Exodus 16-21
New American Standard Bible
Chapter 16
1Then they set out from Elim, and all the congregation of the sons of Israel came to the wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after their departure from the land of Egypt. 2But the whole congregation of the sons of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness. 3The sons of Israel said to them, 'If only we had died by the Lord’S hand in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the pots of meat, when we ate bread until we were full; for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this entire assembly with hunger!'
4Then the Lord said to Moses, 'Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a day’s portion every day, so that I may test them, whether or not they will walk in My instruction.
5On the sixth day, when they prepare what they bring in, it will be twice as much as they gather daily.'
6So Moses and Aaron said to all the sons of Israel, 'At evening you will know that the Lord has brought you out of the land of Egypt;
7and in the morning you will see the glory of the Lord, for He hears your grumblings against the Lord; and what are we, that you grumble against us?'
9Then Moses said to Aaron, 'Say to all the congregation of the sons of Israel, ‘Come forward before the Lord, for He has heard your grumblings.’?'
10And it came about, as Aaron spoke to the entire congregation of the sons of Israel, that they looked toward the wilderness, and behold, the glory of the Lord appeared in the cloud.
11And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,
12I have heard the grumblings of the sons of Israel; speak to them, saying, ‘ At twilight you shall eat meat, and in the morning you shall be filled with bread; and you shall know that I am the Lord your God.’?'
13So it came about at evening that the quails came up and covered the camp, and in the morning there was a layer of dew around the camp.
14When the layer of dew evaporated, behold, on the surface of the wilderness there was a fine flake-like thing, fine as the frost on the ground.
15When the sons of Israel saw it, they said to one another, 'What is it?' For they did not know what it was. And Moses said to them, 'It is the bread which the Lord has given you to eat.
16This is what the Lord has commanded: ‘Everyone gather as much as he will eat; you shall take an omer apiece according to the number of people each of you has in his tent.’?'
17The sons of Israel did so, and some gathered much and some little.
18When they measured it by the omer, the one who had gathered much did not have too much, and the one who had gathered little did not have too little; everyone gathered as much as he would eat.
19Moses said to them, 'No one is to leave any of it until morning.'
20But they did not listen to Moses, and some left part of it until morning, and it bred worms and stank; and Moses was angry with them.
21They gathered it morning by morning, everyone as much as he would eat; but when the sun became hot, it would melt.
22Now on the sixth day they gathered twice as much bread, two omers for each one. When all the leaders of the congregation came and told Moses,
23then he said to them, 'This is what the Lord meant: Tomorrow is a Sabbath observance, a holy Sabbath to the Lord. Bake what you will bake and boil what you will boil, and all that is left over put aside to be kept until morning.'
24So they put it aside until morning, as Moses had ordered, and it did not stink nor was there a maggot in it.
25Then Moses said, 'Eat it today, for today is a Sabbath to the Lord; today you will not find it in the field.
26Six days you shall gather it, but on the seventh day, the Sabbath, there will be none.'
27Yet it came about on the seventh day that some of the people went out to gather, but they found none.
28Then the Lord said to Moses, 'How long do you refuse to keep My commandments and My instructions?
29See, the Lord has given you the Sabbath; for that reason He gives you bread for two days on the sixth day. Remain, everyone, in his place; no one is to leave his place on the seventh day.'
30So the people rested on the seventh day.
31And the house of Israel named the bread manna, and it was like coriander seed, white, and its taste was like wafers with honey.
32Then Moses said, 'This is what the Lord has commanded: ‘A full omer of it is to be kept safe throughout your generations, so that they may see the bread that I fed you in the wilderness, when I brought you out of the land of Egypt.’?'
33And Moses said to Aaron, 'Take a jar and put a full omer of manna in it, and place it before the Lord to be kept safe throughout your generations.'
34As the Lord commanded Moses, so Aaron placed it before the Testimony, to be kept.
35And the sons of Israel ate the manna for forty years, until they came to an inhabited land; they ate the manna until they came to the border of the land of Canaan.
36(Now an omer is a tenth of an ephah.)
Chapter 17
1Then all the congregation of the sons of Israel journeyed by stages from the wilderness of Sin, according to the command of the Lord, and camped at Rephidim, and there was no water for the people to drink. 2So the people quarreled with Moses and said, 'Give us water so that we may drink!' And Moses said to them, 'Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you test the Lord?' 3But the people were thirsty for water there; and they grumbled against Moses and said, 'Why is it that you have you brought us up from Egypt, to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?' 4So Moses cried out to the Lord, saying, 'What am I to do with this people? A little more and they will stone me!' 5Then the Lord said to Moses, 'Pass before the people and take with you some of the elders of Israel; and take in your hand your staff with which you struck the Nile, and go. 6Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock at Horeb; and you shall strike the rock, and water will come out of it, so that the people may drink.' And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel. 7Then he named the place Massah and Meribah because of the quarrel of the sons of Israel, and because they tested the Lord, saying, 'Is the Lord among us, or not?'
8Then Amalek came and fought against Israel at Rephidim.
9So Moses said to Joshua, 'Choose men for us and go out, fight against Amalek. Tomorrow I will station myself on the top of the hill with the staff of God in my hand.'
10Joshua did just as Moses told him, and fought against Amalek; and Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill.
11So it came about, when Moses held his hand up, that Israel prevailed; but when he let his hand down, Amalek prevailed.
12And Moses’ hands were heavy. So they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat on it; and Aaron and Hur supported his hands, one on one side and one on the other. So his hands were steady until the sun set.
13And Joshua defeated Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword.
14Then the Lord said to Moses, 'Write this in a book as a memorial and recite it to Joshua, that I will utterly wipe out the memory of Amalek from under heaven.'
15And Moses built an altar and named it The Lord is My Banner;
16and he said, 'Because the Lord has sworn, the Lord will have war against Amalek from generation to generation.'
Chapter 18
1Now Jethro, the priest of Midian, Moses’ father-in-law, heard about everything that God had done for Moses and for Israel His people, how the Lord had brought Israel out of Egypt. 2And Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, took in Moses’ wife Zipporah, after he had sent her away, 3and her two sons, one of whom was named Gershom, for Moses said, 'I have been a stranger in a foreign land.' 4And the other was named Eliezer, for he said, 'The God of my father was my help, and saved me from the sword of Pharaoh.'
5Then Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, came with his sons and his wife to Moses in the wilderness where he was camped, at the mountain of God.
6And he sent word to Moses: 'I, your father-in-law Jethro, am coming to you with your wife and her two sons with her.'
7Then Moses went out to meet his father-in-law, and he bowed down and kissed him; and they asked each other about their welfare, and went into the tent.
8Moses told his father-in-law everything that the Lord had done to Pharaoh and to the Egyptians for Israel’s sake, all the hardship that had confronted them on the journey, and how the Lord had rescued them.
9And Jethro rejoiced over all the goodness which the Lord had done for Israel, in rescuing them from the hand of the Egyptians.
10So Jethro said, 'Blessed be the Lord who rescued you from the hand of the Egyptians and from the hand of Pharaoh, and who rescued the people from under the hand of the Egyptians.
11Now I know that the Lord is greater than all the gods; indeed, it was proven when they acted insolently against the people.'
12Then Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, took a burnt offering and sacrifices for God, and Aaron came with all the elders of Israel to eat a meal with Moses’ father-in-law before God.
13And it came about the next day, that Moses sat to judge the people, and the people stood before Moses from the morning until the evening.
14Now when Moses’ father-in-law saw all that he was doing for the people, he said, 'What is this thing that you are doing for the people? Why do you alone sit as judge and all the people stand before you from morning until evening?'
15Moses said to his father-in-law, 'Because the people come to me to inquire of God.
16When they have a dispute, it comes to me, and I judge between someone and his neighbor and make known the statutes of God and His laws.'
17Moses’ father-in-law then said to him, 'The thing that you are doing is not good.
18You will surely wear out, both yourself and these people who are with you, because the task is too heavy for you; you cannot do it alone.
19Now listen to me: I will give you counsel, and God be with you. You be the people’s representative before God, and you bring the disputes to God,
20then admonish them about the statutes and the laws, and make known to them the way in which they are to walk and the work they are to do.
21Furthermore, you shall select out of all the people able men who fear God, men of truth, those who hate dishonest gain; and you shall place these over them as leaders of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties, and of tens.
22Let them judge the people at all times; and let it be that they will bring to you every major matter, but they will judge every minor matter themselves. So it will be easier for you, and they will carry the burden with you.
23If you do this thing and God so commands you, then you will be able to endure, and all these people also will go to their places in peace.'
24So Moses listened to his father-in-law and did everything that he had said.
25Moses chose able men out of all Israel and made them heads over the people, leaders of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties, and of tens.
26Then they judged the people at all times; they would bring the difficult matter to Moses, but they would judge every minor matter themselves.
27Then Moses said goodbye to his father-in-law, and Jethro went his way to his own land.
Chapter 19
1In the third month after the sons of Israel had gone out of the land of Egypt, on that very day they came into the wilderness of Sinai. 2When they set out from Rephidim, they came to the wilderness of Sinai and camped in the wilderness; and there Israel camped in front of the mountain. 3And Moses went up to God, and the Lord called to him from the mountain, saying, 'This is what you shall say to the house of Jacob and tell the sons of Israel: 4‘You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I carried you on eagles’ wings, and brought you to Myself. 5Now then, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be My own possession among all the peoples, for all the earth is Mine; 6and you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words that you shall speak to the sons of Israel.'
7So Moses came and called the elders of the people, and set before them all these words which the Lord had commanded him.
8Then all the people answered together and said, 'All that the Lord has spoken we will do!' And Moses brought back the words of the people to the Lord.
9Then the Lord said to Moses, 'Behold, I will come to you in a thick cloud, so that the people may hear when I speak with you and may also trust in you forever.' Then Moses told the words of the people to the Lord.
10The Lord also said to Moses, 'Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow, and have them wash their garments;
11and have them ready for the third day, for on the third day the Lord will come down on Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people.
12But you shall set boundaries for the people all around, saying, ‘ Beware that you do not go up on the mountain or touch the border of it; whoever touches the mountain shall certainly be put to death.
13No hand shall touch him, but he shall certainly be stoned or shot through; whether animal or person, the violator shall not live.’ When the ram’s horn sounds a long blast, they shall come up to the mountain.'
14So Moses went down from the mountain to the people and consecrated the people, and they washed their garments.
15He also said to the people, 'Be ready for the third day; do not go near a woman.'
16So it came about on the third day, when it was morning, that there were thunder and lightning flashes and a thick cloud over the mountain and a very loud trumpet sound, so that all the people who were in the camp trembled.
17And Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain.
18Now Mount Sinai was all in smoke because the Lord descended upon it in fire; and its smoke ascended like the smoke of a furnace, and the entire mountain quaked violently.
19When the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder, Moses spoke, and God answered him with thunder.
20Then the Lord came down on Mount Sinai, to the top of the mountain; and the Lord called Moses to the top of the mountain, and Moses went up.
21Then the Lord spoke to Moses: 'Go down, warn the people, so that they do not break through to the Lord to stare, and many of them perish.
22Also have the priests who approach the Lord consecrate themselves, or else the Lord will break out against them.'
23And Moses said to the Lord, 'The people cannot come up to Mount Sinai, for You warned us, saying, ‘Set boundaries around the mountain and consecrate it.’?'
24Then the Lord said to him, 'Go down and come up again, you and Aaron with you; but do not let the priests and the people break through to come up to the Lord, or He will break out against them.'
25So Moses went down to the people and told them.
Chapter 20
1Then God spoke all these words, saying,
4You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath, or in the water under the earth.
5You shall not worship them nor serve them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, inflicting the punishment of the fathers on the children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me,
6but showing favor to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.
8Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.
9For six days you shall labor and do all your work,
10but the seventh day is a Sabbath of the Lord your God; on it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male slave or your female slave, or your cattle, or your resident who stays with you.
11For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea and everything that is in them, and He rested on the seventh day; for that reason the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.
18And all the people were watching and hearing the thunder and the lightning flashes, and the sound of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking; and when the people saw it all, they trembled and stood at a distance.
19Then they said to Moses, 'Speak to us yourself and we will listen; but do not have God speak to us, or we will die!'
20However, Moses said to the people, 'Do not be afraid; for God has come in order to test you, and in order that the fear of Him may remain with you, so that you will not sin.'
21So the people stood at a distance, while Moses approached the thick darkness where God was.
22Then the Lord said to Moses, 'This is what you shall say to the sons of Israel: ‘You yourselves have seen that I have spoken to you from heaven.
23You shall not make other gods besides Me; gods of silver or gods of gold, you shall not make for yourselves.
24You shall make an altar of earth for Me, and you shall sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and your peace offerings, your sheep and your oxen; in every place where I cause My name to be remembered, I will come to you and bless you.
25And if you make an altar of stone for Me, you shall not build it of cut stones, for if you wield your chisel on it, you will profane it.
26And you shall not go up by steps to My altar, so that your nakedness will not be exposed on it.’
2If you buy a Hebrew slave, he shall serve for six years; but on the seventh he shall leave as a free man without a payment to you.
3If he comes alone, he shall leave alone; if he is the husband of a wife, then his wife shall leave with him.
4If his master gives him a wife, and she bears him sons or daughters, the wife and her children shall belong to her master, and he shall leave alone.
5But if the slave plainly says, ‘I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not leave as a free man,’
6then his master shall bring him to God, then he shall bring him to the door or the doorpost. And his master shall pierce his ear with an awl; and he shall serve him permanently.
7Now if a man sells his daughter as a female slave, she is not to go free as the male slaves do.
8If she is displeasing in the eyes of her master who designated her for himself, then he shall let her be redeemed. He does not have authority to sell her to a foreign people, because of his unfairness to her.
9And if he designates her for his son, he shall deal with her according to the custom of daughters.
10If he takes to himself another woman, he may not reduce her food, her clothing, or her conjugal rights.
11But if he will not do these three things for her, then she shall go free for nothing, without payment of money.
12He who strikes someone so that he dies shall certainly be put to death.
13Yet if he did not lie in wait for him, but God caused him to fall into his hand, then I will appoint you a place to which he may flee.
14If, however, someone is enraged against his neighbor, so as to kill him in a cunning way, you are to take him even from My altar, to be put to death.
18Now if people have a quarrel and one strikes the other with a stone or with a fist, and he does not die but is confined to bed,
19if he gets up and walks around outside on his staff, then he who struck him shall go unpunished; he shall only pay for his loss of time, and shall pay for his care until he is completely healed.
20And if someone strikes his male or female slave with a rod and the slave dies at his hand, he shall be punished.
21If, however, the slave survives a day or two, no vengeance shall be taken; for the slave is his property.
22Now if people struggle with each other and strike a pregnant woman so that she gives birth prematurely, but there is no injury, the guilty person shall certainly be fined as the woman’s husband may demand of him, and he shall pay as the judges decide.
23But if there is any further injury, then you shall appoint as a penalty life for life,
24eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot,
25burn for burn, wound for wound, bruise for bruise.
26And if someone strikes the eye of his male or female slave and destroys it, he shall let the slave go free on account of the eye.
27And if he knocks out a tooth of his male or female slave, he shall let the slave go free on account of the tooth.
28Now if an ox gores a man or a woman to death, the ox shall certainly be stoned and its flesh shall not be eaten; but the owner of the ox shall go unpunished.
29If, however, an ox was previously in the habit of goring and its owner has been warned, yet he does not confine it and it kills a man or a woman, the ox shall be stoned and its owner also shall be put to death.
30If a ransom is demanded of him, then he shall give for the redemption of his life whatever is demanded of him.
31Whether it gores a son or a daughter, it shall be done to him according to the same rule.
32If the ox gores a male or female slave, the owner shall give his or her master thirty shekels of silver, and the ox shall be stoned.
33Now if someone opens a pit, or digs a pit and does not cover it, and an ox or a donkey falls into it,
34the owner of the pit shall make restitution; he shall give money to its owner, and the dead animal shall become his.
35And if someone’s ox injures another’s ox so that it dies, then they shall sell the live ox and divide its proceeds equally; and they shall also divide the dead ox.
36Or if it is known that the ox was previously in the habit of goring, yet its owner has not confined it, he must make restitution of ox for ox, and the dead animal shall become his.
King James Version
Chapter 16
1And they took their journey from Elim, and all the congregation of the children of Israel came unto the wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after their departing out of the land of Egypt. 2And the whole congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness: 3And the children of Israel said unto them, Would to God we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the flesh pots, and when we did eat bread to the full; for ye have brought us forth into this wilderness, to kill this whole assembly with hunger.
4Then said the Lord unto Moses, Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a certain rate every day, that I may prove them, whether they will walk in my law, or no.
5And it shall come to pass, that on the sixth day they shall prepare that which they bring in; and it shall be twice as much as they gather daily.
6And Moses and Aaron said unto all the children of Israel, At even, then ye shall know that the Lord hath brought you out from the land of Egypt:
7And in the morning, then ye shall see the glory of the Lord; for that he heareth your murmurings against the Lord: and what are we, that ye murmur against us?
10And it came to pass, as Aaron spake unto the whole congregation of the children of Israel, that they looked toward the wilderness, and, behold, the glory of the Lord appeared in the cloud.
11And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,
12I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel: speak unto them, saying, At even ye shall eat flesh, and in the morning ye shall be filled with bread; and ye shall know that I am the Lord your God.
13And it came to pass, that at even the quails came up, and covered the camp: and in the morning the dew lay round about the host.
14And when the dew that lay was gone up, behold, upon the face of the wilderness there lay a small round thing, as small as the hoar frost on the ground.
15And when the children of Israel saw it, they said one to another, It is manna: for they wist not what it was. And Moses said unto them, This is the bread which the Lord hath given you to eat.
16This is the thing which the Lord hath commanded, Gather of it every man according to his eating, an omer for every man, according to the number of your persons; take ye every man for them which are in his tents.
17And the children of Israel did so, and gathered, some more, some less.
18And when they did mete it with an omer, he that gathered much had nothing over, and he that gathered little had no lack; they gathered every man according to his eating.
19And Moses said, Let no man leave of it till the morning.
20Notwithstanding they hearkened not unto Moses; but some of them left of it until the morning, and it bred worms, and stank: and Moses was wroth with them.
21And they gathered it every morning, every man according to his eating: and when the sun waxed hot, it melted.
22And it came to pass, that on the sixth day they gathered twice as much bread, two omers for one man: and all the rulers of the congregation came and told Moses.
23And he said unto them, This is that which the Lord hath said, To morrow is the rest of the holy sabbath unto the Lord: bake that which ye will bake to day, and seethe that ye will seethe; and that which remaineth over lay up for you to be kept until the morning.
24And they laid it up till the morning, as Moses bade: and it did not stink, neither was there any worm therein.
25And Moses said, Eat that to day; for to day is a sabbath unto the Lord: to day ye shall not find it in the field.
26Six days ye shall gather it; but on the seventh day, which is the sabbath, in it there shall be none.
27And it came to pass, that there went out some of the people on the seventh day for to gather, and they found none.
28And the Lord said unto Moses, How long refuse ye to keep my commandments and my laws?
29See, for that the Lord hath given you the sabbath, therefore he giveth you on the sixth day the bread of two days; abide ye every man in his place, let no man go out of his place on the seventh day.
30So the people rested on the seventh day.
32And Moses said, This is the thing which the Lord commandeth, Fill an omer of it to be kept for your generations; that they may see the bread wherewith I have fed you in the wilderness, when I brought you forth from the land of Egypt.
33And Moses said unto Aaron, Take a pot, and put an omer full of manna therein, and lay it up before the Lord, to be kept for your generations.
34As the Lord commanded Moses, so Aaron laid it up before the Testimony, to be kept.
35And the children of Israel did eat manna forty years, until they came to a land inhabited; they did eat manna, until they came unto the borders of the land of Canaan.
36Now an omer is the tenth part of an ephah.
Chapter 17
1And all the congregation of the children of Israel journeyed from the wilderness of Sin, after their journeys, according to the commandment of the Lord, and pitched in Rephidim: and there was no water for the people to drink. 2Wherefore the people did chide with Moses, and said, Give us water that we may drink. And Moses said unto them, Why chide ye with me? wherefore do ye tempt the Lord? 3And the people thirsted there for water; and the people murmured against Moses, and said, Wherefore is this that thou hast brought us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our cattle with thirst?
4And Moses cried unto the Lord, saying, What shall I do unto this people? they be almost ready to stone me.
5And the Lord said unto Moses, Go on before the people, and take with thee of the elders of Israel; and thy rod, wherewith thou smotest the river, take in thine hand, and go.
6Behold, I will stand before thee there upon the rock in Horeb; and thou shalt smite the rock, and there shall come water out of it, that the people may drink. And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel.
7And he called the name of the place Massah, and Meribah, because of the chiding of the children of Israel, and because they tempted the Lord, saying, Is the Lord among us, or not?
8Then came Amalek, and fought with Israel in Rephidim.
9And Moses said unto Joshua, Choose us out men, and go out, fight with Amalek: to morrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the rod of God in mine hand.
10So Joshua did as Moses had said to him, and fought with Amalek: and Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill.
11And it came to pass, when Moses held up his hand, that Israel prevailed: and when he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed.
12But Moses' hands were heavy; and they took a stone, and put it under him, and he sat thereon; and Aaron and Hur stayed up his hands, the one on the one side, and the other on the other side; and his hands were steady until the going down of the sun.
13And Joshua discomfited Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword.
14And the Lord said unto Moses, Write this for a memorial in a book, and rehearse it in the ears of Joshua: for I will utterly put out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven.
15And Moses built an altar, and called the name of it Jehovahnissi:
16For he said, Because the Lord hath sworn that the Lord will have war with Amalek from generation to generation.
2Then Jethro, Moses' father in law, took Zipporah, Moses' wife, after he had sent her back,
3And her two sons; of which the name of the one was Gershom; for he said, I have been an alien in a strange land:
4And the name of the other was Eliezer; for the God of my father, said he, was mine help, and delivered me from the sword of Pharaoh:
5And Jethro, Moses' father in law, came with his sons and his wife unto Moses into the wilderness, where he encamped at the mount of God:
6And he said unto Moses, I thy father in law Jethro am come unto thee, and thy wife, and her two sons with her.
7And Moses went out to meet his father in law, and did obeisance, and kissed him; and they asked each other of their welfare; and they came into the tent.
8And Moses told his father in law all that the Lord had done unto Pharaoh and to the Egyptians for Israel's sake, and all the travail that had come upon them by the way, and how the Lord delivered them.
9And Jethro rejoiced for all the goodness which the Lord had done to Israel, whom he had delivered out of the hand of the Egyptians.
10And Jethro said, Blessed be the Lord, who hath delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians, and out of the hand of Pharaoh, who hath delivered the people from under the hand of the Egyptians.
11Now I know that the Lord is greater than all gods: for in the thing wherein they dealt proudly he was above them.
12And Jethro, Moses' father in law, took a burnt offering and sacrifices for God: and Aaron came, and all the elders of Israel, to eat bread with Moses' father in law before God.
13And it came to pass on the morrow, that Moses sat to judge the people: and the people stood by Moses from the morning unto the evening.
14And when Moses' father in law saw all that he did to the people, he said, What is this thing that thou doest to the people? why sittest thou thyself alone, and all the people stand by thee from morning unto even?
15And Moses said unto his father in law, Because the people come unto me to enquire of God:
16When they have a matter, they come unto me; and I judge between one and another, and I do make them know the statutes of God, and his laws.
17And Moses' father in law said unto him, The thing that thou doest is not good.
18Thou wilt surely wear away, both thou, and this people that is with thee: for this thing is too heavy for thee; thou art not able to perform it thyself alone.
19Hearken now unto my voice, I will give thee counsel, and God shall be with thee: Be thou for the people to God-ward, that thou mayest bring the causes unto God:
20And thou shalt teach them ordinances and laws, and shalt shew them the way wherein they must walk, and the work that they must do.
21Moreover thou shalt provide out of all the people able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness; and place such over them, to be rulers of thousands, and rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens:
22And let them judge the people at all seasons: and it shall be, that every great matter they shall bring unto thee, but every small matter they shall judge: so shall it be easier for thyself, and they shall bear the burden with thee.
23If thou shalt do this thing, and God command thee so, then thou shalt be able to endure, and all this people shall also go to their place in peace.
24So Moses hearkened to the voice of his father in law, and did all that he had said.
25And Moses chose able men out of all Israel, and made them heads over the people, rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens.
26And they judged the people at all seasons: the hard causes they brought unto Moses, but every small matter they judged themselves.
Chapter 19
1In the third month, when the children of Israel were gone forth out of the land of Egypt, the same day came they into the wilderness of Sinai. 2For they were departed from Rephidim, and were come to the desert of Sinai, and had pitched in the wilderness; and there Israel camped before the mount.
3And Moses went up unto God, and the Lord called unto him out of the mountain, saying, Thus shalt thou say to the house of Jacob, and tell the children of Israel;
4Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles' wings, and brought you unto myself.
5Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine:
6And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel.
7And Moses came and called for the elders of the people, and laid before their faces all these words which the Lord commanded him.
8And all the people answered together, and said, All that the Lord hath spoken we will do. And Moses returned the words of the people unto the Lord.
10And the Lord said unto Moses, Go unto the people, and sanctify them to day and to morrow, and let them wash their clothes,
11And be ready against the third day: for the third day the Lord will come down in the sight of all the people upon mount Sinai.
12And thou shalt set bounds unto the people round about, saying, Take heed to yourselves, that ye go not up into the mount, or touch the border of it: whosoever toucheth the mount shall be surely put to death:
13There shall not an hand touch it, but he shall surely be stoned, or shot through; whether it be beast or man, it shall not live: when the trumpet soundeth long, they shall come up to the mount.
14And Moses went down from the mount unto the people, and sanctified the people; and they washed their clothes.
15And he said unto the people, Be ready against the third day: come not at your wives.
16And it came to pass on the third day in the morning, that there were thunders and lightnings, and a thick cloud upon the mount, and the voice of the trumpet exceeding loud; so that all the people that was in the camp trembled.
17And Moses brought forth the people out of the camp to meet with God; and they stood at the nether part of the mount.
18And mount Sinai was altogether on a smoke, because the Lord descended upon it in fire: and the smoke thereof ascended as the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mount quaked greatly.
19And when the voice of the trumpet sounded long, and waxed louder and louder, Moses spake, and God answered him by a voice.
20And the Lord came down upon mount Sinai, on the top of the mount: and the Lord called Moses up to the top of the mount; and Moses went up.
21And the Lord said unto Moses, Go down, charge the people, lest they break through unto the Lord to gaze, and many of them perish.
22And let the priests also, which come near to the Lord, sanctify themselves, lest the Lord break forth upon them.
23And Moses said unto the Lord, The people cannot come up to mount Sinai: for thou chargedst us, saying, Set bounds about the mount, and sanctify it.
24And the Lord said unto him, Away, get thee down, and thou shalt come up, thou, and Aaron with thee: but let not the priests and the people break through to come up unto the Lord, lest he break forth upon them.
25So Moses went down unto the people, and spake unto them.
Chapter 20
1And God spake all these words, saying,
4Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth:
5Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;
6And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.
8Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.
9Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work:
10But the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates:
11For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.
18And all the people saw the thunderings, and the lightnings, and the noise of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking: and when the people saw it, they removed, and stood afar off.
19And they said unto Moses, Speak thou with us, and we will hear: but let not God speak with us, lest we die.
20And Moses said unto the people, Fear not: for God is come to prove you, and that his fear may be before your faces, that ye sin not.
21And the people stood afar off, and Moses drew near unto the thick darkness where God was.
22And the Lord said unto Moses, Thus thou shalt say unto the children of Israel, Ye have seen that I have talked with you from heaven.
23Ye shall not make with me gods of silver, neither shall ye make unto you gods of gold.
24An altar of earth thou shalt make unto me, and shalt sacrifice thereon thy burnt offerings, and thy peace offerings, thy sheep, and thine oxen: in all places where I record my name I will come unto thee, and I will bless thee.
25And if thou wilt make me an altar of stone, thou shalt not build it of hewn stone: for if thou lift up thy tool upon it, thou hast polluted it.
26Neither shalt thou go up by steps unto mine altar, that thy nakedness be not discovered thereon.
Chapter 21
1Now these are the judgments which thou shalt set before them. 2If thou buy an Hebrew servant, six years he shall serve: and in the seventh he shall go out free for nothing. 3If he came in by himself, he shall go out by himself: if he were married, then his wife shall go out with him. 4If his master have given him a wife, and she have born him sons or daughters; the wife and her children shall be her master's, and he shall go out by himself. 5And if the servant shall plainly say, I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free: 6Then his master shall bring him unto the judges; he shall also bring him to the door, or unto the door post; and his master shall bore his ear through with an aul; and he shall serve him for ever.
7And if a man sell his daughter to be a maidservant, she shall not go out as the menservants do.
8If she please not her master, who hath betrothed her to himself, then shall he let her be redeemed: to sell her unto a strange nation he shall have no power, seeing he hath dealt deceitfully with her.
9And if he have betrothed her unto his son, he shall deal with her after the manner of daughters.
10If he take him another wife; her food, her raiment, and her duty of marriage, shall he not diminish.
11And if he do not these three unto her, then shall she go out free without money.
12He that smiteth a man, so that he die, shall be surely put to death.
13And if a man lie not in wait, but God deliver him into his hand; then I will appoint thee a place whither he shall flee.
14But if a man come presumptuously upon his neighbour, to slay him with guile; thou shalt take him from mine altar, that he may die.
18And if men strive together, and one smite another with a stone, or with his fist, and he die not, but keepeth his bed:
19If he rise again, and walk abroad upon his staff, then shall he that smote him be quit: only he shall pay for the loss of his time, and shall cause him to be thoroughly healed.
20And if a man smite his servant, or his maid, with a rod, and he die under his hand; he shall be surely punished.
21Notwithstanding, if he continue a day or two, he shall not be punished: for he is his money.
22If men strive, and hurt a woman with child, so that her fruit depart from her, and yet no mischief follow: he shall be surely punished, according as the woman's husband will lay upon him; and he shall pay as the judges determine.
23And if any mischief follow, then thou shalt give life for life,
24Eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot,
25Burning for burning, wound for wound, stripe for stripe.
26And if a man smite the eye of his servant, or the eye of his maid, that it perish; he shall let him go free for his eye's sake.
27And if he smite out his manservant's tooth, or his maidservant's tooth; he shall let him go free for his tooth's sake.
28If an ox gore a man or a woman, that they die: then the ox shall be surely stoned, and his flesh shall not be eaten; but the owner of the ox shall be quit.
29But if the ox were wont to push with his horn in time past, and it hath been testified to his owner, and he hath not kept him in, but that he hath killed a man or a woman; the ox shall be stoned, and his owner also shall be put to death.
30If there be laid on him a sum of money, then he shall give for the ransom of his life whatsoever is laid upon him.
31Whether he have gored a son, or have gored a daughter, according to this judgment shall it be done unto him.
32If the ox shall push a manservant or a maidservant; he shall give unto their master thirty shekels of silver, and the ox shall be stoned.
33And if a man shall open a pit, or if a man shall dig a pit, and not cover it, and an ox or an ass fall therein;
34The owner of the pit shall make it good, and give money unto the owner of them; and the dead beast shall be his.
35And if one man's ox hurt another's, that he die; then they shall sell the live ox, and divide the money of it; and the dead ox also they shall divide.
36Or if it be known that the ox hath used to push in time past, and his owner hath not kept him in; he shall surely pay ox for ox; and the dead shall be his own.
Christian Standard Bible
Chapter 16
1The entire Israelite community departed from Elim and came to the Wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after they had left the land of Egypt. 2The entire Israelite community grumbled against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness. 3The Israelites said to them, "If only we had died by the Lord’s hand in the land of Egypt, when we sat by pots of meat and ate all the bread we wanted. Instead, you brought us into this wilderness to make this whole assembly die of hunger!"
4Then the Lord said to Moses, "I am going to rain bread from heaven for you. The people are to go out each day and gather enough for that day. This way I will test them to see whether or not they will follow my instructions.
5On the sixth day, when they prepare what they bring in, it will be twice as much as they gather on other days."
6So Moses and Aaron said to all the Israelites: "This evening you will know that it was the Lord who brought you out of the land of Egypt,
7and in the morning you will see the Lord’s glory because he has heard your complaints about him. For who are we that you complain about us?"
8Moses continued, "The Lord will give you meat to eat this evening and all the bread you want in the morning, for he has heard the complaints that you are raising against him. Who are we? Your complaints are not against us but against the Lord."
9Then Moses told Aaron, "Say to the entire Israelite community, ‘Come before the Lord, for he has heard your complaints.’"
10As Aaron was speaking to the entire Israelite community, they turned toward the wilderness, and there in a cloud the Lord’s glory appeared.
11The Lord spoke to Moses,
12"I have heard the complaints of the Israelites. Tell them: At twilight you will eat meat, and in the morning you will eat bread until you are full. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God."
13So at evening quail came and covered the camp. In the morning there was a layer of dew all around the camp.
14When the layer of dew evaporated, there were fine flakes on the desert surface, as fine as frost on the ground.
15When the Israelites saw it, they asked one another, "What is it?" because they didn’t know what it was. Moses told them, "It is the bread the Lord has given you to eat.
16This is what the Lord has commanded: ‘Gather as much of it as each person needs to eat. You may take two quarts per individual, according to the number of people each of you has in his tent.’"
17So the Israelites did this. Some gathered a lot, some a little.
18When they measured it by quarts, the person who gathered a lot had no surplus, and the person who gathered a little had no shortage. Each gathered as much as he needed to eat.
19Moses said to them, "No one is to let any of it remain until morning."
20But they didn’t listen to Moses; some people left part of it until morning, and it bred worms and stank. Therefore Moses was angry with them.
21They gathered it every morning. Each gathered as much as he needed to eat, but when the sun grew hot, it melted.
22On the sixth day they gathered twice as much food, four quarts apiece, and all the leaders of the community came and reported this to Moses.
23He told them, "This is what the Lord has said: ‘Tomorrow is a day of complete rest, a holy Sabbath to the Lord. Bake what you want to bake, and boil what you want to boil, and set aside everything left over to be kept until morning.’"
24So they set it aside until morning as Moses commanded, and it didn’t stink or have maggots in it.
25"Eat it today," Moses said, "because today is a Sabbath to the Lord. Today you won’t find any in the field.
26For six days you will gather it, but on the seventh day, the Sabbath, there will be none."
27Yet on the seventh day some of the people went out to gather, but they did not find any.
28Then the Lord said to Moses, "How long will you refuse to keep my commands and instructions?
29Understand that the Lord has given you the Sabbath; therefore on the sixth day he will give you two days’ worth of bread. Each of you stay where you are; no one is to leave his place on the seventh day."
30So the people rested on the seventh day.
31The house of Israel named the substance manna. It resembled coriander seed, was white, and tasted like wafers made with honey.
32Moses said, "This is what the Lord has commanded: ‘Two quarts of it are to be preserved throughout your generations, so that they may see the bread I fed you in the wilderness when I brought you out of the land of Egypt.’"
33Moses told Aaron, "Take a container and put two quarts of manna in it. Then place it before the Lord to be preserved throughout your generations."
34As the Lord commanded Moses, Aaron placed it before the testimony to be preserved.
35The Israelites ate manna for forty years, until they came to an inhabited land. They ate manna until they reached the border of the land of Canaan.
36(They used a measure called an omer, which held two quarts. )
5The Lord answered Moses, "Go on ahead of the people and take some of the elders of Israel with you. Take the staff you struck the Nile with in your hand and go.
6I am going to stand there in front of you on the rock at Horeb; when you hit the rock, water will come out of it and the people will drink." Moses did this in the sight of the elders of Israel.
7He named the place Massah and Meribah because the Israelites complained, and because they tested the Lord, saying, "Is the Lord among us or not?"
8At Rephidim, Amalek came and fought against Israel.
9Moses said to Joshua, "Select some men for us and go fight against Amalek. Tomorrow I will stand on the hilltop with God’s staff in my hand."
10Joshua did as Moses had told him, and fought against Amalek, while Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill.
11While Moses held up his hand, Israel prevailed, but whenever he put his hand down, Amalek prevailed.
12When Moses’s hands grew heavy, they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat down on it. Then Aaron and Hur supported his hands, one on one side and one on the other so that his hands remained steady until the sun went down.
13So Joshua defeated Amalek and his army with the sword.
15And Moses built an altar and named it, "The Lord Is My Banner."
16He said, "Indeed, my hand is lifted up toward the Lord’s throne. The Lord will be at war with Amalek from generation to generation."
2Now Jethro, Moses’s father-in-law, had taken in Zipporah, Moses’s wife, after he had sent her back,
3along with her two sons, one of whom was named Gershom (because Moses had said, "I have been a resident alien in a foreign land")
4and the other Eliezer (because he had said, "The God of my father was my helper and rescued me from Pharaoh’s sword").
5Moses’s father-in-law Jethro, along with Moses’s wife and sons, came to him in the wilderness where he was camped at the mountain of God.
6He sent word to Moses, "I, your father-in-law Jethro, am coming to you with your wife and her two sons."
7So Moses went out to meet his father-in-law, bowed down, and then kissed him. They asked each other how they had been and went into the tent.
8Moses recounted to his father-in-law all that the Lord had done to Pharaoh and the Egyptians for Israel’s sake, all the hardships that confronted them on the way, and how the Lord rescued them.
9Jethro rejoiced over all the good things the Lord had done for Israel when he rescued them from the power of the Egyptians.
10"Blessed be the Lord," Jethro exclaimed, "who rescued you from the power of Egypt and from the power of Pharaoh. He has rescued the people from under the power of Egypt!
11Now I know that the Lord is greater than all gods, because he did wonders when the Egyptians acted arrogantly against Israel."
13The next day Moses sat down to judge the people, and they stood around Moses from morning until evening.
14When Moses’s father-in-law saw everything he was doing for them he asked, "What is this thing you’re doing for the people? Why are you alone sitting as judge, while all the people stand around you from morning until evening?"
15Moses replied to his father-in-law, "Because the people come to me to inquire of God.
16Whenever they have a dispute, it comes to me, and I make a decision between one man and another. I teach them God’s statutes and laws."
17"What you’re doing is not good," Moses’s father-in-law said to him.
18"You will certainly wear out both yourself and these people who are with you, because the task is too heavy for you. You can’t do it alone.
19Now listen to me; I will give you some advice, and God be with you. You be the one to represent the people before God and bring their cases to him.
20Instruct them about the statutes and laws, and teach them the way to live and what they must do.
21But you should select from all the people able men, God-fearing, trustworthy, and hating dishonest profit. Place them over the people as commanders of thousands, hundreds, fifties, and tens.
22They should judge the people at all times. Then they can bring you every major case but judge every minor case themselves. In this way you will lighten your load, and they will bear it with you.
23If you do this, and God so directs you, you will be able to endure, and also all these people will be able to go home satisfied."
24Moses listened to his father-in-law and did everything he said.
25So Moses chose able men from all Israel and made them leaders over the people as commanders of thousands, hundreds, fifties, and tens.
26They judged the people at all times; they would bring the hard cases to Moses, but they would judge every minor case themselves.
Chapter 19
1In the third month from the very day the Israelites left the land of Egypt, they came to the Sinai Wilderness. 2They traveled from Rephidim, came to the Sinai Wilderness, and camped in the wilderness. Israel camped there in front of the mountain.
3Moses went up the mountain to God, and the Lord called to him from the mountain: "This is what you must say to the house of Jacob and explain to the Israelites:
4‘You have seen what I did to the Egyptians and how I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself.
5Now if you will carefully listen to me and keep my covenant, you will be my own possession out of all the peoples, although the whole earth is mine,
6and you will be my kingdom of priests and my holy nation.’ These are the words that you are to say to the Israelites."
7After Moses came back, he summoned the elders of the people and set before them all these words that the Lord had commanded him.
8Then all the people responded together, "We will do all that the Lord has spoken." So Moses brought the people’s words back to the Lord.
9The Lord said to Moses, "I am going to come to you in a dense cloud, so that the people will hear when I speak with you and will always believe you." Moses reported the people’s words to the Lord,
10and the Lord told Moses, "Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow. They must wash their clothes
11and be prepared by the third day, for on the third day the Lord will come down on Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people.
12Put boundaries for the people all around the mountain and say: Be careful that you don’t go up on the mountain or touch its base. Anyone who touches the mountain must be put to death.
13No hand may touch him; instead he will be stoned or shot with arrows and not live, whether animal or human. When the ram’s horn sounds a long blast, they may go up the mountain."
14Then Moses came down from the mountain to the people and consecrated them, and they washed their clothes.
15He said to the people, "Be prepared by the third day. Do not have sexual relations with women."
16On the third day, when morning came, there was thunder and lightning, a thick cloud on the mountain, and a very loud trumpet sound, so that all the people in the camp shuddered.
17Then Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain.
18Mount Sinai was completely enveloped in smoke because the Lord came down on it in fire. Its smoke went up like the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mountain shook violently.
19As the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder, Moses spoke and God answered him in the thunder.
20The Lord came down on Mount Sinai at the top of the mountain. Then the Lord summoned Moses to the top of the mountain, and he went up.
21The Lord directed Moses, "Go down and warn the people not to break through to see the Lord; otherwise many of them will die.
22Even the priests who come near the Lord must consecrate themselves, or the Lord will break out in anger against them."
23Moses responded to the Lord, "The people cannot come up Mount Sinai, since you warned us: Put a boundary around the mountain and consecrate it."
24And the Lord replied to him, "Go down and come back with Aaron. But the priests and the people must not break through to come up to the Lord, or he will break out in anger against them."
25So Moses went down to the people and told them.
Chapter 20
1Then God spoke all these words:
3Do not have other gods besides me.
4Do not make an idol for yourself, whether in the shape of anything in the heavens above or on the earth below or in the waters under the earth.
5Do not bow in worship to them, and do not serve them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the fathers’ iniquity, to the third and fourth generations of those who hate me,
7Do not misuse the name of the Lord your God, because the Lord will not leave anyone unpunished who misuses his name.
8Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy:
9You are to labor six days and do all your work,
10but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. You must not do any work—you, your son or daughter, your male or female servant, your livestock, or the resident alien who is within your city gates.
16Do not give false testimony against your neighbor.
17Do not covet your neighbor’s house. Do not covet your neighbor’s wife, his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.
18All the people witnessed the thunder and lightning, the sound of the trumpet, and the mountain surrounded by smoke. When the people saw it they trembled and stood at a distance.
19"You speak to us, and we will listen," they said to Moses, "but don’t let God speak to us, or we will die."
20Moses responded to the people, "Don’t be afraid, for God has come to test you, so that you will fear him and will not sin."
21And the people remained standing at a distance as Moses approached the total darkness where God was.
22Then the Lord told Moses, "This is what you are to say to the Israelites: You have seen that I have spoken to you from heaven.
23Do not make gods of silver to rival me; do not make gods of gold for yourselves.
24"Make an earthen altar for me, and sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and fellowship offerings, your flocks and herds. I will come to you and bless you in every place where I cause my name to be remembered.
25If you make a stone altar for me, do not build it out of cut stones. If you use your chisel on it, you will defile it.
26Do not go up to my altar on steps, so that your nakedness is not exposed on it.
2"When you buy a Hebrew slave, he is to serve for six years; then in the seventh he is to leave as a free man without paying anything.
3If he arrives alone, he is to leave alone; if he arrives with a wife, his wife is to leave with him.
4If his master gives him a wife and she bears him sons or daughters, the wife and her children belong to her master, and the man must leave alone.
5"But if the slave declares, ‘I love my master, my wife, and my children; I do not want to leave as a free man,’
6his master is to bring him to the judges and then bring him to the door or doorpost. His master will pierce his ear with an awl, and he will serve his master for life.
7"When a man sells his daughter as a concubine, she is not to leave as the male slaves do.
8If she is displeasing to her master, who chose her for himself, then he must let her be redeemed. He has no right to sell her to foreigners because he has acted treacherously toward her.
9Or if he chooses her for his son, he must deal with her according to the customary treatment of daughters.
10If he takes an additional wife, he must not reduce the food, clothing, or marital rights of the first wife.
11And if he does not do these three things for her, she may leave free of charge, without any payment.
12"Whoever strikes a person so that he dies must be put to death.
13But if he did not intend any harm, and yet God allowed it to happen, I will appoint a place for you where he may flee.
14If a person schemes and willfully acts against his neighbor to murder him, you must take him from my altar to be put to death.
18"When men quarrel and one strikes the other with a stone or his fist, and the injured man does not die but is confined to bed,
19if he can later get up and walk around outside leaning on his staff, then the one who struck him will be exempt from punishment. Nevertheless, he must pay for his lost work time and provide for his complete recovery.
20"When a man strikes his male or female slave with a rod, and the slave dies under his abuse, the owner must be punished.
21However, if the slave can stand up after a day or two, the owner should not be punished because he is his owner’s property.
22"When men get in a fight and hit a pregnant woman so that her children are born prematurely but there is no injury, the one who hit her must be fined as the woman’s husband demands from him, and he must pay according to judicial assessment.
23If there is an injury, then you must give life for life,
24eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot,
25burn for burn, bruise for bruise, wound for wound.
26"When a man strikes the eye of his male or female slave and destroys it, he must let the slave go free in compensation for his eye.
27If he knocks out the tooth of his male or female slave, he must let the slave go free in compensation for his tooth.
28"When an ox gores a man or a woman to death, the ox must be stoned, and its meat may not be eaten, but the ox’s owner is innocent.
29However, if the ox was in the habit of goring, and its owner has been warned yet does not restrain it, and it kills a man or a woman, the ox must be stoned, and its owner must also be put to death.
30If instead a ransom is demanded of him, he can pay a redemption price for his life in the full amount demanded from him.
31If it gores a son or a daughter, he is to be dealt with according to this same law.
32If the ox gores a male or female slave, he must give thirty shekels of silver to the slave’s master, and the ox must be stoned.
33"When a man uncovers a pit or digs a pit, and does not cover it, and an ox or a donkey falls into it,
34the owner of the pit must give compensation; he must pay to its owner, but the dead animal will become his.
35"When a man’s ox injures his neighbor’s ox and it dies, they must sell the live ox and divide its proceeds; they must also divide the dead animal.
36If, however, it is known that the ox was in the habit of goring, yet its owner has not restrained it, he must compensate fully, ox for ox; the dead animal will become his.
New Living Translation
Chapter 16
1Then the whole community of Israel set out from Elim and journeyed into the wilderness of Sin, between Elim and Mount Sinai. They arrived there on the fifteenth day of the second month, one month after leaving the land of Egypt. 2There, too, the whole community of Israel complained about Moses and Aaron.
4Then the Lord said to Moses, 'Look, I’m going to rain down food from heaven for you. Each day the people can go out and pick up as much food as they need for that day. I will test them in this to see whether or not they will follow my instructions.
5On the sixth day they will gather food, and when they prepare it, there will be twice as much as usual.'
6So Moses and Aaron said to all the people of Israel, 'By evening you will realize it was the Lord who brought you out of the land of Egypt.
7In the morning you will see the glory of the Lord, because he has heard your complaints, which are against him, not against us. What have we done that you should complain about us?'
8Then Moses added, 'The Lord will give you meat to eat in the evening and bread to satisfy you in the morning, for he has heard all your complaints against him. What have we done? Yes, your complaints are against the Lord, not against us.'
9Then Moses said to Aaron, 'Announce this to the entire community of Israel: ‘Present yourselves before the Lord, for he has heard your complaining.’'
10And as Aaron spoke to the whole community of Israel, they looked out toward the wilderness. There they could see the awesome glory of the Lord in the cloud.
11Then the Lord said to Moses,
12I have heard the Israelites’ complaints. Now tell them, ‘In the evening you will have meat to eat, and in the morning you will have all the bread you want. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God.’'
13That evening vast numbers of quail flew in and covered the camp. And the next morning the area around the camp was wet with dew.
14When the dew evaporated, a flaky substance as fine as frost blanketed the ground.
15The Israelites were puzzled when they saw it. 'What is it?' they asked each other. They had no idea what it was. And Moses told them, 'It is the food the Lord has given you to eat.
16These are the Lord’s instructions: Each household should gather as much as it needs. Pick up two quarts for each person in your tent.'
17So the people of Israel did as they were told. Some gathered a lot, some only a little.
18But when they measured it out, everyone had just enough. Those who gathered a lot had nothing left over, and those who gathered only a little had enough. Each family had just what it needed.
19Then Moses told them, 'Do not keep any of it until morning.'
20But some of them didn’t listen and kept some of it until morning. But by then it was full of maggots and had a terrible smell. Moses was very angry with them.
21After this the people gathered the food morning by morning, each family according to its need. And as the sun became hot, the flakes they had not picked up melted and disappeared.
22On the sixth day, they gathered twice as much as usual — four quarts for each person instead of two. Then all the leaders of the community came and asked Moses for an explanation.
23He told them, 'This is what the Lord commanded: Tomorrow will be a day of complete rest, a holy Sabbath day set apart for the Lord. So bake or boil as much as you want today, and set aside what is left for tomorrow.'
24So they put some aside until morning, just as Moses had commanded. And in the morning the leftover food was wholesome and good, without maggots or odor.
25Moses said, 'Eat this food today, for today is a Sabbath day dedicated to the Lord. There will be no food on the ground today.
26You may gather the food for six days, but the seventh day is the Sabbath. There will be no food on the ground that day.'
27Some of the people went out anyway on the seventh day, but they found no food.
28The Lord asked Moses, 'How long will these people refuse to obey my commands and instructions?
29They must realize that the Sabbath is the Lord’s gift to you. That is why he gives you a two-day supply on the sixth day, so there will be enough for two days. On the Sabbath day you must each stay in your place. Do not go out to pick up food on the seventh day.'
30So the people did not gather any food on the seventh day.
33Moses said to Aaron, 'Get a jar and fill it with two quarts of manna. Then put it in a sacred place before the Lord to preserve it for all future generations.'
34Aaron did just as the Lord had commanded Moses. He eventually placed it in the Ark of the Covenant — in front of the stone tablets inscribed with the terms of the covenant.
35So the people of Israel ate manna for forty years until they arrived at the land where they would settle. They ate manna until they came to the border of the land of Canaan.
4Then Moses cried out to the Lord, 'What should I do with these people? They are ready to stone me!'
5The Lord said to Moses, 'Walk out in front of the people. Take your staff, the one you used when you struck the water of the Nile, and call some of the elders of Israel to join you.
6I will stand before you on the rock at Mount Sinai. Strike the rock, and water will come gushing out. Then the people will be able to drink.' So Moses struck the rock as he was told, and water gushed out as the elders looked on.
8While the people of Israel were still at Rephidim, the warriors of Amalek attacked them.
9Moses commanded Joshua, 'Choose some men to go out and fight the army of Amalek for us. Tomorrow, I will stand at the top of the hill, holding the staff of God in my hand.'
10So Joshua did what Moses had commanded and fought the army of Amalek. Meanwhile, Moses, Aaron, and Hur climbed to the top of a nearby hill.
11As long as Moses held up the staff in his hand, the Israelites had the advantage. But whenever he dropped his hand, the Amalekites gained the advantage.
12Moses’ arms soon became so tired he could no longer hold them up. So Aaron and Hur found a stone for him to sit on. Then they stood on each side of Moses, holding up his hands. So his hands held steady until sunset.
13As a result, Joshua overwhelmed the army of Amalek in battle.
14After the victory, the Lord instructed Moses, 'Write this down on a scroll as a permanent reminder, and read it aloud to Joshua: I will erase the memory of Amalek from under heaven.'
15Moses built an altar there and named it Yahweh-Nissi (which means 'the Lord is my banner').
16He said, 'They have raised their fist against the Lord’s throne, so now the Lord will be at war with Amalek generation after generation.'
2Earlier, Moses had sent his wife, Zipporah, and his two sons back to Jethro, who had taken them in.
3(Moses’ first son was named Gershom, for Moses had said when the boy was born, 'I have been a foreigner in a foreign land.'
4His second son was named Eliezer, for Moses had said, 'The God of my ancestors was my helper; he rescued me from the sword of Pharaoh.')
5Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, now came to visit Moses in the wilderness. He brought Moses’ wife and two sons with him, and they arrived while Moses and the people were camped near the mountain of God.
6Jethro had sent a message to Moses, saying, 'I, Jethro, your father-in-law, am coming to see you with your wife and your two sons.'
7So Moses went out to meet his father-in-law. He bowed low and kissed him. They asked about each other’s welfare and then went into Moses’ tent.
8Moses told his father-in-law everything the Lord had done to Pharaoh and Egypt on behalf of Israel. He also told about all the hardships they had experienced along the way and how the Lord had rescued his people from all their troubles.
9Jethro was delighted when he heard about all the good things the Lord had done for Israel as he rescued them from the hand of the Egyptians.
10Praise the Lord,' Jethro said, 'for he has rescued you from the Egyptians and from Pharaoh. Yes, he has rescued Israel from the powerful hand of Egypt!
11I know now that the Lord is greater than all other gods, because he rescued his people from the oppression of the proud Egyptians.'
15Moses replied, 'Because the people come to me to get a ruling from God.
16When a dispute arises, they come to me, and I am the one who settles the case between the quarreling parties. I inform the people of God’s decrees and give them his instructions.'
17This is not good!' Moses’ father-in-law exclaimed.
18You’re going to wear yourself out — and the people, too. This job is too heavy a burden for you to handle all by yourself.
19Now listen to me, and let me give you a word of advice, and may God be with you. You should continue to be the people’s representative before God, bringing their disputes to him.
20Teach them God’s decrees, and give them his instructions. Show them how to conduct their lives.
21But select from all the people some capable, honest men who fear God and hate bribes. Appoint them as leaders over groups of one thousand, one hundred, fifty, and ten.
22They should always be available to solve the people’s common disputes, but have them bring the major cases to you. Let the leaders decide the smaller matters themselves. They will help you carry the load, making the task easier for you.
23If you follow this advice, and if God commands you to do so, then you will be able to endure the pressures, and all these people will go home in peace.'
24Moses listened to his father-in-law’s advice and followed his suggestions.
25He chose capable men from all over Israel and appointed them as leaders over the people. He put them in charge of groups of one thousand, one hundred, fifty, and ten.
26These men were always available to solve the people’s common disputes. They brought the major cases to Moses, but they took care of the smaller matters themselves.
Chapter 19
1Exactly two months after the Israelites left Egypt, they arrived in the wilderness of Sinai. 2After breaking camp at Rephidim, they came to the wilderness of Sinai and set up camp there at the base of Mount Sinai.
3Then Moses climbed the mountain to appear before God. The Lord called to him from the mountain and said, 'Give these instructions to the family of Jacob; announce it to the descendants of Israel:
4‘You have seen what I did to the Egyptians. You know how I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself.
5Now if you will obey me and keep my covenant, you will be my own special treasure from among all the peoples on earth; for all the earth belongs to me.
6And you will be my kingdom of priests, my holy nation.’ This is the message you must give to the people of Israel.'
7So Moses returned from the mountain and called together the elders of the people and told them everything the Lord had commanded him.
8And all the people responded together, 'We will do everything the Lord has commanded.' So Moses brought the people’s answer back to the Lord.
9Then the Lord said to Moses, 'I will come to you in a thick cloud, Moses, so the people themselves can hear me when I speak with you. Then they will always trust you.' Moses told the Lord what the people had said.
10Then the Lord told Moses, 'Go down and prepare the people for my arrival. Consecrate them today and tomorrow, and have them wash their clothing.
11Be sure they are ready on the third day, for on that day the Lord will come down on Mount Sinai as all the people watch.
12Mark off a boundary all around the mountain. Warn the people, ‘Be careful! Do not go up on the mountain or even touch its boundaries. Anyone who touches the mountain will certainly be put to death.
13No hand may touch the person or animal that crosses the boundary; instead, stone them or shoot them with arrows. They must be put to death.’ However, when the ram’s horn sounds a long blast, then the people may go up on the mountain. '
14So Moses went down to the people. He consecrated them for worship, and they washed their clothes.
15He told them, 'Get ready for the third day, and until then abstain from having sexual intercourse.'
16On the morning of the third day, thunder roared and lightning flashed, and a dense cloud came down on the mountain. There was a long, loud blast from a ram’s horn, and all the people trembled.
17Moses led them out from the camp to meet with God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain.
18All of Mount Sinai was covered with smoke because the Lord had descended on it in the form of fire. The smoke billowed into the sky like smoke from a brick kiln, and the whole mountain shook violently.
19As the blast of the ram’s horn grew louder and louder, Moses spoke, and God thundered his reply.
20The Lord came down on the top of Mount Sinai and called Moses to the top of the mountain. So Moses climbed the mountain.
21Then the Lord told Moses, 'Go back down and warn the people not to break through the boundaries to see the Lord, or they will die.
22Even the priests who regularly come near to the Lord must purify themselves so that the Lord does not break out and destroy them.'
4You must not make for yourself an idol of any kind or an image of anything in the heavens or on the earth or in the sea.
5You must not bow down to them or worship them, for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God who will not tolerate your affection for any other gods. I lay the sins of the parents upon their children; the entire family is affected — even children in the third and fourth generations of those who reject me.
6But I lavish unfailing love for a thousand generations on those who love me and obey my commands.
8Remember to observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.
9You have six days each week for your ordinary work,
10but the seventh day is a Sabbath day of rest dedicated to the Lord your God. On that day no one in your household may do any work. This includes you, your sons and daughters, your male and female servants, your livestock, and any foreigners living among you.
11For in six days the Lord made the heavens, the earth, the sea, and everything in them; but on the seventh day he rested. That is why the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and set it apart as holy.
22And the Lord said to Moses, 'Say this to the people of Israel: You saw for yourselves that I spoke to you from heaven.
23Remember, you must not make any idols of silver or gold to rival me.
24Build for me an altar made of earth, and offer your sacrifices to me — your burnt offerings and peace offerings, your sheep and goats, and your cattle. Build my altar wherever I cause my name to be remembered, and I will come to you and bless you.
25If you use stones to build my altar, use only natural, uncut stones. Do not shape the stones with a tool, for that would make the altar unfit for holy use.
26And do not approach my altar by going up steps. If you do, someone might look up under your clothing and see your nakedness.
2If you buy a Hebrew slave, he may serve for no more than six years. Set him free in the seventh year, and he will owe you nothing for his freedom.
3If he was single when he became your slave, he shall leave single. But if he was married before he became a slave, then his wife must be freed with him.
4If his master gave him a wife while he was a slave and they had sons or daughters, then only the man will be free in the seventh year, but his wife and children will still belong to his master.
5But the slave may declare, ‘I love my master, my wife, and my children. I don’t want to go free.’
6If he does this, his master must present him before God. Then his master must take him to the door or doorpost and publicly pierce his ear with an awl. After that, the slave will serve his master for life.
7When a man sells his daughter as a slave, she will not be freed at the end of six years as the men are.
8If she does not satisfy her owner, he must allow her to be bought back again. But he is not allowed to sell her to foreigners, since he is the one who broke the contract with her.
9But if the slave’s owner arranges for her to marry his son, he may no longer treat her as a slave but as a daughter.
10If a man who has married a slave wife takes another wife for himself, he must not neglect the rights of the first wife to food, clothing, and sexual intimacy.
11If he fails in any of these three obligations, she may leave as a free woman without making any payment.
12Anyone who assaults and kills another person must be put to death.
13But if it was simply an accident permitted by God, I will appoint a place of refuge where the slayer can run for safety.
14However, if someone deliberately kills another person, then the slayer must be dragged even from my altar and be put to death.
18Now suppose two men quarrel, and one hits the other with a stone or fist, and the injured person does not die but is confined to bed.
19If he is later able to walk outside again, even with a crutch, the assailant will not be punished but must compensate his victim for lost wages and provide for his full recovery.
20If a man beats his male or female slave with a club and the slave dies as a result, the owner must be punished.
21But if the slave recovers within a day or two, then the owner shall not be punished, since the slave is his property.
22Now suppose two men are fighting, and in the process they accidentally strike a pregnant woman so she gives birth prematurely. If no further injury results, the man who struck the woman must pay the amount of compensation the woman’s husband demands and the judges approve.
23But if there is further injury, the punishment must match the injury: a life for a life,
24an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, a hand for a hand, a foot for a foot,
25a burn for a burn, a wound for a wound, a bruise for a bruise.
26If a man hits his male or female slave in the eye and the eye is blinded, he must let the slave go free to compensate for the eye.
27And if a man knocks out the tooth of his male or female slave, he must let the slave go free to compensate for the tooth.
28If an ox gores a man or woman to death, the ox must be stoned, and its flesh may not be eaten. In such a case, however, the owner will not be held liable.
29But suppose the ox had a reputation for goring, and the owner had been informed but failed to keep it under control. If the ox then kills someone, it must be stoned, and the owner must also be put to death.
30However, the dead person’s relatives may accept payment to compensate for the loss of life. The owner of the ox may redeem his life by paying whatever is demanded.
31The same regulation applies if the ox gores a boy or a girl.
32But if the ox gores a slave, either male or female, the animal’s owner must pay the slave’s owner thirty silver coins, and the ox must be stoned.
33Suppose someone digs or uncovers a pit and fails to cover it, and then an ox or a donkey falls into it.
34The owner of the pit must pay full compensation to the owner of the animal, but then he gets to keep the dead animal.
35If someone’s ox injures a neighbor’s ox and the injured ox dies, then the two owners must sell the live ox and divide the price equally between them. They must also divide the dead animal.
36But if the ox had a reputation for goring, yet its owner failed to keep it under control, he must pay full compensation — a live ox for the dead one — but he may keep the dead ox.
English Standard Version
Chapter 16
1They set out from Elim, and all the congregation of the people of Israel came to the wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after they had departed from the land of Egypt. 2And the whole congregation of the people of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness, 3and the people of Israel said to them, "Would that we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the meat pots and ate bread to the full, for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger."
4Then the Lord said to Moses, "Behold, I am about to rain bread from heaven for you, and the people shall go out and gather a day 's portion every day, that I may test them, whether they will walk in my law or not.
5On the sixth day, when they prepare what they bring in, it will be twice as much as they gather daily."
6So Moses and Aaron said to all the people of Israel, "At evening you shall know that it was the Lord who brought you out of the land of Egypt,
7and in the morning you shall see the glory of the Lord, because he has heard your grumbling against the Lord. For what are we, that you grumble against us?"
8And Moses said, "When the Lord gives you in the evening meat to eat and in the morning bread to the full, because the Lord has heard your grumbling that you grumble against him — what are we? Your grumbling is not against us but against the Lord."
9Then Moses said to Aaron, "Say to the whole congregation of the people of Israel, ‘Come near before the Lord, for he has heard your grumbling.’"
10And as soon as Aaron spoke to the whole congregation of the people of Israel, they looked toward the wilderness, and behold, the glory of the Lord appeared in the cloud.
11And the Lord said to Moses,
12"I have heard the grumbling of the people of Israel. Say to them, ‘At twilight you shall eat meat, and in the morning you shall be filled with bread. Then you shall know that I am the Lord your God.’"
13In the evening quail came up and covered the camp, and in the morning dew lay around the camp.
14And when the dew had gone up, there was on the face of the wilderness a fine, flake-like thing, fine as frost on the ground.
15When the people of Israel saw it, they said to one another, "What is it?" For they did not know what it was. And Moses said to them, "It is the bread that the Lord has given you to eat.
16This is what the Lord has commanded: ‘Gather of it, each one of you, as much as he can eat. You shall each take an omer, according to the number of the persons that each of you has in his tent.’"
17And the people of Israel did so. They gathered, some more, some less.
18But when they measured it with an omer, whoever gathered much had nothing left over, and whoever gathered little had no lack. Each of them gathered as much as he could eat.
19And Moses said to them, "Let no one leave any of it over till the morning."
20But they did not listen to Moses. Some left part of it till the morning, and it bred worms and stank. And Moses was angry with them.
21Morning by morning they gathered it, each as much as he could eat; but when the sun grew hot, it melted.
22On the sixth day they gathered twice as much bread, two omers each. And when all the leaders of the congregation came and told Moses,
23he said to them, "This is what the Lord has commanded: ‘Tomorrow is a day of solemn rest, a holy Sabbath to the Lord; bake what you will bake and boil what you will boil, and all that is left over lay aside to be kept till the morning.’"
24So they laid it aside till the morning, as Moses commanded them, and it did not stink, and there were no worms in it.
25Moses said, "Eat it today, for today is a Sabbath to the Lord; today you will not find it in the field.
26Six days you shall gather it, but on the seventh day, which is a Sabbath, there will be none."
27On the seventh day some of the people went out to gather, but they found none.
28And the Lord said to Moses, "How long will you refuse to keep my commandments and my laws?
29See! The Lord has given you the Sabbath; therefore on the sixth day he gives you bread for two days. Remain each of you in his place; let no one go out of his place on the seventh day."
30So the people rested on the seventh day.
31Now the house of Israel called its name manna. It was like coriander seed, white, and the taste of it was like wafers made with honey.
32Moses said, "This is what the Lord has commanded: ‘Let an omer of it be kept throughout your generations, so that they may see the bread with which I fed you in the wilderness, when I brought you out of the land of Egypt.’"
33And Moses said to Aaron, "Take a jar, and put an omer of manna in it, and place it before the Lord to be kept throughout your generations."
34As the Lord commanded Moses, so Aaron placed it before the testimony to be kept.
35The people of Israel ate the manna forty years, till they came to a habitable land. They ate the manna till they came to the border of the land of Canaan.
36(An omer is the tenth part of an ephah.)
Chapter 17
1All the congregation of the people of Israel moved on from the wilderness of Sin by stages, according to the commandment of the Lord, and camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink. 2Therefore the people quarreled with Moses and said, "Give us water to drink." And Moses said to them, "Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you test the Lord?" 3But the people thirsted there for water, and the people grumbled against Moses and said, "Why did you bring us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?" 4So Moses cried to the Lord, "What shall I do with this people? They are almost ready to stone me." 5And the Lord said to Moses, "Pass on before the people, taking with you some of the elders of Israel, and take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go. 6Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock at Horeb, and you shall strike the rock, and water shall come out of it, and the people will drink." And Moses did so, in the sight of the elders of Israel. 7And he called the name of the place Massah and Meribah, because of the quarreling of the people of Israel, and because they tested the Lord by saying, "Is the Lord among us or not?"
8Then Amalek came and fought with Israel at Rephidim.
9So Moses said to Joshua, "Choose for us men, and go out and fight with Amalek. Tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the staff of God in my hand."
10So Joshua did as Moses told him, and fought with Amalek, while Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill.
11Whenever Moses held up his hand, Israel prevailed, and whenever he lowered his hand, Amalek prevailed.
12But Moses ' hands grew weary, so they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat on it, while Aaron and Hur held up his hands, one on one side, and the other on the other side. So his hands were steady until the going down of the sun.
13And Joshua overwhelmed Amalek and his people with the sword.
14Then the Lord said to Moses, "Write this as a memorial in a book and recite it in the ears of Joshua, that I will utterly blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven."
15And Moses built an altar and called the name of it, The Lord Is My Banner,
16saying, "A hand upon the throne of the Lord! The Lord will have war with Amalek from generation to generation."
Chapter 18
1Jethro, the priest of Midian, Moses ' father-in-law, heard of all that God had done for Moses and for Israel his people, how the Lord had brought Israel out of Egypt. 2Now Jethro, Moses ' father-in-law, had taken Zipporah, Moses ' wife, after he had sent her home, 3along with her two sons. The name of the one was Gershom (for he said, "I have been a sojourner in a foreign land"), 4and the name of the other, Eliezer (for he said, "The God of my father was my help, and delivered me from the sword of Pharaoh"). 5Jethro, Moses ' father-in-law, came with his sons and his wife to Moses in the wilderness where he was encamped at the mountain of God. 6And when he sent word to Moses, "I, your father-in-law Jethro, am coming to you with your wife and her two sons with her," 7Moses went out to meet his father-in-law and bowed down and kissed him. And they asked each other of their welfare and went into the tent. 8Then Moses told his father-in-law all that the Lord had done to Pharaoh and to the Egyptians for Israel 's sake, all the hardship that had come upon them in the way, and how the Lord had delivered them. 9And Jethro rejoiced for all the good that the Lord had done to Israel, in that he had delivered them out of the hand of the Egyptians.
10Jethro said, "Blessed be the Lord, who has delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians and out of the hand of Pharaoh and has delivered the people from under the hand of the Egyptians.
11Now I know that the Lord is greater than all gods, because in this affair they dealt arrogantly with the people."
12And Jethro, Moses ' father-in-law, brought a burnt offering and sacrifices to God; and Aaron came with all the elders of Israel to eat bread with Moses ' father-in-law before God.
13The next day Moses sat to judge the people, and the people stood around Moses from morning till evening.
14When Moses ' father-in-law saw all that he was doing for the people, he said, "What is this that you are doing for the people? Why do you sit alone, and all the people stand around you from morning till evening?"
15And Moses said to his father-in-law, "Because the people come to me to inquire of God;
16when they have a dispute, they come to me and I decide between one person and another, and I make them know the statutes of God and his laws."
17Moses ' father-in-law said to him, "What you are doing is not good.
18You and the people with you will certainly wear yourselves out, for the thing is too heavy for you. You are not able to do it alone.
19Now obey my voice; I will give you advice, and God be with you! You shall represent the people before God and bring their cases to God,
20and you shall warn them about the statutes and the laws, and make them know the way in which they must walk and what they must do.
21Moreover, look for able men from all the people, men who fear God, who are trustworthy and hate a bribe, and place such men over the people as chiefs of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties, and of tens.
22And let them judge the people at all times. Every great matter they shall bring to you, but any small matter they shall decide themselves. So it will be easier for you, and they will bear the burden with you.
23If you do this, God will direct you, you will be able to endure, and all this people also will go to their place in peace."
24So Moses listened to the voice of his father-in-law and did all that he had said.
25Moses chose able men out of all Israel and made them heads over the people, chiefs of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties, and of tens.
26And they judged the people at all times. Any hard case they brought to Moses, but any small matter they decided themselves.
27Then Moses let his father-in-law depart, and he went away to his own country.
Chapter 19
1On the third new moon after the people of Israel had gone out of the land of Egypt, on that day they came into the wilderness of Sinai. 2They set out from Rephidim and came into the wilderness of Sinai, and they encamped in the wilderness. There Israel encamped before the mountain, 3while Moses went up to God. The Lord called to him out of the mountain, saying, "Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob, and tell the people of Israel: 4‘You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles ' wings and brought you to myself. 5Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; 6and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words that you shall speak to the people of Israel."
7So Moses came and called the elders of the people and set before them all these words that the Lord had commanded him.
8All the people answered together and said, "All that the Lord has spoken we will do." And Moses reported the words of the people to the Lord.
9And the Lord said to Moses, "Behold, I am coming to you in a thick cloud, that the people may hear when I speak with you, and may also believe you forever." When Moses told the words of the people to the Lord,
10the Lord said to Moses, "Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow, and let them wash their garments
11and be ready for the third day. For on the third day the Lord will come down on Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people.
12And you shall set limits for the people all around, saying, ‘Take care not to go up into the mountain or touch the edge of it. Whoever touches the mountain shall be put to death.
13No hand shall touch him, but he shall be stoned or shot; whether beast or man, he shall not live.’ When the trumpet sounds a long blast, they shall come up to the mountain."
14So Moses went down from the mountain to the people and consecrated the people; and they washed their garments.
15And he said to the people, "Be ready for the third day; do not go near a woman."
16On the morning of the third day there were thunders and lightnings and a thick cloud on the mountain and a very loud trumpet blast, so that all the people in the camp trembled.
17Then Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God, and they took their stand at the foot of the mountain.
18Now Mount Sinai was wrapped in smoke because the Lord had descended on it in fire. The smoke of it went up like the smoke of a kiln, and the whole mountain trembled greatly.
19And as the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder, Moses spoke, and God answered him in thunder.
20The Lord came down on Mount Sinai, to the top of the mountain. And the Lord called Moses to the top of the mountain, and Moses went up.
21And the Lord said to Moses, "Go down and warn the people, lest they break through to the Lord to look and many of them perish.
22Also let the priests who come near to the Lord consecrate themselves, lest the Lord break out against them."
23And Moses said to the Lord, "The people cannot come up to Mount Sinai, for you yourself warned us, saying, ‘Set limits around the mountain and consecrate it.’"
24And the Lord said to him, "Go down, and come up bringing Aaron with you. But do not let the priests and the people break through to come up to the Lord, lest he break out against them."
25So Moses went down to the people and told them.
Chapter 20
1And God spoke all these words, saying,
4"You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.
5You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me,
6but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.
8"Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.
9Six days you shall labor, and do all your work,
10but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates.
11For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.
18Now when all the people saw the thunder and the flashes of lightning and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking, the people were afraid and trembled, and they stood far off
19and said to Moses, "You speak to us, and we will listen; but do not let God speak to us, lest we die."
20Moses said to the people, "Do not fear, for God has come to test you, that the fear of him may be before you, that you may not sin."
21The people stood far off, while Moses drew near to the thick darkness where God was.
22And the Lord said to Moses, "Thus you shall say to the people of Israel: ‘You have seen for yourselves that I have talked with you from heaven.
23You shall not make gods of silver to be with me, nor shall you make for yourselves gods of gold.
24An altar of earth you shall make for me and sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and your peace offerings, your sheep and your oxen. In every place where I cause my name to be remembered I will come to you and bless you.
25If you make me an altar of stone, you shall not build it of hewn stones, for if you wield your tool on it you profane it.
26And you shall not go up by steps to my altar, that your nakedness be not exposed on it.’
Chapter 21
1"Now these are the rules that you shall set before them. 2When you buy a Hebrew slave, he shall serve six years, and in the seventh he shall go out free, for nothing. 3If he comes in single, he shall go out single; if he comes in married, then his wife shall go out with him. 4If his master gives him a wife and she bears him sons or daughters, the wife and her children shall be her master 's, and he shall go out alone. 5But if the slave plainly says, ‘I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free,’ 6then his master shall bring him to God, and he shall bring him to the door or the doorpost. And his master shall bore his ear through with an awl, and he shall be his slave forever.
7"When a man sells his daughter as a slave, she shall not go out as the male slaves do.
8If she does not please her master, who has designated her for himself, then he shall let her be redeemed. He shall have no right to sell her to a foreign people, since he has broken faith with her.
9If he designates her for his son, he shall deal with her as with a daughter.
10If he takes another wife to himself, he shall not diminish her food, her clothing, or her marital rights.
11And if he does not do these three things for her, she shall go out for nothing, without payment of money.
12"Whoever strikes a man so that he dies shall be put to death.
13But if he did not lie in wait for him, but God let him fall into his hand, then I will appoint for you a place to which he may flee.
14But if a man willfully attacks another to kill him by cunning, you shall take him from my altar, that he may die.
16"Whoever steals a man and sells him, and anyone found in possession of him, shall be put to death.
18"When men quarrel and one strikes the other with a stone or with his fist and the man does not die but takes to his bed,
19then if the man rises again and walks outdoors with his staff, he who struck him shall be clear; only he shall pay for the loss of his time, and shall have him thoroughly healed.
20"When a man strikes his slave, male or female, with a rod and the slave dies under his hand, he shall be avenged.
21But if the slave survives a day or two, he is not to be avenged, for the slave is his money.
22"When men strive together and hit a pregnant woman, so that her children come out, but there is no harm, the one who hit her shall surely be fined, as the woman 's husband shall impose on him, and he shall pay as the judges determine.
23But if there is harm, then you shall pay life for life,
24eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot,
25burn for burn, wound for wound, stripe for stripe.
26"When a man strikes the eye of his slave, male or female, and destroys it, he shall let the slave go free because of his eye.
27If he knocks out the tooth of his slave, male or female, he shall let the slave go free because of his tooth.
28"When an ox gores a man or a woman to death, the ox shall be stoned, and its flesh shall not be eaten, but the owner of the ox shall not be liable.
29But if the ox has been accustomed to gore in the past, and its owner has been warned but has not kept it in, and it kills a man or a woman, the ox shall be stoned, and its owner also shall be put to death.
30If a ransom is imposed on him, then he shall give for the redemption of his life whatever is imposed on him.
31If it gores a man 's son or daughter, he shall be dealt with according to this same rule.
32If the ox gores a slave, male or female, the owner shall give to their master thirty shekels of silver, and the ox shall be stoned.
33"When a man opens a pit, or when a man digs a pit and does not cover it, and an ox or a donkey falls into it,
34the owner of the pit shall make restoration. He shall give money to its owner, and the dead beast shall be his.
35"When one man 's ox butts another 's, so that it dies, then they shall sell the live ox and share its price, and the dead beast also they shall share.
36Or if it is known that the ox has been accustomed to gore in the past, and its owner has not kept it in, he shall repay ox for ox, and the dead beast shall be his.
New International Version
Chapter 16
1The whole Israelite community set out from Elim and came to the Desert of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after they had come out of Egypt. 2In the desert the whole community grumbled against Moses and Aaron. 3The Israelites said to them, "If only we had died by the Lord’s hand in Egypt! There we sat around pots of meat and ate all the food we wanted, but you have brought us out into this desert to starve this entire assembly to death."
4Then the Lord said to Moses, "I will rain down bread from heaven for you. The people are to go out each day and gather enough for that day. In this way I will test them and see whether they will follow my instructions.
5On the sixth day they are to prepare what they bring in, and that is to be twice as much as they gather on the other days."
6So Moses and Aaron said to all the Israelites, "In the evening you will know that it was the Lord who brought you out of Egypt,
7and in the morning you will see the glory of the Lord, because he has heard your grumbling against him. Who are we, that you should grumble against us?"
8Moses also said, "You will know that it was the Lord when he gives you meat to eat in the evening and all the bread you want in the morning, because he has heard your grumbling against him. Who are we? You are not grumbling against us, but against the Lord."
11The Lord said to Moses,
12"I have heard the grumbling of the Israelites. Tell them, ‘At twilight you will eat meat, and in the morning you will be filled with bread. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God.’ "
13That evening quail came and covered the camp, and in the morning there was a layer of dew around the camp.
14When the dew was gone, thin flakes like frost on the ground appeared on the desert floor.
15When the Israelites saw it, they said to each other, "What is it?" For they did not know what it was. Moses said to them, "It is the bread the Lord has given you to eat.
16This is what the Lord has commanded: ‘Everyone is to gather as much as they need. Take an omer for each person you have in your tent.’ "
17The Israelites did as they were told; some gathered much, some little.
18And when they measured it by the omer, the one who gathered much did not have too much, and the one who gathered little did not have too little. Everyone had gathered just as much as they needed.
21Each morning everyone gathered as much as they needed, and when the sun grew hot, it melted away.
22On the sixth day, they gathered twice as much—two omers for each person—and the leaders of the community came and reported this to Moses.
23He said to them, "This is what the Lord commanded: ‘Tomorrow is to be a day of sabbath rest, a holy sabbath to the Lord. So bake what you want to bake and boil what you want to boil. Save whatever is left and keep it until morning.’ "
24So they saved it until morning, as Moses commanded, and it did not stink or get maggots in it.
25"Eat it today," Moses said, "because today is a sabbath to the Lord. You will not find any of it on the ground today.
26Six days you are to gather it, but on the seventh day, the Sabbath, there will not be any."
27Nevertheless, some of the people went out on the seventh day to gather it, but they found none.
28Then the Lord said to Moses, "How long will you refuse to keep my commands and my instructions?
29Bear in mind that the Lord has given you the Sabbath; that is why on the sixth day he gives you bread for two days. Everyone is to stay where they are on the seventh day; no one is to go out."
30So the people rested on the seventh day.
31The people of Israel called the bread manna. It was white like coriander seed and tasted like wafers made with honey.
32Moses said, "This is what the Lord has commanded: ‘Take an omer of manna and keep it for the generations to come, so they can see the bread I gave you to eat in the wilderness when I brought you out of Egypt.’ "
34As the Lord commanded Moses, Aaron put the manna with the tablets of the covenant law, so that it might be preserved.
35The Israelites ate manna forty years, until they came to a land that was settled; they ate manna until they reached the border of Canaan.
5The Lord answered Moses, "Go out in front of the people. Take with you some of the elders of Israel and take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go.
6I will stand there before you by the rock at Horeb. Strike the rock, and water will come out of it for the people to drink." So Moses did this in the sight of the elders of Israel.
7And he called the place Massah and Meribah because the Israelites quarreled and because they tested the Lord saying, "Is the Lord among us or not?"
8The Amalekites came and attacked the Israelites at Rephidim.
9Moses said to Joshua, "Choose some of our men and go out to fight the Amalekites. Tomorrow I will stand on top of the hill with the staff of God in my hands."
10So Joshua fought the Amalekites as Moses had ordered, and Moses, Aaron and Hur went to the top of the hill.
11As long as Moses held up his hands, the Israelites were winning, but whenever he lowered his hands, the Amalekites were winning.
12When Moses’ hands grew tired, they took a stone and put it under him and he sat on it. Aaron and Hur held his hands up—one on one side, one on the other—so that his hands remained steady till sunset.
13So Joshua overcame the Amalekite army with the sword.
15Moses built an altar and called it The Lord is my Banner.
16He said, "Because hands were lifted up against the throne of the Lord, the Lord will be at war against the Amalekites from generation to generation."
2After Moses had sent away his wife Zipporah, his father-in-law Jethro received her
3and her two sons. One son was named Gershom, for Moses said, "I have become a foreigner in a foreign land";
4and the other was named Eliezer, for he said, "My father’s God was my helper; he saved me from the sword of Pharaoh."
5Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, together with Moses’ sons and wife, came to him in the wilderness, where he was camped near the mountain of God.
6Jethro had sent word to him, "I, your father-in-law Jethro, am coming to you with your wife and her two sons."
7So Moses went out to meet his father-in-law and bowed down and kissed him. They greeted each other and then went into the tent.
8Moses told his father-in-law about everything the Lord had done to Pharaoh and the Egyptians for Israel’s sake and about all the hardships they had met along the way and how the Lord had saved them.
9Jethro was delighted to hear about all the good things the Lord had done for Israel in rescuing them from the hand of the Egyptians.
10He said, "Praise be to the Lord, who rescued you from the hand of the Egyptians and of Pharaoh, and who rescued the people from the hand of the Egyptians.
11Now I know that the Lord is greater than all other gods, for he did this to those who had treated Israel arrogantly."
12Then Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, brought a burnt offering and other sacrifices to God, and Aaron came with all the elders of Israel to eat a meal with Moses’ father-in-law in the presence of God.
13The next day Moses took his seat to serve as judge for the people, and they stood around him from morning till evening.
14When his father-in-law saw all that Moses was doing for the people, he said, "What is this you are doing for the people? Why do you alone sit as judge, while all these people stand around you from morning till evening?"
15Moses answered him, "Because the people come to me to seek God’s will.
16Whenever they have a dispute, it is brought to me, and I decide between the parties and inform them of God’s decrees and instructions."
17Moses’ father-in-law replied, "What you are doing is not good.
18You and these people who come to you will only wear yourselves out. The work is too heavy for you; you cannot handle it alone.
19Listen now to me and I will give you some advice, and may God be with you. You must be the people’s representative before God and bring their disputes to him.
20Teach them his decrees and instructions, and show them the way they are to live and how they are to behave.
21But select capable men from all the people—men who fear God, trustworthy men who hate dishonest gain—and appoint them as officials over thousands, hundreds, fifties and tens.
22Have them serve as judges for the people at all times, but have them bring every difficult case to you; the simple cases they can decide themselves. That will make your load lighter, because they will share it with you.
23If you do this and God so commands, you will be able to stand the strain, and all these people will go home satisfied."
24Moses listened to his father-in-law and did everything he said.
25He chose capable men from all Israel and made them leaders of the people, officials over thousands, hundreds, fifties and tens.
26They served as judges for the people at all times. The difficult cases they brought to Moses, but the simple ones they decided themselves.
Chapter 19
1On the first day of the third month after the Israelites left Egypt—on that very day—they came to the Desert of Sinai. 2After they set out from Rephidim, they entered the Desert of Sinai, and Israel camped there in the desert in front of the mountain.
3Then Moses went up to God, and the Lord called to him from the mountain and said, "This is what you are to say to the descendants of Jacob and what you are to tell the people of Israel:
4‘You yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt, and how I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself.
5Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine,
6you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words you are to speak to the Israelites."
7So Moses went back and summoned the elders of the people and set before them all the words the Lord had commanded him to speak.
8The people all responded together, "We will do everything the Lord has said." So Moses brought their answer back to the Lord.
10And the Lord said to Moses, "Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow. Have them wash their clothes
11and be ready by the third day, because on that day the Lord will come down on Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people.
12Put limits for the people around the mountain and tell them, ‘Be careful that you do not approach the mountain or touch the foot of it. Whoever touches the mountain is to be put to death.
13They are to be stoned or shot with arrows; not a hand is to be laid on them. No person or animal shall be permitted to live.’ Only when the ram’s horn sounds a long blast may they approach the mountain."
14After Moses had gone down the mountain to the people, he consecrated them, and they washed their clothes.
15Then he said to the people, "Prepare yourselves for the third day. Abstain from sexual relations."
16On the morning of the third day there was thunder and lightning, with a thick cloud over the mountain, and a very loud trumpet blast. Everyone in the camp trembled.
17Then Moses led the people out of the camp to meet with God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain.
18Mount Sinai was covered with smoke, because the Lord descended on it in fire. The smoke billowed up from it like smoke from a furnace, and the whole mountain trembled violently.
19As the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder, Moses spoke and the voice of God answered him.
20The Lord descended to the top of Mount Sinai and called Moses to the top of the mountain. So Moses went up
21and the Lord said to him, "Go down and warn the people so they do not force their way through to see the Lord and many of them perish.
22Even the priests, who approach the Lord, must consecrate themselves, or the Lord will break out against them."
Chapter 20
1And God spoke all these words:
4"You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below.
5You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me,
6but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.
8"Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.
9Six days you shall labor and do all your work,
10but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns.
11For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.
18When the people saw the thunder and lightning and heard the trumpet and saw the mountain in smoke, they trembled with fear. They stayed at a distance
19and said to Moses, "Speak to us yourself and we will listen. But do not have God speak to us or we will die."
22Then the Lord said to Moses, "Tell the Israelites this: ‘You have seen for yourselves that I have spoken to you from heaven:
23Do not make any gods to be alongside me; do not make for yourselves gods of silver or gods of gold.
24" ‘Make an altar of earth for me and sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and fellowship offerings, your sheep and goats and your cattle. Wherever I cause my name to be honored, I will come to you and bless you.
25If you make an altar of stones for me, do not build it with dressed stones, for you will defile it if you use a tool on it.
26And do not go up to my altar on steps, or your private parts may be exposed.’
2"If you buy a Hebrew servant, he is to serve you for six years. But in the seventh year, he shall go free, without paying anything.
3If he comes alone, he is to go free alone; but if he has a wife when he comes, she is to go with him.
4If his master gives him a wife and she bears him sons or daughters, the woman and her children shall belong to her master, and only the man shall go free.
5"But if the servant declares, ‘I love my master and my wife and children and do not want to go free,’
6then his master must take him before the judges. He shall take him to the door or the doorpost and pierce his ear with an awl. Then he will be his servant for life.
7"If a man sells his daughter as a servant, she is not to go free as male servants do.
8If she does not please the master who has selected her for himself, he must let her be redeemed. He has no right to sell her to foreigners, because he has broken faith with her.
9If he selects her for his son, he must grant her the rights of a daughter.
10If he marries another woman, he must not deprive the first one of her food, clothing and marital rights.
11If he does not provide her with these three things, she is to go free, without any payment of money.
12"Anyone who strikes a person with a fatal blow is to be put to death.
13However, if it is not done intentionally, but God lets it happen, they are to flee to a place I will designate.
14But if anyone schemes and kills someone deliberately, that person is to be taken from my altar and put to death.
18"If people quarrel and one person hits another with a stone or with their fist and the victim does not die but is confined to bed,
19the one who struck the blow will not be held liable if the other can get up and walk around outside with a staff; however, the guilty party must pay the injured person for any loss of time and see that the victim is completely healed.
20"Anyone who beats their male or female slave with a rod must be punished if the slave dies as a direct result,
21but they are not to be punished if the slave recovers after a day or two, since the slave is their property.
22"If people are fighting and hit a pregnant woman and she gives birth prematurely but there is no serious injury, the offender must be fined whatever the woman’s husband demands and the court allows.
23But if there is serious injury, you are to take life for life,
24eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot,
25burn for burn, wound for wound, bruise for bruise.
26"An owner who hits a male or female slave in the eye and destroys it must let the slave go free to compensate for the eye.
27And an owner who knocks out the tooth of a male or female slave must let the slave go free to compensate for the tooth.
28"If a bull gores a man or woman to death, the bull is to be stoned to death, and its meat must not be eaten. But the owner of the bull will not be held responsible.
29If, however, the bull has had the habit of goring and the owner has been warned but has not kept it penned up and it kills a man or woman, the bull is to be stoned and its owner also is to be put to death.
30However, if payment is demanded, the owner may redeem his life by the payment of whatever is demanded.
31This law also applies if the bull gores a son or daughter.
32If the bull gores a male or female slave, the owner must pay thirty shekels of silver to the master of the slave, and the bull is to be stoned to death.
33"If anyone uncovers a pit or digs one and fails to cover it and an ox or a donkey falls into it,
34the one who opened the pit must pay the owner for the loss and take the dead animal in exchange.
35"If anyone’s bull injures someone else’s bull and it dies, the two parties are to sell the live one and divide both the money and the dead animal equally.
36However, if it was known that the bull had the habit of goring, yet the owner did not keep it penned up, the owner must pay, animal for animal, and take the dead animal in exchange.
New King James Version
Chapter 16
1And they journeyed from Elim, and all the congregation of the children of Israel came to the Wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after they departed from the land of Egypt. 2Then the whole congregation of the children of Israel complained against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness. 3And the children of Israel said to them, “Oh, that we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the pots of meat and when we ate bread to the full! For you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.”
4Then the Lord said to Moses, “Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you. And the people shall go out and gather a certain quota every day, that I may test them, whether they will walk in My law or not.
5And it shall be on the sixth day that they shall prepare what they bring in, and it shall be twice as much as they gather daily.”
6Then Moses and Aaron said to all the children of Israel, “At evening you shall know that the Lord has brought you out of the land of Egypt.
7And in the morning you shall see the glory of the Lord; for He hears your complaints against the Lord. But what are we, that you complain against us?”
8Also Moses said, “ This shall be seen when the Lord gives you meat to eat in the evening, and in the morning bread to the full; for the Lord hears your complaints which you make against Him. And what are we? Your complaints are not against us but against the Lord.”
9Then Moses spoke to Aaron, “Say to all the congregation of the children of Israel, ‘Come near before the Lord, for He has heard your complaints.’ ”
10Now it came to pass, as Aaron spoke to the whole congregation of the children of Israel, that they looked toward the wilderness, and behold, the glory of the Lord appeared in the cloud.
11And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,
12“I have heard the complaints of the children of Israel. Speak to them, saying, ‘At twilight you shall eat meat, and in the morning you shall be filled with bread. And you shall know that I am the Lord your God.’ ”
13So it was that quails came up at evening and covered the camp, and in the morning the dew lay all around the camp.
14And when the layer of dew lifted, there, on the surface of the wilderness, was a small round substance, as fine as frost on the ground.
15So when the children of Israel saw it, they said to one another, “What is it?” For they did not know what it was. And Moses said to them, “This is the bread which the Lord has given you to eat.
16This is the thing which the Lord has commanded: ‘Let every man gather it according to each one’s need, one omer for each person, according to the number of persons; let every man take for those who are in his tent.’ ”
17Then the children of Israel did so and gathered, some more, some less.
18So when they measured it by omers, he who gathered much had nothing left over, and he who gathered little had no lack. Every man had gathered according to each one’s need.
19And Moses said, “Let no one leave any of it till morning.”
20Notwithstanding they did not heed Moses. But some of them left part of it until morning, and it bred worms and stank. And Moses was angry with them.
21So they gathered it every morning, every man according to his need. And when the sun became hot, it melted.
22And so it was, on the sixth day, that they gathered twice as much bread, two omers for each one. And all the rulers of the congregation came and told Moses.
23Then he said to them, “This is what the Lord has said: ‘Tomorrow is a Sabbath rest, a holy Sabbath to the Lord. Bake what you will bake today, and boil what you will boil; and lay up for yourselves all that remains, to be kept until morning.’ ”
24So they laid it up till morning, as Moses commanded; and it did not stink, nor were there any worms in it.
25Then Moses said, “Eat that today, for today is a Sabbath to the Lord; today you will not find it in the field.
26Six days you shall gather it, but on the seventh day, the Sabbath, there will be none.”
27Now it happened that some of the people went out on the seventh day to gather, but they found none.
28And the Lord said to Moses, “How long do you refuse to keep My commandments and My laws?
29See! For the Lord has given you the Sabbath; therefore He gives you on the sixth day bread for two days. Let every man remain in his place; let no man go out of his place on the seventh day.”
30So the people rested on the seventh day.
32Then Moses said, “This is the thing which the Lord has commanded: ‘Fill an omer with it, to be kept for your generations, that they may see the bread with which I fed you in the wilderness, when I brought you out of the land of Egypt.’ ”
33And Moses said to Aaron, “Take a pot and put an omer of manna in it, and lay it up before the Lord, to be kept for your generations.”
34As the Lord commanded Moses, so Aaron laid it up before the Testimony, to be kept.
35And the children of Israel ate manna forty years, until they came to an inhabited land; they ate manna until they came to the border of the land of Canaan.
36Now an omer is one-tenth of an ephah.
6Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock in Horeb; and you shall strike the rock, and water will come out of it, that the people may drink.” And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel.
7So he called the name of the place Massah and Meribah, because of the contention of the children of Israel, and because they tempted the Lord, saying, “Is the Lord among us or not?”
8Now Amalek came and fought with Israel in Rephidim.
9And Moses said to Joshua, “Choose us some men and go out, fight with Amalek. Tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the rod of God in my hand.”
10So Joshua did as Moses said to him, and fought with Amalek. And Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill.
11And so it was, when Moses held up his hand, that Israel prevailed; and when he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed.
12But Moses’ hands became heavy; so they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat on it. And Aaron and Hur supported his hands, one on one side, and the other on the other side; and his hands were steady until the going down of the sun.
13So Joshua defeated Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword.
14Then the Lord said to Moses, “Write this for a memorial in the book and recount it in the hearing of Joshua, that I will utterly blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven.”
15And Moses built an altar and called its name, The-Lord-Is-My-Banner;
16for he said, “Because the Lord has sworn: the Lord will have war with Amalek from generation to generation.”
Chapter 18
1And Jethro, the priest of Midian, Moses’ father-in-law, heard of all that God had done for Moses and for Israel His people—that the Lord had brought Israel out of Egypt. 2Then Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, took Zipporah, Moses’ wife, after he had sent her back, 3with her two sons, of whom the name of one was Gershom (for he said, “I have been a stranger in a foreign land”) 4and the name of the other was Eliezer (for he said, “The God of my father was my help, and delivered me from the sword of Pharaoh”); 5and Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, came with his sons and his wife to Moses in the wilderness, where he was encamped at the mountain of God. 6Now he had said to Moses, “I, your father-in-law Jethro, am coming to you with your wife and her two sons with her.”
7So Moses went out to meet his father-in-law, bowed down, and kissed him. And they asked each other about their well-being, and they went into the tent.
8And Moses told his father-in-law all that the Lord had done to Pharaoh and to the Egyptians for Israel’s sake, all the hardship that had come upon them on the way, and how the Lord had delivered them.
9Then Jethro rejoiced for all the good which the Lord had done for Israel, whom He had delivered out of the hand of the Egyptians.
10And Jethro said, “Blessed be the Lord, who has delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians and out of the hand of Pharaoh, and who has delivered the people from under the hand of the Egyptians.
11Now I know that the Lord is greater than all the gods; for in the very thing in which they behaved proudly, He was above them.”
12Then Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, took a burnt offering and other sacrifices to offer to God. And Aaron came with all the elders of Israel to eat bread with Moses’ father-in-law before God.
13And so it was, on the next day, that Moses sat to judge the people; and the people stood before Moses from morning until evening.
14So when Moses’ father-in-law saw all that he did for the people, he said, “What is this thing that you are doing for the people? Why do you alone sit, and all the people stand before you from morning until evening?”
15And Moses said to his father-in-law, “Because the people come to me to inquire of God.
16When they have a difficulty, they come to me, and I judge between one and another; and I make known the statutes of God and His laws.”
17So Moses’ father-in-law said to him, “The thing that you do is not good.
18Both you and these people who are with you will surely wear yourselves out. For this thing is too much for you; you are not able to perform it by yourself.
19Listen now to my voice; I will give you counsel, and God will be with you: Stand before God for the people, so that you may bring the difficulties to God.
20And you shall teach them the statutes and the laws, and show them the way in which they must walk and the work they must do.
21Moreover you shall select from all the people able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness; and place such over them to be rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens.
22And let them judge the people at all times. Then it will be that every great matter they shall bring to you, but every small matter they themselves shall judge. So it will be easier for you, for they will bear the burden with you.
23If you do this thing, and God so commands you, then you will be able to endure, and all this people will also go to their place in peace.”
24So Moses heeded the voice of his father-in-law and did all that he had said.
25And Moses chose able men out of all Israel, and made them heads over the people: rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens.
26So they judged the people at all times; the hard cases they brought to Moses, but they judged every small case themselves.
Chapter 19
1In the third month after the children of Israel had gone out of the land of Egypt, on the same day, they came to the Wilderness of Sinai. 2For they had departed from Rephidim, had come to the Wilderness of Sinai, and camped in the wilderness. So Israel camped there before the mountain.
3And Moses went up to God, and the Lord called to him from the mountain, saying, “Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob, and tell the children of Israel:
4‘You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to Myself.
5Now therefore, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be a special treasure to Me above all people; for all the earth is Mine.
6And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words which you shall speak to the children of Israel.”
7So Moses came and called for the elders of the people, and laid before them all these words which the Lord commanded him.
8Then all the people answered together and said, “All that the Lord has spoken we will do.” So Moses brought back the words of the people to the Lord.
10Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow, and let them wash their clothes.
11And let them be ready for the third day. For on the third day the Lord will come down upon Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people.
12You shall set bounds for the people all around, saying, ‘Take heed to yourselves that you do not go up to the mountain or touch its base. Whoever touches the mountain shall surely be put to death.
13Not a hand shall touch him, but he shall surely be stoned or shot with an arrow; whether man or beast, he shall not live.’ When the trumpet sounds long, they shall come near the mountain.”
14So Moses went down from the mountain to the people and sanctified the people, and they washed their clothes.
15And he said to the people, “Be ready for the third day; do not come near your wives.”
16Then it came to pass on the third day, in the morning, that there were thunderings and lightnings, and a thick cloud on the mountain; and the sound of the trumpet was very loud, so that all the people who were in the camp trembled.
17And Moses brought th e people out of the camp to meet with God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain.
18Now Mount Sinai was completely in smoke, because the Lord descended upon it in fire. Its smoke ascended like the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mountain quaked greatly.
19And when the blast of the trumpet sounded long and became louder and louder, Moses spoke, and God answered him by voice.
20Then the Lord came down upon Mount Sinai, on the top of the mountain. And the Lord called Moses to the top of the mountain, and Moses went up.
21And the Lord said to Moses, “Go down and warn the people, lest they break through to gaze at the Lord, and many of them perish.
22Also let the priests who come near the Lord consecrate themselves, lest the Lord break out against them.”
24Then the Lord said to him, “Away! Get down and then come up, you and Aaron with you. But do not let the priests and the people break through to come up to the Lord, lest He break out against them.”
25So Moses went down to the people and spoke to them.
Chapter 20
1And God spoke all these words, saying:
2 “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
3 “You shall have no other gods before Me.
4 “You shall not make for yourself a carved image—any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth;
5 you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me,
6but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.
7 “You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain.
8 “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.
9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work,
10but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates.
11For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.
12 “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord your God is giving you.
13 “You shall not murder.
14 “You shall not commit adultery.
15 “You shall not steal.
16 “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
17 “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor’s.”
18Now all the people witnessed the thunderings, the lightning flashes, the sound of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking; and when the people saw it, they trembled and stood afar off.
19Then they said to Moses, “You speak with us, and we will hear; but let not God speak with us, lest we die.”
20And Moses said to the people, “Do not fear; for God has come to test you, and that His fear may be before you, so that you may not sin.”
21So the people stood afar off, but Moses drew near the thick darkness where God was.
22Then the Lord said to Moses, “Thus you shall say to the children of Israel: ‘You have seen that I have talked with you from heaven.
23You shall not make anything to be with Me—gods of silver or gods of gold you shall not make for yourselves.
24An altar of earth you shall make for Me, and you shall sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and your peace offerings, your sheep and your oxen. In every place where I record My name I will come to you, and I will bless you.
25And if you make Me an altar of stone, you shall not build it of hewn stone; for if you use your tool on it, you have profaned it.
26Nor shall you go up by steps to My altar, that your nakedness may not be exposed on it.’
Chapter 21
1“Now these are the judgments which you shall set before them: 2If you buy a Hebrew servant, he shall serve six years; and in the seventh he shall go out free and pay nothing. 3If he comes in by himself, he shall go out by himself; if he comes in married, then his wife shall go out with him. 4If his master has given him a wife, and she has borne him sons or daughters, the wife and her children shall be her master’s, and he shall go out by himself. 5But if the servant plainly says, ‘I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free,’ 6then his master shall bring him to the judges. He shall also bring him to the door, or to the doorpost, and his master shall pierce his ear with an awl; and he shall serve him forever.
7“And if a man sells his daughter to be a female slave, she shall not go out as the male slaves do.
8If she does not please her master, who has betrothed her to himself, then he shall let her be redeemed. He shall have no right to sell her to a foreign people, since he has dealt deceitfully with her.
9And if he has betrothed her to his son, he shall deal with her according to the custom of daughters.
10If he takes another wife, he shall not diminish her food, her clothing, and her marriage rights.
11And if he does not do these three for her, then she shall go out free, without paying money.
12“He who strikes a man so that he dies shall surely be put to death.
13However, if he did not lie in wait, but God delivered him into his hand, then I will appoint for you a place where he may flee.
18“If men contend with each other, and one strikes the other with a stone or with his fist, and he does not die but is confined to his bed,
19if he rises again and walks about outside with his staff, then he who struck him shall be acquitted. He shall only pay for the loss of his time, and shall provide for him to be thoroughly healed.
20“And if a man beats his male or female servant with a rod, so that he dies under his hand, he shall surely be punished.
21Notwithstanding, if he remains alive a day or two, he shall not be punished; for he is his property.
22“If men fight, and hurt a woman with child, so that she gives birth prematurely, yet no harm follows, he shall surely be punished accordingly as the woman’s husband imposes on him; and he shall pay as the judges determine.
23But if any harm follows, then you shall give life for life,
24eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot,
25burn for burn, wound for wound, stripe for stripe.
26“If a man strikes the eye of his male or female servant, and destroys it, he shall let him go free for the sake of his eye.
27And if he knocks out the tooth of his male or female servant, he shall let him go free for the sake of his tooth.
28“If an ox gores a man or a woman to death, then the ox shall surely be stoned, and its flesh shall not be eaten; but the owner of the ox shall be acquitted.
29But if the ox tended to thrust with its horn in times past, and it has been made known to his owner, and he has not kept it confined, so that it has killed a man or a woman, the ox shall be stoned and its owner also shall be put to death.
30If there is imposed on him a sum of money, then he shall pay to redeem his life, whatever is imposed on him.
31Whether it has gored a son or gored a daughter, according to this judgment it shall be done to him.
32If the ox gores a male or female servant, he shall give to their master thirty shekels of silver, and the ox shall be stoned.
33“And if a man opens a pit, or if a man digs a pit and does not cover it, and an ox or a donkey falls in it,
34the owner of the pit shall make it good; he shall give money to their owner, but the dead animal shall be his.
35“If one man’s ox hurts another’s, so that it dies, then they shall sell the live ox and divide the money from it; and the dead ox they shall also divide.
36Or if it was known that the ox tended to thrust in time past, and its owner has not kept it confined, he shall surely pay ox for ox, and the dead animal shall be his own.
