Exodus 34
34
Chapter 34
Two new flat stones
1The Lord said to Moses, ‘Cut two flat stones like the first stones. Then I will write on them all the words that I wrote on the first stones. Those were the stones that you broke into pieces. #34:1 See Exodus 32:19. 2Make yourself ready in the morning and come up Sinai mountain. Stand there, ready to meet me on the top of the mountain. 3Nobody must come with you. Nobody must go anywhere on the mountain. Even your sheep and your cows must not eat grass near the bottom of the mountain.’
4So Moses cut two flat stones like the first stones. Early in the morning, he went up Sinai mountain, as the Lord had commanded him. He carried the two flat stones in his hands. 5Then the Lord came down in the cloud. He came and he stood with Moses. The Lord spoke aloud his own name, the Lord.
6The Lord passed in front of Moses. He said in a loud voice, ‘I am the Lord! The Lord! I am kind to people and I forgive them. I do not quickly become angry. My faithful love for my people continues for ever, and I am always faithful. 7I faithfully love thousands of people. I forgive their sins when they turn against me. But if people are guilty, I surely punish them. I punish their children, their grandchildren and their grandchildren's children.’
8Then Moses quickly bent down low to worship the Lord. 9He said, ‘Lord, my God, if you are pleased with me, please travel with us! It is true that these people are proud and they often do not obey you. But please forgive all our sins. Please accept us as your own people.’
10Then the Lord said, ‘I will make a covenant with the Israelites. I will do great miracles for them to see. Nobody in any nation anywhere in the world has ever done such great things. All the people who live near you will see the great things that I, the Lord, will do. The powerful things that I do among you will make them very afraid.
11Obey the commands that I am giving you today. Then I will chase out the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites and the Jebusites, as you move into the land. 12Do not make any agreements with those people in the land where you are going. If you become their friends, they would teach you to do wrong things. 13Instead, you must knock down their altars. Destroy the special stones that are their idols. Cut down their Asherah poles. 14Do not worship any other god instead of me. I am the Lord and I want you to belong to me alone.
15Be careful not to make an agreement with the people who live in that land. They have turned away to worship their own gods. They offer sacrifices to their gods. When they do that, they may ask you to join with them. Then you will eat the food that they have offered to their gods. 16Perhaps you may choose some of their daughters for your sons to marry. Their daughters will continue to worship their gods. Then they will teach your sons to turn away from me and worship their gods.
17Do not melt metal to make images of false gods.
18Eat the Feast of Flat Bread every year. Eat bread that has no yeast in it for seven days, as I commanded you. Do this on the right day in the month of Abib. That is the month that you came out from Egypt.
19Every firstborn child that a woman gives birth to belongs to me. That is also true for every firstborn male that your animals give birth to. That includes your cows and your sheep. 20For a firstborn donkey, you may pay for it with a lamb instead. If you do not pay for it, you must break the donkey's neck. You must pay me back for every firstborn son that you have.
Nobody may come to worship me without an offering to give me.
21You may work for six days each week, but on the seventh day you must rest. That is true even when it is the time to plough your fields. It is also true at harvest time. You must rest on the seventh day each week.
22Eat the Feast of Weeks every year when you cut the first wheat in your fields. Eat the Feast of Harvest at the end of each year. #34:22 See Deuteronomy 16:9-15. The Feast of Harvest was also called the Feast of Huts. 23Three times in every year, all your men must come to worship the Lord God, the God of Israel. 24I will chase the nations out of the land as you move in. I will give you more and more land to live in. Three times each year you must come to worship the Lord your God. When you do that, nobody will try to take your land for themselves.
25When you offer the blood of an animal to me as your sacrifice, do not also offer any bread with yeast in it. When you kill a lamb for the Passover sacrifice, do not keep any of the meat until the next morning.
26When you cut the first crops from your fields, bring the best food to the house of the Lord your God.
Do not cook a young goat in its mother's milk.’
27Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Write down these words. They are the rules of the covenant that I have made with you and with the Israelites.’
28Moses was there on the mountain with the Lord for 40 days and 40 nights. He did not eat anything or drink anything during that time. He wrote the words of God's covenant on the flat stones. Those were God's ten special commands.
Moses' face shines
29Moses came down from Sinai mountain. He carried the two stones of the covenant in his hands. As he came down the mountain, he did not know that his face was shining. His face was shining because he had spoken with the Lord. 30When Aaron and all the Israelites saw Moses, they could see that his face was shining. They were afraid to come near him. 31But Moses called out to them. So Aaron and the leaders of the people came back to him. Then Moses talked to them. 32After this, all the Israelites came near to Moses. He told them all the commands that the Lord had given to him on Sinai mountain.
33When Moses had finished speaking to the people, he covered his face with a thin cloth. 34But when he went into the special tent to speak with the Lord, he would remove the cloth. When he came out again, he would tell God's commands to the Israelites. 35They could see that his face was shining. So Moses would put the thin cloth over his face again. The cloth would stay on his face until he went into the special tent again to speak with the Lord.
Currently Selected:
Exodus 34: EASY
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
MissionAssist 2018
Exodus 34
34
The Second Set of Commandments
(Deuteronomy 10.1-5)
1One day the Lord said to Moses, “Cut two flat stones like the first ones I made, and I will write on them the same commandments that were on the two you broke. 2Be ready tomorrow morning to come up Mount Sinai and meet me at the top. 3No one is to come with you or to be on the mountain at all. Don't even let the sheep and cattle graze at the foot of the mountain.” 4So Moses cut two flat stones like the first ones, and early the next morning he carried them to the top of Mount Sinai, just as the Lord had commanded.
5The Lord God came down in a cloud and stood beside Moses there on the mountain. God spoke his holy name, “the Lord.”#34.5 the Lord: See the note at 3.14,15. 6#Ex 20.5,6; Nu 14.18; Dt 5.9,10; 7.9,10. Then he passed in front of Moses and called out, “I am the Lord God. I am merciful and very patient with my people. I show great love, and I can be trusted. 7I keep my promises to my people forever, but I also punish anyone who sins. When people sin, I punish them and their children, and also their grandchildren and great-grandchildren.”
8Moses quickly bowed down to the ground and worshiped the Lord. 9He prayed, “Lord, if you really are pleased with me, I pray that you will go with us. It is true that these people are sinful and rebellious, but forgive our sin and let us be your people.”
A Promise and Its Demands
(Exodus 23.14-19; Deuteronomy 7.1-5; 16.1-17)
10The Lord said:
I promise to perform miracles for you that have never been seen anywhere on earth. Neighboring nations will stand in fear and know that I was the one who did these marvelous things. 11I will force out the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, but you must do what I command you today. 12Don't make treaties with any of those people. If you do, it will be like falling into a trap. 13#Dt 16.21. Instead, you must destroy their altars and tear down the sacred poles#34.13 sacred poles: Or “trees,” used as symbols of Asherah, the goddess of fertility. they use in the worship of the goddess Asherah. 14I demand your complete loyalty—you must not worship any other god! 15Don't make treaties with the people there, or you will soon find yourselves worshiping their gods and taking part in their sacrificial meals. 16Your men will even marry their women and be influenced to worship their gods.
17 #
Ex 20.4; Lv 19.4; Dt 5.8; 27.14-26. Don't make metal images of gods.
18 #
Ex 12.14-20; Lv 23.6-8; Nu 28.16-25. Don't fail to observe the Festival of Thin Bread in the month of Abib.#34.18 Abib: See the note at 12.2. Obey me and eat bread without yeast for seven days during Abib, because that is the month you left Egypt.
19 #
Ex 13.2. The first-born males of your families and of your flocks and herds belong to me.
20 #
Ex 13.13. You can save the life of a first-born donkey#34.20 donkey: See the note at 13.13. by sacrificing a lamb; if you don't, you must break the donkey's neck. You must save every first-born son.
Bring an offering every time you come to worship.
21 #
Ex 20.9,10; 23.12; 31.14,15; 35.2; Lv 23.3; Dt 5.13,14. Work for six days and rest on the seventh day, even during the seasons for plowing and harvesting. 22#Lv 23.15-21; Nu 28.26-31; Lv 23.39-43. Celebrate the Harvest Festival#34.22 Harvest Festival: See the note at 23.16. each spring when you start harvesting your wheat, and celebrate the Festival of Shelters#34.22 Festival of Shelters: See the note at 23.16. each autumn when you pick your fruit.
23Your men must come to worship me three times a year, because I am the Lord God of Israel. 24As you advance, I will force the nations out of your land and enlarge your borders. Then no one will try to take your property when you come to worship me these three times each year.
25 #
Ex 12.10. When you sacrifice an animal on the altar, don't offer bread made with yeast. And don't save any part of the Passover meal for the next day.
26 #
Dt 26.2;
Dt 14.21. I am the Lord your God, and you must bring the first part of your harvest to the place of worship.
Don't boil a young goat in its mother's milk.
27The Lord told Moses to put these laws in writing, as part of his agreement with Israel. 28Moses stayed on the mountain with the Lord for 40 days and nights, without eating or drinking. And he wrote down the Ten Commandments, the most important part of God's agreement with his people.
Moses Comes Down from Mount Sinai
29 #
2 Co 3.7-16. Moses came down from Mount Sinai, carrying the Ten Commandments. His face was shining brightly because the Lord had been speaking to him. But Moses did not know at first that his face was shining. 30When Aaron and the others looked at Moses, they saw this, and they were afraid to go near him. 31Moses called out for Aaron and the leaders to come to him, and he spoke with them. 32Then the rest of the people of Israel gathered around Moses, and he gave them the laws that the Lord had given him on Mount Sinai.
33The face of Moses kept shining, and after he had spoken with the people, he covered his face with a veil. 34Moses would always remove the veil when he went into the sacred tent to speak with the Lord. And when he came out, he would tell the people everything the Lord had told him to say. 35They could see that his face was still shining. So after he had spoken with them, he would put the veil back on and leave it on until the next time he went to speak with the Lord.
Currently Selected:
:
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
Contemporary English Version, Second Edition (CEV®)
© 2006 American Bible Society. All rights reserved.