Exodus 34

The Two Tablets Replaced

1Now the Lord said to Moses, “Cut out for yourself two stone tablets like the former ones, and I 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 Mount Sinai, and #34:2 Or place yourself before Mepresent yourself there to Me on the top of the mountain. 3And no one is to come up with you, nor let anyone be seen #34:3 Lit on allanywhere on the mountain; even the flocks and the herds are not to graze in front of that mountain.” 4So he cut out two 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 the Lord descended in the cloud and stood there with him as he #34:5 Or called out with the name of the Lordcalled upon the name of the Lord. 6Then the Lord passed by in front of him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord God, compassionate and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in faithfulness and #34:6 Or trustworthinesstruth; 7who keeps faithfulness for thousands, who forgives wrongdoing, violation of His Law, and sin; yet He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished, inflicting the #34:7 I.e., punishment for the wrongdoingpunishment of fathers on the children and on the grandchildren to the third and fourth generations.” 8And Moses hurried #34:8 Lit and bowed...worshipedto bow low toward the ground and worship. 9Then he said, “If in any way I have found favor in Your sight, Lord, please may the Lord go along in our midst, even though #34:9 Lit it is a people stiff-neckedthe people are so obstinate, and pardon our wrongdoing and our sin, and take us as Your own #34:9 Or inheritancepossession.”

The Covenant Renewed

10Then #34:10 Lit HeGod said, “Behold, I am going to make a covenant. Before all your people I will perform miracles which have not been #34:10 Lit createdproduced in all the earth nor among any of the nations; and all the people #34:10 Lit in whose midst you areamong 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“#34:11 Lit Observe for yourselfBe sure to comply with what I am commanding you this day: behold, I am going to drive out the Amorite from you, and the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite. 12Be 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. 13But rather, you are to tear down their altars and smash their memorial stones, and cut down their #34:13 I.e., wooden symbols of a female deity (Asherah)Asherim 14—for you 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 sacrifice to their gods, and someone might invite you #34:15 Lit and you eatto eat of his sacrifice, 16and you 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. 17You shall not make for yourself any gods cast in metal.

18“You shall keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread. For seven days you are to eat unleavened bread, #34:18 Or whichas I commanded you, at the appointed time in the month of Abib; for in the month of Abib you came out of Egypt.

19“The #34:19 Lit every firstborn of a wombfirstborn from every womb belongs to Me, and all your male livestock, the #34:19 Lit every firstborn of a wombfirstborn from #34:19 Or oxencattle and sheep. 20You 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 all the firstborn of your sons. #34:20 Lit They shall notNone are to appear before Me empty-handed.

21“You shall work six days, but on the seventh day you shall rest; even during plowing time and harvest you shall rest. 22And you shall celebrate the Feast of Weeks, that is, the first fruits of the wheat harvest, and the Feast of Ingathering at the turn of the year. 23Three times a year all your males are to appear before the Lord #34:23 Heb YHWH, usually rendered LordGod, the God of Israel. 24For I will #34:24 Or dispossessdrive 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“You shall not #34:25 Lit slaughteroffer the blood of My sacrifice with leavened bread, nor is the sacrifice of the Feast of the Passover to #34:25 Lit remain overnightbe left over until morning.

26“You shall bring the 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, “Write #34:27 Lit for yourselfdown these words, for in accordance with these words I have made a covenant with you and with Israel.” 28So he was there with the Lord for forty days and forty nights; he did not eat bread or drink water. And #34:28 I.e., the LordHe wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant, the Ten #34:28 Lit WordsCommandments.

Moses’ Face Shines

29And it came about, when Moses was coming down from Mount Sinai (and the two tablets of the testimony were in Moses’ hand as he was coming down from the mountain), that Moses did not know that the 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 they 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 #34:32 Lit withto him on Mount Sinai. 33When Moses had finished speaking with them, he put a veil over his face. 34But whenever Moses went in before the Lord to speak with Him, he 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, 35the 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.

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Exodus 34: NASB2020

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