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 must 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 Yahweh. Then the Lord passed in front of him and proclaimed:

Yahweh—Yahweh is a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger and rich in faithful love and truth,(C) maintaining faithful love to a thousand generations, forgiving wrongdoing, rebellion, and sin.(D) But He will not leave the guilty(E) unpunished, bringing the consequences of the fathers’ wrongdoing on the children and grandchildren to the third and fourth generation.

Moses immediately bowed down to the ground and worshiped. Then he said, “My Lord, if I have indeed found favor in Your sight, my Lord, please go with us. Even though this is a stiff-necked people, forgive our wrongdoing and sin, and accept us as Your own possession.”(F)

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The Tablets of the Law Replaced

34 The Lord told Moses, “Cut out for yourself two stone tablets like the first ones, and I’ll write on the tablets the words which were on the first tablets that you broke. Be ready in the morning, and come up in the morning on Mount Sinai, where you are to present yourself to me there on the top of the mountain. No one is to come up with you, nor is anyone to be seen anywhere on the mountain. Also, the sheep and cattle are not to graze in front of that mountain.”

So Moses[a] carved out two stone tablets like the first ones, got up early in the morning, and climbed Mount Sinai, just as the Lord had commanded him. He took with him the two stone tablets. The Lord came down in a cloud and stood there with him and proclaimed the name of the Lord.[b] The Lord passed in front of him and proclaimed,

“The Lord, the Lord God,
    compassionate and gracious,
slow to anger,
    and filled with[c] gracious love and truth.
He graciously loves thousands,
    and forgives iniquity, transgression, and sin.
But he does not leave the guilty unpunished,
    visiting the iniquity of the ancestors on their children,
and on their children’s children
    to the third and fourth generation.”

Moses quickly bowed to the ground and prostrated himself in worship. He said, “If I’ve found favor in your sight, Lord, please, Lord, walk among us. Certainly this is an obstinate people, but pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us for your own inheritance.”

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Footnotes

  1. Exodus 34:4 Lit. He
  2. Exodus 34:5 Or and he called on the name of the Lord
  3. Exodus 34:6 Or and abundant in