Exodus 34
New American Standard Bible 1995
The Two Tablets Replaced
34 Now the Lord said to Moses, “Cut out for yourself (A)two stone tablets like the former ones, and (B)I will write on the tablets the words that were on the former tablets which you shattered. 2 So be ready by morning, and come up in the morning to (C)Mount Sinai, and [a]present yourself there to Me on the top of the mountain. 3 (D)No man is to come up with you, nor let any man be seen [b]anywhere on the mountain; even the flocks and the herds may not graze in front of that mountain.” 4 So he cut out (E)two stone tablets like the former ones, and Moses rose up early in the morning and went up to Mount Sinai, as the Lord had commanded him, and he took two stone tablets in his hand. 5 (F)The Lord descended in the cloud and stood there with him as [c]he called upon the name of the Lord. 6 Then the Lord passed by in front of him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord God, (G)compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and [d]truth; 7 who (H)keeps lovingkindness for thousands, who forgives iniquity, transgression and sin; yet He (I)will by no means leave the guilty unpunished, (J)visiting the iniquity of fathers on the children and on the grandchildren to the third and fourth generations.” 8 Moses made haste [e](K)to bow low toward the earth and worship. 9 He said, “(L)If now I have found favor in Your sight, O Lord, I pray, let the Lord go along in our midst, even though [f](M)the people are so obstinate, and (N)pardon our iniquity and our sin, and (O)take us as Your own [g]possession.”
The Covenant Renewed
10 Then [h]God said, “Behold, (P)I am going to make a covenant. Before all your people (Q)I will perform miracles which have not been [i]produced in all the earth nor among any of the nations; and all the people [j]among whom you live will see the working of the Lord, for it is a fearful thing that I am going to perform with you.
11 “[k]Be sure to observe what I am commanding you this day: behold, (R)I am going to drive out the Amorite before you, and the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Perizzite, the Hivite and the Jebusite. 12 (S)Watch yourself that you make no covenant with the inhabitants of the land into which you are going, or it will become a snare in your midst. 13 (T)But rather, you are to tear down their altars and smash their sacred pillars and cut down their [l](U)Asherim 14 —for (V)you shall not worship any other god, for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God— 15 otherwise you might make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land and they would play the harlot with their gods and (W)sacrifice to their gods, and someone (X)might invite you [m]to eat of his sacrifice, 16 and (Y)you might take some of his daughters for your sons, and his daughters might play the harlot with their gods and cause your sons also to play the harlot with their gods. 17 (Z)You shall make for yourself no molten gods.
18 “You shall observe (AA)the Feast of Unleavened Bread. For (AB)seven days you are to eat unleavened bread, [n]as I commanded you, at the appointed time in the (AC)month of Abib, for in the month of Abib you came out of Egypt.
19 “(AD)The first offspring from every womb belongs to Me, and all your male livestock, the first offspring from [o]cattle and sheep. 20 (AE)You shall redeem with a lamb the [p]first offspring from a donkey; and if you do not redeem it, then you shall break its neck. You shall redeem (AF)all the firstborn of your sons. [q](AG)None shall appear before Me empty-handed.
21 “You shall work (AH)six days, but on the seventh day you shall rest; even during plowing time and harvest you shall rest. 22 You shall celebrate (AI)the Feast of Weeks, that is, the first fruits of the wheat harvest, and the Feast of Ingathering at the turn of the year. 23 (AJ)Three times a year all your males are to appear before the Lord [r]God, the God of Israel. 24 For I will [s](AK)drive out nations before you and enlarge your borders, and no man shall covet your land when you go up three times a year to appear before the Lord your God.
25 “(AL)You shall not [t]offer the blood of My sacrifice with leavened bread, (AM)nor is the sacrifice of the Feast of the Passover to [u]be left over until morning.
26 “You shall bring (AN)the very first of the first fruits of your soil into the house of the Lord your God.
“You shall not boil a young goat in its mother’s milk.”
27 Then the Lord said to Moses, “(AO)Write [v]down these words, for in accordance with these words I have made (AP)a covenant with you and with Israel.” 28 So he was there with the Lord (AQ)forty days and forty nights; he did not eat bread or drink water. And [w](AR)he wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant, (AS)the Ten [x]Commandments.
Moses’ Face Shines
29 It came about when Moses was coming down from Mount Sinai (and the (AT)two tablets of the testimony were in Moses’ hand as he was coming down from the mountain), that Moses did not know that (AU)the skin of his face shone because of his speaking with Him. 30 So when Aaron and all the sons of Israel saw Moses, behold, the skin of his face shone, and (AV)they were afraid to come near him. 31 Then Moses called to them, and Aaron and all the rulers in the congregation returned to him; and Moses spoke to them. 32 Afterward all the sons of Israel came near, and he commanded them to do everything that the Lord had spoken [y]to him on Mount Sinai. 33 When Moses had finished speaking with them, (AW)he put a veil over his face. 34 But whenever Moses went in before the Lord to speak with Him, (AX)he would take off the veil until he came out; and whenever he came out and spoke to the sons of Israel what he had been commanded, 35 (AY)the sons of Israel would see the face of Moses, that the skin of Moses’ face shone. So Moses would replace the veil over his face until he went in to speak with Him.
Footnotes
- Exodus 34:2 Or place yourself before
- Exodus 34:3 Lit on all
- Exodus 34:5 Or he called out with the name of the Lord
- Exodus 34:6 Or faithfulness
- Exodus 34:8 Lit and bowed...worshiped
- Exodus 34:9 Lit it is a people stiff-necked
- Exodus 34:9 Or inheritance
- Exodus 34:10 Lit He
- Exodus 34:10 Lit created
- Exodus 34:10 Lit in whose midst you are
- Exodus 34:11 Lit Observe for yourself
- Exodus 34:13 I.e. wooden symbols of a female deity
- Exodus 34:15 Lit and you eat
- Exodus 34:18 Or which
- Exodus 34:19 Or oxen
- Exodus 34:20 Lit first opening of
- Exodus 34:20 Lit They shall not
- Exodus 34:23 Heb YHWH, usually rendered Lord
- Exodus 34:24 Or dispossess
- Exodus 34:25 Lit slaughter
- Exodus 34:25 Lit remain overnight
- Exodus 34:27 Lit for yourself
- Exodus 34:28 Or He, i.e. The Lord
- Exodus 34:28 Lit Words
- Exodus 34:32 Lit with
Exodus 34
Christian Standard Bible Anglicised
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 worshipped. 9 Then he said, ‘My Lord, if I have indeed found favour 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 labour six days but you must rest(Q) on the seventh day; you must even rest during ploughing 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 for 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 realise 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 Afterwards 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 the 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
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