¹¹ Then Moses sought Adonai his God and said, “Adonai, why should Your wrath burn hot against Your people, whom You have brought forth out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand? ¹² Why should the Egyptians say, ‘He brought them out to do evil, to slay them in the mountains, and to annihilate them from the face of the earth?’ Turn from Your fierce wrath, and relent from this destruction against Your people. ¹³ 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 heaven, and all this land that I have spoken of I will give to your offspring, and they will inherit it forever.’”

¹⁴ So Adonai relented from the destruction that He said He would do to His people.

34 Adonai said to Moses, “Carve for yourself two tablets of stone like the first ones, and I will write upon them the words that were on the first tablets, which you broke. ² Be ready by the morning, come up to Mount Sinai, and present yourself to Me there on the top of the mountain. ³ No one is to come up with you, and do not let anyone be seen throughout the entire mountain. Even the flocks and herds must not graze in front of that mountain.”

⁴ So he carved two tablets of stone like the first. Then Moses rose up early in the morning, went up onto Mount Sinai as Adonai had commanded him, and took in his hand the two tablets of stone. ⁵ Then Adonai descended in the cloud, stood with him there, as he called on the Name of Adonai.

Thirteen Attributes of God

⁶ Then Adonai passed before him, and proclaimed, “Adonai, Adonai, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, and abundant in lovingkindness and truth, ⁷ showing mercy to a thousand generations, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, yet by no means leaving the guilty unpunished, but bringing the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children’s children, to the third and fourth generation.”

⁸ Then Moses quickly bowed his head down to the earth and worshipped. ⁹ He said, “If now I have found grace in Your eyes, my Lord, let my Lord please go within our midst, even though this is a stiff-necked people. Pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us for Your own inheritance.”

Exclusive Covenant

¹⁰ Then He said, “I am cutting a covenant. Before all your people I will do wonders, such as have not been done in all the earth, or in any nation. All the people you are among will see the work of Adonai—for what I am going to do with you will be awesome!