Bible in 90 Days
19 For the horses of Pharaoh went in with his chariots and with his horsemen into the sea, and the Lord brought back the waters of the sea upon them, but the children of Israel walked on dry land in the midst of the sea.
The Song of Miriam
20 Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took a timbrel in her hand, and all the women went out after her with timbrels and with dancing. 21 Miriam answered them,
“Sing to the Lord,
for He triumphed gloriously!
The horse and his rider
He has hurled into the sea.”
The Waters of Marah and Elim
22 Then Moses led Israel from the Red Sea, and they went out into the Wilderness of Shur, and they went three days in the wilderness and found no water. 23 When they came to Marah, they could not drink of the waters of Marah, for they were bitter. Therefore, the name of it was called Marah. 24 So the people murmured against Moses, saying, “What shall we drink?”
25 And he cried to the Lord, and the Lord showed him a tree. When he had thrown it into the waters, the waters were made sweet.
There He made for them a statute and an ordinance, and there He tested them. 26 He said, “If you diligently listen to the voice of the Lord your God, and do what is right in His sight, and give ear to His commandments, and keep all His statutes, I will not afflict you with any of the diseases with which I have afflicted the Egyptians. For I am the Lord who heals you.”
27 Then they came to Elim, where there were twelve wells of water and seventy palm trees, and they camped there by the waters.
Bread and Quail
16 Then they set out from Elim, and all the congregation of the children of Israel came to the Wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after their departing out of the land of Egypt. 2 The whole congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness. 3 Now the children of Israel said to them, “Would to God we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the pots of meat, when we ate bread to the full, for you have brought us forth into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.”
4 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Indeed, I will rain bread from heaven for you. And the people shall go out and gather a certain amount every day, that I may test them, whether they will walk in My law or not. 5 And it shall come to pass that on the sixth day they shall prepare that which they bring in, and it will be twice as much as they gather daily.”
6 So Moses and Aaron said to all the children of Israel, “At evening, you shall know that the Lord has brought you out from the land of Egypt. 7 And in the morning you shall see the glory of the Lord, because He hears your murmurings against the Lord. And what are we that you murmur against us?” 8 Then Moses said, “This will happen when the Lord gives you meat to eat in the evening and bread in the morning to satisfy, for the Lord hears your murmurings which you murmur against Him. And what are we? Your murmurings are not against us, but against the Lord.”
9 Then Moses said to Aaron, “Say to all the congregation of the children of Israel, ‘Come near before the Lord, for He has heard your murmurings.’ ”
10 So as Aaron spoke to the whole congregation of the children of Israel, they looked toward the wilderness, and indeed, the glory of the Lord appeared in the cloud.
11 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 12 “I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel. Speak to them, saying, ‘In the evening you shall eat meat, and in the morning you shall be filled with bread. And you shall know that I am the Lord your God.’ ”
13 So in the evening the quail came up and covered the camp, and in the morning a layer of dew was surrounding the camp. 14 When the layer of dew evaporated, on the surface of the wilderness there lay a small flaky thing, as fine as the frost on the ground. 15 When the children of Israel saw it, they said one to another, “What is it?” For they did not know what it was.
And Moses said to them, “This is the bread which the Lord has given you to eat. 16 This is what the Lord has commanded, ‘Every man is to gather of it according to what he will eat, an omer[a] for every man, according to the number of your people. Every man should take for them for whoever lives in his tent.’ ”
17 The children of Israel did so, and gathered, some more, some less. 18 When they measured it with an omer, he that gathered much had nothing left over, and he that gathered little had no lack. They gathered every man according what he could eat.
19 Moses said to them, “Let no man leave any of it until the morning.”
20 However, they did not listen to Moses, and some of them left part of it until the morning, and it bred worms, and stank, and Moses was angry with them.
21 So they gathered it every morning, every man according to what he could eat. And when the sun got hot, it melted. 22 Now on the sixth day they gathered twice as much bread, two omers[b] per man, and then all the leaders of the congregation came and told Moses. 23 He said to them, “This is what the Lord has said, ‘Tomorrow is the Sabbath, a holy Sabbath to the Lord. Bake that which you will bake today, and boil that you will boil, and all that which remains over lay up for yourselves to be kept until the morning.’ ”
24 So they laid it up until the morning, just as Moses commanded, and it did not stink, nor was there any worm in it. 25 Moses said, “Eat it today, for today is a Sabbath to the Lord. Today you will not find it in the field. 26 Six days you shall gather it, but on the seventh day, the Sabbath, there will be none.”
27 It happened that some of the people went out on the seventh day to gather, but they found nothing. 28 Then the Lord said to Moses, “How long will you refuse to keep My commandments and My instructions? 29 See, the Lord has given you the Sabbath; therefore He gives you bread for two days on the sixth day. Every man remain in his place. Let no man go out of his place on the seventh day.” 30 So the people rested on the seventh day.
31 The house of Israel named it manna, and it was like coriander seed and was white, and its taste was like wafers made with honey. 32 Then Moses said, “This is what the Lord has commanded, ‘Fill an omer of it to be kept for your generations to come, so that they may see the bread that I fed you in the wilderness, when I brought you forth from the land of Egypt.’ ”
33 Moses said to Aaron, “Take a pot and put an omer full of manna in it, and place it before the Lord, to be kept for generations to come.”
34 As the Lord commanded Moses, so Aaron placed it before the testimony, to be kept. 35 The children of Israel ate manna forty years, until they came to an inhabited land. They ate the manna until they came to the border of the land of Canaan.
36 Now an omer is one-tenth of an ephah.
Water From the Rock
17 All the congregation of the children of Israel journeyed from the Wilderness of Sin, from place to place, according to the commandment of the Lord, and pitched in Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink. 2 Therefore the people contended with Moses and said, “Give us water so that we may drink.”
And Moses said to them, “Why do you contend with me? Why do you test the Lord?”
3 But the people thirsted there for water, and the people murmured against Moses, and said, “Why is it that you have brought us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?”
4 Then Moses cried out to the Lord, saying, “What shall I do to this people? They are almost ready to stone me.”
5 The Lord said to Moses, “Pass over before the people, and take with you some of the elders of Israel. And take in your hand your rod with which you struck the Nile, and go. 6 Indeed, I will stand before you there on the rock in Horeb, and you shall strike the rock, and there water shall come out of it, so that the people may drink.” Then Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel. 7 He called the name of the place Massah, and Meribah, because of the contending of the children of Israel, and because they tested the Lord, saying, “Is the Lord among us, or not?”
The Amalekites Defeated
8 Then Amalek came and fought with Israel in Rephidim. 9 So Moses said to Joshua, “Choose men for us and go out, fight against Amalek. Tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the rod of God in my hand.”
10 So Joshua did as Moses had said to him and fought against Amalek. And Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill. 11 Now when Moses held up his hand, Israel prevailed, but when he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed. 12 But Moses’ hands became heavy. So they took a stone, and put it under him, and he sat on it. And Aaron and Hur supported his hands, one on one side, and the other on the other side. And his hands were steady until the going down of the sun. 13 So Joshua laid low Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword.
14 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Write this as a memorial in a book and rehearse it to Joshua, for I will utterly wipe out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven.”
15 Then Moses built an altar and called the name of it, The Lord Is My Banner; 16 for he said, “For the Lord has sworn that the Lord will have war with Amalek from generation to generation.”
Jethro Counsels Moses
18 Jethro, the priest of Midian, Moses’ father-in-law, heard of all that God had done for Moses, and for Israel His people, and that the Lord had brought Israel out of Egypt.
2 Then Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, took Zipporah, Moses’ wife, after he had sent her back, 3 and her two sons, one of whom was named Gershom; for he said, “I have been a sojourner in a foreign land.” 4 And the name of the other was Eliezer, for he said, “The God of my father was my help, and He delivered me from the sword of Pharaoh.”
5 Then Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, came with his sons and his wife to Moses in the wilderness, where he camped at the mountain of God. 6 And he said to Moses, “I, your father-in-law, Jethro, am coming to you, and your wife, and her two sons with her.”
7 Then Moses went out to meet his father-in-law, and bowed down and kissed him; and they asked each other of the other’s welfare, and then they went into the tent. 8 Moses told his father-in-law all that the Lord had done to Pharaoh and to the Egyptians for Israel’s sake, and all the hardships that had come on them along the way, and how the Lord delivered them.
9 Jethro rejoiced because of all the goodness which the Lord had done for Israel, whom He had delivered out of the hand of the Egyptians. 10 Jethro said, “The Lord be blessed, who has delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians, and out of the hand of Pharaoh, who has delivered the people from under the hand of the Egyptians. 11 Now I know that the Lord is greater than all gods, for in the matter in which they treated the people insolently, He was above them.” 12 Then Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, took a burnt offering and sacrifices for God, and Aaron and all the elders of Israel came to eat bread with Moses’ father-in-law before God.
13 On the next day, Moses sat to judge the people, and the people stood around Moses from the morning until the evening. 14 When Moses’ father-in-law saw all that he was doing for the people, he said, “What is this thing that you are doing for the people? Why are you sitting by yourself while all the people stand around you from morning until evening?”
15 Then Moses said to his father-in-law, “Because the people come to me to inquire of God. 16 When they have a dispute, it comes to me, and I judge between a man and his neighbor, and I make known the statutes of God and His laws.”
17 Moses’ father-in-law said to him, “What you are doing is not good. 18 You will surely wear yourself out, both you, and these people who are with you, for this thing is too heavy for you. You are not able to do it by yourself. 19 Now listen to me, I will advise you, and may God be with you: You be a representative for the people to God so that you may bring their disputes to God. 20 And you shall teach them the statutes and laws and shall show them the way in which they must walk and the work that they must do. 21 Moreover, you shall choose out of all the people capable men who fear God, men of truth, hating dishonest gain, and place these men over them, to be rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens. 22 Let them judge the people at all times, and let it be that every difficult matter they shall bring to you, but every small matter they shall judge, so that it will be easier for you, and they will bear the burden with you. 23 If you shall do this thing and God commands you so, then you will be able to endure, and all these people also will go to their place in peace.”
24 So Moses listened to his father-in-law and did everything that he had said. 25 Moses chose capable men out of all Israel and made them heads over the people, rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens. 26 They judged the people at all times. They brought the difficult cases to Moses, but they judged every small matter themselves.
27 Moses sent out his father-in-law, and he went his way to his own land.
Israel at Mount Sinai
19 In the third month after the children of Israel had gone forth out of the land of Egypt, on the same day they came into the Wilderness of Sinai. 2 When they set out from Rephidim, they came to the Wilderness of Sinai and camped in the wilderness. Israel camped there before the mountain.
3 Moses went up to God, and the Lord called to him from the mountain, saying, “Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob and tell the children of Israel: 4 ‘You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I lifted you up on eagles’ wings, and brought you to Myself. 5 Now therefore, if you will faithfully obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be My special possession out of all the nations, for all the earth is Mine. 6 And you will be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words which you shall speak to the children of Israel.”
7 So Moses came and called for the elders of the people and laid before them all these words which the Lord commanded him. 8 Then all the people answered together and said, “All that the Lord has spoken we will do.” And Moses brought back the words of the people to the Lord.
9 The Lord said to Moses, “Indeed, I am going to come to you in a thick cloud, so that the people may hear when I speak with you and always believe in you.” Then Moses told the words of the people to the Lord.
10 The Lord said to Moses, “Go to the people and sanctify them today and tomorrow, and have them wash their clothes, 11 and be ready for the third day, for on the third day the Lord will come down in the sight of all the people on Mount Sinai. 12 You shall set boundaries for the people all around, saying, ‘Take heed to yourselves so that you not go up onto the mountain or touch its border. Whoever touches the mountain will surely be put to death. 13 No hand will touch him, but he shall surely be stoned or shot through, whether it be beast or man. He shall not live.’ When the trumpet sounds a long blast, they shall come up to the mountain.”
14 So Moses went down from the mountain to the people and sanctified the people, and they washed their clothes. 15 He said to the people, “Be ready for the third day. Do not go near your wives.”
16 So on the third day, in the morning, there was thunder and lightning, and a thick cloud on the mountain, and the sound of an exceedingly loud trumpet. All the people who were in the camp trembled. 17 Then Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet with God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain. 18 Now Mount Sinai was completely covered in smoke because the Lord had descended upon it in fire, and the smoke ascended like the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mountain shook violently. 19 When the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder, Moses spoke, and God answered him with a voice.[c]
20 The Lord came down on Mount Sinai, on the top of the mountain. And the Lord called Moses up to the top of the mountain, and Moses went up. 21 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go down, warn the people, lest they force their way to the Lord to look, and many of them perish. 22 Let the priests also, which come near to the Lord, sanctify themselves, lest the Lord break through against them.”
23 Moses said to the Lord, “The people cannot come up to Mount Sinai, for You warned us, saying, ‘Set boundaries around the mountain, and sanctify it.’ ”
24 Then the Lord said to him, “Go, get down, and come up, you and Aaron with you, but do not let the priests and the people force their way through to come up to the Lord, lest He break through against them.”
25 So Moses went down to the people and spoke to them.
The Ten Commandments(A)
20 Now God spoke all these words, saying:
2 I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
3 You shall have no other gods before Me.
4 You shall not make for yourself any graven idol, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water below the earth. 5 You shall not bow down to them or serve them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation of them who hate Me, 6 and showing lovingkindness to thousands of them who love Me and keep My commandments.
7 You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold guiltless anyone who takes His name in vain.
8 Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, or your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or your sojourner who is within your gates. 11 For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.
12 Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land which the Lord your God is giving you.
13 You shall not murder.
14 You shall not commit adultery.
15 You shall not steal.
16 You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
17 You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his manservant, or his maidservant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor’s.
18 All the people witnessed the thunder and the lightning and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking; and when the people saw it, they trembled and stood at a distance. 19 They said to Moses, “You speak to us, and we will listen, but do not let God speak to us, lest we die.”
20 Moses said to the people, “Do not fear, for God has come to test you, so that the fear of Him may be before you so that you do not sin.”
21 The people stood a distance away as Moses drew near to the thick darkness where God was.
The Law About the Altar
22 Then the Lord said to Moses: Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, “You yourselves have seen that I have spoken to you from heaven. 23 You shall not make gods of silver alongside Me or make gods of gold for yourselves.
24 “You shall make an altar of earth for Me and on it you shall sacrifice your burnt offerings and your peace offerings, your sheep, and your oxen. In every place where I cause My name to be honored, I will come to you and bless you. 25 If you will make Me an altar of stone, you shall not build it of cut stones, for if you use your tool on it, you will have polluted it. 26 And you shall not go up by steps to My altar, so that your nakedness will not be exposed on it.”
The Law About Servants(B)
21 Now these are the judgments which you will set before them.
2 If you buy a Hebrew servant, he will serve for six years, but in the seventh he shall go out free without paying anything. 3 If he came in by himself, he shall go out by himself. If he is married, then his wife will go out with him. 4 If his master gives him a wife, and she bears him sons or daughters, the wife and her children shall belong to her master, and he will go out by himself.
5 However, if the servant plainly says, “I love my master, my wife, and my children. I will not go out free,” 6 then his master will bring him to the judges, then he shall also bring him to the door or to the doorpost, and his master shall bore his ear through with an awl, and he shall serve him forever.
7 If a man sells his daughter to be a female servant, she shall not go out as the male servants do. 8 If she does not please her master, who has betrothed her to himself, then he shall let her be redeemed. He has no authority to sell her to a foreign nation, because he has dealt deceitfully with her. 9 If he has designated her for his son, then he shall deal with her according to the customary rights of daughters. 10 If he marries another wife, then he must not diminish the first one’s food, her clothing, or her marital rights. 11 If he does not provide these three for her, then she shall go out free, without paying money.
The Law About Violence
12 He that strikes a man so that he dies shall surely be put to death. 13 However, if it was not premeditated, but God let him fall into his hand, then I will appoint you a place where he may flee. 14 But if a man willfully comes upon his neighbor in order to kill him cunningly, then you must take him from My altar, that he may die.
15 He who strikes his father or his mother shall surely be put to death.
16 He who kidnaps a man and sells him, or if he is found in his possession, shall surely be put to death.
17 He who curses his father or his mother shall surely be put to death.
18 If men fight and one strikes the other with a stone or with his fist, and he does not die, but must remain in bed, 19 and then if he gets up and walks around on his staff, then he who struck him shall go unpunished. Only he must pay for his loss of time and shall see to it that he is thoroughly healed.
20 If a man strikes his male servant or his female servant with a rod so that he or she dies at his hand, then he shall surely be punished. 21 Nevertheless, if he survives for a day or two, then he shall not be punished, for it is his money.
22 If men fight and hurt a pregnant woman so that her child is born prematurely,[d] yet there is no serious injury, then he shall be surely punished in accordance with what the woman’s husband demands of him, and he shall pay as the judges determine. 23 But if there is any serious injury, then you shall give life for life, 24 eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, 25 burn for burn, wound for wound, bruise for bruise.
26 If a man strikes the eye of his male servant or the eye of his female servant so that it is destroyed, then he must let him go free on account of his eye. 27 If he knocks out his male servant’s tooth or his female servant’s tooth, then he shall let him or her go free on account of the tooth.
Laws About Property
28 If an ox gores a man or a woman to death, then the ox must surely be stoned and its flesh must not be eaten, but the owner of the ox will be acquitted. 29 But if the ox has had the habit of goring, and the owner has been made aware of it, and he has not kept it in, and it has killed a man or a woman, then the ox shall be stoned and its owner also shall be put to death. 30 If a ransom is set for him, then he shall give for the ransom of his life whatever is demanded of him. 31 Whether it gored a son or gored a daughter, it will be done to him according to this rule. 32 If the ox gores a male servant or a female servant, then its owner shall give thirty shekels[e] of silver to their master, and the ox must be stoned.
33 If a man opens a pit or if a man digs a pit and does not cover it, and an ox or a donkey falls into it, 34 the owner of the pit must make restitution. He must give money to their owner, and the dead animal will be his.
35 If one man’s ox hurts another’s so that it dies, then they shall sell the live ox and divide its proceeds and divide the dead ox also. 36 Or if it be known that the ox has had the habit of goring and its owner has not kept it in, then he shall surely pay ox for ox and the dead animal will become his own.
Laws About Restitution
22 If a man steals an ox or a sheep and kills it or sells it, then he shall repay five oxen for an ox, and four sheep for a sheep.
2 If a thief is caught breaking in and is struck so that he dies, then there will be no blood guilt for him. 3 If the sun has risen on him, then there is blood guilt for him.
He must make full restitution. If he has nothing, then he will be sold for his theft. 4 If the stolen item is in fact found alive in his possession, whether it be an ox, or donkey, or sheep, then he shall repay double.
5 If a man causes a field or vineyard to be eaten and puts out his beast so that it feeds in another man’s field, he must make restitution of the best of his own field and of the best of his own vineyard.
6 If fire breaks out and catches in thorn bushes, so that stacked grain or the standing grain or the field are consumed, then he who started the fire must surely make restitution.
7 If a man gives his neighbor money or items to be kept for him, and it is stolen from the man’s house, if the thief is caught, he must repay double. 8 If the thief is not caught, then the owner of the house will be brought before the judges to determine if he has laid his hand on his neighbor’s goods. 9 For any kind of trespass, whether it be for an ox, for a donkey, for a sheep, for clothing, or for any type of lost thing, where another says it is his, the case of both parties shall come before the judges. And whoever the judges find guilty will pay double to his neighbor.
10 If a man gives his neighbor a donkey, or an ox, or a sheep, or any beast to keep for him, and it dies, or is injured, or is driven away while no one sees it, 11 then there will be an oath before the Lord between both of them that he has not laid his hand upon his neighbor’s property. And its owner must accept this, and he will not have to make restitution. 12 However, if it was stolen from him, he shall make restitution to its owner. 13 If it is torn in pieces, then let him bring it as evidence, and he will not have to repay for that which was torn.
14 If a man borrows anything from his neighbor, and it is hurt or dies when the owner was not with it, then he shall surely make restitution. 15 But if the owner was with it, he shall not make restitution. If it was a hired thing, it came with his hire.
Moral and Ceremonial Laws
16 If a man seduces a virgin who is not engaged and has relations with her, he must surely endow her to be his wife. 17 If her father absolutely refuses to give her to him, he must pay money according to the dowry of virgins.
18 You must not allow a sorceress to live.
19 Whoever has relations with a beast must surely be put to death.
20 He who sacrifices to any god other than the Lord alone shall be utterly destroyed.
21 You must neither wrong a foreigner nor oppress him, for you were foreigners in the land of Egypt.
22 You shall not afflict any widow or orphan. 23 If you afflict them in any way and they cry at all to Me, I will surely hear their cry. 24 And My anger will burn, and I will kill you with the sword, and your wives will become widows, and your children fatherless.
25 If you lend money to any of My people who is poor among you, do not be a creditor to him, and do not charge him interest. 26 If you take your neighbor’s garment as a pledge, you shall return it to him before the sun goes down, 27 for that is his only covering; it is his garment for his body. In what else will he sleep? And when he cries out to Me, I will hear, for I am gracious.
28 You shall not curse God or curse the ruler of your people.
29 You must not delay to offer the first of your harvest and of your vats.
You must give to Me the firstborn of your sons. 30 Likewise you must do the same with your oxen and with your sheep. Seven days it shall remain with its mother, but on the eighth day you must give it to Me.
31 You will be holy men to Me; therefore you must not eat any flesh that is torn by beasts in the field. You must throw it to the dogs.
Laws of Justice and Mercy
23 You must not give a false report. Do not join your hand with the wicked to be a malicious witness.
2 You must not follow the masses to do evil, and do not testify in a dispute that agrees with the crowd to pervert justice. 3 You must not show partiality to a poor man in his dispute.
4 If you meet your enemy’s ox or his donkey going astray, you shall surely return it to him. 5 If you see the donkey of someone who hates you lying under its burden, you must not ignore it; you must surely help with him.
6 You shall not turn justice away from your poor in his dispute. 7 Keep far away from a false charge, and do not kill the innocent and the righteous, for I will not justify the wicked.
8 You shall not take a bribe, for a bribe blinds those who see and subverts the words of the righteous.
9 Also you shall not oppress a foreigner, for you know the life of a foreigner, seeing you were foreigners in the land of Egypt.
The Laws of Sabbaths
10 You shall sow your land for six years and shall gather in its produce, 11 but in the seventh year you shall let it rest and lie fallow, so that the poor of your people may eat, and what they leave the beasts of the field may eat. You shall do likewise with your vineyard and with your olive grove.
12 For six days you are to do your work, but on the seventh day you must cease, so that your ox and your donkey may rest, and the son of your female servant and the foreigner may refresh themselves.
13 In all things that I have said to you, watch yourselves, and do not mention the name of other gods, nor let them be heard from your mouth.
The Three Annual Feasts
14 Three times in the year you must celebrate a feast to Me.
15 You shall observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread. For seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, as I commanded you, in the appointed time of the month Aviv, for in it you came out from Egypt.
No one shall appear before Me empty-handed.
16 You shall observe the Feast of Harvest, the first fruits of your labors, which you have sown in the field.
You shall observe the Feast of Ingathering at the end of the year, when you have gathered in the fruit of your labors from the field.
17 Three times in the year all your males shall appear before the Lord God.
18 You shall not offer the blood of My sacrifice with leavened bread, nor shall the fat of My sacrifice remain until the morning.
19 The first of the first fruits of your land you shall bring into the house of the Lord your God.
You shall not boil a young goat in its mother’s milk.
The Angel Prepares the Way
20 Indeed, I am going to send an angel before you to guard you along the way and to bring you into the place which I have prepared. 21 Be on guard before him and obey his voice. Do not provoke him, for he will not pardon your transgressions, for My name is in him. 22 But if you diligently obey his voice and do all that I say, then I will be an enemy to your enemies and an adversary to your adversaries. 23 For My angel will go before you and bring you to the Amorites, and the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Canaanites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, and I will completely destroy them. 24 You must not bow down to their gods, or serve them, or do according to their practices, but you shall utterly overthrow them and break down their images in pieces. 25 You shall serve the Lord your God, and He shall bless your bread and your water, and I will remove sickness from your midst. 26 No one shall be miscarrying or be barren in your land. I will fulfill the number of your days.
27 I will send My fear before you, and I will throw into panic all the people to whom you shall come. I will make all your enemies turn their backs to you. 28 I will send hornets before you which shall drive out the Hivite, the Canaanite, and the Hittite from before you. 29 I will not drive them out before you in one year, lest the land become desolate and the beasts of the field multiply against you. 30 Little by little I will drive them out before you, until you become fruitful and inherit the land.
31 I will set your boundaries from the Red Sea to the sea of the Philistines, and from the desert to the River;[f] for I will deliver the inhabitants of the land into your hand, and you will drive them out before you. 32 You must not make a covenant with them or with their gods. 33 They shall not live in your land, lest they cause you to sin against Me, for if you serve their gods, it will surely be a snare to you.
The Covenant Confirmed
24 Then He said to Moses, “Come up to the Lord, you, and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel, and you shall worship from a distance. 2 Moses alone shall come near the Lord, but they shall not come near, nor may the people go up with him.”
3 Moses came and told the people all the words of the Lord and all the ordinances. Then all the people answered with one voice and said, “All the words which the Lord has said we will do.” 4 Moses wrote all the words of the Lord, and rose up early in the morning, and built an altar at the foot of the mountain with twelve pillars for the twelve tribes of Israel. 5 He sent young Israelite men who offered burnt offerings and sacrificed peace offerings of young bulls to the Lord. 6 Moses took half of the blood and put it in basins, and half of the blood he sprinkled on the altar. 7 He took the Book of the Covenant and read in the hearing of the people, and they said, “All that the Lord has said we will do, and we will be obedient.”
8 So Moses took the blood, and sprinkled it on the people, and said, “This is the blood of the covenant, which the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words.”
Moses on Mount Sinai
9 Then Moses went up with Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel, 10 and they saw the God of Israel, and under His feet there was something like a paved work of sapphire stone as clear as the sky itself. 11 He did not lay His hand upon the nobles of the children of Israel. Also they saw God, and they ate and they drank.
12 The Lord said to Moses, “Come up to Me to the mountain and stay there, and I will give you the stone tablets with law and the commandments which I have written, so that you may teach them.”
13 Moses rose up with Joshua his attendant, and Moses went up to the mountain of God. 14 He said to the elders, “Wait for us in this place until we return to you. Aaron and Hur are with you. Whoever has any matters of dispute let him come to them.”
15 Moses went up to the mountain, and the cloud covered the mountain. 16 The glory of the Lord rested on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it for six days. And on the seventh day He called to Moses from the midst of the cloud. 17 Now the appearance of the glory of the Lord was like a consuming fire on the top of the mountain to the eyes of the children of Israel. 18 Moses went into the midst of the cloud and went up to the mountain. And Moses was on the mountain for forty days and forty nights.
Offerings for the Tabernacle(C)
25 The Lord said to Moses: 2 Tell the children of Israel to bring Me an offering. From every man who gives willingly with his heart you shall receive My offering. 3 This is the offering which you shall take from them: gold, silver, and bronze, 4 blue, purple, scarlet, fine linen, goats’ hair, 5 rams’ skins dyed red, porpoise skins, acacia wood, 6 oil for the light, spices for anointing oil and for fragrant incense, 7 onyx stones, and stones to be set in the ephod and in the breastplate.
8 Let them make Me a sanctuary that I may dwell among them. 9 According to all that I show you—the pattern of the tabernacle and the pattern of all its furniture—you shall make it just so.
The Ark of the Covenant(D)
10 They shall make an ark of acacia wood two and a half cubits long, and one and a half cubits wide, and one and a half cubits high.[g] 11 You shall overlay it with pure gold, inside and out shall you overlay it, and you shall make a gold border around it. 12 You shall cast four gold rings for it and put them on the four feet with two rings on the one side of it and two rings on the other side of it. 13 You shall make poles of acacia wood and overlay them with gold. 14 You shall put the poles into the rings on the sides of the ark in order to carry the ark with them. 15 The poles must remain in the rings of the ark. They must not be removed from it. 16 You shall put into the ark the testimony which I shall give you.
17 You shall make a mercy seat of pure gold, two and a half cubits long and one and a half cubits wide. 18 You shall make two cherubim of gold, make them of hammered work at the two ends of the mercy seat. 19 Make one cherub on the one end and the other cherub on the other end. From the mercy seat you shall make the cherubim on its two ends. 20 The cherubim shall stretch forth their wings upward, covering the mercy seat with their wings and facing one another. The faces of the cherubim are to face toward the mercy seat. 21 You shall put the mercy seat above upon the ark, and in the ark you shall put the testimony that I will give you. 22 I will meet with you there, and I will meet with you from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim which are upon the ark of the testimony. I will speak with you all that I will command you for the children of Israel.
The Table for the Showbread(E)
23 You shall also make a table of acacia wood, two cubits long, one cubit wide, and a half cubit high.[h] 24 You shall overlay it with pure gold and make a gold border around it. 25 You shall make a border around it of a handbreadth, and you shall make a gold molding for the frame all around. 26 You shall make four gold rings for it and put the rings on the four corners that are on its four feet. 27 The rings shall be close to the frame to provide places for the poles to carry the table. 28 You shall make the poles of acacia wood and overlay them with gold, so that the table may be carried with them. 29 You shall make the dishes, its spoons, its pitchers, and its bowls with which to pour drink offerings. You shall make them of pure gold. 30 You shall set the showbread on the table before Me always.
The Gold Lampstand(F)
31 You shall make a lampstand of pure gold. The lampstand and its base and its shaft are to be made of hammered metal. Its cups, its buds, and its flowers shall be of one piece. 32 Six branches shall go out from its sides, three branches of the lampstand from its one side and three branches of the lampstand from its other side. 33 Three cups shall be made shaped like almond flowers with buds and blossoms on one branch, and three cups made like almond flowers in the other branch, with buds and blossoms, and the same for the six branches that come out of the lampstand. 34 On the lampstand shall be four cups shaped like almond flowers, with their buds and their blossoms. 35 There shall be a bud under two branches of the same, and a bud under two branches of the same, and a bud under the next two branches of the same, according to the six branches that proceed out of the lampstand. 36 Their buds and their branches shall be of the same piece, all of it shall be one hammered work of pure gold.
37 You shall make its seven lamps, and they shall light its lamps so that they may give light to the area in front of it. 38 Its snuffers and their snuff dishes shall be of pure gold. 39 It shall be made from a talent[i] of pure gold along with all these utensils. 40 See that you make them according to their pattern which was shown to you on the mountain.
The Tabernacle(G)
26 Moreover you shall make the tabernacle with ten curtains of fine twisted linen, and blue, and purple, and scarlet. Make them with cherubim, the work of a skilled workman. 2 The length of each curtain shall be twenty-eight cubits, and the width of each curtain four cubits.[j] All of the curtains shall have the same measurements. 3 Five curtains shall be joined together, one to another. And the other five curtains are to be joined, one to another. 4 You shall make loops of blue on the edge of the end curtain in one set, and likewise you shall make loops in the outermost edge of the end curtain in the second set. 5 You shall make fifty loops in the one curtain, and you shall make fifty loops in the edge of the curtain that is in the second set. The loops are to be opposite to one another. 6 You shall make fifty clasps of gold and join the curtains together with the clasps so that the tabernacle shall be one unit.
7 You shall make curtains of goats’ hair to be a covering upon the tabernacle. You shall make eleven curtains. 8 The length of each curtain shall be thirty cubits, and the width of each curtain four cubits,[k] and the eleven curtains shall all have the same measure. 9 You shall join five curtains by themselves, and six curtains by themselves. You shall double over the sixth curtain at the front of the tabernacle. 10 You shall make fifty loops on the edge of the end curtain in one set and fifty loops on the edge of the curtain that joins the second set. 11 You shall make fifty bronze clasps, and put the clasps into the loops, and join the tent together so that it may be one unit. 12 The part that remains of the curtains of the tent, the half curtain that remains, shall hang over the back of the tabernacle. 13 A cubit[l] on the one side and a cubit on the other side of that which remains in the length of the curtains of the tent shall hang over the sides of the tabernacle on this side and on that side to cover it. 14 You shall make a covering for the tent out of rams’ skins dyed red and a covering above of porpoise skins.
15 You shall make boards for the tabernacle of acacia wood, standing upright. 16 Ten cubits[m] shall be the length of each board, and a cubit and a half shall be the width of each board. 17 There shall be two tenons for each board, fitted to one another. You shall make all the boards of the tabernacle in this way. 18 You shall make the boards for the tabernacle, twenty boards for the south side. 19 You shall make forty sockets of silver under the twenty boards, two sockets under one board for its two tenons and two sockets under another board for its two tenons. 20 For the second side of the tabernacle, on the north side, there shall be twenty boards, 21 and their forty sockets of silver, two sockets under one board, and two sockets under another board. 22 For the back of the tabernacle, to the west, you shall make six boards. 23 You shall make two boards for the corners of the tabernacle at the back. 24 They shall be doubled together beneath and finished together at the top of it into one ring. So it shall be for both of them. They shall form the two corners. 25 There shall be eight boards with their sockets of silver, sixteen sockets, two sockets under one board and two sockets under another board.
26 You shall make bars of acacia wood, five for the boards of the one side of the tabernacle, 27 and five bars for the boards of the other side of the tabernacle, and five bars for the boards of the side of the tabernacle for the back to the west. 28 The middle bar in the center of the boards shall reach from end to end. 29 You shall overlay the boards with gold and make their rings of gold to provide places for the bars, and you shall overlay the bars with gold.
30 You shall set up the tabernacle according to the plan which you have been shown on the mountain.
31 You shall make a veil of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen. It shall be made with cherubim, the skillful work of a workman. 32 You shall hang it on four pillars of acacia wood overlaid with gold. Their hooks also shall be of gold on four sockets of silver. 33 You shall hang up the veil under the clasps, so that you may bring in the ark of the testimony within the veil; and the veil shall serve for you as a partition between the holy place and the Most Holy. 34 You shall put the mercy seat on the ark of the testimony in the Most Holy. 35 You shall set the table outside the veil, and the lampstand opposite the table on the side of the tabernacle toward the south, and you shall put the table on the north side.
36 You shall make a screen for the doorway of the tent of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen, the work of an embroiderer. 37 You shall make five pillars of acacia wood for the screen and overlay them with gold, with their hooks also made of gold, and you shall cast five sockets of bronze for them.
The Altar of Burnt Offering(H)
27 You shall make an altar of acacia wood, five cubits long and five cubits wide.[n] The altar shall be square, and its height shall be three cubits.[o] 2 You shall make its horns on its four corners. Its horns shall be part of it, and you shall overlay it with bronze. 3 You shall make its pots for its ashes, and its shovels, and its basins, and its meat hooks, and its fire pans. You shall make all of its vessels out of bronze. 4 You shall make a grating for it, a network of bronze, and on the net you shall make four bronze rings at its four corners. 5 You shall put it under the ledge of the altar beneath, so that the net will reach halfway up the altar. 6 You shall make poles for the altar, poles of acacia wood, and overlay them with bronze. 7 The poles shall be put into the rings, so that the poles shall be on the two sides of the altar when carrying it. 8 You shall make it hollow with boards. Just as it was shown you on the mountain, so shall they make it.
The Court of the Tabernacle(I)
9 You shall make the court of the tabernacle. On the south side there shall be curtains for the court of fine twined linen one hundred cubits long[p] for one side; 10 and it shall have twenty pillars with twenty bronze sockets. The hooks of the pillars and their bands shall be of silver. 11 Likewise for the north side in length there shall be curtains one hundred cubits long, and its twenty pillars and their twenty sockets of bronze. The hooks of the pillars and their bands shall be of silver.
12 For the width of the court on the west side shall be curtains of fifty cubits[q] with their ten pillars and their ten sockets. 13 The width of the court on the east side shall be fifty cubits. 14 The curtains on one side of the gate shall be fifteen cubits[r] with their three pillars and their three sockets. 15 On the other side shall be curtains fifteen cubits with their three pillars and their three sockets.
16 For the gate of the court there shall be a curtain of twenty cubits,[s] of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen, the work of an embroiderer, with their four pillars and their four sockets. 17 All the pillars around about the court shall be furnished with silver bands. Their hooks shall be of silver, and their sockets of bronze. 18 The length of the court shall be one hundred cubits, and the width fifty[t] throughout, and the height five cubits[u] of fine twisted linen, and their sockets of bronze. 19 All the utensils of the tabernacle used in all its service, and all its tent pegs, and all the tent pegs of the court shall be of bronze.
The Oil for the Lamp(J)
20 You shall command the children of Israel that they bring you pure oil of olive pressed for the light, to cause the lamp to burn continually. 21 In the tent of meeting, outside the veil which is before the testimony, Aaron and his sons shall arrange it from evening to morning before the Lord. It shall be a perpetual statute for the children of Israel for generations to come.
The Priestly Garments
28 And bring near to yourself Aaron, your brother, and his sons with him from among the children of Israel, so that they may minister to Me as priests—Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar, Aaron’s sons. 2 You shall make holy garments for your brother Aaron, for glory and for beauty. 3 You shall speak to all who are specially skilled, whom I have filled with the spirit of wisdom, that they may make Aaron’s garments to consecrate him, that he may minister to Me as a priest. 4 These are the garments which they shall make: a breastplate, and an ephod, and a robe, and an embroidered coat, a turban, and a sash. They shall make holy garments for Aaron your brother and his sons, that he may minister to Me as priest. 5 They shall take the gold, the blue, the purple, and the scarlet, and fine linen.
The Ephod(K)
6 They shall make the ephod of gold, of blue, and of purple, of scarlet, and fine twined linen, the work of a skilled workman. 7 It shall have the two shoulder pieces attached to its two corners, so it shall be joined together. 8 The skillfully woven waistband of the ephod, which is on it, shall be of the same workmanship, of the same material: of gold, of blue and purple, and scarlet, and fine twisted linen.
9 You shall take two onyx stones and engrave on them the names of the children of Israel, 10 six of their names on one stone, and the other six names of the rest on the other stone, according to their birth. 11 With the work of an engraver in stone, like the engravings of a signet, you shall engrave the two stones with the names of the children of Israel. You shall set them in filigree of gold. 12 You shall put the two stones on the shoulders of the ephod as stones of memorial for the children of Israel, and Aaron shall bear their names before the Lord on his two shoulders as a memorial. 13 You shall make filigree settings of gold, 14 and two chains of pure gold. You shall make them of twisted cord and fasten the braided chains to the filigree settings.
The Breastplate(L)
15 You shall make the breastplate of judgment, the work of a skillful workman. You shall make it in the same manner as the ephod. Of gold, of blue, and of purple, and of scarlet, and of fine twisted linen you shall make it. 16 It is to be square when doubled: a span[v] in length and a span in width. 17 You shall set in it four rows of stones. The first row shall be a sardius, a topaz, and a carbuncle; 18 the second row an emerald, a sapphire, and a diamond; 19 the third row a jacinth, an agate, and an amethyst; 20 and the fourth row a beryl, an onyx, and a jasper. They shall be set in gold filigree. 21 The stones shall be according to the names of the children of Israel, twelve, according to their names, each like the engravings of a signet, every one according to his name for the twelve tribes.
22 You shall make for the breastplate braided chains of pure gold. 23 You shall make on the breastplate two rings of gold and shall put the two rings on the two ends of the breastplate. 24 You shall put the two braided chains of gold on the two rings which are on the ends of the breastplate. 25 You shall fasten the other two ends of the two braided chains in the two filigree settings and put them on the front of the shoulder pieces of the ephod. 26 You shall make two rings of gold and shall put them on the two ends of the breastplate, on the edge of it which is toward the inner side of the ephod. 27 You shall make two other rings of gold and shall put them on the two shoulder pieces of the ephod underneath toward the front, close to the place where it is joined above the skillfully woven waistband of the ephod. 28 They shall bind the breastplate by its rings to the rings of the ephod with a blue cord, so that it may be above the skillfully woven waistband of the ephod, and so that the breastplate will not come loose from the ephod.
29 Aaron shall bear the names of the children of Israel on the breastplate of judgment over his heart when he goes into the holy place, as a memorial before the Lord continually. 30 You shall put the Urim and the Thummim in the breastplate of judgment, and they shall be over Aaron’s heart when he goes in before the Lord. And Aaron shall bear the judgment of the children of Israel over his heart before the Lord continually.
Other Priestly Garments(M)
31 You shall make the robe of the ephod completely blue. 32 There shall be a hole at the top of it, in the middle of it. Around its opening it shall have a binding of woven work, like the opening of a coat of mail, so that it will not be torn. 33 You shall make on its hem pomegranates of blue, and of purple, and of scarlet, all around its hem, and bells of gold between them all around: 34 a golden bell and a pomegranate, a golden bell and a pomegranate, all around on the hem of the robe. 35 It shall be on Aaron when he ministers. And its sound shall be heard when he goes into the holy place before the Lord, and when he comes out, so that he does not die.
36 You shall make a plate of pure gold and engrave on it, like the engravings of a signet,
HOLINESS TO THE LORD.
37 You shall put it on a blue cord, so that it may be upon the turban. It is to be on the front of the turban. 38 It shall be on Aaron’s forehead, so that Aaron may bear the iniquity of the holy things which the children of Israel shall consecrate in regard to all their holy gifts. And it shall always be on his forehead, so that they may be accepted before the Lord.
39 You shall embroider the tunic of fine linen, and you shall make the turban of fine linen, and you shall make the sash, the work of an embroiderer. 40 For Aaron’s sons you shall make tunics. You shall make sashes for them, and you shall make caps for them, for glory and for beauty. 41 You shall put them on Aaron your brother, and on his sons with him, and shall anoint them, and consecrate them, and sanctify them, that they may minister to Me as priests.
42 You shall make linen undergarments for them to cover their naked skin. They shall reach from the waist to the thighs. 43 They shall be on Aaron and on his sons when they come into the tent of meeting or when they come near to the altar to minister in the holy place, so that they may not bear iniquity and die.
It shall be a perpetual statute to him and his descendants after him.
The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.