LORD

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

Now the earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters.

And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.

And God saw that the light was good, and He separated the light from the darkness.

God called the light “day,” and the darkness He called “night.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day.

And God said, “Let there be an expanse between the waters, to separate the waters from the waters.”

So God made the expanse and separated the waters beneath it from the waters above. And it was so.

God called the expanse “sky.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the second day.

And God said, “Let the waters under the sky be gathered into one place, so that the dry land may appear.” And it was so.

God called the dry land “earth,” and the gathering of waters He called “seas.” And God saw that it was good.

Then God said, “Let the earth bring forth vegetation: seed-bearing plants and fruit trees, each bearing fruit with seed according to its kind.” And it was so.

The earth produced vegetation: seed-bearing plants according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.

And God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to distinguish between the day and the night, and let them be signs to mark the seasons and days and years.

God made two great lights: the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night. And He made the stars as well.

God set these lights in the expanse of the sky to shine upon the earth,

to preside over the day and the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good.

And God said, “Let the waters teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth in the open expanse of the sky.”

So God created the great sea creatures and every living thing that moves, with which the waters teemed according to their kinds, and every winged bird after its kind. And God saw that it was good.

Then God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters of the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.”

And God said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures according to their kinds: livestock, land crawlers, and beasts of the earth according to their kinds.” And it was so.

God made the beasts of the earth according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and everything that crawls upon the earth according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.

Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, after Our likeness, to rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, and over all the earth itself and every creature that crawls upon it.”

So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.

God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and every creature that crawls upon the earth.”

Then God said, “Behold, I have given you every seed-bearing plant on the face of all the earth, and every tree whose fruit contains seed. They will be yours for food.

And God looked upon all that He had made, and indeed, it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day.

And by the seventh day God had finished the work He had been doing; so on that day He rested from all His work.

Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because on that day He rested from all the work of creation that He had accomplished.

This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made them.

Now no shrub of the field had yet appeared on the earth, nor had any plant of the field sprouted, for the LORD God had not yet sent rain upon the earth, and there was no man to cultivate the ground.

Then the LORD God formed man from the dust of the ground and breathed the breath of life into his nostrils, and the man became a living being.

And the LORD God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, where He placed the man He had formed.

Out of the ground the LORD God gave growth to every tree that is pleasing to the eye and good for food. And in the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

Then the LORD God took the man and placed him in the Garden of Eden to cultivate and keep it.

And the LORD God commanded him, “You may eat freely from every tree of the garden,

The LORD God also said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make for him a suitable helper.”

And out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the air, and He brought them to the man to see what he would name each one. And whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name.

So the LORD God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep, and while he slept, He took one of the man’s ribs and closed up the area with flesh.

And from the rib that the LORD God had taken from the man, He made a woman and brought her to him.

Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field that the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden?’”

but about the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden, God has said, ‘You must not eat of it or touch it, or you will die.’”

“For God knows that in the day you eat of it, your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

Then the man and his wife heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the breeze of the day, and they hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden.

But the LORD God called out to the man, “Where are you?”

Then the LORD God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?” “The serpent deceived me,” she replied, “and I ate.”

So the LORD God said to the serpent: “Because you have done this, cursed are you above all livestock and every beast of the field! On your belly will you go, and dust you will eat, all the days of your life.

And the LORD God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife, and He clothed them.

Then the LORD God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of Us, knowing good and evil. And now, lest he reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life, and eat, and live forever...”

Therefore the LORD God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken.

And Adam had relations with his wife Eve, and she conceived and gave birth to Cain. “With the help of the LORD I have brought forth a man,” she said.

So in the course of time, Cain brought some of the fruit of the soil as an offering to the LORD,

while Abel brought the best portions of the firstborn of his flock. And the LORD looked with favor on Abel and his offering,

“Why are you angry,” said the LORD to Cain, “and why has your countenance fallen?

And the LORD said to Cain, “Where is your brother Abel?” “I do not know!” he answered. “Am I my brother’s keeper?”

But Cain said to the LORD, “My punishment is greater than I can bear.

“Not so!” replied the LORD. “If anyone slays Cain, then Cain will be avenged sevenfold.” And the LORD placed a mark on Cain, so that no one who found him would kill him.

So Cain went out from the presence of the LORD and settled in the land of Nod, east of Eden.

And Adam again had relations with his wife, and she gave birth to a son and named him Seth, saying, “God has granted me another seed in place of Abel, since Cain killed him.”

And to Seth also a son was born, and he called him Enosh. At that time men began to call upon the name of the LORD.

This is the book of the generations of Adam. In the day that God created man, He made him in His own likeness.

And after he had become the father of Methuselah, Enoch walked with God 300 years and had other sons and daughters.

Enoch walked with God, and then he was no more, because God had taken him away.

And he named him Noah, saying, “May this one comfort us in the labor and toil of our hands caused by the ground that the LORD has cursed.”

the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were beautiful, and they took as wives whomever they chose.

So the LORD said, “My Spirit will not contend with man forever, for he is mortal; his days shall be 120 years.”

The Nephilim were on the earth in those days—and afterward as well—when the sons of God had relations with the daughters of men. And they bore them children who became the mighty men of old, men of renown.

Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great upon the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was altogether evil all the time.

And the LORD regretted that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart.

So the LORD said, “I will blot out man, whom I have created, from the face of the earth—every man and beast and crawling creature and bird of the air—for I am grieved that I have made them.”

Noah, however, found favor in the eyes of the LORD.

This is the account of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his generation; Noah walked with God.

Now the earth was corrupt in the sight of God, and full of violence.

And God looked upon the earth and saw that it was corrupt; for all living creatures on the earth had corrupted their ways.

Then God said to Noah, “The end of all living creatures has come before Me, because through them the earth is full of violence. Now behold, I will destroy both them and the earth.

So Noah did everything precisely as God had commanded him.

Then the LORD said to Noah, “Go into the ark, you and all your family, because I have found you righteous in this generation.

And Noah did all that the LORD had commanded him.

came to Noah to enter the ark, two by two, male and female, as God had commanded Noah.

And they entered, the male and female of every living thing, as God had commanded Noah. Then the LORD shut him in.

But God remembered Noah and all the animals and livestock that were with him in the ark. And God sent a wind over the earth, and the waters began to subside.

Then God said to Noah,

Then Noah built an altar to the LORD. And taking from every kind of clean animal and clean bird, he offered burnt offerings on the altar.

When the LORD smelled the pleasing aroma, He said in His heart, “Never again will I curse the ground because of man, even though every inclination of his heart is evil from his youth. And never again will I destroy all living creatures as I have done.

And God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth.

Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man his blood will be shed; for in His own image God has made mankind.

Then God said to Noah and his sons with him,

And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant I am making between Me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all generations to come:

And whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of every kind that is on the earth.”

So God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant that I have established between Me and every creature on the earth.”

He also declared: “Blessed be the LORD, the God of Shem! May Canaan be the servant of Shem.

May God expand the territory of Japheth; may he dwell in the tents of Shem, and may Canaan be his servant.”

He was a mighty hunter before the LORD; so it is said, “Like Nimrod, a mighty hunter before the LORD.”

Then the LORD came down to see the city and the tower that the sons of men were building.

And the LORD said, “If they have begun to do this as one people speaking the same language, then nothing they devise will be beyond them.

So the LORD scattered them from there over the face of all the earth, and they stopped building the city.

That is why it is called Babel, for there the LORD confused the language of the whole world, and from that place the LORD scattered them over the face of all the earth.

Then the LORD said to Abram, “Leave your country, your kindred, and your father’s household, and go to the land I will show you.

So Abram departed, as the LORD had directed him, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he left Haran.

Then the LORD appeared to Abram and said, “I will give this land to your offspring.” So Abram built an altar there to the LORD, who had appeared to him.

From there Abram moved on to the hill country east of Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel to the west and Ai to the east. There he built an altar to the LORD, and he called on the name of the LORD.

The LORD, however, afflicted Pharaoh and his household with severe plagues because of Abram’s wife Sarai.

to the site where he had built the altar. And there Abram called on the name of the LORD.

And Lot looked out and saw that the whole plain of the Jordan, all the way to Zoar, was well watered like the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt. (This was before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.)

But the men of Sodom were wicked, sinning greatly against the LORD.

After Lot had departed, the LORD said to Abram, “Now lift up your eyes from the place where you are, and look to the north and south and east and west,

So Abram moved his tent and went to live near the Oaks of Mamre at Hebron, where he built an altar to the LORD.

Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine—since he was priest of God Most High—

and he blessed Abram and said: “Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth,

and blessed be God Most High, who has delivered your enemies into your hand.” Then Abram gave Melchizedek a tenth of everything.

But Abram replied to the king of Sodom, “I have raised my hand to the LORD God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth,

After these events, the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision: “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your very great reward.”

But Abram replied, “O Lord GOD, what can You give me, since I remain childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?”

Then the word of the LORD came to Abram, saying, “This one will not be your heir, but one who comes from your own body will be your heir.”

Abram believed the LORD, and it was credited to him as righteousness.

The LORD also told him, “I am the LORD, who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to possess.”

But Abram replied, “Lord GOD, how can I know that I will possess it?”

On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, “To your descendants I have given this land—from the river of Egypt to the great River Euphrates—

So Sarai said to Abram, “Look now, the LORD has prevented me from bearing children. Please go to my maidservant; perhaps I can build a family by her.” And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai.

Then Sarai said to Abram, “May the wrong done to me be upon you! I delivered my servant into your arms, and ever since she saw that she was pregnant, she has treated me with contempt. May the LORD judge between you and me.”

Now the angel of the LORD found Hagar by a spring of water in the desert—the spring along the road to Shur.

So the angel of the LORD told her, “Return to your mistress and submit to her authority.”

Then the angel added, “I will greatly multiply your offspring so that they will be too numerous to count.”

The angel of the LORD proceeded: “Behold, you have conceived and will bear a son. And you shall name him Ishmael, for the LORD has heard your cry of affliction.

So Hagar gave this name to the LORD who had spoken to her: “You are the God who sees me,” for she said, “Here I have seen the One who sees me!”

When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to him and said, “I am God Almighty. Walk before Me and be blameless.

Then Abram fell facedown, and God said to him,

I will establish My covenant as an everlasting covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you.

And to you and your descendants I will give the land where you are residing—all the land of Canaan—as an eternal possession; and I will be their God.”

God also said to Abraham, “You must keep My covenant—you and your descendants in the generations after you.

Then God said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, do not call her Sarai, for her name is to be Sarah.

And Abraham said to God, “O that Ishmael might live under Your blessing!”

But God replied, “Your wife Sarah will indeed bear you a son, and you are to name him Isaac. I will establish My covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him.

When He had finished speaking with Abraham, God went up from him.

On that very day Abraham took his son Ishmael and all those born in his household or purchased with his money—every male among the members of Abraham’s household—and he circumcised them, just as God had told him.

Then the LORD appeared to Abraham by the Oaks of Mamre in the heat of the day, while he was sitting at the entrance of his tent.

And the LORD asked Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Can I really bear a child when I am old?’

Is anything too difficult for the LORD? At the appointed time I will return to you—in about a year—and Sarah will have a son.”

And the LORD said, “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do?

For I have chosen him, so that he will command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the LORD by doing what is right and just, in order that the LORD may bring upon Abraham what He has promised.”

Then the LORD said, “The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great. Because their sin is so grievous,

And the two men turned away and went toward Sodom, but Abraham remained standing before the LORD.

So the LORD replied, “If I find fifty righteous ones within the city of Sodom, on their account I will spare the whole place.”

Then Abraham answered, “Now that I have ventured to speak to the Lord—though I am but dust and ashes—

Then Abraham said, “May the Lord not be angry, but let me speak further. Suppose thirty are found there?” He replied, “If I find thirty there, I will not do it.”

And Abraham said, “Now that I have ventured to speak to the Lord, suppose twenty are found there?” He answered, “On account of the twenty, I will not destroy it.”

Finally, Abraham said, “May the Lord not be angry, but let me speak once more. Suppose ten are found there?” And He answered, “On account of the ten, I will not destroy it.”

When the LORD had finished speaking with Abraham, He departed, and Abraham returned home.

because we are about to destroy this place. For the outcry to the LORD against its people is so great that He has sent us to destroy it.”

So Lot went out and spoke to the sons-in-law who were pledged in marriage to his daughters. “Get up,” he said. “Get out of this place, for the LORD is about to destroy the city!” But his sons-in-law thought he was joking.

But when Lot hesitated, the men grabbed his hand and the hands of his wife and his two daughters. And they led them safely out of the city, because of the LORD’s compassion for them.

But Lot replied, “No, my lords, please!

Then the LORD rained down sulfur and fire on Sodom and Gomorrah—from the LORD out of the heavens.

Early the next morning, Abraham got up and returned to the place where he had stood before the LORD.

So when God destroyed the cities of the plain, He remembered Abraham, and He brought Lot out of the catastrophe that destroyed the cities where he had lived.

One night, however, God came to Abimelech in a dream and told him, “You are as good as dead because of the woman you have taken, for she is a married woman.”

Now Abimelech had not gone near her, so he replied, “Lord, would You destroy a nation even though it is innocent?

Then God said to Abimelech in the dream, “Yes, I know that you did this with a clear conscience, and so I have kept you from sinning against Me. That is why I did not let you touch her.

Abraham replied, “I thought to myself, ‘Surely there is no fear of God in this place. They will kill me on account of my wife.’

So when God had me journey from my father’s house, I said to Sarah, ‘This is how you can show your loyalty to me: Wherever we go, say of me, “He is my brother.”’”

Then Abraham prayed to God, and God healed Abimelech and his wife and his maidservants, so that they could again bear children—

for on account of Abraham’s wife Sarah, the LORD had completely closed all the wombs in Abimelech’s household.

Now the LORD attended to Sarah as He had said, and the LORD did for Sarah what He had promised.

So Sarah conceived and bore a son to Abraham in his old age, at the very time God had promised.

When his son Isaac was eight days old, Abraham circumcised him, as God had commanded him.

Then Sarah said, “God has made me laugh, and everyone who hears of this will laugh with me.”

But God said to Abraham, “Do not be distressed about the boy and your maidservant. Listen to everything that Sarah tells you, for through Isaac your offspring will be reckoned.

Then God heard the voice of the boy, and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven, “What is wrong, Hagar? Do not be afraid, for God has heard the voice of the boy where he lies.

Then God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water. So she went and filled the skin with water and gave the boy a drink.

And God was with the boy, and he grew up and settled in the wilderness and became a great archer.

At that time Abimelech and Phicol the commander of his army said to Abraham, “God is with you in all that you do.

Now, therefore, swear to me here before God that you will not deal falsely with me or my children or descendants. Show to me and to the country in which you reside the same kindness that I have shown to you.”

And Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beersheba, and there he called upon the name of the LORD, the Eternal God.

Some time later God tested Abraham and said to him, “Abraham!” “Here I am,” he answered.

So Abraham got up early the next morning, saddled his donkey, and took along two of his servants and his son Isaac. He split the wood for a burnt offering and set out for the place God had designated.

Abraham answered, “God Himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” And the two walked on together.

When they arrived at the place God had designated, Abraham built the altar there and arranged the wood. He bound his son Isaac and placed him on the altar, atop the wood.

Just then the angel of the LORD called out to him from heaven, “Abraham, Abraham!” “Here I am,” he replied.

“Do not lay a hand on the boy or do anything to him,” said the angel, “for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your only son from me.”

And Abraham called that place The LORD Will Provide. So to this day it is said, “On the mountain of the LORD it will be provided.”

And the angel of the LORD called to Abraham from heaven a second time,

saying, “By Myself I have sworn, declares the LORD, that because you have done this and have not withheld your only son,

“Listen to us, sir. You are God’s chosen one among us. Bury your dead in the finest of our tombs. None of us will withhold his tomb for burying your dead.”

By now Abraham was old and well along in years, and the LORD had blessed him in every way.

and I will have you swear by the LORD, the God of heaven and the God of earth, that you will not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites among whom I am dwelling,

The LORD, the God of heaven, who brought me from my father’s house and my native land, who spoke to me and promised me on oath, saying, ‘To your offspring I will give this land’—He will send His angel before you so that you can take a wife for my son from there.

“O LORD, God of my master Abraham,” he prayed, “please grant me success today, and show kindness to my master Abraham.

Meanwhile, the man watched her silently to see whether or not the LORD had made his journey a success.

Then the man bowed down and worshiped the LORD,

saying, “Blessed be the LORD, the God of my master Abraham, who has not withheld His kindness and faithfulness from my master. As for me, the LORD has led me on the journey to the house of my master’s relatives.”

“Come, you who are blessed by the LORD,” said Laban. “Why are you standing out here? I have prepared the house and a place for the camels.”

“The LORD has greatly blessed my master, and he has become rich. He has given him sheep and cattle, silver and gold, menservants and maidservants, camels and donkeys.

And he told me, ‘The LORD, before whom I have walked, will send His angel with you and make your journey a success, so that you may take a wife for my son from my kindred and from my father’s house.

So when I came to the spring today, I prayed: O LORD, God of my master Abraham, if only You would make my journey a success!

and she replies, ‘Drink, and I will draw water for your camels as well,’ may she be the woman the LORD has appointed for my master’s son.

Then I bowed down and worshiped the LORD; and I blessed the LORD, the God of my master Abraham, who led me on the right road to take the granddaughter of my master’s brother for his son.

Laban and Bethuel answered, “This is from the LORD; we have no choice in the matter.

Rebekah is here before you. Take her and go, and let her become the wife of your master’s son, just as the LORD has decreed.”

When Abraham’s servant heard their words, he bowed down to the ground before the LORD.

But he replied, “Do not delay me, since the LORD has made my journey a success. Send me on my way so that I may go to my master.”

After Abraham’s death, God blessed his son Isaac, who lived near Beer-lahai-roi.

Later, Isaac prayed to the LORD on behalf of his wife, because she was barren. And the LORD heard his prayer, and his wife Rebekah conceived.

But the children inside her struggled with each other, and she said, “Why is this happening to me?” So Rebekah went to inquire of the LORD,

and He declared to her: “Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples from within you will be separated; one people will be stronger than the other, and the older will serve the younger.”

The LORD appeared to Isaac and said, “Do not go down to Egypt. Settle in the land where I tell you.

Now Isaac sowed seed in the land, and that very year he reaped a hundredfold. And the LORD blessed him,

He moved on from there and dug another well, and they did not quarrel over it. He named it Rehoboth and said, “At last the LORD has made room for us, and we will be fruitful in the land.”

and that night the LORD appeared to him and said, “I am the God of your father Abraham. Do not be afraid, for I am with you. I will bless you and multiply your descendants for the sake of My servant Abraham.”

So Isaac built an altar there and called on the name of the LORD, and he pitched his tent there. His servants also dug a well there.

“We can plainly see that the LORD has been with you,” they replied. “We recommend that there should now be an oath between us and you. Let us make a covenant with you

that you will not harm us, just as we have not harmed you but have done only good to you, sending you on your way in peace. And now you are blessed by the LORD.”

‘Bring me some game and prepare me a tasty dish to eat, so that I may bless you in the presence of the LORD before I die.’

But Isaac asked his son, “How did you ever find it so quickly, my son?” “Because the LORD your God brought it to me,” he replied.

So he came near and kissed him. When Isaac smelled his clothing, he blessed him and said: “Ah, the smell of my son is like the smell of a field that the LORD has blessed.

May God give to you the dew of heaven and the richness of the earth—an abundance of grain and new wine.

May God Almighty bless you and make you fruitful and multiply you, so that you may become a company of peoples.

And may He give the blessing of Abraham to you and your descendants, so that you may possess the land where you dwell as a foreigner, the land God gave to Abraham.”

And Jacob had a dream about a ladder that rested on the earth with its top reaching up to heaven, and God’s angels were going up and down the ladder.

And there at the top the LORD was standing and saying, “I am the LORD, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac. I will give you and your descendants the land on which you now lie.

When Jacob woke up, he said, “Surely the LORD is in this place, and I was unaware of it.”

And he was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God; this is the gate of heaven!”

Then Jacob made a vow, saying, “If God will be with me and watch over me on this journey, and if He will provide me with food to eat and clothes to wear,

so that I may return safely to my father’s house, then the LORD will be my God.

And this stone I have set up as a pillar will be God’s house, and of all that You give me I will surely give You a tenth.”

When the LORD saw that Leah was unloved, He opened her womb; but Rachel was barren.

And Leah conceived and gave birth to a son, and she named him Reuben, for she said, “The LORD has seen my affliction. Surely my husband will love me now.”

Again she conceived and gave birth to a son, and she said, “Because the LORD has heard that I am unloved, He has given me this son as well.” So she named him Simeon.

And once more she conceived and gave birth to a son and said, “This time I will praise the LORD.” So she named him Judah. Then Leah stopped having children.

Jacob became angry with Rachel and said, “Am I in the place of God, who has withheld children from you?”

Then Rachel said, “God has vindicated me; He has heard my plea and given me a son.” So she named him Dan.

Then Rachel said, “In my great struggles, I have wrestled with my sister and won.” So she named him Naphtali.

And God listened to Leah, and she conceived and bore a fifth son to Jacob.

Then Leah said, “God has rewarded me for giving my maidservant to my husband.” So she named him Issachar.

“God has given me a good gift,” she said. “This time my husband will honor me, because I have borne him six sons.” And she named him Zebulun.

Then God remembered Rachel. He listened to her and opened her womb,

and she conceived and gave birth to a son. “God has taken away my shame,” she said.

She named him Joseph, and said, “May the LORD add to me another son.”

But Laban replied, “If I have found favor in your eyes, please stay. I have learned by divination that the LORD has blessed me because of you.”

Indeed, you had very little before my arrival, but now your wealth has increased many times over. The LORD has blessed you wherever I set foot. But now, when may I also provide for my own household?”

Then the LORD said to Jacob, “Go back to the land of your fathers and to your kindred, and I will be with you.”

and he told them, “I can see from your father’s countenance that his attitude toward me has changed; but the God of my father has been with me.

And although he has cheated me and changed my wages ten times, God has not allowed him to harm me.

Thus God has taken away your father’s livestock and given them to me.

In that dream the angel of God said to me, ‘Jacob!’ And I replied, ‘Here I am.’

I am the God of Bethel, where you anointed the pillar and made a solemn vow to Me. Now get up, leave this land at once, and return to your native land.’”

Surely all the wealth that God has taken away from our father belongs to us and to our children. So do whatever God has told you.”

But that night God came to Laban the Aramean in a dream and warned him, “Be careful not to say anything to Jacob, either good or bad.”

I have power to do you great harm, but last night the God of your father said to me, ‘Be careful not to say anything to Jacob, either good or bad.’

Now you have gone off because you long for your father’s house. But why have you stolen my gods?”

If you find your gods with anyone here, he shall not live! In the presence of our relatives, see for yourself if anything is yours, and take it back.” For Jacob did not know that Rachel had stolen the idols.

If the God of my father, the God of Abraham and the Fear of Isaac, had not been with me, surely by now you would have sent me away empty-handed. But God has seen my affliction and the toil of my hands, and last night He rendered judgment.”

It was also called Mizpah, because Laban said, “May the LORD keep watch between you and me when we are absent from each other.

If you mistreat my daughters or take other wives, although no one is with us, remember that God is a witness between you and me.”

May the God of Abraham and the God of Nahor, the God of their father, judge between us.” So Jacob swore by the Fear of his father Isaac.

When Jacob saw them, he said, “This is the camp of God.” So he named that place Mahanaim.

Jacob sent messengers ahead of him to his brother Esau in the land of Seir, the country of Edom.

I am unworthy of all the kindness and faithfulness You have shown Your servant. Indeed, with only my staff I came across the Jordan, but now I have become two camps.

And Jacob requested, “Please tell me your name.” But he replied, “Why do you ask my name?” Then he blessed Jacob there.

The sun rose above him as he passed by Penuel, and he was limping because of his hip.

When Esau looked up and saw the women and children, he asked, “Who are these with you?” Jacob answered, “These are the children God has graciously given your servant.”

But Jacob insisted, “No, please! If I have found favor in your sight, then receive this gift from my hand. For indeed, I have seen your face, and it is like seeing the face of God, since you have received me favorably.

Please accept my gift that was brought to you, because God has been gracious to me and I have all I need.” So Jacob pressed him until he accepted.

There he set up an altar and called it El-Elohe-Israel.

Then God said to Jacob, “Arise, go up to Bethel, and settle there. Build an altar there to the God who appeared to you when you fled from your brother Esau.”

So Jacob told his household and all who were with him, “Get rid of the foreign gods that are among you. Purify yourselves and change your garments.

Then let us arise and go to Bethel. I will build an altar there to God, who answered me in my day of distress. He has been with me wherever I have gone.”

So they gave Jacob all their foreign gods and all their earrings, and Jacob buried them under the oak near Shechem.

As they set out, a terror from God fell over the surrounding cities, so that they did not pursue Jacob’s sons.

There Jacob built an altar, and he called that place El-bethel, because it was there that God had revealed Himself to Jacob as he fled from his brother.

After Jacob had returned from Paddan-aram, God appeared to him again and blessed him.

And God said to him, “Though your name is Jacob, you will no longer be called Jacob. Instead, your name will be Israel.” So God named him Israel.

And God told him, “I am God Almighty. Be fruitful and multiply. A nation—even a company of nations—shall come from you, and kings shall descend from you.

Then God went up from the place where He had spoken with him.

Jacob called the place where God had spoken with him Bethel.

But Er, Judah’s firstborn, was wicked in the sight of the LORD; so the LORD put him to death.

What he did was wicked in the sight of the LORD, so He put Onan to death as well.

And the LORD was with Joseph, and he became a successful man, serving in the household of his Egyptian master.

When his master saw that the LORD was with him and made him prosper in all he did,

From the time that he put Joseph in charge of his household and all he owned, the LORD blessed the Egyptian’s household on account of him. The LORD’s blessing was on everything he owned, both in his house and in his field.

No one in this house is greater than I am. He has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. So how could I do such a great evil and sin against God?”

the LORD was with him and extended kindness to him, granting him favor in the eyes of the prison warden.

The warden did not concern himself with anything under Joseph’s care, because the LORD was with Joseph and gave him success in whatever he did.

“We both had dreams,” they replied, “but there is no one to interpret them.” Then Joseph said to them, “Don’t interpretations belong to God? Tell me your dreams.”

“I myself cannot do it,” Joseph replied, “but God will give Pharaoh a sound answer.”

At this, Joseph said to Pharaoh, “The dreams of Pharaoh are one and the same. God has revealed to Pharaoh what He is about to do.

It is just as I said to Pharaoh: God has shown Pharaoh what He is about to do.

Moreover, because the dream was given to Pharaoh in two versions, the matter has been decreed by God, and He will carry it out shortly.

So Pharaoh asked them, “Can we find anyone like this man, in whom the Spirit of God abides?”

Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Since God has made all this known to you, there is no one as discerning and wise as you.

Joseph named the firstborn Manasseh, saying, “God has made me forget all my hardship and all my father’s household.”

And the second son he named Ephraim, saying, “God has made me fruitful in the land of my affliction.”

and on the third day he said to them, “I fear God. So do this and you will live:

“My silver has been returned!” he said to his brothers. “It is here in my sack.” Their hearts sank, and trembling, they turned to one another and said, “What is this that God has done to us?”

May God Almighty grant you mercy before the man, that he may release your other brother along with Benjamin. As for me, if I am bereaved, I am bereaved.”

“It is fine,” said the steward. “Do not be afraid. Your God, the God of your father, gave you the treasure that was in your sacks. I received your silver.” Then he brought Simeon out to them.

When Joseph looked up and saw his brother Benjamin, his own mother’s son, he asked, “Is this your youngest brother, the one you told me about?” Then he declared, “May God be gracious to you, my son.”

“What can we say to my lord?” Judah replied. “How can we plead? How can we justify ourselves? God has exposed the iniquity of your servants. We are now my lord’s slaves—both we and the one who was found with the cup.”

And now, do not be distressed or angry with yourselves that you sold me into this place, because it was to save lives that God sent me before you.

God sent me before you to preserve you as a remnant on the earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance.

Therefore it was not you who sent me here, but God, who has made me a father to Pharaoh—lord of all his household and ruler over all the land of Egypt.

Now return quickly to my father and tell him, ‘This is what your son Joseph says: God has made me lord of all Egypt. Come down to me without delay.

So Israel set out with all that he had, and when he came to Beersheba, he offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac.

And that night God spoke to Israel in a vision: “Jacob, Jacob!” He said. “Here I am,” replied Jacob.

“I am God,” He said, “the God of your father. Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for I will make you into a great nation there.

Jacob said to Joseph, “God Almighty appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan, and there He blessed me

Joseph said to his father, “They are the sons God has given me in this place.” So Jacob said, “Please bring them to me, that I may bless them.”

“I never expected to see your face again,” Israel said to Joseph, “but now God has let me see your children as well.”

Then he blessed Joseph and said: “May the God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked, the God who has been my shepherd all my life to this day,

So that day Jacob blessed them and said: “By you shall Israel pronounce this blessing: ‘May God make you like Ephraim and Manasseh.’” So he put Ephraim before Manasseh.

Then Israel said to Joseph, “Look, I am about to die, but God will be with you and bring you back to the land of your fathers.

I await Your salvation, O LORD.

by the God of your father who helps you, and by the Almighty who blesses you, with blessings of the heavens above, with blessings of the depths below, with blessings of the breasts and womb.

‘This is what you are to say to Joseph: I beg you, please forgive the transgression and sin of your brothers, for they did you wrong.’ So now, Joseph, please forgive the transgression of the servants of the God of your father.” When their message came to him, Joseph wept.

But Joseph replied, “Do not be afraid. Am I in the place of God?

As for you, what you intended against me for evil, God intended for good, in order to accomplish a day like this—to preserve the lives of many people.

Then Joseph said to his brothers, “I am about to die, but God will surely visit you and bring you up from this land to the land He promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.”

And Joseph made the sons of Israel take an oath and said, “God will surely attend to you, and then you must carry my bones up from this place.”

The midwives, however, feared God and did not do as the king of Egypt had instructed; they let the boys live.

So God was good to the midwives, and the people multiplied and became even more numerous.

And because the midwives feared God, He gave them families of their own.

After a long time, the king of Egypt died. The Israelites groaned and cried out under their burden of slavery, and their cry for deliverance from bondage ascended to God.

So God heard their groaning, and He remembered His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

God saw the Israelites and took notice.

Meanwhile, Moses was shepherding the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian. He led the flock to the far side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God.

There the angel of the LORD appeared to him in a blazing fire from within a bush. Moses saw the bush ablaze with fire, but it was not consumed.

When the LORD saw that he had gone over to look, God called out to him from within the bush, “Moses, Moses!” “Here I am,” he answered.

Then He said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” At this, Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.

The LORD said, “I have indeed seen the affliction of My people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their oppressors, and I am aware of their sufferings.

But Moses asked God, “Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?”

“I will surely be with you,” God said, “and this will be the sign to you that I have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, all of you will worship God on this mountain.”

Then Moses asked God, “Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is His name?’ What should I tell them?”

God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I AM has sent me to you.’”

God also told Moses, “Say to the Israelites, ‘The LORD, the God of your fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob—has sent me to you.’ This is My name forever, and this is how I am to be remembered in every generation.

Go, assemble the elders of Israel and say to them, ‘The LORD, the God of your fathers—the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—has appeared to me and said: I have surely attended to you and have seen what has been done to you in Egypt.

The elders of Israel will listen to what you say, and you must go with them to the king of Egypt and tell him, ‘The LORD, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us. Now please let us take a three-day journey into the wilderness, so that we may sacrifice to the LORD our God.’

Then Moses answered, “What if they do not believe me or listen to my voice? For they may say, ‘The LORD has not appeared to you.’”

And the LORD asked him, “What is that in your hand?” “A staff,” he replied.

“Stretch out your hand and grab it by the tail,” the LORD said to Moses, who reached out his hand and caught the snake, and it turned back into a staff in his hand.

“This is so that they may believe that the LORD, the God of their fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob—has appeared to you.”

Furthermore, the LORD said to Moses, “Put your hand inside your cloak.” So he put his hand inside his cloak, and when he took it out, his hand was leprous, white as snow.

“Please, Lord,” Moses replied, “I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since You have spoken to Your servant, for I am slow of speech and tongue.”

And the LORD said to him, “Who gave man his mouth? Or who makes the mute or the deaf, the sighted or the blind? Is it not I, the LORD?

But Moses replied, “Please, Lord, send someone else.”

Then the anger of the LORD burned against Moses, and He said, “Is not Aaron the Levite your brother? I know that he can speak well, and he is now on his way to meet you. When he sees you, he will be glad in his heart.

He will speak to the people for you. He will be your spokesman, and it will be as if you were God to him.

Now the LORD had said to Moses in Midian, “Go back to Egypt, for all the men who sought to kill you are dead.”

So Moses took his wife and sons, put them on a donkey, and headed back to Egypt. And he took the staff of God in his hand.

The LORD instructed Moses, “When you go back to Egypt, see that you perform before Pharaoh all the wonders that I have put within your power. But I will harden his heart so that he will not let the people go.

Then tell Pharaoh that this is what the LORD says: ‘Israel is My firstborn son,

Now at a lodging place along the way, the LORD met Moses and was about to kill him.

Meanwhile, the LORD had said to Aaron, “Go and meet Moses in the wilderness.” So he went and met Moses at the mountain of God and kissed him.

And Moses told Aaron everything the LORD had sent him to say, and all the signs He had commanded him to perform.

and Aaron relayed everything the LORD had said to Moses. And Moses performed the signs before the people,

and they believed. And when they heard that the LORD had attended to the Israelites and had seen their affliction, they bowed down and worshiped.

After that, Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and said, “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘Let My people go, so that they may hold a feast to Me in the wilderness.’”

But Pharaoh replied, “Who is the LORD that I should obey His voice and let Israel go? I do not know the LORD, and I will not let Israel go.”

“The God of the Hebrews has met with us,” they answered. “Please let us go on a three-day journey into the wilderness to sacrifice to the LORD our God, or He may strike us with plagues or with the sword.”

But require of them the same quota of bricks as before; do not reduce it. For they are lazy; that is why they are crying out, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to our God.’

“You are slackers!” Pharaoh replied. “Slackers! That is why you keep saying, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to the LORD.’

“May the LORD look upon you and judge you,” the foremen said, “for you have made us a stench before Pharaoh and his officials; you have placed in their hand a sword to kill us!”

So Moses returned to the LORD and asked, “Lord, why have You brought trouble upon this people? Is this why You sent me?

But the LORD said to Moses, “Now you will see what I will do to Pharaoh, for because of My mighty hand he will let the people go; because of My strong hand he will drive them out of his land.”

God also told Moses, “I am the LORD.

I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob as God Almighty, but by My name the LORD I did not make Myself known to them.

Therefore tell the Israelites: ‘I am the LORD, and I will bring you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians and deliver you from their bondage. I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgment.

I will take you as My own people, and I will be your God. Then you will know that I am the LORD your God, who brought you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians.

And I will bring you into the land that I swore to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. I will give it to you as a possession. I am the LORD!’”

So the LORD said to Moses,

But in the LORD’s presence Moses replied, “If the Israelites will not listen to me, then why would Pharaoh listen to me, since I am unskilled in speech?”

Then the LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron and gave them a charge concerning both the Israelites and Pharaoh king of Egypt, to bring the Israelites out of the land of Egypt.

It was this Aaron and Moses to whom the LORD said, “Bring the Israelites out of the land of Egypt by their divisions.”

Now on the day that the LORD spoke to Moses in Egypt,

He said to him, “I am the LORD; tell Pharaoh king of Egypt everything I say to you.”

But in the LORD’s presence Moses replied, “Since I am unskilled in speech, why would Pharaoh listen to me?”

The LORD answered Moses, “See, I have made you like God to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron will be your prophet.

And the Egyptians will know that I am the LORD, when I stretch out My hand against Egypt and bring the Israelites out from among them.”

So Moses and Aaron did just as the LORD had commanded them.

The LORD said to Moses and Aaron,

So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and did just as the LORD had commanded. Aaron threw his staff down before Pharaoh and his officials, and it became a serpent.

Still, Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he would not listen to them, just as the LORD had said.

Then the LORD said to Moses, “Pharaoh’s heart is unyielding; he refuses to let the people go.

Then say to him, ‘The LORD, the God of the Hebrews, has sent me to tell you: Let My people go, so that they may worship Me in the wilderness. But until now you have not listened.

This is what the LORD says: By this you will know that I am the LORD. Behold, with the staff in my hand I will strike the water of the Nile, and it will turn to blood.

And the LORD said to Moses, “Tell Aaron, ‘Take your staff and stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt—over their rivers and canals and ponds and all the reservoirs—that they may become blood.’ There will be blood throughout the land of Egypt, even in the vessels of wood and stone.”

Moses and Aaron did just as the LORD had commanded; in the presence of Pharaoh and his officials, Aaron raised the staff and struck the water of the Nile, and all the water was turned to blood.

But the magicians of Egypt did the same things by their magic arts. So Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he would not listen to Moses and Aaron, just as the LORD had said.

And seven full days passed after the LORD had struck the Nile.

Then the LORD said to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh and tell him that this is what the LORD says: ‘Let My people go, so that they may worship Me.

The frogs will come up on you and your people and all your officials.’”

So Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt, and the frogs came up and covered the land of Egypt.

Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and said, “Pray to the LORD to take the frogs away from me and my people. Then I will let your people go, that they may sacrifice to the LORD.”

Moses said to Pharaoh, “You may have the honor over me. When shall I pray for you and your officials and your people that the frogs (except for those in the Nile) may be taken away from you and your houses?”

The frogs will depart from you and your houses and your officials and your people; they will remain only in the Nile.”

After Moses and Aaron had left Pharaoh, Moses cried out to the LORD for help with the frogs that He had brought against Pharaoh.

When Pharaoh saw that there was relief, however, he hardened his heart and would not listen to Moses and Aaron, just as the LORD had said.

Then the LORD said to Moses, “Tell Aaron, ‘Stretch out your staff and strike the dust of the earth, that it may turn into swarms of gnats throughout the land of Egypt.’”

The magicians tried to produce gnats using their magic arts, but they could not. And the gnats remained on man and beast.

Then the LORD said to Moses, “Get up early in the morning, and when Pharaoh goes out to the water, stand before him and tell him that this is what the LORD says: ‘Let My people go, so that they may worship Me.

But if you will not let My people go, I will send swarms of flies upon you and your officials and your people and your houses. The houses of the Egyptians and even the ground where they stand will be full of flies.

But on that day I will give special treatment to the land of Goshen, where My people live; no swarms of flies will be found there. In this way you will know that I, the LORD, am in the land.

I will make a distinction between My people and your people. This sign will take place tomorrow.’”

And the LORD did so. Thick swarms of flies poured into Pharaoh’s palace and into the houses of his officials. Throughout Egypt the land was ruined by swarms of flies.

Then Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and said, “Go, sacrifice to your God within this land.”

But Moses replied, “It would not be right to do that, because the sacrifices we offer to the LORD our God would be detestable to the Egyptians. If we offer sacrifices that are detestable before the Egyptians, will they not stone us?

We must make a three-day journey into the wilderness and sacrifice to the LORD our God as He commands us.”

Then the LORD said to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh and tell him that this is what the LORD, the God of the Hebrews, says: ‘Let My people go, so that they may worship Me.

then the hand of the LORD will bring a severe plague on your livestock in the field—on your horses, donkeys, camels, herds, and flocks.

But the LORD will make a distinction between the livestock of Israel and the livestock of Egypt, so that no animal belonging to the Israelites will die.’”

The LORD set a time, saying, “Tomorrow the LORD will do this in the land.”

And the next day the LORD did just that. All the livestock of the Egyptians died, but not one animal belonging to the Israelites died.

Then the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, “Take handfuls of soot from the furnace; in the sight of Pharaoh, Moses is to toss it into the air.

But the LORD hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he would not listen to them, just as the LORD had said to Moses.

Then the LORD said to Moses, “Get up early in the morning, stand before Pharaoh, and tell him that this is what the LORD, the God of the Hebrews, says: ‘Let My people go, so that they may worship Me.

Those among Pharaoh’s officials who feared the word of the LORD hurried to bring their servants and livestock to shelter,

but those who disregarded the word of the LORD left their servants and livestock in the field.

Then the LORD said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand toward heaven, so that hail may fall on all the land of Egypt—on man and beast and every plant of the field throughout the land of Egypt.”

So Moses stretched out his staff toward heaven, and the LORD sent thunder and hail, and lightning struck the earth. So the LORD rained down hail upon the land of Egypt.

Then Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron. “This time I have sinned,” he said. “The LORD is righteous, and I and my people are wicked.

Pray to the LORD, for there has been enough of God’s thunder and hail. I will let you go; you do not need to stay any longer.”

Moses said to him, “When I have left the city, I will spread out my hands to the LORD. The thunder will cease, and there will be no more hail, so that you may know that the earth is the LORD’s.

But as for you and your officials, I know that you still do not fear the LORD our God.”

Then Moses departed from Pharaoh, went out of the city, and spread out his hands to the LORD. The thunder and hail ceased, and the rain no longer poured down on the land.

So Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he would not let the Israelites go, just as the LORD had said through Moses.

Then the LORD said to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh, for I have hardened his heart and the hearts of his officials, that I may perform these miraculous signs of Mine among them,

and that you may tell your children and grandchildren how severely I dealt with the Egyptians when I performed miraculous signs among them, so that all of you may know that I am the LORD.”

So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and told him, “This is what the LORD, the God of the Hebrews, says: ‘How long will you refuse to humble yourself before Me? Let My people go, so that they may worship Me.

Pharaoh’s officials asked him, “How long will this man be a snare to us? Let the people go, so that they may worship the LORD their God. Do you not yet realize that Egypt lies in ruins?”

So Moses and Aaron were brought back to Pharaoh. “Go, worship the LORD your God,” he said. “But who exactly will be going?”

“We will go with our young and old,” Moses replied. “We will go with our sons and daughters, and with our flocks and herds, for we must hold a feast to the LORD.”

Then Pharaoh told them, “May the LORD be with you if I ever let you go with your little ones. Clearly you are bent on evil.

No, only the men may go and worship the LORD, since that is what you have been requesting.” And Moses and Aaron were driven from Pharaoh’s presence.

Then the LORD said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the land of Egypt, so that the locusts may swarm over it and devour every plant in the land—everything that the hail has left behind.”

So Moses stretched out his staff over the land of Egypt, and throughout that day and night the LORD sent an east wind across the land. By morning the east wind had brought the locusts.

Pharaoh quickly summoned Moses and Aaron and said, “I have sinned against the LORD your God and against you.

Now please forgive my sin once more and appeal to the LORD your God, that He may remove this death from me.”

So Moses left Pharaoh’s presence and appealed to the LORD.

And the LORD changed the wind to a very strong west wind that carried off the locusts and blew them into the Red Sea. Not a single locust remained anywhere in Egypt.

But the LORD hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he would not let the Israelites go.

Then the LORD said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand toward heaven, so that darkness may spread over the land of Egypt—a palpable darkness.”

Then Pharaoh summoned Moses and said, “Go, worship the LORD. Even your little ones may go with you; only your flocks and herds must stay behind.”

But Moses replied, “You must also provide us with sacrifices and burnt offerings to present to the LORD our God.

Even our livestock must go with us; not a hoof will be left behind, for we will need some of them to worship the LORD our God, and we will not know how we are to worship the LORD until we arrive.”

But the LORD hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he was unwilling to let them go.

Then the LORD said to Moses, “I will bring upon Pharaoh and Egypt one more plague. After that, he will allow you to leave this place. And when he lets you go, he will drive you out completely.

And the LORD gave the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians. Moreover, Moses himself was highly regarded in Egypt by Pharaoh’s officials and by the people.

So Moses declared, “This is what the LORD says: ‘About midnight I will go throughout Egypt,

But among all the Israelites, not even a dog will snarl at man or beast.’ Then you will know that the LORD makes a distinction between Egypt and Israel.

The LORD said to Moses, “Pharaoh will not listen to you, so that My wonders may be multiplied in the land of Egypt.”

Moses and Aaron did all these wonders before Pharaoh, but the LORD hardened Pharaoh’s heart so that he would not let the Israelites go out of his land.

Now the LORD said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt,

This is how you are to eat it: You must be fully dressed for travel, with your sandals on your feet and your staff in your hand. You are to eat in haste; it is the LORD’s Passover.

On that night I will pass through the land of Egypt and strike down every firstborn male, both man and beast, and I will execute judgment against all the gods of Egypt. I am the LORD.

And this day will be a memorial for you, and you are to celebrate it as a feast to the LORD, as a permanent statute for the generations to come.

When the LORD passes through to strike down the Egyptians, He will see the blood on the top and sides of the doorframe and will pass over that doorway; so He will not allow the destroyer to enter your houses and strike you down.

When you enter the land that the LORD will give you as He promised, you are to keep this service.

you are to reply, ‘It is the Passover sacrifice to the LORD, who passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt when He struck down the Egyptians and spared our homes.’” Then the people bowed down and worshiped.

And the Israelites went and did just what the LORD had commanded Moses and Aaron.

Now at midnight the LORD struck down every firstborn male in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh, who sat on his throne, to the firstborn of the prisoner in the dungeon, as well as all the firstborn among the livestock.

Then Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron by night and said, “Get up, leave my people, both you and the Israelites! Go, worship the LORD as you have requested.

And the LORD gave the people such favor in the sight of the Egyptians that they granted their request. In this way they plundered the Egyptians.

At the end of the 430 years, to the very day, all the LORD’s divisions went out of the land of Egypt.

Because the LORD kept a vigil that night to bring them out of the land of Egypt, this same night is to be a vigil to the LORD, to be observed by all the Israelites for the generations to come.

And the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, “This is the statute of the Passover: No foreigner is to eat of it.

If a foreigner resides with you and wants to celebrate the LORD’s Passover, all the males in the household must be circumcised; then he may come near to celebrate it, and he shall be like a native of the land. But no uncircumcised man may eat of it.

Then all the Israelites did this—they did just as the LORD had commanded Moses and Aaron.

And on that very day the LORD brought the Israelites out of the land of Egypt by their divisions.

Then the LORD said to Moses,

So Moses told the people, “Remember this day, the day you came out of Egypt, out of the house of slavery; for the LORD brought you out of it by the strength of His hand. And nothing leavened shall be eaten.

And when the LORD brings you into the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Hivites, and Jebusites—the land He swore to your fathers that He would give you, a land flowing with milk and honey—you shall keep this service in this month.

For seven days you are to eat unleavened bread, and on the seventh day there shall be a feast to the LORD.

And on that day you are to explain to your son, ‘This is because of what the LORD did for me when I came out of Egypt.’

It shall be a sign for you on your hand and a reminder on your forehead that the Law of the LORD is to be on your lips. For with a mighty hand the LORD brought you out of Egypt.

And after the LORD brings you into the land of the Canaanites and gives it to you, as He swore to you and your fathers,

you are to present to the LORD the firstborn male of every womb. All the firstborn males of your livestock belong to the LORD.

In the future, when your son asks you, ‘What does this mean?’ you are to tell him, ‘With a mighty hand the LORD brought us out of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.

And when Pharaoh stubbornly refused to let us go, the LORD killed every firstborn in the land of Egypt, both of man and beast. This is why I sacrifice to the LORD the firstborn male of every womb, but I redeem all the firstborn of my sons.’

So it shall serve as a sign on your hand and a symbol on your forehead, for with a mighty hand the LORD brought us out of Egypt.”

When Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them along the road through the land of the Philistines, though it was shorter. For God said, “If the people face war, they might change their minds and return to Egypt.”

So God led the people around by the way of the wilderness toward the Red Sea. And the Israelites left the land of Egypt arrayed for battle.

Moses took the bones of Joseph with him because Joseph had made the sons of Israel swear a solemn oath when he said, “God will surely attend to you, and then you must carry my bones with you from this place.”

And the LORD went before them in a pillar of cloud to guide their way by day, and in a pillar of fire to give them light by night, so that they could travel by day or night.

Then the LORD said to Moses,

And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart so that he will pursue them. But I will gain honor by means of Pharaoh and all his army, and the Egyptians will know that I am the LORD.” So this is what the Israelites did.

And the LORD hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt so that he pursued the Israelites, who were marching out defiantly.

As Pharaoh approached, the Israelites looked up and saw the Egyptians marching after them, and they were terrified and cried out to the LORD.

But Moses told the people, “Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the LORD’s salvation, which He will accomplish for you today; for the Egyptians you see today, you will never see again.

The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still.”

Then the LORD said to Moses, “Why are you crying out to Me? Tell the Israelites to go forward.

The Egyptians will know that I am the LORD when I am honored through Pharaoh, his chariots, and his horsemen.”

And the angel of God, who had gone before the camp of Israel, withdrew and went behind them. The pillar of cloud also moved from before them and stood behind them,

Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and all that night the LORD drove back the sea with a strong east wind that turned it into dry land. So the waters were divided,

At morning watch, however, the LORD looked down on the army of the Egyptians from the pillar of fire and cloud, and He threw their camp into confusion.

He caused their chariot wheels to wobble, so that they had difficulty driving. “Let us flee from the Israelites,” said the Egyptians, “for the LORD is fighting for them against Egypt!”

Then the LORD said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the sea, so that the waters may flow back over the Egyptians and their chariots and horsemen.”

So Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and at daybreak the sea returned to its normal state. As the Egyptians were retreating, the LORD swept them into the sea.

That day the LORD saved Israel from the hand of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the shore.

When Israel saw the great power that the LORD had exercised over the Egyptians, the people feared the LORD and believed in Him and in His servant Moses.

Then Moses and the Israelites sang this song to the LORD: “I will sing to the LORD, for He is highly exalted. The horse and rider He has thrown into the sea.

The LORD is my strength and my song, and He has become my salvation. He is my God, and I will praise Him, my father’s God, and I will exalt Him.

The LORD is a warrior, the LORD is His name.

Your right hand, O LORD, is majestic in power; Your right hand, O LORD, has shattered the enemy.

Who among the gods is like You, O LORD? Who is like You—majestic in holiness, revered with praises, performing wonders?

and terror and dread will fall on them. By the power of Your arm they will be as still as a stone until Your people pass by, O LORD, until the people You have bought pass by.

You will bring them in and plant them on the mountain of Your inheritance—the place, O LORD, You have prepared for Your dwelling, the sanctuary, O Lord, Your hands have established.

The LORD will reign forever and ever!”

For when Pharaoh’s horses, chariots, and horsemen went into the sea, the LORD brought the waters of the sea back over them. But the Israelites walked through the sea on dry ground.

And Miriam sang back to them: “Sing to the LORD, for He is highly exalted; the horse and rider He has thrown into the sea.”

And Moses cried out to the LORD, and the LORD showed him a log. And when he cast it into the waters, they were sweetened. There the LORD made for them a statute and an ordinance, and there He tested them,

saying, “If you will listen carefully to the voice of the LORD your God, and do what is right in His eyes, and pay attention to His commands, and keep all His statutes, then I will not bring on you any of the diseases I inflicted on the Egyptians. For I am the LORD who heals you.”

“If only we had died by the LORD’s hand in the land of Egypt!” they said. “There we sat by pots of meat and ate our fill of bread, but you have brought us into this desert to starve this whole assembly to death!”

Then the LORD said to Moses, “Behold, I will rain down bread from heaven for you. Each day the people are to go out and gather enough for that day. In this way I will test whether or not they will follow My instructions.

So Moses and Aaron said to all the Israelites, “This evening you will know that it was the LORD who brought you out of the land of Egypt,

and in the morning you will see the LORD’s glory, because He has heard your grumbling against Him. For who are we, that you should grumble against us?”

And Moses added, “The LORD will give you meat to eat this evening and bread to fill you in the morning, for He has heard your grumbling against Him. Who are we? Your grumblings are not against us but against the LORD.”

Then Moses said to Aaron, “Tell the whole congregation of Israel, ‘Come before the LORD, for He has heard your grumbling.’”

And as Aaron was speaking to the whole congregation of Israel, they looked toward the desert, and there in a cloud the glory of the LORD appeared.

Then the LORD said to Moses,

“I have heard the grumbling of the Israelites. Tell them, ‘At twilight you will eat meat, and in the morning you will be filled with bread. Then you will know that I am the LORD your God.’”

When the Israelites saw it, they asked one another, “What is it?” For they did not know what it was. So Moses told them, “It is the bread that the LORD has given you to eat.

This is what the LORD has commanded: ‘Each one is to gather as much as he needs. You may take an omer for each person in your tent.’”

He told them, “This is what the LORD has said: ‘Tomorrow is to be a day of complete rest, a holy Sabbath to the LORD. So bake what you want to bake, and boil what you want to boil. Then set aside whatever remains and keep it until morning.’”

“Eat it today,” Moses said, “because today is a Sabbath to the LORD. Today you will not find anything in the field.

Then the LORD said to Moses, “How long will you refuse to keep My commandments and instructions?

Understand that the LORD has given you the Sabbath; that is why on the sixth day He will give you bread for two days. On the seventh day, everyone must stay where he is; no one may leave his place.”

Moses said, “This is what the LORD has commanded: ‘Keep an omer of manna for the generations to come, so that they may see the bread I fed you in the wilderness when I brought you out of the land of Egypt.’”

So Moses told Aaron, “Take a jar and fill it with an omer of manna. Then place it before the LORD to be preserved for the generations to come.”

And Aaron placed it in front of the Testimony, to be preserved just as the LORD had commanded Moses.

Then the whole congregation of Israel left the Desert of Sin, moving from place to place as the LORD commanded. They camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink.

So the people contended with Moses, “Give us water to drink.” “Why do you contend with me?” Moses replied. “Why do you test the LORD?”

Then Moses cried out to the LORD, “What should I do with these people? A little more and they will stone me!”

And the LORD said to Moses, “Walk on ahead of the people and take some of the elders of Israel with you. Take along in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go.

He named the place Massah and Meribah because the Israelites quarreled, and because they tested the LORD, saying, “Is the LORD among us or not?”

So Moses said to Joshua, “Choose some of our men and go out to fight the Amalekites. Tomorrow I will stand on the hilltop with the staff of God in my hand.”

Then the LORD said to Moses, “Write this on a scroll as a reminder and recite it to Joshua, because I will utterly blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven.”

And Moses built an altar and named it The LORD Is My Banner.

“Indeed,” he said, “a hand was lifted up toward the throne of the LORD. The LORD will war against Amalek from generation to generation.”

Now Moses’ father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian, heard about all that God had done for Moses and His people Israel, and how the LORD had brought Israel out of Egypt.

The other son was named Eliezer, for Moses had said, “The God of my father was my helper and delivered me from the sword of Pharaoh.”

Moses’ father-in-law Jethro, along with Moses’ wife and sons, came to him in the desert, where he was encamped at the mountain of God.

Then Moses recounted to his father-in-law all that the LORD had done to Pharaoh and the Egyptians for Israel’s sake, all the hardships they had encountered along the way, and how the LORD had delivered them.

And Jethro rejoiced over all the good things the LORD had done for Israel, whom He had rescued from the hand of the Egyptians.

Jethro declared, “Blessed be the LORD, who has delivered you from the hand of the Egyptians and of Pharaoh, and who has delivered the people from the hand of the Egyptians.

Now I know that the LORD is greater than all other gods, for He did this when they treated Israel with arrogance.”

Then Moses’ father-in-law Jethro brought a burnt offering and sacrifices to God, and Aaron came with all the elders of Israel to eat bread with Moses’ father-in-law in the presence of God.

“Because the people come to me to inquire of God,” Moses replied.

“Whenever they have a dispute, it is brought to me to judge between one man and another, and I make known to them the statutes and laws of God.”

Now listen to me; I will give you some advice, and may God be with you. You must be the people’s representative before God and bring their causes to Him.

Furthermore, select capable men from among the people—God-fearing, trustworthy men who are averse to dishonest gain. Appoint them over the people as leaders of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties, and of tens.

If you follow this advice and God so directs you, then you will be able to endure, and all these people can go home in peace.”

Then Moses went up to God, and the LORD called to him from the mountain, “This is what you are to tell the house of Jacob and explain to the sons of Israel:

So Moses went back and summoned the elders of the people and set before them all these words that the LORD had commanded him.

And all the people answered together, “We will do everything that the LORD has spoken.” So Moses brought their words back to the LORD.

The LORD said to Moses, “Behold, I will come to you in a dense cloud, so that the people will hear when I speak with you, and they will always put their trust in you.” And Moses relayed to the LORD what the people had said.

Then the LORD said to Moses, “Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow. They must wash their clothes

and be prepared by the third day, for on the third day the LORD will come down on Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people.

Then Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet with God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain.

Mount Sinai was completely enveloped in smoke, because the LORD had descended on it in fire. And the smoke rose like the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mountain quaked violently.

And as the sound of the ram’s horn grew louder and louder, Moses spoke and God answered him in the thunder.

The LORD descended to the top of Mount Sinai and called Moses to the summit. So Moses went up,

and the LORD said to him, “Go down and warn the people not to break through to see the LORD, lest many of them perish.

Even the priests who approach the LORD must consecrate themselves, or the LORD will break out against them.”

But Moses said to the LORD, “The people cannot come up Mount Sinai, for You solemnly warned us, ‘Put a boundary around the mountain and set it apart as holy.’”

And the LORD replied, “Go down and bring Aaron with you. But the priests and the people must not break through to come up to the LORD, or He will break out against them.”

And God spoke all these words:

“I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.

You shall have no other gods before Me.

You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on their children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me,

You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not leave anyone unpunished who takes His name in vain.

but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God, on which you must not do any work—neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant or livestock, nor the foreigner within your gates.

For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth and the sea and all that is in them, but on the seventh day He rested. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and set it apart as holy.

Honor your father and mother, so that your days may be long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you.

“Speak to us yourself and we will listen,” they said to Moses. “But do not let God speak to us, or we will die.”

“Do not be afraid,” Moses replied. “For God has come to test you, so that the fear of Him may be before you, to keep you from sinning.”

And the people stood at a distance as Moses approached the thick darkness where God was.

Then the LORD said to Moses, “This is what you are to tell the Israelites: ‘You have seen for yourselves that I have spoken to you from heaven.

You are not to make any gods alongside Me; you are not to make for yourselves gods of silver or gold.

then his master is to bring him before the judges. And he shall take him to the door or doorpost and pierce his ear with an awl. Then he shall serve his master for life.

If, however, he did not lie in wait, but God allowed it to happen, then I will appoint for you a place where he may flee.

If a man gives his neighbor money or goods for safekeeping and they are stolen from the neighbor’s house, the thief, if caught, must pay back double.

If the thief is not found, the owner of the house must appear before the judges to determine whether he has taken his neighbor’s property.

If a man gives a donkey, an ox, a sheep, or any other animal to be cared for by his neighbor, but it dies or is injured or stolen while no one is watching,

Whoever lies with an animal must surely be put to death.

because his cloak is the only covering he has for his body. What else will he sleep in? And if he cries out to Me, I will hear, for I am compassionate.

Pay 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.

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

Bring 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.

You 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.

So 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.

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

They 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.”

Then 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.

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

When 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.”

And 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.

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

Then 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.”

So 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.”

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

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

Then 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.”

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

and 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.

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

Then the LORD said to Moses,

In the Tent of Meeting, outside the veil that is in front of the Testimony, Aaron and his sons are to tend the lamps before the LORD from evening until morning. This is to be a permanent statute for the Israelites for the generations to come.

Fasten both stones on the shoulder pieces of the ephod as memorial stones for the sons of Israel. Aaron is to bear their names on his two shoulders as a memorial before the LORD.

Whenever Aaron enters the Holy Place, he shall bear the names of the sons of Israel over his heart on the breastpiece of judgment, as a continual reminder before the LORD.

And place the Urim and Thummim in the breastpiece of judgment, so that they will also be over Aaron’s heart whenever he comes before the LORD. Aaron will continually carry the judgment of the sons of Israel over his heart before the LORD.

Aaron must wear the robe whenever he ministers, and its sound will be heard when he enters or exits the sanctuary before the LORD, so that he will not die.

You are to make a plate of pure gold and engrave on it as on a seal: HOLY TO THE LORD.

And it will be worn on Aaron’s forehead, so that he may bear the iniquity of the holy things that the sons of Israel consecrate with regard to all their holy gifts. It shall always be on his forehead, so that they may be acceptable before the LORD.

And you shall slaughter the bull before the LORD at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting.

Then burn the entire ram on the altar; it is a burnt offering to the LORD, a pleasing aroma, a food offering to the LORD.

along with one loaf of bread, one cake of bread made with oil, and one wafer from the basket of unleavened bread that is before the LORD.

Put all these in the hands of Aaron and his sons and wave them before the LORD as a wave offering.

Then take them from their hands and burn them on the altar atop the burnt offering as a pleasing aroma before the LORD; it is a food offering to the LORD.

Take the breast of the ram of Aaron’s ordination and wave it before the LORD as a wave offering, and it will be your portion.

This will belong to Aaron and his sons as a regular portion from the Israelites, for it is the heave offering the Israelites will make to the LORD from their peace offerings.

And offer the second lamb at twilight with the same grain offering and drink offering as in the morning, as a pleasing aroma, a food offering to the LORD.

For the generations to come, this burnt offering shall be made regularly at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting before the LORD, where I will meet you to speak with you.

Then I will dwell among the Israelites and be their God.

And they will know that I am the LORD their God, who brought them out of the land of Egypt so that I might dwell among them. I am the LORD their God.

When Aaron sets up the lamps at twilight, he must burn the incense perpetually before the LORD for the generations to come.

Once a year Aaron shall make atonement on the horns of the altar. Throughout your generations he shall make atonement on it annually with the blood of the sin offering of atonement. The altar is most holy to the LORD.”

Then the LORD said to Moses,

“When you take a census of the Israelites to number them, each man must pay the LORD a ransom for his life when he is counted. Then no plague will come upon them when they are numbered.

Everyone who crosses over to those counted must pay a half shekel, according to the sanctuary shekel, which weighs twenty gerahs. This half shekel is an offering to the LORD.

Everyone twenty years of age or older who crosses over must give this offering to the LORD.

In making the offering to the LORD to atone for your lives, the rich shall not give more than a half shekel, nor shall the poor give less.

Take the atonement money from the Israelites and use it for the service of the Tent of Meeting. It will serve as a memorial for the Israelites before the LORD to make atonement for your lives.”

And the LORD said to Moses,

Whenever they enter the Tent of Meeting or approach the altar to minister by presenting a food offering to the LORD, they must wash with water so that they will not die.

Then the LORD said to Moses,

The LORD also said to Moses, “Take fragrant spices—gum resin, onycha, galbanum, and pure frankincense—in equal measures,

You are never to use this formula to make incense for yourselves; you shall regard it as holy to the LORD.

Then the LORD said to Moses,

And I have filled him with the Spirit of God, with skill, ability, and knowledge in all kinds of craftsmanship,

And the LORD said to Moses,

“Tell the Israelites, ‘Surely you must keep My Sabbaths, for this will be a sign between Me and you for the generations to come, so that you may know that I am the LORD who sanctifies you.

For six days work may be done, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of complete rest, holy to the LORD. Whoever does any work on the Sabbath day must surely be put to death.

It is a sign between Me and the Israelites forever; for in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, but on the seventh day He rested and was refreshed.’”

When the LORD had finished speaking with Moses on Mount Sinai, He gave him the two tablets of the Testimony, tablets of stone inscribed by the finger of God.

Now when the people saw that Moses was delayed in coming down from the mountain, they gathered around Aaron and said, “Come, make us gods who will go before us. As for this Moses who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has happened to him!”

He took the gold from their hands, and with an engraving tool he fashioned it into a molten calf. And they said, “These, O Israel, are your gods, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!”

When Aaron saw this, he built an altar before the calf and proclaimed: “Tomorrow shall be a feast to the LORD.”

Then the LORD said to Moses, “Go down at once, for your people, whom you brought up out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves.

How quickly they have turned aside from the way that I commanded them! They have made for themselves a molten calf and have bowed down to it. They have sacrificed to it and said, ‘These, O Israel, are your gods, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.’”

The LORD also said to Moses, “I have seen this people, and they are indeed a stiff-necked people.

But Moses sought the favor of the LORD his God, saying, “O LORD, why does Your anger burn against Your people, whom You brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and a mighty hand?

So the LORD relented from the calamity He had threatened to bring on His people.

The tablets were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, engraved on the tablets.

They told me, ‘Make us gods who will go before us. As for this Moses who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has happened to him!’

So Moses stood at the entrance to the camp and said, “Whoever is for the LORD, come to me.” And all the Levites gathered around him.

He told them, “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘Each of you men is to fasten his sword to his side, go back and forth through the camp from gate to gate, and slay his brother, his friend, and his neighbor.’”

Afterward, Moses said, “Today you have been ordained for service to the LORD, since each man went against his son and his brother; so the LORD has bestowed a blessing on you this day.”

The next day Moses said to the people, “You have committed a great sin. Now I will go up to the LORD; perhaps I can make atonement for your sin.”

So Moses returned to the LORD and said, “Oh, what a great sin these people have committed! They have made gods of gold for themselves.

The LORD replied to Moses, “Whoever has sinned against Me, I will blot out of My book.

And the LORD sent a plague on the people because of what they had done with the calf that Aaron had made.

Then the LORD said to Moses, “Leave this place, you and the people you brought up out of the land of Egypt, and go to the land that I promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob when I said, ‘I will give it to your descendants.’

For the LORD had said to Moses, “Tell the Israelites, ‘You are a stiff-necked people. If I should go with you for a single moment, I would destroy you. Now take off your jewelry, and I will decide what to do with you.’”

Now Moses used to take the tent and pitch it at a distance outside the camp. He called it the Tent of Meeting, and anyone inquiring of the LORD would go to the Tent of Meeting outside the camp.

Thus the LORD would speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend. Then Moses would return to the camp, but his young assistant Joshua son of Nun would not leave the tent.

Then Moses said to the LORD, “Look, You have been telling me, ‘Lead this people up,’ but You have not let me know whom You will send with me. Yet You have said, ‘I know you by name, and you have found favor in My sight.’

So the LORD said to Moses, “I will do this very thing you have asked, for you have found favor in My sight, and I know you by name.”

“I will cause all My goodness to pass before you,” the LORD replied, “and I will proclaim My name—the LORD—in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.”

The LORD continued, “There is a place near Me where you are to stand upon a rock,

Then the LORD said to Moses, “Chisel out two stone tablets like the originals, and I will write on them the words that were on the first tablets, which you broke.

So Moses chiseled out two stone tablets like the originals. He rose early in the morning, and taking the two stone tablets in his hands, he went up Mount Sinai as the LORD had commanded him.

And the LORD descended in a cloud, stood with him there, and proclaimed His name, the LORD.

Then the LORD passed in front of Moses and called out: “The LORD, the LORD God, is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in loving devotion and faithfulness,

“O Lord,” he said, “if I have indeed found favor in Your sight, my Lord, please go with us. Although this is a stiff-necked people, forgive our iniquity and sin, and take us as Your inheritance.”

And the LORD said, “Behold, I am making a covenant. Before all your people I will perform wonders that have never been done in any nation in all the world. All the people among whom you live will see the LORD’s work, for it is an awesome thing that I am doing with you.

For you must not worship any other god, for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God.

Do not make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, for when they prostitute themselves to their gods and sacrifice to them, they will invite you, and you will eat their sacrifices.

And when you take some of their daughters as brides for your sons, their daughters will prostitute themselves to their gods and cause your sons to do the same.

You shall make no molten gods for yourselves.

Three times a year all your males are to appear before the Lord GOD, the God of Israel.

For I will drive out the nations before you and enlarge your borders, and no one will covet your land when you go up three times a year to appear before the LORD your God.

Bring 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.”

The LORD also said to Moses, “Write down these words, for in accordance with these words I have made a covenant with you and with Israel.”

So Moses was there with the LORD forty days and forty nights without eating bread or drinking water. He wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant—the Ten Commandments.

And after this all the Israelites came near, and Moses commanded them to do everything that the LORD had told him on Mount Sinai.

But whenever Moses went in before the LORD to speak with Him, he would remove the veil until he came out. And when he came out, he would tell the Israelites what he had been commanded,

Then Moses assembled the whole congregation of Israel and said to them, “These are the things that the LORD has commanded you to do:

For six days work may be done, but the seventh day shall be your holy day, a Sabbath of complete rest to the LORD. Whoever does any work on that day must be put to death.

Moses also told the whole congregation of Israel, “This is what the LORD has commanded:

Take from among you an offering to the LORD. Let everyone whose heart is willing bring an offering to the LORD: gold, silver, and bronze;

Let every skilled craftsman among you come and make everything that the LORD has commanded:

And everyone whose heart stirred him and whose spirit prompted him came and brought an offering to the LORD for the work on the Tent of Meeting, for all its services, and for the holy garments.

So all who had willing hearts, both men and women, came and brought brooches and earrings, rings and necklaces, and all kinds of gold jewelry. And they all presented their gold as a wave offering to the LORD.

And all who could present an offering of silver or bronze brought it as a contribution to the LORD. Also, everyone who had acacia wood for any part of the service brought it.

So all the men and women of the Israelites whose hearts prompted them brought a freewill offering to the LORD for all the work that the LORD through Moses had commanded them to do.

Then Moses said to the Israelites, “See, the LORD has called by name Bezalel son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah.

And He has filled him with the Spirit of God, with skill, ability, and knowledge in all kinds of craftsmanship,

“So Bezalel, Oholiab, and every skilled person are to carry out everything commanded by the LORD, who has given them skill and ability to know how to perform all the work of constructing the sanctuary.”

Then Moses summoned Bezalel, Oholiab, and every skilled person whom the LORD had gifted—everyone whose heart stirred him to come and do the work.

and said to Moses, “The people are bringing more than enough for doing the work the LORD has commanded us to do.”

Bezalel son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, made everything that the LORD had commanded Moses.

From the blue, purple, and scarlet yarn they made specially woven garments for ministry in the sanctuary, as well as the holy garments for Aaron, just as the LORD had commanded Moses.

And the skillfully woven waistband of the ephod was of one piece with the ephod, of the same workmanship—with gold, with blue, purple, and scarlet yarn, and with finely spun linen, just as the LORD had commanded Moses.

Then they fastened them on the shoulder pieces of the ephod as memorial stones for the sons of Israel, as the LORD had commanded Moses.

Then they tied the rings of the breastpiece to the rings of the ephod with a cord of blue yarn, so that the breastpiece was above the waistband of the ephod and would not swing out from the ephod, just as the LORD had commanded Moses.

alternating the bells and pomegranates around the lower hem of the robe to be worn for ministry, just as the LORD had commanded Moses.

and the sash of finely spun linen, embroidered with blue, purple, and scarlet yarn, just as the LORD had commanded Moses.

They also made the plate of the holy crown of pure gold, and they engraved on it, like an inscription on a seal: HOLY TO THE LORD.

Then they fastened to it a blue cord to mount it on the turban, just as the LORD had commanded Moses.

So all the work for the tabernacle, the Tent of Meeting, was completed. The Israelites did everything just as the LORD had commanded Moses.

The Israelites had done all the work just as the LORD had commanded Moses.

And Moses inspected all the work and saw that they had accomplished it just as the LORD had commanded. So Moses blessed them.

Then the LORD said to Moses,

Moses did everything just as the LORD had commanded him.

Then he spread the tent over the tabernacle and put the covering over the tent, just as the LORD had commanded him.

Then he brought the ark into the tabernacle, put up the veil for the screen, and shielded off the ark of the Testimony, just as the LORD had commanded him.

He arranged the bread on it before the LORD, just as the LORD had commanded him.

and set up the lamps before the LORD, just as the LORD had commanded him.

and he burned fragrant incense on it, just as the LORD had commanded him.

He placed the altar of burnt offering near the entrance to the tabernacle, the Tent of Meeting, and offered on it the burnt offering and the grain offering, just as the LORD had commanded him.

They washed whenever they entered the Tent of Meeting or approached the altar, just as the LORD had commanded Moses.

Then the cloud covered the Tent of Meeting, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle.

Moses was unable to enter the Tent of Meeting because the cloud had settled on it, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle.

For the cloud of the LORD was over the tabernacle by day, and fire was in the cloud by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel through all their journeys.

Then the LORD called to Moses and spoke to him from the Tent of Meeting, saying,

“Speak to the Israelites and tell them: When any of you brings an offering to the LORD, you may bring as your offering an animal from the herd or the flock.

If his offering is a burnt offering from the herd, he is to present an unblemished male. He must bring it to the entrance to the Tent of Meeting for its acceptance before the LORD.

And he shall slaughter the young bull before the LORD, and Aaron’s sons the priests are to present the blood and splatter it on all sides of the altar at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting.

The entrails and legs must be washed with water, and the priest shall burn all of it on the altar as a burnt offering, a food offering, a pleasing aroma to the LORD.

He shall slaughter it on the north side of the altar before the LORD, and Aaron’s sons the priests are to splatter its blood against the altar on all sides.

The entrails and legs must be washed with water, and the priest shall present all of it and burn it on the altar; it is a burnt offering, a food offering, a pleasing aroma to the LORD.

If, instead, one’s offering to the LORD is a burnt offering of birds, he is to present a turtledove or a young pigeon.

He shall tear it open by its wings, without dividing the bird completely. And the priest is to burn it on the altar atop the burning wood. It is a burnt offering, a food offering, a pleasing aroma to the LORD.

“When anyone brings a grain offering to the LORD, his offering must consist of fine flour. He is to pour olive oil on it, put frankincense on it,

and bring it to Aaron’s sons the priests. The priest shall take a handful of the flour and oil, together with all the frankincense, and burn this as a memorial portion on the altar, a food offering, a pleasing aroma to the LORD.

The remainder of the grain offering shall belong to Aaron and his sons; it is a most holy part of the food offerings to the LORD.

When you bring to the LORD the grain offering made in any of these ways, it is to be presented to the priest, and he shall take it to the altar.

The priest is to remove the memorial portion from the grain offering and burn it on the altar as a food offering, a pleasing aroma to the LORD.

But the remainder of the grain offering shall belong to Aaron and his sons; it is a most holy part of the food offerings to the LORD.

No grain offering that you present to the LORD may be made with leaven, for you are not to burn any leaven or honey as a food offering to the LORD.

You may bring them to the LORD as an offering of firstfruits, but they must not go up on the altar as a pleasing aroma.

And you shall season each of your grain offerings with salt. You must not leave the salt of the covenant of your God out of your grain offering; you are to add salt to each of your offerings.

If you bring a grain offering of firstfruits to the LORD, you shall offer crushed heads of new grain roasted on the fire.

The priest shall then burn the memorial portion of the crushed grain and the oil, together with all its frankincense, as a food offering to the LORD.

“If one’s offering is a peace offering and he offers an animal from the herd, whether male or female, he must present it without blemish before the LORD.

From the peace offering he is to bring a food offering to the LORD: the fat that covers the entrails, all the fat that is on them,

Then Aaron’s sons are to burn it on the altar atop the burnt offering that is on the burning wood, as a food offering, a pleasing aroma to the LORD.

If, however, one’s peace offering to the LORD is from the flock, he must present a male or female without blemish.

If he is presenting a lamb for his offering, he must present it before the LORD.

And from the peace offering he shall bring a food offering to the LORD consisting of its fat: the entire fat tail cut off close to the backbone, the fat that covers the entrails, all the fat that is on them,

Then the priest is to burn them on the altar as food, a food offering to the LORD.

If one’s offering is a goat, he is to present it before the LORD.

And from his offering he shall present a food offering to the LORD: the fat that covers the entrails, all the fat that is on them,

Then the priest is to burn the food on the altar as a food offering, a pleasing aroma. All the fat is the LORD’s.

Then the LORD said to Moses,

“Tell the Israelites to do as follows with one who sins unintentionally against any of the LORD’s commandments and does what is forbidden by them:

If the anointed priest sins, bringing guilt on the people, he must bring to the LORD a young bull without blemish as a sin offering for the sin he has committed.

He must bring the bull to the entrance to the Tent of Meeting before the LORD, lay his hand on the bull’s head, and slaughter it before the LORD.

The priest is to dip his finger in the blood and sprinkle some of it seven times before the LORD, in front of the veil of the sanctuary.

The priest must then put some of the blood on the horns of the altar of fragrant incense that is before the LORD in the Tent of Meeting. And he is to pour out the rest of the bull’s blood at the base of the altar of burnt offering at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting.

Now if the whole congregation of Israel strays unintentionally and the matter escapes the notice of the assembly so that they violate any of the LORD’s commandments and incur guilt by doing what is forbidden,

The elders of the congregation are to lay their hands on the bull’s head before the LORD, and it shall be slaughtered before the LORD.

and he is to dip his finger in the blood and sprinkle it seven times before the LORD in front of the veil.

He is also to put some of the blood on the horns of the altar that is before the LORD in the Tent of Meeting, and he must pour out the rest of the blood at the base of the altar of burnt offering at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting.

When a leader sins unintentionally and does what is prohibited by any of the commandments of the LORD his God, he incurs guilt.

He is to lay his hand on the head of the goat and slaughter it at the place where the burnt offering is slaughtered before the LORD. It is a sin offering.

And if one of the common people sins unintentionally and does what is prohibited by any of the LORD’s commandments, he incurs guilt.

Then he is to remove all the fat, just as it is removed from the peace offering, and the priest is to burn it on the altar as a pleasing aroma to the LORD. In this way the priest will make atonement for him, and he will be forgiven.

And he shall remove all the fat, just as the fat of the lamb is removed from the peace offerings, and he shall burn it on the altar along with the food offerings to the LORD. In this way the priest will make atonement for him for the sin he has committed, and he will be forgiven.

and he must bring his guilt offering to the LORD for the sin he has committed: a female lamb or goat from the flock as a sin offering. And the priest will make atonement for him concerning his sin.

If, however, he cannot afford a lamb, he may bring to the LORD as restitution for his sin two turtledoves or two young pigeons—one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering.

He is to bring it to the priest, who shall take a handful from it as a memorial portion and burn it on the altar atop the food offerings to the LORD; it is a sin offering.

Then the LORD said to Moses,

“If someone acts unfaithfully and sins unintentionally against any of the LORD’s holy things, he must bring his guilt offering to the LORD: an unblemished ram from the flock, of proper value in silver shekels according to the sanctuary shekel; it is a guilt offering.

If someone sins and violates any of the LORD’s commandments even though he was unaware, he is guilty and shall bear his punishment.

It is a guilt offering; he was certainly guilty before the LORD.”

And the LORD said to Moses,

In this way the priest will make atonement for him before the LORD, and he will be forgiven for anything he may have done to incur guilt.”

Then the LORD said to Moses,

Then he must take off his garments, put on other clothes, and carry the ashes outside the camp to a ceremonially clean place.

The fire on the altar shall be kept burning; it must not be extinguished. Every morning the priest is to add wood to the fire, arrange the burnt offering on it, and burn the fat portions of the peace offerings on it.

The fire shall be kept burning on the altar continually; it must not be extinguished.

Now this is the law of the grain offering: Aaron’s sons shall present it before the LORD in front of the altar.

The priest is to remove a handful of fine flour and olive oil, together with all the frankincense from the grain offering, and burn the memorial portion on the altar as a pleasing aroma to the LORD.

It must not be baked with leaven; I have assigned it as their portion of My food offerings. It is most holy, like the sin offering and the guilt offering.

Any male among the sons of Aaron may eat it. This is a permanent portion from the food offerings to the LORD for the generations to come. Anything that touches them will become holy.”

The priest shall burn them on the altar as a food offering to the LORD; it is a guilt offering.

Now this is the law of the peace offering that one may present to the LORD:

From the cakes he must present one portion of each offering as a contribution to the LORD. It belongs to the priest who sprinkles the blood of the peace offering.

But if anyone who is unclean eats meat from the peace offering that belongs to the LORD, that person must be cut off from his people.

If one touches anything unclean, whether human uncleanness, an unclean animal, or any unclean, detestable thing, and then eats any of the meat of the peace offering that belongs to the LORD, that person must be cut off from his people.”

Then the LORD said to Moses,

If anyone eats the fat of an animal from which a food offering may be presented to the LORD, the one who eats it must be cut off from his people.

Then the LORD said to Moses,

“Speak to the Israelites and say, ‘Anyone who presents a peace offering to the LORD must bring it as his sacrifice to the LORD.

With his own hands he is to bring the food offerings to the LORD; he shall bring the fat, together with the breast, and wave the breast as a wave offering before the LORD.

This is the portion of the food offerings to the LORD for Aaron and his sons since the day they were presented to serve the LORD as priests.

On the day they were anointed, the LORD commanded that this be given them by the sons of Israel. It is a permanent portion for the generations to come.

which the LORD gave Moses on Mount Sinai on the day He commanded the Israelites to present their offerings to the LORD in the Wilderness of Sinai.

Then the LORD said to Moses,

So Moses did as the LORD had commanded him, and the assembly gathered at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting.

And Moses said to them, “This is what the LORD has commanded to be done.”

Moses also put the turban on Aaron’s head and set the gold plate, the holy diadem, on the front of the turban, as the LORD had commanded him.

Then Moses presented Aaron’s sons, put tunics on them, wrapped sashes around them, and tied headbands on them, just as the LORD had commanded him.

But the bull with its hide, flesh, and dung he burned outside the camp, as the LORD had commanded him.

He washed the entrails and legs with water and burned the entire ram on the altar as a burnt offering, a pleasing aroma, a food offering to the LORD, just as the LORD had commanded Moses.

And from the basket of unleavened bread that was before the LORD, he took one cake of unleavened bread, one cake of bread made with oil, and one wafer, and he placed them on the fat portions and on the right thigh.

He put all these in the hands of Aaron and his sons and waved them before the LORD as a wave offering.

Then Moses took these from their hands and burned them on the altar with the burnt offering. This was an ordination offering, a pleasing aroma, a food offering to the LORD.

He also took the breast—Moses’ portion of the ram of ordination—and waved it before the LORD as a wave offering, as the LORD had commanded him.

What has been done today has been commanded by the LORD in order to make atonement on your behalf.

You must remain at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting day and night for seven days and keep the LORD’s charge so that you will not die, for this is what I have been commanded.”

So Aaron and his sons did everything the LORD had commanded through Moses.

He said to Aaron, “Take for yourself a young bull for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering, both without blemish, and present them before the LORD.

an ox and a ram for a peace offering to sacrifice before the LORD, and a grain offering mixed with oil. For today the LORD will appear to you.’”

So they took what Moses had commanded to the front of the Tent of Meeting, and the whole congregation drew near and stood before the LORD.

And Moses said, “This is what the LORD has commanded you to do, so that the glory of the LORD may appear to you.”

Then Moses said to Aaron, “Approach the altar and sacrifice your sin offering and your burnt offering to make atonement for yourself and for the people. And sacrifice the people’s offering to make atonement for them, as the LORD has commanded.”

On the altar he burned the fat, the kidneys, and the lobe of the liver from the sin offering, as the LORD had commanded Moses.

but he waved the breasts and the right thigh as a wave offering before the LORD, as Moses had commanded.

Moses and Aaron then entered the Tent of Meeting. When they came out, they blessed the people, and the glory of the LORD appeared to all the people.

Fire came out from the presence of the LORD and consumed the burnt offering and the fat portions on the altar. And when all the people saw it, they shouted for joy and fell facedown.

Now Aaron’s sons Nadab and Abihu took their censers, put fire in them and added incense, and offered unauthorized fire before the LORD, contrary to His command.

So fire came out from the presence of the LORD and consumed them, and they died in the presence of the LORD.

Then Moses said to Aaron, “This is what the LORD meant when He said: ‘To those who come near Me I will show My holiness, and in the sight of all the people I will reveal My glory.’” But Aaron remained silent.

Then Moses said to Aaron and his sons Eleazar and Ithamar, “Do not let your hair become disheveled and do not tear your garments, or else you will die, and the LORD will be angry with the whole congregation. But your brothers, the whole house of Israel, may mourn on account of the fire that the LORD has ignited.

You shall not go outside the entrance to the Tent of Meeting, or you will die, for the LORD’s anointing oil is on you.” So they did as Moses instructed.

Then the LORD said to Aaron,

so that you may teach the Israelites all the statutes that the LORD has given them through Moses.”

And Moses said to Aaron and his remaining sons, Eleazar and Ithamar, “Take the grain offering that remains from the food offerings to the LORD and eat it without leaven beside the altar, because it is most holy.

You shall eat it in a holy place, because it is your share and your sons’ share of the food offerings to the LORD; for this is what I have been commanded.

They are to bring the thigh of the contribution and the breast of the wave offering, together with the fat portions of the food offerings, to wave as a wave offering before the LORD. It will belong permanently to you and your children, as the LORD has commanded.”

“Why didn’t you eat the sin offering in the holy place? For it is most holy; it was given to you to take away the guilt of the congregation by making atonement for them before the LORD.

But Aaron replied to Moses, “Behold, this very day they presented their sin offering and their burnt offering before the LORD. Since these things have happened to me, if I had eaten the sin offering today, would it have been acceptable in the sight of the LORD?”

The LORD spoke again to Moses and Aaron, telling them,

For I am the LORD your God; consecrate yourselves, therefore, and be holy, because I am holy. You must not defile yourselves by any creature that crawls along the ground.

For I am the LORD, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt so that I would be your God; therefore be holy, because I am holy.

Then the LORD said to Moses,

And the priest will present them before the LORD and make atonement for her; and she shall be ceremonially cleansed from her flow of blood. This is the law for a woman giving birth, whether to a male or to a female.

Then the LORD said to Moses and Aaron,

Then the LORD said to Moses,

The priest who performs the cleansing shall present the one to be cleansed, together with these offerings, before the LORD at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting.

Then the priest is to take one of the male lambs and present it as a guilt offering, along with the log of olive oil; and he must wave them as a wave offering before the LORD.

dip his right forefinger into the oil in his left palm, and sprinkle some of the oil with his finger seven times before the LORD.

The rest of the oil in his palm, the priest is to put on the head of the one to be cleansed, to make atonement for him before the LORD.

On the eighth day he is to bring them for his cleansing to the priest at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting before the LORD.

The priest shall take the lamb for the guilt offering, along with the log of olive oil, and wave them as a wave offering before the LORD.

and sprinkle with his right forefinger some of the oil in his left palm seven times before the LORD.

The rest of the oil in his palm, the priest is to put on the head of the one to be cleansed, to make atonement for him before the LORD.

one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering, together with the grain offering. In this way the priest will make atonement before the LORD for the one to be cleansed.

Then the LORD said to Moses and Aaron,

And the LORD said to Moses and Aaron,

On the eighth day he is to take two turtledoves or two young pigeons, come before the LORD at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting, and give them to the priest.

The priest is to sacrifice them, one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering. In this way the priest will make atonement for the man before the LORD because of his discharge.

The priest is to sacrifice one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering. In this way the priest will make atonement for her before the LORD for her unclean discharge.

Now the LORD spoke to Moses after the death of two of Aaron’s sons when they approached the presence of the LORD.

And the LORD said to Moses: “Tell your brother Aaron not to enter freely into the Most Holy Place behind the veil in front of the mercy seat on the ark, or else he will die, because I appear in the cloud above the mercy seat.

Then he shall take the two goats and present them before the LORD at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting.

After Aaron casts lots for the two goats, one for the LORD and the other for the scapegoat,

he shall present the goat chosen by lot for the LORD and sacrifice it as a sin offering.

But the goat chosen by lot as the scapegoat shall be presented alive before the LORD to make atonement by sending it into the wilderness as the scapegoat.

Then he must take a censer full of burning coals from the altar before the LORD, and two handfuls of finely ground fragrant incense, and take them inside the veil.

He is to put the incense on the fire before the LORD, and the cloud of incense will cover the mercy seat above the Testimony, so that he will not die.

Then he shall go out to the altar that is before the LORD and make atonement for it. He is to take some of the bull’s blood and some of the goat’s blood and put it on all the horns of the altar.

because on this day atonement will be made for you to cleanse you, and you will be clean from all your sins before the LORD.

This is to be a permanent statute for you, to make atonement once a year for the Israelites because of all their sins.” And all this was done as the LORD had commanded Moses.

Then the LORD said to Moses,

“Speak to Aaron, his sons, and all the Israelites and tell them this is what the LORD has commanded:

instead of bringing it to the entrance to the Tent of Meeting to present it as an offering to the LORD before His tabernacle—that man shall incur bloodguilt. He has shed blood and must be cut off from among his people.

For this reason the Israelites will bring to the LORD the sacrifices they have been offering in the open fields. They are to bring them to the priest at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting and offer them as sacrifices of peace offerings to the LORD.

The priest will then splatter the blood on the altar of the LORD at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting and burn the fat as a pleasing aroma to the LORD.

but does not bring it to the entrance to the Tent of Meeting to sacrifice it to the LORD, that man must be cut off from his people.

Then the LORD said to Moses,

“Speak to the Israelites and tell them: I am the LORD your God.

You are to practice My judgments and keep My statutes by walking in them. I am the LORD your God.

Keep My statutes and My judgments, for the man who does these things will live by them. I am the LORD.

None of you are to approach any close relative to have sexual relations. I am the LORD.

You must not give any of your children to be sacrificed to Molech, for you must not profane the name of your God. I am the LORD.

You must keep My charge not to practice any of the abominable customs that were practiced before you, so that you do not defile yourselves by them. I am the LORD your God.”

Then the LORD said to Moses,

“Speak to the whole congregation of Israel and tell them: Be holy because I, the LORD your God, am holy.

Each of you must respect his mother and father, and you must keep My Sabbaths. I am the LORD your God.

Do not turn to idols or make for yourselves molten gods. I am the LORD your God.

When you sacrifice a peace offering to the LORD, you shall offer it for your acceptance.

Whoever eats it will bear his iniquity, for he has profaned what is holy to the LORD. That person must be cut off from his people.

You must not strip your vineyard bare or gather its fallen grapes. Leave them for the poor and the foreigner. I am the LORD your God.

You must not swear falsely by My name and so profane the name of your God. I am the LORD.

You must not curse the deaf or place a stumbling block before the blind, but you shall fear your God. I am the LORD.

You must not go about spreading slander among your people. You must not endanger the life of your neighbor. I am the LORD.

Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against any of your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the LORD.

The man, however, must bring a ram to the entrance to the Tent of Meeting as his guilt offering to the LORD.

The priest shall make atonement on his behalf before the LORD with the ram of the guilt offering for the sin he has committed, and he will be forgiven the sin he has committed.

In the fourth year all its fruit must be consecrated as a praise offering to the LORD.

But in the fifth year you may eat its fruit; thus your harvest will be increased. I am the LORD your God.

You must not make any cuts in your bodies for the dead or put tattoo marks on yourselves. I am the LORD.

You must keep My Sabbaths and have reverence for My sanctuary. I am the LORD.

You must not turn to mediums or spiritists; do not seek them out, or you will be defiled by them. I am the LORD your God.

You are to rise in the presence of the elderly, honor the aged, and fear your God. I am the LORD.

You must treat the foreigner living among you as native-born and love him as yourself, for you were foreigners in the land of Egypt. I am the LORD your God.

You shall maintain honest scales and weights, an honest ephah, and an honest hin. I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt.

You must keep all My statutes and all My ordinances and follow them. I am the LORD.”

Then the LORD said to Moses,

Consecrate yourselves, therefore, and be holy, because I am the LORD your God.

And you shall keep My statutes and practice them. I am the LORD who sanctifies you.

But I have told you that you will inherit their land, since I will give it to you as an inheritance—a land flowing with milk and honey. I am the LORD your God, who has set you apart from the peoples.

You are to be holy to Me because I, the LORD, am holy, and I have set you apart from the nations to be My own.

Then the LORD said to Moses, “Speak to Aaron’s sons, the priests, and tell them that a priest is not to defile himself for a dead person among his people,

They must be holy to their God and not profane the name of their God. Because they present to the LORD the food offerings, the food of their God, they must be holy.

A priest must not marry a woman defiled by prostitution or divorced by her husband, for the priest is holy to his God.

You are to regard him as holy, since he presents the food of your God. He shall be holy to you, because I the LORD am holy—I who set you apart.

He must not leave or desecrate the sanctuary of his God, for the consecration of the anointing oil of his God is on him. I am the LORD.

so that he does not defile his offspring among his people, for I am the LORD who sanctifies him.”

Then the LORD said to Moses,

“Say to Aaron, ‘For the generations to come, none of your descendants who has a physical defect may approach to offer the food of his God.

No descendant of Aaron the priest who has a defect shall approach to present the food offerings to the LORD. Since he has a defect, he is not to come near to offer the food of his God.

He may eat the most holy food of his God as well as the holy food,

but because he has a defect, he must not go near the veil or approach the altar, so as not to desecrate My sanctuaries. For I am the LORD who sanctifies them.’”

Then the LORD said to Moses,

“Tell Aaron and his sons to treat with respect the sacred offerings that the Israelites have consecrated to Me, so that they do not profane My holy name. I am the LORD.

Tell them that for the generations to come, if any of their descendants in a state of uncleanness approaches the sacred offerings that the Israelites consecrate to the LORD, that person must be cut off from My presence. I am the LORD.

He must not eat anything found dead or torn by wild animals, which would make him unclean. I am the LORD.

The priests must keep My charge, lest they bear the guilt and die because they profane it. I am the LORD who sanctifies them.

The priests must not profane the sacred offerings that the Israelites present to the LORD

by allowing the people to eat the sacred offerings and thus to bear the punishment for guilt. For I am the LORD who sanctifies them.”

Then the LORD said to Moses,

“Speak to Aaron and his sons and all the Israelites and tell them, ‘Any man of the house of Israel or any foreign resident who presents a gift for a burnt offering to the LORD, whether to fulfill a vow or as a freewill offering,

When a man presents a peace offering to the LORD from the herd or flock to fulfill a vow or as a freewill offering, it must be without blemish or defect to be acceptable.

You are not to present to the LORD any animal that is blind, injured, or maimed, or anything with a running sore, a festering rash, or a scab; you must not put any of these on the altar as a food offering to the LORD.

You are not to present to the LORD an animal whose testicles are bruised, crushed, torn, or cut; you are not to sacrifice them in your land.

Neither you nor a foreigner shall present food to your God from any such animal. They will not be accepted on your behalf, because they are deformed and flawed.’”

Then the LORD said to Moses,

“When an ox, a sheep, or a goat is born, it must remain with its mother for seven days. From the eighth day on, it will be acceptable as a food offering presented to the LORD.

When you sacrifice a thank offering to the LORD, offer it so that it may be acceptable on your behalf.

It must be eaten that same day. Do not leave any of it until morning. I am the LORD.

You are to keep My commandments and practice them. I am the LORD.

You must not profane My holy name. I must be acknowledged as holy among the Israelites. I am the LORD who sanctifies you,

who brought you out of the land of Egypt to be your God. I am the LORD.”

Then the LORD said to Moses,

“Speak to the Israelites and say to them, ‘These are My appointed feasts, the feasts of the LORD that you are to proclaim as sacred assemblies.

For six days work may be done, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of complete rest, a day of sacred assembly. You must not do any work; wherever you live, it is a Sabbath to the LORD.

These are the LORD’s appointed feasts, the sacred assemblies you are to proclaim at their appointed times.

The Passover to the LORD begins at twilight on the fourteenth day of the first month.

On the fifteenth day of the same month begins the Feast of Unleavened Bread to the LORD. For seven days you must eat unleavened bread.

For seven days you are to present a food offering to the LORD. On the seventh day there shall be a sacred assembly; you must not do any regular work.’”

And the LORD said to Moses,

And he shall wave the sheaf before the LORD so that it may be accepted on your behalf; the priest is to wave it on the day after the Sabbath.

On the day you wave the sheaf, you shall offer a year-old lamb without blemish as a burnt offering to the LORD,

along with its grain offering of two-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil—a food offering to the LORD, a pleasing aroma—and its drink offering of a quarter hin of wine.

You must not eat any bread or roasted or new grain until the very day you have brought this offering to your God. This is to be a permanent statute for the generations to come, wherever you live.

You shall count off fifty days until the day after the seventh Sabbath, and then present an offering of new grain to the LORD.

Bring two loaves of bread from your dwellings as a wave offering, each made from two-tenths of an ephah of fine flour, baked with leaven, as the firstfruits to the LORD.

Along with the bread you are to present seven unblemished male lambs a year old, one young bull, and two rams. They will be a burnt offering to the LORD, together with their grain offerings and drink offerings—a food offering, a pleasing aroma to the LORD.

The priest is to wave the lambs as a wave offering before the LORD, together with the bread of the firstfruits. The bread and the two lambs shall be holy to the LORD for the priest.

When you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap all the way to the edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. Leave them for the poor and the foreign resident. I am the LORD your God.’”

The LORD also said to Moses,

You must not do any regular work, but you are to present a food offering to the LORD.’”

Again the LORD said to Moses,

“The tenth day of this seventh month is the Day of Atonement. You shall hold a sacred assembly and humble yourselves, and present a food offering to the LORD.

On this day you are not to do any work, for it is the Day of Atonement, when atonement is made for you before the LORD your God.

And the LORD said to Moses,

“Speak to the Israelites and say, ‘On the fifteenth day of the seventh month the Feast of Tabernacles to the LORD begins, and it continues for seven days.

For seven days you are to present a food offering to the LORD. On the eighth day you are to hold a sacred assembly and present a food offering to the LORD. It is a solemn assembly; you must not do any regular work.

These are the LORD’s appointed feasts, which you are to proclaim as sacred assemblies for presenting food offerings to the LORD—burnt offerings and grain offerings, sacrifices and drink offerings, each on its designated day.

These offerings are in addition to the offerings for the LORD’s Sabbaths, and in addition to your gifts, to all your vow offerings, and to all the freewill offerings you give to the LORD.

On the fifteenth day of the seventh month, after you have gathered the produce of the land, you are to celebrate a feast to the LORD for seven days. There shall be complete rest on the first day and also on the eighth day.

On the first day you are to gather the fruit of majestic trees, the branches of palm trees, and the boughs of leafy trees and of willows of the brook. And you are to rejoice before the LORD your God for seven days.

You are to celebrate this as a feast to the LORD for seven days each year. This is a permanent statute for the generations to come; you are to celebrate it in the seventh month.

so that your descendants may know that I made the Israelites dwell in booths when I brought them out of the land of Egypt. I am the LORD your God.’”

So Moses announced to the Israelites the appointed feasts of the LORD.

Then the LORD said to Moses,

Outside the veil of the Testimony in the Tent of Meeting, Aaron is to tend the lamps continually before the LORD from evening until morning. This is to be a permanent statute for the generations to come.

He shall tend the lamps on the pure gold lampstand before the LORD continually.

and set them in two rows—six per row—on the table of pure gold before the LORD.

And you are to place pure frankincense near each row, so that it may serve as a memorial portion for the bread, a food offering to the LORD.

Every Sabbath day the bread is to be set out before the LORD on behalf of the Israelites as a permanent covenant.

It belongs to Aaron and his sons, who are to eat it in a holy place; for it is to him a most holy part of the food offerings to the LORD—his portion forever.”

They placed him in custody until the will of the LORD should be made clear to them.

Then the LORD said to Moses,

And you are to tell the Israelites, ‘If anyone curses his God, he shall bear the consequences of his sin.

Whoever blasphemes the name of the LORD must surely be put to death; the whole assembly must surely stone him, whether he is a foreign resident or native; if he blasphemes the Name, he must be put to death.

You are to have the same standard of law for the foreign resident and the native; for I am the LORD your God.’”

Then Moses spoke to the Israelites, and they took the blasphemer outside the camp and stoned him. So the Israelites did as the LORD had commanded Moses.

Then the LORD said to Moses on Mount Sinai,

“Speak to the Israelites and say to them: When you enter the land that I am giving you, the land itself must observe a Sabbath to the LORD.

But in the seventh year there shall be a Sabbath of complete rest for the land—a Sabbath to the LORD. You are not to sow your field or prune your vineyard.

Do not take advantage of each other, but fear your God; for I am the LORD your God.

Do not take any interest or profit from him, but fear your God, that your countryman may live among you.

I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt to give you the land of Canaan and to be your God.

You are not to rule over them harshly, but you shall fear your God.

For the Israelites are My servants. They are My servants, whom I brought out of the land of Egypt. I am the LORD your God.

“You must not make idols for yourselves or set up a carved image or sacred pillar; you must not place a sculpted stone in your land to bow down to it. For I am the LORD your God.

You must keep My Sabbaths and have reverence for My sanctuary. I am the LORD.

I will walk among you and be your God, and you will be My people.

I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt so that you would no longer be slaves to the Egyptians. I broke the bars of your yoke and enabled you to walk in uprightness.

Yet in spite of this, when they are in the land of their enemies, I will not reject or despise them so as to destroy them and break My covenant with them; for I am the LORD their God.

But for their sake I will remember the covenant with their fathers, whom I brought out of the land of Egypt in the sight of the nations, that I might be their God. I am the LORD.”

These are the statutes, ordinances, and laws that the LORD established between Himself and the Israelites through Moses on Mount Sinai.

Then the LORD said to Moses,

“Speak to the Israelites and say to them, ‘When someone makes a special vow to the LORD involving the value of persons,

If he vows an animal that may be brought as an offering to the LORD, any such animal given to the LORD shall be holy.

But if the vow involves any of the unclean animals that may not be brought as an offering to the LORD, the animal must be presented before the priest.

Now if a man consecrates his house as holy to the LORD, then the priest shall value it either as good or bad. The price will stand just as the priest values it.

If a man consecrates to the LORD a parcel of his land, then your valuation shall be proportional to the seed required for it—fifty shekels of silver for every homer of barley seed.

When the field is released in the Jubilee, it will become holy, like a field devoted to the LORD; it becomes the property of the priests.

Now if a man consecrates to the LORD a field he has purchased, which is not a part of his own property,

then the priest shall calculate for him the value up to the Year of Jubilee, and the man shall pay the assessed value on that day as a sacred offering to the LORD.

But no one may consecrate a firstborn of the livestock, because a firstborn belongs to the LORD. Whether it is an ox or a sheep, it is the LORD’s.

Nothing that a man sets apart to the LORD from all he owns—whether a man, an animal, or his inherited land—can be sold or redeemed; everything so devoted is most holy to the LORD.

Thus any tithe from the land, whether from the seed of the land or the fruit of the trees, belongs to the LORD; it is holy to the LORD.

Every tenth animal from the herd or flock that passes under the shepherd’s rod will be holy to the LORD.

These are the commandments that the LORD gave to Moses for the Israelites on Mount Sinai.

On the first day of the second month of the second year after the Israelites had come out of the land of Egypt, the LORD spoke to Moses in the Tent of Meeting in the Wilderness of Sinai. He said:

just as the LORD had commanded Moses. So Moses numbered them in the Wilderness of Sinai:

For the LORD had said to Moses:

Thus the Israelites did everything just as the LORD had commanded Moses.

Then the LORD said to Moses and Aaron:

But the Levites were not counted among the other Israelites, as the LORD had commanded Moses.

So the Israelites did everything the LORD commanded Moses; they camped under their standards in this way and set out in the same way, each man with his clan and his family.

This is the account of Aaron and Moses at the time the LORD spoke with Moses on Mount Sinai.

Nadab and Abihu, however, died in the presence of the LORD when they offered unauthorized fire before the LORD in the Wilderness of Sinai. And since they had no sons, only Eleazar and Ithamar served as priests during the lifetime of their father Aaron.

Then the LORD said to Moses,

Again the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

for all the firstborn are Mine. On the day I struck down every firstborn in the land of Egypt, I consecrated to Myself all the firstborn in Israel, both man and beast. They are Mine; I am the LORD.”

Then the LORD spoke to Moses in the Wilderness of Sinai, saying,

So Moses numbered them according to the word of the LORD, as he had been commanded.

The total number of Levites that Moses and Aaron counted by their clans at the LORD’s command, including all the males a month old or more, was 22,000.

Then the LORD said to Moses, “Number every firstborn male of the Israelites a month old or more, and list their names.

You are to take the Levites for Me—I am the LORD—in place of all the firstborn of Israel, and the livestock of the Levites in place of all the firstborn of the livestock of the Israelites.”

So Moses numbered all the firstborn of the Israelites, as the LORD had commanded him.

Again the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

“Take the Levites in place of all the firstborn of Israel, and the livestock of the Levites in place of their livestock. The Levites belong to Me; I am the LORD.

And Moses gave the redemption money to Aaron and his sons in obedience to the word of the LORD, just as the LORD had commanded him.

Then the LORD said to Moses and Aaron,

Then the LORD said to Moses and Aaron,

And the LORD said to Moses,

These were counted from the Kohathite clans, everyone who could serve at the Tent of Meeting. Moses and Aaron numbered them according to the command of the LORD through Moses.

These were counted from the Gershonite clans who served at the Tent of Meeting, whom Moses and Aaron counted at the LORD’s command.

These were counted from the Merarite clans, whom Moses and Aaron numbered at the LORD’s command through Moses.

At the LORD’s command through Moses they were numbered, and each one was assigned his work and burden, as the LORD had commanded Moses.

Then the LORD said to Moses,

So the Israelites did this, sending such people outside the camp. They did just as the LORD had instructed Moses.

And the LORD said to Moses,

“Tell the Israelites that when a man or woman acts unfaithfully against the LORD by committing any sin against another, that person is guilty

But if the man has no relative to whom restitution can be made for the wrong, the restitution belongs to the LORD and must be given to the priest along with the ram of atonement, by which the atonement is made for him.

Then the LORD said to Moses,

The priest is to bring the wife forward and have her stand before the LORD.

After the priest has the woman stand before the LORD, he is to let down her hair and place in her hands the grain offering of memorial, which is the grain offering for jealousy. The priest is to hold the bitter water that brings a curse.

and the priest shall have the woman swear under the oath of the curse—‘then may the LORD make you an attested curse among your people by making your thigh shrivel and your belly swell.

The priest shall take from her hand the grain offering for jealousy, wave it before the LORD, and bring it to the altar.

or when a feeling of jealousy comes over a husband and he suspects his wife. He is to have the woman stand before the LORD, and the priest is to apply to her this entire law.

And the LORD said to Moses,

“Speak to the Israelites and tell them that if a man or woman makes a special vow, the vow of a Nazirite, to separate himself to the LORD,

For the entire period of his vow of separation, no razor shall touch his head. He must be holy until the time of his separation to the LORD is complete; he must let the hair of his head grow long.

Throughout the days of his separation to the LORD, he must not go near a dead body.

Even if his father or mother or brother or sister should die, he is not to defile himself, because the symbol of consecration to his God is upon his head.

Throughout the time of his separation, he is holy to the LORD.

He must rededicate his time of separation to the LORD and bring a year-old male lamb as a guilt offering. But the preceding days shall not be counted, because his separation was defiled.

and he is to present an offering to the LORD of an unblemished year-old male lamb as a burnt offering, an unblemished year-old female lamb as a sin offering, and an unblemished ram as a peace offering—

The priest is to present all these before the LORD and make the sin offering and the burnt offering.

He shall also offer the ram as a peace offering to the LORD, along with the basket of unleavened bread. And the priest is to offer the accompanying grain offering and drink offering.

The priest shall then wave them as a wave offering before the LORD. This is a holy portion for the priest, in addition to the breast of the wave offering and the thigh that was presented. After that, the Nazirite may drink wine.

This is the law of the Nazirite who vows his offering to the LORD for his separation, in addition to whatever else he can afford; he must fulfill whatever vow he makes, according to the law of his separation.”

Then the LORD said to Moses,

‘May the LORD bless you and keep you;

may the LORD cause His face to shine upon you and be gracious to you;

may the LORD lift up His countenance toward you and give you peace.’

They brought as their offering before the LORD six covered carts and twelve oxen—an ox from each leader and a cart from every two leaders—and presented them before the tabernacle.

And the LORD said to Moses,

And the LORD said to Moses, “Each day one leader is to present his offering for the dedication of the altar.”

Then the LORD said to Moses,

And Aaron did so; he set up the lamps facing toward the front of the lampstand, just as the LORD had commanded Moses.

This is how the lampstand was constructed: it was made of hammered gold from its base to its blossoms, fashioned according to the pattern the LORD had shown Moses.

Again the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

You are to present the Levites before the LORD and have the Israelites lay their hands upon them.

Aaron is to present the Levites before the LORD as a wave offering from the sons of Israel, so that they may perform the service of the LORD.

And the Levites are to lay their hands on the heads of the bulls, and offer to the LORD one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering, to make atonement for the Levites.

You are to have the Levites stand before Aaron and his sons and then present them before the LORD as a wave offering.

So Moses, Aaron, and the whole congregation of Israel did with the Levites everything that the LORD had commanded Moses they should do.

The Levites purified themselves and washed their clothes, and Aaron presented them as a wave offering before the LORD. Aaron also made atonement for them to cleanse them.

After that, the Levites came to perform their service at the Tent of Meeting in the presence of Aaron and his sons. Thus they did with the Levites just as the LORD had commanded Moses.

And the LORD said to Moses,

In the first month of the second year after Israel had come out of the land of Egypt, the LORD spoke to Moses in the Wilderness of Sinai:

and they did so in the Wilderness of Sinai, at twilight on the fourteenth day of the first month. The Israelites did everything just as the LORD had commanded Moses.

and said to Moses, “We are unclean because of a dead body, but why should we be excluded from presenting the LORD’s offering with the other Israelites at the appointed time?”

“Wait here until I find out what the LORD commands concerning you,” Moses replied.

Then the LORD said to Moses,

“Tell the Israelites: ‘When any one of you or your descendants is unclean because of a dead body, or is away on a journey, he may still observe the Passover to the LORD.

But if a man who is ceremonially clean and is not on a journey still fails to observe the Passover, he must be cut off from his people, because he did not present the LORD’s offering at its appointed time. That man will bear the consequences of his sin.

If a foreigner dwelling among you wants to observe the Passover to the LORD, he is to do so according to the Passover statute and its ordinances. You are to apply the same statute to both the foreigner and the native of the land.’”

At the LORD’s command the Israelites set out, and at the LORD’s command they camped. As long as the cloud remained over the tabernacle, they remained encamped.

Even when the cloud lingered over the tabernacle for many days, the Israelites kept the LORD’s charge and did not set out.

Sometimes the cloud remained over the tabernacle for only a few days, and they would camp at the LORD’s command and set out at the LORD’s command.

They camped at the LORD’s command, and they set out at the LORD’s command; they carried out the LORD’s charge according to His command through Moses.

Then the LORD said to Moses,

When you enter into battle in your land against an adversary who attacks you, sound short blasts on the trumpets, and you will be remembered before the LORD your God and saved from your enemies.

And on your joyous occasions, your appointed feasts, and the beginning of each month, you are to blow the trumpets over your burnt offerings and peace offerings to serve as a reminder for you before your God. I am the LORD your God.”

They set out this first time according to the LORD’s command through Moses.

Then Moses said to Hobab, the son of Moses’ father-in-law Reuel the Midianite, “We are setting out for the place of which the LORD said: ‘I will give it to you.’ Come with us, and we will treat you well, for the LORD has promised good things to Israel.”

If you come with us, we will share with you whatever good things the LORD gives us.”

So they set out on a three-day journey from the mountain of the LORD, with the ark of the covenant of the LORD traveling ahead of them for those three days to seek a resting place for them.

And the cloud of the LORD was over them by day when they set out from the camp.

Whenever the ark set out, Moses would say, “Rise up, O LORD! May Your enemies be scattered; may those who hate You flee before You.”

And when it came to rest, he would say: “Return, O LORD, to the countless thousands of Israel.”

Soon the people began to complain about their hardship in the hearing of the LORD, and when He heard them, His anger was kindled, and fire from the LORD blazed among them and consumed the outskirts of the camp.

And the people cried out to Moses, and he prayed to the LORD, and the fire died down.

So that place was called Taberah, because the fire of the LORD had burned among them.

Then Moses heard the people of family after family weeping at the entrances to their tents, and the anger of the LORD was kindled greatly, and Moses was also displeased.

So Moses asked the LORD, “Why have You brought this trouble on Your servant? Why have I not found favor in Your sight, that You have laid upon me the burden of all these people?

Then the LORD said to Moses, “Bring Me seventy of the elders of Israel known to you as leaders and officers of the people. Bring them to the Tent of Meeting and have them stand there with you.

And say to the people: Consecrate yourselves for tomorrow, and you will eat meat, because you have cried out in the hearing of the LORD, saying: ‘Who will feed us meat? For we were better off in Egypt!’ Therefore the LORD will give you meat, and you will eat.

but for a whole month—until it comes out of your nostrils and makes you nauseous—because you have rejected the LORD, who is among you, and have cried out before Him, saying, ‘Why did we ever leave Egypt?’”

The LORD answered Moses, “Is the LORD’s arm too short? Now you will see whether or not My word will come to pass.”

So Moses went out and relayed to the people the words of the LORD, and he gathered seventy of the elders of the people and had them stand around the tent.

Then the LORD came down in the cloud and spoke to him, and He took some of the Spirit that was on Moses and placed that Spirit on the seventy elders. As the Spirit rested on them, they prophesied—but they never did so again.

But Moses replied, “Are you jealous on my account? I wish that all the LORD’s people were prophets and that the LORD would place His Spirit on them!”

Now a wind sent by the LORD came up, drove in quail from the sea, and brought them near the camp, about two cubits above the surface of the ground, for a day’s journey in every direction around the camp.

But while the meat was still between their teeth, before it was chewed, the anger of the LORD burned against the people, and the LORD struck them with a severe plague.

“Does the LORD speak only through Moses?” they said. “Does He not also speak through us?” And the LORD heard this.

And suddenly the LORD said to Moses, Aaron, and Miriam, “You three, come out to the Tent of Meeting.” So the three went out,

and the LORD came down in a pillar of cloud, stood at the entrance to the Tent, and summoned Aaron and Miriam. When both of them had stepped forward,

He said, “Hear now My words: If there is a prophet among you, I, the LORD, will reveal Myself to him in a vision; I will speak to him in a dream.

I speak with him face to face, clearly and not in riddles; he sees the form of the LORD. Why then were you unafraid to speak against My servant Moses?”

So the anger of the LORD burned against them, and He departed.

So Moses cried out to the LORD, “O God, please heal her!”

But the LORD answered Moses, “If her father had but spit in her face, would she not have been in disgrace for seven days? Let her be confined outside the camp for seven days; after that she may be brought back in.”

And the LORD said to Moses,

So at the command of the LORD, Moses sent them out from the Wilderness of Paran. All the men were leaders of the Israelites,

Why is the LORD bringing us into this land to fall by the sword? Our wives and children will become plunder. Would it not be better for us to go back to Egypt?”

If the LORD delights in us, He will bring us into this land, a land flowing with milk and honey, and He will give it to us.

Only do not rebel against the LORD, and do not be afraid of the people of the land, for they will be like bread for us. Their protection has been removed, and the LORD is with us. Do not be afraid of them!”

But the whole congregation threatened to stone Joshua and Caleb. Then the glory of the LORD appeared to all the Israelites at the Tent of Meeting.

And the LORD said to Moses, “How long will this people treat Me with contempt? How long will they refuse to believe in Me, despite all the signs I have performed among them?

But Moses said to the LORD, “The Egyptians will hear of it, for by Your strength You brought this people from among them.

And they will tell it to the inhabitants of this land. They have already heard that You, O LORD, are in the midst of this people, that You, O LORD, have been seen face to face, that Your cloud stands over them, and that You go before them in a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night.

‘Because the LORD was unable to bring this people into the land He swore to give them, He has slaughtered them in the wilderness.’

So now I pray, may the power of my Lord be magnified, just as You have declared:

‘The LORD is slow to anger and abounding in loving devotion, forgiving iniquity and transgression. Yet He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished; He will visit the iniquity of the fathers upon their children to the third and fourth generation.’

“I have pardoned them as you requested,” the LORD replied.

“Yet as surely as I live and as surely as the whole earth is filled with the glory of the LORD,

Then the LORD said to Moses and Aaron,

So tell them: As surely as I live, declares the LORD, I will do to you exactly as I heard you say.

I, the LORD, have spoken, and I will surely do these things to this entire wicked congregation, which has conspired against Me. They will meet their end in the wilderness, and there they will die.”

those men who had brought out the bad report about the land—were struck down by a plague before the LORD.

Early the next morning they got up and went up toward the ridge of the hill country. “We have indeed sinned,” they said, “but we will go to the place the LORD has promised.”

But Moses said, “Why are you transgressing the commandment of the LORD? This will not succeed!

Do not go up, lest you be struck down by your enemies, because the LORD is not among you.

For there the Amalekites and Canaanites will face you, and you will fall by the sword. Because you have turned away from the LORD, He will not be with you.”

But they dared to go up to the ridge of the hill country, though neither Moses nor the ark of the covenant of the LORD moved from the camp.

Then the LORD said to Moses,

and you present a food offering to the LORD from the herd or flock to produce a pleasing aroma to the LORD—either a burnt offering or a sacrifice, for a special vow or freewill offering or appointed feast—

then the one presenting his offering to the LORD shall also present a grain offering of a tenth of an ephah of fine flour mixed with a quarter hin of olive oil.

and a third of a hin of wine as a drink offering, a pleasing aroma to the LORD.

When you prepare a young bull as a burnt offering or sacrifice to fulfill a vow or as a peace offering to the LORD,

Also present half a hin of wine as a drink offering. It is a food offering, a pleasing aroma to the LORD.

Everyone who is native-born shall prepare these things in this way when he presents a food offering as a pleasing aroma to the LORD.

And for the generations to come, if a foreigner residing with you or someone else among you wants to prepare a food offering as a pleasing aroma to the LORD, he is to do exactly as you do.

The assembly is to have the same statute both for you and for the foreign resident; it is a permanent statute for the generations to come. You and the foreigner shall be the same before the LORD.

Then the LORD said to Moses,

and you eat the food of the land, you shall lift up an offering to the LORD.

Throughout your generations, you are to give the LORD an offering from the first of your dough.

Now if you stray unintentionally and do not obey all these commandments that the LORD has spoken to Moses—

all that the LORD has commanded you through Moses from the day the LORD gave them and continuing through the generations to come—

and if it was done unintentionally without the knowledge of the congregation, then the whole congregation is to prepare one young bull as a burnt offering, a pleasing aroma to the LORD, with its grain offering and drink offering according to the regulation, and one male goat as a sin offering.

The priest is to make atonement for the whole congregation of Israel, so that they may be forgiven; for the sin was unintentional and they have brought to the LORD a food offering and a sin offering, presented before the LORD for their unintentional sin.

And the priest shall make atonement before the LORD on behalf of the person who erred by sinning unintentionally; and when atonement has been made for him, he will be forgiven.

But the person who sins defiantly, whether a native or foreigner, blasphemes the LORD. That person shall be cut off from among his people.

He shall certainly be cut off, because he has despised the word of the LORD and broken His commandment; his guilt remains on him.”

And the LORD said to Moses, “The man must surely be put to death. The whole congregation is to stone him outside the camp.”

So the whole congregation took the man outside the camp and stoned him to death, as the LORD had commanded Moses.

And the LORD said to Moses,

These will serve as tassels for you to look at, so that you may remember all the commandments of the LORD, that you may obey them and not prostitute yourselves by following your own heart and your own eyes.

Then you will remember and obey all My commandments, and you will be holy to your God.

I am the LORD your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt to be your God. I am the LORD your God.”

They came together against Moses and Aaron and told them, “You have taken too much upon yourselves! For everyone in the entire congregation is holy, and the LORD is in their midst. Why then do you exalt yourselves above the assembly of the LORD?”

Then he said to Korah and all his followers, “Tomorrow morning the LORD will reveal who belongs to Him and who is holy, and He will bring that person near to Himself. The one He chooses He will bring near to Himself.

and tomorrow you are to place fire and incense in them in the presence of the LORD. Then the man the LORD chooses will be the one who is holy. It is you sons of Levi who have taken too much upon yourselves!”

Is it not enough for you that the God of Israel has separated you from the congregation of Israel and brought you near to Himself to perform the work at the LORD’s tabernacle, and to stand before the congregation to minister to them?

Therefore, it is you and all your followers who have conspired against the LORD! As for Aaron, who is he that you should grumble against him?”

Then Moses became very angry and said to the LORD, “Do not regard their offering. I have not taken one donkey from them or mistreated a single one of them.”

And Moses said to Korah, “You and all your followers are to appear before the LORD tomorrow—you and they and Aaron.

Each man is to take his censer, place incense in it, and present it before the LORD—250 censers. You and Aaron are to present your censers as well.”

When Korah had gathered his whole assembly against them at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting, the glory of the LORD appeared to the whole congregation.

And the LORD said to Moses and Aaron,

But Moses and Aaron fell facedown and said, “O God, the God of the spirits of all flesh, when one man sins, will You be angry with the whole congregation?”

Then the LORD said to Moses,

Then Moses said, “This is how you will know that the LORD has sent me to do all these things, for it was not my own doing:

If these men die a natural death, or if they suffer the fate of all men, then the LORD has not sent me.

But if the LORD brings about something unprecedented, and the earth opens its mouth and swallows them and all that belongs to them so that they go down alive into Sheol, then you will know that these men have treated the LORD with contempt.”

And fire came forth from the LORD and consumed the 250 men who were offering the incense.

And the LORD said to Moses,

and write Aaron’s name on the staff of Levi, because there must be one staff for the head of each tribe.

The staff belonging to the man I choose will sprout, and I will rid Myself of the constant grumbling of the Israelites against you.”

So Moses spoke to the Israelites, and each of their leaders gave him a staff—one for each of the leaders of their tribes, twelve staffs in all. And Aaron’s staff was among them.

Then Moses placed the staffs before the LORD in the Tent of the Testimony.

Then Moses brought out all the staffs from the LORD’s presence to all the Israelites. They saw them, and each man took his own staff.

So Moses did as the LORD had commanded him.

So the LORD said to Aaron, “You and your sons and your father’s house must bear the iniquity involving the sanctuary. And you and your sons alone must bear the iniquity involving your priesthood.

Behold, I Myself have selected your fellow Levites from the Israelites as a gift to you, dedicated to the LORD to perform the service for the Tent of Meeting.

Then the LORD said to Aaron, “Behold, I have put you in charge of My offerings. As for all the sacred offerings of the Israelites, I have given them to you and your sons as a portion and a permanent statute.

I give you all the freshest olive oil and all the finest new wine and grain that the Israelites give to the LORD as their firstfruits.

The firstfruits of everything in their land that they bring to the LORD will belong to you. Every ceremonially clean person in your household may eat them.

The firstborn of every womb, whether man or beast, that is offered to the LORD belongs to you. But you must surely redeem every firstborn son and every firstborn male of unclean animals.

But you must not redeem the firstborn of an ox, a sheep, or a goat; they are holy. You are to splatter their blood on the altar and burn their fat as a food offering, a pleasing aroma to the LORD.

All the holy offerings that the Israelites present to the LORD I give to you and to your sons and daughters as a permanent statute. It is a permanent covenant of salt before the LORD for you and your offspring.”

Then the LORD said to Aaron, “You will have no inheritance in their land, nor will you have any portion among them. I am your portion and your inheritance among the Israelites.

For I have given to the Levites as their inheritance the tithe that the Israelites present to the LORD as a contribution. That is why I told them that they would not receive an inheritance among the Israelites.”

And the LORD instructed Moses,

“Speak to the Levites and tell them: ‘When you receive from the Israelites the tithe that I have given you as your inheritance, you must present part of it as an offering to the LORD—a tithe of the tithe.

So you are to present an offering to the LORD from all the tithes you receive from the Israelites, and from these you are to give the LORD’s offering to Aaron the priest.

You must present the offering due the LORD from all the best of every gift, the holiest part of it.’

Then the LORD said to Moses and Aaron,

“This is the statute of the law that the LORD has commanded: Instruct the Israelites to bring you an unblemished red heifer that has no defect and has never been placed under a yoke.

Anyone who touches a human corpse and fails to purify himself defiles the tabernacle of the LORD. That person must be cut off from Israel. He remains unclean, because the water of purification has not been sprinkled on him, and his uncleanness is still on him.

But if a person who is unclean does not purify himself, he will be cut off from the assembly, because he has defiled the sanctuary of the LORD. The water of purification has not been sprinkled on him; he is unclean.

The people quarreled with Moses and said, “If only we had perished with our brothers before the LORD!

Why have you brought the LORD’s assembly into this wilderness for us and our livestock to die here?

Then Moses and Aaron went from the presence of the assembly to the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. They fell facedown, and the glory of the LORD appeared to them.

And the LORD said to Moses,

So Moses took the staff from the LORD’s presence, just as he had been commanded.

But the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not trust Me to show My holiness in the sight of the Israelites, you will not bring this assembly into the land that I have given them.”

These were the waters of Meribah, where the Israelites quarreled with the LORD, and He showed His holiness among them.

and when we cried out to the LORD, He heard our voice, sent an angel, and brought us out of Egypt. Now look, we are in Kadesh, a city on the edge of your territory.

And at Mount Hor, near the border of the land of Edom, the LORD said to Moses and Aaron,

So Moses did as the LORD had commanded, and they climbed Mount Hor in the sight of the whole congregation.

So Israel made a vow to the LORD: “If You will deliver this people into our hands, we will devote their cities to destruction.”

And the LORD heard Israel’s plea and delivered up the Canaanites. Israel devoted them and their cities to destruction; so they named the place Hormah.

and spoke against God and against Moses: “Why have you led us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? There is no bread or water, and we detest this wretched food!”

So the LORD sent venomous snakes among the people, and many of the Israelites were bitten and died.

Then the people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned by speaking against the LORD and against you. Intercede with the LORD so He will take the snakes away from us.” So Moses interceded for the people.

Then the LORD said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent and mount it on a pole. When anyone who is bitten looks at it, he will live.”

Therefore it is stated in the Book of the Wars of the LORD: “Waheb in Suphah and the wadis of the Arnon,

From there they went on to Beer, the well where the LORD said to Moses, “Gather the people so that I may give them water.”

But the LORD said to Moses, “Do not fear him, for I have delivered him into your hand, along with all his people and his land. Do to him as you did to Sihon king of the Amorites, who lived in Heshbon.”

“Spend the night here,” Balaam replied, “and I will give you the answer that the LORD speaks to me.” So the princes of Moab stayed with Balaam.

Then God came to Balaam and asked, “Who are these men with you?”

And Balaam said to God, “Balak son of Zippor, king of Moab, sent me this message:

But God said to Balaam, “Do not go with them. You are not to curse this people, for they are blessed.”

So Balaam got up the next morning and said to Balak’s princes, “Go back to your homeland, because the LORD has refused to let me go with you.”

But Balaam replied to the servants of Balak, “If Balak were to give me his house full of silver and gold, I could not do anything small or great to go beyond the command of the LORD my God.

So now, please stay here overnight as the others did, that I may find out what else the LORD has to tell me.”

That night God came to Balaam and said, “Since these men have come to summon you, get up and go with them, but you must only do what I tell you.”

Then God’s anger was kindled because Balaam was going along, and the angel of the LORD stood in the road to oppose him. Balaam was riding his donkey, and his two servants were with him.

When the donkey saw the angel of the LORD standing in the road with a drawn sword in his hand, she turned off the path and went into a field. So Balaam beat her to return her to the path.

Then the angel of the LORD stood in a narrow passage between two vineyards, with walls on either side.

And the donkey saw the angel of the LORD and pressed herself against the wall, crushing Balaam’s foot against it. So he beat her once again.

And the angel of the LORD moved on ahead and stood in a narrow place where there was no room to turn to the right or left.

When the donkey saw the angel of the LORD, she lay down under Balaam, and he became furious and beat her with his staff.

Then the LORD opened the donkey’s mouth, and she said to Balaam, “What have I done to you that you have beaten me these three times?”

Then the LORD opened Balaam’s eyes, and he saw the angel of the LORD standing in the road with a drawn sword in his hand. And Balaam bowed low and fell facedown.

The angel of the LORD asked him, “Why have you beaten your donkey these three times? Behold, I have come out to oppose you, because your way is perverse before me.

“I have sinned,” Balaam said to the angel of the LORD, “for I did not realize that you were standing in the road to confront me. And now, if this is displeasing in your sight, I will go back home.”

But the angel of the LORD said to Balaam, “Go with the men, but you are to speak only what I tell you.” So Balaam went with the princes of Balak.

“See, I have come to you,” Balaam replied, “but can I say just anything? I must speak only the word that God puts in my mouth.”

“Stay here by your burnt offering while I am gone,” Balaam said to Balak. “Perhaps the LORD will meet with me. And whatever He reveals to me, I will tell you.” So Balaam went off to a barren height,

and God met with him. “I have set up seven altars,” Balaam said, “and on each altar I have offered a bull and a ram.”

Then the LORD put a message in Balaam’s mouth, saying, “Return to Balak and give him this message.”

How can I curse those whom God has not cursed? How can I denounce those whom the LORD has not denounced?

But Balaam replied, “Should I not speak exactly what the LORD puts in my mouth?”

And the LORD met with Balaam and put a message in his mouth, saying, “Return to Balak and speak what I tell you.”

So he returned to Balak, who was standing there by his burnt offering with the princes of Moab. “What did the LORD say?” Balak asked.

God is not a man, that He should lie, or a son of man, that He should change His mind. Does He speak and not act? Does He promise and not fulfill?

He considers no disaster for Jacob; He sees no trouble for Israel. The LORD their God is with them, and the shout of the King is among them.

God brought them out of Egypt with strength like a wild ox.

For there is no spell against Jacob and no divination against Israel. It will now be said of Jacob and Israel, ‘What great things God has done!’

But Balaam replied, “Did I not tell you that whatever the LORD says, I must do?”

“Please come,” said Balak, “I will take you to another place. Perhaps it will please God that you curse them for me from there.”

And when Balaam saw that it pleased the LORD to bless Israel, he did not seek omens as on previous occasions, but he turned his face toward the wilderness.

When Balaam looked up and saw Israel encamped tribe by tribe, the Spirit of God came upon him,

the prophecy of one who hears the words of God, who sees a vision from the Almighty, who bows down with eyes wide open:

They spread out like palm groves, like gardens beside a stream, like aloes the LORD has planted, like cedars beside the waters.

God brought him out of Egypt with strength like a wild ox, to devour hostile nations and crush their bones, to pierce them with arrows.

Therefore, flee at once to your home! I said I would reward you richly, but instead the LORD has denied your reward.”

that even if Balak were to give me his house full of silver and gold, I could not do anything of my own accord, good or bad, to go beyond the command of the LORD? I must speak whatever the LORD says.

the prophecy of one who hears the words of God, who has knowledge from the Most High, who sees a vision from the Almighty, who bows down with eyes wide open:

Once more Balaam lifted up an oracle, saying: “Ah, who can live unless God has ordained it?

who also invited them to the sacrifices for their gods. And the people ate and bowed down to these gods.

So Israel joined in worshiping Baal of Peor, and the anger of the LORD burned against them.

Then the LORD said to Moses, “Take all the leaders of the people and execute them in broad daylight before the LORD, so that His fierce anger may turn away from Israel.”

Then the LORD said to Moses,

It will be a covenant of permanent priesthood for him and his descendants, because he was zealous for his God and made atonement for the Israelites.”

And the LORD said to Moses,

After the plague had ended, the LORD said to Moses and Eleazar son of Aaron the priest,

“Take a census of the men twenty years of age or older, as the LORD has commanded Moses.” And these were the Israelites who came out of the land of Egypt:

and the sons of Eliab were Nemuel, Dathan, and Abiram. It was Dathan and Abiram, chosen by the congregation, who rebelled against Moses and Aaron with the followers of Korah who rebelled against the LORD.

Then the LORD said to Moses,

but Nadab and Abihu died when they offered unauthorized fire before the LORD.

For the LORD had told them that they would surely die in the wilderness. Not one was left except Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun.

“Our father died in the wilderness, but he was not among the followers of Korah who gathered together against the LORD. Instead, he died because of his own sin, and he had no sons.

So Moses brought their case before the LORD,

and the LORD answered him,

And if his father has no brothers, give his inheritance to the next of kin from his clan, that he may take possession of it. This is to be a statutory ordinance for the Israelites, as the LORD has commanded Moses.’”

Then the LORD said to Moses, “Go up this mountain of the Abarim range and see the land that I have given the Israelites.

So Moses appealed to the LORD,

“May the LORD, the God of the spirits of all flesh, appoint a man over the congregation

who will go out and come in before them, and who will lead them out and bring them in, so that the congregation of the LORD will not be like sheep without a shepherd.”

And the LORD replied to Moses, “Take Joshua son of Nun, a man with the Spirit in him, and lay your hands on him.

He shall stand before Eleazar the priest, who will seek counsel for him before the LORD by the judgment of the Urim. At his command, he and all the Israelites with him—the entire congregation—will go out and come in.”

Moses did as the LORD had commanded him. He took Joshua, had him stand before Eleazar the priest and the whole congregation,

and laid his hands on him and commissioned him, as the LORD had instructed through Moses.

Then the LORD said to Moses,

And tell them that this is the food offering you are to present to the LORD as a regular burnt offering each day: two unblemished year-old male lambs.

This is a regular burnt offering established at Mount Sinai as a pleasing aroma, a food offering to the LORD.

The drink offering accompanying each lamb shall be a quarter hin. Pour out the offering of fermented drink to the LORD in the sanctuary area.

And offer the second lamb at twilight, with the same grain offering and drink offering as in the morning. It is a food offering, a pleasing aroma to the LORD.

At the beginning of every month, you are to present to the LORD a burnt offering of two young bulls, one ram, and seven male lambs a year old, all unblemished,

and a tenth of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil as a grain offering with each lamb. This is a burnt offering, a pleasing aroma, a food offering to the LORD.

In addition to the regular burnt offering with its drink offering, one male goat is to be presented to the LORD as a sin offering.

The fourteenth day of the first month is the LORD’s Passover.

Present to the LORD a food offering, a burnt offering of two young bulls, one ram, and seven male lambs a year old, all unblemished.

Offer the same food each day for seven days as a food offering, a pleasing aroma to the LORD. It is to be offered with its drink offering and the regular burnt offering.

On the day of firstfruits, when you present an offering of new grain to the LORD during the Feast of Weeks, you are to hold a sacred assembly; you must not do any regular work.

Present a burnt offering of two young bulls, one ram, and seven male lambs a year old as a pleasing aroma to the LORD,

As a pleasing aroma to the LORD, you are to present a burnt offering of one young bull, one ram, and seven male lambs a year old, all unblemished,

These are in addition to the monthly and daily burnt offerings with their prescribed grain offerings and drink offerings. They are a pleasing aroma, a food offering to the LORD.

Present as a pleasing aroma to the LORD a burnt offering of one young bull, one ram, and seven male lambs a year old, all unblemished,

On the fifteenth day of the seventh month, you are to hold a sacred assembly; you must not do any regular work, and you shall observe a feast to the LORD for seven days.

As a pleasing aroma to the LORD, you are to present a food offering, a burnt offering of thirteen young bulls, two rams, and fourteen male lambs a year old, all unblemished,

As a pleasing aroma to the LORD, you are to present a food offering, a burnt offering of one bull, one ram, and seven male lambs a year old, all unblemished,

You are to present these offerings to the LORD at your appointed times, in addition to your vow and freewill offerings, whether burnt offerings, grain offerings, drink offerings, or peace offerings.”

Then Moses said to the heads of the tribes of Israel, “This is what the LORD has commanded:

If a man makes a vow to the LORD or swears an oath to obligate himself by a pledge, he must not break his word; he must do everything he has promised.

And if a woman in her father’s house during her youth makes a vow to the LORD or obligates herself by a pledge,

and her father hears about her vow or pledge but says nothing to her, then all the vows or pledges by which she has bound herself shall stand.

If a woman marries while under a vow or rash promise by which she has bound herself,

Every vow a widow or divorced woman pledges to fulfill is binding on her.

Her husband may confirm or nullify any vow or any sworn pledge to deny herself.

And the LORD said to Moses,

So Moses told the people, “Arm some of your men for war, that they may go against the Midianites and execute the LORD’s vengeance on them.

Then they waged war against Midian, as the LORD had commanded Moses, and they killed every male.

“Look, these women caused the sons of Israel, through the counsel of Balaam, to turn unfaithfully against the LORD at Peor, so that the plague struck the congregation of the LORD.

Then Eleazar the priest said to the soldiers who had gone into battle, “This is the statute of the law which the LORD has commanded Moses:

The LORD said to Moses,

Set aside a tribute for the LORD from what belongs to the soldiers who went into battle: one out of every five hundred, whether persons, cattle, donkeys, or sheep.

Take it from their half and give it to Eleazar the priest as an offering to the LORD.

From the Israelites’ half, take one out of every fifty, whether persons, cattle, donkeys, sheep, or other animals, and give them to the Levites who keep charge of the tabernacle of the LORD.”

So Moses and Eleazar the priest did as the LORD had commanded Moses,

including a tribute to the LORD of 675,

36,000 cattle, including a tribute to the LORD of 72,

30,500 donkeys, including a tribute to the LORD of 61,

and 16,000 people, including a tribute to the LORD of 32.

Moses gave the tribute to Eleazar the priest as an offering for the LORD, as the LORD had commanded Moses.

From the Israelites’ half, Moses took one out of every fifty persons and animals and gave them to the Levites who kept charge of the tabernacle of the LORD, as the LORD had commanded him.

So we have brought to the LORD an offering of the gold articles each man acquired—armlets, bracelets, rings, earrings, and necklaces—to make atonement for ourselves before the LORD.”

All the gold that the commanders of thousands and of hundreds presented as an offering to the LORD weighed 16,750 shekels.

And Moses and Eleazar the priest received the gold from the commanders of thousands and of hundreds and brought it into the Tent of Meeting as a memorial for the Israelites before the LORD.

which the LORD conquered before the congregation of Israel, are suitable for livestock—and your servants have livestock.”

Why are you discouraging the Israelites from crossing into the land that the LORD has given them?

For when your fathers went up to the Valley of Eshcol and saw the land, they discouraged the Israelites from entering the land that the LORD had given them.

So the anger of the LORD was kindled that day, and He swore an oath, saying,

not one except Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite and Joshua son of Nun—because they did follow the LORD wholeheartedly.’

The anger of the LORD burned against Israel, and He made them wander in the wilderness forty years, until the whole generation who had done evil in His sight was gone.

Now behold, you, a brood of sinners, have risen up in place of your fathers to further stoke the burning anger of the LORD against Israel.

Moses replied, “If you will do this—if you will arm yourselves before the LORD for battle,

and if every one of your armed men crosses the Jordan before the LORD, until He has driven His enemies out before Him,

then when the land is subdued before the LORD, you may return and be free of obligation to the LORD and to Israel. And this land will belong to you as a possession before the LORD.

But if you do not do this, you will certainly sin against the LORD—and be assured that your sin will find you out.

But your servants are equipped for war, and every man will cross over to the battle before the LORD, just as our lord says.”

And Moses said to them, “If the Gadites and Reubenites cross the Jordan with you, with every man armed for battle before the LORD, and the land is subdued before you, then you are to give them the land of Gilead as a possession.

The Gadites and Reubenites replied, “As the LORD has spoken to your servants, so we will do.

We will cross over into the land of Canaan armed before the LORD, that we may have our inheritance on this side of the Jordan.”

At the LORD’s command, Moses recorded the stages of their journey. These are the stages listed by their starting points:

who were burying all their firstborn, whom the LORD had struck down among them; for the LORD had executed judgment against their gods.

At the LORD’s command, Aaron the priest climbed Mount Hor and died there on the first day of the fifth month, in the fortieth year after the Israelites had come out of the land of Egypt.

On the plains of Moab by the Jordan across from Jericho, the LORD said to Moses,

Then the LORD said to Moses,

So Moses commanded the Israelites, “Apportion this land by lot as an inheritance. The LORD has commanded that it be given to the nine and a half tribes.

Then the LORD said to Moses,

These are the ones whom the LORD commanded to apportion the inheritance to the Israelites in the land of Canaan.

Again the LORD spoke to Moses on the plains of Moab by the Jordan across from Jericho:

Then the LORD said to Moses,

Do not defile the land where you live and where I dwell. For I, the LORD, dwell among the Israelites.”

saying, “When the LORD commanded my lord to give the land as an inheritance to the Israelites by lot, He also commanded him to give the inheritance of our brother Zelophehad to his daughters.

So at the word of the LORD, Moses commanded the Israelites: “The tribe of the sons of Joseph speaks correctly.

This is what the LORD has commanded concerning the daughters of Zelophehad: They may marry anyone they please, provided they marry within a clan of the tribe of their father.

So the daughters of Zelophehad did as the LORD had commanded Moses.

These are the commandments and ordinances that the LORD gave the Israelites through Moses on the plains of Moab by the Jordan across from Jericho.

In the fortieth year, on the first day of the eleventh month, Moses proclaimed to the Israelites all that the LORD had commanded him concerning them.

The LORD our God said to us at Horeb: “You have stayed at this mountain long enough.

See, I have placed the land before you. Enter and possess the land that the LORD swore He would give to your fathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and to their descendants after them.”

The LORD your God has multiplied you, so that today you are as numerous as the stars in the sky.

May the LORD, the God of your fathers, increase you a thousand times over and bless you as He has promised.

Show no partiality in judging; hear both small and great alike. Do not be intimidated by anyone, for judgment belongs to God. And bring to me any case too difficult for you, and I will hear it.”

And just as the LORD our God had commanded us, we set out from Horeb and went toward the hill country of the Amorites, through all the vast and terrifying wilderness you have seen. When we reached Kadesh-barnea,

I said: “You have reached the hill country of the Amorites, which the LORD our God is giving us.

See, the LORD your God has placed the land before you. Go up and take possession of it as the LORD, the God of your fathers, has told you. Do not be afraid or discouraged.”

They took some of the fruit of the land in their hands, carried it down to us, and brought us word: “It is a good land that the LORD our God is giving us.”

But you were unwilling to go up; you rebelled against the command of the LORD your God.

You grumbled in your tents and said, “Because the LORD hates us, He has brought us out of the land of Egypt to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites to be annihilated.

The LORD your God, who goes before you, will fight for you, just as you saw Him do for you in Egypt

and in the wilderness, where the LORD your God carried you, as a man carries his son, all the way by which you traveled until you reached this place.”

But in spite of all this, you did not trust the LORD your God,

When the LORD heard your words, He grew angry and swore an oath, saying,

except Caleb son of Jephunneh. He will see it, and I will give him and his descendants the land on which he has set foot, because he followed the LORD wholeheartedly.”

The LORD was also angry with me on your account, and He said, “Not even you shall enter the land.

“We have sinned against the LORD,” you replied. “We will go up and fight, as the LORD our God has commanded us.” Then each of you put on his weapons of war, thinking it easy to go up into the hill country.

But the LORD said to me, “Tell them not to go up and fight, for I am not with you to keep you from defeat by your enemies.”

So I spoke to you, but you would not listen. You rebelled against the command of the LORD and presumptuously went up into the hill country.

And you returned and wept before the LORD, but He would not listen to your voice or give ear to you.

Then we turned back and headed for the wilderness by way of the Red Sea, as the LORD had instructed me, and for many days we wandered around Mount Seir.

At this time the LORD said to me,

Indeed, the LORD your God has blessed you in all the work of your hands. He has watched over your journey through this vast wilderness. The LORD your God has been with you these forty years, and you have lacked nothing.

Then the LORD said to me, “Do not harass the Moabites or provoke them to war, for I will not give you any of their land, because I have given Ar to the descendants of Lot as their possession.”

The Horites used to live in Seir, but the descendants of Esau drove them out. They destroyed the Horites from before them and settled in their place, just as Israel did in the land that the LORD gave them as their possession.)

The time we spent traveling from Kadesh-barnea until we crossed over the Brook of Zered was thirty-eight years, until that entire generation of fighting men had perished from the camp, as the LORD had sworn to them.

Indeed, the LORD’s hand was against them, to eliminate them from the camp, until they had all perished.

the LORD said to me,

They were a people great and many, as tall as the Anakites. But the LORD destroyed them from before the Ammonites, who drove them out and settled in their place,

just as the descendants of Esau who live in Seir and the Moabites who live in Ar did for us, until we cross the Jordan into the land that the LORD our God is giving us.”

But Sihon king of Heshbon would not let us pass through, for the LORD your God had made his spirit stubborn and his heart obstinate, that He might deliver him into your hand, as is the case this day.

Then the LORD said to me, “See, I have begun to deliver Sihon and his land over to you. Now begin to conquer and possess his land.”

And the LORD our God delivered him over to us, and we defeated him and his sons and his whole army.

From Aroer on the rim of the Arnon Valley, along with the city in the valley, even as far as Gilead, not one city had walls too high for us. The LORD our God gave us all of them.

But you did not go near the land of the Ammonites, or the land along the banks of the Jabbok River, or the cities of the hill country, or any place that the LORD our God had forbidden.

But the LORD said to me, “Do not fear him, for I have delivered him into your hand, along with all his people and his land. Do to him as you did to Sihon king of the Amorites, who lived in Heshbon.”

So the LORD our God also delivered Og king of Bashan and his whole army into our hands. We struck them down until no survivor was left.

At that time I commanded you: “The LORD your God has given you this land to possess. All your men of valor are to cross over, armed for battle, ahead of your brothers, the Israelites.

until the LORD gives rest to your brothers as He has to you, and they too have taken possession of the land that the LORD your God is giving them across the Jordan. Then each of you may return to the possession I have given you.”

And at that time I commanded Joshua: “Your own eyes have seen all that the LORD your God has done to these two kings. The LORD will do the same to all the kingdoms you are about to enter.

Do not be afraid of them, for the LORD your God Himself will fight for you.”

At that time I also pleaded with the LORD:

“O Lord GOD, You have begun to show Your greatness and power to Your servant. For what god in heaven or on earth can perform such works and mighty acts as Yours?

But the LORD was angry with me on account of you, and He would not listen to me. “That is enough,” the LORD said to me. “Do not speak to Me again about this matter.

Hear now, O Israel, the statutes and ordinances I am teaching you to follow, so that you may live and may enter and take possession of the land that the LORD, the God of your fathers, is giving you.

You must not add to or subtract from what I command you, so that you may keep the commandments of the LORD your God that I am giving you.

Your eyes have seen what the LORD did at Baal-peor, for the LORD your God destroyed from among you all who followed Baal of Peor.

But you who held fast to the LORD your God are alive to this day, every one of you.

See, I have taught you statutes and ordinances just as the LORD my God has commanded me, so that you may follow them in the land that you are about to enter and possess.

For what nation is great enough to have a god as near to them as the LORD our God is to us whenever we call on Him?

The day you stood before the LORD your God at Horeb, the LORD said to me, “Gather the people before Me to hear My words, so that they may learn to fear Me all the days they live on the earth, and that they may teach them to their children.”

And the LORD spoke to you out of the fire. You heard the sound of the words but saw no form; there was only a voice.

At that time the LORD commanded me to teach you the statutes and ordinances you are to follow in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess.

So since you saw no form of any kind on the day the LORD spoke to you out of the fire at Horeb, be careful

When you look to the heavens and see the sun and moon and stars—all the host of heaven—do not be enticed to bow down and worship what the LORD your God has apportioned to all the nations under heaven.

Yet the LORD has taken you and brought you out of the iron furnace, out of Egypt, to be the people of His inheritance, as you are today.

The LORD, however, was angry with me on account of you, and He swore that I would not cross the Jordan to enter the good land that the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance.

Be careful that you do not forget the covenant of the LORD your God that He made with you; do not make an idol for yourselves in the form of anything He has forbidden you.

For the LORD your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.

After you have children and grandchildren and you have been in the land a long time, if you then act corruptly and make an idol of any form—doing evil in the sight of the LORD your God and provoking Him to anger—

Then the LORD will scatter you among the peoples, and only a few of you will survive among the nations to which the LORD will drive you.

And there you will serve man-made gods of wood and stone, which cannot see or hear or eat or smell.

But if from there you will seek the LORD your God, you will find Him if you seek Him with all your heart and with all your soul.

When you are in distress and all these things have happened to you, then in later days you will return to the LORD your God and listen to His voice.

For the LORD your God is a merciful God; He will not abandon you or destroy you or forget the covenant with your fathers, which He swore to them by oath.

Indeed, ask now from one end of the heavens to the other about the days that long preceded you, from the day that God created man on earth: Has anything as great as this ever happened or been reported?

Has a people ever heard the voice of God speaking out of the fire, as you have, and lived?

Or has any god tried to take as his own a nation out of another nation—by trials, signs, wonders, and war, by a strong hand and an outstretched arm, and by great terrors—as the LORD your God did for you in Egypt, before your eyes?

You were shown these things so that you would know that the LORD is God; there is no other besides Him.

Know therefore this day and take to heart that the LORD is God in heaven above and on the earth below; there is no other.

Keep His statutes and commandments, which I am giving you today, so that you and your children after you may prosper, and that you may live long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you for all time.

The LORD our God made a covenant with us at Horeb.

He did not make this covenant with our fathers, but with all of us who are alive here today.

The LORD spoke with you face to face out of the fire on the mountain.

At that time I was standing between the LORD and you to declare to you the word of the LORD, because you were afraid of the fire and would not go up the mountain. And He said:

“I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.

You shall have no other gods before Me.

You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on their children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me,

You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not leave anyone unpunished who takes His name in vain.

Observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy, as the LORD your God has commanded you.

but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God, on which you must not do any work—neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your ox or donkey or any of your livestock, nor the foreigner within your gates, so that your manservant and maidservant may rest as you do.

Remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and that the LORD your God brought you out of there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. That is why the LORD your God has commanded you to keep the Sabbath day.

Honor your father and your mother, as the LORD your God has commanded you, so that your days may be long and that it may go well with you in the land that the LORD your God is giving you.

The LORD spoke these commandments in a loud voice to your whole assembly out of the fire, the cloud, and the deep darkness on the mountain; He added nothing more. And He wrote them on two tablets of stone and gave them to me.

and you said, “Behold, the LORD our God has shown us His glory and greatness, and we have heard His voice out of the fire. Today we have seen that a man can live even if God speaks with him.

But now, why should we die? For this great fire will consume us, and we will die, if we hear the voice of the LORD our God any longer.

For who of all flesh has heard the voice of the living God speaking out of the fire, as we have, and survived?

Go near and listen to all that the LORD our God says. Then you can tell us everything the LORD our God tells you; we will listen and obey.”

And the LORD heard the words you spoke to me, and He said to me, “I have heard the words that these people have spoken to you. They have done well in all that they have spoken.

So be careful to do as the LORD your God has commanded you; you are not to turn aside to the right or to the left.

You must walk in all the ways that the LORD your God has commanded you, so that you may live and prosper and prolong your days in the land that you will possess.

These are the commandments and statutes and ordinances that the LORD your God has instructed me to teach you to follow in the land that you are about to enter and possess,

so that you and your children and grandchildren may fear the LORD your God all the days of your lives by keeping all His statutes and commandments that I give you, and so that your days may be prolonged.

Hear, O Israel, and be careful to observe them, so that you may prosper and multiply greatly in a land flowing with milk and honey, just as the LORD, the God of your fathers, has promised you.

Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is One.

And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.

And when the LORD your God brings you into the land He swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, that He would give you—a land with great and splendid cities that you did not build,

be careful not to forget the LORD who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.

Fear the LORD your God, serve Him only, and take your oaths in His name.

Do not follow other gods, the gods of the peoples around you.

For the LORD your God, who is among you, is a jealous God. Otherwise the anger of the LORD your God will be kindled against you, and He will wipe you off the face of the earth.

Do not test the LORD your God as you tested Him at Massah.

You are to diligently keep the commandments of the LORD your God and the testimonies and statutes He has given you.

Do what is right and good in the sight of the LORD, so that it may be well with you and that you may enter and possess the good land that the LORD your God swore to give your fathers,

driving out all your enemies before you, as the LORD has said.

In the future, when your son asks, “What is the meaning of the decrees and statutes and ordinances that the LORD our God has commanded you?”

then you are to tell him, “We were slaves of Pharaoh in Egypt, but the LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand.

Before our eyes the LORD inflicted great and devastating signs and wonders on Egypt, on Pharaoh, and on all his household.

And the LORD commanded us to observe all these statutes and to fear the LORD our God, that we may always be prosperous and preserved, as we are to this day.

And if we are careful to observe every one of these commandments before the LORD our God, as He has commanded us, then that will be our righteousness.”

When the LORD your God brings you into the land that you are entering to possess, and He drives out before you many nations—the Hittites, Girgashites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, seven nations larger and stronger than you—

and when the LORD your God has delivered them over to you to defeat them, then you must devote them to complete destruction. Make no treaty with them and show them no mercy.

because they will turn your sons away from following Me to serve other gods. Then the anger of the LORD will burn against you, and He will swiftly destroy you.

For you are a people holy to the LORD your God. The LORD your God has chosen you to be a people for His prized possession out of all peoples on the face of the earth.

The LORD did not set His affection on you and choose you because you were more numerous than the other peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples.

But because the LORD loved you and kept the oath He swore to your fathers, He brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.

Know therefore that the LORD your God is God, the faithful God who keeps His covenant of loving devotion for a thousand generations of those who love Him and keep His commandments.

If you listen to these ordinances and keep them carefully, then the LORD your God will keep His covenant and the loving devotion that He swore to your fathers.

And the LORD will remove from you all sickness. He will not lay upon you any of the terrible diseases you knew in Egypt, but He will inflict them on all who hate you.

You must destroy all the peoples the LORD your God will deliver to you. Do not look on them with pity. Do not worship their gods, for that will be a snare to you.

But do not be afraid of them. Be sure to remember what the LORD your God did to Pharaoh and all Egypt:

the great trials that you saw, the signs and wonders, and the mighty hand and outstretched arm by which the LORD your God brought you out. The LORD your God will do the same to all the peoples you now fear.

Moreover, the LORD your God will send the hornet against them until even the survivors hiding from you have perished.

Do not be terrified by them, for the LORD your God, who is among you, is a great and awesome God.

The LORD your God will drive out these nations before you little by little. You will not be enabled to eliminate them all at once, or the wild animals would multiply around you.

But the LORD your God will give them over to you and throw them into great confusion, until they are destroyed.

You must burn up the images of their gods; do not covet the silver and gold that is on them or take it for yourselves, or you will be ensnared by it; for it is detestable to the LORD your God.

You must carefully follow every commandment I am giving you today, so that you may live and multiply, and enter and possess the land that the LORD swore to give your fathers.

Remember that these forty years the LORD your God led you all the way in the wilderness, so that He might humble you and test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep His commandments.

He humbled you, and in your hunger He gave you manna to eat, which neither you nor your fathers had known, so that you might understand that man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD.

So know in your heart that just as a man disciplines his son, so the LORD your God disciplines you.

Therefore you shall keep the commandments of the LORD your God, walking in His ways and fearing Him.

For the LORD your God is bringing you into a good land, a land of brooks and fountains and springs that flow through the valleys and hills;

When you eat and are satisfied, you are to bless the LORD your God for the good land that He has given you.

Be careful not to forget the LORD your God by failing to keep His commandments and ordinances and statutes, which I am giving you this day.

then your heart will become proud, and you will forget the LORD your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.

But remember that it is the LORD your God who gives you the power to gain wealth, in order to confirm His covenant that He swore to your fathers even to this day.

If you ever forget the LORD your God and go after other gods to worship and bow down to them, I testify against you today that you will surely perish.

Like the nations that the LORD has destroyed before you, so you will perish if you do not obey the LORD your God.

But understand that today the LORD your God goes across ahead of you as a consuming fire; He will destroy them and subdue them before you. And you will drive them out and annihilate them swiftly, as the LORD has promised you.

When the LORD your God has driven them out before you, do not say in your heart, “Because of my righteousness the LORD has brought me in to possess this land.” Rather, the LORD is driving out these nations before you because of their wickedness.

It is not because of your righteousness or uprightness of heart that you are going in to possess their land, but it is because of their wickedness that the LORD your God is driving out these nations before you, to keep the promise He swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

Understand, then, that it is not because of your righteousness that the LORD your God is giving you this good land to possess, for you are a stiff-necked people.

Remember this, and never forget how you provoked the LORD your God in the wilderness. From the day you left the land of Egypt until you reached this place, you have been rebelling against the LORD.

At Horeb you provoked the LORD, and He was angry enough to destroy you.

When I went up on the mountain to receive the tablets of stone, the tablets of the covenant that the LORD made with you, I stayed on the mountain forty days and forty nights. I ate no bread and drank no water.

Then the LORD gave me the two stone tablets, inscribed by the finger of God with the exact words that the LORD spoke to you out of the fire on the mountain on the day of the assembly.

And at the end of forty days and forty nights, the LORD gave me the two stone tablets, the tablets of the covenant.

And the LORD said to me, “Get up and go down from here at once, for your people, whom you brought out of Egypt, have corrupted themselves. How quickly they have turned aside from the way that I commanded them! They have made for themselves a molten image.”

The LORD also said to me, “I have seen this people, and they are indeed a stiff-necked people.

And I saw how you had sinned against the LORD your God; you had made for yourselves a molten calf. You had turned aside quickly from the way that the LORD had commanded you.

Then I fell down before the LORD for forty days and forty nights, as I had done the first time. I did not eat bread or drink water because of all the sin you had committed in doing what was evil in the sight of the LORD and provoking Him to anger.

For I was afraid of the anger and wrath that the LORD had directed against you, enough to destroy you. But the LORD listened to me this time as well.

The LORD was angry enough with Aaron to destroy him, but at that time I also prayed for Aaron.

You continued to provoke the LORD at Taberah, at Massah, and at Kibroth-hattaavah.

And when the LORD sent you out from Kadesh-barnea, He said, “Go up and possess the land that I have given you.” But you rebelled against the command of the LORD your God. You neither believed Him nor obeyed Him.

You have been rebelling against the LORD since the day I came to know you.

So I fell down before the LORD for forty days and forty nights, because the LORD had said He would destroy you.

And I prayed to the LORD and said, “O Lord GOD, do not destroy Your people, Your inheritance, whom You redeemed through Your greatness and brought out of Egypt with a mighty hand.

Otherwise, those in the land from which You brought us out will say, ‘Because the LORD was not able to bring them into the land He had promised them, and because He hated them, He has brought them out to kill them in the wilderness.’

At that time the LORD said to me, “Chisel out two stone tablets like the originals, come up to Me on the mountain, and make an ark of wood.

And the LORD wrote on the tablets what had been written previously, the Ten Commandments that He had spoken to you on the mountain out of the fire on the day of the assembly. The LORD gave them to me,

and I went back down the mountain and placed the tablets in the ark I had made, as the LORD had commanded me; and there they have remained.

At that time the LORD set apart the tribe of Levi to carry the ark of the covenant of the LORD, to stand before the LORD to serve Him, and to pronounce blessings in His name, as they do to this day.

That is why Levi has no portion or inheritance among his brothers; the LORD is his inheritance, as the LORD your God promised him.

I stayed on the mountain forty days and forty nights, like the first time, and that time the LORD again listened to me and agreed not to destroy you.

Then the LORD said to me, “Get up. Continue your journey ahead of the people, that they may enter and possess the land that I swore to their fathers to give them.”

And now, O Israel, what does the LORD your God ask of you but to fear the LORD your God by walking in all His ways, to love Him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul,

and to keep the commandments and statutes of the LORD that I am giving you this day for your own good?

Behold, to the LORD your God belong the heavens, even the highest heavens, and the earth and everything in it.

Yet the LORD has set His affection on your fathers and loved them. And He has chosen you, their descendants after them, above all the peoples, even to this day.

For the LORD your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great, mighty, and awesome God, showing no partiality and accepting no bribe.

You are to fear the LORD your God and serve Him. Hold fast to Him and take your oaths in His name.

He is your praise and He is your God, who has done for you these great and awesome wonders that your eyes have seen.

Your fathers went down to Egypt, seventy in all, and now the LORD your God has made you as numerous as the stars in the sky.

You shall therefore love the LORD your God and always keep His charge, His statutes, His ordinances, and His commandments.

Know this day that it is not your children who have known and seen the discipline of the LORD your God: His greatness, His mighty hand, and His outstretched arm;

what He did to the Egyptian army and horses and chariots when He made the waters of the Red Sea engulf them as they pursued you, and how He destroyed them completely, even to this day;

For it is your own eyes that have seen every great work that the LORD has done.

and so that you may live long in the land that the LORD swore to your fathers to give them and their descendants, a land flowing with milk and honey.

It is a land for which the LORD your God cares; the eyes of the LORD your God are always on it, from the beginning to the end of the year.

So if you carefully obey the commandments I am giving you today, to love the LORD your God and to serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul,

But be careful that you are not enticed to turn aside to worship and bow down to other gods,

or the anger of the LORD will be kindled against you. He will shut the heavens so that there will be no rain, nor will the land yield its produce, and you will soon perish from the good land that the LORD is giving you.

so that as long as the heavens are above the earth, your days and those of your children may be multiplied in the land that the LORD swore to give your fathers.

For if you carefully keep all these commandments I am giving you to follow—to love the LORD your God, to walk in all His ways, and to hold fast to Him—

then the LORD will drive out all these nations before you, and you will dispossess nations greater and stronger than you.

No man will be able to stand against you; the LORD your God will put the fear and dread of you upon all the land, wherever you set foot, as He has promised you.

a blessing if you obey the commandments of the LORD your God that I am giving you today,

but a curse if you disobey the commandments of the LORD your God and turn aside from the path I command you today by following other gods, which you have not known.

When the LORD your God brings you into the land you are entering to possess, you are to proclaim the blessing on Mount Gerizim and the curse on Mount Ebal.

For you are about to cross the Jordan to enter and possess the land that the LORD your God is giving you. When you take possession of it and settle in it,

These are the statutes and ordinances you must be careful to follow all the days you live in the land that the LORD, the God of your fathers, has given you to possess.

Destroy completely all the places where the nations you are dispossessing have served their gods—atop the high mountains, on the hills, and under every green tree.

Tear down their altars, smash their sacred pillars, burn up their Asherah poles, cut down the idols of their gods, and wipe out their names from every place.

You shall not worship the LORD your God in this way.

Instead, you must seek the place the LORD your God will choose from among all your tribes to establish as a dwelling for His Name, and there you must go.

There, in the presence of the LORD your God, you and your households shall eat and rejoice in all you do, because the LORD your God has blessed you.

For you have not yet come to the resting place and the inheritance that the LORD your God is giving you.

When you cross the Jordan and live in the land that the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance, and He gives you rest from all the enemies around you and you dwell securely,

then the LORD your God will choose a dwelling for His Name. And there you are to bring everything I command you: your burnt offerings and sacrifices, your tithes and special gifts, and all the choice offerings you vow to the LORD.

And you shall rejoice before the LORD your God—you, your sons and daughters, your menservants and maidservants, and the Levite within your gates, since he has no portion or inheritance among you.

you must offer them only in the place the LORD will choose in one of your tribal territories, and there you shall do all that I command you.

But whenever you want, you may slaughter and eat meat within any of your gates, according to the blessing the LORD your God has given you. Both the ceremonially clean and unclean may eat it as they would a gazelle or deer,

Instead, you must eat them in the presence of the LORD your God at the place the LORD your God will choose—you, your sons and daughters, your menservants and maidservants, and the Levite within your gates. Rejoice before the LORD your God in all you do,

When the LORD your God expands your territory as He has promised, and you crave meat and say, “I want to eat meat,” you may eat it whenever you want.

If the place where the LORD your God chooses to put His Name is too far from you, then you may slaughter any of the herd or flock He has given you, as I have commanded you, and you may eat it within your gates whenever you want.

Do not eat it, so that it may go well with you and your children after you, because you will be doing what is right in the eyes of the LORD.

But you are to take your holy things and your vow offerings and go to the place the LORD will choose.

Present the meat and blood of your burnt offerings on the altar of the LORD your God. The blood of your other sacrifices must be poured out beside the altar of the LORD your God, but you may eat the meat.

Be careful to obey all these things I command you, so that it may always go well with you and your children after you, because you will be doing what is good and right in the eyes of the LORD your God.

When the LORD your God cuts off before you the nations you are entering to dispossess, and you drive them out and live in their land,

be careful not to be ensnared by their ways after they have been destroyed before you. Do not inquire about their gods, asking, “How do these nations serve their gods? I will do likewise.”

You must not worship the LORD your God in this way, because they practice for their gods every abomination which the LORD hates. They even burn their sons and daughters in the fire as sacrifices to their gods.

you must not listen to the words of that prophet or dreamer. For the LORD your God is testing you to find out whether you love Him with all your heart and with all your soul.

You are to follow the LORD your God and fear Him. Keep His commandments and listen to His voice; serve Him and hold fast to Him.

Such a prophet or dreamer must be put to death, because he has advocated rebellion against the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt and redeemed you from the house of slavery; he has tried to turn you from the way in which the LORD your God has commanded you to walk. So you must purge the evil from among you.

If your very own brother, or your son or daughter, or the wife you embrace, or your closest friend secretly entices you, saying, “Let us go and worship other gods” (which neither you nor your fathers have known,

the gods of the peoples around you, whether near or far, whether from one end of the earth or the other),

you must not yield to him or listen to him. Show him no pity, and do not spare him or shield him.

Then all Israel will hear and be afraid, and will never again do such a wicked thing among you.

that wicked men have arisen from among you and have led the people of their city astray, saying, “Let us go and serve other gods” (which you have not known),

then you must inquire, investigate, and interrogate thoroughly. And if it is established with certainty that this abomination has been committed among you,

Nothing devoted to destruction shall cling to your hands, so that the LORD will turn from His fierce anger, grant you mercy, show you compassion, and multiply you as He swore to your fathers,

because you obey the LORD your God, keeping all His commandments I am giving you today and doing what is right in the eyes of the LORD your God.

You are sons of the LORD your God; do not cut yourselves or shave your foreheads on behalf of the dead,

for you are a people holy to the LORD your God. The LORD has chosen you to be a people for His prized possession out of all the peoples on the face of the earth.

You are not to eat any carcass; you may give it to the foreigner residing within your gates, and he may eat it, or you may sell it to a foreigner. For you are a holy people belonging to the LORD your God. You must not cook a young goat in its mother’s milk.

And you are to eat a tenth of your grain, new wine, and oil, and the firstborn of your herds and flocks, in the presence of the LORD your God at the place He will choose as a dwelling for His Name, so that you may learn to fear the LORD your God always.

But if the distance is too great for you to carry that with which the LORD your God has blessed you, because the place where the LORD your God will choose to put His Name is too far away,

then exchange it for money, take the money in your hand, and go to the place the LORD your God will choose.

Then you may spend the money on anything you desire: cattle, sheep, wine, strong drink, or anything you wish. You are to feast there in the presence of the LORD your God and rejoice with your household.

Then the Levite (because he has no portion or inheritance among you), the foreigner, the fatherless, and the widow within your gates may come and eat and be satisfied. And the LORD your God will bless you in all the work of your hands.

This is the manner of remission: Every creditor shall cancel what he has loaned to his neighbor. He is not to collect anything from his neighbor or brother, because the LORD’s time of release has been proclaimed.

There will be no poor among you, however, because the LORD will surely bless you in the land that the LORD your God is giving you to possess as an inheritance,

if only you obey the LORD your God and are careful to follow all these commandments I am giving you today.

When the LORD your God blesses you as He has promised, you will lend to many nations but borrow from none; you will rule over many nations but be ruled by none.

If there is a poor man among your brothers within any of the gates in the land that the LORD your God is giving you, then you are not to harden your heart or shut your hand from your poor brother.

Be careful not to harbor this wicked thought in your heart: “The seventh year, the year of release, is near,” so that you look upon your poor brother begrudgingly and give him nothing. He will cry out to the LORD against you, and you will be guilty of sin.

Give generously to him, and do not let your heart be grieved when you do so. And because of this the LORD your God will bless you in all your work and in everything to which you put your hand.

You are to furnish him liberally from your flock, your threshing floor, and your winepress. You shall give to him as the LORD your God has blessed you.

Remember that you were slaves in the land of Egypt, and the LORD your God redeemed you; that is why I am giving you this command today.

Do not regard it as a hardship to set your servant free, because his six years of service were worth twice the wages of a hired hand. And the LORD your God will bless you in all you do.

You must set apart to the LORD your God every firstborn male produced by your herds and flocks. You are not to put the firstborn of your oxen to work, nor are you to shear the firstborn of your flock.

Each year you and your household are to eat it before the LORD your God in the place the LORD will choose.

But if an animal has a defect, is lame or blind, or has any serious flaw, you must not sacrifice it to the LORD your God.

Observe the month of Abib and celebrate the Passover to the LORD your God, because in the month of Abib the LORD your God brought you out of Egypt by night.

You are to offer to the LORD your God the Passover sacrifice from the herd or flock in the place the LORD will choose as a dwelling for His Name.

You are not to sacrifice the Passover animal in any of the towns that the LORD your God is giving you.

You must only offer the Passover sacrifice at the place the LORD your God will choose as a dwelling for His Name. Do this in the evening as the sun sets, at the same time you departed from Egypt.

And you shall roast it and eat it in the place the LORD your God will choose, and in the morning you shall return to your tents.

For six days you must eat unleavened bread, and on the seventh day you shall hold a solemn assembly to the LORD your God, and you must not do any work.

And you shall celebrate the Feast of Weeks to the LORD your God with a freewill offering that you give in proportion to how the LORD your God has blessed you,

and you shall rejoice before the LORD your God in the place He will choose as a dwelling for His Name—you, your sons and daughters, your menservants and maidservants, and the Levite within your gates, as well as the foreigner, the fatherless, and the widows among you.

For seven days you shall celebrate a feast to the LORD your God in the place He will choose, because the LORD your God will bless you in all your produce and in all the work of your hands, so that your joy will be complete.

Three times a year all your men are to appear before the LORD your God in the place He will choose: at the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Weeks, and the Feast of Tabernacles. No one should appear before the LORD empty-handed.

Everyone must appear with a gift as he is able, according to the blessing the LORD your God has given you.

You are to appoint judges and officials for your tribes in every town that the LORD your God is giving you. They are to judge the people with righteous judgment.

Pursue justice, and justice alone, so that you may live, and you may possess the land that the LORD your God is giving you.

Do not set up any wooden Asherah pole next to the altar you will build for the LORD your God,

and do not set up for yourselves a sacred pillar, which the LORD your God hates.

You shall not sacrifice to the LORD your God an ox or a sheep with any defect or serious flaw, for that is detestable to the LORD your God.

If a man or woman among you in one of the towns that the LORD your God gives you is found doing evil in the sight of the LORD your God by transgressing His covenant

and going to worship other gods, bowing down to them or to the sun or moon or any of the host of heaven—which I have forbidden—

If a case is too difficult for you to judge, whether the controversy within your gates is regarding bloodshed, lawsuits, or assaults, you must go up to the place the LORD your God will choose.

You must abide by the verdict they give you at the place the LORD will choose. Be careful to do everything they instruct you,

But the man who acts presumptuously, refusing to listen either to the priest who stands there to serve the LORD your God, or to the judge, must be put to death. You must purge the evil from Israel.

When you enter the land that the LORD your God is giving you and have taken possession of it and settled in it, and you say, “Let us set a king over us like all the nations around us,”

you are to appoint over yourselves the king whom the LORD your God shall choose. Appoint a king from among your brothers; you are not to set over yourselves a foreigner who is not one of your brothers.

But the king must not acquire many horses for himself or send the people back to Egypt to acquire more horses, for the LORD has said, ‘You are never to go back that way again.’

It is to remain with him, and he is to read from it all the days of his life, so that he may learn to fear the LORD his God by carefully observing all the words of this instruction and these statutes.

The Levitical priests—indeed the whole tribe of Levi—shall have no portion or inheritance with Israel. They are to eat the food offerings to the LORD; that is their inheritance.

Although they have no inheritance among their brothers, the LORD is their inheritance, as He promised them.

For the LORD your God has chosen Levi and his sons out of all your tribes to stand and minister in His name for all time.

Now if a Levite moves from any town of residence throughout Israel and comes in all earnestness to the place the LORD will choose,

then he shall serve in the name of the LORD his God like all his fellow Levites who stand there before the LORD.

When you enter the land that the LORD your God is giving you, do not imitate the detestable ways of the nations there.

For whoever does these things is detestable to the LORD. And because of these detestable things, the LORD your God is driving out the nations before you.

You must be blameless before the LORD your God.

Though these nations, which you will dispossess, listen to conjurers and diviners, the LORD your God has not permitted you to do so.

The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your brothers. You must listen to him.

This is what you asked of the LORD your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly, when you said, “Let us not hear the voice of the LORD our God or see this great fire anymore, so that we will not die!”

Then the LORD said to me, “They have spoken well.

But if any prophet dares to speak a message in My name that I have not commanded him to speak, or to speak in the name of other gods, that prophet must be put to death.”

You may ask in your heart, “How can we recognize a message that the LORD has not spoken?”

When a prophet speaks in the name of the LORD and the message does not come to pass or come true, that is a message the LORD has not spoken. The prophet has spoken presumptuously. Do not be afraid of him.

When the LORD your God has cut off the nations whose land He is giving you, and when you have driven them out and settled in their cities and houses,

then you are to set apart for yourselves three cities within the land that the LORD your God is giving you to possess.

You are to build roads for yourselves and divide into three regions the land that the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance, so that any manslayer can flee to these cities.

And if the LORD your God enlarges your territory, as He swore to your fathers, and gives you all the land He promised them,

and if you carefully keep all these commandments I am giving you today, loving the LORD your God and walking in His ways at all times, then you are to add three more cities to these three.

Thus innocent blood will not be shed in the land that the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance, so that you will not be guilty of bloodshed.

You must not move your neighbor’s boundary marker, which was set up by your ancestors to mark the inheritance you shall receive in the land that the LORD your God is giving you to possess.

both parties to the dispute must stand in the presence of the LORD, before the priests and judges who are in office at that time.

When you go out to war against your enemies and see horses, chariots, and an army larger than yours, do not be afraid of them; for the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, is with you.

For the LORD your God goes with you to fight for you against your enemies, to give you the victory.”

When the LORD your God has delivered it into your hand, you must put every male to the sword.

But the women, children, livestock, and whatever else is in the city—all its spoil—you may take as plunder, and you shall use the spoil of your enemies that the LORD your God gives you.

However, in the cities of the nations that the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance, you must not leave alive anything that breathes.

For you must devote them to complete destruction—the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites—as the LORD your God has commanded you,

so that they cannot teach you to do all the detestable things they do for their gods, and so cause you to sin against the LORD your God.

If one is found slain, lying in a field in the land that the LORD your God is giving you to possess, and it is not known who killed him,

And the priests, the sons of Levi, shall come forward, for the LORD your God has chosen them to serve Him and pronounce blessings in His name and to give a ruling in every dispute and case of assault.

Accept this atonement, O LORD, for Your people Israel whom You have redeemed, and do not hold the shedding of innocent blood against them.” And the bloodshed will be atoned for.

So you shall purge from among you the guilt of shedding innocent blood, since you have done what is right in the eyes of the LORD.

When you go to war against your enemies and the LORD your God delivers them into your hand and you take them captive,

you must not leave the body on the tree overnight, but you must be sure to bury him that day, because anyone who is hung on a tree is under God’s curse. You must not defile the land that the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance.

A woman must not wear men’s clothing, and a man must not wear women’s clothing, for whoever does these things is detestable to the LORD your God.

No one of illegitimate birth may enter the assembly of the LORD, nor may any of his descendants, even to the tenth generation.

No Ammonite or Moabite or any of their descendants may enter the assembly of the LORD, even to the tenth generation.

For they did not meet you with food and water on your way out of Egypt, and they hired Balaam son of Beor from Pethor in Aram-naharaim to curse you.

You are not to seek peace or prosperity from them as long as you live.

When you are encamped against your enemies, then you shall keep yourself from every wicked thing.

Do not return a slave to his master if he has taken refuge with you.

Do not charge your brother interest on money, food, or any other type of loan.

If you make a vow to the LORD your God, do not be slow to keep it, because He will surely require it of you, and you will be guilty of sin.

But if you refrain from making a vow, you will not be guilty of sin.

When you enter your neighbor’s vineyard, you may eat your fill of grapes, but you must not put any in your basket.

then the husband who divorced her first may not remarry her after she has been defiled, for that is an abomination to the LORD. You must not bring sin upon the land that the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance.

Remember what the LORD your God did to Miriam on the journey after you came out of Egypt.

be sure to return it to him by sunset, so that he may sleep in his own cloak and bless you, and this will be credited to you as righteousness before the LORD your God.

You are to pay his wages each day before sunset, because he is poor and depends on them. Otherwise he may cry out to the LORD against you, and you will be guilty of sin.

Remember that you were slaves in Egypt, and the LORD your God redeemed you from that place. Therefore I am commanding you to do this.

If you are harvesting in your field and forget a sheaf there, do not go back to get it. It is to be left for the foreigner, the fatherless, and the widow, so that the LORD your God may bless you in all the work of your hands.

You must maintain accurate and honest weights and measures, so that you may live long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you.

For everyone who behaves dishonestly in regard to these things is detestable to the LORD your God.

how they met you on your journey when you were tired and weary, and they attacked all your stragglers; they had no fear of God.

When the LORD your God gives you rest from the enemies around you in the land that He is giving you to possess as an inheritance, you are to blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven. Do not forget!

When you enter the land that the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance, and you take possession of it and settle in it,

you are to take some of the firstfruits of all your produce from the soil of the land that the LORD your God is giving you and put them in a basket. Then go to the place the LORD your God will choose as a dwelling for His Name,

to the priest who is serving at that time, and say to him, “I declare today to the LORD your God that I have entered the land that the LORD swore to our fathers to give us.”

Then the priest shall take the basket from your hands and place it before the altar of the LORD your God,

and you are to declare before the LORD your God, “My father was a wandering Aramean, and he went down to Egypt few in number and lived there and became a great nation, mighty and numerous.

So we called out to the LORD, the God of our fathers; and the LORD heard our voice and saw our affliction, toil, and oppression.

Then the LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, with great terror, signs, and wonders.

And now, behold, I have brought the firstfruits of the land that You, O LORD, have given me.” Then you are to place the basket before the LORD your God and bow down before Him.

So you shall rejoice—you, the Levite, and the foreigner dwelling among you—in all the good things the LORD your God has given to you and your household.

Then you shall declare in the presence of the LORD your God, “I have removed from my house the sacred portion and have given it to the Levite, the foreigner, the fatherless, and the widow, according to all the commandments You have given me. I have not transgressed or forgotten Your commandments.

I have not eaten any of the sacred portion while in mourning, or removed any of it while unclean, or offered any of it for the dead. I have obeyed the LORD my God; I have done everything You commanded me.

The LORD your God commands you this day to follow these statutes and ordinances. You must be careful to follow them with all your heart and with all your soul.

Today you have proclaimed that the LORD is your God and that you will walk in His ways, keep His statutes and commandments and ordinances, and listen to His voice.

And today the LORD has proclaimed that you are His people and treasured possession as He promised, that you are to keep all His commandments,

that He will set you high in praise and name and honor above all the nations He has made, and that you will be a holy people to the LORD your God, as He has promised.

And on the day you cross the Jordan into the land that the LORD your God is giving you, set up large stones and coat them with plaster.

Write on them all the words of this law when you have crossed over to enter the land that the LORD your God is giving you, a land flowing with milk and honey, just as the LORD, the God of your fathers, has promised you.

Moreover, you are to build there an altar to the LORD your God, an altar of stones. You must not use any iron tool on them.

You shall build the altar of the LORD your God with uncut stones and offer upon it burnt offerings to the LORD your God.

There you are to sacrifice your peace offerings, eating them and rejoicing in the presence of the LORD your God.

Then Moses and the Levitical priests spoke to all Israel: “Be silent, O Israel, and listen! This day you have become the people of the LORD your God.

You shall therefore obey the voice of the LORD your God and follow His commandments and statutes I am giving you today.”

‘Cursed is the man who makes a carved idol or molten image—an abomination to the LORD, the work of the hands of a craftsman—and sets it up in secret.’ And let all the people say, ‘Amen!’

“Now if you faithfully obey the voice of the LORD your God and are careful to follow all His commandments I am giving you today, the LORD your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth.

And all these blessings will come upon you and overtake you, if you will obey the voice of the LORD your God:

The LORD will cause the enemies who rise up against you to be defeated before you. They will march out against you in one direction but flee from you in seven.

The LORD will decree a blessing on your barns and on everything to which you put your hand; the LORD your God will bless you in the land He is giving you.

The LORD will establish you as His holy people, just as He has sworn to you, if you keep the commandments of the LORD your God and walk in His ways.

Then all the peoples of the earth will see that you are called by the name of the LORD, and they will stand in awe of you.

The LORD will make you prosper abundantly—in the fruit of your womb, the offspring of your livestock, and the produce of your land—in the land that the LORD swore to your fathers to give you.

The LORD will open the heavens, His abundant storehouse, to send rain on your land in season and to bless all the work of your hands. You will lend to many nations, but borrow from none.

The LORD will make you the head and not the tail; you will only move upward and never downward, if you hear and carefully follow the commandments of the LORD your God, which I am giving you today.

Do not turn aside to the right or to the left from any of the words I command you today, and do not go after other gods to serve them.

If, however, you do not obey the LORD your God by carefully following all His commandments and statutes I am giving you today, all these curses will come upon you and overtake you:

The LORD will send curses upon you, confusion and reproof in all to which you put your hand, until you are destroyed and quickly perish because of the wickedness you have committed in forsaking Him.

The LORD will make the plague cling to you until He has exterminated you from the land that you are entering to possess.

The LORD will strike you with wasting disease, with fever and inflammation, with scorching heat and drought, and with blight and mildew; these will pursue you until you perish.

The LORD will turn the rain of your land into dust and powder; it will descend on you from the sky until you are destroyed.

The LORD will cause you to be defeated before your enemies. You will march out against them in one direction but flee from them in seven. You will be an object of horror to all the kingdoms of the earth.

The LORD will afflict you with the boils of Egypt, with tumors and scabs and itch from which you cannot be cured.

The LORD will afflict you with madness, blindness, and confusion of mind,

The LORD will afflict you with painful, incurable boils on your knees and thighs, from the soles of your feet to the top of your head.

The LORD will bring you and the king you appoint to a nation neither you nor your fathers have known, and there you will worship other gods—gods of wood and stone.

You will become an object of horror, scorn, and ridicule among all the nations to which the LORD will drive you.

All these curses will come upon you. They will pursue you and overtake you until you are destroyed, since you did not obey the LORD your God and keep the commandments and statutes He gave you.

Because you did not serve the LORD your God with joy and gladness of heart in all your abundance,

you will serve your enemies the LORD will send against you in famine, thirst, nakedness, and destitution. He will place an iron yoke on your neck until He has destroyed you.

The LORD will bring a nation from afar, from the ends of the earth, to swoop down upon you like an eagle—a nation whose language you will not understand,

They will besiege all the cities throughout your land, until the high and fortified walls in which you trust have fallen. They will besiege all your cities throughout the land that the LORD your God has given you.

Then you will eat the fruit of your womb, the flesh of the sons and daughters whom the LORD your God has given you, in the siege and distress that your enemy will inflict on you.

If you are not careful to observe all the words of this law which are written in this book, that you may fear this glorious and awesome name—the LORD your God—

He will bring upon you and your descendants extraordinary disasters, severe and lasting plagues, and terrible and chronic sicknesses.

The LORD will also bring upon you every sickness and plague not recorded in this Book of the Law, until you are destroyed.

You who were as numerous as the stars in the sky will be left few in number, because you would not obey the voice of the LORD your God.

Just as it pleased the LORD to make you prosper and multiply, so also it will please Him to annihilate you and destroy you. And you will be uprooted from the land you are entering to possess.

Then the LORD will scatter you among all the nations, from one end of the earth to the other, and there you will worship other gods, gods of wood and stone, which neither you nor your fathers have known.

Among those nations you will find no repose, not even a resting place for the sole of your foot. There the LORD will give you a trembling heart, failing eyes, and a despairing soul.

The LORD will return you to Egypt in ships by a route that I said you should never see again. There you will sell yourselves to your enemies as male and female slaves, but no one will buy you.”

These are the words of the covenant that the LORD commanded Moses to make with the Israelites in the land of Moab, in addition to the covenant He had made with them at Horeb.

You saw with your own eyes the great trials, and those miraculous signs and wonders.

For forty years I led you in the wilderness, yet your clothes and sandals did not wear out.

So keep and follow the words of this covenant, that you may prosper in all you do.

your children and wives, and the foreigners in your camps who cut your wood and draw your water—

so that you may enter into the covenant of the LORD your God, which He is making with you today, and into His oath,

I am making this covenant and this oath not only with you,

You saw the abominations and idols among them made of wood and stone, of silver and gold.

because when such a person hears the words of this oath, he invokes a blessing on himself, saying, ‘I will have peace, even though I walk in the stubbornness of my own heart.’ This will bring disaster on the watered land as well as the dry.

The LORD will never be willing to forgive him. Instead, His anger and jealousy will burn against that man, and every curse written in this book will fall upon him. The LORD will blot out his name from under heaven

and single him out from all the tribes of Israel for disaster, according to all the curses of the covenant written in this Book of the Law.

Then the generation to come—your sons who follow you and the foreigner who comes from a distant land—will see the plagues of the land and the sicknesses the LORD has inflicted on it.

All its soil will be a burning waste of sulfur and salt, unsown and unproductive, with no plant growing on it, just like the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboiim, which the LORD overthrew in His fierce anger.

So all the nations will ask, ‘Why has the LORD done such a thing to this land? Why this great outburst of anger?’

And the people will answer, ‘It is because they abandoned the covenant of the LORD, the God of their fathers, which He made with them when He brought them out of the land of Egypt.

They went and served other gods, and they worshiped gods they had not known—gods that the LORD had not given to them.

Therefore the anger of the LORD burned against this land, and He brought upon it every curse written in this book.

The LORD uprooted them from their land in His anger, rage, and great wrath, and He cast them into another land, where they are today.’

“When all these things come upon you—the blessings and curses I have set before you—and you call them to mind in all the nations to which the LORD your God has banished you,

and when you and your children return to the LORD your God and obey His voice with all your heart and all your soul according to everything I am giving you today,

then He will restore you from captivity and have compassion on you and gather you from all the nations to which the LORD your God has scattered you.

Even if you have been banished to the farthest horizon, He will gather you and return you from there.

And the LORD your God will bring you into the land your fathers possessed, and you will take possession of it. He will cause you to prosper and multiply more than your fathers.

The LORD your God will circumcise your hearts and the hearts of your descendants, and you will love Him with all your heart and with all your soul, so that you may live.

Then the LORD your God will put all these curses upon your enemies who hate you and persecute you.

And you will again obey the voice of the LORD and follow all His commandments I am giving you today.

So the LORD your God will make you abound in all the work of your hands and in the fruit of your womb, the offspring of your livestock, and the produce of your land. Indeed, the LORD will again delight in your prosperity, as He delighted in that of your fathers,

if you obey the LORD your God by keeping His commandments and statutes that are written in this Book of the Law, and if you turn to Him with all your heart and with all your soul.

For I am commanding you today to love the LORD your God, to walk in His ways, and to keep His commandments, statutes, and ordinances, so that you may live and increase, and the LORD your God may bless you in the land that you are entering to possess.

But if your heart turns away and you do not listen, but are drawn away to bow down to other gods and worship them,

and that you may love the LORD your God, obey Him, and hold fast to Him. For He is your life, and He will prolong your life in the land that the LORD swore to give to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.”

he said to them, “I am now a hundred and twenty years old; I am no longer able to come and go, and the LORD has said to me, ‘You shall not cross the Jordan.’

The LORD your God Himself will cross over ahead of you. He will destroy these nations before you, and you will dispossess them. Joshua will cross ahead of you, as the LORD has said.

And the LORD will do to them as He did to Sihon and Og, the kings of the Amorites, when He destroyed them along with their land.

The LORD will deliver them over to you, and you must do to them exactly as I have commanded you.

Be strong and courageous; do not be afraid or terrified of them, for it is the LORD your God who goes with you; He will never leave you nor forsake you.”

Then Moses called for Joshua and said to him in the presence of all Israel, “Be strong and courageous, for you will go with this people into the land that the LORD swore to their fathers to give them, and you shall give it to them as an inheritance.

The LORD Himself goes before you; He will be with you. He will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid or discouraged.”

So Moses wrote down this law and gave it to the priests, the sons of Levi, who carried the ark of the covenant of the LORD, and to all the elders of Israel.

when all Israel comes before the LORD your God at the place He will choose, you are to read this law in the hearing of all Israel.

Assemble the people—men, women, children, and the foreigners within your gates—so that they may listen and learn to fear the LORD your God and to follow carefully all the words of this law.

Then their children who do not know the law will listen and learn to fear the LORD your God, as long as you live in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess.”

Then the LORD said to Moses, “Behold, the time of your death is near. Call Joshua and present yourselves at the Tent of Meeting, so that I may commission him.” So Moses and Joshua went and presented themselves at the Tent of Meeting.

Then the LORD appeared at the tent in a pillar of cloud, and the cloud stood over the entrance to the tent.

And the LORD said to Moses, “You will soon rest with your fathers, and these people will rise up and prostitute themselves with the foreign gods of the land they are entering. They will forsake Me and break the covenant I have made with them.

On that day My anger will burn against them, and I will abandon them and hide My face from them, so that they will be consumed, and many troubles and afflictions will befall them. On that day they will say, ‘Have not these disasters come upon us because our God is no longer with us?’

And on that day I will surely hide My face because of all the evil they have done by turning to other gods.

When I have brought them into the land that I swore to give their fathers, a land flowing with milk and honey, they will eat their fill and prosper. Then they will turn to other gods and worship them, and they will reject Me and break My covenant.

he gave this command to the Levites who carried the ark of the covenant of the LORD:

“Take this Book of the Law and place it beside the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God, so that it may remain there as a witness against you.

For I know how rebellious and stiff-necked you are. If you are already rebelling against the LORD while I am still alive, how much more will you rebel after my death!

For I know that after my death you will become utterly corrupt and turn from the path I have commanded you. And in the days to come, disaster will befall you because you will do evil in the sight of the LORD to provoke Him to anger by the work of your hands.”

For I will proclaim the name of the LORD. Ascribe greatness to our God!

He is the Rock, His work is perfect; all His ways are just. A God of faithfulness without injustice, righteous and upright is He.

Is this how you repay the LORD, O foolish and senseless people? Is He not your Father and Creator? Has He not made you and established you?

When the Most High gave the nations their inheritance, when He divided the sons of man, He set the boundaries of the peoples according to the number of the sons of God.

But the LORD’s portion is His people, Jacob His allotted inheritance.

The LORD alone led him, and no foreign god was with him.

They sacrificed to demons, not to God, to gods they had not known, to newly arrived gods, which your fathers did not fear.

You ignored the Rock who brought you forth; you forgot the God who gave you birth.

When the LORD saw this, He rejected them, provoked to anger by His sons and daughters.

if I had not dreaded the taunt of the enemy, lest their adversaries misunderstand and say: ‘Our own hand has prevailed; it was not the LORD who did all this.’”

How could one man pursue a thousand, or two put ten thousand to flight, unless their Rock had sold them, unless the LORD had given them up?

For the LORD will vindicate His people and have compassion on His servants when He sees that their strength is gone and no one remains, slave or free.

He will say: “Where are their gods, the rock in which they took refuge,

See now that I am He; there is no God besides Me. I bring death and I give life; I wound and I heal, and there is no one who can deliver from My hand.

On that same day the LORD said to Moses,

This is the blessing that Moses the man of God pronounced upon the Israelites before his death.

He said: “The LORD came from Sinai and dawned upon us from Seir; He shone forth from Mount Paran and came with myriads of holy ones, with flaming fire at His right hand.

And concerning Judah he said: “O LORD, hear the cry of Judah and bring him to his people. With his own hands he defends his cause, but may You be a help against his foes.”

Bless his substance, O LORD, and accept the work of his hands. Smash the loins of those who rise against him, and of his foes so they can rise no more.”

Concerning Benjamin he said: “May the beloved of the LORD rest secure in Him; God shields him all day long, and upon His shoulders he rests.”

Concerning Joseph he said: “May his land be blessed by the LORD with the precious dew from heaven above and the deep waters that lie beneath,

He chose the best land for himself, because a ruler’s portion was reserved for him there. He came with the leaders of the people; he administered the LORD’s justice and His ordinances for Israel.”

Concerning Naphtali he said: “Naphtali is abounding with favor, full of the blessing of the LORD; he shall take possession of the sea and the south.”

“There is none like the God of Jeshurun, who rides the heavens to your aid, and the clouds in His majesty.

The eternal God is your dwelling place, and underneath are the everlasting arms. He drives out the enemy before you, giving the command, ‘Destroy him!’

Blessed are you, O Israel! Who is like you, a people saved by the LORD? He is the shield that protects you, the sword in which you boast. Your enemies will cower before you, and you shall trample their high places.”

Then Moses went up from the plains of Moab to Mount Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, which faces Jericho. And the LORD showed him the whole land—from Gilead as far as Dan,

And the LORD said to him, “This is the land that I swore to give Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob when I said, ‘I will give it to your descendants.’ I have let you see it with your own eyes, but you will not cross into it.”

So Moses the servant of the LORD died there in the land of Moab, as the LORD had said.

Now Joshua son of Nun was filled with the spirit of wisdom because Moses had laid his hands on him. So the Israelites obeyed him and did as the LORD had commanded Moses.

Since that time, no prophet has risen in Israel like Moses, whom the LORD knew face to face—

no prophet who did all the signs and wonders that the LORD sent Moses to do in the land of Egypt to Pharaoh and to all his officials and all his land,

Now after the death of His servant Moses, the LORD spoke to Joshua son of Nun, Moses’ assistant, saying,

Have I not commanded you to be strong and courageous? Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.”

“Go through the camp and tell the people, ‘Prepare your provisions, for within three days you will cross the Jordan to go in and take possession of the land that the LORD your God is giving you to possess.’”

“Remember what Moses the servant of the LORD commanded you when he said, ‘The LORD your God will give you rest, and He will give you this land.’

until the LORD gives them rest as He has done for you, and your brothers also possess the land that the LORD your God is giving them. Then you may return to the land of your inheritance and take possession of that which Moses the servant of the LORD gave you on the east side of the Jordan.”

Just as we obeyed Moses in all things, so we will obey you. And may the LORD your God be with you, as He was with Moses.

and said to them, “I know that the LORD has given you this land and that the fear of you has fallen on us, so that all who dwell in the land are melting in fear of you.

For we have heard how the LORD dried up the waters of the Red Sea before you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to Sihon and Og, the two kings of the Amorites across the Jordan, whom you devoted to destruction.

When we heard this, our hearts melted and everyone’s courage failed because of you, for the LORD your God is God in the heavens above and on the earth below.

Now therefore, please swear to me by the LORD that you will indeed show kindness to my family, because I showed kindness to you. Give me a sure sign

“Our lives for your lives!” the men agreed. “If you do not report our mission, we will show you kindness and faithfulness when the LORD gives us the land.”

“The LORD has surely delivered the entire land into our hands,” they said to Joshua. “Indeed, all who dwell in the land are melting in fear of us.”