Exodus

Chapter 1

¹ These are the names of the sons of Israel who came into Egypt with Jacob, each with his household: ² Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah, ³ Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin, ⁴ Dan, Naphtali, Gad, and Asher. ⁵ All the people who were descendants of Jacob were seventy in number. Joseph was already in Egypt. ⁶ Then Joseph, all his brothers, and all that generation died. ⁷ The Israelites were fruitful, increased greatly in numbers, and became very strong; the land was filled with them.

⁸ Now then a new king arose over Egypt, one who did not know about Joseph. ⁹ He said to his people, "Look, the Israelites are more numerous and stronger than we are. ¹⁰ Come, let us deal with them wisely, otherwise they will continue to grow in numbers, and if war breaks out, they will join our enemies, fight against us, and leave the land." ¹¹ So they put taskmasters over them to oppress them with hard labor. The Israelites built store cities for Pharaoh: Pithom and Rameses. ¹² But the more the Egyptians oppressed them, the more the Israelites increased in numbers and spread. So the Egyptians began to dread the Israelites. ¹³ The Egyptians made the Israelites work rigorously. ¹⁴ They made their lives bitter with hard service with mortar and brick, and with all kinds of work in the fields. All their required work was hard.

¹⁵ Then the king of Egypt spoke to the Hebrew midwives; the name of the one was Shiphrah, and the other Puah. ¹⁶ He said, "When you assist the Hebrew women on the birthstool, observe when they give birth. If it is a son, then you must kill him; but if it is a daughter, then she may live." ¹⁷ But the midwives feared God and did not do as the king of Egypt ordered them; instead, they let the baby boys live. ¹⁸ The king of Egypt summoned the midwives and said to them, "Why have you done this, and let the baby boys live?" ¹⁹ The midwives answered Pharaoh, "The Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women. They are vigorous and have finished giving birth before a midwife comes to them." ²⁰ God protected these midwives. The people increased in numbers and became very strong. ²¹ Because the midwives feared God, he gave them families. ²² Pharaoh ordered all his people, "You must throw every son that is born into the river, but every daughter you will let live."

Chapter 2

¹ Now a man of the tribe of Levi married a woman of Levi. ² The woman became pregnant and gave birth to a son. When she saw that he was a healthy boy, she hid him for three months. ³ But when she could no longer hide him, she took a papyrus basket and sealed it with bitumen and pitch. Then she put the child in it and placed it among the reeds in the water along the side of the river. ⁴ His sister stood at a distance to see what would happen to him. ⁵ Pharaoh's daughter came down to bathe at the river while her attendants walked along by the riverside. She saw the basket among the reeds and sent her attendant to get it. ⁶ When she opened it, she saw the child. Behold, the baby was crying. She had compassion on him and said, "This is certainly one of the Hebrews' children." ⁷ Then the baby's sister said to Pharaoh's daughter, "Should I go and find you a Hebrew woman to nurse the child for you?" ⁸ Pharaoh's daughter said to her, "Go." So the young girl went and got the child's mother. ⁹ Pharaoh's daughter said to the baby's mother, "Take this child and nurse him for me, and I will pay you wages." So the woman took the child and nursed him. ¹⁰ When the child grew older, she brought him to Pharaoh's daughter, and he became her son. She named him Moses and said, "Because I drew him from the water."

¹¹ When Moses had grown up, he went out to his people and observed their hard work. He saw an Egyptian striking a Hebrew, one of his own people. ¹² He looked this way and that way, and when he saw that there was no one there, he killed the Egyptian and hid his body in the sand. ¹³ He went out the next day, and, behold, two Hebrew men were fighting. He said to the one who was in the wrong, "Why are you hitting your companion?" ¹⁴ But the man said, "Who made you a leader and judge over us? Are you planning to kill me as you killed that Egyptian?" Then Moses became afraid and said, "What I did has certainly become known to others." ¹⁵ Now when Pharaoh heard about it, he tried to kill Moses. But Moses fled from Pharaoh and stayed in the land of Midian. There he sat down by a well.

¹⁶ Now the priest of Midian had seven daughters. They came, drew water, and filled the troughs to water their father's flock. ¹⁷ The shepherds came and tried to drive them away, but Moses went and helped them. Then he watered their flock. ¹⁸ When the girls went to Reuel their father, he said, "Why are you home so early today?" ¹⁹ They said, "An Egyptian rescued us from the shepherds. He even drew water for us and watered the flock." ²⁰ He said to his daughters, "So where is he? Why did you leave the man? Call him so he can eat a meal with us." ²¹ Moses agreed to stay with the man, who also gave him his daughter Zipporah in marriage. ²² She bore a son, and Moses called his name Gershom; he said, "I have been a resident in a foreign land."

²³ A long time later, the king of Egypt died. The Israelites groaned because of the slave labor. They cried out for help, and their pleas went up to God because of their bondage. ²⁴ When God heard their groaning, God called to mind his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. ²⁵ God saw the Israelites, and he understood their situation.

Chapter 3

¹ Now Moses was still shepherding the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian. Moses led the flock to the far side of the wilderness and arrived at Horeb, the mountain of God. ² There the angel of Yahweh appeared to him in a flame of fire in a bush. Moses looked, and behold, the bush was burning, but the bush was not burned up. ³ Moses said, "I will turn aside and see this amazing thing, why the bush is not burned up." ⁴ When Yahweh saw that he had turned aside to look, God called to him out of the bush and said, "Moses, Moses." Moses said, "Here I am." ⁵ God said, "Do not come any closer! Take off your shoes from your feet, for the place where you are standing is ground that is set apart to me." ⁶ He added, "I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob." Then Moses covered his face, for he was afraid to look at God. ⁷ Yahweh said, "I have certainly seen the suffering of my people who are in Egypt. I have heard their shouts because of their taskmasters, for I know about their suffering. ⁸ I have come down to free them from the Egyptians' power and to bring them up from that land to a good, large land, to a land flowing with milk and honey; to the region of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites. ⁹ Now the shouts of the people of Israel have come to me. Moreover, I have seen the oppression caused by the Egyptians. ¹⁰ Now then, I will send you to Pharaoh so that you may bring my people, the Israelites, out of Egypt." ¹¹ But Moses said to God, "Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites from Egypt?" ¹² God replied, "I will certainly be with you. This will be a sign to you that I have sent you. When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship me on this mountain."

¹³ Moses said to God, "When I go to the Israelites and tell them, 'The God of your ancestors has sent me to you,' and when they say to me, 'What is his name?' what should I say to them?" ¹⁴ God said to Moses, "I AM THAT I AM." God said, "You must say to the Israelites, 'I AM has sent me to you.'" ¹⁵ God also said to Moses, "You must say to the Israelites, 'Yahweh, the God of your ancestors, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you. This is my name forever, and this is how I will be kept in mind for all generations.'

¹⁶ Go and gather the elders of Israel together. Say to them, 'Yahweh, the God of your ancestors, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, has appeared to me and said, "I have indeed observed you and have seen what has been done to you in Egypt. ¹⁷ I have promised to bring you up from the oppression in Egypt to the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, a land flowing with milk and honey."' ¹⁸ They will listen to you. You and the elders of Israel must go to the king of Egypt, and you must tell him, 'Yahweh, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us. So now let us go three days' journey into the wilderness, in order that we may sacrifice to Yahweh, our God.' ¹⁹ But I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go, unless his hand is forced. ²⁰ I will reach out with my hand and attack the Egyptians with all the miracles that I will do among them. After that, he will let you go. ²¹ I will grant this people favor from the Egyptians, so when you leave, you will not go empty-handed. ²² Every woman will ask for silver and gold jewels and for clothing from her Egyptian neighbors and any women staying in her neighbors' houses. You will put them on your sons and daughters. In this way you will plunder the Egyptians."

Chapter 4

¹ Moses answered, "But what if they do not believe me or listen to me but say instead, 'Yahweh has not appeared to you'?" ² Yahweh said to him, "What is that in your hand?" Moses said, "A staff." ³ Yahweh said, "Throw it on the ground." Moses threw it on the ground, and it became a snake. Moses ran back from it. ⁴ Yahweh said to Moses, "Reach out and take it by the tail." So he reached out and took hold of the snake. It became a staff in his hand again. ⁵ "This is so they may believe that Yahweh, the God of their ancestors, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has appeared to you." ⁶ Yahweh also said to him, "Now put your hand inside your robe." So Moses put his hand inside his robe. When he brought it out, behold, his hand was leprous, as white as snow. ⁷ Yahweh said, "Put your hand inside your robe again." So Moses put his hand inside his robe, and when he brought it out, he saw that it was made healthy again, like the rest of his flesh. ⁸ Yahweh said, "If they do not believe you—if they do not pay attention to the first sign of my power or believe in it, then they will believe the second sign. ⁹ If they do not believe even these two signs of my power, or listen to you, then take some water from the river and pour it on the dry land. The water that you take will become blood on the dry land."

¹⁰ Then Moses said to Yahweh, "Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you spoke to your servant. I am slow of speech and slow of tongue." ¹¹ Yahweh said to him, "Who is it who made man's mouth? Who makes a man mute or deaf or seeing or blind? Is it not I, Yahweh? ¹² So now go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what to say." ¹³ But Moses said, "Lord, please send anyone else, anyone whom you wish to send." ¹⁴ Then Yahweh became angry with Moses. He said, "What about Aaron, your brother, the Levite? I know that he can speak well. Moreover, he is coming to meet you, and when he sees you, he will be glad in his heart. ¹⁵ You will speak to him and put the words to say into his mouth. I will be with your mouth and with his mouth, and I will show you both what to do. ¹⁶ He will speak to the people for you. He will be your mouth, and you will be to him like me, God. ¹⁷ You will take in your hand this staff. With it you will do the signs." ¹⁸ So Moses went back to Jethro his father-in-law and said to him, "Let me go so I may return to my relatives who are in Egypt and see if they are still alive." Jethro said to Moses, "Go in peace." ¹⁹ Yahweh said to Moses in Midian, "Go, return to Egypt, for all the men who were trying to take your life are dead." ²⁰ Moses took his wife and his sons and put them on a donkey. He returned to the land of Egypt, and he took the staff of God in his hand. ²¹ Yahweh said to Moses, "When you go back to Egypt, see that you do before Pharaoh all the wonders that I have put in your power. But I will harden his heart, and he will not let the people go. ²² You must say to Pharaoh, 'This is what Yahweh says: Israel is my son, my firstborn, ²³ and I say to you, "Let my son go, so he may worship me." But since you have refused to let him go, I will certainly kill your son, your firstborn.'" ²⁴ Now on the way, when they stopped for the night, Yahweh met Moses and tried to kill him. ²⁵ Then Zipporah took a flint knife and cut off the foreskin of her son, and touched it to his feet. Then she said, "Surely you are a bridegroom to me by blood." ²⁶ So Yahweh let him alone. She said, "You are a bridegroom of blood" because of the circumcision.

²⁷ Yahweh said to Aaron, "Go into the wilderness to meet Moses." Aaron went, met him at the mountain of God, and kissed him. ²⁸ Moses told Aaron all the words of Yahweh that he had sent him to say and about all the signs of Yahweh's power that he had commanded him to do. ²⁹ Then Moses and Aaron went and gathered together all the elders of the Israelites. ³⁰ Aaron spoke all the words that Yahweh had spoken to Moses. He also displayed the signs of Yahweh's power in the sight of the people. ³¹ The people believed. When they heard that Yahweh had observed the Israelites and that he had seen their oppression, then they bowed down and worshiped him.

Chapter 5

¹ After these things happened, Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and said, "This is what Yahweh, the God of Israel, says: 'Let my people go, so they can have a festival for me in the wilderness.'" ² Pharaoh said, "Who is Yahweh? Why should I listen to his voice and let Israel go? I do not know Yahweh; moreover, I will not let Israel go." ³ They said, "The God of the Hebrews has met with us. Let us go on a three-day journey into the wilderness and sacrifice to Yahweh our God so that he does not attack us with plague or with the sword." ⁴ But the king of Egypt said to them, "Moses and Aaron, why are you taking the people from their work? Go back to your work." ⁵ He also said, "There are now many people in our land, and you are making them stop their work." ⁶ On that same day, Pharaoh gave a command to the people's taskmasters and foremen. He said, ⁷ "Unlike before, you must no longer give the people straw to make bricks. Let them go and gather straw for themselves. ⁸ However, you must still demand from them the same number of bricks as they made before. Do not accept any fewer, because they are lazy. That is why they are calling out and saying, 'Allow us to go and sacrifice to our God.' ⁹ Increase the workload for the men so that they keep at it and pay no more attention to deceptive words."

¹⁰ So the people's taskmasters and foremen went out and informed the people. They said, "This is what Pharaoh says: 'I will no longer give you any straw. ¹¹ You yourselves must go and get straw wherever you can find it, but your workload will not be reduced.'" ¹² So the people scattered throughout all the land of Egypt to gather stubble for straw. ¹³ The taskmasters kept urging them and saying, "Finish your work, just as when straw was given to you." ¹⁴ Pharaoh's taskmasters beat the Israelite foremen, those same men whom they had put in charge of the workers. The taskmasters kept asking them, "Why have you not produced all the bricks required of you, either yesterday and today, as you used to do in the past?"

¹⁵ So the Israelite foremen came to Pharaoh and cried out to him. They said, "Why are you treating your servants this way? ¹⁶ No straw is being given to your servants anymore, but they are still telling us, 'Make bricks!' We, your servants, are even beaten now, but it is the fault of your own people." ¹⁷ But Pharaoh said, "You are lazy! You are lazy! You say, 'Allow us to go sacrifice to Yahweh.' ¹⁸ So now go back to work. No more straw will be given to you, but you must still make the same number of bricks." ¹⁹ The Israelite foremen saw that they were in trouble when they were told, "You must not reduce the daily number of bricks." ²⁰ They met Moses and Aaron, who were standing outside the palace, as they went away from Pharaoh. ²¹ They said to Moses and Aaron, "May Yahweh look at you and punish you, because you have made us offensive in the sight of Pharaoh and his servants. You have put a sword in their hand to kill us."

²² Moses went back to Yahweh and said, "Lord, why have you caused trouble for this people? Why did you send me in the first place? ²³ Ever since I came to Pharaoh to speak to him in your name, he has caused trouble for this people, and you have not set your people free at all."

Chapter 6

¹ Then Yahweh said to Moses, "Now you will see what I will do to Pharaoh. You will see this, for he will let them go because of my strong hand. Because of my strong hand, he will drive them out of his land."

² God spoke to Moses and said to him, "I am Yahweh. ³ I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob as God Almighty; but by my name, Yahweh, I was not known to them. ⁴ I also established my covenant with them, in order to give them the land of Canaan, the land where they lived as non-citizens, the land in which they wandered about. ⁵ Moreover, I have heard the groaning of the Israelites whom the Egyptians have enslaved, and I have called to mind my covenant. ⁶ Therefore, say to the Israelites, 'I am Yahweh. I will bring you out from slavery under the Egyptians, and I will free you from their power. I will rescue you with a display of my power, and with mighty acts of judgment. ⁷ I will take you to myself as my people, and I will be your God. You will know that I am Yahweh your God, who brought you out from slavery under the Egyptians. ⁸ I will bring you into the land that I swore to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. I will give it to you as a possession. I am Yahweh.'" ⁹ When Moses told this to the Israelites, they would not listen to him because of their discouragement about their harsh slavery.

¹⁰ Then Yahweh said to Moses, saying, ¹¹ "Go tell Pharaoh, king of Egypt, to let the people of Israel go from his land." ¹² Moses said to Yahweh, "If the Israelites have not listened to me, why will Pharaoh listen to me, since I am not good at speaking?" ¹³ Yahweh spoke to Moses and to Aaron. He gave them a command for the Israelites and for Pharaoh, king of Egypt, to bring the Israelites out of the land of Egypt.

¹⁴ These were the heads of their fathers' houses: The sons of Reuben, the firstborn of Israel, were Hanok, Pallu, Hezron, and Karmi. These were the clan ancestors of Reuben.

¹⁵ The sons of Simeon were Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jakin, Zohar, and Shaul—the son of a Canaanite woman. These were the clan ancestors of Simeon.

¹⁶ Here are listed the names of the sons of Levi, together with their descendants. They were Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. Levi lived until he was 137 years old. ¹⁷ The sons of Gershon were Libni and Shimei, by their families. ¹⁸ The sons of Kohath were Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel. Kohath lived until he was 133 years old. ¹⁹ The sons of Merari were Mahli and Mushi. These became the clan ancestors of the Levites, together with their descendants.

²⁰ Amram married Jochebed, his father's sister. She bore him Aaron and Moses. Amram lived 137 years and then 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, daughter of Amminadab, sister of Nahshon. She bore him Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar.

²⁴ The sons of Korah were Assir, Elkanah, and Abiasaph. These were the clan ancestors of the Korahites.

²⁵ Eleazar, Aaron's son, married one of the daughters of Putiel. She bore him Phinehas. These were the heads of the fathers' houses among the Levites, according to their clans.

²⁶ These two men were the Aaron and Moses to whom Yahweh said, "Bring out the Israelites from the land of Egypt, by their groups of fighting men." ²⁷ Aaron and Moses spoke to Pharaoh, king of Egypt, to allow them bring out the Israelites from Egypt. These were the same Moses and Aaron.

²⁸ When Yahweh spoke to Moses in the land of Egypt, ²⁹ he said to him, "I am Yahweh. Say to Pharaoh, king of Egypt, everything that I will tell you." ³⁰ But Moses said to Yahweh, "I am not good at speaking, so why will Pharaoh listen to me?"

Chapter 7

¹ Yahweh said to Moses, "See, I have made you like a god to Pharaoh. Aaron your brother will be your prophet. ² You will say everything that I command you to say. Aaron your brother will speak to Pharaoh so that he will let the people of Israel go from his land. ³ But I will harden Pharaoh's heart, and I will display many signs of my power, many wonders, in the land of Egypt. ⁴ But Pharaoh will not listen to you, so I will put my hand on Egypt and bring out my groups of fighting men, my people, the people of Israel, out of the land of Egypt by great acts of punishment. ⁵ The Egyptians will know that I am Yahweh when I reach out with my hand on Egypt and bring out the Israelites from among them." ⁶ Moses and Aaron did so; they did just as Yahweh commanded them. ⁷ Moses was eighty years old, and Aaron eighty-three years old when they spoke to Pharaoh.

⁸ Yahweh said to Moses and to Aaron, ⁹ "When Pharaoh says to you, 'Do a miracle,' then you will say to Aaron, 'Take your staff and throw it down before Pharaoh, so that it may become a snake.'" ¹⁰ Then Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh, and they did just as Yahweh had commanded. Aaron threw down his staff before Pharaoh and his servants, and it became a snake. ¹¹ Then Pharaoh also called for his wise men and sorcerers. They did the same thing by their magic. ¹² Each man threw down his staff, and the staffs became snakes. But Aaron's staff swallowed up their snakes. ¹³ Pharaoh's heart was hardened, and he did not listen, just as Yahweh had foretold.

¹⁴ Yahweh said to Moses, "Pharaoh's heart is hard, and he refuses to let the people go. ¹⁵ Go to Pharaoh in the morning when he goes out to the water. Stand on the riverbank to meet him, and take in your hand the staff that had turned into a snake. ¹⁶ Say to him, 'Yahweh, the God of the Hebrews, has sent me to you to say, "Let my people go, so that they may worship me in the wilderness. Until now you have not listened." ¹⁷ Yahweh says this: "By this you will know that I am Yahweh. I am going to strike the water of the Nile River with the staff that is in my hand, and the river will be turned to blood. ¹⁸ The fish that are in the river will die, and the river will stink. The Egyptians will not be able to drink water from the river."'" ¹⁹ Then Yahweh said to Moses, "Say to Aaron, 'Take your staff and reach out with your hand over the waters of Egypt, and over their rivers, streams, pools, and all their ponds, so that their water may become blood. Do this so that there will be blood throughout all the land of Egypt, even in containers of wood and stone.'"

²⁰ Moses and Aaron did as Yahweh commanded. Aaron raised the staff and struck the water in the river, in the sight of Pharaoh and his servants. All the water in the river turned to blood. ²¹ The fish in the river died, and the river began to stink. The Egyptians could not drink water from the river, and the blood was everywhere in the land of Egypt. ²² But the magicians of Egypt did the same thing with their magic. So Pharaoh's heart was hardened, and he refused to listen to Moses and Aaron, just as Yahweh had said would happen. ²³ Then Pharaoh turned and went into his house. He did not even pay attention to this. ²⁴ All the Egyptians dug around the river for water to drink, but they could not drink the water of the river itself. ²⁵ Seven days passed after Yahweh had attacked the river.

Chapter 8

¹ Then Yahweh said to Moses, "Go to Pharaoh and tell him, 'Yahweh says this: "Let my people go so that they may worship me. ² If you refuse to let them go, I will afflict all your country with frogs. ³ The river will swarm with frogs. They will come up and go into your house, your bedroom, and your bed. They will go into your servants' houses. They will go onto your people, into your ovens, and into your kneading bowls. ⁴ The frogs will attack you, your people, and all your servants."'" ⁵ Yahweh spoke to Moses, "Say to Aaron, 'Reach out with your hand and your staff over the rivers, the streams, and the pools, and bring the frogs up over the land of Egypt.'" ⁶ Aaron reached out with his hand over Egypt's waters, and the frogs came up and covered the land of Egypt. ⁷ But the magicians did the same with their magic; they brought up frogs over the land of Egypt.

⁸ Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron and said, "Pray to Yahweh for him to take away the frogs from me and my people. Then I will let the people go, that they may sacrifice to him." ⁹ Moses said to Pharaoh, "You can have the privilege of telling me when I should pray for you, your servants, and your people, so that the frogs may be removed from you and your houses and stay only in the river." ¹⁰ Pharaoh said, "Tomorrow." Moses said, "Let it be as you say, so that you may know that there is no one like Yahweh, our God. ¹¹ The frogs will go from you, your houses, your servants, and your people. They will stay only in the river." ¹² Moses and Aaron went out from Pharaoh. Then Moses cried out to Yahweh concerning the frogs that he had brought on Pharaoh. ¹³ Yahweh did as Moses asked: The frogs died in the houses, courts, and fields. ¹⁴ The people gathered them together in heaps, and the land stank. ¹⁵ But when Pharaoh saw that there was relief, he hardened his heart and did not listen to Moses and Aaron, just as Yahweh had said that he would do.

¹⁶ Yahweh said to Moses, "Say to Aaron, 'Reach out with your staff and strike the dust on the ground, that it may become gnats throughout all the land of Egypt.'" ¹⁷ They did so. When Aaron reached out with his hand and his staff and struck the dust on the ground, gnats came on men and animals. All the dust on the ground became gnats throughout all the land of Egypt. ¹⁸ The magicians tried with their magic to produce gnats, but they could not. So there were gnats on men and animals. ¹⁹ Then the magicians said to Pharaoh, "This is the finger of God." But Pharaoh's heart was hardened, so he refused to listen to them. It was just as Yahweh had said Pharaoh would do.

²⁰ Yahweh said to Moses, "Get up early in the morning and stand in front of Pharaoh as he goes out to the river. Say to him, 'Yahweh says this: "Let my people go so that they may worship me. ²¹ But if you do not let my people go, I will send swarms of flies on you, your servants, and your people, and into your houses. The Egyptians' houses will be full of swarms of flies, and even the ground on which they stand will be full of flies. ²² But on that day I will treat the land of Goshen differently, the land in which my people are living, so that no swarms of flies will be there. This will happen so that you may know that I am Yahweh in the midst of this land. ²³ I will make a distinction between my people and your people. This sign of my power will take place tomorrow."'" ²⁴ Yahweh did so, and thick swarms of flies came into Pharaoh's house and into his servants' houses. Throughout the whole land of Egypt, the land was ruined because of the swarms of flies.

²⁵ Pharaoh called for Moses and for Aaron and said, "Go, sacrifice to your God in our own land." ²⁶ Moses said, "It is not right for us to do so, for the sacrifices we make to Yahweh our God are something disgusting to the Egyptians. If we make sacrifices right before their eyes that are disgusting to the Egyptians, will they not stone us? ²⁷ No, it is a three days' journey into the wilderness that we must make, in order to sacrifice to Yahweh our God, as he commands us." ²⁸ Pharaoh said, "I will allow you to go and sacrifice to Yahweh your God in the wilderness. Only you must not go very far away. Pray for me." ²⁹ Moses said, "As soon as I go out from you, I will pray to Yahweh that the swarms of flies may leave you, Pharaoh, and your servants and people tomorrow. But you must not deal deceitfully any more by not letting our people go to sacrifice to Yahweh." ³⁰ Moses went out from Pharaoh and prayed to Yahweh. ³¹ Yahweh did as Moses asked; and he removed the swarms of flies from Pharaoh, his servants, and his people. Not one remained. ³² But Pharaoh hardened his heart this time also, and he did not let the people go.

Chapter 9

¹ Then Yahweh said to Moses, "Go to Pharaoh and tell him, 'Yahweh, the God of the Hebrews, says this: "Let my people go so that they may worship me." ² But if you refuse to let them go, if you still keep them back, ³ then Yahweh's hand will bring a terrible plague on your livestock that are in the field—the horses, donkeys, camels, herds, and flocks. ⁴ But Yahweh will make a distinction between the livestock of Israel and the livestock of Egypt, so that no animal that belongs to the Israelites will die. ⁵ Yahweh has fixed a time; he has said, "It is tomorrow that I will do this thing in the land."'" ⁶ Yahweh did this the next day: All the cattle of Egypt died, but none of the Israelites' animals died, not one animal. ⁷ Pharaoh investigated, and, behold, not even one animal of the Israelites died. But his heart was stubborn, so he did not let the people go.

⁸ Then Yahweh said to Moses and to Aaron, "Take some handfuls of ashes from a kiln. You, Moses, must throw the ashes up into the air while Pharaoh is watching. ⁹ They will become fine dust over all the land of Egypt. They will cause blisters and sores to break out on people and animals throughout all the land of Egypt." ¹⁰ So Moses and Aaron took ashes from a kiln and stood in front of Pharaoh. Then Moses threw the ashes up into the air. The ashes caused blisters and sores to break out on men and animals. ¹¹ The magicians could not resist Moses because of the blisters, because the blisters were on them and on all the other Egyptians. ¹² Yahweh hardened Pharaoh's heart, so Pharaoh did not listen to Moses and Aaron. This was just as Yahweh had said to Moses that Pharaoh would do. ¹³ Then Yahweh said to Moses, "Get up early in the morning, stand in front of Pharaoh, and say to him, 'Yahweh, the God of the Hebrews, says this: "Let my people go so that they may worship me. ¹⁴ For this time I will send all my plagues on you yourself, on your servants and your people. I will do this so that you may know that there is no one like me in all the earth. ¹⁵ By now I could have reached out with my hand and attacked you and your people with disease, and you would have been eradicated from the land. ¹⁶ But it was for this reason I allowed you to survive: In order to show you my power, so that my name may be proclaimed throughout all the earth. ¹⁷ You are still lifting yourself up against my people by not letting them go. ¹⁸ Listen! Tomorrow about this time I will bring a very strong hail storm, such as has not been seen in Egypt since the day it was begun until now. ¹⁹ Now then, send men and gather your livestock and everything you have in the fields to a safe place. Every man and animal that is in the field and is not brought home—the hail will come down on them, and they will die."'" ²⁰ Then those of Pharaoh's servants who believed in Yahweh's message hurried to bring their slaves and livestock into the houses. ²¹ But those who did not take Yahweh's message seriously left their slaves and livestock in the fields.

²² Then Yahweh said to Moses, "Reach out with your hand toward the sky so that there will be hail in all the land of Egypt, on men and animals, and every plant of the field in the land of Egypt." ²³ Moses reached out with his staff toward the sky, and Yahweh sent thunder, hail, and lightning to the ground. He also rained hail on the land of Egypt. ²⁴ So there were hail and lightning mixed with hail, very severe, such as had not been in all the land of Egypt since it became a nation. ²⁵ Throughout all the land of Egypt, the hail struck everything in the fields, both people and animals. It struck every plant in the fields and broke every tree. ²⁶ Only in the land of Goshen, where the Israelites lived, was there no hail.

²⁷ Then Pharaoh sent men to summon Moses and Aaron. He said to them, "I have sinned this time. Yahweh is righteous, and I and my people are wicked. ²⁸ Pray to Yahweh, because the mighty thunderbolts and hail are too much. I will let you go, and you will stay here no longer." ²⁹ Moses said to him, "As soon as I leave the city, I will spread my hands out to Yahweh. The thunder will stop, and there will not be any more hail. In this way you will know that the earth belongs to Yahweh. ³⁰ But as for you and your servants, I know that you do not yet really honor Yahweh God." ³¹ Now the flax and the barley were ruined, for the barley was maturing in the ear, and the flax was in bloom. ³² But the wheat and the spelt were not harmed because they were later crops. ³³ When Moses had left Pharaoh and the city, he spread out his hands to Yahweh; the thunder and hail stopped, and the rain came down no more. ³⁴ When Pharaoh saw that the rain, hail, and thunder had ceased, he sinned again and hardened his heart, together with his servants. ³⁵ The heart of Pharaoh was hardened, and so he did not let the people of Israel go, just as Yahweh had spoken by the hand of Moses.

Chapter 10

¹ Yahweh said to Moses, "Go to Pharaoh, for I have hardened his heart and the hearts of his servants. I have done this to show these signs of my power among them. ² I have also done this so that you may tell your children and grandchildren the things I have done, how I have harshly treated Egypt, and how I have given various signs of my power among them. In this way you will know that I am Yahweh." ³ So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and said to him, "Yahweh, the God of the Hebrews, says this: 'How long will you refuse to humble yourself before me? Let my people go so that they may worship me. ⁴ But if you refuse to let my people go, listen, tomorrow I will bring locusts into your land. ⁵ They will cover the surface of the ground so that no one will be able to see the earth. They will eat the remains of whatever escaped from the hail. They will also eat every tree that grows for you in the fields. ⁶ They will fill your houses, those of all your servants, and those of all the Egyptians—something neither your father nor your grandfather ever saw, nothing ever seen since the day that they were on the earth to this present day.'" Then Moses left and went out from Pharaoh. ⁷ Pharaoh's servants said to him, "How long will this man be a menace to us? Let the Israelites go so that they may worship Yahweh their God. Do you not yet realize that Egypt is destroyed?" ⁸ Moses and Aaron were brought again to Pharaoh, who said to them, "Go worship Yahweh your God. But what people will go?" ⁹ Moses said, "We will go with our young and with our old, with our sons and our daughters. We will go with our flocks and herds, for we must hold a festival for Yahweh." ¹⁰ Pharaoh said to them, "May Yahweh indeed be with you, if I ever let you go and your little ones go. Look, you have some evil in mind. ¹¹ No! Go, just the men among you, and worship Yahweh, for that is what you want." Then Moses and Aaron were driven out from Pharaoh's presence. ¹² Then Yahweh said to Moses, "Reach out with your hand over the land of Egypt to the locusts, that they may attack the land of Egypt and eat every plant in it, everything that the hail has left." ¹³ Moses reached out with his staff over the land of Egypt, and Yahweh brought an east wind over the land all that day and night. When it was morning, the east wind had brought the locusts. ¹⁴ The locusts went through all the land of Egypt and infested all parts of it. Never before had there been such a swarm of locusts in the land, and nothing like this will come after it. ¹⁵ They covered the surface of the whole land so that it was darkened. They ate every plant in the land and all the fruit of the trees that the hail had left. Throughout all the land of Egypt, no living green plant remained, nor any tree or plant in the fields. ¹⁶ Then Pharaoh quickly summoned Moses and Aaron and said, "I have sinned against Yahweh your God and against you. ¹⁷ Now then, forgive my sin this time, and pray to Yahweh your God that he will take this death away from me." ¹⁸ So Moses went out from Pharaoh and prayed to Yahweh. ¹⁹ Yahweh brought a very strong west wind that picked up the locusts and drove them into the Sea of Reeds; not a single locust remained in all the territory of Egypt. ²⁰ But Yahweh hardened Pharaoh's heart, and Pharaoh did not let the Israelites go.

²¹ Then Yahweh said to Moses, "Reach out with your hand toward the sky, so that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, darkness that may be felt." ²² Moses reached out with his hand toward the sky, and there was a thick darkness in all the land of Egypt for three days. ²³ No one could see anyone else; no one left his home for three days. However, all the Israelites had light in the place where they lived. ²⁴ Pharaoh summoned Moses and said, "Go worship Yahweh. Even your families may go with you, but your flocks and herds must remain behind." ²⁵ But Moses said, "Allow us to have sacrifices and burnt offerings so that we may present them to Yahweh our God. ²⁶ Our cattle must also go with us; not a hoof of them may be left behind, for we must take them to worship Yahweh our God. For we do not know with what we must worship Yahweh until we arrive there." ²⁷ But Yahweh hardened Pharaoh's heart, and he would not let them go. ²⁸ Pharaoh said to Moses, "Go from me! Be careful about one thing, that you do not see me again, for on the day you see my face, you will die." ²⁹ Moses said, "You yourself have spoken. I will not see your face again."

Chapter 11

¹ Then Yahweh said to Moses, "There is still one more plague that I will bring on Pharaoh and Egypt. After that, he will let you go from here. When he finally lets you go, he will drive you away completely. ² Instruct the people that every man and woman is to ask of his or her neighbor for articles of silver and articles of gold." ³ Now Yahweh had made the Egyptians eager to please the Israelites. Moreover, the man Moses was very impressive in the sight of Pharaoh's servants and the people of Egypt.

⁴ Moses said, "Yahweh says this: 'About midnight I will go throughout Egypt. ⁵ All the firstborn in the land of Egypt will die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh, who sits on his throne, to the firstborn of the slave girl who is behind the handmill grinding it, and to all the firstborn of the livestock. ⁶ Then there will be a great wailing throughout all the land of Egypt, such as has never been nor ever will be again. ⁷ But not even a dog will bark against any of the people of Israel, against either man or animal. In this way you will know that I am treating the Egyptians and the Israelites differently.' ⁸ All these servants of yours, Pharaoh, will come down to me and bow down to me. They will say, 'Go, you and all the people who follow you!' After that I will go out." Then he went out from Pharaoh in great anger.

⁹ Yahweh said to Moses, "Pharaoh will not listen to you. This is so that I will do many amazing things in the land of Egypt." ¹⁰ Moses and Aaron did all these wonders before Pharaoh. But Yahweh hardened Pharaoh's heart, and Pharaoh did not let the people of Israel go out of his land.

Chapter 12

¹ Yahweh said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt. He said, ² "For you, this month will be the start of months, the first month of the year to you. ³ Tell the assembly of Israel, 'On the tenth day of this month they must each take a lamb or young goat for themselves, each family doing this, a lamb for each household. ⁴ If the household is too small for a lamb, the man and his next door neighbor are to take lamb or young goat meat that will be enough for the number of the people. It should be enough for everyone to eat, so they must take enough meat to feed them all. ⁵ Your lamb or young goat must be without blemish, a one-year-old male. You may take one of the sheep or goats. ⁶ You must keep it until the fourteenth day of that month. Then the whole assembly of Israel must kill these animals at twilight. ⁷ You must take some of the blood and put it on the two side doorposts and on the tops of the doorframes of the houses in which you will eat the meat. ⁸ You must eat the meat that night, after first roasting it over a fire. Eat it with bread made without yeast, along with bitter herbs. ⁹ Do not eat it raw or boiled in water. Instead, roast it over fire with its head, legs and inner parts. ¹⁰ You must not let any of it be left over until morning. You must burn whatever is left over in the morning. ¹¹ This is how you must eat it: with your belt fastened, your shoes on your feet, and your staff in your hand. You must eat it hurriedly. It is Yahweh's Passover. ¹² Yahweh says this: I will go through the land of Egypt in that night and attack all the firstborn of man and animal in the land of Egypt. I will bring punishment on all the gods of Egypt. I am Yahweh. ¹³ The blood will be a sign on your houses for my coming to you. When I see the blood, I will pass over you when I attack the land of Egypt. This plague will not come on you and destroy you. ¹⁴ This day will become a memorial day for you, which you must observe as a festival to Yahweh; for your generations—a statute that you must keep as a festival forever.

¹⁵ You will eat bread without yeast during seven days. On the first day you will remove the yeast from your houses. Whoever eats leavened bread from the first day until the seventh day, that person must be cut off from Israel. ¹⁶ On the first day there will be an assembly that is set apart to me, and on the seventh day there will be another such gathering. No work will be done on these days, except the cooking for everyone to eat. That must be the only work that may be done by you. ¹⁷ You must observe this Festival of Unleavened Bread because it was on this day that I brought your divisions out of the land of Egypt. So you must observe this day throughout your people's generations as a statute forever. ¹⁸ You must eat unleavened bread from twilight of the fourteenth day in the first month of the year until twilight of the twenty-first day of the month. ¹⁹ During these seven days, no yeast must be found in your houses. Whoever eats bread made with yeast must be cut off from the community of Israel, whether that person is a foreigner or someone born in your land. ²⁰ You must eat nothing made with yeast. Wherever you live, you must eat bread made without yeast.'"

²¹ Then Moses summoned all the elders of Israel and said to them, "Go and select lambs or kids that will be enough to feed your families and kill the Passover lamb. ²² Then take a bunch of hyssop and dip it in the blood that will be in a basin. Apply the blood in the basin to the top of the doorframe and the two doorposts. None of you is to go out of the door of his house until the morning. ²³ For Yahweh will pass through to attack the Egyptians. When he sees the blood on the top of the doorframe and on the two doorposts, he will pass over your door and not permit the destroyer to come into your houses to attack you. ²⁴ You must observe this event. This will always be a law for you and your descendants. ²⁵ When you enter the land that Yahweh will give you, just as he has promised to do, you must observe this act of worship. ²⁶ When your children ask you, 'What does this act of worship mean?' ²⁷ then you must say, 'It is the sacrifice of Yahweh's Passover, because Yahweh passed over the Israelites' houses in Egypt when he attacked the Egyptians. He set our households free.'" Then the people bowed down and worshiped Yahweh. ²⁸ The Israelites went and did exactly as Yahweh had commanded Moses and Aaron.

²⁹ It happened at midnight that Yahweh attacked all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh, who sat on his throne, to the firstborn of the person in prison and all the firstborn of the livestock. ³⁰ Pharaoh got up in the night—he, all his servants, and all the Egyptians. There was loud lamenting in Egypt, for there was not a house where there was not someone dead. ³¹ Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron in the night and said, "Get up, get out from among my people, you and the Israelites. Go, worship Yahweh, as you have said you wanted to do. ³² Take your flocks and your herds, as you have said, and go, and also bless me." ³³ The Egyptians were in a great hurry to send them out of the land, for they said, "We will all die." ³⁴ So the people took their dough without adding any yeast. Their kneading bowls were already tied up in their clothes and on their shoulders. ³⁵ Now the people of Israel did as Moses told them. They asked the Egyptians for articles of silver, articles of gold, and clothing. ³⁶ Yahweh made the Egyptians eager to please the Israelites. So the Egyptians gave them whatever they asked for. In this way, the Israelites plundered the Egyptians.

³⁷ The Israelites journeyed from Rameses to Sukkoth. They numbered about 600,000 men on foot, in addition to the women and children. ³⁸ A mixed multitude also went with them, together with flocks and herds, a very large number of livestock. ³⁹ They baked bread without yeast in the dough that they brought from Egypt. It was without yeast because they had been driven out of Egypt and could not delay to prepare food. ⁴⁰ The Israelites had lived in Egypt for 430 years. ⁴¹ At the end of 430 years, on that very day, all of Yahweh's armed groups went out from the land of Egypt. ⁴² This was a night to stay awake, for Yahweh to bring them out from the land of Egypt. This was Yahweh's night to be observed by all the Israelites throughout their people's generations.

⁴³ Yahweh said to Moses and Aaron, "Here is the rule for the Passover: No foreigner may share in eating it. ⁴⁴ However, every Israelite's slave, bought with money, may eat it after you have circumcised him. ⁴⁵ Foreigners and hired servants must not eat any of the food. ⁴⁶ The food must be eaten in one house. You must not carry any of the meat out of the house, and you must not break any bone of it. ⁴⁷ All the community of Israel must observe the festival. ⁴⁸ If a foreigner lives with you and wants to observe the Passover to Yahweh, all his male relatives must be circumcised. Then he may come and observe it. He will become like the people who were born in the land. However, no uncircumcised person may eat any of the food. ⁴⁹ This same law will apply to both the native born and to the foreigner who lives among you."

⁵⁰ So all the Israelites did exactly as Yahweh had commanded Moses and Aaron. ⁵¹ It came about that very day that Yahweh brought Israel out of the land of Egypt by their armed groups.

Chapter 13

¹ Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ² "Set apart to me every firstborn male—because whatever is the first to open the womb among the Israelites belongs to me, whether man or animal."

³ Moses said to the people, "Call this day to mind, the day on which you came out from Egypt, out of the house of slavery, for by Yahweh's strong hand he brought you out from this place. No bread with yeast may be eaten. ⁴ You are going out of Egypt on this day, in the month of Aviv. ⁵ When Yahweh brings you into the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Hivites, and the Jebusites, the land that he swore to your ancestors to give you, a land flowing with milk and honey—then you must observe this act of worship in this month. ⁶ For seven days you must eat bread without yeast; on the seventh day there will be a feast to honor Yahweh. ⁷ Bread without yeast must be eaten throughout the seven days; no bread with yeast may be seen among you. No yeast may be seen with you within any of your borders. ⁸ On that day you are to say to your children, 'This is because of what Yahweh did for me when I came out of Egypt.' ⁹ This will be a reminder for you on your hand, and a reminder on your forehead. This is so the law of Yahweh may be in your mouth, for with a strong hand Yahweh brought you out of Egypt. ¹⁰ Therefore you must keep this law at its appointed time from year to year.

¹¹ When Yahweh brings you into the land of the Canaanites, as he swore to you and to your ancestors to do, and when he gives the land to you, ¹² you must set apart to Yahweh the first offspring of every womb. All the firstborn offspring of your livestock that are males, will belong to Yahweh. ¹³ Every firstborn of a donkey you must redeem with a lamb. If you do not buy it back, then you must break its neck. But every firstborn of your sons you must redeem. ¹⁴ When your son asks you later, 'What does this mean?' then you are to tell him, 'It was by a strong hand that Yahweh brought us out from Egypt, from the house of slavery. ¹⁵ When Pharaoh stubbornly refused to let us go, Yahweh killed every the firstborn in Egypt, both the firstborn of man and the firstborn of animal. That is why I sacrifice to Yahweh all the males that first open the womb but all my firstborn sons I redeem.' ¹⁶ This will become a reminder on your hands, and a reminder on your forehead, for it was by a strong hand Yahweh brought us out of Egypt."

¹⁷ When Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them by way of the land of the Philistines, although that land was nearby. For God said, "Perhaps the people will change their minds when they experience war and will then return to Egypt." ¹⁸ So God led the people around through the wilderness to the Sea of Reeds. The Israelites went up out of the land of Egypt armed for battle. ¹⁹ Moses took the bones of Joseph with him, for Joseph had made the sons of Israel solemnly swear and said, "God will surely rescue you, and you must carry away my bones with you." ²⁰ The Israelites journeyed from Sukkoth and camped at Etham on the edge of the wilderness. ²¹ Yahweh went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead them on the way. By night he went in a pillar of fire to give them light. In this way they could travel by day and by night. ²² Yahweh did not take away from before the people the daytime pillar of cloud or the nighttime pillar of fire.

Chapter 14

¹ Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ² "Say to the Israelites that they should turn and camp before Pi Hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea, before Baal Zephon. You are to camp by the sea opposite Pi Hahiroth. ³ Pharaoh will say about the Israelites, 'They are wandering in the land. The wilderness has closed in on them.' ⁴ I will harden Pharaoh's heart, and he will pursue them. I will get honor because of Pharaoh and all his army. The Egyptians will know that I am Yahweh." So the Israelites camped as they were instructed. ⁵ When the king of Egypt was told that the Israelites had fled, the minds of Pharaoh and his servants turned against the people. They said, "What have we done? We have released Israel from serving us." ⁶ Then Pharaoh got his chariots ready and took his army with him. ⁷ He took six hundred chosen chariots and all the other chariots of Egypt, with officers on all of them. ⁸ Yahweh hardened the heart of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and the king pursued the Israelites. Now the Israelites had gone away in triumph. ⁹ But the Egyptians pursued them, together with all his horses and chariots, his horsemen, and his army. They overtook the Israelites camping by the sea beside Pi Hahiroth, before Baal Zephon.

¹⁰ When Pharaoh came close, the Israelites looked up and were surprised. The Egyptians were marching after them, and they were terrified. The Israelites cried out to Yahweh. ¹¹ They said to Moses, "Is it because there were no graves in Egypt, that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness? Why have you treated us like this, bringing us out of Egypt? ¹² Is this not what we told you in Egypt? We said to you, 'Leave us alone, so we can work for the Egyptians.' It would have been better for us to work for them than to die in the wilderness." ¹³ Moses said to the people, "Do not be afraid. Stand still and see the rescue that Yahweh will provide for you today. For you will never see again the Egyptians whom you see today. ¹⁴ Yahweh will fight for you, and you will only have to stand still." ¹⁵ Then Yahweh said to Moses, "Why are you, Moses, continuing to call out to me? Tell the Israelites to go forward. ¹⁶ Lift up your staff, reach out with your hand over the sea and divide it in two, so that the people of Israel may go through the sea on dry ground. ¹⁷ Be aware that I will harden the Egyptians' hearts so they will go after them. I will get honor because of Pharaoh and all his army, his chariots, and his horsemen. ¹⁸ Then the Egyptians will know that I am Yahweh when I have gotten honor because of Pharaoh, his chariots, and his horsemen." ¹⁹ The angel of God, who went before the camp of Israel, moved and went behind them. The pillar of cloud moved from before them and went to stand behind them. ²⁰ The cloud came between the camp of Egypt and the camp of Israel. It was a dark cloud to the Egyptians, but it lit the night for the Israelites, so one side did not come near the other all night.

²¹ Moses reached out with his hand over the sea. Yahweh drove the sea back by a strong east wind all that night and made the sea into dry land. In this way the waters were divided. ²² The Israelites went into the middle of the sea on dry ground. The waters formed a wall for them on their right hand and on their left. ²³ The Egyptians pursued them. They went after them into the middle of the sea—all Pharaoh's horses, chariots, and horsemen. ²⁴ But in the early morning hours, Yahweh looked down on the Egyptian army through the pillar of fire and cloud. He caused panic among the Egyptians. ²⁵ Their chariot wheels were clogged, and the horsemen drove with difficulty. So the Egyptians said, "Let us flee from Israel, for Yahweh is fighting for them against us."

²⁶ Yahweh said to Moses, "Reach out with your hand over the sea so that the waters may come back onto the Egyptians, their chariots, and their horsemen." ²⁷ So Moses reached out with his hand over the sea, and it returned to its normal course when the morning appeared. The Egyptians fled into the sea, and Yahweh drove the Egyptians into the middle of it. ²⁸ The waters came back and covered Pharaoh's chariots, horsemen, and his entire army that had followed the chariots into the sea. No one survived. ²⁹ However, the Israelites walked on dry land in the middle of the sea. The waters were a wall for them on their right hand and on their left. ³⁰ So Yahweh saved Israel that day out of the hand of the Egyptians, and Israel saw dead Egyptians on the seashore. ³¹ When Israel saw the great power that Yahweh used against the Egyptians, the people honored Yahweh, and they trusted in Yahweh and in his servant Moses.

Chapter 15

¹ Then Moses and the people of Israel sang this song to Yahweh. They sang,

     "I will sing to Yahweh, for he has triumphed gloriously;

     the horse and its rider he has thrown into the sea.

     ² Yahweh is my strength and song,

     and he has become my salvation.

     This is my God, and I will praise him,

     my father's God, and I will exalt him.

     ³ Yahweh is a warrior;

     Yahweh is his name.

     ⁴ He has thrown Pharaoh's chariots and army into the sea.

     Pharaoh's chosen officers were drowned in the Sea of Reeds.

     ⁵ The depths covered them;

     they went down into the depths like a stone.

     ⁶ Your right hand, Yahweh, is glorious in power;

     your right hand, Yahweh, has shattered the enemy.

     ⁷ In great majesty you overthrew those who rose up against you.

     You sent out your wrath; it consumed them like stubble.

     ⁸ By the blast of your nostrils the waters were piled up;

     the flowing waters stood upright in a heap;

     the deep water was congealed in the heart of the sea.

     ⁹ The enemy said, 'I will pursue, I will overtake, I will share out the plunder;

     my desire will be satisfied on them;

     I will draw my sword; my hand will destroy them.'

     ¹⁰ But you blew with your wind, and the sea covered them;

     they sank like lead in the mighty waters.

     ¹¹ Who is like you, Yahweh, among the gods?

     Who is like you, majestic in holiness,

     honored in praises, doing miracles?

     ¹² You reached out with your right hand,

     and the earth swallowed them.

     ¹³ In your covenant loyalty you have led the people you have rescued.

     In your strength you have led them to the holy place where you live.

     ¹⁴ The peoples will hear, and they will tremble;

     terror will seize the inhabitants of Philistia.

     ¹⁵ Then the chiefs of Edom will fear;

     the soldiers of Moab will shake;

     all the inhabitants of Canaan will melt away.

     ¹⁶ Terror and dread will fall on them.

     Because of your arm's power, they will become as still as a stone

     until your people pass by, Yahweh—

     until the people you have rescued pass by.

     ¹⁷ You will bring them and plant them on the mountain of your inheritance,

     the place, Yahweh, that you have made to live in,

     the sanctuary, our Lord, that your hands have built.

     ¹⁸ Yahweh will reign forever and ever."

¹⁹ For Pharaoh's horses went with his chariots and horsemen into the sea. Yahweh brought back the waters of the sea on them. But the Israelites walked on dry land in the middle of the sea. ²⁰ Miriam the prophetess, sister of Aaron, picked up a tambourine, and all the women went out with tambourines, dancing along with her. ²¹ Miriam sang to them:

     "Sing to Yahweh, for he has triumphed gloriously.

     The horse and his rider he has thrown into the sea."

²² Then Moses led Israel onward from the Sea of Reeds. They went out into the wilderness of Shur. They traveled for three days into the wilderness and found no water. ²³ Then they came to Marah, but they could not drink the water there because it was bitter. So they called that place Marah. ²⁴ So the people complained to Moses and said, "What can we drink?" ²⁵ Moses cried out to Yahweh, and Yahweh showed him a tree. Moses threw it into the water, and the water became sweet to drink. It was there that Yahweh gave them a strict law, and it was there that he tested them. ²⁶ He said, "If you carefully listen to the voice of Yahweh your God, and do what is right in his eyes, and if you give ear to his commands and obey all his laws—I will put on you none of the diseases that I put on the Egyptians, for I am Yahweh who heals you." ²⁷ Then the people came to Elim, where there were twelve springs of water and seventy palm trees. They camped there by the water.

Chapter 16

¹ The people journeyed on from Elim, and all the community of Israelites came to the wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after their departure from the land of Egypt. ² The whole community of Israelites complained against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness. ³ The Israelites said to them, "If only we had died by Yahweh's hand in the land of Egypt when we were sitting by the pots of meat and were eating bread to the full. For you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill our whole community with hunger."

⁴ Then Yahweh said to Moses, "I will rain down bread from heaven for you. The people will go out and gather a day's portion every day so that I may test them to see whether or not they will walk in my law. ⁵ It will come about on the sixth day, that they will gather twice as much as what they gathered every day before, and they will cook what they bring in." ⁶ Then Moses and Aaron said to all the people of Israel, "In the evening you will know that it is Yahweh who has brought you out from the land of Egypt. ⁷ In the morning you will see Yahweh's glory, for he hears your complaining against him. Who are we for you to complain against us?" ⁸ Moses also said, "You will know this when Yahweh gives you meat in the evening and bread in the morning to the full—for he has heard the complaints that you speak against him. Who are Aaron and I? Your complaints are not against us; they are against Yahweh." ⁹ Moses said to Aaron, "Say to all the community of the people of Israel, 'Come near before Yahweh, for he has heard your complaints.'" ¹⁰ It came about, as Aaron spoke to the whole community of the people of Israel, that they looked toward the wilderness, and, behold, Yahweh's glory appeared in the cloud. ¹¹ Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ¹² "I have heard the complaints of the people of Israel. Speak to them and say, 'In the evening you will eat meat, and in the morning you will be filled with bread. Then you will know that I am Yahweh your God.'"

¹³ It came about in the evening that quails came up and covered the camp. In the morning the dew lay round about the camp. ¹⁴ When the dew was gone, there on the surface of the wilderness were thin flakes like frost on the ground. ¹⁵ When the people of Israel saw it, they said one to another, "What is it?" They did not know what it was. Moses said to them, "It is the bread that Yahweh has given you to eat. ¹⁶ This is the command that Yahweh has given: 'You must gather, each one of you, the amount you need to eat, an omer for each person of the number of your people. This is how you will gather it: Gather enough to eat for every person who lives in your tent.'" ¹⁷ The people of Israel did so. Some gathered more, some gathered less. ¹⁸ When they measured it with an omer measure, those who had gathered much had nothing left over, and those who had gathered little had no lack. Each person gathered enough to meet their need. ¹⁹ Then Moses said to them, "No one must leave any of it until morning." ²⁰ However, they did not listen to Moses. Some of them left some of it until morning, but it bred worms and became foul. Then Moses became angry with them. ²¹ They gathered it morning by morning. Each person gathered enough to eat for that day. When the sun became hot, it melted. ²² It came about that on the sixth day they gathered twice as much bread, two omers for each person. All the leaders of the community came and told this to Moses. ²³ He said to them, "This is what Yahweh has said: 'Tomorrow is a solemn rest, a holy Sabbath in Yahweh's honor. Bake what you want to bake, and boil what you want to boil. All that remains over, set it aside for yourselves until morning.'" ²⁴ So they set it aside until morning, as Moses had instructed. It did not become foul, nor was there any worm in it. ²⁵ Moses said, "Eat that food today, for today is a day reserved as a Sabbath to honor Yahweh. Today you will not find it in the fields. ²⁶ You will gather it during six days, but the seventh day is the Sabbath. On the Sabbath there will be no manna." ²⁷ It came about on the seventh day that some of the people went out to gather manna, but they found none. ²⁸ Then Yahweh said to Moses, "How long will you refuse to keep my commandments and my laws? ²⁹ See, Yahweh has given you the Sabbath. So on the sixth day he is giving you bread for two days. Each of you must stay in his own place; no one must go out from his place on the seventh day." ³⁰ So the people rested on the seventh day.

³¹ The people of Israel called that food "manna." It was white like coriander seed, and its taste was like wafers made with honey. ³² Moses said, "This is what Yahweh has commanded: 'Let an omer of manna be kept throughout your people's generations so that your descendants might see the bread with which I fed you in the wilderness, after I brought you out from the land of Egypt.'" ³³ Moses said to Aaron, "Take a pot and put an omer of manna into it. Preserve it before Yahweh to be kept throughout the people's generations." ³⁴ As Yahweh commanded Moses, Aaron stored it beside the covenant decrees in the ark. ³⁵ The people of Israel ate manna forty years until they came to inhabited land. They ate it until they came to the borders of the land of Canaan. ³⁶ Now an omer is a tenth of an ephah.

Chapter 17

¹ The whole community of the Israelites journeyed from the wilderness of Sin, following Yahweh's instructions. They camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink. ² So the people blamed Moses for their situation and said, "Give us water to drink." Moses said, "Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you test Yahweh?" ³ The people were very thirsty, and they complained against Moses. They said, "Why have you brought us up out of Egypt? To kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?" ⁴ Then Moses cried out to Yahweh, "What should I do with this people? They are almost ready to stone me." ⁵ Yahweh said to Moses, "Go on ahead of the people, and take with you some elders of Israel. Take with you the staff with which you struck the river, and go. ⁶ I will stand before you there on the rock at Horeb, and you will strike the rock. Water will come out of it for the people to drink." Then Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel. ⁷ He called that place Massah and Meribah because of the Israelites' complaining, and because they had tested the Lord by saying, "Is Yahweh among us or not?"

⁸ Then an army of the Amalek people came and attacked Israel at Rephidim. ⁹ So Moses said to Joshua, "Choose some men and go out. Fight with Amalek. Tomorrow I will stand on top of the hill with the staff of God in my hand." ¹⁰ So Joshua fought Amalek as Moses had instructed, while Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill. ¹¹ While Moses was holding his hands up, Israel was winning; when he let his hands rest, Amalek would begin to win. ¹² When Moses's hands became heavy, Aaron and Hur took a stone and put it under him for him to sit on. At the same time, Aaron and Hur held his hands up, one person on one side of him, and the other person on the other side. So Moses's hands were held steady until the sun went down. ¹³ So Joshua defeated the people of Amalek with the sword. ¹⁴ Yahweh said to Moses, "Write this in a book and read it in Joshua's hearing, because I will completely blot out the memory of Amalek from under the skies." ¹⁵ Then Moses built an altar and he called it "Yahweh is my banner." ¹⁶ He said, "For a hand was lifted up to the throne of Yahweh—that Yahweh will wage war with Amalek from generation to generation."

Chapter 18

¹ Jethro, the priest of Midian, Moses's father-in-law, heard of all that God had done for Moses and for Israel his people. He heard that Yahweh had brought Israel out of Egypt. ² Jethro, Moses's father-in-law, took Zipporah, Moses's wife, after he had sent her home, ³ and her two sons; the name of the one son was Gershom, for Moses had said, "I have been a foreigner in a foreign land." ⁴ The name of the other was Eliezer, for Moses had said, "My ancestor's God was my help. He rescued me from Pharaoh's sword." ⁵ Jethro, Moses's father-in-law, came with Moses's sons and his wife to Moses in the wilderness where he was camped at the mountain of God. ⁶ He said to Moses, "I, your father-in-law Jethro, am coming to you with your wife and her two sons." ⁷ Moses went out to meet his father-in-law, bowed down, and kissed him. They asked about each other's welfare and then went into the tent. ⁸ Moses told his father-in-law all that Yahweh had done to Pharaoh and the Egyptians for Israel's sake, about all the hardships that had come to them along the way, and how Yahweh had rescued them. ⁹ Jethro rejoiced over all the good that Yahweh had done for Israel, in that he had rescued them from the hand of the Egyptians. ¹⁰ Jethro said, "May Yahweh be praised, for he has rescued you from the hand of the Egyptians and from the hand of Pharaoh, and delivered the people from the hand of the Egyptians. ¹¹ Now I know that Yahweh is greater than all the gods, because when the Egyptians treated the Israelites arrogantly, God rescued his people." ¹² Jethro, Moses's father-in-law, brought a burnt offering and sacrifices for God. Aaron and all the elders of Israel came to eat a meal before God with Moses's father-in-law.

¹³ On the next day Moses sat down to judge the people. The people stood around him from morning until evening. ¹⁴ When Moses's father-in-law saw all that he did for the people, he said, "What is this that you are doing with the people? Why is it that you sit alone and all the people stand about you from morning until evening?" ¹⁵ Moses said to his father-in-law, "The people come to me to ask for God's direction. ¹⁶ When they have a dispute, they come to me. I decide between one person and another, and I teach them God's statutes and laws." ¹⁷ Moses's father-in-law said to him, "What you are doing is not very good. ¹⁸ You will surely wear yourselves out, you and the people who are with you. This burden is too heavy for you. You are not able to do it by yourself. ¹⁹ Listen to me. I will give you advice, and God will be with you, because you are the people's representative to God, and you bring their disputes to him. ²⁰ You must teach them his statutes and laws. You must show them the way to walk and the work to do. ²¹ Furthermore, you must choose capable men from all the people, men who honor God, men of truth who hate unjust gain. You must put them over people, to be leaders in charge of thousands, hundreds, fifties, and of tens. ²² They will judge the people in all routine cases, but the difficult cases they will bring to you. As for all the small cases, they can judge those themselves. In that way it will be easier for you, and they will carry the burden with you. ²³ If you do this, and if God commands you to do so, then you will be able to endure, and the entire people will be able to go home satisfied." ²⁴ So Moses listened to his father-in-law's words and did everything that he had said. ²⁵ Moses chose capable men from all Israel and made them heads over the people, leaders in charge of thousands, hundreds, fifties, and tens. ²⁶ They judged the people in normal circumstances. The difficult cases they brought to Moses, but they themselves judged all the small cases. ²⁷ Then Moses let his father-in-law leave, and Jethro went back into his own land.

Chapter 19

¹ In the third month after the people of Israel had gone out from the land of Egypt, on the same day, they came to the wilderness of Sinai. ² After they left Rephidim and came to the wilderness of Sinai, they camped in the wilderness in front of the mountain. ³ Moses went up to God. Yahweh called to him from the mountain and said, "You must tell the house of Jacob, the people of Israel: ⁴ You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, how I carried you on eagles' wings and brought you to myself. ⁵ Now then, if you obediently listen to my voice and keep my covenant, then you will be my special possession from among all peoples, for all the earth is mine. ⁶ You will be a kingdom of priests and a holy nation for me. These are the words that you must speak to the people of Israel."

⁷ So Moses came and summoned the elders of the people. He set before them all these words that Yahweh had commanded him. ⁸ All the people answered together and said, "We will do everything that Yahweh has said." Then Moses came to report the people's words to Yahweh. ⁹ Yahweh said to Moses, "I will come to you in a thick cloud so that the people may hear when I speak with you and may also believe you forever." Then Moses told the people's words to Yahweh. ¹⁰ Yahweh said to Moses, "Go to the people. Today and tomorrow you must set them apart to me, and make them wash their garments. ¹¹ Be ready for the third day, for on the third day Yahweh will come down to Mount Sinai. ¹² You must set boundaries all around the mountain for the people. Say to them, 'Be careful that you do not go up the mountain or touch its border. Whoever touches the mountain will surely be put to death.' ¹³ No one's hand must touch such a person. Instead, he must certainly be stoned or shot. Whether it is an animal or man, he must be put to death. When the trumpet sounds a long blast, they may come up to the foot of the mountain." ¹⁴ Then Moses went down from the mountain to the people. He set apart the people to Yahweh and they washed their garments. ¹⁵ He said to the people, "Be ready on the third day; do not go near your wives."

¹⁶ On the third day, when it was morning, there were thunder and lightning bolts and a thick cloud on the mountain, and the sound of a very loud trumpet. All the people in the camp trembled. ¹⁷ Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain. ¹⁸ Mount Sinai was completely covered with smoke because Yahweh descended on it in fire and smoke. The smoke went up like the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mountain shook violently. ¹⁹ When the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder, Moses spoke, and God answered him in a voice. ²⁰ Yahweh came down on Mount Sinai, to the top of the mountain, and he summoned Moses to the top. So Moses went up. ²¹ Yahweh said to Moses, "Go down and warn the people; otherwise they might break out to Yahweh to look, and many of them might perish. ²² Let the priests also who come near to me set themselves apart—prepare themselves for my coming—so that I do not break out against them." ²³ Moses said to Yahweh, "The people cannot come up to Mount Sinai, for you commanded us: 'Set boundaries around the mountain and set it apart to Yahweh.'" ²⁴ Yahweh said to him, "Go down and bring up Aaron with you, but do not let the priests and the people break through to come up to Yahweh, or he will break out against them." ²⁵ So Moses went down to the people and spoke to them.

Chapter 20

¹ God spoke all these words:

² "I am Yahweh your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.

³ You must have no other gods before me.

⁴ You must not make for yourself a carved figure nor the likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water below. ⁵ You must not bow down to them or worship them, for I, Yahweh your God, am a jealous God. I punish the ancestors' wickedness by bringing punishment on the descendants, to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me. ⁶ But I show steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.

⁷ You must not take the name of Yahweh your God, in vain, for I will not hold guiltless anyone who takes my name in vain.

⁸ Remember the Sabbath day, to set it apart to me. ⁹ You must labor and do all your work for six days. ¹⁰ But the seventh day is a Sabbath for Yahweh your God. On it you must not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, or your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the foreigner who is within your gates. ¹¹ For in six days Yahweh made the heavens and earth, the sea, and everything that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore Yahweh blessed the Sabbath day and set it apart.

¹² Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live a long time in the land that Yahweh your God is giving you.

¹³ You must not murder anyone.

¹⁴ You must not commit adultery.

¹⁵ You must not steal from anyone.

¹⁶ You must not give false testimony against your neighbor.

¹⁷ You must not covet your neighbor's house; you must not covet your neighbor's wife, his male servant, his female servant, his ox, his donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor."

¹⁸ All the people saw the thundering and the lightning, and heard the voice of the trumpet, and saw the mountain smoking. When the people saw it, they trembled and stood far off. ¹⁹ They said to Moses, "Speak to us, and we will listen; but do not let God speak to us, or we will die." ²⁰ Moses said to the people, "Do not be afraid, for God has come to test you so that the honor of him may be in you, and so that you do not sin." ²¹ So the people stood far off, and Moses approached the thick darkness where God was.

²² Yahweh said to Moses, "This is what you must tell the Israelites: 'You yourselves have seen that I have talked with you from heaven. ²³ You will not make for yourselves other gods alongside me, gods of silver or gods of gold. ²⁴ You must make an earthen altar for me, and you must sacrifice on it your burnt offerings, fellowship offerings, your sheep and your cattle. In every place where I cause my name to be honored, I will come to you and bless you. ²⁵ If you make me an altar of stone, you must not build it of cut stones, for if you use your tools on it, you will have defiled it. ²⁶ You must not go up to my altar on steps, so that your nakedness is not exposed.'"

Chapter 21

¹ "Now these are the decrees that you must set before them:

² 'If you buy a Hebrew servant, he is to serve for six years, and in the seventh year he will go free without paying anything. ³ If he came by himself, he must go free by himself; if he is married, then his wife must go free with him. ⁴ If his master gave him a wife and she bore him sons or daughters, the wife and her children will belong to her master, and he must go free by himself. ⁵ But if the servant plainly says, "I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free," ⁶ then his master must bring him to God. The master must bring him to a door or doorpost, and his master must bore his ear through with an awl. Then the servant will serve him for life.

⁷ If a man sells his daughter as a female servant, she must not go free as the male servants do. ⁸ If she does not please her master, who has designated her for himself, then he must let her be bought back. He has no right to sell her to a foreign people. He has no such right, since he has treated her deceitfully. ⁹ If her master designates her as a wife for his son, he must treat her the same as if she were his daughter. ¹⁰ If he takes another wife for himself, he must not diminish her food, clothing, or her marital rights. ¹¹ But if he does not provide these three things for her, then she can go free without paying any money.

¹² Whoever strikes a man so that he dies, that person must surely be put to death. ¹³ If the man did not do it with premeditation, but instead by accident, then I will fix a place to where he can flee. ¹⁴ If a man willfully attacks his neighbor and kills him according to a cunning plan, then you must take him, even if he is at God's altar, so that he may die.

¹⁵ Whoever hits his father or mother must surely be put to death.

¹⁶ Whoever kidnaps a person—whether the kidnapper sells him, or that person is found in his hand—that kidnapper must be put to death.

¹⁷ Whoever curses his father or his mother must surely be put to death.

¹⁸ If men fight and one hits the other with a stone or with his fist, and that person does not die, but is confined to his bed; ¹⁹ then if he recovers and is able to walk about using his staff, the man who struck him must pay for the loss of his time; he must also pay for his complete recovery. But that man is not guilty of murder.

²⁰ If a man hits his male servant or his female servant with a staff, and if the servant dies as a result of the blow, then that man must surely be punished. ²¹ However, if the servant lives for a day or two, the master must not be punished, for he will have suffered the loss of the servant.

²² If men fight together and hurt a pregnant woman so that she miscarries, but there is no other injury to her, then the guilty man must surely be fined as the woman's husband demands it from him, and he must pay as the judges determine. ²³ But if there is serious injury, then you must give a life for a life, ²⁴ an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, a hand for a hand, a foot for a foot, ²⁵ a burn for a burn, a wound for a wound, or a bruise for a bruise.

²⁶ If a man hits the eye of his male servant or of his female servant and destroys it, then he must let the servant go free in compensation for his eye. ²⁷ If he knocks out a tooth of his male servant or female servant, he must let the servant go free as compensation for the tooth.

²⁸ If an ox gores a man or a woman to death, the ox must surely be stoned, and its flesh must not be eaten; but the ox's owner must be acquitted of guilt. ²⁹ But if the ox had a habit of goring in the past, and its owner was warned but did not keep it in, and the ox has killed a man or a woman, that ox must be stoned, and its owner also must be put to death. ³⁰ If a payment is required for his life, he must pay whatever he is required to pay. ³¹ If the ox has gored a man's son or daughter, the ox's owner must do what this decree requires him to do. ³² If the ox gores a male servant or a female servant, the ox's owner must pay thirty shekels of silver, and the ox must be stoned.

³³ If a man opens a pit, or if a man digs a pit and does not cover it, and an ox or a donkey falls into it, ³⁴ the owner of the pit must repay the loss. He must give money to the dead animal's owner, and the dead animal will become his.

³⁵ If one man's ox hurts another man's ox so that it dies, then they must sell the live ox and divide its price, and they must also divide the dead ox. ³⁶ But if it was known that the ox had a habit of goring in time past, and its owner has not kept it in, he must surely pay ox for ox, and the dead animal will become his own.

Chapter 22

¹ If a man steals an ox or a sheep and kills it or sells it, then he must pay five oxen for one ox, and four sheep for one sheep. ² If a thief is found breaking in, and if he is struck so that he dies, in that case no guilt for murder will attach to anyone on his account. ³ But if the sun has risen before he breaks in, guilt for murder will attach to the person who kills him.

A thief must make restitution. If he has nothing, then he must be sold for his theft. ⁴ If the stolen animal is found alive in his possession, whether it is an ox, a donkey, or a sheep, he must pay back double.

⁵ If a man grazes his livestock in a field or vineyard and lets his animal loose, and it grazes in another man's field, he must make restitution from the best of his own field and from the best of his own vineyard.

⁶ If a fire breaks out and spreads in thorns so that stacked grain, or standing grain, or a field is consumed, the one who started the fire must surely make restitution.

⁷ If a man gives money or goods to his neighbor for safe keeping, and if it is stolen out of the man's house, if the thief is found, that thief must pay double. ⁸ But if the thief is not found, then the owner of the house must come before the judges to see whether he has put his own hand on his neighbor's property. ⁹ For every dispute about something, whether it is an ox, a donkey, a sheep, clothing, or any other missing thing about which one says, "This belongs to me," the claim of both parties must come before the judges. The man whom the judges find guilty must pay double to his neighbor.

¹⁰ If a man gives his neighbor a donkey, an ox, a sheep, or any animal to keep, and if it dies or is hurt or is carried away without anyone seeing it, ¹¹ an oath to Yahweh must be taken by them both, as to whether or not one person has put his hand on his neighbor's property. The owner must accept this, and the other will make no restitution. ¹² But if it was stolen from him, the other must make restitution to the owner for it. ¹³ If an animal was torn in pieces, let the other man bring the animal as evidence. He will not have to pay for what was torn.

¹⁴ If a man borrows any animal from his neighbor and the animal is injured or dies without the owner being with it, the other man must surely make restitution. ¹⁵ But if the owner was with it, the other man will not have to pay; if the animal was hired, it will be paid for by its hiring fee.

¹⁶ If a man seduces a virgin who is not engaged, and if he lies with her, he must surely make her his wife by paying the bride wealth required for this. ¹⁷ If her father completely refuses to give her to him, he must pay money equal to the bride wealth of virgins.

¹⁸ You must not allow a sorceress to live.

¹⁹ Whoever lies with an animal must surely be put to death.

²⁰ Whoever sacrifices to any god except to Yahweh must be completely destroyed. ²¹ You must not wrong a foreigner or oppress him, for you were foreigners in the land of Egypt. ²² You must not mistreat any widow or fatherless child. ²³ If you afflict them at all, and if they call out to me, I will surely hear their call. ²⁴ My anger will burn, and I will kill you with the sword; your wives will become widows, and your children will become fatherless.

²⁵ If you lend money to any of my people among you who are poor, you must not be like a moneylender to him or charge him interest. ²⁶ If you take your neighbor's garment in pledge, you must return it to him before the sun goes down, ²⁷ for that is his only covering; it is his garment for his body. What else can he lie down in? When he calls out to me, I will hear him, for I am compassionate.

²⁸ You must not blaspheme me, God, nor curse a ruler of your people. ²⁹ You must not hold back offerings from your harvest or your winepresses. You must give to me the firstborn of your sons. ³⁰ You must also do the same with your oxen and your sheep. For seven days they may remain with their mothers, but on the eighth day you must give them to me. ³¹ You will be people that are set apart for me. So you must not eat any meat that was torn by animals in the field. Instead, you must throw it to the dogs.

Chapter 23

¹ You must not give a false report about anyone. Do not join with a wicked man to be a dishonest witness. ² You must not follow a crowd to do evil, nor may you bear witness while siding with the crowd in order to pervert justice. ³ You must not show favoritism to a poor man in his lawsuit.

⁴ If you meet your enemy's ox or his donkey going astray, you must bring it back to him. ⁵ If you see the donkey of someone who hates you fallen to the ground under its load, you must not leave that person. You must surely help him with his donkey.

⁶ Do not thrust aside justice for your poor in his lawsuit. ⁷ Do not join others in making false accusations, and do not kill the innocent or righteous, for I will not acquit the wicked. ⁸ Never take a bribe, for a bribe blinds those who see, and perverts honest people's words. ⁹ You must not oppress a foreigner, since you know the life of a foreigner, for you were foreigners in the land of Egypt.

¹⁰ For six years you will sow seed on your land and gather in its produce. ¹¹ But in the seventh year you will leave it unplowed and fallow, so that the poor among your people may eat. What they leave, the wild animals will eat. You will do the same with your vineyards and olive orchards. ¹² During six days you will do your work, but on the seventh day you must rest. Do this so that your ox and your donkey may have rest, and so that your female slave's son and any foreigner may rest and be refreshed. ¹³ Pay attention to everything that I have said to you. Do not mention the names of other gods, nor let their names be heard from your mouth.

¹⁴ You must travel to hold a festival for me three times every year. ¹⁵ You are to observe the Festival of Unleavened Bread. As I commanded you, you will eat unleavened bread for seven days. At that time, you will appear before me in the month of Aviv, which is fixed for this purpose. It was in this month that you came out from Egypt. But you must not appear before me empty-handed. ¹⁶ You must observe the Festival of Harvest, the firstfruits of your labors when you sowed seed in the fields. Also you must observe the Festival of Ingathering at the end of the year, when you gather in your produce from the fields. ¹⁷ All your males must appear before the Lord Yahweh three times every year.

¹⁸ You must not offer the blood from sacrifices made to me with bread containing yeast. The fat from the sacrifices at my festivals must not remain all night until the morning. ¹⁹ You must bring the choicest firstfruits from your land into my house, the house of Yahweh your God. You must not boil a young goat in its mother's milk.

²⁰ I am going to send an angel before you to guard you on the way, and to bring you to the place that I have prepared. ²¹ Be attentive to him and obey him. Do not provoke him, for he will not pardon your transgressions. My name is on him. ²² If you indeed obey his voice and do everything that I tell you, then I will be an enemy to your enemies and an adversary to your adversaries. ²³ My angel will go before you and bring you to the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Canaanites, Hivites, and the Jebusites. I will destroy them. ²⁴ You must not bow down to their gods, worship them, or do as they do. Instead, you must completely overthrow them and smash their stone pillars in pieces. ²⁵ You must worship Yahweh your God, and he will bless your bread and water. I will remove sickness from among you. ²⁶ No woman will be barren or will miscarry her young in your land. I will give you long lives. ²⁷ I will send fear of myself on those into whose land you advance. I will kill all the people whom you meet. I will make all your enemies turn their backs to you in fright. ²⁸ I will send hornets before you that will drive out the Hivites, Canaanites, and the Hittites from before you. ²⁹ I will not drive them out from before you in one year, or the land would become abandoned, and the wild animals would become too many for you. ³⁰ Instead, I will drive them out little by little from before you until you become fruitful and inherit the land. ³¹ I will fix your borders from the Sea of Reeds to the Sea of the Philistines, and from the wilderness to the Euphrates River. I will give you victory over the land's inhabitants. You will drive them out before yourselves. ³² You must not make a covenant with them or with their gods. ³³ They must not live in your land, or they would make you sin against me. If you worship their gods, this will surely become a trap for you.'"

Chapter 24

¹ Then Yahweh said to Moses, "Come up to me—you, Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, and seventy of Israel's elders, and worship me at a distance. ² Moses alone may come near to me. The others must not come near, nor may the people come up with him." ³ Moses went and told the people all of Yahweh's words and decrees. All the people answered with one voice and said, "We will do all the words that Yahweh has said." ⁴ Then Moses wrote down all of Yahweh's words. Early in the morning, Moses built an altar at the foot of the mountain and arranged twelve stone pillars, so that the stones would represent the twelve tribes of Israel. ⁵ He sent some Israelite young men to offer burnt offerings and sacrifice fellowship offerings of oxen to Yahweh. ⁶ Moses took half of the blood and put it into basins; he sprinkled the other half onto the altar. ⁷ He took the book of the Covenant and read it aloud to the people. They said, "We will do all that Yahweh has spoken. We will be obedient." ⁸ Then Moses took the blood and sprinkled it onto the people. He said, "This is the blood of the covenant that Yahweh has made with you by giving you this promise with all these words."

⁹ Then Moses, Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, and seventy of Israel's elders went up the mountain. ¹⁰ They saw the God of Israel. Under his feet there was a pavement made of sapphire stone, as clear as the sky itself. ¹¹ God did not lay a hand on the Israelite leaders. They saw God, and they ate and drank.

¹² Yahweh said to Moses, "Come up to me on the mountain and stay there. I will give you the tablets of stone and the law and commandments that I have written, so that you may teach them." ¹³ So Moses set out with his assistant Joshua and went up the mountain of God. ¹⁴ Moses had said to the elders, "Stay here and wait for us until we come to you. Aaron and Hur are with you. If anyone has a dispute, let him go to them." ¹⁵ So Moses went up the mountain, and the cloud covered it. ¹⁶ Yahweh's glory settled on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it for six days. On the seventh day he called to Moses from within the cloud. ¹⁷ The appearance of Yahweh's glory was like a devouring fire on the top of the mountain in the eyes of the Israelites. ¹⁸ Moses entered the cloud and went up the mountain. He was up the mountain for forty days and forty nights.

Chapter 25

¹ Yahweh spoke to Moses, ² "Tell the Israelites to take an offering for me from every person who is motivated by a willing heart. You must receive these offerings for me. ³ These are the offerings that you must receive from them: gold, silver, and bronze; ⁴ blue, purple, and scarlet material; fine linen; goats' hair; ⁵ ram skins dyed red and fine leather hides; acacia wood; ⁶ oil for the sanctuary lamps; spices for the anointing oil and the fragrant incense; ⁷ onyx stones and other precious stones to be set for the ephod and breastpiece. ⁸ Let them make me a sanctuary so that I may live among them. ⁹ You must make it exactly as I will show you in the plans for the tabernacle and for all its equipment.

¹⁰ They are to make an ark of acacia wood. Its length must be two and a half cubits; its width will be one cubit and a half; and its height will be one cubit and a half. ¹¹ You must cover it inside and out with pure gold, and you must make on it a border of gold around its top. ¹² You must cast four rings of gold for it, and put them on the ark's four feet, with two rings on one side of it, and two rings on the other side. ¹³ You must make poles of acacia wood and cover them with gold. ¹⁴ You must put the poles into the rings on the ark's sides, in order to carry the ark. ¹⁵ The poles must remain in the rings of the ark; they must not be taken from it. ¹⁶ You must put into the ark the covenant decrees that I will give you. ¹⁷ You must make an atonement lid of pure gold. Its length must be two and a half cubits, and its width must be a cubit and a half. ¹⁸ You must make two cherubim of hammered gold for the two ends of the atonement lid. ¹⁹ Make one cherub for one end of the atonement lid, and the other cherub for the other end. They must be made as one piece with the atonement lid. ²⁰ The cherubim must spread out their wings upward and overshadow the atonement lid with them. The cherubim must face one another and look toward the center of the atonement lid. ²¹ You must put the atonement lid on top of the ark, and you must put into the ark the covenant decrees that I am giving you. ²² It is at the ark that I will meet with you. I will speak with you from my position above the atonement lid. It will be from between the two cherubim over the ark of the testimony that I will speak to you about all the commands I will give you for the Israelites.

²³ You must make a table of acacia wood. Its length must be two cubits; its width must be one cubit, and its height must be a cubit and a half. ²⁴ You must cover it with pure gold and put a border of gold around the top. ²⁵ You must make a surrounding frame for it one handbreadth wide, with a surrounding border of gold for the frame. ²⁶ You must make for it four rings of gold and attach the rings to the four corners, where the four feet were. ²⁷ The rings must be attached to the frame to provide places for the poles, in order to carry the table. ²⁸ You must make the poles out of acacia wood and cover them with gold so that the table may be carried with them. ²⁹ You must make the dishes, spoons, pitchers, and bowls to be used to pour out drink offerings. You must make them of pure gold. ³⁰ You must regularly set the bread of the presence on the table before me.

³¹ You must make a lampstand of pure hammered gold. The lampstand is to be made with its base and shaft. Its cups, its leafy bases, and its flowers are to be all made of one piece with it. ³² Six branches must extend out from its sides—three branches must extend from one side, and three branches of the lampstand must extend from the other side. ³³ The first branch must have three cups made like almond blossoms, with a leafy base and a flower, and three cups made like almond blossoms in the other branch, with a leafy base and a flower. It must be the same for all six branches extending out from the lampstand. ³⁴ On the lampstand itself, the central shaft, there must be four cups made like almond blossoms, with their leafy bases and the flowers. ³⁵ There must be a leafy base under the first pair of branches—made as one piece with it, and a leafy base under the second pair of branches—also made as one piece with it. In the same way there must be a leafy base under the third pair of branches, made as one piece with it. It must be the same for all six branches extending out from the lampstand. ³⁶ Their leafy bases and branches must all be one piece with it, one beaten piece of work of pure gold. ³⁷ You must make the lampstand and its seven lamps, and set up its lamps for them to give light from it. ³⁸ The tongs and their trays must be made of pure gold. ³⁹ Use one talent of pure gold to make the lampstand and its accessories. ⁴⁰ Be sure to make them after the pattern that you are being shown on the mountain.

Chapter 26

¹ You must make the tabernacle with ten curtains made from fine linen and blue, purple, and scarlet wool with the designs of cherubim. This will be the work of a very skilled craftsman. ² The length of each curtain must be twenty-eight cubits, the width four cubits. All the curtains must be of the same size. ³ Five curtains must be joined to each other, and the other five curtains must also be joined to each other. ⁴ You must make loops of blue along the outer edge of the end curtain of one set. In the same way, you must do the same along the outer edge of the end curtain in the second set. ⁵ You must make fifty loops on the first curtain, and you must make fifty loops on the end curtain in the second set. Do this so that the loops will be opposite to each other. ⁶ You must make fifty clasps of gold and join the curtains together with them so that the tabernacle becomes united.

⁷ You must make curtains of goats' hair for a tent over the tabernacle. You must make eleven of these curtains. ⁸ The length of each curtain must be thirty cubits, and the width of each curtain must be four cubits. Each of the eleven curtains must be of the same size. ⁹ You must join five curtains to each other and the other six curtains to each other. You must double over the sixth curtain in the front of the tent. ¹⁰ You must make fifty loops on the edge of the end curtain of the first set, and fifty loops on the edge of the end curtain that joins the second set. ¹¹ You must make fifty bronze clasps and put them into the loops. Then you join the tent together so that it may be one piece. ¹² The leftover half curtain, that is, the overhanging part remaining from the tent's curtains, must hang at the back of the tabernacle. ¹³ There must be one cubit of curtain on one side, and one cubit of curtain on the other side—that which is left over of the length of the tent's curtains must hang over the sides of the tabernacle on one side and on the other side, to cover it. ¹⁴ You must make for the tabernacle a covering of ram skins dyed red, and another covering of fine leather to go above that.

¹⁵ You must make upright frames out of acacia wood for the tabernacle. ¹⁶ The length of each frame must be ten cubits, and its width must be one and a half cubits. ¹⁷ There must be two wooden pegs in each frame for joining the frames to each other. You are to make all the tabernacle's frames in this way. ¹⁸ When you make the frames for the tabernacle, you must make twenty frames for the south side. ¹⁹ You must make forty silver bases to go under the twenty frames. There must be two bases under the first frame to be its two pedestals, and also two bases under each of the other frames for their two pedestals. ²⁰ For the second side of the tabernacle, on the north side, you must make twenty frames ²¹ and their forty silver bases. There must be two bases under the first frame, two bases under the next frame, and so on. ²² For the back side of the tabernacle on the west side, you must make six frames. ²³ You must make two frames for the back corners of the tabernacle. ²⁴ These frames must be separate at the bottom, but joined at the top to the same ring. It must be this way for both of the back corners. ²⁵ There must be eight frames, together with their silver bases. There must be sixteen bases in all, two bases under the first frame, two bases under the next frame, and so on.

²⁶ You must make crossbars of acacia wood—five for the frames of the one side of the tabernacle, ²⁷ five crossbars for the frames of the other side of the tabernacle, and five crossbars for the frames for the back side of the tabernacle to the west. ²⁸ The crossbar in the center of the frames, that is, halfway up, must reach from end to end. ²⁹ You must cover the frames with gold. You must make their rings of gold, for them to serve as holders for the crossbars, and you must cover the bars with gold. ³⁰ You must set up the tabernacle by following the plan you were shown on the mountain.

³¹ You must make a curtain of blue, purple, and scarlet wool, and of fine linen, with designs of cherubim, the work of a skillful workman. ³² You must hang it on four pillars of acacia wood covered with gold. These pillars must have hooks of gold set on four silver bases. ³³ You must hang up the curtain under the clasps, and you must bring in the ark of the testimony. The curtain is to separate the holy place from the most holy place. ³⁴ You must put the atonement lid on the ark of the testimony, which is in the most holy place. ³⁵ You must place the table outside the curtain. You must place the lampstand opposite the table on the south side of the tabernacle. The table must be on the north side.

³⁶ You must make a hanging for the tent entrance. You must make it out of blue, purple, and scarlet material and fine twined linen, the work of an embroiderer. ³⁷ For the hanging, you must make five pillars of acacia and cover them with gold. Their hooks must be of gold, and you must cast five bronze bases for them.

Chapter 27

¹ You must make the altar of acacia wood, five cubits long and five cubits wide. The altar must be square and three cubits high. ² You must make extensions of its four corners shaped like ox horns. The horns will be made as one piece with the altar, and you must cover them with bronze. ³ You must make equipment for the altar: pots for ashes, and also shovels, basins, meat forks, and firepans. You must make all these utensils with bronze. ⁴ You must make a grate for the altar, a network of bronze. Make a bronze ring for each of the grate's four corners. ⁵ You must put the grate under the ledge of the altar, halfway down to the bottom. ⁶ You must make poles for the altar, poles of acacia wood, and you must cover them with bronze. ⁷ The poles must be put into the rings, and the poles must be on the two sides of the altar, to carry it. ⁸ You must make the altar hollow, out of planks. You must make it in the way you were shown on the mountain.

⁹ You must make a courtyard for the tabernacle. There must be hangings on the south side of the courtyard, hangings of fine twined linen one hundred cubits long. ¹⁰ The hangings must have twenty posts, with twenty bronze bases. There must also be hooks attached to the posts, as well as silver rods. ¹¹ In the same way, along the north side, there must be hangings one hundred cubits long with twenty posts, twenty bronze bases, hooks attached to the posts, and silver rods. ¹² Along the courtyard on the west side there must be a curtain fifty cubits long. There must be ten posts and ten bases. ¹³ The courtyard must also be fifty cubits long on the east side. ¹⁴ The hangings for one side of the entrance must be fifteen cubits long. They must have three posts with three bases. ¹⁵ The other side must also have hangings fifteen cubits long. They must have their three posts and three bases. ¹⁶ The courtyard gate must be a curtain twenty cubits long. The curtain must be made of blue, purple, and scarlet material and fine twined linen, the work of an embroiderer. It must have four posts with four bases. ¹⁷ All the courtyard posts must have silver rods, silver hooks, and bronze bases. ¹⁸ The length of the courtyard must be one hundred cubits, the width fifty cubits, and the height five cubits with fine twined linen hangings all along, and bases of bronze. ¹⁹ All the equipment to be used in the tabernacle, and all the tent pegs for the tabernacle and courtyard must be made of bronze.

²⁰ You must command the people of Israel to bring olive oil, pure and pressed, for the lamps so they may burn continually. ²¹ In the tent of meeting, outside the curtain that is in front of the tabernacle that contains the ark of testimony, Aaron and his sons must keep the lamps burning before Yahweh, from evening to morning. This requirement will be a lasting statute throughout the generations of the people of Israel.

Chapter 28

¹ Call to yourself Aaron your brother and his sons—Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar—from among the Israelites so that they may serve me as priests. ² You must make for Aaron, your brother, garments that are set apart to me. These garments will be for his honor and splendor. ³ You must speak to all people who are wise in heart, those whom I have filled with the spirit of wisdom, so that they may make Aaron's garments to set him apart to serve me as my priest. ⁴ The garments that they must make are a breastpiece, an ephod, a robe, a coat of woven work, a turban, and a sash. They must make these garments that are set apart to me. They will be for your brother Aaron and his sons so that they may serve me as priests. ⁵ Craftsmen must use fine linen that is gold, blue, purple, and scarlet.

⁶ They must make the ephod of gold, of blue, purple, and scarlet wool, and of fine-twined linen. It must be the work of a skillful craftsman. ⁷ It must have two shoulder pieces attached to its two upper corners. ⁸ Its finely-woven waistband must be like the ephod; it must be made of one piece with the ephod, made of fine twined linen that is gold, blue, purple, and scarlet. ⁹ You must take two onyx stones and engrave on them the names of the sons of Israel. ¹⁰ Six of their names must be on one stone, and six names must be on the other stone, in order of the sons' birth. ¹¹ With the work of an engraver in stone, like the engraving on a signet, you must engrave the two stones with the names of the sons of Israel. You must mount the stones in settings of gold. ¹² You must put the two stones on the shoulder pieces of the ephod, to be stones to remind Yahweh of Israel's sons. Aaron will carry their names before Yahweh on his two shoulders as a reminder to him. ¹³ You must make settings of gold ¹⁴ and two braided chains of pure gold like cords, and you must attach the chains to the settings.

¹⁵ You must make a breastpiece for decision making, the work of a skillful workman, fashioned like the ephod. Make it of gold, of blue, purple, and scarlet wool, and of fine linen. ¹⁶ It is to be square. You must fold the breastpiece double. It must be one span long and one span wide. ¹⁷ You must place in it four rows of precious stones. The first row must have a ruby, a topaz, and a garnet. ¹⁸ The second row must have an emerald, a sapphire, and a diamond. ¹⁹ The third row must have a jacinth, an agate, and an amethyst. ²⁰ The fourth row must have a beryl, and an onyx, and a jasper. They must be mounted in gold settings. ²¹ The stones must be arranged by the names of the sons of Israel. They must be like the engraving on a signet ring, each name standing for one of the twelve tribes. ²² You must make on the breastpiece chains like cords, braided work of pure gold. ²³ You must make two rings of gold for the breastpiece and must attach them to the two ends of the breastpiece. ²⁴ You must attach the two golden chains to the two corners of the breastpiece. ²⁵ You must attach the other ends of the two braided chains to the two settings. Then you must attach those to the shoulder pieces of the ephod at its front. ²⁶ You must make two rings of gold, and you must put them on the other two corners of the breastpiece, on the edge next to the inner border. ²⁷ You must make two more gold rings, and you must attach them to the bottom of the two shoulder pieces of the front of the ephod, close to its seam above the finely-woven waistband of the ephod. ²⁸ They must tie the breastpiece by its rings to the ephod's rings with a blue cord, so that it might be attached just above the ephod's woven waistband. This is so that the breastpiece might not become unattached from the ephod. ²⁹ When Aaron goes into the holy place, he must carry the names of the sons of Israel over his heart in the breastpiece for decision making, as a continuing memorial before Yahweh. ³⁰ You are to put the Urim and the Thummim in the breastpiece for decision making, so they may be over Aaron's heart when he goes in before Yahweh. Thus Aaron will always carry the means for making decisions for the people of Israel over his heart before Yahweh.

³¹ You will make the robe of the ephod entirely of blue fabric. ³² It must have an opening for the head in the middle. The opening must have a woven edge round about so that it does not tear. This must be the work of a weaver. ³³ On the bottom hem, you must make pomegranates of blue, purple, and scarlet yarn all around. Gold bells must be between them all around. ³⁴ There must be a golden bell and a pomegranate, a golden bell and a pomegranate—and so on—all around the hem of the robe. ³⁵ The robe is to be on Aaron when he serves, so that its sound can be heard when he goes into the holy place before Yahweh and when he leaves. This is so that he does not die.

³⁶ You must make a plate of pure gold and engrave on it, like the engraving on a signet, "Holy to Yahweh." ³⁷ You must attach this plate by a blue cord to the front of the turban. ³⁸ It must be on Aaron's forehead; he must always bear any guilt that might attach to the offering of the holy gifts that the Israelites set apart to Yahweh. The turban must be always on his forehead so that Yahweh may accept their gifts. ³⁹ You must make the coat with fine linen, and you must make a turban of fine linen. You must also make a sash, the work of an embroiderer.

⁴⁰ For Aaron's sons you must make coats, sashes, and headbands for their honor and splendor. ⁴¹ You must clothe Aaron your brother, and his sons with him. You must anoint them, ordain them, and set them apart to me, so that they may serve me as priests. ⁴² You must make for them linen undergarments to cover their naked flesh, that will cover them from the waist to the thighs. ⁴³ Aaron and his sons must wear these garments when they enter the tent of meeting or when they approach the altar to serve in the holy place. They must do this so they would not be guilty or else they would die. This is a permanent law for Aaron and his descendants after him.

Chapter 29

¹ Now this is what you must do to set them apart to me so that they may serve me as priests. Take one young bull and two rams without blemish, ² bread without yeast, and cakes without yeast mixed with oil. Also take wafers without yeast rubbed with oil. Make the wafers using fine wheat flour. ³ You must put them into a single basket, bring them in the basket, and present them with the bull and the two rams. ⁴ You must present Aaron and his sons at the entrance to the tent of meeting. You must wash Aaron and his sons in water. ⁵ You must take the garments and clothe Aaron with the coat, the robe of the ephod, the ephod, and the breastpiece, fastening the finely-woven waistband of the ephod around him. ⁶ You must set the turban on his head and put the holy crown on the turban. ⁷ Then take the anointing oil and pour it on his head, and in this way anoint him. ⁸ You must bring his sons and put coats on them. ⁹ You must clothe Aaron and his sons with sashes and put headbands on them. The work of the priesthood will belong to them by permanent law. In this way you must consecrate Aaron and his sons for them to serve me.

¹⁰ You must all bring the bull before the tent of meeting, and Aaron and his sons must lay their hands on its head. ¹¹ You must kill the bull before Yahweh at the entrance to the tent of meeting. ¹² You must take some of the bull's blood and put it on the horns of the altar with your finger, and you must pour out the rest of the blood at the base of the altar. ¹³ You must take all the fat that covers the inner parts, and also take the covering of the liver and the two kidneys with the fat that is on them; burn it all on the altar. ¹⁴ But as for the bull's flesh, as well as its skin and dung, you must burn it up outside the camp. It will be a sin offering.

¹⁵ You must also take the one ram, and Aaron and his sons must lay their hands on its head. ¹⁶ You must kill the ram, then take its blood and sprinkle it on all sides of the altar. ¹⁷ You must cut the ram into pieces and wash its inner parts and its legs, and you must put the inner parts, together with its pieces and with its head, ¹⁸ on the altar. Then burn the whole ram. It will be a burnt offering to Yahweh, a sweet aroma, an offering made to Yahweh by fire.

¹⁹ You must then take the other ram, and Aaron and his sons must lay their hands on its head. ²⁰ Then you must kill the ram and take some of its blood. Put it on the tip of Aaron's right ear, and on the tip of his sons' right ears, on the thumb of their right hands, and on the great toe of their right feet. Then you must sprinkle the blood against the altar on every side. ²¹ You must take some of the blood that is on the altar and some of the anointing oil, and sprinkle it all on Aaron and on his garments, and also on his sons and on their garments. Aaron will then be set apart for me, as well as his garments, his sons and his sons' garments with him. ²² You must take the ram's fat, the fat tail, the fat that covers the inner parts, the covering of the liver, the two kidneys and the fat on them, and the right thigh—for this ram is for the priests' consecration to me. ²³ Take one loaf of bread, one cake of bread made with oil, and one wafer out of the basket of bread without yeast that is before Yahweh. ²⁴ You must put these in Aaron's hands and in the hands of his sons and wave them before me for a wave offering before Yahweh. ²⁵ You must then take the food from their hands and burn it on the altar with the burnt offering. It will produce a sweet aroma for me; it will be an offering made to me by fire.

²⁶ You must take the breast of Aaron's ram of dedication and wave it for a wave offering before Yahweh, and it will be your share. ²⁷ You must set apart to me the breast of the wave offering that is waved, and the thigh that is the contribution for the priests—both the breast that was waved and the thigh that was contributed for Aaron and his sons. ²⁸ This will be a perpetual share for Aaron and his sons. It will be a contribution from the people of Israel to give to Yahweh from their peace offerings. ²⁹ The holy garments of Aaron must also be reserved for his descendants after him. They are to be anointed in them and ordained to me in them. ³⁰ The priest who succeeds him from among his sons, who comes into the tent of meeting to serve me in the holy place, is to wear those garments for seven days.

³¹ You must take the ram for the installation of the priests to me and boil its meat in a holy place. ³² Aaron and his sons must eat the ram's meat and the bread that is in the basket at the entrance to the tent of meeting. ³³ They must eat the meat and bread that were given to atone for them and to ordain them, to be set apart to me. No one else may eat that food, because they must treat it as consecrated to me, reserved for me. ³⁴ If any of the meat of the ordination offering, or any of the bread, remains to the next morning, then you must burn it. It must not be eaten because it has been set apart to me.

³⁵ In this way, by following all that I have commanded you to do, you must treat Aaron and his sons. For seven days you must prepare them. ³⁶ Every day you must offer a bull as a sin offering for atonement. You must purify the altar by making atonement for it, and you must anoint it in order to set it apart to me. ³⁷ For seven days you must make atonement for the altar and set it apart it to Yahweh. Then the altar will be completely set apart to me. Whatever touches the altar will be set apart to Yahweh.

³⁸ You must regularly offer on the altar every day two lambs a year old. ³⁹ One lamb you must offer in the morning, and the other lamb you must offer about sundown. ⁴⁰ With the first lamb, offer a tenth of an ephah of fine flour mixed with the fourth part of a hin of oil from pressed olives, and the fourth part of a hin of wine as a drink offering. ⁴¹ You must offer the second lamb about sunset. You must offer the same grain offering as in the morning, and the same drink offering. These will produce a sweet aroma for me; it will be an offering made to me by fire. ⁴² These must be regular burnt offerings throughout your generations, at the entrance to the tent of meeting before Yahweh, where I will meet with you to speak to you there. ⁴³ That is where I will meet with the Israelites; the tent will be set apart for me by my glory. ⁴⁴ I will set apart the tent of meeting and the altar for these to belong to me alone. I will also set apart Aaron and his sons to serve me as priests. ⁴⁵ I will live among the Israelites and will be their God. ⁴⁶ They will know that I am Yahweh, their God, who brought them out from the land of Egypt so that I might live among them. I am Yahweh, their God.

Chapter 30

¹ You must make an altar to burn incense. You must make it with acacia wood. ² Its length must be one cubit, and its width one cubit. It must be square, and its height must be two cubits. Its horns must be made as one piece with it. ³ You must cover the incense altar with pure gold—its top, its sides, and its horns. You must make a surrounding border of gold for it. ⁴ You must make two golden rings to be attached to it under its border on its two opposite sides. The rings must be holders for poles to carry the altar. ⁵ You must make the poles of acacia wood, and you must cover them with gold. ⁶ You must put the incense altar before the curtain that is by the ark of the testimony. It will be before the atonement lid that is over the ark of the testimony, where I will meet with you. ⁷ Aaron must burn fragrant incense every morning. He must burn it when he tends the lamps, ⁸ and Aaron lights the lamps again in the evening so incense will burn on it regularly before Yahweh, throughout your generations. ⁹ But you must offer no other incense on the incense altar, nor any burnt offering or grain offering. You must pour no drink offering on it. ¹⁰ Aaron must make atonement on its horns once a year. With the blood of the sin offering he will make atonement for it once a year throughout your generations. It is completely set apart to Yahweh."

¹¹ Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ¹² "When you take a census of the Israelites, then each person must give a ransom for his life to Yahweh. You must do this after you count them, so that there will be no plague among them when you count them. ¹³ Everyone who is counted in the census is to pay half a shekel of silver, according to the weight of the shekel of the sanctuary (a shekel is the same as twenty gerahs). This half shekel will be an offering to Yahweh. ¹⁴ Everyone who is counted, from twenty years old and up, must give this offering to me. ¹⁵ When the people give this offering to me to make atonement for their lives, the rich must not give more than the half shekel, and the poor must not give less. ¹⁶ You must receive this atonement money from the Israelites and you must allocate it to the work of the tent of meeting. It must be a reminder to the Israelites before me, to make atonement for your lives."

¹⁷ Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ¹⁸ "You must also make a large bronze basin with a bronze stand, a basin for washing. You must put it between the tent of meeting and the altar, and you must put water in it. ¹⁹ Aaron and his sons must wash their hands and their feet with the water in it. ²⁰ When they go into the tent of meeting or when they go near to the altar to serve me by burning an offering, they must wash with water so that they do not die. ²¹ They must wash their hands and feet so that they do not die. This must be a permanent law for Aaron and his descendants throughout their people's generations."

²² Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ²³ "Take these fine spices: five hundred shekels of flowing myrrh, 250 shekels of sweet-smelling cinnamon, 250 shekels of sweet-smelling cane, ²⁴ five hundred shekels of cassia, measured by the weight of the shekel of the sanctuary, and one hin of olive oil. ²⁵ You must make holy anointing oil with these ingredients, the work of a perfumer. It will be a holy anointing oil, reserved for me. ²⁶ You must anoint the tent of meeting with this oil, as well as the ark of the testimony, ²⁷ the table and all its utensils, the lampstand and its equipment, the incense altar, ²⁸ the altar for burnt offerings with all its equipment, and the basin with its stand. ²⁹ You must set them apart to me so that they may be holy to me. Anything that touches them will also be holy. ³⁰ You must anoint Aaron and his sons and set them aside to me so that they may serve me as priests. ³¹ You must say to the Israelites, 'This must be an anointing oil that is set apart to Yahweh throughout your people's generations. ³² It must not be applied to people's skin, nor must you make any oil like it with the same formula, because it is set apart to Yahweh. You must regard it in this manner. ³³ Whoever makes perfume like it, or whoever puts any of it on someone, that person must be cut off from his people.'"

³⁴ Yahweh said to Moses, "Take spices—stacte, onycha, and galbanum—sweet spices along with pure frankincense, each in equal amounts. ³⁵ Make it into the form of incense, blended by a perfumer, seasoned with salt, pure and set apart. ³⁶ You will grind it into a very fine mixture. Put part of it in front of the ark of the testimony, which is in the tent of meeting, where I will meet with you. You will regard it as very holy to me. ³⁷ As for this incense that you will make, you must not make any with the same formula for yourselves. It must be most holy to you. ³⁸ Whoever makes anything like it to use as a perfume must be cut off from his people."

Chapter 31

¹ Then Yahweh spoke to Moses and said, ² "See, I have called by name Bezalel son of Uri son of Hur, from the tribe of Judah. ³ I have filled Bezalel with my Spirit, to give him wisdom, understanding, and knowledge, for all kinds of craftsmanship, ⁴ to make artistic designs and to work in gold, silver, and bronze; ⁵ also to cut and set stones and to carve wood—to do all kinds of craftsmanship. ⁶ In addition to him, I have appointed Oholiab son of Ahisamak, from the tribe of Dan. I have put skill into the hearts of all who are wise so that they may make all that I have commanded you. This includes ⁷ the tent of meeting, the ark of the testimony, the atonement lid on the ark, and all the furniture of the tent— ⁸ the table and its utensils, the pure lampstand with all its equipment, the incense altar, ⁹ the altar for burnt offerings with all its equipment, and the large basin with its base. ¹⁰ This also includes the finely-woven garments—the holy garments for Aaron the priest and those of his sons, reserved for me so that they may serve as priests. ¹¹ This also includes the anointing oil and the sweet incense for the holy place. These craftsmen must make all these things just as I have commanded you."

¹² Then Yahweh said to Moses and said, ¹³ "Tell the Israelites: 'You must certainly keep Yahweh's Sabbath days, for these will be a sign between him and you throughout your people's generations so that you may know that he is Yahweh, who sets you apart for himself. ¹⁴ So you must keep the Sabbath, for it must be treated by you as holy, reserved for him. Everyone who defiles it must surely be put to death. Whoever works on the Sabbath, that person must surely be cut off from his people. ¹⁵ Work will be done for six days, but the seventh day is to be a Sabbath of complete rest, holy before Yahweh. Whoever does any work on the Sabbath day must surely be put to death. ¹⁶ Therefore the Israelites must keep the Sabbath. They must observe it throughout their people's generations as a lasting covenant. ¹⁷ The Sabbath will always be a sign between Yahweh and the Israelites, for in six days Yahweh made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested and was refreshed.'"

¹⁸ When God had finished talking with Moses on Mount Sinai, he gave him two tablets of covenant decrees, made of stone, written on by his own hand.

Chapter 32

¹ When the people saw that Moses delayed in coming down the mountain, they gathered around Aaron and said to him, "Come, make us an idol that will go before us. As for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has happened to him." ² So Aaron said to them, "Take off the golden rings that are on your wives' ears, and the ears of your sons and daughters, and bring them to me." ³ All the people took off the golden rings that were on their ears and brought them to Aaron. ⁴ He received the gold from their hand and fashioned it with an engraving tool and he made a cast idol in the shape of a calf. Then they said, "These are your gods, Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt." ⁵ When Aaron saw this, he built an altar before the calf and made a proclamation; he said, "Tomorrow will be a festival in Yahweh's honor." ⁶ The people arose early the next day and offered burnt offerings and brought fellowship offerings. Then they sat down to eat and to drink, and then got up to carouse in wild celebration.

⁷ Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, "Go quickly, for your people, whom you brought up out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves. ⁸ They have quickly left the way that I commanded them. They have made a cast idol in the shape of a calf and have worshiped it and sacrificed to it. They have said, 'These are your gods, Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.'" ⁹ Then Yahweh said to Moses, "I have seen this people. Look, they are a stiff-necked people. ¹⁰ Now then, do not try to stop me. My anger will burn hot against them, so I will destroy them. Then I will make a great nation from you." ¹¹ But Moses tried to calm down Yahweh his God. He said, "Yahweh, why does your anger burn against your people, whom you have brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand? ¹² Why should the Egyptians say, 'He led them out with evil intent, to kill them in the mountains and to destroy them from the face of the earth?' Turn from your burning anger and relent from this punishment on your people. ¹³ Call to mind Abraham and Isaac and Israel, your servants, to whom you swore by your own self and said to them, 'I will make your descendants as many as the stars in the heavens, and I will give to your descendants all this land of which I have spoken. They will inherit it forever.'" ¹⁴ Then Yahweh relented from the punishment that he had said he would inflict on his people.

¹⁵ Then Moses turned around and went down the mountain, carrying the two tablets of the covenant decrees in his hand. The tablets were written on both their sides, on both the front and the back. ¹⁶ The tablets were God's own work, and the writing was God's own writing, engraved on the tablets. ¹⁷ When Joshua heard the noise of the people as they shouted, he said to Moses, "There is the noise of combat in the camp." ¹⁸ But Moses said,

     "It is not the sound of a victor,

     and not the sound of defeated people,

     but the sound of singing that I hear."

¹⁹ When Moses approached the camp, he saw the calf and the people dancing. He became very angry. He threw the tablets out of his hands and broke them at the bottom of the mountain. ²⁰ He took the calf that the people had made, burned it, ground it to powder, and poured it into the water. Then he made the people of Israel drink it.

²¹ Then Moses said to Aaron, "What did this people do to you, that you have brought such a great sin on them?" ²² Aaron said, "Do not let your anger burn hot, my master. You know these people, how they are set on doing evil. ²³ They said to me, 'Make us a god who will go before us. As for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has happened to him.' ²⁴ So I said to them, 'Whoever has any gold, let him take it off.' They gave me the gold and I threw it into the fire, and out came this calf."

²⁵ Moses saw that the people were running wild (for Aaron had let them get out of control, causing their enemies to mock them). ²⁶ Then Moses stood at the entrance to the camp and said, "Whoever is on Yahweh's side, come to me." All the Levites gathered around him. ²⁷ He said to them, "Yahweh, the God of Israel, says this: 'Let each man fasten his sword on his side and go back and forth from entrance to entrance throughout the camp, and kill his brother, his companion, and his neighbor.'" ²⁸ The Levites did what Moses ordered. That day about three thousand of the people died. ²⁹ Moses said to the Levites, "You have been placed into Yahweh's service today, for each of you has taken action against his son and his brother, so Yahweh might give you a blessing today."

³⁰ The next day Moses said to the people, "You have committed a very great sin. Now I will go up to Yahweh. Perhaps I can make atonement for your sin." ³¹ Moses returned to Yahweh and said, "Oh, these people have committed a great sin and made themselves an idol of gold. ³² But now, please forgive their sin; but if you do not, blot me out of the book that you have written." ³³ Yahweh said to Moses, "Whoever has sinned against me, that person I will blot out of my book. ³⁴ So now go, lead the people to the place of which I have spoken to you. See, my angel will go before you. But on the day that I punish them, I will punish them for their sin." ³⁵ Yahweh sent a plague on the people because they had made the calf, the one that Aaron made.

Chapter 33

¹ Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, "Go from here, you and the people whom you have brought up out of the land of Egypt. Go to the land about which I made an oath to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, when I said, 'I will give it to your descendants.' ² I will send an angel before you, and I will drive out the Canaanites, Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites. ³ Go to that land, which is flowing with milk and honey, but I will not go up with you, because you are a stiff-necked people. I might destroy you on the way." ⁴ When the people heard these troubling words, they mourned, and no one put on any jewelry. ⁵ Yahweh had said to Moses, "Say to the Israelites, 'You are a stiff-necked people. If I went among you for even one moment, I would destroy you. So now, take off your jewelry so that I may decide what to do with you.'" ⁶ So the Israelites wore no jewelry from Mount Horeb onward.

⁷ Moses took a tent and pitched it outside the camp, some distance from the camp. He called it the tent of meeting. Everyone who asked Yahweh for anything went out to the tent of meeting, outside the camp. ⁸ When Moses would go out to the tent, all the people would stand up at their tent entrances and look at Moses until he had gone inside. ⁹ Whenever Moses entered the tent, the pillar of cloud would come down and stand at the tent entrance, and Yahweh would speak with Moses. ¹⁰ Whenever all the people saw the pillar of cloud stand at the entrance to the tent, they would get up and worship, every man at his own tent entrance. ¹¹ Yahweh would speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend. Then Moses would return to the camp, but his servant Joshua son of Nun, a young man, would stay in the tent.

¹² Moses said to Yahweh, "See, you have been saying to me, 'Take this people on their journey,' but you have not let me know whom you will send with me. You have said, 'I know you by name, and you have also found favor in my eyes.' ¹³ Now if I have found favor in your eyes, show me your ways so that I may know you and continue to find favor in your eyes. Remember that this nation is your people." ¹⁴ Yahweh answered, "My own presence will go with you, and I will give you rest." ¹⁵ Moses said to him, "If your presence does not go with us, do not take us up from here. ¹⁶ For otherwise, how will it be known that I have found favor in your eyes, I and your people? Will it not only be if you go with us so that I and your people are different from all the other peoples that are on the surface of the earth?"

¹⁷ Yahweh said to Moses, "I will also do this thing that you have requested, for you have found favor in my eyes, and I know you by name." ¹⁸ Moses said, "Please show me your glory." ¹⁹ Yahweh said, "I will make all my goodness pass before you, and I will proclaim my name 'Yahweh' before you. I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and I will show mercy on whom I will show mercy." ²⁰ But Yahweh said, "You may not see my face, for no one can see me and live." ²¹ Yahweh said, "See, here is a place by me; you will stand on this rock. ²² While my glory passes by, I will put you in a crevice of the rock and cover you with my hand until I have passed by. ²³ Then I will take away my hand, and you will see my back, but my face will not be seen."

Chapter 34

¹ Yahweh said to Moses, "Cut two tablets of stone like the first tablets. I will write on these tablets the words that were on the first tablets, the tablets that you broke. ² Be ready by morning and come up Mount Sinai, and present yourself there to me on the mountain top. ³ No one is to come up with you. Do not let anyone else be seen anywhere on the mountain. No flocks or herds are even to graze in front of the mountain." ⁴ So Moses cut two tablets of stone like the first ones, and he got up early in the morning and went up Mount Sinai, as Yahweh had instructed him. Moses carried the tablets of stone in his hand. ⁵ Yahweh came down in the cloud and stood with Moses there, and he pronounced the name "Yahweh." ⁶ Yahweh passed by before him and proclaimed, "Yahweh, Yahweh, the merciful and gracious God, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, ⁷ keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquities, transgressions, and sins. But he will by no means clear the guilty. He will bring the punishment for the fathers' sin on their children and on their children's children, as far as the third and fourth generations." ⁸ Moses quickly bowed down to the ground and worshiped. ⁹ Then he said, "If now I have found favor in your eyes, my Lord, please go among us, for this people is stiff-necked. Pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us as your inheritance."

¹⁰ Yahweh said, "See, I am about to make a covenant. Before all your people, I will do marvels such as have not been done in all the earth nor in any nation. All the people among you will see my deeds, for it is a fearful thing that I am doing with you. ¹¹ Obey what I command you today. I am about to drive out before you the Amorites, Canaanites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites. ¹² Be careful not to make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land where you are going, or they will become a trap among you. ¹³ Instead, you must break down their altars, smash their stone pillars, and cut down their Asherah poles. ¹⁴ For you must worship no other god, for Yahweh, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God. ¹⁵ So be careful not to make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, for they prostitute themselves to their gods, and they sacrifice to their gods. Then one of them will invite you and you will eat some of his sacrifice, ¹⁶ and then you will even take some of his daughters for your sons, and his daughters will prostitute themselves to their gods, and they will make your sons prostitute themselves to their gods. ¹⁷ Do not make for yourselves gods of molten metal.

¹⁸ You must keep the Festival of Unleavened Bread. As I commanded you, you must eat bread without yeast for seven days at the fixed time in the month of Aviv, for it was in the month of Aviv you came out from Egypt. ¹⁹ All the firstborn are mine, even every male firstborn of your livestock, whether from herd or flock. ²⁰ You must redeem the firstborn of a donkey with a lamb, but if you do not buy it back, then you must break its neck. You must redeem all the firstborn of your sons. No one may appear before me empty-handed.

²¹ You may work for six days, but on the seventh day you must rest. Even at plowing time and in harvest, you must rest. ²² You must observe the Festival of Weeks with the first yield of the wheat harvest, and you must observe the Festival of Ingathering at the year's end. ²³ Three times a year all your men must appear before Lord Yahweh, the God of Israel. ²⁴ For I will drive out nations before you and expand your borders. No one will desire to have your land as their own when you go up to appear before Yahweh your God three times in a year.

²⁵ You must not offer the blood of my sacrifice with any yeast, nor may any meat from the sacrifice at the Festival of the Passover be left over to the morning. ²⁶ You must bring the best of the firstfruits from your fields to my house. You must not boil a young goat in its mother's milk." ²⁷ Yahweh said to Moses, "Write down these words, for in accordance with these words I have made a covenant with you and with Israel." ²⁸ Moses was there with Yahweh for forty days and nights; he did not eat any food nor drink any water. He wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant, the Ten Commandments.

²⁹ When Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of the covenant decrees in his hand, he did not know that the skin of his face had become radiant while speaking with God. ³⁰ When Aaron and the Israelites saw Moses, the skin of his face was shining, and they were afraid to come near him. ³¹ But Moses called to them, and Aaron and all the leaders of the community came up to him. Then Moses spoke with them. ³² After this, all the people of Israel came up to Moses, and he told them all the commands that Yahweh had given him on Mount Sinai. ³³ When Moses had finished speaking with them, he put a veil over his face. ³⁴ Whenever Moses went before Yahweh to speak with him, he would remove the veil, until he came out. When he came out, he would tell the Israelites what he was commanded to say. ³⁵ When the Israelites saw Moses's face shining, he would put the veil over his face again until he went back in to speak with Yahweh.

Chapter 35

¹ Moses assembled all the community of the Israelites and said to them, "These are the things that Yahweh has commanded you to do. ² On six days work may be done, but for you, the seventh day must be a holy day, a Sabbath day of complete rest, holy to Yahweh. Whoever does any work on that day must be put to death. ³ You must not light a fire in any of your homes on the Sabbath day."

⁴ Moses spoke to all the community of the Israelites, saying, "This is the thing that Yahweh commanded. ⁵ Take an offering for Yahweh, all of you who have a willing heart. Bring an offering to Yahweh—gold, silver, bronze, ⁶ blue, purple, and scarlet wool and fine linen; goats' hair; ⁷ ram skins dyed red and fine leather hides; acacia wood; ⁸ oil for the sanctuary lamps, spices for the anointing oil and the fragrant incense, ⁹ onyx stones and other precious stones to be set for the ephod and breastpiece.

¹⁰ Every skilled man among you is to come and make everything that Yahweh has commanded— ¹¹ the tabernacle with its tent, its covering, its clasps, frames, bars, posts, and bases; ¹² also the ark with its poles, the atonement lid, and the curtain to conceal it. ¹³ They brought the table with its poles, all its utensils, and the bread of the presence; ¹⁴ the lampstand for the lights, with its accessories, its lamps, and the oil for the lamps; ¹⁵ the incense altar with its poles, the anointing oil and the fragrant incense; the hanging for the tabernacle entrance; ¹⁶ the altar for burnt offerings with its bronze grate and its poles and utensils; and the large basin with its base. ¹⁷ They brought the hangings for the courtyard with its posts and bases, and the curtain for the courtyard entrance; ¹⁸ and the tent pegs for the tabernacle and courtyard, together with their ropes. ¹⁹ They brought the finely-woven garments for serving in the holy place, the holy garments for Aaron the priest and his sons, for them to serve as priests."

²⁰ Then all the tribes of Israel left and went away from Moses's presence. ²¹ Everyone whose heart stirred him up and whom his spirit made willing came and brought an offering to Yahweh for the construction of the tabernacle, for all the items of service in it, and for the holy garments. ²² They came, both men and women, all who had a willing heart. They brought brooches, earrings, rings, and ornaments, all kinds of gold jewelry. They all presented offerings of gold as a wave offering to Yahweh. ²³ Everyone who had blue, purple, or scarlet wool, fine linen, goat hair, ram skins dyed red, or fine leather skins brought them. ²⁴ Everyone making an offering of silver or bronze brought it as an offering to Yahweh, and everyone who had acacia wood for any use in the work brought it. ²⁵ Every skilled woman spun wool with her hands and brought what she had spun—blue, purple, or scarlet wool, or fine linen. ²⁶ All the women whose hearts stirred them up and who had skill spun goats' hair. ²⁷ The leaders brought onyx stones and other gems to be set into the ephod and the breastpiece; ²⁸ they brought spices and oil for the lamps, for the anointing oil, and for the fragrant incense. ²⁹ The Israelites brought a freewill offering to Yahweh; every man and woman whose heart was willing brought materials for all the work that Yahweh had commanded through Moses to be made.

³⁰ Moses said to the Israelites, "See, Yahweh has called by name on Bezalel son of Uri son of Hur, from the tribe of Judah. ³¹ He has filled Bezalel with his Spirit, to give him wisdom, understanding, and knowledge, for all kinds of craftsmanship, ³² to make artistic designs and to work in gold, silver, and bronze; ³³ also to cut and set stones and to carve wood—to do all kinds of design and craftsmanship. ³⁴ He has put it in his heart to teach, both he and Oholiab son of Ahisamak, from the tribe of Dan. ³⁵ He has filled them with skill to do all kinds of work, to work as craftsmen, as engravers, as embroiderers in blue, purple, and scarlet wool and fine linen, and as weavers. They are craftsmen in all sorts of work, and they are artistic designers.

Chapter 36

¹ So Bezalel and Oholiab and every skilled person to whom Yahweh has given skill and ability to know how to do any work in the construction of the holy place are to do the work according to all that Yahweh has commanded."

² Moses summoned Bezalel, Oholiab, and every skillful person in whose mind Yahweh had given skill, and whose heart stirred within him to come and do the work. ³ They received from Moses all the offerings that the Israelites had brought for constructing the holy place. The people were still bringing freewill offerings every morning to Moses. ⁴ So all the skilled people working on the holy place came from the work that they had been doing. ⁵ The craftsmen told Moses, "The people are bringing much more than enough for doing the work that Yahweh has commanded us to do." ⁶ So Moses instructed that no one in the camp should bring any more offerings for the construction of the holy place. Then the people stopped bringing these gifts. ⁷ They had more than enough materials for all the work.

⁸ So all the craftsmen among them constructed the tabernacle with ten curtains made from fine linen and blue, purple, and scarlet wool with the designs of cherubim. This was the work of Bezalel, the very skilled craftsman. ⁹ The length of each curtain was twenty-eight cubits, the width four cubits. All the curtains were of the same size. ¹⁰ Bezalel joined five curtains to each other, and the other five curtains he also joined to each other. ¹¹ He made loops of blue along the outer edge of the end curtain of one set, and he did the same along the outer edge of the end curtain in the second set. ¹² He made fifty loops on the first curtain and fifty loops on the edge of the end curtain in the second set. So the loops were opposite to each another. ¹³ He made fifty gold clasps and joined the curtains together with them so that the tabernacle became united.

¹⁴ Bezalel made curtains of goat hair for a tent over the tabernacle; he made eleven of these curtains. ¹⁵ The length of each curtain was thirty cubits, and the width of each curtain was four cubits. Each of the eleven curtains was of the same size. ¹⁶ He joined five curtains to each other and the other six curtains to each other. ¹⁷ He made fifty loops on the edge of the end curtain of the first set, and fifty loops along the edge of the end curtain that joined the second set. ¹⁸ Bezalel made fifty bronze clasps to join the tent together so that it might be one piece. ¹⁹ He made for the tabernacle a covering of ram skins dyed red, another covering of fine leather to go above that.

²⁰ Bezalel made vertical frames out of acacia wood for the tabernacle. ²¹ The length of each frame was ten cubits, and the width of each frame was one and a half cubits. ²² Each frame had two wooden pegs for joining the frames together. He did this for all the frames of the tabernacle. ²³ He made the frames for the tabernacle in this way: twenty frames for the south side. ²⁴ Bezalel made forty silver bases to go under the twenty frames. There were two bases under one frame to join the frames together, and also two bases under each of the other frames to join frames together. ²⁵ For the second side of the tabernacle, on the north side, he made twenty frames ²⁶ and their forty silver bases. There were two bases under the first frame, two bases under the next frame, and so on. ²⁷ For the back of the tabernacle on the west, Bezalel made six frames. ²⁸ He made two frames for the back corners of the tabernacle. ²⁹ These frames were separate at the bottom, but joined at the top in one ring. He made two of them in this way for the two corners. ³⁰ There were eight frames, together with their silver bases. There were sixteen bases in all, two bases under the first frame, two bases under the next frame, and so on.

³¹ Bezalel made crossbars of acacia wood—five for the frames of the one side of the tabernacle, ³² five crossbars for the frames of the other side of the tabernacle, and five crossbars for the frames for the back side of the tabernacle to the west. ³³ He made the crossbar in the center of the frames, that is, halfway up, to reach from end to end. ³⁴ He covered the frames with gold. He made their rings of gold, for them to serve as holders for the crossbars, and he covered the bars with gold.

³⁵ Bezalel made the curtain of blue, purple, and scarlet wool, and of fine linen, with designs of cherubim, the work of a skillful workman. ³⁶ He made for the curtain four pillars of acacia wood, and he covered them with gold. He also made gold hooks for the pillars, and he cast for them four silver bases. ³⁷ He made a hanging for the tent entrance. It was made of blue, purple, and scarlet wool, using fine linen, the work of an embroiderer. ³⁸ He also made the hanging's five pillars with hooks. He covered their tops and their rods with gold. Their five bases were made of bronze.

Chapter 37

¹ Bezalel made the ark of acacia wood. Its length was two and a half cubits; its width was one cubit and a half; and its height was one cubit and a half. ² He covered it inside and out with pure gold and made for it a border of gold around its top. ³ He cast four rings of gold for its four feet, with two rings on one side of it, and two rings on the other side. ⁴ He made poles of acacia wood and covered them with gold. ⁵ He put the poles into the rings on the ark's sides, in order to carry the ark. ⁶ He made an atonement lid of pure gold. Its length was two and a half cubits, and its width was one and a half cubits. ⁷ Bezalel made two cherubim of hammered gold for the two ends of the atonement lid. ⁸ One cherub was for one end of the atonement lid, and other cherub was for the other end. They were made as one piece with the atonement lid. ⁹ The cherubim spread out their wings upward and overshadowed the atonement lid with them. The cherubim faced one another and looked toward the center of the atonement lid.

¹⁰ Bezalel made the table of acacia wood. Its length was two cubits, its width was one cubit, and its height was one and a half cubits. ¹¹ He covered it with pure gold and put a border of pure gold around the top. ¹² He made a surrounding frame for it one handbreadth wide, with a surrounding border of gold for the frame. ¹³ He cast for it four rings of gold and attached the rings to the four corners, where the four feet were. ¹⁴ The rings were attached to the frame to provide places for the poles, in order to carry the table. ¹⁵ He made the poles out of acacia wood and covered them with gold, in order to carry the table. ¹⁶ He made the objects that would be on the table—the dishes, spoons, the bowls, and pitchers to be used to pour out the offerings. He made them out of pure gold.

¹⁷ He made the lampstand of pure hammered gold. He made the lampstand with its base and shaft. Its cups, its leafy bases, and its flowers were all made of one piece with it. ¹⁸ Six branches extended out from its sides—three branches extended from one side, and three branches of the lampstand extended from the other side. ¹⁹ The first branch had three cups made like almond blossoms, with a leafy base and a flower, and three cups made like almond blossoms in the other branch, with a leafy base and a flower. It was the same for all six branches extending out from the lampstand. ²⁰ On the lampstand itself, the central shaft, there were four cups made like almond blossoms, with their leafy bases and the flowers. ²¹ There was a leafy base under the first pair of branches—made as one piece with it, and a leafy base under the second pair of branches—also made as one piece with it. In the same way there was a leafy base under the third pair of branches, made as one piece with it. It was the same for all six branches extending out from the lampstand. ²² Their leafy bases and branches were all one piece with it, one beaten piece of work of pure gold. ²³ Bezalel made the lampstand and its seven lamps, its tongs and their trays of pure gold. ²⁴ He made the lampstand and its accessories with one talent of pure gold.

²⁵ Bezalel made the incense altar. He made it with acacia wood. Its length was one cubit, and its width one cubit. It was square, and its height was two cubits. Its horns were made as one piece with it. ²⁶ He covered the incense altar with pure gold—its top, its sides, and its horns. He also made a surrounding border of gold for it. ²⁷ He made two golden rings to be attached to it under its border on its two opposite sides. The rings were holders for poles to carry the altar. ²⁸ He made the poles of acacia wood, and he covered them with gold. ²⁹ He made the holy anointing oil and the pure fragrant incense, the work of a perfumer.

Chapter 38

¹ Bezalel made the altar for burnt offerings of acacia wood. It was five cubits long and five cubits wide—a square—and three cubits high. ² He made extensions of its four corners shaped like ox horns. The horns were made of one piece with the altar, and he covered it with bronze. ³ He made all the equipment for the altar—pots for ashes, shovels, basins, meat forks, and firepans. He made all this equipment with bronze. ⁴ He made a grate for the altar, a network of bronze to be placed under the ledge, halfway down to the bottom. ⁵ He cast four rings for the four corners of the bronze grate, as holders for the poles. ⁶ Bezalel made poles of acacia wood and covered them with bronze. ⁷ He put the poles through the rings on the sides of the altar, to carry it. He made the altar hollow, out of planks.

⁸ Bezalel made the large bronze basin with a bronze stand. He made the basin out of mirrors belonging to the women who served at the entrance to the tent of meeting. ⁹ He also made the courtyard. The hangings on the south side of the courtyard were of fine linen, one hundred cubits long. ¹⁰ The hangings had twenty posts, with twenty bronze bases. There were hooks attached to the posts, as well as silver rods. ¹¹ In the same way, along the north side, there were hangings one hundred cubits long with twenty posts, twenty bronze bases, hooks attached to the posts, and silver rods. ¹² The hangings of the west side were fifty cubits long, with ten posts and bases. The hooks and rods of the posts were silver. ¹³ The courtyard was also fifty cubits long on the east side. ¹⁴ The hangings for one side of the entrance were fifteen cubits long. They had three posts with three bases. ¹⁵ On the other side of the entrance of the courtyard were also hangings fifteen cubits long, with three posts and three bases. ¹⁶ All the hangings around the courtyard were made of fine linen. ¹⁷ The bases for the posts were made of bronze. The hooks and rods for the posts were made of silver, and the covering for the tops of the posts was also made of silver. All the courtyard posts were covered with silver. ¹⁸ The curtain at the courtyard gate was twenty cubits long. The curtain was made of blue, purple, and scarlet linen, fine twined linen, and was twenty cubits long. It was twenty cubits in length and five cubits in height, like the courtyard curtains. ¹⁹ It had four bronze bases and silver hooks. The covering for their tops and its rods were made of silver. ²⁰ All the tent pegs for the tabernacle and courtyard were made of bronze.

²¹ This is the inventory of the tabernacle, the tabernacle of the covenant decrees, as it was taken following Moses's instructions. It was the work of the Levites under the direction of Ithamar son of Aaron the priest. ²² Bezalel son of Uri son of Hur, from the tribe of Judah, made everything that Yahweh had commanded Moses. ²³ Oholiab son of Ahisamak, from the tribe of Dan, worked with Bezalel as an engraver, as a skillful workman, and as an embroiderer in blue, purple, and scarlet wool, and in fine linen.

²⁴ All the gold that was used for the project, in all the work connected with the holy place—the gold from the wave offering—was twenty-nine talents and 730 shekels, measured by the standard of the sanctuary shekel. ²⁵ The silver given by the community weighed one hundred talents and 1,775 shekels, according to the sanctuary shekel, ²⁶ or one beka per man, which is half a shekel, measured by the sanctuary shekel. This figure was reached on the basis of every person who was counted in the census, those twenty years old and older—603,550 men in all. ²⁷ One hundred talents of silver were cast for the bases of the holy place and the curtain's bases—one hundred bases, one talent for each base. ²⁸ With the remaining 1,775 shekels of silver, Bezalel made the hooks for the posts, covered the tops of the posts, and made the rods for them. ²⁹ The bronze from the wave offering weighed seventy talents and 2,400 shekels. ³⁰ With this he made the bases for the entrance to the tent of meeting, the bronze altar, its bronze grate, all the equipment for the altar, ³¹ the bases for the courtyard, the bases for the courtyard entrance, all the tent pegs for the tabernacle, and all the tent pegs for the courtyard.

Chapter 39

¹ With the blue, purple, and scarlet wool, they made finely-woven garments for service in the holy place. They made Aaron's garments for the holy place, as Yahweh had commanded Moses.

² Bezalel made the ephod of gold, of blue, purple, and scarlet wool, and of fine twined linen. ³ They hammered gold sheets and cut them into wires, to work them into the blue, purple, and scarlet wool, and into the fine linen, the work of a skillful workman. ⁴ They made shoulder pieces for the ephod, attached at its two upper corners. ⁵ Its finely-woven waistband was like the ephod; it was made of one piece with the ephod, made of fine twined linen that was gold, blue, purple, and scarlet, just as Yahweh had commanded Moses.

⁶ They crafted the onyx stones, enclosed in settings of gold, set with engravings as on a signet with the names of the sons of Israel. ⁷ Bezalel put them on the shoulder pieces of the ephod to be memorial stones for the sons of Israel, as Yahweh had commanded Moses.

⁸ He made the breastpiece, the work of a skillful workman, fashioned like the ephod. He made it of gold, of blue, purple, and scarlet wool, and of fine linen. ⁹ It was square. They folded the breastpiece double. It was one span long and one span wide. ¹⁰ They set in it four rows of precious stones. The first row had a ruby, a topaz, and a garnet. ¹¹ The second row had an emerald, a sapphire, and a diamond. ¹² The third row had a jacinth, an agate, and an amethyst. ¹³ The fourth row had a beryl, an onyx, and a jasper. The stones were mounted in gold settings. ¹⁴ There were twelve stones, one for each of the names of the sons of Israel, each engraved with the name of one of the twelve tribes. ¹⁵ On the breastpiece they made chains like cords, braided work of pure gold. ¹⁶ They made two settings of gold and two gold rings, and they attached the two rings to the two corners of the breastpiece. ¹⁷ They put the two braided chains of gold in the two rings at the corners of the breastpiece. ¹⁸ They attached the other two ends of the braided chains to the two settings. They attached them to the shoulder pieces of the ephod at its front. ¹⁹ They made two rings of gold and put them on the two other corners of the breastpiece, on the edge next to the inner border. ²⁰ They made two more gold rings and attached them to the bottom of the two shoulder pieces of the front of the ephod, close to its seam above the finely-woven waistband of the ephod. ²¹ They tied the breastpiece by its rings to the ephod's rings with a blue cord, so that it might be attached just above the ephod's finely-woven waistband. This was so that the breastpiece might not become unattached from the ephod. This was done as Yahweh had commanded Moses.

²² Bezalel made the robe of the ephod entirely of blue fabric, the work of a weaver. ²³ It had an opening for the head in the middle. The opening had a woven edge round about so that it did not tear. ²⁴ On the bottom hem, they made pomegranates of blue, purple, and scarlet yarn and of fine linen. ²⁵ They made bells of pure gold, and they put the bells between the pomegranates all around on the bottom edge the robe, between the pomegranates— ²⁶ a bell and a pomegranate, a bell and a pomegranate—on the edge of the robe for Aaron to serve in. This was as Yahweh had commanded Moses.

²⁷ They made the coats of fine linen for Aaron and for his sons. ²⁸ They made the turban of fine linen, the ornate headbands of fine linen, the linen undergarments of fine linen, ²⁹ and the sash of fine linen and of blue, purple, and scarlet yarn, the work of an embroiderer. This was as Yahweh had commanded Moses.

³⁰ They made the plate of the holy crown of pure gold; they engraved on it, like the engraving on a signet, "Holy to Yahweh." ³¹ They attached to the turban a blue cord to the top of the turban. This was as Yahweh had commanded Moses.

³² So the work on the tabernacle, the tent of meeting, was finished. The people of Israel did everything. They followed all the instructions that Yahweh had given to Moses. ³³ They brought the tabernacle to Moses—the tent and all its equipment, its clasps, frames, bars, posts, and bases; ³⁴ the covering of ram skins dyed red, the covering of fine leather, and the curtain to conceal ³⁵ the ark of the testimony, as well as the poles and the atonement lid. ³⁶ They brought the table, all its utensils, and the bread of the presence; ³⁷ the lampstand of pure gold and its lamps in a row, with its accessories and the oil for the lamps; ³⁸ the golden altar, the anointing oil and the fragrant incense; the hanging for the tabernacle entrance; ³⁹ the bronze altar with its bronze grate and its poles and utensil and the large basin with its base. ⁴⁰ They brought the hangings for the courtyard with its posts and bases, and the curtain for the courtyard entrance; its ropes and tent pegs; and all the equipment for the service of the tabernacle, the tent of meeting. ⁴¹ They brought the fine woven garments for serving in the holy place, the holy garments for Aaron the priest and his sons, for them to serve as priests. ⁴² Thus the people of Israel did all the work as Yahweh had commanded Moses. ⁴³ Moses examined all the work, and, behold, they had done it. As Yahweh had commanded, in that way they did it. Then Moses blessed them.

Chapter 40

¹ Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ² "On the first day of the first month of the new year you must set up the tabernacle, the tent of meeting. ³ You must place the ark of the testimony in it, and you must shield the ark with the curtain. ⁴ You must bring in the table and set in order the things that belong on it. Then you must bring in the lampstand and set up the lamps. ⁵ You must put the golden incense altar before the ark of the testimony, and you must put the curtain at the entrance to the tabernacle. ⁶ You must put the altar for burnt offerings in front of the entrance to the tabernacle, the tent of meeting. ⁷ You must put the large basin between the tent of meeting and the altar and you must put water in it. ⁸ You must set up the courtyard around it, and you must hang up the curtain at the courtyard entrance. ⁹ You must take the anointing oil and anoint the tabernacle and everything that is in it. You must set it apart and all its furnishings to me; then it will be holy. ¹⁰ You must anoint the altar for burnt offerings and all its utensils. You must set apart the altar to me and it will become very holy to me. ¹¹ You must anoint the bronze basin and its base and set it apart to me. ¹² You are to bring Aaron and his sons to the entrance of the tent of meeting and you must wash them with water. ¹³ You are to clothe Aaron with the garments that are set apart to me, anoint him and set him apart so that he may serve as my priest. ¹⁴ You are to bring his sons and clothe them with coats. ¹⁵ You must anoint them as you anointed their father so that they may serve me as priests. Their anointing will make for them a permanent priesthood throughout their people's generations." ¹⁶ This is what Moses did; he followed all that Yahweh had commanded him. He did all these things.

¹⁷ So the tabernacle was set up on the first day of the first month in the second year. ¹⁸ Moses set up the tabernacle, put its bases in place, set up its frames, attached its bars, and set up its pillars and posts. ¹⁹ He spread the covering over the tabernacle and put tent over it, as Yahweh had commanded him. ²⁰ He took the covenant decrees and put them into the ark. He also placed the poles on the ark and put the atonement lid on it. ²¹ He brought the ark into the tabernacle. He set up the curtain for it to shield the ark of the testimony, as Yahweh had commanded him. ²² He put the table into the tent of meeting, on the north side of the tabernacle, outside the curtain. ²³ He placed the bread in order on the table before Yahweh, as Yahweh had commanded him. ²⁴ He put the lampstand into the tent of meeting, across from the table, on the south side of the tabernacle. ²⁵ He lit the lamps before Yahweh, as Yahweh had commanded him. ²⁶ He put the golden incense altar into the tent of meeting in front of the curtain. ²⁷ He burned fragrant incense on it, as Yahweh had commanded him. ²⁸ He hung the curtain at the tabernacle entrance. ²⁹ He put the altar for the burnt offering at the entrance to the tabernacle, the tent of meeting. He offered on it the burnt offering and the grain offering, as Yahweh had commanded him. ³⁰ He placed the basin between the tent of meeting and the altar, and he put water in it for washing. ³¹ Moses, Aaron, and his sons washed their hands and their feet from the basin ³² whenever they would go into the tent of meeting and whenever they would go up to the altar. They washed themselves, as Yahweh had commanded Moses. ³³ Moses set up the courtyard around the tabernacle and the altar. He set up the curtain at the courtyard entrance. In this way, Moses finished the work.

³⁴ Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and Yahweh's glory filled the tabernacle. ³⁵ Moses was not able to enter the tent of meeting because the cloud had settled on it, and because Yahweh's glory filled the tabernacle. ³⁶ Whenever the cloud was taken up from over the tabernacle, the people of Israel would set out on their journey. ³⁷ But if the cloud did not rise up from the tabernacle, then the people would not travel. They would stay until the day that it was lifted up. ³⁸ For Yahweh's cloud was over the tabernacle by day, and his fire was over it by night, in plain view of all the people of Israel throughout their journey.