How God Made the Slaves Free

H. and A. Bradshaw

A word list at the end explains words with a *star by them.

About Exodus

Chapter 1

v1 The sons of *Israel went to Egypt with Jacob. Each one went with his family. Here are their names:

v2 Reuben, Simeon, Levi and Judah, v3 Issachar, Zebulun and Benjamin, v4 Dan, Naphtali, Gad and Asher. Joseph was already in Egypt. v5 There were 70 people in Jacob?s family.

v6 After some time, Joseph died and his brothers also died. All the people who had lived during Joseph?s life died. v7 But the *Israelites had lots of children and they grew into a very large family. There were so many of them that they filled the country.

v8 After some more time had passed, a new king began to rule in Egypt. He did not know anything about Joseph. v9 He said to his people, ?Look! The *Israelites have become too many for us. v10 We must be very careful. If we do nothing, even more of them will be born. Then, if there is a war they will join our enemies. The enemies and the *Israelites will fight against us and then the *Israelites will leave the country.?

v11 So the *Egyptians made the *Israelites work as slaves. Their masters made life difficult for the *Israelites. They made the *Israelites work for *Pharaoh, to build cities. The names of the cities were Pithom and Rameses. They were cities in which the *Egyptians stored food.

v12 The *Egyptians made life more difficult for the *Israelites but the *Israelites became more in number. They had many children and they lived in every part of the country. Because of this, the *Egyptians began to be afraid of them. v13 So the *Egyptians made the *Israelites work without any rest. v14 The *Egyptians made the lives of the *Israelites very sad because of their work. The *Israelites worked with *bricks and *mortar. They also did many different jobs in the fields. The *Egyptians were cruel. They made the *Israelites do all this difficult work.

v15 There were two *Israelite women who helped the other *Israelite women at the birth of their children. These two women were called Shiphrah and Puah. The King of Egypt spoke to them. He said: v16 ?When you help the *Israelite women at the birth of their children, do this:

If they have a baby boy, kill him.

If they have a baby girl, let her live.?

v17 But the two women did not obey the king of Egypt. They obeyed God and they let the boys live. v18 Then the King of Egypt caused the two women to come to him. He asked them: ?Why have you done this? Why have you let the boys live?? v19 The two women answered Pharaoh. They said, ?*Israelite women are not like *Egyptian women. *Israelite women are very strong. Their babies are born very quickly, before we arrive at the house.?

v20 Because of this, God was kind to the two women. The people grew in number and they became very strong. v21 Because the two women obeyed God, he gave them families of their own.

v22 Then Pharaoh spoke to his people. He said: ?When an *Israelite boy is born, you must throw him in the river. But you can let the baby girls live.?

Chapter 2

The birth of Moses

v1 At this time, there was an *Israelite man who belonged to the big family of Levi. He married a woman who also belonged to that big family. v2 A baby boy was born. His mother saw that he was a very beautiful baby. So she hid him for three months. v3 Then the woman could not continue to hide him. So she took a basket that someone had made from dry river grass. She painted the basket with sticky black paint, to keep the water out of it. The mother put her baby in the basket. Then she put the basket on the edge of the river, among the river grasses.

v4 The baby?s sister stood not very far away. She wanted to see what would happen to the baby.

v5 Now the daughter of *Pharaoh came to wash in the river. And her servant girls walked by the edge of the river. Then *Pharaoh?s daughter saw the basket among the river grasses. So she sent one of her servant girls to fetch it. v6 When *Pharaoh?s daughter opened the basket, she saw the baby. He was crying and she was sorry for him. She said: ?This is one of the *Israelite children.? v7 Then the baby?s sister spoke to *Pharaoh?s daughter. She said, ?Do you want me to fetch one of the *Israelite women? She can *nurse this baby for you.?

v8 *Pharaoh?s daughter said: ?Yes, do that.? So the girl went and she called the baby?s mother. v9 *Pharaoh?s daughter spoke to the baby?s mother. She said: ?Take this baby away and *nurse him for me. I will pay you to do this.? So the woman took the baby and she *nursed him. v10 When the baby was older, his mother brought him to *Pharaoh?s daughter. He became her son and she called him Moses. She said: ?I will call him Moses because I pulled him out of the water.?

Moses runs away to Midian

v11 Many years later, Moses grew to be a man. At that time, he went out to look at the *Israelites. He knew that he was an *Israelite too. He saw them as they worked without any rest. Then he saw an *Egyptian who was hitting an *Israelite. Yes, the *Egyptian was hitting someone from Moses? own country! v12 Moses looked in every direction. He saw nobody near. Then Moses killed the *Egyptian and he hid his dead body in the sand. v13 Moses went out again the next day and he saw two *Israelites. They were fighting together. Moses spoke to the man who was hurting the other man. He said to him: ?Why are you hitting your friend??

v14 The man answered: ?You should not be a ruler and a *judge over us. Perhaps you are going to kill me, as you killed the *Egyptian.? Then Moses was afraid. He said to himself: ?People know what I have done!? v15 Then someone told *Pharaoh about it. *Pharaoh tried to kill Moses. But Moses ran away from *Pharaoh. He went to the country called Midian and he stayed there. Moses sat down by a well in the country called Midian.

v16 Now the *priest of Midian had 7 daughters. These 7 girls came to get water out of the well. They filled the long stone dishes with water so that their father?s animals could drink. v17 But the *shepherds who lived in that place arrived. They made the girls go away. So Moses stood up and he helped the 7 girls. He gave water to their animals.

v18 When the girls came to Reuel, their father, he asked them a question. He said: ?Why have you come home so soon today??

v19 They answered: ?An *Egyptian saved us from the *shepherds. He also took water out of the well and he gave it to the animals.? v20 Reuel said to his daughters, ?Where is the man? You should not have left him there. Ask him to come here so that he can eat bread with us.? v21 Moses was happy to stay with Reuel. Reuel gave his daughter Zipporah to Moses as his wife. v22 After several months, Zipporah gave birth to a baby boy. Moses called the boy Gershom. He called him that because he said: ?I have been a stranger in a foreign country.?

v23 After a long time had passed, the king of Egypt died. The *Israelites were very sad because they were slaves. They shouted aloud for help from God. v24 God heard them crying because they were slaves. He remembered his promise to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. v25 So God looked at the *Israelites. He knew that they needed his help.

Chapter 3

Moses and the burning bush

v1 Moses fed the animals of Jethro the *priest of Midian and he kept them safely. Jethro was his wife?s father (the same person as Reuel). Moses led the animals to the far side of the *desert. He came to Horeb, the mountain of God.

v2 There the *angel of the *Lord showed himself to Moses. The *angel looked like a fire that was burning in the middle of a bush. Moses looked at the bush and he saw that it was on fire. The bush was burning but the fire still did not destroy it. v3 Moses said to himself: ?I will go and see this strange thing. I want to see why the bush is not burned.?

v4 Then the *Lord saw that Moses came to see the bush. And God called to Moses from inside the bush: ?Moses! Moses!? Moses answered: ?Here I am.?

v5 God said to Moses: ?Do not come near this place. Remove your shoes from your feet. The place where you stand is *holy ground.? v6 Then God said: ?I am the God of your fathers. I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.? Then Moses hid his face. He was afraid to look at God.

v7 Then the *Lord said: ?I have certainly seen the troubles of my people in Egypt. I have heard that they cry because of their slave masters. I know how sad they are. v8 So I have come down to save them from the *Egyptians. I will bring them from Egypt to another country. It will be a good country and a wide country. There will be a lot of good food and drink, enough for everyone. It is the place where all these *nations live now: the *Canaanites, the *Hittites, the *Amorites, the *Perizzites, the *Hivites and the *Jebusites. v9 And now I have heard *Israel?s people cry. I have seen how the *Egyptians do bad things to them. v10 Now go! I will send you to Pharaoh. You will lead my people, the *Israelites, out of Egypt.?

v11 But Moses said to God: ?I am not an important person. I cannot go to Pharaoh. I cannot lead the *Israelites out of Egypt!?

v12 God said to Moses: ?I will be with you. After you have led the people out of Egypt you will *worship me on this mountain. That will show people that I have sent you.?

v13 Then Moses answered God. He said: ?If I go to the *Israelites, they will ask me a question. I shall say: ?The God of your fathers has sent me to you.? But then they will ask me, ?What is God?s name?? What then shall I say to them??

v14 God said to Moses: ?I am who I am! Say to the *Israelites: ?I AM has sent me to you.? ?

v15 God also said to Moses: ?Say this to the *Israelites: ?This is the God who has sent me to you. He is the *Lord, the God of your fathers. He is the God of Abraham. He is the God of Isaac and Jacob.? This is my name for all time. People will always remember me by this name.

v16 Go and bring together the leaders of *Israel. Say to them, ?God has shown himself to me. He is the *Lord and the God of your fathers. He is the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. God said to me: ?I have watched you *Israelites in Egypt. I have seen what the *Egyptians have done to you. v17 I have promised that I will bring you out of your difficult life in Egypt. I will bring you into the country of the *Canaanites, the *Hittites, the *Amorites, the *Perizzites, the *Hivites and the *Jebusites. It is a country with more than enough good food and drink.? ?

v18 The leaders of the*Israelites will listen to you. Then you must go with them to the king of Egypt. Say to him: ?The *Lord, the God of the *Israelites has met with us. Please let us go on a journey of three days, into the *desert. We must *worship the *Lord our God there.? v19 I know that the king of Egypt will not want to let you go. He will only let you go if someone more powerful than himself causes him to obey.

v20 So I will show him my powerful authority. I will cause very strange and bad things to happen to Egypt. I will do great and powerful things to that country. After that, Pharaoh will let you go.

v21 And I will cause the *Egyptians to think good things about the *Israelites. So when you go, they will give you many gifts. v22 Each *Israelite woman must ask for gifts from the *Egyptian women. They must ask the *Egyptian women who live near them. They must also ask those who live with them in their houses. They must ask for *silver things and gold things. They must also ask for expensive clothes. You must dress your sons and your daughters in these clothes. In this way, you will take everything valuable away from the *Egyptians.?

Chapter 4

God shows Moses some strange things

v1 Then Moses answered: ?But perhaps the leaders of Israel will not believe me. Perhaps they will not listen to my voice. Perhaps they will say: ?The *Lord did not show himself to you.? ?

v2 Then the *Lord said to Moses: ?What is that thing in your hand?? Moses answered: ?It is a stick.?

v3 The *Lord said: ?Throw it on the ground.? So Moses threw it on the ground. Then the stick became a snake and Moses ran from the snake! v4 But the *Lord said to Moses: ?Put out your hand and catch the snake by the tail.? So Moses put out his hand and he caught the snake. Then it became a stick in his hand again. v5 God said, ?Do this, and they will believe you. They will believe that the *Lord has shown himself to you. It is the *Lord, who is the God of their fathers. It is the *Lord, who is the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.?

v6 Then the *Lord said to Moses: ?Put your hand inside your clothes, near to your heart.? So Moses did this. When he took his hand out again, it had become as white as snow. It was like the hand of a man who had the illness called *leprosy.

v7 Then God said: ?Put your hand back inside your clothes, near to your heart.? So Moses did that. And when he took his hand out, it was well again. It was the same as the other parts of his body.

v8 God said, ?They may not believe you. They may not think that the first *sign is important. But they may still believe the second *sign. v9 But if they will not believe the two *signs, you can do something else. If they do not listen to you, then take some water from the River Nile. Pour it on the dry ground. The water that you take from the river will become blood on the ground.?

v10 But Moses said to the *Lord: ?Oh Master, I cannot speak well. I could not speak well before. And I cannot speak well now, since you have spoken to me. I speak slowly and I speak with difficulty.?

v11 Then the *Lord said to Moses: ?Who has made human mouths? Who makes a person that cannot speak? Who makes a person that cannot hear? Who makes a person that cannot see? Who makes a person that can see? It is I, the *Lord, who does all these things. v12 Now go! I will help you to speak. I will teach you what to say.?

v13 But Moses said, ?Oh Master, please send some other person.?

v14 Then the *Lord became angry with Moses. He said: ?Aaron, the *Levite, is your brother. I know that he can speak well. And he is coming to meet you. When Aaron sees you he will be very happy. v15 Then you must speak to him. You must tell him what to say. I will help both of you to speak. And I will teach you what you must do. v16 Aaron will speak to the people for you. You will be like God to him. You will tell Aaron what to say. v17 Take this stick with you. You will use this stick to do the *signs.?

Moses returns to Egypt

v18 Then Moses went back to Jethro, his wife?s father. Moses said to Jethro: ?Please let me return to my family in Egypt. I must see if they are still alive.? So Jethro said to Moses: ?Go in peace.?

v19 The *Lord had said to Moses while he was still in Midian: ?Go back to Egypt. All the men who tried to kill you are now dead.? v20 So Moses put his wife and his sons on a *donkey and they started on the journey back to Egypt. And Moses carried the stick of God in his hand.

v21 Then the *Lord said to Moses: ?When you return to Egypt you must do the *signs. Do all the *signs that I gave you the power to do. Do them in front of Pharaoh. But I will make Pharaoh angry and cruel. Because of this, he will not let the people go.

v22 Then you must speak to Pharaoh. You must say: ?The *Lord says, ?*Israel is my first son. v23 I have already said to you: ?Let my son go so that he can *worship me.? But if you refuse to let him go, I will kill your first son.? ? ?

v24 On the way to Egypt, there was a house where people can rest on their journey. God met Moses there and God was going to kill him. v25 But Zipporah took a sharp stone and she cut off her son?s *foreskin with the stone. Then Zipporah threw the *foreskin at Moses? feet. She said: ?You are a husband of blood to me.? v26 So God did not do anything bad to Moses. Then Zipporah said to Moses: ?You are a husband of blood, because of this *circumcision.?

v27 The *Lord said to Aaron: ?Go into the *desert to meet Moses.? So Aaron went. He met Moses at the mountain of God and he kissed him. v28 Then Moses told Aaron all that the *Lord had told him to say. He also told Aaron about all the special *signs. God had *commanded Moses to show these signs to the *Israelites and to Pharaoh.

v29 Then Moses and Aaron went to Egypt. They brought together all the leaders of the *Israelites. v30 Aaron told them all the things that God had said to Moses. Then Moses did the *signs in front of the people. v31 And the people believed Aaron and Moses. They put their heads down and they *worshipped God. They had heard that God had come to his people. God had seen their hard life and he was sorry for them. That is why they *worshipped God.

Chapter 5

Moses and Aaron speak to Pharaoh

v1 After this, Moses and Aaron went to visit Pharaoh. They said to him: ?Listen to what the *Lord says. He is the God of *Israel. He says, ?Let my people go. Let them prepare a party for me in the *desert.? ?

v2 But Pharaoh said: ?I do not know the *Lord. I do not know why I should obey his voice. I do not know why I should let the *Israelites go. I do not know the *Lord. Neither will I let the *Israelites go.?

v3 Moses and Aaron said: ?The God of the *Israelites has met us. Please let us go. We must go on a journey of three days into the *desert. There we must give gifts to the *Lord our God. If we do not do this, God may attack us with illness. Or he may use soldiers to attack us.?

v4 But the king of Egypt said: ?Moses and Aaron, you must not take the people away from their work! Go back to your jobs!? v5 And Pharaoh said: ?Look, there are now many people in the country. But you stop them doing their work.?

v6 On that day, Pharaoh gave a *command to the masters of the slaves. He also gave the *command to the leaders of the work. v7 This was the *command: ?Do not give the people any more *straw with which to make *bricks. They must find their own *straw. v8 But they must still make the same number of *bricks as before. Do not let the amount become smaller. They are lazy. That is why they ask to go. They say: ?Let us go to give gifts to our God.? v9 So you must cause them to work harder. They will then be too busy to listen to false words.?

v10 So the slaves? masters and the leaders of the work went to the people. They said to them: ?Pharaoh says: ?I will not give you *straw. v11 You must find your own *straw, where you can. But you will still have to make the same number of *bricks.? ? v12 So the people went everywhere in the land of Egypt, to get *straw from the fields. v13 The slaves? masters made the *Israelites work fast. They said: ?Finish your work for each day, as when you had *straw.? v14 Pharaoh?s slave masters hit the leaders who had authority over the people. They said to them: ?Why have you not made as many *bricks today, as you did before??

v15 Then the *Israelite leaders went to Pharaoh. They asked him: ?Why do you do these things to us, your servants? v16 Our masters do not give us any *straw. But they say ?Make *bricks!? Then they hit us. But it is your people that are doing wrong things.?

v17 But Pharaoh said: ?You are lazy! You are only lazy! That is why you say: ?Let us go. Let us take gifts to the *Lord.? v18 Now go and do your work. Nobody will give you any *straw. But you must make the same number of *bricks.?

v19 The *Israelite leaders heard Pharaoh say: ?You must make the same number of *bricks as you made before.? Then they knew that they were in bad trouble. v20 Then the *Israelite leaders met with Moses and Aaron. Moses and Aaron were waiting for them to return from Pharaoh. v21 And the leaders spoke to Moses and Aaron. They said: ?We hope that the *Lord will look at you. We hope that the Lord will *judge you! You have made us like a bad smell to Pharaoh and to his servants. You have given them a reason to kill us.?

v22 Then Moses returned to the *Lord. He said: ?Oh Master, why have you done bad things to this people? Why did you send me to them? v23 I came to speak in your name. But since I spoke to Pharaoh, he has done only bad things to the people. And you have done nothing to save your people.?

Chapter 6

God promises to save the *Israelites

v1 Then the *Lord spoke to Moses. He said: ?Now you will see what I will do to Pharaoh. Because of my powerful *signs, he will let my people go. Because of my powerful *signs, he will *command them to leave his country.?

v2 And God said to Moses: ?I am the *Lord. v3 I showed myself to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob, as God *Almighty. But I did not let them know me by my name, the *Lord. v4 I also made my special promise to them. I promised to give them the country of Canaan. I promised to give them the country where they had lived as foreign people. v5 And I have heard the *Israelites when they cry. They cry because the *Egyptians cause them to live as slaves. I have remembered my special promise. v6 So you must say this to the *Israelites. ?I am the *Lord. I will remove you from the authority of the *Egyptians. You will not be their slaves again. I will bring you back to myself by my powerful authority. I will *judge the *Egyptians by the great things that I will do. v7 I will make you my own people and I will be your God. Then you will know that I am the *Lord. I am your God who saved you from the authority of the *Egyptians. v8 And I will bring you to another country. I made a very serious promise to give that other country to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob. I will give it to you and it will be your own country. I am the *Lord.? ?

v9 Moses reported these words to the *Israelites. But they did not listen to him, because their *Egyptian masters were so cruel to them. They refused to hope for good things. Their *Egyptian masters had broken their *spirits and made them very sad.

v10 Then the *Lord said to Moses: v11 ?Go and speak to Pharaoh, king of Egypt. Tell him that he must let the *Israelites go out of his country.? v12 But Moses said to the *Lord: ?Look! Even the *Israelites have not listened to me. So why should Pharaoh listen to me? My lips are unable to speak good words from God.?

v13 Then the *Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron about the *Israelites and about Pharaoh, the king of Egypt. He *commanded Moses and Aaron to lead the *Israelites out of the country called Egypt.

The *Ancestors of Moses and Aaron

v14 These were the leaders of the whole families:

The sons of Reuben, *Israel?s oldest son: Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron and Carmi. These were Reuben?s families.

v15 The sons of Simeon: Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jachin, Zohar and Shaul. Shaul was the son of a *Canaanite woman. These were Simeon?s families.

v16 These are the names of the sons of Levi from the oldest to the youngest: Gershon, Kohath and Merari. Levi lived for 137 years.

v17 The sons of Gershon and their families: Libni and Shimei.

v18 The sons of Kohath: Amram, Izhar, Hebron and Uzziel. Kohath lived for 133 years.

v19 The sons of Merari: Mahli and Mushi.

These were the families of Levi from the oldest to the youngest.

v20 Amram married Jochebed, his father?s sister. Aaron and Moses were their sons. Amram lived for 137 years.

v21 The sons of Izhar: Korah, Nepheg and Sithri.

v22 The sons of Uzziel: Mishael, Elzaphan and Sithri.

v23 Aaron married Elisheba. She was the daughter of Amminadab and the sister of Nahshon. Elisheba?s children were: Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar.

v24 The sons of Korah: Assir, Elkanah and Abiasaph. These are the families of people from Korah.

v25 Eleazar, Aaron?s son, married one of Putiel?s daughters. Phinehas was their son.

These were the leaders of the families of the *Levites.

v26 This Aaron and Moses are the same men to whom the *Lord spoke. He said: ?Lead the *Israelites out of the country of Egypt. Lead them out as an army of people.? v27 Yes, it was the same Moses and Aaron who spoke to Pharaoh, king of Egypt. They told him that the *Israelites would leave Egypt.

Aaron will speak for Moses

v28 When the *Lord spoke to Moses in the country of Egypt, v29 he said, ?I am the *Lord. Tell Pharaoh, King of Egypt, everything that I tell you.? v30 Then Moses said: ?Look, my lips are unable to speak good words from God. Why should Pharaoh listen to me??

Chapter 7

v1 Then the *Lord said to Moses: ?Look, I have made you like God to Pharaoh. And your brother Aaron will be your *prophet. v2 You must say everything that I *command you. Your brother Aaron must *command Pharaoh to let the *Israelites go. Pharaoh must let them go out of his country.?

v3 ?But I will make Pharaoh angry and cruel. He will refuse to listen to you. I will do even more great *signs and strange things in the country called Egypt. v4 But Pharaoh will refuse to listen to you. Then I will show my authority to Egypt. And I will remove my army, my people the *Israelites, out of the country called Egypt. I will lead them out with powerful authority. v5 Then the *Egyptians will know that I am the *Lord. They will know this when I *judge Egypt. They will know it when I lead the *Israelites out of Egypt.?

Moses? stick becomes a snake

v6 So Moses and Aaron obeyed all the *commands of the *Lord. v7 Now Moses was 80 years old when he spoke to Pharaoh. And Aaron was 83 years old.

v8 Then the *Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron. He said:

v9 ?Pharaoh will say: ?Show me one of your special *signs.? Then you must say to Aaron: ?Take your stick and throw it down in front of Pharaoh. It will become a snake.? ?

v10 So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh. They did everything that the *Lord had *commanded them. Aaron threw down his stick in front of Pharaoh and his servants. And the stick became a snake! v11 Then Pharaoh *commanded his clever men to come in. These men, the *magicians of Egypt, did the same thing as Aaron. They did it by their bad, powerful authority. v12 Each *magician threw down his stick and it became a snake. But Aaron?s stick ate their sticks! v13 But still Pharaoh felt angry and cruel. He refused to listen to Moses and Aaron. This was what the *Lord had said would happen.

Moses makes water into blood

v14 Then the *Lord said to Moses: ?There is no change in Pharaoh?s thoughts. He refuses to let the people go. v15 Go to Pharaoh in the morning as he goes to the river. Wait for him by the edge of the river. Then take in your hand the stick that became a snake. v16 Then say to him: ?The *Lord, the God of the *Israelites has sent me to you. The *Lord says: ?Let my people go. Let them *worship me in the *desert.? But until now, you have not listened. v17 So this is what the *Lord says: ?In this way, you will know that I am the *Lord. Moses will hit the water with the stick that is in his hand. And the water will become blood. v18 And the fish in the water will die. And the river will have a very bad smell. Then the *Egyptians will not want to drink the water from the river.? ? ?

v19 And the *Lord said to Moses: ?Say to Aaron: ?Take your stick. Lift up your hand over the waters of Egypt. Lift it up over their rivers and their streams. Lift it up over their ponds and pools of water. They will all become blood. There will be blood in every part of the country called Egypt. There will be blood in all the stone pots. There will be blood also in every bucket that men have made from wood.? ?

v20 Moses and Aaron obeyed the *Lord. Aaron lifted up the stick in front of Pharaoh and his servants. He hit the water in the river with the stick. Then all the water in the river became blood. v21 The fish in the river died. The river became bad and the *Egyptians could not drink its water. There was blood in every part of the country called Egypt.

v22 But the *magicians of Egypt did the same thing by their bad powerful authority. So there was no change in Pharaoh?s thoughts. He still refused to listen to Moses and Aaron. The *Lord had said that this would happen. v23 Pharaoh turned and he went away into his house. He did not think about what had happened. v24 And the *Egyptians dug holes near the river to find water to drink. They could not drink the water from the river itself.

v25 Seven days went by after the *Lord had made the water in the river into blood.

Chapter 8

Moses and Aaron bring *frogs out of the water

v1 The *Lord said to Moses: ?Go to Pharaoh and say to him: ?These are the words of the *Lord. Let my people go. Let them *worship me. v2 But if you do not let them go, I will send thousands of *frogs into your country.

v3 The river will be full of *frogs. The *frogs will come into your house. They will jump into your bed. They will come into the houses of your servants. They will come into the houses of your people. They will jump into the hot places where you cook your food. They will jump into the dishes where you mix your flour and water.

v4 The *frogs will jump up on you. They will jump up on your people and on all your servants.? ?

v5 Then the *Lord said to Moses: ?Say to Aaron: ?Take your stick in your hand. Then raise your hand. Lift it up over the rivers, the streams and the pools. You will cause *frogs to come up over the whole country of Egypt.? ?

v6 So Aaron lifted up his hand over the waters of Egypt. Then the *frogs came up over the whole country of Egypt.

v7 But the *magicians did the same thing by their bad powerful authority. They also made *frogs come up on the country of Egypt.

v8 Then Pharaoh *commanded Moses and Aaron to come to him. He said: ?Ask the *Lord to remove the *frogs from me and from my people. Then I will let your people go. They can *sacrifice to the *Lord.? v9 Moses said to Pharaoh: ?You can choose the time when I will speak to God. Then I will ask God to do this for you, for your servants and for your people. I will ask God to remove the *frogs from you and from your house. The *frogs will remain only in the river.?

v10 And Pharaoh said: ?Do it tomorrow.?

Moses answered: ?It will be as you say. Then you will know that there is nobody like the *Lord our God. v11 The *frogs will leave you and your house. They will leave the houses of your servants and your people. They will remain only in the river.?

v12 So Moses and Aaron left Pharaoh. Then Moses prayed to the *Lord about the *frogs that he had brought on Pharaoh. v13 And the *Lord did what Moses asked. The *frogs died in the houses, in the yards and in the fields. v14 The people swept the *frogs together and there was a very bad smell over the whole country. v15 But when Pharaoh saw that the *frogs were dead, he became angry again. He refused to listen to Moses and Aaron. The *Lord had said that this would happen.

The *gnats arrive

v16 Then the *Lord said to Moses: ?Say to Aaron, ?Lift up your stick and hit the dirt on the ground. It will become *gnats in the whole country of Egypt.? ?

v17 Moses and Aaron obeyed God. Aaron lifted up his hand and he hit the dirt with his stick. Then *gnats flew on to all the people and on to all the animals. The dirt on the ground became *gnats through the whole country of Egypt. v18 Then the *magicians tried to make *gnats by their bad powerful authority. But they could not do it. And the *gnats were on all the people and on all the animals.

v19 Then the *magicians said to Pharaoh: ?This is the work of God.? But there was no change in Pharaoh?s thoughts. He would not listen to the *magicians. God had said that this would happen.

The flies arrive

v20 Then the *Lord said to Moses: ?Get up early in the morning. Meet Pharaoh when he goes out to the water. Then say to him: ?The *Lord says: ?Let My people go. Let them *worship me. v21 If you do not let my people go, I will send thousands of flies on you. I will send them on your servants and on your people. I will send them into your houses. The houses of the *Egyptians will be full of flies. The flies will even cover the ground that the houses stand on.

v22 But on that day, the country of Goshen will be separate. That is where my people live. There will be no flies there. Then you will know that I, the *Lord, am in this country.

v23 I will make a difference between my people and your people. This *sign will happen tomorrow.? ? ?

v24 And this is what the *Lord did. Great numbers of flies came into Pharaoh?s house and into his servants? houses. The flies destroyed the whole country of Egypt.

v25 Then Pharaoh *commanded Moses and Aaron to come to him. He said: ?Go! You can *sacrifice to your God here, in the country of Egypt.? v26 But Moses said: ?It would not be right to do that. The *Egyptians do not like our *sacrifices of animals to the *Lord our God. If we *sacrifice these animals, the *Egyptians will throw stones at us. They will throw them until we are dead. v27 We must go on a journey for three days, into the *desert. Then we shall *sacrifice to the *Lord our God, as he *commands us.?

v28 So Pharaoh said: ?I will let you go. You can *sacrifice to the *Lord your God in the *desert. But do not go very far away. And pray for me too.?

v29 Then Moses said: ?I will leave you now. And I will pray to the *Lord. Tomorrow, all the flies will leave the country of Egypt. They will fly away from your servants and from your people. But be careful! Do not do wrong things to us, as you did before. At that time, you did not let the people *sacrifice to the *Lord.?

v30 So Moses left Pharaoh and Moses prayed to the *Lord. v31 And the *Lord did what Moses asked him. All the flies left Pharaoh and his servants and his people. Not one fly remained! v32 But again, Pharaoh refused to let the people go. There was no change in his thoughts.

Chapter 9

The animals become ill and die

v1 Then the *Lord said to Moses: ?Go to Pharaoh and say to him: ?The *Lord, the God of the *Israelites says: ?Let my people go. Let them *worship me. v2 If you refuse to let them go, you will have trouble. If you still keep them in Egypt, v3 the *Lord will send a very bad illness on your animals. All your animals in the fields will become ill. The horses, the *donkeys, the *camels, the cows, the sheep and the goats will all become very ill.

v4 But the *Lord will make a difference between the animals of the *Israelites and the animals of the *Egyptians. None of the animals of the *Israelites will die.? ? ?

v5 And God decided when this thing would happen. He said: ?Tomorrow I will do this thing in the country of Egypt.? v6 So on the next day, God did it! All the animals of the *Egyptians died. But not one of the animals of the *Israelites died. v7 Pharaoh sent men to see what had happened. And they reported that not one of the animals of the *Israelites was dead! But there was no change in Pharaoh?s mind. He did not let the people go.

The illness of *boils

v8 Then the *Lord said to Moses and Aaron: ?Take in your hands some ashes from the fire. Throw them up in the air as Pharaoh watches. v9 They will become very small bits of dirt over the whole country of Egypt. These will cause *boils to appear on the skin. Both people and animals will have these *boils on their skin, through the whole country.?

v10 So they took ashes from the fire and they stood in front of Pharaoh. Moses threw the ashes up in the air. And *boils appeared on both people and animals. v11 Because of the *boils, the *magicians could not stand in front of Moses. All the *Egyptians had *boils, even the *magicians. v12 But Pharaoh refused to listen to them. The *Lord had told Moses that this would happen. The *Lord himself made it happen.

Pieces of ice fall on the whole country of Egypt

v13 Then the *Lord said to Moses: ?Get up early in the morning and go to Pharaoh. Say to him: ?This is what the *Lord, the God of the *Israelites says: ?Let my people go to *worship me. v14 Or this time, I will send all my worst troubles against you. I will send them against your servants and against your people. I want you to know that there is nobody like me in the whole earth. That is why I am doing this. v15 Already I could have killed you and your people with one very bad trouble. I could have removed you from the earth. v16 But I have let you live, to show you my power. This is so that people will speak about my powerful name, over the whole world. v17 You still think bad thoughts about my people. You will not let them go.

v18 Look! Tomorrow at this time, I will send a very great storm. Heavy pieces of ice will fall. Nobody has ever seen anything like this in Egypt. From Egypt?s first day as a country, nobody has seen a storm like this. v19 Now send your servants out. They must bring all your animals from the fields into the buildings. The ice will fall on every human and on every animal that is outside. They will all die.? ? ?

v20 Then those of Pharaoh?s servants who were afraid of the *Lord?s words obeyed God. They quickly brought their slaves and animals inside the buildings. v21 But those who did not listen to the *Lord?s words left their slaves and animals outside.

v22 Then the *Lord said to Moses: ?Lift up your hand towards the sky. Then ice will fall over all the country of Egypt. It will fall on every person and on every animal. It will fall on every plant that grows in all the fields in Egypt.?

v23 When Moses lifted up his stick towards the sky, the *Lord sent a great storm. And the *Lord rained large pieces of ice upon the country of Egypt. Also, fire ran along the ground. v24 The ice fell and the fire burned. It was the worst storm that the country of Egypt had ever known. v25 The ice knocked down everything that was in the fields. In the whole country of Egypt it hit both people and animals. It knocked down every plant in the fields and it broke every tree. v26 But in the country of Goshen, there were no pieces of ice. That was where *Israel?s people lived.

v27 Then Pharaoh *commanded Moses and Aaron to come to him. And Pharaoh said: ?This time, I have done a wrong thing. The *Lord is right. I and my people are wrong. v28 Pray to the *Lord because we have had enough storms and ice. I will let you go! You do not need to stay here now.?

v29 Then Moses said to Pharaoh: ?When I have left the city, I will lift my hands to the *Lord. I will pray to him. Then the storm will stop and there will be no more ice. Then you will know that the whole world belongs to the *Lord. v30 But I know you and your servants. You still do not believe in the *Lord God.?

v31 The large pieces of ice had destroyed the *flax and the *barley. This was because the barley plants were ready for men to cut them. And the *flax plants had buds on them. v32 But the ice had not destroyed the wheat and the spelt. This was because they appeared out of the ground later.

v33 Then Moses left Pharaoh and Moses went out of the city. Moses lifted up his hands to the *Lord. Then the storms and the ice stopped. The rain also stopped falling on the earth.

v34 Pharaoh saw that the rain and the ice and the storms had stopped. But he did a wrong thing again. He and his servants did not do what they had promised to do. There had been no change in his thoughts. v35 Pharaoh still refused to listen to God. He did not let the *Israelites go. This is what the *Lord had said would happen. Moses had told Pharaoh these words.

Chapter 10

God sends *locusts to Egypt

v1 Then the *Lord said to Moses: ?Go in to Pharaoh. I have caused him not to listen to me. And I have caused his servants also not to listen to me. I have done this so that I can show my *signs among them. v2 You can tell your sons and your grandsons how I *punished the *Egyptians. You can tell them about the *signs that I have done among them. In this way, you will know that I am the *Lord.?

v3 So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh. They said to him: ?The *Lord, the God of the *Israelites says: ?You still refuse to obey me. Let my people go. Let them *worship me. v4 If you refuse to let them go, I will bring *locusts into your country tomorrow. v5 And they will cover the whole country. Nobody will be able to see the ground. They will eat everything that the ice has not destroyed. This will include every tree that is still growing in your fields.

v6 They will fill your houses. They will fill your servants? houses. And they will fill the *Egyptians? houses. It will be like nothing your father or your grandfather have ever seen. It has never happened before.? ? Then Moses turned and left Pharaoh.

v7 Pharaoh?s servants said to him: ?Stop keeping this man with us, to cause problems. Let the people go, to *worship the *Lord their God. Surely you know now that they have destroyed Egypt!? v8 So Pharaoh *commanded Moses and Aaron to come to him again. He said: ?Go, *worship the *Lord your God. But which of you will go??

v9 And Moses said: ?We will all go, both young people and old people. We will take our sons and daughters. We will take our animals, because we must have a party for the *Lord.?

v10 Pharaoh said to them: ?The *Lord will certainly be with you, if ever I let you go with your women and children! I can see that you have decided to do something bad. v11 No! Only the men can go and *worship the *Lord. That is what you have asked for.? And Pharaoh was angry and he sent Moses and Aaron away from him.

v12 Then the *Lord said to Moses: ?Lift up your hand over the country of Egypt. Then *locusts will fly over the country of Egypt. They will eat every plant in the country, all that the ice has not destroyed.?

v13 So Moses lifted up his stick over the country of Egypt. And the *Lord caused an east wind to blow across the country, for the whole day and the whole night. In the morning, the east wind had brought the *locusts. v14 And the *locusts flew into every part of the country of Egypt. They landed everywhere, thousands of *locusts. There had never been so many *locusts in one place before. And it will never happen again. v15 The *locusts covered all the ground, until the ground became black with *locusts. They ate all the plants in the country. They ate all the fruit of the trees. They ate everything that the ice had not destroyed. Not one green thing remained on tree or plant, in all the country of Egypt.

v16 Then Pharaoh quickly *commanded Moses and Aaron to come to him. He said: ?I have done bad things against the *Lord your God and against you. v17 Please *forgive me once more for the bad things that I have done. Please ask the *Lord your God to remove this cruel and dangerous trouble from me.?

v18 Then Moses left Pharaoh and Moses prayed to the *Lord. v19 And the *Lord changed the wind to a very strong west wind. This wind lifted the *locusts and it carried them into the Red Sea. Not one *locust remained in all the country of Egypt. v20 But the *Lord caused Pharaoh to change his mind and he would not let the *Israelites go.

God makes Egypt completely dark

v21 Then the *Lord spoke to Moses. He said: ?Lift up your hand towards the sky. Then it will be dark over the whole country of Egypt. It will be so dark that people will be able to feel it.? v22 So Moses lifted up his hand towards the sky and it became completely dark through the whole country of Egypt. It was dark for three days. v23 People could not see each other. Nobody could get up and move about for three days. But all the *Israelites had light in the places where they lived.

v24 Then Pharaoh *commanded Moses to come to him. He said: ?Go, *worship the *Lord. Even your women and your children can go with you. Only your animals must remain.? v25 But Moses said: ?You must also let us take animals with us. We will *sacrifice them and burn them, as gifts to the *Lord our God.?

v26 ?We must take our animals with us. Not one can remain behind. We will use some of them to *worship the *Lord our God. Until we arrive in the *desert, we will not know which animals. But we will use some of them, to *worship the *Lord our God.?

v27 But the *Lord caused Pharaoh to refuse. Pharaoh would not listen. He would not let them go. v28 Then Pharaoh said to Moses: ?Go away from me! Never appear in front of me again! On the day that you see my face, you will die!? v29 And Moses said: ?You are right! I will never appear in front of you again.?

Chapter 11

The death of every *firstborn son in Egypt

v1 The *Lord said to Moses: ?I will bring one more bad trouble on Pharaoh and on Egypt. Then Pharaoh will let you go away. He will really cause you to go out of the country completely. v2 Tell the people now what they must do. Every man must ask the *Egyptians that live near him for gold and *silver. Every woman must do the same thing.? v3 And the *Lord made the *Egyptians think well of the *Israelites. Also, Pharaoh?s servants and the *Egyptian people thought very well of Moses.

v4 So Moses said: ?The *Lord says this: ?At about midnight, I will walk through the country of Egypt. v5 Then all the *firstborn sons in the country of Egypt will die. The *firstborn son of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, will die. The *firstborn son of the slave, the woman who makes flour, will die. Even the *firstborn of the animals will die.? ?

v6 ? ?Everyone will be crying loudly in the whole country called Egypt. Never before have the people felt so sad or cried so loudly. It will never happen again. v7 But among the *Israelites, not even a wild animal will attack any of them. Then you will know that the *Lord makes a difference between Egypt and *Israel.? v8 All these servants of yours will come to me. They will fall down in front of me. They will say to me: ?Go! Both you and all the people who follow you.? And then, I will leave.? Then Moses was very angry and he left Pharaoh.

v9 The *Lord had said to Moses: ?Pharaoh will refuse to listen to you. But then I will do even greater *signs in the country of Egypt.? v10 Moses and Aaron did all these signs in front of Pharaoh. But the *Lord made Pharaoh angry and cruel. So Pharaoh would not let the *Israelites go out of his country.

Chapter 12

The *Passover

v1 The *Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron in the country of Egypt. v2 He said: ?This month will be for you the first month of your year. v3 Tell the *Israelites that the 10th day of this month is special. Each man must take a young sheep for his family. Take one young sheep for each home. v4 The family may be too small to eat a whole sheep. Then they must eat it with another small family. You must decide this by how much each person can eat. v5 Each young sheep must have nothing wrong with it. It must be a male that is one year old. It can be either a young sheep or a young goat.

v6 Keep the young sheep safe until the 14th day of the month. Then all *Israel?s people must kill the young sheep in the evening. v7 Then they must take some of the blood. They must put it on the wood that is round the door of their houses. They must do this to the houses where they will eat the young sheep. v8 That night, they must cook the meat over the fire and they must eat it. They must eat it with special plants and with bread that has no *yeast in it. v9 You must cook the meat, but do not boil it in water. Cook the meat over the fire, with the head, the legs and the inside parts of the animal. v10 You must eat all of the meat before the morning comes. If you cannot eat it before the morning, then you must burn it. v11 This is how you must eat the young sheep: Fix your belt round your coat, put your shoes on your feet. Take your stick in your hand and eat the food quickly.

This meal will be called the *Passover of the *Lord.

v12 I will pass through the country of Egypt on that night. I will kill every *firstborn, both men and animals. I will *punish all the gods of Egypt. I am the *Lord. v13 The blood will be a *sign for you, on all the houses where you live. When I see the blood on the house, then I will pass over you. No bad thing will touch you, when I attack the country of Egypt.?

v14 ?You must remember this day as a special day every year. On this day, you must make a special party for the *Lord. You must obey this rule in your families for all time. v15 For 7 days, you must eat bread with no *yeast in it. On the first day, you must remove all *yeast from your houses. Whoever eats bread with *yeast in it, during the 7 days, he does a bad thing. You must remove him from *Israel?s people. v16 On the first day, you must bring together all the people to a special meeting. And you must do the same thing on the 7th day. On these special days, you must not do any work except to prepare food. This is the only work that you can do.

v17 Enjoy the meal of the bread with no *yeast in it. It was on this same day that I brought your armies out of Egypt. That is why you must enjoy this day as a special day, for all time. This is a rule that you must always obey. v18 In the first month, you must eat bread without *yeast in it. Do this from the evening of the 14th day until the evening of the 21st day. v19 You must not have any *yeast in your houses, for 7 days. Whoever eats anything with *yeast in it, he does a bad thing. You must remove that person from the rest of the *Israelites. You must do this if that person is a foreign person. You must also do it if he was born in that country. v20 Eat nothing that has *yeast in it. Whatever country you live in, you must eat bread without *yeast in it.?

v21 Then Moses *commanded the leaders of the *Israelites to come to him. He said to them: ?Go and choose young sheep immediately, for your families. Then kill the animals for the *Passover party. v22 Take some *hyssop. Make it wet with the blood that is in the dish. Then put some of the blood on the wood that is round your door. Nobody must go out of the door of his house until the morning.?

v23 ?The *Lord will pass through the country and he will kill the *Egyptians. But when the *Lord sees the blood on the wood round the door, he will pass over that house. He will stop the person who kills. The *Lord will not let him come into your houses. The *Lord will not let him kill you.

v24 You must obey these rules always, both you and your sons, for all time. v25 You will come into the country that the *Lord promised to give you. Then you must obey these rules. v26 Your children may say to you: ?What does this party mean to you?? v27 Then you must say to them: ?It is the *Lord?s *Passover party. The *Lord passed over the houses of the *Israelites when they were in Egypt. He killed the *Egyptians but he saved the people in our houses.? ? Then the people bent their heads and they *worshipped God. v28 And the *Israelites did everything that the *Lord had *commanded Moses and Aaron.

v29 At midnight, the *Lord killed all the *firstborn sons in the country of Egypt. The *firstborn son of Pharaoh, the king, died. But also, the *firstborn son of any man who was in prison died. Every *firstborn son in Egypt died. All the *firstborn animals died also. v30 Pharaoh and all his servants got up in the middle of the night. All the *Egyptians also got up in the middle of the night. Everyone was crying in Egypt because there was a dead person in every home.

The *Israelites leave Egypt

v31 Then Pharaoh *commanded Moses and Aaron to come to him, during the night. He said: ?Get up! Go away from my people! You and all the *Israelites, go! Go. And *worship the *Lord, as you want to. v32 Take all your animals with you, as you have said. Go away! But ask God to do good things to me too.?

v33 The *Egyptians really wanted the *Israelites to leave. They wanted to send them out of the country immediately. The *Egyptians said: ?If we do not send them away immediately, we will all die!? v34 So the *Israelites took their bread before they had cooked it. They had not even put the *yeast into it. They put the bread in dishes and they covered it with clothes. Then they carried the dishes on their shoulders. v35 The *Israelites had obeyed Moses. They had asked the *Egyptians for *silver and gold. They had also asked them for clothes. v36 The *Lord had made the *Egyptians think good thoughts about the *Israelites. Because of this, the *Egyptians let them have all that they asked for. So the *Israelites took everything that was valuable from the *Egyptians.

v37 Then the *Israelites travelled from Rameses to Succoth. There were about 600 000 men who walked. There were also many women and children. v38 Many other people travelled with them. And they had a very large number of animals, both sheep and cows. v39 The *Israelites cooked the bread that they had brought with them from Egypt. It had no *yeast in it, because the *Israelites left Egypt quickly. The *Egyptians had pushed them out. The *Israelites did not have time to make bread with *yeast in it. Nor did they have time to prepare any other food.

v40 The *Israelites had lived in Egypt for 430 years. v41 It was on the last day of the 430 years that all the *Lord?s people left the country called Egypt. v42 The *Lord did not sleep on that night, when he brought the *Israelites out of Egypt. Because of this, all the *Israelites must not sleep during this special night, every year. They and their families must remember this rule, for all time. They must do this, to thank the *Lord.

Rules for the *Passover party

v43 Then the *Lord said to Moses and Aaron: ?These are the rules for the*Passover party.

No foreign person can eat the *Passover food. v44 If you buy a foreign slave, you must first *circumcise him. Then he can eat the food. v45 But if you pay him money for his work, he must not eat the food. A visitor must not eat the food.

v46 You must eat the meat in one house. You must not take any of the meat outside the house. You must not break any of the bones in the meat. v47 All the *Israelites must enjoy the party together.

v48 There may be a foreign person who lives among you. He may want to enjoy the *Lord?s *Passover too. But he must first *circumcise himself and all the males in his house. Then he can enjoy the *Passover party, like a man who is born in *Israel. But no male person without *circumcision can enjoy the *Passover party. v49 The *Israelites and the foreign people who live among you must all obey this rule.?

v50 All the *Israelites did everything that the *Lord had *commanded Moses and Aaron. v51 And on the same day, the *Lord brought the *Israelites out of Egypt, like a large army of people.

Chapter 13

The *firstborn males are special

v1 The *Lord spoke to Moses. v2 He said: ?Keep every *firstborn male separate and special for me. Every male who is the first to be born of his mother is mine. He is mine, whether he is man or animal.?

v3 Moses said to the people: ?Remember this day, the day when you came out of Egypt. You left the place where you were slaves. The *Lord brought you out with powerful authority. Remember! Do not eat anything that that has *yeast in it on this day. v4 Today you are leaving Egypt. It is the month of Abib. v5 The *Lord will bring you to the country of the *Canaanites, the *Hittites, the *Amorites, the *Hivites and the *Jebusites. God promised your *ancestors that he would give that country to you. It is a country where there is plenty to eat and to drink. When the *Lord brings you in, you must enjoy the *Passover party in this month. v6 For 7 days you must eat bread without *yeast in it. Then on the 7th day you must have a party for the *Lord. v7 Eat bread without *yeast during those 7 days. There must not be anything that has *yeast in it among you. Nobody must see any *yeast anywhere, in the whole of your country. v8 On that day, you must tell your son the reason for this. Say to him: ?I do this because of what the *Lord did for me. This is because he brought me out of Egypt.? v9 This special time will be like a sign on your hand. It will be like something that you fix between your eyes. It will cause you to remember. Then you will not forget to speak always about the *Law of the *Lord. It is because the *Lord brought you out of Egypt with great power. v10 At the same time, every year, you must obey what I have said.

v11 The *Lord will bring you into the country of the *Canaanites. It is the country that he promised to you and to your *ancestors. He will give it to you. v12 You must give to the *Lord all the males that are born first. All the male animals that are born first are the *Lord?s animals. v13 When a *donkey is born first, you must kill a young sheep instead of the *donkey. If you do not do that, then the *donkey must die. You must break its neck. If your son is born first, then you must kill an animal instead of your son.

v14 One day, your son may ask you a question: ?What does this mean?? Then you must say to him: ?The *Lord brought us out of Egypt with powerful authority. He brought us from the place where we were slaves. v15 Pharaoh completely refused to let us go. But the *Lord killed all the *firstborn sons in the country of Egypt. He killed all the *firstborn males, both people and animals. That is why I do this. I kill and I give to the *Lord all the *firstborn male animals. But I do not kill the *firstborn sons. Instead, I kill an animal for each *firstborn son and I give it to God.? v16 So, it will be like a sign on your hand and something between your eyes. It will cause you to remember. You will remember that the *Lord brought us out of Egypt with his powerful authority.?

The *Israelites cross the Red Sea

v17 When Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them through the country of the *Philistines. This was near, but God did not do that. God said: ?If the people see war, they may change their minds. Then they may return to Egypt.? v18 So God led the people round by the *desert road. They went toward the Red Sea. When the *Israelites came out of the country of Egypt, they were ready to fight.

v19 Moses took the bones of Joseph with him. Joseph had caused the *Israelites to promise to do this. He had said: ?God will save you and then you must carry my bones with you from this place.?

v20 The *Israelites moved on from Succoth. Then they stayed at Etham, on the edge of the *desert. And the *Lord went in front of them. v21 During the day, God led them in a cloud that went in front of them. During the night, he went in a cloud that had fire in it. This gave them light, so they could travel during the day or the night. v22 The cloud did not leave the people during the day. Nor did the fire in the cloud leave them during the night. It was always in front of them.

Chapter 14

v1 Then the *Lord spoke to Moses. v2 He said: ?Tell the *Israelites that they must stop. Tell them that they must stay near Pihahiroth. This is a place between Migdol and the sea. They must stay by the sea, across from Baal-zephon. v3 Then Pharaoh will think: ?The *Israelites are confused. They are walking round and round the country. The *desert has shut them in.? v4 And I will cause Pharaoh to think cruel thoughts. He will go after the *Israelites. Then I will show how great I am, by Pharaoh and his whole army. Because of this, the *Egyptians will know that I am the *Lord.? So the *Israelites obeyed God.

v5 Someone told the king of Egypt that the *Israelites had run away. Then Pharaoh and his servants changed their minds about the *Israelites. They said: ?We have done a silly thing. We have let the *Israelites go. We have lost our slaves!? v6 So Pharaoh prepared his *chariot and he took his army with him. v7 He took 600 of his best *chariots with him. He also took all the other *chariots of Egypt, with officers to drive them. v8 And the *Lord made Pharaoh, king of Egypt think more cruel thoughts. So Pharaoh followed after the brave *Israelites, when they marched out.

v9 The *Egyptians went after the *Israelites. They went with all Pharaoh?s horses, *chariots and soldiers. They came near to the *Israelites, who were by the sea. It was near Pihahiroth, across from Baal-zephon.

v10 Pharaoh was coming nearer. The *Israelites looked up. They saw that the *Egyptians had marched after them. Then the *Israelites were afraid and they shouted aloud to the *Lord. v11 They said to Moses: ?There are many places in Egypt to bury dead people! You did not have to bring us here! Have you brought us here to die in the *desert? Why did you bring us out of Egypt? v12 We said to you in Egypt: ?Leave us alone. Let us work for the *Egyptians.? It would have been better for us to do that. Then, anyway, we would not die in the *desert!?

v13 Then Moses spoke to the people. He said: ?Do not be afraid. Stand quietly. See how the *Lord will save you today. The *Egyptians that you see today you will never see again. v14 The *Lord will fight for you. You will only have to be quiet.?

v15 Then the *Lord said to Moses: ?Do not shout aloud to me. *Command the *Israelites to march on. v16 Lift up your stick. Lift up your hand over the sea. Then the water will become two separate parts. Then the *Israelites can cross the sea on dry ground. v17 I will make the *Egyptians angry and they will follow the *Israelites into the sea. And I will show my powerful authority by Pharaoh and by his army and by all his *chariots. v18 Then the *Egyptians will know that I am the *Lord.?

v19 The *angel of God went in front of the army of the *Israelites. Now he moved and he went behind them. The special cloud moved also and it stood behind the army. v20 It stood between the *Egyptian army and the *Israelite army. During the whole night, the *Egyptians were in the dark, because of the cloud. But the *Israelites were in the light, because there was fire in the cloud. So the *Egyptians stayed away from the *Israelites during the whole night.

v21 Then Moses lifted up his hand over the sea. During that whole night, the *Lord made the sea go back. He did this with a strong wind that made the water into two separate parts. The ground below the sea became like dry land. v22 Then the *Israelites walked on the dry ground in the middle of the sea. The water was like a wall on their right side and on their left side.

v23 The *Egyptians went after them and followed them into the middle of the sea. All Pharaoh?s horses and his *chariots did this. And so did the men who drove the *chariots. v24 In the early morning, the *Lord looked down, from the cloud with fire in it. He looked at the *Egyptian army and he confused them. v25 Their *chariots could not move easily in the sand. It became very difficult for the *Egyptians to drive their *chariots. So the *Egyptians said: ?Let us run away from the *Israelites. It is the *Lord who fights for them, against Egypt.?

v26 Then the *Lord spoke to Moses. He said: ?Lift up your hand over the sea. Then the waters will return. They will cover the *Egyptians, their *chariots and the men who drive them.? v27 So Moses lifted up his hand over the sea. And at dawn, the sea returned to its own place. The *Egyptians ran away from the water, as fast as they could. But the *Lord killed them. The *Egyptians drowned in the middle of the sea. v28 The water returned. It covered the *chariots and the men that drove them. The water covered Pharaoh?s whole army that had followed the *Israelites into the sea. Not one of those men remained alive.

v29 But the *Israelites walked on dry ground through the sea. The water was like a wall on their right side and on their left side. v30 On that day, the *Lord saved the *Israelites from the *Egyptians. The *Israelites saw the dead bodies of the *Egyptians, which lay on the shore. v31 Then the *Israelites saw what a great thing the *Lord had done against the *Egyptians. So the *Israelites were afraid of the *Lord. But they believed that he loved them. They also loved and obeyed Moses, the *Lord?s servant.

Chapter 15

The song of Moses

v1 Then Moses and the *Israelites sang this song to the *Lord:

I will sing to the *Lord, because he is great and powerful.

He threw horses and the men who ride them into the sea.

v2 The *Lord makes me strong and he gives me a song. He has saved me.

He is my God and I will *praise him.

He is my father?s God and I will *praise him.

v3 The *Lord is like a great soldier. The *Lord is his name.

v4 He threw Pharaoh?s *chariots and armies into the sea.

Pharaoh?s best officers drowned in the Red Sea.

v5 The deep waters have covered them.

They fell to the floor of the sea, like a stone.

v6 Your right hand, *Lord, was great and very powerful.

Your right hand, *Lord, killed the enemy.

v7 With your powerful authority, you killed your enemies.

You were very angry with them. You killed them, like a fire burns dry grass.

v8 You blew on the water and it became like a wall.

The deep waters stood up and they did not move.

v9 The enemy said: ?I will go after them. I will catch them.

I will take good things from these *Israelites and I will give them to my army.

I will be very happy to do this! I will pull out my sharp knife and I will kill them.?

v10 But you blew on the waters and the sea covered your enemies.

They went down like heavy metal in the great waters.

v11 Oh *Lord, there is nobody like you among the gods! There is nobody like you anywhere!

You are so great and so *holy. You frighten us with your bright light.

You do great and powerful things.

v12 You lifted up your right hand. You caused a hole to open in the ground. Your enemies fell into it.

v13 Because your love never changes, you have led your people.

They are the ones that you have saved.

With your strong hand, you will be their guide to your *holy home.

v14 The people in other countries will hear and they will be very afraid.

You will frighten the people in Philistia with a great pain.

v15 The rulers of Edom will feel weak and very afraid.

The leaders of Moab cannot stand. They are so much afraid.

All the people in Canaan will run away.

v16 They are very afraid of your powerful authority.

They cannot move. They have become like stones that do not move.

And they will remain like that, until your people pass by them, *Lord.

They will not move, until your own people have passed by them.

v17 You will bring in your people. You will bring them to live on your own mountain.

*Lord, it is the place that you have prepared for your home.

It is the *holy place, *Lord, that you yourself have built.

v18 The *Lord will rule for all time.

v19 Pharaoh?s horses and his *chariots had gone into the sea, with the men who drove them. Then the *Lord had made the waters of the sea come back over them. But the *Israelites had walked through the sea on dry ground. v20 Then Miriam, Aaron?s sister, who was a female *prophet, took a *tambourine in her hand. All the other women followed Miriam, with *tambourines in their hands. They danced when Miriam sang to them.

v21 This is the song that she sang:

?Sing to the *Lord!

He is great and powerful.

He threw into the sea

the horse and the man who rides it!?

The waters of Marah and Elim

v22 Then Moses led the *Israelites away from the *Red Sea. They travelled into the *desert called Shur. They walked into the *desert for three days and they could not find any water. v23 Then, when they came to Marah, they could not drink the water there. They tasted the water, but it was bad. That is why they called that place ?Marah?. Marah means ?it tastes bad?. v24 Then the people were not happy and they spoke against Moses. They said: ?What can we drink??

v25 Then Moses prayed to the *Lord and the *Lord showed Moses a special piece of wood. Moses threw it into the water and then the water became clean and good.

In that place, the *Lord made a rule and a *law for the *Israelites. He checked them there, in that place. v26 He said: ?Be careful to listen to the voice of the *Lord, your God. Do what he says is right. Obey his *commands and all his rules. Then I will not bring on you the illnesses that I gave to the *Egyptians. I am the *Lord. I make you well again.?

v27 Then they came to Elim. There they found 12 wells of water and 70 *palm trees. And the *Israelites stayed there, by the water.

Chapter 16

God sends bread and meat

v1 Then all the *Israelites left Elim and they came into the *desert called Sin. This is between Elim and Sinai. They arrived in the *desert on the 15th day of the second month after they had left the country called Egypt. v2 When they were in the *desert, all the *Israelites said bad things against Moses and Aaron. v3 The *Israelites said to them: ?We wish that the *Lord had killed us in Egypt! There, we sat round pots of meat. We ate all the food that we wanted. But now you have brought us into this *desert. We shall all die, every one of us, because there is no food to eat.?

v4 Then the *Lord spoke to Moses. He said: ?I will cause bread to fall down from the sky for you. Each day, the people must go out and pick up enough bread for that day. In this way I will discover what they are like. I will discover whether they will obey my rules. v5 And on the sixth day, they must pick up and prepare twice as much bread.?

v6 So Moses and Aaron spoke to the *Israelites. They said: ?In the evening, you will know who brought you out of Egypt. It was the *Lord! v7 And in the morning, you will see how great and powerful the *Lord is. The *Lord has heard the bad things that you have said against him. We, Moses and Aaron, are not important. You should not say bad things against us.? v8 And Moses also said: ?The *Lord will give you meat to eat in the evening. And in the morning, he will give you all the bread that you want. He will do this because he has heard you. He has heard the bad things that you have said against him. Aaron and I are not important. You have said bad things against the *Lord, not against us.?

v9 Then Moses spoke to Aaron: ?Say to all the *Israelites: ?Come near, in front of the *Lord. He has heard the bad things that you have said against him.? ? v10 While Aaron spoke, the *Israelites looked toward the *desert. And they saw the *glory of the *Lord! It appeared in the cloud.

v11 Then the *Lord spoke to Moses. v12 He said: ?I have heard the bad things that the *Israelites have said against me. Tell them this: ?In the evening, you will eat meat. And in the morning you will eat all the bread that you want. Then you will know that I am the *Lord your God.? ?

v13 That same evening, *quails flew down and they covered the whole ground.

And in the morning, there was something like rain on all the ground where the *Israelites were living. v14 When the ground was dry again, small white pieces of material remained on the ground in the *desert. They looked like little pieces of ice. v15 When the *Israelites saw these pieces, they said: ?What is it?? They did not understand what it was. But Moses said to them: ?This is the bread that the *Lord has given to you. It is for you to eat. v16 This is what the *Lord has *commanded: ?Every man must pick up as much as he needs to eat. Pick up about two litres for each person who lives in your *tent.? ?

v17 So the *Israelites did this. Some of them picked up a lot of the food. Some of them picked up a little food. v18 But when they measured the amount, everyone had the right amount of food. The person who had picked up a lot did not have too much. And the person who had picked up only a little food still had enough food. Each person had picked up what he needed.

v19 Then Moses said to them: ?Do not keep any of it until the morning.?

v20 But some of them did not listen to Moses. They kept part of the food until the morning. But very small snakes appeared in it. And it began to have a bad smell. Then Moses was angry with those people.

v21 Each morning, everyone picked up as much food as he needed. But when the heat of the sun became strong, the food became soft. Then it went away. v22 On the sixth day, the *Israelites picked up twice as much food. They picked up four litres for each person. Then the leaders of the people reported this to Moses. v23 Moses said to them: ?This is what the *Lord *commanded you to do. He said: ?Tomorrow is a special day for rest. It is a *Sabbath day, for the *Lord. Cook the food that you want to cook. Boil the food that you want to boil. And you can keep whatever remains, until the morning.? ?

v24 So they kept the food until the morning, as Moses had said. The food did not have a bad smell and there were no small snakes in it. v25 Moses said: ?Eat it today, because this day is a *Sabbath to the *Lord. You will not find any food on the ground today. v26 On six days of the week, you must pick it up from the ground. But on the 7th day of the week, there will be none of this food on the ground. That is because the 7th day is the *Sabbath day.?

v27 But on the 7th day, some of the people went out to pick up food. And they did not find any. v28 Then the *Lord spoke to Moses. He said: ?The people always refuse to obey my *commands. They always refuse to do what I say! v29 Remember that the *Lord has given the *Sabbath to you. That is why he gives you enough food for two days. He does this on the sixth day. Then everyone must stay at home on the 7th day. Nobody must go out on the 7th day.? v30 So the people rested on the 7th day.

v31 Now the *Israelites called the special food ?*manna?. It was white, like *coriander seed. When they tasted the *manna, it was like thin pieces of bread with *honey in it.

v32 And Moses said: ?This is what the *Lord has *commanded. He said: ?Keep 1 omer of *manna (this is equal to 2 litres) for the people in future times. Then they will see the bread that I fed to you in the *desert. I gave this to you when I brought you out of the country called Egypt.? ?

v33 So Moses spoke to Aaron. He said: ?Put one *omer of *manna into a pot. Then put the pot in the *tabernacle. We must keep it, so that our people can see it in the future times.?

v34 And Aaron did what the *Lord had said to Moses. He put the pot in front of the *Testimony, to keep it safe.

v35 The *Israelites ate the *manna for 40 years, until they had finished their journey. They ate it until they came to the country called Canaan.

v36 (10 *omers is equal to 1 ephah.)

Chapter 17

God gives water out of a rock

v1 Then all the *Israelites travelled away from the *desert called Sin. They moved from one place to another, when the *Lord *commanded them. When they came to Rephidim, there was no water. The people had nothing to drink. v2 Because of this, the people quarrelled with Moses. They said: ?Give us water to drink!? And Moses said to them: ?You should not quarrel with me! You should not try to make the *Lord angry!?

v3 But the people needed water very much and they said bad things against Moses. They said: ?You should not have brought us out of Egypt! You will kill us and our children and our animals. We will die, because we have no water.?

v4 Then Moses shouted aloud to the *Lord. ?What shall I do with these people? They will throw stones at me soon. Then they will throw them until I am dead.?

v5 The *Lord said to Moses: ?Walk in front of the people. Bring some of the leaders of the *Israelites with you. Take your stick in your hand, the stick with which you hit the River Nile. Go! v6 I will stand there, in front of you, by the rock at Horeb. Hit the rock, and water will come out of it. Then the people can drink.? So Moses did this, while the leaders of the *Israelites watched him. v7 And he called that place Massah and Meribah, because the *Israelites quarrelled there. And they tried to make the *Lord angry. They said: ?Is the *Lord with us, or is he not with us??

The *Israelites beat the *Amalekites

v8 At Rephidim, the *Amalekites came out and they fought against the *Israelites. v9 Moses said to Joshua: ?Choose some of our men. Then go out and fight with the *Amalekites. Tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill. And I will hold God?s stick in my hand.?

v10 So Joshua fought against the *Amalekites. He obeyed the words of Moses. Moses, Aaron and Hur went up to the top of the hill. v11 When Moses lifted up his hand, the *Israelites were winning in the fight. But when Moses brought his hand down, the *Amalekites were winning in the fight. v12 Moses hands became tired. So Aaron and Hur put a stone under Moses and he sat on the stone. Then Aaron and Hur held up Moses? hands. Aaron stood on one side of Moses and Hur stood on the other side. They held his hands up, until sunset. v13 So Joshua and his men beat the *Amalekite army in the fight.

v14 Then the *Lord said to Moses: ?Write these things on a *scroll. Then you will remember them. Joshua must hear my words because I will kill all of the *Amalekites. Nobody in the whole world will remember them.?

v15 Then Moses built a stone table and he called it ?The *Lord is my *banner?. v16 Moses said: ?I lifted up my hands to the *Lord on his seat, where he rules. I prayed to him. Now the *Lord has said that he will always fight against the *Amalekites.?

Chapter 18

Jethro visits Moses

v1 Jethro, the *priest of Midian, was the father of Moses? wife. He heard about all the things that God had done for Moses and for the *Israelites. He also heard how the *Lord had brought *Israel out of Egypt.

v2 Moses had sent Zipporah, who was his wife, back to her home. Then her father, Jethro, brought her v3 and her two sons into his house. One son was called Gershom. Moses said about him, ?I have become a stranger in a foreign country.? v4 The other son was called Eliezer. Moses said about him, ?My father?s God gave me help. He saved me from Pharaoh, when Pharaoh wanted to kill me.?

v5 Then Jethro came to Moses in the *desert. Moses was staying near the mountain of God. Jethro brought with him Moses? sons and Moses? wife. v6 Jethro had sent a message to Moses. He said: ?I am Jethro, your wife?s father. I am coming to you with your wife and her two sons.?

v7 So Moses went out to meet his wife?s father. Moses bent his head and he kissed Jethro. They spoke together and then they went into the *tent. v8 Moses told his wife?s father about all the things that the *Lord had done to Pharaoh. He told him also what the *Lord had done to the *Egyptians because of the *Israelites. He told Jethro about the troubles that had happened to them during the journey. And Moses told him how the *Lord had saved his people, the *Israelites.

v9 Jethro was very happy to listen to Moses. Moses repeated to him how the *Lord had saved the *Israelites from the authority of the *Egyptians. v10 Jethro said: ?Let us thank the *Lord, who saved you from the authority of Pharaoh and the *Egyptians. He saved all the people also from the authority of the *Egyptians. v11 Now I know that the *Lord is greater than all other gods. The *Lord did these things to the people who were cruel towards the *Israelites.? v12 Then Jethro, the father of Moses? wife, brought an animal, and other gifts, to God. And Aaron came, with all the leaders of the *Israelites. They ate a meal together with Jethro, where God could see them.

v13 The next day, Moses sat down to *judge the people. They stood round him from morning until evening. v14 Jethro saw all that Moses did for the people. Then he said: ?What is this that you do for the people? Why do you sit alone and *judge the people? These people stand round you during the whole day.?

v15 Moses answered Jethro: ?The people come to me to discover God?s *commands. v16 When they cannot agree, they come to me. I decide between them and I tell them about God?s *laws and rules.?

v17 The father of Moses? wife replied: ?The thing that you do is not good. v18 Both you and the people who come to you will become too tired. The work is too much for you. You cannot do it alone. v19 Now listen to me! I will give you some good ideas, and God will make you strong. You must be the person who speaks to God, for the *Israelites. Bring their quarrels to him. v20 Teach them the rules and *laws. Show them how they should live. Explain to them the things that they must do.

v21 But you must choose *wise men from all the people. They must be men who obey God. They must be good men, who will not do false things. Make these men officers over groups of the people. Some groups will be 1000 people; some groups will be 100 people. Some groups will be 50 people and some will be only 10 people. v22 Let them work as *judges for the people, every day. They can decide the small problems, but they must bring the difficult problems to you. That will make your work easier, because they will work with you. v23 If God *commands you to do this, please obey him. Then the work will not be too hard for you. You will keep your good health. And all these people will go home and they will be happy.?

v24 Then Moses listened to Jethro. And Moses did everything that he suggested.

v25 Moses chose good and *wise men from all the *Israelites. He made them leaders and officers of the people. Some were officers over 1000 people; some were officers over 100 people. Some were officers over 50 people and some were officers over 10 people. v26 They worked as *judges for the people at all times. They told Moses about the difficult problems, but they decided the easy problems without his help.

v27 Then Moses said goodbye to his wife?s father and Jethro returned to his own country.

Chapter 19

The *Israelites come to *Mount Sinai

v1 Three whole months after the *Israelites left Egypt, they came to the *Desert of Sinai. v2 After they left Rephidim, they arrived in the *Desert of Sinai. The *Israelites put up their *tents in the *desert, in front of the mountain.

v3 Then Moses went up the mountain to God. The *Lord spoke to him from the mountain. He said: ?This is what you must say to Jacob?s children and grandchildren and to the *Israelites. v4 ?You yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt. You know how I carried you. I carried you like a large bird carries her young birds on her *wings. And I brought you to myself. v5 Now, obey me completely and love my promises. Then I will make you my special people that I love. I have chosen you only, from all the people in other countries. The whole world is mine, v6 but you will all become my *priests. You will become a special family to me, a family that I can love.? These are the words that you must speak to the *Israelites.?

v7 So Moses returned and he brought together all the leaders of the *Israelites. He repeated to them all the words that the *Lord had *commanded him. v8 The people all replied together. They said: ?We will do everything that the *Lord has said.? Then Moses repeated their answer to the *Lord.

v9 The *Lord said to Moses: ?I will come to you in a thick cloud. Then the people will hear me speak to you. And they will always believe everything that you say.? Then Moses told the *Lord the words that the people had said.

v10 And the *Lord said to Moses: ?Go to the people. Make them ready to meet with me. Today and tomorrow they must wash their clothes. v11 They must be ready on the third day. On that day, the *Lord will come down on *Mount Sinai. And all the people will see him. v12 Do not let the people come too near to the mountain. Say to them: ?Be careful! Do not go up the mountain or touch the edge of it. Whoever touches the mountain must die. v13 You must throw stones at him until he dies. Or you must shoot at him with *arrows. Nobody must touch him. You must not let him live, whether he is a man or an animal. The people must wait until they hear a loud sound of music. Then they can go up to the mountain.? ?

v14 Then Moses came down from the mountain. He *commanded the people to make themselves ready for God. And the people washed their clothes. v15 Then Moses said to them: ?Prepare yourselves for the third day. Do not have sex with anyone.?

v16 On the morning of the third day, there was a great storm. The people heard loud noises and they saw bright lights. A dark cloud was there over the mountain and the people heard very loud music. They were so afraid that their bodies were *shaking.

v17 Then Moses led the people out to meet with God. And they stood at the edge of the mountain. v18 Smoke covered *Mount Sinai because the *Lord came down on the mountain, like a fire. The smoke rose up from the mountain, like smoke from a great fire. The whole mountain moved about, v19 and the sound of the music became louder and louder. Then Moses spoke and the voice of God answered him.

v20 The *Lord came down to the top of *Mount Sinai. Then he told Moses that he must come to the top of the mountain. So Moses went up the mountain v21 and the *Lord spoke to him. He said: ?Go down to the people. Tell them that they must stay away from the mountain. They must not try to see the *Lord. If they do, they will die. v22 Even the *priests, who come near to the *Lord, must make themselves ready for God. If they do not obey this word, the *Lord will be very angry with them.?

v23 Moses said to the *Lord: ?The people cannot come up *Mount Sinai. You yourself told us that we must put things round the mountain. You told us that we must make the mountain special. You told us that we must stay away from the edge of the mountain.?

v24 The *Lord replied: ?Go down. Bring Aaron up with you. But the *priests and the people must obey my *command. They must not try to come up to the *Lord. If they did, the *Lord would be very angry with them.?

v25 So Moses went down to the people and he repeated these words to them.

Chapter 20

The 10 *commandments

v1 Then God spoke all these words:

v2 ?I am the *Lord your God. I brought you out of Egypt, out of the country where you were slaves.

v3 You must not have any other gods except me.

v4 You must not make any false god for yourself. Do not make a false god in the shape of anything in the sky. Do not make one in the shape of anything on the earth or in the water. v5 You must not bend down your head to a false god, nor *worship it. I, the *Lord your God, will be angry if you do not remember me. I will *punish the children for the bad things that their fathers do. I will even *punish the grandchildren and their children. I will do this to those who hate me. v6 But I will love thousands of people who love me. These are the people who obey my *commandments.

v7 You must not use the name of the *Lord your God in a wrong way. The *Lord will be angry with anyone who uses his name in a wrong way.

v8 Remember the *Sabbath day and keep it as a special day. v9 You must do all your work for six days. v10 But the seventh day is a *Sabbath to the *Lord your God. You must not do any work on that day. Your son and your daughter must not work on that day. Your male servant and your female servant must not work on that day. The stranger who lives among you and even your animals must not work on that day. v11 In six days, the *Lord made the sky, the earth and the sea. He also made everything that is in them. But on the seventh day, the *Lord rested. And he *blessed the seventh day and he made it special.

v12 Always be very kind to your father and your mother. Then you will live for many years in the country that the *Lord will give to you.

v13 You must not *murder anyone.

v14 You must not have sex with another person?s husband or wife.

v15 You must not take another person?s things for yourself.

v16 You must not say false things about your *neighbour.

v17 You must not want to take your *neighbour?s house, or his wife, or his servants. You must not want to take his cow, or his *donkey, or anything that your *neighbour has.?

v18 The people saw the very bright light and they heard the loud noises. They heard the loud music and they saw the smoke on the mountain. They were so afraid that they could not stop their bodies moving. They would not come near. v19 They said to Moses: ?Speak to us yourself. We will listen to you. But do not let God speak to us. If he does, we will die.?

v20 Moses said to the people: ?Do not be afraid. God has only come to *test you. He wants you to love him. He wants you to obey him. Then you will not want to do bad things.?

v21 So the people stayed away from the mountain. But Moses walked toward the thick, dark cloud, where God was.

v22 Then the *Lord said to Moses: ?Tell the *Israelites this: ?You yourselves have heard me speak to you from *heaven. v23 Do not make any gods to be equal to me. Do not make for yourselves gods out of *silver or out of gold. v24 Make a table out of earth for me. Burn your dead animals upon it and also your other gifts to me. I will cause people in many places to love my name. And in those places, I will come to you and I will make you happy. v25 You can make a table of stone for me also. But do not build it with stones that you have cut. If you use tools on the stones, the table will not be clean for God.

v26 Do not climb up to my table on anything, because someone may see parts of your body.?

Chapter 21

*Israelite slaves

v1 These are the *laws that you must put in front of the *Israelites:

v2 If you buy an *Israelite slave, he must work for you for six years. But in the seventh year he is a free man. He can leave you. He does not have to pay you any money. v3 If he came to you alone, he is free to leave alone. If he came with a wife, she can leave with him. v4 But if his master gives him a wife, she is her master?s slave. And if she has had children, they are also her master?s slaves. Only the husband can leave the master.

v5 But perhaps the slave may say: ?I love my master, my wife and my children. I will not go away like a free man!? v6 Then his master must take him in front of the *judges. He must lead him to the door, or to the edge of the door. There the master must push the sharp point of a tool through the slave?s ear. Then he will always be his master?s slave.

v7 Perhaps a man may sell his daughter as a slave. She is not free to leave her master, as the male slaves are, after six years. Her master has chosen her for himself. v8 If he does not like her, he must let someone from her family buy her from him. He cannot sell her to a foreign person. He has not done what he promised to her. v9 If the man chooses the girl to be his son?s wife, she must become like his daughter.

v10 If the man marries another woman, he must not forget the first woman. He must continue to give her food and clothes. He must be kind to her because she is still his wife. v11 If he does not do these three things, she can leave him. She does not have to pay him any money.

When people attack other people

v12 Perhaps a person will hit another person and kill him. This is murder. The person who does it must die. v13 But perhaps he did not want to do it, but God let it happen. Then the man must run away to a place that I will show him. v14 But a man may decide to kill another man. Then you must take him away from my table and you must kill him.

v15 You must kill anyone who attacks his father or his mother.

v16 You must kill anyone who *steals another person. He might sell him or keep him.

You must kill the bad man when you catch him.

v17 You must kill anyone who *curses his father or his mother.

v18 Perhaps two men may quarrel. One man hits the other man with a stone or with his fist.

The second man does not die but he has to stay in bed. v19 Then he gets up and walks about outside, with his stick. Then nobody will *judge the first man. But he must pay the man whom he hurt. This man cannot work until he is completely well again.

v20 Perhaps a man may hit his male or female slave with a stick. If the slave dies because of this, you must *punish the man. v21 But if the slave becomes well again after one or two days, do not *punish the man. The slave is his own.

v22 When two men fight together, perhaps one man may hit a woman. That woman may be with child. Then she gives birth to her child before the right time. If the cruel man has not hurt the child, he must pay money to her husband. He must pay the amount of money that the husband asks. A *judge must agree that the amount is fair. v23 But if the man has hurt the child, you must take a life for a life. v24 You must take an eye for an eye or a tooth for a tooth. You must take a hand for a hand or a foot for a foot. v25 You must take a burn for a burn, a wound for a wound, a bruise for a bruise.?

v26 ?If a man hits the eye of a male or female slave, he may destroy the eye. Then he must let the slave go away free because of his bad eye. v27 Perhaps a man may knock out the tooth of a male or female slave. Then he must let the slave go away free, because of his lost tooth.

v28 Perhaps a male cow may attack a person and kill him. Then you must throw stones at the male cow until it dies. You must not eat the meat from that male cow. But do not *punish the master of the male cow. v29 But perhaps that male cow has attacked people before. Perhaps someone has told his master about this, but the man has not listened. He has not kept the male cow in a safe place and the animal has killed a person. Then you must throw stones at the animal but you must also kill his master. v30 But if the dead person?s family demands money, the man can give money instead of his life. v31 This *law is true if the male cow attacks a son or a daughter. v32 If it attacks a male or female slave, the animal?s master must pay 30 *silver coins. He must give it to the slave?s master and he must kill the animal.

v33 If a man finds a hole, he must cover it. If he digs a hole, he must cover it. If he does not do this, a cow or a *donkey may fall into it. v34 Then the man who dug the hole must pay for the loss of the animal. He must pay money to the animal?s master but he can keep the dead animal for himself.

v35 If one man?s male cow attacks another man?s male cow, it may die. Then they must sell the animal that is alive. Each man can have half of the money and half of the dead animal. v36 But perhaps that male cow has attacked another animal before. Someone has told the animal?s master about this, but he has not listened. He has not kept the animal in a safe place. So he must pay the other man for the loss of his animal. But he can keep the dead animal for himself.

Chapter 22

When a man takes something that is not his own

v1 Perhaps a bad man may take a cow or a sheep. He may kill it or he may sell it. Then he must pay the animal?s master. He must pay five cows for the one cow that he took. And he must pay four sheep for the one sheep that he took.

v2 Perhaps someone may catch a bad man, just as he goes into another man?s house. He hits the bad man and the bad man dies. This thing is not murder, if it happens at night. But if it happens during the day, it is murder.

v3 A man who takes another man?s animal must certainly give it back. If he cannot do this, then someone must buy him as a slave. And he must give the money to the man whose animal he took.

v4 Perhaps someone will find the animal alive, in the man?s field. Then the man must give back two animals. He must do this, whether it was a cow, or a *donkey, or a sheep.

v5 A man?s animals may eat grass in his field or in his garden of *grapes. But perhaps he may let them go and eat grass in another man?s field. This is a wrong thing to do. So he must pay back to the other man the best food from his own field.

v6 Someone may light a fire in a field and it begins to burn the bushes. Then the fire becomes bigger and hotter. It burns some of the food that is growing in the field. It may even burn the whole field. Then the person who lit the fire must pay money to the farmer. He has destroyed the farmer?s food.

v7 Perhaps a man may give some *silver or other things to his *neighbour. He asks his *neighbour to keep them safe for him. But a bad man comes and he takes the things from the *neighbour?s house. If you catch the bad man, then he must pay for these things. He must pay twice the value of the things that he took. v8 But if you do not find the bad man, then take the *neighbour to the *judges. They must agree whether he has taken the other man?s things for himself.

v9 The *judges must *judge when there is a quarrel between two people about things.

They may argue about an animal or some clothes or anything that is lost. If one of them says: ?This is mine!? they must both come to the *judges. The *judges will choose which man is wrong. Then that man must pay back twice the value to his *neighbour.

v10 Perhaps a man may ask his *neighbour to keep one of his animals for him. Then someone hurts the animal or it may die. Or perhaps a bad man takes it away while nobody sees him. v11 This problem has an answer. The *neighbour can make a special promise, in front of the *Lord. He can promise to say what is true. He can say that he did not take the other man?s animal for himself. The other man must believe these words. He must not ask his *neighbour to pay him any money. v12 But if a bad man did take the animal, then the *neighbour must pay for the loss. v13 But perhaps a wild animal killed it. Then the *neighbour must show the pieces that are left. Then he will not have to pay for the loss of the animal.

v14 Perhaps a man may lend an animal to his *neighbour. Then the animal dies while the man is not present. Or someone may hurt the animal. The *neighbour must pay for the loss of the animal. v15 But if the man is with his animal, then the *neighbour does not have to pay. Perhaps the *neighbour gave the man some money, so that he could use his animal. If the animal dies, then that money will pay him back for his loss.

v16 Perhaps a man may have sex with a young girl. She has not yet promised to marry anyone. Then that man must marry her. He must pay the bride-price to her father. v17 Her father may completely refuse to give her to the man. But the man must still pay the bride-price for a girl who is not married.?

v18 ?You must kill any woman who is a *magician.

v19 You must kill anyone who has sex with an animal.

v20 You must kill any person who gives gifts to a false god. People must only bring gifts to the *Lord.

v21 Always be kind to a foreign person. Do not be cruel to him, because you were strangers in the country called Egypt.

v22 Always be fair to a woman whose husband is dead. Be fair also to children whose parents are dead. v23 If you are not fair to them, they will shout aloud to me. I will certainly hear their voices v24 and I will be angry with you. I will kill you in a war. You will leave your wives and children without husbands and fathers.

v25 You may lend money to one of my people who needs help. But do not be like the people in other countries. They cause poor people to pay extra money for the help. v26 If you take your *neighbour?s coat as a *pledge, you must return it to him by sunset. v27 He needs his coat, to keep him warm at night. It is the only warm thing that he has. When he shouts aloud to me, I will hear him. I am a kind God and I love men and women.

v28 Do not use my name in a bad way and do not *curse your ruler.

v29 Do not refuse to offer *grain or oil from *olives to me. v30 You must give your *firstborn sons to me.

Do the same thing with your cows and your sheep. Let them stay with their mothers for 7 days. But on the eighth day, you must give them to me.

v31 You will be my special people. So do not eat any meat that wild animals have killed. Instead, you must throw it to the dogs. They can eat it.

Chapter 23

God?s *laws for what is fair and kind

v1 Do not make false reports. Do not say false words to give help to a bad man.

v2 Do not follow other people, to do wrong things. When you speak in front of a *judge, let your words be true. Do not speak false words, to be like everyone else. v3 But do not speak well for a poor man, only because you like him.

v4 Perhaps you may find your enemy?s cow or *donkey as it runs away. You must certainly return it to him. v5 Perhaps you may see your enemy?s *donkey fall down. The basket on its back is too full of heavy things. Do not leave the *donkey there. You must certainly give your enemy help with his animal.

v6 Always be fair to your poor people when they stand in front of a *judge. Do not refuse to be fair to them. v7 Refuse to listen to false words against anyone. I will not let anyone go free who has done a wrong thing. So do not kill a person who has not done a wrong thing.

v8 Do not accept money as a gift, to do what is wrong. You will not be able to *judge properly, because of this gift. Also, it will confuse the words of a good man.

v9 Do not be cruel to a foreign person. You yourselves know what it feels like. So do not do it. Remember! You were foreign people in Egypt.

*Laws about the *Sabbath

v10 You must plant seed in your fields for six years and bring in the *harvest. v11 But during the seventh year, you must let your fields lie empty. Do not dig them and do not plant them. Then the poor people among you can get food from your fields. And the wild animals can eat any food that remains. Do the same thing with your gardens of fruit.

v12 Do your work for six days, but do not work on the seventh day. Then your cow and your *donkey can rest. Also, the foreign person and the slave who was born in your home can have some rest. Then they will become strong and happy.

v13 Be careful to obey all my words to you. Do not ask any other gods for help. Do not let anyone hear the names of other gods from your lips.

The three parties that happen during each year

v14 Three times during each year, I want you to enjoy a party with me.

v15 Enjoy the party of bread that has no *yeast in it. For 7 days, you must eat bread that you have made without any *yeast. I have *commanded you to do this. Do it at the right time during the month Abib. It was in that month that you came out of Egypt. Nobody must come to me with nothing in his hands.

v16 Enjoy the party of *harvest with the first food that you bring from your fields.

Enjoy another party at the end of the year. This will be when you bring in all of your food from the fields.?

v17 ?Three times during each year, all your men must appear in front of the *Lord who is King.

v18 If you give to me an animal as a gift, you may offer its blood. But do not offer it together with anything that has *yeast in it.

Do not keep the *fat from my special gifts until the next morning.

v19 When you pick the first food from your fields, put the best food into a basket. Then bring it to the house of the *Lord your God.

Do not cook a young goat in its mother?s milk.

God?s *angel will go in front of the *Israelites

v20 Look! I send an *angel in front of you, to keep you safe on the journey. He will bring you to the place that I have prepared for you. v21 Be careful to watch him. Listen to what he says to you. Do not refuse to obey him because he will not *forgive you. This is because he is called by my name. v22 Be careful to listen to his words. Do everything that I say to you. Then I will be an enemy to your enemies. I will fight against anyone who fights against you. v23 My *angel will go in front of you. He will bring you into the country of the *Amorites, the *Hittites, the *Perizzites, the *Canaanites, the *Hivites and the *Jebusites. I will kill all of them. v24 Do not bend your heads in front of their gods. Do not *worship these gods. And do not copy the things that these people do. Destroy the gods and break their special stones into small pieces. v25 *Worship me, the *Lord your God, and then I will make your bread and water very good. I will remove illness from among you. v26 Your women will all have babies. None of the babies will be born before it is ready. I will give a long life to every person.

v27 I will go in front of you and I will make everyone afraid of me. I will confuse the people in every country where you go. I will cause all your enemies to run away from you. v28 I will send in front of you cruel insects that fly. These will cause the *Hivites, the *Canaanites and the *Hittites to run away from you. v29 But I will not remove these people in one year. If I did that, the country would become empty. And then there would be too many wild animals. v30 I will remove them slowly, one group after another group. Then you will become strong and you will fill the country yourselves.

v31 I will decide where the edges of your country will be. The country will be from the Red Sea to the Sea of the *Philistines. And it will be from the *desert to the River Euphrates. I will give to you the people who live in these countries. Then you will send them away from you. v32 Do not make any promises to them, or to their gods. v33 Do not let them live in your country. They will certainly cause you to do wrong things against me. If you *worship their gods, you will become their slaves.?

Chapter 24

God repeats his *covenant

v1 Then God said to Moses: ?Come up to the *Lord. Come with Aaron, Nadab, Abihu and 70 of the leaders of *Israel. You must *worship me, but do not come near. v2 Only Moses can come near to me. And the people must not come with him.?

v3 Then Moses told the people all the *Lord?s words and rules. And the people answered together: ?We will do everything that the *Lord has said.? v4 Then Moses wrote down everything that the *Lord had said.

The next morning, Moses got up early and he built a stone table. He built it at the lowest part of the mountain. Then he put up 12 large stones, one stone for each big family of *Israel. v5 Moses sent young *Israelite men to offer gifts of burnt animals and young male cows.

v6 Moses took half of the blood of these animals and he put it in pots. He *sprinkled the other half of the blood over the stone table. v7 Then he took the *scroll of the *covenant and he read it to the people. They replied: ?We will do everything that the *Lord has said. We will obey him.?

v8 Then Moses took the blood in the pots and he *sprinkled it on the people. He said: ?This blood will cause you to remember the *covenant that the *Lord has made with you. He has made the *covenant with you, with all these words on the *scroll.?

v9 Then Moses and Aaron, Nadab, Abihu and the 70 *Israelite leaders went up the mountain. v10 They saw the God of *Israel. Under his feet was something like a path of valuable blue stone. It shone like the sky itself. v11 God did not attack these *Israelite leaders. They saw God. And they ate and drank.

v12 The *Lord said to Moses: ?Come up to me on the mountain. Stay here and I will give the flat stones to you. I have written on them the *Law and the rules. So now you can teach them to the people.?

v13 Then Moses went up the mountain of God, with Joshua, his servant. v14 He said to the leaders: ?Wait here for us. We will come back to you. Aaron and Hur are with you. Anyone who cannot agree with his brothers can go to them.?

v15 When Moses went up the mountain, the cloud covered it. v16 The *Lord?s special bright light appeared on *Mount Sinai. The cloud covered the mountain for 6 days. Then on the seventh day, the *Lord spoke to Moses from inside the cloud. v17 The *Lord?s special bright light looked like a fire that destroyed everything. When the *Israelites looked at it, they saw it like a fire. v18 Then Moses climbed the mountain and he went into the cloud. And he stayed on the mountain for 40 days and 40 nights.

Chapter 25

Gifts for the *tabernacle

v1 The *Lord said to Moses: v2 ?Tell the *Israelites that they must bring me a gift. Every person who wants to give can do so. You must receive the gifts for me. v3 These are the gifts that you must receive from the people:

      gold

      *silver and *bronze

v4  blue, *purple and red material

      and special white material

      goat?s hair,

v5  red sheep *skins and *badger *skins

      wood from *acacia trees

v6  *olive oil for the lights

      sweet powder from plants for the special oil, to make a lovely smell

v7  many different stones, all valuable, to fix on to the *priest?s special clothes.?

v8 ?You must *command the *Israelites to make a special place for me. Then I will come and live among them. v9 I will show you how to make this *tabernacle and everything inside it. But you must make it completely as I tell you.

The *Ark

v10 The *Israelites must make a box of *acacia wood. It must be one metre long, three quarters of a metre wide and three quarters of a metre high. v11 Cover it with gold, both inside and outside, and then build up the edges with gold. v12 Make four gold rings and fix them to the feet of the box. Fix two rings on one side and two rings on the other side. v13 Then make two sticks out of *acacia wood and cover them with gold. v14 Push the sticks into the rings on the sides of the box. This is how you will carry it. v15 The sticks must remain in the rings of this *Ark. You must not remove them. v16 Then put into the *Ark the words of the *covenant that I have written. I will give these to you.

v17 Make a gold lid for the *Ark. Make it one metre long and three quarters of a metre wide. v18 And make two *angels from gold. Use a hammer to make them the right shape. v19 Make one *angel on one end of the lid and the second *angel on the other end. The two *angels, one at each end, must be part of the lid. v20 The *angels? *wings must point to the sky and they must make a shadow over the lid. Each *angel?s face must look toward the other *angel and toward the lid. v21 Put the lid on the top of the *Ark. Put the words of the *covenant that I have written into the *Ark. I will give these words to you. v22 I will meet with you there, above the lid, between the two *angels. The *angels are over the *Ark of the *covenant. I will meet with you and I will give to you all my *commands for the *Israelites.

The table

v23 Make a table out of *acacia wood. Make it one metre long, half a metre wide and three quarters of a metre high. v24 Cover it with gold, and then build up the edges with gold. v25 Also, fix an extra piece of wood round it, 7 centimetres wide, and build up these edges with gold.

v26 Make four gold rings for the table. Fix them to the four corners, where the four legs of the table are. v27 The rings must be very near to the extra piece of wood. They will hold the sticks that you will use to carry the table. v28 Make the sticks out of *acacia wood and cover them with gold. Use them to carry the table. v29 Make the plates and the spoons out of gold, also the pots and the dishes. You will use these to pour out the gifts of drink. v30 Put the special loaves of bread on this table. They must be there in front of me always.

The *lampstand

v31 Make a *lampstand out of gold. Use a hammer to make it the right shape. Make its cups like open *almond flowers and some that are not yet open. You must make every part of the *lampstand from one piece of gold. v32 Make six branches on the *lampstand, three branches on each side of it. v33 Put three cups like *almond flowers on one branch and three on the next branch. Make some of these flowers open and some not yet open. Put three cups on each of the six branches of the *lampstand. v34 On the *lampstand itself, put four cups like *almond flowers, some open and some not yet open. v35 Put one flower, not yet open, under the first pair of branches. Put a second flower, not yet open, under the second pair of branches. Put the third flower, not yet open, under the third pair of branches. There are six branches on the *lampstand. v36 You must make the flowers and the branches from the same piece of gold as the *lampstand. Use a hammer to make the gold into the right shape.

v37 Then make 7 *lamps and fix them to the *lampstand. Fix them so that they will light the space in front of it. v38 You must make small tools from gold, with which to clean the *lamps. You must also make dishes for it. v39 You must make the *lampstand and all its tools and dishes from 34 kilos of gold. v40 Be careful how you make all these things. You must copy them completely as you saw them on the mountain.

Chapter 26

The *tabernacle

v1 Make the *tabernacle with 10 curtains of very good material, white, blue, *purple and red. Tell a *wise worker that he must make pictures of *angels in the curtains. v2 All the curtains must be the same size, 12½ metres long and 1¾ metres wide. v3 Join five of the curtains together. Do the same with the other five curtains. v4 On the edge of the last curtain in the set, fix rings of blue material. Do the same thing on the last curtain of the other set. v5 Make 50 rings on one curtain and 50 rings on the last curtain of the other set. Make the rings on one curtain opposite to the rings on the other curtain. v6 Then make 50 small pieces of gold to fasten the curtains together. Then the *tabernacle will be one piece of work.

v7 Make 11 curtains from goat?s hair to cover the *tabernacle. v8 All the curtains must be the same size. They must be 13½ metres long and 1¾ metres wide. v9 Fix five of the curtains together to make one set. Fix the other six curtains together to make a second set. Hang the sixth curtain over the end curtain of the first set. This will be at the front of the *tent. v10 Make 50 rings of material along the edge of the last curtain in the first set. Then make 50 rings along the edge of the last curtain in the second set. v11 Then make 50 small pieces of *bronze. Use them to fasten the *tent together. Then the *tent will be one piece of work. v12 The curtains for the *tent will be longer than the curtains for the *tabernacle. The extra half of the curtain will hang at the back of the *tabernacle. v13 The curtains of the *tent will be half a metre longer on both sides. The extra material will cover the sides of the *tabernacle. v14 Use red sheep *skins to cover the *tent. Then use *badger *skins to cover the sheep *skins.

v15 Make boards out of *acacia wood for the *tabernacle. v16 Each board must be 4½ metres long and ¾ of a metre wide. v17 Make two extra pieces on each board, next to each other. Make all the boards of the *tabernacle like this. v18 Make 20 boards for the south side of the *tabernacle. v19 Then make 40 pieces of *silver, with a hole in each piece. The boards will stand in the holes. There must be two holes for each board. The extra pieces on each board will fit into the holes. v20 Make 20 boards for the north side of the *tabernacle v21 and 40 pieces of *silver, two under each board. v22 Make six boards for the west end of the *tabernacle. v23 Then make two boards for the corners at the back of the *tabernacle. v24 You must fix them together at the lower edge and at the top. Use a ring to fix them together. Make both the corners the same. v25 So there will be 8 boards and 16 pieces of *silver, two under each board.

v26 You must also cut pieces of *acacia wood to fix across the boards of the *tabernacle. Cut five pieces for the boards on one side v27 and five pieces for the boards on the other side. Cut five pieces for the boards on the west, at the far end of the *tabernacle. v28 The piece of wood in the centre must reach from one end to the other. Fix it at the middle of the boards. v29 Cover the boards with gold and make gold rings. These rings will hold the pieces of wood that you fix across the boards. Then cover the pieces of wood also with gold.

v30 Make the *tabernacle the same as the plan that I showed to you, on the mountain.

v31 Make a curtain out of blue, *purple, red and soft white material. A *wise man must put into it a picture of *angels. v32 Hang it up with gold rings from four sticks of *acacia wood. Cover these sticks with gold. Then fix them on four pieces of *silver that have holes in the centre. v33 Hang up the curtain and put the *Ark of the *Covenant behind the curtain. So the *Holy Place will be separate from the Most *Holy Place. The curtain will hang between them. v34 Put the special lid on the *Ark of the *Covenant, in the most *Holy Place. v35 Put the table outside the curtain on the north side of the *tabernacle. Put the *lampstand on the opposite side of the *tabernacle, on the south side.

v36 Make a curtain for the door of the *tent. Make it out of blue, *purple and red material and out of special white material. Someone who can do *wise work with material must make the curtain. v37 Make gold rings for this curtain and make five sticks out of *acacia wood. Cover the sticks with gold and make five pieces of *bronze to hold them.

Chapter 27

The *altar on which to burn animals as gifts

v1 Make an *altar out of *acacia wood. It must be 1¼ metres high and the top must be square, 2¼ metres long and wide. v2 Make four *horns, one at each corner. The *horns and the *altar must be one piece of work. Then cover it all with *bronze. v3 Make all the tools for the *altar out of *bronze. Make pots to remove the ashes. Make spades, dishes and forks for the meat. Make buckets out of metal to carry the fire. v4 Make a square *net of *bronze with a ring of *bronze at each corner. v5 Fix this *net under the *altar, between the top of the *altar and the ground. v6 Make sticks out of *acacia wood for the *altar, then cover them with *bronze. v7 You must put the sticks into the rings when you carry the *altar. There will be a stick on two sides of the *altar. v8 Make the *altar out of boards. You must make it like the thing that the *Lord showed you on the mountain.

The yard

v9 Make a yard for the *tabernacle. The south side must be 46 metres long. It must have curtains of special white material. v10 Make 20 sticks for the curtains and 20 pieces of *bronze with holes in them. The sticks will stand in these. Make small pieces of *silver and rings of material on the sticks, to fasten the curtains. v11 The north side of the yard must also be 46 metres long. It must also have curtains, sticks, *silver pieces and rings of material.

v12 The west end of the yard must be 23 metres wide. Make curtains for it and 10 sticks to stand on 10 pieces of *bronze. v13 The east end of the yard looks toward the sunrise. It must also be 23 metres wide. v14 Make curtains 7 metres long on one side of the open space where you go in. Make three sticks that stand on three pieces of *bronze, for the curtains. v15 Make the same things for the other side.

v16 Make a curtain, 9 metres long, for the open space where you go into the yard. Make it out of blue, *purple and red material together with special white material. Choose a *wise worker to make the curtain. Make four sticks that stand on four pieces of *bronze for the curtain. v17 Make small pieces of *silver to fix the curtains on all the sticks round the yard. Every stick must stand in a small piece of *bronze. v18 The yard must be 46 metres long and 23 metres wide. Make the curtains out of special white material, 2¼ metres long and with pieces of *bronze to stand on. v19 Make everything of *bronze that you will use in the *tabernacle. This includes the small sharp sticks that fix the *tent and the yard to the ground.

*Olive oil for the *lampstand

v20 *Command the *Israelites to bring you clean oil from fresh *olives. This oil is to burn in the *lamps. They must always give light. v21 Aaron and his sons must keep a light in the *lamps from evening until morning. Put these lights in the *Tent of Meeting. They are for the *Lord to see. Put them outside the curtain that hangs in front of the *Testimony. You must make this a rule for the *Israelites. It is a rule also for those who are not yet born.

Chapter 28

Special clothes for the *priests

v1 Fetch Aaron your brother with his sons, from among the *Israelites. The names of Aaron?s sons are Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar. I want them to be my servants, my *priests. v2 Make special clothes for your brother Aaron. These clothes will show that he is important and special to me. v3 I have made certain men very *wise so that they can make these clothes. Tell them that they must make Aaron?s clothes. The clothes must be ready for the day when I make him my servant, my *priest. v4 These are the clothes that the *wise men must make:

            a *breastpiece

            an *ephod

            a *robe

            a *tunic

            a *turban

            a long belt.

They must make these special clothes for your brother Aaron and for his sons. Then Aaron and his sons can be my servants, my *priests. v5 The *wise men must use beautiful material, gold, blue, *purple, red and white.

The *ephod

v6 Make the *ephod out of gold and out of blue, *purple and red material. Use also special white material that a *wise worker has made. v7 On two of its corners you must fix pieces for Aaron?s shoulders. Then you can fasten the *ephod. v8 Make the special belt like the *ephod. The belt and the *ephod must be one piece of work. You must make them with gold and with blue, *purple and red material and with special white material.

v9 Take two *onyx stones. With a sharp tool, write on them the names of the sons of *Israel. v10 Begin with the name of the oldest son and finish with the name of the youngest son. Write six names on one stone and six names on the other. v11 Write these names on the two stones like a *wise man draws on valuable metal. Then fix the stones to some thin gold pieces that you have made beautiful. v12 Fasten the stones on the shoulder pieces of the *ephod. When the *Lord sees the stones, he will remember his promises to the sons of *Israel. Aaron will carry the names on his shoulders and the *Lord will see them. v13 Make special pieces of thin gold v14 and two *chains of gold. Fix these *chains to the thin pieces of gold.

The *breastpiece

v15 A *wise worker must make the *breastpiece. This will give Aaron help when he must decide any matter. Make it like the *ephod, out of gold and out of blue, *purple and red material. Use special white material too. v16 Bend a piece of cloth to make a square, 22 centimetres long and 22 centimetres wide. v17 Then fix four sets of valuable stones on it. Fix a *ruby, a *topaz and a *beryl in the first set. v18 Fix a *turquoise, a *sapphire and an *emerald in the second set. v19 Fix a *jacinth, an *agate and an *amethyst in the third set. v20 Fix a *chrysolite, an *onyx and a *jasper in the fourth set. Fix each stone in a thin piece of gold that you have made beautiful. v21 There will be 12 stones, one stone for each of *Israel?s sons. You must write their names on the stones with a sharp tool. Write one name on each stone.

v22 Make thin lines out of gold and put them together. This will make a *chain. v23 Then make two gold rings for the *chains. Fasten them to two corners of the *breastpiece. v24 Fasten the two gold *chains to the rings at the corners of the *breastpiece. v25 Fasten the other ends of the *chains to the shoulder pieces of the *ephod, in the front. v26 Make two gold rings and fasten them to the two other corners of the *breastpiece. Put them inside, next to the *ephod. v27 Make two more gold rings. Fix them to the lower edge of the shoulder pieces, on the front of the *ephod. Put them just above the *ephod?s belt. v28 Tie the rings of the *breastpiece to the rings of the *ephod with a line of blue cotton. Fix it to the belt, then the *breastpiece and the belt will not become separated.

v29 When Aaron goes into the *Holy Place, he will wear the *breastpiece over his heart. So he will carry the names of *Israel?s sons over his heart. And the *Lord will always remember the *Israelites. v30 Put the *Urim and *Thummim in the *breastpiece. Then they will also be over Aaron?s heart when he goes into the *Lord?s home. So Aaron will always carry over his heart the help that he needs. He will always carry this help with him, to decide matters for the *Israelites.

Other clothes for the *priests

v31 Make the *robe of the *ephod completely out of blue cloth. v32 Make a hole in the centre of the *robe, for the *priest?s head. You must make a *collar round this hole, and then it will not tear. v33 Make *pomegranates out of blue, *purple and red material. Fix them to the lower edge of the *robe, with gold bells between them. v34 Fix a bell, then a *pomegranate, a bell, then a *pomegranate round the whole lower edge of the *robe.

v35 Aaron must wear the *robe when he works as the *Lord?s servant. The bells will make a sound when he goes into the *Holy Place. And they will make a sound when he comes out. So he will not die.

v36 Make a thin plate out of gold and write on it with a sharp tool: *HOLY TO THE *LORD. v37 Fasten a line of blue cotton to the plate. Then fix the plate to the front of the *turban. v38 Aaron will wear the *turban, with the plate, on his head for a special reason. When the *Israelites bring gifts to God, Aaron himself will carry any bad things in the gifts. Then the *Lord will accept the gifts because of the *turban on Aaron?s head. v39 Make the *tunic and the *turban out of good white material. A *wise worker must make the long belt.

v40 Make *tunics, long belts and hats for Aaron?s sons. These things will make them look important and beautiful. v41 Put these clothes on your brother Aaron and on his sons. Then pour oil on their heads and give them authority. Make them separate from the other *Israelites so that they can be the *Lord?s *priests.

v42 Make trousers out of white material that will cover the lower parts of the *priests? bodies. v43 Aaron and his sons must wear them when they go into the *Tent of Meeting. They must also wear them when they go near to the *altar in the *Holy Place. Then the *Lord will not become angry with them, and they will not die. This rule is for Aaron and for all his children and grandchildren. The rule remains the same for all time.

Chapter 29

*Priests must be separate from other *Israelites

v1 When you make the *priests separate, do it in this way: Take a young male cow and two male sheep. They must not have anything wrong with them. v2 Make some bread from good flour, with no *yeast in it. Use oil to make cakes and biscuits also. v3 Put these things in a basket and bring them, with the three animals. v4 Then bring Aaron and his sons to the door of the *Tent of Meeting and wash them there. v5 Then take the special clothes. Dress Aaron in the *tunic, the *robe, the *ephod and the *breastpiece. Fasten the *ephod on him with the special belt. v6 Put the *turban on Aaron?s head and fix the *holy gold plate to the *turban. v7 Take the special oil and pour it on his head. v8 Bring his sons and dress them in their *tunics. v9 Put the hats on their heads, then tie the long belts on Aaron and on his sons. These men and their sons and grandsons will be *priests for all time. This is a special gift to them for always. This is how you must make Aaron and his sons separate:

v10 Bring the male cow to the front of the *Tent of Meeting. Aaron and his sons must put their hands on the male cow?s head. v11 Then kill the animal in front of the *Lord, at the door of the *Tent of Meeting. v12 Take some of the male cow?s blood. Use your finger to put some blood on the *horns of the *altar. Pour the blood that remains on the ground round the *altar. v13 Take all the *fat that is round the inside parts of the animal. Take the *skin that covers the *liver. Take both the *kidneys with the *fat that is round them. Burn all these things on the *altar. v14 But burn the male cow?s body outside the *camp. You have offered it because of *sin.

v15 Take one of the male sheep. Aaron and his sons must put their hands on its head. v16 Kill it and take the blood to the *altar. Throw some of the blood on to every side of the *altar. v17 Cut the male sheep in pieces and wash the inside parts and the legs. Then put them with the head and with the other pieces. v18 Burn the whole male sheep on the *altar. It is a gift to the *Lord and a good smell. You will offer this gift to the *Lord by fire.

v19 Take the second male sheep. Aaron and his sons must put their hands on its head. v20 Kill it and put some of the blood on the right ears of Aaron and his sons. Put some blood also on their right hands and on the big toes of their right feet. Then throw some blood on to every side of the *altar. v21 Mix together some of the blood on the *altar and some of the special oil. Put this on to Aaron and on to his clothes. Put it also on to his sons and on to their clothes. Then Aaron and his sons and their clothes will be *holy.

v22 Take all the *fat from this male sheep. Take the *fat tail, the *fat round the inside parts and the *skin round the *liver. Take also the two *kidneys with the *fat round them. And take the top part of the right leg. (You will use this male sheep when you give authority to Aaron and to his sons.) v23 Take out of the basket a loaf of bread that has no *yeast in it. Take also a cake with oil in it and a biscuit. These are all in the basket that is in front of the *Lord. v24 Put all these things in the hands of Aaron and his sons. Then lift these things up to the *Lord as a gift. v25 Now take them and burn them on the *altar, with the animal as a gift. They will make a good smell, a gift to the *Lord that you offer by fire.

v26 Take the *breast of this special male sheep. First lift it up to the *Lord as a gift that you offer to him. Then you can eat it.

v27 You must make *holy the pieces of the sheep that are for Aaron and his sons. These are the *breast and the top part of the leg. You have lifted them up first to the *Lord. v28 This must always be the regular gift from the *Israelites to Aaron and his sons. The *Israelites must supply this food for the *priests from their gifts to the *Lord.

v29 Aaron?s *holy clothes will belong to the males in his family for all time. Those men will become separate and take authority. Then they can wear the clothes. v30 The son who becomes *priest after Aaron?s death must wear his clothes. When that son comes to the *Tent of Meeting, he must wear the clothes for 7 days. He must wear them while he does the *Lord?s work in the *Holy Place.

v31 Take the male sheep that is for Aaron and his sons. Cook the meat in a *holy place. v32 Aaron and his sons must eat the meat, and the bread from the basket. They must do this at the door of the *Tent of Meeting. v33 They must eat these gifts, by which they have paid for their authority and special importance. No other person can eat this meat because it is *holy.

v34 But if any of this meat remains until the morning, you must burn it. Burn also any bread that remains. You must not eat it because it is *holy.

v35 Do everything that I have *commanded you, for Aaron and his sons. Make them *holy and give them authority during 7 days. v36 Kill a male cow each day, as a gift. This animal that you offer dies instead of you, for your *sin.?

?Make the *altar completely clean. Pay for it with a gift and pour oil on it. This will make it special and *holy. v37 Do this to the *altar for 7 days, and then it will become very *holy. Anything that touches the *altar will become *holy too.

v38 You must offer a regular gift on the *altar each day. This gift must be two young sheep that are one year old. v39 Offer one in the morning and the other in the evening.

v40 With the first young sheep, offer two litres of good flour. Mix this with one litre of *olive oil. Offer also one litre of *wine as a gift of drink. v41 Kill the other young sheep in the evening. Offer it with the same gifts of food and drink as in the morning. There will be a good smell from this gift to the *Lord, by fire.

v42 I give this *commandment for all the *Israelites who will be born in future years. You must offer this regular gift by fire, to me. Offer it at the door of the *Tent of Meeting. I will meet you there and I will speak to you. v43 I will meet the *Israelites there also and the place will become *holy because of my *glory.

v44 So I will make the *Tent of Meeting *holy and separate. I will do the same thing to the *altar and to Aaron and to his sons. They will work for me as *priests. v45 Then I will live among the *Israelites and I will be their God. v46 They will know that I am the *Lord their God. I brought them out of Egypt so that I could live among them. I am the *Lord their God.?

Chapter 30

The *altar for *incense

v1 ?Make an *altar out of *acacia wood so that you can burn *incense on it. v2 The *altar must be square. Make it ½ metre long, ½ metre wide and 1 metre high. The *altar?s *horns must be part of it, one piece of wood. v3 Cover every part of the *altar with gold. Then fix an extra piece of gold round it. v4 Make two gold rings for the *altar, below the extra piece of gold. These rings must be on opposite sides of the *altar. They will hold the sticks with which you will carry it. v5 Make the sticks of *acacia wood and cover them with gold. v6 There is a curtain in front of the *Ark of the *Covenant. Put the *altar in front of that curtain, in front of the special lid. This lid covers the *ark and I will meet you there.

v7 Aaron must burn *incense with a good smell on the *altar every morning. He must do this when he checks the *lamps. v8 He must burn *incense again when he lights the *lamps in the evening. *Incense must burn for the *Lord every day for all time. v9 Do not offer any different *incense on this *altar. Do not offer any animals or food plants as gifts on this *altar. And do not pour a gift of drink on it. v10 Once every year, Aaron must pay the price for *sin on this *altar. He must pay this price with the blood of the male cow that he offers. Every year, a *priest must do this, for all time. It is most *holy to the *Lord.?

Money that pays the price for each life

v11 Then the *Lord said to Moses: v12 ?When you count the *Israelites, each person must pay the *Lord a price for his life. Each person must do this at the time when you count him. Then nothing bad will happen to him at that time. v13 Each person must give a *silver coin when you count him. The weight of this coin is six *grams and it is a gift to the *Lord. v14 You must count every person who is 20 years old or more. And each person must offer his gift to the *Lord. v15 Rich people must not give more than six *grams of *silver. Poor people must not give less when they offer this gift to the *Lord. It is the price that each person must pay for his life. v16 Receive this money from the *Israelites. Use it for anything that you need for the *Tent of Meeting. Then the *Lord will always remember that you belong to him. You have paid money for your lives.

v17 Then the *Lord said to Moses: v18 Make a very large dish for water out of *bronze. And make something from *bronze for it to stand on. Put it between the *Tent of Meeting and the *altar and fill it with water.

v19 Aaron and his sons must wash their hands and their feet with water from the dish. v20 Every time they go into the *Tent of Meeting, they must wash their hands and their feet. Then they will not die. Also, before they offer a gift by fire on the *altar, they must wash. v21 Then they will not die when they offer a gift to the *Lord. This is a rule for all time, for Aaron and for everyone that is born into his family.?

Special oil to make things *holy

v22 Then the *Lord said to Moses: v23 ?Mix together these good *spices:

            6 kilos of *liquid *myrrh

            3 kilos of sweet *cinnamon

            3 kilos of sweet *cane

v24      6 kilos of *cassia

            4 litres of *olive oil.

v25 Make these into a *holy oil, the special oil that makes things *holy. It will be the work of a *wise chemist. v26 Then pour a little oil on all of these things:

            the *Tent of Meeting

            the *Ark of the *Covenant

v27     the table and all its tools

            the *lampstand and its tools

v28     the two *altars with their tools

            and the very large dish for water with its *base.

v29 You must make all these things separate so that they will be most *holy. Then anything that touches them will become *holy.

v30 Pour some of the *holy oil on Aaron?s head and on the heads of his sons. Make them separate, and then they can work for me as *priests. v31 Say to the *Israelites: ?This will be my *holy oil for all time. v32 Do not pour it on the bodies of men who are not *priests. Do not make any of this oil to use for other things. It is *holy and you must always think about it as *holy. v33 Nobody must make a sweet smell like this oil. Nobody must put this oil on any person except on a *priest. Anyone who does not obey this rule must die.? ?

Sweet *incense

v34 Then the *Lord said to Moses: ?Take sweet *spices, (*gum resin, *onycha, *galbanum and *frankincense) in equal amounts. v35 Give them to a chemist and let him make them into *incense, with a lovely smell. It must have salt in it and it must be clean and *holy. v36 Make some of the *incense into powder. Put this in front of the *Ark of the *Covenant, in the *Tent of Meeting. I will meet you there. It will be most *holy to you. v37 Do not make any *incense like this for yourselves. Think about it always as *holy to the *Lord. v38 Whoever makes any *incense like it, with a lovely smell, for himself, he must die.?

Chapter 31

Bezalel and Oholiab

v1 Then the *Lord said to Moses: v2 ?Look! I have chosen Bezalel, the son of Uri, the grandson of Hur, from the big family of Judah. v3 I have filled him with the Spirit of God. I have made him very *wise in many different ways. v4 He knows how to draw beautiful pictures of things. Then he makes them out of gold, *silver and *bronze. v5 He knows how to cut valuable stones. Then he puts them into pieces of gold or *silver. He knows how to work with wood. He makes beautiful things and he always does good work.

v6 And I have chosen Oholiab, the son of Ahisamach, from the big family of Dan, to help Bezalel. Also, I have made all the workers very *wise. They will make everything that I have *commanded you. v7 They will make the *Tent of Meeting and the *Ark of the *Covenant with its special lid. They will make all the other things in the *tent too. v8 They will make the table and all the things on it. They will make the *lampstand out of *pure gold and the *altar where you will offer *incense. v9 They will make the other *altar. On that other *altar, you will burn the animals that are gifts to me. They will make the very large dish for water and its metal *base.

v10 These *wise men will also make clothes. They will make the special clothes for Aaron the *priest and for his sons. His sons will wear these clothes when they work as *priests. v11 The *wise men will also make the special oil and the *incense that has a lovely smell. These are for the *Holy Place. They must make them completely as I *commanded you.?

The *Sabbath

v12 Then the *Lord said to Moses: v13 ?Say to the *Israelites: ?You must keep my *Sabbaths as special days. This will be something special for you and for me. The children that will be born will see it. Then they will know that I am the *Lord. It is I who make you *holy.

v14 Keep the *Sabbath special because it is a *holy day to you. You must kill anyone who does bad things on the *Sabbath. Anyone who works on that day must die. v15 You must work for six days, but the seventh day is a *Sabbath for rest. It is a *holy day to the *Lord. You must kill any person who does any work on the *Sabbath day. v16 The *Israelites must keep the *Sabbath as a special day and they must enjoy it. They must do this for all time. It is a special *covenant and it will always be with them.? v17 It will be something special between me and the *Israelites for all time. This is because the *Lord made the sky and the earth in six days. Then, on the seventh day, he did not work but he rested.?

v18 The *Lord finished his words to Moses on *Mount Sinai. Then the *Lord gave Moses the two flat stones of the *Testimony. God had written on these stones with his own finger.

Chapter 32

The young cow that Aaron made out of gold

v1 Moses was on the mountain for a very long time. So the *Israelites went to Aaron. They said: ?Get up! Make some gods for us who will lead us. This man, Moses, brought us up out of Egypt. But we do not know where he is now. We do not know what has happened to him.?

v2 Then Aaron answered them: ?Take the gold rings from the ears of your wives, your sons and your daughters. Then bring the rings to me.? v3 So all the *Israelites removed the rings from their ears and they brought them to Aaron.

v4 Aaron took the rings and he made a false god from the gold. He used a tool to make the false god in the shape of a young cow. Then the *Israelites said: ?This is your god, *Israel. He brought you up out of Egypt!?

v5 When Aaron saw this, he built an *altar in front of the young cow. He shouted: ?Tomorrow, there will be a party to the *Lord.? v6 So, on the next day, the *Israelites got up early. They offered gifts of dead animals on the *altar and they brought other gifts also. After this they sat down and they ate a meal. They drank and then they played bad games together.

v7 Then the *Lord said to Moses: ?Go down the mountain. The *Israelites that you brought out of Egypt have become bad people. v8 They have turned away from my *commandments already. They have made for themselves a false god in the shape of a young cow. They have bent their heads to it. They have brought gifts of dead animals to it. They have said: ?These are your gods, *Israel, who have brought you out of Egypt.? ?

v9 Then the *Lord said to Moses: ?I have seen these people. They are *proud and they do not obey me. v10 Now leave me, so that I can be very angry with them. I will kill them and I will make you into a great *nation.?

v11 But Moses asked the *Lord his God to listen to him. Moses said: ?*Lord, please do not be so angry with your own family! You brought them out of Egypt with strong and powerful authority. v12 The *Egyptians will say: ?God led the *Israelites out of Egypt so that he could kill them. He wanted to kill them in the mountains. He wanted to destroy them completely.? Please stop being angry. Please be sorry for your own people and do not kill them. v13 Remember your servants, Abraham, Isaac and *Israel. Remember the promise that you made to them. You said: ?I will give you as many children and grandchildren as there are stars in the sky. I have promised to give this whole country to them. And it will be their country for all time.? ? v14 Then the *Lord was sorry for the people that he had chosen. He did not kill them as he had decided to.

v15 Moses turned and he went down the mountain. He carried the two flat stones of the *Testimony in his hands. God had written on both sides of the stones. v16 This was God?s own work. He himself had written the words on the stones.

v17 The *Israelites were shouting and Joshua heard the noise. He said to Moses: ?I can hear the sound of war in the *camp!? v18 But Moses answered: ?It is not the sound of soldiers who are beating their enemies. It is not the sound of soldiers who run away from their enemies. It is the sound of singers that I can hear.?

v19 Then Moses came near to the *camp. He saw the young cow and the *Israelites who were dancing. He became very angry. He threw the two stones on to the ground. He broke them into pieces where he stood. v20 Then he took the young cow that they had made. He burned it in the fire. He made it into powder and he poured it into the water. Then he *commanded the *Israelites to drink that water.

v21 Moses said to Aaron: ?You should not have caused these people to do such a bad *sin. What did they do to you?? v22 Aaron answered: ?Do not be angry, my *lord. You know how quickly these people do bad things. v23 They said to me: ?Make us some gods that will lead us. This man called Moses brought us out of Egypt. But now we do not know what has happened to him.? v24 So I said to them: ?If anyone has any gold rings, he must remove them.? Then they gave the gold to me. I threw it into the fire and this young cow came out of the fire!?

v25 All the *Israelites were running about. And Moses saw that they were doing bad things in the *camp. Aaron had let them do bad things. They would have felt ashamed if their enemies had seen them. v26 So Moses stood at the edge of the *camp. He said: ?Everyone who loves the *Lord must come to me.? Then all the *Levites went to Moses.

v27 Then Moses said to the *Levites: ?This is the message from the *Lord, the God of *Israel. ?Every man must take his *sword in his hand. You must go from one end of the *camp to the other. And each man must kill his brother and his friend and his *neighbour.? ? v28 The *Levites obeyed the *command of Moses and about three thousand *Israelites died on that day. v29 Then Moses said to the *Levites: ?The *Lord has made you his special people today. He has *blessed you today because you have *punished your own sons and brothers.?

v30 On the next day, Moses said to the *Israelites: ?You have done a very bad thing. But now I will go up to the *Lord. Perhaps I can pay the price for your *sin.?

v31 So Moses returned to the *Lord. He said to the *Lord: ?These people have done a very bad thing. They have made gods out of gold for themselves! v32 But now, please *forgive them! And if you cannot *forgive them, then take my name out of your book.?

v33 The *Lord answered Moses: ?I will take out of my book the name of everyone who has *sinned against me. v34 Now go! Lead the *Israelites to the place that I have spoken about. My *angel will go in front of you. But on the right day I will *punish them for their *sin.?

v35 And the *Lord *punished the *Israelites with a bad illness because of what they had done. They had done bad things with the young cow that Aaron had made.

Chapter 33

v1 Then the *Lord said to Moses: ?You and the *Israelites must all leave this place. You brought them out of Egypt. You must lead them to the country that I promised to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. I promised to give the country to their children and grandchildren, for all time. v2 I will send an *angel in front of you. He will throw out the *Canaanites, the *Amorites, the *Hittites, the *Perizzites, the *Hivites and the *Jebusites. v3 Go to that country where there is enough food and drink for everyone. But I will not go with you because you will not obey my *commandments. I might go with you. But then I might kill you as you travel.?

v4 The *Israelites heard the message and God?s words frightened them. They began to cry and nobody put on his beautiful stones. v5 The *Lord had said to Moses: ?Speak to the *Israelites. Say to them: ?You are people who will not obey me. If I go with you, even for a moment, I may kill you. I may kill you as you travel. Now remove your beautiful stones. Then I will decide what I will do with you.? ? v6 So the *Israelites threw off their beautiful stones near *Mount Horeb.

The *Tent of Meeting

v7 Now Moses put up a special *tent outside the *camp, in every place where the *Israelites stayed. He called it the *Tent of Meeting. Anyone could go there and listen to the *Lord?s words. The *Tent of Meeting was outside the *camp.

v8 When Moses went out to the *Tent of Meeting, all the people would stand at the doors of their *tents. They would watch Moses until he went into the *Tent of Meeting. v9 When Moses went into the *tent, the special cloud would come down. The cloud would stay at the door of the *tent while the *Lord spoke to Moses.

v10 Every time that the people saw the special cloud at the door of the *Tent of Meeting, they all stood up. Then each person *worshipped at the door of his *tent. v11 The *Lord would speak to Moses as a man speaks to his friend. Then Moses would return to the *camp. But Joshua, the son of Nun, stayed in the *tent. He was a young man who helped Moses.

Moses wants to see God?s *glory

v12 Moses said to the *Lord: ?You have said to me: ?Lead these people.? But whom will you send with me? You have not told me. You have said: ?I know you by your name. You give me pleasure and I love you.? v13 If you love me, please tell me your thoughts. I want to understand you. I want you to love me always. Remember that the *Israelites are your own family.?

v14 The *Lord replied: ?I myself will go with you and I will give you rest.?

v15 Then Moses said: ?If you do not go with us, do not send us away from here. v16 If you do not go with us, nobody will know about you. Nobody will know that we give you pleasure. We will not be special people. We will be like everyone else in the world.?

v17 And the *Lord said to Moses: ?I will certainly do this thing that you have asked for. This is because you give me pleasure. Also, I know you by your name.?

v18 Then Moses said: ?Please, show me your *glory!?

v19 And the *Lord said: ?I will cause all my *goodness to pass in front of you. I will tell you my name, that I am the *Lord. I will be kind to anyone that I choose. I will show my love to anyone that I choose. v20 But you cannot see my face. Nobody can see my face and live.?

v21 Then the *Lord said: ?There is a place near me. You can stand there upon a rock. v22 When my *glory passes in front of you, I will put you in a hole in the rock. I will cover you with my hand until I have passed in front of you. v23 Then I will remove my hand and you will see my back. But nobody must see my face.?

Chapter 34

Two new flat stones

v1 The *Lord said to Moses: ?Cut two flat stones like the first stones. Then I will write on them all the words that I wrote on the first stones. You broke the first stones into pieces.?

v2 ?Make yourself ready in the morning and come up *Mount Sinai. Show yourself to me there, on the top of the mountain. v3 Nobody must come with you. Nobody must be anywhere on the mountain. Even the animals must not eat grass in front of the mountain.?

v4 So Moses cut two flat stones like the first ones. He went up *Mount Sinai early in the morning as the *Lord had *commanded him. And he carried the two flat stones in his hands. v5 Then the *Lord came down in the special cloud and he stood by Moses. The *Lord spoke with a loud voice and he said: ?The *Lord is my name!?

v6 Then the *Lord passed in front of Moses. He said in a loud voice: ?The *Lord! The *Lord! The kind God who loves you becomes angry very slowly. He is a God of love who does not change. v7 He loves thousands of people. He *forgives the bad things that they do. He *forgives many people who do not obey him. He even *forgives people who do bad things against him. But he does not forget to *punish bad people. He *punishes children and grandchildren for the bad things that their fathers did. He continues to *punish them, even the children of the grandchildren.?

v8 Then Moses bent down his head immediately and he *worshipped. v9 He said: ?*Lord, if you love me, please go with us! I know that we have often not obeyed you. But please *forgive the bad things that we have done. Take us with you as your own family.?

v10 Then the *Lord said: ?I will make a *covenant with you. I will do great and special things in front of all the *Israelites. Nobody has done things like these before, in any country in the world. Your *neighbours will see these great things that I, the *Lord, will do for you. And they will feel afraid of you. v11 Obey what I *command you today. Then I will go in front of you. And I will throw out these people: the *Amorites, the *Canaanites, the *Hittites, the *Perizzites, the *Hivites and the *Jebusites.

v12 Do not make friends with the people in the country where you are going. If you did, they would teach you to do wrong things. v13 You must break their *altars and destroy their special stones. You must cut down the tall sticks that they call *holy. v14 Do not *worship any other god. The *Lord your God will not let you love any god except himself.

v15 Be careful! Do not make friends with those people who live in that country. When they do bad things in front of their gods, they will ask you to do it with them. Then they will give you their bad food to eat. v16 Perhaps you may choose some of their daughters for your sons to marry. These daughters will still *worship their gods. And they will teach your sons to do the same bad things.

v17 Do not make false gods from hot metal.

v18 Enjoy the party of bread that has no *yeast in it. Eat this bread for 7 days, as I *commanded you. Do this on the right date in the month of Abib. This is because you came out of Egypt in that month.

v19 Every first child or young animal that is born is my own. You must include every first male that is born of your cows and your sheep. v20 You must pay for every first *donkey that is born. You must give a young sheep to me to pay for the *donkey. If you do not pay for it, you must break its neck. And you must pay for every first son that is born. Nobody must come to me without a gift in his hand.

v21 You must work for six days but on the seventh day you must rest. Even when it is time to plough, you must rest on the seventh day. And when it is time to bring in your *harvest, you must still rest on the seventh day.

v22 Enjoy the party of weeks when you cut the first of your food plants. Enjoy the party of *harvest at the end of the year. v23 Three times in the year, all your men must appear in front of the *Lord. He is your king, the God of *Israel. v24 He will go in front of you and he will throw out your enemies. He will give you more and more land. And when you leave it, three times in the year, nobody will take it from you.

v25 Do not offer to me the blood of an animal with anything that has *yeast in it. And do not keep any of the meat from the *Passover party until the next morning.

v26 When you cut the first of your food plants, bring the best to the *Lord?s house. Do not cook a young goat in its mother?s milk.?

v27 Then the *Lord said to Moses: ?Write down these words, because I have made a *covenant with you and with the *Israelites. These words tell you about my *covenant.? v28 Moses was there, with the *Lord, for 40 days and 40 nights. He did not eat bread or drink water. And he wrote on the flat stones the words of God?s *covenant. He wrote down the ten *commandments.

Moses? face shines

v29 Moses came down from *Mount Sinai with the two stones of the *covenant in his hands. But he did not know that his face was shining. His face was shining because he had spoken with the *Lord. v30 When Aaron and all the *Israelites saw Moses? face, they were afraid to come near him. v31 But Moses shouted to them. So Aaron and the leaders of the people came back to him. Then Moses talked to them. v32 After this, all the *Israelites came near to Moses. And he gave them all the *commands that the *Lord had given to him on *Mount Sinai.

v33 When Moses had spoken to them, he covered his face with a thin cloth. v34 But when he spoke with the *Lord in the *Tent of Meeting, he removed the cloth. When he came out, he repeated God?s *commands to the *Israelites. v35 They saw that his face shone. So Moses would put the thin cloth over his face again. The cloth would stay there until he spoke with the *Lord again.

Chapter 35

Rules about the *Sabbath

v1 Moses brought all the *Israelites together. Then he said to them: ?These are the *Lord?s *commandments to you. v2 You must work for six days but the seventh day will be your *holy day. It will be a day of rest to the *Lord. Anyone who works on that day must die. v3 Do not light a fire in any of your homes on the *Sabbath day.?

Materials for the *tabernacle

v4 Moses said to all the *Israelites: ?This is what the *Lord has *commanded: v5 Take a gift for the *Lord from the things that you have. Everyone who wants to give can bring a gift of gold, *silver and *bronze. v6 They can also bring blue, *purple and red material, and special white cloth. v7 They can bring goats? hair, red sheep *skins, *badger *skins and *acacia wood. v8 They can bring *olive oil for the light, many different *spices, v9 *onyx stones and other valuable stones. And you will put these stones on the *ephod and on the *breastpiece.

v10 Every *wise person among you must make all the things that the *Lord has *commanded. v11 Make the *tabernacle, with its *tent that covers it. Make all the different parts for it, as I have described them to you. v12 Make the *Ark, with its sticks, its special lid and the curtain that hangs in front of it.

v13 Make the table with its sticks and all its dishes. Make the special bread that you will put on the table. v14 Make the *lampstand that will give light, with the *lamps and the oil. v15 Make the *altar for *incense with its sticks, the special oil and the *incense that has a sweet smell. Make the curtain for the door of the *tabernacle. v16 Make the *altar where you will burn animals as gifts to the *Lord. Make all the different tools for the *altar, as I have described them to you. Make the very large dish for water and its *base. v17 Make the curtains for the yard and for the door of the yard. Make the sticks for the curtains and the *bases. v18 Make the small, sharp sticks and the strong material that fixes the *tents to the ground.

v19 Make the special clothes for Aaron and for his sons to wear. They are *priests and they will work for the *Lord. This is why they must wear special clothes.?

v20 Then all the *Israelites went away. v21 Many of them really wanted to give a gift to the *Lord. So they each brought something to offer for the *Tent of Meeting. They also brought materials for the special clothes. v22 Both men and women brought beautiful things of gold that they had worn on their bodies. They all brought their gold things as a special gift of love to the *Lord. v23 Everyone who had blue, *purple or red material brought it. Also, they brought special white cloth. People who had goats? hair, red sheep *skins and *badger *skins brought them. v24 Those who brought gifts of *silver or *bronze offered them to the *Lord. Everyone who had *acacia wood brought it for the *Tent of Meeting.

v25 Every *wise woman worked with her hands. She brought what she had made, blue, *purple and red material or special white cloth. v26 Many *wise women began to work. They made the goats? hair into cloth. v27 The leaders of the *Israelites brought valuable stones to fix on the *ephod and on the *breastpiece. v28 They also brought *spices and *olive oil. These things were for the light, for the special oil and for the *incense with a lovely smell. v29 Many *Israelite men and women wanted to offer gifts. They were happy to bring these gifts to the *Lord. Moses needed these gifts to make everything for the *Lord. That was because the *Lord had *commanded the *Israelites to make all these things.

Bezalel and Oholiab

v30 Then Moses said to the *Israelites: ?Look! The *Lord has chosen Bezalel, who is the son of Uri, and the grandson of Hur. He belongs to the big family of Judah. v31 The *Lord has filled him with the Spirit of God and has made him very *wise. He knows how to make many different things. v32 He can make beautiful things out of gold, *silver and *bronze. v33 He can cut and fix valuable stones. He can make things from wood. And everything that he makes is beautiful.

v34 Bezalel and Oholiab are both *wise men who can teach other people. Oholiab is the son of Ahisamach, from the big family of Dan. And the *Lord has made them both *wise teachers. v35 The *Lord has given them very *wise minds that are full of good ideas. They draw plans of beautiful things, and then they make them. They use many different materials to make lovely things. And they are both masters at their work.?

Chapter 36

v1 Then Moses said: ?So Bezalel and Oholiab will do the work that the *Lord has *commanded. And every person that the *Lord has made *wise will work with them. They will build the *Holy Place that the *Lord has *commanded.?

v2 Then Moses brought together Bezalel, Oholiab and every *wise person who enjoyed work. These were people that the *Lord had prepared. v3 They received from Moses all the gifts that the *Israelites had brought. They would use these gifts to build the *Holy Place. And the *Israelites continued to bring gifts every morning. v4 Then the *wise workers who were building the *Holy Place left the work. They went to Moses and they said: v5 ?The people are bringing more gifts than we need for the *Tent of Meeting. This is what the *Lord has *commanded us to do.?

v6 Then Moses gave a *command and he sent it round the whole *camp. He said: ?No man or woman must offer anything more for the *Holy Place.? So Moses did not let the *Israelites bring any more gifts. v7 The workers already had more gifts than they needed.

The *tabernacle

v8 All the *wise workers made the *tabernacle with ten curtains of soft white material. The same *wise people used blue, *purple and red cotton to make pictures of *angels in the curtains. v9 All the curtains were the same size. They were 12½ metres long and 1¾ metres wide. v10 The workers fixed five of the curtains to make one large curtain. Then they did the same thing with the other five curtains. v11 They made 50 rings of blue material along the edge of the last curtain in each set. v12 These rings were *opposite each other. v13 Then they made 50 small pieces of gold to fix each pair of rings. So they fastened the two sets of curtains each to the other and the *tabernacle became one thing.

v14 The workers made 11 curtains out of goats? hair for a *tent to cover the *tabernacle.

v15 The 11 curtains were all the same size. They were 13½ metres long and 1¾ metres wide. v16 They fastened five of the curtains into one set and six of the curtains into another set. v17 Then they made 50 rings of material along the edge of the last curtain in each set. v18 They made 50 small pieces of *bronze to fasten the *tent, as one thing. v19 Then they used red sheep *skins to cover the *tent. And they used *badger *skins to cover the sheep *skins.

v20 For the *tabernacle, the workers made boards that stood up. They made them out of *acacia wood. v21 Each board was 4½ metres long and ¾ of a metre wide. v22 Each board had two extra pieces at one end to join them together. They made all the boards for the *tabernacle like this. v23 They made 20 boards for the south side of the *tabernacle. v24 And they made 40 pieces of *silver with a hole in each one. There were two pieces of *silver for each board, one piece under each extra piece of wood. v25 For the north side of the *tabernacle they made 20 boards v26 and 40 pieces of *silver, two pieces under each board.

v27 They made six boards for the west end of the *tabernacle. v28 And they made two boards for the corners of the *tabernacle, at the far end. v29 At these two corners, they fixed the boards each one to the next, at both ends. They used a ring to fix them. They made both corners the same. v30 So there were 8 boards and 16 pieces of *silver, two pieces under each board.

v31-32 They also cut pieces of *acacia wood to fix across the boards of the *tabernacle. They cut five pieces for the boards on one side and five pieces for the boards on the other side. Then they cut five pieces for the boards on the west, at the far end of the *tabernacle. v33 They cut a piece of wood for the centre to reach from end to end of the *tabernacle. Then they fixed this at the middle of the boards. v34 Then they covered the boards with gold and they made gold rings. These rings held the pieces of wood that they fixed across the boards. They also covered the pieces of wood with gold.

v35 The workers made the curtain out of blue, *purple, red and soft white material. A *wise man put into the curtain a picture of *angels. v36 They made four sticks out of *acacia wood for the curtain and they covered them with gold. They made gold rings for the sticks and pieces of *silver for the sticks to stand in. There was a hole in each piece of *silver. v37 They made a curtain for the door of the *tent. A person who could do *wise work with material made the curtain. This person used blue, *purple, red and soft white material. v38 They made five sticks for this curtain and they fixed gold rings to them. They covered the sticks with gold. Then they made five pieces of *bronze to hold them.

Chapter 37

The *Ark

v1 Bezalel made the *Ark out of *acacia wood. It was one metre long, ¾ of a metre wide and ¾ of a metre high. v2 He covered it with gold, inside and outside, and then he built up the edges with gold. v3 He made four gold rings for it and he fastened them to its four feet. He fixed two rings on one side and two rings on the other side. v4 Then he made sticks out of *acacia wood and he covered them with gold. v5 He pushed the sticks into the rings on the sides of the *Ark, to carry it.

v6 He made the special lid for the *Ark out of gold. It was one metre long and ¾ of a metre wide. v7 Then he made two *angels from gold that he had hit with a hammer. He made these at the two ends of the lid. v8 He made one *angel on each end of the lid. The *angels were part of the lid so it was one whole piece. v9 The *angels? *wings pointed to the sky and they made a shadow over the lid. Each *angel?s face looked toward the other *angel, and toward the lid.

The table

v10 They made the table out of *acacia wood. It was one metre long, ½ metre wide and ¾ of a metre high. v11 They covered it with gold and they built up the edges with gold. v12 They also put an extra edge of gold round it, 7 centimetres wide. v13 Then they made four gold rings for the table. They fastened the rings to the four corners, one by each leg of the table. v14 They put the rings near to the extra edge of gold. These rings would hold the sticks to carry the table. v15 They made the sticks out of *acacia wood and they covered them with gold. v16 Then they made gold things to use at the table. They made plates and spoons and dishes. And they made pots and jars to pour out gifts of drink.

The *lampstand

v17 The workers made the *lampstand out of gold. They used a hammer to make it the right shape. They made its cups like open flowers and like flowers that are not yet open. The whole *lampstand was one piece. v18 They made six branches on the *lampstand, three branches on each side of it. v19 They put three cups like flowers on each of the six branches of the *lampstand.

v20 On the *lampstand itself, they put four cups like *almond flowers. Some of the flowers were open but some were not yet open. v21 They put one flower, not yet open, under the first pair of branches. They put a second flower, not yet open, under the second pair of branches. They put a third flower, not yet open, under the third pair of branches. There were six branches on the *lampstand. v22 They made the flowers and the branches from the same piece of gold as the *lampstand. And they used a hammer to make the gold into the right shape.

v23 They made the seven *lamps out of gold. They also made small tools out of gold to clean the *lamps. v24 They made the *lampstand and all its tools from 34 kilos of gold.

The *altar for *incense

v25 They made the *altar for *incense from *acacia wood. It was square, ½ a metre long, ½ a metre wide and one metre high. Its *horns were part of it, one whole piece. v26 They covered every part of the *altar with gold. Then they made a gold edge round it. v27 They made two gold rings for the *altar, below the edge, on *opposite sides. They would hold the sticks, to carry the *altar. v28 They made the sticks out of *acacia wood and they covered them with gold.

v29 They also made the special oil that makes things *holy and the *incense with a lovely smell. This was the work of a *wise chemist.

Chapter 38

The *altar where you will burn animals as gifts

v1 The workers built the *altar where *Israelites would burn animals as gifts. They made it out of *acacia wood. It was 1¼ metres high and the top was square. The top was 2¼ metres long and 2¼ metres wide. v2 They made a *horn at each corner. The four *horns and the *altar were all one whole piece. Then they covered the *altar with *bronze. v3 They made all its tools out of *bronze. They made pots to remove the ashes. They made spades, dishes and forks for the meat. They made buckets out of metal, to carry the fire.

v4 They made a *net out of *bronze and they fixed it under the *altar. It was between the top and the ground. v5 They made rings out of *bronze to hold the sticks for the four corners of the *net. v6 They made the sticks out of *acacia wood and they covered them with *bronze. v7 They put the sticks into the rings on each side of the *altar, to carry it. The *altar was empty because the workers made it with boards.

v8 Then they made a very large dish for water from *bronze. And they made a special piece of *bronze for the pot to stand on. They used the *bronze from many small mirrors to make these things. The women who were servants at the *Tent of Meeting gave these mirrors.

The yard

v9 The next thing that they made was the yard. The south side of the yard was 46 metres long. It had curtains that they had made out of soft white material. v10 For these curtains, there were 20 sticks and 20 pieces of *bronze with holes in them. They put the sticks in the holes. There were also small pieces of *silver and rings on the sticks. These were to fasten the curtains. v11 The north side of the yard was also 46 metres long. It also had curtains with sticks, and things to fasten them, each one to the other.

v12 The west end of the yard was 23 metres wide. It had curtains with 10 sticks that they put into 10 pieces of *bronze. On the sticks were *silver pieces and rings. v13 The east end of the yard looked toward the sunrise and it was 23 metres wide. v14 The workers made curtains, 7 metres long. They hung these on one side of the open space in front of the yard. They hung the curtains on three sticks that they put on three pieces of *bronze. v15 On the other side of the open space they did the same thing. v16 They made all the curtains round the yard out of soft white material.

v17 All the sticks stood on pieces of *bronze. All the pieces of metal and the rings on the sticks were *silver. They covered the tops of the sticks with *silver also. So all the sticks in the yard had *silver rings.

v18 The curtain at the open space of the yard was blue, *purple, red and soft white material. A person who could do *wise work with cloth made the curtain. It was 9 metres long and 2¼ metres wide. The curtains of the yard were also 2¼ metres wide. v19 The curtain had four sticks that the workers put on four pieces of *bronze. On the sticks were pieces of *silver and rings. And they covered the tops of the sticks with *silver. v20 They made small, sharp pieces of *bronze to fix the *tabernacle and the yard to the ground.

The workers used these materials

v21 The workers used these amounts of materials when they made the *tabernacle of *witness. Moses *commanded Ithamar, son of Aaron the *priest, to write down these amounts. And Ithamar caused the *Levites to write them down. v22 Bezalel, the son of Uri and grandson of Hur, made everything that the *Lord *commanded Moses. Bezalel was from the big family of Judah and Oholiab worked with him. v23 Oholiab was the son of Ahisamach, from the big family of Dan. He was a very *wise worker who could draw good plans. He also made beautiful pictures on cloth, with blue, *purple and red materials. And he worked with soft white material.

v24 The workers used 994½ kilos of gold to do all the work of the *Holy Place. This gold was offered as a gift by the *Israelites.

v25 All those *Israelites that Moses had counted had given gifts of *silver. They had given about 3600 kilos of *silver. v26 Each person who was 20 years old or more had given about 6 *grams. Moses had counted the people and there were 603 550 men.

v27 The workers used much of the *silver to make the *bases for the *Holy Place and for the curtains. They needed 34 kilos of *silver to make each *base. v28 Then they used the *silver that they had not used before. With this, they made the pieces and the rings to fasten the curtains to the sticks. They also used this *silver to cover the tops of the sticks.

v29 The amount of *bronze that the *Israelites gave was about 2500 kilos. v30 The workers used it to make the *bases for the open space in the *Tent of Meeting. They also used the *bronze to make the *bronze *altar, the *net and all the tools. v31 They made the *bases for the yard that was round the *Tent of Meeting and for its open space. They made the small sharp pieces of metal to fix the *tabernacle and the yard to the ground. They made all these things out of *bronze that the *Israelites had given.

Chapter 39

The clothes for the *priests

v1 The workers made clothes from blue, *purple and red material. These clothes were for the *priests. They would wear them when they worked in the *Holy Place. The workers also made *holy clothes for Aaron, as the *Lord *commanded Moses.

The *ephod

v2 The workers made the *ephod out of gold and out of blue, *purple and red material. They also used soft white material. v3 They used a hammer to make gold into very thin pieces. Then they cut the thin pieces into long, thin pieces like hairs. A *wise man took these gold hairs and he put them into the special material for the *ephod. v4 The workers made pieces for the shoulders of the *ephod. They fixed these to two of its corners, to fasten it.

v5 They made the beautiful belt for the *ephod completely out of the same materials. The belt and the *ephod were one whole piece, as the *Lord *commanded Moses.

v6 The workers fixed the *onyx stones into thin circles of gold. They used a sharp tool to write on them the names of the sons of *Israel. v7 Then they fastened them to the shoulder pieces of the *ephod. They would cause all the people to remember the sons of *Israel. The *Lord had *commanded Moses to do this.

The *breastpiece

v8 A very *wise worker made the *breastpiece. He made it like the *ephod, out of the same materials. v9 They bent the cloth to make it a square, 22 centimetres long and 22 centimetres wide. v10 Then they fixed four sets of valuable stones on it. The first set was a ruby, a topaz and a beryl. v11 The second set was a turquoise, a sapphire and an emerald. v12 The third set was a jacinth, an agate and an amethyst. v13 The fourth set was a chrysolite, an onyx and a jasper. They fixed each stone in a thin piece of gold that they had made beautiful. v14 They used 12 stones, one for each of *Israel?s sons. On each stone, they used a sharp tool to write the name of one son.

v15 For the *breastpiece, they made thin lines of gold and they put them together. They made two *chains of gold like this. v16 Then they made two gold rings and two thin pieces of gold that they made beautiful. They fastened the rings to two corners of the *breastpiece. v17 And they fastened the two gold *chains to the rings at the corners of the *breastpiece. v18 They fastened the other ends of the *chains to the beautiful gold pieces. They tied them to the shoulder pieces of the *ephod, at the front.

v19 They made two more gold rings and they fixed them to the other corners of the *breastpiece. These were on the inside edge, next to the *ephod. v20 Then they made two more gold rings. They fixed these to the edge of the shoulder pieces, on the front of the *ephod. They put the rings near to the *ephod?s belt, a short way above it. v21 They tied the rings of the *breastpiece to the rings of the *ephod with a line of blue cotton. They fastened the *breastpiece to the belt so that they would not become separate. The workers made all these things as the *Lord had *commanded Moses.

The other clothes for the *priests

v22 The workers made the *robe of the *ephod completely out of blue cloth. A man who made many different materials made this cloth. v23 There was a hole in the centre of the *robe, like the hole of a *collar. The worker fixed a piece of material round the hole so that it would not tear. v24 They made *pomegranates out of blue, *purple and red materials and out of soft white material. Then they fixed them to the lower edge of the *robe. v25 And they made bells out of gold and they fixed them between the *pomegranates. v26 So there was a bell and a *pomegranate, another bell and another *pomegranate, round the whole lower edge of the *robe. The *priest must wear this *robe when he worked for the *Lord. This was the *Lord?s *command to Moses.

v27 The workers made *tunics out of soft white material for Aaron and his sons. This cloth was the work of a man who made many different materials. v28 They made a *turban out of the same material and they made hats and trousers also. v29 A *wise worker made the long belt. He put blue, *purple and red lines of cloth on soft white material to make the long belt. The *Lord told Moses that he must do this.

v30 The workers made a thin plate, a *holy thing, out of gold. They wrote on it with a sharp tool these words: *HOLY TO THE *LORD. v31 Then they fastened a line of blue cotton to the plate, to tie it to the *turban. The *Lord told Moses that he must do this.

Moses checks the *tabernacle

v32 So the workers finished making everything for the *tabernacle, the *Tent of Meeting. The *Israelites made everything completely as the *Lord *commanded Moses. v33 Then they brought the *tabernacle to Moses. They brought the *tent and all the things that were in it. They brought the boards, the sticks, the *bases and all the things that fastened it together. v34 They brought the different things that covered the *tent and also the curtains. v35 They brought the *Ark of the *Covenant with its sticks and its special gold lid. v36 They brought the table with all its tools and the special bread. This bread showed that God was with the *Israelites.

v37 They brought the gold *lampstand with its *lamps and all its tools and the oil for the light. v38 They brought the gold *altar, the special oil, the *incense and the curtain for the door of the *tent. v39 They brought the *bronze *altar with all its tools and its sticks. They brought the very large dish for water and its *base. v40 They brought all the curtains that they had made for the yard and for its open space. They brought all the tools to fasten the yard to the ground. They brought everything that they had made for the *tabernacle, the *Tent of Meeting.

v41 They also brought the clothes that they had made for the *priests. There were the *holy clothes that Aaron the *priest would wear and the clothes for his sons. They would wear these clothes when they worked as servants of the *Lord.

v42 The *Israelites had done all the work completely as the *Lord had *commanded Moses. v43 Moses was careful to check all the work. And they had done it completely as the *Lord had *commanded. Moses saw this and he *blessed the *Israelites.

Chapter 40

Moses *erects the *tabernacle

v1 Then the *Lord said to Moses: v2 ?*Erect the *tabernacle, the *Tent of Meeting, on the first day of the first month. v3 Put the *Ark of the *Covenant in the *tabernacle and hide the *Ark behind its curtain. v4 Bring in the table and put its own things on it. Then bring in the *lampstand and fix its *lamps on it. v5 Put the gold *altar for *incense in front of the *Ark of the *Covenant. Fix the curtain as a door to the *tabernacle.

v6 Put the *altar, where you will burn animals as gifts, in front of the door. v7 Put the very large dish for water between the *Tent of Meeting and the *altar and put water in it. v8 *Erect the yard round the *tent and fix the curtain as a door to the yard.

v9 Take the special oil and pour a little of it on the *tabernacle and on everything in it. Offer the *tabernacle to the *Lord with all its things, and then it will be *holy. v10 Then pour a little of the special oil on the *altar where you will burn animals. Do the same thing to all its tools. Offer it all to the *Lord, and then it will be very *holy. v11 Pour a little oil on the very large dish for water and on its *base and offer them to the *Lord.

v12 Bring Aaron and his sons to the door of the *Tent of Meeting and wash them with water. v13 Then dress Aaron in the *holy clothes and pour a little oil on his head. Bring him then to me so that he can work for me as a *priest. v14 Bring his sons and dress them in *tunics. v15 Pour a little oil on their heads as you did to their father. Then they too can work for me as *priests. This special work will be their own for their whole lives. Their sons and grandsons will also be *priests. This is a special gift to the family of Aaron for all time.? v16 Moses did everything that the *Lord *commanded him.

v17 So they erected the *tabernacle on the first day of the first month. This happened in the second year of the *Israelites? journey through the *desert. v18 When Moses *erected the *tabernacle, he put all the different parts in the right places. v19 Then he covered the *tabernacle with the *tent. He covered the *tent also, as the *Lord *commanded him.

v20 Moses took the *Testimony and he put it in the *Ark. He fastened the sticks to the *Ark and he put the special lid over it. v21 Then he brought the *Ark into the *tabernacle and put the curtain in front of it. So he hid the *Ark of the *Covenant, as the *Lord *commanded him.

v22 Moses put the table in the *Tent of Meeting, on the north side, outside the curtain. v23 He put the bread on the table in front of the *Lord, as the *Lord *commanded him.

v24 He put the *lampstand in the *Tent of Meeting. He put it on the south side, on the *opposite side to the table. v25 He *erected the *lamps in front of the *Lord, as the *Lord *commanded him.

v26 Moses put the gold *altar in the *Tent of Meeting, in front of the curtain. v27 He burned sweet *incense on it, as the *Lord *commanded him. v28 Then he fixed the curtain as a door for the *tabernacle.

v29 He put the *altar, where they would burn animals as gifts, by the door of the *tabernacle. He offered on it animals and food as gifts, as the *Lord had *commanded him.

v30 Moses put the very large dish for water between the *Tent of Meeting and the *altar. He put water in it. v31 Then Moses and Aaron and Aaron?s sons used it to wash their hands and their feet. v32 They washed themselves each time that they went into the *Tent of Meeting. They also washed themselves before they went to the *altar. The *Lord had *commanded Moses about this.

v33 Then Moses *erected the yard round the *tabernacle and round the *altar. He fixed the curtain to make a door for the yard. And so Moses finished the work.

The *glory of the *Lord

v34 Then the cloud covered the *Tent of Meeting. The *glory of the *Lord filled the *tabernacle. v35 Moses could not go into the *Tent of Meeting because the cloud covered it. And the *glory of the *Lord filled the *tabernacle.

v36 The *Israelites followed the cloud during all their journeys. Every time that the cloud rose up from the *tabernacle, they would begin their journey again. v37 But if the cloud remained on the *tabernacle, the *Israelites did not move. They stayed where they were. They stayed there until the day when the cloud rose up. v38 So the cloud of the *Lord was over the *tabernacle during the day. During the night, there was fire in the cloud. And all the *Israelites could see the cloud during all their journeys.

Word List

acacia ~ a tree with strong, hard wood.

agate ~ a valuable stone.

almighty ~ has the power to beat all his enemies; is better than everyone else; the Lord of everything; all powerful.

almond ~ small, hard fruit.

altar ~ a table that someone has made out of stone or wood; people offer *sacrifices to God on it.

Amalekite ~ a person who came from the family of Amalek (Genesis 36:12, 16). The Amalekites were enemies of the *Jews.

amethyst ~ a valuable stone.

Amorite ~ one of a group of people who had lived in Canaan before the *Jews lived there.

ancestor ~ a person that your parents came from in past years.

angel ~ God?s servant. He lives with God and brings messages to us.

Ark ~ special box that contained God?s *Law.

arrow ~ a thin stick with sharp metal point.

badger ~ a wild animal with four legs.

banner ~ a piece of cloth fixed to a stick.

barley ~ a food plant. People make it into flour.

base ~ the lowest part of something.

beryl ~ a valuable stone.

bless ~ ask God to be good to someone; when God is good to people; say good things about something.

boil ~ a red place on the skin that hurts.

breast ~ this part of a sheep is under it and behind the front legs.

breastpiece ~ part of Aaron?s special clothes as high *priest.

brick ~ people make these stones and then they build houses with them.

bronze ~ a strong kind of metal.

camel ~ an animal to carry people or things. It can walk for a long time without needing a drink.

camp ~ a place to stay, in *tents.

Canaanites ~ people who lived in Canaan. This was the country that God gave to Israel.

cane ~ a long stick that comes from a plant.

cassia ~ a powder with a sweet smell.

chain ~ thin rings of metal fixed together to make a line.

chariot ~ a large chair with two *wheels that a horse can pull.

chrysolite ~ a valuable stone.

cinnamon ~ a powder with a sweet smell.

circumcise, circumcision ~ to cut off the skin from the end of the sex part of a boy or man; for *Israelites it was a mark to show that a man agreed to obey God.

clay ~ wet dirt that is hard when it is dry.

collar ~ part of your clothes that goes round your neck.

command ~ to say that a person must do something.

command, commandment ~ a rule that a person must obey.

coriander ~ a *herb.

covenant ~ two people have agreed what each will do (here, God and his people).

curse ~ to say bad words against someone else.

date ~ a sweet fruit that is very good food.

desert ~ a dry place with much sand and little water.

donkey ~ animal like a small horse.

Egyptian ~ a word that describes someone from Egypt or anything from Egypt.

emerald ~ a valuable stone.

ephod ~ a piece of cloth for a *priest to wear.

erect ~ to put in the proper place.

famine ~ a time when food plants do not grow.

fat ~ white meat that covers parts of an animal?s body.

firstborn ~ the first child or animal to be born to a female.

flax ~ a plant. You can make the dry plant into special white material.

foreskin ~ skin at the end of the sex part of a man or boy.

forgive ~ when someone stops being angry with another person who has done bad things

frankincense ~ a powder with a sweet smell.

frog ~ small animal that swims under water and jumps on land.

galbanum ~ the name of a *spice.

glory ~ the bright, beautiful light that shines where God is.

gnat ~ small insect that can hurt when it bites you.

goodness ~ this causes people do good things.

grain ~ a hard seed that you can eat or make into bread.

gram ~ there are 1000 grams in one kilo.

grape ~ a fruit. People make a drink with alcohol from grapes.

gum resin ~ sticky material that keeps water out; it comes from a tree called a gum tree.

harvest ~ a time when you pick all the plants and fruits that are ready to eat.

heaven ~ the place where God lives.

herb ~ small green plant that is good to eat.

Hittite ~ one of a group of people who had lived in Canaan before the *Jews lived there.

Hivite ~ one of a group of people who had lived in Canaan before the *Jews lived there.

holy ~ all good with nothing bad in it.

Holy Place ~ the special inside room in the *tabernacle.

honey ~ sweet food that an insect makes.

horn ~ the hard, pointed bone that grows on an animal?s head.

hyssop ~ a bush.

incense ~ sweet powders mixed together.

Israel ~ the big family that God chose and made special.

Israelite ~ a *Jewish person.

jacinth ~ a valuable stone.

jasper ~ a valuable stone.

Jebusite ~ one of a group of people who had lived in Canaan before the *Jews lived there.

Jew ~ a person who is born from Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and their children.

Jewish ~ a word that describes a *Jew or anything that belongs to a *Jew.

judge ~ a person who decides any important thing.

judge ~ to decide between two people or things.

kidney ~ internal part of the body.

lamp ~ a light that burns oil.

lampstand ~ a thing to hold a *lamp.

Law ~ the rules that God gave to Moses for the *Israelites.

leprosy ~ a bad illness of the skin and bones.

Levite ~ person from the big family of Levi.

linen ~ special white material that people make out of *flax.

liquid *myrrh ~ powder with a sweet smell, mixed with oil.

liver ~ part of an animal that is inside it.

locust ~ insect that eats all green plants.

Lord ~ a name for God or Jesus in the Bible.

magic ~ when people cause bad *spirits to do things for them; the *spirits do things that people cannot usually do; to cause strange things to happen to surprise people. These things are not usual. Magic is very bad and is not from God.

magician ~ someone who seems to do something impossible.

manna ~ special bread that God fed to the *Israelites in the *desert.

mortar ~ it fixes stones together when you build a house (see *clay).

Mount ~ a short word for mountain; a small mountain.

murder ~ to do a murder.

myrrh ~ it comes from a plant; it smells nice.

nation ~ people who live together in the same country.

neighbour ~ anyone who lives near to you.

net ~ thin lines of metal or material fixed, each to the other.

nurse ~ to feed a baby from the breast.

olive ~ small black fruit full of good oil.

olive oil ~ oil from *olive fruits.

omer ~ they used it to measure dry things.

onycha ~ a sweet *spice.

onyx ~ a valuable stone.

opposite ~ something that looks toward.

palace ~ large house where a king or ruler lives.

palm tree ~ a tree that has fruit called dates.

Passover ~ special party to remember how God saved the *Israelites.

Perizzite ~ one of a group of people who had lived in Canaan before the *Jews lived there.

Pharaoh ~ name of all the kings of Egypt.

Philistines ~ they lived near Canaan; they were usually enemies of the *Jews.

pledge ~ something that you give to show that you have made a promise.

pomegranate ~ a fruit full of seeds.

praise ~ say how great somebody is; or, words that say how great someone is.

priest ~ a man who had Aaron for his *ancestor; a man who gave gifts and burned animals as a *sacrifice to God for the *Jews; a man whom God chose to do things for him.

prophet ~ a person who speaks for God to other people.

proud ~ when someone thinks that he is better than other people.

punish ~ to hurt someone for the wrong things that they have done.

pure ~ contains only one material.

purple ~ a colour.

quail ~ small bird.

Red Sea ~ the sea between Egypt and the *desert.

robe ~ a big coat.

ruby ~ a valuable stone.

Sabbath ~ seventh day of the week. God made it a day for rest.

sacrifice ~ to bring a valuable gift to God.

sapphire ~ a valuable stone.

Satan ~ God?s greatest enemy; the captain of all the bad *spirits.

scroll ~ a long piece of material like paper; people wrote on it.

shake ~ move from one side to another and back again very fast many times.

shepherd ~ a man who works with sheep.

sign ~ it shows you what you should do.

silver ~ a valuable metal like gold.

sin ~ when we refuse to obey God?s rules.

skin ~ the material that covers an animal?s body.

spice ~ a powder with a sweet smell; people make it from plants.

spirit ~ spirits are alive, but we cannot see them. There are good spirits usually called *angels. Bad spirits (also called evil spirits, or demons) live in the air round us. *Satan is their leader; or, part of a living person, which we cannot see.

sprinkle ~ to throw drops of water or blood on to something.

steal ~ to take something that is not yours.

straw ~ grass that has become dry.

sword ~ a long, sharp knife that people use in war, to kill the enemy.

tabernacle ~ the special *tent that was the *Israelites? church in the *desert.

tambourine ~ *shake it and knock it to make music.

tent ~ a small home for sandy places. Make it from *skins of animals.

test ~ to see if a person will do the right thing.

Testimony ~ two stones on which God had written his 10 rules.

Thummim ~ something special on the *breastpiece. Thummim means ?completely good?.

topaz ~ a valuable stone.

tunic ~ a shirt.

turban ~ a hat for a *priest to wear.

turquoise ~ a valuable stone.

Urim ~ something special on the *breastpiece. The word means ?lights?.

wheel ~ *chariots and cars all need these to move.

wine ~ a drink that has alcohol in it; people make it from small, sweet fruit called grapes.

wing ~ a bird or an *angel uses its wings to fly.

wise ~ wise people know what to do; they know what is good and right; and they do it.

witness ~ someone who sees what happens; someone who has seen or heard something. Then they tell other people about it.

worship ~ to tell God how great he is; to tell him how much we love him.

yeast ~ a living plant that causes bread to rise.

Book List

Robert Lee ~ The Outlined Bible ~ Pickering & Inglis

Dr J. Vernon McGee ~ Thru' the Bible Commentary Series ~ Thomas Nelson

Alexander Cruden ~ Complete Concordance to the Bible ~ Lutterworth Press

Bibles - N.I.V, N.E.B, Darby Translation from the original languages