¹⁹ For when ^(A)the horses of Pharaoh with his chariots and his horsemen went into the sea, ^(B)the Lord brought back the waters of the sea upon them, but the people of Israel walked on dry ground in the midst of the sea. ²⁰ Then ^(C)Miriam ^(D)the prophetess, the ^(E)sister of Aaron, took a tambourine in her hand, and ^(F)all the women went out after her with tambourines and dancing. ²¹ And Miriam sang to them:

Bitter Water Made Sweet

²² Then Moses made Israel set out from the Red Sea, and they went into the wilderness of ^(H)Shur. They went three days in the wilderness and found no water. ²³ When they came to ^(I)Marah, they could not drink the water of Marah because it was bitter; therefore it was named Marah.^{[a] 24} And the people ^(J)grumbled against Moses, saying, “What shall we drink?” ²⁵ And he ^(K)cried to the Lord, and the Lord showed him a log,^[b] and he ^(L)threw it into the water, and the water became sweet.

There the Lord^[c] made for them a statute and a rule, and there he ^(M)tested them, ²⁶ saying, ^(N)“If you will diligently listen to the voice of the Lord your God, and do that which is right in his eyes, and give ear to his commandments and keep all his statutes, I will put none of the ^(O)diseases on you that I put on the Egyptians, for I am the Lord, ^(P)your healer.”

²⁷ Then ^(Q)they came to Elim, where there were twelve springs of water and seventy palm trees, and they encamped there by the water.

Bread from Heaven

16 They ^(R)set out from Elim, and all the congregation of the people of Israel came to the wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after they had departed from the land of Egypt. ² And the whole congregation of the people of Israel ^(S)grumbled against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness, ³ and the people of Israel said to them, ^(T)“Would that we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, ^(U)when we sat by the meat pots and ate bread to the full, for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.”

⁴ Then the Lord said to Moses, “Behold, I am about to rain ^(V)bread from heaven for you, and the people shall go out and gather a day's portion every day, that I may ^(W)test them, whether they will walk in my law or not. ⁵ On the sixth day, when they prepare what they bring in, ^(X)it will be twice as much as they gather daily.” ⁶ So Moses and Aaron said to all the people of Israel, ^(Y)“At evening ^(Z)you shall know that it was the Lord who brought you out of the land of Egypt, ⁷ and in the morning you shall see the ^(AA)glory of the Lord, because he has heard your grumbling against the Lord. For ^(AB)what are we, that you grumble against us?” ⁸ And Moses said, “When the Lord gives you in the evening meat to eat and in the morning bread to the full, because the Lord has heard your grumbling that you grumble against him—^(AC)what are we? Your grumbling is not ^(AD)against us but against the Lord.”

⁹ Then Moses ^(AE)said to Aaron, “Say to the whole congregation of the people of Israel, ^(AF)‘Come near before the Lord, for he has heard your grumbling.’” ¹⁰ And as soon as Aaron spoke to the whole congregation of the people of Israel, they looked toward the wilderness, and behold, the ^(AG)glory of the Lord appeared in the cloud. ¹¹ And the Lord said to Moses, ¹² “I ^(AH)have heard the grumbling of the people of Israel. Say to them, ‘At ^(AI)twilight you shall eat meat, and ^(AJ)in the morning you shall be filled with bread. Then you shall know that I am the Lord your God.’”

¹³ In the evening ^(AK)quail came up and covered the camp, and in the morning ^(AL)dew lay around the camp. ¹⁴ And when the dew had gone up, there was on the face of the wilderness a fine, flake-like thing, fine as frost on the ground. ¹⁵ When the people of Israel saw it, they said to one another, ^(AM)“What is it?”^[d] For they ^(AN)did not know what it was. And Moses said to them, ^(AO)“It is the bread that the Lord has given you to eat. ¹⁶ This is what the Lord has commanded: ‘Gather of it, each one of you, as much as he can eat. You shall each take an ^(AP)omer,^[e] according to the number of the persons that each of you has in his tent.’” ¹⁷ And the people of Israel did so. They gathered, some more, some less. ¹⁸ But when they measured it with an omer, ^(AQ)whoever gathered much had nothing left over, and whoever gathered little had no lack. Each of them gathered as much as he could eat. ¹⁹ And Moses said to them, “Let no one leave any of it over till the morning.” ²⁰ But they did not listen to Moses. Some left part of it till the morning, and ^(AR)it bred worms and stank. And Moses was angry with them. ²¹ Morning by morning they gathered it, each as much as he could eat; but when the sun grew hot, it melted.

²² On ^(AS)the sixth day they gathered twice as much bread, two omers each. And when all the leaders of the congregation came and told Moses, ²³ he said to them, “This is what the Lord has commanded: ‘Tomorrow is a day of ^(AT)solemn rest, a holy Sabbath to the Lord; bake what you will bake and boil what you will boil, and all that is left over lay aside to be kept till the morning.’” ²⁴ So they laid it aside till the morning, as Moses commanded them, and ^(AU)it did not stink, and there were no worms in it. ²⁵ Moses said, “Eat it today, for ^(AV)today is a Sabbath to the Lord; today you will not find it in the field. ²⁶ Six days you shall gather it, but on the seventh day, which is a Sabbath, there will be none.”

²⁷ On the seventh day some of the people went out to gather, but they found none. ²⁸ And the Lord said to Moses, ^(AW)“How long will you refuse to keep my commandments and my laws? ²⁹ See! The Lord has given you the Sabbath; therefore on the sixth day he gives you bread for two days. Remain each of you in his place; let no one go out of his place on the seventh day.” ³⁰ So the people ^(AX)rested on the seventh day.

³¹ Now the house of Israel called its name ^(AY)manna. It was ^(AZ)like coriander seed, white, and the taste of it was like wafers made with honey. ³² Moses said, “This is what the Lord has commanded: ‘Let an omer of it be kept throughout your generations, so that they may see the bread with which I fed you in the wilderness, when I brought you out of the land of Egypt.’” ³³ And Moses said to Aaron, “Take a ^(BA)jar, and put an omer of manna in it, and place it before the Lord to be kept throughout your generations.” ³⁴ As the Lord commanded Moses, so Aaron placed it before ^(BB)the testimony to be kept. ³⁵ The people of Israel ^(BC)ate the manna forty years, till they came to a habitable land. They ate the manna till ^(BD)they came to the border of the land of Canaan. ³⁶ (An omer is ^(BE)the tenth part of an ephah.)^[f]

Water from the Rock

17 ^(BF)All the congregation of the people of Israel moved on from the wilderness of Sin by stages, according to the commandment of the Lord, and camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink. ^2 (BG)Therefore the people quarreled with Moses and said, “Give us water to drink.” And Moses said to them, “Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you ^(BH)test the Lord?” ³ But the people thirsted there for water, and ^(BI)the people grumbled against Moses and said, “Why did you bring us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?” ⁴ So Moses cried to the Lord, “What shall I do with this people? They are almost ready ^(BJ)to stone me.” ⁵ And the Lord said to Moses, “Pass on before the people, taking with you some of the elders of Israel, and take in your hand the staff with ^(BK)which you struck the Nile, and go. ^6 (BL)Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock at Horeb, and you shall strike the rock, and water shall come out of it, and the people will drink.” And Moses did so, in the sight of the elders of Israel. ⁷ And he called the name of the place ^(BM)Massah^[g] and ^(BN)Meribah,^[h] because of the quarreling of the people of Israel, and because they tested the Lord by saying, “Is the Lord among us or not?”

Israel Defeats Amalek

^8 (BO)Then Amalek came and fought with Israel at Rephidim. ⁹ So Moses said to ^(BP)Joshua, “Choose for us men, and go out and fight with Amalek. Tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill with ^(BQ)the staff of God in my hand.” ¹⁰ So ^(BR)Joshua did as Moses told him, and fought with Amalek, while Moses, Aaron, and ^(BS)Hur went up to the top of the hill. ¹¹ Whenever Moses ^(BT)held up his hand, Israel prevailed, and whenever he lowered his hand, Amalek prevailed. ¹² But Moses' hands grew weary, so they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat on it, while Aaron and ^(BU)Hur held up his hands, one on one side, and the other on the other side. So his hands were steady until the going down of the sun. ¹³ And ^(BV)Joshua overwhelmed Amalek and his people with the sword.

¹⁴ Then the Lord said to Moses, “Write this as a memorial in a book and recite it in the ears of ^(BW)Joshua, that ^(BX)I will utterly blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven.” ¹⁵ And Moses ^(BY)built an altar and called the name of it, The Lord Is My Banner, ¹⁶ saying, “A hand upon the throne^[i] of the Lord! ^(BZ)The Lord will have war with Amalek from generation to generation.”

Jethro's Advice

18 ^(CA)Jethro, ^(CB)the priest of Midian, Moses' father-in-law, heard of all that God had done for Moses and for Israel his people, how the Lord had brought Israel out of Egypt. ² Now Jethro, Moses' father-in-law, had taken Zipporah, Moses' wife, after he had sent her home, ³ along with her ^(CC)two sons. The name of the one was Gershom (^(CD)for he said, ^(CE)“I have been a sojourner^[j] in a foreign land”), ⁴ and the name of the other, Eliezer^[k] (for he said, “The God of my father was my help, and delivered me from the sword of Pharaoh”). ⁵ Jethro, Moses' father-in-law, came with his sons and his wife to Moses in the wilderness where he was encamped at the ^(CF)mountain of God. ⁶ And when he sent word to Moses, “I,^[l] your father-in-law Jethro, am coming to you with your wife and her two sons with her,” ⁷ Moses ^(CG)went out to meet his father-in-law and bowed down and ^(CH)kissed him. And they asked each other of their welfare and went into the tent. ⁸ Then Moses told his father-in-law ^(CI)all that the Lord had done to Pharaoh and to the Egyptians for Israel's sake, all the hardship that had come upon them in the way, and how the Lord had delivered them. ⁹ And Jethro rejoiced for all the good that the Lord had done to Israel, in that he had delivered them out of the hand of the Egyptians.

¹⁰ Jethro said, ^(CJ)“Blessed be the Lord, who has delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians and out of the hand of Pharaoh and has delivered the people from under the hand of the Egyptians. ¹¹ Now I know that ^(CK)the Lord is greater than all gods, because in this affair they ^(CL)dealt arrogantly with the people.”^{[m] 12} And Jethro, Moses' father-in-law, brought a burnt offering and sacrifices to God; and Aaron came with all the elders of Israel to eat bread with Moses' father-in-law ^(CM)before God.

¹³ The next day Moses sat to judge the people, and the people stood around Moses from morning till evening. ¹⁴ When Moses' father-in-law saw all that he was doing for the people, he said, “What is this that you are doing for the people? Why do you sit alone, and all the people stand around you from morning till evening?” ¹⁵ And Moses said to his father-in-law, “Because ^(CN)the people come to me to inquire of God; ^16 (CO)when they have a dispute, they come to me and I decide between one person and another, and I ^(CP)make them know the statutes of God and his laws.” ¹⁷ Moses' father-in-law said to him, “What you are doing is not good. ¹⁸ You and the people with you will certainly wear yourselves out, for the thing is too heavy for you. ^(CQ)You are not able to do it alone. ¹⁹ Now obey my voice; I will give you advice, and God be with you! You shall ^(CR)represent the people before God and ^(CS)bring their cases to God, ²⁰ and you shall warn them about the statutes and the laws, and make them know ^(CT)the way in which they must walk and ^(CU)what they must do. ²¹ Moreover, look for ^(CV)able men from all the people, men who fear God, who are trustworthy and hate a bribe, and place such men over the people as chiefs of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties, and of tens. ²² And ^(CW)let them judge the people at all times. ^(CX)Every great matter they shall bring to you, but any small matter they shall decide themselves. So it will be easier for you, and they will ^(CY)bear the burden with you. ²³ If you do this, God will direct you, you will be ^(CZ)able to endure, and all this people also will go to their place in peace.”

²⁴ So Moses listened to the voice of his father-in-law and did all that he had said. ^25 (DA)Moses chose able men out of all Israel and made them heads over the people, chiefs of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties, and of tens. ²⁶ And ^(DB)they judged the people at all times. Any hard case they brought to Moses, but any small matter they decided themselves. ²⁷ Then Moses let his father-in-law depart, and ^(DC)he went away to his own country.

Israel at Mount Sinai

19 On the third new moon after the people of Israel had gone out of the land of Egypt, on that day they ^(DD)came into the wilderness of Sinai. ² They set out from ^(DE)Rephidim and came into the wilderness of Sinai, and they encamped in the wilderness. There Israel encamped before ^(DF)the mountain, ³ while ^(DG)Moses went up to God. ^(DH)The Lord called to him out of the mountain, saying, “Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob, and tell the people of Israel: ^4 (DI)‘You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how ^(DJ)I bore you on eagles' wings and brought you to myself. ⁵ Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be ^(DK)my treasured possession among all peoples, for ^(DL)all the earth is mine; ⁶ and you shall be to me a ^(DM)kingdom of priests and ^(DN)a holy nation.’ These are the words that you shall speak to the people of Israel.”

⁷ So Moses came and called the elders of the people and set before them all these words that the Lord had commanded him. ^8 (DO)All the people answered together and said, “All that the Lord has spoken we will do.” And Moses reported the words of the people to the Lord. ⁹ And the Lord said to Moses, “Behold, I am coming to you ^(DP)in a thick cloud, that ^(DQ)the people may hear when I speak with you, and may also ^(DR)believe you forever.”

When Moses told the words of the people to the Lord, ¹⁰ the Lord said to Moses, “Go to the people and ^(DS)consecrate them today and tomorrow, and let them ^(DT)wash their garments ¹¹ and be ready for the third day. For on the third day ^(DU)the Lord will come down on Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people. ¹² And you shall set limits for the people all around, saying, ‘Take care not to go up into the mountain or touch the edge of it. ^(DV)Whoever touches the mountain shall be put to death. ¹³ No hand shall touch him, but he shall be stoned or shot;^[n] whether beast or man, he shall not live.’ When ^(DW)the trumpet sounds a long blast, they shall come up to the mountain.” ¹⁴ So Moses ^(DX)went down from the mountain to the people and ^(DY)consecrated the people; ^(DZ)and they washed their garments. ¹⁵ And he said to the people, “Be ready for the ^(EA)third day; ^(EB)do not go near a woman.”

¹⁶ On the morning of the ^(EC)third day there were ^(ED)thunders and lightnings and ^(EE)a thick cloud on the mountain and a very loud ^(EF)trumpet blast, so that all the people in the camp ^(EG)trembled. ¹⁷ Then ^(EH)Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God, and they took their stand at the foot of the mountain. ¹⁸ Now ^(EI)Mount Sinai was wrapped in smoke because the Lord had descended on it in fire. The smoke of it went up like the smoke of a kiln, and ^(EJ)the whole mountain trembled greatly. ¹⁹ And as the ^(EK)sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder, Moses spoke, and ^(EL)God answered him in thunder. ²⁰ The Lord came down on Mount Sinai, to the top of the mountain. And the Lord called Moses to the top of the mountain, and Moses went up.

²¹ And the Lord said to Moses, “Go down and warn the people, lest they break through to the Lord ^(EM)to look and many of them perish. ²² Also let the priests who come near to the Lord ^(EN)consecrate themselves, lest the Lord ^(EO)break out against them.” ²³ And Moses said to the Lord, “The people cannot come up to Mount Sinai, for you yourself warned us, saying, ^(EP)‘Set limits around the mountain and consecrate it.’” ²⁴ And the Lord said to him, “Go down, and come up bringing Aaron with you. But do not let the priests and the people ^(EQ)break through to come up to the Lord, lest he break out against them.” ²⁵ So Moses went down to the people and told them.

The Ten Commandments

20 ^(ER)And ^(ES)God spoke all these words, saying,

^2 (ET)“I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.

^3 (EU)“You shall have no other gods before^[o] me.

^4 (EV)“You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. ^5 (EW)You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am ^(EX)a jealous God, ^(EY)visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, ⁶ but showing steadfast love to thousands^[p] of those who love me and keep my commandments.

^7 (EZ)“You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.

^8 (FA)“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. ^9 (FB)Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, ¹⁰ but the ^(FC)seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the ^(FD)sojourner who is within your gates. ¹¹ For ^(FE)in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.

^12 (FF)“Honor your father and your mother, ^(FG)that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.

^13 (FH)“You shall not murder.^[q]

^14 (FI)“You shall not commit adultery.

^15 (FJ)“You shall not steal.

^16 (FK)“You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

^17 (FL)“You shall not covet ^(FM)your neighbor's house; ^(FN)you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his male servant, or his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor's.”

¹⁸ Now when all the people saw ^(FO)the thunder and the flashes of lightning and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking, the people were afraid^[r] and trembled, and they stood far off ¹⁹ and said to Moses, ^(FP)“You speak to us, and we will listen; but do not let God speak to us, lest we die.” ^20 (FQ)Moses said to the people, “Do not fear, for God has come to ^(FR)test you, that the fear of him may be before you, that you may not sin.” ²¹ The people stood far off, while Moses drew near to the ^(FS)thick darkness where God was.

Laws About Altars

²² And the Lord said to Moses, “Thus you shall say to the people of Israel: ‘You have seen for yourselves that I have ^(FT)talked with you from heaven. ^23 (FU)You shall not make gods of silver to be with me, nor shall you make for yourselves gods of gold. ²⁴ An altar of earth you shall make for me and sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and your peace offerings, your sheep and your oxen. ^(FV)In every place where I cause my name to be remembered I will come to you and ^(FW)bless you. ^25 (FX)If you make me an altar of stone, ^(FY)you shall not build it of hewn stones, for if you wield your tool on it you profane it. ²⁶ And you shall not go up by steps to my altar, that your nakedness be not exposed on it.’

Laws About Slaves

21 “Now these are the ^(FZ)rules that you shall set before them. ^2 (GA)When you buy a Hebrew slave,^[s] he shall serve six years, and in the seventh he shall go out free, for nothing. ³ If he comes in single, he shall go out single; if he comes in married, then his wife shall go out with him. ⁴ If his master gives him a wife and she bears him sons or daughters, the wife and her children shall be her master's, and he shall go out alone. ⁵ But ^(GB)if the slave plainly says, ‘I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free,’ ⁶ then his master shall bring him to ^(GC)God, and he shall bring him to the door or the doorpost. And his master shall bore his ear through with an awl, and he shall be his slave forever.

⁷ “When a man ^(GD)sells his daughter as a slave, she shall not go out as the male slaves do. ⁸ If she does not please her master, who has designated her^[t] for himself, then he shall let her be redeemed. He shall have no right to sell her to a foreign people, since he has broken faith with her. ⁹ If he designates her for his son, he shall deal with her as with a daughter. ¹⁰ If he takes another wife to himself, he shall not diminish her food, her clothing, or ^(GE)her marital rights. ¹¹ And if he does not do these three things for her, she shall go out for nothing, without payment of money.

^12 (GF)“Whoever strikes a man so that he dies shall be put to death. ^13 (GG)But if he did not lie in wait for him, but God let him fall into his hand, then ^(GH)I will appoint for you a place to which he may flee. ¹⁴ But if a man willfully attacks another to kill him by cunning, ^(GI)you shall take him from my altar, that he may die.

¹⁵ “Whoever strikes his father or his mother shall be put to death.

^16 (GJ)“Whoever steals a man and sells him, and anyone found ^(GK)in possession of him, shall be put to death.

^17 (GL)“Whoever curses^[u] his father or his mother shall be put to death.

¹⁸ “When men quarrel and one strikes the other with a stone or with his fist and the man does not die but takes to his bed, ¹⁹ then if the man rises again and walks outdoors with his staff, he who struck him shall be clear; only he shall pay for the loss of his time, and shall have him thoroughly healed.

²⁰ “When a man strikes his slave, male or female, with a rod and the slave dies under his hand, he shall be avenged. ²¹ But if the slave survives a day or two, he is not to be avenged, for the ^(GM)slave is his money.

²² “When men strive together and hit a pregnant woman, so that her children come out, but there is no harm, the one who hit her shall surely be fined, as the woman's husband shall impose on him, and ^(GN)he shall pay as the ^(GO)judges determine. ²³ But if there is harm,^[v] then you shall pay ^(GP)life for life, ^24 (GQ)eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, ²⁵ burn for burn, wound for wound, stripe for stripe.

²⁶ “When a man strikes the eye of his slave, male or female, and destroys it, he shall let the slave go free because of his eye. ²⁷ If he knocks out the tooth of his slave, male or female, he shall let the slave go free because of his tooth.

²⁸ “When an ox gores a man or a woman to death, the ^(GR)ox shall be stoned, and its flesh shall not be eaten, but the owner of the ox shall not be liable. ²⁹ But if the ox has been accustomed to gore in the past, and its owner has been warned but has not kept it in, and it kills a man or a woman, the ox shall be stoned, and its owner also shall be put to death. ³⁰ If ^(GS)a ransom is imposed on him, then ^(GT)he shall give for the redemption of his life whatever is imposed on him. ³¹ If it gores a man's son or daughter, he shall be dealt with according to this same rule. ³² If the ox gores a slave, male or female, the owner shall give to their master ^(GU)thirty shekels^[w] of silver, and ^(GV)the ox shall be stoned.

Laws About Restitution

³³ “When a man opens a pit, or when a man digs a pit and does not cover it, and an ox or a donkey falls into it, ³⁴ the owner of the pit shall make restoration. He shall give money to its owner, and the dead beast shall be his.

³⁵ “When one man's ox butts another's, so that it dies, then they shall sell the live ox and share its price, and the dead beast also they shall share. ³⁶ Or if it is known that the ox has been accustomed to gore in the past, and its owner has not kept it in, he shall repay ox for ox, and the dead beast shall be his.

22 ^[x] “If a man steals an ox or a sheep, and kills it or sells it, he shall repay five oxen for an ox, and ^(GW)four sheep for a sheep. ^2 [y] If a thief is found ^(GX)breaking in and is struck so that he dies, there shall be no bloodguilt for him, ³ but if the sun has risen on him, there shall be bloodguilt for him. He^[z] shall surely pay. If he has nothing, then ^(GY)he shall be sold for his theft. ⁴ If the stolen beast ^(GZ)is found alive in his possession, whether it is an ox or a donkey or a sheep, ^(HA)he shall pay double.

⁵ “If a man causes a field or vineyard to be grazed over, or lets his beast loose and it feeds in another man's field, he shall make restitution from the best in his own field and in his own vineyard.

⁶ “If fire breaks out and catches in thorns so that the stacked grain or the standing grain or the field is consumed, he who started the fire shall make full restitution.

⁷ “If a man gives to his neighbor money or goods to keep safe, and it is stolen from the man's house, then, if the thief is found, ^(HB)he shall pay double. ⁸ If the thief is not found, the owner of the house shall come near to God to show whether or not he has put his hand to his neighbor's property. ⁹ For every breach of trust, whether it is for an ox, for a donkey, for a sheep, for a cloak, or for any kind of lost thing, of which one says, ‘This is it,’ the case of both parties shall come before God. The one whom God condemns shall pay double to his neighbor.

¹⁰ “If a man gives to his neighbor a donkey or an ox or a sheep or any beast to keep safe, and it dies or is injured or is driven away, without anyone seeing it, ^11 (HC)an oath by the Lord shall be between them both to see whether or not he has put his hand to his neighbor's property. The owner shall accept the oath, and he shall not make restitution. ¹² But if ^(HD)it is stolen from him, he shall make restitution to its owner. ¹³ If it is torn by beasts, let him bring it as evidence. He shall not make restitution for what has been torn.

¹⁴ “If a man borrows anything of his neighbor, and it is injured or dies, the owner not being with it, he shall make full restitution. ¹⁵ If the owner was with it, he shall not make restitution; if it was hired, it came for its hiring fee.^[aa]

Laws About Social Justice

^16 (HE)“If a man seduces a virgin^[ab] who is not betrothed and lies with her, he shall give the bride-price^[ac] for her and make her his wife. ¹⁷ If her father utterly refuses to give her to him, ^(HF)he shall pay money equal to the ^(HG)bride-price for virgins.

^18 (HH)“You shall not permit a sorceress to live.

^19 (HI)“Whoever lies with an animal shall be put to death.

^20 (HJ)“Whoever sacrifices to any god, other than the Lord alone, shall be devoted to destruction.^[ad]

^21 (HK)“You shall not wrong a sojourner or oppress him, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt. ^22 (HL)You shall not mistreat any widow or fatherless child. ²³ If you do mistreat them, and they ^(HM)cry out to me, I will surely ^(HN)hear their cry, ²⁴ and my wrath will burn, and I will kill you with the sword, and ^(HO)your wives shall become widows and your children fatherless.

^25 (HP)“If you lend money to any of my people with you who is poor, you shall not be like a moneylender to him, and you shall not exact interest from him. ^26 (HQ)If ever you take your neighbor's cloak in pledge, you shall return it to him before the sun goes down, ²⁷ for that is his only covering, and it is his cloak for his body; in what else shall he sleep? And if he ^(HR)cries to me, I will hear, for I am ^(HS)compassionate.

^28 (HT)“You shall not revile God, nor ^(HU)curse a ruler of your people.

²⁹ “You shall not delay to offer from the fullness of your harvest and from the outflow of your presses. ^(HV)The firstborn of your sons you shall give to me. ^30 (HW)You shall do the same with your oxen and with your sheep: ^(HX)seven days it shall be with its mother; on the eighth day you shall give it to me.

^31 (HY)“You shall be consecrated to me. Therefore ^(HZ)you shall not eat any flesh that is torn by beasts in the field; ^(IA)you shall throw it to the dogs.

23 ^(IB)“You shall not spread a false report. You shall not join hands with a wicked man to be a ^(IC)malicious witness. ² You shall not fall in with the many to do evil, nor shall you bear witness in a lawsuit, siding with the many, so as to pervert justice, ^3 (ID)nor shall you be partial to a poor man in his lawsuit.

^4 (IE)“If you meet your enemy's ox or his donkey going astray, you shall bring it back to him. ⁵ If you see the donkey of one who hates you lying down under its burden, you shall refrain from leaving him with it; you shall rescue it with him.

^6 (IF)“You shall not pervert the justice due to your poor in his lawsuit. ^7 (IG)Keep far from a false charge, and ^(IH)do not kill the innocent and righteous, for ^(II)I will not acquit the wicked. ^8 (IJ)And you shall take no bribe, for a bribe blinds the clear-sighted and subverts the cause of those who are in the right.

^9 (IK)“You shall not oppress a sojourner. You know the heart of a sojourner, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt.

Laws About the Sabbath and Festivals

^10 (IL)“For six years you shall sow your land and gather in its yield, ¹¹ but the seventh year you shall let it rest and lie fallow, that the poor of your people may eat; and what they leave the beasts of the field may eat. You shall do likewise with your vineyard, and with your olive orchard.

^12 (IM)“Six days you shall do your work, but on the seventh day you shall rest; that your ox and your donkey may have rest, and the son of your servant woman, and the alien, may be refreshed.

^13 (IN)“Pay attention to all that I have said to you, and make no mention of the names of other gods, nor let it be heard on your lips.

^14 (IO)“Three times in the year you shall keep a feast to me. ^15 (IP)You shall keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread. As I commanded you, you shall eat unleavened bread for seven days at the appointed time in the month of ^(IQ)Abib, for in it you came out of Egypt. ^(IR)None shall appear before me empty-handed. ¹⁶ You shall keep ^(IS)the Feast of Harvest, of the firstfruits of your labor, of what you sow in the field. You shall keep the ^(IT)Feast of Ingathering at the end of the year, when you gather in from the field the fruit of your labor. ^17 (IU)Three times in the year shall all your males appear before the Lord God.

^18 (IV)“You shall not offer the blood of my sacrifice with anything leavened, or let the fat of my feast remain until the morning.

¹⁹ “The best of the ^(IW)firstfruits of your ground you shall bring into the house of the Lord your God.

^(IX)“You shall not boil a young goat in its mother's milk.

Conquest of Canaan Promised

^20 (IY)“Behold, I send an angel before you to guard you on the way and to bring you to the place that I have prepared. ²¹ Pay careful attention to him and obey his voice; ^(IZ)do not rebel against him, ^(JA)for he will not pardon your transgression, for my name is in him.

²² “But if you carefully obey his voice and do all that I say, then ^(JB)I will be an enemy to your enemies and an adversary to your adversaries.

^23 (JC)“When my angel goes before you and brings you ^(JD)to the Amorites and the Hittites and the Perizzites and the Canaanites, the Hivites and the Jebusites, and I blot them out, ²⁴ you shall ^(JE)not bow down to their gods nor serve them, ^(JF)nor do as they do, but ^(JG)you shall utterly overthrow them and break their ^(JH)pillars in pieces. ²⁵ You ^(JI)shall serve the Lord your God, and ^(JJ)he^[ae] will bless your bread and your water, and ^(JK)I will take sickness away from among you. ^26 (JL)None shall miscarry or be barren in your land; I will fulfill the ^(JM)number of your days. ²⁷ I will send ^(JN)my terror before you and will throw into ^(JO)confusion all the people against whom you shall come, and I will make all your enemies turn their backs to you. ²⁸ And ^(JP)I will send hornets^[af] before you, which shall drive out the Hivites, the Canaanites, and the Hittites from before you. ^29 (JQ)I will not drive them out from before you in one year, lest the land become desolate and the wild beasts multiply against you. ³⁰ Little by little I will drive them out from before you, until you have increased and possess the land. ^31 (JR)And I will set your border from the Red Sea to the Sea of the Philistines, and from the wilderness to the Euphrates,^[ag] for ^(JS)I will give the inhabitants of the land into your hand, and you shall drive them out before you. ^32 (JT)You shall make no covenant with them and their gods. ³³ They shall not dwell in your land, lest they make you sin against me; for if you serve their gods, ^(JU)it will surely be a snare to you.”

The Covenant Confirmed

24 Then he said to Moses, “Come up to the Lord, you and Aaron, ^(JV)Nadab, and Abihu, and ^(JW)seventy of the elders of Israel, and worship from afar. ² Moses ^(JX)alone shall come near to the Lord, but the others shall not come near, and the people shall not come up with him.”

³ Moses came and told the people all the words of the Lord and ^(JY)all the rules.^[ah] And all the people answered with one voice and said, ^(JZ)“All the words that the Lord has spoken we will do.” ⁴ And ^(KA)Moses wrote down all the words of the Lord. He rose early in the morning and built an altar at the foot of the mountain, and twelve ^(KB)pillars, according to the twelve tribes of Israel. ⁵ And he sent young men of the people of Israel, who offered burnt offerings and sacrificed peace offerings of oxen to the Lord. ⁶ And ^(KC)Moses took half of the blood and put it in basins, and half of the blood he threw against the altar. ⁷ Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read it in the hearing of the people. And they said, ^(KD)“All that the Lord has spoken we will do, and we will be obedient.” ^8 (KE)And Moses took the blood and threw it on the people and said, “Behold the blood of the covenant that the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words.”

⁹ Then Moses and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and ^(KF)seventy of the elders of Israel ^(KG)went up, ¹⁰ and they ^(KH)saw the God of Israel. There was under his feet as it were a pavement of ^(KI)sapphire stone, like the very heaven for clearness. ¹¹ And he did not lay his hand on the chief men of the people of Israel; they beheld God, and ^(KJ)ate and drank.