Exodus 34
New Catholic Bible
Chapter 34
The New Tablets of the Law. 1 The Lord said to Moses, “Cut two stone tablets like the first ones. I will write on these tablets the words that were on the first tablets, the ones you broke. 2 Be ready in the morning. Tomorrow morning you must climb up Mount Sinai and remain on the summit of the mountain with me. 3 No one is to climb up with you. No one should be on the summit of the mountain nor anywhere on the mountain. Even the flocks and the herds are not to graze in front of that mountain.”
4 Moses cut two tablets of stone like the first ones. He arose early in the morning and climbed up Mount Sinai, as the Lord had commanded him, with the two stone tablets in his hands.
The Lord Shows Himself to Moses.5 The Lord came down in a cloud and stood with him there and proclaimed the name of the Lord. 6 The Lord passed in front of him proclaiming, “The Lord, the Lord, a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and fidelity, 7 who shows mercy to thousands. He forgives iniquity and transgression and sin, but will by no means forgive the iniquity of the fathers, visiting it upon their sons and their sons’ sons, to the third and fourth generation.”
8 Moses quickly bowed down to the ground and worshiped. 9 He said, “If I have found favor with you, my Lord, let the Lord walk in our midst. Yet, it is an obstinate people. Pardon our iniquity and sin and take us for your own inheritance.”
10 A New Book of the Law.[a] The Lord said, “Behold, I am going to establish a covenant with you. I will perform marvelous deeds before all your people, things that have never been done before anywhere on the earth or among any people. All the people in whose midst you dwell will see the work of the Lord, for it is a wondrous thing that I will do with you.
11 “Observe what I command you today. I will drive out the Amorites, Canaanites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites. 12 Take care not to make any covenants with the inhabitants of the land that you are about to enter, lest it become a snare to you. 13 You are to tear down their altars, smash their pillars, and cut down their sacred trees.[b] 14 You must not worship any other god, for the Lord is called Jealous, for he is a jealous God.
15 “Do not make a covenant with the people of that land lest, when they commit fornication for their gods and perform sacrifices to their gods, they invite you and you eat of their sacrifice.[c] 16 Do not take their daughters as wives for your sons lest, when their daughters commit fornication to their gods, they cause your sons to commit fornication with their gods as well.
17 “Do not make any molten gods for yourselves.
18 “Observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread. For seven days eat unleavened bread at the appointed time in the month of Abib, for it was in the month of Abib that you came out of Egypt.
19 “Every creature that is the firstborn from its mother’s womb belongs to me: every firstborn bull, every firstborn cattle and sheep. 20 The firstborn of a donkey will be redeemed with a lamb. If you do not redeem it, you are to break its neck. All of your firstborn sons are to be redeemed.
“None is to appear before me empty-handed.
21 “For six days you may work, but on the seventh you must rest. Even during plowing season and the harvest, you must rest.
22 “You shall celebrate the Feast of Weeks, that is, the firstfruits of the wheat harvest, and also the Harvest Feast at the year’s end.
23 “Three times a year all your men will appear before the Lord God, the God of Israel, 24 for I will cast out your enemies before you and enlarge your borders. Neither will any man desire your land, when you go up three times a year to appear before the Lord, your God. 25 You shall not sacrifice the blood of my sacrificial victim with leavened bread, neither shall you let the sacrificial victim of the Passover remain until the morning.
26 “You will bring the best of the firstfruits of the land to the house of the Lord, your God.
“You shall not cook a kid goat in its mother’s milk.”
27 The Lord said to Moses, “Write down these words, for in accordance with them I have established a covenant with you and with Israel.”
28 Moses remained with the Lord for forty days and forty nights without eating bread or drinking water. And he wrote the words of the covenant, the Ten Commandments, on the tablets.
29 The Radiant Face of Moses.[d] When Moses went down from Mount Sinai, he had the two tablets of Testimony in his hands, while he descended the mountain. He did not know that the skin of his face had become radiant, for he had been speaking with the Lord. 30 But when Aaron and all the children of Israel saw Moses and that the skin of his face had become radiant, they were afraid to approach him. 31 Moses therefore called to them, to Aaron and all the heads of the community, and they went over to him. Moses spoke to them. 32 All the children of Israel then drew near after them, and he commanded them to do all that the Lord had told him on Mount Sinai. 33 When Moses was finished speaking to them, he put on a veil to cover his face. 34 Whenever Moses came before the Lord to speak with him, Moses took off the veil until he went outside. When he went outside, he told the children of Israel all that had been commanded them. 35 The children of Israel saw that the skin of his face had become radiant. Then he put the veil on over his face again, until he went in to speak with the Lord again.
Footnotes
- Exodus 34:10 After their first false step the chosen people had to make a serious commitment to live according to the renewed covenant. As a remembrance of this event, the Yahwist tradition has preserved for us this new Decalogue, which is probably to be associated with the point at which Israel became sedentary and had to struggle with the nature cults of Canaan; this would account for the emphasis on taking part in the liturgical celebrations.
- Exodus 34:13 In the Canaanite religion the pillars, Hebrew, massebot, were symbols of the male god; their cult is condemned; see also Ex 23:24; Lev 26:1; Deut 7:5; 12:3; 16:22; Hos 3:4; 10:1; Mic 5:12. The sacred trees (Hebrew, asherah) were a symbol of the female goddess of love and fertility (Astarte).
- Exodus 34:15 As compared to the worship of Yahweh, which is likened to a legitimate marriage, the worship of false gods is described as prostitution. See Ezek 16; 23; Hos 1–3; Rev 17.
- Exodus 34:29 The face of Moses reflected the glory of God. The verb garan, “to be radiant,” is like the noun goren, “horn.” This explains why the verb was translated as “horns” in the Latin Vulgate and became part of the tradition. Paul refers to this passage when he reminds Christians of their transformation into the image of God (2 Cor 3:7-8, 18).
Exodus 34
English Standard Version
Moses Makes New Tablets
34 The Lord said to Moses, (A)“Cut for yourself two tablets of stone like the first, (B)and I will write on the tablets the words that were on the first tablets, (C)which you broke. 2 Be ready by the morning, and come up in the morning to Mount Sinai, and present yourself there to me (D)on the top of the mountain. 3 No (E)one shall come up with you, and let no one be seen throughout all the mountain. Let no flocks or herds graze opposite that mountain.” 4 So Moses cut two tablets of stone like the first. And he rose early in the morning and went up on Mount Sinai, as the Lord had commanded him, and took in his hand two tablets of stone. 5 The Lord (F)descended in the cloud and stood with him there, and (G)proclaimed the name of the Lord. 6 The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, (H)“The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and (I)gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast (J)love and faithfulness, 7 (K)keeping steadfast love for thousands,[a] (L)forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but (M)who will by no means clear the guilty, (N)visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children's children, to the third and the fourth generation.” 8 And Moses quickly (O)bowed his head toward the earth and worshiped. 9 And he said, “If now I have found favor in your sight, O Lord, please (P)let the Lord go in the midst of us, for (Q)it is a stiff-necked people, and pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us for (R)your inheritance.”
The Covenant Renewed
10 And he said, “Behold, (S)I am making a covenant. Before all your people (T)I will do marvels, such as have not been 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 an (U)awesome thing that I will do with you.
11 “Observe what I command you this day. Behold, (V)I will drive out before you the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. 12 (W)Take care, lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land to which you go, lest it become a (X)snare in your midst. 13 You shall (Y)tear down their altars and (Z)break their pillars and cut down their (AA)Asherim 14 (for (AB)you shall worship no other god, for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God), 15 (AC)lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, and when they (AD)whore after their gods and sacrifice to their gods and (AE)you are invited, you eat of his sacrifice, 16 and you take of (AF)their daughters for your sons, and their daughters (AG)whore after their gods and make your sons whore after their gods.
17 (AH)“You shall not make for yourself any gods of cast metal.
18 (AI)“You shall keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, as I commanded you, at the time appointed in (AJ)the month Abib, for in the month Abib you came out from Egypt. 19 (AK)All that open the womb are mine, all your male[b] livestock, the firstborn of cow and sheep. 20 The (AL)firstborn of a donkey you shall redeem with a lamb, or if you will not redeem it you shall break its neck. All the firstborn of your sons you shall redeem. And (AM)none shall appear before me empty-handed.
21 (AN)“Six days you shall work, but on the seventh day you shall rest. In plowing time and in harvest you shall rest. 22 (AO)You shall observe the Feast of Weeks, the firstfruits of wheat harvest, and the Feast of Ingathering at the year's end. 23 (AP)Three times in the year shall all your males appear before the Lord God, the God of Israel. 24 For I will (AQ)cast out nations before you and (AR)enlarge your borders; (AS)no one shall covet your land, when you go up to appear before the Lord your God three times in the year.
25 (AT)“You shall not offer the blood of my sacrifice with anything leavened, (AU)or let the sacrifice of the Feast of the Passover remain until the morning. 26 (AV)The best of the firstfruits of your ground you shall bring to the house of the Lord your God. (AW)You shall not boil a young goat in its mother's milk.”
27 And the Lord said to Moses, “Write these words, for in accordance with these words (AX)I have made a covenant with you and with Israel.” 28 (AY)So he was there with the Lord forty days and forty nights. He neither ate bread nor drank water. And he (AZ)wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant, the Ten Commandments.[c]
The Shining Face of Moses
29 When Moses came down from Mount Sinai, with (BA)the two tablets of the testimony in his hand as he came down from the mountain, Moses did not know that the skin of his face (BB)shone because he had been talking with God.[d] 30 Aaron and all the people of Israel saw Moses, and behold, the skin of his face (BC)shone, and they were afraid to come near him. 31 But Moses called to them, and Aaron and all the leaders of the congregation returned to him, and Moses talked with them. 32 Afterward all the people of Israel came near, and he (BD)commanded them all that the Lord had spoken with him on Mount Sinai. 33 And when Moses had finished speaking with them, he put a (BE)veil over his face.
34 Whenever Moses (BF)went in before the Lord to speak with him, he would remove the veil, until he came out. And when he came out and told the people of Israel what he was commanded, 35 the people of Israel would see the face of Moses, that the skin of Moses' face was (BG)shining. And Moses would put the veil over his face again, until he went in to speak with him.
Footnotes
- Exodus 34:7 Or to the thousandth generation
- Exodus 34:19 Septuagint, Theodotion, Vulgate, Targum; the meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain
- Exodus 34:28 Hebrew the ten words
- Exodus 34:29 Hebrew him
Exodus 34
King James Version
34 And the Lord said unto Moses, Hew thee two tables of stone like unto the first: and I will write upon these tables the words that were in the first tables, which thou brakest.
2 And be ready in the morning, and come up in the morning unto mount Sinai, and present thyself there to me in the top of the mount.
3 And no man shall come up with thee, neither let any man be seen throughout all the mount; neither let the flocks nor herds feed before that mount.
4 And he hewed two tables of stone like unto the first; and Moses rose up early in the morning, and went up unto mount Sinai, as the Lord had commanded him, and took in his hand the 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 God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth,
7 Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children's children, unto the third and to the fourth generation.
8 And Moses made haste, and bowed his head toward the earth, and worshipped.
9 And he said, If now I have found grace in thy sight, O Lord, let my Lord, I pray thee, go among us; for it is a stiffnecked people; and pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us for thine inheritance.
10 And he said, Behold, I make a covenant: before all thy people I will do marvels, such as have not been done in all the earth, nor in any nation: and all the people among which thou art shall see the work of the Lord: for it is a terrible thing that I will do with thee.
11 Observe thou that which I command thee this day: behold, I drive out before thee the Amorite, and the Canaanite, and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, and the Hivite, and the Jebusite.
12 Take heed to thyself, lest thou make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land whither thou goest, lest it be for a snare in the midst of thee:
13 But ye shall destroy their altars, break their images, and cut down their groves:
14 For thou shalt worship no other god: for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God:
15 Lest thou make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, and they go a whoring after their gods, and do sacrifice unto their gods, and one call thee, and thou eat of his sacrifice;
16 And thou take of their daughters unto thy sons, and their daughters go a whoring after their gods, and make thy sons go a whoring after their gods.
17 Thou shalt make thee no molten gods.
18 The feast of unleavened bread shalt thou keep. Seven days thou shalt eat unleavened bread, as I commanded thee, in the time of the month Abib: for in the month Abib thou camest out from Egypt.
19 All that openeth the matrix is mine; and every firstling among thy cattle, whether ox or sheep, that is male.
20 But the firstling of an ass thou shalt redeem with a lamb: and if thou redeem him not, then shalt thou break his neck. All the firstborn of thy sons thou shalt redeem. And none shall appear before me empty.
21 Six days thou shalt work, but on the seventh day thou shalt rest: in earing time and in harvest thou shalt rest.
22 And thou shalt observe the feast of weeks, of the firstfruits of wheat harvest, and the feast of ingathering at the year's end.
23 Thrice in the year shall all your menchildren appear before the Lord God, the God of Israel.
24 For I will cast out the nations before thee, and enlarge thy borders: neither shall any man desire thy land, when thou shalt go up to appear before the Lord thy God thrice in the year.
25 Thou shalt not offer the blood of my sacrifice with leaven; neither shall the sacrifice of the feast of the passover be left unto the morning.
26 The first of the firstfruits of thy land thou shalt bring unto the house of the Lord thy God. Thou shalt not seethe a kid in his mother's milk.
27 And the Lord said unto Moses, Write thou these words: for after the tenor of these words I have made a covenant with thee and with Israel.
28 And he was there with the Lord forty days and forty nights; he did neither eat bread, nor drink water. And he wrote upon the tables the words of the covenant, the ten commandments.
29 And it came to pass, when Moses came down from mount Sinai with the two tables of testimony in Moses' hand, when he came down from the mount, that Moses wist not that the skin of his face shone while he talked with him.
30 And when Aaron and all the children of Israel saw Moses, behold, the skin of his face shone; and they were afraid to come nigh him.
31 And Moses called unto them; and Aaron and all the rulers of the congregation returned unto him: and Moses talked with them.
32 And afterward all the children of Israel came nigh: and he gave them in commandment all that the Lord had spoken with him in mount Sinai.
33 And till Moses had done speaking with them, he put a vail on his face.
34 But when Moses went in before the Lord to speak with him, he took the vail off, until he came out. And he came out, and spake unto the children of Israel that which he was commanded.
35 And the children of Israel saw the face of Moses, that the skin of Moses' face shone: and Moses put the vail upon his face again, until he went in to speak with him.
The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. ESV Text Edition: 2025.
