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Exodus 23-25
New King James Version

Justice for All

23 “You (A)shall not circulate a false report. Do not put your hand with the wicked to be an (B)unrighteous witness. 2 (C)You shall not follow a crowd to do evil; (D)nor shall you testify in a dispute so as to turn aside after many to pervert justice. 3 You shall not show partiality to a (E)poor man in his dispute.

4 (F)“If you meet your enemy’s ox or his donkey going astray, you shall surely bring it back to him again. 5 (G)If you see the donkey of one who hates you lying under its burden, and you would refrain from helping it, you shall surely help him with it.

6 (H)“You shall not pervert the judgment of your poor in his dispute. 7 (I)Keep yourself far from a false matter; (J)do not kill the innocent and righteous. For (K)I will not justify the wicked. 8 And (L)you shall take no bribe, for a bribe blinds the discerning and perverts the words of the righteous.

9 “Also (M)you shall not oppress a [a]stranger, for you know the heart of a stranger, because you were strangers in the land of Egypt.

The Law of Sabbaths

10 (N)“Six years you shall sow your land and gather in its produce, 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. In like manner you shall do with your vineyard and your [b]olive grove. 12 (O)Six days you shall do your work, and on the seventh day you shall rest, that your ox and your donkey may rest, and the son of your female servant and the stranger may be refreshed.

13 “And in all that I have said to you, (P)be circumspect and (Q)make no mention of the name of other gods, nor let it be heard from your mouth.

Three Annual Feasts(R)

14 (S)“Three times you shall keep a feast to Me in the year: 15 (T)You shall keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread (you shall eat unleavened bread seven days, as I commanded you, at the time appointed in the month of Abib, for in it you came out of Egypt; (U)none shall appear before Me empty); 16 (V)and the Feast of Harvest, the firstfruits of your labors which you have sown in the field; and (W)the Feast of Ingathering at the end of the year, when you have gathered in the fruit of your labors from the field.

17 (X)“Three times in the year all your males shall appear before the Lord [c]God.

18 (Y)“You shall not offer the blood of My sacrifice with leavened (Z)bread; nor shall the fat of My [d]sacrifice remain until morning. 19 (AA)The first of the firstfruits of your land you shall bring into the house of the Lord your God. (AB)You shall not boil a young goat in its mother’s milk.

The Angel and the Promises

20 (AC)“Behold, I send an Angel before you to keep you in the way and to bring you into the place which I have prepared. 21 Beware of Him and obey His voice; (AD)do not provoke Him, for He will (AE)not pardon your transgressions; for (AF)My name is in Him. 22 But if you indeed obey His voice and do all that I speak, then (AG)I will be an enemy to your enemies and an adversary to your adversaries. 23 (AH)For My Angel will go before you and (AI)bring you in to the Amorites and the Hittites and the Perizzites and the Canaanites and the Hivites and the Jebusites; and I will [e]cut them off. 24 You shall not (AJ)bow down to their gods, nor serve them, (AK)nor do according to their works; (AL)but you shall utterly overthrow them and completely break down their sacred pillars.

25 “So you shall (AM)serve the Lord your God, and (AN)He will bless your bread and your water. And (AO)I will take sickness away from the midst of you. 26 (AP)No one shall suffer miscarriage or be barren in your land; I will (AQ)fulfill the number of your days.

27 “I will send (AR)My fear before you, I will (AS)cause confusion among all the people to whom you come, and will make all your enemies turn their backs to you. 28 And (AT)I will send hornets before you, which shall drive out the Hivite, the Canaanite, and the Hittite from before you. 29 (AU)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 (AV)I will set your [f]bounds from the Red Sea to the sea, Philistia, and from the desert to the [g]River. For I will (AW)deliver the inhabitants of the land into your hand, and you shall drive them out before you. 32 (AX)You shall make no [h]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, (AY)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, (AZ)Nadab and Abihu, (BA)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 [i]judgments. And all the people answered with one voice and said, (BB)“All the words which the Lord has said we will do.” 4 And Moses (BC)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 (BD)pillars according to the twelve tribes of Israel. 5 Then he sent young men of the children of Israel, who offered (BE)burnt offerings and sacrificed peace offerings of oxen to the Lord. 6 And Moses (BF)took half the blood and put it in basins, and half the blood he sprinkled on the altar. 7 Then he (BG)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 (BH)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 (BI)saw the God of Israel. And there was under His feet as it were a paved work of (BJ)sapphire stone, and it was like the (BK)very[j] heavens in its clarity. 11 But on the nobles of the children of Israel He (BL)did not [k]lay His hand. So (BM)they saw God, and they (BN)ate and drank.

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

13 So Moses arose with (BQ)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 (BR)Hur are with you. If any man has a difficulty, let him go to them.” 15 Then Moses went up into the mountain, and (BS)a cloud covered the mountain.

16 Now (BT)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 (BU)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 (BV)Moses was on the mountain forty days and forty nights.

Offerings for the Sanctuary(BW)

25 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: 2 “Speak to the children of Israel, that they bring Me an [l]offering. (BX)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, [m]badger skins, and acacia wood; 6 (BY)oil for the light, and (BZ)spices for the anointing oil and for the sweet incense; 7 onyx stones, and stones to be set in the (CA)ephod and in the breastplate. 8 And let them make Me a (CB)sanctuary,[n] that (CC)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(CD)

10 (CE)“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 (CF)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 (CG)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 (CH)the Testimony which I will give you.

17 (CI)“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. 20 And (CJ)the cherubim shall stretch out their wings above, covering the mercy seat with their wings, and they shall face one another; the faces of the cherubim shall be toward the mercy seat. 21 (CK)You shall put the mercy seat on top of the ark, and (CL)in the ark you shall put the Testimony that I will give you. 22 And (CM)there I will meet with you, and I will speak with you from above the mercy seat, from (CN)between the two cherubim which are on the ark of the Testimony, about everything which I will give you in commandment to the children of Israel.

The Table for the Showbread(CO)

23 (CP)“You shall also make a table of acacia wood; two cubits shall be its length, a cubit its width, and a cubit and a half its height. 24 And you shall overlay it with pure gold, and make a molding of gold all around. 25 You shall make for it a frame of a handbreadth all around, and you shall make a gold molding for the frame all around. 26 And you shall make for it four rings of gold, and put the rings on the four corners that are at its four legs. 27 The rings shall be close to the frame, as holders for the poles to bear the table. 28 And you shall make the poles of acacia wood, and overlay them with gold, that the table may be carried with them. 29 You shall make (CQ)its dishes, its pans, its pitchers, and its bowls for pouring. You shall make them of pure gold. 30 And you shall set the (CR)showbread on the table before Me always.

The Gold Lampstand(CS)

31 (CT)“You shall also make a lampstand of pure gold; the lampstand shall be of hammered work. Its shaft, its branches, its bowls, its ornamental knobs, and flowers shall be of one piece. 32 And six branches shall come out of its sides: three branches of the lampstand out of one side, and three branches of the lampstand out of the other side. 33 (CU)Three bowls shall be made like almond blossoms on one branch, with an ornamental knob and a flower, and three bowls made like almond blossoms on the other branch, with an ornamental knob and a flower—and so for the six branches that come out of the lampstand. 34 (CV)On the lampstand itself four bowls shall be made like almond blossoms, each with its ornamental knob and flower. 35 And there shall be a knob under the first two branches of the same, a knob under the second two branches of the same, and a knob under the third two branches of the same, according to the six branches that extend from the lampstand. 36 Their knobs and their branches shall be of one piece; all of it shall be one hammered piece of pure gold. 37 You shall make seven lamps for it, and (CW)they shall arrange its lamps so that they (CX)give light in front of it. 38 And its wick-trimmers and their trays shall be of pure gold. 39 It shall be made of a talent of pure gold, with all these utensils. 40 And (CY)see to it that you make them according to the pattern which was shown you on the mountain.

Footnotes

  1. Exodus 23:9 sojourner
  2. Exodus 23:11 olive yards
  3. Exodus 23:17 Heb. YHWH, usually translated Lord
  4. Exodus 23:18 feast
  5. Exodus 23:23 annihilate them
  6. Exodus 23:31 boundaries
  7. Exodus 23:31 Heb. Nahar, the Euphrates
  8. Exodus 23:32 treaty
  9. Exodus 24:3 ordinances
  10. Exodus 24:10 Lit. substance of heaven
  11. Exodus 24:11 stretch out His
  12. Exodus 25:2 heave offering
  13. Exodus 25:5 Or dolphin
  14. Exodus 25:8 sacred place
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Exodus 23-25
New International Version

Laws of Justice and Mercy

23 “Do not spread false reports.(A) Do not help a guilty person by being a malicious witness.(B)

2 “Do not follow the crowd in doing wrong. When you give testimony in a lawsuit, do not pervert justice(C) by siding with the crowd,(D) 3 and do not show favoritism(E) to a poor person in a lawsuit.

4 “If you come across your enemy’s(F) ox or donkey wandering off, be sure to return it.(G) 5 If you see the donkey(H) of someone who hates you fallen down under its load, do not leave it there; be sure you help them with it.

6 “Do not deny justice(I) to your poor people in their lawsuits. 7 Have nothing to do with a false charge(J) and do not put an innocent(K) or honest person to death,(L) for I will not acquit the guilty.(M)

8 “Do not accept a bribe,(N) for a bribe blinds those who see and twists the words of the innocent.

9 “Do not oppress a foreigner;(O) you yourselves know how it feels to be foreigners, because you were foreigners in Egypt.

Sabbath Laws

10 “For six years you are to sow your fields and harvest the crops, 11 but during the seventh year let the land lie unplowed and unused.(P) Then the poor among your people may get food from it, and the wild animals may eat what is left. Do the same with your vineyard and your olive grove.

12 “Six days do your work,(Q) but on the seventh day do not work, so that your ox and your donkey may rest, and so that the slave born in your household and the foreigner living among you may be refreshed.(R)

13 “Be careful(S) to do everything I have said to you. Do not invoke the names of other gods;(T) do not let them be heard on your lips.(U)

The Three Annual Festivals

14 “Three times(V) a year you are to celebrate a festival to me.

15 “Celebrate the Festival of Unleavened Bread;(W) for seven days eat bread made without yeast, as I commanded you. Do this at the appointed time in the month of Aviv,(X) for in that month you came out of Egypt.

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

16 “Celebrate the Festival of Harvest(Z) with the firstfruits(AA) of the crops you sow in your field.

“Celebrate the Festival of Ingathering(AB) at the end of the year, when you gather in your crops from the field.(AC)

17 “Three times(AD) a year all the men are to appear before the Sovereign Lord.

18 “Do not offer the blood of a sacrifice to me along with anything containing yeast.(AE)

“The fat of my festival offerings must not be kept until morning.(AF)

19 “Bring the best of the firstfruits(AG) of your soil to the house of the Lord your God.

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

God’s Angel to Prepare the Way

20 “See, I am sending an angel(AI) ahead of you to guard you along the way and to bring you to the place I have prepared.(AJ) 21 Pay attention to him and listen(AK) to what he says. Do not rebel against him; he will not forgive(AL) your rebellion,(AM) since my Name(AN) is in him. 22 If you listen carefully to what he says and do(AO) all that I say, I will be an enemy(AP) to your enemies and will oppose those who oppose you. 23 My angel will go ahead of you and bring you into the land of the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Canaanites, Hivites and Jebusites,(AQ) and I will wipe them out. 24 Do not bow down before their gods or worship(AR) them or follow their practices.(AS) You must demolish(AT) them and break their sacred stones(AU) to pieces. 25 Worship the Lord your God,(AV) and his blessing(AW) will be on your food and water. I will take away sickness(AX) from among you, 26 and none will miscarry or be barren(AY) in your land. I will give you a full life span.(AZ)

27 “I will send my terror(BA) ahead of you and throw into confusion(BB) every nation you encounter. I will make all your enemies turn their backs and run.(BC) 28 I will send the hornet(BD) ahead of you to drive the Hivites, Canaanites and Hittites(BE) out of your way. 29 But I will not drive them out in a single year, because the land would become desolate and the wild animals(BF) too numerous for you. 30 Little by little I will drive them out before you, until you have increased enough to take possession(BG) of the land.

31 “I will establish your borders from the Red Sea[a] to the Mediterranean Sea,[b] and from the desert to the Euphrates River.(BH) I will give into your hands the people who live in the land, and you will drive them out(BI) before you. 32 Do not make a covenant(BJ) with them or with their gods. 33 Do not let them live in your land or they will cause you to sin against me, because the worship of their gods will certainly be a snare(BK) to you.”

The Covenant Confirmed

24 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Come up to the Lord, you and Aaron,(BL) Nadab and Abihu,(BM) and seventy of the elders(BN) of Israel. You are to worship at a distance, 2 but Moses alone is to approach(BO) the Lord; the others must not come near. And the people may not come up with him.”

3 When Moses went and told the people all the Lord’s words and laws,(BP) they responded with one voice, “Everything the Lord has said we will do.”(BQ) 4 Moses then wrote(BR) down everything the Lord had said.

He got up early the next morning and built an altar(BS) at the foot of the mountain and set up twelve stone pillars(BT) representing the twelve tribes of Israel. 5 Then he sent young Israelite men, and they offered burnt offerings(BU) and sacrificed young bulls as fellowship offerings(BV) to the Lord. 6 Moses(BW) took half of the blood(BX) and put it in bowls, and the other half he splashed(BY) against the altar. 7 Then he took the Book of the Covenant(BZ) and read it to the people. They responded, “We will do everything the Lord has said; we will obey.”(CA)

8 Moses then took the blood, sprinkled it on the people(CB) and said, “This is the blood of the covenant(CC) that the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words.”

9 Moses and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and the seventy elders(CD) of Israel went up 10 and saw(CE) the God of Israel. Under his feet was something like a pavement made of lapis lazuli,(CF) as bright blue as the sky.(CG) 11 But God did not raise his hand against these leaders of the Israelites; they saw(CH) God, and they ate and drank.(CI)

12 The Lord said to Moses, “Come up to me on the mountain and stay here, and I will give you the tablets of stone(CJ) with the law and commandments I have written for their instruction.”

13 Then Moses set out with Joshua(CK) his aide, and Moses went up on the mountain(CL) of God. 14 He said to the elders, “Wait here for us until we come back to you. Aaron and Hur(CM) are with you, and anyone involved in a dispute(CN) can go to them.”

15 When Moses went up on the mountain, the cloud(CO) covered it, 16 and the glory(CP) of the Lord settled on Mount Sinai.(CQ) For six days the cloud covered the mountain, and on the seventh day the Lord called to Moses from within the cloud.(CR) 17 To the Israelites the glory of the Lord looked like a consuming fire(CS) on top of the mountain. 18 Then Moses entered the cloud as he went on up the mountain. And he stayed on the mountain forty(CT) days and forty nights.(CU)

Offerings for the Tabernacle(CV)

25 The Lord said to Moses, 2 “Tell the Israelites to bring me an offering. You are to receive the offering for me from everyone whose heart prompts(CW) them to give. 3 These are the offerings you are to receive from them: gold, silver and bronze; 4 blue, purple and scarlet yarn(CX) and fine linen; goat hair; 5 ram skins dyed red and another type of durable leather[c];(CY) acacia wood;(CZ) 6 olive oil(DA) for the light; spices for the anointing oil and for the fragrant incense;(DB) 7 and onyx stones and other gems to be mounted on the ephod(DC) and breastpiece.(DD)

8 “Then have them make a sanctuary(DE) for me, and I will dwell(DF) among them. 9 Make this tabernacle and all its furnishings exactly like the pattern(DG) I will show you.

The Ark(DH)

10 “Have them make an ark[d](DI) of acacia wood—two and a half cubits long, a cubit and a half wide, and a cubit and a half high.[e] 11 Overlay(DJ) it with pure gold, both inside and out, and make a gold molding around it. 12 Cast four gold rings for it and fasten them to its four feet, with two rings(DK) on one side and two rings on the other. 13 Then make poles of acacia wood and overlay them with gold.(DL) 14 Insert the poles(DM) into the rings on the sides of the ark to carry it. 15 The poles are to remain in the rings of this ark; they are not to be removed.(DN) 16 Then put in the ark the tablets of the covenant law,(DO) which I will give you.

17 “Make an atonement cover(DP) of pure gold—two and a half cubits long and a cubit and a half wide. 18 And make two cherubim(DQ) out of hammered gold at the ends of the cover. 19 Make one cherub on one end and the second cherub on the other; make the cherubim of one piece with the cover, at the two ends. 20 The cherubim(DR) are to have their wings spread upward, overshadowing(DS) the cover with them. The cherubim are to face each other, looking toward the cover. 21 Place the cover on top of the ark(DT) and put in the ark the tablets of the covenant law(DU) that I will give you. 22 There, above the cover between the two cherubim(DV) that are over the ark of the covenant law, I will meet(DW) with you and give you all my commands for the Israelites.(DX)

The Table(DY)

23 “Make a table(DZ) of acacia wood—two cubits long, a cubit wide and a cubit and a half high.[f] 24 Overlay it with pure gold and make a gold molding around it. 25 Also make around it a rim a handbreadth[g] wide and put a gold molding on the rim. 26 Make four gold rings for the table and fasten them to the four corners, where the four legs are. 27 The rings are to be close to the rim to hold the poles used in carrying the table. 28 Make the poles of acacia wood, overlay them with gold(EA) and carry the table with them. 29 And make its plates and dishes of pure gold, as well as its pitchers and bowls for the pouring out of offerings.(EB) 30 Put the bread of the Presence(EC) on this table to be before me at all times.

The Lampstand(ED)

31 “Make a lampstand(EE) of pure gold. Hammer out its base and shaft, and make its flowerlike cups, buds and blossoms of one piece with them. 32 Six branches are to extend from the sides of the lampstand—three on one side and three on the other. 33 Three cups shaped like almond flowers with buds and blossoms are to be on one branch, three on the next branch, and the same for all six branches extending from the lampstand. 34 And on the lampstand there are to be four cups shaped like almond flowers with buds and blossoms. 35 One bud shall be under the first pair of branches extending from the lampstand, a second bud under the second pair, and a third bud under the third pair—six branches in all. 36 The buds and branches shall all be of one piece with the lampstand, hammered out of pure gold.(EF)

37 “Then make its seven lamps(EG) and set them up on it so that they light the space in front of it. 38 Its wick trimmers and trays(EH) are to be of pure gold. 39 A talent[h] of pure gold is to be used for the lampstand and all these accessories. 40 See that you make them according to the pattern(EI) shown you on the mountain.

Footnotes

  1. Exodus 23:31 Or the Sea of Reeds
  2. Exodus 23:31 Hebrew to the Sea of the Philistines
  3. Exodus 25:5 Possibly the hides of large aquatic mammals
  4. Exodus 25:10 That is, a chest
  5. Exodus 25:10 That is, about 3 3/4 feet long and 2 1/4 feet wide and high or about 1.1 meters long and 68 centimeters wide and high; similarly in verse 17
  6. Exodus 25:23 That is, about 3 feet long, 1 1/2 feet wide and 2 1/4 feet high or about 90 centimeters long, 45 centimeters wide and 68 centimeters high
  7. Exodus 25:25 That is, about 3 inches or about 7.5 centimeters
  8. Exodus 25:39 That is, about 75 pounds or about 34 kilograms
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