1

1 Israel Oppressed Now these are the names of the sons of Israel, which came into Egypt (each man and his household came with Jacob):

2 Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah;

3 Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin;

4 Dan, Naphtali, Gad, and Asher.

5 All the people who came from the seed of Jacob were seventy people, but Joseph was in Egypt already.

6 Joseph died, as did all his brothers, and all that generation.

7 Nevertheless, the sons of Israel were fruitful, and increased abundantly, and multiplied, and became exceedingly mighty, so that the land was filled with them.

8 Now there rose up a new king over Egypt, who did not know Joseph.

9 He said to his people, “Surely, the people of the sons of Israel are more numerous and powerful than we.

10 Come, let us deal wisely with them, lest they multiply, and it come to pass that when any war breaks out, they also join our enemies, and fight against us, and escape from the land.”

11 Therefore they set taskmasters over them to afflict them with their labor. They built for Pharaoh storage cities: Pithom and Rameses.

12 But the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and grew so that as a result they abhorred the sons of Israel.

13 The Egyptians made the children of Israel to serve with rigor,

14 and they made their lives bitter with hard service—in mortar and in brick, and in all manner of service in the field, all their service in which they made them serve was with rigor.

15 The king of Egypt spoke to the Hebrew midwives, of which the name of one was Shiphrah, and the name of the other Puah,

16 and he said, “When you perform the office of a midwife to the Hebrew women and see them on the stools, if it is a son, then you must kill him, but if it is a daughter, then she may live.”

17 However, the midwives feared God, and did not do as the king of Egypt commanded them, but kept the male children alive.

18 The king of Egypt called for the midwives and said to them, “Why have you done this thing and preserved the male children’s lives?”

19 The midwives said to Pharaoh, “Because the Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women, for they are vigorous and give birth before the midwives come to them.”

20 Therefore God dealt well with the midwives, and the people multiplied and grew very mighty.

21 So it happened that because the midwives feared God, He gave them families.

22 Pharaoh charged all his people, saying, “You must cast every son that is born into the river, and you must preserve every daughter’s life.”

2

1 The Birth of Moses Now a man of the house of Levi went and married a daughter of Levi.

2 And the woman conceived and bore a son, and when she saw him, that he was a beautiful child, she hid him three months.

3 When she could no longer hide him, she took for him a container made of bulrushes and daubed it with tar and with pitch. She then put the child in it and set it in the reeds by the river’s bank.

4 Then his sister stood afar off so that she might know what would happen to him.

5 The daughter of Pharaoh came down to wash herself at the river while her maidens walked along by the river’s side, and when she saw the container among the reeds, she sent her maid, and she retrieved it.

6 When she opened it, she saw the child. He was crying. She had compassion on him and said, “This is one of the Hebrews’ children.”

7 Then his sister said to Pharaoh’s daughter, “Shall I go and call for you a nursing woman of the Hebrew women so that she may nurse the child for you?”

8 And Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Go.” So the young girl went and called the child’s mother.

9 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.

10 Now the child grew, and she brought him to Pharaoh’s daughter, and he became her son. And she called his name Moses and said, “Because I drew him out of the water.”

11 In those days, when Moses was grown, he went out to his brothers and looked on their burdens; and he saw an Egyptian striking a Hebrew, one of his brothers.

12 He looked this way and that way, and when he saw no one, he killed the Egyptian and hid him in the sand.

13 When he went out the next day, two men of the Hebrews struggled with each other; and he said to him that did the wrong, “Why do you strike your companion?”

14 He said, “Who made you a prince and a judge over us? Do you intend to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?” Moses feared and said, “Surely this thing is known.”

15 Moses Flees to Midian Now when Pharaoh heard this thing, he sought to slay Moses. But Moses fled from the presence of Pharaoh and settled in the land of Midian, and he dwelled by a well.

16 Now the priest of Midian had seven daughters, and they came and drew water, and filled the troughs to water their father’s flock.

17 Then shepherds came and drove them away, but Moses stood up and helped them, and watered their flock.

18 When they came to Reuel their father, he said, “Why is it you have come back so soon today?”

19 And they said, “An Egyptian delivered us out of the hand of the shepherds and also drew water for us and watered the flock.”

20 He said to his daughters, “So where is he? Why is it that you have left the man? Call him so that he may eat bread.”

21 Moses was content to dwell with the man, and he gave Zipporah, his daughter, to Moses.

22 Then she gave birth to a son, and he called his name Gershom, for he said, “I have been a sojourner in a foreign land.”

23 In the passing of time the king of Egypt died. And the children of Israel sighed because of the bondage, and they cried out, and their cry came up to God on account of the bondage.

24 God heard their groaning, and God remembered His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

25 God looked on the children of Israel, and God had concern for them.

3

1 Moses at the Burning Bush Now Moses kept the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the far side of the desert and came to the mountain of God, to Horeb.

2 The angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire from the midst of a bush, and he looked, and the bush burned with fire, but the bush was not consumed.

3 So Moses said, “I will now turn aside and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt.”

4 When the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, God called to him from out of the midst of the bush and said, “Moses, Moses.” And he said, “Here am I.”

5 He said, “Do not approach here. Remove your sandals from off your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.”

6 Moreover He said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look upon God.

7 The Lord said, “I have surely seen the affliction of My people who are in Egypt and have heard their cry on account of their taskmasters, for I know their sorrows.

8 Therefore, I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land to a good and spacious land, to a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites.

9 Now therefore, the cry of the children of Israel has come to Me. Moreover, I have also seen the oppression with which the Egyptians are oppressing them.

10 Come now therefore, and I will send you to Pharaoh so that you may bring forth My people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.”

11 Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt?”

12 And He said, “Certainly I will be with you, and this will be a sign to you, that I have sent you: When you have brought forth the people out of Egypt, all of you shall serve God on this mountain.”

13 Moses said to God, “I am going to the children of Israel and will say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you.’ When they say to me, ‘What is His name?’ what shall I say to them?”

14 And God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM,” and He said, “You will say this to the children of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’ ”

15 God, moreover, said to Moses, “Thus you will say to the children of Israel, ‘The Lord, 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 to all generations.’

16 “Go, and gather the elders of Israel together, and say to them, ‘The Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, appeared to me, saying, “I am indeed concerned about you and what has been done to you in Egypt.

17 Therefore, I said, I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt to the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, to a land flowing with milk and honey.” ’

18 “They shall listen to your voice, and you shall come, you and the elders of Israel, to the king of Egypt, and you must say to him, ‘The Lord, the God of the Hebrews has met with us. Therefore, now, let us go, we ask you, three days’ journey into the wilderness so that we may sacrifice to the Lord our God.’

19 However, I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go, no, not even under a forceful hand.

20 So I will stretch out My hand and strike Egypt with all My wonders which I will perform in its midst, and after that he will let you go.

21 “I will give this people favor in the sight of the Egyptians, and it will come to pass, that, when you go, you will not go empty-handed.

22 But every woman will borrow of her neighbor, and of her that sojourns in her house, articles of silver, and articles of gold, and clothing, and you will put them on your sons, and on your daughters—in this way you will plunder the Egyptians.”

4

1 Moses’ Miraculous Signs And Moses answered and said, “But they will not believe me, nor listen to my voice. For they will say, ‘The Lord has not appeared to you.’ ”

2 The Lord said to him, “What is that in your hand?” And he said, “A rod.”

3 He said, “Throw it on the ground.” And he threw it on the ground, and it became a serpent. Then Moses fled from it.

4 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Put forth your hand and take it by the tail.” And he put forth his hand, and caught it, and it became a rod in his hand.

5 “This is so that they may believe that the Lord, the God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has appeared to you.”

6 The Lord said furthermore to him, “Now put your hand into your bosom.” He put his hand into his bosom, and when he took it out, his hand was as leprous as snow.

7 He said, “Put your hand into your bosom again.” So he put his hand into his bosom again and brought it out of his bosom, and it was restored like his other flesh.

8 “If they will not believe you, nor listen to the voice of the first sign, then they may believe the voice of the latter sign.

9 But if they will not believe also these two signs or listen to your voice, then you shall take water from the river and pour it on the dry land, and the water which you take out of the river will become blood on the dry land.”

10 Then Moses said to the Lord, “O my Lord, I am not eloquent, neither before nor since You have spoken to Your servant. But I am slow of speech, and of a slow tongue.”

11 The Lord said to him, “Who has made man’s mouth? Or who made the dumb, or deaf, or the seeing, or the blind? Have not I, the Lord?

12 Now therefore go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you must say.”

13 He said, “O my Lord, send, I pray, by the hand of whomever else You will send.”

14 The anger of the Lord was inflamed against Moses, and He said, “Is not Aaron the Levite your brother? I know that he can speak well. And also, he comes out to meet you, and when he sees you, he will be glad in his heart.

15 You shall speak to him and put the words in his mouth, and I will be with your mouth, and with his mouth, and will teach you what you must do.

16 What’s more, he will be your spokesman to the people, and he will be as a mouth for you, and you will be as God to him.

17 You must take this rod in your hand, with which you will perform the signs.”

18 Moses Returns to Egypt Moses went and returned to Jethro his father-in-law and said to him, “Please let me go and return to my brothers who are in Egypt, and see whether they be yet alive.” And Jethro said to Moses, “Go in peace.”

19 The Lord said to Moses in Midian, “Go, return to Egypt, for all the men are dead who sought your life.”

20 Moses took his wife and his sons and set them on a donkey, and he returned to the land of Egypt. And Moses took the rod of God in his hand.

21 The Lord said to Moses, “When you go to return into Egypt, see that you do all those wonders before Pharaoh, which I have put in your hand, but I will harden his heart, so that he shall not let the people go.

22 You shall say to Pharaoh, ‘Thus says the Lord: Israel is My son, even My firstborn.

23 So I say to you, “Let My son go, that he may serve Me. And if you refuse to let him go, I will slay your son, even your firstborn.” ’ ”

24 At a lodging place on the way, the Lord met him and sought to kill him.

25 Then Zipporah took a sharp stone, and cut off the foreskin of her son, and threw it at his feet, and said, “Surely a bloody husband are you to me.”

26 So He let him go. Then she said, “A bloody husband you are, because of the circumcision.”

27 Now the Lord said to Aaron, “Go into the wilderness to meet Moses.” So he went, and met him at the mount of God, and kissed him.

28 Moses told Aaron all the words of the Lord who had sent him, and all the signs which He had commanded him.

29 Moses and Aaron went and gathered together all the elders of the children of Israel.

30 And Aaron spoke all the words which the Lord had spoken to Moses and did the signs in the sight of the people.

31 And the people believed. And when they heard that the Lord had visited the children of Israel and that He had looked on their affliction, they bowed down and worshipped.

5

1 Bricks Without Straw And afterward Moses and Aaron went in and said to Pharaoh, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘Let My people go, that they may hold a feast to Me in the wilderness.’ ”

2 And Pharaoh said, “Who is the Lord that I should obey His voice to let Israel go? I do not know the Lord, nor will I let Israel go.”

3 They said, “The God of the Hebrews has met with us. Let us go, we pray you, three days’ journey into the wilderness, and sacrifice to the Lord our God, lest He fall upon us with pestilence or with the sword.”

4 But the king of Egypt said to them, “Why do you, Moses and Aaron, take the people from their work? Get back to your labor.”

5 Pharaoh said, “Look, the people of the land now are numerous, and you make them rest from their labor.”

6 Pharaoh commanded the same day the taskmasters of the people and their officers, saying,

7 “You shall no more give the people straw to make brick, as before. Let them go and gather straw for themselves.

8 However, the quota of the bricks, which they were making previously, you shall lay upon them. You shall not diminish any of it. For they are idle. Therefore they cry out, saying, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to our God.’

9 Let there be more work laid upon the men so that they may labor therein, and let them not regard deceptive words.”

10 The taskmasters of the people and their officers went out, and they spoke to the people, saying, “Thus says Pharaoh, ‘I will not give you straw.

11 Go, get straw where you can find it, yet nothing of your work shall be diminished.’ ”

12 So the people scattered abroad throughout all the land of Egypt to gather stubble for straw.

13 The taskmasters pushed them, saying, “Fulfill your works, your daily tasks, just as when there was straw.”

14 The officers of the children of Israel, which Pharaoh’s taskmasters had set over them, were beaten and were asked, and demanded, “Why have you not fulfilled your task in making brick both yesterday and today, as previously?”

15 Then the officers of the children of Israel came and cried to Pharaoh, saying, “Why do you deal this way with your servants?

16 There is no straw being given to your servants, and they say to us, ‘Make brick.’ And indeed, your servants are beaten, but the fault is in your own people.”

17 But he said, “You are slackers! Slackers! Therefore you say, ‘Let us go and do sacrifice to the Lord.’

18 Go therefore now and work, for there shall no straw be given you, yet shall you deliver the quota of bricks.”

19 The officers of the children of Israel saw that they were in trouble, after it was said, “You shall not diminish anything from your bricks of your daily task.”

20 Then they met Moses and Aaron, who stood in the way, as they came forth from Pharaoh.

21 And they said to them, “May the Lord look on you and judge, because you have made our scent stink in the estimation of Pharaoh and in the estimation of his servants, to put a sword in their hand to slay us.”

22 God Promises Deliverance Moses returned to the Lord, and said, “Lord, why have You caused trouble for this people? Why is it that You have sent me?

23 For since I came to Pharaoh to speak in Your name, he has done evil to this people; neither have You delivered Your people at all.”

6

1 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Now you shall see what I will do to Pharaoh, for with a strong hand shall he let them go, and with a strong hand shall he drive them out of his land.”

2 Then God spoke to Moses, and said to him, “I am the Lord,

3 and I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, by the name of God Almighty, but by My name, The Lord, I was not known to them.

4 I have also established My covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the land of their pilgrimage, wherein they sojourned.

5 I have also heard the groaning of the children of Israel, whom the Egyptians keep in bondage, and I have remembered My covenant.

6 “Therefore say to the children of Israel: ‘I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will rid you out of their bondage, and I will redeem you with a stretched-out arm and with great judgments.

7 And I will take you to Me for a people, and I will be to you a God. And you shall know that I am the Lord your God, who brings you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians.

8 I will bring you into the land, which I swore to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, and I will give it to you for a heritage. I am the Lord.’ ”

9 Moses spoke so to the children of Israel, but they did not listen to Moses on account of their anguish of spirit and for cruel bondage.

10 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying,

11 “Go in, tell Pharaoh king of Egypt to let the children of Israel go out of his land.”

12 Moses spoke before the Lord, saying, “The children of Israel have not listened to me. How then shall Pharaoh listen to me, as I am of uncircumcised lips?”

13 And the Lord spoke to Moses and to Aaron, and gave them a command for the children of Israel, and for Pharaoh, king of Egypt, to bring the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt.

14 The Genealogy of Moses and Aaron These are the heads of their fathers’ houses: The sons of Reuben the firstborn of Israel: Hanok, Pallu, Hezron, and Karmi. These are the families of Reuben.

15 The sons of Simeon: Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jakin, Zohar, and Shaul the son of a Canaanite woman. These are the families of Simeon.

16 These are the names of the sons of Levi according to their generations: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari, and the years of the life of Levi were one hundred and thirty-seven years.

17 The sons of Gershon: Libni, and Shimei, according to their families.

18 The sons of Kohath: Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel, and the years of the life of Kohath were one hundred and thirty-three years.

19 The sons of Merari: Mahli and Mushi. These are the families of Levi according to their generations.

20 Now Amram married Jochebed his father’s sister, and she bore him Aaron and Moses. And the years of the life of Amram were one hundred and thirty-seven years.

21 The sons of Izhar: Korah, Nepheg, and Zikri.

22 The sons of Uzziel: Mishael, Elzaphan, and Sithri.

23 Aaron took to himself Elisheba, daughter of Amminadab, sister of Nahshon, to wife; and she bore him Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar.

24 The sons of Korah: Assir, Elkanah, and Abiasaph. These are the families of the Korahites.

25 Eleazar, Aaron’s son, married one of the daughters of Putiel, and she bore him Phinehas. These are the heads of the fathers of the Levites according to their families.

26 It was that Aaron and Moses to whom the Lord said, “Bring out the children of Israel from the land of Egypt according to their armies.”

27 They are the ones who spoke to Pharaoh king of Egypt to bring out the children of Israel from Egypt. It was that Moses and Aaron.

28 Aaron to Speak for Moses On the day when the Lord spoke to Moses in the land of Egypt,

29 the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “I am the Lord. Speak to Pharaoh the king of Egypt all that I say to you.”

30 However, Moses said before the Lord, “Listen! I am unskilled in speech, so how will Pharaoh listen to me?”

7

1 So the Lord said to Moses, “See, I have made you a god to Pharaoh, and Aaron your brother will be your prophet.

2 You shall speak all that I command you, and Aaron your brother shall tell Pharaoh to send the children of Israel out of his land.

3 But I will harden Pharaoh’s heart and multiply My signs and My wonders in the land of Egypt.

4 Nevertheless, Pharaoh will not listen to you, so that I may lay My hand upon Egypt and bring forth My armies and My people, the children of Israel, out of the land of Egypt by great judgments.

5 And the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord when I stretch forth My hand upon Egypt and bring out the children of Israel from among them.”

6 So Moses and Aaron did it. Just as the Lord commanded them, so they did.

7 Moses was eighty years old, and Aaron was eighty-three years old when they spoke to Pharaoh.

8 Aaron’s Rod Becomes a Snake Now the Lord spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying,

9 “When Pharaoh shall speak to you, saying, ‘Show a miracle,’ then you shall say to Aaron, ‘Take your rod, and throw it before Pharaoh,’ and it shall become a serpent.”

10 So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh, and they did what the Lord had commanded. And Aaron threw down his rod before Pharaoh and before his servants, and it became a serpent.

11 Then Pharaoh also called the wise men and the sorcerers. Then the magicians of Egypt likewise performed with their secret arts.

12 For every man threw down his rod, and they became serpents. But Aaron’s rod swallowed up their rods.

13 Nonetheless, Pharaoh’s heart hardened so that he would not listen to them, just as the Lord had said.

14 The First Plague: Waters Turn to Blood The Lord said to Moses, “Pharaoh’s heart is hardened. He refuses to let the people go.

15 Go to Pharaoh in the morning as he goes out to the water, and you shall stand by the river’s bank to meet him. You must take the rod which was turned to a serpent in your hand.

16 Then you are to say to him, ‘The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, has sent me to you, saying, “Let My people go, so that they may serve Me in the wilderness.” But up to this point you have not listened!

17 Thus says the Lord, “In this you shall know that I am the Lord: Indeed, I will strike the waters of the Nile with the rod that is in my hand, and they shall be turned to blood.

18 And the fish that are in the river shall die, and the river shall stink so that the Egyptians shall be weary of drinking the river’s water.” ’ ”

19 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, “Say to Aaron, ‘Take your rod, and stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt, over their rivers, over their canals, over their ponds, and over all their pools of water, so 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.’ ”

20 Moses and Aaron did so, just as the Lord commanded. And he lifted up the rod and struck the waters that were in the river, in the sight of Pharaoh, and in the sight of his servants, and all the waters that were in the river were turned to blood.

21 The fish that were in the river died, the river stank, and the Egyptians could not drink of the water of the river. Blood was everywhere throughout the land of Egypt.

22 Nevertheless, the magicians of Egypt did the same with their secret arts, and Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he did not listen to them, as the Lord had said.

23 Then Pharaoh turned and went into his house, and he did not concern himself with this either.

24 So all the Egyptians dug around about the river for water to drink, because they could not drink of the water of the river.

25 Seven days passed after the Lord had struck the river.

8

1 The Second Plague: Frogs Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh and say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord: Let My people go, so that they may serve Me.

2 But if you refuse to let them go, then I will plague all your borders with frogs.

3 And the river will swarm with frogs, which shall go up and come into your house, and into your bedchamber, and on your bed, and into the houses of your servants, and on your people, and into your ovens, and into your kneading troughs.

4 So the frogs shall come upon you, upon your people, and upon all your servants.’ ”

5 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Say to Aaron, ‘Stretch forth your hand with your rod over the streams, over the rivers, and over the ponds, and cause frogs to come up on the land of Egypt.’ ”

6 Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt, and the frogs came up, and covered the land of Egypt.

7 The magicians did the same with their secret arts and brought up frogs upon the land of Egypt.

8 Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron, and said, “Entreat the Lord, that He may take away the frogs from me, and from my people, and I will let the people go, so that they may sacrifice to the Lord.”

9 Moses said to Pharaoh, “Glory yourself over me: When shall I entreat for you, your servants, and your people, to destroy the frogs from you and your houses, that they may remain in the river only?”

10 And he said, “Tomorrow.” Then he said, “Be it according to your word, in order that you may know that there is no one like the Lord our God.

11 The frogs shall depart from you, and from your houses, from your servants, and from your people. They shall remain in the river only.”

12 Moses and Aaron went out from Pharaoh, and Moses cried out to the Lord concerning the frogs which he had brought against Pharaoh.

13 Then the Lord did according to the word of Moses. And the frogs died out of the houses, the villages, and the fields.

14 So they gathered them together in heaps, and the land stank.

15 But when Pharaoh saw that there was relief, he hardened his heart and did not listen to them, as the Lord had said.

16 The Third Plague: Gnats Then the Lord said to Moses, “Say to Aaron, ‘Stretch out your rod, and strike the dust of the land, so that it may become gnats throughout all the land of Egypt.’ ”

17 They did so, for Aaron stretched out his hand with his rod and smote the dust of the earth, and it became gnats on man and on beast. All the dust of the land became gnats throughout all the land of Egypt.

18 Then the magicians tried with their secret arts to bring forth gnats, but they could not, so there were gnats upon man and beast.

19 Then the magicians said to Pharaoh, “This is the finger of God.” Nevertheless, Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he did not listen to them, just as the Lord had said.

20 The Fourth Plague: Flies So the Lord said to Moses, “Rise up early in the morning and stand before Pharaoh as he comes forth to the water and say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord: Let My people go, so that they may serve Me.

21 Otherwise, if you will not let My people go, indeed 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 shall be full of swarms of flies and also the ground wherever they are.

22 “ ‘I will in that day set apart the land of Goshen, in which My people dwell, so that no swarms of flies shall be there, in order that you may know that I am the Lord in the midst of the earth.

23 I will put a division between My people and your people. Tomorrow this sign will happen.’ ”

24 The Lord did so, and great swarms of flies came into the house of Pharaoh, and into his servants’ houses, and into all the land of Egypt. The land was corrupted because of the swarms of flies.

25 Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron, and said, “Go, sacrifice to your God in the land.”

26 Moses said, “It is not right to do so, for what we shall sacrifice to the Lord our God would be an abomination to the Egyptians. If we shall sacrifice what is an abomination of the Egyptians before their eyes, will they not stone us?

27 We will go three days’ journey into the wilderness, and then we will sacrifice to the Lord our God, as He shall command us.”

28 Pharaoh said, “I will let you go, that you may sacrifice to the Lord your God in the wilderness. Only you shall not go very far away. Make entreaty for me.”

29 Moses said, “Indeed, I am leaving you, and I will plead with the Lord that the swarms of flies may depart from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people tomorrow. But let not Pharaoh deal deceitfully any more by not letting the people go to sacrifice to the Lord.”

30 Moses went away from Pharaoh and entreated the Lord.

31 Then the Lord did according to the word of Moses, and He removed the swarms of flies from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people. Not one remained.

32 Nevertheless, Pharaoh hardened his heart at this time also, nor would he let the people go.

9

1 The Fifth Plague: Livestock Die Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh, and speak to him, ‘Thus says the Lord, the God of the Hebrews: Let My people go, so that they may serve Me.

2 For if you refuse to let them go and continue holding them,

3 indeed, the hand of the Lord will be upon your livestock which are in the field, upon the horses, upon the donkeys, upon the camels, upon the oxen, and upon the sheep. There shall be a very grievous pestilence.

4 The Lord shall separate between the livestock of Israel and the livestock of Egypt, and nothing shall die of all that belongs to the children of Israel.’ ”

5 So the Lord appointed a set time, saying, “Tomorrow the Lord shall do this thing in the land.”

6 Then the Lord did this thing the next day, so that all the livestock of Egypt died, but not one of the livestock of the children of Israel died.

7 Pharaoh sent, and there was not one of the livestock of the children of Israel dead. And the heart of Pharaoh was hardened, so that he did not let the people go.

8 The Sixth Plague: Boils Then the Lord said to Moses and to Aaron, “Take for yourselves handfuls of ashes from a kiln, and let Moses toss it toward the heavens in the sight of Pharaoh.

9 It shall become fine dust over all the land of Egypt and shall be a boil breaking forth with blisters upon man and beast, throughout all the land of Egypt.”

10 So they took the ashes from a kiln and stood before Pharaoh. Then Moses tossed it up toward the heavens, and it became a boil breaking forth with blisters upon man and beast.

11 The magicians could not stand before Moses because of the boils, for the boils were upon the magicians and upon all the Egyptians.

12 Moreover, the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh, so that he did not listen to them, just as the Lord had spoken to Moses.

13 The Seventh Plague: Hail Then the Lord said to Moses, “Rise up early in the morning, and stand before Pharaoh, and say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord, the God of the Hebrews: Let My people go, so that they may serve Me.

14 For I will at this time send all My plagues upon you and your servants and your people, so that you may know that there is none like Me in all the earth.

15 For by now I could have stretched out My hand, so that I might strike you and your people with pestilence, and you would be cut off from the earth.

16 But, indeed, for this cause I have raised you up, in order to show in you My power and so that My name may be declared throughout all the earth.

17 Still, you exalt yourself against My people by forbidding them to go.

18 Certainly, tomorrow about this time I will cause it to rain a very severe hail, such as has not happened in Egypt since it was founded until now.

19 Send therefore now and bring your livestock and all that you have in the field to safety. Every man and beast which shall be found in the field and not brought home when the hail comes down upon them will die.’ ”

20 He that feared the word of the Lord among the servants of Pharaoh made his servants and his livestock flee into the houses.

21 But he that failed to regard the word of the Lord left his servants and his livestock in the field.

22 So the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch forth your hand toward the heavens, so that there may be hail in all the land of Egypt, upon man and beast, and upon every herb of the field, throughout the land of Egypt.”

23 Moses stretched forth his rod toward the heavens, and the Lord sent thunder and hail, and fire ran along upon the ground. So the Lord rained hail upon the land of Egypt.

24 So there was hail, and fire mingled with the hail. It was so severe that there had been none like it in all the land of Egypt since it became a nation.

25 The hail struck all the land of Egypt, all that was in the field, both man and beast, and the hail struck every herb of the field and broke every tree of the field.

26 Only in the land of Goshen, where the children of Israel were, was there no hail.

27 Then Pharaoh sent and called for Moses and Aaron, and said to them, “I have sinned this time. The Lord is righteous, and I and my people are wicked.

28 Entreat the Lord, for there has been enough of God’s mighty thunder and hail, and I will let you go, and you shall stay no longer.”

29 Moses said to him, “As soon as I am gone out of the city, I will spread out my hands to the Lord. The thunder shall cease, and there shall no longer be any more hail, so that you may know that the earth is the Lord’s.

30 But as for you and your servants, I know that you will not yet fear the Lord God.”

31 Now the flax and the barley were struck, for the barley was in the ear, and the flax was in bud.

32 But the wheat and the spelt were not struck, for they grow up later.

33 So Moses went out of the city from Pharaoh and spread out his hands to the Lord, and the thunders and hail ceased, and the rain was no longer poured upon the earth.

34 However, when Pharaoh saw that the rain and the hail and the thunders were ceased, he sinned yet more, and hardened his heart, he and his servants.

35 The heart of Pharaoh hardened, and he would not let the children of Israel go, just as the Lord had spoken by Moses.

10

1 The Eighth Plague: Locusts Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh, for I have hardened his heart and the heart of his servants, that I might show these signs of Mine before him,

2 in order that you may tell in the hearing of your son, and of your son’s son, what things I have done in Egypt, and My signs which I have done among them, that you may know that I am the Lord.”

3 Moses and Aaron came to Pharaoh and said to him, “Thus says the Lord, the God of the Hebrews, ‘How long will you refuse to humble yourself before Me? Let My people go, that they may serve Me.

4 For if you refuse to let My people go, indeed, tomorrow I will bring locusts into your territory.

5 And they shall cover the face of the earth, such that no one will be able to see the earth. What’s more, they shall eat the remainder of that which has escaped—that which remains to you from the hail—and shall eat every tree which grows for you out of the field.

6 And they shall fill your houses, and the houses of all your servants, and the houses of all the Egyptians—which neither your fathers, nor your fathers’ fathers have seen since the day that they were on the earth until this day.’ ” And he turned and went out from Pharaoh.

7 Then Pharaoh’s servants said to him, “How long shall this man be a snare to us? Let the men go, so that they may serve the Lord their God. Do you not yet know that Egypt is destroyed?”

8 So Moses and Aaron were brought back to Pharaoh, and he said to them, “Go, serve the Lord your God! But who are the ones that shall go?”

9 And Moses said, “We will go with our young and our old, with our sons and our daughters, with our flocks and our herds will we go, for we must hold a feast to the Lord.”

10 Then he said to them, “The Lord indeed be with you when I let you and your little ones go. Beware, for evil is before you.

11 Not so! Go now, you that are men, and serve the Lord, for that is what you desire.” Then they were driven out from Pharaoh’s presence.

12 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the land of Egypt for the locusts, so that they may come up upon the land of Egypt and eat every herb of the land, even all that the hail has left.”

13 So Moses stretched forth his rod over the land of Egypt; then the Lord brought an east wind upon the land all that day and all that night. And when it was morning, the east wind brought the locusts.

14 The locusts went up over all the land of Egypt and settled down in all the territory of Egypt. They were very grievous. Never before had there been such locusts as they, nor would there be such ever again.

15 For they covered the face of the whole earth, so that the land was darkened, and they ate every herb of the land, and all the fruit of the trees which the hail had left. As a result, nothing green remained there in the trees or herbs of the field, through all the land of Egypt.

16 Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron in haste and said, “I have sinned against the Lord, your God, and against you.

17 Now therefore please forgive my sin only this once, and entreat the Lord your God, so that He may take away from me this death only.”

18 So he went out from Pharaoh and prayed to the Lord.

19 Then the Lord turned a mighty strong west wind, which took away the locusts and threw them into the Red Sea. Not one locust remained in all the territory of Egypt.

20 But the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart, so that he would not let the children of Israel go.

21 The Ninth Plague: Darkness Then the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand toward the heavens, so that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, a darkness which may be felt.”

22 So Moses stretched forth his hand toward the heavens, and there was a thick darkness in all the land of Egypt for three days.

23 They did not see one another; nor did anyone rise from his place for three days. But all the children of Israel had light in their dwellings.

24 Then Pharaoh called to Moses and said, “Go, serve the Lord. Only let your flocks and your herds be detained. Even let your little ones also go with you.”

25 But Moses said, “You must also give us sacrifices and burnt offerings, so that we may sacrifice to the Lord our God.

26 Our livestock will go with us also. Not a hoof will be left behind, for we must take of them to serve the Lord our God. And we do not know with what we must serve the Lord, until we get there.”

27 But the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he would not let them go.

28 So Pharaoh said to him, “Get away from me! Watch yourself, do not see my face anymore; for in the day you see my face you shall die.”

29 Then Moses said, “As you wish. I will never see your face again.”

11

1 Warning of the Final Plague Now the Lord said to Moses, “I will still bring one plague more upon Pharaoh, and upon Egypt. Afterwards he will let you go from here. When he lets you go, he shall surely thrust you out from here altogether.

2 Speak now in the hearing of the people, and let every man borrow of his neighbor and every woman of her neighbor, articles of silver and articles of gold.”

3 Then the Lord gave the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians. Moreover, the man Moses was very great in the land of Egypt, in the sight of Pharaoh’s servants, and in the sight of the people.

4 Moses said, “Thus says the Lord, ‘About midnight I will go out into the midst of Egypt,

5 and all the firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sits on his throne, even to the firstborn of the maidservant that is behind the mill, as well as all the firstborn of beasts.

6 Then there shall be a great cry throughout all the land of Egypt, such as there has never been, nor shall ever be again.

7 But against any of the children of Israel a dog will not even move his tongue, against man or beast, in order that you may know how that the Lord distinguishes between Egypt and Israel.’

8 Then all these your servants shall come down to me and bow themselves to me, saying, ‘Get out, and all the people who follow you!’ After that I will go out.” And he went out from Pharaoh in great anger.

9 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Pharaoh shall not listen to you so that My wonders may be multiplied in the land of Egypt.”

10 So Moses and Aaron did all these wonders before Pharaoh, and the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he would not let the children of Israel go out of his land.

12

1 The Passover Instituted Now the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying:

2 This month shall be the beginning of months to you. It shall be the first month of the year to you.

3 Speak to all the congregation of Israel, saying: On the tenth day of this month every man shall take a lamb, according to the house of their fathers, a lamb for a household.

4 And if the household be too little for the lamb, let him and his neighbor next to his house take it according to the number of the persons; according to what each man shall eat, divide the lamb.

5 Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year. You shall take it out from the sheep, or from the goats.

6 You shall keep it up until the fourteenth day of the same month, and then the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening.

7 They shall take some of the blood and put it on the two side posts and on the upper doorpost of the houses in which they shall eat it.

8 They shall eat the flesh on that night, roasted with fire, and they shall eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs.

9 Do not eat it raw, nor boiled at all with water, but roasted with fire, its head with its legs and its entrails.

10 And you shall let nothing of it remain until the morning, but that of it which remains until the morning you shall burn with fire.

11 In this way shall you eat it: with your waist girded, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. So you shall eat it in haste. It is the Lord’s Passover.

12 For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night and will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast, and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment. I am the Lord.

13 The blood shall be to you for a sign on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you when I smite the land of Egypt.

14 This day shall be a memorial to you, and you shall keep it as a feast to the Lord. Throughout your generations you shall keep it a feast by an eternal ordinance.

15 Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread. On the first day you shall put away leaven out of your houses, for whoever eats leavened bread from the first day until the seventh day, that person shall be cut off from Israel.

16 On the first day there shall be a holy convocation, and on the seventh day there shall be a holy convocation for you. No manner of work shall be done on them; but that which every man must eat—that only may be prepared for you.

17 You shall observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread. For on this very day I brought your armies out of the land of Egypt. Therefore you shall observe this day throughout your generations as an ordinance forever.

18 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.

19 Seven days shall there be no leaven found in your houses, for whoever eats that which is leavened, that person shall be cut off from the congregation of Israel, whether he be a stranger or born in the land.

20 You shall eat nothing leavened. In all your dwellings you shall eat unleavened bread.

21 Then Moses called for all the elders of Israel and said to them, “Draw out and take for yourselves a lamb according to your families and kill the Passover lamb.

22 You shall take a bunch of hyssop, and dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and apply the lintel and the two side posts with the blood that is in the basin, and none of you shall go out from the door of his house until the morning.

23 For the Lord will pass through to kill the Egyptians. And when He sees the blood upon the lintel and on the two side posts, the Lord will pass over the door and will not permit the destroyer to come to your houses to kill you.

24 “And you shall observe this thing as an ordinance to you and to your sons forever.

25 When you enter the land which the Lord will give you, according as He has promised, that you shall observe this service.

26 And when your children shall say to you, ‘What does this service mean to you?’

27 that you shall say, ‘It is the sacrifice of the Lord’s Passover, who passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt, when He smote the Egyptians, and delivered our households.’ ” And the people bowed down and worshipped.

28 Then the children of Israel went and did so. Just as the Lord had commanded Moses and Aaron, so they did.

29 The Tenth Plague: Death of the Firstborn At midnight the Lord smote all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh that sat on his throne to the firstborn of the captive who was in the dungeon and all the firstborn of livestock.

30 Pharaoh rose up in the night, he and all his servants and all the Egyptians, and there was a great cry in Egypt, for there was not a house where there was not someone dead.

31 The Exodus Then he called for Moses and Aaron at night and said, “Rise up, and get out from among my people, both you and the children of Israel, and go, serve the Lord, as you have said.

32 Also take your flocks and your herds, as you have said, and be gone, and bless me also.”

33 The Egyptians urged the people, so that they might send them out of the land in haste, for they said, “We all will be dead.”

34 So the people took their dough before it was leavened, with their kneading troughs being bound up in their clothes on their shoulders.

35 Now the children of Israel did according to the word of Moses, and they requested of the Egyptians articles of silver and articles of gold, and clothing.

36 And the Lord gave the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they gave them what they requested. Thus they plundered the Egyptians.

37 Then the children of Israel journeyed from Rameses to Sukkoth, about six hundred thousand men on foot, besides children.

38 A mixed multitude also went up with them along with flocks and herds, a large amount of livestock.

39 They baked unleavened cakes of the dough which they brought forth out of Egypt, for it was not leavened because they were driven out of Egypt and could not linger, nor had they prepared for themselves any food.

40 Now the sojourning of the children of Israel who lived in Egypt was four hundred and thirty years.

41 And at the end of the four hundred and thirty years, on the very day, all the hosts of the Lord went out from the land of Egypt.

42 It is a night to be observed to the Lord for bringing them out from the land of Egypt. This is that night for the Lord to be observed by all the children of Israel in their generations.

43 The Ordinance of Passover So the Lord said to Moses and Aaron: This is the ordinance of the Passover: No foreigner may eat of it.

44 But every man’s servant bought with money, when you have circumcised him, may eat it.

45 A foreigner or a hired servant shall not eat it.

46 In one house shall it be eaten. You shall not carry any of the flesh outside of the house, nor shall you break a bone of it.

47 All the congregation of Israel shall keep it.

48 Now when a stranger sojourns with you and keeps the Passover to the Lord, let all his males be circumcised, and then let him come near and keep it. And he shall be as one that is born in the land. However, no uncircumcised person shall eat of it.

49 The same law shall apply to him that is a native and to the stranger who sojourns among you.

50 So all the children of Israel did it. They did just as the Lord commanded Moses and Aaron.

51 And that same day the Lord brought the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt by their hosts.

13

1 Consecration of the Firstborn Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

2 Sanctify unto Me all the firstborn, the firstborn of every womb among the children of Israel, both of man and of beast. It is Mine.

3 The Feast of Unleavened Bread Moses said to the people, “Remember this day, in which you came out from Egypt, out of the house of bondage, for by strength of hand the Lord brought you out from this place. Nothing leavened shall be eaten.

4 On this day, you are going out, in the month of Aviv.

5 It shall be when the Lord brings you into the land of the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Amorites and the Hivites and the Jebusites, which He swore to your fathers to give you, a land flowing with milk and honey, that you shall keep this ceremony in this month.

6 Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, and on the seventh day shall be a feast to the Lord.

7 Unleavened bread shall be eaten seven days. And there shall be no leavened bread seen among you, nor shall there be leaven seen among you in all your borders.

8 You shall declare to your son on that day, saying, ‘This is done because of that which the Lord did for me when I came forth out of Egypt.’

9 It shall be as a sign to you on your hand and as a memorial on your forehead, in order that the Lord’s law may be in your mouth. For with a strong hand the Lord brought you out of Egypt.

10 You shall, therefore, keep this ordinance at its appointed time from year to year.

11 The Law of the Firstborn “It shall be when the Lord brings you into the land of the Canaanites, just as He swore to you and to your fathers, and shall give it you,

12 that you shall set apart to the Lord the first offspring of every womb and the first offspring of every beast which you have. The males shall be the Lord’s.

13 But every first offspring of a donkey you shall redeem with a lamb. And if you do not redeem it, then you shall break its neck, and all the firstborn of man among your sons you shall redeem.

14 “It shall be when your son asks you in time to come, saying, ‘What is this?’ that you shall say to him, ‘With a strong hand the Lord brought us out from Egypt, from the house of bondage.

15 And when Pharaoh stubbornly refused to let us go, that the Lord killed all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both the firstborn of man, and the firstborn of beast. Therefore, I sacrifice to the Lord the first male offspring of every womb, but all the firstborn of my sons I redeem.’

16 It shall be as a sign on your hand and as frontlets on your forehead, for with a strong hand the Lord brought us out of Egypt.”

17 The Route of the Exodus Now when Pharaoh had let the people go, God did not lead them through the way of the land of the Philistines, although it was nearby. For God said, “Lest the people change their minds when they see war, and they return to Egypt.”

18 Therefore, God led the people around, through the way of the wilderness to the Red Sea, and the children of Israel went up prepared for war out of the land of Egypt.

19 Moses took the bones of Joseph with him, for he had made the children of Israel solemnly swear, saying, “God will surely attend to you, and you shall carry my bones away from here with you.”

20 They took their journey from Sukkoth and camped in Etham, on the edge of the wilderness.

21 The Lord went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead them along the way, and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light, so that they might travel by day and by night.

22 He did not remove the pillar of cloud by day or the pillar of fire by night from before the people.

14

1 Crossing the Red Sea Now the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

2 Speak to the children of Israel, so that they turn and camp before Pi Hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea, before Baal Zephon. Opposite it you shall camp by the sea.

3 For Pharaoh will say of the children of Israel, “They are confused in the land. The wilderness has shut them in.”

4 So I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, so that he shall pursue them. And I will be honored because of Pharaoh and because of all his army, so that the Egyptians may know that I am the Lord. And they did so.

5 When it was told the king of Egypt that the people fled, the heart of Pharaoh and of his servants was turned against the people, and they said, “Why have we done this, that we have let Israel go from serving us?”

6 So he made ready his chariot and took his people with him.

7 And he took six hundred select chariots, and all the chariots of Egypt, and officers over every one of them.

8 The Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and he pursued after the children of Israel. However, the children of Israel went out with confidence.

9 But the Egyptians pursued after them, all the horses and chariots of Pharaoh, and his horsemen, and his army, and overtook them camping by the sea, beside Pi Hahiroth, before Baal Zephon.

10 When Pharaoh drew near, the children of Israel lifted up their eyes, and indeed, the Egyptians were marching after them, and they were extremely terrified, so the children of Israel cried out to the Lord.

11 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? Why have you dealt with us in this way, bringing us out of Egypt?

12 Is not this the word that we spoke to you in Egypt, saying, ‘Let us alone, that we may serve the Egyptians’? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness.”

13 But Moses said to the people, “Fear not! Stand firm! And see the salvation of the Lord, which He will show you today. For the Egyptians whom you have seen today, you shall never see again.

14 The Lord shall fight for you, while you hold your peace.”

15 The Lord said to Moses, “Why do you cry out to Me? Speak to the children of Israel, so that they go forward.

16 And as for you, lift up your rod, and stretch out your hand over the sea, and divide it; then the children of Israel shall go on dry ground through the midst of the sea.

17 As for Me, surely, I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians, so that they shall follow them, and I will be honored through Pharaoh, through all his army, his chariots, and his horsemen.

18 Then the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord when I am honored through Pharaoh, his chariots, and his horsemen.”

19 Then the angel of God, which went before the camp of Israel, moved and went behind them, and the pillar of the cloud moved before them and stood behind them.

20 So it came between the camp of the Egyptians and the camp of Israel, and there was a cloud and darkness to them, but it gave light by night. Therefore, the one did not come near the other the entire night.

21 Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the Lord caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all that night, and made the sea dry land, so that the waters were divided.

22 The children of Israel went into the midst of the sea on the dry ground, and the waters were a wall unto them on their right hand, and on their left.

23 Then the Egyptians pursued and went in after them into the midst of the sea, even all Pharaoh’s horses, his chariots, and his horsemen.

24 And in the morning watch the Lord looked down on the army of the Egyptians through the pillar of fire and of the cloud and threw the camp of the Egyptians into confusion.

25 He removed their chariot wheels, so that they drove them with difficulty, and the Egyptians said, “Let us flee from the face of Israel, for the Lord is fighting for them against Egypt.”

26 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the sea, so that the waters may come back upon the Egyptians, upon their chariots, and their horsemen.”

27 So Moses stretched forth his hand over the sea, and the sea returned to its normal place when the morning appeared, while the Egyptians fled against it, so the Lord overthrew the Egyptians in the midst of the sea.

28 The waters returned and covered the chariots, and the horsemen, and all the host of Pharaoh that came into the sea after them. There remained not so much as one of them.

29 But the children of Israel walked on dry land in the midst of the sea. And the waters were a wall to them on their right hand and on their left.

30 Thus the Lord saved Israel that day from the hand of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians dead upon the seashore.

31 When Israel saw the great power which the Lord used upon the Egyptians, the people feared the Lord, and they believed in the Lord and in His servant Moses.

15

1 A Song of Moses Then Moses and the children of Israel sang this song to the Lord and spoke, saying: “I will sing to the Lord, for He has triumphed gloriously! He has thrown the horse and his rider into the sea!

2 The Lord is my strength and song, and He has become my salvation. He is my God, and I will praise Him; my father’s God, and I will exalt Him.

3 The Lord is a man of war; the Lord is His name.

4 Pharaoh’s chariots and his army He has thrown into the sea; his chosen captains also are drowned in the Red Sea.

5 The depths have covered them; they sank to the bottom like a stone.

6 “Your right hand, O Lord, is glorious in power. Your right hand, O Lord, shatters the enemy.

7 In the greatness of Your excellence, You overthrow those who rise up against You. You send out Your wrath; it consumes them like stubble.

8 With the blast of Your nostrils the waters were gathered together. The flowing waters stood upright as a heap; and the depths were congealed in the heart of the sea.

9 “The enemy said, ‘I will pursue. I will overtake. I will divide the spoil; my lust shall be satisfied upon them. I will draw my sword, my hand shall destroy them.’

10 You blew with Your wind, and the sea covered them; they sank like lead in the mighty waters.

11 “Who is like You, O Lord, among the gods? Who is like You, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders?

12 You stretched out Your right hand, and the earth swallowed them.

13 “In Your mercy You have led the people whom You have redeemed; You have guided them by Your strength to Your holy dwelling.

14 The peoples have heard and are afraid; sorrow has taken hold on the inhabitants of Philistia.

15 Then the chiefs of Edom were amazed; the mighty men of Moab, trembling takes hold of them; all the inhabitants of Canaan are melted away.

16     Fear and dread fall upon them; by the greatness of Your arm they are as still as a stone, until Your people pass over, O Lord, until the people whom You have purchased pass over.

17 You shall bring them in, and plant them on the mountain of Your inheritance, in the place, O Lord, which You have made for Your dwelling, in the sanctuary, O Lord, which Your hands have established.

18 The Lord will reign forever and ever.”

19 For the horses of Pharaoh went in with his chariots and with his horsemen into the sea, and the Lord brought back the waters of the sea upon them, but the children of Israel walked on dry land in the midst of the sea.

20 The Song of Miriam Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took a timbrel in her hand, and all the women went out after her with timbrels and with dancing.

21 Miriam answered them, “Sing to the Lord, for He triumphed gloriously! The horse and his rider He has hurled into the sea.”

22 The Waters of Marah and Elim Then Moses led Israel from the Red Sea, and they went out into the Wilderness of Shur, and they went three days in the wilderness and found no water.

23 When they came to Marah, they could not drink of the waters of Marah, for they were bitter. Therefore, the name of it was called Marah.

24 So the people murmured against Moses, saying, “What shall we drink?”

25 And he cried to the Lord, and the Lord showed him a tree. When he had thrown it into the waters, the waters were made sweet. There He made for them a statute and an ordinance, and there He tested them.

26 He said, “If you diligently listen to the voice of the Lord your God, and do what is right in His sight, and give ear to His commandments, and keep all His statutes, I will not afflict you with any of the diseases with which I have afflicted the Egyptians. For I am the Lord who heals you.”

27 Then they came to Elim, where there were twelve wells of water and seventy palm trees, and they camped there by the waters.

16

1 Bread and Quail Then they set out from Elim, and all the congregation of the children of Israel came to the Wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after their departing out of the land of Egypt.

2 The whole congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness.

3 Now the children of Israel said to them, “Would to God we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the pots of meat, when we ate bread to the full, for you have brought us forth into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.”

4 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Indeed, I will rain bread from heaven for you. And the people shall go out and gather a certain amount every day, that I may test them, whether they will walk in My law or not.

5 And it shall come to pass that on the sixth day they shall prepare that which they bring in, and it will be twice as much as they gather daily.”

6 So Moses and Aaron said to all the children of Israel, “At evening, you shall know that the Lord has brought you out from the land of Egypt.

7 And in the morning you shall see the glory of the Lord, because He hears your murmurings against the Lord. And what are we that you murmur against us?”

8 Then Moses said, “This will happen when the Lord gives you meat to eat in the evening and bread in the morning to satisfy, for the Lord hears your murmurings which you murmur against Him. And what are we? Your murmurings are not against us, but against the Lord.”

9 Then Moses said to Aaron, “Say to all the congregation of the children of Israel, ‘Come near before the Lord, for He has heard your murmurings.’ ”

10 So as Aaron spoke to the whole congregation of the children of Israel, they looked toward the wilderness, and indeed, the glory of the Lord appeared in the cloud.

11 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,

12 “I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel. Speak to them, saying, ‘In the evening you shall eat meat, and in the morning you shall be filled with bread. And you shall know that I am the Lord your God.’ ”

13 So in the evening the quail came up and covered the camp, and in the morning a layer of dew was surrounding the camp.

14 When the layer of dew evaporated, on the surface of the wilderness there lay a small flaky thing, as fine as the frost on the ground.

15 When the children of Israel saw it, they said one to another, “What is it?” For they did not know what it was. And Moses said to them, “This is the bread which the Lord has given you to eat.

16 This is what the Lord has commanded, ‘Every man is to gather of it according to what he will eat, an omer for every man, according to the number of your people. Every man should take for them for whoever lives in his tent.’ ”

17 The children of Israel did so, and gathered, some more, some less.

18 When they measured it with an omer, he that gathered much had nothing left over, and he that gathered little had no lack. They gathered every man according what he could eat.

19 Moses said to them, “Let no man leave any of it until the morning.”

20 However, they did not listen to Moses, and some of them left part of it until the morning, and it bred worms, and stank, and Moses was angry with them.

21 So they gathered it every morning, every man according to what he could eat. And when the sun got hot, it melted.

22 Now on the sixth day they gathered twice as much bread, two omers per man, and then all the leaders of the congregation came and told Moses.

23 He said to them, “This is what the Lord has said, ‘Tomorrow is the Sabbath, a holy Sabbath to the Lord. Bake that which you will bake today, and boil that you will boil, and all that which remains over lay up for yourselves to be kept until the morning.’ ”

24 So they laid it up until the morning, just as Moses commanded, and it did not stink, nor was there any worm in it.

25 Moses said, “Eat it today, for today is a Sabbath to the Lord. Today you will not find it in the field.

26 Six days you shall gather it, but on the seventh day, the Sabbath, there will be none.”

27 It happened that some of the people went out on the seventh day to gather, but they found nothing.

28 Then the Lord said to Moses, “How long will you refuse to keep My commandments and My instructions?

29 See, the Lord has given you the Sabbath; therefore He gives you bread for two days on the sixth day. Every man remain in his place. Let no man go out of his place on the seventh day.”

30 So the people rested on the seventh day.

31 The house of Israel named it manna, and it was like coriander seed and was white, and its taste was like wafers made with honey.

32 Then Moses said, “This is what the Lord has commanded, ‘Fill an omer of it to be kept for your generations to come, so that they may see the bread that I fed you in the wilderness, when I brought you forth from the land of Egypt.’ ”

33 Moses said to Aaron, “Take a pot and put an omer full of manna in it, and place it before the Lord, to be kept for generations to come.”

34 As the Lord commanded Moses, so Aaron placed it before the testimony, to be kept.

35 The children of Israel ate manna forty years, until they came to an inhabited land. They ate the manna until they came to the border of the land of Canaan.

36 Now an omer is one-tenth of an ephah.

17

1 Water From the Rock All the congregation of the children of Israel journeyed from the Wilderness of Sin, from place to place, according to the commandment of the Lord, and pitched in Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink.

2 Therefore the people contended with Moses and said, “Give us water so that we may drink.” And Moses said to them, “Why do you contend with me? Why do you test the Lord?”

3 But the people thirsted there for water, and the people murmured against Moses, and said, “Why is it that you have brought us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?”

4 Then Moses cried out to the Lord, saying, “What shall I do to this people? They are almost ready to stone me.”

5 The Lord said to Moses, “Pass over before the people, and take with you some of the elders of Israel. And take in your hand your rod with which you struck the Nile, and go.

6 Indeed, I will stand before you there on the rock in Horeb, and you shall strike the rock, and there water shall come out of it, so that the people may drink.” Then Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel.

7 He called the name of the place Massah, and Meribah, because of the contending of the children of Israel, and because they tested the Lord, saying, “Is the Lord among us, or not?”

8 The Amalekites Defeated Then Amalek came and fought with Israel in Rephidim.

9 So Moses said to Joshua, “Choose men for us and go out, fight against Amalek. Tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the rod of God in my hand.”

10 So Joshua did as Moses had said to him and fought against Amalek. And Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill.

11 Now when Moses held up his hand, Israel prevailed, but when he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed.

12 But Moses’ hands became heavy. So they took a stone, and put it under him, and he sat on it. And Aaron and Hur supported his hands, one on one side, and the other on the other side. And his hands were steady until the going down of the sun.

13 So Joshua laid low Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword.

14 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Write this as a memorial in a book and rehearse it to Joshua, for I will utterly wipe out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven.”

15 Then Moses built an altar and called the name of it, The Lord Is My Banner;

16 for he said, “For the Lord has sworn that the Lord will have war with Amalek from generation to generation.”

18

1 Jethro Counsels Moses Jethro, the priest of Midian, Moses’ father-in-law, heard of all that God had done for Moses, and for Israel His people, and that the Lord had brought Israel out of Egypt.

2 Then Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, took Zipporah, Moses’ wife, after he had sent her back,

3 and her two sons, one of whom was named Gershom; for he said, “I have been a sojourner in a foreign land.”

4 And the name of the other was Eliezer, for he said, “The God of my father was my help, and He delivered me from the sword of Pharaoh.”

5 Then Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, came with his sons and his wife to Moses in the wilderness, where he camped at the mountain of God.

6 And he said to Moses, “I, your father-in-law, Jethro, am coming to you, and your wife, and her two sons with her.”

7 Then Moses went out to meet his father-in-law, and bowed down and kissed him; and they asked each other of the other’s welfare, and then they went into the tent.

8 Moses told his father-in-law all that the Lord had done to Pharaoh and to the Egyptians for Israel’s sake, and all the hardships that had come on them along the way, and how the Lord delivered them.

9 Jethro rejoiced because of all the goodness which the Lord had done for Israel, whom He had delivered out of the hand of the Egyptians.

10 Jethro said, “The Lord be blessed, who has delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians, and out of the hand of Pharaoh, who has delivered the people from under the hand of the Egyptians.

11 Now I know that the Lord is greater than all gods, for in the matter in which they treated the people insolently, He was above them.”

12 Then Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, took a burnt offering and sacrifices for God, and Aaron and all the elders of Israel came to eat bread with Moses’ father-in-law before God.

13 On the next day, Moses sat to judge the people, and the people stood around Moses from the morning until the evening.

14 When Moses’ father-in-law saw all that he was doing for the people, he said, “What is this thing that you are doing for the people? Why are you sitting by yourself while all the people stand around you from morning until evening?”

15 Then Moses said to his father-in-law, “Because the people come to me to inquire of God.

16 When they have a dispute, it comes to me, and I judge between a man and his neighbor, and I make known the statutes of God and His laws.”

17 Moses’ father-in-law said to him, “What you are doing is not good.

18 You will surely wear yourself out, both you, and these people who are with you, for this thing is too heavy for you. You are not able to do it by yourself.

19 Now listen to me, I will advise you, and may God be with you: You be a representative for the people to God so that you may bring their disputes to God.

20 And you shall teach them the statutes and laws and shall show them the way in which they must walk and the work that they must do.

21 Moreover, you shall choose out of all the people capable men who fear God, men of truth, hating dishonest gain, and place these men over them, to be rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens.

22 Let them judge the people at all times, and let it be that every difficult matter they shall bring to you, but every small matter they shall judge, so that it will be easier for you, and they will bear the burden with you.

23 If you shall do this thing and God commands you so, then you will be able to endure, and all these people also will go to their place in peace.”

24 So Moses listened to his father-in-law and did everything that he had said.

25 Moses chose capable men out of all Israel and made them heads over the people, rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens.

26 They judged the people at all times. They brought the difficult cases to Moses, but they judged every small matter themselves.

27 Moses sent out his father-in-law, and he went his way to his own land.

19

1 Israel at Mount Sinai In the third month after the children of Israel had gone forth out of the land of Egypt, on the same day they came into the Wilderness of Sinai.

2 When they set out from Rephidim, they came to the Wilderness of Sinai and camped in the wilderness. Israel camped there before the mountain.

3 Moses went up to God, and the Lord called to him from the mountain, saying, “Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob and tell the children of Israel:

4 ‘You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I lifted you up on eagles’ wings, and brought you to Myself.

5 Now therefore, if you will faithfully obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be My special possession out of all the nations, for all the earth is Mine.

6 And you will be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words which you shall speak to the children of Israel.”

7 So Moses came and called for the elders of the people and laid before them all these words which the Lord commanded him.

8 Then all the people answered together and said, “All that the Lord has spoken we will do.” And Moses brought back the words of the people to the Lord.

9 The Lord said to Moses, “Indeed, I am going to come to you in a thick cloud, so that the people may hear when I speak with you and always believe in you.” Then Moses told the words of the people to the Lord.

10 The Lord said to Moses, “Go to the people and sanctify them today and tomorrow, and have them wash their clothes,

11 and be ready for the third day, for on the third day the Lord will come down in the sight of all the people on Mount Sinai.

12 You shall set boundaries for the people all around, saying, ‘Take heed to yourselves so that you not go up onto the mountain or touch its border. Whoever touches the mountain will surely be put to death.

13 No hand will touch him, but he shall surely be stoned or shot through, whether it be beast or man. He shall not live.’ When the trumpet sounds a long blast, they shall come up to the mountain.”

14 So Moses went down from the mountain to the people and sanctified the people, and they washed their clothes.

15 He said to the people, “Be ready for the third day. Do not go near your wives.”

16 So on the third day, in the morning, there was thunder and lightning, and a thick cloud on the mountain, and the sound of an exceedingly loud trumpet. All the people who were in the camp trembled.

17 Then Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet with God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain.

18 Now Mount Sinai was completely covered in smoke because the Lord had descended upon it in fire, and the smoke ascended like the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mountain shook violently.

19 When the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder, Moses spoke, and God answered him with a voice.

20 The Lord came down on Mount Sinai, on the top of the mountain. And the Lord called Moses up to the top of the mountain, and Moses went up.

21 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go down, warn the people, lest they force their way to the Lord to look, and many of them perish.

22 Let the priests also, which come near to the Lord, sanctify themselves, lest the Lord break through against them.”

23 Moses said to the Lord, “The people cannot come up to Mount Sinai, for You warned us, saying, ‘Set boundaries around the mountain, and sanctify it.’ ”

24 Then the Lord said to him, “Go, get down, and come up, you and Aaron with you, but do not let the priests and the people force their way through to come up to the Lord, lest He break through against them.”

25 So Moses went down to the people and spoke to them.

20

1 The Ten Commandments Now God spoke all these words, saying:

2 I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.

3 You shall have no other gods before Me.

4 You shall not make for yourself any graven idol, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water below the earth.

5 You shall not bow down to them or serve them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation of them who hate Me,

6 and showing lovingkindness to thousands of them who love Me and keep My commandments.

7 You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold guiltless anyone who takes His name in vain.

8 Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy.

9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work,

10 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, or your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or your sojourner who is within your gates.

11 For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.

12 Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land which the Lord your God is giving you.

13 You shall not murder.

14 You shall not commit adultery.

15 You shall not steal.

16 You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

17 You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his manservant, or his maidservant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor’s.

18 All the people witnessed the thunder and the lightning and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking; and when the people saw it, they trembled and stood at a distance.

19 They said to Moses, “You speak to us, and we will listen, but do not let God speak to us, lest we die.”

20 Moses said to the people, “Do not fear, for God has come to test you, so that the fear of Him may be before you so that you do not sin.”

21 The people stood a distance away as Moses drew near to the thick darkness where God was.

22 The Law About the Altar Then the Lord said to Moses: Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, “You yourselves have seen that I have spoken to you from heaven.

23 You shall not make gods of silver alongside Me or make gods of gold for yourselves.

24 “You shall make an altar of earth for Me and on it you shall sacrifice your burnt offerings and your peace offerings, your sheep, and your oxen. In every place where I cause My name to be honored, I will come to you and bless you.

25 If you will make Me an altar of stone, you shall not build it of cut stones, for if you use your tool on it, you will have polluted it.

26 And you shall not go up by steps to My altar, so that your nakedness will not be exposed on it.”

21

1 The Law About Servants Now these are the judgments which you will set before them.

2 If you buy a Hebrew servant, he will serve for six years, but in the seventh he shall go out free without paying anything.

3 If he came in by himself, he shall go out by himself. If he is married, then his wife will go out with him.

4 If his master gives him a wife, and she bears him sons or daughters, the wife and her children shall belong to her master, and he will go out by himself.

5 However, if the servant plainly says, “I love my master, my wife, and my children. I will not go out free,”

6 then his master will bring him to the judges, then he shall also bring him to the door or to the doorpost, and his master shall bore his ear through with an awl, and he shall serve him forever.

7 If a man sells his daughter to be a female servant, she shall not go out as the male servants do.

8 If she does not please her master, who has betrothed her to himself, then he shall let her be redeemed. He has no authority to sell her to a foreign nation, because he has dealt deceitfully with her.

9 If he has designated her for his son, then he shall deal with her according to the customary rights of daughters.

10 If he marries another wife, then he must not diminish the first one’s food, her clothing, or her marital rights.

11 If he does not provide these three for her, then she shall go out free, without paying money.

12 The Law About Violence He that strikes a man so that he dies shall surely be put to death.

13 However, if it was not premeditated, but God let him fall into his hand, then I will appoint you a place where he may flee.

14 But if a man willfully comes upon his neighbor in order to kill him cunningly, then you must take him from My altar, that he may die.

15 He who strikes his father or his mother shall surely be put to death.

16 He who kidnaps a man and sells him, or if he is found in his possession, shall surely be put to death.

17 He who curses his father or his mother shall surely be put to death.

18 If men fight and one strikes the other with a stone or with his fist, and he does not die, but must remain in bed,

19 and then if he gets up and walks around on his staff, then he who struck him shall go unpunished. Only he must pay for his loss of time and shall see to it that he is thoroughly healed.

20 If a man strikes his male servant or his female servant with a rod so that he or she dies at his hand, then he shall surely be punished.

21 Nevertheless, if he survives for a day or two, then he shall not be punished, for it is his money.

22 If men fight and hurt a pregnant woman so that her child is born prematurely, yet there is no serious injury, then he shall be surely punished in accordance with what the woman’s husband demands of him, and he shall pay as the judges determine.

23 But if there is any serious injury, then you shall give life for life,

24 eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot,

25 burn for burn, wound for wound, bruise for bruise.

26 If a man strikes the eye of his male servant or the eye of his female servant so that it is destroyed, then he must let him go free on account of his eye.

27 If he knocks out his male servant’s tooth or his female servant’s tooth, then he shall let him or her go free on account of the tooth.

28 Laws About Property If an ox gores a man or a woman to death, then the ox must surely be stoned and its flesh must not be eaten, but the owner of the ox will be acquitted.

29 But if the ox has had the habit of goring, and the owner has been made aware of it, and he has not kept it in, and it has killed a man or a woman, then the ox shall be stoned and its owner also shall be put to death.

30 If a ransom is set for him, then he shall give for the ransom of his life whatever is demanded of him.

31 Whether it gored a son or gored a daughter, it will be done to him according to this rule.

32 If the ox gores a male servant or a female servant, then its owner shall give thirty shekels of silver to their master, and the ox must be stoned.

33 If a man opens a pit or if a man digs a pit and does not cover it, and an ox or a donkey falls into it,

34 the owner of the pit must make restitution. He must give money to their owner, and the dead animal will be his.

35 If one man’s ox hurts another’s so that it dies, then they shall sell the live ox and divide its proceeds and divide the dead ox also.

36 Or if it be known that the ox has had the habit of goring and its owner has not kept it in, then he shall surely pay ox for ox and the dead animal will become his own.

22

1 Laws About Restitution If a man steals an ox or a sheep and kills it or sells it, then he shall repay five oxen for an ox, and four sheep for a sheep.

2 If a thief is caught breaking in and is struck so that he dies, then there will be no blood guilt for him.

3 If the sun has risen on him, then there is blood guilt for him. He must make full restitution. If he has nothing, then he will be sold for his theft.

4 If the stolen item is in fact found alive in his possession, whether it be an ox, or donkey, or sheep, then he shall repay double.

5 If a man causes a field or vineyard to be eaten and puts out his beast so that it feeds in another man’s field, he must make restitution of the best of his own field and of the best of his own vineyard.

6 If fire breaks out and catches in thorn bushes, so that stacked grain or the standing grain or the field are consumed, then he who started the fire must surely make restitution.

7 If a man gives his neighbor money or items to be kept for him, and it is stolen from the man’s house, if the thief is caught, he must repay double.

8 If the thief is not caught, then the owner of the house will be brought before the judges to determine if he has laid his hand on his neighbor’s goods.

9 For any kind of trespass, whether it be for an ox, for a donkey, for a sheep, for clothing, or for any type of lost thing, where another says it is his, the case of both parties shall come before the judges. And whoever the judges find guilty will pay double to his neighbor.

10 If a man gives his neighbor a donkey, or an ox, or a sheep, or any beast to keep for him, and it dies, or is injured, or is driven away while no one sees it,

11 then there will be an oath before the Lord between both of them that he has not laid his hand upon his neighbor’s property. And its owner must accept this, and he will not have to make restitution.

12 However, if it was stolen from him, he shall make restitution to its owner.

13 If it is torn in pieces, then let him bring it as evidence, and he will not have to repay for that which was torn.

14 If a man borrows anything from his neighbor, and it is hurt or dies when the owner was not with it, then he shall surely make restitution.

15 But if the owner was with it, he shall not make restitution. If it was a hired thing, it came with his hire.

16 Moral and Ceremonial Laws If a man seduces a virgin who is not engaged and has relations with her, he must surely endow her to be his wife.

17 If her father absolutely refuses to give her to him, he must pay money according to the dowry of virgins.

18 You must not allow a sorceress to live.

19 Whoever has relations with a beast must surely be put to death.

20 He who sacrifices to any god other than the Lord alone shall be utterly destroyed.

21 You must neither wrong a foreigner nor oppress him, for you were foreigners in the land of Egypt.

22 You shall not afflict any widow or orphan.

23 If you afflict them in any way and they cry at all to Me, I will surely hear their cry.

24 And My anger will burn, and I will kill you with the sword, and your wives will become widows, and your children fatherless.

25 If you lend money to any of My people who is poor among you, do not be a creditor to him, and do not charge him interest.

26 If you take your neighbor’s garment as a pledge, you shall return it to him before the sun goes down,

27 for that is his only covering; it is his garment for his body. In what else will he sleep? And when he cries out to Me, I will hear, for I am gracious.

28 You shall not curse God or curse the ruler of your people.

29 You must not delay to offer the first of your harvest and of your vats. You must give to Me the firstborn of your sons.

30 Likewise you must do the same with your oxen and with your sheep. Seven days it shall remain with its mother, but on the eighth day you must give it to Me.

31 You will be holy men to Me; therefore you must not eat any flesh that is torn by beasts in the field. You must throw it to the dogs.

23

1 Laws of Justice and Mercy You must not give a false report. Do not join your hand with the wicked to be a malicious witness.

2 You must not follow the masses to do evil, and do not testify in a dispute that agrees with the crowd to pervert justice.

3 You must not show partiality to a poor man in his dispute.

4 If you meet your enemy’s ox or his donkey going astray, you shall surely return it to him.

5 If you see the donkey of someone who hates you lying under its burden, you must not ignore it; you must surely help with him.

6 You shall not turn justice away from your poor in his dispute.

7 Keep far away from a false charge, and do not kill the innocent and the righteous, for I will not justify the wicked.

8 You shall not take a bribe, for a bribe blinds those who see and subverts the words of the righteous.

9 Also you shall not oppress a foreigner, for you know the life of a foreigner, seeing you were foreigners in the land of Egypt.

10 The Laws of Sabbaths You shall sow your land for six years and shall gather in its produce,

11 but in the seventh year you shall let it rest and lie fallow, so that the poor of your people may eat, and what they leave the beasts of the field may eat. You shall do likewise with your vineyard and with your olive grove.

12 For six days you are to do your work, but on the seventh day you must cease, so that your ox and your donkey may rest, and the son of your female servant and the foreigner may refresh themselves.

13 In all things that I have said to you, watch yourselves, and do not mention the name of other gods, nor let them be heard from your mouth.

14 The Three Annual Feasts Three times in the year you must celebrate a feast to Me.

15 You shall observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread. For seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, as I commanded you, in the appointed time of the month Aviv, for in it you came out from Egypt. No one shall appear before Me empty-handed.

16 You shall observe the Feast of Harvest, the first fruits of your labors, which you have sown in the field. You shall observe the Feast of Ingathering at the end of the year, when you have gathered in the fruit of your labors from the field.

17 Three times in the year all your males shall appear before the Lord God.

18 You shall not offer the blood of My sacrifice with leavened bread, nor shall the fat of My sacrifice remain until the morning.

19 The first of the first fruits of your land you shall bring into the house of the Lord your God. You shall not boil a young goat in its mother’s milk.

20 The Angel Prepares the Way Indeed, I am going to send an angel before you to guard you along the way and to bring you into the place which I have prepared.

21 Be on guard before him and obey his voice. Do not provoke him, for he will not pardon your transgressions, for My name is in him.

22 But if you diligently obey his voice and do all that I say, then I will be an enemy to your enemies and an adversary to your adversaries.

23 For My angel will go before you and bring you to the Amorites, and the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Canaanites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, and I will completely destroy them.

24 You must not bow down to their gods, or serve them, or do according to their practices, but you shall utterly overthrow them and break down their images in pieces.

25 You shall serve the Lord your God, and He shall bless your bread and your water, and I will remove sickness from your midst.

26 No one shall be miscarrying or be barren in your land. I will fulfill the number of your days.

27 I will send My fear before you, and I will throw into panic all the people to whom you shall come. I will make all your enemies turn their backs to you.

28 I will send hornets before you which shall drive out the Hivite, the Canaanite, and the Hittite from before you.

29 I will not drive them out before you in one year, lest the land become desolate and the beasts of the field multiply against you.

30 Little by little I will drive them out before you, until you become fruitful and inherit the land.

31 I will set your boundaries from the Red Sea to the sea of the Philistines, and from the desert to the River; for I will deliver the inhabitants of the land into your hand, and you will drive them out before you.

32 You must not make a covenant with them or with their gods.

33 They shall not live in your land, lest they cause you to sin against Me, for if you serve their gods, it will surely be a snare to you.

24

1 The Covenant Confirmed Then He said to Moses, “Come up to the Lord, you, and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel, and you shall worship from a distance.

2 Moses alone shall come near the Lord, but they shall not come near, nor may the people go up with him.”

3 Moses came and told the people all the words of the Lord and all the ordinances. Then all the people answered with one voice and said, “All the words which the Lord has said we will do.”

4 Moses wrote all the words of the Lord, and rose up early in the morning, and built an altar at the foot of the mountain with twelve pillars for the twelve tribes of Israel.

5 He sent young Israelite men who offered burnt offerings and sacrificed peace offerings of young bulls to the Lord.

6 Moses took half of the blood and put it in basins, and half of the blood he sprinkled on the altar.

7 He took the Book of the Covenant and read in the hearing of the people, and they said, “All that the Lord has said we will do, and we will be obedient.”

8 So Moses took the blood, and sprinkled it on the people, and said, “This is the blood of the covenant, which the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words.”

9 Moses on Mount Sinai Then Moses went up with Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel,

10 and they saw the God of Israel, and under His feet there was something like a paved work of sapphire stone as clear as the sky itself.

11 He did not lay His hand upon the nobles of the children of Israel. Also they saw God, and they ate and they drank.

12 The Lord said to Moses, “Come up to Me to the mountain and stay there, and I will give you the stone tablets with law and the commandments which I have written, so that you may teach them.”

13 Moses rose up with Joshua his attendant, and Moses went up to the mountain of God.

14 He said to the elders, “Wait for us in this place until we return to you. Aaron and Hur are with you. Whoever has any matters of dispute let him come to them.”

15 Moses went up to the mountain, and the cloud covered the mountain.

16 The glory of the Lord rested on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it for six days. And on the seventh day He called to Moses from the midst of the cloud.

17 Now the appearance of the glory of the Lord was like a consuming fire on the top of the mountain to the eyes of the children of Israel.

18 Moses went into the midst of the cloud and went up to the mountain. And Moses was on the mountain for forty days and forty nights.

25

1 Offerings for the Tabernacle The Lord said to Moses:

2 Tell the children of Israel to bring Me an offering. From every man who gives willingly with his heart you shall receive My offering.

3 This is the offering which you shall take from them: gold, silver, and bronze,

4 blue, purple, scarlet, fine linen, goats’ hair,

5 rams’ skins dyed red, porpoise skins, acacia wood,

6 oil for the light, spices for anointing oil and for fragrant incense,

7 onyx stones, and stones to be set in the ephod and in the breastplate.

8 Let them make Me a sanctuary that I may dwell among them.

9 According to all that I show you—the pattern of the tabernacle and the pattern of all its furniture—you shall make it just so.

10 The Ark of the Covenant 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.

11 You shall overlay it with pure gold, inside and out shall you overlay it, and you shall make a gold border around it.

12 You shall cast four gold rings for it and put them on the four feet with two rings on the one side of it and two rings on the other side of it.

13 You shall make poles of acacia wood and overlay them with gold.

14 You shall put the poles into the rings on the sides of the ark in order to carry the ark with them.

15 The poles must remain in the rings of the ark. They must not be removed from it.

16 You shall put into the ark the testimony which I shall give you.

17 You shall make a mercy seat of pure gold, two and a half cubits long and one and a half cubits wide.

18 You shall make two cherubim of gold, make them of hammered work at the two ends of the mercy seat.

19 Make one cherub on the one end and the other cherub on the other end. From the mercy seat you shall make the cherubim on its two ends.

20 The cherubim shall stretch forth their wings upward, covering the mercy seat with their wings and facing one another. The faces of the cherubim are to face toward the mercy seat.

21 You shall put the mercy seat above upon the ark, and in the ark you shall put the testimony that I will give you.

22 I will meet with you there, and I will meet with you from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim which are upon the ark of the testimony. I will speak with you all that I will command you for the children of Israel.

23 The Table for the Showbread You shall also make a table of acacia wood, two cubits long, one cubit wide, and a half cubit high.

24 You shall overlay it with pure gold and make a gold border around it.

25 You shall make a border around it of a handbreadth, and you shall make a gold molding for the frame all around.

26 You shall make four gold rings for it and put the rings on the four corners that are on its four feet.

27 The rings shall be close to the frame to provide places for the poles to carry the table.

28 You shall make the poles of acacia wood and overlay them with gold, so that the table may be carried with them.

29 You shall make the dishes, its spoons, its pitchers, and its bowls with which to pour drink offerings. You shall make them of pure gold.

30 You shall set the showbread on the table before Me always.

31 The Gold Lampstand You shall make a lampstand of pure gold. The lampstand and its base and its shaft are to be made of hammered metal. Its cups, its buds, and its flowers shall be of one piece.

32 Six branches shall go out from its sides, three branches of the lampstand from its one side and three branches of the lampstand from its other side.

33 Three cups shall be made shaped like almond flowers with buds and blossoms on one branch, and three cups made like almond flowers in the other branch, with buds and blossoms, and the same for the six branches that come out of the lampstand.

34 On the lampstand shall be four cups shaped like almond flowers, with their buds and their blossoms.

35 There shall be a bud under two branches of the same, and a bud under two branches of the same, and a bud under the next two branches of the same, according to the six branches that proceed out of the lampstand.

36 Their buds and their branches shall be of the same piece, all of it shall be one hammered work of pure gold.

37 You shall make its seven lamps, and they shall light its lamps so that they may give light to the area in front of it.

38 Its snuffers and their snuff dishes shall be of pure gold.

39 It shall be made from a talent of pure gold along with all these utensils.

40 See that you make them according to their pattern which was shown to you on the mountain.

26

1 The Tabernacle Moreover you shall make the tabernacle with ten curtains of fine twisted linen, and blue, and purple, and scarlet. Make them with cherubim, the work of a skilled workman.

2 The length of each curtain shall be twenty-eight cubits, and the width of each curtain four cubits. All of the curtains shall have the same measurements.

3 Five curtains shall be joined together, one to another. And the other five curtains are to be joined, one to another.

4 You shall make loops of blue on the edge of the end curtain in one set, and likewise you shall make loops in the outermost edge of the end curtain in the second set.

5 You shall make fifty loops in the one curtain, and you shall make fifty loops in the edge of the curtain that is in the second set. The loops are to be opposite to one another.

6 You shall make fifty clasps of gold and join the curtains together with the clasps so that the tabernacle shall be one unit.

7 You shall make curtains of goats’ hair to be a covering upon the tabernacle. You shall make eleven curtains.

8 The length of each curtain shall be thirty cubits, and the width of each curtain four cubits, and the eleven curtains shall all have the same measure.

9 You shall join five curtains by themselves, and six curtains by themselves. You shall double over the sixth curtain at the front of the tabernacle.

10 You shall make fifty loops on the edge of the end curtain in one set and fifty loops on the edge of the curtain that joins the second set.

11 You shall make fifty bronze clasps, and put the clasps into the loops, and join the tent together so that it may be one unit.

12 The part that remains of the curtains of the tent, the half curtain that remains, shall hang over the back of the tabernacle.

13 A cubit on the one side and a cubit on the other side of that which remains in the length of the curtains of the tent shall hang over the sides of the tabernacle on this side and on that side to cover it.

14 You shall make a covering for the tent out of rams’ skins dyed red and a covering above of porpoise skins.

15 You shall make boards for the tabernacle of acacia wood, standing upright.

16 Ten cubits shall be the length of each board, and a cubit and a half shall be the width of each board.

17 There shall be two tenons for each board, fitted to one another. You shall make all the boards of the tabernacle in this way.

18 You shall make the boards for the tabernacle, twenty boards for the south side.

19 You shall make forty sockets of silver under the twenty boards, two sockets under one board for its two tenons and two sockets under another board for its two tenons.

20 For the second side of the tabernacle, on the north side, there shall be twenty boards,

21 and their forty sockets of silver, two sockets under one board, and two sockets under another board.

22 For the back of the tabernacle, to the west, you shall make six boards.

23 You shall make two boards for the corners of the tabernacle at the back.

24 They shall be doubled together beneath and finished together at the top of it into one ring. So it shall be for both of them. They shall form the two corners.

25 There shall be eight boards with their sockets of silver, sixteen sockets, two sockets under one board and two sockets under another board.

26 You shall make bars of acacia wood, five for the boards of the one side of the tabernacle,

27 and five bars for the boards of the other side of the tabernacle, and five bars for the boards of the side of the tabernacle for the back to the west.

28 The middle bar in the center of the boards shall reach from end to end.

29 You shall overlay the boards with gold and make their rings of gold to provide places for the bars, and you shall overlay the bars with gold.

30 You shall set up the tabernacle according to the plan which you have been shown on the mountain.

31 You shall make a veil of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen. It shall be made with cherubim, the skillful work of a workman.

32 You shall hang it on four pillars of acacia wood overlaid with gold. Their hooks also shall be of gold on four sockets of silver.

33 You shall hang up the veil under the clasps, so that you may bring in the ark of the testimony within the veil; and the veil shall serve for you as a partition between the holy place and the Most Holy.

34 You shall put the mercy seat on the ark of the testimony in the Most Holy.

35 You shall set the table outside the veil, and the lampstand opposite the table on the side of the tabernacle toward the south, and you shall put the table on the north side.

36 You shall make a screen for the doorway of the tent of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen, the work of an embroiderer.

37 You shall make five pillars of acacia wood for the screen and overlay them with gold, with their hooks also made of gold, and you shall cast five sockets of bronze for them.

27

1 The Altar of Burnt Offering You shall make an altar of acacia wood, five cubits long and five cubits wide. The altar shall be square, and its height shall be three cubits.

2 You shall make its horns on its four corners. Its horns shall be part of it, and you shall overlay it with bronze.

3 You shall make its pots for its ashes, and its shovels, and its basins, and its meat hooks, and its fire pans. You shall make all of its vessels out of bronze.

4 You shall make a grating for it, a network of bronze, and on the net you shall make four bronze rings at its four corners.

5 You shall put it under the ledge of the altar beneath, so that the net will reach halfway up the altar.

6 You shall make poles for the altar, poles of acacia wood, and overlay them with bronze.

7 The poles shall be put into the rings, so that the poles shall be on the two sides of the altar when carrying it.

8 You shall make it hollow with boards. Just as it was shown you on the mountain, so shall they make it.

9 The Court of the Tabernacle You shall make the court of the tabernacle. On the south side there shall be curtains for the court of fine twined linen one hundred cubits long for one side;

10 and it shall have twenty pillars with twenty bronze sockets. The hooks of the pillars and their bands shall be of silver.

11 Likewise for the north side in length there shall be curtains one hundred cubits long, and its twenty pillars and their twenty sockets of bronze. The hooks of the pillars and their bands shall be of silver.

12 For the width of the court on the west side shall be curtains of fifty cubits with their ten pillars and their ten sockets.

13 The width of the court on the east side shall be fifty cubits.

14 The curtains on one side of the gate shall be fifteen cubits with their three pillars and their three sockets.

15 On the other side shall be curtains fifteen cubits with their three pillars and their three sockets.

16 For the gate of the court there shall be a curtain of twenty cubits, of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen, the work of an embroiderer, with their four pillars and their four sockets.

17 All the pillars around about the court shall be furnished with silver bands. Their hooks shall be of silver, and their sockets of bronze.

18 The length of the court shall be one hundred cubits, and the width fifty throughout, and the height five cubits of fine twisted linen, and their sockets of bronze.

19 All the utensils of the tabernacle used in all its service, and all its tent pegs, and all the tent pegs of the court shall be of bronze.

20 The Oil for the Lamp You shall command the children of Israel that they bring you pure oil of olive pressed for the light, to cause the lamp to burn continually.

21 In the tent of meeting, outside the veil which is before the testimony, Aaron and his sons shall arrange it from evening to morning before the Lord. It shall be a perpetual statute for the children of Israel for generations to come.

28

1 The Priestly Garments And bring near to yourself Aaron, your brother, and his sons with him from among the children of Israel, so that they may minister to Me as priests—Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar, Aaron’s sons.

2 You shall make holy garments for your brother Aaron, for glory and for beauty.

3 You shall speak to all who are specially skilled, whom I have filled with the spirit of wisdom, that they may make Aaron’s garments to consecrate him, that he may minister to Me as a priest.

4 These are the garments which they shall make: a breastplate, and an ephod, and a robe, and an embroidered coat, a turban, and a sash. They shall make holy garments for Aaron your brother and his sons, that he may minister to Me as priest.

5 They shall take the gold, the blue, the purple, and the scarlet, and fine linen.

6 The Ephod They shall make the ephod of gold, of blue, and of purple, of scarlet, and fine twined linen, the work of a skilled workman.

7 It shall have the two shoulder pieces attached to its two corners, so it shall be joined together.

8 The skillfully woven waistband of the ephod, which is on it, shall be of the same workmanship, of the same material: of gold, of blue and purple, and scarlet, and fine twisted linen.

9 You shall take two onyx stones and engrave on them the names of the children of Israel,

10 six of their names on one stone, and the other six names of the rest on the other stone, according to their birth.

11 With the work of an engraver in stone, like the engravings of a signet, you shall engrave the two stones with the names of the children of Israel. You shall set them in filigree of gold.

12 You shall put the two stones on the shoulders of the ephod as stones of memorial for the children of Israel, and Aaron shall bear their names before the Lord on his two shoulders as a memorial.

13 You shall make filigree settings of gold,

14 and two chains of pure gold. You shall make them of twisted cord and fasten the braided chains to the filigree settings.

15 The Breastplate You shall make the breastplate of judgment, the work of a skillful workman. You shall make it in the same manner as the ephod. Of gold, of blue, and of purple, and of scarlet, and of fine twisted linen you shall make it.

16 It is to be square when doubled: a span in length and a span in width.

17 You shall set in it four rows of stones. The first row shall be a sardius, a topaz, and a carbuncle;

18 the second row an emerald, a sapphire, and a diamond;

19 the third row a jacinth, an agate, and an amethyst;

20 and the fourth row a beryl, an onyx, and a jasper. They shall be set in gold filigree.

21 The stones shall be according to the names of the children of Israel, twelve, according to their names, each like the engravings of a signet, every one according to his name for the twelve tribes.

22 You shall make for the breastplate braided chains of pure gold.

23 You shall make on the breastplate two rings of gold and shall put the two rings on the two ends of the breastplate.

24 You shall put the two braided chains of gold on the two rings which are on the ends of the breastplate.

25 You shall fasten the other two ends of the two braided chains in the two filigree settings and put them on the front of the shoulder pieces of the ephod.

26 You shall make two rings of gold and shall put them on the two ends of the breastplate, on the edge of it which is toward the inner side of the ephod.

27 You shall make two other rings of gold and shall put them on the two shoulder pieces of the ephod underneath toward the front, close to the place where it is joined above the skillfully woven waistband of the ephod.

28 They shall bind the breastplate by its rings to the rings of the ephod with a blue cord, so that it may be above the skillfully woven waistband of the ephod, and so that the breastplate will not come loose from the ephod.

29 Aaron shall bear the names of the children of Israel on the breastplate of judgment over his heart when he goes into the holy place, as a memorial before the Lord continually.

30 You shall put the Urim and the Thummim in the breastplate of judgment, and they shall be over Aaron’s heart when he goes in before the Lord. And Aaron shall bear the judgment of the children of Israel over his heart before the Lord continually.

31 Other Priestly Garments You shall make the robe of the ephod completely blue.

32 There shall be a hole at the top of it, in the middle of it. Around its opening it shall have a binding of woven work, like the opening of a coat of mail, so that it will not be torn.

33 You shall make on its hem pomegranates of blue, and of purple, and of scarlet, all around its hem, and bells of gold between them all around:

34 a golden bell and a pomegranate, a golden bell and a pomegranate, all around on the hem of the robe.

35 It shall be on Aaron when he ministers. And its sound shall be heard when he goes into the holy place before the Lord, and when he comes out, so that he does not die.

36 You shall make a plate of pure gold and engrave on it, like the engravings of a signet, HOLINESS TO THE LORD.

37 You shall put it on a blue cord, so that it may be upon the turban. It is to be on the front of the turban.

38 It shall be on Aaron’s forehead, so that Aaron may bear the iniquity of the holy things which the children of Israel shall consecrate in regard to all their holy gifts. And it shall always be on his forehead, so that they may be accepted before the Lord.

39 You shall embroider the tunic of fine linen, and you shall make the turban of fine linen, and you shall make the sash, the work of an embroiderer.

40 For Aaron’s sons you shall make tunics. You shall make sashes for them, and you shall make caps for them, for glory and for beauty.

41 You shall put them on Aaron your brother, and on his sons with him, and shall anoint them, and consecrate them, and sanctify them, that they may minister to Me as priests.

42 You shall make linen undergarments for them to cover their naked skin. They shall reach from the waist to the thighs.

43 They shall be on Aaron and on his sons when they come into the tent of meeting or when they come near to the altar to minister in the holy place, so that they may not bear iniquity and die. It shall be a perpetual statute to him and his descendants after him.

29

1 Consecration of the Priests Now this is the thing that you shall do to them to consecrate them, to minister as priests to Me: Take one young bull and two rams without blemish,

2 and unleavened bread, and unleavened cakes mixed with oil, and unleavened wafers anointed with oil—you shall make them of wheat flour.

3 You shall put them into one basket and bring them in the basket with the bull and the two rams.

4 Then you shall bring Aaron and his sons to the door of the tent of meeting and wash them with water.

5 You shall take the garments and clothe Aaron with the tunic and the robe of the ephod and the ephod and the breastplate, and gird him with the skillfully woven band of the ephod.

6 And you shall put the turban on his head and put the holy crown on the turban.

7 Then shall you take the anointing oil and pour it on his head and anoint him.

8 You shall bring his sons and put tunics on them.

9 You shall gird them with sashes, Aaron and his sons, and put the headbands on them, and the priest’s office shall be theirs for a perpetual statute. Thus you shall consecrate Aaron and his sons.

10 Then you shall bring a bull before the tent of meeting, and Aaron and his sons shall put their hands on the head of the bull.

11 You shall kill the bull before the Lord by the door of the tent of meeting.

12 You shall take of the blood of the bull, and put it on the horns of the altar with your finger, and pour all the blood beside the bottom of the altar.

13 You shall take all the fat that covers the entrails, and the lobe that is above the liver, and the two kidneys, and the fat that is on them, and burn them on the altar.

14 But the flesh of the bull, its skin, and its dung, you shall burn with fire outside the camp. It is a sin offering.

15 You shall also take one ram, and Aaron and his sons shall put their hands on the head of the ram.

16 You shall slay the ram, and you shall take its blood and sprinkle it around on the altar.

17 Then you shall cut the ram in pieces, and wash its entrails and its legs, and put them with its pieces and its head.

18 You shall burn the whole ram on the altar. It is a burnt offering to the Lord. It is a soothing aroma, an offering made by fire to the Lord.

19 Then you shall take the other ram, and Aaron and his sons shall put their hands on the head of the ram.

20 You shall kill the ram and take some of its blood and put it on the tip of the right ear of Aaron, and on the tip of the right ear of his sons, and on the thumb of their right hand, and on the great toe of their right foot, and sprinkle the blood around on the altar.

21 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 the garments of his sons with him. So he and his garments shall be consecrated, along with his sons and his sons’ garments with him.

22 Also you shall take the fat and the rump of the ram, and the fat that covers the entrails and the lobe above the liver, and the two kidneys, and the fat that is on them and the right shoulder (for it is a ram of consecration),

23 and one loaf of bread, and one cake of oiled bread, and one wafer out of the basket of the unleavened bread that is before the Lord.

24 And you shall put all of these in the hands of Aaron and in the hands of his sons, and shall wave them for a wave offering before the Lord.

25 Then you shall take them from their hands and burn them on the altar for a burnt offering, for a soothing aroma before the Lord. It is an offering made by fire to the Lord.

26 You shall take the breast of Aaron’s ram of consecration, and wave it as a wave offering before the Lord, and it shall be your portion.

27 You shall consecrate the breast of the wave offering that is waved and the thigh of the priest’s portion that is contributed from the ram of the consecration, from that which was for Aaron and from that which was for his sons.

28 It shall be for Aaron and his sons by a statute forever, for it is a contribution. It shall be a contribution from the children of Israel from their peace offerings, their contributions to the Lord.

29 The holy garments belonging to Aaron are to belong to his sons after him, so that they may be anointed in them and be consecrated in them.

30 The son that is priest in his stead shall put them on seven days when he comes into the tent of meeting to minister in the holy place.

31 You shall take the ram of the consecration and boil its flesh in a holy place.

32 Aaron and his sons shall eat the flesh of the ram and the bread that is in the basket by the door of the tent of meeting.

33 They shall eat those things by which the atonement was made in order to consecrate and sanctify them, but no one else shall eat them, because they are holy.

34 If any of the flesh from the consecrations or from the bread remain until the morning, then you shall burn the remainder with fire. It shall not be eaten, because it is holy.

35 Thus shall you do to Aaron and his sons according to all that I have commanded you. You shall consecrate them for seven days.

36 Every day you must offer a bull as a sin offering for atonement, and you must cleanse the altar when you make atonement for it. You must anoint it to consecrate it.

37 For seven days you must make atonement for the altar and consecrate it, and then the altar will be most holy, and whatever touches the altar will be holy.

38 The Daily Offerings Now this is what you are to offer on the altar: two one-year-old lambs every day, continually.

39 The one lamb you must offer in the morning, and the other lamb you must offer at sundown.

40 And with the first lamb will be a tenth of an ephah of flour mingled with the fourth part of a hin of beaten oil, and the fourth part of a hin of wine for a drink offering.

41 The other lamb you must offer at sundown and must offer with it the same grain offering and the same drink offering as in the morning, for a soothing aroma, an offering made by fire to the Lord.

42 This will be a continual burnt offering throughout your generations at the door of the tent of meeting before the Lord, where I will meet with you, to speak to you there.

43 I will meet there with the children of Israel, and it will be consecrated by My glory.

44 I will sanctify the tent of meeting and the altar. I will also sanctify both Aaron and his sons to minister as priests to Me.

45 I will dwell among the children of Israel and will be their God.

46 Then they will know that I am the Lord their God who brought them out of the land of Egypt, so that I may dwell among them. I am the Lord their God.

30

1 The Altar of Incense Also, you must make an altar for burning incense. You must make it of acacia wood.

2 It must be a cubit in length, and its width a cubit. It will be square. Its height will be two cubits; the horns shall be of one piece with it.

3 You must overlay it with pure gold, its top, its sides all around, and its horns; and you must make a molding of gold all around it.

4 You must make two golden rings for it under its molding. You must make them on its two sides, on opposite sides of it, and they will be holders for the poles with which to carry it.

5 Then you must make the poles of acacia wood and overlay them with gold.

6 You must put it before the veil that is by the ark of the testimony, in front of the mercy seat that is over the testimony, where I will meet with you.

7 Aaron must burn sweet incense on it. Every morning, when he trims the lamps, he must burn incense.

8 When Aaron lights the lamps at sundown, he must burn incense on it. It is to be a perpetual incense before the Lord throughout your generations.

9 You must offer no strange incense on it, nor burnt sacrifice, nor grain offering, and you must not pour out a drink offering on it.

10 Aaron must make atonement on its horns once a year with the blood of the sin offering of atonement. Once a year he must make atonement on it throughout your generations. It is most holy to the Lord.

11 The Atonement Money The Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

12 When you take the census of the children of Israel according to their number, then each man is to pay a ransom for his life to the Lord when you count them, so that there be no plague among them when you number them.

13 This is what everyone who is counted must give: half a shekel according to the shekel of the sanctuary (a shekel is twenty gerahs). The half shekel will be the offering to the Lord.

14 Everyone who is counted, from twenty years old and above, must give an offering to the Lord.

15 The rich must not give more and the poor must not give less than half a shekel when they give the offering to the Lord, to make atonement for your lives.

16 You must take the atonement money of the children of Israel and give it for the service of the tent of meeting, so that it may be a memorial to the children of Israel before the Lord, to make atonement for your lives.

17 The Bronze Basin The Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

18 You must also make a basin of bronze, with its base also of bronze, for washing, and you must put it between the tent of meeting and the altar, and you must put water in it.

19 For Aaron and his sons must wash their hands and their feet from it.

20 When they go into the tent of meeting, or when they come near the altar to minister by burning incense as an offering made by fire to the Lord, they must wash with water so that they will not die.

21 So they must wash their hands and their feet, so that they will not die. And it will be a perpetual statute for them, even to him and to his seed throughout their generations.

22 The Anointing Oil Moreover the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

23 Take for yourself choice spices: five hundred shekels of pure myrrh, half as much sweet-smelling cinnamon (two hundred and fifty shekels), two hundred and fifty shekels of sweet-smelling cane,

24 five hundred shekels of cassia, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, and a hin of olive oil.

25 And you must make with it a holy anointing oil, a perfumed compound, the work of a perfumer. It will be a holy anointing oil.

26 And you must anoint the tent of meeting with it, along with the ark of the testimony,

27 and the table and all its utensils, and the lampstand and its utensils, and the altar of incense,

28 and the altar of burnt offering with all its utensils, and the basin and its stand.

29 You must consecrate them, so that they may be most holy. Whatever touches them must be holy.

30 You must anoint Aaron and his sons and consecrate them, so that they may minister as priests to Me.

31 You must speak to the children of Israel, saying, “This will be a holy anointing oil to Me throughout your generations.

32 It must not be poured out on anyone’s body, nor shall you make any other like it in composition. It is holy, and it will be holy to you.

33 Whoever makes anything like it or whoever puts any of it on a layman will be cut off from his people.”

34 The Incense Then the Lord said to Moses: Take for yourself sweet spices, stacte and onycha and galbanum, sweet spices with pure frankincense of equal amounts.

35 You shall make of these an incense, a compound expertly blended, mingled with salt, pure and holy.

36 You must beat some of it very fine and put part of it before the testimony in the tent of meeting where I will meet with you. It will be most holy to you.

37 As for the perfume which you will make, you may not make it for yourselves using the same recipe. It must be holy for the Lord to you.

38 Whoever makes anything like it in order to use it as perfume must be cut off from his people.

31

1 The Tabernacle Artisans Now the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

2 See, I have called by name Bezalel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah.

3 I have filled him with the Spirit of God in wisdom, in understanding, in knowledge, and in all manner of craftsmanship

4 to devise artistic works for work with gold, with silver, and with bronze,

5 and in the cutting of stones for settings, and in carving of wood, to work in all manner of craftsmanship.

6 I, indeed, I have given him Oholiab, the son of Ahisamak, of the tribe of Dan, and I have given skill to all who are specially skilled, that they may make everything that I have commanded you:

7 the tent of meeting, the ark of the testimony, and the mercy seat that is on it, and all the furniture of the tent,

8 the table and its utensils, and the pure lampstand with all its utensils, and the altar of incense,

9 the altar of burnt offering with all its utensils, and the basin and its stand,

10 the woven garments, the holy garments for Aaron the priest and the garments of his sons, to minister as priests,

11 the anointing oil and sweet incense for the holy place. They must make them according to all that I have commanded you.

12 The Sabbath Law The Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

13 Speak also to the children of Israel, saying, “You must surely keep My Sabbaths, for it is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I am the Lord who sanctifies you.

14 “You shall keep the Sabbath, for it is holy to you. Everyone who defiles it will surely be put to death. For whoever does any work on it, that person will be cut off from among his people.

15 Six days may work be done, but on the seventh is the Sabbath of complete rest, holy to the Lord. Whoever does any work on the Sabbath day will surely be put to death.

16 Therefore the children of Israel must keep the Sabbath, to observe the Sabbath throughout their generations, for a perpetual covenant.

17 It is a sign between Me and the children of Israel forever, for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, but on the seventh day He rested and was refreshed.”

18 When He had made an end of communing with him on Mount Sinai, He gave Moses the two tablets of testimony, tablets of stone, written with the finger of God.

32

1 The Golden Calf Now when the people saw that Moses delayed coming down from the mountain, the people gathered themselves together around Aaron and said to him, “Come, make us gods which will go before us. As for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.”

2 Aaron said to them, “Break off the gold earrings that are in the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me.”

3 So all the people broke off the gold earrings that were in their ears and brought them to Aaron.

4 He received them from their hand, and fashioned it with an engraving tool, and made it into a molded calf. Then they said, “This is your god, O Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt.”

5 When Aaron saw it, he built an altar before it. And Aaron made a proclamation and said, “Tomorrow will be a feast to the Lord.”

6 So they rose up early on the next day, and offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings. And the people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to play.

7 The Lord spoke to Moses, “Go, and get down, for your people, whom you brought out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves.

8 They have quickly turned aside from the way which I commanded them. They have made for themselves a molded calf, and have worshipped it, and have sacrificed to it, and said, ‘This is your god, O Israel, which has brought you up from the land of Egypt.’ ”

9 Then the Lord said to Moses, “I have seen this people, and certainly, it is a stiff-necked people.

10 Now therefore let Me alone, so that My wrath may burn against them and I may destroy them. And I will make of you a great nation.”

11 But Moses sought the favor of the Lord his God, and said, “Lord, why does Your wrath burn against Your people, whom You have brought forth from the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand?

12 Why should the Egyptians speak, saying, ‘With evil intent He brought them out, to kill them in the mountains and to destroy them from the face of the earth’? Turn from Your fierce wrath and relent of this harm against Your people.

13 Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, Your servants, to whom You swore by Yourself, and said to them, ‘I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heavens, and all this land that I have spoken of will I give to your descendants, and they will inherit it forever.’ ”

14 Then the Lord relented of the harm which He said He would do to His people.

15 Moses turned and went down from the mountain with the two tablets of testimony in his hand. The tablets were written on both their sides. They were written on one side and on the other.

16 The tablets were God’s work, and the writing was God’s writing, engraved on the tablets.

17 When Joshua heard the noise of the people as they shouted, he said to Moses, “There is a sound of war in the camp.”

18 But he said: “It is not the sound of those who shout for victory, nor is it the sound of those who cry because of being overcome, but I hear the sound of singing.”

19 As soon as he came near the camp, he saw the calf and the dancing, and Moses’ anger burned, so he threw the tablets from his hands and shattered them at the bottom of the mountain.

20 Then he took the calf which they had made and burned it in the fire, ground it to powder, and scattered it on the water, and made the children of Israel drink it.

21 Moses said to Aaron, “What did this people do to you, that you have brought so great a sin upon them?”

22 Aaron said, “Do not let the anger of my lord burn. You know that the people are set on evil.

23 For they said to me, ‘Make a god for us which will go before us, for this Moses, the man that brought us up from the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.’

24 I said to them, ‘Whoever has any gold, let them break it off.’ So they gave it to me, and then I threw it into the fire, and this calf came out.’ ”

25 Now when Moses saw the people were in a frenzy, for Aaron had let them get completely out of control, causing derision from their enemies,

26 then Moses stood in the gate of the camp and said, “Whoever is on the Lord’s side, come to me.” And all the Levites gathered themselves together around him.

27 He said to them, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘Every man fasten his sword on his side, and go back and forth from gate to gate throughout the camp, and let every man kill his brother, and every man his friend, and every man his neighbor.’ ”

28 The Levites did according to the word of Moses, and about three thousand men of the people died that day.

29 For Moses had said, “Consecrate yourselves today to the Lord, that He may bestow a blessing on you this day, for every man opposes his son and his brother.”

30 On the next day Moses said to the people, “You have committed a great sin, and now I will go up to the Lord. Perhaps I can make atonement for your sin.”

31 Then Moses returned to the Lord and said, “Oh, this people has committed a great sin and have made a god of gold for themselves.

32 Yet now, if You will, forgive their sin, but if not, I pray, blot me out of Your book which You have written.”

33 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Whoever has sinned against Me, I will blot him out of My book.

34 So go now, lead the people to the place of which I have spoken to you. Indeed, My angel will go before you. Nevertheless in the day when I punish, I will indeed punish them for their sin.”

35 And the Lord plagued the people because they had made the calf, the one that Aaron made.

33

1 The Command to Leave Sinai Then the Lord said to Moses, “Depart, go up from here, you and the people whom you have brought up from the land of Egypt, to the land which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, saying, ‘To your descendants I will give it.’

2 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.

3 Go up to a land flowing with milk and honey. However, I will not go up in your midst, for you are a stiff-necked people, and I might destroy you on the way.”

4 When the people heard this disturbing word, they mourned. And no one put on his ornaments.

5 For the Lord had said to Moses, “Say to the children of Israel, ‘You are a stiff-necked people. If I went up among you for one moment, I might destroy you. Now therefore, take off your ornaments, so that I may know what I will do to you.’ ”

6 The children of Israel stripped themselves of their ornaments by Mount Horeb.

7 The Tent of Meeting Moses took the tent and pitched it outside the camp, a good distance from the camp, and called it the tent of meeting. And anyone who sought the Lord would go out to the tent of meeting which was outside the camp.

8 So whenever Moses went out to the tent, all the people would rise up and stand, every man at the entrance of his tent, and gaze after Moses until he entered the tent.

9 And whenever Moses entered the tent, the pillar of cloud descended and stood at the entrance of the tent, and the Lord spoke with Moses.

10 When all the people saw the pillar of cloud standing at the entrance of the tent, all the people rose up and worshipped, every man at the entrance of his tent.

11 The Lord spoke to Moses face to face, just as a man speaks to his friend. When he returned to the camp, his servant Joshua, the son of Nun, a young man, did not depart from the tent.

12 The Glory of God Moses said to the Lord, “See, You say to me, ‘Bring up this people,’ but You have not let me know whom You will send with me. Yet You have said, ‘I know you by name, and you have also found grace in My sight.’

13 Now therefore, I pray You, if I have found favor in Your sight, show me now Your way, that I may know You, and that I may find favor in Your sight. Consider too that this nation is Your people.”

14 And He said, “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.”

15 Then he said to Him, “If Your Presence does not go with us, do not bring us up from here.

16 For how will 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 will be distinguished, I and Your people, from all the people who are on the face of the earth?”

17 The Lord said to Moses, “I will do this thing of which you have spoken, for you have found favor in My sight, and I know you by name.”

18 Then Moses said, “I pray, show me Your glory.”

19 Then He said, “I will make all My goodness pass before you, and I will proclaim the name of the Lord before you. I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy.”

20 He said, “You cannot see My face, for no man can see Me and live.”

21 Then the Lord said, “Indeed, there is a place by Me. You must stand on the rock.

22 While My glory passes by, I will put you in a cleft of the rock and will cover you with My hand while I pass by.

23 Then I will take away My hand, and you will see My back, but My face may not be seen.”

34

1 The New Stone Tablets Now the Lord said to Moses, “Cut out for yourself two tablets of stone like the first, and I will write on these tablets the words that were on the first tablets, which you broke.

2 Be ready in the morning, and come up in the morning to Mount Sinai, and present yourself there to Me on the top of the mountain.

3 No one is to come up with you. Do not let anyone be seen anywhere on the mountain, and the flocks or herds may not graze in front of the mountain.”

4 So he cut out two tablets of stone like the first, and Moses rose up early in the morning and went up to Mount Sinai, just as the Lord had commanded him, and took in his hand the two tablets of stone.

5 Then the Lord descended in the cloud, and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the Lord.

6 The Lord passed by before him, and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in goodness and truth,

7 keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of fathers on the children and on the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation.”

8 Moses made haste and bowed to the ground and worshipped.

9 He said, “If now I have found favor in Your sight, O Lord, let my Lord, I pray, go among us, for we are a stiff-necked people. Pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us for your inheritance.”

10 The Covenant Renewed Then He said: Indeed, I am going to make a covenant before all your people. I will do wonders such as have not been done in all the earth nor in any nation. And all the people among whom you live will see the work of the Lord, for it is a fearful thing that I will do with you.

11 Obey what I command you this day. Indeed, I am going to drive out before you the Amorite, the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite.

12 Watch yourself so that you make no covenant with the inhabitants of the land where you are going, lest it become a snare in your midst.

13 But you shall destroy their altars, break their sacred pillars, and cut down their Asherah poles

14 (for you shall not worship any other god, for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God),

15 lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, and they prostitute themselves with their gods, and sacrifice to their gods, and someone invites you to eat of his sacrifice.

16 And then you take of their daughters for your sons, and their daughters prostitute themselves after their gods. They will make your sons prostitute themselves after their gods.

17 You shall make no molded gods for yourselves.

18 You shall keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread. For seven days you are to eat unleavened bread, as I commanded you, in the month of Aviv, for in the month of Aviv you came out of Egypt.

19 Every firstborn of the womb belongs to Me, and every firstborn male among your livestock, whether ox or sheep.

20 But you must redeem with a lamb the firstborn of a donkey, and if you fail to redeem him, then you must break his neck. You must redeem all the firstborn of your sons. No one may appear before Me empty-handed.

21 You shall work six days, but on the seventh day you must rest. Even at the time of plowing and harvest you must rest.

22 You must observe the Feast of Weeks, the first fruits of the wheat harvest, and the Feast of Ingathering at the end of the year.

23 Three times in the year all your males must appear before the Lord God, the God of Israel.

24 For I will drive out the nations before you and enlarge your borders. No man will covet your land when you go up to appear before the Lord your God three times in the year.

25 You must not offer the blood of My sacrifice with leaven, nor is the sacrifice of the Feast of the Passover to be left until the following morning.

26 The first of the first fruits of your land you must bring to the house of the Lord your God. You must not boil a young goat in its mother’s milk.

27 Then the Lord said to Moses: Write down these words, for in accordance with these words I have made a covenant with you and with Israel.

28 So he was there with the Lord 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.

29 Moses’ Radiant Face When Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of testimony in the hands of Moses, when he came down from the mountain, Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone while he talked with Him.

30 So when Aaron and all the children of Israel saw Moses, amazingly, the skin of his face shone, and they were afraid to come near him.

31 But Moses called to them, and Aaron and all the rulers of the congregation returned to him, and Moses spoke to them.

32 Afterward all the children of Israel drew near, and he commanded them all that the Lord had spoken to him on Mount Sinai.

33 When Moses finished speaking with them, he put a veil over his face.

34 But whenever Moses went in before the Lord to speak with Him, he took the veil off until he came out. Then he came out and spoke to the children of Israel what he had been commanded.

35 The children of Israel saw the face of Moses, that the skin of Moses’ face shone, and then Moses put the veil over his face again until he went in to speak with Him.

35

1 Sabbath Regulations Moses gathered all the congregation of the children of Israel together, and said to them: These are the things the Lord has commanded you to do.

2 Six days shall work be done, but on the seventh day you shall have a holy day, a Sabbath of rest to the Lord. Whoever does any work on it must be put to death.

3 You must not kindle fire in any of your dwellings on the Sabbath day.

4 Offerings for the Tabernacle Moses said to all the congregation of the children of Israel: This is the thing which the Lord commanded, saying:

5 Take from among you an offering to the Lord. Whoever is of a willing heart, let him bring it as an offering to the Lord: gold, silver, and bronze,

6 and blue, purple, and scarlet, fine linen, goats’ hair,

7 rams’ skins dyed red, and porpoise skins, and acacia wood,

8 oil for the light, and spices for anointing oil, and for the fragrant incense,

9 onyx stones, and gemstones to be set for the ephod and for the breastplate.

10 Every skilled craftsman among you shall come and make all that the Lord has commanded:

11 the tabernacle with its tent and its covering, its hooks and its boards, its bars, its pillars, and its sockets;

12 the ark with its poles, the mercy seat, and the veil that conceals it;

13 the table with its poles, and all its utensils, and the showbread;

14 the lampstand also for the light and its utensils and its lamps, and the oil for the light;

15 and the incense altar with its poles, and the anointing oil and the fragrant incense, and the hanging for the door at the entrance of the tabernacle;

16 the altar of burnt offering with its bronze grating, its poles, and all its utensils, the basin and its stand;

17 the hangings of the court, its pillars and their sockets, and the curtain for the gate of the court;

18 the pegs of the tabernacle and the pegs of the court and their cords;

19 the woven garments for serving in the holy place, the holy garments for Aaron the priest and the garments of his sons, to minister as priests.

20 Then all the congregation of the children of Israel departed from the presence of Moses.

21 Everyone whose heart stirred him and everyone whose spirit was willing came and brought the Lord’s offering for the work of the tent of meeting and for all its service and for the holy garments.

22 They came, both men and women, as many as had willing hearts, and brought brooches, earrings, rings and bracelets, all kinds of gold jewelry, and everyone that offered an offering of gold to the Lord.

23 Everyone who had blue, purple, and scarlet, and fine linen, and goats’ hair, and red skins of rams, and porpoise skins, brought them.

24 Everyone who was making a contribution of silver and bronze brought the Lord’s offering, and everyone who had acacia wood for any work of the service brought it.

25 All the women that were skilled spun with their hands and brought what they had spun, both of blue, purple, and scarlet, and of fine linen.

26 All the women whose hearts stirred them to action and were skilled spun goats’ hair.

27 The leaders brought onyx stones and gemstones to be set for the ephod and for the breastplate,

28 and spice and oil for the light, and for the anointing oil, and for the fragrant incense.

29 The children of Israel brought a willing offering to the Lord, every man and woman whose heart was willing to bring material for all the work which the Lord had commanded through Moses to be made.

30 Bezalel and Oholiab Moses said to the children of Israel: See, the Lord has called by name Bezalel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah.

31 And He has filled him with the Spirit of God, in wisdom, in understanding, and in knowledge, and in all manner of craftsmanship,

32 to design artistic works, to work in gold, in silver, and in bronze,

33 and in the cutting of stones for settings and in the carving of wood in order to make every manner of artistic work.

34 He also has put in his heart to teach, both he and Oholiab, the son of Ahisamak, of the tribe of Dan.

35 He has filled them with skill to do all manner of work as craftsmen; as designers; as embroiderers in blue, in purple, in scarlet, and in fine linen; and as weavers: as craftsmen of every work and artistic designers.

36

1 So Bezalel and Oholiab, and every skilled person, in whom the Lord has put skill and understanding to know how to do all manner of work for the service of the sanctuary, are to do the work according to all that the Lord has commanded.

2 Moses called Bezalel and Oholiab and every skilled person in whom the Lord had put wisdom, everyone whose heart stirred him to come to the work to do it.

3 They received from Moses all the offerings which the children of Israel had brought to do the work of the service of the sanctuary, and they continued to bring to him freewill offerings every morning.

4 And all the skilled men who were doing all the work of the sanctuary came from the work they were doing,

5 and they said to Moses, “The people are bringing much more than is needed for the service of the work which the Lord commanded us to do.”

6 So Moses issued a command, and they circulated a proclamation throughout the camp, saying, “Let no man or woman do any more work for the offering of the sanctuary.” So the people were restrained from bringing any more.

7 For the material they had was sufficient for all the work and more than enough to do it.

8 Construction of the Tabernacle Every skilled man among those who were doing the work made the tabernacle with ten curtains of fine twisted linen, and blue, and purple, and scarlet, with cherubim that were the work of skillful workmen.

9 The length of each curtain was twenty-eight cubits, and the width of each curtain four cubits. All of the curtains were the same size.

10 He joined the five curtains to one another, and the other five curtains he joined to one to another.

11 He made loops of blue on the edge of the outermost curtain in the first set. He did likewise along the edge of the outermost curtain in the second set.

12 He made fifty loops in the one curtain and made fifty loops on the edge of the curtain which was in the second set. The loops were opposite one another.

13 He made fifty gold clasps and joined the curtains to one another with the clasps, so that the tabernacle was a unit.

14 He made curtains of goats’ hair for a tent over the tabernacle. He made eleven curtains in all.

15 The length of each curtain was thirty cubits, and the width of each curtain was four cubits. The eleven curtains were all the same size.

16 He joined five curtains by themselves and six curtains by themselves.

17 He made fifty loops on the outermost edge of the curtain in the first set, and he made fifty loops on the edge of the curtain which joined the second set.

18 He made fifty bronze clasps to join the tent together, so that it would be one unit.

19 He made a covering for the tent out of rams’ skins dyed red and a covering of porpoise skins above.

20 Then he made boards for the tabernacle out of acacia wood, standing upright.

21 The length of each board was ten cubits, and the width of each board was one and a half cubits.

22 Each board had two tenons, equally distant from each other. He did this for all the boards of the tabernacle.

23 He made boards for the tabernacle: twenty boards for the south side.

24 He made forty sockets of silver under the twenty boards; two sockets under one board for its two tenons and two sockets under another board for its two tenons.

25 For the other side of the tabernacle, which is toward the north corner, he made twenty boards,

26 and their forty sockets of silver: two sockets under one board, and two sockets under another board.

27 For the back of the tabernacle westward he made six boards.

28 He made two boards for the corners of the tabernacle at the back.

29 They were doubled beneath and joined together at the top in one ring. He did this with both of them in both the corners.

30 There were eight boards with their sockets of silver, sixteen sockets, two under every board.

31 He made bars of acacia wood, five for the boards of one side of the tabernacle,

32 and five bars for the boards of the other side of the tabernacle, and five bars for the boards of the tabernacle for the back to the west.

33 He made the middle bar to pass through the boards from the one end to the other.

34 He overlaid the boards with gold, and made their rings of gold to be places for the bars, and overlaid the bars with gold.

35 He made a veil of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen. He made cherubim, the work of a skillful designer.

36 He made four pillars of acacia wood and overlaid them with gold with their hooks of gold, and he cast four sockets of silver for them.

37 He made a hanging for the tabernacle entrance of blue, purple, scarlet, and fine twisted linen, the work of an embroiderer.

38 And he made its five pillars with their hooks, and he overlaid their tops and their bands with gold, but their five sockets were of bronze.

37

1 Making the Ark of the Covenant Now Bezalel made the ark of acacia wood. Its length was two and a half cubits, and its width a cubit and a half, and its height a cubit and a half.

2 He overlaid it with pure gold, inside and out, and made a gold molding for it all around.

3 He cast four rings of gold for it on its four feet, with two rings on one side and two rings on the other side of it.

4 He made poles of acacia wood and overlaid them with gold.

5 He put the poles into the rings on the sides of the ark to carry the ark.

6 He made the mercy seat of pure gold, two and a half cubits long and one and a half cubits wide.

7 He made two cherubim of gold. He made them of hammered metal on the two ends of the mercy seat:

8 one cherub on one end, and one cherub on the other end. Of one piece with the mercy seat he made the cherubim on its two ends.

9 The cherubim spread out their wings upward, covering the mercy seat with their wings, with their faces toward each other. The faces of the cherubim were looking toward the mercy seat.

10 Making the Table for the Showbread He made the table of acacia wood, two cubits long and a cubit wide and a cubit and a half high.

11 And he overlaid it with pure gold and made a gold molding for it all around.

12 Also he made a rim for it of a handbreadth all around, and he made a gold molding for the rim all around.

13 He cast four rings of gold for it and put the rings on the four corners that were on its four feet.

14 Close by the rim were the rings, the holders for the poles to carry the table.

15 He made the poles of acacia wood and overlaid them with gold, to carry the table.

16 He made the utensils which were on the table, its dishes and its pans and its bowls and its jars, to be used in pouring out offerings, of pure gold.

17 Making the Lampstand Then he made the lampstand of pure gold. He made it of hammered work, its base and its shaft. Its cups, its buds, and its blossoms were of the same piece.

18 Six branches were extending from its sides, three branches of the lampstand from one side of it, and three branches of the lampstand from the other side of it.

19 Three cups shaped like almond flowers, a bulb and a flower were on the first branch, and three cups shaped like almond flowers, a bulb and a flower were on the next branch, and the same for the six branches going out of the lampstand.

20 In the lampstand there were four cups made like almond flowers, its bulbs and its flowers.

21 And a bulb was under the first two branches from it, and a bulb under the next two branches from it, and a bulb under the third two branches from it, according to the six branches coming out of it.

22 Their bulbs and their branches were of the same piece. All of it was one hammered work of pure gold.

23 He made its seven lamps with its snuffers and its trays of pure gold.

24 He made it and all of its utensils from a talent of pure gold.

25 Making the Altar of Incense He made the incense altar of acacia wood. Its length was a cubit, and the width a cubit, a square, and two cubits high. Its horns were of the same piece.

26 He overlaid it with pure gold, its top, its sides all around, and its horns. He also made a gold molding for it all around.

27 He also made two rings of gold for it under its molding, on its two sides, on opposite sides, to be places for the poles to carry it.

28 He made the poles of acacia wood and overlaid them with gold.

29 He made the holy anointing oil and the pure incense of sweet spices, according to the work of a perfumer.

38

1 Making the Altar of Burnt Offering He made the altar of burnt offering of acacia wood. It was five cubits long and five cubits wide. It was square, and it was three cubits high.

2 He made its horns on its four corners. The horns were part of the same piece, and he overlaid it with bronze.

3 He made all the utensils of the altar, the pots, and the shovels, and the basins, the flesh hooks, and the fire pans. He made all its utensils of bronze.

4 He made for the altar a bronze grating, a network beneath, under its ledge, reaching halfway up.

5 He cast four rings for the four ends of the bronze grating to provide places for the poles.

6 He made the poles of acacia wood and overlaid them with bronze.

7 He put the poles into the rings on the sides of the altar with which to carry it. He made the altar hollow, out of boards.

8 Making the Bronze Basin He made the basin of bronze with its base of bronze from the mirrors of the women who served at the entrance of the tent of meeting.

9 Making the Court of the Tabernacle He made the courtyard: On the south side southward the hangings of the courtyard were of fine twisted linen, one hundred cubits;

10 their twenty pillars and their twenty bases were of bronze. The hooks of the pillars and their bands were of silver.

11 For the north side the hangings were one hundred cubits; their twenty pillars and their twenty sockets were of bronze. The hooks of the pillars and their bands were of silver.

12 For the west side the hangings were fifty cubits with their ten pillars and their ten sockets. The hooks of the pillars and their bands were of silver.

13 For the east side eastward, fifty cubits.

14 The hangings of one side of the gate were fifteen cubits with their three pillars and their three sockets,

15 and also for the other side of the court gate. On both sides of the gate of the courtyard the hangings were fifteen cubits with their three pillars and their three sockets.

16 All the hangings of the courtyard all around were of fine twisted linen.

17 The sockets for the pillars were of bronze, the hooks of the pillars and their bands were of silver, and the overlaying of their tops of silver, and all the pillars of the courtyard were furnished with silver bands.

18 The screen for the gate of the courtyard was embroidered of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twisted linen. Its length was twenty cubits, and its height was five cubits, corresponding to the hangings of the courtyard.

19 Their four pillars and their four sockets were of bronze. Their hooks and their bands were of silver, and the overlaying of their tops and their bands were of silver.

20 All the tent pegs of the tabernacle and of the courtyard all around were bronze.

21 The Inventory of the Tabernacle This is the inventory of the tabernacle, the tabernacle of testimony, as it was counted according to the commandment of Moses for the service of the Levites by the hand of Ithamar, son of Aaron the priest.

22 Bezalel, the son of Uri the son of Hur of the tribe of Judah, made all that the Lord commanded Moses.

23 With him was Oholiab the son of Ahisamak, of the tribe of Dan, an engraver and designer, an embroiderer in blue and purple and scarlet yarns, and fine linen.

24 All the gold that was used for the work, in all the work of the sanctuary, even the gold of the wave offering, was twenty-nine talents, and seven hundred and thirty shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary.

25 The silver of those who were numbered of the congregation was one hundred talents, and a thousand, seven hundred and seventy-five shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary;

26 a bekah for every man, that is, half a shekel, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, for everyone who was numbered, from twenty years old and upward, for six hundred and three thousand, five hundred and fifty men.

27 The hundred talents of silver were for casting the sockets of the sanctuary and the sockets of the veil—a hundred sockets of the hundred talents, a talent for a socket.

28 Of the one thousand seven hundred seventy-five shekels, he made hooks for the pillars and overlaid their tops and made bands for them.

29 The bronze of the wave offering was seventy talents and two thousand four hundred shekels.

30 With it he made the sockets for the door of the tent of meeting, and the bronze altar and its bronze grating, and all the utensils of the altar,

31 and the sockets of the courtyard all around, and the sockets of the courtyard gate, and all the tent pegs of the tabernacle, and all the tent pegs of the courtyard all around.

39

1 Making the Priestly Garments Now from the blue, purple, and scarlet they made woven garments for serving in the holy place and made the holy garments for Aaron, just as the Lord commanded Moses.

2 Making the Ephod He made the ephod of gold, blue, purple, and scarlet, and fine twisted linen.

3 Then they hammered the gold into thin sheets and cut it into threads to work them into the blue, the purple, the scarlet, and the fine linen, with skillful work.

4 They made shoulder pieces for it, in order to attach it together. It was joined by the two edges together.

5 The skillfully woven waistband of his ephod that was on it was like it, of the same material, of gold, blue, purple, and scarlet, and fine twisted linen, just as the Lord commanded Moses.

6 They set the onyx stones enclosed in gold filigree settings; they were engraved like the engravings of a signet, according to the names of the children of Israel.

7 And he put them on the shoulder pieces of the ephod, to be stones for a memorial to the children of Israel, just as the Lord commanded Moses.

8 Making the Breastplate He made the breastplate, the work of a skillful workman, like the workmanship of the ephod: of gold, blue, purple, and scarlet, and fine twisted linen.

9 It was square. They made the breastplate folded double, a span long and a span wide when doubled.

10 They set in it four rows of stones. A row of sardius, topaz, and carbuncle was the first row;

11 the second row, an emerald, a sapphire, and a diamond;

12 the third row, a jacinth, an agate, and an amethyst;

13 and the fourth row, a beryl, an onyx, and a jasper. They were enclosed in settings of gold filigree.

14 The stones were corresponding to the names of the children of Israel, twelve, corresponding to their names, like the engravings of a signet, each with its name, corresponding to the twelve tribes.

15 They made on the breastplate braided chains like cords of pure gold.

16 They made two gold filigree settings and two gold rings and put the two rings in the two ends of the breastplate.

17 They put the two braided chains of gold in the two rings on the ends of the breastplate.

18 The other two ends of the two braided chains they fastened in the two filigree settings and put them on the shoulder pieces of the ephod at the front of it.

19 They made two rings of gold and put them on the two ends of the breastplate, on the edge of it which was on the inner side of the ephod.

20 They made two other golden rings and put them on the two sides of the ephod underneath, toward the front of it, over against where it joined, above the waistband of the ephod.

21 They bound the breastplate by its rings to the rings of the ephod with a blue cord, so that it might be above the waistband of the ephod, and that the breastplate might not come loose from the ephod, just as the Lord commanded Moses.

22 Making Other Priestly Garments Then he made the robe of the ephod of woven work, all of blue.

23 There was an opening in the middle of the robe, like the opening of a coat of mail, with a band all around the opening so that it should not be torn.

24 They made on the hems of the robe pomegranates of blue, purple, and scarlet, and twisted linen.

25 They made bells of pure gold and put the bells between the pomegranates all around on the hem of the robe.

26 There was a bell and a pomegranate, a bell and a pomegranate, all around about the hem of the robe to be used in service, just as the Lord commanded Moses.

27 They made tunics of finely woven linen for Aaron and his sons,

28 and the turban of fine linen, and the decorated caps of fine linen, and linen breeches of fine twisted linen.

29 The sash was of fine twisted linen and blue, purple, and scarlet, the work of an embroiderer, just as the Lord commanded Moses.

30 They made the plate of the holy crown of pure gold and wrote on it an inscription, like the engravings of a signet: HOLINESS TO THE LORD.

31 They attached to it a blue cord, to fasten it to the turban above, just as the Lord commanded Moses.

32 The Work Completed Thus all the work of the tabernacle of the tent of meeting was finished, and the children of Israel did according to all that the Lord commanded Moses—so they did.

33 They brought the tabernacle to Moses, the tent and all its furnishings: its clasps, its boards, its bars, and its pillars, and its sockets;

34 and the covering of rams’ skins dyed red, and the covering of porpoise skins, and the screening veil;

35 the ark of the testimony and its poles and the mercy seat;

36 the table, and all its utensils, and the showbread;

37 the pure gold lampstand, with its arrangement of lamps, and all its utensils, and the oil for the light;

38 and the gold altar, and the anointing oil, and the fragrant incense, and the curtain for the entrance to the tent;

39 the bronze altar, and its bronze grating, its poles and all its utensils, the basin and its stand;

40 the hangings of the courtyard, its pillars, and its sockets, and the curtain for the courtyard gate, its cords, and its pegs, and all the utensils for the service of the tabernacle, for the tent of meeting;

41 the woven garments of service to do service in the holy place, and the holy garments for Aaron the priest and his sons’ garments, to minister as priests.

42 The children of Israel did all the work according to all that the Lord commanded Moses.

43 Moses looked over all the work, and indeed they had done it; as the Lord had commanded, so they had done. Then Moses blessed them.

40

1 The Tabernacle Erected Now the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

2 On the first day of the first month you shall set up the tabernacle of the tent of meeting.

3 You shall put the ark of the testimony in it and screen the ark with the veil.

4 You shall bring in the table and arrange the things that are to be arranged on it, and you shall bring in the lampstand and set up its lamps.

5 You shall set the gold altar of incense before the ark of the testimony and put the curtain for the entrance to the tabernacle.

6 You shall set the altar of the burnt offering in front of the entrance of the tabernacle of the tent of meeting.

7 You shall set the basin between the tent of meeting and the altar and put water in it.

8 You shall set up the courtyard around it and hang up the curtain at the courtyard gate.

9 You shall take the anointing oil and anoint the tabernacle and all that is in it and shall consecrate it and all its furnishings, and it shall be holy.

10 Then you shall anoint the altar of the burnt offering and all its utensils, and consecrate the altar, and the altar shall be most holy.

11 You shall anoint the basin and its stand, and consecrate it.

12 Then you shall bring Aaron and his sons to the entrance of the tent of meeting and wash them with water.

13 You shall put the holy garments on Aaron and anoint him and consecrate him, so that he may minister to Me as a priest.

14 You shall bring his sons and clothe them with tunics.

15 Then you shall anoint them just as you anointed their father, so that they may minister to Me as priests, for their anointing will surely be an everlasting priesthood throughout their generations.

16 Thus Moses did. According to all that the Lord commanded him, so he did.

17 In the first month of the second year, on the first day of the month, the tabernacle was erected.

18 Moses erected the tabernacle and fastened its sockets, and set up its boards, and inserted its bars, and erected its pillars.

19 Then he spread the tent over the tabernacle and put the covering of the tent on top of it, just as the Lord commanded Moses.

20 He took the testimony and put it into the ark, attached the poles to the ark, and put the mercy seat on top of the ark.

21 And he brought the ark into the tabernacle, and set up the veil of the screening, and screened the ark of the testimony, just as the Lord commanded Moses.

22 Then he put the table in the tent of meeting on the north side of the tabernacle outside the veil.

23 He set the bread in order on it before the Lord, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.

24 And he put the lampstand in the tent of meeting, opposite the table, on the south side of the tabernacle.

25 He lighted the lamps before the Lord, just as the Lord commanded Moses.

26 Then he put the gold altar in the tent of meeting before the veil.

27 And he burned fragrant incense on it, just as the Lord commanded Moses.

28 Then he set up the curtain at the entrance of the tabernacle.

29 He put the altar of burnt offering by the entrance of the tabernacle of the tent of meeting and offered on it the burnt offering and the grain offering, just as the Lord commanded Moses.

30 Then he set the basin between the tent of meeting and the altar and put water in it for washing.

31 It was there Moses and Aaron and his sons washed their hands and their feet.

32 Whenever they went into the tent of meeting, and whenever they came near the altar, they washed, just as the Lord commanded Moses.

33 He erected the courtyard all around the tabernacle and the altar, and set up the curtain of the courtyard gate. So Moses finished the work.

34 The Glory of the Lord Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.

35 Moses was not able to enter into the tent of meeting because the cloud settled on it, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.

36 When the cloud was lifted up from over the tabernacle, the children of Israel would set out in all their journeys.

37 But if the cloud was not lifted up, then they did not set out until the day that it was lifted.

38 For the cloud of the Lord was on the tabernacle by day, and fire was on it by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel, throughout all their journeys.