The New Stone Tablets

34 The Lord said to Moses, “Chisel out two stone tablets like the first ones,(A) and I will write on them the words that were on the first tablets,(B) which you broke.(C) Be ready in the morning, and then come up on Mount Sinai.(D) Present yourself to me there on top of the mountain. No one is to come with you or be seen anywhere on the mountain;(E) not even the flocks and herds may graze in front of the mountain.”

So Moses chiseled(F) out two stone tablets like the first ones and went up Mount Sinai early in the morning, as the Lord had commanded him; and he carried the two stone tablets in his hands.(G) Then the Lord came down in the cloud(H) and stood there with him and proclaimed his name, the Lord.(I) And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, “The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate(J) and gracious God, slow to anger,(K) abounding in love(L) and faithfulness,(M) maintaining love to thousands,(N) and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin.(O) Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished;(P) he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation.”(Q)

Moses bowed to the ground at once and worshiped. “Lord,” he said, “if I have found favor(R) in your eyes, then let the Lord go with us.(S) Although this is a stiff-necked(T) people, forgive our wickedness and our sin,(U) and take us as your inheritance.”(V)

10 Then the Lord said: “I am making a covenant(W) with you. Before all your people I will do wonders(X) never before done in any nation in all the world.(Y) The people you live among will see how awesome is the work that I, the Lord, will do for you. 11 Obey what I command(Z) you today. I will drive out before you the Amorites, Canaanites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites.(AA) 12 Be careful not to make a treaty(AB) with those who live in the land where you are going, or they will be a snare(AC) among you. 13 Break down their altars, smash their sacred stones and cut down their Asherah poles.[a](AD) 14 Do not worship any other god,(AE) for the Lord, whose name(AF) is Jealous, is a jealous God.(AG)

15 “Be careful not to make a treaty(AH) with those who live in the land; for when they prostitute(AI) themselves to their gods and sacrifice to them, they will invite you and you will eat their sacrifices.(AJ) 16 And when you choose some of their daughters as wives(AK) for your sons and those daughters prostitute themselves to their gods,(AL) they will lead your sons to do the same.

17 “Do not make any idols.(AM)

18 “Celebrate the Festival of Unleavened Bread.(AN) For seven days eat bread made without yeast,(AO) as I commanded you. Do this at the appointed time in the month of Aviv,(AP) for in that month you came out of Egypt.

19 “The first offspring(AQ) of every womb belongs to me, including all the firstborn males of your livestock, whether from herd or flock. 20 Redeem the firstborn donkey with a lamb, but if you do not redeem it, break its neck.(AR) Redeem all your firstborn sons.(AS)

“No one is to appear before me empty-handed.(AT)

21 “Six days you shall labor, but on the seventh day you shall rest;(AU) even during the plowing season and harvest(AV) you must rest.

22 “Celebrate the Festival of Weeks with the firstfruits(AW) of the wheat harvest, and the Festival of Ingathering(AX) at the turn of the year.[b] 23 Three times(AY) a year all your men are to appear before the Sovereign Lord, the God of Israel. 24 I will drive out nations(AZ) before you and enlarge your territory,(BA) and no one will covet your land when you go up three times each year to appear before the Lord your God.

25 “Do not offer the blood of a sacrifice to me along with anything containing yeast,(BB) and do not let any of the sacrifice from the Passover Festival remain until morning.(BC)

26 “Bring the best of the firstfruits(BD) of your soil to the house of the Lord your God.

“Do not cook a young goat in its mother’s milk.”(BE)

27 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Write(BF) down these words, for in accordance with these words I have made a covenant(BG) with you and with Israel.” 28 Moses was there with the Lord forty days and forty nights(BH) without eating bread or drinking water.(BI) And he wrote on the tablets(BJ) the words of the covenant—the Ten Commandments.(BK)

The Radiant Face of Moses

29 When Moses came down from Mount Sinai(BL) with the two tablets of the covenant law in his hands,(BM) he was not aware that his face was radiant(BN) because he had spoken with the Lord. 30 When Aaron and all the Israelites saw Moses, his face was radiant, and they were afraid to come near him. 31 But Moses called to them; so Aaron and all the leaders of the community(BO) came back to him, and he spoke to them. 32 Afterward all the Israelites came near him, and he gave them all the commands(BP) the Lord had given him on Mount Sinai.

33 When Moses finished speaking to them, he put a veil(BQ) over his face. 34 But whenever he entered the Lord’s presence to speak with him, he removed the veil until he came out. And when he came out and told the Israelites what he had been commanded, 35 they saw that his face was radiant.(BR) Then Moses would put the veil back over his face until he went in to speak with the Lord.

Sabbath Regulations

35 Moses assembled the whole Israelite community and said to them, “These are the things the Lord has commanded(BS) you to do: For six days, work is to be done, but the seventh day shall be your holy day, a day of sabbath(BT) rest to the Lord. Whoever does any work on it is to be put to death.(BU) Do not light a fire in any of your dwellings on the Sabbath day.(BV)

Materials for the Tabernacle(BW)(BX)

Moses said to the whole Israelite community, “This is what the Lord has commanded: From what you have, take an offering for the Lord. Everyone who is willing is to bring to the Lord an offering of gold, silver and bronze; blue, purple and scarlet yarn and fine linen; goat hair; ram skins dyed red and another type of durable leather[c]; acacia wood; olive oil(BY) for the light; spices for the anointing oil and for the fragrant incense; and onyx stones and other gems to be mounted on the ephod and breastpiece.

Footnotes

  1. Exodus 34:13 That is, wooden symbols of the goddess Asherah
  2. Exodus 34:22 That is, in the autumn
  3. Exodus 35:7 Possibly the hides of large aquatic mammals; also in verse 23

34 And the Lord said unto Moses, Hew thee two tables of stone like unto the first: and I will write upon these tables the words that were in the first tables, which thou brakest.

And be ready in the morning, and come up in the morning unto mount Sinai, and present thyself there to me in the top of the mount.

And no man shall come up with thee, neither let any man be seen throughout all the mount; neither let the flocks nor herds feed before that mount.

And he hewed two tables of stone like unto the first; and Moses rose up early in the morning, and went up unto mount Sinai, as the Lord had commanded him, and took in his hand the two tables of stone.

And the Lord descended in the cloud, and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the Lord.

And the Lord passed by before him, and proclaimed, The Lord, The Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth,

Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children's children, unto the third and to the fourth generation.

And Moses made haste, and bowed his head toward the earth, and worshipped.

And he said, If now I have found grace in thy sight, O Lord, let my Lord, I pray thee, go among us; for it is a stiffnecked people; and pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us for thine inheritance.

10 And he said, Behold, I make a covenant: before all thy people I will do marvels, such as have not been done in all the earth, nor in any nation: and all the people among which thou art shall see the work of the Lord: for it is a terrible thing that I will do with thee.

11 Observe thou that which I command thee this day: behold, I drive out before thee the Amorite, and the Canaanite, and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, and the Hivite, and the Jebusite.

12 Take heed to thyself, lest thou make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land whither thou goest, lest it be for a snare in the midst of thee:

13 But ye shall destroy their altars, break their images, and cut down their groves:

14 For thou shalt worship no other god: for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God:

15 Lest thou make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, and they go a whoring after their gods, and do sacrifice unto their gods, and one call thee, and thou eat of his sacrifice;

16 And thou take of their daughters unto thy sons, and their daughters go a whoring after their gods, and make thy sons go a whoring after their gods.

17 Thou shalt make thee no molten gods.

18 The feast of unleavened bread shalt thou keep. Seven days thou shalt eat unleavened bread, as I commanded thee, in the time of the month Abib: for in the month Abib thou camest out from Egypt.

19 All that openeth the matrix is mine; and every firstling among thy cattle, whether ox or sheep, that is male.

20 But the firstling of an ass thou shalt redeem with a lamb: and if thou redeem him not, then shalt thou break his neck. All the firstborn of thy sons thou shalt redeem. And none shall appear before me empty.

21 Six days thou shalt work, but on the seventh day thou shalt rest: in earing time and in harvest thou shalt rest.

22 And thou shalt observe the feast of weeks, of the firstfruits of wheat harvest, and the feast of ingathering at the year's end.

23 Thrice in the year shall all your menchildren appear before the Lord God, the God of Israel.

24 For I will cast out the nations before thee, and enlarge thy borders: neither shall any man desire thy land, when thou shalt go up to appear before the Lord thy God thrice in the year.

25 Thou shalt not offer the blood of my sacrifice with leaven; neither shall the sacrifice of the feast of the passover be left unto the morning.

26 The first of the firstfruits of thy land thou shalt bring unto the house of the Lord thy God. Thou shalt not seethe a kid in his mother's milk.

27 And the Lord said unto Moses, Write thou these words: for after the tenor of these words I have made a covenant with thee and with Israel.

28 And he was there with the Lord forty days and forty nights; he did neither eat bread, nor drink water. And he wrote upon the tables the words of the covenant, the ten commandments.

29 And it came to pass, when Moses came down from mount Sinai with the two tables of testimony in Moses' hand, when he came down from the mount, that Moses wist not that the skin of his face shone while he talked with him.

30 And when Aaron and all the children of Israel saw Moses, behold, the skin of his face shone; and they were afraid to come nigh him.

31 And Moses called unto them; and Aaron and all the rulers of the congregation returned unto him: and Moses talked with them.

32 And afterward all the children of Israel came nigh: and he gave them in commandment all that the Lord had spoken with him in mount Sinai.

33 And till Moses had done speaking with them, he put a vail on his face.

34 But when Moses went in before the Lord to speak with him, he took the vail off, until he came out. And he came out, and spake unto the children of Israel that which he was commanded.

35 And the children of Israel saw the face of Moses, that the skin of Moses' face shone: and Moses put the vail upon his face again, until he went in to speak with him.

35 And Moses gathered all the congregation of the children of Israel together, and said unto them, These are the words which the Lord hath commanded, that ye should do them.

Six days shall work be done, but on the seventh day there shall be to you an holy day, a sabbath of rest to the Lord: whosoever doeth work therein shall be put to death.

Ye shall kindle no fire throughout your habitations upon the sabbath day.

And Moses spake unto all the congregation of the children of Israel, saying, This is the thing which the Lord commanded, saying,

Take ye from among you an offering unto the Lord: whosoever is of a willing heart, let him bring it, an offering of the Lord; gold, and silver, and brass,

And blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine linen, and goats' hair,

And rams' skins dyed red, and badgers' skins, and shittim wood,

And oil for the light, and spices for anointing oil, and for the sweet incense,

And onyx stones, and stones to be set for the ephod, and for the breastplate.

15 Now it was the governor’s custom at the festival to release a prisoner(A) chosen by the crowd. 16 At that time they had a well-known prisoner whose name was Jesus[a] Barabbas. 17 So when the crowd had gathered, Pilate asked them, “Which one do you want me to release to you: Jesus Barabbas, or Jesus who is called the Messiah?”(B) 18 For he knew it was out of self-interest that they had handed Jesus over to him.

19 While Pilate was sitting on the judge’s seat,(C) his wife sent him this message: “Don’t have anything to do with that innocent(D) man, for I have suffered a great deal today in a dream(E) because of him.”

20 But the chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowd to ask for Barabbas and to have Jesus executed.(F)

21 “Which of the two do you want me to release to you?” asked the governor.

“Barabbas,” they answered.

22 “What shall I do, then, with Jesus who is called the Messiah?”(G) Pilate asked.

They all answered, “Crucify him!”

23 “Why? What crime has he committed?” asked Pilate.

But they shouted all the louder, “Crucify him!”

24 When Pilate saw that he was getting nowhere, but that instead an uproar(H) was starting, he took water and washed his hands(I) in front of the crowd. “I am innocent of this man’s blood,”(J) he said. “It is your responsibility!”(K)

25 All the people answered, “His blood is on us and on our children!”(L)

26 Then he released Barabbas to them. But he had Jesus flogged,(M) and handed him over to be crucified.

The Soldiers Mock Jesus(N)

27 Then the governor’s soldiers took Jesus into the Praetorium(O) and gathered the whole company of soldiers around him. 28 They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him,(P) 29 and then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on his head. They put a staff in his right hand. Then they knelt in front of him and mocked him. “Hail, king of the Jews!” they said.(Q) 30 They spit on him, and took the staff and struck him on the head again and again.(R) 31 After they had mocked him, they took off the robe and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him away to crucify him.(S)

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Footnotes

  1. Matthew 27:16 Many manuscripts do not have Jesus; also in verse 17.

15 Now at that feast the governor was wont to release unto the people a prisoner, whom they would.

16 And they had then a notable prisoner, called Barabbas.

17 Therefore when they were gathered together, Pilate said unto them, Whom will ye that I release unto you? Barabbas, or Jesus which is called Christ?

18 For he knew that for envy they had delivered him.

19 When he was set down on the judgment seat, his wife sent unto him, saying, Have thou nothing to do with that just man: for I have suffered many things this day in a dream because of him.

20 But the chief priests and elders persuaded the multitude that they should ask Barabbas, and destroy Jesus.

21 The governor answered and said unto them, Whether of the twain will ye that I release unto you? They said, Barabbas.

22 Pilate saith unto them, What shall I do then with Jesus which is called Christ? They all say unto him, Let him be crucified.

23 And the governor said, Why, what evil hath he done? But they cried out the more, saying, Let him be crucified.

24 When Pilate saw that he could prevail nothing, but that rather a tumult was made, he took water, and washed his hands before the multitude, saying, I am innocent of the blood of this just person: see ye to it.

25 Then answered all the people, and said, His blood be on us, and on our children.

26 Then released he Barabbas unto them: and when he had scourged Jesus, he delivered him to be crucified.

27 Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the common hall, and gathered unto him the whole band of soldiers.

28 And they stripped him, and put on him a scarlet robe.

29 And when they had platted a crown of thorns, they put it upon his head, and a reed in his right hand: and they bowed the knee before him, and mocked him, saying, Hail, King of the Jews!

30 And they spit upon him, and took the reed, and smote him on the head.

31 And after that they had mocked him, they took the robe off from him, and put his own raiment on him, and led him away to crucify him.

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12 Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord,(A)
    the people he chose(B) for his inheritance.(C)
13 From heaven the Lord looks down(D)
    and sees all mankind;(E)
14 from his dwelling place(F) he watches
    all who live on earth—
15 he who forms(G) the hearts of all,
    who considers everything they do.(H)

16 No king is saved by the size of his army;(I)
    no warrior escapes by his great strength.
17 A horse(J) is a vain hope for deliverance;
    despite all its great strength it cannot save.
18 But the eyes(K) of the Lord are on those who fear him,
    on those whose hope is in his unfailing love,(L)
19 to deliver them from death(M)
    and keep them alive in famine.(N)

20 We wait(O) in hope for the Lord;
    he is our help and our shield.
21 In him our hearts rejoice,(P)
    for we trust in his holy name.(Q)
22 May your unfailing love(R) be with us, Lord,
    even as we put our hope in you.

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12 Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord; and the people whom he hath chosen for his own inheritance.

13 The Lord looketh from heaven; he beholdeth all the sons of men.

14 From the place of his habitation he looketh upon all the inhabitants of the earth.

15 He fashioneth their hearts alike; he considereth all their works.

16 There is no king saved by the multitude of an host: a mighty man is not delivered by much strength.

17 An horse is a vain thing for safety: neither shall he deliver any by his great strength.

18 Behold, the eye of the Lord is upon them that fear him, upon them that hope in his mercy;

19 To deliver their soul from death, and to keep them alive in famine.

20 Our soul waiteth for the Lord: he is our help and our shield.

21 For our heart shall rejoice in him, because we have trusted in his holy name.

22 Let thy mercy, O Lord, be upon us, according as we hope in thee.

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Invitations of Wisdom and Folly

Wisdom has built(A) her house;
    she has set up[a] its seven pillars.
She has prepared her meat and mixed her wine;(B)
    she has also set her table.(C)
She has sent out her servants, and she calls(D)
    from the highest point of the city,(E)
    “Let all who are simple(F) come to my house!”
To those who have no sense(G) she says,
    “Come,(H) eat my food
    and drink the wine I have mixed.(I)
Leave your simple ways and you will live;(J)
    walk in the way of insight.”(K)

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Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 9:1 Septuagint, Syriac and Targum; Hebrew has hewn out

Wisdom hath builded her house, she hath hewn out her seven pillars:

She hath killed her beasts; she hath mingled her wine; she hath also furnished her table.

She hath sent forth her maidens: she crieth upon the highest places of the city,

Whoso is simple, let him turn in hither: as for him that wanteth understanding, she saith to him,

Come, eat of my bread, and drink of the wine which I have mingled.

Forsake the foolish, and live; and go in the way of understanding.

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