Book of Exodus, chapter 34
verses are both poetry and prose --
renewing the broken covenant
The Lord said to Moses,
Cut two stone tablets like
the first ones. I'll write on these
tablets the words that were on
the first tablets, which you broke
into pieces. Get ready in the
morning and come up to Mount
Sinai. Stand there on top of the
mountain in front of me. No one
else can come up with you. Don't
allow anyone even to be seen any-
where on the mountain. Don't even
let sheep and cattle graze in front
of the mountain.
So Moses cut two stone tablets like the
first ones. He got up early in the
morning and climbed up Mount Sinai,
just as the Lord had commanded him.
He carried the two stone tablets in his
hands. The Lord came down in the cloud
and stood there with him, and proclaimed
the name, THE LORD. The Lord passed
in front of him and proclaimed:
The Lord! The Lord!
a God who is compassionate
and merciful,
very patient,
full of great loyalty & faithfulness,
showing great loyalty to a
thousand generations,
forgiving every kind of sin & rebellion,
yet by no means clearing the guilty,
punishing for their parents' sins
their children and their grandchildren,
as well as the 3rd & 4th generation.
At once Moses bowed to the ground and worshipped
He said, "If you approve of me, my Lord, please go
along with us. Although these are stubborn people,
forgive our guilt and our sin and take us as your
own possession."
The Lord said: I now make a covenant.
In front of all your people, I'll
perform dramatic displays of power
that have never been done before
anywhere on earth or in any nation.
All the people who are around you
will see what the Lord does, because
I will do an awesome thing with
you. Be sure to obey what I command you
today. I'm about to drive out before you
the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Hittites,
the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites.
Be careful that you don't make a covenant
with the inhabitants of the land to which you
are going, or it will become a dangerous trap
for you. You must tear down their altars,
smash their sacred stone pillars, and cut down
their sacred poles. You must not bow down
to another _god, because the Lord is
passionate the Lord's name means a
passionate God. Don't make a covenant
with those who live in the land. When they
prostitute themselves with their _gods and
sacrifice to their _gods, they may invite you
and you may end up eating some of the
sacrifice. Then you might go and choose
their daughters as wives for your sons. And
their daughters who prostitute themselves
with their _gods might lead your sons to
prostitute themselves with their _gods.
Don't make metal _gods for yourself.
Observe the Festival of Unleavened Bread.
You should eat unleavened bread for
seven days, as I commanded you (Exodus
23) at the set time in the month of Abib,
because it was in the month of Abib that
you came out of Egypt.
Every first offering is mine. That includes
all your male livestock, the oldest offspring
of cows and sheep. But a donkey's oldest
offspring you may ransom with a sheep.
Or if you don't ransom it, you must break
its neck. You should ransom all of your
oldest sons.
No one should appear before me empty-
handed.
You should do your work for six days,
but on the 7th day you should rest. Even
during plowing or harvest time you should
rest. You should observe the Festival of
Weeks for the early produce of the wheat
harvest, and the Gathering Festival at the
end of the year. All your males should
appear three times a year before the
Lord God, Israel's God. I will drive out
nations before you and extend your borders.
No one will desire and try to take your land
if you go up and appear before the Lord
your God three times a year.
Don't slaughter the blood of my sacrifice
with anything leavened. The sacrifice of
the Passover festival shouldn't be left over
until the morning. Bring the best of the
early produce of your farmland to the
Lord your God's temple.
Don't boil a young goat in its mother's milk.
The Lord said to Moses:
Write down these words because by these
words I hereby make a covenant with you
and with Israel.
Moses was there with the Lord 40
days and 40 nights. He didn't
eat any bread or drink any water.
He wrote on the tablets the words
of the covenant, the ten words.
Moses came down from Mount Sinai.
As he came down from the mountain
with the two covenant tablets in his
hand, Moses didn't realize that the
skin of his face shone brightly
because he had been talking with
God. When Aaron and all the
Israelites saw the skin of Moses'
face shining brightly, they were
afraid to come near him. But
Moses called them closer. So
Aaron and all the leaders of the
community came back to him,
and Moses spoke with them. After
that, all the Israelites came near
as well, and Moses commanded
them everything that the Lord had
spoken with him on Mount Sinai.
When Moses finished speaking
with them, he put a veil over his
face. Whenever Moses went into
the Lord's presence to speak with
him, Moses would take the veil
off until he came out again. When
Moses came out and told the
Israelites what he had been
commanded, the Israelites would
see that the skin of Moses' face
was shining brightly. So Moses
would put the veil on his face
again until the next time he went
in to speak with the Lord.
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