Exodus 19–24

CHAPTER 19

Israel at Sinai

^1aIn the third month after the sons of Israel had gone out of the land of Egypt, on this day they came into the wilderness of ^bSinai.

²Then they set out from ^aRephidim and came to the wilderness of Sinai and camped in the wilderness; and there Israel camped in front of ^bthe mountain.

³Now Moses went up to God, and ^aYahweh called to him from the mountain, saying, “Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob and tell the sons of Israel:

⁴‘^aYou yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I lifted you up on ^beagles’ wings and brought you to Myself.

⁵‘So now then, ^aif you will indeed listen to My voice and ^bkeep My covenant, then you shall be ^cMy treasured possession among all the peoples, for ^dall the earth is Mine;

⁶and you shall be to Me ^aa kingdom of priests and ^ba holy nation.’ These are the words that you shall speak to the sons of Israel.”

^7aSo Moses came and called the elders of the people and set before them all these words which Yahweh had commanded him.

^8aAnd all the people answered together and said, “All that Yahweh has spoken we will do!” And Moses brought back the words of the people to Yahweh.

⁹Yahweh said to Moses, “Behold, I will come to you in ^aa thick cloud, so that the ^bpeople may hear when I speak with you and may also believe in you forever.” Then Moses told the words of the people to Yahweh.

¹⁰Yahweh also said to Moses, “Go to the people and ^aset them apart as holy today and tomorrow, and let them ^bwash their garments;

¹¹and let them be ready for the third day, for on ^athe third day Yahweh will come down on Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people.

¹²“And you shall set bounds for the people all around, saying, ‘¹Beware that you do not go up on the mountain or touch the border of it; ^awhoever touches the mountain shall surely be put to death.

¹³‘No hand shall touch him, but ^ahe shall surely be stoned or surely ¹shot through; whether beast or man, he shall not live.’ When the ram’s horn sounds a long blast, they shall come up to ^bthe mountain.”

¹⁴So Moses went down from the mountain to the people and set the people apart as holy, and they washed their garments.

¹⁵And he said to the people, “Be ready for the third day; do not go near a woman.”

^16aSo it happened on the third day, when it was morning, that there were ¹thunder and lightning flashes and a ²thick cloud upon the mountain and a very loud trumpet sound, so that all the people who were in the camp trembled.

¹⁷And Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God, and they stood at the ¹foot of the mountain.

Yahweh Descends on Mount Sinai

^18aNow Mount Sinai was all in smoke because Yahweh descended upon it ^bin fire; and its smoke ascended like ^cthe smoke of a furnace, and ^dthe whole mountain trembled violently.

¹⁹And the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder; then Moses spoke and ^aGod answered him with ¹thunder.

^20aAnd Yahweh came down on Mount Sinai, to the top of the mountain; and Yahweh called Moses to the top of the mountain, and Moses went up.

²¹Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, “Go down, ¹warn the people, lest ^athey break through to Yahweh to see, and many of them ²perish.

²²“Also let the ^apriests who come near to Yahweh set themselves apart as holy, lest Yahweh break out against them.”

²³And Moses said to Yahweh, “The people cannot come up to Mount Sinai, for You ¹warned us, saying, ‘^aSet bounds about the mountain, and set it apart as holy.’”

²⁴Then Yahweh said to him, “¹Go down and come up again, ^ayou and Aaron with you; but do not let the ^bpriests and the people break through to come up to Yahweh, lest He break out against them.”

²⁵So Moses went down to the people and told them.

CHAPTER 20

The Commandments of Yahweh

¹Then God spoke all these words, saying,

²“^aI am Yahweh your God, ^bwho brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of ¹slavery.

³“^aYou shall have no other ^bgods ¹before Me.

⁴“^aYou shall not make for yourself ¹an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth.

⁵“^aYou shall not worship them or serve them; for I, Yahweh your God, am a ^bjealous God, ^cvisiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me,

⁶but showing lovingkindness to ^athousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.

⁷“^aYou shall not take the name of Yahweh your God in vain, for Yahweh will not ¹leave him unpunished who takes His name in vain.

⁸“Remember ^athe sabbath day, to keep it holy.

⁹“^aSix days you shall labor and do all your work,

¹⁰but the seventh day is a sabbath of Yahweh your God; in it ^ayou shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter, your male or your female slave or your cattle or your sojourner who is within your gates.

¹¹“^aFor in six days Yahweh made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day; therefore Yahweh blessed the sabbath day and made it holy.

¹²“^aHonor your father and your mother, that your ^bdays may be prolonged in the land which Yahweh your God gives you.

¹³“^aYou shall not murder.

¹⁴“^aYou shall not commit adultery.

¹⁵“^aYou shall not steal.

¹⁶“^aYou shall not bear false witness against your ^bneighbor.

¹⁷“^aYou shall not covet your neighbor’s house; ^byou shall not covet your neighbor’s wife or his male slave or his female slave or his ox or his donkey or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”

^18aAnd all the people perceived the ¹thunder and the lightning flashes and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking; and the people perceived it, and they shook and stood at a distance.

^19aThen they said to Moses, “Speak ¹to us yourself, and we will listen; but let not God speak ²to us, lest we die.”

²⁰And Moses said to the people, “^aDo not be afraid; for God has come in order ^bto test you, and in order that ^cthe fear of Him may ¹be with you, so that you may not sin.”

²¹So the people stood at a distance, but Moses came near ^athe dense gloom where God was.

²²Then Yahweh said to Moses, “Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, ‘You yourselves have seen that ^aI have spoken ¹to you from heaven.

²³‘^aYou shall not make other gods besides Me; ^bgods of silver or gods of gold, you shall not make for yourselves.

²⁴‘You shall make ^aan altar of earth for Me, and you shall sacrifice on it your ^bburnt offerings and your ^cpeace offerings, ^dyour sheep and your oxen; in every place ^ewhere I cause My name to be remembered, I will come to you and bless you.

²⁵‘And if you make an altar of stone for Me, ^ayou shall not build it of cut stones, for if you wield your tool on it, you will profane it.

²⁶‘And you shall not go up by steps to My altar, so that ^ayour nakedness will not be exposed on it.’

CHAPTER 21

Judgments About Slaves

¹“Now these are the ^ajudgments which you are to set before them:

²“If you buy ^aa Hebrew slave, he shall serve for six years; but on the seventh he shall go out as a free man without payment.

³“If he comes ¹alone, he shall go out ²alone; if he is the husband of a wife, then his wife shall go out with him.

⁴“If his master gives him a wife, and she bears him sons or daughters, the wife and her children shall belong to her master, and he shall go out ¹alone.

⁵“But ^aif the slave plainly says, ‘I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out as a free man,’

⁶then his master shall bring him to ¹God, and he shall bring him to the door or the doorpost. Then his master shall pierce his ear with an awl; and he shall serve him permanently.

⁷“^aAnd if a man sells his daughter as a female slave, she is not to ¹go free ^bas the male slaves ²do.

⁸“If she is ¹displeasing in the eyes of her master ²who designated her for himself, then he shall let her be redeemed. He does not have authority to sell her to a foreign people because of his treachery to her.

⁹“And if he designates her for his son, he shall do to her according to the custom of daughters.

¹⁰“If he takes for himself another woman, he may not reduce her ¹food, her clothing, or ^aher conjugal rights.

¹¹“And if he will not do these three things for her, then she shall go out for nothing, without payment of money.

Judgments About Personal Injuries

¹²“^aHe who strikes a man so that he dies shall surely be put to death.

¹³“^aBut ¹if he did not lie in wait for him, but ^bGod let him fall into his hand, then I will appoint you a place to which he may flee.

¹⁴“^aIf, however, a man acts presumptuously toward his neighbor, so as to kill him by deceit, you shall take him even from My altar, that he may die.

¹⁵“And he who strikes his father or his mother shall surely be put to death.

¹⁶“^aHe who ¹kidnaps a man, whether he sells him or he is found in his hand, shall surely be put to death.

¹⁷“^aAnd he who curses his father or his mother shall surely be put to death.

¹⁸“And if men contend with each other and one strikes the other with a stone or with his fist, and he does not die but ¹remains in bed,

¹⁹if he gets up and walks around outside on his staff, then he who struck him shall go unpunished; he shall only pay for ¹his loss of time, and ²he shall take care of him until he is completely healed.

²⁰“And if a man strikes his male or female slave with a rod and he dies ¹at his hand, he shall surely ²be punished.

²¹“But if for a day or two he is able to stand, no punishment shall be taken; ^afor he is his ¹property.

²²“And if men struggle with each other and ¹strike a woman with child so that ²she gives birth prematurely, yet there is no injury, he shall surely be fined as the woman’s husband ³will set for him, and he shall ^apay ⁴as the judges decide.

²³“But if there is any further injury, ^athen you shall pay life for life,

^24aeye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot,

²⁵burn for burn, bruise for bruise, wound for wound.

²⁶“And if a man strikes the eye of his male or female slave and ruins it, he shall let him go free on account of his eye.

²⁷“And if he ¹knocks out a tooth of his male or female slave, he shall let him go free on account of his tooth.

^…