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Now these are the names of
the sons of Israel, who came into Egypt (every man and his household came
with Jacob): Reuben,
Simeon, Levi, and Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin,
Dan and Naphtali, Gad and
Asher. All the souls who
came out of Jacob’s body were seventy souls, and Joseph was in Egypt
already. Joseph died, as
did all his brothers, and all that generation. The children of Israel were
fruitful, and increased abundantly, and multiplied, and grew exceedingly
mighty; and the land was filled with them.
Now there arose a new
king over Egypt, who didn’t know Joseph. He said to his people, “Behold,
the people of the children of Israel are more and mightier than we.
Come, let us deal wisely
with them, lest they multiply, and it happen that when any war breaks out,
they also join themselves to our enemies, and fight against us, and escape
out of the land.” Therefore they set taskmasters
over them to afflict them with their burdens. They built storage cities
for Pharaoh: Pithom and Raamses. But the more they afflicted them,
the more they multiplied and the more they spread out. They were grieved
because of the children of Israel. The Egyptians ruthlessly made the
children of Israel serve, and they made their lives bitter
with hard service, in mortar and in brick, and in all kinds of service in
the field, all their service, in which they ruthlessly made them serve.
The king of Egypt
spoke to the Hebrew midwives, of whom the name of the one was Shiphrah,
and the name of the other Puah, and he said, “When you perform
the duty of a midwife to the Hebrew women, and see them on the birth
stool; if it is a son, then you shall kill him; but if it is a daughter,
then she shall live.” But the midwives feared God, and didn’t do what the king of Egypt commanded them,
but saved the baby boys alive. The king of Egypt called for the
midwives, and said to them, “Why have you done this thing, and have
saved the boys alive?”
The midwives said to
Pharaoh, “Because the Hebrew women aren’t like the Egyptian women; for
they are vigorous, and give birth before the midwife comes to them.”
God dealt well with
the midwives, and the people multiplied, and grew very mighty. It happened, because the midwives
feared God, that he gave them families. Pharaoh commanded all his people,
saying, “You shall cast every son who is born into the river, and every
daughter you shall save alive.”
A man of the house of
Levi went and took a daughter of Levi as his wife. The woman conceived, and bore a
son. When she saw that he was a fine child, she hid him three months.
When she could no longer
hide him, she took a papyrus basket for him, and coated it with tar and
with pitch. She put the child in it, and laid it in the reeds by the
river’s bank. His sister
stood far off, to see what would be done to him. Pharaoh’s daughter came down to
bathe at the river. Her maidens walked along by the riverside. She saw the
basket among the reeds, and sent her handmaid to get it. She opened it, and saw the child,
and behold, the baby cried. She had compassion on him, and said, “This
is one of the Hebrews’ children.”
Then his sister said to
Pharaoh’s daughter, “Should I go and call a nurse for you from the
Hebrew women, that she may nurse the child for you?”
Pharaoh’s daughter
said to her, “Go.”
The maiden went and called the child’s mother. Pharaoh’s daughter said to her,
“Take this child away, and nurse him for me, and I will give you your
wages.”
The woman took the child, and nursed it. The child grew, and she brought
him to Pharaoh’s daughter, and he became her son. She named him Moses, and said, “Because I drew him out of the water.”
It happened in those
days, when Moses had grown up, that he went out to his brothers, and
looked at their burdens. He saw an Egyptian striking a Hebrew, one of his
brothers. He looked this
way and that way, and when he saw that there was no one, he killed the
Egyptian, and hid him in the sand.
He went out the second
day, and behold, two men of the Hebrews were fighting with each other. He
said to him who did the wrong, “Why do you strike your fellow?”
He said, “Who made
you a prince and a judge over us? Do you plan to kill me, as you killed
the Egyptian?”
Moses was afraid, and said, “Surely this thing is known.” Now when Pharaoh heard this
thing, he sought to kill Moses. But Moses fled from the face of Pharaoh,
and lived in the land of Midian, and he sat down by a well.
Now the priest of
Midian had seven daughters. They came and drew water, and filled the
troughs to water their father’s flock. The shepherds came and drove them
away; but Moses stood up and helped them, and watered their flock. When they came to Reuel, their
father, he said, “How is it that you have returned so early today?”
They said, “An
Egyptian delivered us out of the hand of the shepherds, and moreover he
drew water for us, and watered the flock.”
He said to his
daughters, “Where is he? Why is it that you have left the man? Call him,
that he may eat bread.”
Moses was content to
dwell with the man. He gave Moses Zipporah, his daughter. She bore a son, and he named him
Gershom, for he said, “I have lived as a foreigner in
a foreign land.”
It happened in the
course of those many days, that the king of Egypt died, and the children
of Israel sighed because of the bondage, and they cried, and their cry
came up to God because of the bondage. God heard their groaning, and God
remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. God saw the children of Israel,
and God was concerned about them.
Now Moses was keeping
the flock of Jethro, his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led
the flock to the back of the wilderness, and came to God’s mountain, to
Horeb. The angel of Yahweh appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst
of a bush. He looked, and behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush
was not consumed. Moses
said, “I will turn aside now, and see this great sight, why the bush is
not burnt.”
When Yahweh saw that he
turned aside to see, God called to him out of the midst of the bush, and
said, “Moses! Moses!”
He said, “Here I am.”
He said, “Don’t
come close. Take your sandals off of your feet, for the place you are
standing on is holy ground.” Moreover he said, “I am the God
of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of
Jacob.”
Moses hid his face; for he was afraid to look at God.
Yahweh said, “I have
surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt, and have heard
their cry because of their taskmasters, for I know their sorrows. 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 large land, to a land flowing with milk and honey; to the place
of the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and
the Jebusite. Now, behold,
the cry of the children of Israel has come to me. Moreover I have seen the
oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them. Come now therefore, and I will
send you to Pharaoh, that you may bring my people, the children of Israel,
out of Egypt.”
Moses said to God,
“Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should bring the
children of Israel out of Egypt?”
He said, “Certainly
I will be with you. This will be the token to you, that I have sent you:
when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this
mountain.”
Moses said to God,
“Behold, when I come to the children of Israel, and tell them, ‘The
God of your fathers has sent me to you;’ and they ask me, ‘What is his
name?’ What should I tell them?”
God said to Moses,
“I AM WHO I AM,” and he said, “You shall tell the children of Israel
this: ‘I AM has sent me to you.’” God said moreover to Moses,
“You shall tell the children of Israel this, ‘Yahweh, the God of your
fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has
sent me to you.’ This is my name forever, and this is my memorial to all
generations. Go, and
gather the elders of Israel together, and tell them, ‘Yahweh, the God of
your fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, has appeared to
me, saying, “I have surely visited you, and seen that which is done to
you in Egypt; and I have
said, I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt to the land of
the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and
the Jebusite, to a land flowing with milk and honey.”’ They will listen to your voice,
and you shall come, you and the elders of Israel, to the king of Egypt,
and you shall tell him, ‘Yahweh, the God of the Hebrews, has met with
us. Now please let us go three days’ journey into the wilderness, that
we may sacrifice to Yahweh, our God.’ I know that the king of Egypt
won’t give you permission to go, no, not by a mighty hand. I will reach out my hand and
strike Egypt with all my wonders which I will do in its midst, and after
that he will let you go. I will give this people favor in
the sight of the Egyptians, and it will happen that when you go, you shall
not go empty-handed. But
every woman shall ask of her neighbor, and of her who visits her house,
jewels of silver, jewels of gold, and clothing; and you shall put them on
your sons, and on your daughters. You shall plunder the Egyptians.”
Moses answered, “But,
behold, they will not believe me, nor listen to my voice; for they will
say, ‘Yahweh has not appeared to you.’”
Yahweh said to him,
“What is that in your hand?”
He said, “A rod.”
He said, “Throw it on
the ground.”
He threw it on the ground, and it became a snake; and Moses ran away
from it.
Yahweh said to Moses,
“Stretch out your hand, and take it by the tail.”
He stretched out his hand, and took hold of it, and it became a rod in
his hand.
“That they may
believe that Yahweh, the God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God
of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has appeared to you.” Yahweh said furthermore to him,
“Now put your hand inside your cloak.”
He put his hand inside his cloak, and when he took it out, behold, his
hand was leprous, as white as snow.
He said, “Put your
hand inside your cloak again.”
He put his hand inside his cloak again, and when he took it out of his
cloak, behold, it had turned again as his other flesh.
“It will happen, if
they will neither believe you nor listen to the voice of the first sign,
that they will believe the voice of the latter sign. It will happen, if they will not
believe even these two signs, neither listen to your voice, that you shall
take of the water of the river, and pour it on the dry land. The water
which you take out of the river will become blood on the dry land.”
Moses said to Yahweh,
“O Lord, I am not eloquent, neither before now, nor
since you have spoken to your servant; for I am slow of speech, and of a
slow tongue.”
Yahweh said to him,
“Who made man’s mouth? Or who makes one mute, or deaf, or seeing, or
blind? Isn’t it I, Yahweh? Now therefore go, and I will be
with your mouth, and teach you what you shall speak.”
He said, “Oh, Lord,
please send someone else.”
The anger of Yahweh
was kindled against Moses, and he said, “What about Aaron, your brother,
the Levite? I know that he can speak well. Also, behold, he comes out to
meet you. When he sees you, he will be glad in his heart. You shall speak to him, and put
the words in his mouth. I will be with your mouth, and with his mouth, and
will teach you what you shall do. He will be your spokesman to the
people; and it will happen, that he will be to you a mouth, and you will
be to him as God. You
shall take this rod in your hand, with which you shall do the signs.”
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 are still
alive.”
Jethro said to Moses, “Go in peace.”
Yahweh said to Moses
in Midian, “Go, return into Egypt; for all the men who sought your life
are dead.”
Moses took his wife
and his sons, and set them on a donkey, and he returned to the land of
Egypt. Moses took God’s rod in his hand. Yahweh said to Moses, “When you
go back into Egypt, see that you do before Pharaoh all the wonders which I
have put in your hand, but I will harden his heart and he will not let the
people go. You shall tell
Pharaoh, ‘Thus says Yahweh, Israel is my son, my firstborn, and I have said to you, “Let my
son go, that he may serve me;” and you have refused to let him go.
Behold, I will kill your son, your firstborn.’”
It happened on the way
at a lodging place, that Yahweh met Moses and wanted to kill him. Then Zipporah took a flint, and
cut off the foreskin of her son, and cast it at his feet; and she said,
“Surely you are a bridegroom of blood to me.”
So he let him alone.
Then she said, “You are a bridegroom of blood,” because of the
circumcision.
Yahweh said to Aaron,
“Go into the wilderness to meet Moses.”
He went, and met him on God’s mountain, and kissed him. Moses told Aaron all the words of
Yahweh with which he had sent him, and all the signs with which he had
instructed him. Moses and
Aaron went and gathered together all the elders of the children of Israel.
Aaron spoke all the words
which Yahweh had spoken to Moses, and did the signs in the sight of the
people. The people
believed, and when they heard that Yahweh had visited the children of
Israel, and that he had seen their affliction, then they bowed their heads
and worshiped.
Afterward Moses and
Aaron came, and said to Pharaoh, “This is what Yahweh, the God of
Israel, says, ‘Let my people go, that they may hold a feast to me in the
wilderness.’”
Pharaoh said, “Who is
Yahweh, that I should listen to his voice to let Israel go? I don’t know
Yahweh, and moreover I will not let Israel go.”
They said, “The God
of the Hebrews has met with us. Please let us go three days’ journey
into the wilderness, and sacrifice to Yahweh, our God, lest he fall on us
with pestilence, or with the sword.”
The king of Egypt said
to them, “Why do you, Moses and Aaron, take the people from their work?
Get back to your burdens!” Pharaoh said, “Behold, the
people of the land are now many, and you make them rest from their
burdens.” The same day
Pharaoh commanded the taskmasters of the people, and their officers,
saying, “You shall no
longer give the people straw to make brick, as before. Let them go and
gather straw for themselves. The number of the bricks, which
they made before, you require from them. You shall not diminish anything
of it, for they are idle; therefore they cry, saying, ‘Let us go and
sacrifice to our God.’ Let heavier work be laid on the
men, that they may labor therein; and don’t let them pay any attention
to lying words.”
The taskmasters of the
people went out, and their officers, and they spoke to the people, saying,
“This is what Pharaoh says: ‘I will not give you straw. Go yourselves, get straw where
you can find it, for nothing of your work shall be diminished.’”
So the people were
scattered abroad throughout all the land of Egypt to gather stubble for
straw. The taskmasters
were urgent saying, “Fulfill your work quota daily, as when there was
straw!” The officers of
the children of Israel, whom Pharaoh’s taskmasters had set over them,
were beaten, and demanded, “Why haven’t you fulfilled your quota both
yesterday and today, in making brick as before?”
Then the officers of
the children of Israel came and cried to Pharaoh, saying, “Why do you
deal this way with your servants? No straw is given to your
servants, and they tell us, ‘Make brick!’ and behold, your servants
are beaten; but the fault is in your own people.”
But he said, “You
are idle! You are idle! Therefore you say, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to
Yahweh.’ Go therefore
now, and work, for no straw shall be given to you, yet you shall deliver
the same number of bricks!”
The officers of the
children of Israel saw that they were in trouble, when it was said, “You
shall not diminish anything from your daily quota of bricks!”
They met Moses and
Aaron, who stood in the way, as they came out from Pharaoh: and they said to them, “May
Yahweh look at you, and judge, because you have made us a stench to be
abhorred in the eyes of Pharaoh, and in the eyes of his servants, to put a
sword in their hand to kill us.”
Moses returned to
Yahweh, and said, “Lord, why have you brought trouble on this people?
Why is it that you have sent me? For since I came to Pharaoh to
speak in your name, he has brought trouble on this people; neither have
you delivered your people at all.”
Yahweh said to Moses,
“Now you shall see what I will do to Pharaoh, for by a strong hand he
shall let them go, and by a strong hand he shall drive them out of his
land.”
God spoke to Moses, and
said to him, “I am Yahweh; and I appeared to Abraham, to
Isaac, and to Jacob, as God Almighty; but by my name Yahweh I was not
known to them. I have also
established my covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the
land of their travels, in which they lived as aliens. Moreover I have heard the groaning
of the children of Israel, whom the Egyptians keep in bondage, and I have
remembered my covenant. Therefore tell the children of
Israel, ‘I am Yahweh, 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 an outstretched arm, and with great judgments: 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 Yahweh
your God, who brings you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians.
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 Yahweh.’”
Moses spoke so to the
children of Israel, but they didn’t listen to Moses for anguish of
spirit, and for cruel bondage.
Yahweh spoke to Moses,
saying, “Go in, speak
to Pharaoh king of Egypt, that he let the children of Israel go out of his
land.”
Moses spoke before
Yahweh, saying, “Behold, the children of Israel haven’t listened to
me. How then shall Pharaoh listen to me, who am of uncircumcised lips?”
Yahweh spoke to Moses and
to Aaron, and gave them a command to the children of Israel, and to
Pharaoh king of Egypt, to bring the children of Israel out of the land of
Egypt.
These are the heads of
their fathers’ houses. The sons of Reuben the firstborn of Israel:
Hanoch, and Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi; these are the families of Reuben.
The sons of Simeon:
Jemuel, and Jamin, and Ohad, and Jachin, and Zohar, and Shaul the son of a
Canaanite woman; these are the families of Simeon. These are the names of the sons
of Levi according to their generations: Gershon, and Kohath, and Merari;
and the years of the life of Levi were one hundred thirty-seven years.
The sons of Gershon:
Libni and Shimei, according to their families. The sons of Kohath: Amram, and
Izhar, and Hebron, and Uzziel; and the years of the life of Kohath were
one hundred thirty-three years. The sons of Merari: Mahli and
Mushi. These are the families of the Levites according to their
generations. Amram took
Jochebed his father’s sister to himself as wife; and she bore him Aaron
and Moses: and the years of the life of Amram were a hundred and
thirty-seven years. The
sons of Izhar: Korah, and Nepheg, and Zichri. The sons of Uzziel: Mishael, and
Elzaphan, and Sithri. Aaron took Elisheba, the daughter
of Amminadab, the sister of Nahshon, as his wife; and she bore him Nadab
and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar. The sons of Korah: Assir, and
Elkanah, and Abiasaph; these are the families of the Korahites. Eleazar Aaron’s son took one of
the daughters of Putiel as his wife; and she bore him Phinehas. These are
the heads of the fathers’ houses of the Levites according to their
families. These are that
Aaron and Moses, to whom Yahweh said, “Bring out the children of Israel
from the land of Egypt according to their armies.” These are those who spoke to
Pharaoh king of Egypt, to bring out the children of Israel from Egypt.
These are that Moses and Aaron.
It happened on the day
when Yahweh spoke to Moses in the land of Egypt, that Yahweh spoke to Moses,
saying, “I am Yahweh. Speak to Pharaoh king of Egypt all that I speak to
you.”
Moses said before
Yahweh, “Behold, I am of uncircumcised lips, and how shall Pharaoh
listen to me?”
Yahweh said to Moses,
“Behold, I have made you as God to Pharaoh; and Aaron your brother shall
be your prophet. You shall
speak all that I command you; and Aaron your brother shall speak to
Pharaoh, that he let the children of Israel go out of his land. I will harden Pharaoh’s heart,
and multiply my signs and my wonders in the land of Egypt. But Pharaoh will not listen to
you, and I will lay my hand on Egypt, and bring out my armies, my people
the children of Israel, out of the land of Egypt by great judgments.
The Egyptians shall know
that I am Yahweh, when I stretch out my hand on Egypt, and bring out the
children of Israel from among them.”
Moses and Aaron did so.
As Yahweh commanded them, so they did. Moses was eighty years old, and
Aaron eighty-three years old, when they spoke to Pharaoh.
Yahweh spoke to Moses
and to Aaron, saying, “When Pharaoh speaks to you,
saying, ‘Perform a miracle!’ then you shall tell Aaron, ‘Take your
rod, and cast it down before Pharaoh, that it become a serpent.’”
Moses and Aaron went
in to Pharaoh, and they did so, as Yahweh had commanded: and Aaron cast
down his rod before Pharaoh and before his servants, and it became a
serpent. Then Pharaoh
also called for the wise men and the sorcerers. They also, the magicians
of Egypt, did the same thing with their enchantments. For they each cast down their
rods, and they became serpents: but Aaron’s rod swallowed up their rods.
Pharaoh’s heart was
hardened, and he didn’t listen to them; as Yahweh had spoken.
Yahweh said to Moses,
“Pharaoh’s heart is stubborn. He refuses to let the people go. Go to Pharaoh in the morning.
Behold, he goes out to the water; and you shall stand by the river’s
bank to meet him; and the rod which was turned to a serpent you shall take
in your hand. You shall
tell him, ‘Yahweh, the God of the Hebrews, has sent me to you, saying,
“Let my people go, that they may serve me in the wilderness:” and
behold, until now you haven’t listened. Thus says Yahweh, “In this you
shall know that I am Yahweh. Behold, I will strike with the rod that is in
my hand on the waters which are in the river, and they shall be turned to
blood. The fish that are
in the river shall die, and the river shall become foul; and the Egyptians
shall loathe to drink water from the river.”’” Yahweh said to Moses, “Tell
Aaron, ‘Take your rod, and stretch out your hand over the waters of
Egypt, over their rivers, over their streams, and over their pools, and
over all their ponds of water, that they may become blood; and there shall
be blood throughout all the land of Egypt, both in vessels of wood and in
vessels of stone.’”
Moses and Aaron did
so, as Yahweh 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.
The fish that were in the
river died; and the river became foul, and the Egyptians couldn’t drink
water from the river; and the blood was throughout all the land of Egypt.
The magicians of Egypt
did the same thing with their enchantments; and Pharaoh’s heart was
hardened, and he didn’t listen to them; as Yahweh had spoken. Pharaoh turned and went into his
house, and he didn’t even take this to heart. All the Egyptians dug around the
river for water to drink; for they couldn’t drink of the water of the
river. Seven days were
fulfilled, after Yahweh had struck the river.
Yahweh spoke to Moses,
Go in to Pharaoh, and tell him, “This is what Yahweh says, ‘Let my
people go, that they may serve me. If you refuse to let them go,
behold, I will plague all your borders with frogs: and the river shall swarm with
frogs, which shall go up and come into your house, and into your bedroom,
and on your bed, and into the house of your servants, and on your people,
and into your ovens, and into your kneading troughs: and the frogs shall come up both
on you, and on your people, and on all your servants.’” Yahweh said to Moses, “Tell
Aaron, ‘Stretch out your hand with your rod over the rivers, over the
streams, and over the pools, and cause frogs to come up on the land of
Egypt.’” Aaron
stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt; and the frogs came up,
and covered the land of Egypt. The magicians did the same thing
with their enchantments, and brought up frogs on the land of Egypt.
Then Pharaoh called for
Moses and Aaron, and said, “Entreat Yahweh, that he take away the frogs
from me, and from my people; and I will let the people go, that they may
sacrifice to Yahweh.”
Moses said to Pharaoh,
“I give you the honor of setting the time that I should pray for you,
and for your servants, and for your people, that the frogs be destroyed
from you and your houses, and remain in the river only.”
He said,
“Tomorrow.”
He said, “Be it according to your word, that you may know that there
is none like Yahweh our God. The frogs shall depart from you,
and from your houses, and from your servants, and from your people. They
shall remain in the river only.”
Moses and Aaron went
out from Pharaoh, and Moses cried to Yahweh concerning the frogs which he
had brought on Pharaoh. Yahweh did according to the word
of Moses, and the frogs died out of the houses, out of the courts, and out
of the fields. They
gathered them together in heaps, and the land stank. But when Pharaoh saw that there
was a respite, he hardened his heart, and didn’t listen to them, as
Yahweh had spoken.
Yahweh said to Moses,
“Tell Aaron, ‘Stretch out your rod, and strike the dust of the earth,
that it may become lice throughout all the land of Egypt.’” They did so; and Aaron stretched
out his hand with his rod, and struck the dust of the earth, and there
were lice on man, and on animal; all the dust of the earth became lice
throughout all the land of Egypt. The magicians tried with their
enchantments to produce lice, but they couldn’t. There were lice on man,
and on animal. Then the
magicians said to Pharaoh, “This is the finger of God:” and
Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he didn’t listen to them; as Yahweh
had spoken.
Yahweh said to Moses,
“Rise up early in the morning, and stand before Pharaoh; behold, he
comes out to the water; and tell him, ‘This is what Yahweh says, “Let
my people go, that they may serve me. Else, if you will not let my
people go, behold, I will send swarms of flies on you, and on your
servants, and on your people, and into your houses: and the houses of the
Egyptians shall be full of swarms of flies, and also the ground whereon
they are. I will set
apart in that day the land of Goshen, in which my people dwell, that no
swarms of flies shall be there; to the end you may know that I am Yahweh
in the midst of the earth. I will put a division between my
people and your people: by tomorrow shall this sign be.”’” Yahweh did so; and there came
grievous swarms of flies into the house of Pharaoh, and into his
servants’ houses: and in all the land of Egypt the land was corrupted by
reason of the swarms of flies.
Pharaoh called for
Moses and for Aaron, and said, “Go, sacrifice to your God in the land!”
Moses said, “It
isn’t appropriate to do so; for we shall sacrifice the abomination of
the Egyptians to Yahweh our God. Behold, shall we sacrifice the
abomination of the Egyptians before their eyes, and won’t they stone us?
We will go three days’
journey into the wilderness, and sacrifice to Yahweh our God, as he shall
command us.”
Pharaoh said, “I
will let you go, that you may sacrifice to Yahweh your God in the
wilderness, only you shall not go very far away. Pray for me.”
Moses said, “Behold,
I go out from you, and I will pray to Yahweh that the swarms of flies may
depart from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people, tomorrow;
only don’t let Pharaoh deal deceitfully any more in not letting the
people go to sacrifice to Yahweh.” Moses went out from Pharaoh, and
prayed to Yahweh. Yahweh
did according to the word of Moses, and he removed the swarms of flies
from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people. There remained not
one. Pharaoh hardened his
heart this time also, and he didn’t let the people go.
Then Yahweh said to
Moses, “Go in to Pharaoh, and tell him, ‘This is what Yahweh, the God
of the Hebrews, says: “Let my people go, that they may serve me. For if you refuse to let them go,
and hold them still, behold, the hand of Yahweh is on
your livestock which are in the field, on the horses, on the donkeys, on
the camels, on the herds, and on the flocks with a very grievous
pestilence. Yahweh will
make a distinction between the livestock of Israel and the livestock of
Egypt; and nothing shall die of all that belongs to the children of
Israel.”’” Yahweh
appointed a set time, saying, “Tomorrow Yahweh shall do this thing in
the land.” Yahweh did
that thing on the next day; and all the livestock of Egypt died, but of
the livestock of the children of Israel, not one died. Pharaoh sent, and, behold, there
was not so much as one of the livestock of the Israelites dead. But the
heart of Pharaoh was stubborn, and he didn’t let the people go.
Yahweh said to Moses
and to Aaron, “Take to you handfuls of ashes of the furnace, and let
Moses sprinkle it toward the sky in the sight of Pharaoh. It shall become small dust over
all the land of Egypt, and shall be a boil breaking out with boils on man
and on animal, throughout all the land of Egypt.”
They took ashes of the
furnace, and stood before Pharaoh; and Moses sprinkled it up toward the
sky; and it became a boil breaking out with boils on man and on animal.
The magicians couldn’t
stand before Moses because of the boils; for the boils were on the
magicians, and on all the Egyptians. Yahweh hardened the heart of
Pharaoh, and he didn’t listen to them, as Yahweh had spoken to Moses.
Yahweh said to Moses,
“Rise up early in the morning, and stand before Pharaoh, and tell him,
‘This is what Yahweh, the God of the Hebrews, says: “Let my people go,
that they may serve me. For this time I will send all my
plagues against your heart, against your officials, and against your
people; that you may know that there is none like me in all the earth.
For now I would have
stretched out my hand, and struck you and your people with pestilence, and
you would have been cut off from the earth; but indeed for this cause I have
made you stand: to show you my power, and that my name may be declared
throughout all the earth; as you still exalt yourself
against my people, that you won’t let them go. Behold, tomorrow about this time
I will cause it to rain a very grievous hail, such as has not been in
Egypt since the day it was founded even until now. Now therefore command that all of
your livestock and all that you have in the field be brought into shelter.
Every man and animal that is found in the field, and isn’t brought home,
the hail shall come down on them, and they shall die.”’”
Those who feared the
word of Yahweh among the servants of Pharaoh made their servants and their
livestock flee into the houses. Whoever didn’t respect the word
of Yahweh left his servants and his livestock in the field.
Yahweh said to Moses,
“Stretch out your hand toward the sky, that there may be hail in all the
land of Egypt, on man, and on animal, and on every herb of the field,
throughout the land of Egypt.”
Moses stretched out
his rod toward the heavens, and Yahweh sent thunder, hail, and lightning
flashed down to the earth. Yahweh rained hail on the land of Egypt.
So there was very severe
hail, and lightning mixed with the hail, such as had not been in all the
land of Egypt since it became a nation. The hail struck throughout all
the land of Egypt all that was in the field, both man and animal; and the
hail struck every herb of the field, and broke every tree of the field.
Only in the land of
Goshen, where the children of Israel were, there was no hail.
Pharaoh sent, and
called for Moses and Aaron, and said to them, “I have sinned this time.
Yahweh is righteous, and I and my people are wicked. Pray to Yahweh; for there has
been enough of mighty thunderings and hail. I will let you go, and you
shall stay no longer.”
Moses said to him,
“As soon as I have gone out of the city, I will spread abroad my hands
to Yahweh. The thunders shall cease, neither shall there be any more hail;
that you may know that the earth is Yahweh’s. But as for you and your servants,
I know that you don’t yet fear Yahweh God.”
The flax and the
barley were struck, for the barley was in the ear, and the flax was in
bloom. But the wheat and
the spelt were not struck, for they had not grown up. Moses went out of the city from
Pharaoh, and spread abroad his hands to Yahweh; and the thunders and hail
ceased, and the rain was not poured on the earth. 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. The heart of Pharaoh was
hardened, and he didn’t let the children of Israel go, just as Yahweh
had spoken through Moses.
Yahweh said to Moses,
“Go in to Pharaoh, for I have hardened his heart, and the heart of his
servants, that I may show these my signs in their midst, and that you may tell in the
hearing of your son, and of your son’s son, what things I have done to
Egypt, and my signs which I have done among them; that you may know that I
am Yahweh.”
Moses and Aaron went
in to Pharaoh, and said to him, “This is what Yahweh, the God of the
Hebrews, says: ‘How long will you refuse to humble yourself before me?
Let my people go, that they may serve me. Or else, if you refuse to let my
people go, behold, tomorrow I will bring locusts into your country,
and they shall cover the
surface of the earth, so that one won’t be able to see the earth. They
shall eat the residue of that which has escaped, which remains to you from
the hail, and shall eat every tree which grows for you out of the field.
Your houses shall be
filled, and the houses of all your servants, and the houses of all the
Egyptians; as neither your fathers nor your fathers’ fathers have seen,
since the day that they were on the earth to this day.’” He turned,
and went out from Pharaoh.
Pharaoh’s servants
said to him, “How long will this man be a snare to us? Let the men go,
that they may serve Yahweh, their God. Don’t you yet know that Egypt is
destroyed?”
Moses and Aaron were
brought again to Pharaoh, and he said to them, “Go, serve Yahweh your
God; but who are those who will go?”
Moses said, “We will
go with our young and with our old; with our sons and with our daughters,
with our flocks and with our herds will we go; for we must hold a feast to
Yahweh.”
He said to them,
“Yahweh be with you if I will let you go with your little ones! See,
evil is clearly before your faces. Not so! Go now you who are men,
and serve Yahweh; for that is what you desire!” They were driven out
from Pharaoh’s presence.
Yahweh said to Moses,
“Stretch out your hand over the land of Egypt for the locusts, that they
may come up on the land of Egypt, and eat every herb of the land, even all
that the hail has left.” Moses stretched out his rod over
the land of Egypt, and Yahweh brought an east wind on the land all that
day, and all the night; and when it was morning, the east wind brought the
locusts. The locusts
went up over all the land of Egypt, and rested in all the borders of
Egypt. They were very grievous. Before them there were no such locusts as
they, neither after them shall be such. For they covered the surface 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. There
remained nothing green, either tree or herb of the field, through all the
land of Egypt. Then
Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron in haste, and he said, “I have sinned
against Yahweh your God, and against you. Now therefore please forgive my
sin again, and pray to Yahweh your God, that he may also take away from me
this death.”
He went out from
Pharaoh, and prayed to Yahweh. Yahweh turned an exceeding
strong west wind, which took up the locusts, and drove them into the Red Sea. There remained not one locust in all the borders
of Egypt. But Yahweh
hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he didn’t let the children of Israel go.
Yahweh said to Moses,
“Stretch out your hand toward the sky, that there may be darkness over
the land of Egypt, even darkness which may be felt.” Moses stretched out his hand
toward the sky, and there was a thick darkness in all the land of Egypt
three days. They
didn’t see one another, neither did anyone rise from his place for three
days; but all the children of Israel had light in their dwellings.
Pharaoh called to
Moses, and said, “Go, serve Yahweh. Only let your flocks and your herds
stay behind. Let your little ones also go with you.”
Moses said, “You
must also give into our hand sacrifices and burnt offerings, that we may
sacrifice to Yahweh our God. Our livestock also shall go with
us. Not a hoof shall be left behind, for of it we must take to serve
Yahweh our God; and we don’t know with what we must serve Yahweh, until
we come there.”
But Yahweh hardened
Pharaoh’s heart, and he wouldn’t let them go. Pharaoh said to him, “Get away
from me! Be careful to see my face no more; for in the day you see my face
you shall die!”
Moses said, “You
have spoken well. I will see your face again no more.”
Yahweh said to Moses,
“Yet one plague more will I bring on Pharaoh, and on Egypt; afterwards
he will let you go. When he lets you go, he will surely thrust you out
altogether. Speak now in
the ears of the people, and let them ask every man of his neighbor, and
every woman of her neighbor, jewels of silver, and jewels of gold.”
Yahweh 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.
Moses said, “This is
what Yahweh says: ‘About midnight I will go out into the midst of Egypt,
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 female servant who is behind the
mill; and all the firstborn of livestock. There shall be a great cry
throughout all the land of Egypt, such as there has not been, nor shall be
any more. But against any
of the children of Israel a dog won’t even bark or move its tongue,
against man or animal; that you may know that Yahweh makes a distinction
between the Egyptians and Israel. All these your servants shall
come down to me, and bow down themselves to me, saying, “Get out, with
all the people who follow you;” and after that I will go out.’” He
went out from Pharaoh in hot anger.
Yahweh said to Moses,
“Pharaoh won’t listen to you, that my wonders may be multiplied in the
land of Egypt.” Moses
and Aaron did all these wonders before Pharaoh, and Yahweh hardened
Pharaoh’s heart, and he didn’t let the children of Israel go out of
his land.
Yahweh spoke to Moses
and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying, “This month shall be to you the
beginning of months. It shall be the first month of the year to you.
Speak to all the
congregation of Israel, saying, ‘On the tenth day of this month, they
shall take to them every man a lamb, according to their fathers’ houses,
a lamb for a household; and if the household is too
little for a lamb, then he and his neighbor next to his house shall take
one according to the number of the souls; according to what everyone can
eat you shall make your count for the lamb. Your lamb shall be without
blemish, a male a year old. You shall take it from the sheep, or from the
goats: and you shall keep
it until the fourteenth day of the same month; and the whole assembly of
the congregation of Israel shall kill it at evening. They shall take some of the
blood, and put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel, on the houses in
which they shall eat it. They shall eat the flesh in that
night, roasted with fire, and unleavened bread. They shall eat it with
bitter herbs. Don’t eat
it raw, nor boiled at all with water, but roasted with fire; with its
head, its legs and its inner parts. You shall let nothing of it
remain until the morning; but that which remains of it until the morning
you shall burn with fire. This is how you shall eat it:
with your belt on your waist, your shoes on your feet, and your staff in
your hand; and you shall eat it in haste: it is Yahweh’s Passover.
For I will go through
the land of Egypt in that night, and will strike all the firstborn in the
land of Egypt, both man and animal. Against all the gods of Egypt I will
execute judgments: I am Yahweh. The blood shall be to you for a
token on the houses where you are: and when I see the blood, I will pass
over you, and there shall no plague be on you to destroy you, when I
strike the land of Egypt. This day shall be to you for a
memorial, and you shall keep it a feast to Yahweh: throughout your
generations you shall keep it a feast by an ordinance forever.
“‘Seven days you
shall eat unleavened bread; even the first day you shall put away yeast
out of your houses, for whoever eats leavened bread from the first day
until the seventh day, that soul shall be cut off from Israel. In the first day there shall be
to you a holy convocation, and in the seventh day a holy convocation; no
kind of work shall be done in them, except that which every man must eat,
that only may be done by you. You shall observe the feast of
unleavened bread; for in this same day have I brought your armies out of
the land of Egypt: therefore you shall observe this day throughout your
generations by an ordinance forever. 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. There shall be no yeast found in
your houses for seven days, for whoever eats that which is leavened, that
soul shall be cut off from the congregation of Israel, whether he be a
foreigner, or one who is born in the land. You shall eat nothing leavened.
In all your habitations you shall eat unleavened bread.’”
Then Moses called for
all the elders of Israel, and said to them, “Draw out, and take lambs
according to your families, and kill the Passover. You shall take a bunch of
hyssop, and dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and strike the
lintel and the two doorposts with the blood that is in the basin; and none
of you shall go out of the door of his house until the morning. For Yahweh will pass through to
strike the Egyptians; and when he sees the blood on the lintel, and on the
two doorposts, Yahweh will pass over the door, and will not allow the
destroyer to come in to your houses to strike you. You shall observe this thing for
an ordinance to you and to your sons forever. It shall happen when you have
come to the land which Yahweh will give you, according as he has promised,
that you shall keep this service. It will happen, when your
children ask you, ‘What do you mean by this service?’ that you shall say, ‘It is the
sacrifice of Yahweh’s Passover, who passed over the houses of the
children of Israel in Egypt, when he struck the Egyptians, and spared our
houses.’”
The people bowed their heads and worshiped. The children of Israel went and
did so; as Yahweh had commanded Moses and Aaron, so they did.
It happened at
midnight, that Yahweh struck all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from
the firstborn of Pharaoh who sat on his throne to the firstborn of the
captive who was in the dungeon; and all the firstborn of livestock.
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 one
dead. He called for
Moses and Aaron by night, and said, “Rise up, get out from among my
people, both you and the children of Israel; and go, serve Yahweh, as you
have said! Take both
your flocks and your herds, as you have said, and be gone; and bless me
also!”
The Egyptians were
urgent with the people, to send them out of the land in haste, for they
said, “We are all dead men.” The people took their dough
before it was leavened, their kneading troughs being bound up in their
clothes on their shoulders. The children of Israel did
according to the word of Moses; and they asked of the Egyptians jewels of
silver, and jewels of gold, and clothing. Yahweh gave the people favor in
the sight of the Egyptians, so that they let them have what they asked.
They despoiled the Egyptians.
The children of
Israel traveled from Rameses to Succoth, about six hundred thousand on
foot who were men, besides children. A mixed multitude went up also
with them, with flocks, herds, and even very much livestock. They baked unleavened cakes of
the dough which they brought out of Egypt; for it wasn’t leavened,
because they were thrust out of Egypt, and couldn’t wait, neither had
they prepared for themselves any food. Now the time that the children
of Israel lived in Egypt was four hundred thirty years. It happened at the end of four
hundred thirty years, even the same day it happened, that all the armies
of Yahweh went out from the land of Egypt. It is a night to be much
observed to Yahweh for bringing them out from the land of Egypt. This is
that night of Yahweh, to be much observed of all the children of Israel
throughout their generations.
Yahweh said to Moses
and Aaron, “This is the ordinance of the Passover. No foreigner shall
eat of it, but every
man’s servant who is bought for money, when you have circumcised him,
then shall he eat of it. A foreigner and a hired servant
shall not eat of it. In
one house shall it be eaten; you shall not carry out anything of the flesh
abroad out of the house; neither shall you break a bone of it. All the congregation of Israel
shall keep it. When a
stranger shall live as a foreigner with you, and will keep the Passover to
Yahweh, let all his males be circumcised, and then let him come near and
keep it; and he shall be as one who is born in the land: but no
uncircumcised person shall eat of it. One law shall be to him who is
born at home, and to the stranger who lives as a foreigner among you.”
All the children of
Israel did so. As Yahweh commanded Moses and Aaron, so they did. It happened the same day, that
Yahweh brought the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt by their
armies.
Yahweh spoke to Moses,
saying, “Sanctify to me
all of the firstborn, whatever opens the womb among the children of
Israel, both of man and of animal. It is mine.”
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 Yahweh brought you out from this
place. No leavened bread shall be eaten. This day you go out in the month
Abib. It shall be, when
Yahweh shall bring you into the land of the Canaanite, and the Hittite,
and the Amorite, and the Hivite, and the Jebusite, which he swore to your
fathers to give you, a land flowing with milk and honey, that you shall
keep this service in this month. Seven days you shall eat
unleavened bread, and in the seventh day shall be a feast to Yahweh.
Unleavened bread shall be
eaten throughout the seven days; and no leavened bread shall be seen with
you, neither shall yeast be seen with you, in all your borders. You shall tell your son in that
day, saying, ‘It is because of that which Yahweh did for me when I came
out of Egypt.’ It shall
be for a sign to you on your hand, and for a memorial between your eyes,
that the law of Yahweh may be in your mouth; for with a strong hand Yahweh
has brought you out of Egypt. You shall therefore keep this
ordinance in its season from year to year.
“It shall be, when
Yahweh shall bring you into the land of the Canaanite, as he swore to you
and to your fathers, and shall give it you, that you shall set apart to
Yahweh all that opens the womb, and every firstborn which you have that
comes from an animal. The males shall be Yahweh’s. Every firstborn of a donkey you
shall redeem with a lamb; and if you will not redeem it, then you shall
break its neck; and you shall redeem all the firstborn of man among your
sons. It shall be, when
your son asks you in time to come, saying, ‘What is this?’ that you
shall tell him, ‘By strength of hand Yahweh brought us out from Egypt,
from the house of bondage; and it happened, when Pharaoh
would hardly let us go, that Yahweh killed all the firstborn in the land
of Egypt, both the firstborn of man, and the firstborn of animal.
Therefore I sacrifice to Yahweh all that opens the womb, being males; but
all the firstborn of my sons I redeem.’ It shall be for a sign on your
hand, and for symbols between your eyes: for by strength of hand Yahweh
brought us out of Egypt.”
It happened, when
Pharaoh had let the people go, that God didn’t lead them by the way of
the land of the Philistines, although that was near; for God said, “Lest
perhaps the people change their minds when they see war, and they return
to Egypt;” but God led
the people around by the way of the wilderness by the Red
Sea; and the children of Israel went up armed out of the land of
Egypt. Moses took the
bones of Joseph with him, for he had made the children of Israel swear,
saying, “God will surely visit you, and you shall carry up my bones away
from here with you.” They took their journey from
Succoth, and encamped in Etham, in the edge of the wilderness. Yahweh went before them by day
in a pillar of cloud, to lead them on their way, and by night in a pillar
of fire, to give them light, that they might go by day and by night:
the pillar of cloud by
day, and the pillar of fire by night, didn’t depart from before the
people.
Yahweh spoke to Moses,
saying, “Speak to the
children of Israel, that they turn back and encamp before Pihahiroth,
between Migdol and the sea, before Baal Zephon. You shall encamp opposite
it by the sea. Pharaoh
will say of the children of Israel, ‘They are entangled in the land. The
wilderness has shut them in.’ I will harden Pharaoh’s heart,
and he will follow after them; and I will get honor over Pharaoh, and over
all his armies; and the Egyptians shall know that I am Yahweh.” They did
so.
It was told the king
of Egypt that the people had fled; and the heart of Pharaoh and of his
servants was changed towards the people, and they said, “What is this we
have done, that we have let Israel go from serving us?” He prepared his chariot, and took
his army with him; and he
took six hundred chosen chariots, and all the chariots of Egypt, and
captains over all of them. Yahweh hardened the heart of
Pharaoh king of Egypt, and he pursued after the children of Israel; for
the children of Israel went out with a high hand. The Egyptians pursued after them:
all the horses and chariots of Pharaoh, his horsemen, and his army; and
overtook them encamping by the sea, beside Pihahiroth, before Baal Zephon.
When Pharaoh drew
near, the children of Israel lifted up their eyes, and behold, the
Egyptians were marching after them; and they were very afraid. The
children of Israel cried out to Yahweh. They said to Moses, “Because
there were no graves in Egypt, have you taken us away to die in the
wilderness? Why have you treated us this way, to bring us out of Egypt?
Isn’t this the word
that we spoke to you in Egypt, saying, ‘Leave us alone, that we may
serve the Egyptians?’ For it were better for us to serve the Egyptians,
than that we should die in the wilderness.”
Moses said to the
people, “Don’t be afraid. Stand still, and see the salvation of
Yahweh, which he will work for you today: for the Egyptians whom you have
seen today, you shall never see them again. Yahweh will fight for you, and
you shall be still.”
Yahweh said to Moses,
“Why do you cry to me? Speak to the children of Israel, that they go
forward. Lift up your
rod, and stretch out your hand over the sea, and divide it: and the
children of Israel shall go into the midst of the sea on dry ground.
I, behold, I will harden
the hearts of the Egyptians, and they shall go in after them: and I will
get myself honor over Pharaoh, and over all his armies, over his chariots,
and over his horsemen. The Egyptians shall know that I
am Yahweh, when I have gotten myself honor over Pharaoh, over his
chariots, and over his horsemen.” The angel of God, who went
before the camp of Israel, moved and went behind them; and the pillar of
cloud moved from before them, and stood behind them. It came between the camp of
Egypt and the camp of Israel; and there was the cloud and the darkness,
yet gave it light by night: and the one didn’t come near the other all
the night.
Moses stretched out
his hand over the sea, and Yahweh caused the sea to go back by a strong
east wind all the night, and made the sea dry land, and the waters were
divided. The children of
Israel went into the midst of the sea on the dry ground, and the waters
were a wall to them on their right hand, and on their left. The Egyptians pursued, and went
in after them into the midst of the sea: all of Pharaoh’s horses, his
chariots, and his horsemen. It happened in the morning
watch, that Yahweh looked out on the Egyptian army through the pillar of
fire and of cloud, and confused the Egyptian army. He took off their chariot
wheels, and they drove them heavily; so that the Egyptians said,
“Let’s flee from the face of Israel, for Yahweh fights for them
against the Egyptians!”
Yahweh said to Moses,
“Stretch out your hand over the sea, that the waters may come again on
the Egyptians, on their chariots, and on their horsemen.” Moses stretched out his hand
over the sea, and the sea returned to its strength when the morning
appeared; and the Egyptians fled against it. Yahweh overthrew the
Egyptians in the midst of the sea. The waters returned, and covered
the chariots and the horsemen, even all Pharaoh’s army that went in
after them into the sea. There remained not so much as one of them.
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. Thus Yahweh saved Israel that
day out of the hand of the Egyptians; and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on
the seashore. Israel saw
the great work which Yahweh did to the Egyptians, and the people feared
Yahweh; and they believed in Yahweh, and in his servant Moses.
Then Moses and the
children of Israel sang this song to Yahweh, and said,
- “I will sing to Yahweh, for he has triumphed gloriously.
- The horse and his rider he has thrown into the sea.
- Yah is my strength
and song.
- He has become my salvation.
- This is my God, and I will praise him;
- my father’s God, and I will exalt him.
- Yahweh is a man of
war.
- Yahweh is his name.
- He has cast
Pharaoh’s chariots and his army into the sea.
- His chosen captains are sunk in the Red Sea.
- The deeps cover them.
- They went down into the depths like a stone.
- Your right hand,
Yahweh, is glorious in power.
- Your right hand, Yahweh, dashes the enemy in pieces.
- In the greatness of
your excellency, you overthrow those who rise up against you.
- You send forth your wrath. It consumes them as stubble.
- With the blast of
your nostrils, the waters were piled up.
- The floods stood upright as a heap.
- The deeps were congealed in the heart of the sea.
- The enemy said, ‘I
will pursue. I will overtake. I will divide the spoil.
- My desire shall be satisfied on them.
- I will draw my sword, my hand shall destroy them.’
- You blew with your
wind.
- The sea covered them.
- They sank like lead in the mighty waters.
- Who is like you,
Yahweh, among the gods?
- Who is like you, glorious in holiness,
- fearful in praises, doing wonders?
- You stretched out
your right hand.
- The earth swallowed them.
-
- “You, in your
loving kindness, have led the people that you have redeemed.
- You have guided them in your strength to your holy habitation.
- The peoples have
heard.
- They tremble.
- Pangs have taken hold on the inhabitants of Philistia.
- Then the chiefs of
Edom were dismayed.
- Trembling takes hold of the mighty men of Moab.
- All the inhabitants of Canaan are melted away.
- Terror and dread
falls on them.
- By the greatness of your arm they are as still as a stone—
- until your people pass over, Yahweh,
- until the people pass over who you have purchased.
- You shall bring them
in, and plant them in the mountain of your inheritance,
- the place, Yahweh, which you have made for yourself to dwell in;
- the sanctuary, Lord, which your hands have established.
- Yahweh shall reign
forever and ever.”
For the horses of
Pharaoh went in with his chariots and with his horsemen into the sea, and
Yahweh brought back the waters of the sea on them; but the children of
Israel walked on dry land in the midst of the sea. Miriam the prophetess, the
sister of Aaron, took a tambourine in her hand; and all the women went out
after her with tambourines and with dances. Miriam answered them,
- “Sing to Yahweh, for he has triumphed gloriously.
- The horse and his rider he has thrown into the sea.”
Moses led Israel
onward 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. When they came
to Marah, they couldn’t drink from the waters of Marah, for they were
bitter. Therefore its name was called Marah. The people murmured against
Moses, saying, “What shall we drink?” Then he cried to Yahweh. Yahweh
showed him a tree, and he threw it into the waters, and the waters were
made sweet. There he made a statute and an ordinance for them, and there
he tested them; and he
said, “If you will diligently listen to the voice of Yahweh your God,
and will do that which is right in his eyes, and will pay attention to his
commandments, and keep all his statutes, I will put none of the diseases
on you, which I have put on the Egyptians; for I am Yahweh who heals
you.”
They came to Elim,
where there were twelve springs of water, and seventy palm trees: and they
encamped there by the waters.
They took their
journey 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. The whole
congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against
Aaron in the wilderness; and the children of Israel said
to them, “We wish that we had died by the hand of Yahweh in the land of
Egypt, when we sat by the meat pots, when we ate our fill of bread, for
you have brought us out into this wilderness, to kill this whole assembly
with hunger.”
Then Yahweh said to
Moses, “Behold, I will rain bread from the sky for you, and the people
shall go out and gather a day’s portion every day, that I may test them,
whether they will walk in my law, or not. It shall come to pass on the
sixth day, that they shall prepare that which they bring in, and it shall
be twice as much as they gather daily.”
Moses and Aaron said
to all the children of Israel, “At evening, then you shall know that
Yahweh has brought you out from the land of Egypt; and in the morning, then you
shall see the glory of Yahweh; because he hears your murmurings against
Yahweh. Who are we, that you murmur against us?” Moses said, “Now Yahweh shall
give you meat to eat in the evening, and in the morning bread to satisfy
you; because Yahweh hears your murmurings which you murmur against him.
And who are we? Your murmurings are not against us, but against Yahweh.”
Moses said to Aaron,
“Tell all the congregation of the children of Israel, ‘Come near
before Yahweh, for he has heard your murmurings.’” It happened, as Aaron spoke to
the whole congregation of the children of Israel, that they looked toward
the wilderness, and behold, the glory of Yahweh appeared in the cloud.
Yahweh spoke to Moses,
saying, “I have heard
the murmurings of the children of Israel. Speak to them, saying, ‘At
evening you shall eat meat, and in the morning you shall be filled with
bread: and you shall know that I am Yahweh your God.’”
It happened at
evening that quail came up and covered the camp; and in the morning the
dew lay around the camp. When the dew that lay had gone,
behold, on the surface of the wilderness was a small round thing, small as
the frost on the ground. When the children of Israel saw
it, they said one to another, “What is it?” For they didn’t know
what it was. Moses said to them, “It is the bread which Yahweh has given
you to eat.” This is
the thing which Yahweh has commanded: “Gather of it everyone according
to his eating; an omer a head, according to the number
of your persons, you shall take it, every man for those who are in his
tent.” The children of
Israel did so, and gathered some more, some less. When they measured it with an
omer, he who gathered much had nothing over, and he who gathered little
had no lack. They gathered every man according to his eating. Moses said to them, “Let no
one leave of it until the morning.” Notwithstanding they didn’t
listen to Moses, but some of them left of it until the morning, and it
bred worms, and became foul: and Moses was angry with them. They gathered it morning by
morning, everyone according to his eating. When the sun grew hot, it
melted. It happened that
on the sixth day they gathered twice as much bread, two omers for each
one, and all the rulers of the congregation came and told Moses. He said to them, “This is that
which Yahweh has spoken, ‘Tomorrow is a solemn rest, a holy Sabbath to
Yahweh. Bake that which you want to bake, and boil that which you want to
boil; and all that remains over lay up for yourselves to be kept until the
morning.’” They laid
it up until the morning, as Moses asked, and it didn’t become foul,
neither was there any worm in it. Moses said, “Eat that today,
for today is a Sabbath to Yahweh. Today you shall not find it in the
field. Six days you
shall gather it, but on the seventh day is the Sabbath. In it there shall
be none.” It happened
on the seventh day, that some of the people went out to gather, and they
found none. Yahweh said
to Moses, “How long do you refuse to keep my commandments and my laws?
Behold, because Yahweh
has given you the Sabbath, therefore he gives you on the sixth day the
bread of two days. Everyone stay in his place. Let no one go out of his
place on the seventh day.” So the people rested on the
seventh day.
The house of Israel
called its name Manna, and it was like coriander seed,
white; and its taste was like wafers with honey. Moses said, “This is the thing
which Yahweh has commanded, ‘Let an omer-full of it be kept throughout
your generations, that they may see the bread with which I fed you in the
wilderness, when I brought you forth from the land of Egypt.’” Moses said to Aaron, “Take a
pot, and put an omer-full of manna in it, and lay it up before Yahweh, to
be kept throughout your generations.” As Yahweh commanded Moses, so
Aaron laid it up before the Testimony, to be kept. The children of Israel ate the
manna forty years, until they came to an inhabited land. They ate the
manna until they came to the borders of the land of Canaan. Now an omer is the tenth part of
an ephah.
All the congregation
of the children of Israel traveled from the wilderness of Sin, by their
journeys, according to Yahweh’s commandment, and encamped in Rephidim;
but there was no water for the people to drink. Therefore the people quarreled
with Moses, and said, “Give us water to drink.”
Moses said to them, “Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you test
Yahweh?”
The people were
thirsty for water there; and the people murmured against Moses, and said,
“Why have you brought us up out of Egypt, to kill us, our children, and
our livestock with thirst?”
Moses cried to Yahweh,
saying, “What shall I do with these people? They are almost ready to
stone me.”
Yahweh said to Moses,
“Walk on before the people, and take the elders of Israel with you, and
take the rod in your hand with which you struck the Nile, and go. Behold, I will stand before you
there on the rock in Horeb. You shall strike the rock, and water will come
out of it, that the people may drink.” Moses did so in the sight of the
elders of Israel. He
called the name of the place Massah, and Meribah, because the children of Israel quarreled, and
because they tested Yahweh, saying, “Is Yahweh among us, or not?”
Then Amalek came and
fought with Israel in Rephidim. Moses said to Joshua, “Choose
men for us, and go out, fight with Amalek. Tomorrow I will stand on the
top of the hill with God’s rod in my hand.” So Joshua did as Moses had told
him, and fought with Amalek; and Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top
of the hill. It
happened, when Moses held up his hand, that Israel prevailed; and when he
let down his hand, Amalek prevailed. But Moses’ hands were heavy;
and they took a stone, and put it under him, and he sat on it. Aaron and
Hur held up his hands, the one on the one side, and the other on the other
side. His hands were steady until sunset. Joshua defeated Amalek and his
people with the edge of the sword. Yahweh said to Moses, “Write
this for a memorial in a book, and rehearse it in the ears of Joshua: that
I will utterly blot out the memory of Amalek from under the sky.”
Moses built an altar,
and called its name Yahweh our Banner. He said, “Yah has sworn:
‘Yahweh will have war with Amalek from generation to generation.’”
Now Jethro, the priest
of Midian, Moses’ father-in-law, heard of all that God had done for
Moses, and for Israel his people, how that Yahweh had brought Israel out
of Egypt. Jethro,
Moses’ father-in-law, received Zipporah, Moses’ wife, after he had
sent her away, and her
two sons. The name of one son was Gershom, for Moses
said, “I have lived as a foreigner in a foreign land”. The name of the other was Eliezer, for he said, “My father’s God was my help and
delivered me from Pharaoh’s sword.” Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law,
came with his sons and his wife to Moses into the wilderness where he was
encamped, at the Mountain of God. He said to Moses, “I, your
father-in-law Jethro, have come to you with your wife, and her two sons
with her.”
Moses went out to meet
his father-in-law, and bowed and kissed him. They asked each other of
their welfare, and they came into the tent. Moses told his father-in-law all
that Yahweh had done to Pharaoh and to the Egyptians for Israel’s sake,
all the hardships that had come on them on the way, and how Yahweh
delivered them. Jethro
rejoiced for all the goodness which Yahweh had done to Israel, in that he
had delivered them out of the hand of the Egyptians. Jethro said, “Blessed be
Yahweh, 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. Now I
know that Yahweh is greater than all gods because of the thing in which
they dealt arrogantly against them.” Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law,
took a burnt offering and sacrifices for God. Aaron came with all of the
elders of Israel, to eat bread with Moses’ father-in-law before God.
It happened on the
next day, that Moses sat to judge the people, and the people stood around
Moses from the morning to the evening. When Moses’ father-in-law saw
all that he did to the people, he said, “What is this thing that you do
for the people? Why do you sit alone, and all the people stand around you
from morning to evening?”
Moses said to his
father-in-law, “Because the people come to me to inquire of God. When they have a matter, they
come to me, and I judge between a man and his neighbor, and I make them
know the statutes of God, and his laws.” Moses’ father-in-law said to
him, “The thing that you do is not good. You will surely wear away, both
you, and this people that is with you; for the thing is too heavy for you.
You are not able to perform it yourself alone. Listen now to my voice. I will
give you counsel, and God be with you. You represent the people before
God, and bring the causes to God. You shall teach them the
statutes and the laws, and shall show them the way in which they must
walk, and the work that they must do. Moreover you shall provide out
of all the people able men, such as fear God: men of truth, hating unjust
gain; and place such over them, to be rulers of thousands, rulers of
hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens. Let them judge the people at all
times. It shall be that every great matter they shall bring to you, but
every small matter they shall judge themselves. So shall it be easier for
you, and they shall share the load with you. If you will do this thing, and
God commands you so, then you will be able to endure, and all of these
people also will go to their place in peace.”
So Moses listened to
the voice of his father-in-law, and did all that he had said. Moses chose able 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. They judged the people at all
times. They brought the hard causes to Moses, but every small matter they
judged themselves. Moses
let his father-in-law depart, and he went his way into his own land.
In the third month
after the children of Israel had gone out of the land of Egypt, on that
same day they came into the wilderness of Sinai. When they had departed from
Rephidim, and had come to the wilderness of Sinai, they encamped in the
wilderness; and there Israel encamped before the mountain. Moses went up to God, and Yahweh
called to him out of the mountain, saying, “This is what you shall tell
the house of Jacob, and tell the children of Israel: ‘You have seen what I did to
the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings, and brought you to
myself. Now therefore, if
you will indeed obey my voice, and keep my covenant, then you shall be my
own possession from among all peoples; for all the earth is mine; and you shall be to me a kingdom
of priests, and a holy nation.’ These are the words which you shall
speak to the children of Israel.”
Moses came and called
for the elders of the people, and set before them all these words which
Yahweh commanded him. All
the people answered together, and said, “All that Yahweh has spoken we
will do.”
Moses reported the words of the people to Yahweh. Yahweh said to Moses, “Behold,
I come to you in a thick cloud, that the people may hear when I speak with
you, and may also believe you forever.” Moses told the words of the
people to Yahweh. Yahweh
said to Moses, “Go to the people, and sanctify them today and tomorrow,
and let them wash their garments, and be ready against the third
day; for on the third day Yahweh will come down in the sight of all the
people on Mount Sinai. You shall set bounds to the
people all around, saying, ‘Be careful that you don’t go up onto the
mountain, or touch its border. Whoever touches the mountain shall be
surely put to death. No
hand shall touch him, but he shall surely be stoned or shot through;
whether it is animal or man, he shall not live.’ When the trumpet sounds
long, they shall come up to the mountain.”
Moses went down from
the mountain to the people, and sanctified the people; and they washed
their clothes. He said
to the people, “Be ready by the third day. Don’t have sexual relations
with a woman.”
It happened on the
third day, when it was morning, that there were thunders and lightnings,
and a thick cloud on the mountain, and the sound of an exceedingly loud
trumpet; and all the people who were in the camp trembled. Moses led the people out of the
camp to meet God; and they stood at the lower part of the mountain.
Mount Sinai, all it,
smoked, because Yahweh descended on it in fire; and its smoke ascended
like the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mountain quaked greatly.
When the sound of the
trumpet grew louder and louder, Moses spoke, and God answered him by a
voice. Yahweh came down
on Mount Sinai, to the top of the mountain. Yahweh called Moses to the top
of the mountain, and Moses went up.
Yahweh said to Moses,
“Go down, warn the people, lest they break through to Yahweh to gaze,
and many of them perish. Let the priests also, who come
near to Yahweh, sanctify themselves, lest Yahweh break forth on them.”
Moses said to Yahweh,
“The people can’t come up to Mount Sinai, for you warned us, saying,
‘Set bounds around the mountain, and sanctify it.’”
Yahweh said to him,
“Go down and you shall bring Aaron up with you, but don’t let the
priests and the people break through to come up to Yahweh, lest he break
forth on them.”
So Moses went down to
the people, and told them.
God
spoke all these words, saying, “I am Yahweh your God, who
brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
“You shall have no
other gods before me.
“You shall not make
for yourselves an idol, nor any image of anything that is in the heavens
above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the
earth: you shall not bow
yourself down to them, nor serve them, for I, Yahweh your God, am a
jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the
third and on the fourth generation of those who hate me, and showing loving kindness to
thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.
“You shall not take
the name of Yahweh your God in vain, for Yahweh will not hold him
guiltless who takes his name in vain.
“Remember the
Sabbath day, to keep it holy. You shall labor six days, and do
all your work, but the
seventh day is a Sabbath to Yahweh your God. You shall not do any work in
it, you, nor your son, nor your daughter, your male servant, nor your
female servant, nor your livestock, nor your stranger who is within your
gates; for in six days
Yahweh made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested
the seventh day; therefore Yahweh blessed the Sabbath day, and made it
holy.
“Honor your father
and your mother, that your days may be long in the land which Yahweh your
God gives you.
“You shall not
murder.
“You shall not
commit adultery.
“You shall not
steal.
“You shall not give
false testimony against your neighbor.
“You shall not
covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife,
nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey,
nor anything that is your neighbor’s.”
All the people
perceived the thunderings, the lightnings, the sound of the trumpet, and
the mountain smoking. When the people saw it, they trembled, and stayed at
a distance. They said to
Moses, “Speak with us yourself, and we will listen; but don’t let God
speak with us, lest we die.”
Moses said to the
people, “Don’t be afraid, for God has come to test you, and that his
fear may be before you, that you won’t sin.” The people stayed at a distance,
and Moses drew near to the thick darkness where God was.
Yahweh said to Moses,
“This is what you shall tell the children of Israel: ‘You yourselves
have seen that I have talked with you from heaven. You shall most certainly not
make alongside of me gods of silver, or gods of gold for yourselves.
You shall make an altar
of earth for me, and shall sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and your
peace offerings, your sheep and your cattle. In every place where I record
my name I will come to you and I will bless you. If you make me an altar of
stone, you shall not build it of cut stones; for if you lift up your tool
on it, you have polluted it. Neither shall you go up by steps
to my altar, that your nakedness may not be exposed to it.’
“Now these are the
ordinances which you shall set before them.
“If you buy a Hebrew
servant, he shall serve six years and in the seventh he shall go out free
without paying anything. If he comes in by himself, he
shall go out by himself. If he is married, then his wife shall go out with
him. If his master gives
him a wife and she bears him sons or daughters, the wife and her children
shall be her master’s, and he shall go out by himself. But if the servant shall plainly
say, ‘I love my master, my wife, and my children. I will not go out
free;’ then his master
shall bring him to God, and shall 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 for ever.
“If a man sells his
daughter to be a female servant, she shall not go out as the male servants
do. If she doesn’t
please her master, who has married her to himself, then he shall let her
be redeemed. He shall have no right to sell her to a foreign people, since
he has dealt deceitfully with her. If he marries her to his son, he
shall deal with her as a daughter. If he takes another wife to
himself, he shall not diminish her food, her clothing, and her marital
rights. If he doesn’t
do these three things for her, she may go free without paying any money.
“One who strikes a
man so that he dies shall surely be put to death, but not if it is unintentional,
but God allows it to happen: then I will appoint you a place where he
shall flee. If a man
schemes and comes presumptuously on his neighbor to kill him, you shall
take him from my altar, that he may die.
“Anyone who attacks
his father or his mother shall be surely put to death.
“Anyone who kidnaps
someone and sells him, or if he is found in his hand, he shall surely be
put to death.
“Anyone who curses
his father or his mother shall surely be put to death.
“If men quarrel and
one strikes the other with a stone, or with his fist, and he doesn’t
die, but is confined to bed; if he rises again and walks
around with his staff, then he who struck him shall be cleared: only he
shall pay for the loss of his time, and shall provide for his healing
until he is thoroughly healed.
“If a man strikes
his servant or his maid with a rod, and he dies under his hand, he shall
surely be punished. Notwithstanding, if he gets up
after a day or two, he shall not be punished, for he is his property.
“If men fight and
hurt a pregnant woman so that she gives birth prematurely, and yet no harm
follows, he shall be surely fined as much as the woman’s husband demands
and the judges allow. But if any harm follows, then
you must take life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth,
hand for hand, foot for foot, burning for burning, wound for
wound, and bruise for bruise.
“If a man strikes
his servant’s eye, or his maid’s eye, and destroys it, he shall let
him go free for his eye’s sake. If he strikes out his male
servant’s tooth, or his female servant’s tooth, he shall let him go
free for his tooth’s sake.
“If a bull gores a
man or a woman to death, the bull shall surely be stoned, and its flesh
shall not be eaten; but the owner of the bull shall not be held
responsible. But if the
bull had a habit of goring in the past, and it has been testified to its
owner, and he has not kept it in, but it has killed a man or a woman, the
bull shall be stoned, and its owner shall also be put to death. If a ransom is laid on him, then
he shall give for the redemption of his life whatever is laid on him.
Whether it has gored a
son or has gored a daughter, according to this judgment it shall be done
to him. If the bull
gores a male servant or a female servant, thirty shekels of silver shall
be given to their master, and the ox shall be stoned.
“If a man opens a
pit, or if a man digs a pit and doesn’t cover it, and a bull or a donkey
falls into it, the owner
of the pit shall make it good. He shall give money to its owner, and the
dead animal shall be his.
“If one man’s
bull injures another’s, so that it dies, then they shall sell the live
bull, and divide its price; and they shall also divide the dead animal.
Or if it is known that
the bull was in the habit of goring in the past, and its owner has not
kept it in, he shall surely pay bull for bull, and the dead animal shall
be his own.
“If a man steals an
ox or a sheep, and kills it, or sells it; he shall pay five oxen for an
ox, and four sheep for a sheep. If the thief is found breaking
in, and is struck so that he dies, there shall be no guilt of bloodshed
for him. If the sun has
risen on him, guilt of bloodshed shall be for him; he shall make
restitution. If he has nothing, then he shall be sold for his theft.
If the stolen property is
found in his hand alive, whether it is ox, donkey, or sheep, he shall pay
double.
“If a man causes a
field or vineyard to be eaten, and lets his animal loose, and it grazes in
another man’s field, he shall make restitution from the best of his own
field, and from the best of his own vineyard.
“If fire breaks out,
and catches in thorns so that the shocks of grain, or the standing grain,
or the field are consumed; he who kindled the fire shall surely make
restitution.
“If a man delivers
to his neighbor money or stuff to keep, and it is stolen out of the
man’s house; if the thief is found, he shall pay double. If the thief isn’t found, then
the master of the house shall come near to God, to find out if he hasn’t
put his hand to his neighbor’s goods. For every matter of trespass,
whether it be for ox, for donkey, for sheep, for clothing, or for any kind
of lost thing, about which one says, ‘This is mine,’ the cause of both
parties shall come before God. He whom God condemns shall pay double to
his neighbor.
“If a man delivers
to his neighbor a donkey, an ox, a sheep, or any animal to keep, and it
dies or is injured, or driven away, no man seeing it; the oath of Yahweh shall be
between them both, whether he hasn’t put his hand to his neighbor’s
goods; and its owner shall accept it, and he shall not make restitution.
But if it is stolen from
him, he shall make restitution to its owner. If it is torn in pieces, let him
bring it for evidence. He shall not make good that which was torn.
“If a man borrows
anything of his neighbor’s, and it is injured, or dies, its owner not
being with it, he shall surely make restitution. If its owner is with it, he
shall not make it good. If it is a leased thing, it came for its lease.
“If a man entices a
virgin who isn’t pledged to be married, and lies with her, he shall
surely pay a dowry for her to be his wife. If her father utterly refuses to
give her to him, he shall pay money according to the dowry of virgins.
“You shall not
allow a sorceress to live.
“Whoever has sex
with an animal shall surely be put to death.
“He who sacrifices
to any god, except to Yahweh only, shall be utterly destroyed.
“You shall not
wrong an alien, neither shall you oppress him, for you were aliens in the
land of Egypt.
“You shall not take
advantage of any widow or fatherless child. If you take advantage of them at
all, and they cry at all to me, I will surely hear their cry; and my wrath will grow hot, and
I will kill you with the sword; and your wives shall be widows, and your
children fatherless.
“If you lend money
to any of my people with you who is poor, you shall not be to him as a
creditor; neither shall you charge him interest. If you take your neighbor’s
garment as collateral, you shall restore it to him before the sun goes
down, for that is his
only covering, it is his garment for his skin. What would he sleep in? It
will happen, when he cries to me, that I will hear, for I am gracious.
“You shall not
blaspheme God, nor curse a ruler of your people.
“You shall not
delay to offer from your harvest and from the outflow of your presses.
“You shall give the firstborn of your sons to me. You shall do likewise with your
cattle and with your sheep. Seven days it shall be with its mother, then
on the eighth day you shall give it to me.
“You shall be holy
men to me, therefore you shall not eat any flesh that is torn by animals
in the field. You shall cast it to the dogs.
“You shall not
spread a false report. Don’t join your hand with the wicked to be a
malicious witness.
“You shall not
follow a crowd to do evil; neither shall you testify in court to side with
a multitude to pervert justice; neither shall you favor a poor
man in his cause.
“If you meet your
enemy’s ox or his donkey going astray, you shall surely bring it back to
him again. If you see the
donkey of him who hates you fallen down under his burden, don’t leave
him, you shall surely help him with it.
“You shall not deny
justice to your poor people in their lawsuits.
“Keep far from a
false charge, and don’t kill the innocent and righteous: for I will not
justify the wicked.
“You shall take no
bribe, for a bribe blinds those who have sight and perverts the words of
the righteous.
“You shall not
oppress an alien, for you know the heart of an alien, since you were
aliens in the land of Egypt.
“For six years you
shall sow your land, and shall gather in its increase, but the seventh year you shall
let it rest and lie fallow, that the poor of your people may eat; and what
they leave the animal of the field shall eat. In the same way, you shall
deal with your vineyard and with your olive grove.
“Six days you shall
do your work, and on the seventh day you shall rest, that your ox and your
donkey may have rest, and the son of your handmaid, and the alien may be
refreshed.
“Be careful to do
all things that I have said to you; and don’t invoke the name of other
gods, neither let them be heard out of your mouth.
“You shall observe
a feast to me three times a year. You shall observe the feast of
unleavened bread. Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, as I
commanded you, at the time appointed in the month Abib (for in it you came
out from Egypt), and no one shall appear before me empty. And the feast of harvest, the
first fruits of your labors, which you sow in the field: and the feast of
harvest, at the end of the year, when you gather in your labors out of the
field. Three times in
the year all your males shall appear before the Lord Yahweh.
“You shall not
offer the blood of my sacrifice with leavened bread, neither shall the fat
of my feast remain all night until the morning. The first of the first fruits of
your ground you shall bring into the house of Yahweh your God.
“You shall not boil a young goat in its mother’s milk.
“Behold, I send an
angel before you, to keep you by the way, and to bring you into the place
which I have prepared. Pay attention to him, and listen
to his voice. Don’t provoke him, for he will not pardon your
disobedience, for my name is in him. But if you indeed listen to his
voice, and do all that I speak, then I will be an enemy to your enemies,
and an adversary to your adversaries. For my angel shall go before
you, and bring you in to the Amorite, the Hittite, the Perizzite, the
Canaanite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite; and I will cut them off. You shall not bow down to their
gods, nor serve them, nor follow their practices, but you shall utterly
overthrow them and demolish their pillars. You shall serve Yahweh your God,
and he will bless your bread and your water, and I will take sickness away
from your midst. No one
will miscarry or be barren in your land. I will fulfill the number of your
days. I will send my
terror before you, and will confuse all the people to whom you come, and I
will make all your enemies turn their backs to you. I will send the hornet before
you, which will drive out the Hivite, the Canaanite, and the Hittite, from
before you. I will not
drive them out from before you in one year, lest the land become desolate,
and the animals of the field multiply against you. Little by little I will drive
them out from before you, until you have increased and inherit the land.
I will set your border
from the Red Sea even to the sea of the Philistines,
and from the wilderness to the River; for I will deliver the inhabitants
of the land into your hand, and you shall drive them out before you.
You shall make no
covenant with them, nor with their gods. They shall not dwell in your
land, lest they make you sin against me, for if you serve their gods, it
will surely be a snare to you.”
He said to Moses,
“Come up to Yahweh, you, and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the
elders of Israel; and worship from a distance. Moses alone shall come near to
Yahweh, but they shall not come near, neither shall the people go up with
him.”
Moses came and told
the people all the words of Yahweh, and all the ordinances; and all the
people answered with one voice, and said, “All the words which Yahweh
has spoken will we do.”
Moses wrote all the
words of Yahweh, and rose up early in the morning, and built an altar
under the mountain, and twelve pillars for the twelve tribes of Israel.
He sent young men of the
children of Israel, who offered burnt offerings and sacrificed peace
offerings of cattle to Yahweh. Moses took half of the blood and
put it in basins, and half of the blood he sprinkled on the altar. He took the book of the covenant
and read it in the hearing of the people, and they said, “All that
Yahweh has spoken will we do, and be obedient.”
Moses took the blood,
and sprinkled it on the people, and said, “Look, this is the blood of
the covenant, which Yahweh has made with you concerning all these words.”
Then Moses, Aaron,
Nadab, Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel went up. They saw the God of Israel.
Under his feet was like a paved work of sapphire stone,
like the skies for clearness. He didn’t lay his hand on the
nobles of the children of Israel. They saw God, and ate and drank.
Yahweh said to Moses,
“Come up to me on the mountain, and stay here, and I will give you the
tables of stone with the law and the commands that I have written, that
you may teach them.”
Moses rose up with
Joshua, his servant, and Moses went up onto God’s Mountain. He said to the elders, “Wait
here for us, until we come again to you. Behold, Aaron and Hur are with
you. Whoever is involved in a dispute can go to them.”
Moses went up on the
mountain, and the cloud covered the mountain. The glory of Yahweh settled on
Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it six days. The seventh day he called
to Moses out of the midst of the cloud. The appearance of the glory of
Yahweh was like devouring fire on the top of the mountain in the eyes of
the children of Israel. Moses entered into the midst of
the cloud, and went up on the mountain; and Moses was on the mountain
forty days and forty nights.
Yahweh spoke to Moses,
saying, “Speak to the
children of Israel, that they take an offering for me. From everyone whose
heart makes him willing you shall take my offering. This is the offering which you
shall take from them: gold, silver, brass, blue, purple, scarlet, fine
linen, goats’ hair, rams’ skins dyed red, sea cow
hides, acacia wood, oil
for the light, spices for the anointing oil and for the sweet incense,
onyx stones, and stones
to be set for the ephod and for the breastplate. Let them make me a sanctuary,
that I may dwell among them. According to all that I show you,
the pattern of the tabernacle, and the pattern of all of its furniture,
even so you shall make it.
“They shall make an
ark of acacia wood. Its length shall be two and a half cubits, its breadth
a cubit and a half, and a cubit and a half its height. You shall overlay it with pure
gold. You shall overlay it inside and outside, and you shall make a gold
molding around it. You
shall cast four rings of gold for it, and put them in its four feet. Two
rings shall be on the one side of it, and two rings on the other side of
it. You shall make poles
of acacia wood, and overlay them with gold. You shall put the poles into the
rings on the sides of the ark to carry the ark. The poles shall be in the rings
of the ark. They shall not be taken from it. You shall put the testimony
which I shall give you into the ark. You shall make a mercy seat of
pure gold. Two and a half cubits shall be its length, and a cubit and a
half its breadth. You
shall make two cherubim of hammered gold. You shall make them at the two
ends of the mercy seat. Make one cherub at the one end,
and one cherub at the other end. You shall make the cherubim on its two
ends of one piece with the mercy seat. The cherubim shall spread out
their wings upward, covering the mercy seat with their wings, with their
faces toward one another. The faces of the cherubim shall be toward the
mercy seat. You shall
put the mercy seat on top of the ark, and in the ark you shall put the
testimony that I will give you. There I will meet with you, and
I will tell you from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim
which are on the ark of the testimony, all that I command you for the
children of Israel.
“You shall make a
table of acacia wood. Two cubits shall be its length, and a cubit its
breadth, and one and a half cubits its height. You shall overlay it with pure
gold, and make a gold molding around it. You shall make a rim of a
handbreadth around it. You shall make a golden molding on its rim around
it. You shall make four
rings of gold for it, and put the rings in the four corners that are on
its four feet. the rings
shall be close to the rim, for places for the poles to carry the table.
You shall make the poles
of acacia wood, and overlay them with gold, that the table may be carried
with them. You shall
make its dishes, its spoons, its ladles, and its bowls to pour out
offerings with. You shall make them of pure gold. You shall set bread of the
presence on the table before me always.
“You shall make a
lampstand of pure gold. Of hammered work shall the lampstand be made, even
its base, its shaft, its cups, its buds, and its flowers, shall be of one
piece with it. There
shall be six branches going out of its sides: three branches of the
lampstand out of its one side, and three branches of the lampstand out of
its other side; three
cups made like almond blossoms in one branch, a bud and a flower; and
three cups made like almond blossoms in the other branch, a bud and a
flower, so for the six branches going out of the lampstand; and in the lampstand four cups
made like almond blossoms, its buds and its flowers; and a bud under two branches of
one piece with it, and a bud under two branches of one piece with it, and
a bud under two branches of one piece with it, for the six branches going
out of the lampstand. Their buds and their branches
shall be of one piece with it, all of it one beaten work of pure gold.
You shall make its lamps
seven, and they shall light its lamps to give light to the space in front
of it. Its snuffers and
its snuff dishes shall be of pure gold. It shall be made of a talent of
pure gold, with all these accessories. See that you make them after
their pattern, which has been shown to you on the mountain.
“Moreover you shall
make the tabernacle with ten curtains; of fine twined linen, and blue, and
purple, and scarlet, with cherubim. The work of the skillful workman you
shall make them. The
length of each curtain shall be twenty-eight cubits, and the breadth of
each curtain four cubits: all the curtains shall have one measure. Five curtains shall be coupled
together one to another; and the other five curtains shall be coupled one
to another. You shall
make loops of blue on the edge of the one curtain from the edge in the
coupling; and likewise you shall make in the edge of the curtain that is
outmost in the second coupling. 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 coupling. The loops shall be opposite one to
another. You shall make
fifty clasps of gold, and couple the curtains one to another with the
clasps: and the tabernacle shall be a unit.
“You shall make
curtains of goats’ hair for a covering over the tabernacle. You shall
make them eleven curtains. The length of each curtain shall
be thirty cubits, and the breadth of each curtain four cubits: the eleven
curtains shall have one measure. You shall couple five curtains by
themselves, and six curtains by themselves, and shall double over the
sixth curtain in the forefront of the tent. You shall make fifty loops on
the edge of the one curtain that is outmost in the coupling, and fifty
loops on the edge of the curtain which is outmost in the second coupling.
You shall make fifty
clasps of brass, and put the clasps into the loops, and couple the tent
together, that it may be one. The overhanging part that
remains of the curtains of the tent, the half curtain that remains, shall
hang over the back of the tabernacle. The cubit on the one side, and
the 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. You shall make a covering for
the tent of rams’ skins dyed red, and a covering of sea cow hides above.
“You shall make the
boards for the tabernacle of acacia wood, standing up. Ten cubits shall be the length
of a board, and one and a half cubits the breadth of each board. There shall be two tenons in
each board, joined to one another: thus you shall make for all the boards
of the tabernacle. You
shall make the boards for the tabernacle, twenty boards for the south side
southward. 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. For the
second side of the tabernacle, on the north side, twenty boards, and their forty sockets of
silver; two sockets under one board, and two sockets under another board.
For the far part of the
tabernacle westward you shall make six boards. You shall make two boards for
the corners of the tabernacle in the far part. They shall be double beneath,
and in the same way they shall be whole to its top to one ring: thus shall
it be for them both; they shall be for the two corners. There shall be eight boards, and
their sockets of silver, sixteen sockets; two sockets under one board, and
two sockets under another board.
“You shall make
bars of acacia wood: five for the boards of the one side of the
tabernacle, and five
bars for the boards of the other side of the tabernacle, and five bars for
the boards of the side of the tabernacle, for the far part westward.
The middle bar in the
midst of the boards shall pass through from end to end. You shall overlay the boards
with gold, and make their rings of gold for places for the bars: and you
shall overlay the bars with gold. You shall set up the tabernacle
according to the way that it was shown to you on the mountain.
“You shall make a
veil of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen, with
cherubim. The work of the skillful workman shall it be made. You shall hang it on four
pillars of acacia overlaid with gold; their hooks shall be of gold, on
four sockets of silver. You shall hang up the veil under
the clasps, and shall bring the ark of the testimony in there within the
veil: and the veil shall separate the holy place from the most holy for
you. You shall put the
mercy seat on the ark of the testimony in the most holy place. You shall set the table outside
the veil, and the lampstand over against the table on the side of the
tabernacle toward the south: and you shall put the table on the north side.
“You shall make a
screen for the door of the Tent, of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and
fine twined linen, the work of the embroiderer. You shall make for the screen
five pillars of acacia, and overlay them with gold: their hooks shall be
of gold: and you shall cast five sockets of brass for them.
“You shall make the
altar of acacia wood, five cubits long, and five cubits broad; the altar
shall be foursquare: and its height shall be three cubits. You shall make its horns on its
four corners; its horns shall be of one piece with it; and you shall
overlay it with brass. You shall make its pots to take
away its ashes, its shovels, its basins, its flesh hooks, and its fire
pans: all its vessels you shall make of brass. You shall make a grating for it
of network of brass: and on the net you shall make four bronze rings in
its four corners. You
shall put it under the ledge around the altar beneath, that the net may
reach halfway up the altar. You shall make poles for the
altar, poles of acacia wood, and overlay them with brass. Its poles shall be put into the
rings, and the poles shall be on the two sides of the altar, when carrying
it. You shall make it
with hollow planks. They shall make it as it has been shown you on the
mountain.
“You shall make the
court of the tabernacle: for the south side southward there shall be
hangings for the court of fine twined linen one hundred cubits long for
one side: and its
pillars shall be twenty, and their sockets twenty, of brass; the hooks of
the pillars and their fillets shall be of silver. Likewise for the north side in
length there shall be hangings one hundred cubits long, and its pillars
twenty, and their sockets twenty, of brass; the hooks of the pillars, and
their fillets, of silver. For the breadth of the court on
the west side shall be hangings of fifty cubits; their pillars ten, and
their sockets ten. The
breadth of the court on the east side eastward shall be fifty cubits.
The hangings for the one
side of the gate shall be fifteen cubits; their pillars three, and their
sockets three. For the
other side shall be hangings of fifteen cubits; their pillars three, and
their sockets three. For
the gate of the court shall be a screen of twenty cubits, of blue, and
purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen, the work of the embroiderer;
their pillars four, and their sockets four. All the pillars of the court
around shall be filleted with silver; their hooks of silver, and their
sockets of brass. The
length of the court shall be one hundred cubits, and the breadth fifty
every where, and the height five cubits, of fine twined linen, and their
sockets of brass. All
the instruments of the tabernacle in all its service, and all its pins,
and all the pins of the court, shall be of brass.
“You shall command
the children of Israel, that they bring to you pure olive oil beaten for
the light, to cause a lamp to burn continually. In the Tent of Meeting, outside
the veil which is before the testimony, Aaron and his sons shall keep it
in order from evening to morning before Yahweh: it shall be a statute
forever throughout their generations on the behalf of the children of
Israel.
“Bring Aaron your
brother, and his sons with him, near to you from among the children of
Israel, that he may minister to me in the priest’s office, even Aaron,
Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar, Aaron’s sons. You shall make holy garments for
Aaron your brother, for glory and for beauty. You shall speak to all who are
wise-hearted, whom I have filled with the spirit of wisdom, that they make
Aaron’s garments to sanctify him, that he may minister to me in the
priest’s office. These
are the garments which they shall make: a breastplate, and an ephod, and a
robe, and a coat of checker work, a turban, and a sash: and they shall
make holy garments for Aaron your brother, and his sons, that he may
minister to me in the priest’s office. They shall take the gold, and the
blue, and the purple, and the scarlet, and the fine linen.
“They shall make the
ephod of gold, of blue, and purple, scarlet, and fine twined linen, the
work of the skillful workman. It shall have two shoulder straps
joined to the two ends of it, that it may be joined together. The skillfully woven band, which
is on it, that is on him, shall be like its work and of the same piece; of
gold, of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen. You shall take two onyx stones,
and engrave on them the names of the children of Israel: six of their names on the one
stone, and the names of the six that remain on the other stone, in the
order of their birth. With the work of an engraver in
stone, like the engravings of a signet, you shall engrave the two stones,
according to the names of the children of Israel: you shall make them to
be enclosed in settings of gold. You shall put the two stones on
the shoulder straps of the ephod, to be stones of memorial for the
children of Israel: and Aaron shall bear their names before Yahweh on his
two shoulders for a memorial. You shall make settings of gold,
and two chains of pure
gold; you shall make them like cords of braided work: and you shall put
the braided chains on the settings.
“You shall make a
breastplate of judgment, the work of the skillful workman; like the work
of the ephod you shall make it; of gold, of blue, and purple, and scarlet,
and fine twined linen, you shall make it. It shall be square and folded
double; a span shall be its length of it, and a span
its breadth. You shall
set in it settings of stones, four rows of stones: a row of ruby, topaz,
and beryl shall be the first row; and the second row a turquoise,
a sapphire, and an emerald; and the third row a jacinth, an
agate, and an amethyst; and the fourth row a chrysolite,
an onyx, and a jasper: they shall be enclosed in gold in their settings.
The stones shall be
according to the names of the children of Israel, twelve, according to
their names; like the engravings of a signet, everyone according to his
name, they shall be for the twelve tribes. You shall make on the
breastplate chains like cords, of braided work of pure gold. You shall make on the
breastplate two rings of gold, and shall put the two rings on the two ends
of the breastplate. You
shall put the two braided chains of gold in the two rings at the ends of
the breastplate. The
other two ends of the two braided chains you shall put on the two
settings, and put them on the shoulder straps of the ephod in its
forepart. You shall make
two rings of gold, and you shall put them on the two ends of the
breastplate, on its edge, which is toward the side of the ephod inward.
You shall make two rings
of gold, and shall put them on the two shoulder straps of the ephod
underneath, in its forepart, close by its coupling, above the skillfully
woven band of the ephod. They shall bind the breastplate
by its rings to the rings of the ephod with a lace of blue, that it may be
on the skillfully woven band of the ephod, and that the breastplate may
not swing out from the ephod. Aaron shall bear the names of
the children of Israel in the breastplate of judgment on his heart, when
he goes in to the holy place, for a memorial before Yahweh continually.
You shall put in the
breastplate of judgment the Urim and the Thummim; and they shall be on
Aaron’s heart, when he goes in before Yahweh: and Aaron shall bear the
judgment of the children of Israel on his heart before Yahweh continually.
“You shall make the
robe of the ephod all of blue. It shall have a hole for the
head in its midst: it shall have a binding of woven work around its hole,
as it were the hole of a coat of mail, that it not be torn. On its hem you shall make
pomegranates of blue, and of purple, and of scarlet, around its hem; and
bells of gold between and around them: a golden bell and a pomegranate,
a golden bell and a pomegranate, around the hem of the robe. It shall be on Aaron to
minister: and its sound shall be heard when he goes in to the holy place
before Yahweh, and when he comes out, that he not die.
“You shall make a
plate of pure gold, and engrave on it, like the engravings of a signet,
‘HOLY TO YAHWEH.’ You shall put it on a lace of
blue, and it shall be on the sash; on the front of the sash it shall be.
It shall be on Aaron’s
forehead, and Aaron shall bear the iniquity of the holy things, which the
children of Israel shall make holy in all their holy gifts; and it shall
be always on his forehead, that they may be accepted before Yahweh.
You shall weave the coat
in checker work of fine linen, and you shall make a turban of fine linen,
and you shall make a sash, the work of the embroiderer.
“You shall make
coats for Aaron’s sons, and you shall make sashes for them and you shall
make headbands for them, for glory and for beauty. 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 in the priest’s
office. You shall make
them linen breeches to cover the flesh of their nakedness; from the waist
even to the thighs they shall reach: They shall be on Aaron, and on
his sons, when they go in to the Tent of Meeting, or when they come near
to the altar to minister in the holy place; that they don’t bear
iniquity, and die: it shall be a statute forever to him and to his
descendants after him.
“This is the thing
that you shall do to them to make them holy, to minister to me in the
priest’s office: take one young bull and two rams without blemish,
unleavened bread,
unleavened cakes mixed with oil, and unleavened wafers anointed with oil:
you shall make them of fine wheat flour. You shall put them into one
basket, and bring them in the basket, with the bull and the two rams.
You shall bring Aaron and
his sons to the door of the Tent of Meeting, and shall wash them with
water. You shall take the
garments, and put on Aaron the coat, the robe of the ephod, the ephod, and
the breastplate, and clothe him with the skillfully woven band of the
ephod; and you shall set
the turban on his head, and put the holy crown on the turban. Then you shall take the anointing
oil, and pour it on his head, and anoint him. You shall bring his sons, and put
coats on them. You shall
clothe them with belts, Aaron and his sons, and bind headbands on them:
and they shall have the priesthood by a perpetual statute: and you shall
consecrate Aaron and his sons.
“You shall bring
the bull before the Tent of Meeting: and Aaron and his sons shall lay
their hands on the head of the bull. You shall kill the bull before
Yahweh, at the door of the Tent of Meeting. You shall take of the blood of
the bull, and put it on the horns of the altar with your finger; and you
shall pour out all the blood at the base of the altar. You shall take all the fat that
covers the innards, the cover of the liver, the two kidneys, and the fat
that is on them, and burn them on the altar. But the flesh of the bull, and
its skin, and its dung, you shall burn with fire outside of the camp: it
is a sin offering.
“You shall also
take the one ram; and Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands on the head
of the ram. You shall
kill the ram, and you shall take its blood, and sprinkle it around on the
altar. You shall cut the
ram into its pieces, and wash its innards, and its legs, and put them with
its pieces, and with its head. You shall burn the whole ram on
the altar: it is a burnt offering to Yahweh; it is a pleasant aroma, an
offering made by fire to Yahweh.
“You shall take the
other ram; and Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands on the head of the
ram. Then 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 big toe of their right foot, and
sprinkle the blood around on the altar. You shall take of the blood that
is on the altar, and 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: and he shall be made holy, and his garments, and his sons, and his
sons’ garments with him. Also you shall take some of the
ram’s fat, the fat tail, the fat that covers the innards, the cover of
the liver, the two kidneys, the fat that is on them, and the right thigh
(for it is a ram of consecration), and one loaf of bread, one cake
of oiled bread, and one wafer out of the basket of unleavened bread that
is before Yahweh. You
shall put all of this in Aaron’s hands, and in his sons’ hands, and
shall wave them for a wave offering before Yahweh. You shall take them from their
hands, and burn them on the altar on the burnt offering, for a pleasant
aroma before Yahweh: it is an offering made by fire to Yahweh.
“You shall take the
breast of Aaron’s ram of consecration, and wave it for a wave offering
before Yahweh: and it shall be your portion. You shall sanctify the breast of
the wave offering, and the thigh of the wave offering, which is waved, and
which is heaved up, of the ram of consecration, even of that which is for
Aaron, and of that which is for his sons: and it shall be for Aaron and
his sons as their portion forever from the children of Israel; for it is a
wave offering: and it shall be a wave offering from the children of Israel
of the sacrifices of their peace offerings, even their wave offering to
Yahweh.
“The holy garments
of Aaron shall be for his sons after him, to be anointed in them, and to
be consecrated in them. Seven days shall the son who is
priest in his place put them on, when he comes into the Tent of Meeting to
minister in the holy place.
“You shall take the
ram of consecration, and boil its flesh in a holy place. Aaron and his sons shall eat the
flesh of the ram, and the bread that is in the basket, at the door of the
Tent of Meeting. They
shall eat those things with which atonement was made, to consecrate and
sanctify them: but a stranger shall not eat of it, because they are holy.
If anything of the flesh
of the consecration, or of the bread, remains to the morning, then you
shall burn the remainder with fire: it shall not be eaten, because it is
holy.
“You shall do so to
Aaron, and to his sons, according to all that I have commanded you. You
shall consecrate them seven days. Every day you shall offer the
bull of sin offering for atonement: and you shall cleanse the altar, when
you make atonement for it; and you shall anoint it, to sanctify it.
Seven days you shall
make atonement for the altar, and sanctify it: and the altar shall be most
holy; whatever touches the altar shall be holy.
“Now this is that
which you shall offer on the altar: two lambs a year old day by day
continually. The one
lamb you shall offer in the morning; and the other lamb you shall offer at
evening: and with the
one lamb a tenth part of an ephah of fine flour mixed
with the fourth part of a hin of beaten oil, and the fourth part of a hin
of wine for a drink offering. The other lamb you shall offer
at evening, and shall do to it according to the meal offering of the
morning, and according to its drink offering, for a pleasant aroma, an
offering made by fire to Yahweh. It shall be a continual burnt
offering throughout your generations at the door of the Tent of Meeting
before Yahweh, where I will meet with you, to speak there to you. There I will meet with the
children of Israel; and the place shall be sanctified by my glory. I will sanctify the Tent of
Meeting and the altar: Aaron also and his sons I will sanctify, to
minister to me in the priest’s office. I will dwell among the children
of Israel, and will be their God. They shall know that I am Yahweh
their God, who brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, that I might
dwell among them: I am Yahweh their God.
“You shall make an
altar to burn incense on. You shall make it of acacia wood. Its length shall be a cubit, and
its breadth a cubit. It shall be square, and its height shall be two
cubits. Its horns shall be of one piece with it. You shall overlay it with pure
gold, its top, its sides around it, and its horns; and you shall make a
gold molding around it. You shall make two golden rings
for it under its molding; on its two ribs, on its two sides you shall make
them; and they shall be for places for poles with which to bear it.
You shall make the poles
of acacia wood, and overlay them with gold. You shall put it before the veil
that is by the ark of the testimony, before the mercy seat that is over
the testimony, where I will meet with you. Aaron shall burn incense of sweet
spices on it every morning. When he tends the lamps, he shall burn it.
When Aaron lights the
lamps at evening, he shall burn it, a perpetual incense before Yahweh
throughout your generations. You shall offer no strange
incense on it, nor burnt offering, nor meal offering; and you shall pour
no drink offering on it. Aaron shall make atonement on
its horns once in the year; with the blood of the sin offering of
atonement once in the year he shall make atonement for it throughout your
generations. It is most holy to Yahweh.”
Yahweh spoke to
Moses, saying, “When
you take a census of the children of Israel, according to those who are
numbered among them, then each man shall give a ransom for his soul to
Yahweh, when you number them; that there be no plague among them when you
number them. They shall
give this, everyone who passes over to those who are numbered, half a
shekel after the shekel of the sanctuary; (the shekel is twenty gerahs;)
half a shekel for an offering to Yahweh. Everyone who passes over to
those who are numbered, from twenty years old and upward, shall give the
offering to Yahweh. The
rich shall not give more, and the poor shall not give less, than the half
shekel, when they give the offering of Yahweh, to make atonement for your
souls. You shall take
the atonement money from the children of Israel, and shall appoint it for
the service of the Tent of Meeting; that it may be a memorial for the
children of Israel before Yahweh, to make atonement for your souls.”
Yahweh spoke to
Moses, saying, “You
shall also make a basin of brass, and its base of brass, in which to wash.
You shall put it between the Tent of Meeting and the altar, and you shall
put water in it. Aaron
and his sons shall wash their hands and their feet in it. When they go into the Tent of
Meeting, they shall wash with water, that they not die; or when they come
near to the altar to minister, to burn an offering made by fire to Yahweh.
So they shall wash their
hands and their feet, that they not die: and it shall be a statute forever
to them, even to him and to his descendants throughout their
generations.”
Moreover Yahweh spoke
to Moses, saying, “Also take fine spices: of
liquid myrrh, five hundred shekels; and of fragrant cinnamon half as much,
even two hundred and fifty; and of fragrant cane, two hundred and fifty;
and of cassia five
hundred, after the shekel of the sanctuary; and a hin of olive oil.
You shall make it a holy
anointing oil, a perfume compounded after the art of the perfumer: it
shall be a holy anointing oil. You shall use it to anoint the
Tent of Meeting, the ark of the testimony, the table and all its articles,
the lampstand and its accessories, the altar of incense, the altar of burnt offering with
all its utensils, and the basin with its base. You shall sanctify them, that
they may be most holy. Whatever touches them shall be holy. You shall anoint Aaron and his
sons, and sanctify them, that they may minister to me in the priest’s
office. You shall speak
to the children of Israel, saying, ‘This shall be a holy anointing oil
to me throughout your generations. It shall not be poured on
man’s flesh, neither shall you make any like it, according to its
composition: it is holy. It shall be holy to you. Whoever compounds any like it,
or whoever puts any of it on a stranger, he shall be cut off from his
people.’”
Yahweh said to Moses,
“Take to yourself sweet spices, gum resin, and onycha, and galbanum;
sweet spices with pure frankincense: there shall be an equal weight of
each; and you shall make
incense of it, a perfume after the art of the perfumer, seasoned with
salt, pure and holy: and
you shall beat some of it very small, and put some of it before the
testimony in the Tent of Meeting, where I will meet with you. It shall be
to you most holy. The
incense which you shall make, according to its composition you shall not
make for yourselves: it shall be to you holy for Yahweh. Whoever shall make any like
that, to smell of it, he shall be cut off from his people.”
Yahweh spoke to Moses,
saying, “Behold, I have
called by name Bezalel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of
Judah: and I have filled
him with the Spirit of God, in wisdom, and in understanding, and in
knowledge, and in all kinds of workmanship, to devise skillful works, to work
in gold, and in silver, and in brass, and in cutting of stones for
setting, and in carving of wood, to work in all kinds of workmanship.
I, behold, I have
appointed with him Oholiab, the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan; and
in the heart of all who are wise-hearted I have put wisdom, that they may
make all that I have commanded you: the Tent of Meeting, the ark of
the testimony, the mercy seat that is on it, all the furniture of the
Tent, the table and its
vessels, the pure lampstand with all its vessels, the altar of incense,
the altar of burnt
offering with all its vessels, the basin and its base, the finely worked garments—the
holy garments for Aaron the priest—the garments of his sons to minister
in the priest’s office, the anointing oil, and the
incense of sweet spices for the holy place: according to all that I have
commanded you they shall do.”
Yahweh spoke to
Moses, saying, “Speak
also to the children of Israel, saying, ‘Most certainly you shall keep
my Sabbaths: for it is a sign between me and you throughout your
generations; that you may know that I am Yahweh who sanctifies you.
You shall keep the
Sabbath therefore; for it is holy to you. Everyone who profanes it shall
surely be put to death; for whoever does any work therein, that soul shall
be cut off from among his people. Six days shall work be done, but
on the seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, holy to Yahweh. Whoever
does any work on the Sabbath day shall surely be put to death. Therefore the children of Israel
shall keep the Sabbath, to observe the Sabbath throughout their
generations, for a perpetual covenant. It is a sign between me and the
children of Israel forever; for in six days Yahweh made heaven and earth,
and on the seventh day he rested, and was refreshed.’”
He gave to Moses,
when he finished speaking with him on Mount Sinai, the two tablets of the
testimony, stone tablets, written with God’s finger.
When the people saw
that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain, the people gathered
themselves together to Aaron, and said to him, “Come, make us gods,
which shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man who brought us up
out of the land of Egypt, we don’t know what has become of him.”
Aaron said to them,
“Take off the golden rings, which are in the ears of your wives, of your
sons, and of your daughters, and bring them to me.”
All the people took
off the golden rings which were in their ears, and brought them to Aaron.
He received what they
handed him, and fashioned it with an engraving tool, and made it a molten
calf; and they said, “These are your gods, Israel, which brought you up
out of the land of Egypt.”
When Aaron saw this,
he built an altar before it; and Aaron made a proclamation, and said,
“Tomorrow shall be a feast to Yahweh.”
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.
Yahweh spoke to Moses,
“Go, get down; for your people, who you brought up out of the land of
Egypt, have corrupted themselves! They have turned aside quickly
out of the way which I commanded them. They have made themselves a molten
calf, and have worshiped it, and have sacrificed to it, and said, ‘These
are your gods, Israel, which brought you up out of the land of Egypt.’”
Yahweh said to Moses,
“I have seen these people, and behold, they are a stiff-necked people.
Now therefore leave me
alone, that my wrath may burn hot against them, and that I may consume
them; and I will make of you a great nation.”
Moses begged Yahweh
his God, and said, “Yahweh, why does your wrath burn hot against your
people, that you have brought out of the land of Egypt with great power
and with a mighty hand? Why should the Egyptians speak,
saying, ‘He brought them forth for evil, to kill them in the mountains,
and to consume them from the surface of the earth?’ Turn from your
fierce wrath, and repent of this evil against your people. Remember Abraham, Isaac, and
Israel, your servants, to whom you swore by your own self, and said to
them, ‘I will multiply your seed as the stars of the sky, and all this
land that I have spoken of I will give to your seed, and they shall
inherit it forever.’”
Yahweh repented of
the evil which he said he would do to his people.
Moses turned, and
went down from the mountain, with the two tablets of the testimony in his
hand; tablets that were written on both their sides; on the one side and
on the other they were written. The tablets were the work of
God, and the writing was the writing of God, engraved on the tables.
When Joshua heard the
noise of the people as they shouted, he said to Moses, “There is the
noise of war in the camp.”
He said, “It
isn’t the voice of those who shout for victory, neither is it the voice
of those who cry for being overcome; but the noise of those who sing that
I hear.” It happened,
as soon as he came near to the camp, that he saw the calf and the dancing:
and Moses’ anger grew hot, and he threw the tablets out of his hands,
and broke them beneath the mountain. He took the calf which they had
made, and burnt it with fire, ground it to powder, and scattered it on the
water, and made the children of Israel drink of it.
Moses said to Aaron,
“What did these people do to you, that you have brought a great sin on
them?”
Aaron said,
“Don’t let the anger of my lord grow hot. You know the people, that
they are set on evil. For they said to me, ‘Make us
gods, which shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man who brought
us up out of the land of Egypt, we don’t know what has become of him.’
I said to them,
‘Whoever has any gold, let them take it off:’ so they gave it to me;
and I threw it into the fire, and out came this calf.”
When Moses saw that
the people had broken loose, (for Aaron had let them loose for a derision
among their enemies), then Moses stood in the gate of
the camp, and said, “Whoever is on Yahweh’s side, come to me!”
All the sons of Levi gathered themselves together to him. He said to them, “Thus says
Yahweh, the God of Israel, ‘Every man put his sword on his thigh, and go
back and forth from gate to gate throughout the camp, and every man kill
his brother, and every man his companion, and every man his
neighbor.’” The sons
of Levi did according to the word of Moses: and there fell of the people
that day about three thousand men. Moses said, “Consecrate
yourselves today to Yahweh, yes, every man against his son, and against
his brother; that he may bestow on you a blessing this day.”
It happened on the
next day, that Moses said to the people, “You have sinned a great sin.
Now I will go up to Yahweh. Perhaps I shall make atonement for your sin.”
Moses returned to
Yahweh, and said, “Oh, this people have sinned a great sin, and have
made themselves gods of gold. Yet now, if you will, forgive
their sin—and if not, please blot me out of your book which you have
written.”
Yahweh said to Moses,
“Whoever has sinned against me, him will I blot out of my book. Now go, lead the people to the
place of which I have spoken to you. Behold, my angel shall go before you.
Nevertheless in the day when I punish, I will punish them for their
sin.” Yahweh struck
the people, because they made the calf, which Aaron made.
Yahweh spoke to Moses,
“Depart, go up from here, you and the people that you have brought up
out of the land of Egypt, to the land of which I swore to Abraham, to
Isaac, and to Jacob, saying, ‘I will give it to your seed.’ I will send an angel before you;
and I will drive out the Canaanite, the Amorite, and the Hittite, and the
Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite: to a land flowing with milk and
honey: for I will not go up in the midst of you, for you are a
stiff-necked people, lest I consume you in the way.”
When the people heard
this evil news, they mourned: and no one put on his jewelry.
Yahweh said to Moses,
“Tell the children of Israel, ‘You are a stiff-necked people. If I
were to go up into your midst for one moment, I would consume you.
Therefore now take off your jewelry from you, that I may know what to do
to you.’”
The children of Israel
stripped themselves of their jewelry from Mount Horeb onward.
Now Moses used to take
the tent and to pitch it outside the camp, far away from the camp, and he
called it “The Tent of Meeting.” It happened that everyone who sought
Yahweh went out to the Tent of Meeting, which was outside the camp.
It happened that when
Moses went out to the Tent, that all the people rose up, and stood,
everyone at their tent door, and watched Moses, until he had gone into the
Tent. It happened, when
Moses entered into the Tent, that the pillar of cloud descended, stood at
the door of the Tent, and spoke with Moses. All the people saw the pillar of
cloud stand at the door of the Tent, and all the people rose up and
worshiped, everyone at their tent door. Yahweh spoke to Moses face to
face, as a man speaks to his friend. He turned again into the camp, but
his servant Joshua, the son of Nun, a young man, didn’t depart out of
the Tent.
Moses said to Yahweh,
“Behold, you tell me, ‘Bring up this people:’ and you haven’t let
me know whom you will send with me. Yet you have said, ‘I know you by
name, and you have also found favor in my sight.’ Now therefore, if I have found
favor in your sight, please show me now your ways, that I may know you, so
that I may find favor in your sight: and consider that this nation is your
people.”
He said, “My
presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.”
He said to him, “If
your presence doesn’t go with me, don’t carry us up from here. For how would people know that I
have found favor in your sight, I and your people? Isn’t it in that you
go with us, so that we are separated, I and your people, from all the
people who are on the surface of the earth?”
Yahweh said to Moses,
“I will do this thing also that you have spoken; for you have found
favor in my sight, and I know you by name.”
He said, “Please
show me your glory.”
He said, “I will
make all my goodness pass before you, and will proclaim the name of Yahweh
before you. I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show
mercy on whom I will show mercy.” He said, “You cannot see my
face, for man may not see me and live.” Yahweh also said, “Behold,
there is a place by me, and you shall stand on the rock. It will happen, while my glory
passes by, that I will put you in a cleft of the rock, and will cover you
with my hand until I have passed by; then I will take away my hand,
and you will see my back; but my face shall not be seen.”
Yahweh said to Moses,
“Chisel two stone tablets like the first: and I will write on the
tablets the words that were on the first tablets, which you broke. Be ready by the morning, and come
up in the morning to Mount Sinai, and present yourself there to me on the
top of the mountain. No
one shall come up with you; neither let anyone be seen throughout all the
mountain; neither let the flocks nor herds feed before that mountain.”
He chiseled two
tablets of stone like the first; and Moses rose up early in the morning,
and went up to Mount Sinai, as Yahweh had commanded him, and took in his
hand two stone tablets. Yahweh descended in the cloud,
and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of Yahweh. Yahweh passed by before him, and
proclaimed, “Yahweh! Yahweh, a merciful and gracious God, slow to anger,
and abundant in loving kindness and truth, keeping loving kindness for
thousands, forgiving iniquity and disobedience and sin; and that will by
no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the
children, and on the children’s children, on the third and on the fourth
generation.”
Moses hurried and
bowed his head toward the earth, and worshiped. He said, “If now I have found
favor in your sight, Lord, please let the Lord go in the midst of us;
although this is a stiff-necked people; pardon our iniquity and our sin,
and take us for your inheritance.”
He said, “Behold, I
make a covenant: before all your people I will do marvels, such as have
not been worked in all the earth, nor in any nation; and all the people
among which you are shall see the work of Yahweh; for it is an awesome
thing that I do with you. Observe that which I command you
this day. Behold, I drive out before you the Amorite, the Canaanite, the
Hittite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite. Be careful, lest you make a
covenant with the inhabitants of the land where you are going, lest it be
for a snare in the midst of you: but you shall break down their
altars, and dash in pieces their pillars, and you shall cut down their
Asherim; for you shall
worship no other god: for Yahweh, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God.
“Don’t make a
covenant with the inhabitants of the land, lest they play the prostitute
after their gods, and sacrifice to their gods, and one call you and you
eat of his sacrifice; and you take of their daughters
to your sons, and their daughters play the prostitute after their gods,
and make your sons play the prostitute after their gods.
“You shall make no
cast idols for yourselves.
“You shall keep the
feast of unleavened bread. Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, as I
commanded you, at the time appointed in the month Abib; for in the month
Abib you came out from Egypt.
“All that opens the
womb is mine; and all your livestock that is male, the firstborn of cow
and sheep. The firstborn
of a donkey you shall redeem with a lamb: and if you will not redeem it,
then you shall break its neck. All the firstborn of your sons you shall
redeem. No one shall appear before me empty.
“Six days you shall
work, but on the seventh day you shall rest: in plowing time and in
harvest you shall rest.
“You shall observe
the feast of weeks with the first fruits of wheat harvest, and the feast
of harvest at the year’s end. Three times in the year all your
males shall appear before the Lord Yahweh, the God of Israel. For I will drive out nations
before you and enlarge your borders; neither shall any man desire your
land when you go up to appear before Yahweh, your God, three times in the
year.
“You shall not
offer the blood of my sacrifice with leavened bread; neither shall the
sacrifice of the feast of the Passover be left to the morning.
“You shall bring
the first of the first fruits of your ground to the house of Yahweh your
God.
“You shall not boil a young goat in its mother’s milk.”
Yahweh said to Moses,
“Write you these words: for in accordance with these words I have made a
covenant with you and with Israel.”
He was there with
Yahweh forty days and forty nights; he neither ate bread, nor drank water.
He wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant, the ten commandments.
It happened, when
Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of the testimony in
Moses’ hand, when he came down from the mountain, that Moses didn’t
know that the skin of his face shone by reason of his speaking with him.
When Aaron and all the
children of Israel saw Moses, behold, the skin of his face shone; and they
were afraid to come near him. Moses called to them, and Aaron
and all the rulers of the congregation returned to him; and Moses spoke to
them. Afterward all the
children of Israel came near, and he gave them all of the commandments
that Yahweh had spoken with him on Mount Sinai. When Moses was done speaking
with them, he put a veil on his face. But when Moses went in before
Yahweh to speak with him, he took the veil off, until he came out; and he
came out, and spoke to the children of Israel that which he was commanded.
The children of Israel
saw Moses’ face, that the skin of Moses’ face shone: and Moses put the
veil on his face again, until he went in to speak with him.
Moses assembled all
the congregation of the children of Israel, and said to them, “These are
the words which Yahweh has commanded, that you should do them. ‘Six days shall work be done,
but on the seventh day there shall be a holy day for you, a Sabbath of
solemn rest to Yahweh: whoever does any work in it shall be put to death.
You shall kindle no fire
throughout your habitations on the Sabbath day.’”
Moses spoke to all the
congregation of the children of Israel, saying, “This is the thing which
Yahweh commanded, saying, ‘Take from among you an
offering to Yahweh. Whoever is of a willing heart, let him bring it,
Yahweh’s offering: gold, silver, brass, blue, purple, scarlet, fine
linen, goats’ hair, rams’ skins dyed red, sea cow
hides, acacia wood, oil
for the light, spices for the anointing oil and for the sweet incense,
onyx stones, and stones
to be set for the ephod and for the breastplate.
“‘Let every
wise-hearted man among you come, and make all that Yahweh has commanded:
the tabernacle, its
outer covering, its roof, its clasps, its boards, its bars, its pillars,
and its sockets; the
ark, and its poles, the mercy seat, the veil of the screen; the table with its poles and all
its vessels, and the show bread; the lampstand also for the
light, with its vessels, its lamps, and the oil for the light; and the altar of incense with
its poles, the anointing oil, the sweet incense, the screen for the door,
at the door of the tabernacle; the altar of burnt offering,
with its grating of brass, it poles, and all its vessels, the basin and
its base; the hangings
of the court, its pillars, their sockets, and the screen for the gate of
the court; the pins of
the tabernacle, the pins of the court, and their cords; the finely worked garments, for
ministering in the holy place, the holy garments for Aaron the priest, and
the garments of his sons, to minister in the priest’s office.’”
All the congregation
of the children of Israel departed from the presence of Moses. They came, everyone whose heart
stirred him up, and everyone whom his spirit made willing, and brought
Yahweh’s offering, for the work of the Tent of Meeting, and for all of
its service, and for the holy garments. They came, both men and women,
as many as were willing-hearted, and brought brooches, earrings, signet
rings, and armlets, all jewels of gold; even every man who offered an
offering of gold to Yahweh. Everyone, with whom was found
blue, purple, scarlet, fine linen, goats’ hair, rams’ skins dyed red,
and sea cow hides, brought them. Everyone who offered an offering
of silver and brass brought Yahweh’s offering; and everyone, with whom
was found acacia wood for any work of the service, brought it. All the women who were
wise-hearted spun with their hands, and brought that which they had spun,
the blue, the purple, the scarlet, and the fine linen. All the women whose heart
stirred them up in wisdom spun the goats’ hair. The rulers brought the onyx
stones, and the stones to be set, for the ephod and for the breastplate;
and the spice, and the
oil for the light, for the anointing oil, and for the sweet incense.
The children of Israel
brought a freewill offering to Yahweh; every man and woman, whose heart
made them willing to bring for all the work, which Yahweh had commanded to
be made by Moses.
Moses said to the
children of Israel, “Behold, Yahweh has called by name Bezalel the son
of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah. He has filled him with the
Spirit of God, in wisdom, in understanding, in knowledge, and in all kinds
of workmanship; and to
make skillful works, to work in gold, in silver, in brass, in cutting of stones for
setting, and in carving of wood, to work in all kinds of skillful
workmanship. He has put
in his heart that he may teach, both he, and Oholiab, the son of
Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan. He has filled them with wisdom
of heart, to work all kinds of workmanship, of the engraver, of the
skillful workman, and of the embroiderer, in blue, in purple, in scarlet,
and in fine linen, and of the weaver, even of those who do any
workmanship, and of those who make skillful works.
“Bezalel and Oholiab
shall work with every wise-hearted man, in whom Yahweh has put wisdom and
understanding to know how to work all the work for the service of the
sanctuary, according to all that Yahweh has commanded.”
Moses called Bezalel
and Oholiab, and every wise-hearted man, in whose heart Yahweh had put
wisdom, even everyone whose heart stirred him up to come to the work to do
it: and they received
from Moses all the offering which the children of Israel had brought for
the work of the service of the sanctuary, with which to make it. They
brought yet to him freewill offerings every morning. All the wise men, who performed
all the work of the sanctuary, each came from his work which they did.
They spoke to Moses,
saying, “The people bring much more than enough for the service of the
work which Yahweh commanded to make.”
Moses gave
commandment, and they caused it to be proclaimed throughout the camp,
saying, “Let neither man nor woman make anything else for the offering
for the sanctuary.” So the people were restrained from bringing. For the stuff they had was
sufficient for all the work to make it, and too much.
All the wise-hearted
men among those who did the work made the tabernacle with ten curtains; of
fine twined linen, blue, purple, and scarlet, with cherubim, the work of
the skillful workman, they made them. The length of each curtain was
twenty-eight cubits, and the breadth of each curtain four cubits. All the
curtains had one measure. He coupled five curtains to one
another, and the other five curtains he coupled one to another. He made loops of blue on the
edge of the one curtain from the edge in the coupling. Likewise he made in
the edge of the curtain that was outmost in the second coupling. He made fifty loops in the one
curtain, and he made fifty loops in the edge of the curtain that was in
the second coupling. The loops were opposite one to another. He made fifty clasps of gold,
and coupled the curtains one to another with the clasps: so the tabernacle
was a unit.
He made curtains of
goats’ hair for a covering over the tabernacle. He made them eleven
curtains. The length of
each curtain was thirty cubits, and four cubits the breadth of each
curtain. The eleven curtains had one measure. He coupled five curtains by
themselves, and six curtains by themselves. He made fifty loops on the edge
of the curtain that was outmost in the coupling, and he made fifty loops
on the edge of the curtain which was outmost in the second coupling.
He made fifty clasps of
brass to couple the tent together, that it might be a unit. He made a covering for the tent
of rams’ skins dyed red, and a covering of sea cow hides above.
He made the boards
for the tabernacle of acacia wood, standing up. Ten cubits was the length of a
board, and a cubit and a half the breadth of each board. Each board had two tenons,
joined one to another. He made all the boards of the tabernacle this way.
He made the boards for
the tabernacle: twenty boards for the south side southward. 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. For the second side of the
tabernacle, on the north side, he made twenty boards, and their forty sockets of
silver; two sockets under one board, and two sockets under another board.
For the far part of the
tabernacle westward he made six boards. He made two boards for the
corners of the tabernacle in the far part. They were double beneath, and in
the same way they were all the way to its top to one ring. He did this to
both of them in the two corners. There were eight boards, and
their sockets of silver, sixteen sockets; under every board two sockets.
He made bars of
acacia wood; five for the boards of the one side of the tabernacle,
and five bars for the
boards of the other side of the tabernacle, and five bars for the boards
of the tabernacle for the hinder part westward. He made the middle bar to pass
through in the midst of the boards from the one end to the other. He overlaid the boards with
gold, and made their rings of gold for places for the bars, and overlaid
the bars with gold.
He made the veil of
blue, purple, scarlet, and fine twined linen: with cherubim. He made it
the work of a skillful workman. He made four pillars of acacia
for it, and overlaid them with gold. Their hooks were of gold. He cast
four sockets of silver for them. He made a screen for the door of
the tent, of blue, purple, scarlet, and fine twined linen, the work of an
embroiderer; and the
five pillars of it with their hooks. He overlaid their capitals and their
fillets with gold, and their five sockets were of brass.
Bezalel made the ark
of acacia wood. Its length was two and a half cubits, and its breadth a
cubit and a half, and a cubit and a half its height. He overlaid it with pure gold
inside and outside, and made a molding of gold for it around it. He cast four rings of gold for
it, in its four feet; even two rings on its one side, and two rings on its
other side. He made poles
of acacia wood, and overlaid them with gold. He put the poles into the rings
on the sides of the ark, to bear the ark. He made a mercy seat of pure
gold. Its length was two and a half cubits, and a cubit and a half its
breadth. He made two
cherubim of gold. He made them of beaten work, at the two ends of the
mercy seat; one cherub at
the one end, and one cherub at the other end. He made the cherubim of one
piece with the mercy seat at its two ends. The cherubim spread out their
wings on high, covering the mercy seat with their wings, with their faces
toward one another. The faces of the cherubim were toward the mercy seat.
He made the table of
acacia wood. Its length was two cubits, and its breadth was a cubit, and
its height was a cubit and a half. He overlaid it with pure gold,
and made a gold molding around it. He made a border of a
handbreadth around it, and made a golden molding on its border around it.
He cast four rings of
gold for it, and put the rings in the four corners that were on its four
feet. The rings were
close by the border, the places for the poles to carry the table. He made the poles of acacia
wood, and overlaid them with gold, to carry the table. He made the vessels which were
on the table, its dishes, its spoons, its bowls, and its pitchers with
which to pour out, of pure gold.
He made the lampstand
of pure gold. He made the lampstand of beaten work. Its base, its shaft,
its cups, its buds, and its flowers were of one piece with it. There were six branches going
out of its sides: three branches of the lampstand out of its one side, and
three branches of the lampstand out of its other side: three cups made like almond
blossoms in one branch, a bud and a flower, and three cups made like
almond blossoms in the other branch, a bud and a flower: so for the six
branches going out of the lampstand. In the lampstand were four cups
made like almond blossoms, its buds and its flowers; and a bud under two branches of
one piece with it, and a bud under two branches of one piece with it, and
a bud under two branches of one piece with it, for the six branches going
out of it. Their buds
and their branches were of one piece with it. The whole thing was one
beaten work of pure gold. He made its seven lamps, and its
snuffers, and its snuff dishes, of pure gold. He made it of a talent of pure
gold, with all its vessels.
He made the altar of
incense of acacia wood. It was square: its length was a cubit, and its
breadth a cubit. Its height was two cubits. Its horns were of one piece
with it. He overlaid it
with pure gold, its top, its sides around it, and its horns. He made a
gold molding around it. He made two golden rings for it
under its molding crown, on its two ribs, on its two sides, for places for
poles with which to carry it. He made the poles of acacia
wood, and overlaid them with gold. He made the holy anointing oil
and the pure incense of sweet spices, after the art of the perfumer.
He made the altar of
burnt offering of acacia wood. It was square. Its length was five cubits,
its breadth was five cubits, and its height was three cubits. He made its horns on its four
corners. Its horns were of one piece with it, and he overlaid it with
brass. He made all the
vessels of the altar, the pots, the shovels, the basins, the forks, and
the fire pans. He made all its vessels of brass. He made for the altar a grating
of a network of brass, under the ledge around it beneath, reaching halfway
up. He cast four rings
for the four ends of brass grating, to be places for the poles. He made the poles of acacia wood,
and overlaid them with brass. He put the poles into the rings
on the sides of the altar, with which to carry it. He made it hollow with
planks.
He made the basin of
brass, and its base of brass, out of the mirrors of the ministering women
who ministered at the door of the Tent of Meeting.
He made the court: for
the south side southward the hangings of the court were of fine twined
linen, one hundred cubits; their pillars were twenty, and
their sockets twenty, of brass; the hooks of the pillars and their fillets
were of silver. For the
north side one hundred cubits, their pillars twenty, and their sockets
twenty, of brass; the hooks of the pillars, and their fillets, of silver.
For the west side were
hangings of fifty cubits, their pillars ten, and their sockets ten; the
hooks of the pillars, and their fillets, of silver. For the east side eastward fifty
cubits. The hangings for
the one side were fifteen cubits; their pillars three, and their sockets
three; and so for the
other side: on this hand and that hand by the gate of the court were
hangings of fifteen cubits; their pillars three, and their sockets three.
All the hangings around
the court were of fine twined linen. The sockets for the pillars were
of brass. The hooks of the pillars and their fillets were of silver; and
the overlaying of their capitals, of silver; and all the pillars of the
court were filleted with silver. The screen for the gate of the
court was the work of the embroiderer, of blue, purple, scarlet, and fine
twined linen. Twenty cubits was the length, and the height in the breadth
was five cubits, like to the hangings of the court. Their pillars were four, and
their sockets four, of brass; their hooks of silver, and the overlaying of
their capitals, and their fillets, of silver. All the pins of the tabernacle,
and around the court, were of brass.
This is the amount of
material used for the tabernacle, even the Tabernacle of the Testimony, as
they were counted, according to the commandment of Moses, for the service
of the Levites, by the hand of Ithamar, the son of Aaron the priest.
Bezalel the son of Uri,
the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, made all that Yahweh commanded
Moses. With him was
Oholiab, the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan, an engraver, and a
skillful workman, and an embroiderer in blue, in purple, in scarlet, and
in fine linen.
All the gold that was
used for the work in all the work of the sanctuary, even the gold of the
offering, was twenty-nine talents, and seven hundred thirty shekels, after
the shekel of the sanctuary. The silver of those who were
numbered of the congregation was one hundred talents, and one thousand
seven hundred seventy-five shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary:
a beka a head, that is,
half a shekel, after the shekel of the sanctuary, for everyone who passed
over to those who were numbered, from twenty years old and upward, for six
hundred three thousand five hundred fifty men. The one hundred talents of
silver were for casting the sockets of the sanctuary, and the sockets of
the veil; one hundred sockets for the one hundred talents, a talent for a
socket. Of the one
thousand seven hundred seventy-five shekels he made hooks for the pillars,
overlaid their capitals, and made fillets for them. The brass of the offering was
seventy talents, and two thousand four hundred shekels. With this he made the sockets to
the door of the Tent of Meeting, the bronze altar, the bronze grating for
it, all the vessels of the altar, the sockets around the court,
the sockets of the gate of the court, all the pins of the tabernacle, and
all the pins around the court.
Of the blue, purple,
and scarlet, they made finely worked garments, for ministering in the holy
place, and made the holy garments for Aaron; as Yahweh commanded Moses.
He made the ephod of
gold, blue, purple, scarlet, and fine twined linen. They beat the gold into thin
plates, and cut it into wires, to work it in the blue, in the purple, in
the scarlet, and in the fine linen, the work of the skillful workman.
They made shoulder straps
for it, joined together. At the two ends it was joined together. The skillfully woven band that
was on it, with which to fasten it on, was of the same piece, like its
work; of gold, of blue, purple, scarlet, and fine twined linen; as Yahweh
commanded Moses.
They worked the onyx
stones, enclosed in settings of gold, engraved with the engravings of a
signet, according to the names of the children of Israel. He put them on the shoulder
straps of the ephod, to be stones of memorial for the children of Israel,
as Yahweh commanded Moses.
He made the
breastplate, the work of a skillful workman, like the work of the ephod;
of gold, of blue, purple, scarlet, and fine twined linen. It was square. They made the
breastplate double. Its length was a span, and its breadth a span, being
double. They set in it
four rows of stones. A row of ruby, topaz, and beryl was the first row;
and the second row, a
turquoise, a sapphire, and an emerald; and the third row, a jacinth, an
agate, and an amethyst; and the fourth row, a
chrysolite, an onyx, and a jasper. They were enclosed in gold settings.
The stones were
according to the names of the children of Israel, twelve, according to
their names; like the engravings of a signet, everyone according to his
name, for the twelve tribes. They made on the breastplate
chains like cords, of braided work of pure gold. They made two settings of gold,
and two gold rings, and put the two rings on the two ends of the
breastplate. They put
the two braided chains of gold in the two rings at the ends of the
breastplate. The other
two ends of the two braided chains they put on the two settings, and put
them on the shoulder straps of the ephod, in its front. They made two rings of gold, and
put them on the two ends of the breastplate, on its edge, which was toward
the side of the ephod inward. They made two rings of gold, and
put them on the two shoulder straps of the ephod underneath, in its front,
close by its coupling, above the skillfully woven band of the ephod.
They bound the
breastplate by its rings to the rings of the ephod with a lace of blue,
that it might be on the skillfully woven band of the ephod, and that the
breastplate might not come loose from the ephod, as Yahweh commanded Moses.
He made the robe of
the ephod of woven work, all of blue. The opening of the robe in its
midst was like the opening of a coat of mail, with a binding around its
opening, that it should not be torn. They made on the skirts of the
robe pomegranates of blue, purple, scarlet, and twined linen. They made bells of pure gold,
and put the bells between the pomegranates around the skirts of the robe,
between the pomegranates; a bell and a pomegranate, a bell
and a pomegranate, around the skirts of the robe, to minister in, as
Yahweh commanded Moses.
They made the coats
of fine linen of woven work for Aaron, and for his sons, and the turban of fine linen,
and the linen headbands of fine linen, and the linen breeches of fine
twined linen, and the
sash of fine twined linen, and blue, and purple, and scarlet, the work of
the embroiderer, as Yahweh commanded Moses.
They made the plate
of the holy crown of pure gold, and wrote on it a writing, like the
engravings of a signet: “HOLY TO YAHWEH.” They tied to it a lace of blue,
to fasten it on the turban above, as Yahweh commanded Moses.
Thus all the work of
the tabernacle of the Tent of Meeting was finished. The children of Israel
did according to all that Yahweh commanded Moses; so they did. They brought the tabernacle to
Moses, the tent, with all its furniture, its clasps, its boards, its bars,
its pillars, its sockets, the covering of rams’ skins
dyed red, the covering of sea cow hides, the veil of the screen, the ark of the testimony with
its poles, the mercy seat, the table, all its vessels, the
show bread, the pure
lampstand, its lamps, even the lamps to be set in order, all its vessels,
the oil for the light, the golden altar, the anointing
oil, the sweet incense, the screen for the door of the Tent, the bronze altar, its grating of
brass, its poles, all of its vessels, the basin and its base, the hangings of the court, its
pillars, its sockets, the screen for the gate of the court, its cords, its
pins, all the instruments of the service of the tabernacle, for the Tent
of Meeting, the finely
worked garments for ministering in the holy place, the holy garments for
Aaron the priest, and the garments of his sons, to minister in the
priest’s office. According to all that Yahweh
commanded Moses, so the children of Israel did all the work. Moses saw all the work, and
behold, they had done it as Yahweh had commanded, even so had they done
it: and Moses blessed them.
Yahweh spoke to Moses,
saying, “On the first
day of the first month you shall raise up the tabernacle of the Tent of
Meeting. You shall put
the ark of the testimony in it, and you shall screen the ark with the
veil. You shall bring in
the table, and set in order the things that are on it. You shall bring in
the lampstand, and light its lamps. You shall set the golden altar
for incense before the ark of the testimony, and put the screen of the
door to the tabernacle.
“You shall set the
altar of burnt offering before the door of the tabernacle of the Tent of
Meeting. You shall set
the basin between the Tent of Meeting and the altar, and shall put water
therein. You shall set up
the court around it, and hang up the screen of the gate of the court.
“You shall take the
anointing oil, and anoint the tabernacle, and all that is in it, and shall
make it holy, and all its furniture: and it will be holy. You shall anoint the altar of
burnt offering, with all its vessels, and sanctify the altar: and the
altar will be most holy. You shall anoint the basin and
its base, and sanctify it.
“You shall bring
Aaron and his sons to the door of the Tent of Meeting, and shall wash them
with water. You shall
put on Aaron the holy garments; and you shall anoint him, and sanctify
him, that he may minister to me in the priest’s office. You shall bring his sons, and
put coats on them. You
shall anoint them, as you anointed their father, that they may minister to
me in the priest’s office. Their anointing shall be to them for an
everlasting priesthood throughout their generations.” Moses did so. According to all
that Yahweh commanded him, so he did.
It happened in the
first month in the second year, on the first day of the month, that the
tabernacle was raised up. Moses raised up the tabernacle,
and laid its sockets, and set up its boards, and put in its bars, and
raised up its pillars. He spread the covering over the
tent, and put the roof of the tabernacle above on it, as Yahweh commanded
Moses. He took and put
the testimony into the ark, and set the poles on the ark, and put the
mercy seat above on the ark. He brought the ark into the
tabernacle, and set up the veil of the screen, and screened the ark of the
testimony, as Yahweh commanded Moses. He put the table in the Tent of
Meeting, on the side of the tabernacle northward, outside of the veil.
He set the bread in
order on it before Yahweh, as Yahweh commanded Moses. He put the lampstand in the Tent
of Meeting, opposite the table, on the side of the tabernacle southward.
He lit the lamps before
Yahweh, as Yahweh commanded Moses. He put the golden altar in the
Tent of Meeting before the veil; and he burnt incense of sweet
spices on it, as Yahweh commanded Moses. He put up the screen of the door
to the tabernacle. He
set the altar of burnt offering at the door of the tabernacle of the Tent
of Meeting, and offered on it the burnt offering and the meal offering, as
Yahweh commanded Moses. He set the basin between the
Tent of Meeting and the altar, and put water therein, with which to wash.
Moses, Aaron, and his
sons washed their hands and their feet there. When they went into the Tent of
Meeting, and when they came near to the altar, they washed, as Yahweh
commanded Moses. He
raised up the court around the tabernacle and the altar, and set up the
screen of the gate of the court. So Moses finished the work.
Then the cloud
covered the Tent of Meeting, and the glory of Yahweh filled the
tabernacle. Moses
wasn’t able to enter into the Tent of Meeting, because the cloud stayed
on it, and Yahweh’s glory filled the tabernacle. When the cloud was taken up from
over the tabernacle, the children of Israel went onward, throughout all
their journeys; but if
the cloud wasn’t taken up, then they didn’t travel until the day that
it was taken up. For the
cloud of Yahweh was on the tabernacle by day, and there was fire in the
cloud by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel, throughout all
their journeys.
Notes: [1] back to
1:17 The Hebrew word rendered “God” is “Elohim.” [2] back to 2:10 “Moses” sounds like the
Hebrew for “draw out”. [3] back
to 2:22 “Gershom” sounds like the Hebrew for “an alien
there.” [4] back to 3:2
“Yahweh” is God’s proper Name, sometimes rendered “LORD” (all
caps) in other translations. [5] back to 4:10 The word translated “Lord” is
“Adonai.” [6] back to 10:19
or, Sea of Reeds [7] back to
13:18 or, Sea of Reeds [8] back
to 15:4 or, Sea of Reeds [9] back to 15:22 or, Sea of Reeds [10] back to 15:23 Marah means
bitter. [11] back to 16:16 An
omer is about 2.2 litres or about 2.3 quarts [12] back to 16:31 “Manna” means “What is it?” [13] back to 16:36 1 ephah is about
22 litres or about 2/3 of a bushel [14] back to 17:7 Massah means testing. [15] back to 17:7 Meribah means
quarreling. [16] back to 17:15
Hebrew, Yahweh Nissi [17] back to
18:3 “Gershom” sounds like the Hebrew for “an alien
there.” [18] back to 18:4
Eliezer means “God is my helper.” [19] back to 20:1 After “God,” the Hebrew has the two
letters “Aleph Tav” (the first and last letters of the Hebrew
alphabet), not as a word, but as a grammatical marker. [20] back to 23:31 or, Sea of Reeds [21] back to 24:10 or, lapis
lazuli [22] back to 28:16 A
span is the length from the tip of the thumb to the tip of the little
finger when the hand is stretched out (about 9 inches or 22.8 cm.) [23] back to 28:18 or, lapis
lazuli [24] back to 29:40 1
ephah is about 22 litres or about 2/3 of a bushel [25] back to 39:11 or, lapis lazuli
Bible Index
Exodus
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