²³ “When you enter the land and plant fruit trees, leave the fruit unharvested for the first three years and consider it forbidden.^[a] Do not eat it.

⁵¹ “You stubborn people! You are heathen^[a] at heart and deaf to the truth. Must you forever resist the Holy Spirit? That’s what your ancestors did, and so do you!

²⁷ “When a calf or lamb or goat is born, it must be left with its mother for seven days. From the eighth day on, it will be acceptable as a special gift to the Lord.

²⁵ “A time is coming,” says the Lord, “when I will punish all those who are circumcised in body but not in spirit— ²⁶ the Egyptians, Edomites, Ammonites, Moabites, the people who live in the desert in remote places,^[a] and yes, even the people of Judah. And like all these pagan nations, the people of Israel also have uncircumcised hearts.”

Judah’s Constant Rebellion

³⁴ “When you arrive in Canaan, the land I am giving you as your own possession, I may contaminate some of the houses in your land with mildew.^[a]

³ On the eighth day the boy’s foreskin must be circumcised.

²⁹ “You must not hold anything back when you give me offerings from your crops and your wine.

“You must give me your firstborn sons.

³⁰ “You must also give me the firstborn of your cattle, sheep, and goats. But leave the newborn animal with its mother for seven days; then give it to me on the eighth day.

¹² “But Lord!” Moses objected. “My own people won’t listen to me anymore. How can I expect Pharaoh to listen? I’m such a clumsy speaker!^[a]”

³⁰ But Moses argued with the Lord, saying, “I can’t do it! I’m such a clumsy speaker! Why should Pharaoh listen to me?”