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) Be prepared by morning. Come up Mount Sinai in the morning and stand before me on the mountaintop. 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)

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.

The Lord came down in a cloud, stood with him there, and proclaimed his name, “the Lord.” 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) 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.

Moses immediately knelt low on the ground and worshiped. 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

  1. 34:10 Lit created
  2. 34:11 DSS, Sam, LXX add Girgashites
  3. 34:14 Or the Lord—his name is Jealous or the Lord, being jealous by nature
  4. 34:18 March–April; called Nisan in the post-exilic period; Neh 2:1; Est 3:7
  5. 34:19 LXX, Theod, Vg, Tg read males
  6. 34:19 Hb obscure
  7. 34:22 The Festival of Ingathering is called Festival of Shelters elsewhere; Lv 23:34–36.
  8. 34:25 Lit slaughter
  9. 34:29 Lit with him
  10. 34:35 Lit see Moses’s face, that the skin of his face

Moses Makes New Tablets

34 The Lord said to Moses, “Cut two tablets of stone like the former ones, and I will write on the tablets the words that were on the former tablets, which you broke.(A) Be ready in the morning and come up in the morning to Mount Sinai and present yourself there to me on the top of the mountain.(B) No one shall come up with you, and do not let anyone be seen throughout all the mountain, and do not let flocks or herds graze in front of that mountain.”(C) So Moses cut two tablets of stone like the former ones, and he rose early in the morning and went up on Mount Sinai, as the Lord had commanded him, and took in his hand the two tablets of stone. The Lord descended in the cloud and stood with him there and proclaimed the name, “The Lord.”[a](D) The Lord passed before him and proclaimed,

“The Lord, the Lord,
a God merciful and gracious,
slow to anger,
and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness,(E)
keeping steadfast love for the thousandth generation,[b]
forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin,
yet by no means clearing the guilty,
but visiting the iniquity of the parents
upon the children
and the children’s children
to the third and the fourth generation.”(F)

And Moses quickly bowed down to the ground and worshiped.(G) He said, “If now I have found favor in your sight, my Lord, I pray, let my Lord go with us. Although this is a stiff-necked people, pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us for your inheritance.”(H)

The Covenant Renewed

10 He said, “I hereby make a covenant. Before all your people I will perform marvels, such as have not been done[c] in all the earth or in any nation, and all the people among whom you live shall see the work of the Lord, for it is an awesome thing that I will do with you.(I)

11 “Observe what I command you today. See, I will drive out before you the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites.(J) 12 Take care not to make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land to which you are going, or it will become a snare among you.(K) 13 Rather, you shall tear down their altars, break their pillars, and cut down their sacred poles,[d](L) 14 for you shall worship no other god, because the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God.(M) 15 You shall not make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, for when they prostitute themselves to their gods and sacrifice to their gods, someone among them will invite you, and you will eat of the sacrifice,(N) 16 and you will take wives from among their daughters for your sons, and their daughters who prostitute themselves to their gods will make your sons also prostitute themselves to their gods.(O)

17 “You shall not make cast idols.(P)

18 “You shall keep the Festival of Unleavened Bread. Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, as I commanded you, at the time appointed in the month of Abib, for in the month of Abib you came out from Egypt.(Q)

19 “All that first opens the womb is mine, all your male[e] livestock, the firstborn of cow and sheep.(R) 20 The 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.

“No one shall appear before me empty-handed.(S)

21 “Six days you shall work, but on the seventh day you shall rest; even in plowing time and in harvest time you shall rest.(T) 22 You shall observe the Festival of Weeks, the first fruits of wheat harvest, and the Festival of Ingathering at the turn of the year.(U) 23 Three times in the year all your males shall appear before the Lord God, the God of Israel.(V) 24 For I will cast out nations before you and enlarge your borders; no one shall covet your land when you go up to appear before the Lord your God three times in the year.

25 “You shall not offer the blood of my sacrifice with leaven, and the sacrifice of the festival of the Passover shall not be left until the morning.(W)

26 “The best of the first fruits of your ground you shall bring to the house of the Lord your God.

“You shall not boil a kid in its mother’s milk.”(X)

27 The Lord said to Moses, “Write these words, for in accordance with these words I have made a covenant with you and with Israel.”(Y) 28 He was there with the Lord forty days and forty nights; he neither ate bread nor drank water. And he wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant, the ten commandments.[f](Z)

The Shining Face of Moses

29 Moses came down from Mount Sinai. As he came down from the mountain with the two tablets of the covenant in his hand, Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone because he had been talking with God.(AA) 30 When Aaron and all the Israelites saw Moses, the skin of his face was shining, 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 spoke with them. 32 Afterward all the Israelites came near, and he gave them in commandment all that the Lord had spoken with him on Mount Sinai.(AB) 33 When Moses had finished speaking with them, he put a veil on his face,(AC) 34 but whenever Moses went in before the Lord to speak with him, he would take the veil off until he came out, and when he came out and told the Israelites what he had been commanded,(AD) 35 the Israelites would see the face of Moses, that the skin of his face was shining, and Moses would put the veil on his face again until he went in to speak with him.

Footnotes

  1. 34.5 Heb YHWH; see note at 3.15
  2. 34.7 Or for thousands
  3. 34.10 Heb created
  4. 34.13 Or Asherahs
  5. 34.19 Gk Theodotion Vg Tg: Meaning of Heb uncertain
  6. 34.28 Heb the ten words