Exodus 34

Moses Makes New Tablets

1 The Lord said to Moses, w "Cut for yourself two tablets of stone like the first, x and I will write on the tablets the words that were on the first tablets, y which you broke. 2 Be ready by the morning, and come up in the morning to Mount Sinai, and present yourself there to me z on the top of the mountain. 3 No a one shall come up with you, and let no one be seen throughout all the mountain. Let no flocks or herds graze opposite that mountain." 4 So Moses cut two tablets of stone like the first. And he rose early in the morning and went up on Mount Sinai, as the Lord had commanded him, and took in his hand two tablets of stone. 5 The Lord b descended in the cloud and stood with him there, and c proclaimed the name of the Lord. 6 The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, d "The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and e gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast f love and faithfulness, 7 g keeping steadfast love for thousands, 1 h forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but i who will by no means clear the guilty, j visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children's children, to the third and the fourth generation." 8 And Moses quickly k bowed his head toward the earth and worshiped. 9 And he said, "If now I have found favor in your sight, O Lord, please l let the Lord go in the midst of us, for m it is a stiff-necked people, and pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us for n your inheritance."

The Covenant Renewed

10 And he said, "Behold, o I am making a covenant. Before all your people p I will do marvels, such as have not been created in all the earth or in any nation. And all the people among whom you are shall see the work of the Lord, for it is an q awesome thing that I will do with you.

11 "Observe what I command you this day. Behold, r I will drive out before you the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. 12 s Take care, lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land to which you go, lest it become a t snare in your midst. 13 You shall u tear down their altars and v break their pillars and cut down their w Asherim 14 (for x you shall worship no other god, for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God), 15 s lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, and when they y whore after their gods and sacrifice to their gods and z you are invited, you eat of his sacrifice, 16 and you take of a their daughters for your sons, and their daughters y whore after their gods and make your sons whore after their gods.

17 b "You shall not make for yourself any gods of cast metal.

18 c "You shall keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, as I commanded you, at the time appointed in d the month Abib, for in the month Abib you came out from Egypt. 19 e All that open the womb are mine, all your male 2 livestock, the firstborn of cow and sheep. 20 The f firstborn of a donkey you shall redeem with a lamb, or if you will not redeem it you shall break its neck. All the firstborn of your sons you shall redeem. And g none shall appear before me empty-handed.

21 h "Six days you shall work, but on the seventh day you shall rest. In plowing time and in harvest you shall rest. 22 i You shall observe the Feast of Weeks, the firstfruits of wheat harvest, and the Feast of Ingathering at the year's end. 23 j Three times in the year shall all your males appear before the Lord God, the God of Israel. 24 For I will k cast out nations before you and l enlarge your borders; m no one shall covet your land, when you go up to appear before the Lord your God three times in the year.

25 n "You shall not offer the blood of my sacrifice with anything leavened, o or let the sacrifice of the Feast of the Passover remain until the morning. 26 p The best of the firstfruits of your ground you shall bring to the house of the Lord your God. q You shall not boil a young goat in its mother's milk."

27 And the Lord said to Moses, "Write these words, for in accordance with these words r I have made a covenant with you and with Israel." 28 s So he was there with the Lord forty days and forty nights. He neither ate bread nor drank water. And he t wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant, the Ten Commandments. 3

The Shining Face of Moses

29 When Moses came down from Mount Sinai, with u the two tablets of the testimony in his hand as he came down from the mountain, Moses did not know that the skin of his face v shone because he had been talking with God. 4 30 Aaron and all the people of Israel saw Moses, and behold, the skin of his face w shone, and they were afraid to come near him. 31 But Moses called to them, and Aaron and all the leaders of the congregation returned to him, and Moses talked with them. 32 Afterward all the people of Israel came near, and he x commanded them all that the Lord had spoken with him in Mount Sinai. 33 And when Moses had finished speaking with them, he put a y veil over his face.

34 Whenever Moses z went in before the Lord to speak with him, he would remove the veil, until he came out. And when he came out and told the people of Israel what he was commanded, 35 the people of Israel would see the face of Moses, that the skin of Moses' face was a shining. And Moses would put the veil over his face again, until he went in to speak with him.

  1. Cross References
    Deuteronomy 10:1
    At that time the Lord said to me, 'Cut for yourself two tablets of stone like the first, and come up to me on the mountain and make an ark of wood.
  2. Cross References
    Exodus 34:28
    So he was there with the Lord forty days and forty nights. He neither ate bread nor drank water. And he wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant, the Ten Commandments.
    Deuteronomy 10:2
    And I will write on the tablets the words that were on the first tablets that you broke, and you shall put them in the ark.
    Deuteronomy 10:4
    And he wrote on the tablets, in the same writing as before, the Ten Commandments that the Lord had spoken to you on the mountain out of the midst of the fire on the day of the assembly. And the Lord gave them to me.
  3. Cross References
    Exodus 32:19
    And as soon as he came near the camp and saw the calf and the dancing, Moses' anger burned hot, and he threw the tablets out of his hands and broke them at the foot of the mountain.
  4. Cross References
    Exodus 19:20
    The Lord came down on Mount Sinai, to the top of the mountain. And the Lord called Moses to the top of the mountain, and Moses went up.
  5. Cross References
    Exodus 19:12 - 13
    And you shall set limits for the people all around, saying, 'Take care not to go up into the mountain or touch the edge of it. Whoever touches the mountain shall be put to death.
    Exodus 19:21
    And the Lord said to Moses, "Go down and warn the people, lest they break through to the Lord to look and many of them perish.
  6. Cross References
    Numbers 11:25
    Then the Lord came down in the cloud and spoke to him, and took some of the Spirit that was on him and put it on the seventy elders. And as soon as the Spirit rested on them, they prophesied. But they did not continue doing it.
    1 Kings 8:10 - 11
    And when the priests came out of the Holy Place, a cloud filled the house of the Lord.
  7. Cross References
    Exodus 33:19
    And he said, "I will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you my name 'The Lord.' And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy.
  8. Cross References
    Numbers 14:18
    'The Lord is slow to anger and abounding in ste...
    2 Chronicles 30:9
    For if you return to the Lord, your brothers an...
    Nehemiah 9:17
    They refused to obey and were not mindful of th...
    Psalms 86:15
    But you, O Lord, are a God merciful and graciou...
    Psalms 103:8
    The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to ange...
    Psalms 111:4
    He has caused his wondrous works to be remember...
    Psalms 112:4
    Light dawns in the darkness for the upright; he...
    Psalms 116:5
    Gracious is the Lord, and righteous; our God is...
    Psalms 145:8
    The Lord is gracious and merciful, slow to ange...
    Joel 2:13
    And rend your hearts and not your garments." Re...
  9. Cross References
    Exodus 22:27
    For that is his only covering, and it is his cloak for his body; in what else shall he sleep? And if he cries to me, I will hear, for I am compassionate.
  10. Cross References
    Psalms 57:10
    For your steadfast love is great to the heavens, your faithfulness to the clouds.
    Psalms 108:4
    For your steadfast love is great above the heavens; your faithfulness reaches to the clouds.
  11. Cross References
    Exodus 20:5 - 6
    You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me.
    Deuteronomy 5:10
    But showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.
    Jeremiah 32:18
    You show steadfast love to thousands, but you repay the guilt of fathers to their children after them, O great and mighty God, whose name is the Lord of hosts.
    Daniel 9:4
    I prayed to the Lord my God and made confession, saying, "O Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments.
  12. Cross References
    Psalms 103:3
    Who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases.
    Psalms 130:4
    But with you there is forgiveness, that you may be feared.
    Daniel 9:9
    To the Lord our God belong mercy and forgiveness, for we have rebelled against him
    1 John 1:9
    If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
  13. Cross References
    Exodus 23:21
    Pay careful attention to him and obey his voice; do not rebel against him, for he will not pardon your transgression, for my name is in him.
    Joshua 24:19
    But Joshua said to the people, "You are not able to serve the Lord, for he is a holy God. He is a jealous God; he will not forgive your transgressions or your sins.
    Job 10:14
    If I sin, you watch me and do not acquit me of my iniquity.
    Nahum 1:3
    The Lord is slow to anger and great in power, and the Lord will by no means clear the guilty. His way is in whirlwind and storm, and the clouds are the dust of his feet.
  14. Cross References
    Deuteronomy 5:9
    You shall not bow down to them or serve them; for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me.
  15. Cross References
    Exodus 4:31
    And the people believed; and when they heard that the Lord had visited the people of Israel and that he had seen their affliction, they bowed their heads and worshiped.
    Exodus 12:27
    You shall say, 'It is the sacrifice of the Lord 's Passover, for he passed over the houses of the people of Israel in Egypt, when he struck the Egyptians but spared our houses.'" And the people bowed their heads and worshiped.
  16. Cross References
    Exodus 33:15 - 16
    And he said to him, "If your presence will not go with me, do not bring us up from here.
  17. Cross References
    Exodus 32:9
    And the Lord said to Moses, "I have seen this people, and behold, it is a stiff-necked people.
  18. Cross References
    Deuteronomy 32:9
    But the Lord 's portion is his people, Jacob hi...
    Psalms 28:9
    Oh, save your people and bless your heritage! B...
    Psalms 33:12
    Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, th...
    Psalms 78:62
    He gave his people over to the sword and vented...
    Psalms 94:14
    For the Lord will not forsake his people; he wi...
    Jeremiah 10:16
    Not like these is he who is the portion of Jaco...
    Zechariah 2:12
    And the Lord will inherit Judah as his portion ...
  19. Cross References
    Exodus 34:27
    And the Lord said to Moses, "Write these words, for in accordance with these words I have made a covenant with you and with Israel.
    Deuteronomy 5:2
    The Lord our God made a covenant with us in Horeb.
    Deuteronomy 29:1
    These are the words of the covenant that the Lord commanded Moses to make with the people of Israel in the land of Moab, besides the covenant that he had made with them at Horeb.
  20. Cross References
    Deuteronomy 4:32 - 35
    For ask now of the days that are past, which we...
    Joshua 6:20
    So the people shouted, and the trumpets were bl...
    Joshua 10:12 - 13
    At that time Joshua spoke to the Lord in the da...
    2 Samuel 7:23
    And who is like your people Israel, the one nat...
    Psalms 77:14
    You are the God who works wonders; you have mad...
    Psalms 78:12
    In the sight of their fathers he performed wond...
  21. Cross References
    Deuteronomy 10:21
    He is your praise. He is your God, who has done for you these great and terrifying things that your eyes have seen.
    Psalms 145:6
    They shall speak of the might of your awesome deeds, and I will declare your greatness.
    Isaiah 64:3
    When you did awesome things that we did not look for, you came down, the mountains quaked at your presence.
  22. Cross References
    Exodus 13:5
    And when the Lord brings you into the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, which he swore to your fathers to give you, a land flowing with milk and honey, you shall keep this service in this month.
  23. Cross References
    Exodus 23:32
    You shall make no covenant with them and their gods.
    Deuteronomy 7:2
    And when the Lord your God gives them over to you, and you defeat them, then you must devote them to complete destruction. You shall make no covenant with them and show no mercy to them.
    Joshua 23:12 - 13
    For if you turn back and cling to the remnant of these nations remaining among you and make marriages with them, so that you associate with them and they with you.
    Judges 2:2
    And you shall make no covenant with the inhabitants of this land; you shall break down their altars.' But you have not obeyed my voice. What is this you have done?
  24. Cross References
    Exodus 23:33
    They shall not dwell in your land, lest they make you sin against me; for if you serve their gods, it will surely be a snare to you.
  25. Cross References
    Deuteronomy 7:5
    But thus shall you deal with them: you shall break down their altars and dash in pieces their pillars and chop down their Asherim and burn their carved images with fire.
    Deuteronomy 12:3
    You shall tear down their altars and dash in pieces their pillars and burn their Asherim with fire. You shall chop down the carved images of their gods and destroy their name out of that place.
    Judges 2:2
    And you shall make no covenant with the inhabitants of this land; you shall break down their altars.' But you have not obeyed my voice. What is this you have done?
    Judges 6:25
    That night the Lord said to him, "Take your father's bull, and the second bull seven years old, and pull down the altar of Baal that your father has, and cut down the Asherah that is beside it
    2 Chronicles 34:3 - 4
    For in the eighth year of his reign, while he was yet a boy, he began to seek the God of David his father, and in the twelfth year he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem of the high places, the Asherim, and the carved and the metal images.
  26. Cross References
    Exodus 23:24
    You shall not bow down to their gods nor serve them, nor do as they do, but you shall utterly overthrow them and break their pillars in pieces.
    2 Kings 18:4
    He removed the high places and broke the pillars and cut down the Asherah. And he broke in pieces the bronze serpent that Moses had made, for until those days the people of Israel had made offerings to it (it was called Nehushtan).
    2 Kings 23:14
    And he broke in pieces the pillars and cut down the Asherim and filled their places with the bones of men.
    2 Chronicles 31:1
    Now when all this was finished, all Israel who were present went out to the cities of Judah and broke in pieces the pillars and cut down the Asherim and broke down the high places and the altars throughout all Judah and Benjamin, and in Ephraim and Manasseh, until they had destroyed them all. Then all the people of Israel returned to their cities, every man to his possession.
  27. Cross References
    Deuteronomy 16:21
    You shall not plant any tree as an Asherah beside the altar of the Lord your God that you shall make.
  28. Cross References
    Exodus 20:3
    You shall have no other gods before me.
    Exodus 20:5
    You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me.
  29. Cross References
    Exodus 34:12
    Take care, lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land to which you go, lest it become a snare in your midst.
  30. Cross References
    Leviticus 17:7
    So they shall no more sacrifice their sacrifice...
    Leviticus 20:5
    Then I will set my face against that man and ag...
    Deuteronomy 31:16
    And the Lord said to Moses, "Behold, you are ab...
    Judges 2:17
    Yet they did not listen to their judges, for th...
    Jeremiah 3:9
    Because she took her whoredom lightly, she poll...
    Ezekiel 6:9
    Then those of you who escape will remember me a...
  31. Cross References
    Numbers 25:2
    These invited the people to the sacrifices of t...
    Psalms 106:28
    Then they yoked themselves to the Baal of Peor,...
    1 Corinthians 8:4
    Therefore, as to the eating of food offered to ...
    1 Corinthians 8:7
    However, not all possess this knowledge. But so...
    1 Corinthians 8:10
    For if anyone sees you who have knowledge eatin...
    1 Corinthians 10:27
    If one of the unbelievers invites you to dinner...
  32. Cross References
    Deuteronomy 7:3 - 4
    You shall not intermarry with them, giving your daughters to their sons or taking their daughters for your sons.
    1 Kings 11:2
    From the nations concerning which the Lord had said to the people of Israel, "You shall not enter into marriage with them, neither shall they with you, for surely they will turn away your heart after their gods." Solomon clung to these in love.
    Ezra 9:2
    For they have taken some of their daughters to be wives for themselves and for their sons, so that the holy race has mixed itself with the peoples of the lands. And in this faithlessness the hand of the officials and chief men has been foremost.
    Nehemiah 13:25
    And I confronted them and cursed them and beat some of them and pulled out their hair. And I made them take oath in the name of God, saying, "You shall not give your daughters to their sons, or take their daughters for your sons or for yourselves.
  33. Cross References
    Exodus 34:15
    Lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, and when they whore after their gods and sacrifice to their gods and you are invited, you eat of his sacrifice.
  34. Cross References
    Leviticus 19:4
    Do not turn to idols or make for yourselves any gods of cast metal: I am the Lord your God.
    Deuteronomy 27:15
    "'Cursed be the man who makes a carved or cast metal image, an abomination to the Lord, a thing made by the hands of a craftsman, and sets it up in secret.' And all the people shall answer and say, 'Amen.'
    Exodus 32:4
    And he received the gold from their hand and fashioned it with a graving tool and made a golden calf. And they said, "These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!
    Exodus 32:8
    They have turned aside quickly out of the way that I commanded them. They have made for themselves a golden calf and have worshiped it and sacrificed to it and said, 'These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!'
  35. Cross References
    Exodus 12:15
    Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread. On the first day you shall remove leaven out of your houses, for if anyone eats what is leavened, from the first day until the seventh day, that person shall be cut off from Israel.
  36. Cross References
    Exodus 13:4
    Today, in the month of Abib, you are going out.
  37. Cross References
    Exodus 13:2
    "Consecrate to me all the firstborn. Whatever is the first to open the womb among the people of Israel, both of man and of beast, is mine."
  38. Cross References
    Exodus 13:13
    Every firstborn of a donkey you shall redeem with a lamb, or if you will not redeem it you shall break its neck. Every firstborn of man among your sons you shall redeem.
    Numbers 18:15
    Everything that opens the womb of all flesh, whether man or beast, which they offer to the Lord, shall be yours. Nevertheless, the firstborn of man you shall redeem, and the firstborn of unclean animals you shall redeem.
  39. Cross References
    Exodus 23:15
    You shall keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread. As I commanded you, you shall eat unleavened bread for seven days at the appointed time in the month of Abib, for in it you came out of Egypt. None shall appear before me empty-handed.
    Deuteronomy 16:16
    Three times a year all your males shall appear before the Lord your God at the place that he will choose: at the Feast of Unleavened Bread, at the Feast of Weeks, and at the Feast of Booths. They shall not appear before the Lord empty-handed.
  40. Cross References
    Exodus 20:9
    Six days you shall labor, and do all your work.
  41. Cross References
    Exodus 23:16
    You shall keep the Feast of Harvest, of the firstfruits of your labor, of what you sow in the field. You shall keep the Feast of Ingathering at the end of the year, when you gather in from the field the fruit of your labor.
    Deuteronomy 16:10
    Then you shall keep the Feast of Weeks to the Lord your God with the tribute of a freewill offering from your hand, which you shall give as the Lord your God blesses you.
    Deuteronomy 16:13
    You shall keep the Feast of Booths seven days, when you have gathered in the produce from your threshing floor and your winepress.
  42. Cross References
    Exodus 23:14
    Three times in the year you shall keep a feast to me.
    Exodus 23:17
    Three times in the year shall all your males appear before the Lord God.
    Deuteronomy 16:16
    Three times a year all your males shall appear before the Lord your God at the place that he will choose: at the Feast of Unleavened Bread, at the Feast of Weeks, and at the Feast of Booths. They shall not appear before the Lord empty-handed.
  43. Cross References
    Exodus 33:2
    I will send an angel before you, and I will drive out the Canaanites, the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites.
    Deuteronomy 7:1
    When the Lord your God brings you into the land that you are entering to take possession of it, and clears away many nations before you, the Hittites, the Girgashites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, seven nations more numerous and mightier than yourselves.
    Psalms 78:55
    He drove out nations before them; he apportioned them for a possession and settled the tribes of Israel in their tents.
    Psalms 80:8
    You brought a vine out of Egypt; you drove out the nations and planted it.
    Exodus 23:27 - 31
    I will send my terror before you and will throw into confusion all the people against whom you shall come, and I will make all your enemies turn their backs to you.
  44. Cross References
    Deuteronomy 12:20
    When the Lord your God enlarges your territory, as he has promised you, and you say, 'I will eat meat,' because you crave meat, you may eat meat whenever you desire.
    Deuteronomy 19:8
    And if the Lord your God enlarges your territory, as he has sworn to your fathers, and gives you all the land that he promised to give to your fathers -
  45. Cross References
    Proverbs 16:7
    When a man's ways please the Lord, he makes even his enemies to be at peace with him.
  46. Cross References
    Exodus 12:8
    They shall eat the flesh that night, roasted on the fire; with unleavened bread and bitter herbs they shall eat it.
  47. Cross References
    Exodus 12:10
    And you shall let none of it remain until the morning; anything that remains until the morning you shall burn.
  48. Cross References
    Exodus 23:19
    The best of the firstfruits of your ground you shall bring into the house of the Lord your God. "You shall not boil a young goat in its mother's milk.
  49. Cross References
    Deuteronomy 14:21
    You shall not eat anything that has died naturally. You may give it to the sojourner who is within your towns, that he may eat it, or you may sell it to a foreigner. For you are a people holy to the Lord your God. "You shall not boil a young goat in its mother's milk.
  50. Cross References
    Exodus 34:10
    And he said, "Behold, I am making a covenant. Before all your people I will do marvels, such as have not been created in all the earth or in any nation. And all the people among whom you are shall see the work of the Lord, for it is an awesome thing that I will do with you.
  51. Cross References
    Exodus 24:18
    Moses entered the cloud and went up on the mountain. And Moses was on the mountain forty days and forty nights.
  52. Cross References
    Exodus 34:1
    The Lord said to Moses, "Cut for yourself two t...
    Exodus 31:18
    And he gave to Moses, when he had finished spea...
    Exodus 32:16
    The tablets were the work of God, and the writi...
    Deuteronomy 4:13
    And he declared to you his covenant, which he c...
    Deuteronomy 10:2
    And I will write on the tablets the words that ...
    Deuteronomy 10:4
    And he wrote on the tablets, in the same writin...
  53. Cross References
    Exodus 32:15
    Then Moses turned and went down from the mountain with the two tablets of the testimony in his hand, tablets that were written on both sides; on the front and on the back they were written.
  54. Cross References
    2 Corinthians 3:7
    Now if the ministry of death, carved in letters on stone, came with such glory that the Israelites could not gaze at Moses' face because of its glory, which was being brought to an end.
    Matthew 17:2
    And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became white as light.
  55. Cross References
    Exodus 34:29
    When Moses came down from Mount Sinai, with the two tablets of the testimony in his hand as he came down from the mountain, Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone because he had been talking with God.
  56. Cross References
    Exodus 24:3
    Moses came and told the people all the words of the Lord and all the rules. And all the people answered with one voice and said, "All the words that the Lord has spoken we will do.
  57. Cross References
    2 Corinthians 3:13
    Not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face so that the Israelites might not gaze at the outcome of what was being brought to an end.
  58. Cross References
    2 Corinthians 3:16
    But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed.
  59. Cross References
    Exodus 34:29
    When Moses came down from Mount Sinai, with the two tablets of the testimony in his hand as he came down from the mountain, Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone because he had been talking with God.
English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers.
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