Exodus

Describes how Moses leads the Israelites out of Egypt and slavery, and how they receive laws from God.

Chapter 34

1 And the LORD said unto Moses, Hew thee two tables of stone like unto the first: and I will write upon these tables the words that were in the first tables, which thou brakest.

*And God told Moses, Make two more stone tablets just like the first ones. I will write on these new tablets the same words that were on the first ones you broke.

2 And be ready in the morning, and come up in the morning unto mount Sinai, and present thyself there to me in the top of the mount.

*In the morning, get ready and go to Mount Sinai. Climb up and be at the top for me.

3 And no man shall come up with thee, neither let any man be seen throughout all the mount; neither let the flocks nor herds feed before that mount.

*No person can follow you, and nobody should be visible on the entire mountain. Also, no animals (flocks) or livestock (herds) can graze near that mountain.

4 And he hewed two tables of stone like unto the first; and Moses rose up early in the morning, and went up unto mount Sinai, as the LORD had commanded him, and took in his hand the two tables of stone.

*And he made two more stone tablets just like the first ones. Then Moses woke up early the next day and climbed Mount Sinai, just like the Lord told him to, and brought the two new stone tablets with him.

5 And the LORD descended in the cloud, and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the LORD.

*And God came down in a cloud, stood next to him, and announced God's name.

6 And the LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed, The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth,

*And the Lord went by him and said, "The Lord, the compassionate and kind God, patient and full of kindness and truth,"

7 Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children’s children, unto the third and to the fourth generation.

*God's mercy lasts forever, but He forgives people's wrongdoings and sins, yet this won't completely free those who are guilty. He passes the punishment for sin from parents to their children and even to their grandchildren, up to the third and fourth generations.

8 And Moses made haste, and bowed his head toward the earth, and worshipped.

*Moses quickly bent down his head and showed respect to the ground while worshipping.

9 And he said, If now I have found grace in thy sight, O LORD, let my LORD, I pray thee, go among us; for it is a stiffnecked people; and pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us for thine inheritance.

*He said, "If you are pleased with me, God, please go with us because the people are stubborn. Forgive our wrongdoings and sins, and make us part of your family."

10 And he said, Behold, I make a covenant: before all thy people I will do marvels, such as have not been done in all the earth, nor in any nation: and all the people among which thou art shall see the work of the LORD: for it is a terrible thing that I will do with thee.

*He said, "I'm making a promise in front of everyone. I will perform amazing acts that have never happened on earth or in any nation. All the people where you are will see the Lord's work. This is a very serious and scary thing that I will do with you."

11 Observe thou that which I command thee this day: behold, I drive out before thee the Amorite, and the Canaanite, and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, and the Hivite, and the Jebusite.

*Follow my instructions: I'm removing the Amorites, Canaanites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites from your path.

12 Take heed to thyself, lest thou make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land whither thou goest, lest it be for a snare in the midst of thee:

*Be careful not to make an agreement with the people living in the place you're going, or it might trap you.

13 But ye shall destroy their altars, break their images, and cut down their groves:

*But you will demolish their altars, shatter their statues, and chop down their sacred trees.

14 For thou shalt worship no other god: for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God:

*Do not worship any other god. The LORD, also called Jealous, is a very jealous God.

15 Lest thou make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, and they go a whoring after their gods, and do sacrifice unto their gods, and one call thee, and thou eat of his sacrifice;

*To avoid making a promise with the people living in the area, so they don't worship other gods, offer sacrifices to them, and then invite you to eat their sacrificial meal.

16 And thou take of their daughters unto thy sons, and their daughters go a whoring after their gods, and make thy sons go a whoring after their gods.

*Choose daughters from their group for your sons. But then their daughters follow other gods and cause your sons to do the same.

17 Thou shalt make thee no molten gods.

*Do not make any statues of gods made from melted metal.

18 The feast of unleavened bread shalt thou keep. Seven days thou shalt eat unleavened bread, as I commanded thee, in the time of the month Abib: for in the month Abib thou camest out from Egypt.

*Keep the feast of unleavened bread. Eat only unleavened bread for seven days like I told you during the month of Abib. This is because in the month of Abib, you left Egypt.

19 All that openeth the matrix is mine; and every firstling among thy cattle, whether ox or sheep, that is male.

*All who open the womb (or birth) is mine; and every firstborn from your animals, whether a male calf or lamb, belongs to me.

20 But the firstling of an ass thou shalt redeem with a lamb: and if thou redeem him not, then shalt thou break his neck. All the firstborn of thy sons thou shalt redeem. And none shall appear before me empty.

*But the first baby donkey you must save with a lamb. If you don't, you must break its neck. You have to save the first child born from your sons. No one can come before me without something to offer.

21 Six days thou shalt work, but on the seventh day thou shalt rest: in earing time and in harvest thou shalt rest.

*Work for six days, but take a break on the seventh day - do this during planting and harvest seasons.

22 And thou shalt observe the feast of weeks, of the firstfruits of wheat harvest, and the feast of ingathering at the year’s end.

*And you should celebrate the festival of weeks, which is about the first fruits from the wheat harvest, and the festival of gathering at the end of the year.

23 Thrice in the year shall all your menchildren appear before the LORD God, the God of Israel.

*Three times a year, all your male children must come to meet God, the God of Israel.

24 For I will cast out the nations before thee, and enlarge thy borders: neither shall any man desire thy land, when thou shalt go up to appear before the LORD thy God thrice in the year.

*I will drive away other countries ahead of you and increase your territory. No one will want your land when you go up to meet with the LORD your God three times a year.

25 Thou shalt not offer the blood of my sacrifice with leaven; neither shall the sacrifice of the feast of the passover be left unto the morning.

*Do not use yeast in my sacrifice offering; and do not let the Passover festival sacrifice remain until morning.

26 The first of the firstfruits of thy land thou shalt bring unto the house of the LORD thy God. Thou shalt not seethe a kid in his mother’s milk.

*Bring the first fruits from your land to God's house, and don't cook a young goat in its mother's milk.

27 And the LORD said unto Moses, Write thou these words: for after the tenor of these words I have made a covenant with thee and with Israel.

*And God told Moses, "Write down these words. Because, based on these words, I made a agreement with you and with Israel."

28 And he was there with the LORD forty days and forty nights; he did neither eat bread, nor drink water. And he wrote upon the tables the words of the covenant, the ten commandments.

*He stayed with God for 40 days and 40 nights without eating or drinking. He then wrote the ten commandments on two stone tablets.

29 And it came to pass, when Moses came down from mount Sinai with the two tables of testimony in Moses’ hand, when he came down from the mount, that Moses wist not that the skin of his face shone while he talked with him.

*When Moses returned from Mount Sinai with the two stone tablets containing God's laws, he didn't realize that his face was glowing as he spoke to others.

30 And when Aaron and all the children of Israel saw Moses, behold, the skin of his face shone; and they were afraid to come nigh him.

*When Aaron and the Israelites saw Moses, his face was very bright, and they were scared to get close to him.

31 And Moses called unto them; and Aaron and all the rulers of the congregation returned unto him: and Moses talked with them.

*Moses called for Aaron and the leaders, and they came back to him. Then, Moses had a conversation with them.

32 And afterward all the children of Israel came nigh: and he gave them in commandment all that the LORD had spoken with him in mount Sinai.

*Afterward, all the Israelites gathered close. He then told them everything the LORD had shared with him on Mount Sinai.

33 And till Moses had done speaking with them, he put a vail on his face.

*While Moses was still talking to them, he covered his face with a veil.

34 But when Moses went in before the LORD to speak with him, he took the vail off, until he came out. And he came out, and spake unto the children of Israel that which he was commanded.

*When Moses talked to God, he removed the cover. Then he left and spoke to the Israelites what he was told.

35 And the children of Israel saw the face of Moses, that the skin of Moses’ face shone: and Moses put the vail upon his face again, until he went in to speak with him.

*The Israelite kids saw Moses' shining face. He hid it under a veil until he had to talk with God.

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