Exodus 34

1 And Jehovah said to Moses, Hew thee two tablets of stone like the first, and I will write upon the tablets the words that were on the first tablets, which thou broke.

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.

2 And be ready by the morning, and come up in the morning to mount Sinai, and present thyself there to me on the top of the mount.

Get ready tomorrow morning, and come up to the top of Sinai Mountain again to talk with me there.

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.

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.”

4 And he hewed two tablets of stone like the first. And Moses rose up early in the morning, and went up to mount Sinai, as Jehovah had commanded him, and took in his hand two tablets of stone.

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.

5 And Jehovah descended in the cloud, and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of Jehovah.

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].

6 And Jehovah passed by before him, and proclaimed, Jehovah, Jehovah, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abundant in loving kindness and truth,

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.

7 keeping loving kindness for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the sons, and upon the sons's sons, upon the third and upon the fourth generation.

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).”

8 And Moses made haste, and bowed his head toward the earth, and worshiped.

Moses/I quickly prostrated himself/myself on the ground and worshiped [Yahweh].

9 And he said, If now I have found favor in thy sight, O Lord, let the Lord, I pray thee, go in the midst of us, for it is a stiff-necked people, and pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us for thine inheritance.

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].”

10 And he said, Behold, I make a covenant. Before all thy people I will do marvels, such as have not been wrought in all the earth, nor in any nation, and all the people among which thou are shall see the work of Jehovah, for it is an awesome thing that I do with thee.

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].

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.

[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.

12 Take heed to thyself, lest thou make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land where thou go, lest it be for a snare in the midst of thee.

13 But ye shall break down their altars, and dash in pieces their pillars, and ye shall cut down their Asherim,

You must tear down their altars, destroy their sacred pillars, and cut down [the poles that they use to worship their female goddess] Asherah.

14 for thou shall worship no other god. For Jehovah, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God.

You must worship only me, [and] not worship any other god, because I, Yahweh, cannot endure any rivals.

15 Lest thou make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, and they play the harlot after their gods, and sacrifice to their gods, and a man calls thee and thou eat of his sacrifice,

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].

16 and thou take of their daughters to thy sons, and their daughters play the harlot after their gods, and make thy sons play the harlot after their gods.

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.

17 Thou shall make thee no molten gods.

Do not pour melted metal into molds to make statues for you to worship.

18 Thou shall keep the feast of unleavened bread. Seven days thou shall eat unleavened bread, as I commanded thee, at the time appointed in the month Abib, for in the month Abib thou came out from Egypt.

[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.

19 All that opens the womb is mine, and all thy cattle that is male, the firstlings of cow and sheep.

Your firstborn sons and the firstborn [male] animals of your cattle and sheep [and goats] belong to me.

20 And the firstling of a donkey thou shall redeem with a lamb, and if thou will not redeem it, then thou shall break its neck. All the firstborn of thy sons thou shall redeem. And none shall appear before me empty.

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.

21 Six days thou shall work, but on the seventh day thou shall rest; in plowing time and in harvest thou shall rest.

[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].

22 And thou shall observe the feast of weeks, even of the first-fruits of wheat harvest, and the feast of ingathering in the middle of the year.

[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].

23 Three times in the year all thy males shall appear before the lord Jehovah, the God of Israel.

Three times each year all the men must come to worship me, Yahweh, the God of the Israeli people.

24 For I will cast out nations before thee, and enlarge thy borders. Neither shall any man desire thy land, when thou go up to appear before Jehovah thy God three times in the year.

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.

25 Thou shall not offer the blood of my sacrifice with leavened bread, nor shall the sacrifice of the feast of the Passover be left to the morning.

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.

26 The first of the first-fruits of thy ground thou shall bring to the house of Jehovah thy God. Thou shall not boil a kid in its mother's milk.

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.”

27 And Jehovah said to Moses, Write thou these words, for after the tenor of these words I have made a covenant with thee and with Israel.

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.”

28 And he was there with Jehovah forty days and forty nights. He neither ate bread, nor drank water, and he wrote upon the tablets the words of the covenant, the ten commandments.

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.

29 And it came to pass, when Moses came down from mount Sinai with the two tablets of the testimony in Moses' hand, when he came down from the mount, that Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone by reason of his speaking with him.

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.

30 And when Aaron and all the sons of Israel saw Moses, behold, the skin of his face shone, and they were afraid to come near him.

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.

31 And Moses called to them. And Aaron and all the rulers of the congregation returned to him, and Moses spoke to them.

But Moses/I called to them. Then Aaron and the other Israeli leaders came to him/me, and he/I talked with them.

32 And afterward all the sons of Israel came near, and he gave them in commandment all that Jehovah had spoken with him on mount Sinai.

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.

33 And when Moses was done speaking with them, he put a veil on his face.

When Moses/I finished talking to the people, he/I put a veil over his/my face.

34 But when Moses went in before Jehovah to speak with him, he took the veil off, until he came out. And he came out, and spoke to the sons of Israel that which he was commanded.

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].

35 And the sons of Israel saw the face of Moses, that the skin of Moses' face shone. And Moses put the veil upon his face again until he went in to speak with him.

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.