Exodus 22-26

New King James Version

Responsibility for Property

22 “If a man steals an ox or a sheep, and slaughters it or sells it, he shall ^(A)restore five oxen for an ox and four sheep for a sheep. ²If the thief is found ^(B)breaking in, and he is struck so that he dies, there shall be ^(C)no guilt for his bloodshed. ³If the sun has risen on him, there shall be guilt for his bloodshed. He should make full restitution; if he has nothing, then he shall be ^(D)sold^[a] for his theft. ⁴If the theft is certainly ^(E)found alive in his hand, whether it is an ox or donkey or sheep, he shall ^(F)restore double.

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

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

⁷“If a man ^(G)delivers to his neighbor money or articles to keep, and it is stolen out of the man’s house, ^(H)if the thief is found, he shall pay double. ⁸If the thief is not found, then the master of the house shall be brought to the ^(I)judges to see whether he has put his hand into his neighbor’s goods.

⁹“For any kind of trespass, whether it concerns an ox, a donkey, a sheep, or clothing, or for any kind of lost thing which another claims to be his, the ^(J)cause of both parties shall come before the judges; and whomever the judges condemn shall pay double to his neighbor. ¹⁰If a man delivers to his neighbor a donkey, an ox, a sheep, or any animal to keep, and it dies, is hurt, or driven away, no one seeing it, ¹¹then an ^(K)oath of the Lord shall be between them both, that he has not put his hand into his neighbor’s goods; and the owner of it shall accept that, and he shall not make it good. ¹²But ^(L)if, in fact, it is stolen from him, he shall make restitution to the owner of it. ¹³If it is ^(M)torn to pieces by a beast, then he shall bring it as evidence, and he shall not make good what was torn.

¹⁴“And if a man borrows anything from his neighbor, and it becomes injured or dies, the owner of it not being with it, he shall surely make it good. ¹⁵If its owner was with it, he shall not make it good; if it was hired, it came for its hire.

Moral and Ceremonial Principles

¹⁶^(N)“If a man entices a virgin who is not betrothed, and lies with her, he shall surely pay the bride-price for her to be his wife. ¹⁷If her father utterly refuses to give her to him, he shall pay money according to the ^(O)bride-price of virgins.

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

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

²⁰^(R)“He who sacrifices to any god, except to the Lord only, he shall be utterly destroyed.

²¹^(S)“You shall neither mistreat a ^[b]stranger nor oppress him, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.

²²^(T)“You shall not afflict any widow or fatherless child. ²³If you afflict them in any way, and they ^(U)cry at all to Me, I will surely ^(V)hear their cry; ²⁴and My ^(W)wrath will become hot, and I will kill you with the sword; ^(X)your wives shall be widows, and your children fatherless.

²⁵^(Y)“If you lend money to any of My people who are poor among you, you shall not be like a moneylender to him; you shall not charge him ^(Z)interest. ²⁶^(AA)If you ever take your neighbor’s garment as a pledge, you shall return it to him before the sun goes down. ²⁷For that is his only covering, it is his garment for his skin. What will he sleep in? And it will be that when he cries to Me, I will hear, for I am ^(AB)gracious.

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

²⁹“You shall not delay to offer ^(AE)the first of your ripe produce and your juices. ^(AF)The firstborn of your sons you shall give to Me. ³⁰^(AG)Likewise you shall do with your oxen and your sheep. It shall be with its mother ^(AH)seven days; on the eighth day you shall give it to Me.

³¹“And you shall be ^(AI)holy men to Me: ^(AJ)you shall not eat meat torn by beasts in the field; you shall throw it to the dogs.

Justice for All

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

⁴^(AP)“If you meet your enemy’s ox or his donkey going astray, you shall surely bring it back to him again. ⁵^(AQ)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^(AR)“You shall not pervert the judgment of your poor in his dispute. ⁷^(AS)Keep yourself far from a false matter; ^(AT)do not kill the innocent and righteous. For ^(AU)I will not justify the wicked. ⁸And ^(AV)you shall take no bribe, for a bribe blinds the discerning and perverts the words of the righteous.

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

The Law of Sabbaths

¹⁰^(AX)“Six years you shall sow your land and gather in its produce, ¹¹but 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 ^[d]olive grove. ¹²^(AY)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, ^(AZ)be circumspect and ^(BA)make no mention of the name of other gods, nor let it be heard from your mouth.

Three Annual Feasts^(BB)

¹⁴^(BC)“Three times you shall keep a feast to Me in the year: ¹⁵^(BD)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; ^(BE)none shall appear before Me empty); ¹⁶^(BF)and the Feast of Harvest, the firstfruits of your labors which you have sown in the field; and ^(BG)the Feast of Ingathering at the end of the year, when you have gathered in the fruit of your labors from the field.

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

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

The Angel and the Promises

²⁰^(BM)“Behold, I send an Angel before you to keep you in the way and to bring you into the place which I have prepared. ²¹Beware of Him and obey His voice; ^(BN)do not provoke Him, for He will ^(BO)not pardon your transgressions; for ^(BP)My name is in Him. ²²But if you indeed obey His voice and do all that I speak, then ^(BQ)I will be an enemy to your enemies and an adversary to your adversaries. ²³^(BR)For My Angel will go before you and ^(BS)bring you in to the Amorites and the Hittites and the Perizzites and the Canaanites and the Hivites and the Jebusites; and I will ^[g]cut them off. ²⁴You shall not ^(BT)bow down to their gods, nor serve them, ^(BU)nor do according to their works; ^(BV)but you shall utterly overthrow them and completely break down their sacred pillars.

²⁵“So you shall ^(BW)serve the Lord your God, and ^(BX)He will bless your bread and your water. And ^(BY)I will take sickness away from the midst of you. ²⁶^(BZ)No one shall suffer miscarriage or be barren in your land; I will ^(CA)fulfill the number of your days.

²⁷“I will send ^(CB)My fear before you, I will ^(CC)cause confusion among all the people to whom you come, and will make all your enemies turn their backs to you. ²⁸And ^(CD)I will send hornets before you, which shall drive out the Hivite, the Canaanite, and the Hittite from before you. ²⁹^(CE)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. ³⁰Little by little I will drive them out from before you, until you have increased, and you inherit the land. ³¹And ^(CF)I will set your ^[h]bounds from the Red Sea to the sea, Philistia, and from the desert to the ^[i]River. For I will ^(CG)deliver the inhabitants of the land into your hand, and you shall drive them out before you. ³²^(CH)You shall make no ^[j]covenant with them, nor with their gods. ³³They shall not dwell in your land, lest they make you sin against Me. For if you serve their gods, ^(CI)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, ^(CJ)Nadab and Abihu, ^(CK)and seventy of the elders of Israel, and worship from afar. ²And Moses alone shall come near the Lord, but they shall not come near; nor shall the people go up with him.”

³So Moses came and told the people all the words of the Lord and all the ^[k]judgments. And all the people answered with one voice and said, ^(CL)“All the words which the Lord has said we will do.” ⁴And Moses ^(CM)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 ^(CN)pillars according to the twelve tribes of Israel. ⁵Then he sent young men of the children of Israel, who offered ^(CO)burnt offerings and sacrificed peace offerings of oxen to the Lord. ⁶And Moses ^(CP)took half the blood and put it in basins, and half the blood he sprinkled on the altar. ⁷Then he ^(CQ)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.” ⁸And Moses took the blood, sprinkled it on the people, and said, “This is ^(CR)the blood of the covenant which the Lord has made with you according to all these words.”

On the Mountain with God

⁹Then Moses went up, also Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel, ¹⁰and they ^(CS)saw the God of Israel. And there was under His feet as it were a paved work of ^(CT)sapphire stone, and it was like the ^(CU)very^[l] heavens in its clarity. ¹¹But on the nobles of the children of Israel He ^(CV)did not ^[m]lay His hand. So ^(CW)they saw God, and they ^(CX)ate and drank.

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

¹³So Moses arose with ^(DA)his assistant Joshua, and Moses went up to the mountain of God. ¹⁴And he said to the elders, “Wait here for us until we come back to you. Indeed, Aaron and ^(DB)Hur are with you. If any man has a difficulty, let him go to them.” ¹⁵Then Moses went up into the mountain, and ^(DC)a cloud covered the mountain.

¹⁶Now ^(DD)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. ¹⁷The sight of the glory of the Lord was like ^(DE)a consuming fire on the top of the mountain in the eyes of the children of Israel. ¹⁸So Moses went into the midst of the cloud and went up into the mountain. And ^(DF)Moses was on the mountain forty days and forty nights.

Offerings for the Sanctuary^(DG)

25 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: ²“Speak to the children of Israel, that they bring Me an ^[n]offering. ^(DH)From everyone who gives it willingly with his heart you shall take My offering. ³And this is the offering which you shall take from them: gold, silver, and bronze; ⁴blue, purple, and scarlet thread, fine linen, and goats’ hair; ⁵ram skins dyed red, ^[o]badger skins, and acacia wood; ⁶^(DI)oil for the light, and ^(DJ)spices for the anointing oil and for the sweet incense; ⁷onyx stones, and stones to be set in the ^(DK)ephod and in the breastplate. ⁸And let them make Me a ^(DL)sanctuary,^[p] that ^(DM)I may dwell among them. ⁹According 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^(DN)

¹⁰^(DO)“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. ¹¹And you shall overlay it with pure gold, inside and out you shall overlay it, and shall make on it a molding of ^(DP)gold all around. ¹²You 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. ¹³And you shall make poles of acacia wood, and overlay them with gold. ¹⁴You shall put the poles into the rings on the sides of the ark, that the ark may be carried by them. ¹⁵^(DQ)The poles shall be in the rings of the ark; they shall not be taken from it. ¹⁶And you shall put into the ark ^(DR)the Testimony which I will give you.

¹⁷^(DS)“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. ¹⁸And you shall make two cherubim of gold; of hammered work you shall make them at the two ends of the mercy seat. ¹⁹Make 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. ²⁰And ^(DT)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^(DU)You shall put the mercy seat on top of the ark, and ^(DV)in the ark you shall put the Testimony that I will give you. ²²And ^(DW)there I will meet with you, and I will speak with you from above the mercy seat, from ^(DX)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^(DY)

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

The Gold Lampstand^(EC)

³¹^(ED)“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. ³²And 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^(EE)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^(EF)On the lampstand itself four bowls shall be made like almond blossoms, each with its ornamental knob and flower. ³⁵And 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. ³⁶Their knobs and their branches shall be of one piece; all of it shall be one hammered piece of pure gold. ³⁷You shall make seven lamps for it, and ^(EG)they shall arrange its lamps so that they ^(EH)give light in front of it. ³⁸And its wick-trimmers and their trays shall be of pure gold. ³⁹It shall be made of a talent of pure gold, with all these utensils. ⁴⁰And ^(EI)see to it that you make them according to the pattern which was shown you on the mountain.

The Tabernacle^(EJ)

26 “Moreover ^(EK)you shall make the tabernacle with ten curtains of fine woven linen and blue, purple, and scarlet thread; with artistic designs of cherubim you shall weave them. ²The length of each curtain shall be twenty-eight cubits, and the width of each curtain four cubits. And every one of the curtains shall have ^[q]the same measurements. ³Five curtains shall be coupled to one another, and the other five curtains shall be coupled to one another. ⁴And you shall make loops of blue yarn on the edge of the curtain on the selvedge of one set, and likewise you shall do on the outer edge of the other curtain of the second set. ⁵Fifty loops you shall make in the one curtain, and fifty loops you shall make on the edge of the curtain that is on the end of the second set, that the loops may be clasped to one another. ⁶And you shall make fifty clasps of gold, and couple the curtains together with the clasps, so that it may be one tabernacle.

⁷^(EL)“You shall also make curtains of goats’ hair, to be a tent over the tabernacle. You shall make eleven curtains. ⁸The length of each curtain shall be thirty cubits, and the width of each curtain four cubits; and the eleven curtains shall all have the same measurements. ⁹And you shall couple five curtains by themselves and six curtains by themselves, and you shall double over the sixth curtain at the forefront of the tent. ¹⁰You shall make fifty loops on the edge of the curtain that is outermost in one set, and fifty loops on the edge of the curtain of the second set. ¹¹And you shall make fifty bronze clasps, put the clasps into the loops, and couple the tent together, that it may be one. ¹²The remnant that remains of the curtains of the tent, the half curtain that remains, shall hang over the back of the tabernacle. ¹³And a cubit on one side and a cubit on the other side, of what remains of the length of the curtains of the tent, shall hang over the sides of the tabernacle, on this side and on that side, to cover it.

¹⁴^(EM)“You shall also make a covering of ram skins dyed red for the tent, and a covering of badger skins above that.

¹⁵“And for the tabernacle you shall ^(EN)make the boards of acacia wood, standing upright. ¹⁶Ten cubits shall be the length of a board, and a cubit and a half shall be the width of each board. ¹⁷Two ^[r]tenons shall be in each board for binding one to another. Thus you shall make for all the boards of the tabernacle. ¹⁸And you shall make the boards for the tabernacle, twenty boards for the south side. ¹⁹You shall make forty sockets of silver under the twenty boards: two sockets under each of the boards for its two tenons. ²⁰And for the second side of the tabernacle, the north side, there shall be twenty boards ²¹and their forty sockets of silver: two sockets under each of the boards. ²²For the far side of the tabernacle, westward, you shall make six boards. ²³And you shall also make two boards for the two back corners of the tabernacle. ²⁴They shall be ^[s]coupled together at the bottom and they shall be coupled together at the top by one ring. Thus it shall be for both of them. They shall be for the two corners. ²⁵So there shall be eight boards with their sockets of silver—sixteen sockets—two sockets under each of the boards.

²⁶“And you shall make bars of acacia wood: five for the boards on one side of the tabernacle, ²⁷five bars for the boards on the other side of the tabernacle, and five bars for the boards of the side of the tabernacle, for the far side westward. ²⁸The ^(EO)middle bar shall pass through the midst of the boards from end to end. ²⁹You shall overlay the boards with gold, make their rings of gold as holders for the bars, and overlay the bars with gold. ³⁰And you shall raise up the tabernacle ^(EP)according to its pattern which you were shown on the mountain.

³¹^(EQ)“You shall make a veil woven of blue, purple, and scarlet thread, and fine woven linen. It shall be woven with an artistic design of cherubim. ³²You shall hang it upon the four pillars of acacia wood overlaid with gold. Their hooks shall be gold, upon four sockets of silver. ³³And you shall hang the veil from the clasps. Then you shall bring ^(ER)the ark of the Testimony in there, behind the veil. The veil shall be a divider for you between ^(ES)the holy place and the Most Holy. ³⁴^(ET)You shall put the mercy seat upon the ark of the Testimony in the Most Holy. ³⁵^(EU)You shall set the table outside the veil, and ^(EV)the lampstand across from the table on the side of the tabernacle toward the south; and you shall put the table on the north side.

³⁶^(EW)“You shall make a screen for the door of the tabernacle, woven of blue, purple, and scarlet thread, and fine woven linen, made by a weaver. ³⁷And you shall make for the screen ^(EX)five pillars of acacia wood, and overlay them with gold; their hooks shall be gold, and you shall cast five sockets of bronze for them.