Bible in 90 Days

¹⁹ When Pharaoh’s horses along with his chariots and charioteers went into the sea, the Lord brought the waters of the sea back on them, but the Israelites walked on dry land in the middle of the sea.

²⁰ Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took a hand drum, and all the women followed her with drums and dancing. ²¹ Miriam sang to them,

The Waters of Marah and Elim

²² Then Moses led Israel on from the Red Sea, and they went out to the Wilderness of Shur. They traveled for three days in the wilderness but found no water. ²³ When they came to Marah, they were not able to drink the waters of Marah, because they were bitter. That is why they named the place Marah.^{[a] 24} The people grumbled against Moses, and they said, “What will we drink?” ²⁵ Then Moses cried out to the Lord, and the Lord showed him some wood. Moses threw it into the water, and the water became fit to drink.

There the Lord made a decree and ruling for them, and there he tested them. ²⁶ So he said, “If only you would listen to the voice of the Lord your God, and do what is right in his eyes, and pay attention to his commandments, and keep all his regulations, I would not place on you any of the diseases that I placed on the Egyptians, for I am the Lord, who heals you.”

²⁷ Then they came to Elim where there were twelve springs of water and seventy palm trees, and they camped there by the waters.

The Lord Provides Manna and Quail

16 On the fifteenth day of the second month after they had left the land of Egypt, the entire Israelite community set out from Elim and came to the Wilderness of Sin,^[b] which is between Elim and Sinai. ² The entire Israelite community grumbled against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness. ³ The Israelites said to them, “If only we had died by the Lord’s hand in the land of Egypt, when we sat around pots of meat and ate as much food as we wanted, but now you have brought us out into this wilderness to have this whole community die of hunger.”

⁴ Then the Lord said to Moses, “Watch what I will do. I will rain down bread from heaven for you, and the people will go out each day and gather enough for that day. In this way I will test whether they will follow my instructions or not. ⁵ On the sixth day they will prepare what they bring in, and it will be twice as much as they gather on the other days.”

⁶ So Moses and Aaron said to all the Israelites, “At evening you will know that it was the Lord who brought you out of the land of Egypt, ⁷ and in the morning you will see the Glory of the Lord, because he has heard your constant grumbling against the Lord. Who are we that you should grumble against us?”

⁸ Moses said, “Now the Lord will give you meat to eat in the evening and as much bread as you want in the morning, because the Lord has heard your grumbling against him. Who are we? Your grumbling is not against us but against the Lord.”

⁹ Then Moses said to Aaron, “Tell the entire Israelite community, ‘Come before the Lord, because he has heard your grumbling.’” ¹⁰ As Aaron spoke to the entire Israelite community, they turned toward the wilderness, and suddenly the Glory of the Lord appeared in the cloud.

¹¹ The Lord spoke to Moses: ¹² “I have heard the grumbling of the Israelites. Say to them, ‘At evening you will eat meat, and in the morning you will eat bread until you are full. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God.’”

¹³ So in the evening quail came and covered the camp, and in the morning a layer of dew surrounded the camp. ¹⁴ When the layer of dew was gone, there were thin flakes on the surface of the wilderness, thin as frost on the ground. ¹⁵ When the Israelites saw it, they said to one another, “What is it?”^[c] because they did not know what it was.

Moses said to them, “This is the bread which the Lord has given to you as food to eat. ¹⁶ This is what the Lord has commanded: All of them are to gather as much of it as they need to eat. You are to take an omer^[d] per person based on the number of people each of you has in your tents.”

¹⁷ The Israelites did this, and some gathered more, some less. ¹⁸ When they measured it with an omer, the one who gathered more did not have too much, and the one who gathered less did not have too little. All of them gathered as much as they needed to eat. ¹⁹ Moses said to them, “No one is to leave any of it until morning.” ²⁰ However, they did not listen to Moses. Some of them left part of it until morning, and it became full of worms and stank. So Moses was angry with them.

²¹ They gathered it each morning. All of them gathered as much as they needed to eat. When the sun grew hot, it melted away. ²² On the sixth day they gathered twice as much food, two omers for each person, and all the leaders of the community came and reported to Moses. ²³ He said to them, “This is what the Lord has said: Tomorrow is a complete rest, a holy sabbath^[e] to the Lord. Bake what you want to bake, and boil what you want to boil, but set aside for yourselves all the rest of it to be kept until morning.”

²⁴ So they set it aside until morning as Moses commanded, and it did not stink, and there were no worms in it. ²⁵ Moses said, “Today eat whatever is left over, for today is a sabbath to the Lord. Today you will not find any around the camp.^{[f] 26} Six days you will gather it, but on the seventh day, the Sabbath, there will not be any.”

²⁷ On the seventh day some of the people went out to gather it, but they did not find any. ²⁸ The Lord said to Moses, “How long will you people refuse to keep my commandments and my instructions? ²⁹ Look, the Lord has given you the Sabbath. Therefore on the sixth day he will give you two days’ worth of bread. All of you are to stay where you are. None of you are to leave your places on the seventh day.” ³⁰ So the people rested on the seventh day.

³¹ The house of Israel called it manna.^[g] It looked like white coriander seed, and it tasted like wafers made with honey. ³² Moses said, “This is what the Lord has commanded: A full omer^[h] of it is to be kept throughout your generations so that they may see the bread which I fed you in the wilderness when I brought you out of the land of Egypt.”

³³ Moses said to Aaron, “Take a container, and put a full omer of manna in it. Place it before the Lord, to be kept throughout your generations.” ³⁴ To obey the Lord’s command to Moses, Aaron placed an omer before the Testimony,^[i] to be preserved. ³⁵ The Israelites ate manna for forty years, until they came to a land that was inhabited. They ate manna until they came to the border of the land of Canaan. ³⁶ (An omer, by the way, is one-tenth of an ephah.)

Water From the Rock

17 The entire Israelite community set out on their journey from the Wilderness of Sin^[j] as the Lord had commanded. They camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink. ² So the people quarreled with Moses and said, “Give us water to drink.”

Moses said to them, “Why are you quarreling with me? Why are you testing the Lord?”

³ But the people were thirsty for water there, so they grumbled against Moses. They said, “Why did you ever bring us up out of Egypt to let us, our children, and our livestock die of thirst?”

⁴ Moses cried out to the Lord, “What shall I do with these people? They are almost ready to stone me!”

⁵ The Lord said to Moses, “Go in front of the people, and take the elders of Israel with you. Also take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go. ⁶ Watch me. I will stand there in front of you on the rock in Horeb. You are to strike the rock. Water will come out of it, and the people will drink.” Moses did that in the sight of the elders of Israel. ⁷ He named the place Massah^[k] and Meribah,^[l] because the Israelites quarreled, and because they tested the Lord by saying, “Is the Lord among us or not?”

Battle With the Amalekites

⁸ Then the Amalekites came and fought against the Israelites at Rephidim. ⁹ Moses said to Joshua, “Select some men for us, and go out and fight against the Amalekites. Tomorrow I will stand on the hilltop, and God’s staff will be in my hand.” ¹⁰ So Joshua did just as Moses told him.

While Joshua was fighting against the Amalekites, Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the hilltop. ¹¹ Whenever Moses held up his hand, the Israelites would start winning, but whenever he lowered his hand,^[m] the Amalekites would start winning. ¹² When Moses’ arms became tired, they took a stone and placed it under him, and he sat on it. Aaron and Hur held up his hands—one on one side, and one on the other side. In this way his hands were steady until sunset. ¹³ So Joshua defeated the Amalekite army with the sword.

¹⁴ The Lord then said to Moses, “Write this on a scroll as a memorial, and make sure that Joshua hears it, because I will completely erase the memory of the Amalekites from under heaven.” ¹⁵ Moses built an altar and named it “The Lord Is My Banner,” ¹⁶ because he had said, “Since a hand was raised against the throne of the Lord,^[n] the Lord will be at war with the Amalekites from generation to generation.”

Jethro Visits Moses

18 Now Moses’ father-in-law Jethro, priest of Midian, heard about everything that God had done for Moses and for his people Israel and how the Lord had brought Israel out of Egypt.

² After Moses had sent his wife Zipporah away, his father-in-law Jethro had taken her in, ³ along with her two sons. The name of one son was Gershom,^[o] for Moses had said, “I have become an alien in a foreign land.” ⁴ The name of the other was Eliezer,^[p] for he had said, “My father’s God was my helper, and he has delivered me from Pharaoh’s sword.”

⁵ Moses’ father-in-law Jethro, Moses’ sons, and his wife were coming to Moses in the wilderness where he had camped at the mountain of God. ⁶ He sent word to Moses, “I, your father-in-law Jethro, your wife, and her two sons are coming to you.”

⁷ Moses went out to meet his father-in-law, and he bowed down and kissed him. They asked each other how they had been,^[q] and they went into the tent. ⁸ Moses told his father-in-law about everything that the Lord had done to Pharaoh and the Egyptians for Israel’s sake, about all the hardships that had confronted them along the way, and how the Lord had delivered them. ⁹ Jethro rejoiced over all the good things that the Lord had done for Israel when he delivered them from the hand of the Egyptians.

¹⁰ Jethro said, “Blessed be the Lord, who has delivered you from the hand of the Egyptians and the hand of Pharaoh. Blessed be the Lord, who has delivered the people out of the hand of the Egyptians. ¹¹ Now I know that the Lord is greater than all gods because he did this to those who acted arrogantly against the Israelites.”

¹² Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, brought a burnt offering and sacrifices to God. Aaron and all the elders of Israel came to eat a meal with Moses’ father-in-law in the presence of God.

¹³ The next day Moses sat down to serve as a judge for the people, and the people stood around Moses from morning till evening. ¹⁴ When Moses’ father-in-law saw everything that he did for the people, he said, “What is this that you are doing for the people? Why do you alone sit as judge with all the people standing around you from morning till evening?”

¹⁵ Moses said to his father-in-law, “Because the people come to me to inquire of God. ¹⁶ Whenever there is a dispute between them, they come to me, and I judge between the two sides, and I reveal the regulations of God and his laws.”

¹⁷ Moses’ father-in-law said to him, “What you are doing is not good. ¹⁸ You will certainly wear out both yourself and these people who are with you, for the work is too much for you. You are not able to handle this alone. ¹⁹ Listen to me now. I will give you advice, and may God be with you. Represent the people before God, and bring their disputes to God. ²⁰ Instruct them about the regulations and laws, and show them the way they are to live and the things that they are to do. ²¹ But you should select capable men from among all the people, God-fearing, trustworthy men, who hate dishonest gain. Then place them over the people as officials over groups of a thousand, a hundred, fifty, or ten. ²² Have them judge all the disputes of the people at the first level. They can refer any difficult case to you, but every easy case they can judge themselves. Make your load lighter; they can carry it with you. ²³ If you will do this, and God so commands you, then you will be able to endure, and all these people will also return home satisfied.”

²⁴ Moses listened to his father-in-law and did everything that he had said. ²⁵ Moses chose capable men from all of Israel and made them leaders over the people: officials over thousands, hundreds, fifties, and tens. ²⁶ They judged all the cases of the people initially. They brought the difficult cases to Moses, but every easy case they judged themselves. ²⁷ Then Moses sent his father-in-law on his way, and he returned to his own land.

Israel at Sinai

19 In the third month after the Israelites had left the land of Egypt, on that same day of the month, they came to the Wilderness of Sinai. ² After they set out from Rephidim and came to the Wilderness of Sinai, they camped in the wilderness. Israel camped there in front of the mountain.

³ Moses went up to God, and the Lord called to him from the mountain, “This is what you are to say to the house of Jacob and to tell the people of Israel: ⁴ ‘You have seen what I did to the Egyptians and how I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. ⁵ Now if you will carefully listen to my voice and keep my covenant, then you will be my special treasure out of all the nations, although the entire earth is mine. ⁶ You will be my kingdom of priests and my holy nation.’ These are the words that you are to speak to the Israelites.”

⁷ Moses went and summoned the elders of the people, and he set before them all these words that the Lord had commanded him. ⁸ All the people answered together, “Everything that the Lord has said, we will do.”

Moses brought back the people’s words to the Lord. ⁹ The Lord said to Moses, “Look, I will come to you in a dense cloud so that the people will hear when I speak with you, and then they will always believe you.” Moses told the people’s words to the Lord.

¹⁰ The Lord said to Moses, “Go to the people. Consecrate them today and tomorrow, and have them wash their clothes. ¹¹ Be ready by the third day, for on the third day the Lord will come down on Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people. ¹² You shall set boundaries for the people all around the mountain. Tell them: ‘Be careful that you do not go up onto the mountain or touch the edge of it.’ Whoever touches the mountain must certainly be put to death. ¹³ No one’s hand is to touch such a person, but that person is to be stoned to death or shot with arrows. No such animal or person shall be allowed to live. But when the special ram’s horn sounds a long blast, the people may come up to the mountain.”

¹⁴ Moses went down from the mountain to the people. He consecrated the people, and they washed their clothes. ¹⁵ He said to the people, “Be ready by the third day. Do not come near a woman.”^[r]

¹⁶ On the third day, when morning came, there was thunder and lightning. A thick cloud was over the mountain, and there was a very loud blast of a ram’s horn. All the people in the camp trembled. ¹⁷ Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain. ¹⁸ All of Mount Sinai was covered with smoke, because the Lord descended on it in fire. Its smoke went up like the smoke from a kiln, and the whole mountain trembled violently. ¹⁹ When the sound of the ram’s horn grew louder and louder, Moses spoke, and God answered him in the thunder. ²⁰ The Lord came down on Mount Sinai, at the top of the mountain. The Lord then called Moses 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 see the Lord. If they do, many of them will fall. ²² Even the priests, who approach the Lord, must consecrate themselves so that the Lord does not break out against them.”

²³ Moses said to the Lord, “The people cannot come up to Mount Sinai, because you warned, ‘Set boundaries around the mountain and treat it as holy.’”

²⁴ The Lord said to him, “Go down and bring Aaron up with you, but the priests and the people must not break through to come up to the Lord, so that the Lord will not break out against them.”

²⁵ So Moses went down to the people and told them these things.

The Ten Commandments

20 Then God spoke all these words:

¹⁸ All the people saw and heard the thunder and the lightning and the sound of the ram’s horn and the mountain smoking. The people saw,^[z] and they trembled and stood far away. ¹⁹ Then they said to Moses, “Speak with us yourself, and we will listen, but do not let God speak with us, or we will die.”

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

²¹ The people stayed at a distance, but Moses approached the thick darkness where God was.

²² Then the Lord told Moses to tell the people of Israel the following things:

You yourselves have seen that I have talked with you from heaven. ²³ You shall not make gods of silver or gods of gold and place them beside me. You shall not make them for yourselves.

²⁴ You are to make an altar of earth for me and to sacrifice your whole burnt offerings on it, as well as your fellowship offerings, your sheep, and your cattle. In every place where I cause my name to be remembered, I will come to you and I will bless you.

²⁵ If you make a stone altar for me, you are not to build it out of cut stones, because by applying a tool to it you would pollute it.

²⁶ You are not to go up to my altar by steps, so that your nakedness will not be uncovered upon it.

Civil Laws

21 Now these are the ordinances which you are to set before them:

Laws About Servants

² If you purchase a Hebrew servant, he is to serve for six years, but in the seventh he may go free without paying anything. ³ If he comes in by himself, he will go out by himself. If he is married when he comes in, 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 will belong to her master, and the servant will go out by himself. ⁵ But if the servant formally declares, “I love my master, my wife, and my children. I do not want to go out free,” ⁶ then his master shall bring him to the judges.^[aa] His master shall bring him to the door or to the doorpost, and he shall bore through his ear with an awl. Then he shall serve him for the rest of his life.

⁷ If a man sells his daughter to be a female servant, she may not be sent out of the household as the male servants may be. ⁸ If she does not please her master who has married her, then he must let her be redeemed. He has no right to sell her to a foreign people, since he has not kept his commitment to her. ⁹ If he marries her to his son, he must deal with her as he would deal with a daughter. ¹⁰ If he takes a second wife for himself, he must not diminish the food, the clothing, or the marital rights^[ab] of the first wife. ¹¹ If he does not do these three things for her, she may go free without paying any money.

Laws About Injuries

¹² Anyone who strikes a man so that he dies must certainly be put to death. ¹³ However, if this was not done intentionally but rather was an act of God, for that kind of case I will appoint a place among you to which that man can flee. ¹⁴ But if a man plots and kills his neighbor deliberately, you shall take him from my altar, so that he may be put to death.

¹⁵ Anyone who strikes his father or his mother must certainly be put to death.

¹⁶ If anyone kidnaps someone and sells him, or if the kidnapped person is found in his possession, the kidnapper must certainly be put to death.

¹⁷ Anyone who curses his father or his mother must certainly be put to death.

¹⁸ If men quarrel and one strikes the other with a stone or with his fist, and the victim does not die but is confined to bed— ¹⁹ if the victim gets up and can walk around outside with his staff, then the one who struck him shall not be punished, but he must pay for the victim’s lost work time while he is recuperating, until he is completely healed.

²⁰ If a man strikes his male or his female servant with a club,^[ac] and the servant dies at his hand, he must certainly be punished. ²¹ However, if the servant gets up after a day or two,^[ad] the man shall not be punished, for the servant was his property.

²² If men are fighting and they injure a pregnant woman so that the child comes out, yet no harm follows, they must certainly be fined as much as the woman’s husband demands and the judges approve. ²³ But if any harm follows, then you are to take life for life, ²⁴ eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, ²⁵ burn for burn, wound for wound, and bruise for bruise.

²⁶ If a man strikes his male or female servant’s eye and destroys it, he must let the servant go free as payment for the eye. ²⁷ If he knocks out his male or female servant’s tooth, he must let the servant go free as payment for the tooth.

²⁸ If an ox gores a man or a woman to death, the ox must be stoned to death, and its flesh must not be eaten, but the owner of the ox will not be held responsible. ²⁹ If the ox, however, had a habit of goring in the past, and its owner had been warned, but he did not keep it confined, and it then kills a man or a woman, the ox shall be stoned, and its owner shall also be put to death. ³⁰ But if a redemption payment is imposed on the owner instead of the death penalty, he must pay whatever is imposed on him to save his life. ³¹ This is also the ruling that applies to him if the ox has gored someone’s son or daughter. ³² But if the ox gores a male servant or a female servant, thirty shekels of silver shall be given to the servant’s owner, and the ox is to be stoned to death.

³³ If a man uncovers a cistern,^[ae] or if a man digs a cistern and does not cover it, and an ox or a donkey falls into it, ³⁴ the owner of the cistern shall pay for the loss in full. He shall give money to the owner of the animal, and the dead animal shall be his.

³⁵ If one man’s ox injures his neighbor’s ox, so that it dies, they shall sell the live ox and divide the money they got for it, and they shall also divide the dead animal. ³⁶ But if it was known that the ox was in the habit of goring in the past, and its owner has not kept it confined, he must pay ox for ox, and the dead animal will be his.

Laws About Property

22 If a man steals an ox or a sheep and butchers it or sells it, he shall pay five oxen for an ox and four sheep for a sheep.^[af]

² If a thief is caught breaking in and is struck so that he dies, the one who kills him shall not be guilty of bloodshed. ³ But if this takes place after sunrise, the one who kills him shall be guilty of bloodshed.

A thief shall make restitution. If he has nothing, then he shall be sold for his theft. ⁴ If the stolen animal found in his possession is alive, whether it is an ox, donkey, or sheep, he shall repay double.

⁵ If a man is grazing livestock in a field or a vineyard, and he lets his animals run loose and they graze in another man’s field, ⎣he shall make restitution from his own field on the basis of the produce that was eaten,^[ag] but if they have grazed over the whole field,⎦ he shall make restitution from the best of his own field and from the best of his own vineyard.^[ah]

⁶ If a fire gets out of control and spreads through the thorn bushes so that someone else’s shocks of grain, standing grain, or grain field are consumed, the one who lit the fire must certainly make restitution.

⁷ If a man entrusts money or other items to his neighbor for safekeeping, and they are stolen out of that man’s house, if the thief is found, he shall repay double. ⁸ If the thief is not found, then the owner of the house shall appear before the judges^[ai] to find out whether he has laid his hands on his neighbor’s goods. ⁹ In every such offense, whether it involves an ox, a donkey, a sheep, clothing, or any other kind of lost property about which someone claims, “This is mine,” the claims of both parties shall be presented before the judges. Whichever party the judges find guilty shall repay double to his neighbor.

¹⁰ If a man entrusts a donkey, an ox, a sheep, or any animal to his neighbor for safekeeping, and it dies or is injured or is driven off, and no one sees what happened, ¹¹ to settle the matter between them, the man who received the property must make an oath to the Lord that he has not laid his hands on his neighbor’s goods. Its owner must accept the oath, and the man who received the property shall not be required to make restitution. ¹² But if, in fact, it was stolen while in his custody, he shall make restitution to its owner. ¹³ If it was torn in pieces by animals, let him bring it for evidence. He is not required to make good that which was torn.

¹⁴ If a man borrows anything from his neighbor, and it is injured or dies while its owner is not with it, the borrower must certainly make restitution. ¹⁵ If its owner is with it, the borrower will not be required to make restitution. If it was rented, the rent covers the loss.

Laws About Morals in Society

¹⁶ If a man seduces a virgin who is not pledged in marriage and lies down with her, he must pay a bride price for her to be his wife. ¹⁷ If her father flatly refuses to give her to him, the offender still must weigh out silver equivalent to the bride price for virgins.

¹⁸ You shall not allow a sorceress^[aj] to live.

¹⁹ Whoever lies down with an animal shall certainly be put to death.

²⁰ Whoever sacrifices to any god, except to the Lord alone, shall be devoted to destruction.

²¹ You shall not wrong a resident alien or oppress him, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt.

²² You shall not take advantage of any widow or fatherless child. ²³ If you take advantage of them in any way, and they make even the faintest cry 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 be widows, and your children fatherless.

²⁵ If you lend money to anyone among my people who is poor, you must not act like a moneylender. You must not charge him interest. ²⁶ If you take your neighbor’s outer garment as collateral, you must restore it to him before the sun goes down, ²⁷ for his garment is the only cover he has for his skin. What would he sleep in? Be assured that when he cries to me, I will hear, for I am gracious.

²⁸ You shall not malign the judges,^[ak] nor curse a ruler of your people.

²⁹ You shall not delay bringing offerings from your abundant harvest and from your overflowing wine vats.

You shall present the firstborn of your sons to me. ³⁰ You shall do the same with your cattle and with your sheep. For seven days a newborn animal shall be with its mother. Then on the eighth day you shall present it to me.

³¹ You are to be men set apart as holy for me. So you shall not eat any flesh that is torn by wild animals. You shall cast it to the dogs.

23 You shall not spread a false report. Do not join hands with the wicked to be a malicious witness.

² You shall not follow a crowd to do evil. Do not go along with the crowd by testifying in court to pervert justice.

³ You shall not show favoritism to a poor man in his lawsuit.

⁴ If you come upon your enemy’s ox or his donkey going astray, you certainly must bring it back to him again. ⁵ If you see that the donkey of someone who hates you has fallen down under its load, do not pass him by. You certainly must help him with it.

⁶ You shall not deny justice to the poor people among you in their lawsuits.

⁷ Keep your distance from a false charge. Do not put those who are innocent and those who are righteous to death, for I will not acquit^[al] the wicked.

⁸ You shall not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds those who have sight and distorts the words of the righteous.

⁹ You shall not oppress a resident alien, for you know how it feels to be an alien, because you were aliens in the land of Egypt.

Laws About Sabbaths

¹⁰ For six years you shall sow your land and gather in its produce, ¹¹ but during the seventh year you are to let it rest and lie fallow, so that the needy among your people may eat, and the animals in the fields can eat what they leave. You are to deal with your vineyard and with your olive grove in the same way.

¹² Six days you shall do your work, and on the seventh day you shall rest, so that your ox and your donkey will have rest, and so that the son of your female servant and the resident alien will be refreshed.

¹³ Be careful to do all the things that I have said to you. Do not mention the name of other gods. Do not let their names come out of your mouth.

Laws About Festivals

¹⁴ Three times a year you shall observe pilgrimage festivals for me:

¹⁵ You shall observe the Festival of Unleavened Bread.^[am] For seven days you shall eat bread without yeast, as I commanded you, at the appointed time in the month of Abib (for during that month you came out from Egypt). No one is to appear before me empty-handed.

¹⁶ Next observe the Festival of Reaping^[an] by presenting the first ripe produce of your labors, which you sow in the field.

Finally, observe the Festival of Ingathering,^[ao] at the end of the year, when you pick the fruits of your labors from the fields. ¹⁷ Three times a year all your males shall appear before the Lord God.

¹⁸ You shall not offer any bread made with yeast together with the blood of my sacrifices. None of the fat from my festival shall remain until morning. ¹⁹ The very first produce from your soil you shall bring into the house of the Lord your God.

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

The Angel of the Lord Will Lead Israel

²⁰ Look, I will send an angel before you to guard you on your way and to bring you into the place which I have prepared. ²¹ Pay attention to him. Listen to his voice. Do not provoke him, because he will not pardon your disobedience, for my Name is in him. ²² But if you carefully listen to his voice and carry out all that I speak, then I will be an enemy to your enemies and an adversary to your adversaries.

²³ Yes, my Angel shall go ahead of you and bring you into the territory of the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Canaanites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. Then I will cut them off. ²⁴ You shall not bow down to their gods. Do not serve them or follow their practices, but you must completely overthrow them and demolish their sacred memorial stones. ²⁵ You shall serve the Lord your God, and he will bless your bread and your water, and I will take sickness away from your midst. ²⁶ No one will miscarry or be childless^[ap] in your land. I will grant you the full number of your days.

²⁷ I will send my terror before you, and I will spread confusion among all the people to whom you come, and I will make all your enemies turn their backs and flee from you. ²⁸ I will send the hornet ahead of you. It will drive out the Hivites, the Canaanites, and the Hittites from your presence. ²⁹ I will not drive them out from before you in a single year, or the land would become desolate, and the wild animals would become too numerous for you. ³⁰ As you advance, I will drive them out little by little, until you have grown in number and taken possession of the land.

³¹ I will establish your border from the Red Sea^[aq] all the way to the Mediterranean Sea,^[ar] and from the Wilderness^[as] to the River.^[at] So I will deliver the inhabitants of the land into your hand, and you will drive them out before you. ³² You shall not make a treaty^[au] with them or with their gods. ³³ They are not to dwell in your land, or they will make you sin against me, because if you serve their gods, this will surely be a trap for you.

The Covenant Is Ratified

24 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Come up to the Lord, you and Aaron, along with Nadab and Abihu and seventy of the elders of Israel, and worship me from a distance. ² Only Moses is allowed to come near the Lord, but the others are not to come near, and the people are not to go up with him.”

³ Moses came and reported to 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 spoken we will do.” ⁴ Moses wrote down all the words of the Lord.

He got up early in the morning and built an altar at the foot of the mountain. He set up twelve memorial stones for the twelve tribes of Israel. ⁵ He sent young Israelite men, who offered whole burnt offerings and sacrificed fellowship offerings of cattle to the Lord. ⁶ Moses took half of the blood and put it in bowls, and he splashed half of the blood on the altar. ⁷ He took the Book of the Covenant and read it out loud to the people and they said, “All that the Lord has spoken we will do. We will obey.”

⁸ Moses took the blood and splashed it on the people. He said, “Look, here is the blood of the covenant, which the Lord made with you by means of all these words.”

⁹ Then Moses, Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel went up. ¹⁰ They saw the God of Israel. Under his feet they saw what looked like a pavement of sapphire^[av] as clear as the sky. ¹¹ The Lord did not lay his hand on the dignitaries of the people of Israel. They gazed at God, and they ate and drank.

¹² The Lord said to Moses, “Come up to me on the mountain. Wait there, and I will give you the stone tablets with the law and the commands that I have written, so that you can teach them.”

¹³ Moses set out with his assistant Joshua and went up onto the mountain of God. ¹⁴ He said to the elders, “Wait here for us, until we come back to you. Look, here are Aaron and Hur. They will be with you. Whoever is involved in a dispute can go to them.”

¹⁵ Moses went up onto the mountain, and the cloud covered the mountain. ¹⁶ The Glory of the Lord settled on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered the mountain for six days. On the seventh day the Lord called to Moses out of the middle of the cloud. ¹⁷ The appearance of the Glory of the Lord looked like a devouring fire on the top of the mountain in the sight of the people of Israel. ¹⁸ Moses entered into the middle of the cloud and climbed up the mountain. Moses was on the mountain forty days and forty nights.

The Commission to Build the Dwelling^[aw]

25 The Lord spoke to Moses. He said, ² “Speak to the people of Israel^[ax] so that they gather a special offering^[ay] for me. From everyone whose heart makes him willing you shall gather the offering for me.”

The Offering for the Dwelling

³ This is the offering which you are to gather from them: gold, silver, and bronze; ⁴ blue, purple, and scarlet material, fine linen; goats’ hair, ⁵ rams’ skins dyed red, and hides of sea cows;^[az] acacia wood, ⁶ olive oil for the Light, spices for the anointing oil and for the fragrant incense, ⁷ onyx stones, and stones to be mounted on the special vest^[ba] and on the pouch. ⁸ They are to make a sanctuary for me, so that I may dwell among them. ⁹ You are to make it exactly according to the design for the Dwelling and the designs for all of its furniture which I will show you.

The Ark of the Covenant

¹⁰ They shall make an ark^[bb] of acacia wood. It is to be forty-five inches long, twenty-seven inches wide, and twenty-seven inches high.^{[bc] 11} Overlay it with pure gold. Overlay it on the inside and the outside, and make a gold border around it. ¹² Cast four gold rings for it and place them next to its four feet. Two rings are for one side of it, and two rings for the other side. ¹³ Make poles of acacia wood and overlay them with gold. ¹⁴ Put the poles which are used to carry the ark into the rings on the sides of the ark. ¹⁵ The poles are to be placed into the rings on the ark. They are not to be removed from the rings.

¹⁶ Put the Testimony, which I am about to give to you, into the ark. ¹⁷ Make an atonement seat^[bd] of pure gold, forty-five inches long and twenty-seven inches wide. ¹⁸ Make two cherubim^[be] of hammered gold. You are to make them for the two ends of the atonement seat. ¹⁹ Make one cherub for one end and one cherub for the other end. The cherubim on its two ends are to form one piece with the atonement seat.^{[bf] 20} The cherubim will spread their wings upward so that they cover the atonement seat with their wings, and they will face each other. The faces of the cherubim are to be looking inward toward the atonement seat. ²¹ Put the atonement seat on top of the ark, and put the Testimony, which I will give to you, into the ark. ²² There I will meet with you, and from above the atonement seat, from between the two cherubim that are on the Ark of the Testimony, I will communicate to you all the commands that I will give to you for the people of Israel.

The Table

²³ You shall make a table of acacia wood, thirty-six inches long, eighteen inches wide, and twenty-seven inches high. ²⁴ Overlay it with pure gold and make a gold border around it.^{[bg] 25} Make a three-inch rim around it. Make a gold border for its rim all the way around it. ²⁶ Make four gold rings for it and fasten the rings to the four corners, above the four legs of the table. ²⁷ The rings shall be close to the border to hold the poles used to carry the table. ²⁸ Make the poles of acacia wood and overlay them with gold, so that the table can be carried with them. ²⁹ You are to make its dishes,^[bh] its small bowls,^[bi] its pitchers, and its larger bowls to pour out offerings.^[bj] Make them of pure gold. ³⁰ You are to set the Bread of the Presence^[bk] on the table so that it is in front of me at all times.

The Lampstand

³¹ You shall make a lampstand^[bl] of pure gold. The lampstand is to be made of hammered metal. Its pedestal, its shaft, its cups, its buds, and its flowers are all to be formed as one piece with the lampstand. ³² There are to be six branches going out from its two sides: Three branches of the lampstand are to go out from one side, and three branches of the lampstand are to go out from the other side. ³³ There are to be three cups shaped like almond blossoms with buds and flowers on the first branch, and three cups like almond blossoms with buds and flowers on the branch opposite it. All six branches going out from the lampstand are to be the same. ³⁴ On the lampstand itself make four cups shaped like almond blossoms with buds and flowers. ³⁵ The bud under one pair of branches is to form one piece with the lampstand, and the bud under the second pair of branches is to form one piece with the lampstand, and the bud under the third pair of branches is to form one piece with the lampstand—the same for all six branches going out of the lampstand. ³⁶ Its buds and branches are to be made as one piece with it. All of it will be one hammered piece of pure gold.

³⁷ You shall make seven lamps for it, and these lamps shall be lit to give light to the area in front of the lampstand. ³⁸ Its wick trimmers and its pans^[bm] are to be made of pure gold. ³⁹ It is to be made of seventy-five pounds^[bn] of pure gold with all these accessories. ⁴⁰ See to it that you make them according to their design, which is being shown to you on the mountain.

The Curtains and Covers for the Dwelling

26 The curtain that forms the dwelling^[bo] itself you shall make with ten panels^[bp] of fine woven linen,^[bq] with blue, purple, and scarlet material. Decorate them with cherubim, which are to be the work of a skillful craftsman. ² The length of each panel of the curtain is to be forty-two feet, and the width of each panel six feet. All the panels are to be the same size. ³ Five panels of the curtain are to be connected together into one panel, and the other five panels are to be connected together into one. ⁴ Attach blue loops to the edge of the last panel in the first set of curtains. In the same way attach loops to the edge of the last panel of the second set. ⁵ Make fifty loops for the edge of the first set of curtains, and make fifty loops for the edge of the second set of curtains. The loops are to be opposite one another. ⁶ Make fifty gold clasps,^[br] and connect the two sets of curtains to each other with the clasps, so that the dwelling becomes one connected piece.

⁷ You shall make panels for a curtain made from goats’ hair to serve as a tent over the dwelling. Make eleven panels. ⁸ The length of each panel is to be forty-five feet, and the width of each panel six feet. The eleven panels are to be the same size. ⁹ Connect five panels of the curtain into one unit, and connect six panels into another unit. Fold the sixth panel of the curtain over the front edge of the Tent.^{[bs] 10} Attach fifty loops to the edge of the last panel of one set of curtains, and fifty loops to the edge of the last panel in the second set. ¹¹ Make fifty bronze clasps, and put the clasps into the loops to join the two pieces of the tent^[bt] together, so that it forms one unit. ¹² The excess part of the curtains that form the tent, which is left over, that is, the half curtain that is extra, is to hang down over the back of the Dwelling. ¹³ The eighteen inches left over on one side and the eighteen inches left over on the other side, all along the length of the tent coverings, are to be left hanging down over the sides of the Dwelling on either side to cover it.^[bu]

¹⁴ You shall also make a covering for the tent made from rams’ skins dyed red and a covering made from hides of sea cows to go above that one.

The Framework for the Dwelling

¹⁵ You shall make upright boards^[bv] of acacia wood to serve as a framework for the Dwelling. ¹⁶ The length of each board is to be fifteen feet, and the width of each board is to be twenty-seven inches. ¹⁷ There are to be two pegs on each board for connecting them to the next board.^[bw] That is the way you are to make all the boards for the Dwelling.

¹⁸ Make these boards for the Dwelling:

Make twenty boards for the south side. ¹⁹ Make forty socket bases of silver to be placed under the twenty boards—two sockets to go under the first board to hold its two pegs, and two sockets to go under the next board for its two pegs.

²⁰ For the second side of the Dwelling, the north side, make twenty boards, ²¹ with forty socket bases of silver—two sockets to go under the first board, and two sockets to go under the next board.

²² For the far side of the Dwelling, the west side, make six boards. ²³ Then make two boards for each of the back corners of the Dwelling. ²⁴ For the two corners there are to be twin boards from the bottom to the top, but they are to be joined at the top by one ring^[bx]—both cornerpieces are to be made like this. ²⁵ Altogether there will be eight boards with silver socket bases, sixteen socket bases—two socket bases to go under each board.

²⁶ You shall make crossbars of acacia wood—five crossbars for the boards on one side of the Dwelling, ²⁷ five crossbars for the boards on the other side of the Dwelling, and five crossbars for the boards on the backside of the Dwelling on the west. ²⁸ The middle bar, placed halfway up the boards, shall pass through from one end of the boards to the other end. ²⁹ Overlay the boards with gold. Attach gold rings to them to hold the crossbars, and overlay the crossbars with gold.

³⁰ You shall set up the Dwelling according to the design that is being shown to you on the mountain.

The Veil and the Screen

³¹ You shall make a special veil of blue, purple, and scarlet material and of fine woven linen, decorated with cherubim. It shall be made as the work of a skillful craftsman. ³² Hang it on four posts of acacia wood overlaid with gold, which stand on four socket bases of silver. The hooks are to be made of gold. ³³ Hang up the veil below the spot where the clasps join the two parts of the dwelling. Then bring the Ark of the Testimony inside the veil. The veil shall separate the Holy Place from the Most Holy Place for you. ³⁴ You shall put the atonement seat on top of the Ark of the Testimony in the Most Holy Place. ³⁵ You shall set the table outside the veil, and the lampstand opposite the table on the south side of the Dwelling. You shall put the table on the north side.

³⁶ You shall make a screen^[by] for the entry to the tent from blue, purple, and scarlet material and of fine woven linen, the work of an embroiderer. ³⁷ Make five posts of acacia wood to support the screen, and overlay them with gold. Their hooks shall be gold, and you shall cast five bronze socket bases for them.

The Altar for Sacrifices

27 You shall make the altar of acacia wood, seven and a half feet long and seven and a half feet wide. The altar shall be square, and it shall be four and a half feet high. ² You shall make horns on its four corners. These horns are to be made as one piece with the altar, and you are to overlay the altar with bronze.

³ Make pails to take away its fat-drenched ashes. Make shovels, basins, meat hooks,^[bz] and fire pans for the altar. Make all its utensils of bronze.

⁴ Make a grate for it which is a latticework of bronze, and make four bronze rings for the four corners of the latticework grate. ⁵ Set the grate in place below the top edge of the altar, so that the grate rests halfway down from the top of the altar.^[ca]

⁶ Make poles for the altar, poles of acacia wood, and overlay them with bronze. ⁷ These poles are to be put through the rings on the two sides of the altar whenever it is carried. ⁸ You are to make the altar hollow, with sides made of boards. They are to make it as it is being shown to you on the mountain.

The Courtyard

⁹ You shall make the courtyard for the Dwelling.

For the south side of the courtyard there shall be hangings of fine woven linen, one hundred fifty feet long for that side. ¹⁰ There shall be twenty posts for it, and their twenty socket bases shall be bronze. The hooks for the posts and the connectors^[cb] shall be silver.

¹¹ In the same way, for the north side there shall be hangings one hundred fifty feet long, with twenty posts and twenty bronze socket bases. The hooks for the posts and their connectors shall be silver.

¹² For the courtyard on the west side there shall be hangings seventy-five feet wide, with ten posts and ten socket bases.

¹³ The width of the courtyard on the east side shall be seventy-five feet. ¹⁴ The hangings on one side of the entry gate shall be twenty-two feet six inches wide with three posts and three socket bases. ¹⁵ For the other side there shall be hangings twenty-two feet six inches wide with three posts and three socket bases.

¹⁶ For the entryway into the courtyard there shall be a screen thirty feet wide, made of blue, purple, and scarlet material and of fine woven linen, the work of an embroiderer. Make four posts for it and four socket bases. ¹⁷ All the posts around the courtyard shall be connected with silver.^[cc] Their hooks shall be silver, and their socket bases bronze. ¹⁸ The length of the courtyard shall be one hundred fifty feet, and the width seventy-five feet on both ends. The height of the hangings of fine woven linen shall be seven and a half feet. Its socket bases shall be bronze. ¹⁹ All the utensils for all the services of the Dwelling, all its tent stakes, and all the stakes for the courtyard shall be bronze.

Oil for the Lamps

²⁰ You shall command the people of Israel to bring you pure oil from beaten olives^[cd] for the Light so that the lamp may burn every night.^{[ce] 21} In the Tent of Meeting, in front of the veil which is in front of the Testimony, Aaron and his sons shall tend the lamp before the Lord from evening to morning. This shall be a permanent regulation throughout their generations for the people of Israel.

The Priests and Their Vestments

28 Bring Aaron your brother near to you from among the people of Israel, and his sons with him, so that he may minister to me in the priest’s office. Bring Aaron and Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar, Aaron’s sons. ² You shall make holy garments for Aaron your brother to give him honor and splendor. ³ Speak to all the skilled craftsmen, whom I have filled with the spirit of wisdom,^[cf] so that they make Aaron’s garments to consecrate him, so that he may minister to me in the priest’s office. ⁴ These are the garments which they shall make: a chest pouch, a special vest, a robe, a specially woven tunic, a turban, and a sash.^[cg] They shall make holy garments for Aaron your brother and for his sons, so that he may minister to me in the priest’s office. ⁵ The craftsmen shall use the gold, and the blue, purple, and scarlet material, and the fine linen.

The Special Vest

⁶ They shall make the special vest^[ch] of gold and of blue, purple, and scarlet material and of fine woven linen, the work of a skillful craftsman. ⁷ It is to have two shoulder straps, one on each side, so that the vest can be fastened together. ⁸ The decorated band, which is attached to the vest, is to be just like it: made of gold, and of blue, purple, and scarlet material and of fine woven linen. ⁹ Take two onyx stones and engrave the names of the sons of Israel on them— ¹⁰ six of their names on one stone and the names of the other six on the other stone, in the order of their birth. ¹¹ Engrave the two stones with the names of the sons of Israel, in the same way that a gem cutter engraves a seal. Mount them in settings of gold. ¹² Put the two stones on the shoulder straps of the vest to be memorial stones for the people of Israel. Aaron shall bear their names on his two shoulders as a memorial before the Lord. ¹³ Make settings of gold ¹⁴ and two chains of pure gold. Make them like braided cords, and attach the braided chains to the settings.

The Chest Pouch

¹⁵ You shall make a chest pouch to be used for making decisions, the work of a skillful craftsman. You shall make it with the same workmanship as the vest. Make it from gold and from blue, purple, and scarlet material and from fine woven linen. ¹⁶ It is to be square when it is folded, nine inches by nine inches. ¹⁷ You shall arrange settings for precious stones on it, four rows of stones: The first row is to be carnelian, diamond, and jacinth; ¹⁸ the second row agate, sapphire,^[ci] and emerald; ¹⁹ the third row beryl, jasper, and ruby; ²⁰ and the fourth row topaz, onyx, and turquoise.^[cj] They are to be mounted in gold settings. ²¹ There are to be twelve stones corresponding to the names of the sons of Israel. Each one shall be like an engraved seal, each with the name of one of the twelve tribes.

²² You shall make braided chains of pure gold as cords for the pouch. ²³ Make two gold rings for the pouch, and attach the two rings to the top corners of the pouch. ²⁴ Put the two braided chains of gold into the two rings at the top corners of the pouch. ²⁵ Attach the other ends of the two braided chains to the two settings, and then attach them to the shoulder straps on the front of the vest. ²⁶ Make two rings of gold, and put them on the two lower corners of the pouch, on its inside edge, which is toward the vest. ²⁷ Make two more gold rings, and attach them to the two shoulder straps of the vest in the front, close to the bottom where it is joined to the band of the vest. ²⁸ Tie the rings on the pouch to the rings on the vest with a blue cord, so that the pouch is right next to the band of the vest, so that the pouch does not swing out from the vest. ²⁹ Whenever he goes into the Holy Place, Aaron shall wear the pouch for making decisions, which bears the names of the sons of Israel, over his heart as a constant memorial before the Lord. ³⁰ You shall put the Urim and the Thummim^[ck] into the pouch for making decisions, and they shall be over Aaron’s heart whenever he goes before the Lord. Aaron shall bear the means of making decisions for the people of Israel on his heart before the Lord continually.

The Robe

³¹ You shall make the robe that is to be worn under the vest. It is to be all blue. ³² It is to have an opening in the middle of the top of it for the head. It is to have a woven binding around the opening, like the opening of a collar,^[cl] to prevent it from tearing. ³³ To be placed around its hem you shall make pomegranates of blue, purple, and scarlet material. Alternate them with gold bells ³⁴ (a gold bell, then a pomegranate, a gold bell, then a pomegranate), all around the hem of the robe. ³⁵ The robe shall be on Aaron when he ministers, and its sound will be heard when he goes into the Holy Place before the Lord and when he comes out, so that he will not die.

The Gold Medallion

³⁶ You shall make a medallion of pure gold and engrave on it (like the engravings on a seal): Holy to the Lord. ³⁷ You shall attach it to a blue cord to fasten it to the turban. It is to be placed on the front of the turban. ³⁸ It shall be on Aaron’s forehead, and Aaron will bear any guilt in regard to the holy things, which the people of Israel consecrate as their holy gifts. The medallion shall always be on his forehead, so that the offerings may be accepted in the presence of the Lord.

Tunic, Turban, Sash

³⁹ You shall weave the tunic of fine linen, and you shall make a turban of fine linen, and you shall make a sash, the work of an embroiderer.

The Tunics and Pants for the Other Priests

⁴⁰ You shall make tunics for Aaron’s sons, and you shall make sashes for them, and you shall make small pointed turbans for them, to give them honor and splendor. ⁴¹ Put them on your brother Aaron and on his sons along with him, anoint them, and ordain them for their work^[cm] and consecrate them, so that they may minister to me in the priest’s office. ⁴² Make linen pants for them to cover their naked flesh. The pants shall reach from the waist to the thighs. ⁴³ They are to be worn by Aaron and his sons whenever they go into the Tent of Meeting, or whenever they come near the altar to minister in the Holy Place, so that they do not incur guilt and die. This shall be a permanent regulation for him and for his descendants after him.