Moses Gets New Stone Tablets

34 The Lord said to Moses, “·Cut [Hew out; Chisel] two more stone tablets like the ·first two [former], and I will write the same words on them that were on the ·first two [former] stones which you broke [32:15–16]. ² Be ready tomorrow morning, and then come up on Mount Sinai. Stand before me there on the top of the mountain. ³ No one may come with you or even be seen any place on the mountain. Not even the flocks or herds may ·eat grass [graze] near that mountain.”

⁴ So Moses ·cut [hewed out] two stone tablets like the ·first ones [former]. Then early the next morning he went up Mount Sinai, just as the Lord had commanded him, carrying the two stone tablets with him. ⁵ Then the Lord came down in the cloud and stood there with Moses, and the Lord called out his name: the Lord [^LYahweh; 3:14].

⁶ The Lord passed in front of Moses and said, “I am the Lord. The Lord is a God who shows ·mercy [compassion], who is ·kind [gracious], ·who doesn’t become angry quickly [patient], who has great ·love [loyalty] and faithfulness ⁷ and ·is kind [^Lguards/preserves loyalty] to thousands of people. The Lord forgives people for ·evil [iniquity], for ·sin [transgression], and for ·turning against him [sin], but he does not ·forget to punish guilty people [^Lclear]. He will punish not only the guilty people, but also their children, their grandchildren, ·their great-grandchildren, and their great-great-grandchildren [^Lto the third and fourth generations; Num. 14:18; Neh. 9:17; Ps. 86:15; 103:8; 145:8; Nah. 1:3].”

⁸ Then Moses quickly bowed to the ground and worshiped. ⁹ He said, “Lord, if ·you are pleased with me [^LI have found favor in your eyes], please, [^LLord] go with us. I know that these are ·stubborn [^Lstiff-necked] people, but forgive our ·evil [iniquity] and our sin. Take us as your ·own people [^Linheritance; possession].”

¹⁰ Then he said, “I am making this ·agreement [covenant; treaty] with you. I will do ·miracles [wonders] in front of all your people—things that have never before been done for any other nation on earth—and the people with you will see my work. I, the Lord, will do ·wonderful [awesome] things for you. ¹¹ ·Obey [Observe] the things I command you today, and I will ·force [drive] out the Amorites, Canaanites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites ahead of you. ¹² ·Be careful [Watch/Guard yourself] that you don’t ·make an agreement [^Lcut a covenant/treaty] with the people who live in the land where you are going, because ·it will bring you trouble [^Lthey will be a snare/trap in your midst]. ¹³ ·Destroy [Tear down] their altars, break their stone pillars, and cut down their Asherah ·idols [poles; ^Cobjects sacred to the Canaanite goddess of fertility]. ¹⁴ Don’t worship any other god, because I, the Lord, ·the Jealous One [^Lwhose name is Jealous], am a jealous God [20:5].

¹⁵ “Be careful that you don’t ·make an agreement [^Lcut a covenant] with the people who live in that land. When they ·worship [^Lwhore after and sacrifice to] their gods, they will invite you to join them. Then you will eat their sacrifices. ¹⁶ If you ·choose [take] some of their daughters as wives for your sons and those daughters ·worship [^Lwhore after other] gods, they will lead your sons to ·do the same thing [^Lwhore after their gods].

¹⁷ “Do not make gods of ·melted [cast] metal [20:4–6].

¹⁸ “Celebrate the Feast of Unleavened Bread [12:17–20]. For seven days you must eat ·bread made without yeast [unleavened bread] as I commanded you. Do this ·during the month I have chosen, [^Lat the appointed time in] the month of Abib [13:4], because in ·that month [^Lthe month of Abib] you came out of Egypt.

¹⁹ “·The firstborn of every mother [^LEverything that first opens the womb] belongs to me, including every firstborn male animal that is born in your flocks and herds. ²⁰ You may ·buy back [redeem; ransom] a donkey ·by paying for it with [^Lwith] a lamb, but if you don’t want to ·buy back a donkey [^Lredeem; ransom], you must break its neck. You must ·buy back [redeem; ransom] all your firstborn sons [13:11–13].

“No one is to come before me ·without a gift [^Lempty-handed].

²¹ “You must work for six days, but on the seventh day you must rest—even during the ·planting [plowing] season and the harvest season [20:8–11].

²² “Celebrate the Feast of Weeks when you gather the first grain of the wheat harvest [23:16]. And celebrate the Feast of ·Shelters [^LIngathering] ·in the fall [^Lat the turn of the year; 23:17].

²³ “Three times each year all your males must ·come [^Lappear] before the Lord God, the God of Israel. ²⁴ I will ·force out [dispossess] nations ahead of you and ·expand [enlarge] the borders of your land. You will go before the Lord your God three times each year, and at that time no one will ·try to take [^Lcovet] your land from you.

²⁵ “Do not offer the blood of a sacrifice to me with ·anything containing yeast [leaven], and do not leave any of the sacrifice of the Feast of Passover until the next morning [12:10].

²⁶ “Bring the ·best first crops [firstfruits; 23:19] that you harvest from your ground to the ·Tent [^Lhouse] of the Lord your God.

“You must not cook a young goat in its mother’s milk [23:19].”

²⁷ Then the Lord said to Moses, “Write down these words, because with these words I have ·made an agreement [^Lcut a covenant] with you and Israel.”

²⁸ Moses stayed there with the Lord forty days and forty nights, and during that time he did not eat food or drink water. And Moses wrote the words of the ·Agreement [Covenant; Treaty]—the Ten ·Commandments [^LWords]—on the stone tablets.

The Face of Moses Shines

²⁹ Then Moses came down from Mount Sinai, carrying the two stone tablets of the ·Agreement [Covenant; Testimony; Treaty] in his hands. But he did not know that his face was shining because he had talked with the Lord [^Creflecting God’s holiness and glory and demonstrating Moses’ authority]. ³⁰ When Aaron and all the ·people [^Lsons; children] of Israel saw that Moses’ face was shining, they were afraid to go near him. ³¹ But Moses called to them, so Aaron and all the ·leaders of the people [^Lmen of the community/congregation/assembly] returned to Moses, and he talked with them. ³² After that, all the ·people [^Lsons; children] of Israel came near him, and he gave them all the commands that the Lord had given him on Mount Sinai.

³³ When Moses finished speaking to the people, he put a ·covering [veil] over his face. ³⁴ Anytime Moses went before the Lord to speak with him, Moses took off the ·covering [veil] until he came out. Then Moses would come out and tell the Israelites what the Lord had commanded. ³⁵ They would see that Moses’ face was shining. So he would ·cover [veil] his face again until the next time he went in to speak with the Lord [2 Cor. 3:12–18].