s] because it was in the month of Abib that you came out of Egypt.

¹⁹ Every first offspring is mine. That includes all your male livestock, the oldest offspring of cows and sheep. ²⁰ But a donkey’s oldest offspring you may ransom with a sheep. Or if you don’t ransom it, you must break its neck. You should ransom all of your oldest sons.

No one should appear before me empty-handed.

²¹ You should do your work for six days, but on the seventh day you should rest. Even during plowing or harvesttime you should rest. ²² You should observe the Festival of Weeks, for the early produce of the wheat harvest, and the Gathering Festival at the end of the year. ²³ All your males should appear three times a year before the Lord God, Israel’s God. ²⁴ I will drive out nations before you and extend your borders. No one will desire and try to take your land if you go up and appear before the Lord your God three times a year.

²⁵ Don’t slaughter the blood of my sacrifice with anything leavened. The sacrifice of the Passover Festival shouldn’t be left over until the morning.

²⁶ Bring the best of the early produce of your farmland to the Lord your God’s temple.

Don’t boil a young goat in its mother’s milk.

²⁷ The Lord said to Moses: “Write down these words because by these words I hereby make a covenant with you and with Israel.” ²⁸ Moses was there with the Lord forty days and forty nights. He didn’t eat any bread or drink any water. He wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant, the ten words.

Moses’ brightly shining face

²⁹ Moses came down from Mount Sinai. As he came down from the mountain with the two covenant tablets in his hand, Moses didn’t realize that the skin of his face shone brightly because he had been talking with God. ³⁰ When Aaron and all the Israelites saw the skin of Moses’ face shining brightly, they were afraid to come near him.