EXODUS

Chapter 1

¹ These were the sons of Jacob (they all went to the land of Egypt with Jacob, their father, and with their own households). The sons' names were: ² Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, ³ Issachar, Zebulun, Benjamin, ⁴ Dan, Naphtali, Gad, and Asher. ⁵ In all, there were seventy people who went with Jacob. His son Joseph was already in Egypt.

⁶ After some time, Joseph and his brothers and everyone else in their family who lived in that generation died. ⁷ But Jacob's descendants gave birth to many children. The number of his descendants grew very large. As a result, there were so many of them that they were everywhere in Egypt. ⁸ However, many years 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 long ago. ⁹ He said to his people, "Look at what has happened! The Israelite people have become so many and so powerful that they are dangerous to us! 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 leaders put masters over the Israelites to cause them to suffer very much by making them work very hard. They made the Israelite people build two cities to store goods for the king. Those cities were named Pithom and Rameses. ¹² But the more they treated the Israelite people badly, the more the number of Israelites grew, and they became so many that they filled the land. So the Egyptian people began to fear the Israelite people. ¹³ They made the Israelite people work very hard. ¹⁴ Because the Israelites were slaves, their lives were very sad. They had to build many buildings with cement and bricks. They also had to do work in the fields. In making the Israelites do all this work, the Egyptian masters treated them very badly.

¹⁵ Now there were two Hebrew midwives. Their names were Shiphrah and Puah. The king of Egypt said to those two women, ¹⁶ "When you help the Hebrew women give birth to their children, 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 feared that God would punish them if they obeyed the king. So they did not do what the king told them to do. They allowed the baby boys to live. ¹⁸ So the king called the two midwives and said to them, "Why are you doing this? Why are you letting the baby boys live?" ¹⁹ One of the midwives said to the king, "The Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women. The Hebrew women are very strong. They give birth to their babies before we can get to them to help them."

²⁰ So God acted kindly toward the midwives, and the Hebrew people became very numerous and strong. ²¹ Because the midwives feared God, God gave them children of their own.

²² Then the king commanded all the Egyptian people, saying, "You must throw into the Nile River every Hebrew baby boy that is born! 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 gave birth to a baby boy. When she saw that he was a healthy baby, she hid him for three months because she was not willing to do what the king commanded. 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 was standing close by, watching to see 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. ⁶ When the servant brought the basket to her, she opened it, and was surprised to see a baby inside that was crying. She felt sad for 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. 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 took him and nursed him. ¹⁰ Several years later, his mother brought the boy to the king's daughter. She adopted him as though he were her own son. She named him Moses, which sounds like the Hebrew words 'pull out' because she said, "I pulled him out of the water."

¹¹ One day, after Moses had grown up, he went out of the palace area to see his people, the Hebrews. He saw how they had to work very hard. He also saw an Egyptian man beating a Hebrew person. 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 returned to the same place. 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, "Who made you our ruler and judge? Are you going to kill me just like you killed that Egyptian man yesterday?" Then Moses was afraid, because he thought, "Since this man knows what I did, other people will know, too."

^15-16 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. Now the man who was the priest for the Midian people, whose name was Jethro, had seven daughters. One day as Moses sat down beside a well, the seven daughters came to the well, got water, and filled the troughs in order to give water to their father's sheep. ¹⁷ Some shepherds came and started to chase away the girls. But Moses helped the girls and got water for their sheep. ¹⁸ When the girls returned to their father Jethro, who was also called Reuel, he asked them, "How is it that you were able to give water to the sheep and come home so quickly today?" ¹⁹ They replied, "A man from Egypt kept 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, "Where is he? Why did you leave him out there? Invite him in so that he can have something to eat!" ²¹ So they did, and Moses ate with them. Moses decided to live there. Later, Jethro gave Moses his daughter Zipporah to be his wife. ²² Later she gave birth to a son, and Moses named him Gershom, which sounds like the Hebrew word that means "foreigner" because he said, "I am a foreigner living in this land."

²³ Many years later the king of Egypt died. The Israelite people in Egypt were still crying out because of the hard work they had to do as slaves. They called out for someone to help them, and God heard them. ²⁴ When he heard them crying out, he thought about his promise to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. ²⁵ God saw how the Israelite people were being badly treated, and he wanted to help them.

Chapter 3

¹ One day, Moses took the flock of Jethro his father in law, priest of Midian, to the far side of the wilderness. He came to Mount Horeb, the mountain of God. ² When he was on the mountain, Yahweh appeared as an angel to Moses from inside a burning bush. As Moses looked at the bush, it was not destroyed by the fire. ³ Moses thought, "I will go closer to see this strange sight! Why is the bush not burning up?"

⁴ When Yahweh saw Moses come close to the bush, he called out to Moses, "Moses, Moses!" Moses said to God, "Here I am." ⁵ God said, "Do not come close to the bush! Because I am God, the ground on which you are standing belongs to me. So take off your sandals to show respect to me." ⁶ He said, "I am God, the one your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob worshiped." Moses was afraid that God would kill him if he looked at him, so he turned his head away.

⁷ Then Yahweh said, "I have seen how badly the Egyptians are treating my people in Egypt. I have heard my people shouting in despair because of what the slave drivers are making them do. I know how my people are suffering. ⁸ So I have come down from heaven to rescue them from the Egyptians. I will lead them to a good and large land, a land where they can grow many crops and raise much livestock, where the descendants of Canaan, Heth, Amor, Periz, Hiv, and Jebus live. ⁹ Truly I have now heard my Israelite people crying. I have seen how badly the Egyptians treat them. ¹⁰ So I am sending you back to Egypt to the king because you will 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 your people out of Egypt." ¹² God said, "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 Israelite people and say to them, 'God, the one 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 Israelite people that the one named 'I AM' has sent you to them."

¹⁵ God also said to Moses, "You must say to the Israelites, 'Yahweh, the God of your fathers, the God whom Abraham worshiped, whom Isaac worshiped, and whom Jacob worshiped, has sent me to you. Yahweh is my name forever, and this is what all generations should call me.' ¹⁶ Go to Egypt and gather together the elders. Say to them, 'Yahweh, the God whom Abraham worshiped, whom Isaac worshiped, and whom Jacob worshiped, has appeared to me and said: I have seen what the Egyptian people have done to you. ¹⁷ I promise that I will rescue you from being treated badly in Egypt, and I will take you to the land where the descendants of Canaan, Heth, Amor, Periz, Hiv, and Jebus live. It is a good land where you can grow many crops and raise much livestock.' ¹⁸ The elders will do what you say. Then you and the elders will go to the king of Egypt, and you will say to him, 'Yahweh, whom we Hebrews worship as God, has met with us. So now we ask you to allow us to travel for three days to a place in the wilderness in order that there we may offer sacrifices to Yahweh, our God.' ¹⁹ But I know that the king of Egypt will allow you to go only if he sees that he has no other choice. ²⁰ So I will use my power by performing many miracles there. Then he will allow you to leave. ²¹ When this happens, I will cause the people of Egypt to honor the Hebrew people so that when you leave Egypt, they will give you what you need for the journey. ²² At that time, each Hebrew woman will ask for what belongs to the Egyptian women living nearby. The Egyptians will give you all they have—silver and gold jewelry and clothing. You will put these things on your children. In this way, you will take everything from the Egyptians."

Chapter 4

¹ Moses said to God, "What should I do if they do not believe me or listen to me? What should I do if they say, '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 and it became a snake, and Moses ran away from it. ⁴ But 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 people in order that they may believe that I, Yahweh, the God whom Abraham worshiped, whom Isaac worshiped, and whom Jacob worshiped, truly appeared to you."

⁶ Yahweh said to Moses, "Put your hand in your robe." Moses put his hand in his robe. When he brought his hand out, it had a disease that made the skin look 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, the disease was healed, and it looked like his other hand. ⁸ Yahweh said, "You can do that in front of the Israelite people, too. 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, "Oh Lord, I have never been good at speaking to people. I am still that way even after you began talking to me. I speak slowly and never know what to say." ¹¹ Then Yahweh said to him, "Who made a man's mouth? Who is it who makes a man able to speak, hear, see, or not see? Is it not I, Yahweh? ¹² So now go, and I will help you speak, and I will tell you what to say." ¹³ But Moses replied, "Oh Lord, I ask you, please send someone else in my place!"

¹⁴ Then Yahweh became angry with Moses and said to him, "What about Aaron, your brother, the Levite? He is a good speaker. He is on his way here right now, and he will be very happy to see you. ¹⁵ You can talk to him and tell him what to say. I will tell you both what you should 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 with you the staff that is in your hand because you will perform miracles with it."

¹⁸ Moses went back to his father-in-law, Jethro, and said to him, "Let me go back to my people in Egypt to see if they are still alive." Jethro said to Moses, "Go, and may God give you peace."

¹⁹ Yahweh said to Moses in Midian, "Go back to Egypt, for the men who were looking for you are now dead." ²⁰ So Moses took his wife and sons and set them on a donkey and walked back to Egypt, and he took the staff in his hand as God had told him to do.

²¹ Yahweh said to Moses, "When you return 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, and he will not let the Israelite people leave Egypt. ²² Then say to him, 'This is what Yahweh says: Israel is like my first born son, ²³ and I say to you, "Let my son go, so that he may worship me." But you did not let my son go and because of this, I will kill your firstborn son!'"

²⁴ One night, as they were on the way to Egypt, Yahweh appeared to Moses in order to kill him. ²⁵ Then Moses' wife, Zipporah, took a knife and cut off the foreskin of their firstborn son. Then she touched the foreskin to Moses' feet and said, "You are a bridegroom of blood to me." ²⁶ Yahweh did not kill Moses. Zipporah said, "You are a bridegroom of blood to me" because of the circumcision.

²⁷ Meanwhile, Yahweh said to Aaron, "Go into the desert to meet Moses." So Aaron went and met Moses at the mountain of God and kissed him on the cheek. ²⁸ Moses told Aaron everything that Yahweh had said to him and all the miracles that he had instructed him to do.

²⁹ So Aaron and Moses went and gathered together all of the elders of the Israelites. ³⁰ Aaron told them everything that Yahweh had told Moses, and Moses performed all the miracles as the people watched. ³¹ The Israelites believed Aaron and Moses. When they heard that Yahweh had seen how the Israelite people were being badly treated and that he was going to help them, they bowed down and worshiped him.

Chapter 5

¹ Then Moses and Aaron went to the king. They said to him, "Yahweh God, whom we Israelite people worship, says this to you: 'Let my people go to the desert in order that they may have a festival to honor me!'" ² But the king said, "Yahweh is no one important. I do not need to pay attention to what he says, or let the Israelite people go. I do not know this Yahweh! Furthermore, I will not let the Israelite people go!" ³ Moses and Aaron replied, "Yahweh God, the one we Hebrews worship, has revealed himself to us and told us what to tell you. So we ask you to let us go for three days into the wilderness. We must offer sacrifices to Yahweh God there. 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, why are you preventing the Israelite people from working? Tell those slaves to return to work!" ⁵ The king also said, "Listen to me! You people who now live in this land are more numerous than we Egyptians. Why are you stopping them from working?"

⁶ That same day the king commanded the Egyptian slave bosses and the Israelite assistants who directed the slaves, ⁷ "Do not continue to give straw to Israelite people for making bricks. Make them go into the fields and gather straw for 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 the reason 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 not have time to listen to lies from their leaders!"

¹⁰ So the slave bosses and Israelite assistants went to where the Israelite people were and said to them, "The king has said that he will no longer give you any straw. ¹¹ So you must go and get straw where you can find it. But you must keep working to make the same number of bricks." ¹² So the Israelite people went all over Egypt to find straw. ¹³ The slave bosses kept telling them, "Do all the work you are assigned 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 slave bosses working for Pharaoh beat the Israelite assistants with sticks. They asked them, "Why have all the men you are in charge of not been able to make the same number of bricks today as they did before?"

¹⁵ Then the Israelite assistants went to the king and cried out, "Your Majesty, why are you treating us this way? ¹⁶ Now they are not giving us any straw for making bricks, but they keep telling us to make more bricks. And they beat us. But it is because of your own slave bosses that we cannot make as many bricks as before!" 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 So get back to work! We are not going to give you any straw, but you must keep making the same number of bricks!"

¹⁹ The Israelite assistants knew that they were having a bad time because they had been told, "We are not going to lower the number of bricks you must make each day." ²⁰ As they left the king's palace, they met Aaron and Moses, who were waiting for them there. ²¹ They said to Aaron and Moses, "May Yahweh see what you two have done! May he punish you because you have caused the king and his officials to hate us! You have given them a reason to kill us!"

²² Moses left them and prayed to Yahweh again, saying, "O Yahweh, why have you caused all these evil things to happen to your people? And why did you send me here? 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 and his people. I will make him let my people go. In fact, by my power I will force him to chase them from his land!"

² God also said to Moses, "I am Yahweh. ³ I am the one who appeared to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and told them that I was God Almighty, but I did not tell them that my name was Yahweh. ⁴ I also made my covenant with them, promising to give them the land of Canaan. That was the land in which they were living as foreigners. ⁵ Furthermore, I have heard the Israelite people groan because of the hard work that the Egyptians have been making them do as their slaves. I have thought about the covenant that I made. ⁶ So tell the Israelite people that I said this: 'I am Yahweh. I will free you from the burdens of heavy work that the Egyptians have forced upon you. I will free you from being their slaves. With my great power and by punishing them very harshly, I will save you. ⁷ I will cause you to become my own people, and I will be your God, the one you worship. You will truly know that I am Yahweh God, the one who has freed you from the burdens of work as slaves of the Egyptians. ⁸ I will bring you to the land that I swore to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. You will live in it forever. I, Yahweh, am promising this.'"

⁹ Moses told that to the Israelite people, but they did not believe what he said. They were very sad because of the hard work they were made to do as slaves.

¹⁰ Then Yahweh said to Moses, ¹¹ "Go and tell the king of Egypt again that he must allow the Israelite people to leave his land!" ¹² But Moses said to Yahweh, "Please listen to me. Even the Israelite people have not paid attention to what I told them. I am a poor speaker. So why should the king pay attention to what I tell him?" ¹³ But Yahweh spoke to Aaron and Moses, "Tell the Israelite people and the king of Egypt that I have called you two to lead the Israelite people out of Egypt."

¹⁴ Now here is a list of the ancestors of Moses and Aaron.

The sons of Reuben, who was Jacob's oldest son, were: Hanok, Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi. They were ancestors of the clans that have those same names.

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 also were ancestors of clans that have those same names.

¹⁶ These are the names of the sons of Levi, in the order in which they were born: 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. All these were the ancestors of the clans that descended from Levi, in the order in which his sons were born.

²⁰ Amram married his father's sister, Jochebed. She was the mother of Aaron and Moses. Amram was 137 years old when he died.

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 four sons, 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. That ends the list of the families and clans that were descended from Levi. ²⁶ Aaron and Moses were the ones to whom Yahweh said, "Lead all the tribes of the Israelite people out of Egypt." ²⁷ They were the ones who spoke to the king of Egypt in order to bring the Israelite people out of Egypt. ²⁸ On the day that Yahweh spoke to Moses in Egypt, ²⁹ he said, "I am Yahweh. You must 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 Then Yahweh said to Moses, "Listen to me. I will cause the king to see you as a god, and Aaron will be like a prophet because he will speak for you. ² You must tell everything I command you to your older brother Aaron, and he will tell it all to the king. He must tell the king to let the Israelite people 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 believe what you say. Then I will punish the people of Egypt very severely, and I will lead the tribes of my Israelite people out of Egypt. ⁵ Then, when I show my great power to the Egyptian people and bring the Israelite people out from among them, they will know that I am Yahweh, the all-powerful God."

⁶ Aaron and Moses did everything that Yahweh told them to do. ⁷ At that time, 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 sorcerers 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. But Aaron's staff, which had become a snake, swallowed up all their snakes! ¹³ But the king continued to be stubborn, just as Yahweh had said he would, and he would not believe 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 tomorrow morning, go to him as he is going down to the Nile River to bathe. Wait for him on the riverbank. When he comes out of the water, show him the staff, the one that had become a snake. ¹⁶ Say to him, 'Yahweh God, the one we Hebrews worship, sent me to you to tell you to let my people go in order that they may worship him in the desert. We told you that, but you have not listened to us. ¹⁷ So now Yahweh says this: "This is the way you will know that I am Yahweh, the all-powerful God. I am going to strike 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 not be able to drink water from the river."'"

¹⁹ Yahweh said to Moses, "When you are talking to the king, say to 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 the pools of water, in order that all of it may become blood.' When Aaron does that, there will be blood throughout Egypt, even in wooden jars and in 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 died. The water smelled bad, with the result that the Egyptians could not drink water from the river. Everywhere in Egypt the water became red like blood. ²² But the Egyptian men who did magic did the same thing using their magic. So the king remained stubborn, and he would not listen to what Aaron and Moses said, just as Yahweh said would happen. 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 Then one week passed after Yahweh turned the water in the Nile River into blood.

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, I will punish you by sending frogs to cover your country. ³ Not only will the Nile River be full of frogs, but also the frogs will 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 leaders 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, your officials, and on all the rest of your people.'"

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 pools, 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, and they caused more frogs to come up from the water onto the land. ⁸ Then the king called Moses and said, "Ask Yahweh to take away these frogs from me and my people. After that happens, I will allow your people to go to worship Yahweh." ⁹ Moses said to the king, "I will be glad to pray for you, for your officials, and for the rest of your people. I will ask Yahweh to get rid of the frogs from all your houses. The only frogs left will be those in the Nile River. Just tell me when I should pray." ¹⁰ The king replied, "Tomorrow." So Moses said, "I will do what you say, and then you will know that Yahweh God, the one we worship, is the only true god, and that there is no other god like him. ¹¹ The frogs will leave you, your officials, and all the rest of your people. The only ones left will be in the Nile River."

¹² Then Moses and Aaron left the king. Moses prayed to Yahweh, asking him to take away all the frogs he had brought to the king's land. 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 saw that the problem was ended, he became 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 ground with his staff. When he does that, all the fine particles of earth will become gnats all over the land of Egypt." ¹⁷ Moses and Aaron obeyed Yahweh. Aaron struck the ground with his staff, and all over Egypt the fine particles of earth became gnats. The gnats covered the people and all their animals. ¹⁸ The men who worked magic tried to cause gnats to appear, but they could not do it. So the gnats stayed on the people and on their animals. ¹⁹ The men who worked magic said to the king, "It is God who has done this with his power!" But the king continued to be stubborn, and he would not pay attention to what Aaron and Moses said, just as Yahweh had said.

²⁰ Then Yahweh said to Moses, "Get up early tomorrow morning. Go down to the river and wait for the king. When he comes to bathe, say to him, 'This is what Yahweh says to you: "Let my people go, in order that they may worship me in the desert. ²¹ I warn you that if you do not let my people go, I will send swarms of flies to you. They will come on you, on your officials, and on the rest of your people. The houses of all you Egyptians will be full of flies. They will even cover the ground on which you will be standing. 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 doing these things here in this land. ²³ I will show you how I act toward my people and how I act toward your people. This miracle is going to happen tomorrow!"'"

²⁴ Early the next morning, Moses told that to the king, but the king would not listen. So Yahweh did what he said he would do. He sent great swarms of flies into the palace of the king and into the houses of his officials. The whole country of Egypt was ruined by the flies. ²⁵ Then the king called Aaron and Moses and said, "You Israelite people can go and worship your god, but you must do it here in this land." ²⁶ But Moses replied, "It would not be right for us to do that because we will offer sacrifices that are very offensive to the Egyptian people. If we offer sacrifices that the Egyptian people do not like, 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, your god, in the desert. But you must not go very far. Now pray for me!" ²⁹ Moses said, "Listen to me! After I leave you, I will pray to Yahweh, asking that tomorrow he will cause the swarms of flies to leave you, your officials, and the rest of your people. 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 officials, and the rest of his people. No flies remained. ³² But the king was stubborn this time also, and he did not allow the Israelite people to go.

Chapter 9

¹ Then Yahweh said to Moses, "Go to the king and say to him, 'This is what Yahweh, the one we Hebrews worship, says: "Allow my people to go, in order that they may worship me. ² If you still refuse to let them go, ³ I warn you that I will punish you with my power by sending a terrible disease on all your livestock 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 not treat the livestock that belongs to the Israelite people the same as yours. You will see that none of the livestock that belongs to the Israelite people will die." ⁵ Tell Pharaoh that I will do this thing in the land tomorrow."'"

⁶ The next day Yahweh did what he said that he would do. A terrible disease came upon all of the Egyptians' livestock, and all of the livestock died. But none of the Israelite livestock died. ⁷ The king sent men to look at what happened, and they were surprised to see that none of the Israelite animals had died. But after they told that to the king, he continued to be stubborn, and he did not let the Israelite people go.

⁸ Then Yahweh said to Aaron and Moses, "Take a few handfuls of ashes from a furnace. Moses will throw them up into the air in front of the king. ⁹ The ashes will spread all over the country of Egypt like fine dust. Everywhere in the land, the ashes will cause boils to be upon both the Egyptian people and their animals." ¹⁰ So they got some ashes and went and stood in front of the king. Moses threw the ashes up into the air. The ashes spread all over, causing boils to be upon both the Egyptian people and their animals. All the boils became open sores. ¹¹ Even the men who worked magic had boils. Because of this, they were not able to face Moses because the men who worked magic had boils just like all the rest of the Egyptian people. ¹² But Yahweh caused the king to continue to be stubborn. He did not pay any attention to what Moses and Aaron said, 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 let them go, this time I will punish with disasters, not only your officials and the rest of your people, but also you yourself in order that you might know there is no god like me anywhere in the world. ¹⁵ By this time I could have used my power to strike you and your people with terrible diseases that would have killed you all. ¹⁶ But I have let you live. The reason I have let you live is to show you my power so that people all over the earth will know how great I am. 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. From the time Egypt first became a nation, 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 cattle 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, and they will all die.'" So Moses did what Yahweh said.

²⁰ Some of the king's officials who heard what Yahweh had said became very afraid. So they brought all their animals and their slaves under shelters. ²¹ But those who did not listen to 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 their animals, and on all the plants in the fields." ²³ So Moses lifted his staff up toward the sky. And Yahweh sent down balls of ice all over the land of Egypt. There was also thunder and lightning. ²⁴ While large balls of ice were falling, there was thunder, and lightning struck the ground. There had never been an ice storm like that since Egypt first became a country. ²⁵ The ice struck everything that was in the fields all over Egypt—every person and every animal. The ice destroyed the plants in the fields and stripped the leaves off the trees. ²⁶ Only in the region of Goshen, where the Israelite people were living, was there no ice.

²⁷ Then the king sent someone to summon Aaron and Moses. 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! We cannot take any more of this thunder and ice! I will let your people go; they 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 cease, 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 as for you and your officials, I know that you do not yet fear Yahweh God."

³¹ When the ice fell, the flax was ruined because the blossoms were forming, and the barley was ruined because its grain was ripe. ³² But none of the wheat was ruined, because its shoots were still very small.

³³ So Moses left the king and went outside the city. He lifted up his hands toward Yahweh and prayed. Then the thunder and the ice storm stopped, and 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 continued to be stubborn. ³⁵ So, just as Yahweh had predicted by what he told Moses, the king did not allow the Israelite people 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. Then all of you will know that I am Yahweh God."

³ So Aaron and Moses 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 do what I tell you? 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 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 left on the trees that is still growing. 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 you or your parents or your grandparents have ever seen from the time your ancestors first came to this land until now!'" Then Moses, along with Aaron, turned and left the king.

⁷ The king's officials said to him, "How long is this man going to bring bad things upon us? Let the Israelites go in order that they may worship Yahweh, their god. Do you not yet understand that this man has ruined Egypt?" ⁸ So they brought Aaron and Moses back to the king. He said to them, "All right, you can go and worship Yahweh, your god. But who are the ones 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, goats, and herds of livestock because we must have a festival to honor Yahweh."

¹⁰ So the king replied, "I never want Yahweh to help you, and I myself will never let you take your children and your wives with you! It is clear that you are planning not to return. ¹¹ So, no, I will not let you all go. The Israelite men may go and worship Yahweh if that is what you want." Then the king drove Moses and Aaron from his palace.

¹² Then Yahweh said to Moses, "Reach out your hand as though you were stretching it over the land to welcome the locusts. They will come to the country of Egypt and eat every plant that is left in the land, every plant that the ice storm did not destroy."

¹³ So Moses held out his staff as though he were stretching it over the whole land of Egypt. Then Yahweh caused a strong 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 swarmed all over Egypt. The swarm of locusts was larger than any that had ever been seen in Egypt, and there will never be a swarm of locusts like that again in the land. 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 had not been destroyed by the ice storm. Nothing that was green was left on any plant or on any tree anywhere in Egypt.

¹⁶ The king quickly called Aaron and Moses and said, "I have sinned against Yahweh, your god, and against you two. ¹⁷ So now I ask you to forgive me this one time for having sinned. Please pray to Yahweh, your god, to take away this terrible disaster 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 blew all the locusts into the Sea of Reeds. There was not one locust left anywhere in the country of Egypt.

²⁰ But Yahweh made the king stubborn again, and the king did not let the Israelite people go.

²¹ Yahweh said to Moses, "Reach your hand up toward the sky in order that there may be darkness over all the land of Egypt, a darkness so complete that people will have to feel around to know where to walk." ²² So Moses reached his hand toward the sky, and it became very dark all over Egypt for three days and nights. ²³ People could not see each other. No one left his house during that whole time. But there was light in the area where the Israelite people lived.

²⁴ The king called Moses and said, "All right, you may go and worship Yahweh. Your wives 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 let us take along the sheep and goats in order that we may have some of them to sacrifice and give as burnt offerings to Yahweh, our God. ²⁶ Our livestock must also go with us; we are not going to leave one animal behind. We must take them to worship Yahweh. We will not know which animals to sacrifice until we get to where we are going."

²⁷ But Yahweh made the king continue to be stubborn. The king would not let the Israelite people 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 you killed!" ²⁹ Moses replied, "You are correct! You will never see me again!"

Chapter 11

¹ Then 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. In fact, he will chase you out of Egypt. ² So now, speak to all the Israelite people. Tell them to ask all their Egyptian neighbors, both men and women, to give them their silver and gold jewelry." ³ Yahweh made the Egyptians highly respect the Israelite people. In fact, the king's officials and all the rest of the people thought that Moses was a very great man.

⁴ Then Moses went to the king and said, "This is what Yahweh says: 'About midnight tonight I will go through Egypt, ⁵ and I will cause all the firstborn sons to die. From the king's oldest son to the oldest son of the slave woman who grinds grain, and the oldest son of everyone else. I will also kill the oldest males of your livestock. ⁶ When that happens, people all over Egypt will lament loudly. They will lament more loudly than they ever have lamented before and more than they ever will again. ⁷ But among the Israelite people it will be so quiet that not even a dog will bark! 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 all the Israelite people!' 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 listen to what you say. So I will perform more miracles in the land of Egypt."

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

Chapter 12

¹ Yahweh said to Aaron and Moses in Egypt, ² "From now on, this month will be the first month of the year for you Israelites. ³ Tell all the Israelite people that in each family, the man who heads the family must take a lamb 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 the family that lives next door may share one animal. Decide how many lambs you need according to the number of people in each family and according to how much each person can eat. ⁵ The lambs or goats that you choose must be males, one year olds, and they must not have any defects. ⁶ You must take special care of these animals until the fourteenth day of the month. On that day, all the Israelite people must kill the lambs or goats in the evening. ⁷ Then they must take some of the blood from the lambs or 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 immediately and eat the meat that night. They must eat it with bitter herbs and with bread that is baked without yeast. ⁹ You must not eat any of the meat raw, and you must not boil the meat. You must roast it whole without cutting off the head or the legs or without removing the internal parts. ¹⁰ You must eat all the meat that evening; do not let any of the meat remain to be eaten the next morning. If any of the meat is left the next morning, you must burn it all. 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 through all the land of Egypt, and I will kill all the oldest males in Egypt, both humans and animals. By doing this, I will punish all the gods in Egypt. It is I, Yahweh God, who am speaking to you! ¹³ The blood that you smear on the doorways will be a mark to show me the houses in which you Israelites live. When I see the blood, I will pass over those houses, and I will not harm the people who live there when I come to punish the Egyptians.

¹⁴ Each year, you must celebrate this festival on this day to remember what I, Yahweh, have done for you. In all the generations to come, each year you must celebrate this festival. It must continue forever. ¹⁵ For seven days you must eat bread that has no yeast in it. On the first day of that week, you must get rid of all the yeast that is in your houses. During those seven days, if anyone eats bread that is baked with 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 on those two days. The only work they may do is to prepare food for you to eat.

¹⁷ Every year you must keep celebrating this Festival of Unleavened Bread because it will remind you that it was on this day that I brought your tribes out of the land of Egypt. So every year, in all the generations to come, you must celebrate this day as a festival. It must continue forever. ¹⁸ In the first month of the year, on the fourteenth day of that month, the only bread you may eat is bread that has no yeast in it. You must keep doing that each day until 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 an Israelite or a foreigner, eats bread made with yeast, that person will no longer be an Israelite. ²⁰ In your houses, do not eat anything that has yeast in it during those seven days."

²¹ Then Moses summoned all the leaders of the Israelite people. He said to them, "Each family should select a lamb and kill it, in order that you may eat it to celebrate the festival that will be called '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 the oldest male in each Egyptian family, he will see the blood on your doorframes, and he will pass over those houses. He will not allow the angel who causes people to die to enter your houses and kill your oldest sons. ²⁴ You and your descendants must celebrate this ritual forever. 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 Israelite people 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 people all bowed their heads and worshiped Yahweh. ²⁸ Then the Israelite people did exactly what Yahweh told Aaron and Moses to tell them to do.

²⁹ At midnight Yahweh killed all the oldest sons of the Egyptian people, all over Egypt. This included the king's oldest son, the oldest sons of the prisoners in the dungeons, and the oldest sons of everyone else. He also killed the oldest males of all the Egyptians' livestock. ³⁰ That night the king, all his officials, and all the rest of the Egyptian people 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 called Aaron and Moses and said, "Get up, you and all the other Israelite people, and leave my country now! Go and worship Yahweh, as you requested! ³² Take your flocks of sheep and goats and herds of cattle, and leave! And ask Yahweh to bless me, also!"

³³ The Egyptians asked the Israelite people to leave their country quickly. They said, "If you do not do that, we will all die!" ³⁴ So the Israelite people 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 and left. ³⁵ Then the Israelite people did as Moses told them. They went to their Egyptian neighbors and asked them for silver and gold jewelry and clothing. ³⁶ Yahweh caused the Egyptian people to greatly respect the Israelite people, so they gave them what they asked for. In that way, the Israelites carried away the wealth of the Egyptian people.

³⁷ The Israelite people 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 On their way, they baked bread with the dough that they carried with them when they had been told to leave Egypt. The dough did not have yeast in it because they were told to leave Egypt so quickly that they did not have enough time to get food ready to take with them or enough time to mix yeast in the dough.

⁴⁰ The Israelite people 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 is dedicated to Yahweh, a night when the Israelite people in every generation remember how Yahweh kept their ancestors safe.

⁴³ Then Yahweh said to Moses and Aaron, "These are my instructions about the Passover ritual: Do not let foreigners eat the Passover meal. ⁴⁴ But any male slaves that you have bought may eat it after you have circumcised them. ⁴⁵ Do not let people who are living among you that are not Israelites, or servants whom you pay money to and who stay only for a while, eat the Passover meal. ⁴⁶ Each family must eat the Passover meal inside its own house. Do not take any of the food outside the house. Do not break the bones of the lamb. ⁴⁷ All the Israelite people must celebrate this festival. ⁴⁸ When someone from another country comes to live with you and wants to celebrate the 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 have not been 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 Israelite people obeyed Moses and Aaron and did what Yahweh had commanded. ⁵¹ On that very day, Yahweh brought all the tribes of the Israelite people out of Egypt.

Chapter 13

¹ Yahweh said to Moses, ² "Set apart 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, "Do not forget this day! This is the day that you left Egypt. This is the day you were freed from being their slaves. Yahweh has brought you out of Egypt by his great power. 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 to 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 that you eat must not have any yeast in it. On the seventh day there must be a festival 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 the festival starts, you must tell your children, 'We are doing this to remember what Yahweh did for our ancestors when they left Egypt.' ⁹ This ritual will remind you how Yahweh brought your ancestors out of Egypt with his great power. The ritual 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. ¹⁰ So you must celebrate this festival every year 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 to Yahweh the firstborn males of all your animals. These all will belong to Yahweh. ¹³ You may keep the firstborn male donkeys, but you must buy them back by killing a lamb in the place of the donkey. If you do not want to buy back the donkey, you must kill it by breaking its neck. You must buy back every one of your own firstborn sons. ¹⁴ In the future, when one of your children asks, 'What does this mean?' you must say to him, 'Yahweh brought our ancestors out of Egypt with his great power, and freed us from being slaves there. ¹⁵ The king of Egypt did not let them 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 will remind you about how Yahweh brought our ancestors out of Egypt by his great power; it will be like something you tie on your wrist or on your forehead to remind you of that."

¹⁷ When the king of Egypt let the Israelite people go, God did not lead them to go through the land of the Philistines. That was a shorter road, but God said, "It would be bad if my people changed their minds when they realized that they will have to fight the Philistines to take their land. Then they would decide to go back to Egypt." ¹⁸ Instead, God led them to go around through the wilderness toward the Sea of Reeds. When the Israelite people left Egypt, they were carrying weapons to fight their enemies.

¹⁹ Moses had them take along the bones of Joseph with them because Joseph long ago had made the Israelite people promise that they would do that. He had said to them, "God will rescue your descendants out of Egypt. When that happens, you must carry my bones with you."

²⁰ The Israelite people left Succoth and walked to Etham at the edge of the wilderness, and they set up their tents there. ²¹ When they walked during the daytime, Yahweh went in front of them in a tall white cloud to show them the way. During the night, he went in front of them in a tall cloud that looked like a fire. By doing this, he enabled them to travel in the daytime and also at nighttime. ²² The tall cloud did not leave them. It was always in front of them, as a bright white cloud in the daytime and like a tall column of fire in the night.

Chapter 14

¹ Then Yahweh said to Moses, ² "Tell the Israelite people to turn around and go back and set up their tents in front of Pi Hahiroth. That town is between Migdol and the 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 Israelite people are confused. They are wandering around, and the desert blocks their path.' ⁴ But I will make the king stubborn again, and he will take his army and come after you. Then my people will praise me for winning a victory over 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 that the Israelite people had left during the night, he and his leaders changed their minds and said, "What have we done? The Israelite people will no longer be our slaves!" ⁶ So the king got his chariot and his army ready. ⁷ Then he selected six hundred of the best chariots, and in each chariot he placed a driver, a soldier, and a commander, and they left. ⁸ Yahweh made the king of Egypt stubborn, so he and his army went to pursue the Israelites. The Israelites marched out with confidence. ⁹ The Egyptian army, with all the king's horses and chariots and horsemen, went 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, "Certainly you did not think that there was not enough room in Egypt for us to be buried. So why did you bring us here to die in this wilderness? Look what you have done to us by bringing us out of Egypt! 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 the result will be that the Egyptians that you are looking at today—you will never see them 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, "You must not call out to me for help any longer in this situation. Instead, tell the people to go forward. ¹⁶ Lift up your staff and stretch it out as though you were stretching it over the sea. The water will move away so that the Israelite people can go in the middle of the sea, walking on dry ground between the walls of water on each side. ¹⁷ I will make the Egyptians stubborn so that they will try to follow the Israelites. Then because of what I will do to the king, his army, his chariots, and his horsemen, my people will praise 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 Israelite people, moved and went behind them. The tall, bright cloud that had been in front of them also moved behind them ²⁰ until it was between the Egyptian army and the Israelite people. The cloud caused the Egyptian army to be in the darkness, but it gave light for the Israelites. As a result, neither group could come near the other group during the whole night.

²¹ That evening, Moses stretched out his hand as though he were stretching it 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 Israelite people 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 and their chariots and chariot drivers. 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; let us get out of here!"

²⁶ Then Yahweh said to Moses, "Stretch out your arm as though you were stretching it 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, and, as the sun was rising, the water returned to its normal level. 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 Israelite people had already crossed through the sea by walking on dry ground, with the water being like two walls, one on the right side and one on the left side.

³⁰ That is the way Yahweh saved the Israelite people from the Egyptian army on that day. The Israelite people saw the Egyptians lying dead. Their bodies washed up on the shore. ³¹ The Israelites saw what Yahweh did to the Egyptians by his great power, and they were in awe of Yahweh. They trusted in Yahweh, and they also trusted in Moses.

Chapter 15

¹ Then Moses and all the Israelite people sang a song to Yahweh. They sang,

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

He has thrown the horses and their riders into the sea!

² Yahweh is the one who makes me strong, and he is the one I sing about.

He is the one who has saved me.

He is my God, and I will praise him.

He is the one my father worshiped,

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 Sea of Reeds.

⁵ The water covered them like a flood;

they sank to the bottom like a stone.

⁶ O Yahweh, your power is immense;

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

⁷ We honor you greatly because you have defeated your enemies.

Because you were angry with them, you have destroyed them

like a fire burns up straw.

⁸ You blew on the sea,

and the water piled up high;

the water stood up like two walls.

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 draw our swords

and strike them.

After we defeat them,

we will divide up everything we take from them.'

¹⁰ But you blew on them with your breath,

and then the sea covered them.

They sank like lead in the big waves.

¹¹ Yahweh, among their gods, there is no god like you!

You are glorious, completely different from all that you made.

There is no one like you!

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

¹² When you stretched out your right hand,

the earth swallowed up our enemies!

¹³ You never stop loving us, the people that you have rescued;

with your power you are leading us to the land where you yourself live.

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 went out dancing with all the other women who had tambourines. 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 Sea of Reeds. 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 tree. So he took one of the branches 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 are right to me, 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 twelve springs of water and seventy 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 Aaron and Moses. ³ They said to them, "We wish that Yahweh had killed us in Egypt! There we had meat to eat and all the bread that we wanted. But you have brought us into this desert in order that we will all starve to death!"

⁴ Yahweh said to Moses, "Listen to what I am going to do. I am going to send something from the sky that will take the place of bread 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 after I start doing that, they will be able to gather twice as much as on the other days and not have to gather any on the seventh day. Then they can prepare it to eat it."

⁶ So Aaron and Moses said to all the Israelite people, "This evening you will know that it was Yahweh, not us, who brought you out of Egypt. ⁷ Tomorrow morning you will see how great Yahweh is because he has heard how you have complained against him. He is the one to whom you have really complained because we are just his servants." ⁸ Then Moses also said, "Each evening Yahweh will give you meat to eat, and each morning he will give you something that will take the place of bread because he has heard what you have complained about. Yahweh is the one to whom you have really complained, not us. We are just his servants."

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 Aaron told them that. As Aaron was talking to all the Israelite people, they looked 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 Israelite people have been complaining about. So say to them, 'At twilight, you will have meat to eat, and tomorrow morning you will have something that will take the place of 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 was something like small drops of water all around the campsite. ¹⁴ When the water dried up, on the ground there was a thin layer of something that looked like small white flakes. It looked like ice laying on the ground. ¹⁵ When the Israelite people saw it, since they had never seen it before and did not know what it was, they said to each other, "What is it?" Moses replied to them, "It is something Yahweh has given you to eat, to take the place of bread. 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 But 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 pay any attention to 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 after they started gathering it, each person was able to gather four liters, 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 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, you will not find any." ²⁷ On the seventh day, some of the people went outside their tents to gather some of that food, but there was none. 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! Yahweh has given you a day of rest. So on the sixth day of each week, he will be giving you enough of this food for two days. Each of you should stay in his tent and do no work on the seventh day!" ³⁰ So the people rested on the seventh day.

³¹ The Israelite people called this food 'manna,' which sounds like the Hebrew word that means 'what is it?' 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 took the place of bread that I gave to your ancestors when I brought them 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. It is to be kept like that for all future generations." ³⁴ As Yahweh had commanded Moses, Aaron put the jar in front of the box that contained the stone slabs on which the Ten Commandments were written. ³⁵ The Israelite people ate manna every day for forty years until they came to the border of the land of Canaan. ³⁶ Now two liters is a tenth of an ephah.

Chapter 17

¹ Obeying what Yahweh commanded, all the Israelite people moved from the wilderness of Sin. They traveled from one place to another. They camped at a place called Rephidim, but 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, "Why are you speaking against me? And why are you trying to test whether Yahweh has the power to give you what you need?" ³ But the people were very thirsty, and they continued to complain to Moses. They were saying, "Why did you bring us up out of Egypt? Did you bring us here to cause us and our children and animals to die from thirst?"

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 Listen to 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 were there with him when the water flowed out of the rock. ⁷ Moses gave that place two names in the Hebrew language—Masseh, which means 'testing,' and Meribah, which means 'complaining.' He gave it the name Massah because the Israelite people were testing Yahweh, saying "Is Yahweh really among us and able to help us, or not?" and Moses gave it the name 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, Aaron, Hur, and Moses went up to the top of the hill so that they could see the whole battle area. ¹¹ Whenever Moses lifted up his arms, the Israelite men started to win the battle; whenever he lowered his arms, the people of Amalek started to win. ¹² But Moses' arms became tired. So Aaron and Hur rolled 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 people of Amalek 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 completely destroy the people of Amalek." ¹⁵ Then Moses built a stone altar there and named it "Yahweh is my flag." ¹⁶ He said, "A promise was made in front of the throne of Yahweh: 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 the Israelite people. 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. But now Jethro came to him, ³ bringing Zipporah and her sons. One son was named 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 was named 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 being killed by the king of Egypt."

⁵ While Moses was camped with the Israelite people in the wilderness near Sinai, God's holy mountain, Jethro 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 was happy when he heard all that Yahweh had done for the Israelite people. ¹⁰ He said, "Praise Yahweh, who has rescued you from the power of the Egyptian army, and out of the power of the king of the Egyptians (who is called Pharaoh), and has set the Israelites free from the control of the Egyptian people! ¹¹ Now I know that Yahweh is greater than all other gods because he rescued you from the power of the proud Egyptians when they were causing you to suffer." ¹² Then Jethro brought an animal to sacrifice by burning it on the altar as an offering, and he also offered other sacrifices to God. Aaron and the Israelite elders went with them to eat a meal with Jethro to honor God.

¹³ The next day, Moses sat down at the place where he settled disputes among the people. The people were bringing their disputes to Moses from the morning until the evening. ¹⁴ When Jethro saw everything that Moses was doing for the people, he said, "Why are you doing all this for the people? Why are you doing this by yourself, and why are all the people standing around you from the morning until the evening, asking you to make decisions for them?" ¹⁵ Moses replied, "I am doing this because the people keep coming to me to find out what God desires. ¹⁶ When they have a dispute about something, they come to me, and they ask me to decide which of them is right. I also tell them all of God's laws and instructions." ¹⁷ Jethro said to him, "What you are doing is not good for you or for the people. 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 speak to God and tell him about the people's disputes. ²⁰ You should also teach them what God has commanded and instructed you. You should also explain to them how they should conduct their lives and the things that they should do. ²¹ In addition, you should choose some other men to help you. Choose men who have respect for God 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 serve to settle disputes for the people. The difficult matters they can bring to you, but the matters that are not difficult, they can decide themselves. That will make the work easier for you as they help you do that work. ²³ If you do that, and if God agrees, you will be able to endure the stress, and all the people will be able to go home peacefully with their disputes settled quickly."

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 heads over the people, rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens. ²⁶ Moses chose them to decide about the people's disputes. They brought the difficult cases to Moses, but they decided the matters that were not difficult by themselves. ²⁷ Then Moses said goodbye to his father-in-law, and Jethro returned home.

Chapter 19

¹ In the third month after leaving Egypt, they came to 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 as if you had been on eagles' wings here to me. ⁵ So now, if you do what I tell you and obey all that I command you, you will be my own people. You will be my special possession from among all of the people, for all the earth is mine. ⁶ You will be people over whom I will rule, and you will be a kingdom where everyone will worship me like priests, and you will be a nation only for me.' That is what you must tell the Israelite people."

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, and wash their clothes, too. ¹¹ They must do that to 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, and tell them, 'Be sure that you do not climb the mountain or even go near it. Anyone who even touches the base of the mountain must be killed.' ¹³ Do not let anyone touch any person or any animal that touches the mountain. 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 sleep with your wives until after then."

¹⁶ On the third day, during the morning, there was thunder and lightning and a very dark cloud on the mountain. A trumpet sounded very loudly, and 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 so that the entire mountain was covered in smoke and surrounded by fire. 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 trumpet continued to become louder, Moses spoke to Yahweh, and Yahweh answered him in a loud voice that sounded like thunder. 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, because I am coming to them. 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 set it apart.'" 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 Israelite people. 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 You must worship only me; you must not worship any other god. ⁴ You must not carve a figure to worship that represents anything in the sky or that is on the ground or that is in the water under the ground. ⁵ You must not bow down to any idol and worship it because I am Yahweh your God, and I will not allow you to worship any other gods. I will punish those who sin and hate me. I will punish not only them, but also I will punish their descendants down to the third and fourth generation. ⁶ However, I will never stop loving 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, the one whom you should worship, and I will certainly punish those who use my name for wrong purposes.

⁸ Do not forget that the seventh day of every week belongs to me, so keep those days only for 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, the one whom you should worship. On that day you must not do any work. You and your sons and daughters and your male and female slaves must not work. You must not even force your livestock to work, and you must not allow foreigners to work, those strangers who are living in your country. ¹¹ 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 trumpet and saw the smoke on the mountain, they were afraid and trembled. They stood at a distance ¹⁹ and said to Moses, "If you speak to us, we will listen. But do not let God speak anymore to us. 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 determine 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 I told you that you must not make any idols of silver or gold that you will worship instead of me. ²⁴ Make for me an altar from earth. Sacrifice on it your burnt offerings, 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 make for me an altar from stones, do not make it from stones that you have cut to make them look nice because you will make the altar unsuitable for worshiping me if you use tools to cut the stones. ²⁶ Do not make an altar that has steps in front of it because if you do that, God could see your naked body as you go up the steps.'"

Chapter 21

¹ "Here are some other instructions to give to the Israelite people. 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 was not married before he became your slave, and if he marries someone while he is your slave, his wife is not to be set free with him. But if he was married before he became your slave, 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, only the man is to be freed. His wife and children will continue to be slaves of their master. ⁵ But when it is time for the slave to be set free, if the slave says, 'I love my master and my wife and my children, and I do not want to be set 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 fasten something to the slave's ear to show that 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 be set free after six years as the male slaves are. ⁸ If the man who bought her wanted her to be his concubine, but if 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 would be breaking the contract he made with the girl's father. 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 takes another slave girl to be another woman for himself, he must continue to give the first slave concubine the same amount of food and clothing that he gave to her before, and he must continue to sleep with her as 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 for being set free.

¹² If someone hits a man in order to kill him and the man dies, then that person should also be put to death. ¹³ But if the one who hit the other did not mean to kill that person, the one who hit him can go 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, even if the murderer runs to the altar, you must kill him.

¹⁵ Anyone who strikes his father or mother must be killed.

¹⁶ Anyone who kidnaps another person, either in order to sell that person or to keep him as a slave, must be killed.

¹⁷ Anyone who curses or insults his father or his mother must be killed.

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, then the one who struck him must be punished. ²¹ But if the slave lives for a day or two after he is hit and then dies, you must not punish the one who hit him. Not having that slave to be able to work for him any longer is enough punishment.

²² If two people are fighting and they hurt a pregnant woman so that she has a miscarriage but the woman is not harmed in any other way, the one who hurt her must pay a fine. He must pay whatever the woman's husband asks after a judge approves of the fine. ²³ But if the woman is hurt in another way, the one who hurt her must be caused to suffer in the same way that he caused her to suffer. If she dies, he must be killed. ²⁴ If her eye is hurt, or if he knocks out her teeth, or her hand or foot is hurt, ²⁵ or if she is burned or bruised, the one who hurt her must be hurt in the same way. ²⁶ If the owner of a slave strikes the eye of his male or female slave and that eye becomes blind, 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 its owner had been warned, but he did not keep the bull inside a fence, and it gores a man or woman to death, then you must kill the bull by throwing stones at it, and you must also kill its owner. ³⁰ However, if the owner of the bull can pay a fine to save his own life, he must pay the full amount that the judges say that he must pay. ³¹ If someone's bull attacks and gores another person'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 has a pit and does not keep it covered, and someone's bull or donkey falls into it and dies. ³⁴ Then the owner of the pit must pay for the animal that died. He must give the money to the animal's owner, but then he can take away the animal that died and do whatever he wants to with it. 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 people know that the bull often attacked other animals before, and its owner did not keep it inside a fence, then the owner of that bull must give the owner of the bull that died one of his own bulls, but he can take away the animal that died and do whatever he wants to with it."

Chapter 22

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

² If a thief is caught while he is breaking into someone's house at night, if the one who catches him kills the thief, he is not guilty of killing him. 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 no animal with which to pay for the one that he stole, he must be sold to become someone else's slave, and the money from his sale must be used to pay for what he stole. ⁴ If a thief still has the animal when he is caught, whether 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 allows his animals to eat grass in his field or in his vineyard, and if the 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 what has been lost.

⁷ Suppose that someone gives another person some money or other valuable item 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 the thief is caught, the thief must pay back twice as much as he stole. ⁸ But if the thief is not caught, the owner of the house from which the item was stolen must stand before the judges so that the judges can say whether the owner of the house was the one who took the other man's valuable item.

⁹ If two people argue about which one of them owns a bull or a donkey or a sheep or some clothing, or something else that has been lost, they must stand before the judges. The one whom the judges say is lying must pay back to the real owner twice as many bulls or donkeys or sheep or items of clothing.

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, and the animal dies or is injured or is stolen while no one is watching. ¹¹ Then the person who was taking care of the animal must swear, knowing that God is listening, that he did not steal the animal. If he did not steal it, 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 the animal was stolen 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 he says that the animal was killed by wild animals, he must bring back the remains of the animal that was killed and show it to the animal's owner. If he does that, he will not have to pay anything for the animal.

¹⁴ If someone borrows an animal, and if that animal is hurt or dies 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 the man who borrowed it only rented it, the money that he paid to rent it will be enough to pay for the animal dying or being injured."

¹⁶ "If a man forces a girl to sleep with him, a girl who is a virgin and who is not engaged to be married, 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 pay to the woman's father money that is the same as the bride price money that men pay for virgins.

¹⁸ You must kill any woman who practices sorcery.

¹⁹ You must kill any person who sleeps with an animal like a man sleeps with a woman.

²⁰ You must offer sacrifices only to Yahweh. You must kill anyone who offers a sacrifice to any other god.

²¹ You must not mistreat a foreigner who comes to live among you. Do not forget that you were previously 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 and I will be angry with you; I will cause you to die in war. Your wives will become widows, and your children will no longer have fathers.

²⁵ If you lend money to any of my people who are poor, do not act like a moneylender and require him to pay interest on the money. ²⁶ If he gives 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 he needs it to keep him warm during the night. That is the only covering that poor people have when they sleep at night. If you do not act mercifully toward him by giving back his cloak, when he cries out to me asking for my help, I will help him because I always act mercifully.

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 people who are set apart to me. I detest the meat of any animal that has been killed by wild animals. Therefore do not eat such meat. Instead, throw it where the dogs can eat it."

Chapter 23

¹ "Do not lie about other people. Do not help someone who is guilty by lying about what happened.

² Do not join with a group of people who are planning do something evil. Do not tell the same lies they do and so keep the judge from deciding the case justly. ³ When a poor person is on trial, do not testify in his favor just because he is poor and you feel sorry for him.

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 accuse people falsely. Do not decide that innocent and righteous people should be killed because I will punish people who do such an evil thing.

⁸ Do not accept money that is a bribe because officials who accept bribes are not able to decide what is right to do, and they do not allow innocent people to be treated fairly.

⁹ Do not mistreat foreigners who live among you. You know how foreigners often feel because the Egyptians did not treat you well when you were foreigners there.

¹⁰ For six years, plant seeds in your ground and gather the harvest. ¹¹ But on the seventh year you must not plant anything. If things grow without your planting seeds, allow the poor people to harvest and eat the crops. If there are still crops left over, allow the wild animals to eat them. 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. Also on the seventh day you must allow your work animals, your slaves, and the foreigners who live among you to rest and to become ready to work again.

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 festivals to honor me. ¹⁵ The first one is the Festival of Bread with no Yeast. Celebrate it in the month of Aviv, which is the month in which you left Egypt. Celebrate it in the way that I commanded you; eat the bread for seven days. Always bring an offering when you come to worship me. Do not come empty-handed. ¹⁶ The second festival is the Festival of Harvest. During that festival you must offer to me the first parts of your crops that grow from the seeds that you planted. The third festival is the Festival of Finished Harvest. That will be after you finish harvesting your grain, your grapes, and your fruit. ¹⁷ Every year, at each of these times, all the men must gather together to worship me, Yahweh God.

¹⁸ When you sacrifice an animal and offer it to me, you must not offer bread that has been baked with yeast. When you offer sacrifices, burn the fat from the animals on that same day so that no fat remains the next morning.

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 God. When you kill a young animal, do not cook it by boiling it in its mother's milk."

²⁰ "I am going to send an angel ahead of you to guard you as you travel and to bring you safely to the place that I have prepared for you. ²¹ Pay attention to what he says and obey him. Do not rebel against him because he will have my authority and he will punish you if you rebel against him. ²² But if you pay attention to what he says and if you do all that I tell you to do, I will fight against all of your enemies. ²³ 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. 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 cause the people who oppose you to become very afraid of me. I will kill all of the people that you come close to. Then I will cause them to turn around and run away from you. ²⁸ I will cause your enemies to become terrified. I will expel 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 cause the borders of your land to extend from the Sea of Reeds in the southeast to the Mediterranean Sea 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 in order that they do not cause you to sin against me. If you worship their gods, you will not be able to escape from worshiping them and sinning against me just as someone caught in a trap is unable to escape."

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. While you are still some distance from the top of the mountain, there you may worship me. ² Moses, I will allow you alone to come near to me. The others must not come near, and the rest of the people must not come up the mountain."

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. Early the next morning Moses built a stone altar. He also set up twelve stones, one for each of the Israelite tribes. ⁵ He also chose some young men. They burned sacrifices to Yahweh and they also sacrificed some cattle as offerings to promise friendship with him. ⁶ Moses took half of the blood of the animals that were slaughtered and put it in bowls. The other half of the blood he threw against the altar. ⁷ Then he took the scroll on which he had written everything that Yahweh had commanded in the covenant that he had made, and he read it aloud while all the people were listening. Then all the people said, "We will do all 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 the covenant that Yahweh has made with you when he gave you all these commands."

⁹ Then Moses along with Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, and the seventy Israelite elders went up the mountain, ¹⁰ and they saw God, the one whom the Israelite people 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 because of their having seen 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. While you are here, I will give you two stone slabs on which I have written all the laws that I have given to you to teach the people." ¹³ Then Moses went with his servant Joshua part of the way up the mountain where God was. ¹⁴ Now Moses had said to the elders, "Stay here with the other people until we return! Do not forget that Aaron and Hur will be with you, so if anyone has a dispute while I am gone, he can go to those two men." ¹⁵ Then Moses went the rest of the way up the mountain, and the cloud covered the mountain. ¹⁶ The glory of Yahweh came down on the mountain and covered it for six days. On the seventh day, Yahweh called to Moses from the middle of the cloud. ¹⁷ When the Israelite people looked at the top of the mountain, the glory of Yahweh was like a big fire burning there. ¹⁸ Moses went into the cloud on top of the mountain and was there for forty days and nights.

Chapter 25

¹ Yahweh said to Moses,

² "Tell the Israelites that they must give offerings to me. Receive from the people every offering that they want to give to me. ³ These are the things that they may offer: gold, silver, bronze, ⁴ blue and purple and scarlet dyed wool, fine linen, goats' hair for making cloth, ⁵ ram skins that have been tanned, sea cow hides, hard wood from acacia trees, ⁶ 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, ⁷ onyx stones and other expensive stones to be fastened to the priest's sacred apron and to be put on the chest pouch that is to be fastened to the apron. ⁸ Tell the people to make a big sacred tent for me so that I can live in it in their midst. ⁹ They must make the sacred tent and all the things that will be used inside it according to the plan that I will show you.

¹⁰ Tell the people to make a sacred chest from acacia wood. It is to be one meter long, three-quarters of a meter wide and three-quarters of a meter high. ¹¹ Cover the chest with pure gold inside and outside and put a gold border around the top of it. ¹² They must make four rings from gold and fasten them to the legs of the chest. Put two rings on each side of the chest. ¹³ They must make two poles from acacia wood, and they must cover them with gold. ¹⁴ They must put the poles into the rings on the sides of the chest so that the chest can be carried by the poles. ¹⁵ The poles must always be left in the rings; they must not take the poles out of the rings. ¹⁶ Put inside the chest the two stone slabs that I will give you on which I have written my commandments.

¹⁷ Tell them to make a lid for the chest from pure gold; it will be the place where I will cover people's sins. It also is to be one meter long and three-quarters of a meter wide. ¹⁸ Tell them to hammer a large lump of gold into the form of two creatures that have wings for the two ends of the lid. ¹⁹ One of these is to be put at each end of the chest, but the gold from which they are made must be joined to the gold from which the lid is made. ²⁰ Tell them to place the winged creatures so that their wings touch each other and spread out over the lid. The two winged creatures were facing each other and they both were looking toward the center of the chest. ²¹ Put the stone slabs that I will give you inside the chest. Then fasten the lid onto the top of the chest. ²² I will set times to talk with you there. From above the lid of the chest, between the two winged creatures, I will tell to you all my laws that you must transmit to the Israelite people.

²³ Tell them to 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 Tell them to cover it with pure gold and put a gold border around it. ²⁵ Tell them to make a rim all around it, four-fifths of a meter wide, and to put a gold border around the rim. ²⁶ Tell them to make four rings from gold and fasten them to the four corners of the table, one ring close to each leg of the table. ²⁷ The rings should be fastened to the table near the rim at the legs in order to carry the table with poles. ²⁸ Make two poles from acacia wood and cover them with gold. The poles for carrying the table are to be inserted into the rings. ²⁹ Also tell them to make plates, spoons, jars, and bowls to be used when the priests pour out wine to offer to me. They must all be made from pure gold. ³⁰ On the table in front of the chest, there must always be the bread to display before me that the priests have offered to me.

³¹ Tell them to make a lampstand from pure gold. They must hammer one large lump of gold to make its base and its shaft. The branches of the lampstand, the cups for holding the oil, the flower buds and the flower petals that decorate the branches of the lamp, the base, and the shaft are all to be hammered from one big lump of gold. ³² There are to be six branches on the lampstand, three on each side of the shaft. ³³ Each of the branches is to have on it three gold decorations that will look like almond blossoms. These decorations must also have flower buds and flower petals. ³⁴ On the shaft of the lampstand there are to be four gold decorations that also look like almond blossoms, each one with flower buds and petals. ³⁵ On each side, there is to be one flower bud beneath each of the branches. ³⁶ All these buds and branches, along with the shaft, are to be hammered from one large lump of pure gold. ³⁷ Also tell them to make seven small cups for holding oil. One is to be put on top of the shaft and the others are to be put on top of the branches. Place these cups so that when the lamps are lit, the light will shine toward the front of the lampstand. ³⁸ Tell them to make tongs from pure gold, to remove the burned wicks and trays in which to put the burned wicks. ³⁹ Tell them to use thirty-three kilograms of pure gold to make the lampstand, the tongs, and the trays. ⁴⁰ Make sure that they make these things according to the instructions that I am giving you here on this mountain."

Chapter 26

¹ "Tell the people to make the sacred tent using ten long strips of fine linen. They must take blue, purple, and red thread, and a skilled craftsman must embroider these strips with designs that represent the winged creatures that are above the chest. ² Each strip is to be twelve and one-half meters long and one and four-fifths meters wide. ³ Tell them to sew five strips together to make one set, and to sew the other five strips together to make another set. ⁴ For each set, they must make loops of blue cloth and fasten them along the outer edge of the strip, at the end of each set. ⁵ They must put fifty loops on the edge of the first set, and fifty loops at the edge of the second set so that the loops are opposite to each other. ⁶ Tell them to make fifty gold clasps to fasten both of the sets together. As a result, the inside of the sacred tent will be as though it were one piece.

⁷ Also tell them to make a cover for the sacred tent from eleven pieces of cloth made from goats' hair. ⁸ Each piece of cloth is to be thirteen and one-half meters long and one and four-fifths meters wide. ⁹ Tell them to 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. They must fold the sixth piece of cloth in half to make it double over the front of the sacred tent . ¹⁰ Tell them to make one hundred loops of blue cloth, and to fasten fifty of them to the outer edge of the one set and fasten fifty to the outer edge of the other set. ¹¹ Tell them to make fifty bronze clasps and put them in the cloth loops to join the two sets together. As a result, the cover for the sacred tent will be as though it were one piece. ¹² Let the extra part of the cover, the part that extends beyond the linen cloth, hang over the back of the sacred tent. ¹³ The extra half-meter of each cover, the part that extends beyond the linen cloth on each side, must hang over the two sides of the sacred tent to protect the sides. ¹⁴ Tell them to make two more covers for the sacred tent. One is to be made from rams' skins that have been dyed red, and the top cover is to be made from fine leather.

¹⁵ Tell them to make forty-eight frames from acacia wood, frames that will be set up to hang the sacred tent covers from them. ¹⁶ Each frame is to be four and one-half meters long and three-quarters of a meter wide. ¹⁷ They must make two projections at the bottom of each frame. These will be to fasten the frames to the bases underneath them. They must make these projections at the bottom of each frame. ¹⁸ Make twenty frames for the south side of the sacred tent. ¹⁹ Tell them to make forty silver bases to go underneath them. Two bases will go under each frame. The projections at the bottom of each frame are to be made to fit into the bases. ²⁰ Similarly, tell them to make twenty frames for the north side of the sacred tent. ²¹ They must make forty silver bases for them also with two bases to be put under each frame. ²² For the rear of the sacred tent, on the west side, tell them to make six frames. ²³ Also tell them to make two extra frames, one for each corner of the rear of the sacred tent, to provide more support. ²⁴ The two corner frames must be separated at the bottom but together at the top. At the top of each of the two corner frames there must be a gold ring for holding the crossbar. ²⁵ In that way, for the rear of the sacred tent there will be eight frames, and there will be sixteen bases, two under each frame.

²⁶ Tell them to make fifteen crossbars from acacia wood. Five of them will be for the frames on the north side of the sacred tent, ²⁷ five will be for the south side, and five for the frames at the rear of the sacred tent, the west side. ²⁸ Tell them to fasten the crossbars on the north, south, and west sides of the sacred tent to the middle of the frames. The two long ones must extend from one end of the sacred tent to the other, and the crossbar on the west side must extend from one side of the sacred tent to the other. ²⁹ Tell them to cover the frames with gold, and make gold rings to fasten the crossbars to the frames. The crossbars must also be covered with gold. ³⁰ Build the sacred tent in the way that I have shown you here on this mountain."

³¹ "Tell them to 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 chest. ³² Tell them to suspend the curtain from four posts made from acacia wood and covered with gold. Set each post in a silver base. ³³ They must hang the top of the curtain by hooks that are fastened to the roof of the sacred tent. Behind the curtain, in the room called the very holy place, they must put the chest containing the two stone slabs on which I have written my commandments. That curtain will separate the holy place from the very holy place. ³⁴ On top of the chest in the very holy place they must put the lid. ³⁵ In the room that is outside of the very holy place, they must put the table for the sacred bread on the north side, and put the lampstand on the south side. ³⁶ Tell them to make a curtain to cover the entrance of the sacred tent. They must make it from fine linen, and a skilled weaver must embroider it with blue, purple, and red yarn. ³⁷ To hold up this curtain, they must make five posts from acacia wood. They must cover them with gold and fasten gold clasps to them. Also they must make a bronze base for each of these posts.

Chapter 27

¹ "Tell them to make an altar from acacia wood. It is to be square, two and one-tenth meters long on each side, and make it one and one-third meters high. ² They must make a projection that looks like a horn on each of the top corners. The projections must be carved from the same block of wood as the altar. Tell them to cover the whole altar with bronze. ³ They must make pans in which to put the ashes from the animal sacrifices. Also they must make shovels for cleaning out the ashes, basins, and forks for turning the meat as it cooks, and buckets for carrying hot coals. All of these things must be made from bronze. ⁴ Also tell them to make a bronze grating to hold the wood and burning coals. They must fasten to each of the corners of the altar a bronze ring for carrying the altar. ⁵ They must put the grating under the rim that is around the altar. They must make it so that it is inside the altar, halfway down. ⁶ For carrying the altar, they must make poles from acacia wood and cover them with bronze. ⁷ They must put the poles through the rings on each side of the altar. The poles are for carrying the altar. ⁸ The altar will be like a box, made from boards of acacia wood. They must make it according to these instructions that I am giving you here on this mountain.

⁹ Around the sacred tent there is to be a courtyard. To form the courtyard, tell them to make curtains of fine linen. On the south side, the curtain is to be 44 meters long. ¹⁰ To support the curtain, tell them to make twenty bronze posts, and one bronze base for each post. To fasten the curtains to the posts, they must make silver hooks, and metal rods covered with silver to fasten the curtains to the hooks. ¹¹ They must make the same kind of curtains for the north side of the courtyard. ¹² On the west side of the courtyard they must make a curtain twenty-two meters long. The curtains are to be supported by ten posts, with a base under each post. ¹³ On the east side, where the entrance is, the courtyard must also be twenty-two meters wide. ^14-15 Tell them to make a curtain seven meters wide with three posts and three bases for each side of the entrance to the courtyard. ¹⁶ They must make a curtain from finely twined linen nine meters long for the entrance. A skilled weaver must embroider it with blue, purple, and red yarn. It must be supported by four posts, each one with a base under it. ¹⁷ All the posts around the courtyard must have bands of silver around them. The clasps must be made of silver, and the bases must be made of bronze. ¹⁸ The whole courtyard, from the east entrance to the west end, must be forty-six meters long and twenty-three meters wide, and the curtains that enclose it must be two and one-third meters high. All the curtains must be made of fine linen, and all the bases under the posts must be made of bronze. ¹⁹ All the things that are not made of gold that are to be used inside the sacred tent and in the courtyard, and all the tent pegs to support the sacred tent and the curtains, must be made of bronze.

²⁰ Command the Israelite people that they must bring to you the best kind of pure olive oil to burn in the lamp. They must bring this oil to you so that the lamp is always burning. ²¹ Outside the curtain of the tabernacle, where the sacred chest of Yahweh is kept, Aaron and his sons must take care to keep the lamps burning every day from evening to morning. The Israelite people must obey this regulation throughout all future generations."

Chapter 28

¹ "Call your older brother Aaron and his sons—Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. Set them apart from the rest of the Israelite people in order that they can serve me as priests. ² Tell the people to make beautiful clothes for Aaron, clothes that are suitable for one who has this dignified and sacred work. ³ Talk to all the workmen, those to whom I have given skill to build things. Tell them to make clothes for Aaron to wear when he is set apart to become a priest to serve me. ⁴ The clothes that they are to make are a sacred pouch for Aaron to wear over his breast, a sacred apron, a robe, an embroidered tunic, a turban, and a sash. These are the clothes that your older brother Aaron and his sons must wear as they serve me by doing the work that priests do. ⁵ The skilled workmen must use fine linen and blue, purple, and red yarn to make these clothes.

⁶ The skilled workmen must make the sacred apron from fine linen, and they must skillfully embroider it with blue, purple, and red yarn, and with fine gold wire. ⁷ It must have two shoulder straps that will join the front part to the back part. ⁸ A carefully woven belt, which must be made from the same materials as the sacred apron, must be sewn onto the apron. ⁹ A skilled workman must take two onyx stones and carve on them the names of the twelve sons of Jacob. ¹⁰ He must engrave the names in the order in which Jacob's sons were born. He must engrave six names on one stone and the other six names on the other stone. ¹¹ A gem cutter should engrave these names on the two stones. Then he should mount the stones in gold settings. ¹² Then he should fasten the stones onto the shoulder straps of the sacred apron to represent the twelve tribes of Israel. In that way, Aaron will carry the names of the tribes on his shoulders in order that I, Yahweh, will never forget my people. ¹³ The settings for the stones must be made from gold. ¹⁴ Tell them to make two chains of gold that are braided like cords and to fasten the chains to the settings."

¹⁵ Tell the skilled workman to make a sacred pouch for Aaron to wear over his chest. He will use this to find out what I want the people to do. They must make it of the same materials as the sacred apron, and they must embroider it in the same way with gold, blue, purple, and red fine linen. ¹⁶ It is to be square, and the material must be folded double so that it is 23 centimeters long and 23 centimeters wide. ¹⁷ The skilled workman must fasten four rows of valuable stones onto the pouch. In the first row, he must put a red ruby, a yellow topaz, and a red garnet. ¹⁸ In the second row, he must put a green emerald, a blue sapphire, and a diamond. ¹⁹ In the third row he must put a red jacinth, a white agate, and a purple amethyst. ²⁰ In the fourth row, he must put a yellow beryl, an onyx, and a green jasper. All of these stones must be mounted in gold settings. ²¹ A gem cutter should engrave on each of these twelve stones the name of one of the sons of Jacob. These names will represent the twelve tribes of Israel. ²² The two chains that are made from pure gold and braided like cords are for attaching the sacred pouch to the sacred apron. ²³ The workman must make two gold rings and attach them to the upper corners of the sacred pouch. ²⁴ He must make two gold cords and fasten one end of each cord to one of the rings. ²⁵ He must fasten the other end of each cord to the two settings that enclose the stones. In that way, the sacred pouch will be attached to the shoulder straps of the sacred apron. ²⁶ Then he must 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 He must make two more gold rings and attach them to the lower part of the front of the shoulder straps near to where the shoulder straps are joined to the sacred apron just above the sash. ²⁸ The skilled workman must 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 In that way, Aaron will have the names of the twelve tribes of Israel in the sacred pouch close to his chest for making decisions when he enters the holy place. ³⁰ Put into the sacred pouch the two things—named Urim and Thummim—that the priest will use to determine my answers to the questions he asks. In that way, they will be close to his chest when he enters the holy place to talk to me. He will use them to determine what my will is for the Israelite people."

³¹ "Tell the workmen to weave only purple cloth for the robe that is to be worn underneath the priest's sacred apron. ³² It is to have an opening through which the priest can put his head. They must sew a border around this opening to keep the material from tearing. ³³ At the lower edge on the robe, they must fasten decorations that look like pomegranate fruit. They must be woven from blue, purple, and red yarn. ³⁴ Between each of these decorations, they must fasten a tiny gold bell. ³⁵ When Aaron enters the holy place in the sacred tent to do his work as a priest and when he leaves the sacred tent, the bells will ring as he walks. As a result, he will not die because of disobeying my instructions.

³⁶ Tell them to make a tiny ornament of pure gold, and tell a skilled workman to engrave on it the words, 'Dedicated to Yahweh.' ³⁷ They should fasten this ornament to the front of the turban by a blue cord. ³⁸ Aaron must always wear the turban on his forehead. Aaron himself must accept the guilt of the Israelite people because of any failure to offer their holy gifts to Yahweh as he commanded. When Aaron does this, Yahweh may accept their gifts.

³⁹ Tell them to weave the long-sleeved tunic from fine linen. Also they must make from fine linen a turban and a sash, and they must embroider designs on it.

⁴⁰ Tell them to make beautiful long-sleeved tunics, sashes, waistbands, and caps for Aaron's sons. Make ones that will be suitable for those who have this dignified work. ⁴¹ Put these clothes on your older brother Aaron and on his sons. Then set them apart for this work by anointing them with olive oil in order that they may serve me by being priests. ⁴² Also tell them to make linen undershorts for them. The undershorts should extend from their waists to their thighs in order that no one can see their private parts. 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. If they do not obey this ritual, I will cause them to 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 Bake three kinds of bread using finely ground wheat flour without yeast. Bake some buns that do not have any olive oil in them, bake some buns that have olive oil in the dough, and bake some thin wafers that will be smeared with olive oil after they are baked. ³ Put them in a basket and offer them to me when you sacrifice the young bull and the two rams. ⁴ Take Aaron and his sons to the entrance of the sacred tent, and wash them with water. ⁵ Then put the special clothes on Aaron—the long-sleeved tunic, the robe that will be worn underneath the sacred apron, the sacred apron, the sacred pouch, and the sash. ⁶ Put the turban on his head, and fasten to the turban the ornament that has the words 'Dedicated to Yahweh' engraved on it. ⁷ Then take the oil and pour some on his head to dedicate him. ⁸ Then bring his sons and put the long-sleeved tunics on them. ⁹ Put the sashes around their waists and the caps on their heads. That is the ritual by which you are to dedicate them to be priests. Aaron and his male descendants must serve me by being priests forever.

¹⁰ Then bring the young bull to the entrance of the sacred tent. Tell Aaron and his sons to put their hands on the head of the young bull. ¹¹ Then, while they are doing that, kill the young bull by slitting its throat 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. Throw the rest of the blood against the base of the altar. ¹³ Take all the fat that covers the inner organs of the young bull, the fatty covering of the liver and the two kidneys with the fat on them, and burn all these on the altar as an offering to me. ¹⁴ But the meat of the young bull and its hide and intestines must be burned outside the camp. That will be an offering for your sins.

¹⁵ Then select one of the rams, and tell Aaron and his sons to put their hands on its head. ¹⁶ Then kill the ram by slitting its throat. Catch some of the blood and sprinkle it upon all four sides of the altar. ¹⁷ Then cut the ram into pieces. Wash its inner organs and its legs, and put those with the head. ¹⁸ Then burn them completely on the altar with the rest of the ram. That will be a burnt offering to me, Yahweh, and the smell will please me.

¹⁹ Take the other ram that was selected for these rituals, and tell Aaron and his sons to put their hands on its head. ²⁰ Then kill the ram by slitting its throat, and catch some of the blood in a bowl. Smear some of the blood on the lobe of the right ears of Aaron and his sons, and on the thumbs of their right hands, and on the big toes of 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 covering of the liver, the two kidneys with the fat on them, and the right thigh. (This ram is for setting Aaron and his sons apart for me as priests.) ²³ From the basket, also take one of each of the kinds of bread that was baked without yeast—one made with no oil, one with oil, and one thin wafer. ²⁴ Put all these things in 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 burn them on the altar, on top of the other things that were placed there. That also will be an offering to me, and its smell will please me. ²⁶ Then take the breast of the second ram that was killed, and lift it up high for an offering to me. But then this part of the animal will be for you to eat. ²⁷ Set apart for me the ram's breast that you lifted high to offer to me. Also set apart for me the ram's thigh that you presented to me, both of these pieces that came from the ram that was slaughtered when you set apart for me Aaron and his sons as priests. ²⁸ In the future, whenever the Israelite people present to me, Yahweh, offerings to restore fellowship with each other, 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 special clothes that he wore will belong to his sons. They are to wear those clothes when they are set apart to become priests. ³⁰ Aaron's son who becomes priest and enters the sacred tent and performs rituals in the holy place must stay in the sacred tent, wearing these special clothes, for seven days.

³¹ Take the meat of the other ram that was sacrificed to set apart Aaron and his sons, and boil it in the courtyard. ³² After it is cooked, Aaron and his sons must eat it, along with the bread that is left in the basket, at the entrance to the sacred tent. ³³ They must eat the meat of the ram that was sacrificed to cover your sins when they were dedicated to do this work. They are the only ones who are permitted to eat this meat. Those who are not priests are not allowed to eat it because it is reserved for the priests. ³⁴ If any of this meat or some of the bread is not eaten that night, no one is permitted to eat any of it the next day. It must be completely burned because it is sacred.

³⁵ These are the rituals that you must follow during those seven days when you dedicate Aaron and his sons for this work. You must do all that I have commanded you. ³⁶ Each of those seven days you must also sacrifice a young bull for an offering to me in order that I may forgive sins. Also you must make another offering to make the altar pure in my sight. You must also anoint the altar with olive oil to set it apart. ³⁷ Perform these rituals every day for seven days to set apart the altar and make it pure. Then the altar will be most holy, and whatever touches it must be treated as holy.

³⁸ You must also sacrifice lambs and burn them on the altar. Each of those seven days you must sacrifice two lambs. ³⁹ One lamb must be sacrificed in the morning, and one must be sacrificed in the evening. 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 an 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 will be burned, 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 Israelite people, 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 serve me by being priests. ⁴⁵ I will live among the Israelite people, and I will be their God. ⁴⁶ They will know that I am Yahweh God, 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 "Tell the skilled workers to 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. Tell them to make a projection that looks like a horn on each of the top corners. The projections must be carved from the same block of wood from which the altar is made. ³ They must cover the top and the four sides, including the projections, with pure gold. Put a gold border around the altar near the top. ⁴ They must make two gold rings for carrying the altar. They must attach them to the altar below the border, one on each side of the altar. These rings are for the poles for carrying the altar. ⁵ Tell them to make these two poles from acacia wood and cover them with gold. ⁶ They must put this incense altar outside the curtain that hangs in front of the sacred chest and its lid. That is the place 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. The incense must always be burning throughout all future generations. ⁹ The priests must not burn on the altar any incense that I have not told you to burn, or burn any animal on it, nor any flour offering for me, nor pour any wine on it as an offering. ¹⁰ One time every year Aaron must perform the ritual for making this altar pure. He must do it by putting on its four projections some of the blood from the animal that was sacrificed to cover people's sins. Aaron and his descendants must do this ritual throughout all future generations. This altar must be dedicated to me, Yahweh."

¹¹ Yahweh said to Moses, ¹² "When your leaders take a census of the Israelite people, each man who is counted must pay to me a price to save his life. They must do this in order that no disaster will happen to them while the people are being counted. ¹³ Every man who is counted must pay to me six grams of silver. They must use the official standard of the tabernacle when they weigh the silver. This silver is to be an offering to Yahweh. ¹⁴ All the men who are at least twenty years old must pay this amount to me when the people are counted. 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 save their lives. ¹⁶ Your leaders must collect this money from the Israelite people and give it to those who will take care of the sacred tent. You Israelites will see the leaders collect this money and remember that you need to make payment to me so you can live."

¹⁷ Yahweh said to Moses, ¹⁸ "Tell the skilled workers to make a bronze washbasin and a bronze base for it. They must put it between the sacred tent and the altar and must fill it with water. ¹⁹ Aaron and his sons must wash their hands and their feet with this water ²⁰ before they enter the sacred tent and before they come to the altar to burn offerings as sacrifices. If they wash, they will obey my instructions and will not die. ²¹ They must wash their hands and their feet in order that they will not die. They and the males descended from them must obey this ritual throughout all generations."

²² Yahweh said to Moses, ²³ "Tell the people to collect some of the finest spices—six kilograms of liquid myrrh, three kilograms of sweet-smelling cinnamon, three kilograms of a sweet-smelling cane, ²⁴ and six kilograms of cassia. Be sure that they use the official standard when they weigh these things. ²⁵ Tell an expert perfumer to mix these with four liters of olive oil to make sacred oil for anointing. ²⁶ Use this oil for anointing the sacred tent, the sacred chest, ²⁷ the table and all the things that are used with it, the lampstand and all the things that are used to take care of it, the altar for burning incense, ²⁸ and the altar for offering sacrifices that the priests will burn, along with all the things that are used with it, and the basin and its stand. ²⁹ Dedicate them by anointing them in order that they will be reserved for me. If any person or thing that is not allowed to do so touches the altar, no one will be allowed to touch that person or thing. ³⁰ Anoint Aaron and his sons. By doing that, you will dedicate them to serve me by being priests. ³¹ Tell the Israelite people, 'This oil will be my special oil that must be used 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 to be such. ³³ Yahweh will view anyone who makes ointment like this for any other purpose, or anyone who puts any of this ointment on someone who is not a priest, as no longer belonging to his people.'"

³⁴ Yahweh also said to Moses, "Have an expert perfumer take equal parts of several sweet spices: Stacte—a resin from certain gum plants, onycha—from certain shellfish or mollusks, galbanum—another kind of gum resin, and pure frankincense—yet another sort of gum resin. ³⁵ Have him mix them together to make some perfume and add some salt to keep it pure and special for me. ³⁶ Have him beat some of it into a fine powder. Then I want you to take some of it into the sacred tent and sprinkle it in front of the sacred chest. You all must consider this incense to be completely reserved for me. ³⁷ The people must not mix the same spices to make incense for themselves. This incense must be dedicated to me, Yahweh. ³⁸ I will view anyone who makes incense like this to use it for perfume as no longer belonging to my people."

Chapter 31

¹ Yahweh said to Moses, ² "I have chosen Bezalel son of Uri and grandson of Hur, from the tribe of Judah. ³ I have filled him with my Spirit, and I have given him special ability to make things; I have enabled him to know how to do very skilled work. 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 I have also appointed Oholiab son of Ahisamach, from the tribe of Dan, to work with him. I have given special ability to other men also in order that they can make all the things that I have commanded you to be made. ⁷ Those things include: The sacred tent, the sacred chest and its lid, all the other things that will be inside the sacred tent, ⁸ the table and all the things that are used with it, the pure gold lampstand and all the things that are used to take care of it, the altar for burning incense, ⁹ the altar for offering sacrifices that will be burned and all the things that will be used with it, and the washbasin and its base. ¹⁰ Also included in these things were all the beautiful, special clothes 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 Israelite people, '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 set you apart to be my people. ¹⁴ You must obey my rules about the Sabbath days for rest because you must regard them as special for me. Those who treat these days with disrespect must be killed; this will show that I no longer consider them to belong to my people. ¹⁵ You may work for six days each week, but the seventh day of each week is a solemn rest day, dedicated to me, Yahweh. Anyone who does any work on a Sabbath day of rest is to be killed. ¹⁶ You Israelite people must respect the Sabbath days of rest, and you and your descendants must observe them throughout all future generations. I will always require this of you. ¹⁷ The Sabbath days of rest will remind you Israelite people and me of our covenant because I, Yahweh, created the heavens and the earth in six days, and on the seventh day I stopped doing that work and rested.'"

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 a long time. When the people saw that he was not returning, they went to Aaron and said to him, "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 said to them, "All right, I will do that. Tell your wives and your children to take off all their gold earrings and bring them to me." ³ So the people took off all their gold earrings and brought them to Aaron. ⁴ He melted the gold in a fire. He poured the gold into a mold and made a statue that looked like a young bull. The people saw it and said, "This is the god of the Israelite people! This is the one who rescued us from the land of 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 festival to honor Yahweh!" ⁶ So the people got up early the next morning and brought animals to kill and burn as sacrifices on the altar. They also brought sacrifices to restore fellowship with others. Then they sat down to eat and to drink wine. After a while, they got up and had a wild party.

⁷ Then Yahweh said to Moses, "Go down from the mountain because your people, the ones that you brought up here from Egypt, have become bad. ⁸ They have already left the road that I showed them and have stopped obeying me! They have made a statue of a young bull from melted gold. They have worshiped it and offered sacrifices to it. They are saying, 'This is the god of the Israelite people! This is the one who brought us up from Egypt!'

⁹ I know that these people are very stubborn. ¹⁰ I am very angry with them, so I am going to get rid of 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, you should not be angry with your people! These are the people whom you saved from Egypt with very great power! ¹² Do not do anything that would allow the people of Egypt to say, 'Their god led them out from our country, but he did that only because he wanted to kill them in the mountains and get rid of them completely! Do not do to your people this terrible thing that you have just said that you will do! Stop being so angry! Change your mind! ¹³ Think about your servants Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. You solemnly promised them, saying, 'I will enable you to have as many descendants as the stars that are in the sky.' You said to them, 'I will give to your descendants all the land that I am promising to give them. It will be their land forever.'"

¹⁴ So Yahweh changed his mind. He did not do to his people the terrible thing that he said he would do.

¹⁵ Then Moses left from where God was; he went down the mountain, carrying in his hands the two stone slabs on which Yahweh had engraved his commandments. He had written on both sides of the slabs. ¹⁶ God himself had made the slabs, and he was the one who had engraved the commandments on them.

¹⁷ Joshua heard the people shouting very loudly. So when Moses got near the camp, Joshua met him and said, "There is a noise in the camp that sounds like the noise of a battle!" ¹⁸ But Moses said,

"No, that does not sound as though the people have won a victory;

it does not sound as though they have been defeated in a battle!

It sounds as though they are 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 threw the stone tablets down onto the ground at the base of the mountain, and they broke. 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 mixed the powder with water and forced the Israelite people to drink it. ²¹ Then Moses said to Aaron, "Did these people do something to you that led you to make them sin in this way?" ²² Aaron replied, "Please do not be angry with me, my lord. You know that these people are likely to do wicked things. ²³ They said to me, 'Make for us an idol who will lead us on our journey! As for that man Moses, the one who brought us up here from the land of Egypt, we do not know what has happened to him.' ²⁴ So I said to them, 'Everyone who is wearing gold earrings 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 get out of control and to do things that would make their enemies think the Israelite people were foolish. ²⁶ So he stood at the entrance to the camp and shouted, "Everyone who is loyal to Yahweh should come close to me!" So all the men in the tribe of Levi gathered around him. ²⁷ Then he said to them, "Yahweh, the God of the Israelite people, commands that every one of you should fasten your sword to your side, and then go through the camp from this gate to the other one. Each one of you must kill the other men, whether they are your brother, your friend, or your neighbor." ²⁸ The men in the tribe of Levi did what Moses told them to do, and they killed three thousand men on that day. ²⁹ Moses said to the men in the tribe of Levi, "Today you have become special servants of Yahweh by killing even your own sons and your brothers. As a result Yahweh has blessed you."

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 up the mountain and said to Yahweh, "I am sorry to admit that these people sinned very greatly when they made for themselves a gold idol and worshiped it. ³² But now I ask you to forgive them for their sin. If you will not forgive them, then erase my name from the book in which you have written the names of your people." ³³ But Yahweh said to Moses, "It is only those who have sinned against me whose names I will erase from that book. ³⁴ Now go back down and lead the Israelite people to the place about which I told you. Keep in mind that my angel will go in front of you. But, at the time that I decide, I will punish them for their sin."

³⁵ Later Yahweh caused the people to become sick because they had told Aaron to make the statue of a young bull.

Chapter 33

¹ Then Yahweh said to Moses, "Leave this place and go 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 from that land the people of Canaan, Amor, Heth, Periz, Hiv, and Jebus. 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 stubborn people."

⁴ When the people heard these words, they were sad, and no one wore fancy clothing anymore. ⁵ Yahweh had said to Moses, "Tell the Israelite people, 'You are very stubborn. If I were to go with you for even a moment, I would kill you. Now take off your fine clothing to show that you are sorry for your sin. Then I will decide how I will punish you.'" ⁶ After the Israelite people left Mount Sinai, they wore no more fancy clothing.

⁷ As the Israelite people were traveling, whenever they stopped and set up their tents, Moses set up the sacred tent outside the camp, far from the camp. 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 at the entrance of the tent of meeting, they would all worship Yahweh at their own tent entrances. ¹¹ Yahweh would speak to Moses face to face 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, "It is true that you have told me, 'Lead the people to the land that I will show you,' but you have not told me whom you will send with me! Nevertheless, you have 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 Israelite people are the people whom you chose to belong to you." ¹⁴ Yahweh replied, "I will go with you, and I will give you rest." ¹⁵ Moses replied, "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 people 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 you in all your power." ¹⁹ Yahweh replied, "I will let you see how great and powerful I am, and I will tell you clearly that my name is Yahweh. I will act very kindly and be merciful to all those whom I choose. ²⁰ But I will not let you 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 I come past you in all my power, I will put you in a large hole in the rock, and I will cover your face with my hand until I have passed by. 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 said to Moses, "Cut two slabs of stone that will be like the first slabs, the ones that you broke. Then I will write on them the words that were on the first slabs. ² Get ready tomorrow morning, and come up to the top of Mount Sinai again to talk with me there. 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 graze at the base of the mountain." ⁴ So Moses cut two slabs of stone that were 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 with Moses there. Then he pronounced his own name, Yahweh, in front of Moses. ⁶ Yahweh passed in front of him and said, "I am Yahweh God. I always act mercifully and kindly toward people and I do not get angry quickly. I truly love people and I do what I promise to do for them. ⁷ I love people for thousands of generations. I forgive people for all kinds of sins. But I will certainly punish those who are guilty. I will punish not only them, but also I will punish their descendants, down to the third and fourth generation."

⁸ 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, "I am about to make a covenant with your people, the Israelite people. As they are watching, I will perform great miracles. They will see miracles that no one has ever done on the earth in any people group. Everyone among your people will see the great things that I, Yahweh, will do. I will do things for you all that will make you fear me. ¹¹ Do what I tell you to do today. I am about to make the Amor, Canaan, Heth, Periz, Hiv, and Jebus people groups leave the land. ¹² But be careful that you do not make a covenant to live peacefully with any of the people who live in the land into which you are going because if you do that, you will begin to do the evil things that they do. It will be like falling into a trap. ¹³ You must tear down their altars, destroy their idols, and cut down the poles that they use to worship Asherah. ¹⁴ You must worship only me, and not worship any other god because I, Yahweh, always guard my honor, and I will not allow you to worship any other gods. ¹⁵ Do not make a covenant to live peacefully with any group that lives in that land. When they worship their gods and offer sacrifices to them and invite you to join them, do not join them. If you join them, you will eat the food that they sacrifice to their gods, and you will not be faithful to me. You will be like women who commit adultery, who are not faithful to their husbands. ¹⁶ If you take some of their women to be wives for your sons, these women will worship their own gods, and they will also make your sons worship their gods.

¹⁷ Do not pour melted metal into molds to make statues to worship.

¹⁸ Each year, during the month of Aviv, celebrate the Festival of Bread with no Yeast. During that festival, for seven days you must not eat bread made with yeast, as I commanded you, because it was in that month that you left Egypt.

¹⁹ Your firstborn sons and the firstborn male animals of your cattle and sheep and goats belong to me. ²⁰ The firstborn of your male donkeys also belong to me. But you may buy them back by offering to me lambs in their place. If you do not do that, you must kill these animals by breaking their necks. You must also buy back your firstborn sons. You must bring an offering to me each time you come to worship me.

²¹ Each week you may work for six days, but on the seventh day you must rest. Even during the times when you are plowing the ground and harvesting your crops, you must rest on the seventh day.

²² Each year celebrate the Festival of Harvest when you begin to harvest the first crop of wheat, and also celebrate the Festival of Finished Harvest when you finish harvesting the grain and fruit.

²³ Three times each year all the men must come to worship me, Yahweh, the God of the Israelite people. ²⁴ I will make the people groups leave the land, and I will make your territory larger. No one will try to conquer your country when you come to worship Yahweh your God three times each year, during your festivals.

²⁵ When you sacrifice an animal to me, do not offer bread that is made with yeast. During the Passover festival, when you sacrifice lambs, do not keep any of the meat until the next morning.

²⁶ You must bring to my tent of meeting the first part of the grain that you harvest every year. 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 a covenant with you and with the Israelite people."

²⁸ Moses was there on the top of the mountain with Yahweh for forty 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 belonged to Yahweh's covenant.

²⁹ When Moses came back down the mountain carrying in his hand the two stone slabs on which were written the Ten Commandments, he did not know that his face was shining. ³⁰ When Aaron and the Israelite people saw Moses, they were amazed that his face was shining, and they were afraid to come near him. ³¹ But Moses called to them, and Aaron and the other Israelite leaders came to him, and he talked with them. ³² Afterwards, all the Israelite people came near, and he told them all the commands that Yahweh had given to him on Mount Sinai. ³³ When Moses finished talking to the people, he covered his face with a 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 Israelite people would see that Moses' face was still shining. Then he would put the cloth back on his face again until the next time that he went to talk with Yahweh.

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¹ Moses gathered all the Israelite people 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, dedicated to Yahweh. Anyone who does any work on the seventh day must be killed. ³ Do not light a fire in your homes on the rest days."

⁴ Moses also said to all the Israelite people, "This is what Yahweh has commanded. ⁵ Make offerings to Yahweh. Everyone who wants to should bring to Yahweh an offering. The offerings can be gold, silver, or bronze, ⁶ fine white linen, blue, purple or red woolen cloth, cloth made from goats' hair, ⁷ rams' skins that are tanned, sea cow skins, wood from acacia trees, ⁸ oil for the lamps, spices to put into the olive oil for anointing and to put into the sweet-smelling incense, ⁹ onyx stones or other valuable stones to fasten onto the priest's sacred apron and to put on his sacred chest pouch.

¹⁰ All the skilled workers among you should come and make all the things that Yahweh has commanded— ¹¹ the sacred tent with its covering, its fasteners, its frames, its crossbars, its posts, and its 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 workers also made the table with the poles for carrying it and all the things that will be used with the table; the bread to display before God; ¹⁴ the lampstand for the lamps with all the things that will be used to take care of them; the oil for the lamps; 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 offering sacrifices that will be burned and its bronze grating; the poles for carrying the altar and all the things that will be used with it; the washbasin and its base. ¹⁷ They workers made 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; ¹⁹ and the beautiful clothes that Aaron and his sons are to wear when they do their work in the holy place."

²⁰ Then all the Israelite people returned to their tents. ²¹ Everyone who wished to bring an offering to Yahweh did so. They brought some of the things that would be used to make the sacred tent, all the other items that would be used in the rituals, and everything needed to make the sacred clothes for the priests. ²² All the men and women who wished to brought gold ornaments, earrings, rings, necklaces, and many other kinds of things made of gold, and they dedicated them to Yahweh. ²³ Many people who had blue, purple, or red woolen cloth or fine white linen or cloth made from goats' hair, or rams' skins that were tanned, or leather made from sea cow skins, brought some of these things. ²⁴ All those who had silver or bronze brought them as offerings to Yahweh. All those who had some acacia wood that could be used for any of the work for the people to worship Yahweh brought it. ²⁵ All the women who were skilled to make cloth brought fine linen thread and blue, purple, or red woolen yarn that they had made. ²⁶ All the women who wanted to made thread from goats' hair. ²⁷ All the leaders brought onyx stones and other fine stones to be fastened to Aaron's sacred apron and his sacred chest pouch. ²⁸ They also brought spices to put into the sweet-smelling incense, and they brought olive oil for the lamps and for the oil for anointing and for putting in the sweet-smelling incense. ²⁹ All the Israelite men and women who wanted to brought these things to offer them to Yahweh for doing the work that he had commanded Moses to do.

³⁰ Moses said to the Israelite people, "Listen carefully. Yahweh has chosen Bezalel son of Uri and grandson of Hur, from the tribe of Judah. ³¹ Yahweh has enabled his Spirit to live in Bezalel, has given him ability and knowledge, and has enabled him to know how to do very skilled work. ³² He can engrave skillful designs in gold, silver, and bronze. ³³ He can cut jewels and enclose them in tiny gold frames and can carve things from wood and do other skilled work. ³⁴ Yahweh has also given to him and to Oholiab son of Ahisamak, from the tribe of Dan, the ability to teach their skills to others. ³⁵ He has given to them the ability to do all kinds of work that is done by craftsmen—those who create artistic things, those who make fine white linen, those who embroider designs using blue, purple, or red woolen yarn, and those who make linen cloth. They are able to plan many kinds of artistic work.

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¹ Bezalel and Oholiab will take up this work along with all the other gifted men to whom Yahweh had given skills and the understanding to do all the work needed to build up the sacred tent. These men followed all the instructions that Yahweh gave them.

² So the cra called Bezalel and Oholiab and all the other skilled men to whom Yahweh had given special ability and who wanted to do some of the work. ³ Moses gave them all the things that the people had brought as offerings to Yahweh for making the sacred tent. But the people continued bringing more things every morning. ⁴ As a result, the men who were doing various things to make the sacred tent came to Moses, each of them what Yahweh commanded them. ⁵ So the craftsmen said to Moses, "The people are bringing more than we need to do the work that Yahweh has commanded us!" ⁶ So Moses gave them a message that others proclaimed throughout the camp, saying "No one should bring anything more as an offering to make the sacred tent!" When the people heard that, they did not bring anything more. ⁷ What they had already brought was enough to do all the work. In fact, it was more than was needed!

⁸ All the most skilled men among the workmen made the sacred tent. They made it from ten strips of fine linen, and they carefully embroidered it using blue, purple, and red woolen yarn to make figures that resembled the winged creatures. Bezalel designed all this. ⁹ Each strip was twelve and four-fifths meters long and one and four-fifths meters wide. ¹⁰ Bezalel and his men sewed five strips together to make one set, and they sewed the other five strips together to make the other set. ¹¹ For each set, Bezalel and his men made loops of blue cloth and fastened them on the outer edge of the strip, at the end of each set. ¹² They put 50 loops on the edge of the first set, and 50 loops on the edge of the second set. ¹³ They made 50 gold fasteners to attach both of the sets together. In that way, the inside of the sacred tent was as though it were one piece. ¹⁴ Bezalel and his men made a cover for the sacred tent from 11 pieces of cloth made from goats' hair. ¹⁵ Each piece of cloth was eighteen and one-third meters long and one and four-fifths meters wide. ¹⁶ They sewed five of these pieces of cloth together to make one set, and they sewed the other six pieces of cloth together to make another set. ¹⁷ They made one hundred loops of blue cloth. They fastened fifty of them to the outer edge of the one set and they fastened fifty to the outer edge of the other set. ¹⁸ Bezalel and his men made 50 bronze clasps and joined the two sets together with them. In that way it formed one cover. ¹⁹ They made two more covers for the sacred tent. They made one from rams' skins that had been tanned, and they made the top cover from goatskin leather. ²⁰ Bezalel and his men made forty-eight frames from acacia wood and set them up to support the covers for the sacred tent. ²¹ Each frame was four and three-fifths meters long and three-quarters of a meter wide. ²² They made two projections at the bottom of each frame. These were for fastening the frames to the bases underneath them. Each frame had these projections. ²³ The skilled workmen made twenty frames for the south side of the sacred tent. ²⁴ Bezalel and his men made forty silver bases to go underneath them. Two bases went under each frame. The projections on each frame fit into these bases. ²⁵ Similarly, they made twenty frames for the north side of the sacred tent. ²⁶ They also made forty silver bases for them with two bases under each frame. ²⁷ For the rear of the sacred tent, on the west side, Bezalel and his men made six frames. ²⁸ They also made two extra frames, one for each corner of the rear of the sacred tent, to provide extra support. ²⁹ The two corner frames were separate from each other at the bottom but joined together at the top. At the top of each of the two corner frames, Bezalel and his men fastened a gold ring for holding the crossbar. ³⁰ In that way, for the rear of the sacred tent there were eight frames, and there were 16 bases, two bases under each frame. ³¹ Bezalel and his men made 15 crossbars from acacia wood. Five of them were for the frames on the north side of the sacred tent, ³² five for the south side, and five for the frames at the rear of the sacred tent, the west side. ³³ The workmen made crossbars on the north, south, and west sides of the sacred tent and fastened them to the middle of the frames. The two long crossbars extended from one end of the sacred tent to the other, and the crossbar on the west side extended from one side of the sacred tent to the other. ³⁴ The workmen covered the frames with gold and fastened gold rings to the poles. They then put the crossbars into the rings. They also covered the crossbars with gold.

³⁵ Bezalel and his men made a curtain from fine white linen. Skilled craftsmen embroidered it with blue, purple, and red woolen yarn, making designs to represent the winged creatures. ³⁶ They hung the curtain from four posts that were made from acacia wood and covered with gold. They set each post in a silver base. ³⁷ Bezalel and his men made a curtain to cover the entrance of the sacred tent. They made it from fine linen, and a skilled weaver embroidered it with blue, purple, and red woolen yarn. ³⁸ To support this curtain, they also made five posts from acacia wood and fastened gold clasps to them. They covered the posts and their rods with gold and made a bronze base for each of those posts.

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¹ Then Bezalel and his men made the sacred chest from acacia wood. It was one meter long, three-quarters of a meter wide, and three-quarters of a meter high. ² They covered it with pure gold inside and outside the chest, and they made a gold border around the top of it. ³ They made four rings from gold and fastened them to the legs of the chest. They put two rings on each side of the chest. ⁴ They made two poles from acacia wood and covered them with gold. ⁵ They put the poles into the rings on the sides of the chest, in order that Levites could carry the chest using the poles. ⁶ They made a lid for the chest. It also was one meter long and three-quarters of a meter wide. ⁷ Bezalel and his men made two winged creatures from hammered gold, to put them on the two ends of the chest's lid. ⁸ They put one creature at each end of the chest, and they joined the gold of the creatures to the gold of the lid so that the creatures were one piece with the lid. ⁹ They placed the winged creatures so that their wings touched each other and spread out over the lid. The creatures faced each other, looking toward the lid's center.

¹⁰ Bezalel and his men made a table from acacia wood. It was one meter long, one-half meter wide, and three-quarters of a meter high. ¹¹ They covered it with pure gold, and they put a gold border around it. ¹² They made a rim all around it, four-fifths of a meter wide. Then they put a gold border around the rim. ¹³ They made four rings from gold and fastened the rings to the four corners of the table, one ring close to each leg of the table. ¹⁴ Bezalel and his men fastened the rings to the table near the rim. ¹⁵ They made two poles from acacia wood and covered them with gold. They then inserted the poles for carrying the table into the rings. ¹⁶ They also made from pure gold all the things for the table—the plates, the cups, the jars and the bowls to be used when the priests poured out wine to offer to Yahweh. ¹⁷ Bezalel and his men made the lampstand from pure gold. Its base and shaft were hammered from one large lump of gold. The cups for holding the oil, the flower buds and the petals that decorated the branches of the lamp, the base, and the shaft were all hammered from one big lump of gold. ¹⁸ There were six branches on the lampstand, three on each side of the shaft. ¹⁹ Each of the six branches had on it three things that looked like almond blossoms. These things also had flower buds and flower petals. ²⁰ On the shaft of the lampstand there were four gold cups that also looked like almond blossoms, each one with flower buds and flower petals. ²¹ On each side, beneath and extending from each branch, there was one flower bud. ²² All these flower buds and branches, along with the shaft, were hammered from one large lump of pure gold. ²³ Bezalel and his men also made seven small cups for holding oil. They made from pure gold the tongs for removing the burned wicks and the trays in which to put the burned wicks. ²⁴ They used thirty-three kilograms of pure gold to make the lampstand and all the things that the priests would use to take care of it.

²⁵ Bezalel and his men made the altar for burning incense from acacia wood. It was square, one-half meter on each side and one meter high. They made a projection that looked like a horn on each of the top corners. The projections were carved from the same block of wood as the altar. ²⁶ They covered the top and the four sides, including the projections, with pure gold. They put a gold border around the altar near the top. ²⁷ Bezalel and his men made two gold rings for carrying the altar. Then they attached them to the altar below the border, one on each side of the altar. The poles for carrying the altar fit into those rings. ²⁸ They made those two poles from acacia wood and covered them with gold. ²⁹ They also made the sacred oil for anointing and the pure sweet-smelling incense. A skilled perfumer mixed the incense together.

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¹ Bezalel and his men made the altar for burning sacrifices out of acacia wood. It was square, two and one-third meters on each side, and it was one and two-fifths meters high. ² They made a projection that looked like a horn on each of the top corners. The projections were carved from the same block of wood from which the altar was made. They covered the whole altar with bronze. ³ They made the pans in which to put the ashes from the animal sacrifices. They also made the shovels for cleaning out the ashes. They made the basins and forks for turning the meat as it cooked, and buckets for carrying hot coals. They made all of these things from bronze. ⁴ They also made a bronze grate to hold the wood and burning coals. They put the grate under the rim that was around the altar. They made it so that it was inside the altar, halfway down. ⁵ They made bronze rings in which to put the poles for carrying the altar, and fastened them to each of the corners of the altar. ⁶ They made the poles from acacia wood and covered them with bronze. ⁷ They put the poles for carrying the altar through the rings on each side of the altar. The altar was like an open box, made from boards of acacia wood.

⁸ Bezalel and his men made the washbasin and its base from bronze. The bronze was from the mirrors that belonged to the women who worked at the entrance of the sacred tent.

⁹ Around the sacred tent Bezalel and his helpers made a courtyard. To form the courtyard, they made curtains of fine white linen. On the south side, the curtain was forty-five and three-quarters meters long. ¹⁰ To support the curtain, they made twenty bronze posts and twenty bronze bases, one for under each post. To fasten the curtains to the posts, they made silver hooks, and they made metal rods covered with silver. ¹¹ They made the same kind of curtains, posts, bases and hooks for the north side of the courtyard. ¹² On the west side of the courtyard, they made a curtain twenty-three meters long. They also made ten posts to support the curtains and ten bases, with silver hooks and metal rods covered with silver. ¹³ On the east side, where the entrance is, the courtyard was twenty-three meters wide. ¹⁴ On one side of the entrance, Bezalel and his men made a curtain about seven meters wide with three posts and three bases. ¹⁵ On the other side of the entrance, they made a curtain about seven meters wide with three posts and three bases. ¹⁶ They made all the curtains around the courtyard from fine linen. ¹⁷ All the posts around the courtyard were made of bronze, but they covered the tops with silver. They connected the posts with metal rods that they covered with silver. They also made the clasps and hooks with silver. ¹⁸ For the entrance of the courtyard, they made a curtain from fine white linen, and a skilled weaver embroidered it with blue, purple, and red woolen yarn. The curtain was nine meters long and two and one-third meters high, just like the other curtains around the courtyard. ¹⁹ All the curtains were made of fine linen. They were supported by four posts, and under each post was a base made of bronze. All the posts around the courtyard were connected with metal rods covered with silver. The clasps were made of silver, and the tops of the posts were covered with silver. ²⁰ All the tent pegs to support the sacred tent and the curtains around the courtyard were made of bronze.

²¹ Here is a list of the amounts of metal used to make the sacred tent. Moses told some men from the tribe of Levi to count all the materials used and write down the amounts. Ithamar son of Aaron the priest, supervised those men. ²² Bezalel son of Uri and grandson of Hur made all the things that Yahweh had commanded Moses to make. ²³ Bezalel's helper was Oholiab son of Ahisamak, from the tribe of Dan. 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 was used to make the sacred tent weighed 965 kilograms. They used the official standard when they weighed the gold. ²⁵ All the silver that the people contributed when the leaders took the census weighed about 3,320 kilograms. They also used the official standard when they weighed the silver. ²⁶ All the men who were at least twenty years old were counted, and they each paid the required amount. That was a total of 603,550 men. ²⁷ They used 33 kilograms of silver for making each of the one hundred bases to put under the posts to support the curtains of the sacred tent, for a total of 3,300 kilograms in all. ²⁸ Bezalel and his helpers used the twenty kilograms of silver that was not used for the bases to make the rods and the hooks for the posts and to cover the tops of the posts. ²⁹ The bronze that the people contributed weighed about 2,300 kilograms. ³⁰ With the bronze Bezalel and his helpers made the bases to support the posts at the entrance of the sacred tent. They also made the altar for burning sacrifices with its grate and the tools to be used with it, 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.

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¹ Bezalel, Oholiab, and the other skilled workmen made the beautiful clothes for Aaron to wear while he did his work as a priest in the holy place. They made them from blue, purple, and red woolen cloth, just as Yahweh had commanded Moses. ² They made the sacred apron from fine white linen and from blue, purple, and red woolen cloth. 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 The sacred apron had two shoulder straps, to join the front part to the back part at its sides. ⁵ A carefully woven belt, which was made from the same materials as the sacred apron, was sewn onto the sacred apron. This was made exactly as Yahweh had commanded Moses. ⁶ Bezalel and his men cut two onyx stones and enclosed them in a tiny frame, and a skilled gem cutter engraved on the stones the names of the twelve sons of Jacob. ⁷ They fastened the stones to the shoulder straps of the sacred apron to represent the twelve tribes of Israel, exactly as Yahweh had commanded Moses. ⁸ They made the sacred chest pouch with the same materials as the sacred apron and embroidered it in the same way. ⁹ It was square, and the material was folded double, so that it was twenty-three centimeters on each side. 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 In the second row, they put a green emerald, a blue sapphire, and a white diamond. ¹² In the third row they put a red jacinth, a white agate, and a purple amethyst. ¹³ In the fourth row, they put a yellow beryl, a red carnelian, and a green jasper. They put tiny gold frames around each of the stones. ¹⁴ On each of the twelve stones they engraved the name of one of the sons of Jacob, to represent one of the twelve tribes of Israel. ¹⁵ They made two chains from pure gold and braided them like cords, to attach the sacred pouch to the sacred apron. ¹⁶ They made two gold rings, and they attached them to the upper corners of the sacred pouch. ¹⁷ They fastened one end of each gold chain to a ring. ¹⁸ They fastened the other end of each chain to one of the two settings that enclosed the stones and then attached the sacred pouch to 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 to where the shoulder straps were joined to the sacred apron, just above the carefully woven 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 just as Yahweh had instructed Moses to do.

²² They made the robe that was to be worn underneath the priest's sacred apron; they used only blue cloth. ²³ It had an opening through which the priest would put his head. They sewed a border around this opening to prevent the material from tearing. ²⁴ At the lower edge on the robe they fastened decorations that resembled pomegranate fruit. The decorations were woven from blue, purple, and red woolen yarn. ²⁵ Between each of these decorations, they fastened a tiny bell made from pure gold ²⁶ for Aaron to wear while he did his work as a priest. They made all these things exactly as Yahweh had commanded Moses.

²⁷ They wove long-sleeved tunics from fine linen for Aaron and his sons. ²⁸ They also made a turban of fine linen for Aaron to wear around his head. They made the caps and the undershorts for Aaron's sons from fine linen. ²⁹ They made the embroidered sash for Aaron from fine linen and from blue, purple, and red woolen cloth, and they embroidered designs on it using blue, purple, and red woolen yarn, exactly as Yahweh had commanded Moses. ³⁰ They also made the tiny ornament of pure gold and had a skilled workman engrave on it the words, "Dedicated to Yahweh." ³¹ They fastened this to the front of the turban by a blue cord, just as Yahweh had commanded Moses.

³² Finally, they finished all the work of making the sacred tent and brought everything to Moses. They had made them exactly as Yahweh had commanded them to. ³³ They brought to him the sacred tent and all the things that were used with it—the hooks, the frames, the crossbars, the posts and their bases; ³⁴ the coverings for the sacred tent that were made of tanned rams' skins and goatskins; the curtains; ³⁵ the sacred chest that contained the stone slabs on which the commandments were written and the lid for the chest. ³⁶ The workers also finished these items for the sacred tent: The table with all the things to be used with it and the bread to display before God; ³⁷ the lampstand made of pure gold with all its lamps and the things that were used to take care of it, and the oil for the lamps; ³⁸ the golden altar for burning incense, the oil for anointing, the sweet-smelling incense, and the curtain for the entrance to the sacred tent; ³⁹ the bronze altar for burning sacrifices with its bronze grating, the poles for carrying it, and all the other things that were used with it, as well as the washbasin and its base. ⁴⁰ They also brought the curtains that would surround the courtyard, the posts and bases that supported them, the curtain for the entrance to the courtyard and its ropes, the tent pegs, and all the other things that would be used in the sacred tent; ⁴¹ the beautiful sacred clothes for Aaron and his sons to wear when they did their work in the holy place, and the clothes for his sons to wear as they did their work as priests. ⁴² The people of Israel had done all this work exactly as Yahweh had commanded Moses. ⁴³ Then Moses saw all the work that they had done. Truly, they had done everything exactly as Yahweh had commanded that it should be done. Then Moses blessed the workmen.

Chapter 40

¹ Then Yahweh said to Moses, ² "Next year, on the first day of the first month, tell the people to set up the sacred tent. ³ Put inside it the sacred chest that contains the stone slabs on which are engraved the Ten Commandments, and hang its curtain in front of it. ⁴ Bring the table into the sacred tent, and place on it all the things that they made for it. Then bring in the lampstand and set the lamps in 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 sacred tent. ⁷ Put the washbasin between the sacred tent and the altar, and fill it with water. ⁸ Hang the curtains around the courtyard, and also hang up the curtain that your workmen made for the entrance. ⁹ Then take the oil for anointing and put it on the sacred tent and everything that is in it, to set it all apart for me. Then it will be very special, reserved only for me. ¹⁰ Also put some of the oil on the altar on which the priests will burn the sacrifices that they will offer to me. Also put some of the oil on all the things that they will use at the altar, and set them apart for me. Then they will be special, reserved only for me. ¹¹ Also put some of the oil on the washbasin and its base, to set them apart for 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 me by putting his special clothes on him and by pouring oil on him. Do this so he may serve me as a priest who comes before me. 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. Do this so that they also may worship 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 and the men working with him did all these things exactly as Yahweh had commanded him to do. ¹⁷ On the first day of the first month of the next year, the year after the people had come out of Egypt, the people set up the sacred tent. ¹⁸ They did what Moses told them to do; they set up the sacred tent and its bases; they set up the frames, attached the crossbars, and put up the posts for the curtains. ¹⁹ Then they spread out the coverings over the sacred tent, exactly as Yahweh had commanded Moses. ²⁰ Then Moses took the two stone slabs on which the commandments were written and put them into the sacred chest. He caused the workmen to 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 and hung the curtain. After he did that, the people who were outside could not see the chest. He did all this exactly as Yahweh had commanded him. ²² He caused the workmen to set the table inside the sacred tent, on the north side, outside the curtain. ²³ They placed on the table the bread in order to display it before Yahweh, exactly as Yahweh had commanded Moses to do. ²⁴ Moses's workmen set the lampstand inside the sacred tent, on the south side, on the other side of the table. ²⁵ Then they set the lamps on the lampstand in Yahweh's presence, exactly as Yahweh had commanded. ²⁶ Moses's workmen set the gold altar for burning incense inside the sacred tent, in front of the curtain that separated the holy place from the very holy place, ²⁷ and they burned some sweet-smelling incense on it, exactly as Yahweh had commanded Moses to do. ²⁸ Moses's workmen hung the curtain at the entrance to the sacred tent. ²⁹ At the entrance to the sacred tent, they placed the altar for offering sacrifices that the priests were to burn. Then they burned on it the meat and the flour that they offered, exactly as Yahweh had commanded Moses to do. ³⁰ They set the washbasin between the sacred tent and the bronze altar, and they filled the washbasin with water. ^31-32 Every time Moses, Aaron, or Aaron's sons went into the sacred tent or went up to the altar, they washed their hands and feet, exactly as Yahweh had commanded them through Moses to do. ³³ Moses's workmen hung up the curtains that surrounded the courtyard and the altar, and they hung the curtain at the entrance to the courtyard. In this way Moses caused the people to complete all that work.

³⁴ Then the tall cloud covered the sacred tent, and Yahweh's power and brilliant light filled the sacred tent. ³⁵ Because the light was very bright, Moses was not able to enter the sacred tent. ³⁶ From that day, whenever the people of Israel wanted to move to another place, they went only when the cloud rose from above the sacred tent and moved on. ³⁷ If the cloud did not rise, they stayed where they were and waited for the cloud to rise and move. ³⁸ Wherever they traveled, the cloud that showed Yahweh's presence was above the sacred tent during the day, and a bright fire was over it at night. All the people of Israel could see it at any time, for as long as they were traveling to the land that God had promised to give them.