Exodus 34
Evangelical Heritage Version
New Stone Tablets: A New Copy of the Laws
34 The Lord said to Moses, “Cut out two stone tablets like the first ones. On these tablets I will write the same words that were on the first tablets, which you broke. 2 Be ready by morning, and come up to Mount Sinai in the morning. Present yourself to me there on top of the mountain. 3 No one may come up with you. In fact, no person is to be seen anywhere on the entire mountain. Do not even let the flocks or herds graze in front of that mountain.”
4 Moses cut out two stone tablets like the first ones. Moses got up early in the morning and went up Mount Sinai, as the Lord had commanded him, and he carried the two stone tablets in his hand. 5 The Lord came down in the cloud. He took his stand there with Moses and proclaimed the name of the Lord. 6 The Lord passed by in front of him and proclaimed: “The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, and overflowing with mercy and truth, 7 maintaining mercy for thousands, forgiving guilt and rebellion and sin. He will by no means clear the guilty. He calls their children and their children’s children to account for the guilt of the fathers, even to the third and the fourth generation.”
8 Moses quickly bowed to the ground and worshipped. 9 He said, “If I have now found favor in your sight, Lord, please let the Lord go along with us. Although this is a stiff-necked people, pardon our guilt and our sin, and accept us as your possession.”
The Covenant Repeated
10 The Lord said,
See, I am making a covenant. In the presence of all your people I will do marvelous things such as have never been created anywhere on earth or in any nation. So all the people who are around you will see the work of the Lord. For it is an awe-inspiring thing that I will do for you. 11 Observe what I command you this day. Watch me as I drive out the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. 12 Be careful that you do not make a treaty with the inhabitants of the land to which you are going, or it will be a trap in your midst. 13 But you must break down their altars and smash their sacred memorial stones to pieces, and you must cut down their Asherah poles.[a] 14 So you must worship no other god. For the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God.[b] 15 Do not make a treaty with the inhabitants of the land, so that they can prostitute themselves to their gods and sacrifice to their gods. If you do, they will invite you to eat their sacrifices, 16 and they will invite you to take their daughters as wives for your sons, and their daughters will prostitute themselves and make your sons prostitute themselves to their gods. 17 You shall not make any idols[c] for yourselves.
The Covenant Festivals
18 You shall observe the Festival of Unleavened Bread.[d] For seven days you are to eat bread without yeast, as I commanded you. Eat it at the time appointed in the month of Abib, because you came out of Egypt in the month of Abib.
19 The firstborn of every mother[e] is mine—the firstborn from all your male livestock, the firstborn of cattle and sheep. 20 The firstborn of a donkey you may redeem with a lamb, but if you do not want to redeem it, then you must break its neck. All the firstborn of your sons you must redeem. No one shall appear before me empty-handed.
21 Six days you shall work, but on the seventh day you must rest. Even in plowing time and in harvest time you must rest.
22 You are to observe the Festival of Weeks[f] with the first ripe produce from the wheat harvest.
Observe the Festival of Ingathering[g] at the year’s end.
23 Three times a year all your males are to appear before God the Lord, the God of Israel. 24 Because I will drive out nations before you and expand your borders, no one will covet your land when you go up to be in the presence of[h] the Lord, your God, three times a year.
25 You shall not offer leavened bread along with the blood of my sacrifices. Nothing from the sacrifice of the Festival of the Passover is to be left over until morning. 26 You are to bring the best of the firstfruits from your soil to the house of the Lord your God.
You shall not boil a baby goat in its mother’s milk.
27 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Write these words for yourself, for these are the words with which I have made a covenant with you and with Israel.”
28 Moses was there with the Lord forty days and forty nights. He did not eat any bread or drink any water. He wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant, the Ten Commandments.[i]
Moses’ Shining Face
29 When Moses came down from Mount Sinai, with the two tablets of the Testimony in his hand as he came down from the mountain, Moses did not realize that the skin of his face was shining because he had been speaking with the Lord. 30 When Aaron and all the people of Israel saw Moses, they were amazed that the skin of his face was shining, so they were afraid to come close to him. 31 Moses called to them, so Aaron and all the rulers of the community returned to him, and Moses spoke to them. 32 Afterward, all the people of Israel came close to him, and he gave them all of the commands that the Lord had spoken to him on Mount Sinai. 33 When Moses was finished speaking with them, he put a veil over his face. 34 But whenever Moses went in before the Lord to speak with him, he would take the veil off until he came out again. Then he would come out and tell the people of Israel what he had been commanded. 35 Whenever the people of Israel saw Moses’ face, they would see that the skin of Moses’ face was shining. Then Moses would put the veil on his face again, until he went in to speak with the Lord again.
Footnotes
- Exodus 34:13 Asherah poles were representations of the goddess Asherah. They may have been living trees or poles carved from tree trunks.
- Exodus 34:14 In God jealousy is a demand for exclusive loyalty. He can tolerate no other gods.
- Exodus 34:17 The Hebrew word used here for idol refers to idols cast out of metal, but here it may simply be used as a generic name for all idols.
- Exodus 34:18 The week following the Passover in spring
- Exodus 34:19 Literally every opener of the womb. Jewish tradition pays more attention to the firstborn of fathers.
- Exodus 34:22 Also called Pentecost or Harvest or Reaping
- Exodus 34:22 Also called Tabernacles or Booths or Shelters
- Exodus 34:24 Literally see the face of
- Exodus 34:28 Literally the Hebrew refers to Ten Words not Ten Commandments.
Exodus 34
Christian Standard Bible
New Stone Tablets
34 The Lord said to Moses, “Cut two stone tablets like the first ones, and I will write on them the words that were on the first tablets, which you broke.(A) 2 Be prepared by morning. Come up Mount Sinai in the morning and stand before me on the mountaintop. 3 No one may go up with you; in fact, no one should be seen anywhere on the mountain. Even the flocks and herds are not to graze in front of that mountain.”(B)
4 Moses cut two stone tablets like the first ones. He got up early in the morning, and taking the two stone tablets in his hand, he climbed Mount Sinai, just as the Lord had commanded him.
5 The Lord came down in a cloud, stood with him there, and proclaimed his name, “the Lord.” 6 The Lord passed in front of him and proclaimed:
The Lord—the Lord is a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger and abounding in faithful love and truth,(C) 7 maintaining faithful love to a thousand generations, forgiving iniquity, rebellion, and sin.(D) But he will not leave the guilty(E) unpunished, bringing the consequences of the fathers’ iniquity on the children and grandchildren to the third and fourth generation.
8 Moses immediately knelt low on the ground and worshiped. 9 Then he said, “My Lord, if I have indeed found favor with you, my Lord, please go with us (even though this is a stiff-necked people), forgive our iniquity and our sin, and accept us as your own possession.”(F)
Covenant Obligations
10 And the Lord responded, “Look, I am making a covenant. In the presence of all your people I will perform wonders that have never been done[a] in the whole earth or in any nation. All the people you live among will see the Lord’s work, for what I am doing with you is awe-inspiring.(G) 11 Observe what I command you today. I am going to drive out before you the Amorites, Canaanites, Hethites, Perizzites, Hivites,[b] and Jebusites. 12 Be careful not to make a treaty with the inhabitants of the land that you are going to enter; otherwise, they will become a snare among you.(H) 13 Instead, you must tear down their altars, smash their sacred pillars, and chop down their Asherah poles.(I) 14 Because the Lord is jealous(J) for his reputation, you are never to bow down to another god.[c] He is a jealous God.
15 “Do not make a treaty with the inhabitants of the land, or else when they prostitute themselves with their gods and sacrifice to their gods, they will invite you, and you will eat their sacrifices.(K) 16 Then you will take some of their daughters as brides for your sons. Their daughters will prostitute themselves with their gods and cause your sons to prostitute themselves with their gods.(L)
17 “Do not make cast images(M) of gods for yourselves.
18 “Observe the Festival of Unleavened Bread. You are to eat unleavened bread for seven days at the appointed time in the month of Abib,[d] as I commanded you, for you came out of Egypt in the month of Abib.(N)
19 “The firstborn(O) male from every womb belongs to me, including all your male[e][f] livestock, the firstborn of cattle or sheep. 20 You may redeem the firstborn of a donkey with a sheep, but if you do not redeem it, break its neck.(P) You must redeem all the firstborn of your sons. No one is to appear before me empty-handed.
21 “You are to labor six days but you must rest(Q) on the seventh day; you must even rest during plowing and harvesting times.
22 “Observe the Festival of Weeks with the firstfruits of the wheat harvest, and the Festival of Ingathering[g] at the turn of the agricultural year. 23 Three times a year(R) all your males are to appear before the Lord God, the God of Israel. 24 For I will drive out nations(S) before you and enlarge your territory.(T) No one will covet your land when you go up three times a year to appear before the Lord your God.
25 “Do not present[h] the blood for my sacrifice with anything leavened. The sacrifice of the Passover Festival must not remain until morning.(U)
26 “Bring the best firstfruits(V) of your land to the house of the Lord your God.
“You must not boil a young goat in its mother’s milk.”
27 The Lord also said to Moses, “Write(W) down these words, for I have made a covenant with you and with Israel based on these words.”
28 Moses was there with the Lord forty days and forty nights; he did not eat food or drink water. He wrote the Ten Commandments,(X) the words of the covenant, on the tablets.
Moses’s Radiant Face
29 As Moses descended from Mount Sinai—with the two tablets of the testimony in his hands as he descended the mountain—he did not realize that the skin of his face shone as a result of his speaking with the Lord.[i](Y) 30 When Aaron and all the Israelites saw Moses, the skin of his face shone!(Z) They were afraid to come near him. 31 But Moses called out to them, so Aaron and all the leaders of the community returned to him, and Moses spoke to them. 32 Afterward all the Israelites came near, and he commanded them to do everything the Lord had told him on Mount Sinai. 33 When Moses had finished speaking with them, he put a veil over his face. 34 But whenever Moses went before the Lord to speak with him, he would remove the veil until he came out. After he came out, he would tell the Israelites what he had been commanded,(AA) 35 and the Israelites would see that Moses’s face[j] was radiant. Then Moses would put the veil over his face again until he went to speak with the Lord.
Footnotes
- 34:10 Lit created
- 34:11 DSS, Sam, LXX add Girgashites
- 34:14 Or the Lord—his name is Jealous or the Lord, being jealous by nature
- 34:18 March–April; called Nisan in the post-exilic period; Neh 2:1; Est 3:7
- 34:19 LXX, Theod, Vg, Tg read males
- 34:19 Hb obscure
- 34:22 The Festival of Ingathering is called Festival of Shelters elsewhere; Lv 23:34–36.
- 34:25 Lit slaughter
- 34:29 Lit with him
- 34:35 Lit see Moses’s face, that the skin of his face
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.
The Christian Standard Bible. Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Christian Standard Bible®, and CSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers, all rights reserved.