Pharaoh Rejects Yahweh’s Authority and Makes Israel’s Troubles Worse

5 And afterward, Moses and Aaron went, and they said to Pharaoh, “Thus says Yahweh the God of Israel, ‘Release my people so that they may hold a festival for me in the desert.’ ” 2 And Pharaoh said, “Who is Yahweh that I should listen to his voice to release Israel? I do not know Yahweh, and also I will not release Israel.”

3 And they said, “The God of the Hebrews has met with us. Please let us go on a three-day journey into the desert, and let us sacrifice to Yahweh our God, lest he strike us with plague or with sword.” 4 And the king of Egypt said, “Why, Moses and Aaron, do you takea the people from their work? Go to your ⌊forced labor⌋!”b 5 And Pharaoh said, “Look, the people of the land are now many, and you want to stop them from their ⌊forced labor⌋.”c

6 And on that day Pharaoh commanded the slave drivers over the people and his foremen, saying, 7 “You must no longer give straw to the people to make the bricks like ⌊before⌋.d Let them go and gather straw for themselves. 8 But the quota of the bricks that they were making ⌊before⌋e ⌊you must require of them⌋.f You must not reduce from it, because they are lazy. Therefore they are crying out, saying, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to our God.’ 9 Let the work be heavier on the men so that they will do it and not pay attention to words of deception.”

10 And the slave drivers of the people and their foremen went out, and they spoke to the people, saying, “Thus says Pharaoh, ‘I am not giving you straw. 11 You go, get straw for yourselves from whatever you find because not a thing is being reduced from your work.’ ” 12 And the people spread out in all the land of Egypt to gather stubble for the straw. 13 And the slave drivers were insisting, saying, “Finish your work ⌊for each day⌋g on its day, as ⌊when there was straw⌋.”h 14 And the foremen of the ⌊Israelites⌋,i whom Pharaoh’s slave drivers had appointed over them, were beaten by men who were saying, “Why have you not completed your portion of brickmaking ⌊as before, both yesterday and today⌋?”j

The Foremen Complain to Pharaoh and Moses, and Moses Complains to Yahweh

15 And the foremen of the ⌊Israelites⌋k came and cried out to Pharaoh, saying, “Why do you treat your servants like this? 16 Straw is not being given to your servants, but they are saying to us, ‘Make bricks!’ and, look, your servants are being beaten, but it is the fault ofl your people.” 17 And he said, “You are lazy, lazy! Therefore you are saying, ‘Let us go; let us sacrifice to Yahweh.’ 18 And now go, work, but straw will not be given to you, and you must give the full quota of bricks.”

19 And the foremen of the ⌊Israelites⌋m saw they were in trouble ⌊with the saying⌋,n “You will not reduce from your bricks ⌊for each day⌋o on its day.” 20 And they met Moses and Aaron, who were waiting to meet them when they were going out from Pharaoh. 21 And they said to them, “May Yahweh look upon you and judge because you have caused our fragrance to stink in the eyes of Pharaoh and in the eyes of his servants so as to put a sword into their hand to kill us.” 22 And Moses returned to Yahweh and said, “Lord, why have you brought trouble to this people? Why ever did you send me? 23 And from the time I came to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has brought trouble to this people, and you have certainly not delivered your people.”

Confirming the Covenant

24 And to Moses he said, “Go up to Yahweh—you and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy from the elders of Israel—and you will worship at a distance. 2 And Moses ⌊alone⌋a will come near to Yahweh, and they will not come near, and the people will not go up with him.”

3 And Moses came, and he told the people all the words of Yahweh and all the regulations. And all the people answered with one voice, and they said, “All the words that Yahweh has spoken we will do.”

4 And Moses wrote all the words of Yahweh, and he rose early in the morning, and he built an altar at the base of the mountain and set up twelve memorial stones for the twelve tribes of Israel. 5 And he sent young men from the ⌊Israelites⌋,b and they offered burnt offerings, and they sacrificed sacrifices as fellowship offerings to Yahweh using bulls. 6 And Moses took half of the blood, and he put it in bowls, and half of the blood he sprinkled on the altar. 7 And he took the scroll of the covenant and read it in the hearing of the people, and they said, “All that Yahweh has spoken we will do, and we will listen.”c 8 And Moses took the blood and sprinkled it on the people, and he said, “Look, the blood of the covenant that Yahweh has made with you in accordance with all these words.”

9 And Moses and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy from the elders of Israel went up. 10 And they saw the God of Israel, and what was under his feet was like sapphire tile work and like the very heavens for clearness. 11 And toward the leaders of the ⌊Israelites⌋d he did not stretch out his hand, and they beheld God, and they ate, and they drank.

The Start of Forty Days and Nights on Mount Sinai

12 And Yahweh said to Moses, “Come up to me on the mountain, and be there, and I will give you the tablets of stone and the law and the commandments that I have written to instruct them.” 13 And Moses got up, and Joshua, his assistant, and Moses went up to the mountain of God.

14 And to the elders he said, “Wait for us here until we return to you. And look, Aaron and Hur are with you. Whoever ⌊has a dispute⌋e will bring it to you.”

15 And Moses went up to the mountain, and the cloud covered the mountain. 16 And the glory of Yahweh settled on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it for six days, and he called to Moses on the seventh day from the midst of the cloud. 17 And the appearance of the glory of Yahweh was like a consuming fire on the top of the mountain to the eyes off the ⌊Israelites⌋.g 18 And Moses went into the midst of the cloud, and he went up the mountain, and Moses was on the mountain forty days and forty nights.

Instruction to Collect Materials

25 And Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Speak to the ⌊Israelites⌋,a and let them bring to me a contribution. You will receive my contribution from every man whose heart prompts him. 3 And this is the contribution that you will receive from them—gold and silver and bronze, 4 blue, purple, and crimson yarns, and fine linen and goat hair, 5 and red-dyed ram skins, and fine leather,b and acacia wood, 6 oil for the lamp, balsam oils for the anointing oil and for the fragrant incense, 7 onyx stones and stones for mountings on the ephod and the breast piece. 8 And make a sanctuary for me, and I will dwell in the midst of them, 9 according to all that I show you—the pattern of the tabernacle and the pattern of all its equipment—and so you will do.

Instructions for Making the Ark of the Covenant

10 “And they will make an ark of acacia wood, two and a half cubits its length and a cubit and a half its width and a cubit and a half its height. 11 And you will overlay it with pure gold, inside and outside you will overlay it, and you will make on it a gold molding all around. 12 And you will cast for it four gold rings, and you will put them on its four feet, with two rings on its one side and two rings on its second side. 13 And you will make poles of acacia wood, and you will overlay them with gold. 14 And you will put the poles into the rings on the sides of the ark to carry the ark with them. 15 In the rings of the ark will be the poles; ⌊they will not be removed from it⌋.c 16 And you will put into the ark the testimony that I will give to you.

17 “And you will make an atonement cover of pure gold, two and a half cubits its length and a cubit and a half its width. 18 And you will make two cherubim of gold; you will make them of hammered work at the two ends of the atonement cover. 19 And make one cherub ⌊at one end⌋d and one cherub ⌊at the other end⌋e of the atonement cover; you will make the cherubim on its two ends. 20 And the cherubim will be with outspread wings above, covering with their wings over the atonement cover ⌊and facing each other⌋;f the faces of the cherubim will be toward the atonement cover. 21 And you will put the atonement cover above onto the ark, and into the ark you will put the testimony that I will give you. 22 And I will meet you there, and I will speak with you from over the atonement …