Exodus 23:28-25:19

New King James Version

²⁸ And ^(A)I will send hornets before you, which shall drive out the Hivite, the Canaanite, and the Hittite from before you. ^29 (B)I will not drive them out from before you in one year, lest the land become desolate and the beasts of the field become too numerous for you. ³⁰ Little by little I will drive them out from before you, until you have increased, and you inherit the land. ³¹ And ^(C)I will set your ^[a]bounds from the Red Sea to the sea, Philistia, and from the desert to the ^[b]River. For I will ^(D)deliver the inhabitants of the land into your hand, and you shall drive them out before you. ^32 (E)You shall make no ^[c]covenant with them, nor with their gods. ³³ They shall not dwell in your land, lest they make you sin against Me. For if you serve their gods, ^(F)it will surely be a snare to you.”

Israel Affirms the Covenant

24 Now He said to Moses, “Come up to the Lord, you and Aaron, ^(G)Nadab and Abihu, ^(H)and seventy of the elders of Israel, and worship from afar. ² And Moses alone shall come near the Lord, but they shall not come near; nor shall the people go up with him.”

³ So Moses came and told the people all the words of the Lord and all the ^[d]judgments. And all the people answered with one voice and said, ^(I)“All the words which the Lord has said we will do.” ⁴ And Moses ^(J)wrote all the words of the Lord. And he rose early in the morning, and built an altar at the foot of the mountain, and twelve ^(K)pillars according to the twelve tribes of Israel. ⁵ Then he sent young men of the children of Israel, who offered ^(L)burnt offerings and sacrificed peace offerings of oxen to the Lord. ⁶ And Moses ^(M)took half the blood and put it in basins, and half the blood he sprinkled on the altar. ⁷ Then he ^(N)took the Book of the Covenant and read in the hearing of the people. And they said, “All that the Lord has said we will do, and be obedient.” ⁸ And Moses took the blood, sprinkled it on the people, and said, “This is ^(O)the blood of the covenant which the Lord has made with you according to all these words.”

On the Mountain with God

⁹ Then Moses went up, also Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel, ¹⁰ and they ^(P)saw the God of Israel. And there was under His feet as it were a paved work of ^(Q)sapphire stone, and it was like the ^(R)very^[e] heavens in its clarity. ¹¹ But on the nobles of the children of Israel He ^(S)did not ^[f]lay His hand. So ^(T)they saw God, and they ^(U)ate and drank.

¹² Then the Lord said to Moses, ^(V)“Come up to Me on the mountain and be there; and I will give you ^(W)tablets of stone, and the law and commandments which I have written, that you may teach them.”

¹³ So Moses arose with ^(X)his assistant Joshua, and Moses went up to the mountain of God. ¹⁴ And he said to the elders, “Wait here for us until we come back to you. Indeed, Aaron and ^(Y)Hur are with you. If any man has a difficulty, let him go to them.” ¹⁵ Then Moses went up into the mountain, and ^(Z)a cloud covered the mountain.

¹⁶ Now ^(AA)the glory of the Lord rested on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it six days. And on the seventh day He called to Moses out of the midst of the cloud. ¹⁷ The sight of the glory of the Lord was like ^(AB)a consuming fire on the top of the mountain in the eyes of the children of Israel. ¹⁸ So Moses went into the midst of the cloud and went up into the mountain. And ^(AC)Moses was on the mountain forty days and forty nights.

Offerings for the Sanctuary^(AD)

25 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: ² “Speak to the children of Israel, that they bring Me an ^[g]offering. ^(AE)From everyone who gives it willingly with his heart you shall take My offering. ³ And this is the offering which you shall take from them: gold, silver, and bronze; ⁴ blue, purple, and scarlet thread, fine linen, and goats’ hair; ⁵ ram skins dyed red, ^[h]badger skins, and acacia wood; ^6 (AF)oil for the light, and ^(AG)spices for the anointing oil and for the sweet incense; ⁷ onyx stones, and stones to be set in the ^(AH)ephod and in the breastplate. ⁸ And let them make Me a ^(AI)sanctuary,^[i] that ^(AJ)I may dwell among them. ⁹ According to all that I show you, that is, the pattern of the tabernacle and the pattern of all its furnishings, just so you shall make it.

The Ark of the Testimony^(AK)

^10 (AL)“And they shall make an ark of acacia wood; two and a half cubits shall be its length, a cubit and a half its width, and a cubit and a half its height. ¹¹ And you shall overlay it with pure gold, inside and out you shall overlay it, and shall make on it a molding of ^(AM)gold all around. ¹² You shall cast four rings of gold for it, and put them in its four corners; two rings shall be on one side, and two rings on the other side. ¹³ And you shall make poles of acacia wood, and overlay them with gold. ¹⁴ You shall put the poles into the rings on the sides of the ark, that the ark may be carried by them. ^15 (AN)The poles shall be in the rings of the ark; they shall not be taken from it. ¹⁶ And you shall put into the ark ^(AO)the Testimony which I will give you.

^17 (AP)“You shall make a mercy seat of pure gold; two and a half cubits shall be its length and a cubit and a half its width. ¹⁸ And you shall make two cherubim of gold; of hammered work you shall make them at the two ends of the mercy seat. ¹⁹ Make one cherub at one end, and the other cherub at the other end; you shall make the cherubim at the two ends of it of one piece with the mercy seat.