Exodus 34

1 The Lord told Moses, “Cut out two stone tablets like the first ones, and I will write on them again the same words that were on the first tablets—the ones you broke.

2 Get ready in the morning, and then come up Mount Sinai. Stand before me there on the mountain top.

3 Nobody else can come up with you—I don't want to see anyone anywhere on the mountain, and no flocks or herds should graze at the foot of the mountain.”

4 So Moses cut out two stone tablets like the previous ones and went up Mount Sinai early in the morning as the Lord had ordered him, taking with him the two stone tablets.

5 The Lord descended in a cloud, stood there with him, and called out the name “Yahweh.”

6 The Lord passed in front of him, calling out, “Yahweh! Yahweh! I am the God of grace and mercy! I am slow to become angry, full of trustworthy love and always faithful.

7 I go on showing my trustworthy love to thousands, forgiving guilt, rebellion, and sin. But I will not leave the guilty unpunished—the impact of sin will affect not only the parents, but also their children and grandchildren, up until the third and fourth generation.”

8 Moses quickly bowed down to the ground, and worshiped.

9 He said, “Lord, if it's true that you're happy with me, please accompany us. Admittedly this is a rebellious people, but please forgive our guilt and sin. Accept us as specially belonging to you.”

10 The Lord said, “Look, I'm making an agreement with you. Right in front of all of you I will do miracles that have never been done before—not among anyone anywhere on earth. Everyone here and those around will see the Lord at work, for what I'm going to do for you will be incredible.

11 But you must carefully follow what I tell you to do today. Pay attention! I'm going to drive out ahead of you the Amorites, Canaanites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites.

12 Make sure you don't agree to a peace treaty with the people living in the land where you are going. Otherwise they will become a trap for you.

13 For you must tear down their altars, knock down their idolatrous pillars, and cut down their Asherah poles,

14 because you must not worship any other gods than the Lord. His name stands for being exclusive, because he is a God who demands an exclusive relationship.

15 Make sure you don't agree to a peace treaty with the people living in the land, for when they prostitute themselves by worshiping and sacrificing to their gods, they will invite you to join them, and you will eat from their pagan sacrifices.

16 When you have their daughters marry your sons and those daughters prostitute themselves to their gods, they will make your sons worship their gods in the same way.

17 Don't make any idols for yourselves.

18 Observe the Festival of Unleavened Bread. For seven days you are to eat bread made without yeast, as I ordered you to do. You are to do this at the specified time in the month of Abib, because that was the month when you left Egypt.

19 Every firstborn is mine. That includes all the firstborn males of your livestock from your cattle herds, and flocks.

20 You can redeem the firstborn of a donkey with a lamb, but if you don't, you must break its neck. All your firstborn sons must be redeemed. No one is to come before me without an offering.

21 You shall work for six days, but you shall rest on the seventh day. Even during the times of sowing and harvest you shall rest.

22 Observe the Festival of Weeks when you offer the firstfruits of wheat harvest, and the Harvest Festival at the end of the agricultural year.

23 Three times every year all your males must appear before the Lord Yahweh, the God of Israel.

24 I will drive out the nations ahead of you and expand your borders, and no one will come and take your land when you go three times a year to appear before the Lord your God.

25 Don't offer bread made with yeast when you present a sacrifice to me, don't keep any sacrifice from the Passover Feast until the morning.

26 When you harvest your crops, bring the firstfruits to the house of the Lord your God. Don't cook a young goat in milk from its mother.”

27 Then the Lord told Moses, “Write down these words, because these are the basis for the agreement I have made with you and with Israel.”

28 Moses spent forty days and forty nights there with the Lord without eating bread or drinking water. He wrote down on the tablets the words of the agreement, the Ten Commandments.

29 When Moses came down from Mount Sinai carrying the two tablets of the Law, he didn't realize that his face was shining brightly because he had been speaking with the Lord.

30 When Aaron and the Israelites saw Moses with his face shining so brightly they were frightened to approach him.

31 But Moses called out to them, so Aaron and all the community leaders went over to him, and he talked with them.

32 Afterwards all the Israelites came over and he gave them all the Lord's instructions he'd received on Mount Sinai.

33 After Moses finished talking with them, he put a veil over his face.

34 However, whenever Moses went in to talk with the Lord, he would take off the veil until he came out again. Then he would tell the Israelites the Lord's instructions,

35 and the Israelites would see his face shining brightly. So he would put the veil over his face until the next time he went to talk with the Lord.