Exodus 34

New International Version

The New Stone Tablets

34 The Lord said to Moses, “Chisel out two stone tablets like the first ones,^(A) and I will write on them the words that were on the first tablets,^(B) which you broke.^(C) ²Be ready in the morning, and then come up on Mount Sinai.^(D) Present yourself to me there on top of the mountain. ³No one is to come with you or be seen anywhere on the mountain;^(E) not even the flocks and herds may graze in front of the mountain.”

⁴So Moses chiseled^(F) out two stone tablets like the first ones and went up Mount Sinai early in the morning, as the Lord had commanded him; and he carried the two stone tablets in his hands.^(G) ⁵Then the Lord came down in the cloud^(H) and stood there with him and proclaimed his name, the Lord.^(I) ⁶And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, “The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate^(J) and gracious God, slow to anger,^(K) abounding in love^(L) and faithfulness,^(M) ⁷maintaining love to thousands,^(N) and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin.^(O) Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished;^(P) he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation.”^(Q)

⁸Moses bowed to the ground at once and worshiped. ⁹“Lord,” he said, “if I have found favor^(R) in your eyes, then let the Lord go with us.^(S) Although this is a stiff-necked^(T) people, forgive our wickedness and our sin,^(U) and take us as your inheritance.”^(V)

¹⁰Then the Lord said: “I am making a covenant^(W) with you. Before all your people I will do wonders^(X) never before done in any nation in all the world.^(Y) The people you live among will see how awesome is the work that I, the Lord, will do for you. ¹¹Obey what I command^(Z) you today. I will drive out before you the Amorites, Canaanites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites.^(AA) ¹²Be careful not to make a treaty^(AB) with those who live in the land where you are going, or they will be a snare^(AC) among you. ¹³Break down their altars, smash their sacred stones and cut down their Asherah poles.^[a]^(AD) ¹⁴Do not worship any other god,^(AE) for the Lord, whose name^(AF) is Jealous, is a jealous God.^(AG)

¹⁵“Be careful not to make a treaty^(AH) with those who live in the land; for when they prostitute^(AI) themselves to their gods and sacrifice to them, they will invite you and you will eat their sacrifices.^(AJ) ¹⁶And when you choose some of their daughters as wives^(AK) for your sons and those daughters prostitute themselves to their gods,^(AL) they will lead your sons to do the same.

¹⁷“Do not make any idols.^(AM)

¹⁸“Celebrate the Festival of Unleavened Bread.^(AN) For seven days eat bread made without yeast,^(AO) as I commanded you. Do this at the appointed time in the month of Aviv,^(AP) for in that month you came out of Egypt.

¹⁹“The first offspring^(AQ) of every womb belongs to me, including all the firstborn males of your livestock, whether from herd or flock. ²⁰Redeem the firstborn donkey with a lamb, but if you do not redeem it, break its neck.^(AR) Redeem all your firstborn sons.^(AS)

“No one is to appear before me empty-handed.^(AT)

²¹“Six days you shall labor, but on the seventh day you shall rest;^(AU) even during the plowing season and harvest^(AV) you must rest.

²²“Celebrate the Festival of Weeks with the firstfruits^(AW) of the wheat harvest, and the Festival of Ingathering^(AX) at the turn of the year.^[b] ²³Three times^(AY) a year all your men are to appear before the Sovereign Lord, the God of Israel. ²⁴I will drive out nations^(AZ) before you and enlarge your territory,^(BA) and no one will covet your land when you go up three times each year to appear before the Lord your God.

²⁵“Do not offer the blood of a sacrifice to me along with anything containing yeast,^(BB) and do not let any of the sacrifice from the Passover Festival remain until morning.^(BC)

²⁶“Bring the best of the firstfruits^(BD) of your soil to the house of the Lord your God.

“Do not cook a young goat in its mother’s milk.”^(BE)

²⁷Then the Lord said to Moses, “Write^(BF) down these words, for in accordance with these words I have made a covenant^(BG) with you and with Israel.” ²⁸Moses was there with the Lord forty days and forty nights^(BH) without eating bread or drinking water.^(BI) And he wrote on the tablets^(BJ) the words of the covenant—the Ten Commandments.^(BK)

The Radiant Face of Moses

²⁹When Moses came down from Mount Sinai^(BL) with the two tablets of the covenant law in his hands,^(BM) he was not aware that his face was radiant^(BN) because he had spoken with the Lord. ³⁰When Aaron and all the Israelites saw Moses, his face was radiant, and they were afraid to come near him. ³¹But Moses called to them; so Aaron and all the leaders of the community^(BO) came back to him, and he spoke to them. ³²Afterward all the Israelites came near him, and he gave them all the commands^(BP) the Lord had given him on Mount Sinai.

³³When Moses finished speaking to them, he put a veil^(BQ) over his face. ³⁴But whenever he entered the Lord’s presence to speak with him, he removed the veil until he came out. And when he came out and told the Israelites what he had been commanded, ³⁵they saw that his face was radiant.^(BR) Then Moses would put the veil back over his face until he went in to speak with the Lord.

Footnotes

Exodus 34:13 That is, wooden symbols of the goddess Asherah
Exodus 34:22 That is, in the autumn

Ecclesiastes 10

New International Version

10 As dead flies give perfume a bad smell,
    so a little folly^(A) outweighs wisdom and honor.
²The heart of the wise inclines to the right,
    but the heart of the fool to the left.
³Even as fools walk along the road,
    they lack sense
    and show everyone^(B) how stupid they are.
⁴If a ruler’s anger rises against you,
    do not leave your post;^(C)
    calmness can lay great offenses to rest.^(D)

⁵There is an evil I have seen under the sun,
    the sort of error that arises from a ruler:
⁶Fools are put in many high positions,^(E)
    while the rich occupy the low ones.
⁷I have seen slaves on horseback,
    while princes go on foot like slaves.^(F)

⁸Whoever digs a pit may fall into it;^(G)
whoever breaks through a wall may be bitten by a snake.^(H)
⁹Whoever quarries stones may be injured by them;
whoever splits logs may be endangered by them.^(I)

¹⁰If the ax is dull
and its edge unsharpened,
more strength is needed,
but skill will bring success.

¹¹If a snake bites before it is charmed,
the charmer receives no fee.^(J)

¹²Words from the mouth of the wise are gracious,^(K)
    but fools are consumed by their own lips.^(L)
¹³At the beginning their words are folly;
    at the end they are wicked madness—
¹⁴    and fools multiply words.^(M)

No one knows what is coming—
who can tell someone else what will happen after them?^(N)

¹⁵The toil of fools wearies them;
they do not know the way to town.

¹⁶Woe to the land whose king was a servant^[a]^(O)
    and whose princes feast in the morning.
¹⁷Blessed is the land whose king is of noble birth
    and whose princes eat at a proper time—
    for strength and not for drunkenness.^(P)

¹⁸Through laziness, the rafters sag;
because of idle hands, the house leaks.^(Q)

¹⁹A feast is made for laughter,
wine^(R) makes life merry,
and money is the answer for everything.

²⁰Do not revile the king^(S) even in your thoughts,
or curse the rich in your bedroom,
because a bird in the sky may carry your words,
and a bird on the wing may report what you say.

Footnotes

Ecclesiastes 10:16 Or king is a child

Proverbs 8:22-36

New International Version

²²“The Lord brought me forth as the first of his works,^[a]^[b]
    before his deeds of old;
²³I was formed long ages ago,
    at the very beginning, when the world came to be.
²⁴When there were no watery depths, I was given birth,
    when there were no springs overflowing with water;^(A)
²⁵before the mountains were settled in place,^(B)
    before the hills, I was given birth,^(C)
²⁶before he made the world or its fields
    or any of the dust of the earth.^(D)
²⁷I was there when he set the heavens in place,^(E)
    when he marked out the horizon^(F) on the face of the deep,
²⁸when he established the clouds above^(G)
    and fixed securely the fountains of the deep,^(H)
²⁹when he gave the sea its boundary^(I)
    so the waters would not overstep his command,^(J)
and when he marked out the foundations of the earth.^(K)
³⁰    Then I was constantly^[c] at his side.^(L)
I was filled with delight day after day,
    rejoicing always in his presence,
³¹rejoicing in his whole world
    and delighting in mankind.^(M)

³²“Now then, my children, listen^(N) to me;
    blessed are^(O) those who keep my ways.^(P)
³³Listen to my instruction and be wise;
    do not disregard it.
³⁴Blessed are those who listen^(Q) to me,
    watching daily at my doors,
    waiting at my doorway.
³⁵For those who find me^(R) find life^(S)
    and receive favor from the Lord.^(T)
³⁶But those who fail to find me harm themselves;^(U)
    all who hate me love death.”^(V)

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Footnotes

Proverbs 8:22 Or way; or dominion
Proverbs 8:22 Or The Lord possessed me at the beginning of his work; or The Lord brought me forth at the beginning of his work
Proverbs 8:30 Or was the artisan; or was a little child