Bible in 90 Days

²⁰ Then Miriam, Aaron's sister, who was a prophet, took a tambourine in her hand.^[a] All the other women followed her, with tambourines in their hands. They danced while Miriam sang to them.

²¹ This is the song that she sang:

The waters of Marah and Elim

²² Then Moses led the Israelites away from the Red Sea. They travelled into the desert called Shur. They walked into the desert for three days and they could not find any water to drink. ²³ Then they arrived at Marah. But they could not drink the water there because it was too bitter. That is why they called that place ‘Marah’.^[b]

²⁴ Then the people complained. They spoke against Moses. They said, ‘There is nothing for us to drink!’

²⁵ Then Moses called to the Lord for help. The Lord showed Moses a special tree. Moses threw a branch into the water. Then the water became good for them to drink.

There at Marah, the Lord made a law for the Israelites to obey. He tested them there, to see if they would trust him. ²⁶ He said, ‘Be careful to listen to what the Lord your God says to you. Let him see that you are doing things that are right. Obey his commands and his rules. Then I will not give to you the diseases that I gave to the Egyptians. I am the Lord. I am the one who gives you health.’

²⁷ Then the Israelites arrived at Elim. There they found 12 wells of water and 70 palm trees. The Israelites put up their tents there, where there was water.

God sends special food

16 Then all the Israelites left Elim and they went into the desert called Sin. This is between Elim and Sinai. They arrived in the desert on the 15th day of the second month after they had left Egypt. ² When they were in the desert, all the Israelites complained against Moses and Aaron. ³ The Israelites said to them, ‘It would have been better if the Lord had killed us in Egypt! There, we sat round pots with plenty of meat. We ate all the food that we wanted. But now you have brought us into this desert. We are so hungry that we will soon die!’

⁴ Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘I will cause bread to fall down from the sky for you like rain. Each day, the people must go out and pick up enough bread for that day. In this way I will test them. I will discover whether they will obey my rules. ⁵ On the sixth day, they must pick up and prepare twice as much bread.’

⁶ So Moses and Aaron said to all the Israelites, ‘In the evening, you will know who brought you out of Egypt. It was the Lord! ⁷ Then, in the morning, you will see how great the Lord is. The Lord has heard the bad things that you have said against him. We, Moses and Aaron, are the Lord's servants. So you are complaining against him, not against us!’

⁸ Moses said to them, ‘The Lord will give you meat to eat in the evening. And in the morning, he will give you all the bread that you want. He will do this because he has heard you when you complained against him. We are only his servants. You have said bad things against the Lord, not against us.’

⁹ Then Moses said to Aaron, ‘Say to all the Israelites, “The Lord has heard the bad things that you have said against him. Now come together, and stand in front of him.” ’ ¹⁰ While Aaron spoke, the Israelites looked towards the desert. They saw the bright glory of the Lord which appeared in the cloud.

¹¹ Then the Lord said to Moses, ¹² ‘I have heard the bad things that the Israelites have said against me. Tell them this: “In the evening, you will eat meat. And in the morning you will eat all the bread that you want. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God.” ’

¹³ That evening, quails appeared. They covered all the ground round the tents.^[c]

In the morning, there was dew on the ground round the tents. ¹⁴ When the dew had gone, thin white pieces remained on the dry ground, there in the desert. It seemed like frost on the ground. ¹⁵ When the Israelites saw these pieces, they said, ‘What is it?’ They did not understand what it was. But Moses said to them, ‘This is the bread that the Lord has given to you. It is for you to eat. ¹⁶ This is what the Lord has commanded: “Each family must pick up as much as they need to eat. Pick up two litres for each person who lives in your tent.” ’

¹⁷ So the Israelites did this. Some of them picked up a lot of the food. Some of them picked up only a little food. ¹⁸ But when they measured the right amount, everyone had enough to eat. The person who had picked up a lot did not have too much. And the person who had picked up only a little food still had enough to eat. Each person had picked up what he needed.

¹⁹ Then Moses said to them, ‘Do not keep any of it until the morning.’ ²⁰ But some of the people did not listen to Moses. They kept part of the food until the morning. But worms appeared in it, and it began to have a bad smell. Then Moses was angry with those people.

²¹ Each morning, everyone picked up as much food as they needed. But when the sun became hot, the food would melt away. ²² On the sixth day, the Israelites picked up twice as much food. They picked up four litres for each person. Then the leaders of the people told Moses what they had done. ²³ Moses said to them, ‘This is what the Lord has said: “Tomorrow is a special day of rest. It is a Sabbath day, to worship the Lord. Today, you must bake any food that you want to bake. Boil the meat that you want to boil. Keep until the morning whatever food you do not eat today.” ’

²⁴ So they kept some food until the morning, as Moses had said. This time, the food did not have a bad smell and there were no worms in it. ²⁵ Moses said, ‘Eat the food today, because this day is a Sabbath day, to worship the Lord. You will not find any food on the ground today. ²⁶ On six days of each week, you must pick food up from the ground. But on the seventh day of the week, there will not be any food on the ground. That is because the seventh day is the Sabbath day of rest.’

²⁷ But on the seventh day, some of the people went out to pick up food. But they did not find any. ²⁸ Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘The people continue to refuse to obey my commands. They refuse to do what I tell them! ²⁹ Remember this: The Lord has given the Sabbath day to you. That is why, on the sixth day, he gives you enough food for two days. Then everyone must stay at home on the seventh day. Nobody must leave his home that day.’ ³⁰ So the people rested on the seventh day.

³¹ The Israelites called the special food ‘manna’. It was white, like seeds called coriander. When they tasted the manna, it was like thin pieces of bread with honey in it.

³² Moses said, ‘This is what the Lord has commanded: “Keep one bowl (an omer) of manna for people to look at in future times. They will see the bread that I fed to you in the desert, after I had brought you out of Egypt.” ’

³³ So Moses said to Aaron, ‘Put an omer of manna into a jar. Then put the jar in the place where we worship the Lord. We must keep it safe, so that our descendants can see it in the future.’

³⁴ Aaron did what the Lord had told Moses. He put the jar in the Covenant Box, to keep it safe.^[d]

³⁵ The Israelites ate the manna for 40 years, until they had finished their journey in the desert. After those 40 years, they arrived at the edge of Canaan.

³⁶ (The people used omers to measure the food. Ten omers is equal to one ephah.)^[e]

God gives water out of a rock

17 Then all the Israelites continued to travel on from the desert called Sin. They moved from one place to another, as the Lord told them. When they arrived at Rephidim, they put up their tents there. But there was no water for the people to drink. ² Because of this, the people quarrelled with Moses. They said, ‘Give us water to drink!’ Moses said to them, ‘You should not quarrel with me! You should not try to test the Lord!’

³ But the people needed water to drink. They complained against Moses. They said, ‘You should not have brought us out of Egypt! You will kill us and our children and our animals. We will all die, because we have no water to drink.’

⁴ Then Moses called to the Lord for help. He said, ‘What can I do with these people? They will soon be throwing stones at me to kill me.’

⁵ The Lord said to Moses, ‘Take some of the leaders of the Israelites with you and go in front of the people. Take your stick in your hand. Take the stick that you used to hit the Nile river. Now go! ⁶ I will stand there, in front of you, by the rock at Sinai. Hit the rock with your stick, and water will come out of it. Then the people can drink.’ So Moses did this, while the leaders of the Israelites watched him.

⁷ Moses called that place Massah and Meribah, because the Israelites quarrelled there. They tried to test the Lord to see what he would do. They said, ‘Let us see if the Lord is really with us. Will he help us, or not?’^[f]

The Israelites fight the Amalekites

⁸ At Rephidim, the Amalekites came and they fought against the Israelites. ⁹ Moses said to Joshua, ‘Choose some of our men. Then go out with them and fight against the Amalekites. Tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill, and I will hold God's stick in my hand.’

¹⁰ So Joshua fought against the Amalekites. He did what Moses had told him to do. Moses, Aaron and Hur went up to the top of the hill. ¹¹ When Moses lifted up his hands, the Israelites were winning in the fight. But when Moses brought his hands down, the Amalekites were winning. ¹² Moses' hands became very tired. So Aaron and Hur put a big stone under Moses for him to sit on. Then Aaron and Hur held up Moses' hands. Aaron stood on one side of Moses, and Hur stood on the other side. They held his hands up, until sunset. ¹³ As a result, Joshua and his men destroyed the Amalekite army in the fight.

¹⁴ Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Write down what happened here in a book. Then people will remember it. Read it aloud for Joshua to hear. Say that I will completely destroy all the Amalekites. Nobody in the whole world will remember them any more.’

¹⁵ Then Moses used big stones to build an altar. He called it ‘The Lord is my flag in war’.^{[g] 16} Moses said, ‘Take hold of the Lord's flag! The Lord will always continue to fight against the Amalekites.’

Jethro visits Moses

18 The father of Moses' wife was called Jethro. He was the priest for the Midian people. He heard about all the things that God had done for Moses and for the Israelites. He also heard how the Lord had brought Israel out of Egypt.

² Moses had sent his wife, Zipporah, back to her home. He also sent his two sons with her. Jethro took care of them. ³ Moses' older son was called Gershom.^[h] Moses said about him, ‘I have become a stranger in a foreign country.’ ⁴ The other son was called Eliezer.^[i] Moses said about him, ‘My ancestors' God gave me help. He saved me from Pharaoh, when Pharaoh wanted to kill me.’

⁵ Jethro came to visit Moses in the wilderness. He brought with him Moses' wife and two sons. The Israelites had put up their tents near the mountain of God. ⁶ Jethro had already sent a message to Moses. He said, ‘I am coming with your wife and her two sons to see you.’

⁷ So Moses went out to meet his wife's father. He bent down and he kissed Jethro. They said ‘hello’ and they spoke together. Then they went into Moses' tent. ⁸ Moses told Jethro about all the things that the Lord had done to help the Israelites. He told him what the Lord had done against Pharaoh and against the Egyptians. He told Jethro about the troubles that had happened to the Israelites during their journey. And Moses told him how the Lord had saved his people.

⁹ When Jethro heard what Moses said, he was very happy. He realized that the Lord had saved the Israelites from the power of the Egyptians.

¹⁰ Jethro said, ‘Praise the Lord! He has saved you from the power of the Egyptians and their king, Pharaoh. Yes! He has saved the Israelites from the powerful Egyptians. ¹¹ Now I know that the Lord is greater than all other gods. He destroyed the proud Egyptians when they were cruel to his people.’

¹² Then Jethro brought an animal to burn as a sacrifice to God. He also brought other sacrifices. Aaron came, with all the leaders of the Israelites. They ate a special meal together with Jethro, to worship God.

Moses chooses some judges

¹³ The next day, Moses sat down to judge people who had quarrels against each other. From morning until evening, people were coming to him with their quarrels.

¹⁴ Jethro saw all these things that Moses did to help the people. So he said, ‘You are trying to do too much! Why do you sit there alone to judge all these people during the whole day?’

¹⁵ Moses answered Jethro, ‘The people come to me to discover what God says. ¹⁶ When they quarrel, they come to me to decide who is right. I tell them what God's laws and commands teach.’

¹⁷ Jethro replied, ‘The thing that you are doing is not good. ¹⁸ You will become too tired. The people who come to you will also become tired. You cannot do all this work alone. ¹⁹ Now listen to me! I will tell you what I think will help you. God will take care of you. When people have quarrels, you must continue to speak to God on their behalf. ²⁰ You are the person who must teach them God's laws and commands. You must show them how they should live and what they must do.

²¹ But you must also choose some other clever men to help you. They must be honest men who respect God. They must not want to take money from people. Choose these men to be officers with authority over groups of the people. They will be leaders of 1,000 people, or 100 people, or 50 people, or 10 people. ²² They will be able to work as judges for the people, every day. They can decide the small quarrels. But if there is a difficult problem, they must bring it to you. That will make your work easier, because they will help you with the work. ²³ If you agree with my idea, and if God commands you to do it, it will help you. The work will not be too hard for you. And all these people will go home happily.’

²⁴ Moses listened to Jethro and he did everything that Jethro had said.

²⁵ Moses chose wise men from all the Israelites. He made them officers to lead 1,000 people, or 100 people, or 50 people, or 10 people. ²⁶ They worked as judges for the people at all times. If there was a difficult problem, they took it to Moses for him to decide. But they themselves decided the small problems.

²⁷ Then Moses said ‘goodbye’ to his wife's father, Jethro. Jethro returned to his own country.

The Israelites arrive at Sinai mountain

19 ^1-2 After the Israelites left Rephidim, they went into the Sinai desert. The Israelites put up their tents in the desert, at the side of Sinai mountain. That happened on the first day of the third month since they came out of Egypt.

³ Moses went up the mountain to speak with God. The Lord spoke to him from the mountain. He said, ‘This is what you must say to the Israelites, Jacob's descendants: ⁴ “You yourselves have seen what I did against the Egyptians. You know how I took care of you. I carried you carefully, like an eagle carries her babies on her wings. I brought you here to come to me. ⁵ Now you must be careful to obey me and my covenant with you. Then you will belong to me as my special people. The whole earth belongs to me, and I have chosen you from among all the nations. ⁶ You will be my priests who serve in my kingdom. You will be a nation that is special to me.” These are the words that you must speak to the Israelites.’

⁷ So Moses came back down from the mountain. He brought together all the leaders of the Israelites. He told them all the words that the Lord had commanded him. ⁸ The people all replied together. They said, ‘We will do everything that the Lord has said.’ Then Moses repeated their answer to the Lord.

⁹ The Lord said to Moses, ‘I will come to you in a thick cloud. Then the people will hear me when I speak to you. Then they will always believe what you say.’ Moses told the Lord the words that the people had said.

¹⁰ Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Go to the people. Make them ready to meet with me. Today and tomorrow they must wash their clothes. ¹¹ They must be ready on the third day. On that day, I will come down on Sinai mountain, so that all the people see me. ¹² Make a line round the edge of the mountain so that the people do not cross it. Say to them, “Be careful! Do not go up the mountain or even touch the edge of it. If any people or animals touch the mountain, they must die. ¹³ Nobody must go near them. You must throw stones at them to kill them. Or you must shoot arrows at them. You must not let them live, whether they are people or animals.” The people must wait until they hear the sound of a trumpet. When they hear a long noise, then they may go up on the mountain.’

¹⁴ Then Moses came down from the mountain to speak to the people. He told them to make themselves ready for God. So the people washed their clothes. ¹⁵ Then Moses said to them, ‘Prepare yourselves for the third day. While you wait, do not have sex with your wives, or anyone.’

¹⁶ On the morning of the third day, there was thunder and lightning. A thick cloud was there over the mountain. The people heard the noise of a loud trumpet. They were so afraid that their bodies were shaking.

¹⁷ Then Moses led the people away from their tents to meet with God. They went and they stood at the edge of the mountain. ¹⁸ Smoke covered Sinai mountain because the Lord had come down on the mountain, like a fire. The smoke rose up from the mountain, like smoke from a great fire. The whole mountain shook very much. ¹⁹ The noise of the trumpet became louder and louder. Moses spoke to God and God answered him with a loud voice.

²⁰ The Lord came down onto the top of Sinai mountain. Then the Lord told Moses that he must come up to the top of the mountain. So Moses went up the mountain. ²¹ The Lord said to Moses, ‘Go down to the people. Warn them that they must stay away from the mountain. They must not cross the line to try to see me, the Lord. If they do that, many of them will die. ²² Even the priests must make themselves clean before they come near to me. If they do not obey this command, I will punish them. I am the Lord.’

²³ Moses said to the Lord, ‘The people cannot come up Sinai mountain. You warned us that we must make a line round the edge of the mountain. You said that we must make the mountain a special place.’

²⁴ The Lord replied, ‘Now go back down. Then bring Aaron up with you. But the priests and the people must stay where they are. They must not try to come up here where I am. If they come across the line, I will punish them.’

²⁵ So Moses went down to the people. He told them what the Lord had said.

God's 10 special commands

20 Then God spoke all these words:

² ‘I am the Lord your God. I brought you out of Egypt, the country where you were slaves.

³ You must not have any other gods except me.

⁴ You must not make any idol for yourself. Do not make a false god in the shape of anything that is in the sky above. Do not make one in the shape of anything on the earth or in the sea. ⁵ You must not bend down your head to any idol or worship it. I am the Lord your God and I want you to belong to me alone. I will punish children because of the bad things that their fathers have done. I will also punish their children and their grandchildren too. That is how I will punish everyone who turns against me. ⁶ But I will truly love all those who love me. They are the people who obey my laws. I will continue to love them and their families for ever.

⁷ You must not speak the name of the Lord your God in a wrong way. The Lord will punish anyone who speaks his name in a wrong way.

⁸ Remember the Sabbath day. Keep it as a special day for me. ⁹ You have six days every week to do all your work. ¹⁰ But the seventh day is a Sabbath day. It is special for the Lord your God. You must not do any work on that day. Your son and your daughter must not work on that day. Your servants, male or female, must not work on that day. The foreign person who lives among you and even your animals must not work on that day. ¹¹ In six days, the Lord made the heavens, the earth and the sea. He made everything that is in them. But on the seventh day, the Lord rested. So he blessed the Sabbath day and he made it special.

¹² Always respect your father and your mother. Then you will live for many years in the land that the Lord your God will give to you.

¹³ You must not murder anyone.

¹⁴ You must not have sex with another person's husband or wife.

¹⁵ You must not take another person's things for yourself.

¹⁶ You must not say false things against your neighbour.

¹⁷ You must not want to take your neighbour's house for yourself. You must not want to take his wife, or his servants, male or female. You must not want to take his ox, or his donkey, or anything else that belongs to your neighbour.’

The people are very afraid

¹⁸ The people heard the loud thunder and they saw the bright lightning. They heard the noise of the trumpet. They saw the smoke on the mountain. They were so afraid that their bodies were shaking. They would not come near. ¹⁹ They said to Moses, ‘Speak to us yourself. We will listen to you. But do not let God speak to us. If he does, we will die.’

²⁰ Moses said to the people, ‘Do not be afraid. God has come to test you. He wants you to respect him and to obey him. Then you will not do things that are wrong.’

²¹ So the people stayed away from the mountain. But Moses walked towards the thick, dark cloud, where God was.

Rules about certain things

²² Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Tell this to the Israelites: “You yourselves have heard me speak to you from heaven. ²³ Do not make any idols to take my place. Do not use silver or gold to make an idol that you will worship.

²⁴ Instead, use earth to make an altar for me. You must offer sacrifices to me on the altar. You may take your sheep, your goats or your cows to make burnt offerings or friendship offerings or other sacrifices to me. Make an altar like this in any place that I choose for you to worship me. In those places, I will come to you and I will bless you. ²⁵ You may also use stones from the ground to make an altar for me. But do not use any tools to cut the stones. If you use a tool on the stones, the altar will not be right for you to worship me there.

²⁶ Do not make an altar which has stairs going up to it. If you do that, someone may see under your clothes when you climb up the stairs. Then you would be ashamed.”

Israelite slaves

21 These are the laws that you must put in front of the Israelites:

² If you buy an Israelite slave, he must work for you for six years. But in the seventh year he will become a free man. He can leave you. He does not have to pay you any money. ³ If he came to you alone, he is free to leave alone. If he came with a wife, she can also leave with him. ⁴ But if the master has given a wife to the slave, she belongs to her master. If she has children, they also belong to her master. The slave must then leave by himself, without his wife and children.

⁵ But perhaps the slave may say, “I love my master, my wife and my children. I will not go away as a free man!” ⁶ Then his master must take the slave to stand in front of the judges.^[j] He must lead the slave to stand beside the door, or the wood that holds the door. Then the master must push the sharp point of a tool through the slave's ear. After that, he will serve his master for all his life.

⁷ Perhaps a man may sell his daughter to someone as a slave. She is not free to leave her master after six years, as the male slaves are. ⁸ Her master has chosen her for himself. If she does not make her master happy, he must let her family buy her back from him. He cannot sell her to a foreign person. He has not done what he promised to her.^{[k] 9} If the master had chosen the girl to marry his son, he must take care of her like his own daughter. ¹⁰ If the master marries another woman as well, he must still take care of the first woman. He must continue to give her food and clothes. He must not refuse to sleep with her. ¹¹ If he does not do these three things, she may leave him. She does not have to pay him any money.

When people attack other people

¹² Perhaps a person may hit another person so that he dies. You must punish the murderer with death. ¹³ But perhaps he had not decided to kill the other person. Perhaps God let it happen. Then the man should run away to a safe place that I will choose for you. ¹⁴ But if he already decided to kill the other person, he is a murderer. You must punish him with death. Even if he runs to my altar as a safe place, take him away from there and kill him.

¹⁵ If someone attacks his father or his mother, you must punish him with death.

¹⁶ If someone catches another person to sell him, you must punish him with death. Kill him even if you find him when he has not yet sold the man that he caught.

¹⁷ If someone curses his father or his mother, you must punish him with death.

¹⁸ Perhaps two men argue and they fight one another. One man might hit the other man with a stone or with his fist. The man that he hit might not die but he might have to stay in bed for some time. ¹⁹ After that, he may get up. He may be able to walk about outside, if he uses a stick. Then the man who hit him is not guilty. But he must pay the man that he has hurt. He must pay him for the time that he has not been able to work. He must also make sure that the man becomes completely well again.

²⁰ Perhaps a master may hit his male slave or his female slave with a stick. If the slave dies because of this, you must punish the master. ²¹ But if the slave is still alive after one or two days, do not punish his master. The master has already lost the slave's work for that time.

²² When two men fight together, perhaps one of them may hit a pregnant woman. As a result of the fight, she may give birth to her child before the right time. If the man has not hurt the woman very much, he must pay money to her husband. He must pay the amount of money that the husband demands. A judge must agree that the money for his punishment is fair. ²³ But if the man has hurt the woman a lot, you must punish him as he deserves. Take a life for a life, ²⁴ an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, a hand for a hand, a foot for a foot. ²⁵ You must give him a burn for a burn, a wound for a wound, a bruise for a bruise.^[l]

²⁶ If a master hits the eye of his male slave or his female slave, he might destroy it. Then he must let the slave go away as a free person to pay for the loss of their eye. ²⁷ If he knocks out the tooth of his slave, he must also let the slave go away to pay for the loss of the tooth.

Rules about animals

²⁸ Perhaps a bull may attack someone so that the person dies. Then you must throw stones at the bull to kill it. You must not eat the meat from that bull. But do not punish the owner of the bull. ²⁹ But perhaps that bull has attacked people before. Perhaps someone warned the owner about this, but the man did not keep the bull in a safe place. If that happens, and the bull kills someone, you must kill the bull. You must also punish the bull's owner with death. ³⁰ But if the dead person's family demands money, the man can give them money instead of his life. He must pay them what they ask for. ³¹ This law is the same if the bull attacks someone's son or their daughter. ³² If it attacks a male slave or a female slave, the man must pay 30 silver coins to the slave's master. You must also throw stones at the bull to kill it.

³³ If a man digs a hole in the ground, he must cover it. If he leaves a hole open, a cow or a donkey might fall into it. ³⁴ Then the man who dug the hole must pay for the loss of the animal. He must pay money to the animal's owner, but he may keep the dead animal for himself.

³⁵ If one man's bull attacks another man's bull, it may die. Then they must sell the bull that is still alive. Each man can take half of the money and half of the dead bull as well. ³⁶ But perhaps that bull has attacked other animals before. If its owner knows that and he did not do anything, he must pay for the dead bull. He should have kept his bull in a safe place. So he must pay the owner of the dead bull, but he can keep the dead animal for himself.

Rules about things that belong to people

22 Perhaps someone may take another person's cow or sheep for himself. He may kill it or he may sell it. As punishment, he must pay the owner five cows for each cow that he has taken. He must pay four sheep for each sheep that he has taken.

² Perhaps someone may catch a robber as he goes into another person's house. The owner of the house might knock down the robber so that he dies. If this happens at night, the owner of the house is not guilty of murder. ³ But if the owner of the house kills the robber after sunrise, he is guilty of murder.

Anyone who takes something that belongs to someone else must pay back the owner. If he cannot pay for everything that he has taken, he must become a slave. The owner will receive the money that someone has paid for the slave.

⁴ You may find an animal that someone has taken for himself. If the animal is still alive, the person who took it must pay back to the owner twice its value. He must do this, whether it was a cow, a donkey, or a sheep.

⁵ A man's animals might go into someone else's field or vineyard to eat what is growing there. Then the owner of those animals must pay back the value of what they have eaten. He must give his best grain and his best grapes to pay back the other man.

⁶ Someone might light a fire in his field to burn thorn bushes. But the fire might grow and it might burn the crops in another farmer's field. It may destroy the crops that are growing there or the grain that is ready for harvest. It might even destroy the whole field. Then the person who lit the fire must pay the farmer for the crops that the fire has destroyed.

⁷ Perhaps you may give some of your money or your valuable things to your neighbour. You may ask your neighbour to keep them safe for you. But a robber might take those things from your neighbour's house. If you catch the robber, he must pay back twice the value of the things that he took. ⁸ But if you do not find the robber, you must take your neighbour to stand in front of the judges.^[m] They must decide if your neighbour has taken your things for himself.

⁹ Perhaps two people both say that something belongs to them. They may argue about a cow, a donkey, a sheep, some clothes or anything else that they have lost. Then both of them must go to stand in front of the judges. The judges will decide which of them is guilty. The guilty person must pay back twice the value of the thing to the other person.

¹⁰ Perhaps you may ask your neighbour to keep one of your animals safe for you. It may be a donkey, a cow, a sheep or any other animal that belongs to you. Then the animal may die, or something may hurt it. Or perhaps a robber takes it for himself. If nobody has seen what really happened, you must do this: ¹¹ Your neighbour must make a serious promise to the Lord. He must promise that he did not take your animal for himself, or hurt it. Then you must accept what he has said. Do not ask your neighbour to pay you any money. ¹² But if a robber did take the animal from your neighbour, then your neighbour must pay you for it. ¹³ But perhaps a wild animal attacked it. Then your neighbour must show the pieces of your animal that are left. Then he will not have to pay you for the loss of your animal.

¹⁴ Your neighbour might lend one of his animals to you to do some work. Something bad might happen to the animal while its owner is not with it. It might die, or something might hurt it. Then you must pay your neighbour for the loss of the animal. ¹⁵ But if the owner is with his animal when something bad happens to it, you do not have to pay anything. And if you already paid your neighbour some money to use his animal, that will be enough to pay him for the loss.

Rules about life

¹⁶ Perhaps a man may meet a young girl who has not had sex with any man before. He might deceive her to have sex with her. If she has not yet promised to marry another man, he must marry her. He must give the right gifts to her parents. ¹⁷ Her father might refuse to give her to the man to be his wife. But the man must still give the right gifts for a girl who is not married.^[n]

¹⁸ You must punish with death any woman who is a magician.

¹⁹ You must punish with death anyone who has sex with an animal.

²⁰ You must completely destroy anyone who offers a sacrifice to a false god. You must only offer sacrifices to the Lord.

²¹ Never be cruel to a foreign person or give them trouble. Remember that you yourselves lived in Egypt as foreigners.

²² Never give trouble to any widow or to any children who have no family. ²³ If you are cruel to them, I will hear them when they call out to me for help. ²⁴ I will be very angry with you. I will kill you in war. Your wives will become widows. Your children will no longer have any family.

²⁵ You may lend money to any of my people who need help. But do not ask them to pay back more money than you have lent to them. That is what traders in money do. ²⁶ You may take someone's coat as a guarantee that he will pay you back. But you must always return his coat to him before sunset. ²⁷ He needs his coat to keep him warm at night. It is the only warm thing that he has to sleep in. If you keep his coat, I will hear him when he calls out to me for help. And I will help him, because I am very kind to people.

²⁸ Never insult God. Never curse anyone who is a leader of your people.

²⁹ Do not refuse to offer your grain, your wine or your olive oil to me.

You must give your firstborn sons to me.

³⁰ Do the same thing with your cows and your sheep. Let them stay with their mothers for seven days. But on the eighth day, you must give them to me.

³¹ You must live as my special people. So do not eat any meat from your animals that wild animals have killed. Instead, you must give it as food to the dogs.

Rules for justice

23 Do not make false reports. Do not tell lies in court to help wicked people.

² Do not join a group of bad people to do evil things. When you speak in court, tell the truth so that the judges will decide what is right. Do not tell lies to agree with what everyone else says. ³ Do not speak on behalf of a poor man only because you like him.

⁴ Perhaps you may find your enemy's cow or his donkey when he has lost it. If so, you must give it back to him. ⁵ Perhaps you may see your enemy's donkey when it is carrying a heavy load. If the donkey has fallen down, do not refuse to give help. Do not leave the donkey there.

⁶ Always do what is right for your poor people when they stand in front of a judge. ⁷ Do not help anyone to use lies to accuse another person. Never punish anyone with death if they are not guilty. I will never say that a wicked person is not guilty.

⁸ Do not accept a bribe. A bribe will hide the truth even from honest people. It can make good people tell lies.

⁹ Do not be cruel to a foreign person who lives among you. You yourselves know what that feels like. Remember that you lived in Egypt as foreigners.

Rules about the Sabbath day and Feasts

¹⁰ You must plant seed in your fields for six years. Then you can bring your crops home at harvest time. ¹¹ But in the seventh year, you must let your fields lie empty. Do not dig them and do not plant anything in them. Then poor people among you can eat the food that they find in your fields. After that, the wild animals can eat any food that still remains. Do the same thing with your vineyards and your fields of olive trees.

¹² Do your work for six days each week, but do not work on the seventh day. Then your oxen and your donkeys will have time to rest. Any slave who was born in your home and any foreigner who works for you may also have time to rest. That will help them to be strong.

¹³ Be careful to obey everything that I have told you. Do not pray to other gods for help. Do not even speak about them.

¹⁴ Three times each year, you must eat a feast to give me honour.

¹⁵ Eat the Feast of Flat Bread every year. For seven days, you must eat bread that you have made without any yeast. I have commanded you to do this. Do it at the right time during the month Abib. It was in that month that you came out of Egypt. Nobody must come to me without an offering.

¹⁶ Eat the Feast of Harvest every year. Offer to me the first crops that you bring from your fields.^[o]

At the end of each year, eat Feast of Final Harvest. Do that when you have finished bringing in all of your crops from the fields.

¹⁷ Three times each year, all your men must come to worship the Almighty Lord.

¹⁸ When you kill an animal to offer it to me as a sacrifice, do not offer it with bread that has yeast in it. Be sure to burn all the fat of the animal on the same day. Do not keep any of it until the next morning.

¹⁹ When you cut the first crops from your fields, bring the best food to the house of the Lord your God.

Do not cook a young goat in its mother's milk.

God's special angel

²⁰ Look! I will send an angel to lead you on your journey. He will keep you safe. He will take you to the place that I have prepared for you. ²¹ Be careful to obey him. Listen to what he says to you. Do not turn against him. If you do that, he will not forgive you. I have given him my authority. ²² So be careful to obey him. Do everything that I tell you. Then I will be the enemy of your enemies. I will fight against anyone who fights against you. ²³ My angel will go in front of you. He will bring you into the land of the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Canaanites, the Hivites and the Jebusites. I will destroy them completely. ²⁴ Do not worship their gods. Do not serve them. Do not copy the evil things that these people do. Destroy their idols and break their special stones into pieces.

²⁵ You must serve only me, the Lord your God. Then I will bless your food and your water. I will remove illness from among you. ²⁶ Your women will safely give birth to babies. They will all be able to have children. Everyone will live a long life.

²⁷ I will cause all the nations that you meet to be afraid. All the people who attack you will become confused. I will cause all your enemies to turn round and run away from you. ²⁸ I will send great fear on the people as you move into the land.^[p] That will chase out the Hivites, the Canaanites and the Hittites. ²⁹ But I will not chase out those people in one year. If I did that, the country would become empty of people. Then there would be many wild animals that would cause trouble to you. ³⁰ I will remove the people slowly, one group at a time. As you become strong, you will take the land as your own home.

³¹ I will decide where the borders of your land will be. You will have the land from the Red Sea to the Mediterranean Sea, and from the desert to the Euphrates River. I will put the people who live there under your power. As you move into the land, you will chase those people out.

³² Do not make any agreement with them or with their gods. ³³ Do not let them live in your land. They would cause you to do bad things against me. If you serve their gods, you will become like their prisoners.’

God repeats his covenant

24 Then God said to Moses, ‘Come up to me, the Lord. Come with Aaron, Nadab, Abihu and 70 of the leaders of Israel. Worship me, but do not come near. ² Only Moses can come near to me, but not the others. The people must not come up the mountain with him.’

³ Moses went and he told the people all the Lord's commands and his teaching. The people answered together, ‘We will do everything that the Lord has told us.’ ⁴ Then Moses wrote down everything that the Lord had said.

Early the next morning, Moses built an altar at the bottom of the mountain. Then he put up 12 stone pillars. Each pillar stood there for one of Israel's 12 tribes. ⁵ Moses sent young Israelite men to burn animals there, as offerings to the Lord. They also killed young bulls as friendship offerings to the Lord.

⁶ Moses took half of the blood of these animals and he put it into some bowls. He splashed the other half of the blood over the altar. ⁷ Then he took the Book of God's Covenant and he read it to the people. They replied, ‘We will do everything that the Lord has told us. We will obey his commands.’

⁸ Then Moses used the blood in the bowls to splash on the people. He said, ‘This blood shows that you accept the covenant that the Lord has made with you. You agree to obey the rules of his covenant.’

⁹ Then Moses and Aaron, Nadab, Abihu and the 70 Israelite leaders went up the mountain. ¹⁰ They saw the God of Israel there. Under his feet was something like a jewel called sapphire. It was as bright as a clear blue sky. ¹¹ God did not hurt those Israelite leaders. They saw God. They ate a meal and they drank together.

¹² The Lord said to Moses, ‘Come up to me on the mountain. Stay here. I will give you the flat stones with my Law on them. I have written on them my Law and my commands, so that you can teach them to the people.’

¹³ So Moses went up the mountain of God. His servant Joshua went with him. ¹⁴ Moses said to the leaders, ‘Wait here for us. We will come back to you. Aaron and Hur are here with you. If you have any arguments, they can decide who is right.’

¹⁵ When Moses went up the mountain, the cloud covered it. ¹⁶ The Lord's bright glory appeared on Sinai mountain. The cloud covered the mountain for six days. On the seventh day, the Lord called out to Moses from inside the cloud. ¹⁷ The people could see the Lord's bright glory. To them, it looked like a fire that was burning the top of the mountain. ¹⁸ Moses went up the mountain and he went into the cloud. He stayed on the mountain for 40 days and 40 nights.

The tabernacle

25 The Lord said to Moses: ² ‘Tell the Israelites to bring me an offering. Every person who wants to give can make a gift to me. You must receive their gifts. ³ These are the gifts that you must receive from the people as an offering:

⁸ You must tell the Israelites to make a special place to be my home. Then I will live among them. ⁹ I will show you how to make this tabernacle and everything that you will put inside it. But you must make everything in the way that I tell you.

The Covenant Box

¹⁰ The Israelites must use acacia wood to make a big box. It must be 1 metre long, 75 centimetres wide and 75 centimetres high. ¹¹ Cover the wood with gold, both inside and outside. Build up the edges of the box with gold. ¹² Make four gold rings and fix them to the four feet of the box. Fix two rings on one side and two rings on the other side. ¹³ Then use acacia wood to make two poles. Cover them with gold too. ¹⁴ Push the poles through the rings on the sides of the box. You will use the poles to carry the box. ¹⁵ The poles must remain along the side of the box, in the rings. Never remove them. ¹⁶ Then put into the box the two flat stones with the words of the covenant on them. I will give those to you.

¹⁷ Use pure gold to make a lid for the box. Make the lid 1 metre long and 75 centimetres wide. ¹⁸ Use gold to make images of two cherubs. Use a hammer to make them the right shape. They will stand at the two ends of the lid. ¹⁹ One cherub will stand at one end of the lid, and one cherub will stand at the other end. The two cherubs and the lid must be one piece of gold. ²⁰ The cherubs must look towards each other and watch over the lid. Their wings must touch each other over the top of the lid. ²¹ Then put the lid on the top of the box. Put the flat stones with the words of the covenant into the box. I will give those to you.

²² I will meet with you there, between the two cherubs that are above the lid. They watch over the Covenant Box. In that place I will give you all my commands for the Israelites.

The table for special bread

²³ Use acacia wood to make a table. It must be one 1 metre long, 50 centimetres wide and 75 centimetres high. ²⁴ Cover the wood with gold. Build up the edges of the table with gold. ²⁵ Also, fix an extra piece of wood around its edge. It must be 7 centimetres wide. Build up the edges of this piece with gold.

²⁶ Make four gold rings for the table. Fix them to the four corners, one beside each leg of the table. ²⁷ The rings must be near to the extra piece of wood. They will hold the poles that you will use to carry the table. ²⁸ Use acacia wood to make the poles. Cover them with gold. Use the poles to carry the table. ²⁹ Use pure gold to make plates, big spoons, jars and bowls. You will use these things to pour out drink offerings. ³⁰ Put the Lord's special bread on this table. The bread must always be there for me.

The lampstand

³¹ Use one piece of pure gold to make a lampstand. Use a hammer to make it the right shape. Use the gold to make its base, its middle pole and the cups to hold the oil. The cups will be like open flowers and closed flowers. ³² Make six branches on the lampstand, three branches on each side of the middle pole. ³³ Put three cups in the shape of almond flowers and their leaves on each branch. Each of the six branches of the lampstand will have three cups like that. ³⁴ On the lampstand itself, put four cups in the shape of almond flowers and their leaves. ³⁵ Put one closed flower under the first pair of branches. Put a second closed flower under the second pair of branches. Put the third closed flower under the third pair of branches. So there will be three closed flowers for the six branches on the lampstand. ³⁶ You must make the flowers and the branches from the same piece of pure gold as the lampstand. Use a hammer to make the gold into the right shape.

³⁷ Then make seven lamps and fix them to the lampstand. Fix them so that they light the space in front of the lampstand. ³⁸ Also use pure gold to make small tools and dishes to take care of the lamps. ³⁹ Use 34 kilograms of pure gold to make the lampstand and all the tools to take care of it.

⁴⁰ Be careful to make all these things like the plan that I have shown you on the mountain.

The tabernacle

26 Make the tabernacle with ten curtains of very good linen. Also use blue, purple and red material. Tell a worker to use special skills to make pictures of cherubs on the curtains. ² All the curtains must be the same size: 12 metres long and 2 metres wide. ³ Join five of the curtains together. Do the same thing with the other five curtains. ⁴ Fix rings of blue material along the edge of the last curtain in each set of five curtains. ⁵ Put 50 rings on the edge of the first set. Put 50 rings on the edge of the other set. Do this so that the rings on one curtain are opposite to the rings on the other curtain. ⁶ Then use 50 small gold hooks to join the curtains together. In this way, a single piece of curtain will make the whole tabernacle.

⁷ Use goats' hair to make 11 curtains. They will cover the tabernacle, like a tent. ⁸ All the curtains must be the same size: 13.5 metres long and 2 metres wide. ⁹ Join five of the curtains together to make one set. Fix the other six curtains together to make a second set. Turn the sixth curtain of this set over itself to cover the entrance of the tent. ¹⁰ Use material to make 50 rings along the edge of the end curtain in each set. ¹¹ Then make 50 bronze hooks. Use them to join the two sets of curtains together so that it makes a single tent. ¹² The curtains for the tent will be longer than the curtains for the tabernacle. The extra half of the curtain for the tent will hang at the back of the tabernacle. ¹³ The curtains of the tent will be half a metre longer on both sides. The extra material will hang over each side of the tabernacle to cover it completely.

¹⁴ Use red leather from sheep's skins to cover the tent. Then use another kind of good leather to cover the red leather.

¹⁵ Use acacia wood to make boards to hold up the tabernacle. ¹⁶ Each board must be 4 metres high and 65 centimetres wide. ¹⁷ Make two wooden pegs on each board, beside each other. Make all the boards of the tabernacle like this. ¹⁸ Make 20 boards for the south side of the tabernacle. ¹⁹ Then use silver to make 40 heavy bases to hold up the boards. Two bases will hold up each board. The pegs on the boards will fit into holes in the bases. ²⁰ Also make 20 boards for the north side of the tabernacle. ²¹ Make 40 silver bases, two bases under each board. ²² Make six boards for the west side, at the back of the tabernacle. ²³ Then make two boards for the corners at the back of the tabernacle. ²⁴ You must fix the two boards together, from the bottom to the top. Use a ring to fix them together at the top. Make both the corners in the same way. ²⁵ So there will be eight boards at the back of the tabernacle and 16 silver bases, two bases under each board.

²⁶ You must also use acacia wood to make bars to fix across the boards. Make five bars for the south side of the tabernacle, ²⁷ five bars for the north side, and five bars for the west side at the back of the tabernacle. ²⁸ The bar that goes across the centre of the boards must reach from one end of the tabernacle to the other end. ²⁹ Use gold to cover the boards and to make rings for the boards. These rings will hold the bars in place across the boards. Also cover the wooden bars with gold.

³⁰ Make the tabernacle the same as the plan that I showed to you on the mountain.

The curtain inside the tabernacle

³¹ Use blue, purple and red material and good linen to make a special curtain. A worker must use special skills to make pictures of cherubs on it. ³² Use gold rings to hang the curtain from four poles of acacia wood. Cover these poles with gold. Then fix them on four silver bases. ³³ Hang the top of the curtain from the rings. Put the Covenant Box behind the curtain, in the Most Holy Place. The curtain will hang between the Most Holy Place and the Holy Place so that they are separate. ³⁴ Put the special lid on the Covenant Box, in the Most Holy Place.^{[r] 35} Put the special table in the Holy Place, outside the curtain. It will be on the north side of the tabernacle. Put the lampstand opposite the table, on the south side.

³⁶ Make a curtain for the entrance of the tent. Use blue, purple and red material and good linen to make it. A worker must use special skills to make it so that it looks beautiful. ³⁷ Use acacia wood to make five poles. Cover them with gold. Fix gold rings to the poles. Use bronze to make five bases to hold up the poles. Then hang the curtain from the rings on the poles.

The altar for sacrifices

27 Use acacia wood to make an altar. It must be square, 2.2 metres long and 2.2 metres wide. It must be 1.3 metres high. ² Make four horns, one at each corner of the altar. The horns and the altar itself must be one piece of work. Then cover the whole altar with bronze. ³ Make all the tools for the altar with bronze. Make pots to remove the ashes, spades and bowls. Make forks for the meat. Make dishes to carry the fire. ⁴ Use bronze to make a square net and rings at each corner. ⁵ Fix this net inside the altar, in the middle, between the top of the altar and the ground.^{[s] 6} Use acacia wood to make poles for the altar. Cover them with bronze. ⁷ You must put the poles through the rings when you carry the altar. There will be a pole on each of two sides of the altar. ⁸ Use boards to make the altar, so that it is empty inside. You must make it in the way that the Lord showed you on the mountain.

The yard

⁹ Make a yard around the tent of the tabernacle. The south side must be 45 metres long. It will have curtains that are made of good linen. ¹⁰ Make 20 poles and 20 bronze bases to hold the poles. Use silver to make hooks and sticks to hold the curtains. ¹¹ The north side of the yard must also be 45 metres long. It will also have 20 poles with their bronze bases, as well as their silver hooks and sticks.

¹² The west end of the yard must be 23 metres long. Make curtains for it, with ten poles and their bronze bases. ¹³ The entrance to the yard is at its east end. That end must also be 23 metres long. ^14-15 There will be 7 metres of curtain on each side of the entrance. There will be three poles with their bases to hold the curtains on each side.

¹⁶ Make a curtain 9 metres wide for the entrance to the yard. Make it out of blue, purple and red material, as well as good linen. Choose a worker who can use special skills to make the curtain look beautiful. Make four poles and their bases to hold the curtain at the entrance.

¹⁷ All the poles around the yard must have bronze bases. They will also have silver hooks and sticks to hold the curtains. ¹⁸ The yard will be 45 metres long and 23 metres wide. Use good linen to make the curtains. They must be 2¼ metres high on the bronze bases.

¹⁹ Use bronze to make all the tools that you will use in the tabernacle. Also use bronze to make the pegs that fix the tent of the tabernacle to the ground. And make bronze pegs to fix the curtain around the yard to the ground.

Olive oil for the lamps

²⁰ Command the Israelites to bring you pure oil from fresh olives. You will use this oil to make the lamps give light all the time. ²¹ Aaron and his sons must make sure that the lamps always give light from evening until morning. The lampstand will be in the Tent of Meeting, outside the curtain that hangs in front of the Covenant Box.^[t] The lamps must always give light there, where the Lord is. This will always be a rule for the Israelites, now and in the future.

Special clothes for the priests

28 Bring your brother Aaron and his sons from among the other Israelites. They will serve me as my priests. That will be Aaron and his sons, Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar. ² Make special clothes for Aaron. They will be beautiful clothes to show that he deserves honour. ³ I have given special skills to some workers so that they know how to make beautiful things. Tell them to make clothes for Aaron. They will show that I have chosen him to serve me as my priest. ⁴ These are the clothes that they must make:

They must make these special clothes for your brother Aaron and for his sons. Then Aaron and his sons will serve me as my priests. ⁵ The workers who have special skills must use beautiful material that is gold, blue, purple and red, as well as good linen.

The ephod

⁶ Use gold, blue, purple and red material, as well as good linen, to make the ephod. A worker should use special skills to make it so that it looks beautiful. ⁷ Fix pieces of cloth on its two edges. These will go over the priest's shoulders to join the front and the back parts of the ephod. ⁸ Make a beautiful belt to tie around the ephod. The belt and the ephod must be one piece of work. Use the same materials to make both of them: gold, blue, purple and red material, and good linen.

⁹ Take two onyx stones and write on them with a sharp tool. Write the names of the sons of Israel. ¹⁰ Begin with the name of the oldest son and finish with the name of the youngest son. Write six names on one stone and six names on the other stone. ¹¹ A worker who has skill to cut letters into metal must do this work. Then fix the stones into beautiful gold around their edges. ¹² Fix the two stones on the shoulder pieces of the ephod so that they show the names of the 12 sons of Israel. Aaron will carry the names on his shoulders as he serves the Lord. Then the Lord will remember to bless his people. ¹³ Use gold to make beautiful pieces to hold the stones. ¹⁴ And use pure gold to make two thin chains, like strings. Fix these chains to the gold pieces that hold the onyx stones.

The breastpiece

¹⁵ A worker must use special skills to make a breastpiece so that it looks beautiful. The breastpiece will help the priest to know what God is saying. Make it like the ephod. Use gold, blue, purple and red material, and good linen to make it. ¹⁶ Bend a piece of cloth over to make a square pocket, 22 centimetres long and 22 centimetres wide. ¹⁷ Then fix four rows of jewels on it. These are the names of the jewels:

Fix each jewel into beautiful gold around its edges. ²¹ There will be 12 jewels, one jewel for each of Israel's sons. You must carefully write one tribe's name on each jewel with a sharp tool.

²² Use pure gold to make two thin chains like strings. These will fix the breastpiece to the ephod. ²³ Make two gold rings and fix them to the two top corners of the breastpiece. ²⁴ Fix the two gold chains to the two rings on the corners of the breastpiece. ²⁵ Fix the other ends of the two chains to the shoulder pieces of the ephod, in the front. Join them to the gold pieces that hold the onyx stones. ²⁶ Make two gold rings and fix them to the two bottom corners of the breastpiece. Put them on its inside edge, so that they are next to the ephod. ²⁷ Make two more gold rings. Fix them to the bottom edge of the shoulder pieces, on the front of the ephod. Put them just above the ephod's belt. ²⁸ Use a string of blue material to tie the rings on the breastpiece to the rings on the ephod. Fix them together above the ephod's belt. Then the breastpiece and the belt will not become separate.

²⁹ When Aaron goes into the Holy Place, he will wear the breastpiece. So he will carry the names of Israel's sons over his heart. And the Lord will always remember to bless the Israelites. ³⁰ Put the Urim and Thummim in the pocket of the breastpiece. They will also be over Aaron's heart when he goes in there to serve the Lord. The Urim and Thummim will always be there to show Aaron what the Lord is saying about the Israelites. He will carry this help over his heart all the time.

Other clothes for the priests

³¹ Use only blue cloth to make the robe for the ephod.^{[u] 32} Make a hole in the top of the robe, in the middle. Make an edge around this hole, for the priest's head to go through. Make the edge so that it will not tear. ³³ Use blue, purple and red material to make pictures of pomegranates. Also make gold bells. The pomegranates and the bells will go all around the bottom edge of the robe. ³⁴ There will be a bell then a pomegranate, another bell then a pomegranate, all around the edge of the robe.

³⁵ Aaron must wear the robe when he is serving the Lord. The bells will make a noise when he goes into the Holy Place to serve the Lord. They will also make a sound when he comes out. Then he will not die.

³⁶ Use pure gold to make a thin plate and write on it carefully with a sharp tool. Write this sign on it: “Holy to the Lord”. ³⁷ Fix a blue string to the plate and tie it to the front of the linen hat. ³⁸ Aaron will always wear this sign on the front of his head. When the Israelites bring gifts to God, they may be guilty of sins. When Aaron has this sign on his head, he himself will be guilty instead of them. Then the Lord will accept the gifts that his people offer to him.

³⁹ Use good linen to make the long shirt and the hat for the priest. A worker with special skills must make the long belt, so that it looks beautiful.

⁴⁰ Make shirts, belts and hats for Aaron's sons. These clothes must be beautiful to give them honour.

⁴¹ Dress your brother Aaron and his sons with these clothes. Then pour oil on their heads to show that they have my authority. Make them separate from the other Israelites as my holy servants. They will serve me as my priests.

⁴² Use good linen to make trousers that will cover the lower parts of their bodies. ⁴³ Aaron and his sons must wear them when they go into the Tent of Meeting. They must also wear them when they go near to the altar to serve me in the Holy Place. Then they will not be guilty. I will not punish them with death. This will always be a rule for Aaron and his descendants.