34 1 The Tables are renewed. 6 The description of God. 12 All fellowship with idolaters is forbidden. 18 The feasts. 28 Moses is 40 days in the mount.  30 His face shineth, and he covereth it with a veil.

And the Lord said unto Moses, (A)Hew thee two Tables of stone, like unto the first, and I will write upon the Tables the words that were in the first Tables, which thou brakest in pieces.

And be ready in the morning, that thou mayest come up early unto the mount of Sinai, and [a]wait there for me in the top of the mount.

But let no man come up with thee, neither let any man be seen throughout all the mount; neither let the sheep nor cattle feed [b]before this mount.

Then Moses hewed [c]two Tables of stone like unto the first, and rose up early in the morning, and went up unto the mount of Sinai, as the Lord had commanded him, and took in his hand two Tables of stone.

And the Lord descended in the cloud, and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the Lord.

So the Lord passed before his face, and [d]cried, The Lord, the Lord, strong, merciful, and gracious, slow to anger, and abundant in goodness and truth.

Reserving mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity, and transgression and sin, and not [e]making the wicked innocent, (B)visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon children’s children, unto the third and fourth generation.

Then Moses made haste and bowed himself to the earth, and worshipped,

And said, O Lord, I pray thee, If I have found grace in thy sight, that the Lord would now go with us ([f]for it is a stiff-necked people) and pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us for thine inheritance.

10 And he answered, Behold, (C)I will make a covenant before all thy people, and will do marvels, such as have not been done in all the world, neither in all nations: and all the people among whom thou art, shall see the work of the Lord: for it is a terrible thing that I will do with thee.

11 Keep diligently that which I command thee this day: Behold, I will cast out before thee the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites.

12 (D)Take heed to thyself, that thou make no compact with the inhabitants of the land whither thou goest, lest they be the cause of [g]ruin among you:

13 But ye shall overthrow their altars, and break their images in pieces, and cut down their [h]groves,

14 (For thou shalt bow down to none other god, because the Lord, whose Name is (E)Jealous, is a jealous God.)

15 Lest thou make a (F)compact with the inhabitants of the land, and when they go a whoring after their gods, and do sacrifice unto their gods, some man call thee, and thou (G)eat of his sacrifice.

16 And lest thou take of their (H)daughters unto thy sons, and their daughters go a whoring after their gods, and make thy sons go a whoring after their gods.

17 Thou shalt make thee no gods of [i]metal.

18 The feast of (I)unleavened bread shalt thou keep: seven days shalt thou eat unleavened bread, as I commanded thee, in the time of the (J)month of Abib: for in the month of Abib thou camest out of Egypt.

19 (K)Every male that first openeth the womb, shall be mine: also all the firstborn of thy flock shall be reckoned mine, both of beeves and sheep.

20 But the first of the ass thou shalt buy out with a lamb: and if thou redeem him not, then thou shalt break his neck: all the firstborn of thy sons shalt thou redeem, and none shall appear before me(L)[j]empty.

21 (M)Six days shalt thou work, and in the seventh day thou shalt rest: both in earing time, and in the harvest thou shalt rest.

22 (N)Thou shalt also observe the feast of weeks in the time of the firstfruits, of wheat harvest, and the feast of gathering fruits in [k]the end of the year.

23 (O)Thrice in a year shall all your men children appear before the Lord Jehovah God of Israel.

24 For I will cast out the nations before thee and enlarge thy coasts, so that no man shall [l]desire thy land, when thou shalt come up to appear before the Lord thy God thrice in the year.

25 (P)Thou shall not offer the blood of my sacrifice with leaven, neither shall ought of the sacrifice of the feast of Passover be left unto the morning.

26 The first ripe fruits of thy land thou shalt bring unto the house of the Lord thy God: yet shalt thou not [m]seethe a kid in his mother’s milk.

27 And the Lord said unto Moses, Write thou these words: for after the tenor of (Q)these words I have made a covenant with thee and with Israel.

28 So he was there with the Lord [n]forty days and forty nights, and did neither eat bread nor drink water, and he wrote in the Tables (R)the words of the covenant, even the [o]Ten commandments.

29 ¶ So when Moses came down from mount Sinai, the two Tables of the Testimony were in Moses’ hand, as he descended from the mount: (now Moses wist not that the skin of his face shone bright, after that God had talked with him).

30 And Aaron and all the children of Israel looked upon Moses, and behold, the skin of his face shone bright, and they were [p]afraid to come near him.

31 But Moses called them: and Aaron and all the chief of the congregation returned unto him: and Moses talked with them.

32 And afterward all the children of Israel came near, and he charged them with all that the Lord had said unto him in mount Sinai.

33 So Moses made an end of communing with them, (S)and had put a covering upon his face.

34 But, when Moses came [q]before the Lord to speak with him, he took off the covering until he came out: then he came out, and spake unto the children of Israel that which he was commanded.

35 And the children of Israel saw the face of Moses, how the skin of Moses’ face shone bright: therefore Moses put the covering upon his face, until he went to speak with God.

Footnotes

  1. Exodus 34:2 Hebrew, stand to me.
  2. Exodus 34:3 Or, about.
  3. Exodus 34:4 Or, polished.
  4. Exodus 34:6 This ought to be referred to the Lord, and not to Moses proclaiming: as Exod. 33:19.
  5. Exodus 34:7 Hebrew, not making innocent.
  6. Exodus 34:9 Seeing the people are thus of nature, the rulers have need to call upon God that he would always be present with his Spirit.
  7. Exodus 34:12 If thou follow their wickedness, and pollute thyself with their idolatry.
  8. Exodus 34:13 Which pleasant places they chose for their idols.
  9. Exodus 34:17 As gold, silver, brass, or anything that is molten: And herein is condemned all manner of idols, whatsoever they be made of.
  10. Exodus 34:20 Without offering something.
  11. Exodus 34:22 Which was in September, when the sun declined which in the count of political things they called the end of the year.
  12. Exodus 34:24 God promiseth to defend them and theirs, which obey his commandment.
  13. Exodus 34:26 Read Exod. 23:1; Deut. 14:21.
  14. Exodus 34:28 This miracle was to confirm the authority of the law, and ought no more to be followed than other miracles.
  15. Exodus 34:28 Or, words.
  16. Exodus 34:30 Read 2 Cor. 3:7.
  17. Exodus 34:34 Which was in the Tabernacle of the congregation.

The New Stone Tablets

34 The Lord said to Moses, “Chisel out two stone tablets like the first ones,(A) and I will write on them the words that were on the first tablets,(B) which you broke.(C) Be ready in the morning, and then come up on Mount Sinai.(D) Present yourself to me there on top of the mountain. No one is to come with you or be seen anywhere on the mountain;(E) not even the flocks and herds may graze in front of the mountain.”

So Moses chiseled(F) 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.(G) Then the Lord came down in the cloud(H) and stood there with him and proclaimed his name, the Lord.(I) And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, “The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate(J) and gracious God, slow to anger,(K) abounding in love(L) and faithfulness,(M) maintaining love to thousands,(N) and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin.(O) Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished;(P) he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation.”(Q)

Moses bowed to the ground at once and worshiped. “Lord,” he said, “if I have found favor(R) in your eyes, then let the Lord go with us.(S) Although this is a stiff-necked(T) people, forgive our wickedness and our sin,(U) and take us as your inheritance.”(V)

10 Then the Lord said: “I am making a covenant(W) with you. Before all your people I will do wonders(X) never before done in any nation in all the world.(Y) The people you live among will see how awesome is the work that I, the Lord, will do for you. 11 Obey what I command(Z) you today. I will drive out before you the Amorites, Canaanites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites.(AA) 12 Be careful not to make a treaty(AB) with those who live in the land where you are going, or they will be a snare(AC) among you. 13 Break down their altars, smash their sacred stones and cut down their Asherah poles.[a](AD) 14 Do not worship any other god,(AE) for the Lord, whose name(AF) is Jealous, is a jealous God.(AG)

15 “Be careful not to make a treaty(AH) with those who live in the land; for when they prostitute(AI) themselves to their gods and sacrifice to them, they will invite you and you will eat their sacrifices.(AJ) 16 And when you choose some of their daughters as wives(AK) for your sons and those daughters prostitute themselves to their gods,(AL) they will lead your sons to do the same.

17 “Do not make any idols.(AM)

18 “Celebrate the Festival of Unleavened Bread.(AN) For seven days eat bread made without yeast,(AO) as I commanded you. Do this at the appointed time in the month of Aviv,(AP) for in that month you came out of Egypt.

19 “The first offspring(AQ) of every womb belongs to me, including all the firstborn males of your livestock, whether from herd or flock. 20 Redeem the firstborn donkey with a lamb, but if you do not redeem it, break its neck.(AR) Redeem all your firstborn sons.(AS)

“No one is to appear before me empty-handed.(AT)

21 “Six days you shall labor, but on the seventh day you shall rest;(AU) even during the plowing season and harvest(AV) you must rest.

22 “Celebrate the Festival of Weeks with the firstfruits(AW) of the wheat harvest, and the Festival of Ingathering(AX) at the turn of the year.[b] 23 Three times(AY) a year all your men are to appear before the Sovereign Lord, the God of Israel. 24 I will drive out nations(AZ) before you and enlarge your territory,(BA) 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,(BB) and do not let any of the sacrifice from the Passover Festival remain until morning.(BC)

26 “Bring the best of the firstfruits(BD) of your soil to the house of the Lord your God.

“Do not cook a young goat in its mother’s milk.”(BE)

27 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Write(BF) down these words, for in accordance with these words I have made a covenant(BG) with you and with Israel.” 28 Moses was there with the Lord forty days and forty nights(BH) without eating bread or drinking water.(BI) And he wrote on the tablets(BJ) the words of the covenant—the Ten Commandments.(BK)

The Radiant Face of Moses

29 When Moses came down from Mount Sinai(BL) with the two tablets of the covenant law in his hands,(BM) he was not aware that his face was radiant(BN) because he had spoken with the Lord. 30 When Aaron and all the Israelites saw Moses, his face was radiant, and they were afraid to come near him. 31 But Moses called to them; so Aaron and all the leaders of the community(BO) came back to him, and he spoke to them. 32 Afterward all the Israelites came near him, and he gave them all the commands(BP) the Lord had given him on Mount Sinai.

33 When Moses finished speaking to them, he put a veil(BQ) over his face. 34 But 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, 35 they saw that his face was radiant.(BR) Then Moses would put the veil back over his face until he went in to speak with the Lord.

Footnotes

  1. Exodus 34:13 That is, wooden symbols of the goddess Asherah
  2. Exodus 34:22 That is, in the autumn