Exodus

Chapter 1

¹ These are the names of Israel’s sons who went into Egypt with Jacob and their families: ² Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, ³ Issachar, Zebulun, Benjamin, ⁴ Dan, Naphtali, Gad, and Asher. ⁵ {At that time}, Jacob had 70 total descendants (including Joseph {and his sons} who were already in Egypt.) ⁶ {After some time,} Joseph and his brothers and everyone else in their family who lived at that time died. ⁷ {Jacob’s} descendants gave birth to many children. The number of his descendants grew, and they became extremely strong. {As a result, there were so many of them that} they were everywhere in Egypt.

⁸ {However, sometime later,} a new king began to rule in Egypt. He did not know about {all the good things} Joseph {had done for the people of Egypt}. ⁹ He said to his people, “Look {at what has happened}! There are so many Israelites that they outnumber us Egyptians! ¹⁰ We must find a way to control them! If we do not do that, there will be more of them. Then, if enemies attack us, the Israelites will join with our enemies and fight against us, and they will escape from our land.” ¹¹ So the king and his officials put masters over groups of Israelite workers to cause them to suffer very much by making them work very hard. So the Israelites built the cities Pithom and Rameses to store goods for the king. ¹² But the more the Egyptians treated the Israelites badly, the more the Israelites had children, and the more they spread throughout Egypt. Therefore, the Egyptians were distressed because of the Israelites. ¹³ The Egyptians ruthlessly made the Israelites work ¹⁴ and made their lives miserable by forcing them to work hard. The Israelites built with bricks and mortar and did all sorts of agricultural work. The Egyptians ruthlessly gave them all sorts of work.

¹⁵ Now there were two Hebrew midwives named Shiphrah and Puah. The king of Egypt said to them, ¹⁶ “When you help a Hebrew woman have a baby, pay attention right as the baby is born. If the baby is a boy, you must kill him. If the baby is a girl, you may let her live.” ¹⁷ But the midwives were afraid {to disobey} God. So they did not obey what the king told them to do. They allowed the baby boys to live. ¹⁸ So the king summoned the two midwives and asked them, “Why are you doing this? Why are you letting the baby boys live?”

¹⁹ One of the midwives replied to the king, “{We have not been able to obey you} because the Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women. Because they are energetic, the Hebrew women have their babies before we arrive to help them.”

²⁰ (Therefore, the {Hebrew} people became numerous and very strong.) God acted kindly to the midwives ²¹ because they were afraid {to disobey} him. He gave them each a husband and children.

²² Then the king ordered all the Egyptian people, “Throw every {Hebrew} baby boy that is born into the Nile River! However, you can allow the baby girls to live.”

Chapter 2

¹ Now there was a man who was a descendant of Jacob’s son Levi. He married a woman who was also a descendant of Levi. ² She became pregnant and had a baby boy. When she saw that he was a healthy baby, she {wanted to keep him alive, so she} hid him for three months. ³ When she was unable to hide him any longer, she got a basket made from tall reeds. She covered the basket with tar {so it would float in water}. Then she put the baby in the basket and put the basket in the water. It was at the edge of the Nile River, in the middle of the tall reeds. ⁴ His {older} sister hid nearby so she could find out what would happen to him.

⁵ Soon the king’s daughter went down to the river to take a bath. Her female servants walked along the riverbank. She saw the basket in the tall reeds in the river, so she sent one of her servants to get it. {When the servant brought it back,} the king’s daughter took it from her ⁶ and she opened it and was surprised to see a baby inside that was crying. She pitied him and said, “This must be a Hebrew baby.”

⁷ Then the baby’s {older} sister {walked up} to the king’s daughter and said, “Do you want me to go and find a Hebrew woman who will be able to nurse the baby for you?”

⁸ The king’s daughter said to her, “Yes, go and find one.” So the girl went and found the baby’s mother {and brought her to the king’s daughter}. ⁹ The king’s daughter said to the mother, “Please take this baby and nurse him for me. I will pay you for doing that.” So the baby’s mother {agreed,} took him, and nursed him. ¹⁰ When he had gotten bigger, his mother brought the boy to the king’s daughter. She adopted him and said, “I pulled him out of the water, so I will call him Moses.”

¹¹ One day, after Moses had grown up, he went out {of the palace area} to see the hard work his people had to do. He also saw an Egyptian beating one of his people, the Hebrews. ¹² He looked around {to see if anyone was watching}. Seeing no one, he killed the Egyptian man and buried his body in the sand. ¹³ The next day he was out again. He was surprised to see two Hebrew men fighting each other. He said to the man who started the fight, “Why are you hitting your fellow Hebrew?”

¹⁴ The man replied, “No one put you in charge of judging us! Do not think you {will get away with} killing me like you killed that Egyptian yesterday!”

Then Moses was afraid, because he thought, “Everyone knows what I did.” ¹⁵ When the king heard that Moses killed an Egyptian, he ordered {his soldiers} to kill Moses. But Moses ran away from the king {and left Egypt. He traveled east} to the region of Midian and started to live there. {One day as} Moses was sitting beside a well, ¹⁶ seven women came to the well. They were all the daughters of the man who was the priest for the Midianites. They got water and filled the troughs in order to give water to their father’s sheep and goats. ¹⁷ Some shepherds came and {started to} chase them away. But Moses got up and rescued them and helped their sheep and goats to drink.

¹⁸ When his daughters returned {home}, their father {Jethro (who people also called} Reuel) asked them, “How did you get back {from taking care of the sheep} so quickly today?”

¹⁹ They replied, “A man from Egypt kept the other shepherds from chasing us away. He also got water for us from the well and gave water to the sheep.”

²⁰ He said to his daughters, “By leaving him at the well, you did not show this man that we welcome strangers or even repay his kind act. Invite him in so that he can have something to eat!” {So they did, and Moses ate with them.}

²¹ Jethro {invited Moses} to stay with his family and Moses accepted {his offer}. Jethro gave Moses his daughter Zipporah {to be his wife}. ²² When she gave birth to {their first} son, Moses said, “I am a foreigner living in a place foreign to me, so I will name him Gershom.”

²³ Many years went by. During that time, the king of Egypt died. The Israelites in Egypt were still groaning because of the hard work they had to do as slaves. They cried to God in heaven because of the work. ²⁴ When he heard them groaning, he thought about his promise to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. ²⁵ God saw {how the} Israelites {were being badly treated}, and he comprehended.

Chapter 3

¹ Moses, on the other hand, was taking care of the sheep that belonged to Jethro (his father-in-law who was a priest to the Midianite people.) One day, he took the flock to the far side of the wildland. He came to a mountain where God {would reveal himself to Moses and later to the Israelites} called Horeb. ² While he was there, Yahweh’s messenger appeared to Moses as a fire inside a bush. Moses stared at the burning bush, amazed that the fire was not burning it completely to ashes. ³ He thought, “I will go closer to see this strange thing! Why is the bush not burning up?”

⁴ When Yahweh saw Moses coming for a closer look, he called out from the bush, “Moses, Moses!”

“Yes!” Moses replied.

⁵ Yahweh said, “Take off your sandals {to honor me} before you come any closer, because you are standing on ground that is sacred {because it is near me.} ⁶ I am God, the one that your father, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob all worshiped.” Moses was afraid {that God would kill him if he} looked at him, so he covered his face. ⁷ Then Yahweh said, “I have watched closely how badly the Egyptians are treating my people in Egypt. I have heard my people shouting despairingly because of what the slave drivers are making them do. I am most certainly informed about how my people are suffering. ⁸ I am coming down from heaven to rescue them from being slaves to the Egyptians. I will lead them from Egypt to a fertile land with plenty of room. It will be very good for raising livestock and growing crops. The peoples called the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites live there now. ⁹ Truly, I have now heard the Israelites crying. I have also seen how badly the Egyptians treat them. ¹⁰ So now I will send you to do this: Go to the king of Egypt and lead my people, the Israelites, out of Egypt.”

¹¹ But Moses said to God, “I am not important enough to go to the king in order to bring the Israelites out of Egypt.”

¹² God said, “Even so, you can trust that I will be with you. When you bring my people out of Egypt, all of you will worship me right here on this mountain. That will prove to you that I am the one who sent you to them.”

¹³ Moses said to God, “If I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God whom your ancestors worshiped has sent me to you,’ they will ask me, ‘What is his name?’ Then what should I say to them?”

¹⁴ God replied to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM. Tell the Israelites that the God whose name means ‘I AM’ sent you to them.” ¹⁵ God also said to Moses, “You must say this to the Israelites, ‘Yahweh has sent me to you. He is the God Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and your other ancestors worshiped. Yahweh is my eternal name, and this is the name by which people living at any time must remember me.’

¹⁶ Go call a meeting with all the Israelite leaders. Tell them, ‘Yahweh appeared to me. He is the God Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and your other ancestors worshiped. He said: “I have come down to carefully watch {and do something about} what the Egyptians are doing to you. ¹⁷ I promise that I will rescue you from the Egyptians who treat you badly. I will take you to the land where the peoples called the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites live now. The land is excellent for raising livestock and growing crops.”’ ¹⁸ The leaders will do what you say.

Then you and the leaders will go to the king of Egypt, and you will say to him, ‘Yahweh, the God whom we Hebrews worship, has made a special visit to us. Please allow us to travel for a few days to a place in the wilderness in order that there we may offer sacrifices to Yahweh, the God we worship.’ ¹⁹ But I know that the king of Egypt will not allow you to go; not even by force. ²⁰ So I will act very powerfully, and I will hurt the Egyptians with very bad things that only I can do. Then he will chase you away.

²¹ When this happens, I will cause the Egyptians to be willing to help you Hebrews so that, when you leave Egypt, you will not go out like poor slaves. ²² At that time, each Hebrew woman will ask the women living or visiting nearby for things made from silver and gold and for clothing. You will be able to have your children wear the things they give you. That is how you will take everything from the Egyptians.”

Chapter 4

¹ Moses replied to God, “They will completely disbelieve me and ignore me because they will think, ‘Yahweh did not appear to you.’”

² Yahweh said to him, “What is that in your hand?”

Moses answered, “A staff.”

³ Yahweh said, “Throw it down on the ground!” So Moses threw the staff on the ground. It became a snake and Moses ran away from it. ⁴ Then Yahweh said to Moses, “Pick up the snake by its tail.” So Moses picked up the snake by the tail, and it became a staff in his hand again. ⁵ {Yahweh said, “Do the same thing in front of the} Israelite elders in order that they may believe that I, Yahweh, the God that Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and your other ancestors worshiped, truly appeared to you.”

⁶ Yahweh gave Moses another instruction: “Put your hand on your chest inside your robe.” Moses put his hand into his robe. When he brought his hand out, it had a disease that made the skin look as white as snow. ⁷ Then Yahweh said, “Put your hand in your robe again.” Moses put his hand back inside his robe. This time when he brought it out, amazingly, the skin on his hand looked like the rest of his skin again.

⁸ {Yahweh said, “You can do that in front of the Israelite people, too.} And if they do not believe you or listen to you after seeing the first miracle, they will believe you when you perform the second miracle. ⁹ But if they do not believe you or listen to what you say even after you show them these two miracles, get some water from the Nile River, and pour it on the dry ground. When you do that, the water that you pour on the dry ground will become blood.”

¹⁰ Then Moses said to Yahweh, “But Lord, I am not good at speaking to people. I have never been and you talking to me has not made me better. I speak slowly and never know what to say.”

¹¹ Then Yahweh said to him, “Do not forget that I, Yahweh, make people’s mouths! I make people unable to speak, or unable to hear, or able to see or not to see! ¹² So go now, and I will help you speak, and I will tell you what to say.”

¹³ But Moses replied, “Oh Lord, I ask you, please choose anyone else to send!”

¹⁴ Then Yahweh became angry with Moses and said to him, “What about your brother Aaron, the descendant of Levi? I know he is a good speaker. He is on his way here right now. When he sees you, he will be very happy. ¹⁵ You will tell him what to say. I will help you both to speak and will tell you both what to do. ¹⁶ He will speak for you to the Israelite people. He will be your spokesman, and he will think of you as if you were me. ¹⁷ Be sure to take your staff with you, because you will perform miracles with it.”

¹⁸ Moses went back to his father-in-law, Jethro, and said to him, “Please let me go back to my relatives in Egypt to see if they are well.”

Jethro said to Moses, “You may go. Be safe.”

¹⁹ {While he was still} in Midian, Yahweh told Moses {again}, “Go back to Egypt now, for everyone trying to kill you is now dead.” ²⁰ So Moses put his wife and sons on a donkey and started going toward Egypt. He took the staff with him {as} God {had told him to do}. ²¹ Yahweh spoke to Moses again, “When you get to Egypt, be sure to do all the miracles that I have given you power to do in front of the king. But I will make him reject you so that he will not let the Israelites leave Egypt. ²² Then say to him, ‘This is what Yahweh says: “Israel is like my firstborn son, ²³ and when I told you, ‘Let my son go, so that he may worship me,’ you refused. Therefore, I will kill your firstborn son!”’”

²⁴ One night, as they were camping on the way to Egypt, Yahweh confronted {Moses} in order to kill him. ²⁵ Then {Moses’ wife,} Zipporah, took a sharp stone knife and cut off the foreskin of their firstborn son. Then she touched the foreskin to {Moses’} feet and said, “You are really my husband by blood.” ²⁶ She said, “a husband by blood,” because she had cut off their son’s foreskin. So Yahweh did not harm anyone.

²⁷ Meanwhile, Yahweh said to Aaron, “Go into the desert to meet Moses.” So Aaron went and met Moses at the mountain where God met Moses and greeted him by kissing him. ²⁸ Moses told Aaron everything that Yahweh had sent him {to Egypt to say to the king and the Israelites} and all the miracles that Yahweh had instructed him {to do}.

²⁹ When Moses and Aaron arrived in Egypt, they called a meeting with all the Israelite leaders. ³⁰ Aaron told them everything that Yahweh had told Moses and performed the miracles as the leaders watched. ³¹ The leaders believed Aaron and Moses. Because they heard that Yahweh had seen how miserable the Israelites were and had come down to help them, the leaders bowed down to worship him.

Chapter 5

¹ Then Moses and Aaron went to the king. They said to him, “The God {named} Yahweh, whom we Israelites worship, says this to you: ‘Let my people go to the desert so that they may have a feast to honor me!’”

² But the king said, “Who is Yahweh? I have never heard of him, so why should I obey what he demands? I will certainly not let the Israelites go!”

³ Moses and Aaron replied, “The God we Hebrews worship has made a special visit to us. Please allow us to travel for a few days to a place in the wilderness in order that there we may offer sacrifices to Yahweh, our God. If we do not do that, he will cause us to die from diseases or from attacks by our enemies.”

⁴ But the king of Egypt said to them, “Moses and Aaron, it is pointless for you to distract the Israelites from their work. Get back to work, all of you!”

⁵ Then the king said, “Look, there are too many Israelites in Egypt for you to encourage them to just stop working.” ⁶ That same day the king commanded the Egyptian slave drivers and the Israelite bosses who directed the slaves, ⁷ “Stop giving the Israelites straw for making bricks. From now on, they will have to go get it themselves. ⁸ However, still force them to make the same number of bricks that they did before. Do not lower the number at all. They do not want to work. That is why they are asking me to let them go {into the wilderness} to worship their god. ⁹ Make the men work harder so that they will be too busy to listen to lies {from their leaders}!”

¹⁰ So the slave drivers and Israelite bosses went to where the Israelites were and said to them, “The king has said that he will no longer give you any straw. ¹¹ So you must go yourselves and get straw where you can find it. But you must keep working to make the same number of bricks.” ¹² So the Israelites scattered all over Egypt to collect leftover grain stalks to use for straw. ¹³ As for the slave bosses, they kept harassing them by saying, “Do all the work we assign to you each day. Make the same number of bricks as you did before, when we gave you straw!” ¹⁴ {When they were not able to make enough bricks,} the king’s slave drivers beat the bosses they had put in charge of the Israelites. They told them, “This is because your work teams have not been able to make the same number of bricks in the last couple of days as they did before.”

¹⁵ Then the Israelite bosses went in {to the palace} and complained to the king, “Why are you treating us this way? ¹⁶ Your slave drivers are not giving us any straw for making bricks, but they keep telling us, ‘Make the same number of bricks!’ They are even beating us. But {our reduced brick making is their} fault and your fault.”

¹⁷ But the king said, “You are lazy and do not want to work! That is why you keep saying, ‘Allow us to go {to the desert} to worship Yahweh.’ ¹⁸ Get back to work right now! We are not going to give you any straw, but you must keep making the same number of bricks!”

¹⁹ When {the king} said, “You must not make fewer bricks each day,” the Israelite bosses understood how bad their life was. ²⁰ As they left their meeting with the king, they met Aaron and Moses, who were waiting for them. ²¹ They said to Aaron and Moses, “We hope Yahweh notices that you have made the king and his officials hate us. We hope he punishes you two! You have made them think they should kill us!”

²² Moses left them and prayed to Yahweh again, “My Lord, why have you caused all these evil things to happen to your people? You sent me to help them, not hurt them. ²³ Ever since I went to the king and told him what you told me to say, he has treated your people very badly, and you have not done anything to help them!”

Chapter 6

¹ Then Yahweh said to Moses, “Now you will see what I will do to the king when I make him let my people go. I will powerfully force him to chase them from his land!”

² God spoke to Moses again, “I am Yahweh. ³ I showed myself to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as God Almighty, but they did not fully comprehend {the meaning of} my name Yahweh. ⁴ I also agreed to bless them. I promised to give them, as their own, the land where the descendants of Canaan live. That was the land in which they lived as foreigners.

⁵ Furthermore, I have heard the Israelites complaining because the Egyptians have made them slaves. I always remember what I promised. ⁶ Therefore tell the Israelite people that I said this: ‘I am Yahweh. I will take the Egyptian’s heavy loads off your back. I will deliver you from being their slaves. I will very powerfully save you by punishing them very harshly. ⁷ I will claim you as my own people, and I will be the God {you worship}. You will truly know that I am Yahweh, your God who frees you from the heavy loads that the Egyptians make you carry. ⁸ I will bring you to the land that I swore to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. I will give it to you, and it will be yours. I, Yahweh, am {promising this}.’”

⁹ Moses told that to the Israelites, but they did not believe what he said, because they were discouraged and overworked.

¹⁰ Then Yahweh said to Moses, ¹¹ “Go tell the king of Egypt that he must allow the Israelites to leave his land!”

¹² But Moses said to Yahweh, “Certainly, if the Israelites have not paid attention to what I told them, the king will not pay attention to what I tell him, since I am a poor speaker.” ¹³ But Yahweh spoke to Moses and Aaron and commanded them to go to the Israelites and to the king of Egypt in order to free the Israelites from their slavery in Egypt.

¹⁴ These are the original clan leaders:

Jacob’s oldest son Reuben had these sons: Hanok, Pallu, Hezron, and Karmi. The clans of Reuben are descended from them.

¹⁵ The sons of Simeon were: Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jakin, Zohar, and Shaul. Shaul’s mother was a woman from the land of Canaan. They were ancestors of clans that have those same names.

¹⁶ These are the names of the descendants of Levi in each generation: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. Levi was 137 years old when he died. ¹⁷ The sons of Gershon were Libni and Shimei. They were ancestors of clans that have those names. ¹⁸ The sons of Kohath were Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel. Kohath was 133 years old when he died. ¹⁹ The sons of Merari were Mahli and Mushi. These were ancestors of clans that descended from Levi by each generation.

²⁰ Amram married his father’s sister, Jochebed. She was the mother of Aaron and Moses. Amram lived 137 years.

²¹ The sons of Izhar were Korah, Nepheg, and Zichri. ²² The sons of Uzziel were Mishael, Elzaphan, and Sithri.

²³ Aaron married Elisheba. She was the daughter of Amminadab and sister of Nahshon. Elisheba gave birth to Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar.

²⁴ The sons of Korah were Assir, Elkanah, and Abiasaph. They were the ancestors of the Korahite people. ²⁵ Aaron’s son Eleazar married one of the daughters of Putiel, and she gave birth to Phinehas. These were the clan leaders descended from Levi in each generation.

²⁶ Aaron and Moses were the ones to whom Yahweh said, “Lead all the Israelites out of Egypt organized as army units.” ²⁷ They were the ones who spoke to the king of Egypt in order to bring the Israelites out of Egypt.

²⁸ On the day that Yahweh spoke to Moses in Egypt, ²⁹ he said, “I am Yahweh. Tell the king everything that I say to you.”

³⁰ But Moses said to Yahweh, “Please listen to me. I am not a good speaker. So why should the king listen to what I tell him?”

Chapter 7

¹ Yahweh answered, “See, I am putting you in front of the king {like} a god, and your brother Aaron will {speak for you like} a prophet. ² You must tell everything I instruct you to your {older} brother Aaron, and he will tell it all to the king. He must tell the king to let the Israelites leave his land. ³ But I will make the king stubborn. Because of this, even though I will do many kinds of miracles here in Egypt, ⁴ the king will not obey you. Then I will punish the Egyptians very severely and will lead my people, the Israelites, out of Egypt as an army. ⁵ Once I have proven how powerful I am to the Egyptians by rescuing the Israelites from being their slaves, they will know that I am Yahweh.”

⁶ Moses and Aaron did everything that Yahweh told them to do. ⁷ When {God sent} them to talk to the king of Egypt, Moses was 80 years old and Aaron was 83 years old.

⁸ Yahweh said to Moses and Aaron, ⁹ “If the king says to you, ‘Show me that God sent you by performing a miracle,’ then say to Aaron, ‘Throw your staff down in front of the king in order that it may become a snake.’”

¹⁰ So Aaron and Moses went to the king and did what Yahweh told them to do. Aaron threw his staff down in front of the king and his officials, and it became a snake. ¹¹ Then the king called his wise men and men who did magic. They did the same thing, using their magic. ¹² They all threw down their staffs, and the staffs became snakes. Then Aaron’s snake ate their snakes! ¹³ But, just as Yahweh had said, the king continued to be stubborn and would not obey what Aaron and Moses said.

¹⁴ Then Yahweh said to Moses, “The king is very stubborn. He refuses to allow my people to go. ¹⁵ So go meet him as he is going down to the Nile River in the morning. Wait for him on the riverbank. Take with you the staff that became a snake. ¹⁶ Say to him, ‘The God {named} Yahweh, the one we Hebrews worship, sent me to you to tell you to let his people go in order that they may worship him in the desert. But you still have not obeyed. ¹⁷ So Yahweh says this: “This is the way you will know that I am Yahweh. Look out! I am going to hit the water that is in the Nile River with the staff that is in my hand. {When I do that,} the water will become blood. ¹⁸ Then the fish in the Nile River will die, and the water in the river will smell bad. The Egyptians will wear themselves out trying to find water to drink from the river.”’”

¹⁹ Yahweh continued, “Then tell Aaron, ‘Hold your staff out {as though you were holding it} over all the water in Egypt—over the rivers, the canals, the ponds, and over all the stored water, in order that all of it may become blood.’ {When Aaron does that,} there will be blood throughout Egypt, even in wooden and stone jars.”

²⁰ So Aaron and Moses did what Yahweh told them to do. As the king and his officials were watching, Aaron lifted up his staff and then struck the water in the Nile River with it. All the water in the river turned to blood. ²¹ Then all the fish in the river died. The water smelled so bad that the Egyptians could not drink the water from the river. All the water in Egypt was blood. ²² But the Egyptian men who did magic did the same thing using their magic. So, just as Yahweh had said, the king continued to be stubborn and would not obey what Aaron and Moses said. ²³ Then the king turned and went back to his palace, and he did not think any more about it. ²⁴ All the Egyptians dug into the ground near the Nile River to get water to drink, because they could not drink the water from the river.

²⁵ One week passed after Yahweh struck the Nile River.

Chapter 8

¹ Then Yahweh said to Moses, “Go back to the king and tell him, ‘Yahweh says that you must let my people go in order that they can worship me {in the desert.} ² But if you do not let them go, watch out! I will punish you by sending frogs to cover your country. ³ Not only will the Nile River be full of frogs, but the frogs will also come up out of the river into your house. They will come into your bedroom and onto your bed. They will be in the houses of your slaves and all the rest of your people. They will even get into your ovens and your pans for mixing the materials for baking bread. ⁴ The frogs will jump up on you, on the Egyptian people, and on all your slaves.’”

⁵ Yahweh also said to Moses, “Say this to Aaron: ‘Hold your staff in your hand and stretch it out {as though you were stretching it} over the river, the canals, and the ponds, and cause frogs to come up {from all this water} and to cover the land of Egypt.’” ⁶ {After Moses told that to him,} Aaron stretched out his hand {as though he were stretching it} over all the water in Egypt. Then the frogs came up {from the water} and covered Egypt. ⁷ But the men who did magic did the same thing by magic, and they caused more frogs to come up from the water onto the land.

⁸ Then the king called Moses and Aaron and said, “Ask Yahweh to take these frogs away from me and my people. After that happens, I will allow your people to go to worship Yahweh.”

⁹ Moses said to the king, “Show how you are more glorious than me by telling me when to pray for you and your officials and the rest of your peoples. I will pray that the frogs stop coming to your houses and stay in the Nile River.”

¹⁰ The king replied, “{Pray for us} tomorrow.”

So Moses said, “I will do what you say. You will know that the God {named} Yahweh, {the one we worship, is the only true God, and that} there is no other God like him when ¹¹ the frogs leave you, your officials, all the rest of your people and all your houses; when the only ones left are in the Nile River.”

¹² Then Moses and Aaron left the king. Moses pleaded with Yahweh about the frogs he had used to punish the king. ¹³ Yahweh did just what Moses asked him to do. As a result, all the frogs in the houses, in their courtyards, and in their fields died. ¹⁴ The people gathered together all the dead frogs into big piles, and the land smelled very bad. ¹⁵ But when the king noticed that the frogs were gone, he made himself stubborn again. Just as Yahweh had said would happen, the king did not do what Aaron and Moses told him.

¹⁶ Then Yahweh said to Moses, “Tell Aaron to strike the dusty ground with his staff so that all the dust all over Egypt will become gnats.” ¹⁷ Moses and Aaron obeyed Yahweh. Aaron hit the dusty ground with his staff, and all over Egypt the dust became gnats. The gnats covered the people and the animals. ¹⁸ The men who worked magic tried to cause gnats to appear, but they could not do it. Gnats were on the people and animals.

¹⁹ The magicians said to the king, “A god did this!” But just like Yahweh had said, the king continued to be stubborn and would not obey Aaron and Moses.

²⁰ Then Yahweh said to Moses, “Get up early tomorrow morning. Wait to meet the king as he comes to the river and tell him, ‘This is what Yahweh says to you: “Let my people go in order that they may worship me. ²¹ If you do not let my people go immediately, watch out! Be sure that I will shortly send swarms of flies which will cover you, your slaves, the rest of your people, and your houses. All the Egyptian’s houses will be full of flies. They will even cover the ground. ²² But when that happens, I will treat the region of Goshen differently, because my people live there. There will be no swarms of flies there. In that way, you will know that I, Yahweh, am here in this land. ²³ I will treat my people and your people differently. I will prove how powerful I am tomorrow!”’” ²⁴ {In the morning, Moses warned the king, but he did not listen.} So Yahweh did what he said he would do. He sent great swarms of flies into the king’s palace and into his officials’ houses. They were everywhere in Egypt. The flies ruined the country.

²⁵ Then the king summoned Moses and Aaron and said, “Just go worship your god here in Egypt!”

²⁶ But Moses replied, “It would not be right for us to do that, because we will offer sacrifices to Yahweh, the God we worship, that are very offensive to the Egyptians. Look, it is certain that if we offer sacrifices right in front of them that the Egyptians hate passionately, they will kill us by throwing stones at us! ²⁷ We need to travel for three days into the wilderness. There we will offer sacrifices to Yahweh, the God we worship, just as he commands us.”

²⁸ So the king said, “I will let your people go to offer sacrifices to Yahweh, the god you worship, in the desert. But you must not go very far. Now pray for me!”

²⁹ Moses said {to the king}, “Listen to me! After I leave you, I will pray to Yahweh, asking that he would cause the swarms of flies to leave you, your slaves, and the rest of your people tomorrow. But do not lie to us again by refusing to let our people go to offer sacrifices to Yahweh!” ³⁰ Then Moses left the king and prayed to Yahweh. ³¹ Yahweh did what Moses asked. He got rid of the swarms of flies from around the king, his slaves, and the rest of his people. No flies remained. ³² But the king was stubborn this time also, and he did not allow the Israelites to go.

Chapter 9

¹ Then Yahweh said to Moses, “Go to the king and say to him, ‘This is what Yahweh, the God we Hebrews worship, says: “Let my people go in order that they may worship me. ² Otherwise, if you refuse to free them but continue to keep them {as your slaves}, ³ I warn you that I will soon powerfully punish you by sending a terrible disease on all your domesticated animals to make them sick and die—on your horses, on your donkeys, on your camels, on your cattle, and on your flocks of sheep and goats. ⁴ But I, Yahweh, will treat the Israelites’ domesticated animals differently than the Egyptians’. None of the Israelites’ domesticated animals will die.”’”

⁵ Yahweh specified when he would do this. He said, “Tomorrow I will do to Egypt what I threatened.”

⁶ The next day Yahweh sent a disease as he had said he would and all of the Egyptians’ domesticated animals died, but none of the Israelites’ domesticated animals died. ⁷ The king sent {men to look at what happened}, and they were surprised to see that none of the Israelites’ animals had died. {But after they told that to the king,} he continued to be stubborn, and he did not let the Israelites go.

⁸ Then Yahweh said to Aaron and Moses, “Take a few handfuls of ashes from an oven. Moses should throw them up into the air in front of the king. ⁹ The ashes will spread all over the country of Egypt, because they are fine dust. Everywhere in the land, the ashes will cause sores on the skin which turn red and burst open on both people and animals.” ¹⁰ So they took some ashes from an oven and stood in front of the king. Moses threw the ashes up into the air. As the ashes landed on both the Egyptian people and their animals, they caused sores on the skin that turned red and burst open. ¹¹ Because skin sores covered the men who worked magic (along with all the rest of the Egyptians), they could not challenge Moses. ¹² But Yahweh caused the king to continue to be stubborn. He did not obey Moses and Aaron, just as Yahweh had told Moses would happen.

¹³ Then Yahweh said to Moses, “Get up early tomorrow morning. Go and stand in front of the king and tell him that Yahweh God, the one whom the Hebrew people worship, says this: ‘Let my people go in order that they may worship me {in the wilderness}. ¹⁴ If you do not, then this time I am planning terrible disasters that will not only make your officials and the rest of your people very sad but also you yourself, in order that you might know that there is no god like me anywhere in the world. ¹⁵ By this time I could have powerfully struck you and your people with terrible diseases that would have destroyed your nation. ¹⁶ But I have let you live. The reason I have let you live is to show you how strong I am and so that I will be famous all over the world. ¹⁷ You are still acting proudly and refusing to let my people go. ¹⁸ So listen to this: About this time tomorrow I will cause large balls of ice to fall in Egypt. Between the time Egypt first became a nation and today, there has never been an ice storm as bad as this one will be. ¹⁹ So you should send {a message to all people} to put under shelter {their} domesticated animals and everything else that {they} own that is out in the fields. The ice will fall on every person and every animal that is out in the fields and that is not brought under a shelter. They will all die.’”

²⁰ {Moses did what Yahweh said.} Some of the king’s officials believed and were afraid of what Yahweh had said. So they quickly brought all their slaves and their animals under shelters. ²¹ But those who did not believe what Yahweh had said left their slaves and their animals in the fields.

²² Then Yahweh said to Moses, “Raise your hand up toward the sky in order that balls of ice {may fall} all over the land of Egypt—on the people, on the animals, and on all the crops in the fields.”

²³ So Moses lifted his staff up toward the sky, and Yahweh brought a storm with thunder, balls of ice, and lightning. Yahweh caused the balls of ice to fall all over the land of Egypt. ²⁴ While balls of ice were falling, lightning was flashing. There had never been such a huge ice storm like that in Egypt since it first became a country. ²⁵ The ice struck everywhere in Egypt, hitting everything that was outside, animals as well as people. The ice destroyed the crops in the fields and broke limbs off the fruit trees. ²⁶ Only in the region of Goshen, where the Israelites were living, was there no ice.

²⁷ Then the king sent {someone} to summon Moses and Aaron. He said to them, “This time {I admit that} I have sinned. {What} Yahweh {has done} is right, and {what} I and my people {have done} is wrong. ²⁸ Pray to Yahweh because his thunder and ice are terrible! I will let you and your people go; you do not have to stay in Egypt any longer.”

²⁹ Moses replied, “As soon as I go out of this city, I will lift up my hands and pray to Yahweh. Then the thunder will stop, and no more ice will fall. This will happen in order that you will know that Yahweh, {not your gods, controls everything that happens on} the earth. ³⁰ But I know that you and your officials still do not tremble when Yahweh God comes near.”

³¹ ({When the ice fell} it ruined the flax because the blossoms were forming. It also ruined the barley because its grain was ripe. ³² But it did not ruin any of the wheat varieties, because they grow later in the year.)

³³ So Moses left the king and went outside the city. He raised his hands toward Yahweh and prayed. Then the thunder and the ice storm stopped. The rain also stopped falling on the land of Egypt. ³⁴ But when the king saw that the rain, the ice storm, and the thunder had stopped, he sinned again. He and his officials made themselves stubborn. ³⁵ So, just as Yahweh had predicted to Moses, the king was stubborn and did not allow the Israelites to leave.

Chapter 10

¹ Then Yahweh said to Moses, “Go to the king again. I have made him and his officials stubborn. I have done so in order that I may have a good reason to do all these miracles among them. ² I have also done so in order that you would be able to tell your children and your grandchildren how I caused the Egyptians to act very foolishly when I performed all these miracles among them. Then all of you will know that I am Yahweh.”

³ So Moses and Aaron went to the king and said to him, “Yahweh God, {the one whom we} Hebrews {worship}, says this, ‘How long will you {stubbornly} refuse to bow to me? Let my people go in order that they may worship me {in the wilderness}! ⁴ If you do not let them go, I warn you that tomorrow I will bring locusts into your country. ⁵ They will completely cover the ground so that you will not even be able to see it. They will eat everything that the ice storm did not destroy. They will eat everything that is growing on your fruit trees. ⁶ They will fill your houses and the houses of all your officials and of all the rest of the Egyptians. There will be more locusts than your parents or your grandparents have ever seen from the time your ancestors first came to this land until now!’” Then Moses {and Aaron} turned and left the king.

⁷ The king’s officials said to him, “This is another trap for us! Let the Israelites go in order that they may worship Yahweh, their god. You must know that our country is already ruined.”

⁸ {The king ordered someone} to bring Moses and Aaron back to him. He said to them, “Go worship Yahweh, your god. But who will go?”

⁹ Moses replied, “We all need to go, everyone, including those who are young and those who are old. We need to take our sons, our daughters, and our flocks of sheep and goats and herds of livestock because a celebration to honor Yahweh is for all of us.”

¹⁰ The king replied, “I am not about to let you go with your women and children because I do not think Yahweh is about to help you. Watch out so that something bad does not happen to you! ¹¹ Since you keep asking, go worship Yahweh with just your men. But no one else may go!” Then the king drove Moses and Aaron away.

¹² Then Yahweh said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over Egypt and locusts will come up and cover the country. They will eat every green thing in the whole country, anything that the hail left behind.”

¹³ So Moses held out his staff as though he were stretching it over the country of Egypt. Then Yahweh caused a wind to blow from the east, and it blew over the land all that day and all that night. By the next morning, it had brought the locusts. ¹⁴ The locusts came up all over Egypt. They landed everywhere in the whole country. There had never been anything like this huge number of locusts, and there will never be anything like it again. ¹⁵ They covered the surface of the ground and made it appear black. They ate all the plants in the land and everything on the trees that the ice storm had not destroyed. They left nothing that was green on any tree or on any plant anywhere in Egypt.

¹⁶ The king quickly called Aaron and Moses and said, “I have sinned against Yahweh, your god, and against you. ¹⁷ Can you forgive me right now for having sinned this one time? Please pray to Yahweh, your god. Just ask him to take away the locusts that will cause us all to die.”

¹⁸ So Moses and Aaron left the king, and Moses prayed to Yahweh. ¹⁹ Then Yahweh changed the wind so that it blew strongly from the west, and it picked up and forced all the locusts into the Red Sea. There were no locusts left anywhere in the country of Egypt. ²⁰ But Yahweh made the king stubborn again, and the king did not let the Israelites go.

²¹ Yahweh said to Moses, “Reach your hand up toward the sky so that it may be dark over all the land of Egypt, so dark that it will seem like people can feel it.” ²² So Moses reached his hand toward the sky, and it became extremely dark all over Egypt for three days and nights. ²³ No one could see anyone else. No one went anywhere for three days. But there was light in the area where the Israelites lived.

²⁴ The king called Moses and said, “{All right,} you may go and worship Yahweh. Your women and your children may go with you. But your flocks {of sheep and goats} and your herds {of cattle} must remain here.”

²⁵ But Moses replied, “No, you must also let us take our sacrifices and burnt offerings to offer to Yahweh, our God. ²⁶ Our domesticated animals must also go with us. We are not going to leave one animal behind because we must take them to worship Yahweh, the God we worship. We will not know what we will need for worshiping Yahweh until we get to where we are going.”

²⁷ But Yahweh made the king continue to be stubborn. The king would not allow the Israelites to go. ²⁸ The king said to Moses and Aaron, “Get out of here! Make sure that you never {come to} see me again! The day you see me again, I will have someone kill you!”

²⁹ Moses replied, “You are correct! I will never see you again!”

Chapter 11

¹ Yahweh said to Moses, “I will bring one more disaster on the king of Egypt and on all his people. After that, he will let you leave. When he does, he will absolutely chase you out of Egypt. ² Speak quickly to all the Israelites. Tell them to ask all their Egyptian neighbors, both men and women, to give them things made from silver and gold.” ³ Yahweh made the Egyptians willing to help the Israelites. Also, the king’s officials and all the rest of the people thought that Moses was one of the most important men in Egypt.

⁴ Then Moses said {to the king}, “This is what Yahweh says: ‘About midnight I will go through Egypt, ⁵ and I will kill every oldest son in Egypt. I will kill without exception: the rich king’s oldest son, the poor mill slave’s oldest son, and even every oldest male born among the animals. ⁶ When that happens, people all over Egypt will lament more terribly than anyone ever has lamented before and more than anyone ever will again. ⁷ But dogs will not even bark at the Israelites or at their animals. Then you will know for sure that I, Yahweh, am treating the Egyptians differently from the Israelites.’ ⁸ Then all these officials of yours will come and bow down before me and will say, ‘Please get out of Egypt, you and everyone who is with you!’ After that, we will leave Egypt!” When Moses had said that, he left the king very angrily.

⁹ Then Yahweh said to Moses, “The king will not obey you. This is so I can cause many disastrous miracles in his country.”

¹⁰ Moses and Aaron did all these miracles in front of the king, but Yahweh made the king stubborn. The king did not let the Israelites leave his land.

Chapter 12

¹ Yahweh said to Aaron and Moses in Egypt, ² “Start counting your months at this new moon. It will be the Israelites’ first month of the year. ³ Tell the whole Israelite community, ‘On the tenth day of this month every man who leads a family must take a young sheep or a young goat for his household. ⁴ If there are not enough people in his family to eat a whole cooked lamb, then his family and a family that lives nearby may kill one animal. Plan to share the lamb according to the number of people in each family and according to how much each person can eat. ⁵ You may choose a sheep or a goat; but it must be a one-year-old male, and it must be perfect, without any defects. ⁶ You must take special care of these animals until the fourteenth day of this month. On that day, all the Israelites must kill the young sheep or young goats in the evening. ⁷ Then they must take some of the blood from the young sheep or young goats, and they must smear it on the two doorposts and on the tops of the doorframes of the houses in which they will eat the meat. ⁸ They must roast the animals over a fire and eat the meat that same night. They must eat it with bitter herbs and with bread that does not have yeast in it. ⁹ You must not eat any of the meat uncooked, and you must not cook the meat in water. You must do this: cook the whole animal over a fire. Do not remove the head, legs, or inside parts. ¹⁰ Do not save any of the meat until the next morning. Any meat that you have not eaten by morning, you must burn to ash. ¹¹ When you eat it, you must be dressed ready to travel. You must have your sandals on your feet and your walking staff in your hands. You must eat it hurriedly. It will be a festival called Passover to honor me, Yahweh.

¹² On that night I will go throughout Egypt, and I will kill all the oldest males in Egypt, both humans and animals. I am punishing all the Egyptians’ gods. I am Yahweh. ¹³ The blood on your houses will show that you are obeying me. When I see the blood, I will go past those houses. I will not harm the people who are in those houses when I come to punish the Egyptians.

¹⁴ You will make this day a feast to remember and celebrate what I, Yahweh, will have done for you. This is a rule for you: every generation of Israelites must celebrate this annual feast for all of time. ¹⁵ For seven days you must eat bread that has no yeast in it. On the first day of that week, you must remove all the yeast that is in your houses. During those seven days, if anyone eats bread that has yeast in it, you must drive that person out from your people. ¹⁶ On the first day of that week, you must have a holy meeting. You must do the same thing on the seventh day. People must not work at all on those two days. The only work you may do is to prepare food to eat.

¹⁷ You must celebrate the Feast of Unleavened Bread on this day because this day is exactly when I am rescuing all your tribes from slavery in Egypt. This is a law for you: every generation of Israelites for all of time must celebrate to remember that I rescued you on this day. ¹⁸ On the evening of the fourteenth day of the first month of the year, you must stop eating bread that has yeast in it. You may not eat bread with yeast in it again until the evening of the twenty-first day of that month. ¹⁹ For those seven days you must not have any yeast in your house. During that time, if anyone—either a foreigner or an Israelite—eats bread that has yeast in it, you must drive that person out from your people. ²⁰ Do not eat any yeast. Wherever you are living, you must eat bread that does not have yeast in it.’”

²¹ Then Moses summoned all the Israelite leaders. He said to them, “Each family should select a young sheep or young goat and kill it to eat it to celebrate the festival that you will call ‘Passover.’ ²² {Let the lamb’s blood drain} into a bowl. Get a bunch of hyssop and dip it in the blood. Then wipe some of the blood on the top of the doorframe and on the doorposts of your houses. The people in each house must stay inside the house until the next morning. ²³ When Yahweh goes through Egypt to kill every oldest male, he will see the blood on your doorframes. Because of that, he will pass over those houses and will not allow the killing-destroyer to enter your houses to kill your oldest sons.

²⁴ You and your descendants must celebrate this ritual forever; this is a law. ²⁵ When you arrive in the land that Yahweh will give to you as he promised, you must keep celebrating this ritual every year. ²⁶ When your children ask you, ‘What does this ritual mean?’ ²⁷ you must tell them, ‘This ritual is to remember how your ancestors sacrificed lambs on the night that Yahweh’s angel passed over the houses of the Israelites when they were in Egypt. He killed the oldest males in all the Egyptian houses, but he did not kill the sons in our houses.” After Moses told them this, the elders all bowed their heads and worshiped Yahweh. ²⁸ Then the Israelites did exactly what Yahweh told Moses and Aaron to tell them to do.

²⁹ At midnight Yahweh killed all the Egyptians’ oldest sons, all over Egypt. This included the rich king’s oldest son, the oldest sons of the prisoners in the dungeons, and the oldest males of all the {Egyptians’} livestock. ³⁰ That night the king, all his officials, and all the rest of the Egyptians awoke and discovered what had happened. They wailed loudly all over Egypt, because in every house someone’s son had died.

³¹ That night the king summoned Moses and Aaron and said, “Get up, you and all the other Israelites, and get away from my people and country now! Go and worship Yahweh, as you requested! ³² You may even take your flocks of sheep and goats and herds of cattle just as you requested. Just leave! Ask Yahweh to bless me also!”

³³ The Egyptians helped the Israelites to leave their country quickly. They said, “Otherwise, we will all die!” ³⁴ So the Israelites prepared to leave at once. They took the bowls in which they mixed the dough to make bread and the dough that was in the bowls without any yeast in it, and they wrapped the bowls in their cloaks. They put the bowls on their shoulders. ³⁵ Then the Israelites did as Moses told them. They went to their Egyptian neighbors and asked them for silver, gold, and clothing. ³⁶ Yahweh caused the Egyptians to greatly respect the Israelites, so they gave them what they asked for. In that way, the Israelites carried away the wealth of the Egyptians.

³⁷ The Israelites walked from the city of Rameses to the town of Succoth. There were about 600, 000 men who went, in addition to the women and children. ³⁸ Many other people who were not Israelites went along with them. There was also a large amount of livestock, including flocks of sheep and goats and herds of cattle. ³⁹ Pharaoh forced the Israelites to leave Egypt so quickly that they did not have time to prepare food to take with them or to allow the bread dough to form yeast. When they made bread with the dough they brought from Egypt, they made flatbread because it did not have yeast.

⁴⁰ The Israelites had lived in Egypt for 430 years. ⁴¹ On the day that those 430 years ended, on that very day, all the tribes of Yahweh’s people left Egypt. ⁴² It was a night when the Israelites stayed awake as Yahweh brought them out of Egypt. So this same night every year is a night that they dedicate to Yahweh, a night when the Israelites and their descendants in every generation remember how Yahweh kept their ancestors safe.

⁴³ Then Yahweh said to Moses and Aaron, “This is the law about the Passover ritual: Do not let foreigners eat the Passover meal. ⁴⁴ But if anyone buys a slave and circumcises him, that slave may eat the Passover meal. ⁴⁵ Do not let people who are living temporarily among you who are not Israelites or servants to whom you pay money eat the Passover meal. ⁴⁶ You must eat the Passover meal inside one house. Do not take any of the meat outside the house. Do not break the lamb’s bones. ⁴⁷ The whole Israelite community must celebrate this festival.

⁴⁸ When someone from another country comes to live with you and wants to celebrate Yahweh’s Passover festival, circumcise all the males in his household. Then he can eat the Passover meal, and you should treat that man as though he had been born an Israelite. But do not allow men who are not circumcised to eat the Passover meal. ⁴⁹ These rules apply to people who were born as Israelites and to foreigners who come and live among you.”

⁵⁰ All the Israelites obeyed Moses and Aaron and did what Yahweh had commanded. ⁵¹ On that very day, Yahweh brought all the Israelite tribes out of Egypt.

Chapter 13

¹ Yahweh said to Moses, ² “Consecrate all the firstborn {males} in order that they may belong to me. The firstborn {males} of {the Israelite} people and of {their} animals will be mine.”

³ Moses said to the people, “Always remember today! This is the day that you left Egypt. This is the day I freed you from being the Egyptians’ slaves. Yahweh has powerfully brought you out of Egypt. Do not eat any bread that has yeast in it {whenever you celebrate this day}. ⁴ You are leaving Egypt on this day, which is the first day of the month of Aviv. ⁵ Later, when Yahweh brings you into the land where the descendants of Canaan, Heth, Amor, Hiv, and Jebus now live, the land that he promised your ancestors that he would give to you, a land that will be very good for raising livestock and growing crops, you must celebrate this festival in this month every year. ⁶ For seven days the bread you eat must not have any yeast in it. On the seventh day, you must have a celebration to honor Yahweh. ⁷ Do not eat bread that has yeast in it for seven days. You should not have any yeast or bread made with yeast anywhere in your land.

⁸ On the day that you celebrate the festival, you must tell your children, ‘We are doing this to remember what Yahweh did for us when we left Egypt.’ ⁹ The celebration will be like something you tie on your forehead or on your wrist. It will remind you to recite to others what Yahweh has instructed you, because you are grateful to him for powerfully bringing you out of Egypt. ¹⁰ So you must celebrate this festival every year, forever, at the time Yahweh has appointed.

¹¹ Yahweh will bring you into the land where the descendants of Canaan live, as he promised to you and your ancestors that he would do. When he gives that land to you, ¹² you must give all the firstborn males of both people and animals to Yahweh. These all will belong to Yahweh. ¹³ In the case of a firstborn donkey, you must buy it back by killing a lamb instead of it. If you do not buy it back, you must kill the donkey by breaking its neck. You must buy back every one of your firstborn sons.

¹⁴ In the future, when one of your children asks, ‘What does this mean?’ you must say to him, ‘Yahweh powerfully brought us out of Egypt and freed us from being slaves there. ¹⁵ What happened was: The king of Egypt did not let us leave his land, so Yahweh killed all the firstborn males in Egypt, both the boys and the firstborn of their livestock. That is why we now sacrifice to Yahweh all the firstborn of our livestock, but we buy back our own firstborn sons.’ ¹⁶ This celebration will be like something you tie on your wrist or on your forehead to remind you that Yahweh powerfully brought you out of Egypt.”

¹⁷ When the king of Egypt let the Israelites go, God did not guide them along the road toward the Philistines’ land. Even though it was shorter, God thought, “If enemies attack them, they may change their minds and go back to Egypt.” ¹⁸ Instead, God led them to go around through the wilderness toward the Red Sea. The Israelites left Egypt in an orderly formation.

¹⁹ Moses had them take the bones of Joseph along with them, because Joseph long ago had made the Israelites promise that they would do that. He had said to them, “God will always care for you. {When he brings you to the promised land,} you must carry my bones with you.”

²⁰ The Israelites went from Succoth to Etham (which was at the edge of the wilderness). They set up their tents there. ²¹ When they walked during the daytime, Yahweh went in front of them in a tall cloud to show them the way. During the night, he went in front of them in a tall flame so they had light and could travel in the daytime and also at nighttime. ²² Yahweh never left them. He was there in the tall cloud during the day and in the tall flame during the night.

Chapter 14

¹ Then Yahweh said to Moses, ² “Tell the Israelites to turn toward Pi Hahiroth and camp near it. That place is between Migdol and the {Red} Sea, near Baal Zephon. Set up your tents there, close to the sea. ³ When the king knows you have done that, he will think, ‘The Israelites are lost. They are wandering around, and the desert blocks their path.’ ⁴ I will make the king stubborn again and he will chase you {with his army}. Then people will revere me more than the king and his army, and the Egyptians will know that I am Yahweh.” {So Moses told the Israelites that,} and they did what he told them to do.

⁵ When someone told the king of Egypt that the Israelites had escaped, he and his officials changed how they were thinking about them and said, “What have we done? The Israelites will no longer be our slaves because we let them go!” ⁶ So the king had {someone} fasten his horses to his chariot and he rode out with his army. ⁷ {When he left} he took all Egypt’s chariots, including the best 600 chariots. In each chariot {he placed a driver, a soldier, and} a commander. ⁸ Yahweh made the king of Egypt stubborn, so he {and his army} chased the Israelites. The Israelites marched out confidently. ⁹ The Egyptian army, with all the king’s horses and chariots and horsemen, chased after the Israelites. They caught up with them as they were camped near the sea, close to Pi Hahiroth, in front of Baal Zephon.

¹⁰ When the king’s army got near, the Israelite people were surprised to see that the Egyptians were marching toward them. They were terrified, so they cried out to Yahweh to help them. ¹¹ Then they said to Moses, “You have not helped us by bringing us out of Egypt. {Pharaoh’s army is going to} kill us here in the wilderness. {If we had stayed in Egypt,} someone would have buried us in graves. ¹² That is what we told you when we were in Egypt. We said, ‘Leave us alone, and let us work for the Egyptians.’ It would have been better for us to be slaves for the Egyptians than to die here in the desert!”

¹³ Moses said to the people, “Do not be afraid! Stand strong and see how Yahweh will rescue you. He will save you today, and you will never see the Egyptians that you are looking at today again. ¹⁴ Yahweh will fight for you! Just stay calm. There is nothing else that you will have to do.”

¹⁵ Then Yahweh said to Moses, “Instead of asking me to help you, tell the people to pack their tents and prepare to march. ¹⁶ You must lift up your staff and stretch out the hand holding it over the sea to cause it to divide. Then the Israelites will go in the middle of the sea, walking on dry ground. ¹⁷ Watch me! I will make the Egyptians stubborn so that they will chase the Israelites. Then, because of what I will do to the king, his army, his chariots, and his horsemen, people will revere me. ¹⁸ When I have won a glorious victory over the king, his chariots, and his horsemen, the {other} Egyptians will know that I am Yahweh, {the God who can do anything}.”

¹⁹ Then the angel of God, who had been in front of the Israelites, moved and went behind them. The tall, bright cloud that had been in front of them also moved to be behind them. ²⁰ The cloud was between the Egyptian army and the Israelites. The cloud caused the Egyptian army to be in the darkness, but it gave light to the Israelites. As a result, neither group could come near the other group during the whole night. ²¹ Moses stretched out his hand over the sea. Then Yahweh sent a strong wind from the east. It blew all night and pushed the water apart, and it caused the land between the water to dry up. ²² Then the Israelites went on the dry land in the middle of the sea. The water was like a wall on each side of them, on the right side and on the left side.

²³ Then the Egyptian army went after them into the middle of the sea with their horses, chariots, and horsemen. ²⁴ Just before dawn, Yahweh looked down from the fiery cloud, and then he caused the Egyptian army to panic. ²⁵ He caused the wheels of the chariots to get stuck in the ground so that they could hardly move. So the Egyptians said, “Yahweh is fighting for the Israelites against us; we must escape from them!”

²⁶ Then Yahweh said to Moses, “Stretch out your arm over the sea. Then the water will come back on the Egyptians, on their chariots, and their horsemen.” ²⁷ So Moses stretched out his arm above the sea, and the water returned to its normal level just before dawn. The Egyptians tried to escape, but Yahweh hurled them back into the sea. ²⁸ The water returned and covered the chariots, the horsemen, and the whole Egyptian army that had tried to follow the Israelites into the sea. Every one of the Egyptians died.

²⁹ But the Israelites had already crossed through the sea by walking on dry ground. The water was like two walls, one on the right side and one on the left side. ³⁰ That is the way Yahweh saved the Israelites from the Egyptian army on that day. The Israelites saw the Egyptians lying dead. Their bodies washed up on the shore. ³¹ The Israelites saw what Yahweh powerfully did to the Egyptians, and they revered Yahweh. They trusted Yahweh and his servant Moses.

Chapter 15

¹ Then Moses and all the Israelites sang this song to Yahweh. They each sang,

     “I will sing to Yahweh because he has won a great victory;

     He has thrown the horses and the charioteers into the sea!

     ² Yahweh makes me strong, and I will sing about him.

     He has saved me.

     He is my God, and I will celebrate {because of what he did for me}.

     He was my father’s God, and I will tell others how great he is.

     ³ Yahweh is a warrior;

     Yahweh is his name.

     ⁴ He has thrown the king’s chariots and his army into the sea;

     The king’s best officers all drowned in the Red Sea.

     ⁵ The deep water covered them;

     they sank to the bottom like a rock.

     ⁶ O Yahweh, your power is immense;

     with that power, O Yahweh, you have crushed the enemy into pieces.

     ⁷ You use your great strength to defeat your enemies.

     When you are angry, you destroy them

     like a fire burns up straw.

     ⁸ You blew on the sea, and the water piled up high;

     the water became like mounds of dirt.

     In the deepest part of the sea, the water became thick, as though it were frozen.

     ⁹ Our enemies said,

     ‘We will go after them

     and catch up to them.

     We will do whatever we want to them!

     We will draw our swords

     and defeat them;

     then we will divide up everything we take from them.’

     ¹⁰ Your wind blew,

     and then the sea covered them.

     They sank like lead in the big waves.

     ¹¹ Yahweh, there is no other god like you!

     There is no one like you!

     You are wonderfully different from everything else.

     Everyone fears and praises you for all the miracles you do!

     ¹² You used your power

     to make the earth open and our enemies go down into it!

     ¹³ You are leading the people you bought because you always love us;

     Because {you use} your strength {for our good}, you are guiding us to the home that you set apart.

     ¹⁴ The people of other nations will hear what you have done,

     and they will tremble.

     The people in Philistia will be terrified.

     ¹⁵ The chiefs in Edom will be dismayed.

     The leaders in Moab will be so afraid that they will shake.

     All those who live in Canaan will faint.

     ¹⁶ They will be terrified and fearful because of your great strength.

     But they will be as silent as stones

     until we, your people, march past them,

         the people you freed {from being slaves in Egypt.}

     ¹⁷ You will bring us {into the promised land of Canaan.}

     You will enable us to live on your hill,

     in the place that you, Yahweh, have chosen to be your home,

     in the holy place, our Lord,

     that you yourself will build.

     ¹⁸ O Yahweh, you will rule forever!”

¹⁹ When the king’s horses and chariots and horsemen tried to go through the sea, Yahweh caused the water to come back and cover them. But the Israelite people walked through the middle of the sea on dry ground. ²⁰ Then Miriam, who was Aaron’s older sister and a prophetess, picked up her tambourine and led all the other women who had tambourines out to dance. ²¹ Miriam sang to Yahweh this song: “Sing to Yahweh because he has triumphed gloriously over his enemies. He has thrown the horses and their riders into the sea.”

²² Then Moses led the Israelite people away from the Red Sea. They went to the wilderness of Shur. They walked for three days, but they could not find any water. ²³ So they went on and came to a place named Marah. There was water there, but they could not drink it, because it was bitter. That is why they named the place Marah, which is the Hebrew word that means ‘bitter.’ ²⁴ The people complained to Moses, saying, “What are we going to drink?” ²⁵ So Moses prayed to Yahweh. Then Yahweh showed him a branch. He took the branch and threw it into the water, and the water became good to drink. There at Marah, Yahweh gave them a fixed rule by which to live. He also tested them there {to determine if they would obey him.} ²⁶ He said, “I am Yahweh, your God. If you will obey me when I speak to you and do those things that I say are right and listen to all the things that I tell you, I will keep you from all the diseases that I brought on the Egyptians. Do not forget that I am Yahweh, the one who heals you.”

²⁷ After they left Marah, they came to a place named Elim. There were 12 springs of water and 70 palm trees there. So they camped there.

Chapter 16

¹ They left Elim, and all the Israelite people came to the wilderness of Sin between Elim and Sinai Mountain. That was on the fifteenth day of the second month after they left Egypt. ² There in the wilderness, the Israelite people complained against Moses and Aaron. ³ They said to them, “We wish that Yahweh had killed us in Egypt! There we had meat to cook and all the bread that we wanted to eat. But you have brought us into this desert in order that we will all starve until we die!”

⁴ Yahweh said to Moses, “Watch what I am going to do. I am going to send bread from the sky for you. When I do that, the people must go out of their tents every day and gather enough to eat on that day. When I do that, I will find out whether they will obey me or not. ⁵ On the sixth day {of each week}, they should gather and prepare twice as much as on the other days {so they do not have to gather any on the seventh day}.”

⁶ So Moses and Aaron said to all the Israelite people, “This evening you will know that it was Yahweh{, not us,} who brought you out of Egypt. ⁷ In the morning you will see how great Yahweh is, because he has heard how you have complained against him. We are not important enough for your complaints.” ⁸ Then Moses also said, “Each evening Yahweh will give you meat to eat, and each morning he will give you enough bread to make you full. He has heard how you have complained about him. We are unimportant; when you complain, it is really about Yahweh, not us.”

⁹ Then Moses said to Aaron, “Tell all the Israelite people, ‘Come and stand here in the presence of Yahweh, because he has heard what you have been complaining about.’” ¹⁰ So as Aaron told the Israelites that, they turned to look toward the desert and were surprised to see the dazzling light of Yahweh in the cloud {that had been leading them}.

¹¹ Then Yahweh said to Moses, ¹² “I have heard what the Israelites have been complaining about. So say to them, ‘At twilight, you will have meat to eat, and in the morning you will have bread. You will have all you want of it to eat. Then you will know that I am Yahweh, your God.’”

¹³ That evening quails appeared, and there were so many that they covered the campsite. The next morning there were small drops of water all around the campsite. ¹⁴ When the water on the ground dried up, they saw a thin layer of something that looked like {small white} flakes on the desert ground. It looked like a thin layer of ice on the ground. ¹⁵ When the Israelites saw it, they did not know what it was, so they said to each other, “What is it?”

Moses replied to them, “It is the food Yahweh has given you to eat. ¹⁶ This is what Yahweh has commanded: Each of you should gather as much as you need to eat. Gather two liters for each person who lives in your tents.” ¹⁷ So that is what the Israelite people did. Some gathered more and some gathered less. ¹⁸ Because they gathered two liters per person, when they measured what they had gathered, those who had gathered a lot did not have anything left over. Those who had gathered less still had enough to eat. Each person gathered just enough.

¹⁹ Moses said to them, “Do not leave any of it to eat tomorrow morning!” ²⁰ Some of them did not obey what Moses said. They kept some of it until the next morning. However, it was full of maggots and smelled rotten. That made Moses angry. ²¹ Each morning they gathered as much as they needed. Later, when the sun got hot, what was left on the ground melted.

²² On the sixth day, each person was able to gather four liters of bread, which was twice as much as they gathered on the other days. When the leaders of the people came to Moses and told him about that, ²³ Moses said to them, “This is what Yahweh has told you: Tomorrow will be a day for you to rest. It will be a day set apart for Yahweh. So today, bake or boil what you will need for today and for tomorrow. Whatever is left this evening, you should put aside and keep it to eat tomorrow.”

²⁴ So they did what Moses told them. What was left over, they kept until the next day. It did not spoil and did not get maggots in it! ²⁵ On that day, Moses said, “Eat today what you have saved from yesterday because today is a day of rest to Yahweh. Today you will not find any of that food outside. ²⁶ Every week, you must gather it for six days; but on the seventh day, which will be a day of rest for you, there will not be any to gather.”

²⁷ On the seventh day, some of the people went outside their tents to gather some of that food, but could not find any. ²⁸ Then Yahweh told Moses to say this to the people: “Yahweh is angry because for a long time you people have refused to do all the things that he has told you to do! ²⁹ Listen! Since Yahweh has given you a day of rest, on the sixth day of each week, he will therefore be giving you enough of this food for two days. Each of you should stay in his tent, not going anywhere on the seventh day!” ³⁰ So the people rested on the seventh day.

³¹ The Israelites called this food ‘manna.’ It looked white, like the color of coriander seeds, and it tasted like thin wafers made with honey. ³² Moses said, “This is what Yahweh has told you: ‘You must keep two liters of it for all future generations so that they can see the food that I gave you to eat in the desert when I brought you out of Egypt.’”

³³ And he said to Aaron, “Take a jar, and put two liters of manna in it. Then put it in a place where Yahweh can see it. You must keep it like that for all future generations.” ³⁴ {Later} Aaron {would} put the jar in front of the record of the agreement between Yahweh and Israel in order to keep the manna as Yahweh had commanded Moses. ³⁵ The Israelites ate manna every day for forty years until they came to where there were people, at the border of the land of Canaan. ³⁶ {Now two liters is called} an omer, which is a tenth of an ephah.

Chapter 17

¹ Then Yahweh commanded all the Israelites to travel from the wilderness of Sin and camp at a place called Rephidim, and they did. However, there was no water there for the people to drink. ² So the people complained to Moses again, saying, “Give us water to drink!”

Moses replied to them, “You should not quarrel with me! You should not test Yahweh!”

³ But the people were very thirsty, and they continued to complain to Moses. They were saying, “You only brought us out here to kill us and our children and cattle by not letting us have any water to drink!”

⁴ So Moses prayed to Yahweh. He said, “How shall I deal with these people? They are almost ready {to kill me} by throwing stones {at me}!”

⁵ Yahweh said to Moses, “Lead the people and walk in front of them. Take some of the elders of the Israelite people with you. Carry in your hand the staff you used to strike the Nile River. ⁶ Watch me! I will stand in front of you on top of a large rock at the foot of Mount Sinai. Strike the rock with your stick. When you do that, water for the people to drink will flow out of the rock.” Moses did what God had said, and the elders saw it happen. ⁷ Moses named that place both Masseh (because the Israelites tested Yahweh by questioning if he was really able to help them or not) and Meribah (because they were complaining all the time to him).

⁸ Then the people of Amalek came and fought against the Israelite people at Rephidim. ⁹ Moses said to Joshua, “Choose some men to go out and fight against the people of Amalek tomorrow. I will stand on the top of the hill, holding the staff that God told me to carry.” ¹⁰ So Joshua obeyed Moses. He {took some men} to fight against the people of Amalek.

{While they were fighting,} Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill {so that they could see the whole battle area}. ¹¹ Then this happened: Whenever Moses lifted up his arms, the Israelite men started to win the battle; whenever he lowered his arms, the Amalekite army started to win. ¹² But Moses’ arms became tired. So Aaron and Hur brought a large stone for him to sit on. While he was sitting on it, those two held up his arms, one man on either side of him. In that way, they kept his arms lifted up until the sun went down. ¹³ In this way Joshua and the men with him defeated the Amalekite king and his army in battle.

¹⁴ Then Yahweh said to Moses, “Write an account of this battle and then read it to Joshua. Also write that I will so completely destroy the people of Amalek that no one in the world will remember who they were.” ¹⁵ Then Moses built a stone altar there and named it “Yahweh is my flag.” ¹⁶ He said, “Because they fought against him, Yahweh will fight against the people of Amalek forever!”

Chapter 18

¹ Jethro, who was the priest for the people of Midian, and who was also Moses’ father-in-law, heard about all that God had done for Moses and for God’s people, the Israelites. He heard about how Yahweh had brought them out of Egypt. ² Moses had sent his wife Zipporah {and his two sons} back home {when he was returning to Egypt}. So when Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, came to him, he brought her ³ and her sons. One son’s name was Gershom, which sounds like the Hebrew word that means “foreigner,” because Moses had said, “I have been a foreigner living in another land.” ⁴ Her other son’s name was Eliezer, which sounds like the Hebrew word that means “God helps me,” because Moses had said, “God, whom my father worshiped, has helped me and saved me from the king of Egypt killing me.”

⁵ While Moses {and the Israelites} camped in the wilderness near {Sinai}, God’s {holy} mountain, Jethro (Moses’s father-in-law) came to him, bringing along Moses’ wife and two sons. ⁶ Jethro had sent a message to Moses, “I, your father-in-law, Jethro, am coming to see you. I am bringing your wife and her two sons!” ⁷ So Moses went out {of the campsite} to meet his father-in-law. He bowed before him and kissed him {on the cheek}. They both asked each other, “Have you been well?” Then they went into {Moses’} tent. ⁸ Moses told Jethro everything that Yahweh had done to the king {and all the other people in Egypt} in order to help the Israelite people. He also told him about the troubles they had experienced on the way, and about how Yahweh had helped them.

⁹ Jethro praised Yahweh when he heard that Yahweh had rescued the Israelites from slavery in Egypt and had been very good to them. ¹⁰ He said, “Praise Yahweh, who has rescued you from the powerful Egyptian {army} and from the powerful Egyptian king and has set the Israelites free from the control of the Egyptians! ¹¹ Now I know that Yahweh is greater than all other gods, because he rescued the Israelites from their proud enemies.” ¹² Then Jethro (who was Moses’ father-in-law) brought a burnt offering and other sacrifices for God. Aaron and the Israelite elders came and ate a meal with Moses’ father-in-law to honor God.

¹³ The next day, Moses sat down at the place where he settled disputes among the people. The people asked Moses to judge their disputes from the morning until the evening. ¹⁴ When Jethro saw everything that Moses was doing for the people, he said, “Do not lead the people this way. You should not sit here alone letting everyone demand that you judge for them all day!”

¹⁵ Moses replied to his father-in-law, “I am doing this because the people keep coming to me to find out what God desires. ¹⁶ When they cannot agree about something, they come to me, and they ask me to decide which of them is right. When I decide, I also explain to them how God’s laws and instructions apply in that situation.”

¹⁷ Jethro said to him, “What you are doing is not beneficial. ¹⁸ You and these people will wear yourselves out! This work is too much for you. You are not able to do it by yourself. ¹⁹ Now listen to what I will tell you to do. If you do what I suggest, God will help you. You should continue to represent the people to God and tell him about the people’s disputes. ²⁰ You should also teach them God’s law and instructions. You should also explain to them how they should act and the things that they should do. ²¹ In addition, you should find some capable Israelite men to help you. Choose men who respect God, who are trustworthy, and who will not accept bribes. Appoint some of them to make decisions for groups of ten people, some for groups of fifty people, some for groups of a hundred people, and some for groups of a thousand people. ²² Allow them to settle disputes for the people usually. It should work like this: The difficult matters they can bring to you, but the matters that are simple, they can decide themselves. Do this to make the work easier for you as they help you do that work. ²³ If you do that, you will be able to continue doing what God commands, and all the people will be able to live peacefully with each other.”

²⁴ Moses listened to his father-in-law and did all that Jethro told him. ²⁵ Then Moses chose capable men from among the Israelite people and made them chiefs over the people, rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens. ²⁶ They usually settled disputes for the people. They brought the difficult cases to Moses, but they decided the simple cases by themselves.

²⁷ Then Moses said goodbye to his father-in-law, and Jethro returned home.

Chapter 19

¹ On the first day of the third month after the Israelites left Egypt, they arrived at the wilderness of Sinai. ² After they left Rephidim, they came to the wilderness of Sinai, and they set up their tents at the base of the mountain.

³ Moses climbed up {the mountain to talk} with God. Yahweh called to him from {the top} of the mountain and said, “This is what I want you to say to the Israelite people, the descendants of Jacob, ⁴ ‘You have seen what I did to the Egyptians. You have seen what I did for you and how I brought you here to me as if I had carried you on top of eagles’ wings. ⁵ Therefore, if you very carefully do what I tell you to do and obey all that I require in what we agreed by swearing to, you will be my own people. You will be my personal property from among all of the nations. Although all the earth is mine, ⁶ you will be my priestly kingdom and a nation dedicated to me.’ That is what you must tell the Israelites.”

⁷ So Moses went down the mountain and called the elders of the people. He told them everything that Yahweh had told him to tell them. ⁸ The people all said, “We will do everything that Yahweh has told us to do.” Then Moses climbed back up the mountain and reported to Yahweh what the people had said.

⁹ Then Yahweh said to Moses “Listen carefully. I will come to you from inside a thick cloud. When I am speaking to you, the people will hear it, and they will always believe that you are their leader.” Then Moses told Yahweh what the people said.

¹⁰ Then Yahweh said to Moses, “Go back down to the people again. {Tell them to get ready for my coming.} They must purify themselves today and tomorrow. They must also wash their clothes ¹¹ so they will be ready on the third day. On that day I will come down to Mount Sinai to where all the people can see me. ¹² You must make a boundary around the base of the mountain to protect the people. Tell them, ‘Be sure that you do not climb the mountain or even touch it. You must kill anyone who touches the base of the mountain. ¹³ Do not let anyone touch any person or any animal that touches the mountain. Therefore, you must kill any person or animal that touches the mountain by throwing stones at it or shooting it with arrows.’ But when you hear a long, loud trumpet sound, the people can come close to the base of the mountain.”

¹⁴ So Moses went down the mountain again and told the people to purify {themselves and to get ready for Yahweh’s coming. They did what Moses told them to do,} and they also washed their clothes. ¹⁵ Then Moses said to the people, “Be ready on the third day, and you men must not have sexual relations with any women {until after then}.”

¹⁶ On the third day, during the morning, there was thunder, lightning, a very dark cloud on the mountain, and a very loud horn sound. The people in the camp shook because they were very afraid. ¹⁷ Then Moses led the people outside the camp to meet with God. They stood around the base of the mountain. ¹⁸ Then Yahweh descended on Mount Sinai, surrounded by fire. That caused the entire mountain to smoke. The smoke rose up like the smoke from the chimney of a furnace, and the whole mountain shook violently. ¹⁹ As the sound of the horn continued to become louder, Moses spoke to God, and God answered him in a thunderous voice.

²⁰ Then Yahweh came down again onto the top of Mount Sinai, and he summoned Moses to come up to the top of the mountain. So Moses went up. ²¹ Yahweh said to Moses, “Go down again and warn the people not to cross the boundary in order to look at me. If they do that, many of them will die. ²² Also, the priests who come near me must purify themselves. If they do not do that, I will punish them.”

²³ Then Moses said to Yahweh, “The people will not climb the mountain because you commanded them, saying, ‘Set a boundary around the mountain, to consecrate it.’”

²⁴ Yahweh said to Moses, “Go down the mountain and bring Aaron back up with you. But do not allow the priests or other people to cross the boundary to come up to me. If they cross it, I will punish them.” ²⁵ So Moses went down the mountain again and told the people what Yahweh had said.

Chapter 20

¹ Then God spoke these words to the Israelites. ² “I am Yahweh your God, the one you worship. I am the one who brought you out of the land of Egypt. I am the one who freed you from being slaves there. ³ Do not worship any god other than me.

⁴ Do not carve yourself a figure that looks like anything in the sky or that is on the ground or that is in the water under the ground. ⁵ Do not bow down to any idol or worship it, because I am Yahweh your God. I demand that you worship me only! I will punish the descendants of those who hate me. I will punish their descendants for three, even four generations. ⁶ However, I will faithfully love thousands of generations of those who love me and obey my commandments.

⁷ Do not use my name carelessly, because I am Yahweh your God, and I will certainly punish those who use my name for wrong purposes.

⁸ Remember that the seventh day of every week belongs to me. ⁹ There are six days each week for you to do all your work. ¹⁰ But the seventh day is a day of rest, a day dedicated to me, Yahweh your God. On that day you must not do any work. Neither you nor your sons, your daughters, your male or female slaves, your livestock, and not even foreigners who are living in your country may work. ¹¹ Do this because I, Yahweh, created the sky, the earth, the ocean, and everything that is in them in six days. Then I stopped my work of creating everything and rested on the seventh day. That is the reason that I, Yahweh, have blessed the rest day and set it apart to be a sacred day.

¹² Honor your father and your mother, in order that you may live a long time in the land that I, Yahweh your God, will give you.

¹³ Do not murder anyone.

¹⁴ Do not commit adultery with anyone.

¹⁵ Do not steal anything.

¹⁶ Do not falsely accuse anyone of committing a crime.

¹⁷ Do not covet someone else’s house, someone else’s wife, someone else’s male or female slave, someone else’s livestock, someone else’s donkeys, or anything else that another person owns.”

¹⁸ When the people heard the thunder and saw the lightning, and when they heard the sound of the horn and saw the smoke on the mountain, they were afraid and trembled. They stood a safe distance away ¹⁹ and said to Moses, “You talk to us! We will listen! But do not let God speak to us anymore. We are afraid that if he speaks anymore to us, we will die.”

²⁰ Moses replied to the people, “Do not be afraid! God has come to observe how you will behave. He wants you to honor him and to not sin.”

²¹ Then, as the people watched from a distance, Moses went close to the black cloud where God was.

²² Yahweh said to Moses, “Say this to the Israelite people, ‘You have heard how I, Yahweh, have spoken to you from heaven. ²³ Therefore, do not make any gods of silver or gold that you will worship instead of me. ²⁴ Make an altar out of earth for me. Sacrifice your burnt offerings on it, your offerings to promise friendship with me, and also your sheep and oxen. Worship me in any place that I choose for you to honor me; if you do that, I will come to you and bless you. ²⁵ If you build an altar for me out of stone, do not cut the stones because the cutting tool will profane the altar. ²⁶ Do not climb steps to my altar so that no one may see your genitals.’

Chapter 21

¹ These are the laws that you must establish for the Israelite nation:

² When you buy a Hebrew slave, he is to serve you for only six years. In the seventh year you must free him from being your slave, and he does not have to pay you anything for setting him free. ³ If he became your slave alone, you will free him alone. But if he had a wife, you must free both him and his wife. ⁴ If the master of a slave gives him a wife, and she gives birth to sons or daughters while her husband is a slave, you only have to free the man. His wife and children will continue to be slaves of their master. ⁵ But when it is time for you to free the slave if he clearly states: ‘I love my master and my wife and my children, and I do not want to go free,’ ⁶ then his master must take him to the place where they worship God. There he must make the slave stand against the door or the doorpost. Then the master will use an awl to make a hole in the slave’s ear and he will own that slave for the rest of his life.

⁷ If a man sells his daughter to become a slave, she should not go free like the male slaves. ⁸ If the man who bought her wanted her to be his concubine, but later he is not pleased with her, he must sell her back to her father. He must not sell her to a foreigner, because that was not what he and the girl’s father agreed to. ⁹ If the man who buys her wants her to be a wife for his son, he must then treat her as though she were his own daughter. ¹⁰ If the master marries another woman, he must continue to give the first woman the same amount of food, clothing, and sexual attention that he gave to her before. ¹¹ If he does not do these three things for her, he must free her from being a slave, and she is not required to pay anything to go free.

¹² If someone hits a man in order to kill him and the man dies, then you absolutely must execute the murderer; ¹³ but if he did not plan the murder—if God allowed the accident—the one who hit him can escape to a place that I will choose for you, and he will be safe there. ¹⁴ But if someone gets angry with another person and kills him on purpose, you must kill the murderer even if he runs to God’s altar.

¹⁵ You must kill anyone who strikes his father or mother.

¹⁶ You must kill anyone who kidnaps another person, whether he sold the person or you found him still with the kidnapper.

¹⁷ You must kill anyone who curses or insults his father or his mother.

¹⁸ Suppose two people fight, and one hits the other with a stone or his fist. Suppose the person he strikes does not die but is injured and has to stay in bed for a while, ¹⁹ but later he is able to walk outside using a cane. Then they must not punish the person who hit him, except that they must make him pay the injured person the money he could not earn while he was recovering as well as the costs for healing.

²⁰ If someone hits his male or female slave with a stick, and if the slave dies from the blow, then you must avenge the slave’s death. ²¹ But if the slave recovers after a few days, you must not punish the one who hit him, because the slave was his property.

²² If some men are fighting, and they hit a pregnant woman so that she gives birth, but she and the baby are unharmed, whoever hit her must pay a fine. He must pay whatever the woman’s husband asks after a judge approves of the fine. ²³ But if he harmed anyone {you must punish him by causing the same harm to him}. If he killed someone, you must kill him. ²⁴ {In the same way, if he harmed} an eye, a tooth, a hand, or a foot, ²⁵ or caused a burn, a wound, or a bruise—{you must cause the same harm to him}.

²⁶ If the owner of a slave strikes the eye of his male or female slave and that eye becomes blind, then he must free that slave because of what he did to the slave’s eye. ²⁷ If someone knocks out one of his slave’s teeth, he must free the slave because of what he did to the slave’s tooth.

²⁸ If a bull gores a man or woman with the result that the person dies, you must kill the bull by throwing stones at it, but do not eat it. The owner of the bull is not guilty. ²⁹ But if the bull had attacked people several times before and if people had told its owner about that, but he did not keep the bull inside a fence, and it kills a man or woman by goring, then you must kill the bull by throwing stones at it, and you must also kill its owner. ³⁰ However, if {the family of the dead} chooses to demand compensation instead, to save his life he must pay the full amount they demand. ³¹ If someone’s bull attacks and gores someone’s son or daughter, you must treat the bull’s owner according to that same rule. ³² If a bull attacks and gores a male or female slave, its owner must pay to the slave’s owner thirty pieces of silver, and you must kill the bull by throwing stones at it.

³³ Suppose someone uncovers a hole for storing water or digs one and does not cover it. If someone’s bull or donkey falls into it {and dies}, ³⁴ the owner of the pit must give the animal’s owner as much money as the animal was worth, but then he will own the dead animal.

³⁵ If someone’s bull hurts another person’s bull, so that it dies, the owners of both bulls must sell the bull that is living, and they must divide between them the money that they get for it. They must also divide between them the meat of the animal that died. ³⁶ However, if the owner knew that the bull often attacked other animals before, and he did not secure it, then the owner of that bull must give the owner of the bull that died a living bull, but then he will own the dead animal.

Chapter 22

¹ If someone steals a bull or a sheep and then kills it or sells it, he must give the owner five bulls or cows for the bull that he stole, and he must give the owner four sheep or goats for the sheep that he stole.

² If someone finds a thief breaking into his house {at night} and hits him and the thief dies, he is not guilty of murder. ³ But if that happens during the daytime, the one who killed the thief is guilty of murdering him.

A thief must pay for what he stole. If he has nothing with which to pay for what he stole, the judges must sell him to become a slave, and the money from his sale will pay for what he stole. ⁴ In a case where you catch a thief and he still has the stolen goods, if it is a bull or a donkey or a sheep, and it is still alive, the thief must pay back the stolen animal as well as another one of the same kind.

⁵ If someone puts his animals in his field or in his vineyard to eat, and he allows the to animals stray away and eat the plants in another person’s field, the owner of the animals must pay the owner of that field by giving him the best from his own field or vineyard.

⁶ If someone starts a fire, and it spreads through the grass and starts burning in someone else’s field, and the fire burns grain that is growing or grain that is already cut and stacked, then the person who started the fire must pay for the grain that the fire destroyed.

⁷ Suppose that someone gives another person some money or other items and asks him to keep it in his house for a while. And suppose that a thief steals it from that person’s house. If you catch the thief, the thief must pay back twice as much as he stole. ⁸ But if no one catches the thief, you must bring the owner of the house to God so he {can swear} that he did not take his neighbor’s property. ⁹ Whenever someone claims his neighbor wronged him and says, ‘This is actually mine,’ about a bull, a donkey, a sheep, clothing, or something else he lost, they must both come and stand before God. The one whom God says is wrong must pay back the owner twice as much as he took.

¹⁰ Suppose someone gives his donkey or bull or sheep or some other animal to someone else and asks him to take care of it for a while. However, the animal dies, or something injures it or takes it away while no one is watching. ¹¹ Then the person who was taking care of the animal must swear, knowing that Yahweh is listening, that he did not steal the item. The owner of the animal must accept that the other person is telling the truth, and the other person will not have to pay anything back to the owner. ¹² But if someone stole the animal while he was supposed to be taking care of it, the man who promised to take care of it must pay back the owner for the animal. ¹³ If wild animals mauled the animal, he must bring back its remains to prove that what he says is true. If he does that, he will not have to pay anything for the mauled animal.

¹⁴ If someone borrows an animal from his neighbor, and if something hurts or kills that animal when its owner is not there, the one who borrowed it must pay the owner for the animal. ¹⁵ But if that happens when the owner of the animal is there, the one who borrowed it will not have to pay back anything. If someone rented it, the money that he paid to rent it will be enough to pay for the animal dying or for an injury.

¹⁶ If a man tricks a virgin girl whose {father} has not yet promised her to be anyone’s bride into having sexual intercourse with him, he must pay the bride price for her and marry her. ¹⁷ But if her father does not allow her to marry him, he must still pay the girl’s father as much money as men pay to marry a virgin.

¹⁸ You must kill any woman who practices sorcery.

¹⁹ You must kill any person who has sexual intercourse with an animal.

²⁰ You must kill anyone who offers a sacrifice to any god other than Yahweh.

²¹ You must not abuse or subjugate foreigners, because you were foreigners in Egypt.

²² You must not mistreat any widow or any orphan. ²³ If you mistreat them and they ask me to help them, I will help them. ²⁴ Because I will be angry with you, I will cause you to die in war. Your wives will become widows, and your children will become orphans.

²⁵ If you lend money to any of my people who are poor, do not act like a moneylender by requiring him to pay interest on the money. ²⁶ If you make him give you his cloak to guarantee that he will pay the money back, you must give the cloak back to him before the sun goes down, ²⁷ because his cloak is the only thing he has to cover his body when he sleeps. When he complains about you to me, I will help him because I am merciful.

²⁸ Do not insult God, and do not call on God to do harmful things to any ruler of your people.

²⁹ Do not withhold from me the best parts of the grain that you harvest or of the olive oil or the wine that you produce.

You will give your firstborn sons to me. ³⁰ Similarly, your firstborn male cattle and sheep belong to me. After those animals are born, allow them to stay with their mothers for seven days. On the eighth day you will give them to me.

³¹ You are my set apart people, so do not eat any meat from any animal that a wild animal killed. Instead, throw it where the dogs can eat it.

Chapter 23

¹ Do not speak falsely in court. Do not help an evil man by testifying maliciously. ² Do not join a group of people who are planning to do something evil. Do not tell the same lies they do and so keep the judge from deciding the case justly. ³ Do not prefer someone in court just because he is poor.

⁴ If you see someone’s bull or donkey when it is wandering away loose, take it back to its owner even if the owner is your enemy. ⁵ If you see someone’s donkey that has fallen down because of its heavy load, help the owner to get the donkey up again even if he is someone who hates you. Do not just walk away without helping him.

⁶ Decide the cases of poor people who are on trial as fairly as you judge the cases of other people. ⁷ Do not deceive others. Do not kill guiltless or upright people, because I will not say that evil people are good. ⁸ Do not accept a bribe, because good judges who take bribes do not judge wisely, and they unfairly judge against the person who is right.

⁹ Do not mistreat foreigners who live among you. You know how foreigners often feel, because you lived as foreigners in Egypt.

¹⁰ For six years, plant seeds in your ground and gather the harvest. ¹¹ But in the seventh year you must leave the ground fallow. Allow your poor countrymen to eat {what grows on its own}. Whatever is left over is for the wild animals to eat. Do the same thing with your grapevine and your olive trees.

¹² You may work for six days each week, but on the seventh day you must rest and not work. Do this so that your ox and donkey may rest. The rest day will also let your slaves and the foreigners who live among you recuperate.

¹³ Make certain that you obey everything that I have commanded you to do. Do not pray to other gods. Do not even mention their names.

¹⁴ Every year you must travel to three celebrations to honor me:

¹⁵ Celebrate the Feast of Unleavened Bread the way that I commanded you: eat unleavened bread for seven days in the month called Aviv. I set this time because it is the month when you left Egypt. Do not come to worship me without bringing an offering.

¹⁶ {The second celebration is the Spring} Harvest Celebration. {During that celebration you must offer to me} the first parts of your crops that grow from the seeds that you planted.

{The third celebration is} the Finished Harvest Celebration. That will be at the end of the year, after you finish harvesting everything you planted.

¹⁷ These three times every year, all the men must gather together to worship me, the Lord Yahweh.

¹⁸ Do not sacrifice bread you made with yeast along with blood from an animal sacrifice. Do not keep the fat from the animals you sacrificed at my celebration until the next morning. {Burn it completely.} ¹⁹ {Each year, when you harvest your crops,} take the best of what you harvest first, go to the place where you worship me, and give it to me, Yahweh your God. {When you kill} a young animal, do not cook it by boiling it in its mother’s milk.

²⁰ Look! I am going to send an angel ahead of you to guard you as you travel and to lead you to the place that I have made ready for you. ²¹ Respect and obey him. Do not make him angry, because he will not forgive your sin, because my authority and presence is in him. ²² But if you obey his commands well and if you do all that I tell you to do, I will fight against all of your enemies and adversaries. ²³ Then my angel will go ahead of you and will take you to where the Amor, Heth, Periz, Canaan, Hiv, and Jebus people groups live, and I will completely get rid of them. ²⁴ Do not bow down before their gods or worship them. Do not do the things that they {think that their gods want them to} do. Instead, destroy {their gods} and smash to pieces their sacred stones.

²⁵ You must worship me, Yahweh your God. If you do that, I will bless your food and water, and I will protect you from becoming sick. ²⁶ No women in your land will have miscarriages, and no women will be unable to become pregnant. I will enable you to live a long time.

²⁷ {I will go} ahead of you and terrify and confuse all the people into whose {lands} you are going. {When you fight} your enemies, I will make them run away from you. ²⁸ I will send wasps ahead of you who will drive the Hiv, Canaan, and Heth people groups from your land. ²⁹ I will not remove all of them in less than one year. If I did that, your land would become deserted, and there would be very many wild animals that would attack you. ³⁰ I will remove those people groups slowly, a few at a time, until the number of your people increases and you are able to live everywhere in the land. ³¹ I will make your country’s borders be from the Red Sea {in the southeast} to the {Mediterranean} Sea by the Philistines {in the northwest}, and from the wilderness {of Sinai in the southwest} to the {Euphrates} River {in the northeast of the country}. I will give you the power to remove the people who live there, so that you will remove them as you occupy more of the country.

³² You must not make any agreement with those people or with their gods. ³³ Do not allow those people to live in your land, so they do not cause you to sin against me by enticing you to worship their gods.”

Chapter 24

¹ Then Yahweh said to Moses. “Come up to me {on top of this mountain}, you and Aaron and {his sons} Nadab and Abihu. Also take along seventy of the Israelite elders. You will all worship me at an {appropriate} distance. ² Moses, you will come near to me alone. The others must not come near, and the rest of the people must not come up the mountain with you.”

³ Moses went and told the people everything that Yahweh had said and all that he had commanded. The people all replied together, saying, “We will do everything that Yahweh has told us to do.” ⁴ Then Moses wrote down everything that Yahweh had commanded. Moses woke early the next morning and built an altar at the bottom of the mountain. He also set up twelve stones, one for each of the Israelite tribes. ⁵ Then he sent some young Israelite men to burn sacrifices to Yahweh and to sacrifice some bulls as offerings to promise friendship with Yahweh. ⁶ Moses took half of the blood of the animals that they slaughtered and put it in bowls. The other half of the blood he threw against the altar. ⁷ Then he loudly read the scroll on which he had written everything that Yahweh and the people were promising each other so all the people could hear it. Then all the people said, “We will do everything that Yahweh has told us to do. We will obey everything.”

⁸ Then Moses took the blood {that was in the bowls} and threw it on the people. He said, “This is the blood that confirms what Yahweh is agreeing with you—what you just heard and agreed to.”

⁹ Then Moses and Aaron along with Nadab, Abihu, and the seventy Israelite elders went up {the mountain}, ¹⁰ and they saw God, the one whom the Israelites worship. Under his feet was something like a pavement made of blue stones called sapphires. They were as clear as the sky is when there are no clouds. ¹¹ God did not harm those Israelite elders {even though they saw him}. They saw God, and they ate and drank together.

¹² Then Yahweh said to Moses, “Come up to me on top of this mountain and wait there. I will give you stone slabs, my law, and my commandments, all of which I have written so that you may teach them to the people.”

¹³ Then Moses started out with his assistant Joshua. He went {part of the way} up the mountain where God was. ¹⁴ Moses told the elders, “Stay here until we return. Do not forget that Aaron and Hur will be with you, so if anyone disputes {with his neighbor while I am gone}, he can go to them {and they will judge it}.”

¹⁵ Then Moses went {the rest of the way} up the mountain, and the cloud covered the mountain. ¹⁶ Yahweh’s glory came down onto the mountain and the cloud covered it for six days. On the seventh day, Yahweh called to Moses from the middle of the cloud. ¹⁷ To the Israelites, Yahweh’s glory looked like a fire consuming the top of the mountain. ¹⁸ Moses went into the cloud on top of the mountain and was there for 40 days and nights.

Chapter 25

¹ Yahweh said to Moses, ² “Tell the Israelites that everyone who wants to may give a gift to me. You will receive their gifts for me. ³ These are the types of gifts that you should collect from them: gold, silver, bronze, ⁴ {cloth dyed} blue, {cloth dyed} purple, {cloth dyed} bright red, fine linen, {cloth made from} goats’ hair, ⁵ red ram skins, fine leather hides, the hard wood from acacia trees, ⁶ {olive} oil to burn in the lamps, spices to mix with the {olive} oil for anointing {the priests}, and spices to mix into the sweet-smelling incense, ⁷ onyx stones and other expensive stones for fastening to the priest’s sacred apron and for putting on the chest pouch that attaches to the apron.

⁸ The people should make a holy place for me so that I can live in it among them. ⁹ They must make my pavilion and all the things that they will use inside it precisely according to the plan that I will show you.

¹⁰ Have the people make a sacred chest from acacia wood. They should make it 125 centimeters long, 75 centimeters wide and 75 centimeters high. ¹¹ Cover the chest with pure gold inside and outside and put a gold molding all around it. ¹² Make four rings from gold, and fasten them to the four legs of the chest. Put two of the rings on each side of the chest. ¹³ Make two poles from acacia wood, and cover them with gold. ¹⁴ Put the poles into the rings on the sides of the chest so that {the Levites} can carry the chest by the poles. ¹⁵ Always leave the poles in the chest’s rings; do not take the poles out of the rings. ¹⁶ Put the stone slabs, which I am giving you and on which I wrote my commands, inside the chest.

¹⁷ You must make a lid for the chest from pure gold. It will be 125 centimeters long and 75 centimeters wide. ¹⁸ Hammer the gold at both ends of the lid into the form of two creatures that have wings. ¹⁹ Make the winged creatures {from the gold} at each end of the sacred chest’s lid, one at one end and the other at the other end. ²⁰ The creature’s wings should spread out and reach up to cover the lid. They should face each other, facing the chest’s lid that is between them. ²¹ Put the stone slabs that I am giving you inside the sacred chest. Then place the lid onto the top of the chest. ²² I will set times to talk with you there. I will tell to you all my commands that you must command the Israelites from above the sacred chest’s lid, between the two winged creatures which are above the sacred chest that contains my law tablets.

²³ Make a table from acacia wood. It is to be one meter long, one-half of a meter wide, and three-quarters of a meter high. ²⁴ Cover the table with pure gold and put a gold molding all around it. ²⁵ Make a rim all around it, eight centimeters wide, and make a gold molding around the rim. ²⁶ Make four rings from gold. Fasten them to the four corners of the table. Each ring should be close to each table leg ²⁷ near the rim. They are to hold poles for carrying the table. ²⁸ Make two poles from acacia wood and cover them with gold. Use them to carry the table. ²⁹ Also make dishes, cups, jars, and bowls for the priests to use to pour out {wine to offer to me}. Make them all from pure gold. ³⁰ Present the sacred bread to me on the table at all times.

³¹ Make a lampstand from pure gold. Hammer {one large lump of gold} to make its base and its shaft. Make the cups, with the flower buds and petals {that decorate them}, from that same lump. ³² There are to be six branches on the lampstand, three on each side of the shaft. ³³ Each branch will have three gold cups that look like almond flowers on it. The flowers will have buds and petals. Do this for all six branches of the lampstand. ³⁴ On {the shaft of} the lampstand there are to be four cups that also look like almond blossoms, each one with flower buds and petals. ³⁵ Make one flower bud beneath every two branches. Attach it to each pair of branches {as if they are growing} from it. Make all six lampstand branches like this. ³⁶ Hammer all these buds and branches{, along with the shaft,} from one {large lump} of pure gold. ³⁷ Make seven lamps and place them on the lampstand so that its light shines all around it. ³⁸ {Make} tongs from pure gold, {to remove the burned wicks} and trays {in which to put the burned wicks}. ³⁹ Use 33 kilograms of pure gold to make the lampstand, the tongs, and the trays.

⁴⁰ Make sure to make {these things} according to the instructions that I am giving you here on this mountain.

Chapter 26

¹ As for the sacred tent, make it using ten long hangings of finely twisted linen. A skilled craftsman must take blue, purple, and red thread, and embroider these hangings with designs that represent the winged creatures that are above the chest. ² Make each hanging 14. 5 meters long and two meters wide. Make them all the same size. ³ Sew five hangings together {as one set}, and sew the other five hangings together {as another set}. ⁴ For each set, make loops of blue cloth and fasten them along the outer edge of the hanging, at the end of each set. ⁵ Put 50 loops on the edge of the first set, and 50 loops at the edge of the second set so that the loops are opposite to each other. ⁶ Make 50 gold fasteners and fasten both of the sets together with them to make the sacred tent one unit.

⁷ Make a cover for the sacred tent from 11 pieces of cloth made from goats’ hair. ⁸ Each of the 11 pieces of cloth will be the same dimensions: 15 meters long and two meters wide. ⁹ Sew five of these pieces of cloth together {to make one set}, and sew the other six pieces of cloth together {to make another set}. Fold the sixth piece of cloth in half to make it double over the front of the cover. ¹⁰ Make {100 loops of blue cloth,} and fasten 50 of them to the outer edge of the one set and fasten 50 to the outer edge of the other set. ¹¹ Make 50 bronze hooks and fasten the hooks to the loops to connect them, so the cover will be one unit. ¹² Let the extra part of the tent cover, the half piece that extends beyond the linen cloth, hang over the back side of the sacred tent. ¹³ The extra half-meter of cover on each side, the part that extends beyond the linen cloth, must hang over the two sides of the sacred tent to protect the sides. ¹⁴ Make another cover to go over the tent from red rams’ skins, and a top cover from fine leather hides.

¹⁵ Make a standing framework from acacia wood for the sacred tent. ¹⁶ Each frame is to be five meters long and three-quarters of a meter wide. ¹⁷ Make two pegs {at the bottom of} each frame to fasten them together. Make each frame for the tabernacle this way. ¹⁸ Make 20 frames for the south side of the sacred tent. ¹⁹ Make 40 silver bases to go underneath the 20 frames. Put two bases under each frame and fit their two pegs into the bases. ²⁰ For the other side—{that is,} the north side—of the sacred tent {make} 20 frames ²¹ and 40 silver bases for them. {Put} two bases under each frame. ²² For the rear of the sacred tent, on the west side, make six frames. ²³ Make two frames for the rear corners of the sacred tent. ²⁴ Match them to each other at the bottom and top. Secure the tops together with a ring. Do this for both, making them the corner pieces. ²⁵ Make eight frames and 16 silver bases, two bases under each frame.

²⁶ Make crossbars from acacia wood. Make five crossbars for the frames on the {north} side of the sacred tent, ²⁷ five crossbars for the frames on the {south} side of the sacred tent, and five crossbars for the frames at the rear of the sacred tent, the west side. ²⁸ The center crossbar, right in the middle of the frames, will reach all the way from edge to edge. ²⁹ Cover the frames and crossbars with gold. Make the rings for fastening the crossbars to the frames from gold. ³⁰ Build the sacred tent in the way that I have shown you here on this mountain.

³¹ Make a curtain from fine linen. A skilled craftsman must embroider it with blue, purple, and red yarn, making designs to represent the winged creatures that are above the sacred chest. ³² Suspend the curtain from gold hooks on four gold-covered posts made from acacia wood. Set each post in a silver base. ³³ Suspend the curtain from fasteners {attached to the roof of the sacred tent}. Put the sacred chest behind the curtain. The curtain will separate the Holy Place from the Most Holy Place. ³⁴ Put the lid on top of the sacred chest in the Most Holy Place. ³⁵ Put the table and the lampstand on the other side of the curtain on opposite sides from each other. Put the lampstand on the south side of the sacred tent, and put the table for the sacred bread on the north side. ³⁶ Make a curtain as the tent entrance. A skilled weaver must make it from fine linen with blue, purple, and red yarn. ³⁷ To hold up this curtain, make five posts from acacia wood. Cover them with gold and fasten gold clasps to them. Also make a bronze base for each of these posts.

Chapter 27

¹ Make an altar from acacia wood. Make it square: two and a half meters long on each side and one and a half meters tall. ² Make a {projection that looks like a} horn on each of the top corners. Make them from the same block of wood as the altar. Cover the whole altar with bronze. ³ Make all its implements from bronze. Make pans to collect the ashes from burning the fat, shovels {for cleaning out the ashes}, basins, forks {for turning the meat as it cooks}, and buckets {for carrying hot coals}. ⁴ Make a bronze lattice grating {to hold the wood and burning coals}. Fasten a bronze ring to each of the four corners of the grate. ⁵ Put the grating under the rim that is around the altar. Make it so that it is inside the altar, halfway down. ⁶ Make poles for {carrying} the altar from acacia wood and cover them with bronze. ⁷ Put the poles through the rings on each side of the altar to carry it. ⁸ Make the altar from boards and make it hollow in the middle. They must make it according to these instructions that I am giving you here on this mountain.

⁹ Also make a courtyard around the sacred tent with more curtains of fine linen. For the south side, hang 50 meters of curtain ¹⁰ from 20 {bronze} posts. {Make} 20 bronze bases for the posts and hooks on them and silver connectors. ¹¹ And likewise for the north side {of the courtyard: hang} 50 meters of curtains from 20 posts, with their 20 bronze bases, hooks, and silver connectors. ¹² {Make} a curtain 25 meters long along the west side of the courtyard. {Support them} with ten posts, with a base under each post. ¹³ On the east side the courtyard must also be 25 meters wide. ¹⁴ {Make} a curtain seven and a half meters long for one side {of the entrance}, with three posts and bases. ¹⁵ {Make} another curtain seven and a half meters long for the other side {of the entrance}, also with three posts and bases. ¹⁶ {Make} a curtain from finely twined linen ten meters wide for the courtyard entrance. A skilled weaver must embroider it with blue, purple, and red yarn. {Hang it} from four posts, each one with a base under it. ¹⁷ Make all the ends of posts around the courtyard have rounded silver ends. Make the clasps from silver, and the bases from bronze. ¹⁸ Make the whole courtyard, {from the east entrance to the west end}, 50 meters long and 25 meters wide, and {the curtains that enclose it} two and a half meters high. Make all the curtains from fine linen, and all the bases {under the posts} from bronze. ¹⁹ Make all the things {that are not made of gold} that are for use inside the sacred tent {and in the courtyard}, and all the tent pegs to support the sacred tent and the curtains that form the courtyard from bronze.

²⁰ Command the Israelites to bring you purified oil squeezed from olives, so that the lamp is always burning. ²¹ In the outer part of the sacred tent, outside the curtain where the sacred chest is, Aaron and his sons must take care to keep the lamps burning every night from evening to morning for Yahweh. The Israelites must obey this regulation throughout all future generations.

Chapter 28

¹ Have your older brother Aaron and his sons, Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar, come close to you and away from the Israelites, so they can be my priests. ² Make holy vestments for your brother Aaron, so {he reflects my} honor and beauty. ³ Talk to all the skilled artisans, those whom I have made excellent at crafting things. Tell them to make vestments for Aaron to wear when you dedicate him to become a priest to serve me. ⁴ They should make these vestments: a sacred pouch {for Aaron to wear over his breast}, a sacred apron, a robe, an embroidered tunic, a turban, and a waistband. They must make these holy vestments so that your older brother Aaron and his sons can {wear them as they} serve me by doing the work that priests do. ⁵ The skilled workmen should receive fine linen and gold, blue, purple, and red thread {to make the vestments}.

⁶ The skilled workmen must make the sacred apron from finely twisted linen. They must skillfully embroider it with blue, purple, and red thread, and with {fine} gold {thread}. ⁷ It must have two shoulder straps attached on both edges to connect it together. ⁸ Make a carefully woven belt that matches the sacred apron. Make it from the same piece of cloth as the apron. (That cloth was finely twisted linen with {skillfully embroidered} blue, purple, red thread, and {fine} gold {thread}.) Sew it onto the apron.

⁹ Take two onyx stones and carve Jacob’s {12} sons’ names on them. ¹⁰ {Carve the names} in the order in which Jacob’s sons were born. {Carve} six names on one stone and the other six names on the other stone. ¹¹ A gem cutter should carve these names in the two stones like he is making a signet ring. Then he should mount the stones in decorative gold settings. ¹² Fasten the memorial stones onto the shoulder straps of the sacred apron. Then Aaron will memorialize the names of the 12 tribes of Israel by carrying them on his shoulders whenever he serves Yahweh. ¹³ Make the decorative settings for the stones from gold. ¹⁴ Make two chains of purified gold by braiding gold like cords and fasten the cord chains to the decorative settings.

¹⁵ Make a sacred pouch for decision-making. Make it of the same materials as the sacred apron, and skillfully embroider it in the same way with gold, blue, purple, and red finely twisted linen. ¹⁶ Fold the material double so that it is a square 23 centimeters long and 23 centimeters wide. ¹⁷ Fasten four rows of valuable stones onto the pouch. In the first row, put a red ruby, a yellow topaz, and a green emerald. ¹⁸ Put a green turquoise, a blue sapphire, and a clear diamond in the second row. ¹⁹ Put a red jacinth, a white agate, and a purple amethyst in the third row. ²⁰ Put a yellow beryl, an onyx, and a green jasper in the fourth row. Mount all these stones in decorative gold settings. ²¹ {A gem cutter should carve} the name of one of the 12 sons of Jacob into each of these stones like he is making signet rings. These name-stones will represent the 12 tribes of Israel.

²² Attach two chains that they made from purified gold and braided like cords to the sacred pouch. ²³ Make two gold rings for the sacred pouch and attach them to the pouch’s {upper} corners. ²⁴ Fasten one end of each gold cord to one of the rings on the top corner of the pouch. ²⁵ Fasten the other end of each cord to the two decorative settings that enclose the stones. Then put those on the front side of the shoulder straps of the sacred apron. ²⁶ Make two more gold rings and attach them to the lower corners of the sacred pouch on the inside edges next to the sacred apron. ²⁷ Make two more gold rings and attach them to the lower part of the front of the shoulder straps near where the shoulder straps join the sacred apron just above the sash. ²⁸ Tie the rings on the sacred pouch to the rings on the sacred apron with a blue cord so that the sacred pouch is above the sash and does not come loose from the sacred apron.

²⁹ Therefore, whenever he enters the Holy Place where Yahweh is, Aaron will continually memorialize the names of the 12 tribes of Israel by carrying them close to his chest, in the sacred pouch for making decisions. ³⁰ Put the {things called} Urim and Thummim into the sacred pouch that he uses to know how I judged. In that way, they will be close to his chest when Aaron comes to talk to me. Aaron must always wear the items that reveal how I judge the Israelites on his chest when he meets with me.

³¹ Make the robe {that Aaron will wear underneath his} sacred apron from only blue material. ³² Make an opening in the middle through which the priest can put his head. Weave a reinforced border around this opening to keep the collar from tearing. ³³ All around the lower edge on the robe, fasten {decorations that look like} pomegranate fruit. Make them from blue, purple, and red yarn. Also {hang} gold bells in between the pomegranates. ³⁴ {So the pattern will be} one gold bell and then one pomegranate {and then repeat} all the way around the bottom of the robe. ³⁵ Whenever Aaron enters or leaves my presence in the Holy Place in the sacred tent for his priestly ministry, he must wear the robe. I will hear the bells, and he will not die.

³⁶ Make a decoration from purified gold and carve into it the words, ‘Dedicated to Yahweh,’ just like carving a signet ring. ³⁷ Fasten this ornament to the front of the turban by a blue cord. ³⁸ Aaron must always wear the turban on his forehead so that I will accept the things that the Israelites dedicate to me. If there is anything wrong with anything they dedicate to me, Aaron will be guilty instead of the people.

³⁹ Weave the long-sleeved tunic from fine linen. Also make the turban from fine linen. A skilled weaver must make the waistband. ⁴⁰ Make long-sleeved tunics, waistbands, and caps for Aaron’s sons so {they reflect my} honor and beauty. ⁴¹ Put these clothes on your older brother Aaron and on his sons. Then consecrate them and authorize them to be my priests by anointing them {with olive oil}.

⁴² Make linen undershorts for them. The undershorts should extend from their waists to their thighs in order that no one can see their genitalia. ⁴³ Aaron and his sons must always wear those undershorts when they enter the sacred tent or when they come near to the altar to offer sacrifices in the Holy Place. In this way, they will not be guilty, and they will not die.

Aaron and all his male descendants must obey this rule forever.

Chapter 29

¹ Do the following things to dedicate Aaron and his sons to serve me by being priests. Select one young bull and two rams that do not have any defects. ² Also, using finely ground wheat flour, bake these all without yeast: {plain} bread, soft bread with olive oil in it, and thin wafers with oil on the outside. ³ Put them in a basket. Bring the basket with the bread in it, the young bull, and the two rams {to me}. ⁴ Take Aaron and his sons to the entrance of the sacred tent and wash them with water. ⁵ Then put the vestments on Aaron—the long-sleeved tunic, the robe under the sacred apron, the sacred apron, and the sacred pouch. Tie the sacred apron onto him with its sash. ⁶ Put the turban on his head, and fasten to the turban the sacred ornament {that has the words ‘Dedicated to Yahweh’ engraved on it}. ⁷ Then take the anointing oil and pour some on his head to dedicate him. ⁸ Then bring his sons and put the long-sleeved tunics on them. ⁹ Tie the sashes around Aaron and his sons’ waists and secure the caps on their heads. This is an eternal law: they are the priests. You will authorize them for this.

¹⁰ Then bring the young bull to the front of the sacred tent. While Aaron and his sons put their hands on the head of the young bull, ¹¹ sacrifice the young bull {by slitting its throat} before Yahweh {outside} the entrance to the sacred tent {and catch the blood in a bowl}. ¹² Take some of that blood with your finger and smear it on the projections of the altar. Pour the rest of the blood at the bottom of the altar. ¹³ Take all the fat that covers the inner organs of the young bull, the fatty covering of the liver, and both kidneys with the fat on them. Burn all these on the altar until they are completely gone. ¹⁴ But you must burn the meat of the young bull and its hide and intestines on a fire outside the camp. {Sacrificing} the bull purifies {the altar}.

¹⁵ Select one of the rams. While Aaron and his sons put their hands on its head, ¹⁶ kill the ram {by slitting its throat}. Catch the blood and sprinkle it all over the altar. ¹⁷ Then cut the ram into pieces. Wash its inner organs and its legs, and put those with the head and the rest of the body parts ¹⁸ on the altar. Then completely burn it all. That will be a burnt offering to me, Yahweh, and the fire’s smell will please me.

¹⁹ Take the other ram. While Aaron and his sons put their hands on its head, ²⁰ kill the ram {by slitting its throat}. Catch the blood. Smear some of the blood on the bottom portion of Aaron’s and his sons’ right ears, on their right thumbs, and on the big toes on their right feet. Throw the rest of the blood against the four sides of the altar. ²¹ Wipe up some of the blood that is on the altar, mix it with some of the oil for anointing, and sprinkle it on Aaron and his clothes, and on his sons and their clothes. By doing this, you will dedicate them and their clothes to me.

²² Also, cut off the ram’s fat: its fat tail, and the fat that covers the inner organs, the fatty covering of the liver, the two kidneys with the fat on them, and the right thigh. (This ram is for making holy {Aaron and his sons, who will be my priests}.) ²³ Finally, from the basket of bread that they baked without yeast (the one that you brought to me), take a {plain} round loaf, a piece of soft bread with oil in it, and a thin wafer {with oil on the outside}. ²⁴ Put all these things into the hands of Aaron and his sons. Then tell them to lift them up high to dedicate them to me. ²⁵ Then take them from their hands and completely burn them on the altar, on top of the burnt offering. That also will be a fire offering to me, and its smell will please me. ²⁶ Then take the breast of the ram for making Aaron holy and lift it up high to dedicate it to me. But then this part of the animal will be for you to eat. ²⁷ Set these apart from the ram for making holy {Aaron and his sons as my priests}: the breast that you lifted high to dedicate to me and the thigh that you presented to me. These are for Aaron and his sons. ²⁸ This custom will continue forever. Whenever the Israelites bring offerings to show they are friends with me, the breast and the thigh of animals that they present to me will be for Aaron and his male descendants to eat.

²⁹ After Aaron {dies}, the sacred vestments that he wore will belong to his male descendants. They will wear them when {a leader} anoints them to authorize them to be priests. ³⁰ Aaron’s descendant who becomes high priest after him and enters the sacred tent and performs rituals in the Holy Place must wear these vestments for seven days.

³¹ Take the breast and thigh of the ram that they sacrificed to make Aaron and his sons holy, and boil it in a location set aside for that. ³² {After it is cooked,} Aaron and his sons must eat the meat, along with the bread that is left in the basket, at the entrance to the sacred tent. ³³ They will eat these things from the offering that made them holy by covering their sins when they became priests. But no one else can eat these things, because they are reserved for the priests. ³⁴ If any of the holy meat or bread is left over in the morning, you must completely burn it. Do not eat any of it, because it is sacred.

³⁵ Do all this to Aaron and his sons just as I have told you. You will prepare them for seven days. ³⁶ Sacrifice a {young} bull to purify {the altar} each of those days. That will ceremonially cleanse the altar by covering the altar’s imperfections. You must also pour {olive oil} over the altar to dedicate it {to Yahweh}. ³⁷ After you cover the altar for seven days you will have made it holy. It will be so very holy that it will make anything that touches it holy too.

³⁸ You must also perpetually sacrifice two one-year-old lambs per day on the altar. ³⁹ You must sacrifice one lamb in the morning and the other around twilight. ⁴⁰ With the first lamb, also {offer} two liters of finely ground wheat flour mixed with a liter of the best kind of olive oil, and one liter of wine as a drink-offering. ⁴¹ In the evening, when you sacrifice the other lamb, offer the same amounts of flour, olive oil, and wine as you did in the morning. This will be an offering to me, Yahweh, that they will burn, and its smell will please me.

⁴² You and your descendants must continue making these offerings to me, Yahweh, throughout all future generations. You must offer them at the entrance to the sacred tent. That is where I will meet with you and speak to you. ⁴³ That is where I will meet with the Israelites, and the brilliant light of my presence will cause that place to be holy. ⁴⁴ I will dedicate the sacred tent and the altar. I will also dedicate Aaron and his sons to be my priests. ⁴⁵ I will live with the Israelites, and I will be their God. ⁴⁶ They will know that I, Yahweh their God, am the one who brought them out of Egypt in order that I might live among them. I am Yahweh, the God whom they worship.

Chapter 30

¹ Make an altar from acacia wood for burning incense. ² It is to be square, one-half meter on each side. It is to be one meter high. Make {projections that look like} horns on the same block of wood as the altar. ³ Cover the top and the four sides, including the projections, with pure gold. Put a gold molding all around it. ⁴ Make two gold rings and attach them to the altar below the molding, one on each side of the altar. These rings are to hold the poles for carrying the altar. ⁵ Make these two poles from acacia wood and cover them with gold. ⁶ Put this incense altar outside the curtain that hangs in front of the sacred chest. (The chest that has a lid covering the stone slabs, where I will talk with you.)

⁷ Aaron must burn sweet-smelling incense on this altar. He must burn some every morning when he takes care of the lamps, ⁸ and he must burn some in the evening when he lights the lamps. Always keep incense burning for me throughout all future generations. ⁹ Do not burn on the altar any incense that I have not told you to burn, or burn any animal on it, or any flour offering for me, nor pour any wine on it as an offering. ¹⁰ Once a year, Aaron must take the purifying blood from the annual sacrifice that covers up the bad things people do and put it on the projections on the altar to cover the altar’s flaws. {Each high priest} will cover the altar’s flaws{this way} throughout all future generations. The altar will be very holy, dedicated to me, Yahweh.”

¹¹ Yahweh said to Moses, ¹² “Whenever {your leaders} count to find out how many Israelites there are, each man who {they} count must pay a price to me to save his life. This is so I do not cause the people to become sick and die when {the leaders} count them. ¹³ When a man walks by a leader so he can count him he must pay {silver} that weighs half of a standard weight. (Use the official tabernacle weight standard, which is about 11 grams.) This half-weight {of silver} is an offering to me, Yahweh. ¹⁴ Every man who is at least 20 years old must pay this amount to me, Yahweh, when he walks by a leader so the leader can count him. ¹⁵ Rich men must not pay more than this amount, and poor men must not pay less than this amount when they pay this money to me, Yahweh, to save their lives. ¹⁶ Take the life-saving money from the Israelites and use it for work on the sacred tent. It will remind me, Yahweh, that the Israelites have paid money to save their lives.”

¹⁷ Yahweh said to Moses, ¹⁸ “Make a bronze washbasin and a bronze base for it. Put it between the sacred tent and the altar and fill it with water. ¹⁹ Aaron and his sons must wash their hands and their feet in the basin. ²⁰ They must wash with water before they enter the sacred tent so they will not die. Before they come to the altar to burn offerings as sacrifices to me, Yahweh, ²¹ they must wash their hands and their feet so that they will not die. This will be a ritual for them and every generation of men descended from Aaron for all time.”

²² Yahweh said to Moses, ²³ “Collect to yourself some of the finest spices—six kilograms of liquid myrrh, and then half that much: three kilograms of sweet-smelling cinnamon, three kilograms of a sweet-smelling cane, ²⁴ and six kilograms of cassia. {Weigh everything} according to the tabernacle standard. Also, {collect} four liters of olive oil. ²⁵ Make a sacred oil for anointing with these ingredients. A perfume mixer must mix this mixed perfume. It will be a sacred oil for anointing. ²⁶ Use this oil to anoint the sacred tent, the sacred chest, ²⁷ the table and all the things that the priests use with it, the lampstand and all the things that the priests use to take care of it, the altar for burning incense, ²⁸ and the altar for burning sacrifices, and all the things that the priests use with it, and the washbasin and its base. ²⁹ {In that way,} you will dedicate those items to me. They will be so very holy that they will make anything that touches them holy too.

³⁰ Dedicate Aaron and his sons to be my priests by anointing them. ³¹ Tell the Israelites, ‘This oil will be my sacred oil for anointing throughout all future generations. ³² You must not pour it on the bodies of people {who are not priests}, and you must not make other oil to be like it by mixing those same things. This oil is reserved for me, and you must consider it sacred. ³³ You must drive out from Israel anyone who makes a perfume like this or who puts it on anyone who is not a priest.’”

³⁴ Yahweh also said to Moses, “Collect equal parts of several sweet spices: stacte, onycha, galbanum, and pure frankincense. ³⁵ A perfume mixer must mix these, along with salt, into a perfumed incense. It will be clean and sacred. ³⁶ Beat some of it into a fine powder. Then take some of it into the sacred tent and set it in front of the sacred chest where I meet you. You all must consider this incense to be very sacred. ³⁷ The people must not mix the same spices to make this incense for themselves. They must consider this incense sacred, only for me, Yahweh. ³⁸ You must drive out from Israel anyone who makes a perfume like this.”

Chapter 31

¹ Yahweh said to Moses, ² “Pay attention. I have chosen a man named Bezalel, son of Uri and grandson of Hur, from the tribe descended from Judah. ³ I will cause my spirit to teach him to know how to make all kinds of fine goods wisely and intelligently. ⁴ He can engrave skillful designs in gold, silver, and bronze. ⁵ He can cut jewels and enclose them in tiny gold settings. He can carve things from wood and do other skilled work. ⁶ Pay attention! I have also appointed Oholiab son of Ahisamach, from the tribe of Dan, to work with him. I have also given special ability to other skilled men in order that they can make all the things that I have commanded you to make. ⁷ Those things include: The sacred tent; the sacred chest with its lid on top of it; all the other things that will be inside the sacred tent, ⁸ the table and all the things that the priests use with it, the pure {gold} lampstand and all the things that the priests use to take care of it, the altar for burning incense, ⁹ the altar for burning sacrifices and all the things the priests use with it, and the washbasin with its base; ¹⁰ the beautiful, sacred vestments for Aaron and his sons to wear when they work as priests; ¹¹ the oil for anointing, and the sweet-smelling incense for the Holy Place. The craftsmen must make all these things exactly as I have told you that they should do.”

¹² Yahweh said to Moses, ¹³ “Tell the Israelites, ‘Constantly obey {my instructions regarding} the Sabbath days {for rest}. Those days will remind me and you and your descendants, throughout all future generations, that I, Yahweh, have dedicated you {to be my people}. ¹⁴ You must obey my rules about the Sabbath days for rest, because you must regard them as dedicated to me. You must kill people who disrespect these days by working on them. You must remove them from Israel. ¹⁵ You may work for six days {each week}, but the seventh day {of each week} is a solemn Sabbath-rest day, dedicated to me, Yahweh. You must execute anyone who does any work on a Sabbath day {of rest}. ¹⁶ The Israelites must respect the Sabbath {days of rest}, and rest on them throughout all future generations. This agreement never ends ¹⁷ between me and the Israelites. It will remind you forever that I, Yahweh, created the heavens and the earth in six days, and on the seventh day I stopped doing that work and recuperated.’”

¹⁸ When Yahweh finished talking with Moses on the top of Mount Sinai, he gave him the two stone slabs on which he had engraved his commandments with his own fingers.

Chapter 32

¹ Moses stayed on top of the mountain for a long time. When the people saw that he was not returning, they went to Aaron and said to him, “Get up and make us gods who will lead us on our journey. We do not know what happened to that man Moses, who brought us here out of Egypt.”

² Aaron replied, “Take your wives’ and your children’s gold earrings from them, and bring them to me.” ³ So the people took off all their own gold earrings and brought them to Aaron. ⁴ After he received the gold, he {melted it in a fire.} He molded the softened gold and made {a statue that looked like} a young bull. The people {saw it and} said, “This is the Israelite god who rescued us from Egypt!”

⁵ When Aaron saw {how the people reacted}, he built an altar in front of the bull. Then he announced, “Tomorrow we will have a celebration to {honor} Yahweh!” ⁶ So early the next morning the people {killed animals} and burnt them as sacrifices on the altar. They also brought sacrifices to restore fellowship with others. Then they sat down to eat and to drink {wine}. Then they got up and partied.

⁷ Then Yahweh said to Moses, “Go down from the mountain, because your people, the ones that you brought up here from Egypt, are acting perversely! ⁸ They have already stopped obeying my commands about how to live. From melted gold, they have made a statue {that looks like} a young bull. They have worshiped it and offered sacrifices to it. They are saying, ‘This is the Israelite god who rescued us from Egypt!’” ⁹ Then Yahweh said to Moses, “I have been observing these people. Look at how obstinate they are. ¹⁰ Because of this, I am very angry with them, so I am going to destroy them. Do not try to stop me! Then I will cause you {and your descendants} to become a great nation.”

¹¹ But Moses pleaded with his God, Yahweh, and said, “Yahweh, please do not be angry with your people. These are the people whom you saved from Egypt with great power and mighty works! ¹² {If you destroy them} the Egyptians will say that you had a wicked plan. {They will say} you led the Israelites out to the mountains to kill them and to remove them entirely from the earth. Stop being angry and relent from punishing your people. ¹³ Recall your servants Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. You solemnly promised them, ‘I will enable you to have as many descendants as the stars that are in the sky. I will give those descendants all this land that I am talking about. It will be their land forever.’” ¹⁴ So Yahweh relented. He did not punish his people as he had said he would do.

¹⁵ Then Moses turned around and went down the mountain. He was carrying in his hands the two stone slabs on which Yahweh had inscribed his commandments. He had inscribed on both sides of the slabs, both front and back. ¹⁶ As for the slabs, God had made them. As for the inscription, God had inscribed it. He had engraved on the slabs.

¹⁷ Joshua heard the sound of the people shouting. So he said to Moses, “There is a noise in the camp that sounds like the noise of a battle!”

¹⁸ But Moses said,

     “That is not a victory shout;

     or a defeated cry.

     I hear singing!”

¹⁹ As soon as Moses came close to the camp and saw the statue of the bull and the people dancing, he became very angry. He flung the stone slabs down {onto the ground} at the base of the mountain, and they broke completely. ²⁰ Then he took the statue of the bull that they had made and melted it in the fire. {When it cooled,} he ground it into fine powder. Then he threw the powder on top of the water and forced the Israelites to drink it.

²¹ Then Moses said to Aaron, “What did these people do to you that you caused them to sin so much?”

²² Aaron replied, “Please do not be angry with me, my lord. You know how likely these people are to do wicked things. ²³ They said to me, ‘Make us a god to lead us because we do not know what has happened to that Moses guy who brought us out of Egypt!’ ²⁴ So I said to them, ‘Everyone who is wearing {pieces of} gold {jewelry} should take them off.’ So they {took them off and} gave them to me. I threw them into the fire, and out came this statue of a young bull!”

²⁵ Moses saw that Aaron had allowed the people to act wildly, so that their enemies would laugh at them. ²⁶ So he stood at the entrance to the camp and shouted, “Everyone who is loyal to Yahweh, come close to me!” All the men in the tribe of Levi gathered around him. ²⁷ Then he said to them, “Yahweh, the God of the Israelites, commands that every one of you should fasten your sword to your side, and then go through the camp from this entrance to the other one and back again. Each one of you must kill the {unfaithful} men, {even if} they are your brother, your friend, or your neighbor.” ²⁸ The men in the tribe of Levi did what Moses told them to do. They killed 3, 000 Israelite men that day. ²⁹ Moses said {to the men in the tribe of Levi}, “Because each of you {killed} even your own son and brother, Yahweh has consecrated and blessed you today.”

³⁰ The next day, Moses said to the people, “You have sinned very greatly. But I will now climb up the mountain {again} to {talk with} Yahweh. Perhaps I can {persuade him to} forgive you for sinning {like this}.” ³¹ So Moses went back up {the mountain} and said to Yahweh, “These people sinned very greatly when they made for themselves a gold idol {and worshiped it}! Please, ³² if you would, forgive them for their sin now. But if you will not forgive them, please erase my name from the book in which you have written {your people’s names}.”

³³ But Yahweh said to Moses, “Whoever has sinned against me, I will erase their names from that book. ³⁴ Now, go lead the Israelites to the place I told you about! Watch for my angel going in front of you. However, sometime I will come and I will punish them for how they sinned.”

³⁵ Later Yahweh caused the people to become sick because they had made Aaron make the bull idol.

Chapter 33

¹ Then Yahweh said to Moses, “Get up and go from here with the people whom you led out of Egypt. Go to the land that I promised Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob that I would give to their descendants. ² I will send my angel ahead of you, and I will remove the people descended from Canaan, Amor, Heth, Periz, Hiv, and Jebus from that land. ³ You will go to a land that will be very good for raising livestock and growing crops. But I will not go with you myself, because if I did that, I might annihilate you while you are traveling, because you are very obstinate people.”

^4-5 Yahweh told Moses to tell the Israelites, “You are very stubborn. If I were to go with you for even a moment, I would kill you. Now take off your fine things {to show that you are sorry for sinning}. Then I will decide if I will punish you.” When the people heard that Yahweh spoke harshly, they were sorry, and no one wore fancy things. ⁶ From Mount Sinai on, the Israelites took off and left off all their fine things.

⁷ {Until they built the sacred tent,} Moses set up a tent outside the camp, far away. He called it “the tent of meeting.” Everyone who wanted Yahweh to decide something for them would go out of the camp to the tent of meeting. ⁸ Whenever Moses went out to the tent of meeting, all the people would stand at their own tent entrances and watch him until he had walked into the tent of meeting. ⁹ Whenever Moses went into the tent of meeting, the tall cloud would come down and stay at the tent entrance, and then {Yahweh} would talk with Moses. ¹⁰ When the people saw the tall cloud standing at the entrance to the tent of meeting, they would all bow to worship Yahweh at their own tent entrances. ¹¹ Yahweh would speak directly to Moses like someone speaks to his friend. Then Moses would return to the camp. But his young helper, Joshua son of Nun, would stay in the tent of meeting.

¹² Moses said to Yahweh, “Please pay attention. You told me to lead the Israelites {to the land that you will show me}. But you have not told me whom you will send {to help} me! You also said that you know me well and that you are pleased with me. ¹³ So now, if you are truly pleased with me, I ask you, please tell me the things that you are going to do in order that I may know you better and continue to please you. Please remember that the Israelites are the people whom you chose to belong to you.”

¹⁴ Yahweh replied, “I will go with you and relieve you.”

¹⁵ Moses replied to Yahweh, “If you do not go {with me}, do not make us leave this place. ¹⁶ The only way that others will know that you are pleased with me and with your people is if you go with us! If you go with us, it will show that we are different from all the other nations on the earth.”

¹⁷ Yahweh replied to Moses, “I will do what you have asked, because I know you well and I am pleased with you.”

¹⁸ Then Moses said, “Please let me see how glorious you are.”

¹⁹ Yahweh replied, “I will display to you how good I am and tell you {what} my name Yahweh {means}. I will act kindly to anyone I choose, and I will act mercifully to anyone I choose. ²⁰ But you cannot see my face, because anyone who sees my face will die. ²¹ But look! Here is a place close to me where you can stand on a large rock. ²² When my glorious {light} goes by you, I will put you in a large hole in the rock and cover you with my hand until I have gone by you. ²³ Then I will take my hand away, and you will see my back, but you will not see my face.”

Chapter 34

¹ Yahweh kept talking to Moses, “Cut two slabs of stone like the first slabs, the ones that you smashed. Then I will write the same thing on them as was on the first slabs. ² Get ready tomorrow morning, and come up and stand before me at the top of Mount Sinai. ³ Do not allow anyone to come up with you. I do not want anyone else to be anywhere on the mountain. Do not even allow any sheep or cattle to eat grass near the mountain.” ⁴ So Moses cut two slabs of stone like the first ones. He rose early the next morning, picked up the slabs, and carried them in his hands up to the top of Mount Sinai, as Yahweh had told him.

⁵ Then Yahweh came down in the tall cloud and stood there with Moses. Then Yahweh called out his name, “Yahweh.” ⁶ Yahweh passed in front of him and called out, “I am Yahweh God. I always act mercifully and kindly toward people, and I do not get angry quickly. I abundantly love and faithfully do what I promise for my people. ⁷ I abundantly love people for thousands of generations. I forgive people for doing wrong, transgressing, and sinning. But I will certainly punish the guilty. If people do wrong, I cause that to affect their descendants, down to the third and fourth generation.”

⁸ Quickly Moses bowed low down on the ground and worshiped Yahweh. ⁹ He said, “My Lord, if you are now pleased with me, I ask that you go with us. These people are very stubborn, but forgive us for all our sins, and accept us as the people who belong to you forever.”

¹⁰ Yahweh replied, “Pay attention! I am going to remind you of what I agreed with the Israelites. {As for me,} I will perform great miracles. These will be miracles that no one has ever done on the earth in any people group. Every nation around them will see the great things that I, Yahweh, will do. I will do things for you all that will make everyone revere me. ¹¹ Obey what I am about to command you today. I will surely force the Amor, Canaan, Heth, Periz, Hiv, and Jebus people groups to leave the land for you.

¹² Be careful that you do not agree to live peacefully with any of the people who live in the land into which you are going. If you do that, {you will begin to do the evil things that they do.} It will be like falling into a trap. ¹³ Rather, you must tear down their altars, destroy their idols, and cut down the poles that they use to worship Asherah. ¹⁴ {Do that} because you must not worship any other god, because I, Yahweh, am passionate for people to recognize that I am the only true God, like a husband is passionate for his wife to love only him. ¹⁵ {Again,} do not agree to live peacefully with any of the people who live in the land, because when they worship their gods and offer sacrifices to them, they will invite you to join them. Then you will {be unfaithful to me and sin by} eating the food that they sacrifice to their gods. ¹⁶ Then you will {sin by} having some of their women to be wives for your sons. These women will worship their own gods. They will also make your sons be unfaithful to me by worshiping those gods.

¹⁷ Do not make your own gods by pouring melted metal into statue molds.

¹⁸ Celebrate the Feast of Unleavened Bread the way that I commanded you: eat unleavened bread for seven days in the month called Aviv. I set this time because Aviv is the month when you left Egypt.

¹⁹ All your firstborn sons belong to me. All the firstborn males of your domesticated animals, cows, sheep, and goats, belong to me. ²⁰ In the case of a firstborn donkey, you must buy it back by killing a lamb instead of it. If you do not buy it back, you must kill the donkey by breaking its neck. You must buy back every one of your firstborn sons. Do not come to worship me without bringing an offering.

²¹ Work six days {each week}, but on the seventh day you must rest. Even during the times when you are plowing the ground or harvesting your crops, you must rest on the seventh day.

²² {In the spring,} when you begin to harvest the first wheat crop, have the Celebration of Weeks, and at the end of the year have the Finished Harvest Celebration. ²³ Three times every year, all the men must gather together to worship me, the Lord Yahweh, the Israelite’s God. ²⁴ Surely, I will force the people groups to leave the land you are going to, and I will make your territory larger. No one will want {to try to conquer} your country while the men come to worship Yahweh your God for these three festivals each year.

²⁵ Do not sacrifice bread you made with yeast along with blood from an animal sacrifice. Do not keep until the next morning any part of the animals you sacrificed at the Passover celebration.

²⁶ {Each year, when you harvest your crops,} take the best of what you harvest first, go to the place where you worship me, and give it to me, Yahweh your God.

{When you kill} a young animal, do not cook it by boiling it in its mother’s milk.”

²⁷ Yahweh said to Moses, “Write down the words that I have told you. By giving you these commands, I have made an agreement with you and with the Israelites.” ²⁸ Moses was there {on the top of the mountain} with Yahweh for 40 days and nights. During that time he did not eat or drink anything. He engraved on the stone slabs the words of the Ten Commandments which were part of Yahweh’s solemn agreement.

²⁹ When Moses came back down from Mount Sinai he was carrying the two stone slabs on which he had written the Ten Commandments. His face was very bright from talking to Yahweh, but he did not know it. ³⁰ When Aaron and the Israelites saw Moses, they were amazed that his face was bright, and were afraid to approach him. ³¹ But Moses summoned them, and Aaron and the other Israelite leaders came back to him, and he talked with them. ³² Afterwards, all the Israelites came near, and Moses told them all that Yahweh had commanded him on Mount Sinai. ³³ When Moses finished talking to the people, he covered his face with a thin cloth.

³⁴ Whenever Moses entered the tent of meeting to talk with Yahweh, he would remove the cloth. When he came back out, he would always tell the Israelite people everything that Yahweh had commanded him to tell them. ³⁵ The Israelites would see that Moses’ face was still bright. Then he would put the cloth on his face again until the next time that he went to talk with Yahweh.

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¹ Moses gathered all the Israelites together and said to them, “This is what Yahweh has commanded you to do. ² {Each week} you may work for six days, but on the seventh day, you must rest. It is a sacred day for you, dedicated to Yahweh. You must execute anyone who does any work on the seventh day. ³ Do not light a fire in your homes on the rest days.”

⁴ Moses also said to all the gathered Israelites, “This is what Yahweh has commanded: ⁵ Everyone who wants to should bring Yahweh a gift. They should bring these sorts of gifts to Yahweh: gold, silver, or bronze, ⁶ {cloth dyed} blue, {cloth dyed} purple, {cloth dyed} bright red, fine linen, {cloth made from} goats’ hair, ⁷ red ram skins, fine leather hides, hard wood from acacia trees, ⁸ {olive} oil to burn in the lamps, spices to put in the {olive} oil for anointing {the priests}, and spices to put in the sweet-smelling incense, ⁹ onyx stones and other expensive stones to fasten to the priest’s sacred apron and to put on the chest pouch that is on the apron.

¹⁰ All the skilled workmen among you should come and make all the things that Yahweh has commanded {you to make}: ¹¹ the sacred tent with the inner tent; its covering, fasteners, frames, crossbars, posts, and bases; ¹² the sacred chest with its poles and its lid, the curtain that will separate the Holy Place from the Very Holy Place, ¹³ the table with the poles for carrying it and all its utensils, the sacred bread to present before God, ¹⁴ the lampstand for making light with its implements and lamps, the oil {to burn} for light, ¹⁵ the altar for {burning} incense and the poles {for carrying the altar}, the oil for anointing and the sweet-smelling incense, the curtain for the entrance of the sacred tent, ¹⁶ the altar for burning sacrifices and its bronze grating, the poles {for carrying the altar}, and all its implements, the washbasin and its base, ¹⁷ the curtains to surround the courtyard and the posts and bases {for the posts to support the curtains}; the curtain for the entrance to the courtyard; ¹⁸ the pegs and ropes for the sacred tent and its courtyard, ¹⁹ the beautiful, sacred vestments for Aaron and his sons to wear when they work as priests in the Holy Place.”

²⁰ Then all the Israelites left from where they had gathered {to listen} to Moses. ²¹ Everyone who wished to bring a gift to Yahweh did so. They brought things to make the sacred tent, all the other items for rituals, and the sacred vestments for the priests. ²² All the men and women who wished to brought necklaces, earrings, rings, gold ornaments—all sorts of things made from gold. Then they lifted them up high to dedicate them to Yahweh. ²³ Many people who had blue, purple, or bright red {cloth}, or fine linen, or {cloth made from} goats’ hair, or red rams’ skins, or fine leather hides brought some of these things. ²⁴ Everyone who {desired to} offer silver or bronze gifts brought them to Yahweh. Anyone owning wood from acacia trees brought it for any part of the building work. ²⁵ All the women who were skilled {at making cloth} brought blue, purple, or red woolen yarn and fine linen thread that they had made by hand-spinning. ²⁶ All the skilled women who wanted to made {thread} from goats’ hair by spinning. ²⁷ The leaders brought onyx stones and other fine stones for fastening to {Aaron’s} sacred apron and sacred pouch, ²⁸ and spices and oil to use for the lamps, anointing oil, and sweet-smelling incense. ²⁹ All the Israelite men and women who wanted to bring these things freely offered them to Yahweh for doing the work that he had commanded Moses tell them to do.

³⁰ Moses said to the Israelites, “Listen carefully. Yahweh has chosen a man named Bezalel, son of Uri and grandson of Hur, from the tribe descended from Judah. ³¹ Yahweh has caused his Spirit to teach him to know how to make all kinds of fine goods wisely and intelligently. ³² He can engrave skillful designs in gold, silver, and bronze. ³³ He can cut jewels and enclose them in tiny gold settings. He can carve things from wood and do other inventive, skilled work. ³⁴ Yahweh has also made Bezalel and Oholiab son of Ahisamak, from the tribe of Dan, able to teach {others what they do}. ³⁵ He has enabled them to skillfully do all kinds of crafts-work—those who create artistic things, those who embroider designs using blue, purple, or red woolen yarn with linen cloth, and those who make the cloth. They are able to plan and do many kinds of artistic work.

Chapter 36

¹ Bezalel and Oholiab will do this work along with all the other skillful people. Yahweh has made them skillful and able to know how to follow his instructions to build the sacred place.”

² So Moses summoned Bezalel and Oholiab and all the other people that Yahweh had made skillful who wished to come do some of the work. ³ They took all the gifts for building the sacred tent from Moses that the Israelites had brought to him. But the Israelites continued gladly bringing more gifts every morning. ⁴ As a result, each and every skillful craftsman who was working to make the sacred tent left their work and came to Moses. ⁵ The craftsmen told him, “The Israelites are bringing many times more than we need to build as Yahweh has commanded us!” ⁶ So Moses told them to proclaim a message throughout the camp, “Everyone should stop making and bringing material gifts for the sacred tent!” So the people stopped bringing gifts. ⁷ They had more than enough materials for all the work.

⁸ All the most skilled men among the workmen made the sacred tent, using ten long strips of finely twisted linen. A skilled craftsman took blue, purple, and red thread, and embroidered these strips with designs that represent the winged creatures that are above the chest. ⁹ Each strip was 14. 5 meters long and two meters wide. They were all the same size. ¹⁰ He sewed five strips together {as one set}, and sewed the other five strips together {as another set}. ¹¹ For each set, he made loops of blue cloth and fastened them along the outer edge of the strip, at the end of each set. ¹² He put 50 loops on the edge of the first set, and 50 loops at the edge of the second set so that the loops were opposite each other. ¹³ He made 50 gold fasteners and fastened both of the sets together with them to make the sacred tent one unit.

¹⁴ He made a cover for the sacred tent from 11 pieces of cloth made from goats’ hair. ¹⁵ Each of the 11 pieces of cloth was the same dimensions: 15 meters long and two meters wide. ¹⁶ He sewed five of these pieces of cloth together {to make one set}, and he sewed the other six pieces of cloth together {to make another set}. ¹⁷ He made {100 loops of blue cloth,} and fastened 50 of them to the outer edge of a set and fastened 50 to the outer edge of the other set. ¹⁸ He made 50 bronze clasps for connecting the tent into one big piece. ¹⁹ He made another cover from red rams’ skins to go over the tent, and a top cover from fine leather hides.

²⁰ He made a standing framework from acacia wood for the sacred tent. ²¹ Each frame was five meters long and three-quarters of a meter wide. ²² He made two pegs {at the bottom of} each frame to fasten them together. He made each frame for the tabernacle this way. ²³ He made 20 frames for the south side of the sacred tent. ²⁴ He made 40 silver bases to go underneath the 20 frames. He put two bases under each frame and fit their two pegs into the bases. ²⁵ For the other side—{that is,} the north side—of the sacred tent he made 20 frames ²⁶ and 40 silver bases for them. {They put} two bases under each frame. ²⁷ For the rear of the sacred tent, on the west side, he made six frames. ²⁸ They made two frames for the rear corners of the sacred tent. ²⁹ He matched them to each other at the bottom and top. He secured the tops together with a ring. He did this for both, making them the corner pieces. ³⁰ He made eight frames and 16 silver bases, two bases under each frame.

³¹ He made crossbars from acacia wood. He made five crossbars for the frames on the {north} side of the sacred tent, ³² five crossbars for the frames on the {south} side of the sacred tent, and five crossbars for the frames at the rear of the sacred tent, on the west. ³³ He made the center crossbar, right in the middle of the frames, reach all the way from edge to edge. ³⁴ He covered the frames and crossbars with gold. He made the rings for fastening the crossbars to the frames from gold.

³⁵ He made a curtain from fine linen. A skilled craftsman embroidered it with blue, purple, and red yarn, making designs to represent the winged creatures that are above the sacred chest. ³⁶ He made four posts from acacia wood for the curtain. He covered them and their hooks with gold. He formed four silver bases for the posts. ³⁷ He made a curtain as the tent entrance. A skilled weaver made it from fine linen with blue, purple, and red yarn. ³⁸ {He also made} five posts with hooks on them. He covered the tops of the posts and their connectors with gold and {made} a bronze base for each of those posts.

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¹ Then Bezalel made the sacred chest from acacia wood. He made it 125 centimeters long, 75 centimeters wide, and 75 centimeters high. ² He covered the chest with pure gold inside and outside and made a gold molding for all around it. ³ He made four rings from gold and fastened them to the four legs of the chest. He put two of the rings on each side of the chest. ⁴ He made two poles from acacia wood, and covered them with gold. ⁵ He put the poles into the rings on the sides of the chest so that {the Levites} could carry it. ⁶ He made a lid for the chest from pure gold. It was 125 centimeters long and 75 centimeters wide. ⁷ He hammered {a large lump of} gold into the form of two creatures that have wings for the two ends of the lid. ⁸ He made the winged creatures {from the gold} from each end of the sacred chest’s lid, one at one end and the other at the other end. ⁹ The creature’s wings spread out and reached up to cover the lid. They faced each other, facing the chest’s lid that was between them.

¹⁰ He made a table from acacia wood. It was one meter long, one-half of a meter wide, and three-quarters of a meter high. ¹¹ He covered the table with pure gold and put a gold molding all around it. ¹² He made a rim all around it, eight centimeters wide, and made a gold molding around the rim. ¹³ He molded four rings from gold. He fastened them to the four corners of the table. Each ring was close to each table leg ¹⁴ near the rim. They held poles for carrying the table. ¹⁵ He made two poles from acacia wood and covered them with gold. They were for carrying the table. ¹⁶ He made all the utensils for the table from pure gold—dishes, cups, bowls, and jars {for the priests to use} to pour out {wine to offer to Yahweh}. ¹⁷ He made the lampstand from pure gold. He hammered {one large lump of gold} to make its base and its shaft. He made the cups, with the flower buds and petals {that decorate them}, from that same lump. ¹⁸ There were six branches on the lampstand, three on each side of the shaft. ¹⁹ Each branch had three gold cups that looked like almond flowers on it. The flowers had buds and petals. It was the same for all six branches of the lampstand. ²⁰ On {the shaft of} the lampstand there were four cups that also looked like almond blossoms, each one with flower buds and petals. ²¹ He made one flower bud beneath every two branches. He attached it to each pair of branches {as if they were growing} from it. He made all six lampstand branches like this. ²² He hammered all these buds and branches{, along with the shaft,} from one {large lump} of pure gold. ²³ He made from pure gold: seven lamps, tongs {to remove the burned wicks}, and trays {in which to put the burned wicks}. ²⁴ He used 33 kilograms of pure gold to make the lampstand, the tongs, and the trays.

²⁵ He made the altar for burning incense from acacia wood. It was square, one-half meter on each side and one meter high. There were {projections that looked like} horns on the same block of wood as the altar. ²⁶ He covered the top and the four sides, including the projections, with pure gold. He put a gold molding all around it. ²⁷ He made two gold rings and attached them to the altar below the molding, one on each side of the altar. These rings were to hold the poles for carrying the altar. ²⁸ He made those two poles from acacia wood and covered them with gold. ²⁹ He made the sacred oil for anointing and the pure sweet-smelling incense. A perfumer mixed the incense together.

Chapter 38

¹ Bezalel made the altar for burning sacrifices from acacia wood. It was square, two and a half meters long on each side, and one and a half meters tall. ² He made a {projection that looks like a} horn on each of the top corners from the same block of wood as the altar. He covered the whole altar with bronze. ³ He made all the implements for the altar: the pans, shovels, basins, forks for working with cooking meat, and buckets for carrying hot coals. He made all of these implements from bronze. ⁴ He made a bronze lattice grating {to hold the wood and burning coals}. He put the grating under the rim {that was around the altar}. He made it so that it was inside the altar, halfway down. ⁵ He molded four bronze rings in which to put the poles for the lattice and fastened them to its four corners. ⁶ He made the poles from acacia wood and covered them with bronze. ⁷ He put the poles for carrying the altar through the rings on each side of the altar. He made the altar from boards; it was hollow in the middle.

⁸ He made the bronze washbasin and the bronze base for it. The bronze was from the mirrors that belonged to the women who worked at the entrance of the sacred tent.

⁹ He made a courtyard {around the sacred tent}. On the south side, he hung a fine linen curtain 50 meters long ¹⁰ from 20 {bronze} posts that had 20 bronze bases for the posts and hooks on them and silver connectors. ¹¹ For the north side {of the courtyard}, he hung 50 meters of curtains from 20 posts, each with their bronze bases, hooks, and silver connectors. ¹² For the west side {of the courtyard}, he hung 25 meters of curtains from ten posts, each with their bases, hooks, and silver connectors. ¹³ The east side also was 25 meters wide. ¹⁴ {He made} a curtain seven and a half meters long for one side {of the entrance}, with three posts and bases. ¹⁵ On the other side, opposite from the entrance to the courtyard, {he made} a curtain seven and a half meters long, also with three posts and bases. ¹⁶ There were fine linen curtains all around the courtyard. ¹⁷ All the posts’ bases were bronze. They covered the tops with silver. The pillars’ hooks and loops were silver. The ends of the courtyard’s pillars had a rounded silver finish. ¹⁸ For the entrance of the courtyard, {they made} a curtain from finely twined linen, and a skilled weaver embroidered it with blue, purple, and red yarn. The curtain was ten meters long and two and a half meters high, just like the other curtains around the courtyard. ¹⁹ It had four posts, each with a bronze base. They covered the tops of the posts and their hooks with silver. The loops were silver. ²⁰ They made all the tent pegs to hold the sacred tent and the curtains around the courtyard of bronze.

²¹ This is a list of all the materials that the craftsmen used to make the sacred tent where the Ten Commandments were. Moses instructed some men from the tribe of Levi to write the list. Ithamar, son of Aaron the priest, supervised the men who wrote it . ²² Bezalel of the tribe of Judah, son of Uri and grandson of Hur made all the things that Yahweh had commanded Moses to make. ²³ Oholiab son of Ahisamak, from the tribe of Dan worked with Bezealel. Oholiab was a skilled engraver who made artistic things. He embroidered designs using blue, purple, and red woolen yarn, and linen.

²⁴ All the gold that they used to make the sacred tent weighed 965 kilograms. They used the official standard when they weighed the gold that the people dedicated to Yahweh. ²⁵ All the silver that the people {contributed when the leaders took the} census weighed 3, 420 kilograms. They also used the official standard when they weighed the silver. ²⁶ They had counted all the men who were at least twenty years old, and each man had paid a silver coin that weighed about five grams, according to the official standard. That was a total of 603, 550 men. ²⁷ It took 3, 400 kilograms of silver to make the bases under the posts that supported the sacred tent’s curtains. They used 34 kilograms for each of the 100 bases. ²⁸ With the remaining the 20 kilograms of silver, they made the hooks for the posts, covered the tops of the posts, and made rounded corners. ²⁹ The people had contributed about 2, 400 kilograms of bronze. ³⁰ With the bronze he made the bases to support the posts at the entrance of the sacred tent, the altar {for burning sacrifices} with its grate and its tools, ³¹ the bases {for the posts that supported the curtains} that surrounded the courtyard, the bases for the entrance to the courtyard, and the pegs for the sacred tent and for the curtains around the courtyard.

Chapter 39

¹ Bezalel, Oholiab, and the other skilled workmen made the beautiful holy vestments for Aaron to wear while he served Yahweh as a priest in the Holy Place. They made them from blue, purple, and red woolen cloth, exactly as Yahweh had commanded Moses.

² He made the sacred apron from finely twisted linen, blue, purple, and red thread, and with {fine} gold {wire}. ³ They hammered some thin sheets of gold and cut them into thin strips that they embroidered into the fine linen and into the blue, purple, and red cloth. ⁴ They made shoulder straps to attach the two sides of the ephod together. ⁵ {They made} a carefully woven belt that matched the sacred apron. They made it from the same piece of cloth as the apron. (That cloth was finely twisted linen with {skillfully embroidered} blue, purple, red thread, and {fine} gold {thread}.) {They sewed it} onto the apron, exactly as Yahweh had commanded Moses. ⁶ They cut two onyx stones and mounted them in decorative gold settings. They engraved the names of the twelve sons of Jacob on the stones like someone engraves a signet ring. ⁷ They fastened the stones onto the shoulder straps of the sacred apron to memorialize the names of the 12 tribes of Israel, exactly as Yahweh had commanded Moses.

⁸ He made the sacred pouch of the same materials as the sacred apron and skillfully embroidered it in the same way with gold, blue, purple, and red finely twisted linen. ⁹ They folded the material double so that they made the pouch a double-folded square 23 centimeters long and 23 centimeters wide. ¹⁰ They fastened four rows of valuable stones onto the pouch. In the first row, they put a red ruby, a yellow topaz, and a red garnet. ¹¹ They put a green emerald, a blue sapphire, and a white diamond in the second row. ¹² They put a red jacinth, a white agate, and a purple amethyst in the third row. ¹³ They put a yellow beryl, an onyx, and a green jasper in the fourth row. They put tiny gold frames around each of the stones. ¹⁴ {They carved} the name of one of the 12 sons of Jacob into each of these stones like they were making signet rings. These name-stones represented the 12 tribes of Israel.

¹⁵ They attached two chains that they made from purified gold and braided like cords to the sacred pouch. ¹⁶ They made two decorative gold settings and two gold rings and attached them to the upper corners of the sacred pouch. ¹⁷ They fastened one end of each gold cord to one of the rings on the top corner of the pouch. ¹⁸ They fastened the other end of each cord to the two decorative settings that enclose the stones. Then they put those on the front side of the shoulder straps of the sacred apron. ¹⁹ Then they made two more gold rings and attached them to the lower corners of the sacred pouch on the inside edges next to the sacred apron. ²⁰ They made two more gold rings and attached them to the lower part of the front of the shoulder straps near where the shoulder straps join with the sacred apron just above the sash. ²¹ They tied the rings on the sacred pouch to the rings on the sacred apron with a blue cord, so that the sacred pouch was above the sash and would not come loose from the sacred apron. They did these things exactly as Yahweh had instructed Moses to do.

²² Bezalel had a weaver make the robe {that Aaron would wear underneath his} sacred apron from only blue material. ²³ It had an opening in the middle like other clothing. They made a border around this opening to prevent the material from tearing. ²⁴ At the lower edge of the robe they fastened decorations that resembled pomegranate fruit. They wove the decorations from blue, purple, and red woolen yarn. ²⁵ They made bells from purified gold and fastened them between each of the decorative pomegranates all around the bottom of the robe. ²⁶ So the pattern was bell, pomegranate, bell, pomegranate, and so on all around the bottom of the robe. {The robe was} for {Aaron to wear while he} worked as a priest, exactly as Yahweh had commanded Moses.

²⁷ For Aaron and his sons, a skilled weaver made long-sleeved tunics from fine linen, ²⁸ the turban and the caps from fine linen, the undershorts from very finely twined linen, ²⁹ and the sash from fine linen with blue, purple, and red woolen embroidery, exactly as Yahweh had commanded Moses.

³⁰ They made a sacred ornamental decoration from purified gold and etched into it the words, ‘Dedicated to Yahweh,’ just like carving a signet ring. ³¹ They attached a blue cord to this for fastening it to the top of the turban, exactly as Yahweh had commanded Moses.

³² {After this,} they had finished all the work on the sacred tent where they would meet with Yahweh. The Israelites had done everything in exactly the way that Yahweh had commanded Moses to have it done. ³³ The craftsmen brought Moses the whole sacred tent structure: the tent and all its equipment, the fasteners, frames, crossbars, posts, bases, ³⁴ the red rams’ skin and fine leather hide coverings {for the sacred tent}, the curtain for hiding {the holiest place}, ³⁵ the sacred chest, the poles, the chests’ lid, ³⁶ the table and all its utensils, the sacred bread to present before God, ³⁷ the pure {gold} lampstand with all its lamps in a line, and its utensils, and the oil to burn for light, ³⁸ the golden altar {for burning incense}, the oil for anointing, the sweet-smelling incense, the curtain for the entrance to the sacred tent, ³⁹ the bronze altar and its bronze grating, the poles, and all its implements, the washbasin and its base, ⁴⁰ the curtains to surround the courtyard and the posts and bases, the curtain for the entrance to the courtyard, the ropes and pegs and all the things for serving in the sacred tent where they would meet Yahweh, ⁴¹ and the beautiful, sacred vestments for Aaron and his sons to wear when they work as priests in the Holy Place. ⁴² The Israelites had done all the work in exactly the way that Yahweh had commanded Moses to have it done. ⁴³ Then Moses examined everything they had made. Truly, they had done everything exactly as Yahweh had commanded them to do it. Then Moses blessed the workmen.

Chapter 40

¹ Then Yahweh said to Moses, ² “Set up the sacred tent where you will meet with me on the first day of the first month of the year. ³ Put inside it the sacred chest containing the stone slabs with the Ten Commandments. Hide it by hanging its curtain in front of it. ⁴ Bring the table into the sacred tent and neatly organize on it all the things that they made for it. Then bring in the lampstand and put the lamps up into it. ⁵ Put the gold altar for burning incense in front of the sacred chest, and set up the curtain at the entrance of the sacred tent. ⁶ Put the altar for burning sacrifices in front of the entrance to the sacred tent where you will meet with me. ⁷ Put the washbasin between the sacred tent and the altar, and fill it with water. ⁸ Hang the curtains around the outside to make the courtyard, and also hang up the courtyard’s entrance curtain.

⁹ Then take the oil for anointing and put it on the sacred tent and everything that is in it, to consecrate it all to me. Then it will be dedicated to me. ¹⁰ Also put some of the oil on the altar on which the priests will burn the sacrifices and on all the things that they will use at the altar. This will consecrate the altar to me. Then it will be scared, dedicated to me. ¹¹ Also put some of the oil on the washbasin and its base, to consecrate them to me.

¹² Then bring Aaron and his sons to the entrance of the sacred tent and wash them with water. ¹³ Then set Aaron apart for serving me as a priest by putting his sacred vestments on him and by pouring oil on him. ¹⁴ Also bring Aaron’s sons and put their special tunics on them, ¹⁵ then pour oil on them just as you did on their father. This will consecrate them to serve me as priests. By pouring oil on them, you will cause them and their descendants to be priests throughout all their future generations.”

¹⁶ Moses did all these things exactly as Yahweh had commanded him to do.

¹⁷ On the first day of the first month of Israel’s second year, the people set up the sacred tent. ¹⁸ Moses set up the sacred tent, and its bases, frames, crossbars, and posts. ¹⁹ He spread out the two layers of coverings over the sacred tent, exactly as Yahweh had commanded Moses. ²⁰ Then Moses took the two stone slabs on which Yahweh had written his commandments and put them into the sacred chest. He put the carrying poles into the rings on the chest and put the lid on top of it. ²¹ Then Moses took the chest into {the Holy Place inside} the sacred tent. He hung the thick curtain to conceal the chest containing the commandments, exactly as Yahweh had commanded him. ²² He set the table inside the sacred tent, on its north side, outside the curtain {that hid the sacred chest}. ²³ He laid out the bread neatly on the table to display it before Yahweh, exactly as Yahweh had commanded Moses to do. ²⁴ He set the lampstand inside the sacred tent, on the south side, on the opposite side from the table. ²⁵ Then he set the lamps on the lampstand in Yahweh’s presence, exactly as Yahweh had commanded Moses. ²⁶ He set the gold altar {for burning incense} inside the sacred tent, in front of the curtain {that hid the Most Holy Place}. ²⁷ He burned some sweet-smelling incense on it, exactly as Yahweh had commanded Moses. ²⁸ He hung the curtain at the entrance to the sacred tent. ²⁹ At the entrance to the sacred tent where they would meet with Yahweh, he placed the altar for burning sacrifices. Then he sacrificed meat and flour by burning them on it, just as Yahweh had commanded Moses. ³⁰ He set the washbasin between the sacred tent and the bronze altar, and filled the washbasin with water. ³¹ Moses, Aaron, and his sons would wash their hands and feet in the washbasin. ³² Whenever they went into the sacred tent and whenever they came close to the altar, they would wash themselves, exactly as Yahweh had commanded Moses. ³³ He hung up {the curtains that} surrounded the sacred tent and the altar and the curtain at the entrance to the courtyard. Then Moses was finished building the sacred tent complex.

³⁴ Then the tall cloud covered the sacred tent, and Yahweh’s power and brilliant light filled the sacred tent. ³⁵ Because the cloud covered it and Yahweh’s light was very bright, Moses was not able to enter the sacred tent. ³⁶ {From that day,} whenever Yahweh’s cloud moved off of the sacred, tent the Israelites would {pack their camp} and start traveling. ³⁷ But if the cloud did not move, they stayed where they were and waited for a day that the cloud moved. ³⁸ Wherever the Israelites traveled, Yahweh’s cloud was above the sacred tent during the day, and his fire was over it at night. The Israelites could always see {that Yahweh was with them}.