Exodus 34

The Two Tablets Replaced

1Now the Lord said to Moses, “Cut out for yourself 1two stone tablets like the former ones, and 2I will write on the tablets the words that were on the former tablets which you shattered. 2So be ready by morning, and come up in the morning to 3Mount Sinai, and 4present yourself there to Me on the top of the mountain. 35No man is to come up with you, nor let any man be seen 6anywhere on the mountain; even the flocks and the herds may not graze in front of that mountain.” 4So he cut out 7two stone tablets like the former ones, and Moses rose up early in the morning and went up to Mount Sinai, as the Lord had commanded him, and he took two stone tablets in his hand. 58The Lord descended in the cloud and stood there with him as 9he called upon the name of the Lord. 6Then the Lord passed by in front of him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord God, 10compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and 11truth; 7who 12keeps lovingkindness for thousands, who forgives iniquity, transgression and sin; yet He 13will by no means leave the guilty unpunished, 14visiting the iniquity of fathers on the children and on the grandchildren to the third and fourth generations.” 8Moses made haste 1516to bow low toward the earth and worship. 9He said, “17If now I have found favor in Your sight, O Lord, I pray, let the Lord go along in our midst, even though 1819the people are so obstinate, and 20pardon our iniquity and our sin, and 21take us as Your own 22possession.”

The Covenant Renewed

10Then 23God said, “Behold, 24I am going to make a covenant. Before all your people 25I will perform miracles which have not been 26produced in all the earth nor among any of the nations; and all the people 27among whom you live will see the working of the Lord, for it is a fearful thing that I am going to perform with you.

11“28Be sure to observe what I am commanding you this day: behold, 29I am going to drive out the Amorite before you, and the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Perizzite, the Hivite and the Jebusite. 1230Watch yourself that you make no covenant with the inhabitants of the land into which you are going, or it will become a snare in your midst. 1331But rather, you are to tear down their altars and smash their sacred pillars and cut down their 3233Asherim 14--for 34you shall not worship any other god, for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God-- 15otherwise you might make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land and they would play the harlot with their gods and 35sacrifice to their gods, and someone 36might invite you 37to eat of his sacrifice, 16and 38you might take some of his daughters for your sons, and his daughters might play the harlot with their gods and cause your sons also to play the harlot with their gods. 1739You shall make for yourself no molten gods.

18“You shall observe 40the Feast of Unleavened Bread. For 41seven days you are to eat unleavened bread, 42as I commanded you, at the appointed time in the 43month of Abib, for in the month of Abib you came out of Egypt.

19“44The first offspring from every womb belongs to Me, and all your male livestock, the first offspring from 45cattle and sheep. 2046You shall redeem with a lamb the 47first offspring from a donkey; and if you do not redeem it, then you shall break its neck. You shall redeem 48all the firstborn of your sons. 4950None shall appear before Me empty-handed.

21“You shall work 51six days, but on the seventh day you shall rest; even during plowing time and harvest you shall rest. 22You shall celebrate 52the Feast of Weeks, that is, the first fruits of the wheat harvest, and the Feast of Ingathering at the turn of the year. 2353Three times a year all your males are to appear before the Lord 54God, the God of Israel. 24For I will 5556drive out nations before you and enlarge your borders, and no man shall covet your land when you go up three times a year to appear before the Lord your God.

25“57You shall not 58offer the blood of My sacrifice with leavened bread, 59nor is the sacrifice of the Feast of the Passover to 60be left over until morning.

26“You shall bring 61the very first of the first fruits of your soil into the house of the Lord your God.

“You shall not boil a young goat in its mother’s milk.”

27Then the Lord said to Moses, “62Write 63down these words, for in accordance with these words I have made 64a covenant with you and with Israel.” 28So he was there with the Lord 65forty days and forty nights; he did not eat bread or drink water. And 6667he wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant, 68the Ten 69Commandments.

Moses’ Face Shines

29It came about when Moses was coming down from Mount Sinai (and the 70two tablets of the testimony were in Moses’ hand as he was coming down from the mountain), that Moses did not know that 71the skin of his face shone because of his speaking with Him. 30So when Aaron and all the sons of Israel saw Moses, behold, the skin of his face shone, and 72they were afraid to come near him. 31Then Moses called to them, and Aaron and all the rulers in the congregation returned to him; and Moses spoke to them. 32Afterward all the sons of Israel came near, and he commanded them to do everything that the Lord had spoken 73to him on Mount Sinai. 33When Moses had finished speaking with them, 74he put a veil over his face. 34But whenever Moses went in before the Lord to speak with Him, 75he would take off the veil until he came out; and whenever he came out and spoke to the sons of Israel what he had been commanded, 3576the sons of Israel would see the face of Moses, that the skin of Moses’ face shone. So Moses would replace the veil over his face until he went in to speak with Him.