~~~~~~1~~~~~ ~~~~~~1~~~~~ ~~~~~~1~~~~~ ~~~~~~1~~~~~ ~~~~~~1~~~~~ Now these are the names of the sons of Israel who came to Egypt with Jacob; they came each one with his household: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah; Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin; Dan and Naphtali, Gad and Asher. And all the persons who came from the loins of Jacob were seventy in number, but Joseph was already in Egypt. Then Joseph died, and all his brothers and all that generation. But the sons of Israel were fruitful and increased and multiplied and became exceedingly mighty, so that the land was filled with them. And a new king arose over Egypt, who did not know Joseph. And he said to his people, “Behold, the people of the sons of Israel are more and mightier than we. “Come, let us deal wisely with them, lest they multiply and it be in the event of war, that they also join themselves to those who hate us and fight against us and go up from the land.” So they appointed taskmasters over them to afflict them with hard labors. And they built for Pharaoh storage cities, Pithom and Raamses. But the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and the more they spread out, so that they were in dread of the sons of Israel. So the Egyptians brutally compelled the sons of Israel to slave labor; and they made their lives bitter with hard slave labor in mortar and bricks and in all kinds of slave labor in the field, all their slave labor which they brutally compelled them to do. Then the king of Egypt spoke to the Hebrew midwives, one of whom was named Shiphrah and the other was named Puah; and he said, “When you are helping the Hebrew women to give birth and see them upon the birthstool, if it is a son, then you shall put him to death; but if it is a daughter, then she shall live.” But the midwives feared God and did not do as the king of Egypt had spoken to them, but let the boys live. So the king of Egypt called for the midwives and said to them, “Why have you done this thing, and let the boys live?” Then the midwives said to Pharaoh, “Because the Hebrew women are not as the Egyptian women; for they are vigorous and give birth before the midwife can come to them.” So God was good to the midwives, and the people multiplied and became very mighty. Now it happened that because the midwives feared God, He made households for them. And Pharaoh commanded all his people, saying, “Every son who is born you are to cast into the Nile, and every daughter you are to keep alive.”

~~~~~~2~~~~~ ~~~~~~2~~~~~ ~~~~~~2~~~~~ ~~~~~~2~~~~~ ~~~~~~2~~~~~ And a man from the house of Levi went and took a daughter of Levi as a wife. And the woman conceived and bore a son; and she saw that he was beautiful, so she hid him for three months. But she could not hide him any longer. So she took for him an ark of papyrus reeds and covered it over with tar and pitch. Then she put the child into it and put it among the reeds by the bank of the Nile. And his sister stood at a distance to know what would be done to him. And the daughter of Pharaoh came down to bathe at the Nile, with her young women walking alongside the Nile; and she saw the ark among the reeds and sent her maidservant, and she took it to her. Then she opened it and saw the child. And behold, the boy was crying. And she had pity on him and said, “This is one of the Hebrews’ children.” Then his sister said to Pharaoh’s daughter, “Shall I go and call a nurse for you from the Hebrew women that she may nurse the child for you?” And Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Go.” So the girl went and called the child’s mother. Then Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Take this child away and nurse him for me, and I will give you your wages.” So the woman took the child and nursed him. And the child grew, and she brought him to Pharaoh’s daughter, and he became her son. And she named him Moses and said, “Because I drew him out of the water.” Now it happened in those days, that Moses had grown up. And he went out to his brothers and looked on their hard labors. And he saw an Egyptian striking a Hebrew, one of his brothers. So he turned this way and that, and he saw that there was no one around. So he struck down the Egyptian and hid him in the sand. Then he went out the next day, and behold, two Hebrews were struggling with each other; and he said to the wicked one, “Why are you striking your companion?” But he said, “Who made you a ruler or a judge over us? Are you intending to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?” Then Moses was afraid and said, “Surely the matter has become known.” And Pharaoh heard of this matter, so he sought to kill Moses. But Moses fled from the presence of Pharaoh and settled in the land of Midian, and he sat down by a well. Now the priest of Midian had seven daughters; and they came and drew water and filled the troughs to give water to their father’s flock to drink. Then the shepherds came and drove them away, but Moses rose up and saved them and gave water to their flock to drink. Then they came to Reuel their father, and he said, “Why have you come back so soon today?” So they said, “An Egyptian delivered us from the hand of the shepherds, and he actually even drew the water for us and gave water to the flock to drink.” And he said to his daughters, “Where is he then? Why is it that you have left the man behind? Call him so that he may eat bread.” And Moses was willing to settle down with the man, and he gave his daughter Zipporah to Moses. Then she gave birth to a son, and he named him Gershom, for he said, “I have been a sojourner in a foreign land.” Now it happened in the course of those many days that the king of Egypt died. And the sons of Israel sighed because of the slavery, and they cried out; and their cry for help because of their slavery rose up to God. So God heard their groaning; and God remembered His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. And God saw the sons of Israel, and God knew them.
		
~~~~~~3~~~~~ ~~~~~~3~~~~~ ~~~~~~3~~~~~ ~~~~~~3~~~~~ ~~~~~~3~~~~~ Now Moses was pasturing the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian; and he led the flock to the west side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. And the angel of Yahweh appeared to him in a blazing fire from the midst of the bush; and he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, yet the bush was not consumed. So Moses said, “I must turn aside now and see this marvelous sight. Why is the bush not burned up?” And Yahweh saw that he turned aside to look, so God called to him from the midst of the bush and said, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.” Then He said, “Do not come near here. Remove your sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.” He said also, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” Then Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God. And Yahweh said, “I have surely seen the affliction of My people who are in Egypt, and I have heard their cry because of their taskmasters, for I know their sufferings. “So I have come down to deliver them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up from that land to a good and spacious land, to a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanite and the Hittite and the Amorite and the Perizzite and the Hivite and the Jebusite. “So now, behold, the cry of the sons of Israel has come to Me; and I have also seen the oppression with which the Egyptians are oppressing them. “So now, come and I will send you to Pharaoh, and so you shall bring My people, the sons of Israel, out of Egypt.” But Moses said to God, “Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should bring the sons of Israel out of Egypt?” And He said, “Certainly I will be with you, and this shall be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God at this mountain.” Then Moses said to God, “Behold, I am about to come to the sons of Israel, and I will say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you.’ And they will say to me, ‘What is His name?’ What shall I say to them?” And God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM”; and He said, “Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’” And God furthermore said to Moses, “Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, ‘Yahweh, the God of your fathers, 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 My memorial-name from generation to generation. “Go and gather the elders of Israel together and say to them, ‘Yahweh, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, has appeared to me, saying, “I indeed care about you and what has been done to you in Egypt. “So I said, I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt to the land of the Canaanite and the Hittite and the Amorite and the Perizzite and the Hivite and the Jebusite, to a land flowing with milk and honey.” ’ “And they will listen to your voice; and you with the elders of Israel will come to the king of Egypt, and you all will say to him, ‘Yahweh, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us. So now, please, let us go a three days’ journey into the wilderness, that we may sacrifice to Yahweh our God.’ “But I know that the king of Egypt will not give you permission to go, except by a strong hand. “So I will stretch out My hand and strike Egypt with all My wondrous deeds which I shall do in the midst of it; and after that he will let you go. “And I will give this people favor in the sight of the Egyptians; and it shall be that when you go, you will not go empty. “But every woman shall ask of her neighbor and of the woman who lives in her house, for articles of silver and articles of gold, and clothing; and you will put them on your sons and daughters. Thus you will plunder the Egyptians.”

~~~~~~4~~~~~ ~~~~~~4~~~~~ ~~~~~~4~~~~~ ~~~~~~4~~~~~ ~~~~~~4~~~~~ Then Moses answered and said, “What if they will not believe me and will not listen to my voice? For they may say, ‘Yahweh has not appeared to you.’” And Yahweh said to him, “What is this in your hand?” And he said, “A staff.” Then He said, “Throw it on the ground.” So he threw it on the ground, and it became a serpent; and Moses fled from it. And Yahweh said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand and grasp it by its tail”—so he stretched out his hand and took hold of it, and it became a staff in his hand— “that they may believe that Yahweh, the God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has appeared to you.” And Yahweh furthermore said to him, “Now put your hand into your bosom.” So he put his hand into his bosom; then he took it out, and behold, his hand was leprous like snow. Then He said, “Return your hand into your bosom.” So he returned his hand into his bosom, and when he took it out of his bosom, behold, it returned to being like the rest of his flesh. “And so it will be, if they will not believe you or listen to the witness of the first sign, they may believe the witness of this last sign. “But if it will be that they will not believe even these two signs and that they will not listen to your voice, then you shall take some water from the Nile and pour it on the dry land; and the water which you take from the Nile will become blood on the dry land.” Then Moses said to Yahweh, “Please, Lord, I have never been a man of words, neither recently nor in time past, nor since You have spoken to Your slave; for I am one with a hard mouth and a hard tongue.” And Yahweh said to him, “Who has made man’s mouth? Or who makes him mute or deaf, or seeing or blind? Is it not I, Yahweh? “So now, go, and I, even I, will be with your mouth and will instruct you what you shall speak.” But he said, “Please, Lord, send now the message by whomever You will.” Then the anger of Yahweh burned against Moses, and He said, “Is there not your brother Aaron the Levite? I know that he can certainly speak. And moreover, behold, he is coming out to meet you. And he will see you and be glad in his heart. “And you are to speak to him and put the words in his mouth; and I, even I, will be with your mouth and with his mouth, and I will instruct you in what you shall do. “Moreover, he shall speak for you to the people; and he will become as a mouth for you, and you will become as God to him. “And you shall take in your hand this staff, with which you shall do the signs.” Then Moses went and returned to Jethro his father-in-law and said to him, “Please, let me go, that I may return to my brothers who are in Egypt and see if they are still alive.” And Jethro said to Moses, “Go in peace.” And Yahweh said to Moses in Midian, “Go, return to Egypt, for all the men who were seeking your life are dead.” So Moses took his wife and his sons and mounted them on a donkey and returned to the land of Egypt. Moses also took the staff of God in his hand. And Yahweh said to Moses, “When you go to return to Egypt, see to it that all the miraculous wonders which I have put in your hand, that you do them before Pharaoh; but as for Me, I will harden his heart with strength so that he will not let the people go. “Then you shall say to Pharaoh, ‘Thus says Yahweh, “Israel is My son, My firstborn. “So I said to you, ‘Let My son go that he may serve Me’; but you have refused to let him go. Behold, I will kill your son, your firstborn.” ’ ” Now it happened at the lodging place on the way that Yahweh encountered him and sought to put him to death. Then Zipporah took a flint and cut off her son’s foreskin and touched his feet with it, and she said, “You are indeed a bridegroom of blood to me!” So He let him alone. At that time she said, “You are a bridegroom of blood” with reference to the circumcision. Then Yahweh said to Aaron, “Go to meet Moses in the wilderness.” So he went and encountered him at the mountain of God and kissed him. And Moses told Aaron all the words of Yahweh with which He had sent him, and all the signs that He had commanded him to do. Then Moses and Aaron went and gathered all the elders of the sons of Israel; and Aaron spoke all the words which Yahweh had spoken to Moses. He then did the signs in the sight of the people. So the people believed; and they heard that Yahweh cared about the sons of Israel and that He had seen their affliction. So they bowed low and worshiped.

~~~~~~5~~~~~ ~~~~~~5~~~~~ ~~~~~~5~~~~~ ~~~~~~5~~~~~ ~~~~~~5~~~~~ And afterward Moses and Aaron came and said to Pharaoh, “Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel, ‘Let My people go that they may celebrate a feast to Me in the wilderness.’” But Pharaoh said, “Who is Yahweh that I should listen to His voice to let Israel go? I do not know Yahweh, and also, I will not let Israel go.” Then they said, “The God of the Hebrews has met with us. Please, let us go a three days’ journey into the wilderness that we may sacrifice to Yahweh our God, lest He confront us with pestilence or with the sword.” But the king of Egypt said to them, “Moses and Aaron, why do you draw the people away from their work? Get back to your hard labors!” And Pharaoh said, “Look, the people of the land are now many, and you would have them cease from their hard labors!” So on that day Pharaoh commanded the taskmasters over the people and their foremen, saying, “You are no longer to give the people straw to make brick as previously; let them go and gather straw for themselves. “But the quota of bricks which they were making previously, you shall set upon them; you are not to reduce any of it. Because they are lazy, therefore they are crying out, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to our God.’ “Let their slavery be hard on the men, and let them work at it so that they will have no regard for false words.” So the taskmasters of the people and their foremen went out and spoke to the people, saying, “Thus says Pharaoh, ‘I am not going to give you any straw. ‘You go and get straw for yourselves wherever you can find it, but no amount of your slave labor will be reduced.’” So the people scattered through all the land of Egypt to gather stubble for straw. And the taskmasters were pressing them, saying, “Complete your work quota, the daily amount, just as when there was straw.” Moreover, the foremen of the sons of Israel, whom Pharaoh’s taskmasters had set over them, were beaten and were asked, “Why have you not completed your required amount either yesterday or today in making brick as previously?” Then the foremen of the sons of Israel came and cried out to Pharaoh, saying, “Why do you deal this way with your slaves? “There is no straw given to your slaves, yet they keep saying to us, ‘Make bricks!’ And behold, your slaves are being beaten; but it is the sin of your own people.” But he said, “You are lazy—lazy! Therefore you say, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to Yahweh.’ “So now, go and labor; but straw will not be given to you, yet you must deliver the quota of bricks.” Then the foremen of the sons of Israel saw that they were in trouble because they were told, “You must not reduce your daily amount of bricks.” When they left Pharaoh’s presence, they confronted Moses and Aaron, standing there to meet them. And they said to them, “May Yahweh look upon you and judge, for you have made us a foul smell in Pharaoh’s sight and in the sight of his servants, to put a sword in their hand to kill us.” Then Moses returned to Yahweh and said, “O Lord, why have You brought harm to this people? Why did You ever send me? “Ever since I came to Pharaoh to speak in Your name, he has done harm to this people, and You have not delivered Your people at all.”

~~~~~~6~~~~~ ~~~~~~6~~~~~ ~~~~~~6~~~~~ ~~~~~~6~~~~~ ~~~~~~6~~~~~ Then Yahweh said to Moses, “Now you shall see what I will do to Pharaoh; for by a strong hand he will let them go, and by a strong hand he will drive them out of his land.” God spoke further to Moses and said to him, “I am Yahweh; and I appeared to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, as God Almighty, but by My name, Yahweh, I was not known to them. “And I also established My covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the land in which they sojourned. “Furthermore I have heard the groaning of the sons of Israel because the Egyptians are holding them in slavery, and I have remembered My covenant. “Say, therefore, to the sons of Israel, ‘I am Yahweh, and I will bring you out from under the hard labors of the Egyptians, and I will deliver you from their slavery. I will also redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great judgments. ‘Then I will take you for My people, and I will be your God; and you shall know that I am Yahweh your God, who brought you out from under the hard labors of the Egyptians. ‘And I will bring you to the land which I swore to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, and I will give it to you for a possession; I am Yahweh.’” So Moses spoke thus to the sons of Israel, but they did not listen to Moses on account of their weakness of spirit and hard slavery. Now Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, “Come, tell Pharaoh king of Egypt to let the sons of Israel go out of his land.” But Moses spoke before Yahweh, saying, “Behold, the sons of Israel have not listened to me; how then will Pharaoh listen to me, for I am of uncircumcised lips?” Then Yahweh spoke to Moses and to Aaron and gave them a command for the sons of Israel and for Pharaoh king of Egypt, to bring the sons of Israel out of the land of Egypt. These are the heads of their fathers’ households. The sons of Reuben, Israel’s firstborn: Hanoch and Pallu, Hezron and Carmi; these are the families of Reuben. The sons of Simeon: Jemuel and Jamin and Ohad and Jachin and Zohar and Shaul the son of a Canaanite woman; these are the families of Simeon. These are the names of the sons of Levi according to their generations: Gershon and Kohath and Merari; and the years of Levi’s life were 137 years. The sons of Gershon: Libni and Shimei, according to their families. The sons of Kohath: Amram and Izhar and Hebron and Uzziel; and the years of Kohath’s life were 133 years. The sons of Merari: Mahli and Mushi. These are the families of the Levites according to their generations. And Amram took his father’s sister Jochebed as a wife, and she bore him Aaron and Moses; and the years of Amram’s life were 137 years. The sons of Izhar: Korah and Nepheg and Zichri. The sons of Uzziel: Mishael and Elzaphan and Sithri. And Aaron took Elisheba, the daughter of Amminadab, the sister of Nahshon, as a wife, and she bore him Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar. The sons of Korah: Assir and Elkanah and Abiasaph; these are the families of the Korahites. And Aaron’s son Eleazar took one of the daughters of Putiel as a wife, and she bore him Phinehas. These are the heads of the fathers’ households of the Levites according to their families. It was the same Aaron and Moses to whom Yahweh said, “Bring out the sons of Israel from the land of Egypt according to their hosts.” They were the ones who spoke to Pharaoh king of Egypt to bring out the sons of Israel from Egypt; it was the same Moses and Aaron. Now it happened on the day when Yahweh spoke to Moses in the land of Egypt, that Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, “I am Yahweh; speak to Pharaoh king of Egypt all that I am speaking to you.” But Moses said before Yahweh, “Behold, I am of uncircumcised lips; how then will Pharaoh listen to me?”

~~~~~~7~~~~~ ~~~~~~7~~~~~ ~~~~~~7~~~~~ ~~~~~~7~~~~~ ~~~~~~7~~~~~ Then Yahweh said to Moses, “See, I set you as God to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron shall be your prophet. “You shall speak all that I command you, and your brother Aaron shall speak to Pharaoh that he let the sons of Israel go out of his land. “But I will harden Pharaoh’s heart with stiffness that I may multiply My signs and My wonders in the land of Egypt. “But Pharaoh will not listen to you. And I will set My hand upon Egypt and bring out My hosts, My people the sons of Israel, from the land of Egypt by great judgments. “Then the Egyptians shall know that I am Yahweh, when I stretch out My hand against Egypt and bring out the sons of Israel from their midst.” So Moses and Aaron did it; as Yahweh commanded them, thus they did. Now Moses was eighty years old and Aaron eighty-three years old, when they spoke to Pharaoh. And Yahweh spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, “When Pharaoh speaks to you, saying, ‘Work a miraculous wonder,’ then you shall say to Aaron, ‘Take your staff and throw it down before Pharaoh, that it may become a serpent.’” So Moses and Aaron came to Pharaoh, and thus they did just as Yahweh had commanded; and Aaron threw his staff down before Pharaoh and his servants, and it became a serpent. Then Pharaoh also called for the wise men and the sorcerers, and they also, the magicians of Egypt, did the same with their secret arts. And each one threw down his staff, and they became serpents. But Aaron’s staff swallowed up their staffs. Yet Pharaoh’s heart was hardened with strength, and he did not listen to them, as Yahweh had spoken. Then Yahweh said to Moses, “Pharaoh’s heart is hard with firmness; he refuses to let the people go. “Go to Pharaoh in the morning as he is going out to the water, and station yourself to meet him on the bank of the Nile; and you shall take in your hand the staff that was turned into a serpent. “And you shall say to him, ‘Yahweh, the God of the Hebrews, sent me to you, saying, “Let My people go, that they may serve Me in the wilderness. But behold, you have not listened until now.” ‘Thus says Yahweh, “By this you shall know that I am Yahweh: behold, I am about to strike the water that is in the Nile with the staff that is in my hand, and it will be turned to blood. “And the fish that are in the Nile will die, and the Nile will become foul, and the Egyptians will be weary of drinking water from the Nile.” ’ ” Then Yahweh said to Moses, “Say to Aaron, ‘Take your staff and stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt, over their rivers, over their streams, and over their pools and over all their reservoirs of water, that they may become blood; and there will be blood throughout all the land of Egypt, both in vessels of wood and in vessels of stone.’” So Moses and Aaron did thus, as Yahweh had commanded. And he raised up the staff and struck the water that was in the Nile, in the sight of Pharaoh and in the sight of his servants, and all the water that was in the Nile was turned to blood. And the fish that were in the Nile died, and the Nile became foul, so that the Egyptians could not drink water from the Nile. And the blood was through all the land of Egypt. Yet the magicians of Egypt did the same with their secret arts; and Pharaoh’s heart was hardened with strength, and he did not listen to them, as Yahweh had spoken. Then Pharaoh turned and went into his house, and he did not set his heart even on this. So all the Egyptians dug around the Nile for water to drink, for they could not drink of the water of the Nile. And seven full days passed after Yahweh had struck the Nile.

~~~~~~8~~~~~ ~~~~~~8~~~~~ ~~~~~~8~~~~~ ~~~~~~8~~~~~ ~~~~~~8~~~~~ Then Yahweh said to Moses, “Come to Pharaoh and say to him, ‘Thus says Yahweh, “Let My people go, that they may serve Me. “But if you refuse to let them go, behold, I will smite your whole territory with frogs. “And the Nile will swarm with frogs, and they will go up and come into your house and into your bedroom and on your bed and into the houses of your servants and on your people and into your ovens and into your kneading bowls. “So the frogs will come up on you and on your people and on all your servants.” ’ ” Then Yahweh said to Moses, “Say to Aaron, ‘Stretch out your hand with your staff over the rivers, over the streams and over the pools, and cause the frogs to come up on the land of Egypt.’” So Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt, and the frogs came up and covered the land of Egypt. And the magicians did the same with their secret arts; they caused the frogs to come up on the land of Egypt. Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron and said, “Entreat Yahweh that He may cause the frogs to depart from me and from my people; and I will let the people go, that they may sacrifice to Yahweh.” And Moses said to Pharaoh, “May the honor be yours to tell me: when shall I entreat for you and for your servants and for your people, that the frogs be cut off from you and your houses, that they may remain only in the Nile?” Then he said, “Tomorrow.” So he said, “May it be according to your word, that you may know that there is no one like Yahweh our God. “And the frogs will depart from you and your houses and your servants and your people; they will remain only in the Nile.” Then Moses and Aaron went out from Pharaoh, and Moses cried out to Yahweh concerning the frogs which He had set upon Pharaoh. So Yahweh did according to the word of Moses, and the frogs died out of the houses, the courts, and the fields. So they piled them in heaps, and the land became foul. Then Pharaoh saw that there was relief, and he hardened his heart with firmness and did not listen to them, as Yahweh had spoken. Then Yahweh said to Moses, “Say to Aaron, ‘Stretch out your staff and strike the dust of the earth, that it may become gnats through all the land of Egypt.’” And they did so; and Aaron stretched out his hand with his staff and struck the dust of the earth, and there were gnats on man and beast. All the dust of the earth became gnats through all the land of Egypt. Then the magicians did the same with their secret arts in order to bring forth gnats, but they could not; so there were gnats on man and beast. And the magicians said to Pharaoh, “This is the finger of God.” But Pharaoh’s heart was hardened with strength, and he did not listen to them, as Yahweh had spoken. And Yahweh said to Moses, “Rise early in the morning and stand before Pharaoh as he comes out to the water, and you shall say to him, ‘Thus says Yahweh, “Let My people go, that they may serve Me. “For if you do not let My people go, behold, I will send swarms of flies on you and on your servants and on your people and into your houses; and the houses of the Egyptians will be full of swarms of flies, and also the ground on which they stand. “But on that day I will make a distinction for the land of Goshen, where My people are living, so that no swarms of flies will be there, that you may know that I, Yahweh, am in the midst of the land. “And I will put a division between My people and your people. Tomorrow this sign will happen.” ’ ” Then Yahweh did so. And there came heavy swarms of flies into the house of Pharaoh and the houses of his servants, and the land was laid waste because of the swarms of flies in all the land of Egypt. And Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron and said, “Go, sacrifice to your God within the land.” But Moses said, “It is not right to do so, for we will sacrifice to Yahweh our God what is an abomination to the Egyptians. If we sacrifice what is an abomination to the Egyptians before their eyes, will they not then stone us? “We must go a three days’ journey into the wilderness and sacrifice to Yahweh our God as He says to us.” And Pharaoh said, “I will let you go, that you may sacrifice to Yahweh your God in the wilderness; only you shall not go very far away. Entreat for me.” Then Moses said, “Behold, I am going out from you, and I shall entreat Yahweh that the swarms of flies may depart from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people tomorrow; only may Pharaoh not deal deceitfully again in not letting the people go to sacrifice to Yahweh.” So Moses went out from Pharaoh and entreated Yahweh. And Yahweh did according to the word of Moses and caused the swarms of flies to depart from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people; not one remained. Then Pharaoh hardened his heart with firmness this time also, and he did not let the people go.

~~~~~~9~~~~~ ~~~~~~9~~~~~ ~~~~~~9~~~~~ ~~~~~~9~~~~~ ~~~~~~9~~~~~ Then Yahweh said to Moses, “Come to Pharaoh and speak to him, ‘Thus says Yahweh, the God of the Hebrews, “Let My people go, that they may serve Me. “For if you refuse to let them go and continue to hold them, behold, the hand of Yahweh will come with a very heavy pestilence on your livestock which are in the field, on the horses, on the donkeys, on the camels, on the herds, and on the flocks. “But Yahweh will make a distinction between the livestock of Israel and the livestock of Egypt, so that nothing will die of all that belongs to the sons of Israel.” ’ ” Yahweh also set a definite time, saying, “Tomorrow Yahweh will do this thing in the land.” So Yahweh did this thing on the next day, and all the livestock of Egypt died; but of the livestock of the sons of Israel, not one died. And Pharaoh sent, and behold, there was not even one of the livestock of Israel dead. But the heart of Pharaoh was hardened with firmness, and he did not let the people go. Then Yahweh said to Moses and Aaron, “Take for yourselves handfuls of soot from a kiln, and let Moses toss it toward the sky in the sight of Pharaoh. “And it will become fine dust over all the land of Egypt, and it will become boils breaking out with sores on man and beast through all the land of Egypt.” So they took the soot from the kiln and stood before Pharaoh; and Moses tossed it toward the sky, and it became boils breaking out with sores on man and beast. And the magicians could not stand before Moses because of the boils, for the boils were on the magicians as well as on all the Egyptians. And Yahweh hardened Pharaoh’s heart with strength, and he did not listen to them, just as Yahweh had spoken to Moses. And Yahweh said to Moses, “Rise up early in the morning and stand before Pharaoh, and you shall say to him, ‘Thus says Yahweh, the God of the Hebrews, “Let My people go, that they may serve Me. “For this time I will send all My plagues against your heart and amongst your servants and your people, so that you may know that there is no one like Me in all the earth. “For if by now I had sent forth My hand and struck you and your people with pestilence, you would then have been wiped out from the earth. “But, indeed, for this reason I have caused you to stand, in order to show you My power and in order to recount My name through all the earth. “Still you exalt yourself against My people by not letting them go. “Behold, about this time tomorrow, I will rain down very heavy hail, such as has not been seen in Egypt from the day it was founded until now. “So now, send, bring your livestock and whatever you have in the field to safety. Every man and beast that is found in the field and is not brought home, the hail will come down on them, and they will die.” ’ ” The one among the servants of Pharaoh who feared the word of Yahweh made his servants and his livestock flee into the houses; but he who did not consider in his heart the word of Yahweh left his servants and his livestock in the field. Now Yahweh said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand toward the sky, that there may be hail on all the land of Egypt, on man and on beast and on every plant of the field, throughout the land of Egypt.” So Moses stretched out his staff toward the sky, and Yahweh gave forth thunder and hail, and fire went down to the earth. And Yahweh rained down hail on the land of Egypt. So there was hail, and fire flashing continually in the midst of the hail, very heavy, such as had not been in all the land of Egypt since it became a nation. And the hail struck all that was in the field through all the land of Egypt, from man to beast; the hail also struck every plant of the field and shattered every tree of the field. Only in the land of Goshen, where the sons of Israel were, there was no hail. Then Pharaoh sent and called for Moses and Aaron and said to them, “I have sinned this time; Yahweh is the righteous one, and I and my people are the wicked ones. “Entreat Yahweh, for God’s thunder and hail are too much; and I will let you go, and you shall stay no longer.” And Moses said to him, “As soon as I go out of the city, I will spread out my hands to Yahweh; the thunder will cease, and there will be hail no longer, that you may know that the earth is Yahweh’s. “But as for you and your servants, I know that you do not yet fear Yahweh God.” (Now the flax and the barley were struck down, for the barley was in the ear and the flax was in bud. But the wheat and the spelt were not struck down, for they are late-ripening.) And Moses went out of the city from Pharaoh and spread out his hands to Yahweh; and the thunder and the hail ceased, and rain no longer poured on the earth. But Pharaoh saw that the rain and the hail and the thunder had ceased. So he sinned again and hardened his heart with firmness, he and his servants. And Pharaoh’s heart was hardened with strength, and he did not let the sons of Israel go, just as Yahweh had spoken by the hand of Moses.

~~~~~~10~~~~~ ~~~~~~10~~~~~ ~~~~~~10~~~~~ ~~~~~~10~~~~~ ~~~~~~10~~~~~ Then Yahweh said to Moses, “Come to Pharaoh, for I have hardened his heart and the heart of his servants with firmness, that I may set these signs of Mine among them, and that you may recount in the hearing of your son and of your grandson, how I dealt severely with the Egyptians, and how I put My signs among them, that you may know that I am Yahweh.” Then Moses and Aaron came to Pharaoh and said to him, “Thus says Yahweh, the God of the Hebrews, ‘How long will you refuse to humble yourself before Me? Let My people go, that they may serve Me. ‘For if you refuse to let My people go, behold, tomorrow I will bring locusts into your territory. ‘And they shall cover the surface of the land, so that no one will be able to see the land. They will also eat the rest of what has escaped—what remains for you from the hail—and they will eat every tree which sprouts for you out of the field. ‘Then your houses and the houses of all your servants and the houses of all the Egyptians shall be filled, something which neither your fathers nor your grandfathers have seen, from the day that they came upon the earth until this day.’” And he turned and went out from Pharaoh. And Pharaoh’s servants said to him, “How long will this man be a snare to us? Let the men go, that they may serve Yahweh their God. Do you not yet know that Egypt is destroyed?” So Moses and Aaron were brought back to Pharaoh, and he said to them, “Go, serve Yahweh your God! Who are the ones that are going?” And Moses said, “We shall go with our young and our old; with our sons and our daughters, with our flocks and our herds we shall go, for it is a feast of Yahweh for us.” Then he said to them, “Thus may Yahweh be with you, if ever I let you and your little ones go! See, for evil is on your faces. “Not so! Go now, the men among you, and serve Yahweh, for that is what you are seeking.” So they were driven out from Pharaoh’s presence. Then Yahweh said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the land of Egypt for the locusts, that they may come up on the land of Egypt and eat every plant of the land, all that the hail has left remaining.” So Moses stretched out his staff over the land of Egypt, and Yahweh directed an east wind on the land all that day and all that night; and when it was morning, the east wind brought the locusts. And the locusts came up over all the land of Egypt and rested on all the territory of Egypt; they were very heavy. There had never been so many locusts, nor would there be so many again. For they covered the surface of the whole land, so that the land was darkened; and they ate every plant of the land and all the fruit of the trees that the hail had left. Thus nothing green was left on tree or plant of the field through all the land of Egypt. Then Pharaoh hurriedly called for Moses and Aaron, and he said, “I have sinned against Yahweh your God and against you. “So now, please forgive my sin only this once and entreat Yahweh your God, that He would only cause this death to depart from me.” And he went out from Pharaoh and entreated Yahweh. So Yahweh changed the wind to a very strong west wind which took up the locusts and drove them into the Red Sea; not one locust remained in all the territory of Egypt. But Yahweh hardened Pharaoh’s heart with strength, and he did not let the sons of Israel go. Then Yahweh said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand toward the sky, that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, even a darkness which may be felt.” So Moses stretched out his hand toward the sky, and there was thick darkness in all the land of Egypt for three days. They did not see one another, nor did anyone rise from his place for three days, but all the sons of Israel had light in their places of habitation. Then Pharaoh called to Moses and said, “Go, serve Yahweh; only let your flocks and your herds be detained. Even your little ones may go with you.” But Moses said, “You must also let us have in our hand sacrifices and burnt offerings, that we may sacrifice them to Yahweh our God. “Therefore, our livestock too shall go with us; not a hoof shall remain behind, for we shall take some of them to serve Yahweh our God. And until we come there, we ourselves do not know with what we shall serve Yahweh.” But Yahweh hardened Pharaoh’s heart with strength, and he was not willing to let them go. Then Pharaoh said to him, “Get away from me! Beware, do not see my face again, for in the day you see my face you shall die!” And Moses said, “As you have spoken; I shall never see your face again!”

~~~~~~11~~~~~ ~~~~~~11~~~~~ ~~~~~~11~~~~~ ~~~~~~11~~~~~ ~~~~~~11~~~~~ Then Yahweh said to Moses, “One more plague I will bring on Pharaoh and on Egypt; after that he will let you go from here. When he lets you go, he will surely drive you out from here completely. “Speak now in the hearing of the people so that each man may ask from his neighbor and each woman from her neighbor for articles of silver and articles of gold.” (And Yahweh gave the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians. Moreover, the man Moses himself was very great in the land of Egypt, both in the sight of Pharaoh’s servants and in the sight of the people.) So Moses said, “Thus says Yahweh, ‘About midnight I am going out into the midst of Egypt, and all the firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die, from the firstborn of the Pharaoh who sits on his throne, even to the firstborn of the servant-girl who is behind the millstones; and all the firstborn of the cattle. ‘Moreover, there shall be a great cry in all the land of Egypt, such as there has not been before and such as shall never be again. ‘But for any of the sons of Israel a dog will not even bark, whether against man or beast, that you may know how Yahweh makes a distinction between Egypt and Israel.’ “Then all these your servants will come down to me and bow themselves before me, saying, ‘Go out, you and all the people who follow you,’ and after that I will go out.” And he went out from Pharaoh in hot anger. Then Yahweh said to Moses, “Pharaoh will not listen to you, so that My miraculous wonders will be multiplied in the land of Egypt.” Now Moses and Aaron did all these miraculous wonders before Pharaoh; yet Yahweh hardened Pharaoh’s heart with strength, and he did not let the sons of Israel go out of his land.

~~~~~~12~~~~~ ~~~~~~12~~~~~ ~~~~~~12~~~~~ ~~~~~~12~~~~~ ~~~~~~12~~~~~ Now Yahweh said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, “This month shall be the beginning of months for you; it is to be the first month of the year to you. “Speak to all the congregation of Israel, saying, ‘On the tenth of this month they are each one to take a lamb for themselves, according to their fathers’ households, a lamb for each household. ‘Now if the household is too small for a lamb, then he and his neighbor nearest to his house are to take one according to the number of persons in them; according to what each man should eat, you are to apportion the lamb. ‘Your lamb shall be a male, without blemish, a year old; you may take it from the sheep or from the goats. ‘And you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of the same month, then the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall slaughter it at twilight. ‘Moreover, they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel of the houses in which they eat it. ‘And they shall eat the flesh that night, roasted with fire, and they shall eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. ‘Do not eat any of it raw or boiled at all with water, but rather roasted with fire, both its head and its legs along with its entrails. ‘And you shall not leave any of it over until morning, but whatever is left of it until morning, you shall burn with fire. ‘Now you shall eat it in this manner: with your loins girded, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and you shall eat it in haste—it is the Passover of Yahweh. ‘And I will go through the land of Egypt on that night and will strike down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments—I am Yahweh. ‘And the blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you are; and I will see the blood, and I will pass over you, and there shall be no plague among you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt. ‘Now this day will be a memorial to you, and you shall celebrate it as a feast to Yahweh; throughout your generations you are to celebrate it as a perpetual statute. ‘Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, but on the first day you shall remove leaven from your houses; for whoever eats anything leavened from the first day until the seventh day, that person shall be cut off from Israel. ‘Now on the first day there shall be a holy convocation, and on the seventh day there shall be a holy convocation for you; no work at all shall be done on them, except what must be eaten by every person, that alone may be done by you. ‘You shall also keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread, for on this very day I brought your hosts out of the land of Egypt; therefore you shall keep this day throughout your generations as a perpetual statute. ‘In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at evening, you shall eat unleavened bread until the twenty-first day of the month at evening. ‘Seven days there shall be no leaven found in your houses; for whoever eats what is leavened, that person shall be cut off from the congregation of Israel, whether he is a sojourner or a native of the land. ‘You shall not eat anything leavened; in all your places of habitation you shall eat unleavened bread.’” Then Moses called for all the elders of Israel and said to them, “Bring out and take for yourselves lambs according to your families and slaughter the Passover lamb. “And you shall take a bunch of hyssop and dip it in the blood which is in the basin, and touch some of the blood that is in the basin to the lintel and the two doorposts; and none of you shall go outside the doorway of his house until morning. “And Yahweh will pass through to smite the Egyptians; and He will see the blood on the lintel and on the two doorposts, and Yahweh will pass over the doorway and will not allow the destroyer to come into your houses to smite you. “And you shall keep this event as a statute for you and your children forever. “And it will be, when you enter the land which Yahweh will give you, as He has promised, you shall keep this new slavery. “And it will be when your children say to you, ‘What is the meaning of this new slavery to you?’ that you shall say, ‘It is a Passover sacrifice to Yahweh who passed over the houses of the sons of Israel in Egypt when He smote the Egyptians, but delivered our homes.’” And the people bowed low and worshiped. Then the sons of Israel went and did so; just as Yahweh had commanded Moses and Aaron, so they did. Now it happened at midnight that Yahweh struck all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sat on his throne to the firstborn of the captive who was in the dungeon, and all the firstborn of cattle. Then Pharaoh arose in the night, he and all his servants and all the Egyptians, and there was a great cry in Egypt, for there was no home where there was not someone dead. Then he called for Moses and Aaron at night and said, “Rise up, get out from among my people, both you and the sons of Israel; and go, serve Yahweh, as you have spoken. “Take both your flocks and your herds, as you have spoken, and go, and bless me also.” And the Egyptians strongly pressed the people to send them out of the land in haste, for they said, “We will all be dead.” So the people took up their dough before it was leavened, with their kneading bowls bound up in the clothes on their shoulders. Now the sons of Israel had done according to the word of Moses—they had asked from the Egyptians for articles of silver and articles of gold, and clothing; and Yahweh had given the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they let them have what they asked. Thus they plundered the Egyptians. And the sons of Israel journeyed from Rameses to Succoth, about six hundred thousand men on foot, aside from the little ones. A foreign multitude also went up with them, along with flocks and herds, a very large number of livestock. And they baked the dough which they had brought out of Egypt into cakes of unleavened bread. For it had not become leavened, since they were driven out of Egypt and could not delay, nor had they prepared any provisions for themselves. Now the time that the sons of Israel lived in Egypt was 430 years. And it happened at the end of 430 years, to the very day, that all the hosts of Yahweh went out from the land of Egypt. It is a night to be kept for Yahweh for having brought them out from the land of Egypt; this night is for Yahweh, to be kept by all the sons of Israel throughout their generations. And Yahweh said to Moses and Aaron, “This is the statute of the Passover: no foreigner shall eat of it; but every man’s slave purchased with money, after you have circumcised him, then he may eat of it. “A foreign resident or a hired person shall not eat of it. “It shall be eaten in a single house; you shall not bring forth any of the flesh outside of the house, and you shall not break any bone of it. “All the congregation of Israel shall celebrate this. “But if a sojourner sojourns with you and celebrates the Passover to Yahweh, let all his males be circumcised, and then let him come near to celebrate it; and he shall be like a native of the land. But no uncircumcised person may eat of it. “The same law shall apply to the native as to the sojourner who sojourns among you.” So all the sons of Israel did; as Yahweh had commanded Moses and Aaron, thus they did. And on that same day Yahweh brought the sons of Israel out of the land of Egypt by their hosts.

~~~~~~13~~~~~ ~~~~~~13~~~~~ ~~~~~~13~~~~~ ~~~~~~13~~~~~ ~~~~~~13~~~~~ Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, “Sanctify to Me every firstborn, the first offspring of every womb among the sons of Israel, both of man and beast; it belongs to Me.” And Moses said to the people, “Remember this day in which you went out from Egypt, from the house of slavery; for by a strong hand Yahweh brought you out from this place. And nothing leavened shall be eaten. “This day, in the month of Abib, you are going out. “And it shall be when Yahweh brings you to the land of the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite, which He swore to your fathers to give you, a land flowing with milk and honey, that you shall do this service in this month. “For seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, and on the seventh day there shall be a feast to Yahweh. “Unleavened bread shall be eaten throughout the seven days; and nothing leavened shall be seen among you, nor shall any leaven be seen among you in all your borders. “And you shall tell your son on that day, saying, ‘It is because of what Yahweh did for me when I came out of Egypt.’ “And it will be as a sign to you on your hand and as a memorial between your eyes, that the law of Yahweh may be in your mouth; for with a strong hand Yahweh brought you out of Egypt. “Therefore, you shall keep this statute at its appointed time from year to year. “And it will be when Yahweh brings you to the land of the Canaanite, as He swore to you and to your fathers, and gives it to you, and you shall devote to Yahweh the first offspring of every womb and the first offspring of every beast that you own; the males belong to Yahweh. “But every first offspring of a donkey you shall redeem with a lamb, but if you do not redeem it, then you shall break its neck; and every firstborn of man among your sons you shall redeem. “And it will be when your son asks you in time to come, saying, ‘What is this?’ then you shall say to him, ‘With a strong hand Yahweh brought us out of Egypt, from the house of slavery. ‘And it happened, when Pharaoh hardened his heart with stiffness about letting us go, that Yahweh killed every firstborn in the land of Egypt, both the firstborn of man and the firstborn of beast. Therefore, I sacrifice to Yahweh the males, the first offspring of every womb, but every firstborn of my sons I redeem.’ “So it will be as a sign on your hand and as phylacteries between your eyes, for with a strong hand Yahweh brought us out of Egypt.” Now it happened that when Pharaoh had let the people go, God did not guide them by the way of the land of the Philistines, even though it was near; for God said, “Lest the people change their minds when they see war, and return to Egypt.” Hence God turned the people to the way of the wilderness to the Red Sea; and the sons of Israel went up in battle array from the land of Egypt. And Moses took the bones of Joseph with him, for he had made the sons of Israel solemnly swear, saying, “God will surely take care of you, and you shall bring up my bones from here with you.” Then they set out from Succoth and camped in Etham on the edge of the wilderness. And Yahweh was going before them in a pillar of cloud by day to guide them on the way, and in a pillar of fire by night to give them light, that they might go by day and by night. He did not take away the pillar of cloud by day, nor the pillar of fire by night, from before the people.

~~~~~~14~~~~~ ~~~~~~14~~~~~ ~~~~~~14~~~~~ ~~~~~~14~~~~~ ~~~~~~14~~~~~ Now Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to the sons of Israel so that they turn back and camp before Pi-hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea; you shall camp in front of Baal-zephon, opposite it, by the sea. “And Pharaoh will say of the sons of Israel, ‘They are wandering in confusion in the land; the wilderness has shut them in.’ “Thus I will harden Pharaoh’s heart with strength, and he will pursue them; and I will be glorified through Pharaoh and all his army, so that the Egyptians will know that I am Yahweh.” And they did so. Then the king of Egypt was told that the people had fled, and the heart of Pharaoh and his servants was changed toward the people, and they said, “What is this we have done, that we have let Israel go from serving us?” So he made his chariot ready and took his people with him; and he took six hundred choice chariots and all the other chariots of Egypt with officers over all of them. And Yahweh hardened the heart of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, with strength, and he pursued the sons of Israel as the sons of Israel were going out with an exalted hand. Then the Egyptians pursued them with all the horses and chariots of Pharaoh, his horsemen and his army, and they overtook them camping by the sea, beside Pi-hahiroth, in front of Baal-zephon. Now Pharaoh drew near, and the sons of Israel lifted up their eyes, and behold, the Egyptians were marching after them, and they became very afraid; so the sons of Israel cried out to Yahweh. Then they said to Moses, “Is it because there were no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness? What is this you have done against us in bringing us out of Egypt? “Is this not the word that we spoke to you in Egypt, saying, ‘Leave us alone that we may serve the Egyptians’? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than for us to die in the wilderness.” But Moses said to the people, “Do not fear! Stand by and see the salvation of Yahweh which He will accomplish for you today; for the Egyptians whom you have seen today, you will never see them again forever. “Yahweh will fight for you, and you will keep silent.” Then Yahweh said to Moses, “Why are you crying out to Me? Speak to the sons of Israel so that they go forward. “As for you, raise up your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea and split it, and the sons of Israel shall go through the midst of the sea on dry land. “As for Me, behold, I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians with strength so that they will go in after them; and I will be glorified through Pharaoh and all his army, through his chariots and his horsemen. “Then the Egyptians will know that I am Yahweh, when I am glorified through Pharaoh, through his chariots and his horsemen.” Then the angel of God, who had been going before the camp of Israel, moved and went behind them; and the pillar of cloud moved from before them and stood behind them. So it came between the camp of Egypt and the camp of Israel; and there was the cloud along with the darkness, yet it gave light at night. Thus the one did not come near the other all night. Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and Yahweh swept the sea back by a strong east wind all night and made the sea into dry ground, so the waters were split. So the sons of Israel went through the midst of the sea on the dry land, and the waters were a wall to them on their right hand and on their left. Then the Egyptians pursued them, and all Pharaoh’s horses, his chariots and his horsemen went in after them into the midst of the sea. Then at the morning watch, Yahweh looked down on the camp of the Egyptians through the pillar of fire and cloud and brought the camp of the Egyptians into confusion. And He caused their chariot wheels to swerve, and He made them drive with difficulty; so the Egyptians said, “Let us flee from Israel, for Yahweh is fighting for them against the Egyptians.” Then Yahweh said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the sea so that the waters may come back over the Egyptians, over their chariots and their horsemen.” So Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the sea returned to its normal state at daybreak while the Egyptians were fleeing right into it; then Yahweh overthrew the Egyptians in the midst of the sea. And the waters returned and covered the chariots and the horsemen, even Pharaoh’s entire army that had gone into the sea after them; not even one of them remained. But the sons of Israel walked on dry land through the midst of the sea, and the waters were a wall to them on their right hand and on their left. Thus Yahweh saved Israel that day from the hand of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore. Then Israel saw the great hand which Yahweh had used against the Egyptians; and the people feared Yahweh, and they believed in Yahweh and in His servant Moses.

~~~~~~15~~~~~ ~~~~~~15~~~~~ ~~~~~~15~~~~~ ~~~~~~15~~~~~ ~~~~~~15~~~~~ Then Moses and the sons of Israel sang this song to Yahweh and said, “I will sing to Yahweh, for He is highly exalted; The horse and its rider He has hurled into the sea. “Yah 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 extol Him. “Yahweh is a warrior; Yahweh is His name. “Pharaoh’s chariots and his army He has cast into the sea; And the choicest of his officers are sunk in the Red Sea. “The deeps cover them; They went down into the depths like a stone. “Your right hand, O Yahweh, is majestic in power, Your right hand, O Yahweh, shatters the enemy. “And in the greatness of Your exaltation You pull down those who rise up against You; You send forth Your burning anger, and it devours them as chaff. “And at the blast of Your nostrils the waters were piled up, The flowing waters stood up like a heap; The deeps were congealed in the heart of the sea. “The enemy said, ‘I will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide the spoil; My desire shall be fulfilled against them; I will draw out my sword, my hand will dispossess them.’ “You blew with Your wind, the sea covered them; They sank like lead in the mighty waters. “Who is like You among the gods, O Yahweh? Who is like You, majestic in holiness, Fearsome in praises, working wonders? “You stretched out Your right hand, The earth swallowed them. “In Your lovingkindness You have guided the people whom You have redeemed; In Your strength You have led them to Your holy habitation. “The peoples have heard, they tremble; Anguish has seized the inhabitants of Philistia. “Then the chiefs of Edom were dismayed; The leaders of Moab, trembling seizes them; All the inhabitants of Canaan have melted away. “Terror and dread fall upon them; By the greatness of Your arm they are still as stone; Until Your people pass over, O Yahweh, Until the people pass over whom You have purchased. “You will bring them and plant them in the mountain of Your inheritance, The place, O Yahweh, which You have made for You to inhabit, The sanctuary, O Lord, which Your hands have established. “Yahweh shall reign forever and ever.” For the horses of Pharaoh with his chariots and his horsemen went into the sea, and Yahweh brought back the waters of the sea on them, but the sons of Israel walked on dry land through the midst of the sea. And Miriam the prophetess, Aaron’s sister, took the tambourine in her hand, and all the women went out after her with tambourines and with dancing. And Miriam answered them, “Sing to Yahweh, for He is highly exalted; The horse and his rider He has hurled into the sea.” Then Moses had Israel set out from the Red Sea, and they went out into the wilderness of Shur; and they went three days in the wilderness and found no water. And they came to Marah, but they could not drink the waters of Marah, for they were bitter; therefore it was named Marah. So the people grumbled at Moses, saying, “What shall we drink?” Then he cried out to Yahweh, and Yahweh showed him a tree; and he threw it into the waters, and the waters became sweet. There He set for them a statute and a judgment, and there He tested them. And He said, “If you will earnestly listen to the voice of Yahweh your God, and do what is right in His sight, and give ear to His commandments, and keep all His statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you which I have put on the Egyptians; for I, Yahweh, am your healer.” Then they came to Elim where there were twelve springs of water and seventy date palms, and they camped there beside the waters.

~~~~~~16~~~~~ ~~~~~~16~~~~~ ~~~~~~16~~~~~ ~~~~~~16~~~~~ ~~~~~~16~~~~~ Then they set out from Elim, and all the congregation of the sons of Israel 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. And the whole congregation of the sons of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness. And the sons of Israel said to them, “Would that we had died by the hand of Yahweh in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the pots of meat, when we ate bread to the full; for you have brought us out into this wilderness to put this whole assembly to death with hunger.” Then Yahweh said to Moses, “Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a day’s portion every day, that I may test them, whether or not they will walk in My law. “Now it will be on the sixth day, they shall prepare what they bring in, and it will be twice as much as they gather daily.” So Moses and Aaron said to all the sons of Israel, “At evening you will know that Yahweh has brought you out of the land of Egypt; and in the morning you will see the glory of Yahweh, for He hears your grumblings against Yahweh; and what are we, that you grumble against us?” And Moses said, “This will happen when Yahweh gives you meat to eat in the evening and bread to the full in the morning; for Yahweh hears your grumblings which you grumble against Him. And what are we? Your grumblings are not against us but against Yahweh.” Then Moses said to Aaron, “Say to all the congregation of the sons of Israel, ‘Come near before Yahweh, for He has heard your grumblings.’” Now it happened as Aaron spoke to the whole congregation of the sons of Israel, that they turned toward the wilderness, and behold, the glory of Yahweh appeared in the cloud. And Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, “I have heard the grumblings of the sons of Israel; speak to them, saying, ‘At twilight you shall eat meat, and in the morning you shall be filled with bread, so that you shall know that I am Yahweh your God.’” So it happened at evening that the quails came up and covered the camp, and in the morning there was a layer of dew around the camp. Then the layer of dew evaporated, and behold, on the surface of the wilderness there was a fine flake-like thing, fine as the frost on the ground. And the sons of Israel saw it and said to one another, “What is it?” For they did not know what it was. And Moses said to them, “It is the bread which Yahweh has given you to eat. “This is what Yahweh has commanded, ‘Gather of it every man as much as he should eat; you shall take an omer apiece according to the number of persons each of you has in his tent.’” And the sons of Israel did so; some gathered much and some little. And they measured it with an omer, and he who had gathered much had no excess, and he who had gathered little had no lack; every man gathered as much as he should eat. And Moses said to them, “Let no man leave any of it until morning.” But they did not listen to Moses, and some left part of it until morning, and it bred worms and became foul; and Moses was angry with them. So they gathered it morning by morning, every man as much as he should eat; but the sun would grow hot, and it would melt. Now it happened that on the sixth day they gathered twice as much bread, two omers for each one. Then all the leaders of the congregation came and told Moses. And he said to them, “This is what Yahweh has spoken: Tomorrow is a sabbath observance, a holy sabbath to Yahweh. Bake what you will bake and boil what you will boil, and all that is in excess put aside to be kept until morning.” So they put it aside until morning, as Moses had commanded, and it did not become foul nor was there any worm in it. And Moses said, “Eat it today, for today is a sabbath to Yahweh; today you will not find it in the field. “Six days you shall gather it, but on the seventh day, the sabbath, there will be none.” Now it happened on the seventh day, that some of the people went out to gather, but they found none. Then Yahweh said to Moses, “How long do you refuse to keep My commandments and My laws? “See, Yahweh has given you the sabbath; therefore He gives you bread for two days on the sixth day. Remain every man in his place; let no man go out of his place on the seventh day.” So the people rested on the seventh day. And the house of Israel named it manna, and it was like coriander seed, white, and its taste was like wafers with honey. Then Moses said, “This is what Yahweh has commanded, ‘Let an omerful of it be kept throughout your generations, that they may see the bread that I fed you in the wilderness, when I brought you out of the land of Egypt.’” And Moses said to Aaron, “Take a jar and put an omerful of manna in it, and place it before Yahweh to be kept throughout your generations.” As Yahweh commanded Moses, so Aaron placed it before the Testimony to be kept. And the sons of Israel ate the manna forty years, until they came to an inhabited land; they ate the manna until they came to the border of the land of Canaan. (Now an omer is a tenth of an ephah.)

~~~~~~17~~~~~ ~~~~~~17~~~~~ ~~~~~~17~~~~~ ~~~~~~17~~~~~ ~~~~~~17~~~~~ Then all the congregation of the sons of Israel journeyed by stages from the wilderness of Sin, according to the command of Yahweh, and they camped at Rephidim, and there was no water for the people to drink. Therefore the people contended with Moses and said, “Give us water that we may drink.” And Moses said to them, “Why do you contend with me? Why do you test Yahweh?” But the people thirsted there for water; and they grumbled against Moses and said, “Why, now, have you brought us up from Egypt, to put us and our children and our livestock to death with thirst?” So Moses cried out to Yahweh, saying, “What shall I do to this people? A little more and they will stone me.” Then Yahweh said to Moses, “Pass before the people and take with you some of the elders of Israel; and take in your hand your staff with which you struck the Nile, and go. “Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock at Horeb; and you shall strike the rock, and water will come out of it, that the people may drink.” And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel. So he named the place Massah and Meribah because of the contending of the sons of Israel, and because they tested Yahweh, saying, “Is Yahweh among us or not?” Then Amalek came and fought against Israel at Rephidim. So Moses said to Joshua, “Choose men for us and go out, fight against Amalek. Tomorrow I will take my stand on the top of the hill with the staff of God in my hand.” And Joshua did as Moses told him, to fight against Amalek; and Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill. So it happened when Moses raised his hand up, that Israel prevailed, and when he let his hand down, Amalek prevailed. But Moses’ hands were heavy. Then they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat on it; and Aaron and Hur supported his hands, one on one side and one on the other. Thus his hands were steady until the sun set. So Joshua overwhelmed Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword. Then Yahweh said to Moses, “Write this in a book as a memorial and recite it in Joshua’s hearing, that I will utterly blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven.” And Moses built an altar and named it Yahweh is My Banner; and he said, “Because He has sworn with a hand upon the throne of Yah, Yahweh will have war against Amalek from generation to generation.”

~~~~~~18~~~~~ ~~~~~~18~~~~~ ~~~~~~18~~~~~ ~~~~~~18~~~~~ ~~~~~~18~~~~~ Now Jethro, the priest of Midian, Moses’ father-in-law, heard of all that God had done for Moses and for Israel His people, how Yahweh had brought Israel out of Egypt. And Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, took Moses’ wife Zipporah, after he had sent her away, and her two sons, of whom one was named Gershom, for Moses said, “I have been a sojourner in a foreign land.” And the other was named Eliezer, for he said, “The God of my father was my help and delivered me from the sword of Pharaoh.” Then Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, came with his sons and his wife to Moses in the wilderness where he was camped, at the mount of God. And he sent word to Moses, “I, your father-in-law Jethro, am coming to you with your wife and her two sons with her.” Then Moses went out to meet his father-in-law, and he bowed down and kissed him; and they asked each other of their welfare and went into the tent. And Moses recounted to his father-in-law all that Yahweh had done to Pharaoh and to the Egyptians for Israel’s sake, all the hardship that had befallen them on the journey, and how Yahweh had delivered them. And Jethro rejoiced over all the goodness which Yahweh had done to Israel, that He had delivered them from the hand of the Egyptians. So Jethro said, “Blessed be Yahweh who delivered you from the hand of the Egyptians and from the hand of Pharaoh, and who delivered the people from under the hand of the Egyptians. “Now I know that Yahweh is greater than all the gods; for in this matter they acted presumptuously against the people.” Then Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, took a burnt offering and sacrifices for God, and Aaron came with all the elders of Israel to eat a meal with Moses’ father-in-law before God. Now it happened the next day that Moses sat to judge the people, and the people stood about Moses from the morning until the evening. And Moses’ father-in-law saw all that he was doing for the people, so he said, “What is this thing that you are doing for the people? Why do you alone sit as judge and all the people stand about you from morning until evening?” And Moses said to his father-in-law, “Because the people come to me to inquire of God. “When they have a matter, it comes to me, and I judge between a man and his neighbor and make known the statutes of God and His laws.” And Moses’ father-in-law said to him, “The thing that you are doing is not good. “You will surely wear out, both yourself and these people who are with you, for the task is too heavy for you; you cannot do it alone. “Now listen to my voice: I will give you counsel, and God be with you. You be the people’s representative before God, and you bring the matters to God; then warn them about the statutes and the laws, and make known to them the way in which they shall go and the work they shall do. “But you shall select excellent men out of all the people, those who fear God, men of truth, those who hate greedy gain; and you shall place these men over them as leaders of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties, and of tens. “And they will judge the people at all times. And it will be that every major matter they will bring to you, but every minor matter they themselves will judge. So it will be easier for you, and they will bear the burden with you. “If you do this thing and God so commands you, then you will be able to endure, and all these people also will go to their place in peace.” So Moses listened to the voice of his father-in-law and did all that he had said. And Moses chose excellent men out of all Israel and made them heads over the people, leaders of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties, and of tens. And they judged the people at all times; the difficult matter they would bring to Moses, but every minor matter they themselves would judge. Then Moses let his father-in-law depart, and he went his way into his own land.

~~~~~~19~~~~~ ~~~~~~19~~~~~ ~~~~~~19~~~~~ ~~~~~~19~~~~~ ~~~~~~19~~~~~ In the third month after the sons of Israel had gone out of the land of Egypt, on this day they came into the wilderness of Sinai. Then they set out from Rephidim and came to the wilderness of Sinai and camped in the wilderness; and there Israel camped in front of the mountain. Now Moses went up to God, and Yahweh called to him from the mountain, saying, “Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob and tell the sons of Israel: ‘You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I lifted you up on eagles’ wings and brought you to Myself. ‘So now then, if you will indeed listen to My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be My treasured possession among all the peoples, for all the earth is Mine; and you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words that you shall speak to the sons of Israel.” So Moses came and called the elders of the people and set before them all these words which Yahweh had commanded him. And all the people answered together and said, “All that Yahweh has spoken we will do!” And Moses brought back the words of the people to Yahweh. Yahweh said to Moses, “Behold, I will come to you in a thick cloud, so that the people may hear when I speak with you and may also believe in you forever.” Then Moses told the words of the people to Yahweh. Yahweh also said to Moses, “Go to the people and set them apart as holy today and tomorrow, and let them wash their garments; and let them be ready for the third day, for on the third day Yahweh will come down on Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people. “And you shall set bounds for the people all around, saying, ‘Beware that you do not go up on the mountain or touch the border of it; whoever touches the mountain shall surely be put to death. ‘No hand shall touch him, but he shall surely be stoned or surely shot through; whether beast or man, he shall not live.’ When the ram’s horn sounds a long blast, they shall come up to the mountain.” So Moses went down from the mountain to the people and set the people apart as holy, and they washed their garments. And he said to the people, “Be ready for the third day; do not go near a woman.” So it happened on the third day, when it was morning, that there were thunder and lightning flashes and a thick cloud upon the mountain and a very loud trumpet sound, so that all the people who were in the camp trembled. And Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain. Now Mount Sinai was all in smoke because Yahweh descended upon it in fire; and its smoke ascended like the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mountain trembled violently. And the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder; then Moses spoke and God answered him with thunder. And Yahweh came down on Mount Sinai, to the top of the mountain; and Yahweh called Moses to the top of the mountain, and Moses went up. Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, “Go down, warn the people, lest they break through to Yahweh to see, and many of them perish. “Also let the priests who come near to Yahweh set themselves apart as holy, lest Yahweh break out against them.” And Moses said to Yahweh, “The people cannot come up to Mount Sinai, for You warned us, saying, ‘Set bounds about the mountain, and set it apart as holy.’” Then Yahweh said to him, “Go down and come up again, you and Aaron with you; but do not let the priests and the people break through to come up to Yahweh, lest He break out against them.” So Moses went down to the people and told them.

~~~~~~20~~~~~ ~~~~~~20~~~~~ ~~~~~~20~~~~~ ~~~~~~20~~~~~ ~~~~~~20~~~~~ Then God spoke all these words, saying, “I am Yahweh your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. “You shall have no other gods before Me. “You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth. “You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, Yahweh your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing lovingkindness to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments. “You shall not take the name of Yahweh your God in vain, for Yahweh will not leave him unpunished who takes His name in vain. “Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. “Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath of Yahweh your God; in it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter, your male or your female slave or your cattle or your sojourner who is within your gates. “For in six days Yahweh made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day; therefore Yahweh blessed the sabbath day and made it holy. “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be prolonged in the land which Yahweh your God gives you. “You shall not murder. “You shall not commit adultery. “You shall not steal. “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife or his male slave or his female slave or his ox or his donkey or anything that belongs to your neighbor.” And all the people perceived the thunder and the lightning flashes and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking; and the people perceived it, and they shook and stood at a distance. Then they said to Moses, “Speak to us yourself, and we will listen; but let not God speak to us, lest we die.” And Moses said to the people, “Do not be afraid; for God has come in order to test you, and in order that the fear of Him may be with you, so that you may not sin.” So the people stood at a distance, but Moses came near the dense gloom where God was. Then Yahweh said to Moses, “Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, ‘You yourselves have seen that I have spoken to you from heaven. ‘You shall not make other gods besides Me; gods of silver or gods of gold, you shall not make for yourselves. ‘You shall make an altar of earth for Me, and you shall sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and your peace offerings, your sheep and your oxen; in every place where I cause My name to be remembered, I will come to you and bless you. ‘And if you make an altar of stone for Me, you shall not build it of cut stones, for if you wield your tool on it, you will profane it. ‘And you shall not go up by steps to My altar, so that your nakedness will not be exposed on it.’

~~~~~~21~~~~~ ~~~~~~21~~~~~ ~~~~~~21~~~~~ ~~~~~~21~~~~~ ~~~~~~21~~~~~ “Now these are the judgments which you are to set before them: “If you buy a Hebrew slave, he shall serve for six years; but on the seventh he shall go out as a free man without payment. “If he comes alone, he shall go out alone; if he is the husband of a wife, then his wife shall go out with him. “If his master gives him a wife, and she bears him sons or daughters, the wife and her children shall belong to her master, and he shall go out alone. “But if the slave plainly says, ‘I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out as a free man,’ then his master shall bring him to God, and he shall bring him to the door or the doorpost. Then his master shall pierce his ear with an awl; and he shall serve him permanently. “And if a man sells his daughter as a female slave, she is not to go free as the male slaves do. “If she is displeasing in the eyes of her master who designated her for himself, then he shall let her be redeemed. He does not have authority to sell her to a foreign people because of his treachery to her. “And if he designates her for his son, he shall do to her according to the custom of daughters. “If he takes for himself another woman, he may not reduce her food, her clothing, or her conjugal rights. “And if he will not do these three things for her, then she shall go out for nothing, without payment of money. “He who strikes a man so that he dies shall surely be put to death. “But if he did not lie in wait for him, but God let him fall into his hand, then I will appoint you a place to which he may flee. “If, however, a man acts presumptuously toward his neighbor, so as to kill him by deceit, you shall take him even from My altar, that he may die. “And he who strikes his father or his mother shall surely be put to death. “He who kidnaps a man, whether he sells him or he is found in his hand, shall surely be put to death. “And he who curses his father or his mother shall surely be put to death. “And if men contend with each other and one strikes the other with a stone or with his fist, and he does not die but remains in bed, if he gets up and walks around outside on his staff, then he who struck him shall go unpunished; he shall only pay for his loss of time, and he shall take care of him until he is completely healed. “And if a man strikes his male or female slave with a rod and he dies at his hand, he shall surely be punished. “But if for a day or two he is able to stand, no punishment shall be taken; for he is his property. “And if men struggle with each other and strike a woman with child so that she gives birth prematurely, yet there is no injury, he shall surely be fined as the woman’s husband will set for him, and he shall pay as the judges decide. “But if there is any further injury, then you shall pay life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, bruise for bruise, wound for wound. “And if a man strikes the eye of his male or female slave and ruins it, he shall let him go free on account of his eye. “And if he knocks out a tooth of his male or female slave, he shall let him go free on account of his tooth. “And if an ox gores a man or a woman to death, the ox shall surely be stoned and its flesh shall not be eaten; but the owner of the ox shall go unpunished. “If, however, an ox was previously in the habit of goring and its owner has been warned, yet he does not confine it and it puts a man or a woman to death, the ox shall be stoned and its owner also shall be put to death. “If a ransom is demanded of him, then he shall give for the redemption of his life whatever is demanded of him. “Whether it gores a son or a daughter, it shall be done to him according to the same judgment. “If the ox gores a male or female slave, the owner shall give his or her master thirty shekels of silver, and the ox shall be stoned. “And if a man opens a pit, or if a man digs a pit and does not cover it over, and an ox or a donkey falls into it, the owner of the pit shall make restitution; he shall give money to its owner, and the dead animal shall become his. “And if one man’s ox hurts another’s so that it dies, then they shall sell the live ox and divide its price equally; and also they shall divide the dead ox. “Or if it is known that the ox was previously in the habit of goring, yet its owner has not confined it, he shall surely pay ox for ox, and the dead animal shall become his.

~~~~~~22~~~~~ ~~~~~~22~~~~~ ~~~~~~22~~~~~ ~~~~~~22~~~~~ ~~~~~~22~~~~~ “If a man steals an ox or a sheep and slaughters it or sells it, he shall pay five oxen for the ox and four sheep for the sheep. “If the thief is caught while breaking in and is struck so that he dies, there will be no bloodguiltiness on his account. “But if the sun has risen on him, there will be bloodguiltiness on his account. He shall surely make restitution; if he owns nothing, then he shall be sold for his theft. “If what he stole is actually found alive in his hand, whether an ox or a donkey or a sheep, he shall pay double. “If a man lets a field or vineyard be grazed bare and lets his animal loose so that it grazes in another man’s field, he shall make restitution from the best of his own field and the best of his own vineyard. “If a fire breaks out and spreads to thorn bushes, so that stacked grain or the standing grain or the field itself is consumed, he who started the fire shall surely make restitution. “If a man gives his neighbor money or goods to keep for him and it is stolen from the man’s house, if the thief is caught, he shall pay double. “If the thief is not caught, then the owner of the house shall appear before the judges to determine whether he laid his hands on his neighbor’s property. “For every breach of trust, whether it is for ox, for donkey, for sheep, for clothing, or for any lost thing about which one says, ‘This is it,’ the case of both parties shall come before the judges; he whom the judges condemn shall pay double to his neighbor. “If a man gives his neighbor a donkey, an ox, a sheep, or any animal to keep for him, and it dies or is injured or is driven away while no one is looking, then an oath before Yahweh shall be made by the two of them that he has not laid hands on his neighbor’s property; and its owner shall accept it, and he shall not make restitution. “But if it is actually stolen from him, he shall make restitution to its owner. “Now if it is all torn to pieces, let him bring it as evidence; he shall not make restitution for what has been torn to pieces. “If a man borrows anything from his neighbor, and it is injured or dies while its owner is not with it, he shall make full restitution. “But if its owner is with it, he shall not make restitution; if it is hired, it came for its hire. “If a man seduces a virgin who is not engaged and lies with her, he must pay a dowry for her to be his wife. “If her father absolutely refuses to give her to him, he shall pay money equal to the dowry for virgins. “You shall not allow a sorceress to live. “Whoever lies with an animal shall surely be put to death. “And he who sacrifices to any god, other than to Yahweh alone, shall be devoted to destruction. “You shall not mistreat a sojourner or oppress him, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt. “You shall not afflict any widow or orphan. “And if you indeed afflict him, and if he earnestly cries out to Me, I will surely hear his cry; and My anger will burn, and I will kill you with the sword, and your wives shall become widows and your children fatherless. “If you lend money to My people, to the afflicted among you, you are not to act as a creditor to him; you shall not charge him interest. “If you ever take your neighbor’s cloak as a pledge, you shall return it to him before the sun sets, for that is his only covering; it is his cloak for his body. What else shall he sleep in? And it shall be that when he cries out to Me, I will hear him, for I am gracious. “You shall not curse God, nor curse a ruler of your people. “You shall not delay the offering from the fullness of your harvest and the juice of your wine vat. The firstborn of your sons you shall give to Me. “And you shall do the same with your oxen and with your sheep. It shall be with its mother seven days; on the eighth day you shall give it to Me. “You shall be holy men to Me, therefore you shall not eat any flesh torn to pieces in the field; you shall throw it to the dogs.

~~~~~~23~~~~~ ~~~~~~23~~~~~ ~~~~~~23~~~~~ ~~~~~~23~~~~~ ~~~~~~23~~~~~ “You shall not bear a false report; do not join your hand with a wicked man to be a malicious witness. “You shall not follow the masses in doing evil, nor shall you testify in a case so as to turn aside after the masses in order to cause justice to be turned aside; nor shall you be partial to a poor man in his case. “If you meet your enemy’s ox or his donkey wandering away, you shall surely return it to him. “If you see the donkey of one who hates you lying helpless under its load, you shall refrain from leaving it to him, you shall surely release it with him. “You shall not cause the justice due to your needy brother to be turned aside in his case. “Keep far from a false charge, and do not kill the innocent or the righteous, for I will not justify the guilty. “And you shall not take a bribe, for a bribe blinds the clear-sighted and subverts the cause of the just. “And you shall not oppress a sojourner, since you yourselves know the soul of a sojourner, for you also were sojourners in the land of Egypt. “Now you shall sow your land for six years and gather in its produce, but on the seventh year you shall let it rest and lie fallow, so that the needy of your people may eat; and whatever they leave the beast of the field may eat. Thus you shall do with your vineyard and your olive grove. “Six days you are to do your work, but on the seventh day you shall rest so that your ox and your donkey may rest, and the son of your maidservant, as well as your sojourner, may refresh themselves. “Now concerning everything which I have said to you, beware; and do not mention the name of other gods, nor let them be heard from your mouth. “Three times a year you shall celebrate a feast to Me. “You shall keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread; for seven days you are to eat unleavened bread, as I commanded you, at the appointed time in the month Abib, for in it you came out of Egypt. And none shall appear before Me empty-handed. “Also you shall keep the Feast of the Harvest of the first fruits of your labors from what you sow in the field; also the Feast of the Ingathering at the end of the year when you gather in the fruit of your labors from the field. “Three times a year all your males shall appear before the Lord Yahweh. “You shall not offer the blood of My sacrifice with leavened bread; nor is the fat of My feast to remain overnight until morning. “You shall bring the choice first fruits of your ground into the house of Yahweh your God. “You shall not boil a young goat in the milk of its mother. “Behold, I am going to send an angel before you to keep you along the way and to bring you into the place which I have prepared. “Keep watch of yourself before him and listen to his voice; do not be rebellious toward him, for he will not pardon your transgression, since My name is in him. “But if you truly listen to his voice and do all that I speak, then I will be an enemy to your enemies and an adversary to your adversaries. “For My angel will go before you and bring you in to the land of the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Canaanites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites; and I will annihilate them. “You shall not worship their gods, you shall not serve them, and you shall not do according to their deeds; but you shall utterly pull them down and shatter their sacred pillars in pieces. “But you shall serve Yahweh your God, and He will bless your bread and your water; and I will remove sickness from your midst. “There shall be no one miscarrying or barren in your land; I will fulfill the number of your days. “I will send My terror ahead of you and throw into confusion all the people among whom you come, and I will make all your enemies turn their backs to you. “And I will send hornets ahead of you so that they will drive out the Hivites, the Canaanites, and the Hittites before you. “I will not drive them out before you in a single year, lest the land become desolate and the beasts of the field become too numerous for you. “I will drive them out before you little by little, until you become fruitful and take the land as an inheritance. “And I will set your boundary from the Red Sea to the sea of the Philistines, and from the wilderness to the River; for I will give the inhabitants of the land into your hand, and you will drive them out from before you. “You shall cut no covenant with them or with their gods. “They shall not live in your land, lest they make you sin against Me; for if you serve their gods, it will surely be a snare to you.”
		
~~~~~~24~~~~~ ~~~~~~24~~~~~ ~~~~~~24~~~~~ ~~~~~~24~~~~~ ~~~~~~24~~~~~ Then He said to Moses, “Come up to Yahweh, you and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu and seventy of the elders of Israel, and you all shall worship at a distance. “Moses alone, however, shall come near to Yahweh, but they shall not come near, and the people shall not come up with him.” Then Moses came and recounted to the people all the words of Yahweh and all the judgments; and all the people answered with one voice and said, “All the words which Yahweh has spoken we will do!” And Moses wrote down all the words of Yahweh. Then he arose early in the morning and built an altar at the foot of the mountain with twelve pillars for the twelve tribes of Israel. And he sent young men of the sons of Israel, and they offered burnt offerings and sacrificed young bulls as peace offerings to Yahweh. And Moses took half of the blood and put it in basins, and the other half of the blood he sprinkled on the altar. Then he took the book of the covenant and read it in the hearing of the people; and they said, “All that Yahweh has spoken we will do, and we will be obedient!” So Moses took the blood and sprinkled it on the people and said, “Behold the blood of the covenant, which Yahweh has cut with you in accordance with all these words.” Then Moses went up with Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel, and they saw the God of Israel; and under His feet there appeared to be a pavement of sapphire, as clear as the sky itself. Yet He did not stretch out His hand against the nobles of the sons of Israel; and they beheld God, and they ate and drank. Now Yahweh said to Moses, “Come up to Me on the mountain and remain there, and I will give you the stone tablets with the law and the commandment which I have written for their instruction.” So Moses arose with Joshua his attendant, and Moses went up to the mountain of God. But to the elders he said, “Remain here for us until we return to you. And behold, Aaron and Hur are with you; whoever has a legal matter, let him approach them.” Then Moses went up to the mountain, and the cloud covered the mountain. And the glory of Yahweh dwelt on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it for six days; and on the seventh day He called to Moses from the midst of the cloud. And the appearance of the glory of Yahweh was like a consuming fire on the mountain top, in the eyes of the sons of Israel. Then Moses entered the midst of the cloud as he went up to the mountain; and Moses was on the mountain forty days and forty nights.

~~~~~~25~~~~~ ~~~~~~25~~~~~ ~~~~~~25~~~~~ ~~~~~~25~~~~~ ~~~~~~25~~~~~ Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak with the sons of Israel so that they take a contribution for Me; from every man whose heart is willing you shall take My contribution. “And this is the contribution which you shall take from them: gold, silver, and bronze, blue, purple, and scarlet material, fine linen, goat hair, rams’ skins dyed red, porpoise skins, acacia wood, oil for lighting, spices for the anointing oil and for the fragrant incense, onyx stones, and setting stones for the ephod and for the breastpiece. “And let them make a sanctuary for Me, that I may dwell among them. “According to all that I am going to show you, as the pattern of the tabernacle and the pattern of all its furniture, just so you shall make it. “And they shall make an ark of acacia wood two and a half cubits long, and one and a half cubits wide, and one and a half cubits high. “You shall overlay it with pure gold, inside and out you shall overlay it, and you shall make a gold molding around it. “You shall cast four gold rings for it and fasten them on its four feet, and two rings shall be on one side of it and two rings on the other side of it. “You shall make poles of acacia wood and overlay them with gold. “You shall put the poles into the rings on the sides of the ark, to carry the ark with them. “The poles shall remain in the rings of the ark; they shall not be removed from it. “You shall put into the ark the testimony which I shall give you. “You shall make a mercy seat of pure gold, two and a half cubits long and one and a half cubits wide. “You shall make two cherubim of gold; make them of hammered work at the two ends of the mercy seat. “Make one cherub at one end and one cherub at the other end; from one piece you shall make the mercy seat with the cherubim at its two ends. “The cherubim shall have their wings spread upward, covering the mercy seat with their wings, with their faces toward one another; the faces of the cherubim are to be toward the mercy seat. “You shall put the mercy seat on top of the ark, and in the ark you shall put the testimony which I will give to you. “There I will meet with you; and from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim which are upon the ark of the testimony, I will speak to you about all which I will command you for the sons of Israel. “You shall make a table of acacia wood, two cubits long and one cubit wide and one and a half cubits high. “You shall overlay it with pure gold and make a gold border around it. “You shall make for it a rim of a handbreadth around it; and you shall make a gold border for the rim around it. “You shall make four gold rings for it and put rings on the four corners which are on its four feet. “The rings shall be close to the rim as holders for the poles to carry the table. “You shall make the poles of acacia wood and overlay them with gold, so that with them the table may be carried. “You shall make its dishes and its pans and its jars and its offering bowls with which to pour drink offerings; you shall make them of pure gold. “You shall set the bread of the Presence on the table before Me at all times. “Then you shall make a lampstand of pure gold. The lampstand, its base, and its shaft are to be made of hammered work; its cups, its bulbs, and its flowers shall be of the same piece. “Six branches shall go out from its sides; three branches of the lampstand from its one side and three branches of the lampstand from its other side. “Three cups shall be shaped like almond blossoms in the one branch, a bulb and a flower, and three cups shaped like almond blossoms in the other branch, a bulb and a flower—so for the six branches going out from the lampstand; and in the lampstand four cups shaped like almond blossoms, its bulbs and its flowers. “And a bulb shall be under the first pair of branches coming out of it, and a bulb under the second pair of branches coming out of it, and a bulb under the third pair of branches coming out of it, for the six branches coming out of the lampstand. “Their bulbs and their branches shall be of the same piece; all of it shall be one piece of hammered work of pure gold. “Then you shall make its lamps seven in number; and they shall mount its lamps so as to shed light on the space in front of it. “And its tongs and their trays shall be of pure gold. “It shall be made from a talent of pure gold, with all these utensils. “And see that you make them after the pattern for them, which was shown to you on the mountain.

~~~~~~26~~~~~ ~~~~~~26~~~~~ ~~~~~~26~~~~~ ~~~~~~26~~~~~ ~~~~~~26~~~~~ “Moreover you shall make the tabernacle with ten curtains of fine twisted linen and blue and purple and scarlet material; you shall make them with cherubim, the work of a skillful designer. “The length of each curtain shall be twenty-eight cubits, and the width of each curtain four cubits; all the curtains shall have the same measurements. “Five curtains shall be joined to one another, and the other five curtains shall be joined to one another. “And you shall make loops of blue on the edge of the outermost curtain in the one set, and likewise you shall make them on the edge of the curtain that is outermost in the second set. “You shall make fifty loops in the one curtain, and you shall make fifty loops on the edge of the curtain that is in the second set; the loops shall be opposite each other. “You shall make fifty clasps of gold, and you shall join the curtains to one another with the clasps so that the tabernacle will be a unit. “Then you shall make curtains of goats’ hair for a tent over the tabernacle; you shall make eleven curtains in all. “The length of each curtain shall be thirty cubits, and the width of each curtain four cubits; the eleven curtains shall have the same measurements. “And you shall join five curtains by themselves and the other six curtains by themselves, and you shall double over the sixth curtain at the front of the tent. “You shall make fifty loops on the edge of the curtain that is outermost in the one set, and fifty loops on the edge of the curtain that is outermost in the second set. “You shall make fifty clasps of bronze, and you shall put the clasps into the loops and join the tent together so that it will be one unit. “The overlapping part that is left over in the curtains of the tent, the half curtain that is left over, shall lap over the back of the tabernacle. “The cubit on one side and the cubit on the other, of what is left over in the length of the curtains of the tent, shall lap over the sides of the tabernacle on one side and on the other to cover it. “You shall make a covering for the tent of rams’ skins dyed red and a covering of porpoise skins above. “Then you shall make the boards for the tabernacle of acacia wood, standing upright. “Ten cubits shall be the length of each board, and one and a half cubits the width of each board. “There shall be two tenons for each board, fitted to one another; thus you shall do for all the boards of the tabernacle. “You shall make the boards for the tabernacle: twenty boards for the south side. “You shall make forty bases of silver under the twenty boards, two bases under one board for its two tenons, and two bases under another board for its two tenons; and for the second side of the tabernacle, on the north side, twenty boards, and their forty bases of silver; two bases under one board and two bases under another board. “For the rear of the tabernacle, to the west, you shall make six boards. “You shall make two boards for the corners of the tabernacle at the rear. “They shall be separated beneath, but together at their completion at its top, at the first ring; thus it shall be with both of them: they shall form the two corners. “There shall be eight boards with their bases of silver, sixteen bases; two bases under one board and two bases under another board. “Then you shall make bars of acacia wood, five for the boards of one side of the tabernacle, and five bars for the boards of the other side of the tabernacle, and five bars for the boards of the side of the tabernacle for the rear side to the west. “The middle bar in the center of the boards shall pass through from end to end. “You shall overlay the boards with gold and make their rings of gold as holders for the bars; and you shall overlay the bars with gold. “Then you shall erect the tabernacle according to its plan which you have been shown in the mountain. “You shall make a veil of blue and purple and scarlet material and fine twisted linen; it shall be made with cherubim, the work of a skillful designer. “You shall hang it on four pillars of acacia overlaid with gold, their hooks also being of gold, on four bases of silver. “You shall hang up the veil under the clasps, and you shall bring in the ark of the testimony there within the veil; and the veil shall separate for you the holy place and the Holy of Holies. “You shall put the mercy seat on the ark of the testimony in the Holy of Holies. “You shall set the table outside the veil and the lampstand opposite the table on the side of the tabernacle toward the south; and you shall put the table on the north side. “You shall make a screen for the doorway of the tent of blue and purple and scarlet material and fine twisted linen, the work of a weaver. “You shall make five pillars of acacia for the screen and overlay them with gold, their hooks also being of gold; and you shall cast five bases of bronze for them.

~~~~~~27~~~~~ ~~~~~~27~~~~~ ~~~~~~27~~~~~ ~~~~~~27~~~~~ ~~~~~~27~~~~~ “And you shall make the altar of acacia wood, five cubits long and five cubits wide; the altar shall be square, and its height shall be three cubits. “You shall make its horns on its four corners; its horns shall be of the same piece, and you shall overlay it with bronze. “You shall make its pots for removing its ashes, and its shovels and its bowls and its flesh hooks and its firepans; you shall make all its utensils of bronze. “You shall make for it a grating, a network of bronze, and on the net you shall make four bronze rings at its four corners. “You shall put it beneath, under the ledge of the altar, so that the net will reach halfway down the altar. “You shall make poles for the altar, poles of acacia wood, and overlay them with bronze. “Its poles shall be inserted into the rings, so that the poles shall be on the two sides of the altar when it is carried. “You shall make it hollow with planks; as it was shown to you in the mountain, so they shall make it. “You shall make the court of the tabernacle. On the south side there shall be hangings for the court of fine twisted linen one hundred cubits long for one side; and its pillars shall be twenty, with their twenty bases of bronze; the hooks of the pillars and their bands shall be of silver. “Likewise for the north side in length there shall be hangings one hundred cubits long, and its twenty pillars with their twenty bases of bronze; the hooks of the pillars and their bands shall be of silver. “For the width of the court on the west side shall be hangings of fifty cubits with their ten pillars and their ten bases. “The width of the court on the east side toward the sunrise shall be fifty cubits. “The hangings for the one side of the gate shall be fifteen cubits with their three pillars and their three bases. “And for the other side shall be hangings of fifteen cubits with their three pillars and their three bases. “And as for the gate of the court there shall be a screen of twenty cubits, of blue and purple and scarlet material and fine twisted linen, the work of a weaver, with their four pillars and their four bases. “All the pillars around the court shall be furnished with silver bands with their hooks of silver and their bases of bronze. “The length of the court shall be one hundred cubits, and the width fifty throughout, and the height five cubits of fine twisted linen, and their bases of bronze. “All the utensils of the tabernacle used in all its service, and all its pegs, and all the pegs of the court, shall be of bronze. “And you shall command the sons of Israel, that they bring you clear oil of beaten olives for the light, to make a lamp burn continually. “In the tent of meeting, outside the veil which is before the testimony, Aaron and his sons shall keep it in order from evening to morning before Yahweh; it shall be a perpetual statute throughout their generations for the sons of Israel.

~~~~~~28~~~~~ ~~~~~~28~~~~~ ~~~~~~28~~~~~ ~~~~~~28~~~~~ ~~~~~~28~~~~~ “Now as for you, bring near to yourself Aaron your brother, and his sons with him, from among the sons of Israel, to minister as priests to Me—Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar, Aaron’s sons. “You shall make holy garments for Aaron your brother, for glory and for beauty. “You shall speak to all those wise at heart whom I have filled with the spirit of wisdom, that they make Aaron’s garments to set him apart as holy, in order for him to minister as priest to Me. “These are the garments which they shall make: a breastpiece and an ephod and a robe and a tunic of checkered work, a turban and a sash, and they shall make holy garments for Aaron your brother and his sons, in order for him to minister as priest to Me. “They shall take the gold and the blue and the purple and the scarlet material and the fine linen. “They shall also make the ephod of gold, of blue and purple and scarlet material and fine twisted linen, the work of the skillful designer. “It shall have two shoulder pieces joined to its two ends, that it may be joined. “The skillfully woven band, which is on it, shall be like its workmanship, of the same material: of gold, of blue and purple and scarlet material and fine twisted linen. “You shall take two onyx stones and engrave on them the names of the sons of Israel, six of their names on the one stone and the names of the remaining six on the second stone, according to their birth. “As a jeweler engraves a signet, you shall engrave the two stones according to the names of the sons of Israel; you shall set them all around in filigree settings of gold. “You shall put the two stones on the shoulder pieces of the ephod, as stones of remembrance for the sons of Israel, and Aaron shall bear their names before Yahweh on his two shoulders for remembrance. “You shall make filigree settings of gold, and two chains of pure gold; you shall make them a twisted work of cords, and you shall put the chains of cords on the filigree settings. “You shall make a breastpiece of judgment, the work of a skillful designer; like the work of the ephod you shall make it: of gold, of blue and purple and scarlet material and fine twisted linen you shall make it. “It shall be square, having been folded double, a span in length and a span in width. “You shall mount on it four rows of stones; the first row shall be a row of ruby, topaz, and emerald; and the second row a turquoise, a sapphire, and a diamond; and the third row a jacinth, an agate, and an amethyst; and the fourth row a beryl and an onyx and a jasper; they shall be set in gold settings. “The stones shall be according to the names of the sons of Israel: twelve, according to their names; they shall be like the engravings of a signet, each according to his name for the twelve tribes. “You shall make on the breastpiece chains of a twisted work of cords in pure gold. “You shall make on the breastpiece two rings of gold, and you shall put the two rings on the two ends of the breastpiece. “You shall put the two cords of gold on the two rings at the ends of the breastpiece. “You shall put the two ends of the two cords on the two filigree settings, and you shall put them on the shoulder pieces of the ephod at the front of it. “You shall make two rings of gold and shall place them on the two ends of the breastpiece, on the edge of it, which is toward the inner side of the ephod. “You shall make two rings of gold and put them on the bottom of the two shoulder pieces of the ephod, on the front of it close to the place where it is joined, above the skillfully woven band of the ephod. “They shall bind the breastpiece by its rings to the rings of the ephod with a blue cord, so that it will be on the skillfully woven band of the ephod, and that the breastpiece will not come loose from the ephod. “Aaron shall carry the names of the sons of Israel in the breastpiece of judgment over his heart when he comes into the holy place, for a remembrance before Yahweh continually. “You shall put in the breastpiece of judgment the Urim and the Thummim, and they shall be over Aaron’s heart when he comes in before Yahweh; and Aaron shall carry the judgment of the sons of Israel over his heart before Yahweh continually. “You shall make the robe of the ephod entirely of blue. “There shall be an opening at its top in the middle of it; around the edge of its opening there shall be a binding of woven work, like the opening of a coat of mail, so that it will not be torn. “You shall make on its hem pomegranates of blue and purple and scarlet material, all around on its hem, and bells of gold between them all around: a golden bell and a pomegranate, a golden bell and a pomegranate, all around on the hem of the robe. “It shall be on Aaron when he ministers; and its sound shall be heard when he comes into the holy place before Yahweh and when he goes out, so that he will not die. “You shall also make a plate of pure gold and shall engrave on it, like the engravings of a signet, ‘Holy to Yahweh.’ “You shall fasten it on a blue cord, and it shall be on the turban; it shall be at the front of the turban. “It shall be on Aaron’s forehead, and Aaron shall take away the iniquity of the holy things which the sons of Israel set apart as holy, with regard to all their holy gifts; and it shall continually be on his forehead, that they may be accepted before Yahweh. “You shall weave the tunic of checkered work of fine linen, and you shall make a turban of fine linen, and you shall make a sash, the work of a weaver. “For Aaron’s sons you shall make tunics; you shall also make sashes for them, and you shall make caps for them, for glory and for beauty. “You shall put them on Aaron your brother and on his sons with him; and you shall anoint them and ordain them and set them apart as holy, that they may minister to Me as priests. “You shall make for them linen undergarments to cover their bare flesh; they shall reach from the loins even to the thighs. “They shall be on Aaron and on his sons when they come into the tent of meeting or when they approach the altar to minister in the holy place, so that they do not incur guilt and die. It shall be a perpetual statute to him and to his seed after him.

~~~~~~29~~~~~ ~~~~~~29~~~~~ ~~~~~~29~~~~~ ~~~~~~29~~~~~ ~~~~~~29~~~~~ “Now this is what you shall do to them to set them apart as holy to minister as priests to Me: take one bull from the herd and two rams without blemish, and unleavened bread and unleavened cakes mixed with oil, and unleavened wafers spread with oil; you shall make them of fine wheat flour. “And you shall put them in one basket and bring them near in the basket along with the bull and the two rams. “Then you shall bring Aaron and his sons near to the doorway of the tent of meeting and wash them with water. “And you shall take the garments, and put on Aaron the tunic and the robe of the ephod and the ephod and the breastpiece, and gird him with the skillfully woven band of the ephod; and you shall set the turban on his head and put the holy crown on the turban. “Then you shall take the anointing oil and pour it on his head and anoint him. “And you shall bring his sons near and put tunics on them. “You shall gird them with sashes, Aaron and his sons, and bind caps on them, and they shall have the priesthood by a perpetual statute. So you shall ordain Aaron and his sons. “Then you shall bring the bull near before the tent of meeting, and Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands on the head of the bull. “You shall slaughter the bull before Yahweh at the doorway of the tent of meeting. “You shall take some of the blood of the bull and put it on the horns of the altar with your finger; and you shall pour out all the blood at the base of the altar. “You shall take all the fat that covers the entrails and the lobe of the liver and the two kidneys and the fat that is on them, and you shall offer them up in smoke on the altar. “But the flesh of the bull and its hide and its refuse, you shall burn with fire outside the camp; it is a sin offering. “You shall also take the one ram, and Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands on the head of the ram; and you shall slaughter the ram, and you shall take its blood and splash it around on the altar. “Then you shall cut the ram into its pieces, and wash its entrails and its legs, and put them with its pieces and its head. “You shall offer up in smoke the whole ram on the altar; it is a burnt offering to Yahweh: it is a soothing aroma, an offering by fire to Yahweh. “Then you shall take the second ram, and Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands on the head of the ram. “You shall slaughter the ram, and take some of its blood and put it on the lobe of Aaron’s right ear and on the lobes of his sons’ right ears and on the thumbs of their right hands and on the big toes of their right feet, and splash the rest of the blood around on the altar. “Then you shall take some of the blood that is on the altar and some of the anointing oil, and sprinkle it on Aaron and on his garments and on his sons and on his sons’ garments with him; so he and his garments shall be set apart as holy, as well as his sons and his sons’ garments with him. “You shall also take the fat from the ram and the fat tail and the fat that covers the entrails and the lobe of the liver and the two kidneys and the fat that is on them and the right thigh (for it is a ram of ordination), and one cake of bread and one cake of bread mixed with oil and one wafer from the basket of unleavened bread which is set before Yahweh; and you shall put all these in the hands of Aaron and in the hands of his sons, and you shall wave them as a wave offering before Yahweh. “You shall take them from their hands and offer them up in smoke on the altar on the burnt offering for a soothing aroma before Yahweh; it is an offering by fire to Yahweh. “Then you shall take the breast of Aaron’s ram of ordination and wave it as a wave offering before Yahweh; and it shall be your portion. “You shall set apart as holy the breast of the wave offering and the thigh of the contribution offering which was waved and which was raised up as a contribution from the ram of ordination, from the one which was for Aaron and from the one which was for his sons. “It shall be for Aaron and his sons as a perpetual statute from the sons of Israel, for it is a contribution offering; and it shall be a contribution offering from the sons of Israel from the sacrifices of their peace offerings, even their contribution offering to Yahweh. “The holy garments of Aaron shall be for his sons after him, that in them they may be anointed and ordained. “For seven days the one of his sons who is priest in his stead shall put them on when he comes into the tent of meeting to minister in the holy place. “You shall take the ram of ordination and boil its flesh in a holy place. “Aaron and his sons shall eat the flesh of the ram and the bread that is in the basket, at the doorway of the tent of meeting. “Thus they shall eat those things by which atonement was made to ordain them, to set them apart as holy; but a layman shall not eat them, because they are holy. “If any of the flesh of ordination or any of the bread remains until morning, then you shall burn the remainder with fire; it shall not be eaten, because it is holy. “Thus you shall do to Aaron and to his sons, according to all that I have commanded you; you shall ordain them through seven days. “Each day you shall offer a bull as a sin offering for atonement, and you shall purify the altar when you make atonement for it, and you shall anoint it to set it apart as holy. “For seven days you shall make atonement for the altar and set it apart as holy; then the altar shall be most holy, and whatever touches the altar shall be holy. “Now this is what you shall offer on the altar: two one year old lambs each day, continuously. “The one lamb you shall offer in the morning, and the second lamb you shall offer at twilight; and there shall be one-tenth of an ephah of fine flour mixed with one-fourth of a hin of beaten oil, and one-fourth of a hin of wine for a drink offering with the one lamb. “The second lamb you shall offer at twilight, and you shall offer with it the same grain offering and the same drink offering as in the morning, for a soothing aroma, an offering by fire to Yahweh. “It shall be a continual burnt offering throughout your generations at the doorway of the tent of meeting before Yahweh, where I will meet with you, to speak to you there. “I will meet there with the sons of Israel, and it shall be set apart as holy by My glory. “I will set the tent of meeting and the altar apart as holy; I will also set Aaron and his sons apart as holy to minister as priests to Me. “I will dwell among the sons of Israel and will be their God. “They shall know that I am Yahweh their God who brought them out of the land of Egypt, that I might dwell among them; I am Yahweh their God.

~~~~~~30~~~~~ ~~~~~~30~~~~~ ~~~~~~30~~~~~ ~~~~~~30~~~~~ ~~~~~~30~~~~~ “Moreover, you shall make an altar as a place for burning incense; you shall make it of acacia wood. “Its length shall be a cubit, and its width a cubit; it shall be square. And its height shall be two cubits; its horns shall be of the same piece. “You shall overlay it with pure gold, its top and its sides all around, and its horns; and you shall make a gold molding all around for it. “You shall make two gold rings for it under its molding; you shall make them on its two side walls—on opposite sides—and they shall be holders for poles with which to carry it. “You shall make the poles of acacia wood and overlay them with gold. “You shall put this altar in front of the veil that is near the ark of the testimony, in front of the mercy seat that is over the testimony, where I will meet with you. “Aaron shall burn fragrant incense on it; he shall burn it every morning when he trims the lamps. “When Aaron trims the lamps at twilight, he shall burn incense. There shall be continual incense before Yahweh throughout your generations. “You shall not offer any strange incense on this altar or burnt offering or grain offering; and you shall not pour out a drink offering on it. “Aaron shall make atonement on its horns once a year; he shall make atonement on it with the blood of the sin offering of atonement once a year throughout your generations. It is most holy to Yahweh.” Yahweh also spoke to Moses, saying, “When you take a census of the sons of Israel to number them, then each one of them shall give a price of atonement for himself to Yahweh when you number them, so that there will be no plague among them when you number them. “This is what everyone who is numbered shall give: half a shekel according to the shekel of the sanctuary (the shekel is twenty gerahs), half a shekel as a contribution to Yahweh. “Everyone who is numbered, from twenty years old and over, shall give the contribution to Yahweh. “The rich shall not pay more and the poor shall not pay less than the half shekel when you give the contribution to Yahweh to make atonement for your souls. “And you shall take the atonement money from the sons of Israel and shall give it for the service of the tent of meeting, that it may be a remembrance for the sons of Israel before Yahweh, to make atonement for your souls.” And Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, “You shall also make a laver of bronze, with its stand of bronze, for washing; and you shall put it between the tent of meeting and the altar, and you shall put water in it. “And Aaron and his sons shall wash their hands and their feet from it; when they come into the tent of meeting, they shall wash with water, so that they will not die; or when they approach the altar to minister, by offering up in smoke a fire sacrifice to Yahweh. “So they shall wash their hands and their feet, so that they will not die; and it shall be a perpetual statute for them, for Aaron and his seed throughout their generations.” Moreover, Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, “But as for you, take for yourself the finest of spices: of flowing myrrh 500 shekels, and of fragrant cinnamon half as much, 250, and of fragrant cane 250, and of cassia 500, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, and of olive oil a hin. “And you shall make of these a holy anointing oil, a perfume mixture, the work of a perfumer; it shall be a holy anointing oil. “And with it you shall anoint the tent of meeting and the ark of the testimony, and the table and all its utensils, and the lampstand and its utensils, and the altar of incense, and the altar of burnt offering and all its utensils, and the laver and its stand. “You shall also set them apart as holy, that they may be most holy; whatever touches them shall be holy. “And you shall anoint Aaron and his sons, and you shall set them apart as holy, that they may minister as priests to Me. “And you shall speak to the sons of Israel, saying, ‘This shall be a holy anointing oil to Me throughout your generations. ‘It shall not be poured on anyone’s body, nor shall you make any like it in the same specifications; it is holy, and it shall be holy to you. ‘Whoever shall mix any like it or whoever puts any of it on a layman shall be cut off from his people.’” Then Yahweh said to Moses, “Take for yourself fragrances, stacte and onycha and galbanum, fragrances with pure frankincense; there shall be an equal part of each. “With it you shall make incense, a perfume, the work of a perfumer, salted, pure, and holy. “You shall beat some of it very fine, and you shall put part of it before the testimony in the tent of meeting where I will meet with you; it shall be most holy to you. “The incense which you shall make, you shall not make in the same specifications for yourselves; it shall be holy to you for Yahweh. “Whoever shall make any like it, to use as perfume, shall be cut off from his people.”

~~~~~~31~~~~~ ~~~~~~31~~~~~ ~~~~~~31~~~~~ ~~~~~~31~~~~~ ~~~~~~31~~~~~ And Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, “See, I have called by name Bezalel, the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah. “And I have filled him with the Spirit of God in wisdom, in discernment, in knowledge, and in all kinds of craftsmanship, to devise artistic designs for work in gold, in silver, and in bronze, and in the cutting of stones for settings, and in the carving of wood, in order for him to work in all kinds of craftsmanship. “And behold, I Myself have appointed with him Oholiab, the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan; and in the hearts of all who are wise at heart I have put wisdom, that they may make all that I have commanded you: the tent of meeting, and the ark of testimony, and the mercy seat upon it, and all the furniture of the tent, the table also and its utensils, and the pure gold lampstand with all its utensils, and the altar of incense, the altar of burnt offering also with all its utensils, and the laver and its stand, the woven garments as well, and the holy garments for Aaron the priest, and the garments of his sons, with which to minister as priests; the anointing oil also, and the fragrant incense for the holy place, they shall make them according to all that I have commanded you.” Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, “But as for you, speak to the sons of Israel, saying, ‘You shall surely keep My sabbaths; for this is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I am Yahweh who makes you holy. ‘Therefore you shall keep the sabbath, for it is holy to you. Everyone who profanes it shall surely be put to death; for whoever does any work on it, that person shall be cut off from among his people. ‘Six days work may be done, but on the seventh day there is a sabbath of complete rest, holy to Yahweh; whoever does any work on the sabbath day shall surely be put to death. ‘So the sons of Israel shall keep the sabbath, to celebrate the sabbath throughout their generations as an everlasting covenant.’ “It is a sign between Me and the sons of Israel forever; for in six days Yahweh made heaven and earth, but on the seventh day He rested and was refreshed.” When He had finished speaking with him upon Mount Sinai, He gave Moses the two tablets of the testimony, tablets of stone, written by the finger of God.
		
~~~~~~32~~~~~ ~~~~~~32~~~~~ ~~~~~~32~~~~~ ~~~~~~32~~~~~ ~~~~~~32~~~~~ Then the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain. So the people assembled about Aaron and said to him, “Arise, make us gods who will go before us; as for this Moses, the man who brought us up from the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.” And Aaron said to them, “Tear off the gold rings which are in the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me.” Then all the people tore off the gold rings which were in their ears and brought them to Aaron. And he took this from their hand and fashioned it with a graving tool and made it into a molten calf; and they said, “These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt.” And Aaron looked and built an altar before it; and Aaron made a proclamation and said, “Tomorrow shall be a feast to Yahweh.” So the next day they rose early and offered burnt offerings and brought peace offerings; and the people sat down to eat and to drink and rose up to play. Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, “Go! Go down at once, for your people, whom you brought up from the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves. “They have quickly turned aside from the way which I commanded them. They have made for themselves a molten calf and have worshiped it and have sacrificed to it and said, ‘These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt!’” And Yahweh said to Moses, “I have seen this people, and behold, they are a stiff-necked people. “Now then let Me alone, that My anger may burn against them and that I may consume them; and I will make you a great nation.” Then Moses entreated the favor of Yahweh his God and said, “O 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 strong hand? “Why should the Egyptians speak, saying, ‘With evil intent He brought them out to kill them in the mountains and to consume them from the face of the earth’? Turn from Your burning anger and relent concerning doing harm to Your people. “Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, Your servants to whom You swore by Yourself, and You said to them, ‘I will multiply your seed as the stars of the heavens, and all this land of which I have spoken I will give to your seed, and they shall inherit it forever.’” So Yahweh relented concerning the harm which He said He would do to His people. Then Moses turned and went down from the mountain. And the two tablets of the testimony were in his hand, tablets which were written on both sides; they were written on one side and the other. Now the tablets were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God engraved on the tablets. Then Joshua heard the sound of the people as they shouted. And he said to Moses, “There is a sound of war in the camp.” But he said, “It is not the sound of the cry of triumph, Nor is it the sound of the cry of defeat; But the sound of singing I hear.” Now it happened, as soon as Moses came near the camp, that he saw the calf and the dancing; and Moses’ anger burned, and he threw the tablets from his hands and shattered them at the foot of the mountain. Then he took the calf which they had made and burned it with fire and ground it to powder and scattered it over the surface of the water and made the sons of Israel drink it. Then Moses said to Aaron, “What did this people do to you, that you have brought such great sin upon them?” And Aaron said, “Do not let the anger of my lord burn; you know the people yourself, that they are prone to evil. “Indeed they said to me, ‘Make gods for us who will go before us; for this Moses, the man who brought us up from the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.’ “And I said to them, ‘Whoever has any gold, let them tear it off.’ So they gave it to me, and I threw it into the fire, and out came this calf.” Now Moses saw that the people were out of control—for Aaron had let them get out of control to be a derision among their enemies— so Moses stood in the gate of the camp and said, “Whoever is for Yahweh, come to me!” And all the sons of Levi gathered together to him. And he said to them, “Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel, ‘Every man among you put his sword upon his thigh, and go back and forth from gate to gate in the camp, and kill every man his brother and every man his friend and every man his neighbor.’” So the sons of Levi did according to the word of Moses, and about three thousand men of the people fell that day. Then Moses said, “Be ordained today to Yahweh—for every man has been against his son and against his brother—in order that He may bestow a blessing upon you today.” Now it happened on the next day, that Moses said to the people, “You yourselves have committed a great sin; but now I am going up to Yahweh, perhaps I can make atonement for your sin.” Then Moses returned to Yahweh and said, “Alas, this people has committed a great sin, and they have made gods of gold for themselves. “But now, if You will forgive their sin—but if not, please blot me out from Your book which You have written!” And Yahweh said to Moses, “Whoever has sinned against Me, I will blot him out of My book. “But now go, guide the people where I told you. Behold, My angel shall go before you; nevertheless in the day when I punish, I will punish them for their sin.” Then Yahweh smote the people because of what they did with the calf which Aaron had made.

~~~~~~33~~~~~ ~~~~~~33~~~~~ ~~~~~~33~~~~~ ~~~~~~33~~~~~ ~~~~~~33~~~~~ Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, “Go! Go up from here, you and the people whom you have brought up from the land of Egypt, to the land of which I swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, saying, ‘To your seed I will give it.’ “And I will send an angel before you, and I will drive out the Canaanite, the Amorite, the Hittite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite. “Go up to a land flowing with milk and honey; for I will not go up in your midst because you are a stiff-necked people, lest I consume you on the way.” Then the people heard this sad word and went into mourning; and none of them put on his ornaments. So Yahweh said to Moses, “Say to the sons of Israel, ‘You are a stiff-necked people; should I go up in your midst for one moment, I would consume you. So now, put off your ornaments from you, that I may know what I shall do with you.’” So the sons of Israel stripped themselves of their ornaments, from Mount Horeb onward. Now Moses used to take the tent and pitch it outside the camp, a good distance from the camp, and he called it the tent of meeting. And everyone who sought Yahweh would go out to the tent of meeting which was outside the camp. And it happened whenever Moses went out to the tent, that all the people would arise and stand, each at the entrance of his tent, and gaze after Moses until he entered the tent. And it happened whenever Moses entered the tent, that the pillar of cloud would descend and stand at the entrance of the tent; and Yahweh would speak with Moses. And all the people would see the pillar of cloud standing at the entrance of the tent. And all the people would arise and worship, each at the entrance of his tent. Thus Yahweh used to speak to Moses face to face, just as a man speaks to his friend. Then Moses would return to the camp, and his attendant Joshua the son of Nun, a young man, would not depart from the tent. Then Moses said to Yahweh, “See, You say to me, ‘Bring up this people!’ But You Yourself have not let me know whom You will send with me. Moreover, You have said, ‘I have known you by name, and you have also found favor in My sight.’ “So now, I pray You, if I have found favor in Your sight, let me know Your ways that I may know You, so that I may find favor in Your sight. See also, that this nation is Your people.” And He said, “My presence shall go with you, and I will give you rest.” Then he said to Him, “If Your presence does not go with us, do not lead us up from here. “Indeed, how then can it be known that I have found favor in Your sight, I and Your people? Is it not by Your going with us, so that we, I and Your people, may be distinguished from all the other people who are upon the face of the earth?” Then Yahweh said to Moses, “I will also do this thing of which you have spoken; for you have found favor in My sight, and I have known you by name.” Then Moses said, “I pray You, show me Your glory!” And He said, “I Myself will make all My goodness pass before you, and I will proclaim the name of Yahweh before you; and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and I will show compassion on whom I will show compassion.” But He said, “You cannot see My face, for no man can see Me and live!” Then Yahweh said, “Behold, there is a place by Me, and you shall stand there on the rock; and it will come about, while My glory is passing by, that I will put you in the cleft of the rock and cover you with My hand until I have passed by. “Then I will remove My hand, and you shall see My back, but My face shall not be seen.”

~~~~~~34~~~~~ ~~~~~~34~~~~~ ~~~~~~34~~~~~ ~~~~~~34~~~~~ ~~~~~~34~~~~~ Now Yahweh said to Moses, “Carve out for yourself two stone tablets like the former ones, and I will write on the tablets the words that were on the former tablets which you shattered. “So be prepared by morning, and come up in the morning to Mount Sinai, and present yourself there to Me on the top of the mountain. “And no man is to come up with you, nor let any man be seen anywhere on the mountain; even the flocks and the herds may not graze in front of that mountain.” So he carved out two stone tablets like the former ones, and Moses rose up early in the morning and went up to Mount Sinai, as Yahweh had commanded him, and he took two stone tablets in his hand. Then Yahweh descended in the cloud and stood there with him, and He called upon the name of Yahweh. Then Yahweh passed by in front of him and called out, “Yahweh, Yahweh God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth; who keeps lovingkindness for thousands, who forgives iniquity, transgression, and sin; yet He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished, visiting the iniquity of fathers on the children and on the grandchildren to the third and fourth generations.” And Moses made haste to bow low toward the earth and worship. And he said, “If now I have found favor in Your sight, O Lord, I pray, let the Lord go along in our midst, even though they are a stiff-necked people, and pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us as Your own inheritance.” Then God said, “Behold, I am going to cut a covenant. Before all your people I will do wondrous deeds which have not been created in all the earth nor among any of the nations; and all the people among whom you live will see the working of Yahweh, for it is a fearful thing that I am going to do with you. “Be sure to keep what I am commanding you this day: behold, I am going to drive out the Amorite before you, and the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite. “Beware lest you cut a covenant with the inhabitants of the land into which you are going, lest it become a snare in your midst. “But rather, you are to tear down their altars and shatter their sacred pillars and cut down their Asherim —for you shall not worship any other god, for Yahweh, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God— lest you cut a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, and they play the harlot with their gods and sacrifice to their gods, and one of them invite you to eat of his sacrifice, and you take some of his daughters for your sons, and his daughters play the harlot with their gods and cause your sons also to play the harlot with their gods. “You shall make for yourself no molten gods. “You shall keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread. For seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, which I commanded you, at the appointed time in the month of Abib, for in the month of Abib you came out of Egypt. “The first offspring from every womb belongs to Me, even of all your male livestock, the first offspring from cattle and sheep. “And you shall redeem with a lamb the first offspring from a donkey; and if you do not redeem it, then you shall break its neck. You shall redeem all the firstborn of your sons. None shall appear before Me empty-handed. “You shall work six days, but on the seventh day you shall rest; even during plowing time and harvest you shall rest. “And you shall celebrate the Feast of Weeks, that is, the first fruits of the wheat harvest, and the Feast of Ingathering at the turn of the year. “Three times a year all your males are to appear before the Lord Yahweh, the God of Israel. “For I will dispossess nations before you and enlarge your borders, and no man shall covet your land when you go up three times a year to appear before Yahweh your God. “You shall not offer the blood of My sacrifice with leavened bread, and the sacrifice of the Feast of the Passover shall not be left over until morning. “You shall bring the very first of the first fruits of your ground into the house of Yahweh your God. “You shall not boil a young goat in its mother’s milk.” Then Yahweh said to Moses, “Write down these words, for in accordance with these words I have cut a covenant with you and with Israel.” So he was there with Yahweh forty days and forty nights; he did not eat bread or drink water. And he wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant, the Ten Commandments. Now it happened when Moses was coming down from Mount Sinai (and the two tablets of the testimony were in Moses’ hand as he was coming down from the mountain), that Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone because of his speaking with Him. Then Aaron and all the sons of Israel saw Moses, and behold, the skin of his face shone, and they were afraid to come near him. Then Moses called to them, and Aaron and all the rulers in the congregation returned to him; and Moses spoke to them. And afterward all the sons of Israel came near, and he commanded them everything that Yahweh had spoken to him on Mount Sinai. Then Moses finished speaking with them and put a veil over his face. But whenever Moses went in before Yahweh to speak with Him, he would take off the veil until he came out; and then he would come out and speak to the sons of Israel what he had been commanded, and the sons of Israel would see the face of Moses, that the skin of Moses’ face shone. So Moses would return the veil over his face until he went in to speak with Him.

~~~~~~35~~~~~ ~~~~~~35~~~~~ ~~~~~~35~~~~~ ~~~~~~35~~~~~ ~~~~~~35~~~~~ Then Moses assembled all the congregation of the sons of Israel and said to them, “These are the things that Yahweh has commanded you to do: “Six days work may be done, but on the seventh day you shall have a holy day, a sabbath of complete rest to Yahweh; whoever does any work on it shall be put to death. “You shall not kindle a fire in any of your places of habitation on the sabbath day.” And Moses spoke to all the congregation of the sons of Israel, saying, “This is the thing which Yahweh has commanded, saying, ‘Take from among you a contribution to Yahweh; whoever is of a willing heart, let him bring it as a contribution to Yahweh: gold, silver, and bronze, and blue, purple, and scarlet material, fine linen, goats’ hair, and rams’ skins dyed red, and porpoise skins, and acacia wood, and oil for lighting, and spices for the anointing oil, and for the fragrant incense, and onyx stones and setting stones for the ephod and for the breastpiece. ‘And let everyone wise at heart among you come and make all that Yahweh has commanded: the tabernacle, its tent and its covering, its clasps and its boards, its bars, its pillars, and its bases; the ark and its poles, the mercy seat, and the curtain of the screen; the table and its poles, and all its utensils, and the bread of the Presence; the lampstand also for the light and its utensils and its lamps and the oil for the light; and the altar of incense and its poles, and the anointing oil and the fragrant incense, and the screen for the doorway at the entrance of the tabernacle; the altar of burnt offering with its bronze grating, its poles, and all its utensils, the laver and its stand; the hangings of the court, its pillars and its bases, and the screen for the gate of the court; the pegs of the tabernacle and the pegs of the court and their cords; the woven garments for ministering in the holy place, the holy garments for Aaron the priest and the garments of his sons, to minister as priests.’” Then all the congregation of the sons of Israel went out from Moses’ presence. And everyone whose heart stirred him and everyone whose spirit was willing came and brought the contribution to Yahweh for the work of the tent of meeting and for all its service and for the holy garments. Then all whose hearts were willing, both men and women, came and brought brooches and earrings and signet rings and bracelets, all articles of gold; so did every man who waved it as a wave offering of gold to Yahweh. And every man, who had in his possession blue and purple and scarlet material and fine linen and goats’ hair and rams’ skins dyed red and porpoise skins, brought them. Everyone who could raise up a contribution of silver and bronze brought the contribution to Yahweh; and every man who had in his possession acacia wood for any work of the service brought it. All the women wise at heart spun with their hands and brought what they had spun, in blue and purple and scarlet material and in fine linen. And all the women whose heart stirred with wisdom spun the goats’ hair. And the rulers brought the onyx stones and the stones for setting for the ephod and for the breastpiece; and the spice and the oil for the light and for the anointing oil and for the fragrant incense. The sons of Israel—all the men and women whose heart was willing to bring material for all the work, which Yahweh had commanded through the hand of Moses to do—brought a freewill offering to Yahweh. Then Moses said to the sons of Israel, “See, Yahweh has called by name Bezalel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah. “And He has filled him with the Spirit of God, in wisdom, in discernment, and in knowledge, and in all craftsmanship; to devise designs for working in gold and in silver and in bronze, and in the cutting of stones for settings and in the carving of wood, so as to do well in every work of thoughtful design. “He also has put in his heart to teach, both he and Oholiab, the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan. “He has filled them with wisdom in their heart to do every work of an engraver and of a designer and of an embroiderer, in blue and in purple and in scarlet material and in fine linen, and of a weaver, as those who do every work and make designs.

~~~~~~36~~~~~ ~~~~~~36~~~~~ ~~~~~~36~~~~~ ~~~~~~36~~~~~ ~~~~~~36~~~~~ “Now Bezalel and Oholiab and every person wise at heart, to whom Yahweh has given wisdom and discernment to know how to do all the work of the service of constructing the sanctuary, shall do in accordance with all that Yahweh has commanded.” Then Moses called Bezalel and Oholiab and every person wise at heart to whom Yahweh had given wisdom, everyone whose heart stirred him, to come to the work to do it. And they received from Moses the entire contribution which the sons of Israel had brought to do the work in the service of the sanctuary. And they still continued bringing to him freewill offerings every morning. And all the wise men who were doing all the work of the sanctuary came, each from the work which he was doing, and they said to Moses, “The people are bringing much more than enough for the service of the work which Yahweh commanded us to do.” So Moses commanded and a proclamation was passed throughout the camp, saying, “Let no man or woman any longer do the work for the contributions of the sanctuary.” Thus the people were restrained from bringing any more. Indeed, the material they had was sufficient and more than enough for all the work, to do it. And all those wise at heart among those who were doing the work made the tabernacle with ten curtains; of fine twisted linen and blue and purple and scarlet material, with cherubim, the work of a skillful designer, Bezalel made them. The length of each curtain was twenty-eight cubits and the width of each curtain four cubits; all the curtains had the same measurements. He joined five curtains to one another, and the other five curtains he joined to one another. He made loops of blue on the edge of the outermost curtain in the first set; he did likewise on the edge of the curtain that was outermost in the second set. He made fifty loops in the one curtain, and he made fifty loops on the edge of the curtain that was in the second set; the loops were opposite each other. He made fifty clasps of gold and joined the curtains to one another with the clasps, so the tabernacle was one unit. Then he made curtains of goats’ hair for a tent over the tabernacle; he made eleven curtains in all. The length of each curtain was thirty cubits and four cubits the width of each curtain; the eleven curtains had the same measurements. He joined five curtains by themselves and the other six curtains by themselves. Moreover, he made fifty loops on the edge of the curtain that was outermost in the first set, and he made fifty loops on the edge of the curtain that was outermost in the second set. He made fifty clasps of bronze to join the tent together so that it would be a unit. He made a covering for the tent of rams’ skins dyed red and a covering of porpoise skins above. Then he made the boards for the tabernacle of acacia wood, standing upright. Ten cubits was the length of each board and one and a half cubits the width of each board. There were two tenons for each board, fitted to one another; thus he did for all the boards of the tabernacle. And he made the boards for the tabernacle: twenty boards for the south side; and he made forty bases of silver under the twenty boards; two bases under one board for its two tenons and two bases under another board for its two tenons. Then for the second side of the tabernacle, on the north side, he made twenty boards, and their forty bases of silver; two bases under one board and two bases under another board. For the rear of the tabernacle, to the west, he made six boards. And he made two boards for the corners of the tabernacle at the rear. And they were separated beneath, but were together at their completion at the top, at the first ring; thus he did with both of them for the two corners. And there were eight boards with their bases of silver, sixteen bases, two bases under every board. Then he made bars of acacia wood, five for the boards of one side of the tabernacle, and five bars for the boards of the other side of the tabernacle, and five bars for the boards of the tabernacle for the rear side to the west. And he made the middle bar to pass through in the center of the boards from end to end. He also overlaid the boards with gold and made their rings of gold as holders for the bars and overlaid the bars with gold. Moreover, he made the veil of blue and purple and scarlet material and fine twisted linen; he made it with cherubim, the work of a skillful designer. And he made four pillars of acacia for it and overlaid them with gold, with their hooks of gold; and he cast four bases of silver for them. And he made a screen for the doorway of the tent, of blue and purple and scarlet material and fine twisted linen, the work of a weaver; and he made its five pillars with their hooks, and he overlaid their tops and their bands with gold; but their five bases were of bronze.

~~~~~~37~~~~~ ~~~~~~37~~~~~ ~~~~~~37~~~~~ ~~~~~~37~~~~~ ~~~~~~37~~~~~ And Bezalel made the ark of acacia wood; its length was two and a half cubits, and its width one and a half cubits, and its height one and a half cubits; and he overlaid it with pure gold inside and out, and made a gold molding for it all around. He cast four rings of gold for it on its four feet; even two rings on one side of it, and two rings on the other side of it. He made poles of acacia wood and overlaid them with gold. He put the poles into the rings on the sides of the ark to carry it. He made a mercy seat of pure gold, two and a half cubits long and one and a half cubits wide. He made two cherubim of gold; he made them of hammered work at the two ends of the mercy seat; one cherub at the one end and one cherub at the other end; from one piece he made the mercy seat with the cherubim at its two ends. The cherubim had their wings spread upward, covering the mercy seat with their wings, with their faces toward each other; the faces of the cherubim were toward the mercy seat. Then he made the table of acacia wood, two cubits long and a cubit wide and one and a half cubits high. He overlaid it with pure gold and made a gold molding for it all around. He made a rim for it of a handbreadth all around and made a gold molding for its rim all around. He cast four gold rings for it and put the rings on the four corners that were on its four feet. Close to the rim were the rings, the holders for the poles to carry the table. He made the poles of acacia wood and overlaid them with gold, to carry the table. He made the utensils which were on the table, its dishes and its pans and its offering bowls and its jars, with which to pour out drink offerings, of pure gold. Then he made the lampstand of pure gold. He made the lampstand of hammered work, its base and its shaft; its cups, its bulbs, and its flowers were of the same piece. There were six branches going out of its sides; three branches of the lampstand from the one side of it and three branches of the lampstand from the other side of it; three cups shaped like almond blossoms, a bulb and a flower in one branch, and three cups shaped like almond blossoms, a bulb and a flower in the other branch—so for the six branches coming out of the lampstand. In the lampstand there were four cups shaped like almond blossoms, its bulbs and its flowers; and a bulb was under the first pair of branches coming out of it, and a bulb under the second pair of branches coming out of it, and a bulb under the third pair of branches coming out of it, for the six branches coming out of the lampstand. Their bulbs and their branches were of one piece with it; the whole of it was a single hammered work of pure gold. He made its seven lamps with its tongs and its trays of pure gold. He made it and all its utensils from a talent of pure gold. Then he made the altar of incense of acacia wood: a cubit long and a cubit wide, square, and two cubits high; its horns were of one piece with it. He overlaid it with pure gold, its top and its sides all around, and its horns; and he made a gold molding for it all around. He made two golden rings for it under its molding, on its two sides—on opposite sides—as holders for poles with which to carry it. He made the poles of acacia wood and overlaid them with gold. And he made the holy anointing oil and the pure, fragrant incense of spices, the work of a perfumer.


~~~~~~38~~~~~ ~~~~~~38~~~~~ ~~~~~~38~~~~~ ~~~~~~38~~~~~ ~~~~~~38~~~~~ Then he made the altar of burnt offering of acacia wood, five cubits long, and five cubits wide, square, and three cubits high. He made its horns on its four corners, its horns being of one piece with it, and he overlaid it with bronze. He made all the utensils of the altar, the pots and the shovels and the bowls, the flesh hooks and the firepans; he made all its utensils of bronze. He made for the altar a grating of a network of bronze beneath, under its ledge, reaching halfway down. He cast four rings on the four ends of the bronze grating as holders for the poles. He made the poles of acacia wood and overlaid them with bronze. He inserted the poles into the rings on the sides of the altar, with which to carry it. He made it hollow with planks. Moreover, he made the laver of bronze with its base of bronze, from the mirrors of the serving women who served at the doorway of the tent of meeting. Then he made the court: for the south side the hangings of the court were of fine twisted linen, one hundred cubits; their twenty pillars, and their twenty bases, made of bronze; the hooks of the pillars and their bands were of silver. For the north side there were one hundred cubits; their twenty pillars and their twenty bases were of bronze, the hooks of the pillars and their bands were of silver. For the west side there were hangings of fifty cubits with their ten pillars and their ten bases; the hooks of the pillars and their bands were of silver. For the east side toward the sunrise fifty cubits. The hangings for the one side of the gate were fifteen cubits, with their three pillars and their three bases, and so for the other side. On both sides of the gate of the court were hangings of fifteen cubits, with their three pillars and their three bases. All the hangings of the court all around were of fine twisted linen. The bases for the pillars were of bronze, the hooks of the pillars and their bands were of silver; and the overlaying of their tops were of silver, and all the pillars of the court were furnished with silver bands. The screen of the gate of the court was the work of the weaver, of blue and purple and scarlet material and fine twisted linen. And the length was twenty cubits and the height was five cubits, corresponding to the hangings of the court. Their four pillars and their four bases were of bronze; their hooks were of silver, and the overlaying of their tops and their bands were of silver. All the pegs of the tabernacle and of the court all around were of bronze. These are the things numbered for the tabernacle, the tabernacle of the testimony, as they were numbered according to the command of Moses, for the service of the Levites, by the hand of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest. Now Bezalel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, made all that Yahweh had commanded Moses. With him was Oholiab the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan, a craftsman and a skillful designer and a weaver in blue and in purple and in scarlet material and fine linen. All the gold that was used for the work, in all the work of the sanctuary, even the gold of the wave offering, was 29 talents and 730 shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary. The silver of those of the congregation who were numbered was 100 talents and 1,775 shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary; a beka a head (that is, half a shekel according to the shekel of the sanctuary), for each one who passed over to those who were numbered, from twenty years old and upward, for 603,550 men. One hundred talents of silver were for casting the bases of the sanctuary and the bases of the veil; one hundred bases for one hundred talents, a talent for a base. Of the 1,775 shekels, he made hooks for the pillars and overlaid their tops and made bands for them. The bronze of the wave offering was 70 talents and 2,400 shekels. With it he made the bases to the doorway of the tent of meeting, and the bronze altar and its bronze grating, and all the utensils of the altar, and the bases of the court all around and the bases of the gate of the court, and all the pegs of the tabernacle and all the pegs of the court all around.

~~~~~~39~~~~~ ~~~~~~39~~~~~ ~~~~~~39~~~~~ ~~~~~~39~~~~~ ~~~~~~39~~~~~ Moreover, from the blue and purple and scarlet material, they made finely woven garments for ministering in the holy place as well as the holy garments which were for Aaron, just as Yahweh had commanded Moses. He made the ephod of gold, and of blue and purple and scarlet material, and fine twisted linen. Then they hammered out gold sheets and cut them into threads to be woven in with the blue and the purple and the scarlet material and the fine linen, the work of a skillful designer. They made joining shoulder pieces for the ephod; it was joined at its two upper ends. The skillfully woven band which was on it was like its workmanship, of the same material: of gold, and of blue and purple and scarlet material, and fine twisted linen, just as Yahweh had commanded Moses. They made the onyx stones, set all around in filigree settings of gold; they were engraved like the engravings of a signet, according to the names of the sons of Israel. And he placed them on the shoulder pieces of the ephod, as stones of remembrance for the sons of Israel, just as Yahweh had commanded Moses. He made the breastpiece, the work of a skillful designer, like the workmanship of the ephod: of gold, and of blue and purple and scarlet material, and fine twisted linen. It was square; they made the breastpiece, having been folded double, a span long and a span wide when folded double. And they mounted four rows of stones on it. The first row was a row of ruby, topaz, and emerald; and the second row, a turquoise, a sapphire, and a diamond; and the third row, a jacinth, an agate, and an amethyst; and the fourth row, a beryl, an onyx, and a jasper. They were set in their filigree settings with gold filigree. The stones were corresponding to the names of the sons of Israel; they were twelve, corresponding to their names, engraved with the engravings of a signet, each with its name for the twelve tribes. They made on the breastpiece chains of a twisted work of cords in pure gold. They made two gold filigree settings and two gold rings, and put the two rings on the two ends of the breastpiece. Then they put the two gold cords in the two rings at the ends of the breastpiece. They put the other two ends of the two cords on the two filigree settings and put them on the shoulder pieces of the ephod at the front of it. They made two gold rings and placed them on the two ends of the breastpiece, on its inner edge which was next to the ephod. Furthermore, they made two gold rings and placed them on the bottom of the two shoulder pieces of the ephod, on the front of it, close to the place where it joined, above the skillfully woven band of the ephod. They bound the breastpiece by its rings to the rings of the ephod with a blue cord, so that it would be on the skillfully woven band of the ephod, and that the breastpiece would not come loose from the ephod, just as Yahweh had commanded Moses. Then he made the robe of the ephod of woven work entirely of blue; and the opening of the robe was at the top in the center, as the opening of a coat of mail, with a binding all around its opening, so that it would not be torn. They made pomegranates of blue and purple and scarlet material and twisted linen on the hem of the robe. They also made bells of pure gold and put the bells between the pomegranates all around on the hem of the robe, alternating a bell and a pomegranate all around on the hem of the robe for the ministry, just as Yahweh had commanded Moses. They made the tunics of finely woven linen for Aaron and his sons, and the turban of fine linen, and the headdresses of the caps of fine linen, and the linen undergarments of fine twisted linen, and the sash of fine twisted linen, and blue and purple and scarlet material, the work of the weaver, just as Yahweh had commanded Moses. They made the plate of the holy crown of pure gold and wrote upon it with engraved writing as found on a signet, “Holy to Yahweh.” They fastened a blue cord to it, to fasten it on the turban above, just as Yahweh had commanded Moses. Thus all the service of constructing the tabernacle of the tent of meeting was completed; and the sons of Israel did according to all that Yahweh had commanded Moses; so they did. They brought the tabernacle to Moses, the tent and all its furnishings: its clasps, its boards, its bars, and its pillars and its bases; and the covering of rams’ skins dyed red, and the covering of porpoise skins, and the screening veil; the ark of the testimony and its poles and the mercy seat; the table, all its utensils, and the bread of the Presence; the pure gold lampstand, with its arrangement of lamps and all its utensils, and the oil for the light; and the gold altar, and the anointing oil and the fragrant incense, and the veil for the doorway of the tent; the bronze altar and its bronze grating, its poles and all its utensils, the laver and its stand; the hangings for the court, its pillars and its bases, and the screen for the gate of the court, its cords and its pegs, and all the equipment for the service of the tabernacle, for the tent of meeting; the woven garments for ministering in the holy place and the holy garments for Aaron the priest and the garments of his sons, to minister as priests. Thus, according to all that Yahweh had commanded Moses, so the sons of Israel did in all their service. And Moses saw all the work, and behold, they had done it; just as Yahweh had commanded, so they had done. Then Moses blessed them.

~~~~~~40~~~~~ ~~~~~~40~~~~~ ~~~~~~40~~~~~ ~~~~~~40~~~~~ ~~~~~~40~~~~~ Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, “On the first day of the first month you shall set up the tabernacle of the tent of meeting. “You shall place the ark of the testimony there, and you shall screen the ark with the veil. “You shall bring in the table and arrange what belongs on it; and you shall bring in the lampstand and mount its lamps. “Moreover, you shall set the gold altar of incense before the ark of the testimony and set up the veil for the doorway to the tabernacle. “You shall set the altar of burnt offering in front of the doorway of the tabernacle of the tent of meeting. “You shall set the laver between the tent of meeting and the altar and put water in it. “You shall set up the court all around and hang up the screen for the gateway of the court. “Then you shall take the anointing oil and anoint the tabernacle and all that is in it and set it apart as holy and all its furnishings; and it shall be holy. “You shall anoint the altar of burnt offering and all its utensils, and set the altar apart as holy, and the altar shall be most holy. “You shall anoint the laver and its stand, and set it apart as holy. “Then you shall bring Aaron and his sons to the doorway of the tent of meeting and wash them with water. “You shall put the holy garments on Aaron and anoint him and set him apart as holy, that he may minister as a priest to Me. “You shall bring his sons and put tunics on them; and you shall anoint them even as you have anointed their father, that they may minister as priests to Me; and their anointing will be for them for a perpetual priesthood throughout their generations.” Thus Moses did; according to all that Yahweh had commanded him, so he did. Now it happened, in the first month of the second year, on the first day of the month, the tabernacle was erected. Moses erected the tabernacle and laid its bases and set up its boards and inserted its bars and erected its pillars. He spread the tent over the tabernacle and placed the covering of the tent on top of it, just as Yahweh had commanded Moses. Then he took the testimony and put it into the ark and attached the poles to the ark and put the mercy seat on top of the ark. He brought the ark into the tabernacle and placed the veil of the screen and screened off the ark of the testimony, just as Yahweh had commanded Moses. Then he put the table in the tent of meeting on the north side of the tabernacle, outside the veil. He set the arrangement of bread in order on it before Yahweh, just as Yahweh had commanded Moses. Then he placed the lampstand in the tent of meeting, opposite the table, on the south side of the tabernacle. He lighted the lamps before Yahweh, just as Yahweh had commanded Moses. Then he placed the gold altar in the tent of meeting in front of the veil; and he burned fragrant incense on it, just as Yahweh had commanded Moses. Then he placed the screen at the doorway of the tabernacle. He placed the altar of burnt offering before the doorway of the tabernacle of the tent of meeting, and he offered on it the burnt offering and the meal offering, just as Yahweh had commanded Moses. He placed the laver between the tent of meeting and the altar and put water in it for washing. From it Moses and Aaron and his sons washed their hands and their feet. When they entered the tent of meeting, and when they approached the altar, they washed, just as Yahweh had commanded Moses. He erected the court all around the tabernacle and the altar, and he put up the screen for the gateway of the court. Thus Moses finished the work. Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of Yahweh filled the tabernacle. And Moses was not able to enter the tent of meeting because the cloud had dwelt on it, and the glory of Yahweh filled the tabernacle. Now throughout all their journeys whenever the cloud was taken up from over the tabernacle, the sons of Israel would set out; but if the cloud was not taken up, then they did not set out until the day when it was taken up. For throughout all their journeys, the cloud of Yahweh was on the tabernacle by day, and there was fire in it by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel.
