Exodus 34
New American Standard Bible
The Two Tablets Replaced
34 Now the Lord said to Moses, “Cut out for yourself (A)two stone tablets like the former ones, and (B)I will write on the tablets the words that were on the former tablets which you smashed. 2 So be ready by morning, and come up in the morning to (C)Mount Sinai, and [a]present yourself there to Me on the top of the mountain. 3 And (D)no one is to come up with you, nor let anyone be seen [b]anywhere on the mountain; even the flocks and the herds are not to graze in front of that mountain.” 4 So he cut out (E)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. 5 And (F)the Lord descended in the cloud and stood there with him as he [c]called upon the name of the Lord. 6 Then the Lord passed by in front of him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord God, (G)compassionate and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in faithfulness and [d]truth; 7 who (H)keeps faithfulness for thousands, who forgives wrongdoing, violation of His Law, and sin; yet He (I)will by no means leave the guilty unpunished, (J)inflicting the [e]punishment of fathers on the children and on the grandchildren to the third and fourth generations.” 8 And Moses hurried [f](K)to bow low toward the ground and worship. 9 Then he said, “(L)If in any way I have found favor in Your sight, Lord, please may the Lord go along in our midst, even though [g](M)the people are so obstinate, and (N)pardon our wrongdoing and our sin, and (O)take us as Your own [h]possession.”
The Covenant Renewed
10 Then [i]God said, “Behold, (P)I am going to make a covenant. Before all your people (Q)I will perform miracles which have not been [j]produced in all the earth nor among any of the nations; and all the people [k]among 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 “[l]Be sure to comply with what I am commanding you this day: behold, (R)I am going to drive out the Amorite from you, and the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite. 12 (S)Be 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. 13 (T)But rather, you are to tear down their altars and smash their memorial stones, and cut down their [m](U)Asherim 14 —for (V)you shall not worship any other god, because the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God— 15 otherwise you might make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, and they would prostitute themselves with their gods and (W)sacrifice to their gods, and someone (X)might invite you [n]to eat of his sacrifice, 16 and (Y)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. 17 (Z)You shall not make for yourself any gods cast in metal.
18 “You shall keep (AA)the Feast of Unleavened Bread. For (AB)seven days you are to eat unleavened bread, [o]as I commanded you, at the appointed time in the (AC)month of Abib; for in the month of Abib you came out of Egypt.
19 “(AD)The [p]firstborn from every womb belongs to Me, and all your male livestock, the [q]firstborn from [r]cattle and sheep. 20 (AE)You 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 (AF)all the firstborn of your sons. [s](AG)None are to appear before Me empty-handed.
21 “You shall work (AH)six days, but on the seventh day you shall rest; even during plowing time and harvest you shall rest. 22 And you shall celebrate (AI)the Feast of Weeks, that is, the first fruits of the wheat harvest, and the Feast of Ingathering at the turn of the year. 23 (AJ)Three times a year all your males are to appear before the Lord [t]God, the God of Israel. 24 For I will [u](AK)drive 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 “(AL)You shall not [v]offer the blood of My sacrifice with leavened bread, (AM)nor is the sacrifice of the Feast of the Passover to [w]be left over until morning.
26 “You shall bring (AN)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.”
27 Then the Lord said to Moses, “(AO)Write [x]down these words, for in accordance with these words I have made (AP)a covenant with you and with Israel.” 28 So he was there with the Lord for (AQ)forty days and forty nights; he did not eat bread or drink water. And [y](AR)He wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant, (AS)the Ten [z]Commandments.
Moses’ Face Shines
29 And it came about, when Moses was coming down from Mount Sinai (and the (AT)two tablets of the testimony were in Moses’ hand as he was coming down from the mountain), that Moses did not know that (AU)the skin of his face shone because of his speaking with Him. 30 So when Aaron and all the sons of Israel saw Moses, behold, the skin of his face shone, and (AV)they were afraid to approach him. 31 Then Moses called to them, and Aaron and all the rulers in the congregation returned to him; and Moses spoke to them. 32 Afterward all the sons of Israel came near, and he commanded them to do everything that the Lord had spoken [aa]to him on Mount Sinai. 33 When Moses had finished speaking with them, (AW)he put a veil over his face. 34 But whenever Moses went in before the Lord to speak with Him, (AX)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, 35 (AY)the 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.
Footnotes
- Exodus 34:2 Or place yourself before Me
- Exodus 34:3 Lit on all
- Exodus 34:5 Or called out with the name of the Lord
- Exodus 34:6 Or trustworthiness
- Exodus 34:7 I.e., punishment for the wrongdoing
- Exodus 34:8 Lit and bowed...worshiped
- Exodus 34:9 Lit it is a people stiff-necked
- Exodus 34:9 Or inheritance
- Exodus 34:10 Lit He
- Exodus 34:10 Lit created
- Exodus 34:10 Lit in whose midst you are
- Exodus 34:11 Lit Observe for yourself
- Exodus 34:13 I.e., wooden symbols of a female deity (Asherah)
- Exodus 34:15 Lit and you eat
- Exodus 34:18 Or which
- Exodus 34:19 Lit every firstborn of a womb
- Exodus 34:19 Lit every firstborn of a womb
- Exodus 34:19 Or oxen
- Exodus 34:20 Lit They shall not
- Exodus 34:23 Heb YHWH, usually rendered Lord
- Exodus 34:24 Or dispossess
- Exodus 34:25 Lit slaughter
- Exodus 34:25 Lit remain overnight
- Exodus 34:27 Lit for yourself
- Exodus 34:28 I.e., the Lord
- Exodus 34:28 Lit Words
- Exodus 34:32 Lit with
Exodus 34
King James Version
34 And the Lord said unto Moses, Hew thee two tables of stone like unto the first: and I will write upon these tables the words that were in the first tables, which thou brakest.
2 And be ready in the morning, and come up in the morning unto mount Sinai, and present thyself there to me in the top of the mount.
3 And no man shall come up with thee, neither let any man be seen throughout all the mount; neither let the flocks nor herds feed before that mount.
4 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 took in his hand the two tables of stone.
5 And the Lord descended in the cloud, and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the Lord.
6 And the Lord passed by before him, and proclaimed, The Lord, The Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth,
7 Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that 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 And Moses made haste, and bowed his head toward the earth, and worshipped.
9 And he said, If now I have found grace in thy sight, O Lord, let my Lord, I pray thee, go among us; for it is a stiffnecked people; and pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us for thine inheritance.
10 And he said, Behold, I make a covenant: before all thy people I will do marvels, such as have not been done in all the earth, nor in any nation: and all the people among which thou art shall see the work of the Lord: for it is a terrible thing that I will do with thee.
11 Observe thou that which I command thee this day: behold, I drive out before thee the Amorite, and the Canaanite, and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, and the Hivite, and the Jebusite.
12 Take heed to thyself, lest thou make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land whither thou goest, lest it be for a snare in the midst of thee:
13 But ye shall destroy their altars, break their images, and cut down their groves:
14 For thou shalt worship no other god: for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God:
15 Lest thou make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, and they go a whoring after their gods, and do sacrifice unto their gods, and one call thee, and thou eat of his sacrifice;
16 And thou take of their daughters unto thy sons, and their daughters go a whoring after their gods, and make thy sons go a whoring after their gods.
17 Thou shalt make thee no molten gods.
18 The feast of unleavened bread shalt thou keep. Seven days thou shalt eat unleavened bread, as I commanded thee, in the time of the month Abib: for in the month Abib thou camest out from Egypt.
19 All that openeth the matrix is mine; and every firstling among thy cattle, whether ox or sheep, that is male.
20 But the firstling of an ass thou shalt redeem with a lamb: and if thou redeem him not, then shalt thou break his neck. All the firstborn of thy sons thou shalt redeem. And none shall appear before me empty.
21 Six days thou shalt work, but on the seventh day thou shalt rest: in earing time and in harvest thou shalt rest.
22 And thou shalt observe the feast of weeks, of the firstfruits of wheat harvest, and the feast of ingathering at the year's end.
23 Thrice in the year shall all your menchildren appear before the Lord God, the God of Israel.
24 For I will cast out the nations before thee, and enlarge thy borders: neither shall any man desire thy land, when thou shalt go up to appear before the Lord thy God thrice in the year.
25 Thou shalt not offer the blood of my sacrifice with leaven; neither shall the sacrifice of the feast of the passover be left unto the morning.
26 The first of the firstfruits of thy land thou shalt bring unto the house of the Lord thy God. Thou shalt not seethe a kid in his mother's milk.
27 And the Lord said unto Moses, Write thou these words: for after the tenor of these words I have made a covenant with thee and with Israel.
28 And he was there with the Lord forty days and forty nights; he did neither eat bread, nor drink water. And he wrote upon the tables the words of the covenant, the ten commandments.
29 And it came to pass, when Moses came down from mount Sinai with the two tables of testimony in Moses' hand, when he came down from the mount, that Moses wist not that the skin of his face shone while he talked with him.
30 And when Aaron and all the children of Israel saw Moses, behold, the skin of his face shone; and they were afraid to come nigh him.
31 And Moses called unto them; and Aaron and all the rulers of the congregation returned unto him: and Moses talked with them.
32 And afterward all the children of Israel came nigh: and he gave them in commandment all that the Lord had spoken with him in mount Sinai.
33 And till Moses had done speaking with them, he put a vail on his face.
34 But when Moses went in before the Lord to speak with him, he took the vail off, until he came out. And he came out, and spake unto the children of Israel that which he was commanded.
35 And the children of Israel saw the face of Moses, that the skin of Moses' face shone: and Moses put the vail upon his face again, until he went in to speak with him.
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.
