Exodus 34
Berean Standard Bible · Compare translations · 1446 BC · Egypt & the Exodus · Tap a verse to copy, share or highlight ·
35 verses · 954 words · ~5 min read · ~6 min listen
New Stone Tablets
1Then the Lord said to Moses, “Chisel out two stone tablets like the originals, and I will write on them the words that were on the first tablets, which you broke. 2Be ready in the morning, and come up on Mount Sinai to present yourself before Me on the mountaintop. 3No one may go up with you; in fact, no one may be seen anywhere on the mountain—not even the flocks or herds may graze in front of the mountain.”
4So Moses chiseled out two stone tablets like the originals. He rose early in the morning, and taking the two stone tablets in his hands, he went up Mount Sinai as the Lord had commanded him.
5And the Lord descended in a cloud, stood with him there, and proclaimed His name, the Lord. 6Then the Lord passed in front of Moses and called out:
8Moses immediately bowed down to the ground and worshiped. 9“O Lord,” he said, “if I have indeed found favor in Your sight, my Lord, please go with us. Although this is a stiff-necked people, forgive our iniquity and sin, and take us as Your inheritance.”
The LORD Renews the Covenant
10And the Lord said, “Behold, I am making a covenant. Before all your people I will perform wonders that have never been done in any nation in all the world. All the people among whom you live will see the Lordʼs work, for it is an awesome thing that I am doing with you.
11Observe what I command you this day. I will drive out before you the Amorites, Canaanites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites. 12Be careful not to make a treaty with the inhabitants of the land you are entering, lest they become a snare in your midst. 13Rather, you must tear down their altars, smash their sacred stones, and chop down their Asherah poles. 14For you must not worship any other god, for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God.
15Do not make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, for when they prostitute themselves to their gods and sacrifice to them, they will invite you, and you will eat their sacrifices. 16And when you take some of their daughters as brides for your sons, their daughters will prostitute themselves to their gods and cause your sons to do the same.
17You shall make no molten gods for yourselves.
18You are to keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread. For seven days at the appointed time in the month of Abib, you are to eat unleavened bread as I commanded you. For in the month of Abib you came out of Egypt.
19The first offspring of every womb belongs to Me, including all the firstborn males among your livestock, whether cattle or sheep. 20You must redeem the firstborn of a donkey with a lamb; but if you do not redeem it, you are to break its neck. You must redeem all the firstborn of your sons. No one shall appear before Me empty-handed.
21Six days you shall labor, but on the seventh day you shall rest; even in the seasons of plowing and harvesting, you must rest.
22And you are to celebrate the Feast of Weeks with the firstfruits of the wheat harvest, and the Feast of Ingathering at the turn of the year. 23Three times a year all your males are to appear before the Lord God, the God of Israel. 24For I will drive out the nations before you and enlarge your borders, and no one will covet your land when you go up three times a year to appear before the Lord your God.
25Do not offer the blood of a sacrifice to Me along with anything leavened, and do not let any of the sacrifice from the Passover Feast remain until morning.
26Bring the best of the firstfruits of your soil to the house of the Lord your God.
You must not cook a young goat in its motherʼs milk.”
27The Lord also said to Moses, “Write down these words, for in accordance with these words I have made a covenant with you and with Israel.”
28So Moses was there with the Lord forty days and forty nights without eating bread or drinking water. He wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant—the Ten Commandments.
29And when Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of the Testimony in his hands, he was unaware that his face had become radiant from speaking with the Lord. 30Aaron and all the Israelites looked at Moses, and behold, his face was radiant. And they were afraid to approach him.
31But Moses called out to them; so Aaron and all the leaders of the congregation returned to him, and Moses spoke to them. 32And after this all the Israelites came near, and Moses commanded them to do everything that the Lord had told him on Mount Sinai.
33When Moses had finished speaking with them, he put a veil over his face. 34But whenever Moses went in before the Lord to speak with Him, he would remove the veil until he came out. And when he came out, he would tell the Israelites what he had been commanded, 35and the Israelites would see that the face of Moses was radiant. So Moses would put the veil back over his face until he went in to speak with the Lord.
Footnotes (7)
- a v7 Hebrew to thousands
- b v12 Forms of the Hebrew berit are translated in most passages as covenant.
- c v18 That is, the seven-day period after the Passover during which no leaven may be eaten; see Exodus 12:14–20.
- d v18 Abib was the first month of the ancient Hebrew lunar calendar, usually occurring within the months of March and April; twice in this verse.
- e v22 That is, Shavuot, the late spring feast of pilgrimage to Jerusalem; it is also known as the Feast of Harvest (see Exodus 23:16) or the Feast of Pentecost (see Acts 2:1).
- f v22 That is, Sukkot, the autumn feast of pilgrimage to Jerusalem; it is later called the Feast of Tabernacles (or Booths or Shelters).
- g v28 Hebrew the Ten Words
Study notes on this chapter · 1
Moses' veil and the new covenant
Moses' face shone after meeting God and he covered it with a veil. Paul uses the scene to contrast the old covenant's fading glory with the lasting glory of the Spirit, and says a veil still lies over hearts when Moses is read until one turns to the Lord.
When: Sinai (traditionally c. 1446 or c. 1250 BC); 2 Corinthians, c. AD 55–56.
Ways people read this (2)
- Paul contrasts two ministries: the old one, which condemned and was passing away, and the new one, which gives life.
- Some see the contrast as one of degree (surpassing glory), not a rejection of the Law, which Paul calls holy in Romans 7:12.
Editorial note by BibleWay. Interpretations vary; dates are approximate scholarly estimates.