Exodus 34
New King James Version
Moses Makes New Tablets(A)
34 And the Lord said to Moses, (B)“Cut two tablets of stone like the first ones, and (C)I will write on these tablets the words that were on the first tablets which you broke. 2 So be ready in the morning, and come up in the morning to Mount Sinai, and present yourself to Me there (D)on the top of the mountain. 3 And no man shall (E)come up with you, and let no man be seen throughout all the mountain; let neither flocks nor herds feed before that mountain.”
4 So he cut two tablets of stone like the first ones. Then Moses rose early in the morning and went up Mount Sinai, as the Lord had commanded him; and he took in his hand the two tablets of stone.
5 Now the Lord descended in the (F)cloud and stood with him there, and (G)proclaimed the name of the Lord. 6 And the Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord (H)God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in (I)goodness and (J)truth, 7 (K)keeping mercy for thousands, (L)forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, (M)by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and the children’s children to the third and the fourth generation.”
8 So Moses made haste and (N)bowed his head toward the earth, and worshiped. 9 Then he said, “If now I have found grace in Your sight, O Lord, (O)let my Lord, I pray, go among us, even though we are a (P)stiff-necked[a] people; and pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us as (Q)Your inheritance.”
The Covenant Renewed(R)
10 And He said: “Behold, (S)I make a covenant. Before all your people I will (T)do [b]marvels such as have not been done in all the earth, nor in any nation; and all the people among whom you are shall see the work of the Lord. For it is (U)an awesome thing that I will do with you. 11 (V)Observe what I command you this day. Behold, (W)I am driving out from before you the Amorite and the Canaanite and the Hittite and the Perizzite and the Hivite and the Jebusite. 12 (X)Take heed to yourself, lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land where you are going, lest it be a snare in your midst. 13 But you shall (Y)destroy their altars, break their sacred pillars, and (Z)cut down their wooden images 14 (for you shall worship (AA)no other god, for the Lord, whose (AB)name is Jealous, is a (AC)jealous God), 15 lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, and they (AD)play the harlot with their gods and make sacrifice to their gods, and one of them (AE)invites you and you (AF)eat of his sacrifice, 16 and you take of (AG)his daughters for your sons, and his daughters (AH)play the harlot with their gods and make your sons play the harlot with their gods.
17 (AI)“You shall make no molded gods for yourselves.
18 “The Feast of (AJ)Unleavened Bread you shall keep. Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, as I commanded you, in the appointed time of the month of Abib; for in the (AK)month of Abib you came out from Egypt.
19 (AL)“All [c]that open the womb are Mine, and every male firstborn among your livestock, whether ox or sheep. 20 But (AM)the firstborn of a donkey you shall redeem with a lamb. And if you will not redeem him, then you shall break his neck. All the firstborn of your sons you shall redeem.
“And none shall appear before Me (AN)empty-handed.
21 (AO)“Six days you shall work, but on the seventh day you shall rest; in plowing time and in harvest you shall rest.
22 “And you shall observe the Feast of Weeks, of the firstfruits of wheat harvest, and the Feast of Ingathering at the year’s end.
23 (AP)“Three times in the year all your men shall appear before the Lord, the Lord God of Israel. 24 For I will (AQ)cast out the nations before you and enlarge your borders; neither will any man covet your land when you go up to appear before the Lord your God three times in the year.
25 “You shall not offer the blood of My sacrifice with leaven, (AR)nor shall the sacrifice of the Feast of the Passover be left until morning.
26 (AS)“The first of the firstfruits of your land you shall bring to 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, “Write (AT)these words, for according to the tenor of these words I have made a covenant with you and with Israel.” 28 (AU)So he was there with the Lord forty days and forty nights; he neither ate bread nor drank water. And (AV)He wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant, the [d]Ten Commandments.
The Shining Face of Moses
29 Now it was so, when Moses came down from Mount Sinai (and the (AW)two tablets of the Testimony were in Moses’ hand when he came down from the mountain), that Moses did not know that (AX)the skin of his face shone while he talked with Him. 30 So when Aaron and all the children of Israel saw Moses, behold, the skin of his face shone, and they were afraid to come near him. 31 Then Moses called to them, and Aaron and all the rulers of the congregation returned to him; and Moses talked with them. 32 Afterward all the children of Israel came near, (AY)and he gave them as commandments all that the Lord had spoken with him on Mount Sinai. 33 And when Moses had finished speaking with them, he put (AZ)a veil on his face. 34 But (BA)whenever Moses went in before the Lord to speak with Him, he would take the veil off until he came out; and he would come out and speak to the children of Israel whatever he had been commanded. 35 And whenever the children of Israel saw the face of Moses, that the skin of Moses’ face shone, then Moses would put the veil on his face again, until he went in to speak with Him.
Footnotes
- Exodus 34:9 stubborn
- Exodus 34:10 wonderful acts
- Exodus 34:19 the firstborn
- Exodus 34:28 Lit. Ten Words
Exodus 34
Amplified Bible, Classic Edition
34 The Lord said to Moses, Cut two tables of stone like the first, and I will write upon these tables the words that were on the first tables, which you broke.
2 Be ready and come up in the morning to Mount Sinai, and present yourself there to Me on the top of the mountain.
3 And no man shall come up with you, neither let any man be seen throughout all the mountain; neither let flocks or herds feed before that mountain.
4 So Moses cut two tables of stone like the first, and he rose up early in the morning and went up on Mount Sinai, as the Lord had commanded him, and took [a]in his hand two tables of stone.
5 And the Lord descended in the cloud and stood with him there and proclaimed the name of the Lord.
6 And the Lord passed by before him, and proclaimed, The Lord! the Lord! a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abundant in loving-kindness and truth,
7 Keeping mercy and loving-kindness for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but Who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and the children’s children, to the third and fourth generation.
8 And Moses made haste to bow his head toward the earth and worshiped.
9 And he said, If now I have found favor and loving-kindness in Your sight, O Lord, let the Lord, I pray You, go in the midst of us, although it is a stiff-necked people, and pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us for Your inheritance.
10 And the Lord said, Behold, I lay down [afresh the terms of the mutual agreement between Israel and Me] a covenant. Before all your people I will do marvels (wonders, miracles) such as have not been wrought or created in all the earth or in any nation; and all the people among whom you are shall see the work of the Lord; for it is a terrible thing [fearful and full of awe] that I will do with you.
11 Observe what I command you this day. Behold, I drive out before you the Amorite, Canaanite, Hittite, Perizzite, Hivite, and Jebusite.
12 Take heed to yourself, lest you make a covenant or mutual agreement with the inhabitants of the land to which you go, lest it become a snare in the midst of you.
13 But you shall destroy their altars, dash in pieces their pillars (obelisks, images), and cut down their Asherim [symbols of the goddess Asherah];
14 For you shall worship no other god; for the Lord, Whose name is Jealous, is a jealous (impassioned) God,
15 Lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, and when they play the harlot after their gods and sacrifice to their gods and one invites you, you eat of his food sacrificed to idols,
16 And you take of their daughters for your sons, and their daughters play the harlot after their gods and make your sons play the harlot after their gods.
17 You shall make for yourselves no molten gods.
18 The Feast of Unleavened Bread you shall keep. Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, as I commanded you, in the time of the month of Abib; for in the month of Abib you came out of Egypt.
19 All the males that first open the womb among your livestock are Mine, whether ox or sheep.
20 But the firstling of a donkey [an unclean beast] you shall redeem with a lamb or kid, and if you do not redeem it, then you shall break its neck. All the firstborn of your sons you shall redeem. And none of you shall appear before Me empty-handed.
21 Six days you shall work, but on the seventh day you shall rest; even in plowing time and in harvest you shall rest [on the Sabbath].
22 You shall observe the Feast of Weeks, the firstfruits of the wheat harvest, and the Feast of Ingathering at the year’s end.
23 Three times in the year shall all your males appear before the Lord God, the God of Israel.
24 For I will cast out the nations before you and enlarge your borders; neither shall any man desire [and molest] your land when you go up to appear before the Lord your God three times in the year.
25 You shall not offer the blood of My sacrifice with leaven; neither shall the sacrifice of the Feast of the Passover be left until morning.
26 The first of the firstfruits of your ground you shall bring to the house of the Lord your God. You shall not boil a kid in his mother’s milk.
27 And the Lord said to Moses, Write these words, for after the purpose and character of these words I have made a covenant with you and with Israel.
28 Moses was there with the Lord forty days and forty nights; he ate no bread and drank no water. And he wrote upon the tables the words of the covenant, the Ten Commandments.
29 When Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tables of the Testimony in his hand, he did not know that the skin of his face shone and sent forth beams by reason of his speaking with the Lord.
30 When Aaron and all the Israelites saw Moses, behold, the skin of his face shone, and they feared to come near him.
31 But Moses called to them; and Aaron and all the leaders of the congregation returned to him, and [he] talked with them.
32 Afterward all the Israelites came near, and he gave them in commandment all the Lord had said to him in Mount Sinai.
33 And when Moses had finished speaking with them, he put a veil on his face.
34 But when Moses went in before the Lord to speak with Him, [b]he took the veil off until he came out. And he came out and told the Israelites what he was commanded.
35 The Israelites saw the face of Moses, how the skin of it shone; and Moses put the veil on his face again until he went in to speak with God.
Footnotes
- Exodus 34:4 The two tables of stone are believed to have been pocket-size, easily carried in one hand. The pictures of Moses carrying tombstone-size tables are the result of the misconception of artists, and are not supported by the Bible.
- Exodus 34:34 The apostle Paul expressly refers to this incident when he says that we all may, with unveiled faces, behold the glory of the Lord, and be transformed (II Cor. 3:13-18). That blessed vision, which of old was given only to the great leader of Israel, is now within reach of each individual believer. The Gospel has no fences to keep the crowd off the mount of vision; the lowliest and most unworthy of its children may pass upward where the shining glory is to be seen. “We all... are changed” (F. B. Meyer, Moses, the Servant of God).
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation
