The Tent of Meeting

7 Now Moses used to take a tent and pitch it outside the camp some distance away, calling it the “tent of meeting.”o Anyone inquiringp of the Lord would go to the tent of meeting outside the camp. 8 And whenever Moses went out to the tent, all the people rose and stood at the entrances to their tents,q watching Moses until he entered the tent. 9 As Moses went into the tent, the pillar of cloudr would come down and stay at the entrance, while the Lord spokes with Moses. 10 Whenever the people saw the pillar of cloud standing at the entrance to the tent, they all stood and worshiped, each at the entrance to their tent.t 11 The Lord would speak to Moses face to face,u as one speaks to a friend. Then Moses would return to the camp, but his young aide Joshuav son of Nun did not leave the tent.

Moses and the Glory of the Lord

12 Moses said to the Lord, “You have been telling me, ‘Lead these people,’w but you have not let me know whom you will send with me. You have said, ‘I know you by namex and you have found favory with me.’ 13 If you are pleased with me, teach me your waysz so I may know you and continue to find favor with you. Remember that this nation is your people.”a

14 The Lord replied, “My Presenceb will go with you, and I will give you rest.”c

15 Then Moses said to him, “If your Presenced does not go with us, do not send us up from here. 16 How will anyone know that you are pleased with me and with your people unless you go with us?e What else will distinguish me and your people from all the other people on the face of the earth?”f

17 And the Lord said to Moses, “I will do the very thing you have asked,g because I am pleased with you and I know you by name.”h

18 Then Moses said, “Now show me your glory.”i

19 And the Lord said, “I will cause all my goodness to passj in front of you, and I will proclaim my name,k the Lord, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.l 20 But,” he said, “you cannot see my face, for no one may seem me and live.”

21 Then the Lord said, “There is a place near me where you may stand on a rock. 22 When my glory passes by, I will put you in a cleft in the rockn and cover you with my hando until I have passed by. 23 Then I will remove my hand and you will see my back; but my face must not be seen.”

The New Stone Tablets

34 The Lord said to Moses, “Chisel out two stone tablets like the first ones,p and I will write on them the words that were on the first tablets,q which you broke.r 2 Be ready in the morning, and then come up on Mount Sinai.s Present yourself to me there on top of the mountain. 3 No one is to come with you or be seen anywhere on the mountain;t not even the flocks and herds may graze in front of the mountain.”

4 So Moses chiseledu out two stone tablets like the first ones and went up Mount Sinai early in the morning, as the Lord had commanded him; and he carried the two stone tablets in his hands.v 5 Then the Lord came down in the cloudw and stood there with him and proclaimed his name, the Lord.x 6 And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, “The Lord, the Lord, the compassionatey and gracious God, slow to anger,z abounding in lovea and faithfulness,b 7 maintaining love to thousands,c and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin.d Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished;e he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation.”f

8 Moses bowed to the ground at once and worshiped. 9 “Lord,” he said, “if I have found favorg in your eyes, then let the Lord go with us.h Although this is a stiff-neckedi people, forgive our wickedness and our sin,j and take us as your inheritance.”k

10 Then the Lord said: “I am making a covenantl with you. Before all your people I will do wondersm never before done in any nation in all the world.n The people you live among will see how awesome is the work that I, the Lord, will do for you. 11 Obey what I commando you today. I will drive out before you the Amorites, Canaanites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites.p 12 Be careful not to make a treatyq with those who live in the land where you are going, or they will be a snarer among you. 13 Break down their altars, smash their sacred stones and cut down their Asherah poles.a s 14 Do not worship any other god,t for the Lord, whose nameu is Jealous, is a jealous God.v

15 “Be careful not to make a treatyw with those who live in the land; for when they prostitutex themselves to their gods and sacrifice to them, they will invite you and you will eat their sacrifices.y 16 And when you choose some of their daughters as wivesz for your sons and those daughters prostitute themselves to their gods,a they will lead your sons to do the same.

17 “Do not make any idols.b

18 “Celebrate the Festival of Unleavened Bread.c For seven days eat bread made without yeast,d as I commanded you. Do this at the appointed time in the month of Aviv,e for in that month you came out of Egypt.

19 “The first offspringf of every womb belongs to me, including all the firstborn males of your livestock, whether from herd or flock. 20 Redeem the firstborn donkey with a lamb, but if you do not redeem it, break its neck.g Redeem all your firstborn sons.h

“No one is to appear before me empty-handed.i

21 “Six days you shall labor, but on the seventh day you shall rest;j even during the plowing season and harvestk you must rest.

22 “Celebrate the Festival of Weeks with the firstfruitsl of the wheat harvest, and the Festival of Ingatheringm at the turn of the year.b 23 Three timesn a year all your men are to appear before the Sovereign Lord, the God of Israel. 24 I will drive out nationso before you and enlarge your territory,p and no one will covet your land when you go up three times each year to appear before the Lord your God.

25 “Do not offer the blood of a sacrifice to me along with anything containing yeast,q and do not let any of the sacrifice from the Passover Festival remain until morning.r

26 “Bring the best of the firstfruitss of your soil to the house of the Lord your God.

“Do not cook a young goat in its mother’s milk.”t

27 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Writeu down these words, for in accordance with these words I have made a covenantv with you and with Israel.” 28 Moses was there with the Lord forty days and forty nightsw without eating bread or drinking water.x And he wrote on the tabletsy the words of the covenant—the Ten Commandments.z

The Radiant Face of Moses

29 When Moses came down from Mount Sinaia with the two tablets of the covenant law in his hands,b he was not aware that his face was radiantc because he had spoken with the Lord. 30 When Aaron and all the Israelites saw Moses, his face was radiant, and they were afraid to come near him. 31 But Moses called to them; so Aaron and all the leaders of the communityd came back to him, and he spoke to them. 32 Afterward all the Israelites came near him, and he gave them all the commandse the Lord had given him on Mount Sinai.

33 When Moses finished speaking to them, he put a veilf over his face. 34 But whenever he entered the Lord’s presence to speak with him, he removed the veil until he came out. And when he came out and told the Israelites what he had been commanded, 35 they saw that his face was radiant.g Then Moses would put the veil back over his face until he went in to speak with the Lord.