The Second Set of Commandments

(Deuteronomy 10.1-5)

34 One day the Lord said to Moses, “Cut two flat stones like the first ones I made, and I will write on them the same commandments that were on the two you broke. ² Be ready tomorrow morning to come up Mount Sinai and meet me at the top. ³ No one is to come with you or to be on the mountain at all. Don't even let the sheep and cattle graze at the foot of the mountain.” ⁴ So Moses cut two flat stones like the first ones, and early the next morning he carried them to the top of Mount Sinai, just as the Lord had commanded.

⁵ The Lord God came down in a cloud and stood beside Moses there on the mountain. God spoke his holy name, “the Lord.”^{[a] 6 (A)} Then he passed in front of Moses and called out, “I am the Lord God. I am merciful and very patient with my people. I show great love, and I can be trusted. ⁷ I keep my promises to my people forever, but I also punish anyone who sins. When people sin, I punish them and their children, and also their grandchildren and great-grandchildren.”

⁸ Moses quickly bowed down to the ground and worshiped the Lord. ⁹ He prayed, “Lord, if you really are pleased with me, I pray that you will go with us. It is true that these people are sinful and rebellious, but forgive our sin and let us be your people.”

A Promise and Its Demands

(Exodus 23.14-19; Deuteronomy 7.1-5; 16.1-17)

¹⁰ The Lord said:

I promise to perform miracles for you that have never been seen anywhere on earth. Neighboring nations will stand in fear and know that I was the one who did these marvelous things. ¹¹ I will force out the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, but you must do what I command you today. ¹² Don't make treaties with any of those people. If you do, it will be like falling into a trap. ^13 (B) Instead, you must destroy their altars and tear down the sacred poles^[b] they use in the worship of the goddess Asherah. ¹⁴ I demand your complete loyalty—you must not worship any other god! ¹⁵ Don't make treaties with the people there, or you will soon find yourselves worshiping their gods and taking part in their sacrificial meals. ¹⁶ Your men will even marry their women and be influenced to worship their gods.

^17 (C) Don't make metal images of gods.

^18 (D) Don't fail to observe the Festival of Thin Bread in the month of Abib.^[c] Obey me and eat bread without yeast for seven days during Abib, because that is the month you left Egypt.

^19 (E) The first-born males of your families and of your flocks and herds belong to me.

^20 (F) You can save the life of a first-born donkey^[d] by sacrificing a lamb; if you don't, you must break the donkey's neck. You must save every first-born son.

Bring an offering every time you come to worship.

^21 (G) Work for six days and rest on the seventh day, even during the seasons for plowing and harvesting. ^22 (H) Celebrate the Harvest Festival^[e] each spring when you start harvesting your wheat, and celebrate the Festival of Shelters^[f] each autumn when you pick your fruit.

²³ Your men must come to worship me three times a year, because I am the Lord God of Israel. ²⁴ As you advance, I will force the nations out of your land and enlarge your borders. Then no one will try to take your property when you come to worship me these three times each year.

^25 (I) When you sacrifice an animal on the altar, don't offer bread made with yeast. And don't save any part of the Passover meal for the next day.

^26 (J) I am the Lord your God, and you must bring the first part of your harvest to the place of worship.

Don't boil a young goat in its mother's milk.

²⁷ The Lord told Moses to put these laws in writing, as part of his agreement with Israel. ²⁸ Moses stayed on the mountain with the Lord for 40 days and nights, without eating or drinking. And he wrote down the Ten Commandments, the most important part of God's agreement with his people.

Moses Comes Down from Mount Sinai

^29 (K) Moses came down from Mount Sinai, carrying the Ten Commandments. His face was shining brightly because the Lord had been speaking to him. But Moses did not know at first that his face was shining. ³⁰ When Aaron and the others looked at Moses, they saw this, and they were afraid to go near him. ³¹ Moses called out for Aaron and the leaders to come to him, and he spoke with them. ³² Then the rest of the people of Israel gathered around Moses, and he gave them the laws that the Lord had given him on Mount Sinai.

³³ The face of Moses kept shining, and after he had spoken with the people, he covered his face with a veil. ³⁴ Moses would always remove the veil when he went into the sacred tent to speak with the Lord. And when he came out, he would tell the people everything the Lord had told him to say. ³⁵ They could see that his face was still shining. So after he had spoken with them, he would put the veil back on and leave it on until the next time he went to speak with the Lord.

Laws for the Sabbath

35 Moses called together the people of Israel and told them that the Lord had said:

^2 (L) You have six days in which to do your work. But the seventh day must be dedicated to me, your Lord, as a day of rest. Whoever works on the Sabbath will be put to death. ³ Don't even build a cooking fire at home on the Sabbath.

Offerings for the Sacred Tent

(Exodus 25.1-9; 35.10-19)

⁴ Moses told the people of Israel that the Lord had said:

⁵ I will welcome an offering from anyone who wants to give something. You may bring gold, silver, or bronze; ⁶ blue, purple, or red wool; fine linen; goat hair; ⁷ tanned ram skin or fine leather; acacia wood; ⁸ olive oil for the lamp; sweet-smelling spices for the oil of dedication and for the incense; or ⁹ onyx^[g] stones or other gems for the sacred vest and breastpiece.

¹⁰ If you have any skills, you should use them to help make what I have commanded: ¹¹ the sacred tent with its covering and hooks, its framework and crossbars, and its post and stands; ¹² the sacred chest with its carrying poles, its place of mercy, and the curtain in front of it; ¹³ the table with its carrying poles and all that goes on it, including the sacred bread; ¹⁴ the lamp with its equipment and oil; ¹⁵ the incense altar with its carrying poles and sweet-smelling incense; the ordination oil; the curtain for the entrance to the sacred tent; ¹⁶ the altar for sacrifices with its bronze grating, its carrying poles, and its equipment; the large bronze bowl with its stand; ¹⁷ the curtains with the posts and stands that go around the courtyard and the curtain at the entrance; ¹⁸ the pegs and ropes for the tent and the courtyard; ¹⁹ and the finely woven priestly clothes for Aaron and his sons.

Gifts for the Lord

²⁰ Moses finished speaking, and everyone left. ²¹ Then those who wanted to bring gifts to the Lord, brought them to be used for the sacred tent, the worship services, and the priestly clothes. ²² Men and women came willingly and gave all kinds of gold jewelry such as pins, earrings, rings, and necklaces. ²³ Everyone brought their blue, purple, and red wool, their fine linen, and their cloth made of goat hair, as well as their ram skins dyed red and their fine leather. ²⁴ Anyone who had silver or bronze or acacia wood brought it as a gift to the Lord.

²⁵ The women who were good at weaving cloth brought the blue, purple, and red wool and the fine linen they had made. ²⁶ And the women who knew how to make cloth from goat hair were glad to do so.

²⁷ The leaders brought different kinds of jewels to be sewn on the special clothes and the breastpiece for the high priest. ²⁸ They also brought sweet-smelling spices to be mixed with the incense and olive oil that were for the lamps and for ordaining the priests. ²⁹ Moses had told the people what the Lord wanted them to do, and many of them decided to bring their gifts.

Bezalel and Oholiab

(Exodus 31.1-11)

³⁰ Moses said to the people of Israel:

The Lord has chosen Bezalel^[h] of the Judah tribe. ^31-33 Not only has the Lord filled him with his Spirit, but he has given him wisdom and made him a skilled craftsman who can create objects of art with gold, silver, bronze, precious stones, and wood. ³⁴ The Lord is urging him and Oholiab^[i] from the tribe of Dan to teach others. ³⁵ And he has given them all kinds of artistic skills, including the ability to design and embroider with blue, purple, and red wool and to weave fine linen.

Life in the Future World

(Mark 12.18-27; Luke 20.27-40)

^23 (A) The Sadducees did not believe people would rise to life after death. So that same day some of the Sadducees came to Jesus and said:

^24 (B) Teacher, Moses wrote that if a married man dies and has no children, his brother should marry the widow. Their first son would then be thought of as the son of the dead brother.

²⁵ Once there were seven brothers who lived here. The first one married, but died without having any children. So his wife was left to his brother. ²⁶ The same thing happened to the second and third brothers and finally to all seven of them. ²⁷ At last the woman died. ²⁸ When God raises people from death, whose wife will this woman be? She had been married to all seven brothers.

²⁹ Jesus answered:

You are completely wrong! You don't know what the Scriptures teach. And you don't know anything about the power of God. ^30 (C) When God raises people to life, they won't marry. They will be like the angels in heaven. ³¹ And as for people being raised to life, God was speaking to you when he said, ^32 (D) “I am the God worshiped by Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.”^[a] He isn't the God of the dead, but of the living.

³³ The crowds were surprised to hear what Jesus was teaching.

The Most Important Commandment

(Mark 12.28-34; Luke 10.25-28)

³⁴ After Jesus had made the Sadducees look foolish, the Pharisees heard about it and got together. ^35 (E) One of them was an expert in the Jewish Law. So he tried to test Jesus by asking, ³⁶ “Teacher, what is the most important commandment in the Law?”

^37 (F) Jesus answered:

Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind. ³⁸ This is the first and most important commandment. ^39 (G) The second most important commandment is like this one. And it is, “Love others as much as you love yourself.” ⁴⁰ All the Law of Moses and the Books of the Prophets^[b] are based on these two commandments.

About David's Son

(Mark 12.35-37; Luke 20.41-44)

⁴¹ While the Pharisees were still there, Jesus asked them, ⁴² “What do you think about the Messiah? Whose family will he come from?”

They answered, “He will be a son of King David.”^[c]

⁴³ Jesus replied, “How then could the Spirit lead David to call the Messiah his Lord? David said,