Exodus 23–25

1“You shall not spread a false report. Do not join the wicked by being a malicious witness.

2You shall not follow the crowd in wrongdoing. When you testify in a lawsuit, do not pervert justice by siding with the crowd.

3And do not show favoritism to a poor man in his lawsuit.

4If you encounter your enemy’s stray ox or donkey, you must return it to him.

5If you see the donkey of one who hates you fallen under its load, do not leave it there; you must help him with it.

6You shall not deny justice to the poor in their lawsuits.

7Stay far away from a false accusation. Do not kill the innocent or the just, for I will not acquit the guilty.

8Do not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds those who see and twists the words of the righteous.

9Do not oppress a foreign resident, since you yourselves know how it feels to be foreigners; for you were foreigners in the land of Egypt.

10For six years you are to sow your land and gather its produce,

11but in the seventh year you must let it rest and lie fallow, so that the poor among your people may eat from the field and the wild animals may consume what they leave. Do the same with your vineyard and olive grove.

12For six days you are to do your work, but on the seventh day you must cease, so that your ox and your donkey may rest and the son of your maidservant may be refreshed, as well as the foreign resident.

13Pay close attention to everything I have said to you. You must not invoke the names of other gods; they must not be heard on your lips.

14Three times a year you are to celebrate a feast to Me.

15You are to keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread as I commanded you: At the appointed time in the month of Abib you are to eat unleavened bread for seven days, because that was the month you came out of Egypt. No one may appear before Me empty-handed.

16You are also to keep the Feast of Harvest with the firstfruits of the produce from what you sow in the field. And keep the Feast of Ingathering at the end of the year, when you gather your produce from the field.

17Three times a year all your males are to appear before the Lord GOD.

18You must not offer the blood of My sacrifices with anything leavened, nor may the fat of My feast remain until morning.

19Bring the best of the firstfruits of your soil to the house of the LORD your God. You must not cook a young goat in its mother’s milk.

20Behold, I am sending an angel before you to protect you along the way and to bring you to the place I have prepared.

21Pay attention to him and listen to his voice; do not defy him, for he will not forgive rebellion, since My Name is in him.

22But if you will listen carefully to his voice and do everything I say, I will be an enemy to your enemies and a foe to your foes.

23For My angel will go before you and bring you into the land of the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Canaanites, Hivites, and Jebusites, and I will annihilate them.

24You must not bow down to their gods or serve them or follow their practices. Instead, you are to demolish them and smash their sacred stones to pieces.

25So you shall serve the LORD your God, and He will bless your bread and your water. And I will take away sickness from among you.

26No woman in your land will miscarry or be barren; I will fulfill the number of your days.

27I will send My terror ahead of you and throw into confusion every nation you encounter. I will make all your enemies turn and run.

28I will send the hornet before you to drive the Hivites and Canaanites and Hittites out of your way.

29I will not drive them out before you in a single year; otherwise the land would become desolate and wild animals would multiply against you.

30Little by little I will drive them out ahead of you, until you become fruitful and possess the land.

31And I will establish your borders from the Red Sea to the Sea of the Philistines, and from the desert to the Euphrates. For I will deliver the inhabitants into your hand, and you will drive them out before you.

32You shall make no covenant with them or with their gods.

33They must not remain in your land, lest they cause you to sin against Me. For if you serve their gods, it will surely be a snare to you.”

1Then the LORD said to Moses, “Come up to the LORD—you and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of Israel’s elders—and you are to worship at a distance.

2Moses alone shall approach the LORD, but the others must not come near. And the people may not go up with him.”

3When Moses came and told the people all the words and ordinances of the LORD, they all responded with one voice: “All the words that the LORD has spoken, we will do.”

4And Moses wrote down all the words of the LORD. Early the next morning he got up and built an altar at the base of the mountain, along with twelve pillars for the twelve tribes of Israel.

5Then he sent out some young men of Israel, and they offered burnt offerings and sacrificed young bulls as peace offerings to the LORD.

6Moses took half of the blood and put it in bowls, and the other half he splattered on the altar.

7Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read it to the people, who replied, “All that the LORD has spoken we will do, and we will be obedient.”

8So Moses took the blood, splattered it on the people, and said, “This is the blood of the covenant that the LORD has made with you in accordance with all these words.”

9Then Moses went up with Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel,

10and they saw the God of Israel. Under His feet was a work like a pavement made of sapphire, as clear as the sky itself.

11But God did not lay His hand on the nobles of Israel; they saw Him, and they ate and drank.

12Then the LORD said to Moses, “Come up to Me on the mountain and stay here, so that I may give you the tablets of stone, with the law and commandments I have written for their instruction.”

13So Moses set out with Joshua his attendant and went up on the mountain of God.

14And he said to the elders, “Wait here for us until we return to you. Aaron and Hur are here with you. Whoever has a dispute can go to them.”

15When Moses went up on the mountain, the cloud covered it,

16and the glory of the LORD settled on Mount Sinai. For six days the cloud covered it, and on the seventh day the LORD called to Moses from within the cloud.

17And the sight of the glory of the LORD was like a consuming fire on the mountaintop in the eyes of the Israelites.

18Moses entered the cloud as he went up on the mountain, and he remained on the mountain forty days and forty nights.

1Then the LORD said to Moses,

2“Tell the Israelites to bring Me an offering. You are to receive My offering from every man whose heart compels him.

3This is the offering you are to accept from them: gold, silver, and bronze;

4blue, purple, and scarlet yarn; fine linen and goat hair;

5ram skins dyed red and fine leather; acacia wood;

6olive oil for the light; spices for the anointing oil and for the fragrant incense;

7and onyx stones and gemstones to be mounted on the ephod and breastpiece.

8And they are to make a sanctuary for Me, so that I may dwell among them.

9You must make the tabernacle and design all its furnishings according to the pattern I show you.

10And they are to construct an ark of acacia wood, two and a half cubits long, a cubit and a half wide, and a cubit and a half high.

11Overlay it with pure gold both inside and out, and make a gold molding around it.

12Cast four gold rings for it and fasten them to its four feet, two rings on one side and two on the other.

13And make poles of acacia wood and overlay them with gold.

14Insert the poles into the rings on the sides of the ark, in order to carry it.

15The poles are to remain in the rings of the ark; they must not be removed.

16And place inside the ark the Testimony, which I will give you.

17And you are to construct a mercy seat of pure gold, two and a half cubits long and a cubit and a half wide.

18Make two cherubim of hammered gold at the ends of the mercy seat,

19one cherub on one end and one on the other, all made from one piece of gold.

20And the cherubim are to have wings that spread upward, overshadowing the mercy seat. The cherubim are to face each other, looking toward the mercy seat.

21Set the mercy seat atop the ark and put the Testimony that I will give you into the ark.

22And I will meet with you there above the mercy seat, between the two cherubim that are over the ark of the Testimony; I will speak with you about all that I command you regarding the Israelites.

23You are also to make a table of acacia wood two cubits long, a cubit wide, and a cubit and a half high.

24Overlay it with pure gold and make a gold molding around it.

25And make a rim around it a handbreadth wide and put a gold molding on the rim.

26Make four gold rings for the table and fasten them to the four corners at its four legs.

27The rings are to be close to the rim, to serve as holders for the poles used to carry the table.

28Make the poles of acacia wood and overlay them with gold, so that the table may be carried with them.

29You are also to make the plates and dishes, as well as the pitchers and bowls for pouring drink offerings. Make them out of pure gold.

30And place the Bread of the Presence on the table before Me at all times.

31Then you are to make a lampstand of pure, hammered gold. It shall be made of one piece, including its base and shaft, its cups, and its buds and petals.

32Six branches are to extend from the sides of the lampstand—three on one side and three on the other.

33There are to be three cups shaped like almond blossoms on the first branch, each with buds and petals, three on the next branch, and the same for all six branches that extend from the lampstand.

34And on the lampstand there shall be four cups shaped like almond blossoms with buds and petals.

35For the six branches that extend from the lampstand, a bud must be under the first pair of branches, a bud under the second pair, and a bud under the third pair.

36The buds and branches are to be all of one piece with the lampstand, hammered out of pure gold.

37Make seven lamps and set them up on the lampstand so that they illuminate the area in front of it.

38The wick trimmers and their trays must be of pure gold.

39The lampstand and all these utensils shall be made from a talent of pure gold.

40See to it that you make everything according to the pattern shown you on the mountain.