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 smashed. 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. 3And 5no one is to come up with you, nor let anyone be seen 6anywhere on the mountain; even the flocks and the herds are not to graze in front of that mountain.” 4So he cut out 7two stone tablets like the former ones, and Moses got up early in the morning and went up to Mount Sinai, as the Lord had commanded him, and he took the two stone tablets in his hand. 5And 8the Lord descended in the cloud and stood there with him as he 9called upon the name of the Lord. 6Then the Lord passed by in front of him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord God, 10compassionate and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in faithfulness and 11truth; 7who 12keeps faithfulness for thousands, who forgives wrongdoing, violation of His Law, and sin; yet He 13will by no means leave the guilty unpunished, 14inflicting the 15punishment of fathers on the children and on the grandchildren to the third and fourth generations.” 8And Moses hurried 1617to bow low toward the ground and worship. 9Then he said, “18If in any way I have found favor in Your sight, Lord, please may the Lord go along in our midst, even though 1920the people are so obstinate, and 21pardon our wrongdoing and our sin, and 22take us as Your own 23possession.”

The Covenant Renewed

10Then 24God said, “Behold, 25I am going to make a covenant. Before all your people 26I will perform miracles which have not been 27produced in all the earth nor among any of the nations; and all the people 28among 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“29Be sure to comply with what I am commanding you this day: behold, 30I am going to drive out the Amorite from you, and the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite. 1231Be careful that you do not make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land into which you are going, or it will become a snare in your midst. 1332But rather, you are to tear down their altars and smash their memorial stones, and cut down their 3334Asherim 14--for 35you shall not worship any other god, because 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 prostitute themselves with their gods and 36sacrifice to their gods, and someone 37might invite you 38to eat of his sacrifice, 16and 39you might take some of his daughters for your sons, and his daughters might prostitute themselves with their gods and cause your sons also to prostitute themselves with their gods. 1740You shall not make for yourself any gods cast in metal.

18“You shall keep 41the Feast of Unleavened Bread. For 42seven days you are to eat unleavened bread, 43as I commanded you, at the appointed time in the 44month of Abib; for in the month of Abib you came out of Egypt.

19“45The 46firstborn from every womb belongs to Me, and all your male livestock, the 47firstborn from 48cattle and sheep. 2049You shall redeem with a lamb the firstborn from a donkey; and if you do not redeem it, then you shall break its neck. You shall redeem 50all the firstborn of your sons. 5152None are to appear before Me empty-handed.

21“You shall work 53six days, but on the seventh day you shall rest; even during plowing time and harvest you shall rest. 22And you shall celebrate 54the Feast of Weeks, that is, the first fruits of the wheat harvest, and the Feast of Ingathering at the turn of the year. 2355Three times a year all your males are to appear before the Lord 56God, the God of Israel. 24For I will 5758drive out nations from you and enlarge your borders, and no one will covet your land when you go up three times a year to appear before the Lord your God.

25“59You shall not 60offer the blood of My sacrifice with leavened bread, 61nor is the sacrifice of the Feast of the Passover to 62be left over until morning.

26“You shall bring 63the 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, “64Write 65down these words, for in accordance with these words I have made 66a covenant with you and with Israel.” 28So he was there with the Lord for 67forty days and forty nights; he did not eat bread or drink water. And 6869He wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant, 70the Ten 71Commandments.

Moses’ Face Shines

29And it came about, when Moses was coming down from Mount Sinai (and the 72two tablets of the testimony were in Moses’ hand as he was coming down from the mountain), that Moses did not know that 73the 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 74they were afraid to approach 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 75to him on Mount Sinai. 33When Moses had finished speaking with them, 76he put a veil over his face. 34But whenever Moses went in before the Lord to speak with Him, 77he 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, 3578the sons of Israel would see the face of Moses, that the skin of Moses’ face shone. So Moses would put the veil back over his face until he went in to speak with Him.