Exodus 19:1-34:30

Amplified Bible, Classic Edition

19 In the third month after the Israelites left the land of Egypt, the same day, they came into the Wilderness of Sinai.

² When they had departed from Rephidim and had come to the Wilderness of Sinai, they encamped there before the mountain.

³ And Moses went up to God, and the Lord called to him out of the mountain, Say this to the house of Jacob and tell the Israelites:

⁴ You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to Myself.

⁵ Now therefore, if you will obey My voice in truth and keep My covenant, then you shall be My own peculiar possession and treasure from among and above all peoples; for all the earth is Mine.

⁶ And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests, a holy nation [consecrated, set apart to the worship of God]. These are the words you shall speak to the Israelites.

⁷ So Moses called for the elders of the people and told them all these words which the Lord commanded him.

⁸ And 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 come to you in a thick cloud, that the people may hear when I speak with you and believe you and remain steadfast forever. Then Moses told the words of the people to the Lord.

¹⁰ And the Lord said to Moses, Go and sanctify the people [set them apart for God] today and tomorrow, and let them wash their clothes

¹¹ And be ready by the third day, for the third day the Lord will come down upon Mount Sinai [in the cloud] in the sight of all the people.

¹² And you shall set bounds for the people round about, saying, Take heed that you go not up into the mountain or touch the border of it. Whoever touches the mountain shall surely be put to death.

¹³ No hand shall touch it [or the offender], but he shall surely be stoned or shot [with arrows]; whether beast or man, he shall not live. When the trumpet sounds a long blast, they shall come up to the mountain.^(A)

¹⁴ So Moses went down from the mountain to the people and sanctified them [set them apart for God], and they washed their clothes.

¹⁵ And he said to the people, Be ready by the day after tomorrow; do not go near a woman.

¹⁶ The third morning there were thunders and lightnings, and a thick cloud upon the mountain, and a very loud trumpet blast, so that all the people in the camp trembled.

¹⁷ Then Moses brought the people from the camp to meet God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain.

¹⁸ Mount Sinai was wrapped in smoke, for the Lord descended upon it in fire; its smoke ascended like that of a furnace, and the whole mountain quaked greatly.

¹⁹ As the trumpet blast grew louder and louder, Moses spoke and God answered him with a voice.^(B)

²⁰ The Lord came down upon Mount Sinai to the top of the mountain, and the Lord called Moses to the top of the mountain, and Moses went up.

²¹ The Lord said to Moses, Go down and warn the people, lest they break through to the Lord to gaze and many of them perish.

²² And also let the priests, who come near to the Lord, sanctify (set apart) themselves [for God], lest the Lord break forth against them.

²³ And Moses said to the Lord, The people cannot come up to Mount Sinai, for You Yourself charged us, saying, Set bounds about the mountain and sanctify it [set it apart for God].

²⁴ Then the Lord said to him, Go, get down and you shall come up, you and Aaron with you; but let not the priests and the people break through to come up to the Lord, lest He break forth against them.

²⁵ So Moses went down to the people and told them.

20 Then God spoke all these words:

² I am the Lord your God, Who has brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.

³ You shall have no other gods before or besides Me.

⁴ You shall not make yourself any graven image [to worship it] or any likeness of anything that is in the heavens above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth;

⁵ You shall not bow down yourself to them or serve them; for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generation of those who hate Me,^(C)

⁶ But showing mercy and steadfast love to a thousand generations of those who love Me and keep My commandments.

⁷ You shall not use or repeat the name of the Lord your God in vain [that is, lightly or frivolously, in false affirmations or profanely]; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain.

⁸ [Earnestly] remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy (withdrawn from common employment and dedicated to God).

⁹ Six days you shall labor and do all your work,

¹⁰ But the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God; in it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, your daughter, your manservant, your maidservant, your domestic animals, or the sojourner within your gates.

¹¹ For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. That is why the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it [set it apart for His purposes].

¹² Regard (treat with honor, due obedience, and courtesy) your father and mother, that your days may be long in the land the Lord your God gives you.

¹³ You shall not commit murder.

¹⁴ You shall not commit ^[a]adultery.^(D)

¹⁵ You shall not steal.^(E)

¹⁶ You shall not witness falsely against your neighbor.^(F)

¹⁷ You shall not covet your neighbor’s house, your neighbor’s wife, or his manservant, or his maidservant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor’s.^(G)

¹⁸ Now all the people perceived the thunderings and the lightnings and the noise of the trumpet and the smoking mountain, and as [they] looked they trembled with fear and fell back and stood afar off.

¹⁹ And they said to Moses, You speak to us and we will listen, but let not God speak to us, lest we die.

²⁰ And Moses said to the people, Fear not; for God has come to prove you, so that the [reverential] fear of Him may be before you, that you may not sin.

²¹ And the people stood afar off, but Moses drew near to the thick darkness where God was.

²² And the Lord said to Moses, Thus shall you say to the Israelites, You have seen for yourselves that I have talked with you from heaven.

²³ You shall not make [gods to share] with Me [My glory and your worship]; gods of silver or gods of gold you shall not make for yourselves.

²⁴ An altar of earth you shall make to Me and sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and your peace offerings, your sheep and your oxen. In every place where I record My name and cause it to be remembered I will come to you and bless you.

²⁵ And if you will make Me an altar of stone, you shall not build it of hewn stone, for if you lift up a tool upon it you have polluted it.

²⁶ Neither shall you go up by steps to My altar, that your nakedness be not exposed upon it.

21 Now these are the ordinances you [Moses] shall set before [the Israelites].

² If you buy a Hebrew servant [as the result of debt or theft], he shall serve six years, and in the seventh he shall go out free, paying nothing.^(H)

³ If he came [to you] by himself, he shall go out by himself; if he came married, then his wife shall go out with him.

⁴ If his master has given him a wife and she has borne him sons or daughters, the wife and her children shall be her master’s, and he shall go out [of your service] alone.

⁵ But if the servant shall plainly say, I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go free,

⁶ Then his master shall bring him to God [the judges as His agents]; he shall bring him to the door or doorpost and shall pierce his ear with an awl; and he shall serve him for life.

⁷ If a man sells his daughter to be a maidservant or bondwoman, she shall not go out [in six years] as menservants do.

⁸ If she does not please her master who has not espoused her to himself, he shall let her be redeemed. To sell her to a foreign people he shall have no power, for he has dealt faithlessly with her.

⁹ And if he espouses her to his son, he shall deal with her as with a daughter.

¹⁰ If he marries again, her food, clothing, and privilege as a wife shall he not diminish.

¹¹ And if he does not do these three things for her, then shall she go out free, without payment of money.

¹² Whoever strikes a man so that he dies shall surely be put to death.

¹³ But if he did not lie in wait for him, but God allowed him to fall into his hand, then I will appoint you a place to which he may flee [for protection until duly tried].^(I)

¹⁴ But if a man comes willfully upon another to slay him craftily, you shall take him from My altar [to which he may have fled for protection], that he may die.

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

¹⁶ Whoever kidnaps a man, whether he sells him or is found with him in his possession, shall surely be put to death.

¹⁷ Whoever curses his father or his mother shall surely be put to death.

¹⁸ If men quarrel and one strikes another with a stone or with his fist and he does not die but keeps his bed,

¹⁹ If he rises again and walks about leaning upon his staff, then he that struck him shall be clear, except he must pay for the loss of his time and shall cause him to be thoroughly healed.

²⁰ And if a man strikes his servant or his maid with a rod and he [or she] dies under his hand, he shall surely be punished.

²¹ But if the servant lives on for a day or two, the offender shall not be punished, for he [has injured] his own property.

²² If men contend with each other, and a pregnant woman [interfering] is hurt so that she has a miscarriage, yet no further damage follows, [the one who hurt her] shall surely be punished with a fine [paid] to the woman’s husband, as much as the judges determine.

²³ But if any damage follows, then you shall give life for life,

²⁴ Eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot,

²⁵ Burn for burn, wound for wound, and lash for lash.

²⁶ And if a man hits the eye of his servant or the eye of his maid so that it is destroyed, he shall let him go free for his eye’s sake.

²⁷ And if he knocks out his manservant’s tooth or his maidservant’s tooth, he shall let him go free for his tooth’s sake.

²⁸ If an ox gores a man or a woman to death, then the ox shall surely be stoned, and its flesh shall not be eaten; but the owner of the ox shall be clear.

²⁹ But if the ox has tried to gore before, and its owner has been warned but has not kept it closed in and it kills a man or a woman, the ox shall be stoned and its owner also put to death.

³⁰ If a ransom is put on [the man’s] life, then he shall give for the redemption of his life whatever is laid upon him.

³¹ If the [man’s ox] has gored another’s son or daughter, he shall be dealt with according to this same rule.

³² If the ox gores a manservant or a maidservant, the owner shall give to their master thirty shekels of silver, and the ox shall be stoned.

³³ If a man leaves a pit open or 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 it good; he shall give money to the animal’s owner, but the dead beast shall be his.

³⁵ If one man’s ox hurts another’s so that it dies, they shall sell the live ox and divide the price of it; the dead ox also they shall divide between them.

³⁶ Or if it is known that the ox has gored in the past, and its owner has not kept it closed in, he shall surely pay ox for ox, and the dead beast shall be his.

22 If a man steals an ox or sheep and kills or sells it, he shall pay five oxen for an ox, or four sheep for a sheep.

² If a thief is found breaking in and is struck so that he dies, there shall be no blood shed for him.

³ But if the sun has risen [so he can be seen], blood must be shed for slaying him. The thief [if he lives] must make full restitution; if he has nothing, then he shall be sold for his theft.

⁴ If the beast which he stole is found in his possession alive, whether it is ox or ass or sheep, he shall restore 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 of the best of his own field or his own vineyard.

⁶ If fire breaks out and catches so that the stacked grain or standing grain or the field be consumed, he who kindled the fire shall make full restitution.

⁷ If a man delivers to his neighbor money or goods to keep and it is stolen out of the neighbor’s house, then, if the thief is found, he shall pay double.

⁸ But if the thief is not found, the house owner shall appear before God [the judges as His agents] to find whether he stole his neighbor’s goods.

⁹ For every unlawful deed, whether it concerns ox, donkey, sheep, clothing, or any lost thing at all, which another identifies as his, the cause of both parties shall come before God [the judges]. Whomever [they] shall condemn shall pay his neighbor double.

¹⁰ If a man delivers to his neighbor a donkey or an ox or a sheep or any beast to keep and it dies or is hurt or driven away, no man seeing it,

¹¹ Then an oath before the Lord shall be required between the two that the man has not taken his neighbor’s property; and the owner of it shall accept his word and not require him to make good the loss.

¹² But if it is stolen when in his care, he shall make restitution to its owner.

¹³ If it be torn in pieces [by some wild beast or by accident], let him bring [the mangled carcass] for witness; he shall not make good what was torn.

¹⁴ And if a man borrows anything of his neighbor and it gets hurt or dies without its owner being with it, the borrower shall make full restitution.

¹⁵ But if the owner is with it [when the damage is done], the borrower shall not make it good. If it is a hired thing, the damage is included in its hire.

¹⁶ If a man seduces a virgin not betrothed and lies with her, he shall surely pay a dowry for her to become his wife.

¹⁷ If her father utterly refuses to give her to him, he shall pay money equivalent to the dowry of virgins.

¹⁸ You shall not allow a woman to live who practices sorcery.

¹⁹ Whoever lies carnally with a beast shall surely be put to death.

²⁰ He who sacrifices to any god but the Lord only shall be utterly destroyed.

²¹ You shall not wrong a stranger or oppress him; for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.

²² You shall not afflict any widow or fatherless child.

²³ If you afflict them in any way and they cry at all to Me, I will surely hear their cry;

²⁴ And My wrath shall burn; I will kill you with the sword, and your wives shall be widows and your children fatherless.

²⁵ If you lend money to any of My people with you who is poor, you shall not be to him as a creditor, neither shall you require interest from him.

²⁶ If you ever take your neighbor’s garment in pledge, you shall give it back to him before the sun goes down;

²⁷ For that is his only covering, his clothing for his body. In what shall he sleep? When he cries to Me, I will hear, for I am gracious and merciful.

²⁸ You shall not revile God [the judges as His agents] or esteem lightly or curse a ruler of your people.

²⁹ You shall not delay to bring to Me from the fullness [of your harvested grain] and the outflow [of your grape juice and olive oil]; give Me the firstborn of your sons [or redeem them].^(J)

³⁰ Likewise shall you do with your oxen and your sheep. Seven days the firstborn [beast] shall be with its mother; on the eighth day you shall give it to Me.

³¹ And you shall be holy men [consecrated] to Me; therefore you shall not eat any flesh that is torn by beasts in the field; you shall throw it to the dogs.

23 You shall not repeat or raise a false report; you shall not join with the wicked to be an unrighteous witness.

² You shall not follow a crowd to do evil; nor shall you bear witness at a trial so as to side with a multitude to pervert justice.

³ Neither shall you be partial to a poor man in his trial [just because he is poor].

⁴ If you meet your enemy’s ox or his donkey going astray, you shall surely bring it back to him again.

⁵ If you see the donkey of one who hates you lying [helpless] under his load, you shall refrain from leaving the man to cope with it alone; you shall help him to release the animal.

⁶ You shall not pervert the justice due to your poor in his cause.

⁷ Keep far from a false matter and [be very careful] not to condemn to death the innocent and the righteous, for I will not justify and acquit the wicked.

⁸ You shall take no bribe, for the bribe blinds those who have sight and perverts the testimony and the cause of the righteous.

⁹ Also you shall not oppress a temporary resident, for you know the heart of a stranger and sojourner, seeing you were strangers and sojourners in Egypt.

¹⁰ Six years you shall sow your land and reap its yield.

¹¹ But the seventh year you shall release it and let it rest and lie fallow, that the poor of your people may eat [what the land voluntarily yields], and what they leave the wild beasts shall eat. In like manner you shall deal with your vineyard and olive grove.

¹² Six days you shall do your work, but the seventh day you shall rest and keep Sabbath, that your ox and your donkey may rest, and the son of your bondwoman, and the alien, may be refreshed.

¹³ In all I have said to you take heed; do not mention the name of other gods [either in blessing or cursing]; do not let such speech be heard from your mouth.

¹⁴ Three times in the year you shall keep a feast to Me.

¹⁵ You shall keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread; seven days you shall eat unleavened bread as I commanded you, at the time appointed in the month of Abib, for in it you came out of Egypt. None shall appear before Me empty-handed.

¹⁶ Also you shall keep the Feast of Harvest [Pentecost], [acknowledging] the firstfruits of your toil, of what you sow in the field. And [third] you shall keep the Feast of Ingathering [Booths or Tabernacles] at the end of the year, when you gather in the fruit of your labors from the field.

¹⁷ Three times in the year all your males shall appear before the Lord God.

¹⁸ You shall not offer the blood of My sacrifice with leavened bread [but keep it unmixed], neither shall the fat of My feast remain all night until morning.

¹⁹ The first of the firstfruits of your ground you shall bring into the house of the Lord your God. You shall not boil a kid in its mother’s milk.

²⁰ Behold, I send an ^[b]Angel before you to keep and guard you on the way and to bring you to the place I have prepared.

²¹ Give heed to Him, listen to and obey His voice; be not rebellious before Him or provoke Him, for He will not pardon your transgression; for My ^[c]Name is in Him.^(K)

²² But if you will indeed listen to and obey His voice and all that I speak, then I will be an enemy to your enemies and an adversary to your adversaries.

²³ When My Angel goes before you and brings you to the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Canaanites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, and I reject them and blot them out,

²⁴ You shall not bow down to their gods or serve them or do after their works; but you shall utterly overthrow them and break down their pillars and images.

²⁵ You shall serve the Lord your God; He shall bless your bread and water, and I will take sickness from your midst.

²⁶ None shall lose her young by miscarriage or be barren in your land; I will fulfill the number of your days.

²⁷ I will send My terror before you and will throw into confusion all the people to whom you shall come, and I will make all your foes turn from you [in flight].

²⁸ And I will send hornets before you which shall drive out the Hivite, Canaanite, and Hittite from before you.

²⁹ I will not drive them out from before you in one year, lest the land become desolate [for lack of attention] and the wild beasts multiply against you.

³⁰ Little by little I will drive them out from before you, until you have increased and are numerous enough to take possession of the land.

³¹ I will set your borders from the Red Sea to the Sea of the Philistines, and from the wilderness to the river [Euphrates]; for I will deliver the inhabitants of the land into your hand and you shall drive them out before you.

³² You shall make no covenant with them or with their gods.

³³ They shall not dwell in your land, lest they make you sin against Me; for if you serve their gods, it will surely be a snare to you.

24 God said to Moses, Come up to the Lord, you and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu [Aaron’s sons], and seventy of Israel’s elders, and worship at a distance.

² Moses alone shall come near the Lord; the others shall not come near, and neither shall the people come up with him.

³ Moses came and told the people all that the Lord had said and all the ordinances; and all the people answered with one voice, All that the Lord has spoken we will do.

⁴ Moses ^[d]wrote all the words of the Lord. He rose up early in the morning and built an altar at the foot of the mountain and set up twelve pillars representing Israel’s twelve tribes.

⁵ And he sent young Israelite men, who offered burnt offerings and sacrificed peace offerings of oxen to the Lord.

⁶ And Moses took half of the blood and put it in basins, and half of the blood he dashed against the altar.

⁷ Then he 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 we will be obedient.

⁸ And Moses took the [remaining half of the] blood and sprinkled it on the people, and said, Behold the blood of the covenant which the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words.^(L)

⁹ Then Moses, Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel went up [the mountainside].

¹⁰ And they saw the God of Israel [that is, a convincing manifestation of His presence], and under His feet it was like pavement of bright sapphire stone, like the very heavens in clearness.^(M)

¹¹ And upon the nobles of the Israelites He laid not His hand [to conceal Himself from them, to rebuke their daring, or to harm them]; but they saw [the manifestation of the presence of] God, and ate and drank.^(N)

¹² And the Lord said to Moses, Come up to Me into the mountain and be there, and I will give you tables of stone, with the law and the commandments which ^[e]I have written that you may teach them.^(O)

¹³ So Moses rose up with Joshua his attendant; and Moses went up into the mountain of God.

¹⁴ And he said to the elders, Tarry here for us until we come back to you; remember, Aaron and Hur are with you; whoever has a cause, let him go to them.

¹⁵ Then Moses went up into the mountain, and the cloud covered the mountain.

¹⁶ The glory of the Lord rested on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it for six days. On the seventh day [God] called to Moses out of the midst of the cloud.

¹⁷ And the glory of the Lord appeared to the Israelites like devouring fire on the top of the mountain.

¹⁸ Moses entered into the midst of the cloud and went up the mountain, and Moses was on the mountain forty days and nights.

25 And the Lord said to Moses,

² Speak to the Israelites, that they take for Me an offering. From every man who gives it willingly and ungrudgingly with his heart you shall take My offering.

³ This is the offering you shall receive from them: gold, silver, and bronze,

⁴ Blue, purple, and scarlet [stuff] and fine twined linen and goats’ hair,

⁵ Rams’ skins tanned red, goatskins, dolphin or porpoise skins, acacia wood,

⁶ Oil for the light, spices for anointing oil and for sweet incense,

⁷ Onyx stones, and stones for setting in the ephod and in the breastplate.

⁸ Let them make Me a sanctuary, that I may dwell among them.^(P)

⁹ And you shall make it according to all that I show you, the pattern of the tabernacle or dwelling and the pattern of all the furniture of it.

¹⁰ They shall make an ark of acacia wood: two and a half cubits long, a cubit and a half wide, and a cubit and a half high.

¹¹ You shall overlay the ark with pure gold, inside and out, and make a gold crown, a rim or border, around its top.

¹² You shall cast four gold rings and attach them to the four lower corners of it, two rings on either side.

¹³ You shall make poles of acacia wood and overlay them with gold,

¹⁴ And put the poles through the rings on the ark’s sides, by which to carry it.

¹⁵ The poles shall remain in the rings of the ark; they shall not be removed from it [that the ark be not touched].

¹⁶ And you shall put inside the ark the Testimony [the Ten Commandments] which I will give you.

¹⁷ And you shall make a mercy seat (a covering) of pure gold, two cubits and a half long and a cubit and a half wide.

¹⁸ And you shall make two cherubim (winged angelic figures) of [solid] hammered gold on the two ends of the mercy seat.

¹⁹ Make one cherub on each end, making the cherubim of one piece with the mercy seat, on the two ends of it.

²⁰ And the cherubim shall spread out their wings above, covering the mercy seat with their wings, facing each other and looking down toward the mercy seat.

²¹ You shall put the mercy seat on the top of the ark, and in the ark you shall put the Testimony [the Ten Commandments] that I will give you.

²² There I will meet with you and, from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim that are upon the ark of the Testimony, I will speak intimately with you of all which I will give you in commandment to the Israelites.

²³ Also, make a table of acacia wood, two cubits long, one cubit wide, and a cubit and a half high [for the showbread].

²⁴ You shall overlay it with pure gold and make a crown, a rim or molding, of gold around the top of it;

²⁵ And make a frame of a handbreadth around and below the top of it and put around it a gold molding as a border.

²⁶ You shall make for it four rings of gold and fasten them at the four corners that are on the table’s four legs.

²⁷ Close against the frame shall the rings be as places for the poles to pass to carry the table [of showbread].

²⁸ You shall make the poles of acacia wood and overlay them with gold, that the table may be carried with them.

²⁹ And you shall make its plates [for showbread] and cups [for incense], and its flagons and bowls [for liquids in sacrifice]; make them of pure gold.

³⁰ And you shall set the showbread (the bread of the Presence) on the table before Me always.^(Q)

³¹ You shall make a lampstand of pure gold. Of beaten and turned work shall the lampstand be made, both its base and its shaft; its cups, its knobs, and its flowers shall be of one piece with it.

³² Six branches shall come out of the sides of it; three branches of the lampstand out of the one side and three branches out of its other side;

³³ Three cups made like almond blossoms, each with a knob and a flower on one branch, and three cups made like almond blossoms on the other branch with a knob and a flower; so for the six branches coming out of the lampstand;

³⁴ And on the [center shaft] itself you shall [make] four cups like almond blossoms with their knobs and their flowers.

³⁵ Also make a knob [on the shaft] under each pair of the six branches going out from the lampstand and one piece with it;

³⁶ Their knobs and their branches shall be of one piece with it; the whole of it one beaten work of pure gold.

³⁷ And you shall make the lamps of the [lampstand] to include a ^[f]seventh one [at the top of the shaft]. [The priests] shall set up the [seven] lamps of it so they may give light in front of it.

³⁸ Its snuffers and its ashtrays shall be of pure gold.

³⁹ Use a talent of pure gold for it, including all these utensils.

⁴⁰ And see to it that you copy [exactly] their pattern which was shown you on the mountain.^(R)

26 Moreover, you shall make the tabernacle with ten curtains; of fine twined linen, and blue and purple and scarlet [stuff], with cherubim skillfully embroidered shall you make them.

² The length of one curtain shall be twenty-eight cubits and the breadth of one curtain four cubits; each of the curtains shall measure the same.

³ The five curtains shall be coupled to one another, and the other five curtains shall be coupled to one another.

⁴ And you shall make loops of blue on the edge of the last curtain in the first set, and likewise in the second set.

⁵ Fifty loops you shall make on the one curtain and fifty loops on the edge of the last curtain that is in the second coupling or set, so that the loops on one correspond to the loops on the other.

⁶ And you shall make fifty clasps of gold and fasten the curtains together with the clasps; then the tabernacle shall be one whole.

⁷ And make curtains of goats’ hair to be a [second] covering over the tabernacle; eleven curtains shall you make.

⁸ One curtain shall be thirty cubits long and four cubits wide; and the eleven curtains shall all measure the same.

⁹ You shall join together five curtains by themselves and six curtains by themselves, and shall double over the sixth curtain in the front of the tabernacle [to make a closed door].

¹⁰ And make fifty loops on the edge of the outmost curtain in the one set and fifty loops on the edge of the outmost curtain in the second set.

¹¹ You shall make fifty clasps of bronze and put the clasps into the loops and couple the tent together, that it may be one whole.

¹² The surplus that remains of the tent curtains, the half curtain that remains, shall hang over the back of the tabernacle.

¹³ And the cubit on the one side and the cubit on the other side of what remains in the length of the curtains of the tent shall hang over the sides of the tabernacle, on this side and that side, to cover it.

¹⁴ You shall make a [third] covering for the tent of rams’ skins tanned red, and a [fourth] covering above that of dolphin or porpoise skins.

¹⁵ And you shall make the upright frame for the tabernacle of boards of acacia wood.

¹⁶ Ten cubits shall be the length of a board and a cubit and a half shall be the breadth of one board.

¹⁷ Make two tenons in each board for dovetailing and fitting together; so shall you do for all the tabernacle boards.

¹⁸ And make the boards for the tabernacle: twenty boards for the south side;

¹⁹ And you shall make forty silver sockets under the twenty boards, two sockets under each board for its two tenons.

²⁰ And for the north side of the tabernacle there shall be twenty boards

²¹ And their forty silver sockets, two sockets under each board.

²² For the back or west side of the tabernacle you shall make six boards.

²³ Make two boards for the corners of the tabernacle in the rear on both sides.

²⁴ They shall be coupled down below and coupled together on top with one ring. Thus shall it be for both of them; they shall form the two corners.

²⁵ And that will be eight boards and their sockets of silver, sixteen sockets, two sockets under each board.

²⁶ And you shall make bars of acacia wood: five for the boards of one side,

²⁷ And five bars for the boards of the other side of the tabernacle, and five bars for the boards of the rear end of the tabernacle, for the back wall to the west.

²⁸ And the middle bar halfway up the boards shall pass through from end to end.

²⁹ You shall overlay the boards with gold and make their rings of gold to hold the bars and overlay the bars with gold.

³⁰ You shall erect the tabernacle after the plan of it shown you on the mountain.

³¹ And make a veil of blue, purple, and scarlet [stuff] and fine twined linen, skillfully worked with cherubim on it.

³² You shall hang it on four pillars of acacia wood overlaid with gold, with gold hooks, on four sockets of silver.

³³ And you shall hang the veil from the clasps and bring the ark of the Testimony into place within the veil; and the veil shall separate for you the Holy Place from the Most Holy Place.

³⁴ And you shall put the mercy seat on the ark of the Testimony in the Most Holy Place.

³⁵ And you shall set the table [for the showbread] outside the veil [in the Holy Place] on the north side and the lampstand opposite the table on the south side of the tabernacle.

³⁶ You shall make a hanging [to form a screen] for the door of the tent of blue, purple, and scarlet [stuff] and fine twined linen, embroidered.^(S)

³⁷ You shall make five pillars of acacia wood to support the hanging curtain and overlay them with gold; their hooks shall be of gold, and you shall cast five [base] sockets of bronze for them.

27 And make the altar of acacia wood, five cubits square and three cubits high [within reach of all].

² Make horns for it on its four corners; they shall be of one piece with it, and you shall overlay it with bronze.

³ You shall make pots to take away its ashes, and shovels, basins, forks, and firepans; make all its utensils of bronze.

⁴ Also make for it a grate, a network of bronze; and on the net you shall make four bronze rings at its four corners.

⁵ And you shall put it under the ledge of the altar, so that the net will extend halfway down the altar.

⁶ And make poles for the altar, poles of acacia wood overlaid with bronze.

⁷ The poles shall be put through the rings on the two sides of the altar, with which to carry it.^(T)

⁸ You shall make [the altar] hollow with slabs or planks; as shown you on the mountain, so shall it be made.

⁹ And you shall make the court of the tabernacle. On the south side the court shall have hangings of fine twined linen, a hundred cubits long for one side;

¹⁰ Their pillars shall be twenty and their sockets twenty, of bronze, but the hooks of the pillars and their joinings shall be of silver;

¹¹ Likewise for the north side hangings, a hundred cubits long, and their twenty pillars and their twenty sockets of bronze, but the hooks of the pillars and their joinings shall be of silver.

¹² And for the breadth of the court on the west side there shall be hangings of fifty cubits, with ten pillars and ten sockets.

¹³ The breadth of the court to the front, the east side, shall be fifty cubits.

¹⁴ The hangings for one side of the gate shall be fifteen cubits, with three pillars and three sockets.

¹⁵ On the other side the hangings shall be fifteen cubits, with three pillars and three sockets.

¹⁶ And for the gate of the court there shall be a hanging [for a screen] twenty cubits long, of blue, purple, and scarlet [stuff] and fine twined linen, embroidered. It shall have four pillars and four sockets for them.

¹⁷ All the pillars round about the court shall be joined together with silver rods; their hooks shall be of silver and their sockets of bronze.

¹⁸ The length of the court shall be a hundred cubits and the breadth fifty and the height five cubits, [with hangings of] fine twined linen and sockets of bronze.

¹⁹ All the tabernacle’s utensils and instruments used in all its service, and all its pegs and all the pegs for the court, shall be of bronze.

²⁰ You shall command the Israelites to provide you with pure oil of crushed olives for the light, to cause it to burn continually [every night].

²¹ In the Tent of Meeting [of God with His people], outside the veil which sets apart the Testimony, Aaron and his sons shall keep it burning from evening to morning before the Lord. It shall be a statute to be observed on behalf of the Israelites throughout their generations.

28 From among the Israelites take your brother Aaron and his sons with him, that he may minister to Me in the priest’s office, even Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar, Aaron’s sons.

² And you shall make for Aaron your brother sacred garments [appointed official dress set apart for special holy services] for honor and for beauty.

³ Tell all who are expert, whom I have endowed with skill and good judgment, that they shall make Aaron’s garments to sanctify him for My priesthood.

⁴ They shall make these garments: a breastplate, an ephod [a distinctive vestment to which the breastplate was to be attached], a robe, long and sleeved tunic of checkerwork, a turban, and a sash or band. They shall make sacred garments for Aaron your brother and his sons to minister to Me in the priest’s office.

⁵ They shall receive [from the people] and use gold, and blue, purple, and scarlet [stuff], and fine linen.

⁶ And they shall make the ephod of gold, of blue, purple, and scarlet [stuff], and fine twined linen, skillfully woven and worked.

⁷ It shall have two shoulder straps to join the two [back and front] edges, that it may be held together.

⁸ The skillfully woven girding band which is on the ephod shall be made of the same, of gold, blue, purple, and scarlet [stuff], and fine twined linen.

⁹ And you shall take two onyx or beryl stones and engrave on them the names of the twelve sons of Israel;

¹⁰ Six of their names on one stone and the six names of the rest on the other stone, arranged in order of their birth.

¹¹ With the work of a stone engraver, like the engravings of a signet, you shall engrave the two stones according to the names of the sons of Israel. You shall have them set in sockets or rosettes of gold.

¹² And you shall put the two stones upon the [two] shoulder straps of the ephod [of the high priest] as memorial stones for Israel; and Aaron shall bear their names upon his two shoulders as a memorial before the Lord.

¹³ And you shall make sockets or rosettes of gold for settings,

¹⁴ And two chains of pure gold, like cords shall you twist them, and fasten the corded chains to the settings.

¹⁵ You shall make a breastplate of judgment, in skilled work; like the workmanship of the ephod shall you make it, of gold, blue, purple, and scarlet [stuff], and of fine twined linen.

¹⁶ The breastplate shall be square and doubled; a span [nine inches] shall be its length and a span shall be its breadth.

¹⁷ You shall set in it four rows of stones: a sardius, a topaz, and a carbuncle shall be the first row;

¹⁸ The second row an emerald, a sapphire, and a diamond [so called at that time];

¹⁹ The third row a jacinth, an agate, and an amethyst;

²⁰ And the fourth row a beryl, an onyx, and a jasper; they shall be set in gold filigree.

²¹ And the stones shall be twelve, according to the names of the sons of Israel, like the engravings of a signet, each with its name for the twelve tribes.

²² You shall make for the breastplate chains of pure gold twisted like cords.

²³ You shall make on the breastplate two rings of gold and put [them] on the two edges of the breastplate.

²⁴ And you shall put the two twisted, cordlike chains of gold in the two rings which are on the edges of the breastplate.

²⁵ The other two ends of the two twisted, cordlike chains you shall fasten in the two sockets or rosettes in front, putting them on the shoulder straps of the ephod;

²⁶ And make two rings of gold and put them at the two ends of the breastplate on its inside edge next to the ephod.

²⁷ Two gold rings you shall make and attach them to the lower part of the two shoulder pieces of the ephod in front, close by where they join, above the skillfully woven girdle or band of the ephod.

²⁸ And they shall bind the breastplate by its rings to the rings of the ephod with a lace of blue, that it may be above the skillfully woven girding band of the ephod, and that the breastplate may not become loose from the ephod.

²⁹ So Aaron shall bear the names of the sons of Israel in the breastplate of judgment upon his heart when he goes into the Holy Place, to bring them in continual remembrance before the Lord.

³⁰ In the breastplate of judgment you shall put the Urim and the Thummim [unspecified articles used when the high priest asked God’s counsel for all Israel]; they shall be upon Aaron’s heart when he goes in before the Lord, and Aaron shall bear the judgment (rights, judicial decisions) of the Israelites upon his heart before the Lord continually.

³¹ Make the robe [to be worn beneath] the ephod all of blue.

³² There shall be a hole in the center of it [to slip over the head], with a binding of woven work around the hole, like the opening in a coat of mail or a garment, that it may not fray or tear.

³³ And you shall make pomegranates of blue, purple, and scarlet [stuff] around about its skirts, with gold bells between them;

³⁴ A gold bell and a pomegranate, a gold bell and a pomegranate, round about on the skirts of the robe.

³⁵ Aaron shall wear the robe when he ministers, and its sound shall be heard when he goes [alone] into the Holy of Holies before the Lord and when he comes out, lest he die there.

³⁶ And you shall make a plate of pure gold and engrave on it, like the engravings of a signet, holy to the lord.^(U)

³⁷ You shall fasten it on the front of the turban with a blue cord.

³⁸ It shall be upon Aaron’s forehead, that Aaron may take upon himself and bear [any] iniquity [connected with] the holy things which the Israelites shall give and dedicate; and it shall always be upon his forehead, that they may be accepted before the Lord [in the priest’s person].^(V)

³⁹ And you shall weave the long and sleeved tunic of checkerwork of fine linen or silk and make a turban of fine linen or silk; and you shall make a girdle, the work of the embroiderer.

⁴⁰ For Aaron’s sons you shall make long and sleeved tunics and belts or sashes and caps, for glory and honor and beauty.

⁴¹ And you shall put them on Aaron your brother and his sons with him, and shall anoint them and ordain and sanctify them [set them apart for God], that they may serve Me as priests.

⁴² You shall make for them [white] linen trunks to cover their naked flesh, reaching from the waist to the thighs.

⁴³ And they shall be on Aaron and his sons when they go into the Tent of Meeting or when they come near to the altar to minister in the Holy Place, lest they bring iniquity upon themselves and die; it shall be a statute forever to Aaron and to his descendants after him.

29 This is what you shall do to consecrate (set them apart) that they may serve Me as priests. Take one young bull and two rams, all without blemish,

² And unleavened bread and unleavened cakes mixed with oil and unleavened wafers spread with oil; of fine flour shall you make them.

³ You shall put them in one basket and bring them in [it], and bring also the bull and the two rams;

⁴ And bring Aaron and his sons to the door of the Tent of Meeting [out where the laver is] and wash them with water.

⁵ Then take the garments and put on Aaron the long and sleeved tunic and the robe of the ephod and the ephod and the breastplate, and gird him with the skillfully woven girding band of the ephod.

⁶ And you shall put the turban or miter upon his head and put the holy crown upon the turban.

⁷ Then take the anointing oil and pour it on his head and anoint him.

⁸ And bring his sons and put long and sleeved tunics on them.

⁹ And you shall gird them with sashes or belts, Aaron and his sons, and bind caps on them; and the priest’s office shall be theirs by a perpetual statute. Thus you shall ordain and consecrate Aaron and his sons.

¹⁰ Then bring the bull before the Tent of Meeting, and Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands upon its head.

¹¹ And you shall kill the bull before the Lord by the door of the Tent of Meeting.

¹² And you shall take of the blood of the bull and put it on the horns of the altar with your finger, and pour out all the blood at the base of the altar.

¹³ And take all the fat that covers the entrails, and the appendage that is on the liver, and the two kidneys, and the fat that is on them, and burn them on the altar.

¹⁴ But the flesh of the bull, its hide, and the contents of its entrails you shall burn with fire outside the camp; it is a sin offering.^(W)

¹⁵ You shall also take one of the rams, and Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands upon the head of the ram.

¹⁶ And you shall kill the ram and you shall take its blood and throw it against the altar round about.

¹⁷ And you shall cut the ram in pieces and wash its entrails and legs and put them with its pieces and its head,

¹⁸ And you shall burn the whole ram upon the altar. It is a burnt offering to the Lord; it is a sweet and satisfying fragrance, an offering made by fire to the Lord.

¹⁹ And you shall take the other ram, and Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands upon the head of the ram;

²⁰ Then you shall kill the ram and take part of its blood and put it on the tip of the right ears of Aaron and his sons and on the thumb of their right hands and on the great toe of their right feet, and dash the rest of the blood against the altar round about.

²¹ Then you shall take part of the blood that is on the altar, and of the anointing oil, and sprinkle it upon Aaron and his garments and on his sons and their garments; and he and his garments and his sons and their garments shall be sanctified and made holy.

²² Also you shall take the fat of the ram, the fat tail, the fat that covers the entrails, the appendage on the liver, the two kidneys with the fat that is on them, and the right thigh; for it is a ram of consecration and ordination.

²³ Take also one loaf of bread, and one cake of oiled bread, and one wafer out of the basket of the unleavened bread that is before the Lord.

²⁴ And put all these in the hands of Aaron and his sons and they shall wave them for a wave offering before the Lord.

²⁵ Then you shall take them from their hands, add them to the burnt offering, and burn them on the altar for a sweet and satisfying fragrance before the Lord; it is an offering made by fire to the Lord.

²⁶ And take the breast of the ram of Aaron’s consecration and ordination and wave it for a wave offering before the Lord; and it shall be your portion [Moses].

²⁷ And you shall sanctify (set apart for God) the waved breast of the ram used in the ordination and the waved thigh of the priests’ portion, since it is for Aaron and his sons.

²⁸ It shall be for Aaron and his sons as their due portion from the Israelites perpetually, an offering from the Israelites of their peace and thanksgiving sacrifices, their offering to the Lord.

²⁹ The holy garments of Aaron shall pass to his descendants who succeed him, to be anointed in them and to be consecrated and ordained in them.

³⁰ And that son who is [high] priest in his stead shall put them on [each day for] seven days when he comes into the Tent of Meeting to minister in the Holy Place.

³¹ You shall take the ram of the consecration and ordination and boil its flesh in a holy and set-apart place.

³² Aaron and his sons shall eat the flesh of the ram and the bread in the basket, at the door of the Tent of Meeting.

³³ They shall eat those things with which atonement was made, to ordain and consecrate them; but a stranger (layman) shall not eat of them because they are holy (set apart to the worship of God).

³⁴ And if any of the flesh or bread for the ordination remains until morning, you shall burn it with fire; it shall not be eaten, because it is holy (set apart to the worship of God).

³⁵ Thus shall you do to Aaron and to his sons according to all I have commanded you; during seven days shall you ordain them.

³⁶ You shall offer every day a bull as a sin offering for atonement. And you shall cleanse the altar by making atonement for it, and anoint it to consecrate it.

³⁷ Seven days you shall make atonement for the altar and sanctify it [set it apart for God]; and the altar shall be most holy; whoever or whatever touches the altar must be holy (set apart for God’s service).

³⁸ Now this is what you shall offer on the altar: two lambs a year old shall be offered day by day continually.

³⁹ One lamb you shall offer in the morning and the other lamb in the evening;

⁴⁰ And with the one lamb a tenth measure of fine flour mixed with a fourth of a hin of beaten oil, and a fourth of a hin of wine for a drink offering [to be poured out].

⁴¹ And the other lamb you shall offer at evening, and do with it as with the cereal offering of the morning and with the drink offering, for a sweet and satisfying fragrance, an offering made by fire to the Lord.

⁴² This shall be a continual burnt offering throughout your generations at the door of the Tent of Meeting before the Lord, where I will meet with you to speak there to you.

⁴³ There I will meet with the Israelites, and the Tent of Meeting shall be sanctified by My glory [the Shekinah, God’s visible presence].

⁴⁴ And I will sanctify the Tent of Meeting and the altar; I will sanctify also both Aaron and his sons to minister to Me in the priest’s office.

⁴⁵ And I will dwell among the Israelites and be their God.

⁴⁶ And they shall know [from personal experience] that I am the Lord their God, Who brought them forth out of the land of Egypt that I might dwell among them; I am the Lord their God.

30 And you shall make an altar to burn incense upon; of acacia wood you shall make it.

² A cubit shall be its length and a cubit its breadth; its top shall be square and it shall be two cubits high. Its horns shall be of one piece with it.

³ And you shall overlay it with pure gold, its top and its sides round about and its horns, and you shall make a crown (a rim or molding) of gold around it.

⁴ You shall make two golden rings under the rim of it, on the two ribs on the two opposite sides of it; and they shall be holders for the poles with which to carry it.

⁵ And you shall make the poles of acacia wood, overlaid with gold.

⁶ You shall put the altar [of incense] in front and outside of the veil that screens the ark of the Testimony, before the mercy seat that is over the Testimony (the Law, the tables of stone), where I will meet with you.

⁷ And Aaron shall burn on it incense of sweet spices; every morning when he trims and fills the lamps he shall burn it.^(X)

⁸ And when Aaron lights the lamps in the evening, he shall burn it, a perpetual incense before the Lord throughout your generations.

⁹ You shall offer no unholy incense on the altar nor burnt sacrifice nor cereal offering; and you shall pour no libation (drink offering) on it.

¹⁰ Aaron shall make atonement upon the horns of it once a year; with the blood of the sin offering of atonement once in the year shall he make atonement upon and for it throughout your generations. It is most holy to the Lord.

¹¹ And the Lord said to Moses,

¹² When you take the census of the Israelites, every man shall give a ransom for himself to the Lord when you number them, that no plague may fall upon them when you number them.^(Y)

¹³ This is what everyone shall give as he joins those already numbered: a half shekel, in terms of the sanctuary shekel, a shekel being twenty gerahs; a half shekel as an offering to the Lord.

¹⁴ Everyone from twenty years old and upward, as he joins those already numbered, shall give this offering to the Lord.^(Z)

¹⁵ The rich shall not give more and the poor shall not give less than half a shekel when [you] give this offering to the Lord to make atonement for yourselves.

¹⁶ And you shall take the atonement money of the Israelites and use it [exclusively] for the service of the Tent of Meeting, that it may bring the Israelites to remembrance before the Lord, to make atonement for yourselves.

¹⁷ And the Lord said to Moses,

¹⁸ You shall also make a laver or large basin of bronze, and its base of bronze, for washing; and you shall put it [outside in the court] between the Tent of Meeting and the altar [of burnt offering], and you shall put water in it;

¹⁹ There Aaron and his sons shall wash their hands and their feet.^(AA)

²⁰ When they go into the Tent of Meeting, they shall wash with water, that they die not; or when they come near to the altar to minister, to burn an offering made by fire to the Lord,^(AB)

²¹ So they shall wash their hands and their feet, lest they die; it shall be a perpetual statute for [Aaron] and his descendants throughout their generations.

²² Moreover, the Lord said to Moses,

²³ Take the best spices: of liquid myrrh 500 shekels, of sweet-scented cinnamon half as much, 250 shekels, of fragrant calamus 250 shekels,

²⁴ And of cassia 500 shekels, in terms of the sanctuary shekel, and of olive oil a hin.

²⁵ And you shall make of these a holy anointing oil, a perfume compounded after the art of the perfumer; it shall be a sacred anointing oil.

²⁶ And you shall anoint the Tent of Meeting with it, and the ark of the Testimony,

²⁷ And the [showbread] table and all its utensils, and the lampstand and its utensils, and the altar of incense,

²⁸ And the altar of burnt offering with all its utensils, and the laver [for cleansing] and its base.

²⁹ You shall sanctify (separate) them, that they may be most holy; whoever and whatever touches them must be holy (set apart to God).

³⁰ And you shall anoint Aaron and his sons and sanctify (separate) them, that they may minister to Me as priests.

³¹ And say to the Israelites, This is a holy anointing oil [symbol of the Holy Spirit], sacred to Me alone throughout your generations.^(AC)

³² It shall not be poured upon a layman’s body, nor shall you make any other like it in composition; it is holy, and you shall hold it sacred.

³³ Whoever compounds any like it or puts any of it upon an outsider shall be cut off from his people.

³⁴ Then the Lord said to Moses, Take sweet spices—stacte, onycha, and galbanum, sweet spices with pure frankincense, an equal amount of each—

³⁵ And make of them incense, a perfume after the perfumer’s art, seasoned with salt and mixed, pure and sacred.

³⁶ You shall beat some of it very small and put some of it before the Testimony in the Tent of Meeting, where I will meet with you; it shall be to you most holy.

³⁷ And the incense which you shall make according to its composition you shall not make for yourselves; it shall be to you holy to the Lord.

³⁸ Whoever makes any like it for perfume shall be cut off from his people.

31 And the Lord said to Moses,

² See, I have called by name Bezalel son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah.

³ And I have filled him with the Spirit of God, in wisdom and ability, in understanding and intelligence, and in knowledge, and in all kinds of craftsmanship,

⁴ To devise skillful works, to work in gold, and in silver, and in bronze,

⁵ And in cutting of stones for setting, and in carving of wood, to work in all kinds of craftsmanship.

⁶ And behold, I have appointed with him Aholiab son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan; and to all who are wisehearted I have given wisdom and ability to make all that I have commanded you:

⁷ The Tent of Meeting, the ark of the Testimony, the mercy seat that is on it, all the furnishings of the tent—

⁸ The table [of the showbread] and its utensils, the pure lampstand with all its utensils, the altar of incense,

⁹ The altar of burnt offering with all its utensils, the laver and its base—

¹⁰ The finely worked garments, the holy garments for Aaron the [high] priest and for his sons to minister as priests,

¹¹ And the anointing oil and incense of sweet spices for the Holy Place. According to all that I have commanded you shall they do.

¹² And the Lord said to Moses,

¹³ Say to the Israelites, Truly you shall keep My Sabbaths, for it is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I, the Lord, sanctify you [set you apart for Myself].

¹⁴ You shall keep the Sabbath therefore, for it is holy to you; everyone who profanes it shall surely be put to death; for whoever does work on the Sabbath shall be cut off from among his people.

¹⁵ Six days may work be done, but the seventh is the Sabbath of rest, sacred to the Lord; whoever does work on the Sabbath day shall surely be put to death.

¹⁶ Wherefore the Israelites shall keep the Sabbath to observe it throughout their generations, a perpetual covenant.

¹⁷ It is a sign between Me and the Israelites forever; for in six days the Lord made the heavens and earth, and on the seventh day He ceased and was refreshed.

¹⁸ And He gave to Moses, when He had ceased communing with him on Mount Sinai, the two tables of the Testimony, tables of stone, written with the finger of God.

32 When the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain, [they] gathered together to Aaron, and said to him, Up, make us gods to go before us; as for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.

² So Aaron replied, Take the gold rings from the ears of your wives, your sons, and daughters, and bring them to me.

³ So all the people took the gold rings from their ears and brought them to Aaron.

⁴ And he received the gold at their hand and fashioned it with a graving tool and made it a molten calf; and they said, These are your gods, O Israel, which brought you up out of the land of Egypt!

⁵ And when Aaron saw the molten calf, he built an altar before it; and Aaron made proclamation, and said, Tomorrow shall be a feast to the Lord.

⁶ And they rose up early the next day and offered burnt offerings and brought peace offerings; and the people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play.

⁷ The Lord said to Moses, Go down, for your people, whom you brought out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves;

⁸ They have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them; they have made them a molten calf and have worshiped it and sacrificed to it, and said, These are your gods, O Israel, that brought you up out of the land of Egypt!

⁹ And the Lord said to Moses, I have seen this people, and behold, it is a stiff-necked people;

¹⁰ Now therefore let Me alone, that My wrath may burn hot against them and that I may destroy them; but I will make of you a great nation.

¹¹ But Moses besought the Lord his God, and said, Lord, why does Your wrath blaze hot against Your people, whom You have brought forth out of the land of Egypt with great power and a mighty hand?

¹² Why should the Egyptians say, For evil He brought them forth, to slay them in the mountains and consume them from the face of the earth? Turn from Your fierce wrath, and change Your mind concerning this evil against Your people.

¹³ [Earnestly] remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, Your servants, to whom You swore by Your own self and said to them, I will multiply your seed as the stars of the heavens, and all this land that I have spoken of will I give to your seed, and they shall inherit it forever.

¹⁴ Then the Lord turned from the evil which He had thought to do to His people.

¹⁵ And Moses turned and went down from the mountain with the two tables of the Testimony in his hand, tables or tablets that were written on both sides.

¹⁶ The tables were the work of God; the writing was the writing of God, graven upon the tables.

¹⁷ And when Joshua heard the noise of the people as they shouted, he said to Moses, There is a noise of war in the camp.

¹⁸ But Moses said, It is not the sound of shouting for victory, neither is it the sound of the cry of the defeated, but the sound of singing that I hear.

¹⁹ And as soon as he came near to the camp he saw the calf and the dancing. And Moses’ anger blazed hot and he cast the tables out of his hands and broke them at the foot of the mountain.

²⁰ And he took the calf they had made and burned it in the fire, and ground it to powder and scattered it on the water and made the Israelites drink it.

²¹ And Moses said to Aaron, What did this people do to you, that you have brought so great a sin upon them?

²² And Aaron said, Let not the anger of my lord blaze hot; you know the people, that they are set on evil.

²³ For they said to me, Make us gods which shall go before us; as for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.

²⁴ I said to them, Those who have any gold, let them take it off. So they gave it to me; then I cast it into the fire, and there came out this calf.

²⁵ And when Moses saw that the people were unruly and unrestrained (for Aaron had let them get out of control, so that they were a derision and object of shame among their enemies),

²⁶ Then Moses stood in the gate of the camp, and said, Whoever is on the Lord’s side, let him come to me. And all the Levites [the priestly tribe] gathered together to him.

²⁷ And he said to them, Thus says the Lord God of Israel, Every man put his sword on his side and go in and out from gate to gate throughout the camp and slay every man his brother, and every man his companion, and every man his neighbor.

²⁸ And the sons of Levi did according to the word of Moses; and there fell of the people that day about 3000 men.

²⁹ And Moses said [to the Levites, By your obedience to God’s command] you have consecrated yourselves today [as priests] to the Lord, each man [at the cost of being] against his own son and his own brother, that the Lord may restore and bestow His blessing upon you this day.

³⁰ The next day Moses said to the people, You have sinned a great sin. And now I will go up to the Lord; perhaps I can make atonement for your sin.

³¹ So Moses returned to the Lord, and said, Oh, these people have sinned a great sin and have made themselves gods of gold!

³² Yet now, if You will forgive their sin—and if not, blot me, I pray You, out of Your book which You have written!

³³ But the Lord said to Moses, Whoever has sinned against Me, I will blot him [not you] out of My book.^(AD)

³⁴ But now go, lead the people to the place of which I have told you. Behold, My ^[g]Angel shall go before you. Nevertheless, in the day when I punish I will visit their sin upon them!^(AE)

³⁵ And the Lord sent a plague upon the people because they made the calf which Aaron fashioned for them.

33 The Lord said to Moses, Depart, go up from here, you and the people whom you have brought from the land of Egypt, to the land which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, saying, To your descendants I will give it.

² I will send an ^[h]Angel before you, and I will drive out the Canaanite, Amorite, Hittite, Perizzite, Hivite, and Jebusite.^(AF)

³ Go up to a land flowing with milk and honey; but I will not go up among you, for you are a stiff-necked people, lest I destroy you on the way.

⁴ When the people heard these evil tidings, they mourned and no man put on his ornaments.

⁵ For the Lord had said to Moses, Say to the Israelites, You are a stiff-necked people! If I should come among you for one moment, I would consume and destroy you. Now therefore [penitently] leave off your ornaments, that I may know what to do with you.

⁶ And the Israelites left off all their ornaments, from Mount Horeb onward.

⁷ Now Moses used to take [his own] tent and pitch it outside the camp, far off from the camp, and he called it the tent of meeting [of God with His own people]. And everyone who sought the Lord went out to [that temporary] tent of meeting which was outside the camp.

⁸ When Moses went out to the tent of meeting, all the people rose and stood, every man at his tent door, and looked after Moses until he had gone into the tent.

⁹ When Moses entered the tent, the pillar of cloud would descend and stand at the door of the tent, and the Lord would talk with Moses.

¹⁰ And all the people saw the pillar of cloud stand at the tent door, and all the people rose up and worshiped, every man at his tent door.

¹¹ And the Lord spoke to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend. Moses returned to the camp, but his minister Joshua son of Nun, a young man, did not depart from the [temporary prayer] tent.

¹² Moses said to the Lord, See, You say to me, Bring up this people, but You have not let me know whom You will send with me. Yet You said, I know you by name and you have also found favor in My sight.

¹³ Now therefore, I pray You, if I have found favor in Your sight, show me now Your way, that I may know You [progressively become more deeply and intimately acquainted with You, perceiving and recognizing and understanding more strongly and clearly] and that I may find favor in Your sight. And [Lord, do] consider that this nation is Your people.

¹⁴ And the Lord said, My Presence shall go with you, and I will give you rest.

¹⁵ And Moses said to the Lord, If Your Presence does not go with me, do not carry us up from here!

¹⁶ For by what shall it be known that I and Your people have found favor in Your sight? Is it not in Your going with us so that we are distinguished, I and Your people, from all the other people upon the face of the earth?

¹⁷ And the Lord said to Moses, I will do this thing also that you have asked, for you have found favor, loving-kindness, and mercy in My sight and I know you personally and by name.^(AG)

¹⁸ And Moses said, I beseech You, show me Your glory.

¹⁹ And God said, I will make all My goodness pass before you, and I will proclaim My name, The Lord, before you; for I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy and loving-kindness on whom I will show mercy and loving-kindness.^(AH)

²⁰ But, He said, You can not see My face, for no man shall see Me and live.

²¹ And the Lord said, Behold, there is a place beside Me, and you shall stand upon the rock,

²² And while My glory passes by, I will put you in a cleft of the rock and cover you with My hand until I have passed by.

²³ Then I will take away My hand and you shall see My back; but My face shall not be seen.

34 The Lord said to Moses, Cut two tables of stone like the first, and I will write upon these tables the words that were on the first tables, which you broke.

² Be ready and come up in the morning to Mount Sinai, and present yourself there to Me on the top of the mountain.

³ And no man shall come up with you, neither let any man be seen throughout all the mountain; neither let flocks or herds feed before that mountain.

⁴ So Moses cut two tables of stone like the first, and he rose up early in the morning and went up on Mount Sinai, as the Lord had commanded him, and took ^[i]in his hand two tables of stone.

⁵ And the Lord descended in the cloud and stood with him there and proclaimed the name of the Lord.

⁶ And the Lord passed by before him, and proclaimed, The Lord! the Lord! a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abundant in loving-kindness and truth,

⁷ Keeping mercy and loving-kindness for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but Who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and the children’s children, to the third and fourth generation.

⁸ And Moses made haste to bow his head toward the earth and worshiped.

⁹ And he said, If now I have found favor and loving-kindness in Your sight, O Lord, let the Lord, I pray You, go in the midst of us, although it is a stiff-necked people, and pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us for Your inheritance.

¹⁰ And the Lord said, Behold, I lay down [afresh the terms of the mutual agreement between Israel and Me] a covenant. Before all your people I will do marvels (wonders, miracles) such as have not been wrought or created in all the earth or in any nation; and all the people among whom you are shall see the work of the Lord; for it is a terrible thing [fearful and full of awe] that I will do with you.

¹¹ Observe what I command you this day. Behold, I drive out before you the Amorite, Canaanite, Hittite, Perizzite, Hivite, and Jebusite.

¹² Take heed to yourself, lest you make a covenant or mutual agreement with the inhabitants of the land to which you go, lest it become a snare in the midst of you.

¹³ But you shall destroy their altars, dash in pieces their pillars (obelisks, images), and cut down their Asherim [symbols of the goddess Asherah];

¹⁴ For you shall worship no other god; for the Lord, Whose name is Jealous, is a jealous (impassioned) God,

¹⁵ Lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, and when they play the harlot after their gods and sacrifice to their gods and one invites you, you eat of his food sacrificed to idols,

¹⁶ And you take of their daughters for your sons, and their daughters play the harlot after their gods and make your sons play the harlot after their gods.

¹⁷ You shall make for yourselves no molten gods.

¹⁸ The Feast of Unleavened Bread you shall keep. Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, as I commanded you, in the time of the month of Abib; for in the month of Abib you came out of Egypt.

¹⁹ All the males that first open the womb among your livestock are Mine, whether ox or sheep.

²⁰ But the firstling of a donkey [an unclean beast] you shall redeem with a lamb or kid, and if you do not redeem it, then you shall break its neck. All the firstborn of your sons you shall redeem. And none of you shall appear before Me empty-handed.

²¹ Six days you shall work, but on the seventh day you shall rest; even in plowing time and in harvest you shall rest [on the Sabbath].

²² You shall observe the Feast of Weeks, the firstfruits of the wheat harvest, and the Feast of Ingathering at the year’s end.

²³ Three times in the year shall all your males appear before the Lord God, the God of Israel.

²⁴ For I will cast out the nations before you and enlarge your borders; neither shall any man desire [and molest] your land when you go up to appear before the Lord your God three times in the year.

²⁵ You shall not offer the blood of My sacrifice with leaven; neither shall the sacrifice of the Feast of the Passover be left until morning.

²⁶ The first of the firstfruits of your ground you shall bring to the house of the Lord your God. You shall not boil a kid in his mother’s milk.

²⁷ And the Lord said to Moses, Write these words, for after the purpose and character of these words I have made a covenant with you and with Israel.

²⁸ Moses was there with the Lord forty days and forty nights; he ate no bread and drank no water. And he wrote upon the tables the words of the covenant, the Ten Commandments.

²⁹ When Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tables of the Testimony in his hand, he did not know that the skin of his face shone and sent forth beams by reason of his speaking with the Lord.

³⁰ When Aaron and all the Israelites saw Moses, behold, the skin of his face shone, and they feared to come near him.