The Lampstand and the Holy Bread

24 The Lord said to Moses, ² “Command the ·people [^Lsons; children] of Israel to bring you pure oil from crushed olives. That oil is for the lamps so that these lamps may never go out. ³ Aaron will keep the lamps burning in the Meeting Tent from evening until morning before the Lord; this is ·in front of [^Loutside] the curtain of the ·Ark of the Agreement [Covenant; Treaty; ^LTestimony]. This ·law [statute; ordinance; regulation] will continue ·from now on [^Lthroughout your generations]. ⁴ Aaron must always keep the lamps burning on the ·lampstand of pure gold [^Lpure lampstand/Menorah; Ex. 25:31–40] before the Lord.

⁵ “Take ·fine [choice] flour and bake twelve loaves of bread with it, using ·four quarts [^Ltwo-tenths of an ephah] of flour for each loaf. ⁶ Put them in two rows on the ·golden [^Lpure] table [Ex. 25:23–30] before the Lord, six loaves in each row. ⁷ Put pure incense on each row as the memorial portion to take the place of the bread. It is an offering made by fire to the Lord. ⁸ Every Sabbath day Aaron will put the bread in order before the Lord, as an ·agreement [covenant; treaty] with the people of Israel that will continue forever. ⁹ That bread will belong to Aaron and his sons. They will eat it in a holy place, because it is a most holy part of the offerings made by fire to the Lord. That bread is their share forever.”

The Man Who Cursed God

¹⁰ Now there was a son of an Israelite woman and an Egyptian father who ·was walking [^Lcame out] among the Israelites. A fight broke out in the camp between him and an Israelite. ¹¹ The son of the Israelite woman began cursing and ·speaking against the Lord [^Lblaspheming the name], so the people took him to Moses. (The mother’s name was Shelomith, the daughter of Dibri from the family of Dan.) ¹² The people ·held him as a prisoner [put him in custody] while they waited for the Lord’s ·command [decision; will] to be made clear to them.

¹³ Then the Lord said to Moses, ¹⁴ “Take the one who ·spoke against [^Lcursed; blasphemed] me outside the camp. Then all the people who heard him must put their hands on his head, and all the ·people [community; assembly; congregation] must ·throw stones at him and kill [stone] him. ¹⁵ Tell the ·people [^Lsons; children] of Israel this: ‘If anyone curses his God, he is guilty of sin [Ex. 20:7; Deut. 5:11]. ¹⁶ Anyone who ·speaks against [^Lcurses/blasphemes the name of] the Lord must be put to death; all the ·people [community; assembly; congregation] must ·kill him by throwing stones at [stone] him. ·Foreigners [Sojourners; Wanderers; Resident aliens] must be punished just like ·the people born in Israel [natives]; if they ·speak against the Lord [^Lcurse/blaspheme the name], they must be put to death.

¹⁷ “‘Whoever ·kills [^Lstrikes] another person must be put to death. ¹⁸ Whoever ·kills [^Lstrikes] an animal that belongs to another person must give that person another animal to take its place. ¹⁹ And whoever causes an injury to a ·neighbor [countryman] must receive the same kind of injury in return: ²⁰ Broken bone for broken bone, eye for eye, tooth for tooth. Anyone who injures another person must be injured in the same way in return [Ex. 21:24]. ²¹ Whoever ·kills [^Lstrikes] another person’s animal must give that person another animal to take its place. But whoever ·kills [strikes] another person must be put to death.

²² “‘The ·law [regulation; standard] will be the same for the ·foreigner [sojouner; wanderer; resident alien] as for ·those from your own country [the native]. I am the Lord your God.’”

²³ Then Moses spoke to the ·people [^Lsons; children] of Israel, and they took the person who had cursed outside the camp and ·killed him by throwing stones at [stoned] him. So the ·people [^Lsons; children] of Israel did as the Lord had commanded Moses.