Exodus 34
1 And YHWH says to Moses, “Hew for yourself two tablets of stone like the first, and I have written on the tablets the words which were on the first tablets which you have broken;
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 and be prepared at morning, and you have come up in the morning to Mount Sinai, and have stood before Me there, on the top of the mountain,
Get ready in the morning, and then come up Mount Sinai. Stand before me there on the mountain top.
3 and no man comes up with you, and also no man is seen in all the mountain, also the flock and the herd do not feed toward the front of that mountain.”
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 And he hews two tablets of stone like the first, and Moses rises early in the morning, and goes up to Mount Sinai as YHWH commanded him, and takes [the] two tablets of stone in his hand.
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 And YHWH comes down in a cloud, and stations Himself with him there, and calls in the Name of YHWH,
The Lord descended in a cloud, stood there with him, and called out the name “Yahweh.”
6 and YHWH passes over before his face, and calls: “YHWH, YHWH God, merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abundant in kindness and truth,
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 keeping kindness for thousands, taking away iniquity, and transgression, and sin, and not entirely acquitting, charging iniquity of fathers on sons and on sons’ sons, on a third and on a fourth [generation].”
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 And Moses hurries, and bows to the earth, and pays respect,
Moses quickly bowed down to the ground, and worshiped.
9 and says, “Now if I have found grace in Your eyes, O my Lord, please let my Lord go in our midst (for it [is] a stiff-necked people), and you have forgiven our iniquity and our sin, and have inherited us.”
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 And He says, “Behold, I am making a covenant. I do wonders before all your people, which have not been done in all the earth, or in any nation, and all the people in whose midst you [are in] have seen the work of YHWH, for it [is] fearful—that which I am doing with you.
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 Observe for yourself that which I am commanding you today. Behold, I am casting out from before you the Amorite, and the Canaanite, and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, and the Hivite, and the Jebusite;
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 take heed to yourself lest you make a covenant with the inhabitant of the land into which you are going, lest it become a snare in your midst;
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 break down their altars, and you shatter their standing pillars, and you cut down its Asherim;
For you must tear down their altars, knock down their idolatrous pillars, and cut down their Asherah poles,
14 for you do not bow yourselves to another god—for YHWH, whose Name [is] Zealous, is a zealous God.
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 Lest you make a covenant with the inhabitant of the land, and they have gone whoring after their gods, and have sacrificed to their gods, and [one] has called to you, and you have eaten of his sacrifice,
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 and you have taken of their daughters for your sons, and their daughters have gone whoring after their gods, and have caused your sons to go whoring after their gods;
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 you do not make a molten god for yourself.
Don't make any idols for yourselves.
18 You keep the Celebration of Unleavened Things; [for] seven days you eat unleavened things, as I have commanded you, at an appointed time, [in] the month of Abib: for in the month of Abib you came out from Egypt.
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 All opening a womb [are] Mine, and every firstling of your livestock born a male, [whether] ox or sheep;
Every firstborn is mine. That includes all the firstborn males of your livestock from your cattle herds, and flocks.
20 and you ransom the firstling of a donkey with a lamb; and if you do not ransom, then you have beheaded it; you ransom every firstborn of your sons, and they do not appear before Me empty.
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 [For] six days you work, and on the seventh day you rest; in plowing-time and in harvest you rest.
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 And you observe [the] Celebration of Weeks for yourself, of [the] first-fruits of wheat-harvest; and the Celebration of Ingathering at the revolution of the year.
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 in a year all your males appear before the Lord YHWH, God of Israel;
Three times every year all your males must appear before the Lord Yahweh, the God of Israel.
24 for I dispossess nations from before you, and have enlarged your border, and no man desires your land in your going up to appear before your God YHWH three times in a year.
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 You do not slaughter the blood of My sacrifice with a fermented thing; and the sacrifice of the Celebration of the Passover does not remain until morning.
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 You bring the first of the first-fruits of the land into the house of your God YHWH. You do not boil a kid in its mother’s milk.”
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 And YHWH says to Moses, “Write these words for yourself, for I have made a covenant with you and with Israel according to the tenor of these words.”
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 And he is there with YHWH forty days and forty nights; he has not eaten bread, and he has not drunk water; and he writes on the tablets the matters of the covenant—the Ten Commandments.
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 And it comes to pass, when Moses is coming down from Mount Sinai (and the two tablets of the Testimony [are] in the hand of Moses in his coming down from the mountain), that Moses has not known that the skin of his face has shone in His speaking with him,
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 and Aaron sees—all the sons of Israel also—Moses, and behold, the skin of his face has shone, and they are afraid of coming near to him.
When Aaron and the Israelites saw Moses with his face shining so brightly they were frightened to approach him.
31 And Moses calls to them, and Aaron and all the princes in the congregation return to him, and Moses speaks to them;
But Moses called out to them, so Aaron and all the community leaders went over to him, and he talked with them.
32 and afterward all the sons of Israel have come near, and he charges them with all that YHWH has spoken with him in Mount Sinai.
Afterwards all the Israelites came over and he gave them all the Lord's instructions he'd received on Mount Sinai.
33 And Moses finishes speaking with them, and puts a veil on his face;
After Moses finished talking with them, he put a veil over his face.
34 and in the going in of Moses before YHWH to speak with Him, he turns aside the veil until his coming out; and he has come out and has spoken to the sons of Israel that which he is commanded;
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 sons of Israel have seen the face of Moses, that the skin of the face of Moses has shone, and Moses has put back the veil on his face until his going in to speak with Him.
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.
