Exodus 34

1 And after this he said: Hew thee two tables of stone like unto the former, and I will write upon them the words which were in the tables, which thou brokest.

Yahweh said to Moses, “Cut two tablets of stone like the first tablets. I will write on these tablets the words that were on the first tablets, the tablets that you broke.

2 Be ready in the morning, that thou mayst forthwith go up into mount Sinai, and thou shalt stand with me upon the top of the mount.

Be ready by morning and come up Mount Sinai, and present yourself there to me on the mountain top.

3 Let no man go up with thee: and let not any man be seen throughout all the mount: neither let the oxen nor the sheep feed over against it.

No one is to come up with you. Do not let anyone else be seen anywhere on the mountain. No flocks or herds are even to graze in front of the mountain.”

4 Then he cut out two tables of stone, such as had been before: and rising very early he went up into the mount Sinai, as the Lord had commanded him, carrying with him the tables.

So Moses cut two tablets of stone like the first ones, and he got up early in the morning and went up Mount Sinai, as Yahweh had instructed him. Moses carried the tablets of stone in his hand.

5 And when the Lord was come down in a cloud, Moses stood with him, calling upon the name of the Lord.

Yahweh came down in the cloud and stood with Moses there, and he pronounced the name “Yahweh.”

6 And when he passed before him, he said: O the Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, patient and of much compassion, and true,

Yahweh passed by before him and proclaimed, “Yahweh, Yahweh, God is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in covenant faithfulness and trustworthiness,

7 Who keepest mercy unto thousands: who takest away iniquity, and wickedness, and sin, and no man of himself is innocent before thee. Who renderest the iniquity of the fathers to the children, and to the grandchildren, unto the third and fourth generation.

keeping covenant faithfulness for thousands of generations, forgiving iniquities, transgressions, and sins. But he will by no means clear the guilty. He will bring the punishment for the fathers' sin on their children and on their children's children, as far as the third and fourth generations.”

8 And Moses making haste, bowed down prostrate unto the earth, and adoring,

Moses quickly bowed his head to the ground and worshiped.

9 Said: If I have found grace in thy sight: O Lord, I beseech thee, that thou wilt go with us, (for it is a stiffnecked people, ) and take away our iniquities and sin, and possess us.

Then he said, “If now I have found favor in your eyes, my Lord, please go among us, for this people is stubborn. Pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us as your inheritance.”

10 The Lord answered: I will make a covenant in the sight of all. I will do signs such as were never seen upon the earth, nor in any nation: that this people, in the midst of whom thou art, may see the terrible work of the Lord which I will do.

Yahweh said, “See, I am about to make a covenant. Before all your people, I will do marvels such as have not been done in all the earth nor in any nation. All the people among you will see my deeds, for it is a fearful thing that I am doing with you.

11 Observe all things which this day I command thee: I myself will drive out before thy face the Amorrhite, and the Chanaanite, and the Hethite, and the Pherezite, and the Hevite, and the Jebusite.

Obey what I command you today. I am about to drive out before you the Amorites, Canaanites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites.

12 Beware thou never join in friendship with the inhabitants of that land, which may be thy ruin:

Be careful not to make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land where you are going, or they will become a trap among you.

13 But destroy their altars, break their statues, and cut down their groves:

Instead, you must break down their altars, smash their stone pillars, and cut down their Asherah poles.

14 Adore not any strange god. The Lord his name is Jealous, he is a jealous God.

For you must worship no other god, for Yahweh, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God.

15 Make no covenant with the men of those countries lest, when they have committed fornication with their gods, and have adored their idols, some one call thee to eat of the things sacrificed.

So be careful not to make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, for they prostitute themselves to their gods, and they sacrifice to their gods. Then one of them will invite you and you will eat some of his sacrifice,

16 Neither shalt thou take of their daughters a wife for thy son, lest after they themselves have committed fornication, they make thy sons also to commit fornication with their gods.

and then you will even take some of his daughters for your sons, and his daughters will prostitute themselves to their gods, and they will make your sons prostitute themselves to their gods.

17 Thou shalt not make to thyself any molten gods.

Do not make for yourselves gods of molten metal.

18 Thou shalt keep the feast of the unleavened bread. Seven days shalt thou eat unleavened bread, as I commanded thee in the time of the month of the new corn: for in the month of the springtime thou camest out from Egypt.

You must keep the Festival of Unleavened Bread. As I commanded you, you must eat bread without yeast for seven days at the fixed time in the month of Aviv, for it was in the month of Aviv you came out from Egypt.

19 All of the male kind, that openeth the womb, shall be mine. Of all beasts, both of oxen and of sheep, it shall be mine.

All the firstborn are mine, even every male firstborn of your cattle, both of oxen and sheep.

20 The firstling of an ass thou shalt redeem with a sheep: but if thou wilt not give a price for it, it shall be slain. The firstborn of thy sons thou shalt redeem: neither shalt thou appear before me empty.

You must buy back the firstborn of a donkey with a lamb, but if you do not buy it back, then you must break its neck. You must buy back all the firstborn of your sons. No one may appear before me empty-handed.

21 Six days shalt thou work, the seventh day thou shalt cease to plough, and to reap.

You may work for six days, but on the seventh day you must rest. Even at plowing time and in harvest, you must rest.

22 Thou shalt keep the feast of weeks with the firstfruits of the corn of thy wheat harvest, and the feast when the time of the year returneth that all things are laid in.

You must observe the Festival of Weeks with the first yield of the wheat harvest, and you must observe the Festival of Ingathering at the year's end.

23 Three times in a year all thy males shall appear in the sight of the Almighty Lord the God of Israel.

Three times a year all your men must appear before Lord Yahweh, the God of Israel.

24 For when I shall have taken away the nations from thy face, and shall have enlarged thy borders, no man shall lie in wait against thy land when thou shalt go up, and appear in the sight of the Lord thy God thrice in a year.

For I will drive out nations before you and expand your borders. No one will desire to have your land as their own when you go up to appear before Yahweh your God three times in a year.

25 Thou shalt not offer the blood of my sacrifice upon leaven: neither shall there remain in the morning any thing of the victim of the solemnity of the Lord.

You must not offer the blood of my sacrifice with any yeast, nor may any meat from the sacrifice at the Festival of the Passover be left over to the morning.

26 The first of the fruits of thy ground thou shalt offer in the house of the Lord thy God. Thou shalt not boil a kid in the milk of his dam.

You must bring the best of the firstfruits from your fields to my house. You must not boil a young goat in its mother's milk.”

27 And the Lord said to Moses: Write these words by which I have made a covenant both with thee and with Israel.

Yahweh said to Moses, “Write down these words, for in accordance with these words I have made a covenant with you and with Israel.”

28 And he was there with the Lord forty days and forty nights: he neither ate bread nor drank water, and he wrote upon the tables the ten words of the covenant.

Moses was there with Yahweh for forty days and nights; he did not eat any food nor drink any water. He wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant, the Ten Commandments.

29 And when Moses came down from the mount Sinai, he held the two tables of the testimony, and he knew not that his face was horned from the conversation of the Lord.

When Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of the covenant decrees in his hand, he did not know that the skin of his face had become radiant while speaking with God.

30 And Aaron and the children of Israel seeing the face of Moses horned, were afraid to come near.

When Aaron and the Israelites saw Moses, the skin of his face was shining, and they were afraid to come near him.

31 And being called by him, they returned, both Aaron and the rulers of the congregation. And after that he spoke to them.

But Moses called to them, and Aaron and all the leaders of the community came up to him. Then Moses spoke with them.

32 And all the children of Israel came to him: and he gave them in commandment all that he had heard of the Lord in mount Sinai.

After this, all the people of Israel came up to Moses, and he told them all the commands that Yahweh had given him on Mount Sinai.

33 And having done speaking, he put a veil upon his face.

When Moses had finished speaking with them, he put a veil over his face.

34 But when he went in to the Lord, and spoke with him, he took it away until he came forth, and then he spoke to the children of Israel all things that had been commanded him.

Whenever Moses went before Yahweh to speak with him, he would remove the veil, until he came out. When he came out, he would tell the Israelites what he was commanded to say.

35 And they saw that the face of Moses when he came out was horned, but he covered his face again, if at any time he spoke to them.

When the Israelites saw Moses' face shining, he would put the veil over his face again until he went back in to speak with Yahweh.