Exodus 34
Expanded Bible
Moses Gets New Stone Tablets
34 The Lord said to Moses, “·Cut [Hew out; Chisel] two more stone tablets like the ·first two [former], and I will write the same words on them that were on the ·first two [former] stones which you broke [32:15–16]. 2 Be ready tomorrow morning, and then come up on Mount Sinai. Stand before me there on the top of the mountain. 3 No one may come with you or even be seen any place on the mountain. Not even the flocks or herds may ·eat grass [graze] near that mountain.”
4 So Moses ·cut [hewed out] two stone tablets like the ·first ones [former]. Then early the next morning he went up Mount Sinai, just as the Lord had commanded him, carrying the two stone tablets with him. 5 Then the Lord came down in the cloud and stood there with Moses, and the Lord called out his name: the Lord [L Yahweh; 3:14].
6 The Lord passed in front of Moses and said, “I am the Lord. The Lord is a God who shows ·mercy [compassion], who is ·kind [gracious], ·who doesn’t become angry quickly [patient], who has great ·love [loyalty] and faithfulness 7 and ·is kind [L guards/preserves loyalty] to thousands of people. The Lord forgives people for ·evil [iniquity], for ·sin [transgression], and for ·turning against him [sin], but he does not ·forget to punish guilty people [L clear]. He will punish not only the guilty people, but also their children, their grandchildren, ·their great-grandchildren, and their great-great-grandchildren [L to the third and fourth generations; Num. 14:18; Neh. 9:17; Ps. 86:15; 103:8; 145:8; Nah. 1:3].”
8 Then Moses quickly bowed to the ground and worshiped. 9 He said, “Lord, if ·you are pleased with me [L I have found favor in your eyes], please, [L Lord] go with us. I know that these are ·stubborn [L stiff-necked] people, but forgive our ·evil [iniquity] and our sin. Take us as your ·own people [L inheritance; possession].”
10 Then he said, “I am making this ·agreement [covenant; treaty] with you. I will do ·miracles [wonders] in front of all your people—things that have never before been done for any other nation on earth—and the people with you will see my work. I, the Lord, will do ·wonderful [awesome] things for you. 11 ·Obey [Observe] the things I command you today, and I will ·force [drive] out the Amorites, Canaanites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites ahead of you. 12 ·Be careful [Watch/Guard yourself] that you don’t ·make an agreement [L cut a covenant/treaty] with the people who live in the land where you are going, because ·it will bring you trouble [L they will be a snare/trap in your midst]. 13 ·Destroy [Tear down] their altars, break their stone pillars, and cut down their Asherah ·idols [poles; C objects sacred to the Canaanite goddess of fertility]. 14 Don’t worship any other god, because I, the Lord, ·the Jealous One [L whose name is Jealous], am a jealous God [20:5].
15 “Be careful that you don’t ·make an agreement [L cut a covenant] with the people who live in that land. When they ·worship [L whore after and sacrifice to] their gods, they will invite you to join them. Then you will eat their sacrifices. 16 If you ·choose [take] some of their daughters as wives for your sons and those daughters ·worship [L whore after other] gods, they will lead your sons to ·do the same thing [L whore after their gods].
17 “Do not make gods of ·melted [cast] metal [20:4–6].
18 “Celebrate the Feast of Unleavened Bread [12:17–20]. For seven days you must eat ·bread made without yeast [unleavened bread] as I commanded you. Do this ·during the month I have chosen, [L at the appointed time in] the month of Abib [13:4], because in ·that month [L the month of Abib] you came out of Egypt.
19 “·The firstborn of every mother [L Everything that first opens the womb] belongs to me, including every firstborn male animal that is born in your flocks and herds. 20 You may ·buy back [redeem; ransom] a donkey ·by paying for it with [L with] a lamb, but if you don’t want to ·buy back a donkey [L redeem; ransom], you must break its neck. You must ·buy back [redeem; ransom] all your firstborn sons [13:11–13].
“No one is to come before me ·without a gift [L empty-handed].
21 “You must work for six days, but on the seventh day you must rest—even during the ·planting [plowing] season and the harvest season [20:8–11].
22 “Celebrate the Feast of Weeks when you gather the first grain of the wheat harvest [23:16]. And celebrate the Feast of ·Shelters [L Ingathering] ·in the fall [L at the turn of the year; 23:17].
23 “Three times each year all your males must ·come [L appear] before the Lord God, the God of Israel. 24 I will ·force out [dispossess] nations ahead of you and ·expand [enlarge] the borders of your land. You will go before the Lord your God three times each year, and at that time no one will ·try to take [L covet] your land from you.
25 “Do not offer the blood of a sacrifice to me with ·anything containing yeast [leaven], and do not leave any of the sacrifice of the Feast of Passover until the next morning [12:10].
26 “Bring the ·best first crops [firstfruits; 23:19] that you harvest from your ground to the ·Tent [L house] of the Lord your God.
“You must not cook a young goat in its mother’s milk [23:19].”
27 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Write down these words, because with these words I have ·made an agreement [L cut a covenant] with you and Israel.”
28 Moses stayed there with the Lord forty days and forty nights, and during that time he did not eat food or drink water. And Moses wrote the words of the ·Agreement [Covenant; Treaty]—the Ten ·Commandments [L Words]—on the stone tablets.
The Face of Moses Shines
29 Then Moses came down from Mount Sinai, carrying the two stone tablets of the ·Agreement [Covenant; Testimony; Treaty] in his hands. But he did not know that his face was shining because he had talked with the Lord [C reflecting God’s holiness and glory and demonstrating Moses’ authority]. 30 When Aaron and all the ·people [L sons; children] of Israel saw that Moses’ face was shining, they were afraid to go near him. 31 But Moses called to them, so Aaron and all the ·leaders of the people [L men of the community/congregation/assembly] returned to Moses, and he talked with them. 32 After that, all the ·people [L sons; children] of Israel came near him, and he gave them all the commands that the Lord had given him on Mount Sinai.
33 When Moses finished speaking to the people, he put a ·covering [veil] over his face. 34 Anytime Moses went before the Lord to speak with him, Moses took off the ·covering [veil] until he came out. Then Moses would come out and tell the Israelites what the Lord had commanded. 35 They would see that Moses’ face was shining. So he would ·cover [veil] his face again until the next time he went in to speak with the Lord [2 Cor. 3:12–18].
Exodus 34
New American Standard Bible
The Two Tablets Replaced
34 Now the Lord said to Moses, “Cut out for yourself (A)two stone tablets like the former ones, and (B)I will write on the tablets the words that were on the former tablets which you smashed. 2 So be ready by morning, and come up in the morning to (C)Mount Sinai, and [a]present yourself there to Me on the top of the mountain. 3 And (D)no one is to come up with you, nor let anyone be seen [b]anywhere on the mountain; even the flocks and the herds are not to graze in front of that mountain.” 4 So he cut out (E)two stone tablets like the former ones, and Moses got up early in the morning and went up to Mount Sinai, as the Lord had commanded him, and he took the two stone tablets in his hand. 5 And (F)the Lord descended in the cloud and stood there with him as he [c]called upon the name of the Lord. 6 Then the Lord passed by in front of him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord God, (G)compassionate and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in faithfulness and [d]truth; 7 who (H)keeps faithfulness for thousands, who forgives wrongdoing, violation of His Law, and sin; yet He (I)will by no means leave the guilty unpunished, (J)inflicting the [e]punishment of fathers on the children and on the grandchildren to the third and fourth generations.” 8 And Moses hurried [f](K)to bow low toward the ground and worship. 9 Then he said, “(L)If in any way I have found favor in Your sight, Lord, please may the Lord go along in our midst, even though [g](M)the people are so obstinate, and (N)pardon our wrongdoing and our sin, and (O)take us as Your own [h]possession.”
The Covenant Renewed
10 Then [i]God said, “Behold, (P)I am going to make a covenant. Before all your people (Q)I will perform miracles which have not been [j]produced in all the earth nor among any of the nations; and all the people [k]among whom you live will see the working of the Lord, for it is a fearful thing that I am going to perform with you.
11 “[l]Be sure to comply with what I am commanding you this day: behold, (R)I am going to drive out the Amorite from you, and the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite. 12 (S)Be careful that you do not make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land into which you are going, or it will become a snare in your midst. 13 (T)But rather, you are to tear down their altars and smash their memorial stones, and cut down their [m](U)Asherim 14 —for (V)you shall not worship any other god, because the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God— 15 otherwise you might make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, and they would prostitute themselves with their gods and (W)sacrifice to their gods, and someone (X)might invite you [n]to eat of his sacrifice, 16 and (Y)you might take some of his daughters for your sons, and his daughters might prostitute themselves with their gods and cause your sons also to prostitute themselves with their gods. 17 (Z)You shall not make for yourself any gods cast in metal.
18 “You shall keep (AA)the Feast of Unleavened Bread. For (AB)seven days you are to eat unleavened bread, [o]as I commanded you, at the appointed time in the (AC)month of Abib; for in the month of Abib you came out of Egypt.
19 “(AD)The [p]firstborn from every womb belongs to Me, and all your male livestock, the [q]firstborn from [r]cattle and sheep. 20 (AE)You shall redeem with a lamb the firstborn from a donkey; and if you do not redeem it, then you shall break its neck. You shall redeem (AF)all the firstborn of your sons. [s](AG)None are to appear before Me empty-handed.
21 “You shall work (AH)six days, but on the seventh day you shall rest; even during plowing time and harvest you shall rest. 22 And you shall celebrate (AI)the Feast of Weeks, that is, the first fruits of the wheat harvest, and the Feast of Ingathering at the turn of the year. 23 (AJ)Three times a year all your males are to appear before the Lord [t]God, the God of Israel. 24 For I will [u](AK)drive out nations from you and enlarge your borders, and no one will covet your land when you go up three times a year to appear before the Lord your God.
25 “(AL)You shall not [v]offer the blood of My sacrifice with leavened bread, (AM)nor is the sacrifice of the Feast of the Passover to [w]be left over until morning.
26 “You shall bring (AN)the very first of the first fruits of your soil into 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, “(AO)Write [x]down these words, for in accordance with these words I have made (AP)a covenant with you and with Israel.” 28 So he was there with the Lord for (AQ)forty days and forty nights; he did not eat bread or drink water. And [y](AR)He wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant, (AS)the Ten [z]Commandments.
Moses’ Face Shines
29 And it came about, when Moses was coming down from Mount Sinai (and the (AT)two tablets of the testimony were in Moses’ hand as he was coming down from the mountain), that Moses did not know that (AU)the skin of his face shone because of his speaking with Him. 30 So when Aaron and all the sons of Israel saw Moses, behold, the skin of his face shone, and (AV)they were afraid to approach him. 31 Then Moses called to them, and Aaron and all the rulers in the congregation returned to him; and Moses spoke to them. 32 Afterward all the sons of Israel came near, and he commanded them to do everything that the Lord had spoken [aa]to him on Mount Sinai. 33 When Moses had finished speaking with them, (AW)he put a veil over his face. 34 But whenever Moses went in before the Lord to speak with Him, (AX)he would take off the veil until he came out; and whenever he came out and spoke to the sons of Israel what he had been commanded, 35 (AY)the sons of Israel would see the face of Moses, that the skin of Moses’ face shone. So Moses would put the veil back over his face until he went in to speak with Him.
Footnotes
- Exodus 34:2 Or place yourself before Me
- Exodus 34:3 Lit on all
- Exodus 34:5 Or called out with the name of the Lord
- Exodus 34:6 Or trustworthiness
- Exodus 34:7 I.e., punishment for the wrongdoing
- Exodus 34:8 Lit and bowed...worshiped
- Exodus 34:9 Lit it is a people stiff-necked
- Exodus 34:9 Or inheritance
- Exodus 34:10 Lit He
- Exodus 34:10 Lit created
- Exodus 34:10 Lit in whose midst you are
- Exodus 34:11 Lit Observe for yourself
- Exodus 34:13 I.e., wooden symbols of a female deity (Asherah)
- Exodus 34:15 Lit and you eat
- Exodus 34:18 Or which
- Exodus 34:19 Lit every firstborn of a womb
- Exodus 34:19 Lit every firstborn of a womb
- Exodus 34:19 Or oxen
- Exodus 34:20 Lit They shall not
- Exodus 34:23 Heb YHWH, usually rendered Lord
- Exodus 34:24 Or dispossess
- Exodus 34:25 Lit slaughter
- Exodus 34:25 Lit remain overnight
- Exodus 34:27 Lit for yourself
- Exodus 34:28 I.e., the Lord
- Exodus 34:28 Lit Words
- Exodus 34:32 Lit with
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New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.
