Exodus 34
1 Yahweh said to Moses/me, “Cut two slabs of stone that will be like the first slabs, the ones that you broke. Then I will engrave on them the words that were on the first slabs.
And the Lord said unto Moses, Hew thyself two tables of stone like unto the first; and I will write upon these tables the words which were on the first tables, which thou didst break.
2 Get ready tomorrow morning, and come up to the top of Sinai Mountain again to talk with me there.
And be ready by the morning, and come up in the morning unto mount Sinai, and present thyself there to me on the top of the mount.
3 Do not allow anyone to come up with you. I do not want anyone [else] to be anywhere on the mountain. Do not allow any sheep or cattle to graze (at the base of/near) the mountain.”
And no man shall come up with thee, neither let any man be seen throughout all the mount; neither let the flocks or herds feed near this mount.
4 So Moses/I cut two slabs of stone that were like the first ones. He/I arose early the next morning. He/I took the slabs and carried them in his/my hands up to the top of Sinai Mountain, as Yahweh had commanded.
And he hewed two tables of stone like unto the first, and Moses rose up early in the morning, and went up unto mount Sinai, as the Lord had commanded him; and he took in his hand the two tables of stone.
5 Then Yahweh descended in the [tall] cloud and stood with Moses/me there. He proclaimed that it was he, Yahweh, [who was going to speak to Moses/me].
And the Lord descended in a cloud, and stood with him there, and proclaimed, by name, the Lord.
6 Then Yahweh passed in front of him/me and proclaimed, “I am Yahweh God. I always act mercifully and kindly [toward people]. I do not get angry quickly. I [truly] love [people] and I do what I promise to do for them, without changing.
And the Lord passed by before him, and proclaimed, The Lord is the immutable, eternal Being, the omnipotent God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering and abundant in beneficence and truth;
7 I love people for thousands of generations. I forgive people for all kinds of sins [TRI]. But I will certainly punish [LIT] those who are guilty. I will punish not only them, but I will punish (their descendants, down to the third and fourth generation/their children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren).”
Keeping mercy unto the thousandth [generation], forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children's children, unto the third and to the fourth generation.
8 Moses/I quickly prostrated himself/myself on the ground and worshiped [Yahweh].
And Moses made haste, and bowed his head toward the earth, and prostrated himself.
9 He/I said, “Yahweh, if you are now pleased with me, I ask that you go with us. These people are very stubborn [IDM], but forgive us for all our sins [DOU], and accept us to be people who belong to you [forever].”
And he said, If now I have found grace in thy eyes, O Lord, let the Lord, I pray thee, go among us; even because it is a stiffnecked people; and pardon thou our iniquity and our sin, and take us for thy heritage.
10 Yahweh replied, “Note this: I am going to make a solemn agreement [with the Israeli people]. As they are watching, I will perform great miracles. They will be miracles that no one has ever done on the earth in any nation. All the people who are near you will see the great things that I, Yahweh, will do. I will do awesome things for you [all].
And he said, Behold, I make a covenant: before all thy people will I perform wonders, such as have not been done on all the earth, nor in any nation; and all the people amongst whom thou art shall see the work of the Lord; for it is a terrible thing that I will do with thee.
11 [Each Israeli] person must obey what I am commanding you this day. Do not forget that [if you obey me], I will expel the Amor, Canaan, Heth, Periz, Hiv, and Jebus people-groups [from the land]. But be careful that you do not make any [peace] agreements with any of the people who live in the land into which you are going, because if you do that, [you will begin to do the evil things that they do]. It will be [like] falling into a trap.
Observe thou that which I command thee this day; behold, I will drive out before thee the Emorite, and the Canaanite, and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, and the Hivite, and the Jebusite.
Take heed to thyself, lest thou make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land against which thou goest up, lest it be for a snare in the midst of thee;
13 You must tear down their altars, destroy their sacred pillars, and cut down [the poles that they use to worship their female goddess] Asherah.
But their altars shall ye destroy, and their statues shall ye break, and their groves shall ye cut down.
14 You must worship only me, [and] not worship any other god, because I, Yahweh, cannot endure any rivals.
For thou shalt worship no other God; for the Lord whose name is Watchful, is a watchful God.
15 Do not make peace agreements with [any group] that lives in that land. When they worship their gods and offer sacrifices to their gods, and they invite you to join them, do not join them. If [you join them], you will eat the food that they sacrifice to their gods, and [you will not be faithful to me. You will be like people who] commit adultery, [who are not being faithful to their spouses] [MET].
Make thou then no covenant with the inhabitants of the land; lest that, if they go astray after their gods, and sacrifice unto their gods, any one call thee, and thou eat of his sacrifice;
16 If you take some of their women to be wives for your sons, and these women worship their own gods, they will persuade your sons also to worship their gods.
And lest thou take of his daughters unto thy sons; and when his daughters go astray after their gods, they make thy sons also go astray after their gods.
17 Do not pour melted metal into molds to make statues for you to worship.
Thou shalt not make unto thyself any molten gods.
18 [Each year], during the month [of/named] Abib, celebrate the Festival of Eating Bread Made Without Yeast. [During that festival], for seven days you must not eat bread made with yeast, as I commanded you, because it was in that month that you left Egypt.
The feast of unleavened bread shalt thou keep; seven days shalt thou eat unleavened bread, as I have commanded thee, in the time of the month of Abib; for in the month of Abib thou wentest forth out of Egypt.
19 Your firstborn sons and the firstborn [male] animals of your cattle and sheep [and goats] belong to me.
All that openeth the womb is mine; and every firstling that is a male among thy cattle, whether ox or lamb.
20 The firstborn of your [male] donkeys [also belong to me]. But you may buy them back by [offering to me] lambs [in their place]. If you do not do that, you must [kill these animals by] breaking their necks. You must also buy back your firstborn sons. You must bring an offering to me [LIT] each time you come to [worship] me.
But the firstling of an ass shalt thou redeem with a lamb: and if thou redeem him not, then shalt thou break his neck; all the first-born of thy sons shalt thou redeem; and none shall appear before me empty.
21 [Each week] you may work for six days, but on the seventh day you must rest. [Even] during the times when you plow [the ground] and harvest [your crops], you must rest [on the seventh day].
Six days thou mayest work, but on the seventh day shalt thou rest: even in ploughing time and in harvest shalt thou rest.
22 [Each year] celebrate the Harvest Festival, when you begin to harvest the first crop of wheat, and also celebrate the Festival of Living in Temporary Shelters, when you finish harvesting [the grain and fruit].
And the feast of weeks shalt thou observe, with the firstfruits of the wheat harvest; and the feast of ingathering at the closing of the year.
23 Three times each year all the men must come to worship me, Yahweh, the God of the Israeli people.
Thrice in the year shall all thy males appear before the Lord, the Eternal, the God of Israel.
24 I will expel the people-groups that live in the land [where you will be], and I will cause your territory to become very large. As a result, no group will try to conquer your country if you come to worship me each year during those three festivals.
For I will cast out nations before thee, and enlarge thy borders; yet shall no man desire thy land, when thou goest up to appear in the presence of the Lord thy God thrice in the year.
25 When you sacrifice an animal [MTY] to me, do not offer with it bread that is made with yeast. And during the Passover Festival, when you sacrifice lambs, do not keep any of the meat until the next morning.
Thou shalt not offer the blood of my sacrifice with leaven; neither shall be left unto the morning the sacrifice of the feast of the passover.
26 I am Yahweh God. You must bring to my Sacred Tent the first part of the grain that you harvest each year. When you kill a young animal/kid [either a lamb or a calf], do not [prepare to eat it by] boiling it in its mother’s milk.”
The first of the first-fruits of thy land shalt thou bring unto the house of the Lord thy God: thou shalt not seethe a kid in his mother's milk.
27 Yahweh also said to Moses/me, “Write down the words that I have told you. By giving you these commands, I have made a solemn agreement with you and with the [other] Israeli people.”
And the Lord said unto Moses, Write thee down these words; for after the tenor of these words have I made with thee a covenant and with Israel.
28 Moses/I was there [on the top of the mountain] with Yahweh for 40 days and nights. During that time he/I did not eat or drink anything [SYN]. He/I engraved on the stone slabs the words of the Ten Commandments, [which were part of Yahweh’s] solemn agreement.
And he remained there with the Lord forty days and forty nights; bread he did not eat, and water he did not drink; and he wrote upon the tables the words of the covenant, the ten commandments.
29 When Moses/I came back down the mountain, carrying in his/my hand the two stone slabs on which were written the Ten Commandments, his/my face was shining because he/I had been talking with Yahweh, but he/I did not know that his/my face was shining.
And it came to pass, when Moses came down from mount Sinai, with the two tables of the testimony in Moses' hand, when be came down from the mount, that Moses knew not that the skin of his face shone, because he had spoken with him.
30 When Aaron and the [other] Israeli people saw Moses/me, they were amazed/surprised that his/my face was shining. So they were afraid to come near him/me.
And Aaron and all the children of Israel saw Moses, and, behold, the skin of his face shone: and they were afraid to come nigh unto him.
31 But Moses/I called to them. Then Aaron and the other Israeli leaders came to him/me, and he/I talked with them.
But Moses called unto them, and then returned unto him Aaron and all the princes of the congregation: and Moses spoke to them.
32 Afterwards, all the other Israeli people came near, and he/I told them all the laws that Yahweh had given to him/me on Sinai Mountain.
And afterward all the children of Israel came nigh: and he commanded them all that which the Lord had spoken with him on mount Sinai.
33 When Moses/I finished talking to the people, he/I put a veil over his/my face.
And when Moses had done speaking with them, he put a vail over his face.
34 But whenever Moses/I entered the Sacred Tent to talk with Yahweh, he/I removed the veil. When he/I came back out, he/I would always tell to the Israeli people everything that Yahweh had commanded him/me [to tell them].
But when Moses went in before the Lord to speak with him, he took the vail off, until he came out; and then he came out, and spoke unto the children of Israel that which he had been commanded.
35 The Israeli people would see that Moses’/my face was [still] shining. Then he/I would put the veil back on his/my face again until the next time that he/I went into [the Sacred Tent] to talk with Yahweh.
And the children of Israel saw the face of Moses, that the skin of Moses' face shone: and Moses put the vail again over his face, until he went in to speak with him.
