Exodus 34
34
The second set of commandments
(Deuteronomy 10.1-5)
1One day the LORD said to Moses, “Cut two flat stones like the first ones I made, and I will write on them the same commandments that were on the two you broke. 2Be ready tomorrow morning to come up Mount Sinai and meet me at the top. 3No one is to come with you or to be on the mountain at all. Don't even let the sheep and cattle graze at the foot of the mountain.” 4So Moses cut two flat stones like the first ones, and early the next morning he carried them to the top of Mount Sinai, just as the LORD had commanded.
5The LORD God came down in a cloud and stood beside Moses there on the mountain. God spoke his holy name, “the LORD”.#34.5 the LORD: See the note at 3.14,15. 6Then he passed in front of Moses and called out, “I am the LORD God. I am merciful and very patient with my people. I show great love, and I can be trusted.#Ex 20.5,6; Nu 14.18; Dt 5.9,10; 7.9,10. 7I keep my promises to my people for ever, but I also punish anyone who sins. When people sin, I punish them and their children, and also their grandchildren and great-grandchildren.”
8Moses quickly bowed down to the ground and worshipped the LORD. 9He prayed, “LORD, if you really are pleased with me, I pray that you will go with us. It is true that these people are sinful and rebellious, but forgive our sin and let us be your people.”
A promise and its demands
(Exodus 23.14-19; Deuteronomy 7.1-5; 16.1-17)
10The LORD said:
I promise to perform miracles for you that have never been seen anywhere on earth. Neighbouring nations will stand in fear and know that I was the one who did these marvellous things. 11I will force out the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, but you must do what I command you today. 12Don't make treaties with any of those people. If you do, it will be like falling into a trap. 13Instead, you must destroy their altars and tear down the sacred poles#34.13 sacred poles: Or “trees”, used as symbols of Asherah, the goddess of fertility. they use in the worship of the goddess Asherah.#Dt 16.21. 14I demand your complete loyalty—you must not worship any other god! 15Don't make treaties with the people there, or you will soon find yourselves worshipping their gods and taking part in their sacrificial meals. 16Your men will even marry their women and be influenced to worship their gods.
17Don't make metal images of gods.#Ex 20.4; Lv 19.4; Dt 5.8; 27.15.
18Don't fail to observe the Festival of Thin Bread in the month of Abib.#34.18 Abib: See the note at 12.2. Obey me and eat bread without yeast for seven days during Abib, because that is the month you left Egypt.#Ex 12.14-20; Lv 23.6-8; Nu 28.16-25.
19The firstborn males of your families and of your flocks and herds belong to me.#Ex 13.2.
20You can save the life of a firstborn donkey#34.20 donkey: See the note at 13.13. by sacrificing a lamb; if you don't, you must break the donkey's neck. You must save every firstborn son.#Ex 13.13.
Bring an offering every time you come to worship.
21Do your work in six days and rest on the seventh day, even during the seasons for ploughing and harvesting.#Ex 20.9,10; 23.12; 31.15; 35.2; Lv 23.3; Dt 5.13,14. 22Celebrate the Harvest Festival#34.22 Harvest Festival: See the note at 23.16. each spring when you start harvesting your wheat, and celebrate the Festival of Shelters#34.22 Festival of Shelters: See the note at 23.16. each autumn when you pick your fruit.#Lv 23.15-21; Nu 28.26-31; Lv 23.39-43.
23Your men must come to worship me three times a year, because I am the LORD God of Israel. 24I will force the nations out of your land and enlarge your borders. Then no one will try to take your property when you come to worship me these three times each year.
25When you sacrifice an animal on the altar, don't offer bread made with yeast. And don't save any part of the Passover meal for the next day.#Ex 12.10.
26I am the LORD your God, and you must bring the first part of your harvest to the place of worship.#Dt 26.2; Dt 14.21.
Don't boil a young goat in its mother's milk.
27The LORD told Moses to put these laws in writing, as part of his agreement with Israel. 28Moses stayed on the mountain with the LORD for forty days and nights, without eating or drinking. And he wrote down the Ten Commandments, the most important part of God's agreement with his people.
Moses comes down from Mount Sinai
29Moses came down from Mount Sinai, carrying the Ten Commandments. His face was shining brightly because the LORD had been speaking to him. But Moses did not know at first that his face was shining.#2 Co 3.7-16. 30When Aaron and the others looked at Moses, they saw that his face was shining, and they were afraid to go near him. 31Moses called out for Aaron and the leaders to come to him, and he spoke with them. 32Then the rest of the people of Israel gathered around Moses, and he gave them the laws that the LORD had given him on Mount Sinai.
33The face of Moses kept shining, and after he had spoken with the people, he covered his face with a veil. 34Moses would always remove the veil when he went into the sacred tent to speak with the LORD. And when he came out, he would tell the people everything the LORD had told him to say. 35They could see that his face was still shining. So after he had spoken with them, he would put the veil back on and leave it on until the next time he went to speak with the LORD.
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Exodus 34: CEVUK
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© British and Foreign Bible Society 2012
Exodus 34
34
The new stone tablets
1The Lord said to Moses, ‘Chisel out two stone tablets like the first ones, and I will write on them the words that were on the first tablets, which you broke. 2Be ready in the morning, and then come up on Mount Sinai. Present yourself to me there on top of the mountain. 3No-one is to come with you or be seen anywhere on the mountain; not even the flocks and herds may graze in front of the mountain.’
4So Moses chiselled out two stone tablets like the first ones and went up Mount Sinai early in the morning, as the Lord had commanded him; and he carried the two stone tablets in his hands. 5Then the Lord came down in the cloud and stood there with him and proclaimed his name, the Lord. 6And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, ‘The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, 7maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation.’
8Moses bowed to the ground at once and worshipped. 9‘Lord,’ he said, ‘if I have found favour in your eyes, then let the Lord go with us. Although this is a stiff-necked people, forgive our wickedness and our sin, and take us as your inheritance.’
10Then the Lord said: ‘I am making a covenant with you. Before all your people I will do wonders never before done in any nation in all the world. The people you live among will see how awesome is the work that I, the Lord, will do for you. 11Obey what I command you today. I will drive out before you the Amorites, Canaanites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. 12Be careful not to make a treaty with those who live in the land where you are going, or they will be a snare among you. 13Break down their altars, smash their sacred stones and cut down their Asherah poles.#34:13 That is, wooden symbols of the goddess Asherah 14Do not worship any other god, for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God.
15‘Be careful not to make a treaty with those who live in the land; for when they prostitute themselves to their gods and sacrifice to them, they will invite you and you will eat their sacrifices. 16And when you choose some of their daughters as wives for your sons and those daughters prostitute themselves to their gods, they will lead your sons to do the same.
17‘Do not make any idols.
18‘Celebrate the Festival of Unleavened Bread. For seven days eat bread made without yeast, as I commanded you. Do this at the appointed time in the month of Aviv, for in that month you came out of Egypt.
19‘The first offspring of every womb belongs to me, including all the firstborn males of your livestock, whether from herd or flock. 20Redeem the firstborn donkey with a lamb, but if you do not redeem it, break its neck. Redeem all your firstborn sons.
‘No-one is to appear before me empty-handed.
21‘Six days you shall labour, but on the seventh day you shall rest; even during the ploughing season and harvest you must rest.
22‘Celebrate the Festival of Weeks with the firstfruits of the wheat harvest, and the Festival of Ingathering at the turn of the year.#34:22 That is, in the autumn 23Three times a year all your men are to appear before the Sovereign Lord, the God of Israel. 24I will drive out nations before you and enlarge your territory, and no-one will covet your land when you go up three times each year to appear before the Lord your God.
25‘Do not offer the blood of a sacrifice to me along with anything containing yeast, and do not let any of the sacrifice from the Passover Festival remain until morning.
26‘Bring the best of the firstfruits of your soil to the house of the Lord your God.
‘Do not cook a young goat in its mother’s milk.’
27Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Write down these words, for in accordance with these words I have made a covenant with you and with Israel.’ 28Moses was there with the Lord forty days and forty nights without eating bread or drinking water. And he wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant – the Ten Commandments.
The radiant face of Moses
29When Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of the covenant law in his hands, he was not aware that his face was radiant because he had spoken with the Lord. 30When Aaron and all the Israelites saw Moses, his face was radiant, and they were afraid to come near him. 31But Moses called to them; so Aaron and all the leaders of the community came back to him, and he spoke to them. 32Afterwards all the Israelites came near him, and he gave them all the commands the Lord had given him on Mount Sinai.
33When Moses finished speaking to them, he put a veil over his face. 34But whenever he entered the Lord’s presence to speak with him, he removed the veil until he came out. And when he came out and told the Israelites what he had been commanded, 35they saw that his face was radiant. Then Moses would put the veil back over his face until he went in to speak with the Lord.
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