Exodus 34-35

New American Standard Bible

The Two Tablets Replaced

34 Now the Lord said to Moses, “Cut out for yourself ^(A)two stone tablets like the former ones, and ^(B)I will write on the tablets the words that were on the former tablets which you smashed. ² So be ready by morning, and come up in the morning to ^(C)Mount Sinai, and ^[a]present yourself there to Me on the top of the mountain. ³ And ^(D)no one is to come up with you, nor let anyone be seen ^[b]anywhere on the mountain; even the flocks and the herds are not to graze in front of that mountain.” ⁴ So he cut out ^(E)two stone tablets like the former ones, and Moses got up early in the morning and went up to Mount Sinai, as the Lord had commanded him, and he took the two stone tablets in his hand. ⁵ And ^(F)the Lord descended in the cloud and stood there with him as he ^[c]called upon the name of the Lord. ⁶ Then the Lord passed by in front of him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord God, ^(G)compassionate and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in faithfulness and ^[d]truth; ⁷ who ^(H)keeps faithfulness for thousands, who forgives wrongdoing, violation of His Law, and sin; yet He ^(I)will by no means leave the guilty unpunished, ^(J)inflicting the ^[e]punishment of fathers on the children and on the grandchildren to the third and fourth generations.” ⁸ And Moses hurried ^[f](K)to bow low toward the ground and worship. ⁹ Then he said, “^(L)If in any way I have found favor in Your sight, Lord, please may the Lord go along in our midst, even though ^[g](M)the people are so obstinate, and ^(N)pardon our wrongdoing and our sin, and ^(O)take us as Your own ^[h]possession.”

The Covenant Renewed

¹⁰ Then ^[i]God said, “Behold, ^(P)I am going to make a covenant. Before all your people ^(Q)I will perform miracles which have not been ^[j]produced in all the earth nor among any of the nations; and all the people ^[k]among whom you live will see the working of the Lord, for it is a fearful thing that I am going to perform with you.

¹¹ “^[l]Be sure to comply with what I am commanding you this day: behold, ^(R)I am going to drive out the Amorite from you, and the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite. ^12 (S)Be careful that you do not make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land into which you are going, or it will become a snare in your midst. ^13 (T)But rather, you are to tear down their altars and smash their memorial stones, and cut down their ^[m](U)Asherim ¹⁴ —for ^(V)you shall not worship any other god, because the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God— ¹⁵ otherwise you might make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, and they would prostitute themselves with their gods and ^(W)sacrifice to their gods, and someone ^(X)might invite you ^[n]to eat of his sacrifice, ¹⁶ and ^(Y)you might take some of his daughters for your sons, and his daughters might prostitute themselves with their gods and cause your sons also to prostitute themselves with their gods. ^17 (Z)You shall not make for yourself any gods cast in metal.

¹⁸ “You shall keep ^(AA)the Feast of Unleavened Bread. For ^(AB)seven days you are to eat unleavened bread, ^[o]as I commanded you, at the appointed time in the ^(AC)month of Abib; for in the month of Abib you came out of Egypt.

¹⁹ “^(AD)The ^[p]firstborn from every womb belongs to Me, and all your male livestock, the ^[q]firstborn from ^[r]cattle and sheep. ^20 (AE)You shall redeem with a lamb the firstborn from a donkey; and if you do not redeem it, then you shall break its neck. You shall redeem ^(AF)all the firstborn of your sons. ^[s](AG)None are to appear before Me empty-handed.

²¹ “You shall work ^(AH)six days, but on the seventh day you shall rest; even during plowing time and harvest you shall rest. ²² And you shall celebrate ^(AI)the Feast of Weeks, that is, the first fruits of the wheat harvest, and the Feast of Ingathering at the turn of the year. ^23 (AJ)Three times a year all your males are to appear before the Lord ^[t]God, the God of Israel. ²⁴ For I will ^[u](AK)drive out nations from you and enlarge your borders, and no one will covet your land when you go up three times a year to appear before the Lord your God.

²⁵ “^(AL)You shall not ^[v]offer the blood of My sacrifice with leavened bread, ^(AM)nor is the sacrifice of the Feast of the Passover to ^[w]be left over until morning.

²⁶ “You shall bring ^(AN)the very first of the first fruits of your soil into the house of the Lord your God.

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

²⁷ Then the Lord said to Moses, “^(AO)Write ^[x]down these words, for in accordance with these words I have made ^(AP)a covenant with you and with Israel.” ²⁸ So he was there with the Lord for ^(AQ)forty days and forty nights; he did not eat bread or drink water. And ^[y](AR)He wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant, ^(AS)the Ten ^[z]Commandments.

Moses’ Face Shines

²⁹ And it came about, when Moses was coming down from Mount Sinai (and the ^(AT)two tablets of the testimony were in Moses’ hand as he was coming down from the mountain), that Moses did not know that ^(AU)the skin of his face shone because of his speaking with Him. ³⁰ So when Aaron and all the sons of Israel saw Moses, behold, the skin of his face shone, and ^(AV)they were afraid to approach him. ³¹ Then Moses called to them, and Aaron and all the rulers in the congregation returned to him; and Moses spoke to them. ³² Afterward all the sons of Israel came near, and he commanded them to do everything that the Lord had spoken ^[aa]to him on Mount Sinai. ³³ When Moses had finished speaking with them, ^(AW)he put a veil over his face. ³⁴ But whenever Moses went in before the Lord to speak with Him, ^(AX)he would take off the veil until he came out; and whenever he came out and spoke to the sons of Israel what he had been commanded, ^35 (AY)the sons of Israel would see the face of Moses, that the skin of Moses’ face shone. So Moses would put the veil back over his face until he went in to speak with Him.

The Sabbath Emphasized

35 Then Moses assembled all the congregation of the sons of Israel, and said to them, “^(AZ)These are the things that the Lord has commanded you to ^[ab]do:

² “^(BA)For six days work may be done, but on the seventh day you shall have a holy day, ^(BB)a Sabbath of complete rest to the Lord; ^(BC)whoever does any work on it shall be put to death. ^3 (BD)You shall not kindle a fire in any of your dwellings on the Sabbath day.”

⁴ Moses spoke to all the congregation of the sons of Israel, saying, “This is the thing which the Lord has commanded, saying, ⁵ ‘^(BE)Take from among you a ^[ac]contribution to the Lord; whoever is of a willing heart is to bring it as the Lord’s ^[ad]contribution: gold, silver, and ^[ae]bronze, ⁶ and ^[af]violet, purple, and scarlet material, fine linen, goats’ hair, ⁷ and rams’ skins ^[ag]dyed red, and ^[ah]fine leather, and acacia wood, ⁸ and oil for lighting, and spices for the anointing oil, and for the fragrant incense, ⁹ and onyx stones and setting stones for the ephod and for the ^[ai]breastpiece.

Tabernacle Artisans

¹⁰ ‘^(BF)Have every skillful person among you come and make all that the Lord has commanded: ¹¹ the ^[aj](BG)tabernacle, its tent and its covering, its hooks and its boards, its bars, its pillars, and its bases; ¹² the ^(BH)ark and its poles, the ^[ak]atoning cover, and the covering curtain; ¹³ the ^(BI)table and its poles, and all its ^[al]utensils, and the bread of the ^[am]Presence; ¹⁴ the ^(BJ)lampstand also for the light and its utensils and its lamps, and the oil for the light; ¹⁵ and the ^(BK)altar of incense and its poles, and the ^(BL)anointing oil and the ^(BM)fragrant incense, and the curtain for the doorway at the ^[an]entrance of the tabernacle; ^16 (BN)the altar of burnt offering with its ^[ao]bronze grating, its poles, and all its ^[ap]utensils, the basin and its stand; ^17 (BO)the hangings of the courtyard, its pillars and its bases, and the curtain for the gate of the courtyard; ¹⁸ the pegs of the tabernacle and the pegs of the courtyard and their ropes; ¹⁹ the ^[aq](BP)woven garments for ministering in the Holy Place, the holy garments for Aaron the priest and the garments of his sons, to serve as priests.’”

Gifts Received

²⁰ Then all the congregation of the sons of Israel departed from Moses’ presence. ²¹ And ^(BQ)everyone whose heart ^[ar]stirred him and everyone whose spirit ^[as]moved him came and brought the Lord’s ^[at]contribution for the work of the tent of meeting and for all its service, and for the holy garments. ²² Then all ^[au]whose hearts moved them, both men and women, came and brought brooches and ^[av]earrings and signet rings and bracelets, all articles of gold; so did everyone who ^[aw]presented an offering of gold to the Lord. ²³ Everyone ^[ax]who was in possession of violet, purple, or scarlet material or fine linen or goats’ hair, or rams’ skins ^[ay]dyed red or fine leather, brought them. ²⁴ Everyone who could make a ^[az]contribution of silver and ^[ba]bronze brought the Lord’s ^[bb]contribution; and everyone ^[bc]who was in possession of acacia wood for any work of the service brought it. ²⁵ And all the ^[bd]skilled women spun with their hands, and brought what they had spun, in violet, purple, and scarlet material, and in fine linen. ²⁶ And all the women whose heart ^[be]stirred with a skill spun the goats’ hair. ²⁷ The rulers, moreover, brought the onyx stones and the stones for setting for the ephod and for the ^[bf]breastpiece; ²⁸ and ^(BR)the spice and the oil for the light and for the anointing oil, and for the fragrant incense. ²⁹ The ^[bg]Israelites, all the men and women, whose heart ^[bh]moved them to bring material for all the work, which the Lord had commanded through Moses to be done, brought a ^(BS)[bi]voluntary offering to the Lord.

^30 (BT)Then Moses said to the sons of Israel, “See, the Lord has called by name Bezalel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah. ³¹ And He has filled him with the Spirit of God, in wisdom, in understanding, in knowledge, and in all ^[bj]craftsmanship; ³² to create ^[bk]designs for working in gold, in silver, and in ^[bl]bronze, ³³ and in the cutting of stones for settings and in the carving of wood, so as to perform in every inventive work. ³⁴ He also has put in his heart to teach, both he and ^(BU)Oholiab, the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan. ^35 (BV)He has filled them with ^[bm]skill to perform every work of an engraver, of a designer, and of an embroiderer, in violet, purple, and in scarlet material, and in fine linen, and of a weaver, as performers of every work and makers of designs.