33 The Lord said to Moses, “Get going, you and the people you brought up from the land of Egypt. Go up to the land I swore to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. I told them, ‘I will give this land to your descendants.’ ² And I will send an angel before you to drive out the Canaanites, Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites. ³ Go up to this land that flows with milk and honey. But I will not travel among you, for you are a stubborn and rebellious people. If I did, I would surely destroy you along the way.”

⁴ When the people heard these stern words, they went into mourning and stopped wearing their jewelry and fine clothes. ⁵ For the Lord had told Moses to tell them, “You are a stubborn and rebellious people. If I were to travel with you for even a moment, I would destroy you. Remove your jewelry and fine clothes while I decide what to do with you.” ⁶ So from the time they left Mount Sinai,^[a] the Israelites wore no more jewelry or fine clothes.

⁷ It was Moses’ practice to take the Tent of Meeting^[b] and set it up some distance from the camp. Everyone who wanted to make a request of the Lord would go to the Tent of Meeting outside the camp.

⁸ Whenever Moses went out to the Tent of Meeting, all the people would get up and stand in the entrances of their own tents. They would all watch Moses until he disappeared inside. ⁹ As he went into the tent, the pillar of cloud would come down and hover at its entrance while the Lord spoke with Moses. ¹⁰ When the people saw the cloud standing at the entrance of the tent, they would stand and bow down in front of their own tents. ¹¹ Inside the Tent of Meeting, the Lord would speak to Moses face to face, as one speaks to a friend. Afterward Moses would return to the camp, but the young man who assisted him, Joshua son of Nun, would remain behind in the Tent of Meeting.

Moses Sees the Lord’s Glory

¹² One day Moses said to the Lord, “You have been telling me, ‘Take these people up to the Promised Land.’ But you haven’t told me whom you will send with me. You have told me, ‘I know you by name, and I look favorably on you.’ ¹³ If it is true that you look favorably on me, let me know your ways so I may understand you more fully and continue to enjoy your favor. And remember that this nation is your very own people.”

¹⁴ The Lord replied, “I will personally go with you, Moses, and I will give you rest—everything will be fine for you.”

¹⁵ Then Moses said, “If you don’t personally go with us, don’t make us leave this place. ¹⁶ How will anyone know that you look favorably on me—on me and on your people—if you don’t go with us? For your presence among us sets your people and me apart from all other people on the earth.”

¹⁷ The Lord replied to Moses, “I will indeed do what you have asked, for I look favorably on you, and I know you by name.”

¹⁸ Moses responded, “Then show me your glorious presence.”

¹⁹ The Lord replied, “I will make all my goodness pass before you, and I will call out my name, Yahweh,^[c] before you. For I will show mercy to anyone I choose, and I will show compassion to anyone I choose. ²⁰ But you may not look directly at my face, for no one may see me and live.” ²¹ The Lord continued, “Look, stand near me on this rock. ²² As my glorious presence passes by, I will hide you in the crevice of the rock and cover you with my hand until I have passed by. ²³ Then I will remove my hand and let you see me from behind. But my face will not be seen.”

A New Copy of the Covenant

34 Then the Lord told Moses, “Chisel out two stone tablets like the first ones. I will write on them the same words that were on the tablets you smashed. ² Be ready in the morning to climb up Mount Sinai and present yourself to me on the top of the mountain. ³ No one else may come with you. In fact, no one is to appear anywhere on the mountain. Do not even let the flocks or herds graze near the mountain.”

⁴ So Moses chiseled out two tablets of stone like the first ones. Early in the morning he climbed Mount Sinai as the Lord had commanded him, and he carried the two stone tablets in his hands.

⁵ Then the Lord came down in a cloud and stood there with him; and he called out his own name, Yahweh.^{[d] 6} The Lord passed in front of Moses, calling out,

⁸ Moses immediately threw himself to the ground and worshiped. ⁹ And he said, “O Lord, if it is true that I have found favor with you, then please travel with us. Yes, this is a stubborn and rebellious people, but please forgive our iniquity and our sins. Claim us as your own special possession.”

¹⁰ The Lord replied, “Listen, I am making a covenant with you in the presence of all your people. I will perform miracles that have never been performed anywhere in all the earth or in any nation. And all the people around you will see the power of the Lord—the awesome power I will display for you. ¹¹ But listen carefully to everything I command you today. Then I will go ahead of you and drive out the Amorites, Canaanites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites.

¹² “Be very careful never to make a treaty with the people who live in the land where you are going. If you do, you will follow their evil ways and be trapped. ¹³ Instead, you must break down their pagan altars, smash their sacred pillars, and cut down their Asherah poles. ¹⁴ You must worship no other gods, for the Lord, whose very name is Jealous, is a God who is jealous about his relationship with you.

¹⁵ “You must not make a treaty of any kind with the people living in the land. They lust after their gods, offering sacrifices to them. They will invite you to join them in their sacrificial meals, and you will go with them. ¹⁶ Then you will accept their daughters, who sacrifice to other gods, as wives for your sons. And they will seduce your sons to commit adultery against me by worshiping other gods. ¹⁷ You must not make any gods of molten metal for yourselves.

¹⁸ “You must celebrate the Festival of Unleavened Bread. For seven days the bread you eat must be made without yeast, just as I commanded you. Celebrate this festival annually at the appointed time in early spring, in the month of Abib,^[g] for that is the anniversary of your departure from Egypt.

¹⁹ “The firstborn of every animal belongs to me, including the firstborn males^[h] from your herds of cattle and your flocks of sheep and goats. ²⁰ A firstborn donkey may be bought back from the Lord by presenting a lamb or young goat in its place. But if you do not buy it back, you must break its neck. However, you must buy back every firstborn son.

“No one may appear before me without an offering.

²¹ “You have six days each week for your ordinary work, but on the seventh day you must stop working, even during the seasons of plowing and harvest.

²² “You must celebrate the Festival of Harvest^[i] with the first crop of the wheat harvest, and celebrate the Festival of the Final Harvest^[j] at the end of the harvest season. ²³ Three times each year every man in Israel must appear before the Sovereign, the Lord, the God of Israel. ²⁴ I will drive out the other nations ahead of you and expand your territory, so no one will covet and conquer your land while you appear before the Lord your God three times each year.

²⁵ “You must not offer the blood of my sacrificial offerings together with any baked goods containing yeast. And none of the meat of the Passover sacrifice may be kept over until the next morning.

²⁶ “As you harvest your crops, bring the very best of the first harvest to the house of the Lord your God.

“You must not cook a young goat in its mother’s milk.”

²⁷ Then the Lord said to Moses, “Write down all these instructions, for they represent the terms of the covenant I am making with you and with Israel.”

²⁸ Moses remained there on the mountain with the Lord forty days and forty nights. In all that time he ate no bread and drank no water. And the Lord^[k] wrote the terms of the covenant—the Ten Commandments^[l]—on the stone tablets.

²⁹ When Moses came down Mount Sinai carrying the two stone tablets inscribed with the terms of the covenant,^[m] he wasn’t aware that his face had become radiant because he had spoken to the Lord. ³⁰ So when Aaron and the people of Israel saw the radiance of Moses’ face, they were afraid to come near him.

³¹ But Moses called out to them and asked Aaron and all the leaders of the community to come over, and he talked with them. ³² Then all the people of Israel approached him, and Moses gave them all the instructions the Lord had given him on Mount Sinai. ³³ When Moses finished speaking with them, he covered his face with a veil. ³⁴ But whenever he went into the Tent of Meeting to speak with the Lord, he would remove the veil until he came out again. Then he would give the people whatever instructions the Lord had given him, ³⁵ and the people of Israel would see the radiant glow of his face. So he would put the veil over his face until he returned to speak with the Lord.