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The New Jerusalem Bible with Apocrypha
The Book of ExodusIsrael always looked back on the deliverance from Egypt as the supreme act of God''s power and love, leading on to the great meeting with God on Sinai. It gave them the overwhelming experience of God's majesty and power, and was also the decisive moment when God chose Israel to be his own people. The covenant with God on Sinai was the basis of the whole way of life of Israel. Though there is an infinite gulf between the holy God and humanity, the holiness of God's people must correspond to his own. This awareness determines the whole body of Israel's Law. For its details the Law draws on the case-law of other Near Eastern peoples, and much of it reflects later practice, when Israel had a large, settled, agricultural population. Particularly the instructions of chh. 25 -31 (fulfilled in chh. 35-39) mix elements of Moses' time with more recent ones, though as it is the foundation of Israel's life it is still presented as dictated by Yahweh. Similarly, the story of the exodus from Egypt itself is simplified and schematised. There were probably two groups of Hebrews involved: one was expelled and the other escaped, only one being led by Moses; this would account for a certain overlap in the telling. At the crossing of the sea two accounts are interwoven: the earlier mentions only the destruction of the Egyptians in the water, but the wonder of God's protection of his people is later expressed by the introduction of 'walls of water'. In later books of the Bible (e.g. Wisdom) this tendency is carried still further.
Chapter 1
the liberation from egypt
the prosperity of the hebrews in egypt1These are the names of the Israelites who went with Jacob to Egypt, each of them went with his family: 2Reuben, Simeon, Levi and Judah, 3Issachar, Zebulun and Benjamin, 4Dan and Naphtali, Gad and Asher. 5In all, the descendants of Jacob numbered seventy persons. Joseph was in Egypt already. 6Then Joseph died, and his brothers, and all that generation. 7But the Israelites were fruitful and prolific; they became so numerous and powerful that eventually the whole land was full of them.
the hebrews oppressed
8Then there came to power in Egypt a new king who had never heard of Joseph. 9'Look,' he said to his people, 'the Israelites are now more numerous and stronger than we are. 10We must take precautions to stop them from increasing any further, or if war should break out, they might join the ranks of our enemies. They might take arms against us and then escape from the country.' 11Accordingly they put taskmasters over the Israelites to wear them down by forced labour. In this way they built the store-cities of Pithom and Rameses for Pharaoh. 12But the harder their lives were made, the more they increased and spread, until people came to fear the Israelites. 13So the Egyptians gave them no mercy in the demands they made, 14making their lives miserable with hard labour: with digging clay, making bricks, doing various kinds of field-work-all sorts of labour that they imposed on them without mercy. 15The king of Egypt then spoke to the Hebrew midwives, one of whom was called Shiphrah, and the other Puah. 16'When you attend Hebrew women in childbirth,' he said, 'look at the two stones. If it is a boy, kill him; if a girl, let her live.' 17But the midwives were God-fearing women and did not obey the orders of the king of Egypt, but allowed the boys to live. 18So the king of Egypt summoned the midwives and said to them, 'What do you mean by allowing the boys to live?' 19The midwives said to Pharaoh, 'Hebrew women are not like Egyptian women, they are hardy and give birth before the midwife can get to them.' 20For this, God was good to the midwives, and the people went on increasing and growing more powerful; 21and since the midwives feared God, he gave them families of their own. 22Pharaoh then gave all his people this command: 'Throw every new-born boy into the river, but let all the girls live.'
Chapter 2
the birth and early life of moses
1There was a man descended from Levi who had taken a woman of Levi as his wife. 2She conceived and gave birth to a son and, seeing what a fine child he was, she kept him hidden for three months. 3When she could hide him no longer, she got a papyrus basket for him; coating it with bitumen and pitch, she put the child inside and laid it among the reeds at the River's edge. 4His sister took up position some distance away to see what would happen to him. 5Now Pharaoh's daughter went down to bathe in the river, while her maids walked along the riverside. Among the reeds she noticed the basket, and she sent her maid to fetch it. 6She opened it and saw the child: the baby was crying. Feeling sorry for it, she said, 'This is one of the little Hebrews.' 7The child's sister then said to Pharaoh's daughter, 'Shall I go and find you a nurse among the Hebrew women to nurse the child for you?' 8'Yes,' said Pharaoh's daughter, and the girl went and called the child's own mother. 9Pharaoh's daughter said to her, 'Take this child away and nurse it for me. I shall pay you myself for doing so.' So the woman took the child away and nursed it. 10When the child grew up, she brought him to Pharaoh's daughter who treated him like a son; she named him Moses 'because', she said, 'I drew him out of the water.'
moses escapes to midian
11It happened one day, when Moses was grown up, that he went to see his kinsmen. While he was watching their forced labour he also saw an Egyptian striking a Hebrew, one of his kinsmen. 12Looking this way and that and seeing no one in sight, he killed the Egyptian and hid him in the sand. 13On the following day he came back, and there were two Hebrews, fighting. He said to the man who was in the wrong, 'What do you mean by hitting your kinsman?' 14'And who appointed you', the man retorted, 'to be prince over us and judge? Do you intend to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?' Moses was frightened. 'Clearly that business has come to light,' he thought. 15When Pharaoh heard of the matter, he tried to put Moses to death, but Moses fled from Pharaoh. He went into Midianite territory and sat down beside a well. 16Now there was a priest of Midian with seven daughters. They used to come to draw water and fill the troughs to water their father's flock. 17Some shepherds came and drove them away, but Moses sprang to their help and watered their flock. 18When they returned to their father Reuel, he said to them, 'Why are you back so early today?' 19'An Egyptian protected us from the shepherds,' they said, 'and he even drew water for us and watered the flock.' 20'And where is he?' he asked his daughters. 'Why did you leave the man there? Ask him to eat with us.' 21Moses agreed to stay on there with the man, who gave him his daughter Zipporah in marriage. 22She gave birth to a son, whom he named Gershom 'because', he said, 'I am an alien in a foreign land.'
the call of moses
God remembers israel23During this long period the king of Egypt died. The Israelites, groaning in their slavery, cried out for help and from the depths of their slavery their cry came up to God. 24God heard their groaning; God remembered his covenant with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. 25God saw the Israelites and took note.
Chapter 3
the burning bush *[6:2 -13]
1Moses was looking after the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian; he led it to the far side of the desert and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. 2The angel of Yahweh appeared to him in a flame blazing from the middle of a bush. Moses looked; there was the bush blazing, but the bush was not being burnt up. 3Moses said, 'I must go across and see this strange sight, and why the bush is not being burnt up.' 4When Yahweh saw him going across to look, God called to him from the middle of the bush. 'Moses, Moses!' he said. 'Here I am,' he answered. 5'Come no nearer,' he said. 'Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground. 6I am the God of your ancestors,' he said, 'the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.' At this Moses covered his face, for he was afraid to look at God.
The mission of Moses
7Yahweh then said, 'I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying for help on account of their taskmasters. Yes, I am well aware of their sufferings. 8And I have come down to rescue them from the clutches of the Egyptians and bring them up out of that country, to a country rich and broad, to a country flowing with milk and honey, to the home of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites and the Jebusites. 9Yes indeed, the Israelites' cry for help has reached me, and I have also seen the cruel way in which the Egyptians are oppressing them. 10So now I am sending you to Pharaoh, for you to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt.' 11Moses said to God, 'Who am I to go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?' 12'I shall be with you,' God said, 'and this is the sign by which you will know that I was the one who sent you. After you have led the people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain.'
The divine name
*['Yahweh' may be some form of the verb 'to be'.
God either refuses to give a name or reveals that he is the key to existence.
The Gk understands it as a statement that God is Being itself.]13Moses then said to God, 'Look, if I go to the Israelites and say to them, "The God of your ancestors has sent me to you," and they say to me, "What is his name?" what am I to tell them?' 14God said to Moses, 'I am he who is.' And he said, 'This is what you are to say to the Israelites, "I am has sent me to you."' 15God further said to Moses, 'You are to tell the Israelites, "Yahweh, the God of your ancestors, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you." This is my name for all time, and thus I am to be invoked for all generations to come.
Moses instructed for his mission
16'Go, gather the elders of Israel together and tell them, "Yahweh, the God of your ancestors, has appeared to me-the God of Abraham, of Isaac and of Jacob-and has indeed visited you and seen what is being done to you in Egypt, 17and has said: I shall bring you out of the misery of Egypt to the country of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites and the Jebusites, to a country flowing with milk and honey." 18They will listen to your words, and you and the elders of Israel are to go to the king of Egypt and say to him, "Yahweh, the God of the Hebrews, has encountered us. So now please allow us to make a three-days' journey into the desert and sacrifice to Yahweh our God." 19I am well aware that the king of Egypt will not let you go unless he is compelled by a mighty hand; 20he will not let you go until I have stretched out my arm and struck Egypt with all the wonders I intend to work there.
The Egyptians to be plundered
21'I shall ensure that the Egyptians are so much impressed with this people that when you go, you will not go empty-handed. 22Every woman will ask her neighbour and the woman staying in her house for silver and golden jewellery, and clothing. In these you will dress your own sons and daughters, despoiling the Egyptians of them.'
Chapter 4
Moses granted miraculous powers
1Moses replied as follows, 'But suppose they will not believe me or listen to my words, and say to me, "Yahweh has not appeared to you"?' 2Yahweh then said, 'What is that in your hand?' 'A staff,' he said. 3'Throw it on the ground,' said Yahweh. Moses threw it on the ground; the staff turned into a snake and Moses recoiled from it. 4Yahweh then said to Moses, 'Reach out your hand and catch it by the tail.' He reached out his hand, caught it, and in his hand it turned back into a staff. 5'Thus they may believe that Yahweh, the God of their ancestors, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob, has appeared to you.' 6Next, Yahweh said to him, 'Put your hand inside your tunic.' He put his hand inside his tunic, then drew it out again: and his hand was diseased, white as snow. 7Yahweh then said, 'Put your hand back inside your tunic.' He put his hand back inside his tunic and when he drew it out, there it was restored, just like the rest of his flesh. 8'Even so: should they not believe you nor be convinced by the first sign, the second sign will convince them; 9but should they not be convinced by either of these two signs and refuse to listen to what you say, you are to take some water from the River and pour it on the ground, and the water you have taken from the River will turn to blood on the dry land.'
Aaron, the mouthpiece of Moses
10Moses said to Yahweh, 'Please, my Lord, I have never been eloquent, even since you have spoken to your servant, for I am slow and hesitant of speech.' 11'Who gave a person a mouth?' Yahweh said to him. 'Who makes a person dumb or deaf, gives sight or makes blind? Is it not I, Yahweh? 12Now go, I shall help you speak and instruct you what to say.' 13'Please, my Lord,' Moses replied, 'send anyone you decide to send!' 14At this, Yahweh's anger kindled against Moses, and he said to him, 'There is your brother Aaron the Levite, is there not? I know that he is a good speaker. Here he comes to meet you. When he sees you, his heart will be full of joy. 15You will speak to him and tell him what message to give. I shall help you speak, and him too, and instruct you what to do. 16He will speak to the people in your place; he will be your mouthpiece, and you will be as the god inspiring him. 17And take this staff in your hand; with this you will perform the signs.'
Moses leaves Midian and returns to Egypt
18Moses went back to his father-in-law Jethro and said to him, 'Give me leave to return to my kinsmen in Egypt and see if they are still alive.' And Jethro said to Moses, 'Go in peace.' 19Yahweh said to Moses in Midian, 'Go, return to Egypt, for all those who wanted to kill you are dead.' 20So Moses took his wife and his son and, putting them on a donkey, started back for Egypt; and Moses took the staff of God in his hand. 21Yahweh said to Moses, 'Think of the wonders I have given you power to perform, once you are back in Egypt! You are to perform them before Pharaoh, but I myself shall make him obstinate, and he will not let the people go. 22You will then say to Pharaoh, "This is what Yahweh says: Israel is my first-born son. 23I told you: Let my son go and worship me; but since you refuse to let him go, well then! I shall put your first-born son to death."'
The son of Moses circumcised
24On the journey, when he had halted for the night, Yahweh encountered him and tried to kill him. 25Then Zipporah, taking up a flint, cut off her son's foreskin and with it touched his feet and said, 'You are my blood-bridegroom!' 26So he let him go. She said, 'Blood-bridegroom' then, with reference to the circumcision.
Moses meets Aaron
27Yahweh said to Aaron, 'Go into the desert to meet Moses.' So he went, and met him at the mountain of God and kissed him. 28Moses then told Aaron all that Yahweh had said when sending him and all the signs he had ordered him to perform. 29Moses and Aaron then went and gathered all the elders of the Israelites together, 30and Aaron repeated everything that Yahweh had said to Moses, and in the sight of the people performed the signs. 31The people were convinced, and they rejoiced that Yahweh had visited the Israelites and seen their misery, and they bowed to the ground in worship.
Chapter 5
The first audience with Pharaoh
1After this, Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and said to him, 'This is what Yahweh, God of Israel, says, "Let my people go, so that they can hold a feast in my honour in the desert."' 2'Who is Yahweh,' Pharaoh replied, 'for me to obey what he says and let Israel go? I know nothing of Yahweh, and I will not let Israel go.' 3'The God of the Hebrews has encountered us,' they replied. 'Give us leave to make a three -days' journey into the desert and sacrifice to Yahweh our God, or he will strike us with a plague or with the sword.' 4The king of Egypt said to them, 'Moses and Aaron, what do you mean by distracting the people from their work? Get back to your forced labour.' 5And Pharaoh said, 'Now that the people have grown to such numbers in the country, what do you mean by interrupting their forced labour?'
Instructions to the taskmasters
6That very day, Pharaoh gave the order to the people's taskmasters and their scribes, 7'Do not go on providing the people with straw for brickmaking as before; let them go and gather straw for themselves. 8But you will exact the same quantity of bricks from them as before, not reducing it at all, since they are lazy, and that is why their cry is, "Let us go and sacrifice to our God." 9Give these people more work to do, and see they do it instead of listening to lying speeches.' 10The people's taskmasters and scribes went out to speak to the people and said, 'Pharaoh says this, "I shall not provide you with any more straw. 11Go and collect straw for yourselves where you can find it. But your output is not to be any less."' 12So the people scattered all over Egypt to gather stubble for their straw. 13The taskmasters harassed them. 'You must complete your daily quota,' they said, 'just as when the straw was there.' 14And the Israelites' foremen whom Pharaoh's taskmasters had put in charge of them, were flogged and asked, 'Why have you not fulfilled your quota of bricks made today as before?'
The Hebrew scribes complain
15The Israelites' foremen went and appealed to Pharaoh. 'Why do you treat your servants like this?' they said. 16'No straw is provided for your servants, yet still the cry is, "Make bricks!" And now your servants are being flogged!...' 17'You are lazy, lazy,' he retorted. 'That is why you say, "Let us go and sacrifice to Yahweh." 18Get back to your work at once. You will not be provided with straw; all the same, you will deliver the quota of bricks.'
Recriminations of the people
Prayer of Moses19The Israelites' foremen saw they were in a difficult position on being told, 'You will not reduce your daily production of bricks.' 20As they left Pharaoh's presence, they met Moses and Aaron who were standing in their way. 21'May Yahweh look down at you and judge!' they said to them. 'You have brought us into bad odour with Pharaoh and his officials; you have put a sword into their hand to kill us.' 22Moses went back to Yahweh and said, 'Lord, why do you treat this people so harshly? Why did you send me? 23Ever since I came to Pharaoh and spoke to him in your name, he has ill-treated this people, and you have done nothing at all about rescuing your people.'
Chapter 6
1Yahweh then said to Moses, 'Now you will see what I am going to do to Pharaoh. A mighty hand will force him to let them go, a mighty hand will force him to expel them from his country.'
Another account of the call of Moses *[3:1-4:23]
2God spoke to Moses and said to him, 'I am Yahweh. 3To Abraham, Isaac and Jacob I appeared as El Shaddai, but I did not make my name Yahweh known to them. 4I also made my covenant with them to give them the land of Canaan, the country in which they were living as aliens. 5Furthermore, I have heard the groaning of the Israelites, enslaved by the Egyptians, and have remembered my covenant. 6So say to the Israelites, "I am Yahweh. I shall free you from the forced labour of the Egyptians; I shall rescue you from their slavery and I shall redeem you with outstretched arm and mighty acts of judgement. 7I shall take you as my people and I shall be your God. And you will know that I am Yahweh your God, who have freed you from the forced labour of the Egyptians. 8Then I shall lead you into the country which I swore I would give to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and shall give it to you as your heritage, I, Yahweh."' 9And Moses repeated this to the Israelites, but they would not listen to Moses, so crushed was their spirit and so cruel their slavery. 10Yahweh then said to Moses, 11'Go to Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and tell him to let the Israelites leave his country.' 12But Moses spoke out in Yahweh's presence and said, 'The Israelites have not listened to me, so why should Pharaoh take any notice of a poor speaker like me?' 13Yahweh spoke to Moses and Aaron and sent them to Pharaoh king of Egypt, to lead the Israelites out of Egypt.
The genealogy of Moses and Aaron
14These were their heads of families: The sons of Reuben, Israel's first-born: Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron and Carmi: these are the clans of Reuben. 15The sons of Simeon: Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jachin, Zohar, and Shaul son of the Canaanite woman: these are the clans of Simeon. 16These were the names of the sons of Levi with their descendants: Gershon, Kohath and Merari. Levi lived for a hundred and thirty-seven years. 17The sons of Gershon: Libni and Shimei, with their clans. 18The sons of Kohath: Amram, Izhar, Hebron and Uzziel. Kohath lived for a hundred and thirty-three years. 19The sons of Merari: Mahli and Mushi. These are the clans of Levi with their descendants. 20Amram married Jochebed, his aunt, who bore him Aaron and Moses. Amram lived for a hundred and thirty-seven years. 21The sons of Izhar were: Korah, Nepheg and Zichri. 22And the sons of Uzziel: Mishael, Elzaphan and Sithri. 23Aaron married Elisheba daughter of Amminadab and sister of Nahshon, and she bore him Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar. 24The sons of Korah: Assir, Elkanah and Abiasaph. These are the clans of the Korahites. 25Eleazar, son of Aaron, married one of Putiel's daughters who bore him Phinehas. These were the Levitical heads of families, according to clan. 26It was to this Aaron and Moses that Yahweh said, 'Lead the Israelites out of Egypt in their armies.' 27It was they who spoke to Pharaoh, king of Egypt, to lead the Israelites out of Egypt-namely Moses and Aaron.
The narrative of Moses' call, continued
28Now the day when Yahweh spoke to Moses in Egypt, 29Yahweh said to Moses, 'Tell Pharaoh king of Egypt everything that I am going to say to you.' 30But Moses said to Yahweh's face, 'I am a poor speaker, so why should Pharaoh take any notice of me?'
Chapter 7
7:1Yahweh then said to Moses, 'Look, I have made you as a god for Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron is to be your prophet. 2You must say whatever I command you, and your brother Aaron will repeat to Pharaoh that he is to let the Israelites leave his country. 3But I myself shall make Pharaoh stubborn and shall perform many a sign and wonder in Egypt. 4Since Pharaoh will not listen to you, I shall lay my hand on Egypt and with great acts of judgement lead my armies, my people, the Israelites, out of Egypt. 5And the Egyptians will know that I am Yahweh when I stretch out my hand against the Egyptians and lead the Israelites out of their country.' 6Moses and Aaron did exactly as Yahweh had ordered. 7Moses was eighty years old and Aaron eighty-three, when they spoke to Pharaoh.
D: THE PLAGUES OF EGYPT
The staff turned into a snake8Yahweh said to Moses and Aaron, 9'If Pharaoh says to you, "Display some marvel," you must say to Aaron, "Take your staff and throw it down in front of Pharaoh, and let it turn into a serpent!" ' 10Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and did as Yahweh had ordered. Aaron threw down his staff in front of Pharaoh and his officials, and it turned into a serpent. 11Then Pharaoh in his turn called for the sages and sorcerers, and by their spells the magicians of Egypt did the same. 12Each threw his staff down and these turned into serpents. But Aaron's staff swallowed up theirs. 13Pharaoh, however, remained obstinate and, as Yahweh had foretold, refused to listen to Moses and Aaron.
The first plague: the water turns to blood
14Yahweh then said to Moses, 'Pharaoh is adamant. He refuses to let the people go. 15Go to Pharaoh tomorrow morning as he makes his way to the water, confront him on the river bank and in your hand take the staff that turned into a snake. 16Say to him, "Yahweh, God of the Hebrews, sent me to say: Let my people go and worship in the desert. Up till now, you have refused to listen. 17This is what Yahweh says: You will know that I am Yahweh by this: with the staff that is in my hand I shall strike the waters of the River and they will turn to blood. 18The fish in the river will die, and the River will stink, and the Egyptians will not be able to drink the river water."' 19Yahweh said to Moses, 'Say to Aaron, "Take your staff and stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt-over their rivers and canals, their marshland, and all their reservoirs-and they will turn to blood. There will be blood throughout the whole of Egypt, even in sticks and stones."' 20Moses and Aaron did as Yahweh ordered. He raised his staff and struck the waters of the River, with Pharaoh and his officials looking on, and all the water in the River turned to blood. 21The fish in the River died, and the River stank; and the Egyptians could no longer drink the River water. Throughout the whole of Egypt there was blood. 22But by their spells the magicians of Egypt did the same; Pharaoh remained obstinate and, as Yahweh had foretold, refused to listen to Moses and Aaron. 23Pharaoh turned away and went back into his palace, taking no notice even of this. 24And the Egyptians all dug holes along the river-bank in search of drinking water, since they could not drink the River water. 25After Yahweh struck the River, seven days went by.
The second plague: the frogs
26Then Yahweh said to Moses, 'Go to Pharaoh and say to him, "Yahweh says this: Let my people go and worship me. 27If you refuse to let them go, I shall strike your whole territory with frogs. 28The River will swarm with frogs; they will make their way into your palace, into your bedroom, onto your bed, into the houses of your officials and subjects, into your ovens, into your kneading bowls. 29The frogs will actually clamber onto you, onto your subjects and onto all your officials." '
Chapter 8
8:1Yahweh then said to Moses, 'Say to Aaron, "Stretch out your hand with your staff, over the rivers, the canals and the marshland, and bring the frogs up over the land of Egypt."' 2So Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt, and the frogs came up and covered the land of Egypt. 3But by their spells the magicians did the same, bringing frogs over the land of Egypt. 4Pharaoh then summoned Moses and Aaron and said, 'Entreat Yahweh to take the frogs away from me and my subjects, and I promise to let the people go and sacrifice to Yahweh.' 5Moses said to Pharaoh, 'You are the one to gain by it: when would you like me to pray for you, your officials and your subjects, so as to rid you and your houses of the frogs so that they will be left only in the River?' 6'Tomorrow,' he said. Moses said, 'It shall be as you say, so that you will know that there is no one like Yahweh our God. 7The frogs will leave you, your houses, your officials and your subjects and will be left only in the River.' 8Moses and Aaron left Pharaoh's presence, and Moses pleaded with Yahweh about the frogs which he had inflicted on Pharaoh. 9Yahweh did as Moses asked, and in house and courtyard and field the frogs died. 10They piled them up in heaps and the country stank. 11But once Pharaoh saw that there had been a respite, he became obstinate and, as Yahweh had foretold, refused to listen to them.
The third plague: the mosquitoes
12Yahweh then said to Moses, 'Say to Aaron, "Stretch out your staff and strike the dust of the earth, and it will turn into mosquitoes throughout the whole of Egypt."' 13Aaron stretched out his hand, with his staff, and struck the dust of the earth, and there were mosquitoes on man and beast; all the dust of the earth turned into mosquitoes throughout the whole of Egypt. 14By their spells the magicians tried to produce mosquitoes in the same way but failed, and there were mosquitoes on man and beast. 15So the magicians said to Pharaoh, 'This is the finger of God.' But Pharaoh was obstinate and, as Yahweh had foretold, refused to listen to them.
The fourth plague: the horseflies
16Yahweh then said to Moses, 'Get up early in the morning and confront Pharaoh as he makes his way to the water. Say to him, "Yahweh says this: Let my people go and worship me. 17But if you will not let my people go, I shall send horseflies on you, on your officials, your subjects and your houses. The Egyptians' houses will swarm with horseflies, and so will the very ground they stand on. 18But I shall exempt the region of Goshen, where my people are living, that day; there will be no horseflies there, so that you will know that I am Yahweh, here in this country. 19I shall make a distinction between my people and your people. This sign will take place tomorrow."' 20Yahweh did this, and great swarms of horseflies found their way into Pharaoh's palace, into his officials' houses and all over Egypt; the country was ruined by the horseflies. 21Pharaoh then summoned Moses and Aaron and said, 'Go and sacrifice to your God, inside the country.' 22'That would never do,' Moses said, 'since what we sacrifice to Yahweh our God is outrageous to the Egyptians. If the Egyptians see us offering sacrifices which outrage them, won't they stone us? 23We shall make a three-days' journey into the desert to sacrifice to Yahweh our God, as he has ordered us.' 24Pharaoh said, 'I will let you go and sacrifice to Yahweh your God in the desert, provided you do not go very far. Pray for me.' 25'The moment I leave you,' Moses said, 'I shall pray to Yahweh. Tomorrow morning the horseflies will leave Pharaoh, his officials and his subjects. But Pharaoh must stop trifling with us by not allowing the people to go and sacrifice to Yahweh.' 26Moses then left Pharaoh's presence and prayed to Yahweh, 27and Yahweh did as Moses asked; the horseflies left Pharaoh, his officials and his subjects; not one remained. 28But Pharaoh became obstinate this time too and did not let the people go.
Chapter 9
The fifth plague: death of the Egyptians' livestock
9:1Yahweh then said to Moses, 'Go to Pharaoh and say to him, "Yahweh, God of the Hebrews, says this: Let my people go and worship me. 2If you refuse to let them go and detain them any longer, 3look, the hand of Yahweh will strike your livestock in the fields, horses, donkeys, camels, oxen and flocks with a deadly plague. 4Yahweh will discriminate between the livestock of Israel and the livestock of Egypt: nothing of what belongs to the Israelites will die. 5Yahweh has fixed the time. Tomorrow, he has said, Yahweh will do this in the country."' 6Next day Yahweh did this: all the Egyptians' livestock died, but nothing of the livestock owned by the Israelites died. 7Pharaoh had enquiries made, and found that of the livestock owned by the Israelites not a single beast had died. But Pharaoh was obstinate and did not let the people go.
The sixth plague: the boils
8Yahweh then said to Moses and Aaron, 'Take handfuls of soot from the kiln, and before Pharaoh's eyes let Moses throw it in the air. 9It will turn into fine dust over the whole of Egypt and produce boils breaking into sores on man and beast throughout the whole of Egypt.' 10So they took soot from the kiln and stood in front of Pharaoh, and Moses threw it in the air, and on man and beast it brought out boils breaking into sores. 11And the magicians could not compete with Moses in the matter of the boils, for the magicians were covered with boils like all the other Egyptians. 12But Yahweh made Pharaoh stubborn and, as Yahweh had foretold to Moses, he did not listen to them.
The seventh plague: the hail
13Yahweh then said to Moses, 'Get up early in the morning and confront Pharaoh. Say to him, "Yahweh, God of the Hebrews, says this: Let my people go and worship me. 14For this time I am going to inflict all my plagues on you, on your officials and on your subjects, so that you will know that there is no one like me in the whole world. 15Had I stretched out my hand to strike you and your subjects with pestilence, you would have been swept from the earth. 16But I have let you survive for this reason: to display my power to you and to have my name talked of throughout the world. 17Since you take a high hand with my people, refusing to let them go, 18very well, at about this time tomorrow, I shall cause so severe a hail to fall as was never known in Egypt from the day of its foundation until now. 19So now send word to have your livestock and everything else you own in the fields put under cover. On man or beast, all that happen to be in the fields and are not brought indoors, the hail will fall and they will die."' 20Those of Pharaoh's officials who respected what Yahweh said, brought their slaves and livestock indoors, 21but those who did not take to heart what Yahweh said left their slaves and livestock in the fields. 22Yahweh then said to Moses, 'Stretch out your hand towards heaven so that it hails throughout the whole of Egypt, on man and beast and on everything growing anywhere in Egypt.' 23Moses stretched out his staff towards heaven, and Yahweh thundered and rained down hail. Lightning struck the earth and Yahweh rained down hail on Egypt. 24And so there was hail, and lightning accompanied the hail, very severe, such as had never been known anywhere in Egypt since it first became a nation. 25All over Egypt the hail struck down everything in the fields, man and beast, and the hail beat down everything growing in the fields and shattered all the trees in the fields. 26The only place where there was no hail was in the Goshen region, where the Israelites lived. 27Pharaoh then sent for Moses and Aaron and said, 'This time, I have sinned. Yahweh is in the right; I and my subjects are in the wrong. 28Pray to Yahweh, for we cannot bear any more of this thunder and hail. I promise to let you go. You need stay no longer.' 29Moses said to him, 'The moment I leave the city I shall stretch out my hands to Yahweh. The thunder will stop, and there will be no more hail, so that you may know that the earth belongs to Yahweh. 30But as for you and your officials, I know very well that you still have no respect for Yahweh God.' 31The flax and the barley were ruined, since the barley was in the ear and the flax in bud, 32but the wheat and spelt were not destroyed, being late crops. 33Moses left Pharaoh and went out of the city. He stretched out his hands to Yahweh and the thunder and hail ceased and the rain stopped pouring down on the earth. 34When Pharaoh saw that rain and hail and thunder had stopped, he relapsed into sin, 35and he and his officials became obstinate again. Pharaoh was stubborn and, as Yahweh had foretold through Moses, refused to let the Israelites go.
Chapter 10
The eighth plague: the locusts
10:1Yahweh then said to Moses, 'Go to Pharaoh, for I have made him and his officials stubborn, to display these signs of mine among them; 2so that you can tell your sons and your grandsons how I made fools of the Egyptians and what signs I performed among them, so that you would know that I am Yahweh.' 3Moses and Aaron then went to Pharaoh and said to him, 'Yahweh, God of the Hebrews, says this, "How much longer will you refuse to submit to me? Let my people go and worship me. 4Or, if you refuse to let my people go, tomorrow I shall send locusts into your country. 5They will cover the surface of the soil so that the soil cannot be seen. They will devour the remainder of what has escaped, of what you have been left after the hail; they will devour all your trees growing in the fields; 6they will fill your houses, all your officials' houses and all the Egyptians' houses-something your ancestors and your ancestors' ancestors have never seen from the day they first appeared on earth until now." ' Then he turned on his heel and left Pharaoh's presence. 7At which, Pharaoh's officials said to him, 'How much longer are we to be tricked by this fellow? Let the people go and worship Yahweh their God. Do you not finally realise that Egypt is on the brink of ruin?' 8So Moses and Aaron were brought back to Pharaoh who said to them, 'Go and worship Yahweh your God. But who are to go?' 9Moses replied, 'We shall take our young men and our old men, we shall take our sons and daughters, our flocks and our herds, since we are going to hold a feast in Yahweh's honour.' 10Pharaoh said, 'So I must let you go with your wives and children! May Yahweh preserve you! Plainly, you are up to no good! 11Oh no! You men may go and worship Yahweh, since that was your original request.' With that, they were driven from Pharaoh's presence. 12Yahweh then said to Moses, 'Stretch out your hand over Egypt for the locusts. Let them invade Egypt and devour whatever is growing in the country, whatever the hail has left!' 13Moses stretched his staff over Egypt, and over the country Yahweh sent an east wind which blew all that day and night. By morning, the east wind had brought the locusts. 14The locusts invaded the whole of Egypt and settled all over Egypt, in great swarms; never had there been so many locusts before, nor would there be again. 15They covered the surface of the ground till the land was devastated. They devoured whatever was growing in the fields and all the fruit on the trees that the hail had left. No green was left on tree or plant in the fields anywhere in Egypt. 16Pharaoh sent urgently for Moses and Aaron and said, 'I have sinned against Yahweh your God and against you. 17Now forgive my sin, I implore you, just this once, and entreat Yahweh your God to turn this deadly thing away from me.' 18When Moses left Pharaoh's presence he prayed to Yahweh, 19and Yahweh changed the wind into a west wind, very strong, which carried the locusts away and swept them into the Sea of Reeds. There was not one locust left in the whole of Egypt. 20But Yahweh made Pharaoh stubborn, and he did not let the Israelites go.
The ninth plague: the darkness
21Yahweh then said to Moses, 'Stretch out your hand towards heaven, and let darkness, darkness so thick that it can be felt, cover Egypt.' 22So Moses stretched out his hand towards heaven, and for three days there was thick darkness over the whole of Egypt. 23No one could see anyone else or move about for three days, but all the Israelites did have light where they were living. 24Pharaoh summoned Moses and said, 'Go and worship Yahweh, but your flocks and herds are to stay here. Your wives and children can go with you too.' 25Moses said, 'But now you must give us sacrifices and burnt offerings to offer to Yahweh our God. 26And our livestock will go with us too; not a hoof will be left behind; for we may need animals from these to worship Yahweh our God; for until we get there we ourselves cannot tell how we are to worship Yahweh.' 27But Yahweh made Pharaoh stubborn, and he refused to let them go. 28Pharaoh said to Moses, 'Out of my sight! Be sure you never see my face again, for the next time you see my face you die!' 29Moses then said, 'You yourself have said it. I shall never see your face again.'
Chapter 11
Announcement of the death of the first-born
11:1Yahweh then said to Moses, 'I shall inflict one more plague on Pharaoh and Egypt, after which he will let you go away. When he lets you go, he will actually drive you out! 2Now instruct the people that every man is to ask his neighbour, and every woman hers, for silver and golden jewellery.' 3And Yahweh made the Egyptians impressed with the people, while Moses himself was a man of great importance in Egypt in the opinion of Pharaoh's officials and the people. 4Moses then said, 'Yahweh says this, "At midnight I shall pass through Egypt, 5and all the first-born in Egypt will die, from the first-born of Pharaoh, heir to his throne, to the first-born of the slave-girl at the mill, and all the first-born of the livestock. 6And throughout Egypt there will be great wailing, such as never was before, nor will be again. 7But against the Israelites, whether man or beast, never a dog shall bark, so that you may know that Yahweh discriminates between Egypt and Israel. 8Then all these officials of yours will come down to me and, bowing low before me, say: Go away, you and all the people who follow you! After which, I shall go." ' And, hot with anger, he left Pharaoh's presence. 9Yahweh then said to Moses, 'Pharaoh will not listen to you, so that more of my wonders may be displayed in Egypt.' 10Moses and Aaron worked all these wonders in Pharaoh's presence, but Yahweh made Pharaoh stubborn, and he did not let the Israelites leave his country.
Chapter 12
THE PASSOVER *[Once a herdsmen's new year festival, it receives a new meaning as the memorial of the exodus. The Feast of Unleavened Bread, an agricultural feast, is of separate origin.]
12:1Yahweh said to Moses and Aaron in Egypt, 2'This month must be the first of all the months for you, the first month of your year. 3Speak to the whole community of Israel and say, "On the tenth day of this month each man must take an animal from the flock for his family: one animal for each household. 4If the household is too small for the animal, he must join with his neighbour nearest to his house, depending on the number of persons. When you choose the animal, you will take into account what each can eat. 5It must be an animal without blemish, a male one year old; you may choose it either from the sheep or from the goats. 6You must keep it till the fourteenth day of the month when the whole assembly of the community of Israel will slaughter it at twilight. 7Some of the blood must then be taken and put on both door-posts and the lintel of the houses where it is eaten. 8That night, the flesh must be eaten, roasted over the fire; it must be eaten with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. 9Do not eat any of it raw or boiled in water, but roasted over the fire, with the head, feet and entrails. 10You must not leave any of it over till the morning: whatever is left till morning you must burn. 11This is how you must eat it: with a belt round your waist, your sandals on your feet and your staff in your hand. You must eat it hurriedly: it is a Passover in Yahweh's honour. 12That night, I shall go through Egypt and strike down all the first-born in Egypt, man and beast alike, and shall execute justice on all the gods of Egypt, I, Yahweh! 13The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are. When I see the blood I shall pass over you, and you will escape the destructive plague when I strike Egypt. 14This day must be commemorated by you, and you must keep it as a feast in Yahweh's honour. You must keep it as a feast-day for all generations; this is a decree for all time.
The feast of Unleavened Bread
15"For seven days you must eat unleavened bread. On the first day you must clean the leaven out of your houses, for anyone who eats leavened bread from the first to the seventh day must be outlawed from Israel. 16On the first day you must hold a sacred assembly, and on the seventh day a sacred assembly. On those days no work may be done; you will prepare only what each requires to eat. 17You must keep the feast of Unleavened Bread because it was on that same day that I brought your armies out of Egypt. You will keep that day, generation after generation; this is a decree for all time. 18In the first month, from the evening of the fourteenth day until the evening of the twenty-first day, you must eat unleavened bread. 19For seven days there may be no leaven in your houses, since anyone, either stranger or citizen of the country, who eats leavened bread will be outlawed from the community of Israel. 20You will eat nothing with leaven in it; wherever you live, you will eat unleavened bread."'
Injunctions relating to the Passover
21Moses summoned all the elders of Israel and said to them, 'Go and choose a lamb or kid for your families, and kill the Passover victim. 22Then take a bunch of hyssop, dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and with the blood from the basin touch the lintel and both door-posts; then let none of you venture out of the house till morning. 23Then, when Yahweh goes through Egypt to strike it, and sees the blood on the lintel and on both door-posts, he will pass over the door and not allow the Destroyer to enter your homes and strike. 24You will observe this as a decree binding you and your children for all time, 25and when you have entered the country which Yahweh will give you, as he has promised, you will observe this ritual. 26And when your children ask you, "What does this ritual mean?" 27you will tell them, "It is the Passover sacrifice in honour of Yahweh who passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt, and struck Egypt but spared our houses." ' And the people bowed in worship. 28The Israelites then went away and did as Yahweh had ordered Moses and Aaron.
The tenth plague: death of the first-born
29And at midnight Yahweh struck down all the first-born in Egypt from the first-born of Pharaoh, heir to his throne, to the first-born of the prisoner in the dungeon, and the first-born of all the livestock. 30Pharaoh and all his officials and all the Egyptians got up in the night, and there was great wailing in Egypt, for there was not a house without its dead. 31It was still dark when Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and said, 'Up, leave my subjects, you and the Israelites! Go and worship Yahweh as you have asked! 32And take your flocks and herds as you have asked, and go! And bless me too!' 33The Egyptians urged the people on and hurried them out of the country because, they said, 'Otherwise we shall all be dead.' 34So the people carried off their dough still unleavened, their bowls wrapped in their cloaks, on their shoulders.
The Egyptians plundered
35The Israelites did as Moses had told them and asked the Egyptians for silver and golden jewellery, and clothing. 36Yahweh made the Egyptians so much impressed with the people that they gave them what they asked. So they despoiled the Egyptians.
Israel's departure
37The Israelites left Rameses for Succoth, about six hundred thousand on the march-men, that is, not counting their families. 38A mixed crowd of people went with them, and flocks and herds, quantities of livestock. 39And with the dough which they had brought from Egypt they baked unleavened cakes, because the dough had not risen, since they had been driven out of Egypt without time to linger or to prepare food for themselves. 40The time that the Israelites spent in Egypt was four hundred and thirty years. 41And on the very day the four hundred and thirty years ended, all Yahweh's armies left Egypt. 42The night when Yahweh kept vigil to bring them out of Egypt must be kept as a vigil in honour of Yahweh by all Israelites, for all generations.
Ordinances for the Passover
43Yahweh said to Moses and Aaron, 'This is the ritual for the Passover: no alien may eat it, 44but any slave bought for money may eat it, once you have circumcised him. 45No stranger and no hired servant may eat it. 46It must be eaten in one house alone; you will not take any of the meat out of the house; nor may you break any of its bones. 47'The whole community of Israel must keep it. 48Should a stranger residing with you wish to keep the Passover in honour of Yahweh, all the males of his household must be circumcised: he will then be allowed to keep it and will count as a citizen of the country. But no uncircumcised person may eat it. 49The same law will apply to the citizen and the stranger resident among you.' 50The Israelites all did as Yahweh had ordered Moses and Aaron, 51and that same day Yahweh brought the Israelites out of Egypt in their armies.
Chapter 13
The first-born
13:1Yahweh spoke to Moses and said, 2'Consecrate all the first-born to me, the first birth from every womb, among the Israelites. Whether man or beast, it is mine.'
The feast of Unleavened Bread
3Moses said to the people, 'Remember this day, on which you came out of Egypt, from the place of slave-labour, for by the strength of his hand Yahweh brought you out of it; no leavened bread may be eaten. 4On this day, in the month of Abib, you are leaving, 5and when Yahweh has brought you into the country of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Hivites and the Jebusites, flowing with milk and honey, which he swore to your ancestors that he would give you, then you must observe this rite in the same month. 6For seven days you will eat unleavened bread, and on the seventh day there must be a feast in Yahweh's honour. 7During these seven days unleavened bread may be eaten; no leavened bread may be seen among you, no leaven among you throughout your territory. 8And on that day you will explain to your son, "This is because of what Yahweh did for me when I came out of Egypt." 9This will serve as a sign on your hand would serve, or a reminder on your forehead, and in that way the law of Yahweh will be ever on your lips: for with a mighty hand Yahweh brought you out of Egypt. 10You shall observe this law at its appointed time, year by year.
The first-born
11'When Yahweh has brought you into the Canaanites' country, as he swore to you and your ancestors that he would, and given it to you, 12to Yahweh you must make over whatever first issues from the womb, and every first-born cast by animals belonging to you: these males belong to Yahweh. 13But every first-born donkey you will redeem with a lamb or kid; if you do not redeem it, you must break its neck. All the human first-born, however, among your sons, you will redeem. 14And when your son asks you in days to come, "What does this mean?" you will tell him, "By the strength of his hand Yahweh brought us out of Egypt, out of the place of slave-labour. 15When Pharaoh stubbornly refused to let us go, Yahweh killed all the first-born in Egypt, of man and beast alike. This is why I sacrifice every male first issuing from the womb to Yahweh and redeem every first-born of my sons." 16This will serve as a sign on your hand would serve, or a headband on your forehead, for by the strength of his hand Yahweh brought us out of Egypt.'
THE DEPARTURE FROM EGYPT
The departure of the Israelites17When Pharaoh had let the people go, God did not let them take the road to the Philistines' territory, although that was the shortest, 'in case', God thought, 'the prospect of fighting makes the people change their minds and turn back to Egypt.' 18Instead, God led the people a roundabout way through the desert of the Sea of Reeds. The Israelites left Egypt fully armed. 19Moses took with him the bones of Joseph, since Joseph had put the Israelites on solemn oath with the words, 'It is sure that God will visit you,' he had said, 'and when that day comes you must take my bones away from here with you.' 20They set out from Succoth and encamped at Etham, on the edge of the desert. 21Yahweh preceded them, by day in a pillar of cloud to show them the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so that they could march by day and by night. 22The pillar of cloud never left its place ahead of the people during the day, nor the pillar of fire during the night.
Chapter 14
From Etham to the Sea of Reeds
14:1Yahweh spoke to Moses and said, 2'Tell the Israelites to turn back and pitch camp in front of Pi-Hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea, facing Baal-Zephon. You must pitch your camp opposite this place, beside the sea, 3and then Pharaoh will think, "The Israelites are wandering to and fro in the countryside; the desert has closed in on them." 4I shall then make Pharaoh stubborn and he will set out in pursuit of them; and I shall win glory for myself at the expense of Pharaoh and his whole army, and then the Egyptians will know that I am Yahweh.' And the Israelites did this.
The Egyptians pursue the Israelites
5When Pharaoh king of Egypt was told that the people had fled, he and his officials changed their attitude towards the people. 'What have we done,' they said, 'allowing Israel to leave our service?' 6So Pharaoh had his chariot harnessed and set out with his troops, 7taking six hundred of the best chariots and all the other chariots in Egypt, with officers in each. 8Yahweh made Pharaoh king of Egypt stubborn, and he gave chase to the Israelites. The Israelites marched confidently away, 9but the Egyptians, all Pharaoh's horses, his chariots, his horsemen and his army, gave chase and caught up with them where they lay encamped beside the sea near Pi-Hahiroth, facing Baal-Zephon. 10As Pharaoh approached, the Israelites looked up-and there were the Egyptians in pursuit of them! The Israelites were terrified and cried out to Yahweh for help. 11To Moses they said, 'Was it for lack of graves in Egypt, that you had to lead us out to die in the desert? What was the point of bringing us out of Egypt? 12Did we not tell you as much in Egypt? Leave us alone, we said, we would rather work for the Egyptians! We prefer to work for the Egyptians than to die in the desert!' 13Moses said to the people, 'Do not be afraid! Stand firm, and you will see what Yahweh will do to rescue you today: the Egyptians you see today you will never see again. 14Yahweh will do the fighting for you; all you need to do is to keep calm.'
The miracle of the sea
15Yahweh then said to Moses, 'Why cry out to me? Tell the Israelites to march on. 16Your part is to raise your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it, so that the Israelites can walk through the sea on dry ground, 17while I, for my part, shall make the Egyptians so stubborn that they will follow them, and I shall win glory for myself at the expense of Pharaoh and all his army, chariots and horsemen. 18And when I have won glory for myself at the expense of Pharaoh and his chariots and horsemen, the Egyptians will know that I am Yahweh.' 19Then the angel of God, who preceded the army of Israel, changed station and followed behind them. The pillar of cloud moved from their front and took position behind them. 20It came between the army of the Egyptians and the army of Israel. The cloud was dark, and the night passed without the one drawing any closer to the other the whole night long. 21Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and Yahweh drove the sea back with a strong easterly wind all night and made the sea into dry land. The waters were divided 22and the Israelites went on dry ground right through the sea, with walls of water to right and left of them. 23The Egyptians gave chase, and all Pharaoh's horses, chariots and horsemen went into the sea after them. 24In the morning watch, Yahweh looked down on the army of the Egyptians from the pillar of fire and cloud and threw the Egyptian army into confusion. 25He so clogged their chariot wheels that they drove on only with difficulty, which made the Egyptians say, 'Let us flee from Israel, for Yahweh is fighting on their side against the Egyptians!' 26Then Yahweh said to Moses, 'Stretch out your hand over the sea and let the waters flow back on the Egyptians and on their chariots and their horsemen.' 27Moses stretched out his hand over the sea and, as day broke, the sea returned to its bed. The fleeing Egyptians ran straight into it, and Yahweh overthrew the Egyptians in the middle of the sea. 28The returning waters washed right over the chariots and horsemen of Pharaoh's entire army, which had followed the Israelites into the sea; not a single one of them was left. 29The Israelites, however, had marched through the sea on dry ground, with walls of water to right and left of them. 30That day, Yahweh rescued Israel from the clutches of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians lying dead on the sea-shore. 31When Israel saw the mighty deed that Yahweh had performed against the Egyptians, the people revered Yahweh and put their faith in Yahweh and in Moses, his servant.
Chapter 15
Song of victory
15:1It was then that Moses and the Israelites sang this song in Yahweh's honour: I shall sing to Yahweh, for he has covered himself in glory, horse and rider he has thrown into the sea. 2Yahweh is my strength and my song, to him I owe my deliverance. He is my God and I shall praise him, my father's God and I shall extol him. 3Yahweh is a warrior; Yahweh is his name. 4Pharaoh's chariots and army he has hurled into the sea the pick of his officers have been drowned in the Sea of Reeds. 5The ocean has closed over them; they have sunk to the bottom like a stone. 6Your right hand, Yahweh, wins glory by its strength, your right hand, Yahweh, shatters your foes, 7and by your great majesty you fell your assailants; you unleash your fury, it consumes them like chaff. 8A blast from your nostrils and the waters piled high; the waves stood firm as a dyke; the bed of the sea became firm ground. 9The enemy said, 'I shall give chase and overtake, 'I shall share out the spoil and glut myself on them, 'I shall draw my sword, my hand will destroy them.' 10You blew with your breath, the sea closed over them; they sank like lead in the terrible waters. 11Yahweh, who is like you, majestic in sanctity, who like you among the holy ones, fearsome of deed, worker of wonders? 12You stretched your right hand out, the earth swallowed them! 13In your faithful love you led out the people you had redeemed, in your strength you have guided them to your holy dwelling. 14Hearing of this, the peoples tremble; pangs seize on the people of Philistia; 15the chieftains of Edom are dismayed, Moab's princes-panic has seized them, all the inhabitants of Canaan have melted away. 16On them fall terror and dread; through the power of your arm they are still as stone while your people are passing, Yahweh, while the people you have purchased are passing. 17You will bring them in and plant them on the mountain which is your heritage, the place which you, Yahweh, have made your dwelling, the sanctuary, Yahweh, prepared by your own hands. 18Yahweh will be king for ever and ever. 19For when Pharaoh's cavalry, with his chariots and horsemen, had gone into the sea, Yahweh brought the waters of the sea back over them, though the Israelites went on dry ground right through the sea. 20The prophetess Miriam, Aaron's sister, took up a tambourine, and all the women followed her with tambourines, dancing, 21while Miriam took up from them the refrain: Sing to Yahweh, for he has covered himself in glory, horse and rider he has thrown into the sea.
THE JOURNEY THROUGH THE DESERT
Marah22Moses led Israel away from the Sea of Reeds, and they entered the desert of Shur. They then travelled through the desert for three days without finding water. 23When they reached Marah, they could not drink the Marah water because it was bitter; this is why the place was named Marah. 24The people complained to Moses saying, 'What are we to drink?' 25Moses appealed to Yahweh for help, and Yahweh showed him a piece of wood. When Moses threw it into the water, the water became sweet. There he laid down a statute and law for them and there he put them to the test. Then he said, 26'If you listen carefully to the voice of Yahweh your God and do what he regards as right, if you pay attention to his commandments and keep all his laws, I shall never inflict on you any of the diseases that I inflicted on the Egyptians, for I am Yahweh your Healer.' 27So they came to Elim where there were twelve springs and seventy palm trees; and there they pitched camp beside the water.
Chapter 16
The manna and the quails *[Nb 11]
16:1Setting out from Elim, the whole community of Israelites entered the desert of Sin, lying between Elim and Sinai-on the fifteenth day of the second month after they had left Egypt. 2And the whole community of Israelites began complaining about Moses and Aaron in the desert 3and said to them, 'Why did we not die at Yahweh's hand in Egypt, where we used to sit round the flesh pots and could eat to our heart's content! As it is, you have led us into this desert to starve this entire assembly to death!' 4Yahweh then said to Moses, 'Look, I shall rain down bread for you from the heavens. Each day the people must go out and collect their ration for the day; I propose to test them in this way to see whether they will follow my law or not. 5On the sixth day, however, when they prepare what they have brought in, this must be twice as much as they collect on ordinary days.' 6Moses and Aaron then said to the whole community of Israelites, 'This evening you will know that it was Yahweh who brought you out of Egypt, 7and tomorrow morning you will see the glory of Yahweh, for Yahweh has heard your complaints about him. What are we, that your complaint should be against us?' 8Moses then said, 'This evening Yahweh will give you meat to eat, and tomorrow morning bread to your heart's content, for Yahweh has heard your complaints about him. What do we count for? Your complaints are not against us, but against Yahweh.' 9Moses then said to Aaron, 'Say to the whole community of Israelites, "Approach Yahweh's presence, for he has heard your complaints."' 10As Aaron was speaking to the whole community of Israelites, they turned towards the desert, and there the glory of Yahweh appeared in the cloud. 11Yahweh then spoke to Moses and said, 12'I have heard the Israelites' complaints. Speak to them as follows, "At twilight you will eat meat, and in the morning you will have bread to your heart's content, and then you will know that I am Yahweh your God."' 13That evening, quails flew in and covered the camp, and next morning there was a layer of dew all round the camp. 14When the layer of dew lifted, there on the surface of the desert was something fine and granular, as fine as hoarfrost on the ground. 15As soon as the Israelites saw this, they said to one another, 'What is that *[Hebr. Man hu. Popular explanation of the name. Manna is an insect secretion found on tamarisks.]?' not knowing what it was. 'That', Moses told them, 'is the food which Yahweh has given you to eat. 16These are Yahweh's orders: Each of you must collect as much as he needs to eat-a homer per head for each person in his tent.' 17The Israelites did this. They collected it, some more, some less. 18When they measured out what they had collected by the homer, no one who had collected more had too much, no one who had collected less had too little. Each had collected as much as he needed to eat. 19Moses then said, 'No one may keep any of it for tomorrow.' 20But some of them took no notice of Moses and kept part of it for the following day, and it bred maggots and smelt foul; and Moses was angry with them. 21Morning by morning they collected it, each man as much as he needed to eat, and once the sun grew hot, it melted away. 22Now, on the sixth day they collected twice the amount of food: two homer per person, and all the leaders of the community came and told Moses this. 23Moses replied, 'This is what Yahweh said, "Tomorrow is a day of complete rest, a Sabbath sacred to Yahweh. Bake what you want to bake, boil what you want to boil; put aside what is left over, to be kept for tomorrow." 24So, as Moses ordered, they put it aside for the following day, and its smell was not foul nor were there maggots in it. 25'Eat it today,' Moses said, 'for today is a Sabbath for Yahweh; you will find none in the fields today. 26For six days you will collect it, but on the seventh day, the Sabbath, there will be none.' 27On the seventh day some of the people went out to collect it, but they found none. 28Yahweh then said to Moses, 'How much longer will you refuse to obey my commandments and laws? 29Look, Yahweh has given you the Sabbath; this is why he gives you two days' food on the sixth day; each of you must stay in his place; on the seventh day no one may leave his home.' 30So on the seventh day the people rested. 31The House of Israel named it 'manna'. It was like coriander seed; it was white and its taste was like that of wafers made with honey. 32Moses then said, 'These are Yahweh's orders: Fill a homer with it and preserve it for your descendants, so that they can see the bread on which I fed you in the desert when I brought you out of Egypt.' 33Moses then said to Aaron, 'Take a jar and in it put a full homer of manna and store it in Yahweh's presence, to be kept for your descendants.' 34Accordingly, Aaron stored it in front of the Testimony, to be preserved, as Yahweh had ordered Moses. 35The Israelites ate manna for forty years, up to the time they reached inhabited country: they ate manna up to the time they reached the frontiers of Canaan. 36A homer is one-tenth of an ephah.
Chapter 17
The water from the rock
*[Nb 20:1-13.]17:1The whole community of Israelites left the desert of Sin, travelling by stages as Yahweh ordered. They pitched camp at Rephidim where there was no water for the people to drink. 2The people took issue with Moses for this and said, 'Give us water to drink.' Moses replied, 'Why take issue with me? Why do you put Yahweh to the test?' 3But tormented by thirst, the people complained to Moses. 'Why did you bring us out of Egypt,' they said, 'only to make us, our children and our livestock, die of thirst?' 4Moses appealed to Yahweh for help. 'How am I to deal with this people?' he said. 'Any moment now they will stone me!' 5Yahweh then said to Moses, 'Go on ahead of the people, taking some of the elders of Israel with you; in your hand take the staff with which you struck the River, and go. 6I shall be waiting for you there on the rock (at Horeb). Strike the rock, and water will come out for the people to drink.' This was what Moses did, with the elders of Israel looking on. 7He gave the place the names Massah and Meribah because of the Israelites' contentiousness and because they put Yahweh to the test by saying, 'Is Yahweh with us, or not?'
A battle against the Amalekites
8The Amalekites then came and attacked Israel at Rephidim. 9Moses said to Joshua, 'Pick some men and tomorrow morning go out and engage Amalek. I, for my part, shall take my stand on the hilltop with the staff of God in my hand.' 10Joshua did as Moses had told him and went out to engage Amalek, while Moses, Aaron and Hur went up to the top of the hill. 11As long as Moses kept his arms raised, Israel had the advantage; when he let his arms fall, the advantage went to Amalek. 12But Moses' arms grew heavy, so they took a stone and put it under him and on this he sat, with Aaron and Hur supporting his arms on each side. Thus his arms remained unwavering till sunset, 13and Joshua defeated Amalek, putting their people to the sword. 14Yahweh then said to Moses, 'Write this down in a book to commemorate it, and repeat it over to Joshua, for I shall blot out all memory of Amalek under heaven.' 15Moses then built an altar and named it Yahweh-Nissi 16meaning, 'Lay hold of Yahweh's banner! Yahweh will be at war with Amalek generation after generation.'
Chapter 18
The meeting of Jethro and Moses
18:1Jethro, priest of Midian, Moses' father-in-law, had heard all about what God had done for Moses and for Israel his people: how Yahweh had brought Israel out of Egypt. 2Jethro, Moses' father-in-law, then took back Zipporah, Moses' wife, whom Moses had sent home, 3with her two sons; one of them was called Gershom because, he had said, 'I am an alien in a foreign land,' 4and the other called Eliezer because 'My father's God is my help and has delivered me from Pharaoh's sword.' 5Then Jethro, Moses' father-in-law, with Moses' sons and wife, came to Moses in the desert where he was encamped, at the mountain of God. 6'Here is your father-in-law Jethro approaching', Moses was told, 'with your wife and her two sons.' 7So Moses went out to greet his father-in-law, bowed low to him and kissed him; and when each had asked how the other was they went into the tent. 8Moses then told his father-in-law all about what Yahweh had done to Pharaoh and the Egyptians for Israel's sake, and about all the hardships that they had encountered on the way, and how Yahweh had rescued them. 9And Jethro was delighted at all Yahweh's goodness to Israel in having rescued them from the clutches of the Egyptians. 10'Blessed be Yahweh', Jethro exclaimed, 'for having rescued you from the clutches of the Egyptians and the clutches of Pharaoh, for having rescued the people from the grasp of the Egyptians! 11Now I know that Yahweh is greater than all other gods. . .' 12Jethro, Moses' father-in-law, then offered a burnt offering and other sacrifices to God; and Aaron and all the elders of Israel came and ate with Moses' father-in-law in the presence of God.
The appointment of judges
*[Dt 1:9-18]13On the following day, Moses took his seat to administer justice for the people, and the people were standing round him from morning till evening. 14Seeing all he did for the people, Moses' father-in-law said to him, 'Why do you do this for the people, why sit here alone with the people standing round you from morning till evening?' 15Moses replied to his father-in-law, 'Because the people come to me to consult God. 16When they have a problem they come to me, and I give a ruling between the one and the other and make God's statutes and laws known to them.' 17Moses' father-in-law then said to him, 'What you are doing is not right. 18You will only tire yourself out, and the people with you too, for the work is too heavy for you. You cannot do it all yourself. 19Now listen to the advice I am going to give you, and God be with you! Your task is to represent the people to God, to lay their cases before God, 20and to teach them the statutes and laws, and show them the way they ought to follow and how they ought to behave. 21At the same time, from the people at large choose capable and God-fearing men, men who are trustworthy and incorruptible, and put them in charge of them as heads of thousands, hundreds, fifties and tens, 22and make them the people's permanent judges. They will refer all important matters to you, but all minor matters they will decide themselves, so making things easier for you by sharing the burden with you. 23If you do this-and may God so command you-you will be able to stand the strain, and all these people will go home satisfied.' 24Moses took his father-in-law's advice and did just as he said. 25Moses chose capable men from all Israel and put them in charge of the people as heads of thousands, hundreds, fifties and tens. 26These acted as the people's permanent judges. They referred hard cases to Moses but decided minor matters themselves. 27Moses then set his father-in-law on his way, and he travelled back to his own country.
Chapter 19
THE COVENANT AT SINAI
THE COVENANT AND THE DECALOGUE
The Israelites reach Sinai19:1Three months to the day after leaving Egypt, the Israelites reached the desert of Sinai. 2Setting out from Rephidim, they reached the desert of Sinai and pitched camp in the desert; there, facing the mountain, Israel pitched camp.
Yahweh promises the covenant
3Moses then went up to God, and Yahweh called to him from the mountain, saying, 'Say this to the House of Jacob! Tell the Israelites, 4"You have seen for yourselves what I did to the Egyptians and how I carried you away on eagle's wings and brought you to me. 5So now, if you are really prepared to obey me and keep my covenant, you, out of all peoples, shall be my personal possession, for the whole world is mine. 6For me you shall be a kingdom of priests, a holy nation." Those are the words you are to say to the Israelites.' 7So Moses went and summoned the people's elders and acquainted them with everything that Yahweh had bidden him, 8and the people all replied with one accord, 'Whatever Yahweh has said, we will do.' Moses then reported to Yahweh what the people had said.
Preparing for the covenant
9Yahweh then said to Moses, 'Look, I shall come to you in a dense cloud so that the people will hear when I speak to you and believe you ever after.' Moses then told Yahweh what the people had said. 10Yahweh then said to Moses, 'Go to the people and tell them to sanctify themselves today and tomorrow. They must wash their clothes 11and be ready for the day after tomorrow; for the day after tomorrow, in the sight of all the people, Yahweh will descend on Mount Sinai. 12You will mark out the limits of the mountain and say, "Take care not to go up the mountain or to touch the edge of it. Anyone who touches the mountain will be put to death. 13No one may lay a hand on him: he must be stoned or shot by arrow; whether man or beast, he shall not live." When the ram's horn sounds a long blast, they must go up the mountain.' 14So Moses came down from the mountain to the people; he made the people sanctify themselves and they washed their clothes. 15He then said to the people, 'Be ready for the day after tomorrow; do not touch a woman.'
The theophany on Sinai
16Now at daybreak two days later, there were peals of thunder and flashes of lightning, dense cloud on the mountain and a very loud trumpet blast; and, in the camp, all the people trembled. 17Then Moses led the people out of the camp to meet God; and they took their stand at the bottom of the mountain. 18Mount Sinai was entirely wrapped in smoke, because Yahweh had descended on it in the form of fire. The smoke rose like smoke from a furnace and the whole mountain shook violently. 19Louder and louder grew the trumpeting. Moses spoke, and God answered him in the thunder. 20Yahweh descended on Mount Sinai, on the top of the mountain, and Yahweh called Moses to the top of the mountain; and Moses went up. 21Yahweh then said to Moses, 'Go down and warn the people not to break through to look at Yahweh, or many of them will perish. 22Even the priests, who do have access to Yahweh, must sanctify themselves, or Yahweh may burst out against them.' 23Moses said to Yahweh, 'The people cannot come up Mount Sinai, since you yourself warned us to mark out the limits of the mountain and declare it sacred.' 24Yahweh said, 'Away with you! Go down! Then come back bringing Aaron with you. But do not allow the priests and people to break through to come up to Yahweh, or he may burst out against them.' 25So Moses went down to the people and spoke to them.
Chapter 20
The Decalogue *[Dt 5:6-22]
20:1Then God spoke all these words. He said, 2'I am Yahweh your God who brought you out of Egypt, where you lived as slaves. 3'You shall have no other gods to rival me. 4'You shall not make yourself a carved image or any likeness of anything in heaven above or on earth beneath or in the waters under the earth. 5'You shall not bow down to them or serve them. For I, Yahweh your God, am a jealous God and I punish a parent's fault in the children, the grandchildren, and the great-grandchildren among those who hate me; 6but I act with faithful love towards thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments. 7'You shall not misuse the name of Yahweh your God, for Yahweh will not leave unpunished anyone who misuses his name. 8'Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy. 9For six days you shall labour and do all your work, 10but the seventh day is a Sabbath for Yahweh your God. You shall do no work that day, neither you nor your son nor your daughter nor your servants, men or women, nor your animals nor the alien living with you. 11For in six days Yahweh made the heavens, earth and sea and all that these contain, but on the seventh day he rested; that is why Yahweh has blessed the Sabbath day and made it sacred. 12'Honour your father and your mother so that you may live long in the land that Yahweh your God is giving you. 13'You shall not kill. 14'You shall not commit adultery. 15'You shall not steal. 16'You shall not give false evidence against your neighbour. 17'You shall not set your heart on your neighbour's house. You shall not set your heart on your neighbour's spouse, or servant, man or woman, or ox, or donkey, or any of your neighbour's possessions.' 18Seeing the thunder pealing, the lightning flashing, the trumpet blasting and the mountain smoking, the people were all terrified and kept their distance. 19'Speak to us yourself,' they said to Moses, 'and we will obey; but do not let God speak to us, or we shall die.' 20Moses said to the people, 'Do not be afraid; God has come to test you, so that your fear of him, being always in your mind, may keep you from sinning.' 21So the people kept their distance while Moses approached the dark cloud where God was.
B: THE BOOK OF THE COVENANT
Law concerning the altar22Yahweh said to Moses, 'Tell the Israelites this, "You have seen for yourselves how I have spoken to you from heaven. 23You must not make gods of silver to rival me, nor must you make yourselves gods of gold. 24"You must make me an altar of earth on which to sacrifice your burnt offerings and communion sacrifices, your sheep and cattle. Wherever I choose to have my name remembered, I shall come to you and bless you. 25If you make me an altar of stone, do not build it of dressed stones; for if you use a chisel on it, you will profane it. 26You must not go up to my altar by steps, in case you expose your nakedness on them." '
Chapter 21
Laws concerning slaves
21:1'These are the laws you must give them: 2'When you buy a Hebrew slave, his service will last for six years. In the seventh year he will leave a free man without paying compensation. 3If he came single, he will depart single; if he came married, his wife will depart with him. 4If his master gives him a wife and she bears him sons or daughters, the wife and her children will belong to her master, and he will depart alone. 5But if the slave says, "I love my master and my wife and children; I do not wish to be freed," 6then his master will bring him before God and then, leading him to the door or the doorpost, his master will pierce his ear with an awl, and the slave will be permanently his. 7If a man sells his daughter as a slave, she will not leave as male slaves do. 8If she does not please her master who intended her for himself, he must let her be bought back: he has not the right to sell her to foreigners, for this would be a breach of faith with her. 9If he intends her for his son, he must treat her as custom requires daughters to be treated. 10If he takes another wife, he must not reduce the food, clothing or conjugal rights of the first one. 11Should he deprive her of these three things she will leave a free woman, without paying compensation.
Homicide
12'Anyone who by violence causes a death must be put to death. 13If, however, he has not planned to do it but it comes from God by his hand, he can take refuge in a place which I shall appoint for you. 14But should any person dare to kill another with deliberate planning, you will take that person even from my altar to be put to death. 15'Anyone who strikes father or mother will be put to death. 16Anyone who abducts a person-whether that person has since been sold or is still held-will be put to death. 17Anyone who curses father or mother will be put to death.
Blows and wounds
18'If people quarrel and one strikes the other a blow with stone or fist so that the injured party, though not dead, is confined to bed, 19but later recovers and can go about, even with a stick, the one who struck the blow will have no liability, other than to compensate the injured party for the enforced inactivity and to take care of the injured party until the cure is complete. 20'If someone beats his slave, male or female, and the slave dies at his hands, he must pay the penalty. 21But should the slave survive for one or two days, he will pay no penalty because the slave is his by right of purchase. 22'If people, when brawling, hurt a pregnant woman and she suffers a miscarriage but no further harm is done, the person responsible will pay compensation as fixed by the woman's master, paying as much as the judges decide. 23If further harm is done, however, you will award life for life, 24eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, 25burn for burn, wound for wound, stroke for stroke. 26'If anyone strikes the eye of his slave, male or female, and destroys the use of it, he will give the slave his freedom to compensate for the eye. 27If he knocks out the tooth of his slave, male or female, he will give the slave his freedom to compensate for the tooth. 28'If an ox gores a man or woman to death, the ox will be stoned and its meat will not be eaten, but the owner of the ox will not be liable. 29But if the ox has been in the habit of goring before, and if its owner has been warned but has not kept it under control, then should this ox kill a man or woman, it will be stoned and its owner put to death. 30If a ransom is imposed on the owner, he will pay whatever is imposed, to redeem his life. 31If the ox gores a boy or a girl, it will be treated in accordance with this same rule. 32If the ox gores a slave, male or female, its owner will pay the price-thirty shekels-to their master, and the ox will be stoned. 33'If anyone leaves a pit uncovered, or digs a pit and does not cover it, and an ox, or donkey falls into it, 34then the owner of the pit will make good the loss by compensating its owner, and the dead animal will be his. 35If anyone's ox injures anyone else's ox causing its death, the owners will sell and share the money for it; they will also share the dead animal. 36But if it is common knowledge that the ox has been in the habit of goring before, and its owner has not kept it under control, the owner will repay ox for ox, and will keep the dead animal.
Theft of animals
37'If anyone steals an ox or a sheep and slaughters or sells it, he will pay back five beasts from the herd for the ox, and four animals from the flock for the sheep.'
Chapter 22
22:1'If a thief is caught breaking in and is struck a mortal blow, his blood may not be avenged, 2but if it happens after sunrise, his blood may be avenged. He will make full restitution; if he has not the means, he will be sold to pay for what he has stolen. 3If the stolen animal is found alive in his possession, be it ox, donkey or animal from the flock, he will pay back double.
Offences requiring compensation
4'If anyone puts his animals out to graze in a field or vineyard and lets them graze in someone else's field, he will make restitution for the part of the field that has been grazed on the basis of its yield. But if he has let the whole field be grazed, he will make restitution in proportion to the best crop of the field or vineyard. 5'If a fire breaks out, setting light to thorn bushes and burning stacks, standing corn or the field as a result, the person who started the fire will make full restitution. 6'If anyone entrusts money or goods to someone else's keeping and these are stolen from that person's house, the thief, if he can be discovered, will repay double. 7Should the thief not be discovered, the owner of the house will come into the presence of God, to declare that he has not laid hands on the other person's property. 8'In every case of law-breaking involving an ox, donkey, animal from the flock, clothing or lost property of any sort, the ownership of which is disputed, both parties will lay their case before God. The party whom God pronounces guilty will pay back double to the other. 9'If anyone entrusts a donkey, ox, animal from the flock or any other animal to someone else's keeping, and it dies or breaks a limb or is carried off without anyone seeing, 10an oath by Yahweh will decide between the two parties whether the keeper has laid hands on the other's property or not. The owner will take what remains, the keeper will not have to make good the loss. 11Only if the animal has been stolen from him, will he make restitution to the owner. 12If it has been savaged by a wild animal, he must bring the savaged remains of the animal as evidence, and will then not have to make restitution. 13'If anyone borrows an animal from someone else, and it breaks a limb or dies in the owner's absence, he will make full restitution. 14But if the animal's owner has been present, he will not have to make good the loss. If the owner has hired it out, he will get the cost of its hire.
Violation of a virgin
15'If a man seduces a virgin who is not engaged to be married, he will pay her bride-price and make her his wife. 16If her father absolutely refuses to let him have her, he will pay a sum equivalent to the bride-price of a virgin.
Moral and religious laws
17'You will not allow a sorceress to live. 18'Anyone who has intercourse with an animal will be put to death. 19'Anyone who sacrifices to other gods will be put under the curse of destruction. 20'You will not molest or oppress aliens, for you yourselves were once aliens in Egypt. 21You will not ill-treat widows or orphans; 22if you ill-treat them in any way and they make an appeal to me for help, I shall certainly hear their appeal, 23my anger will be roused and I shall put you to the sword; then your own wives will be widows and your own children orphans. 24'If you lend money to any of my people, to anyone poor among you, you will not play the usurer with him: you will not demand interest from him. 25'If you take someone's cloak in pledge, you will return it to him at sunset. 26It is all the covering he has; it is the cloak he wraps his body in; what else will he sleep in? If he appeals to me, I shall listen. At least with me he will find compassion! 27'You will not revile God, nor curse your people's leader.
First-fruits and first-born
28'Do not be slow about making offerings from your abundance and your surplus. You will give me the first-born of your children; 29you will do the same with your flocks and herds. For the first seven days the first-born will stay with its mother; on the eighth day you will give it to me. 30'You must be people consecrated to me. You will not eat the meat of anything in the countryside savaged by wild animals; you will throw it to the dogs.'
Chapter 23
Justice: Duties towards enemies
23:1'You will not spread false rumours. You will not lend support to the wicked by giving untrue evidence. 2You will not be led into wrong-doing by the majority nor, when giving evidence in a lawsuit, side with the majority to pervert the course of justice; 3nor will you show partiality to the poor in a lawsuit. 4'If you come on your enemy's ox or donkey straying, you will take it back to him. 5If you see the donkey of someone who hates you fallen under its load, do not stand back; you must go and help him with it. 6'You will not cheat the poor among you of their rights at law. 7Keep clear of fraud. Do not cause the death of the innocent or upright, and do not acquit the guilty. 8You will accept no bribes, for a bribe blinds the clear-sighted and is the ruin of the cause of the upright. 9'You will not oppress the alien; you know how an alien feels, for you yourselves were once aliens in Egypt.
The sabbatical year and the Sabbath
10'For six years you will sow your land and gather its produce, 11but in the seventh year you will let it lie fallow and forgo all produce from it, so that those of your people who are poor can take food from it and the wild animals eat what they have left. You will do the same with your vineyard and your olive grove. 12'For six days you will do your work, and on the seventh you will rest, so that your ox and your donkey may rest and the child of your slave-girl have a breathing space, and the alien too. 13'Take notice of everything I have told you and do not mention the name of any other god: let none ever be heard from your lips.
The great feasts
14'Three times a year you will hold a festival in my honour. 15You will observe the feast of Unleavened Bread. For seven days you will eat unleavened bread, as I have commanded you, at the appointed time in the month of Abib, for in that month you came out of Egypt. No one will appear before me empty-handed. 16You will also observe the feast of Harvest, of the first-fruits of your labours in sowing the fields, and the feast of Ingathering, at the end of the year, once you have brought the fruits of your labours in from the fields. 17Three times a year all your menfolk will appear before Lord Yahweh. 18'You will not offer the blood of my victim with leavened bread, nor will the fat of my feast be kept till the following day. 19'You will bring the best of the first-fruits of your soil to the house of Yahweh your God. 'You will not boil a kid in its mother's milk.
Promises and instructions for the entry into Canaan
20'Look, I am sending an angel to precede you, to guard you as you go and bring you to the place that I have prepared. 21Revere him and obey what he says. Do not defy him: he will not forgive any wrong-doing on your part, for my name is in him. 22If, however, you obey what he says and do whatever I order, I shall be an enemy to your enemies and a foe to your foes. 23My angel will precede you and lead you to the home of the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Canaanites, the Hivites and the Jebusites, whom I shall exterminate. 24You will not bow down to their gods or worship them or observe their rites, but throw them down and smash their cultic stones. 25You will worship Yahweh your God, and then I shall bless your food and water, and keep you free of sickness. 26In your country no woman will miscarry, none be sterile, and I shall give you your full term of life. 27'I shall send terror of myself ahead of you; I shall throw all the peoples you encounter into confusion, and make all your enemies take to their heels. 28I shall send hornets ahead of you to drive Hivite, Canaanite and Hittite out before you. 29I shall not drive them out ahead of you in a single year, or the land might become a desert where wild animals would multiply to your cost. 30I shall drive them out little by little before you, until your numbers grow sufficient for you to take possession of the land. 31And your frontiers I shall fix from the Sea of Reeds to the Sea of the Philistines, and from the desert to the River, for I shall put the inhabitants of the territory at your mercy, and you will drive them out before you. 32You will make no pact with them or with their gods. 33They may not stay in your country or they might make you sin against me, for you would serve their gods, and that would be a snare for you!'
Chapter 24
THE RATIFICATION OF THE COVENANT
24:1He then said to Moses, 'Come up to Yahweh, you and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel and bow down at a distance. 2Moses alone will approach Yahweh; the others will not approach, nor will the people come up with him.' 3Moses went and told the people all Yahweh's words and all the laws, and all the people answered with one voice, 'All the words Yahweh has spoken we will carry out!' 4Moses put all Yahweh's words into writing, and early next morning he built an altar at the foot of the mountain, with twelve standing-stones for the twelve tribes of Israel. 5Then he sent certain young Israelites to offer burnt offerings and sacrifice bullocks to Yahweh as communion sacrifices. 6Moses then took half the blood and put it into basins, and the other half he sprinkled on the altar. 7Then, taking the Book of the Covenant, he read it to the listening people, who then said, 'We shall do everything that Yahweh has said; we shall obey.' 8Moses then took the blood and sprinkled it over the people, saying, 'This is the blood of the covenant which Yahweh has made with you, entailing all these stipulations.' 9Moses, Aaron, Nadab, Abihu and seventy elders of Israel then went up, 10and they saw the God of Israel beneath whose feet there was what looked like a sapphire pavement pure as the heavens themselves, 11but he did no harm to the Israelite notables; they actually gazed on God and then ate and drank.
Moses on the mountain
12Yahweh said to Moses, 'Come up to me on the mountain. Stay there, and I will give you the stone tablets-the law and the commandment-which I have written for their instruction.' 13Moses made ready, with Joshua his assistant, and they went up the mountain of God. 14He said to the elders, 'Wait here for us until we come back to you. You have Aaron and Hur with you; if anyone has any matter to settle, let him go to them.' 15Moses then went up the mountain. Cloud covered the mountain. 16The glory of Yahweh rested on Mount Sinai and the cloud covered it for six days. On the seventh day Yahweh called to Moses from inside the cloud. 17To the watching Israelites, the glory of Yahweh looked like a devouring fire on the mountain top. 18Moses went right into the cloud and went on up the mountain. Moses stayed on the mountain for forty days and forty nights.
Chapter 25
INSTRUCTIONS ON THE BUILDING OF THE SANCTUARY AND ON ITS MINISTERS *[= 35-40]
Contributions for the sanctuary25:1Yahweh spoke to Moses and said, 2'Tell the Israelites to set aside a contribution for me; you will accept a contribution from everyone whose heart prompts him to give it. 3And this is what you will accept from them: gold, silver and bronze; 4<