Bible

Genesis

1In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. ² The earth was formless and empty. Darkness was on the surface of the deep and God’s Spirit was hovering over the surface of the waters.

³ God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. ⁴ God saw the light, and saw that it was good. God divided the light from the darkness. ⁵ God called the light “day”, and the darkness he called “night”. There was evening and there was morning, the first day.

⁶ God said, “Let there be an expanse in the middle of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.” ⁷ God made the expanse, and divided the waters which were under the expanse from the waters which were above the expanse; and it was so. ⁸ God called the expanse “sky”. There was evening and there was morning, a second day.

⁹ God said, “Let the waters under the sky be gathered together to one place, and let the dry land appear;” and it was so. ¹⁰ God called the dry land “earth”, and the gathering together of the waters he called “seas”. God saw that it was good. ¹¹ God said, “Let the earth yield grass, herbs yielding seeds, and fruit trees bearing fruit after their kind, with their seeds in it, on the earth;” and it was so. ¹² The earth yielded grass, herbs yielding seed after their kind, and trees bearing fruit, with their seeds in it, after their kind; and God saw that it was good. ¹³ There was evening and there was morning, a third day.

¹⁴ God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs to mark seasons, days, and years; ¹⁵ and let them be for lights in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth;” and it was so. ¹⁶ God made the two great lights: the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night. He also made the stars. ¹⁷ God set them in the expanse of the sky to give light to the earth, ¹⁸ and to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness. God saw that it was good. ¹⁹ There was evening and there was morning, a fourth day.

²⁰ God said, “Let the waters abound with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth in the open expanse of the sky.” ²¹ God created the large sea creatures and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarmed, after their kind, and every winged bird after its kind. God saw that it was good. ²² God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.” ²³ There was evening and there was morning, a fifth day.

²⁴ God said, “Let the earth produce living creatures after their kind, livestock, creeping things, and animals of the earth after their kind;” and it was so. ²⁵ God made the animals of the earth after their kind, and the livestock after their kind, and everything that creeps on the ground after its kind. God saw that it was good.

²⁶ God said, “Let’s make man in our image, after our likeness. Let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the sky, and over the livestock, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” ²⁷ God created man in his own image. In God’s image he created him; male and female he created them. ²⁸ God blessed them. God said to them, “Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, and subdue it. Have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the sky, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” ²⁹ God said, “Behold, I have given you every herb yielding seed, which is on the surface of all the earth, and every tree, which bears fruit yielding seed. It will be your food. ³⁰ To every animal of the earth, and to every bird of the sky, and to everything that creeps on the earth, in which there is life, I have given every green herb for food;” and it was so.

³¹ God saw everything that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. There was evening and there was morning, a sixth day.

2The heavens, the earth, and all their vast array were finished. ² On the seventh day God finished his work which he had done; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had done. ³ God blessed the seventh day, and made it holy, because he rested in it from all his work of creation which he had done.

⁴ This is the history of the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that Yahweh God made the earth and the heavens. ⁵ No plant of the field was yet in the earth, and no herb of the field had yet sprung up; for Yahweh God had not caused it to rain on the earth. There was not a man to till the ground, ⁶ but a mist went up from the earth, and watered the whole surface of the ground. ⁷ Yahweh God formed man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul. ⁸ Yahweh God planted a garden eastward, in Eden, and there he put the man whom he had formed. ⁹ Out of the ground Yahweh God made every tree to grow that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food, including the tree of life in the middle of the garden and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. ¹⁰ A river went out of Eden to water the garden; and from there it was parted, and became the source of four rivers. ¹¹ The name of the first is Pishon: it flows through the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold; ¹² and the gold of that land is good. Bdellium and onyx stone are also there. ¹³ The name of the second river is Gihon. It is the same river that flows through the whole land of Cush. ¹⁴ The name of the third river is Hiddekel. This is the one which flows in front of Assyria. The fourth river is the Euphrates. ¹⁵ Yahweh God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to cultivate and keep it. ¹⁶ Yahweh God commanded the man, saying, “You may freely eat of every tree of the garden; ¹⁷ but you shall not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil; for in the day that you eat of it, you will surely die.”

¹⁸ Yahweh God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make him a helper comparable to him.” ¹⁹ Out of the ground Yahweh God formed every animal of the field, and every bird of the sky, and brought them to the man to see what he would call them. Whatever the man called every living creature became its name. ²⁰ The man gave names to all livestock, and to the birds of the sky, and to every animal of the field; but for man there was not found a helper comparable to him. ²¹ Yahweh God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep. As the man slept, he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh in its place. ²² Yahweh God made a woman from the rib which he had taken from the man, and brought her to the man. ²³ The man said, “This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh. She will be called ‘woman,’ because she was taken out of Man.” ²⁴ Therefore a man will leave his father and his mother, and will join with his wife, and they will be one flesh. ²⁵ The man and his wife were both naked, and they were not ashamed.

3Now the serpent was more subtle than any animal of the field which Yahweh God had made. He said to the woman, “Has God really said, ‘You shall not eat of any tree of the garden’?”

² The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees of the garden, ³ but not the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden. God has said, ‘You shall not eat of it. You shall not touch it, lest you die.’ ”

⁴ The serpent said to the woman, “You won’t really die, ⁵ for God knows that in the day you eat it, your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

⁶ When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took some of its fruit, and ate. Then she gave some to her husband with her, and he ate it, too. ⁷ Their eyes were opened, and they both knew that they were naked. They sewed fig leaves together, and made coverings for themselves. ⁸ They heard Yahweh God’s voice walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of Yahweh God among the trees of the garden.

⁹ Yahweh God called to the man, and said to him, “Where are you?”

¹⁰ The man said, “I heard your voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; so I hid myself.”

¹¹ God said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?”

¹² The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit from the tree, and I ate it.”

¹³ Yahweh God said to the woman, “What have you done?”

The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”

¹⁴ Yahweh God said to the serpent,

“Because you have done this,

you are cursed above all livestock,

and above every animal of the field.

You shall go on your belly

and you shall eat dust all the days of your life.

¹⁵ I will put hostility between you and the woman,

and between your offspring and her offspring.

He will bruise your head,

and you will bruise his heel.”

¹⁶ To the woman he said,

“I will greatly multiply your pain in childbirth.

You will bear children in pain.

Your desire will be for your husband,

and he will rule over you.”

¹⁷ To Adam he said,

“Because you have listened to your wife’s voice,

and ate from the tree,

about which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat of it,’

the ground is cursed for your sake.

You will eat from it with much labor all the days of your life.

¹⁸ It will yield thorns and thistles to you;

and you will eat the herb of the field.

¹⁹ You will eat bread by the sweat of your face until you return to the ground,

for you were taken out of it.

For you are dust,

and you shall return to dust.”

²⁰ The man called his wife Eve because she would be the mother of all the living. ²¹ Yahweh God made garments of animal skins for Adam and for his wife, and clothed them.

²² Yahweh God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of us, knowing good and evil. Now, lest he reach out his hand, and also take of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever—” ²³ Therefore Yahweh God sent him out from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from which he was taken. ²⁴ So he drove out the man; and he placed cherubim at the east of the garden of Eden, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life.

4The man knew Eve his wife. She conceived, and gave birth to Cain, and said, “I have gotten a man with Yahweh’s help.” ² Again she gave birth, to Cain’s brother Abel. Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground. ³ As time passed, Cain brought an offering to Yahweh from the fruit of the ground. ⁴ Abel also brought some of the firstborn of his flock and of its fat. Yahweh respected Abel and his offering, ⁵ but he didn’t respect Cain and his offering. Cain was very angry, and the expression on his face fell. ⁶ Yahweh said to Cain, “Why are you angry? Why has the expression of your face fallen? ⁷ If you do well, won’t it be lifted up? If you don’t do well, sin crouches at the door. Its desire is for you, but you are to rule over it.” ⁸ Cain said to Abel, his brother, “Let’s go into the field.” While they were in the field, Cain rose up against Abel, his brother, and killed him.

⁹ Yahweh said to Cain, “Where is Abel, your brother?”

He said, “I don’t know. Am I my brother’s keeper?”

¹⁰ Yahweh said, “What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood cries to me from the ground. ¹¹ Now you are cursed because of the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. ¹² From now on, when you till the ground, it won’t yield its strength to you. You will be a fugitive and a wanderer in the earth.”

¹³ Cain said to Yahweh, “My punishment is greater than I can bear. ¹⁴ Behold, you have driven me out today from the surface of the ground. I will be hidden from your face, and I will be a fugitive and a wanderer in the earth. Whoever finds me will kill me.”

¹⁵ Yahweh said to him, “Therefore whoever slays Cain, vengeance will be taken on him sevenfold.” Yahweh appointed a sign for Cain, so that anyone finding him would not strike him.

¹⁶ Cain left Yahweh’s presence, and lived in the land of Nod, east of Eden. ¹⁷ Cain knew his wife. She conceived, and gave birth to Enoch. He built a city, and named the city after the name of his son, Enoch. ¹⁸ Irad was born to Enoch. Irad became the father of Mehujael. Mehujael became the father of Methushael. Methushael became the father of Lamech. ¹⁹ Lamech took two wives: the name of the first one was Adah, and the name of the second one was Zillah. ²⁰ Adah gave birth to Jabal, who was the father of those who dwell in tents and have livestock. ²¹ His brother’s name was Jubal, who was the father of all who handle the harp and pipe. ²² Zillah also gave birth to Tubal Cain, the forger of every cutting instrument of bronze and iron. Tubal Cain’s sister was Naamah. ²³ Lamech said to his wives,

“Adah and Zillah, hear my voice.

You wives of Lamech, listen to my speech,

for I have slain a man for wounding me,

a young man for bruising me.

²⁴ If Cain will be avenged seven times,

truly Lamech seventy-seven times.”

²⁵ Adam knew his wife again. She gave birth to a son, and named him Seth, saying, “for God has given me another child instead of Abel, for Cain killed him.” ²⁶ A son was also born to Seth, and he named him Enosh. At that time men began to call on Yahweh’s name.

5This is the book of the generations of Adam. In the day that God created man, he made him in God’s likeness. ² He created them male and female, and blessed them. On the day they were created, he named them Adam. ³ Adam lived one hundred thirty years, and became the father of a son in his own likeness, after his image, and named him Seth. ⁴ The days of Adam after he became the father of Seth were eight hundred years, and he became the father of other sons and daughters. ⁵ All the days that Adam lived were nine hundred thirty years, then he died.

⁶ Seth lived one hundred five years, then became the father of Enosh. ⁷ Seth lived after he became the father of Enosh eight hundred seven years, and became the father of other sons and daughters. ⁸ All of the days of Seth were nine hundred twelve years, then he died.

⁹ Enosh lived ninety years, and became the father of Kenan. ¹⁰ Enosh lived after he became the father of Kenan eight hundred fifteen years, and became the father of other sons and daughters. ¹¹ All of the days of Enosh were nine hundred five years, then he died.

¹² Kenan lived seventy years, then became the father of Mahalalel. ¹³ Kenan lived after he became the father of Mahalalel eight hundred forty years, and became the father of other sons and daughters ¹⁴ and all of the days of Kenan were nine hundred ten years, then he died.

¹⁵ Mahalalel lived sixty-five years, then became the father of Jared. ¹⁶ Mahalalel lived after he became the father of Jared eight hundred thirty years, and became the father of other sons and daughters. ¹⁷ All of the days of Mahalalel were eight hundred ninety-five years, then he died.

¹⁸ Jared lived one hundred sixty-two years, then became the father of Enoch. ¹⁹ Jared lived after he became the father of Enoch eight hundred years, and became the father of other sons and daughters. ²⁰ All of the days of Jared were nine hundred sixty-two years, then he died.

²¹ Enoch lived sixty-five years, then became the father of Methuselah. ²² After Methuselah’s birth, Enoch walked with God for three hundred years, and became the father of more sons and daughters. ²³ All the days of Enoch were three hundred sixty-five years. ²⁴ Enoch walked with God, and he was not found, for God took him.

²⁵ Methuselah lived one hundred eighty-seven years, then became the father of Lamech. ²⁶ Methuselah lived after he became the father of Lamech seven hundred eighty-two years, and became the father of other sons and daughters. ²⁷ All the days of Methuselah were nine hundred sixty-nine years, then he died.

²⁸ Lamech lived one hundred eighty-two years, then became the father of a son. ²⁹ He named him Noah, saying, “This one will comfort us in our work and in the toil of our hands, caused by the ground which Yahweh has cursed.” ³⁰ Lamech lived after he became the father of Noah five hundred ninety-five years, and became the father of other sons and daughters. ³¹ All the days of Lamech were seven hundred seventy-seven years, then he died.

³² Noah was five hundred years old, then Noah became the father of Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

6When men began to multiply on the surface of the ground, and daughters were born to them, ² God’s sons saw that men’s daughters were beautiful, and they took any that they wanted for themselves as wives. ³ Yahweh said, “My Spirit will not strive with man forever, because he also is flesh; so his days will be one hundred twenty years.” ⁴ The Nephilim were in the earth in those days, and also after that, when God’s sons came in to men’s daughters and had children with them. Those were the mighty men who were of old, men of renown.

⁵ Yahweh saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of man’s heart was continually only evil. ⁶ Yahweh was sorry that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him in his heart. ⁷ Yahweh said, “I will destroy man whom I have created from the surface of the ground—man, along with animals, creeping things, and birds of the sky—for I am sorry that I have made them.” ⁸ But Noah found favor in Yahweh’s eyes.

⁹ This is the history of the generations of Noah: Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time. Noah walked with God. ¹⁰ Noah became the father of three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth. ¹¹ The earth was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence. ¹² God saw the earth, and saw that it was corrupt, for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth.

¹³ God said to Noah, “I will bring an end to all flesh, for the earth is filled with violence through them. Behold, I will destroy them and the earth. ¹⁴ Make a ship of gopher wood. You shall make rooms in the ship, and shall seal it inside and outside with pitch. ¹⁵ This is how you shall make it. The length of the ship shall be three hundred cubits, its width fifty cubits, and its height thirty cubits. ¹⁶ You shall make a roof in the ship, and you shall finish it to a cubit upward. You shall set the door of the ship in its side. You shall make it with lower, second, and third levels. ¹⁷ I, even I, will bring the flood of waters on this earth, to destroy all flesh having the breath of life from under the sky. Everything that is in the earth will die. ¹⁸ But I will establish my covenant with you. You shall come into the ship, you, your sons, your wife, and your sons’ wives with you. ¹⁹ Of every living thing of all flesh, you shall bring two of every sort into the ship, to keep them alive with you. They shall be male and female. ²⁰ Of the birds after their kind, of the livestock after their kind, of every creeping thing of the ground after its kind, two of every sort will come to you, to keep them alive. ²¹ Take with you some of all food that is eaten, and gather it to yourself; and it will be for food for you, and for them.” ²² Thus Noah did. He did all that God commanded him.

7Yahweh said to Noah, “Come with all of your household into the ship, for I have seen your righteousness before me in this generation. ² You shall take seven pairs of every clean animal with you, the male and his female. Of the animals that are not clean, take two, the male and his female. ³ Also of the birds of the sky, seven and seven, male and female, to keep seed alive on the surface of all the earth. ⁴ In seven days, I will cause it to rain on the earth for forty days and forty nights. I will destroy every living thing that I have made from the surface of the ground.”

⁵ Noah did everything that Yahweh commanded him.

⁶ Noah was six hundred years old when the flood of waters came on the earth. ⁷ Noah went into the ship with his sons, his wife, and his sons’ wives, because of the floodwaters. ⁸ Clean animals, unclean animals, birds, and everything that creeps on the ground ⁹ went by pairs to Noah into the ship, male and female, as God commanded Noah. ¹⁰ After the seven days, the floodwaters came on the earth. ¹¹ In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on that day all the fountains of the great deep burst open, and the sky’s windows opened. ¹² It rained on the earth forty days and forty nights.

¹³ In the same day Noah, and Shem, Ham, and Japheth—the sons of Noah—and Noah’s wife and the three wives of his sons with them, entered into the ship— ¹⁴ they, and every animal after its kind, all the livestock after their kind, every creeping thing that creeps on the earth after its kind, and every bird after its kind, every bird of every sort. ¹⁵ Pairs from all flesh with the breath of life in them went into the ship to Noah. ¹⁶ Those who went in, went in male and female of all flesh, as God commanded him; then Yahweh shut him in. ¹⁷ The flood was forty days on the earth. The waters increased, and lifted up the ship, and it was lifted up above the earth. ¹⁸ The waters rose, and increased greatly on the earth; and the ship floated on the surface of the waters. ¹⁹ The waters rose very high on the earth. All the high mountains that were under the whole sky were covered. ²⁰ The waters rose fifteen cubits higher, and the mountains were covered. ²¹ All flesh died that moved on the earth, including birds, livestock, animals, every creeping thing that creeps on the earth, and every man. ²² All on the dry land, in whose nostrils was the breath of the spirit of life, died. ²³ Every living thing was destroyed that was on the surface of the ground, including man, livestock, creeping things, and birds of the sky. They were destroyed from the earth. Only Noah was left, and those who were with him in the ship. ²⁴ The waters flooded the earth one hundred fifty days.

8God remembered Noah, all the animals, and all the livestock that were with him in the ship; and God made a wind to pass over the earth. The waters subsided. ² The deep’s fountains and the sky’s windows were also stopped, and the rain from the sky was restrained. ³ The waters continually receded from the earth. After the end of one hundred fifty days the waters receded. ⁴ The ship rested in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on Ararat’s mountains. ⁵ The waters receded continually until the tenth month. In the tenth month, on the first day of the month, the tops of the mountains were visible.

⁶ At the end of forty days, Noah opened the window of the ship which he had made, ⁷ and he sent out a raven. It went back and forth, until the waters were dried up from the earth. ⁸ He himself sent out a dove to see if the waters were abated from the surface of the ground, ⁹ but the dove found no place to rest her foot, and she returned into the ship to him, for the waters were on the surface of the whole earth. He put out his hand, and took her, and brought her to him into the ship. ¹⁰ He waited yet another seven days; and again he sent the dove out of the ship. ¹¹ The dove came back to him at evening and, behold, in her mouth was a freshly plucked olive leaf. So Noah knew that the waters were abated from the earth. ¹² He waited yet another seven days, and sent out the dove; and she didn’t return to him any more.

¹³ In the six hundred first year, in the first month, the first day of the month, the waters were dried up from the earth. Noah removed the covering of the ship, and looked. He saw that the surface of the ground was dry. ¹⁴ In the second month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, the earth was dry.

¹⁵ God spoke to Noah, saying, ¹⁶ “Go out of the ship, you, your wife, your sons, and your sons’ wives with you. ¹⁷ Bring out with you every living thing that is with you of all flesh, including birds, livestock, and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth, that they may breed abundantly in the earth, and be fruitful, and multiply on the earth.”

¹⁸ Noah went out, with his sons, his wife, and his sons’ wives with him. ¹⁹ Every animal, every creeping thing, and every bird, whatever moves on the earth, after their families, went out of the ship.

²⁰ Noah built an altar to Yahweh, and took of every clean animal, and of every clean bird, and offered burnt offerings on the altar. ²¹ Yahweh smelled the pleasant aroma. Yahweh said in his heart, “I will not again curse the ground any more for man’s sake because the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth. I will never again strike every living thing, as I have done. ²² While the earth remains, seed time and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night will not cease.”

9God blessed Noah and his sons, and said to them, “Be fruitful, multiply, and replenish the earth. ² The fear of you and the dread of you will be on every animal of the earth, and on every bird of the sky. Everything that moves along the ground, and all the fish of the sea, are delivered into your hand. ³ Every moving thing that lives will be food for you. As I gave you the green herb, I have given everything to you. ⁴ But flesh with its life, that is, its blood, you shall not eat. ⁵ I will surely require accounting for your life’s blood. At the hand of every animal I will require it. At the hand of man, even at the hand of every man’s brother, I will require the life of man. ⁶ Whoever sheds man’s blood, his blood will be shed by man, for God made man in his own image. ⁷ Be fruitful and multiply. Increase abundantly in the earth, and multiply in it.”

⁸ God spoke to Noah and to his sons with him, saying, ⁹ “As for me, behold, I establish my covenant with you, and with your offspring after you, ¹⁰ and with every living creature that is with you: the birds, the livestock, and every animal of the earth with you, of all that go out of the ship, even every animal of the earth. ¹¹ I will establish my covenant with you: All flesh will not be cut off any more by the waters of the flood. There will never again be a flood to destroy the earth.” ¹² God said, “This is the token of the covenant which I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations: ¹³ I set my rainbow in the cloud, and it will be a sign of a covenant between me and the earth. ¹⁴ When I bring a cloud over the earth, that the rainbow will be seen in the cloud, ¹⁵ I will remember my covenant, which is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh, and the waters will no more become a flood to destroy all flesh. ¹⁶ The rainbow will be in the cloud. I will look at it, that I may remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.” ¹⁷ God said to Noah, “This is the token of the covenant which I have established between me and all flesh that is on the earth.”

¹⁸ The sons of Noah who went out from the ship were Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Ham is the father of Canaan. ¹⁹ These three were the sons of Noah, and from these the whole earth was populated.

²⁰ Noah began to be a farmer, and planted a vineyard. ²¹ He drank of the wine and got drunk. He was uncovered within his tent. ²² Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brothers outside. ²³ Shem and Japheth took a garment, and laid it on both their shoulders, went in backwards, and covered the nakedness of their father. Their faces were backwards, and they didn’t see their father’s nakedness. ²⁴ Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his youngest son had done to him. ²⁵ He said,

“Canaan is cursed.

He will be a servant of servants to his brothers.”

²⁶ He said,

“Blessed be Yahweh, the God of Shem.

Let Canaan be his servant.

²⁷ May God enlarge Japheth.

Let him dwell in the tents of Shem.

Let Canaan be his servant.”

²⁸ Noah lived three hundred fifty years after the flood. ²⁹ All the days of Noah were nine hundred fifty years, and then he died.

10Now this is the history of the generations of the sons of Noah and of Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Sons were born to them after the flood.

² The sons of Japheth were: Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshech, and Tiras. ³ The sons of Gomer were: Ashkenaz, Riphath, and Togarmah. ⁴ The sons of Javan were: Elishah, Tarshish, Kittim, and Dodanim. ⁵ Of these were the islands of the nations divided in their lands, everyone after his language, after their families, in their nations.

⁶ The sons of Ham were: Cush, Mizraim, Put, and Canaan. ⁷ The sons of Cush were: Seba, Havilah, Sabtah, Raamah, and Sabteca. The sons of Raamah were: Sheba and Dedan. ⁸ Cush became the father of Nimrod. He began to be a mighty one in the earth. ⁹ He was a mighty hunter before Yahweh. Therefore it is said, “like Nimrod, a mighty hunter before Yahweh”. ¹⁰ The beginning of his kingdom was Babel, Erech, Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar. ¹¹ Out of that land he went into Assyria, and built Nineveh, Rehoboth Ir, Calah, ¹² and Resen between Nineveh and the great city Calah. ¹³ Mizraim became the father of Ludim, Anamim, Lehabim, Naphtuhim, ¹⁴ Pathrusim, Casluhim (which the Philistines descended from), and Caphtorim.

¹⁵ Canaan became the father of Sidon (his firstborn), Heth, ¹⁶ the Jebusites, the Amorites, the Girgashites, ¹⁷ the Hivites, the Arkites, the Sinites, ¹⁸ the Arvadites, the Zemarites, and the Hamathites. Afterward the families of the Canaanites were spread abroad. ¹⁹ The border of the Canaanites was from Sidon—as you go toward Gerar—to Gaza—as you go toward Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboiim—to Lasha. ²⁰ These are the sons of Ham, after their families, according to their languages, in their lands and their nations.

²¹ Children were also born to Shem (the elder brother of Japheth), the father of all the children of Eber. ²² The sons of Shem were: Elam, Asshur, Arpachshad, Lud, and Aram. ²³ The sons of Aram were: Uz, Hul, Gether, and Mash. ²⁴ Arpachshad became the father of Shelah. Shelah became the father of Eber. ²⁵ To Eber were born two sons. The name of the one was Peleg, for in his days the earth was divided. His brother’s name was Joktan. ²⁶ Joktan became the father of Almodad, Sheleph, Hazarmaveth, Jerah, ²⁷ Hadoram, Uzal, Diklah, ²⁸ Obal, Abimael, Sheba, ²⁹ Ophir, Havilah, and Jobab. All these were the sons of Joktan. ³⁰ Their dwelling extended from Mesha, as you go toward Sephar, the mountain of the east. ³¹ These are the sons of Shem, by their families, according to their languages, lands, and nations.

³² These are the families of the sons of Noah, by their generations, according to their nations. The nations divided from these in the earth after the flood.

11The whole earth was of one language and of one speech. ² As they traveled from the east, they found a plain in the land of Shinar, and they lived there. ³ They said to one another, “Come, let’s make bricks, and burn them thoroughly.” They had brick for stone, and they used tar for mortar. ⁴ They said, “Come, let’s build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top reaches to the sky, and let’s make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered abroad on the surface of the whole earth.”

⁵ Yahweh came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men built. ⁶ Yahweh said, “Behold, they are one people, and they all have one language, and this is what they begin to do. Now nothing will be withheld from them, which they intend to do. ⁷ Come, let’s go down, and there confuse their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech.” ⁸ So Yahweh scattered them abroad from there on the surface of all the earth. They stopped building the city. ⁹ Therefore its name was called Babel, because there Yahweh confused the language of all the earth. From there, Yahweh scattered them abroad on the surface of all the earth.

¹⁰ This is the history of the generations of Shem: Shem was one hundred years old when he became the father of Arpachshad two years after the flood. ¹¹ Shem lived five hundred years after he became the father of Arpachshad, and became the father of more sons and daughters.

¹² Arpachshad lived thirty-five years and became the father of Shelah. ¹³ Arpachshad lived four hundred three years after he became the father of Shelah, and became the father of more sons and daughters.

¹⁴ Shelah lived thirty years, and became the father of Eber. ¹⁵ Shelah lived four hundred three years after he became the father of Eber, and became the father of more sons and daughters.

¹⁶ Eber lived thirty-four years, and became the father of Peleg. ¹⁷ Eber lived four hundred thirty years after he became the father of Peleg, and became the father of more sons and daughters.

¹⁸ Peleg lived thirty years, and became the father of Reu. ¹⁹ Peleg lived two hundred nine years after he became the father of Reu, and became the father of more sons and daughters.

²⁰ Reu lived thirty-two years, and became the father of Serug. ²¹ Reu lived two hundred seven years after he became the father of Serug, and became the father of more sons and daughters.

²² Serug lived thirty years, and became the father of Nahor. ²³ Serug lived two hundred years after he became the father of Nahor, and became the father of more sons and daughters.

²⁴ Nahor lived twenty-nine years, and became the father of Terah. ²⁵ Nahor lived one hundred nineteen years after he became the father of Terah, and became the father of more sons and daughters.

²⁶ Terah lived seventy years, and became the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran.

²⁷ Now this is the history of the generations of Terah. Terah became the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran. Haran became the father of Lot. ²⁸ Haran died in the land of his birth, in Ur of the Chaldees, while his father Terah was still alive. ²⁹ Abram and Nahor married wives. The name of Abram’s wife was Sarai, and the name of Nahor’s wife was Milcah, the daughter of Haran, who was also the father of Iscah. ³⁰ Sarai was barren. She had no child. ³¹ Terah took Abram his son, Lot the son of Haran, his son’s son, and Sarai his daughter-in-law, his son Abram’s wife. They went from Ur of the Chaldees, to go into the land of Canaan. They came to Haran and lived there. ³² The days of Terah were two hundred five years. Terah died in Haran.

12Now Yahweh said to Abram, “Leave your country, and your relatives, and your father’s house, and go to the land that I will show you. ² I will make of you a great nation. I will bless you and make your name great. You will be a blessing. ³ I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who treats you with contempt. All the families of the earth will be blessed through you.”

⁴ So Abram went, as Yahweh had told him. Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran. ⁵ Abram took Sarai his wife, Lot his brother’s son, all their possessions that they had gathered, and the people whom they had acquired in Haran, and they went to go into the land of Canaan. They entered into the land of Canaan. ⁶ Abram passed through the land to the place of Shechem, to the oak of Moreh. At that time, Canaanites were in the land.

⁷ Yahweh appeared to Abram and said, “I will give this land to your offspring.”

He built an altar there to Yahweh, who had appeared to him. ⁸ He left from there to go to the mountain on the east of Bethel and pitched his tent, having Bethel on the west, and Ai on the east. There he built an altar to Yahweh and called on Yahweh’s name. ⁹ Abram traveled, still going on toward the South.

¹⁰ There was a famine in the land. Abram went down into Egypt to live as a foreigner there, for the famine was severe in the land. ¹¹ When he had come near to enter Egypt, he said to Sarai his wife, “See now, I know that you are a beautiful woman to look at. ¹² It will happen, when the Egyptians see you, that they will say, ‘This is his wife.’ They will kill me, but they will save you alive. ¹³ Please say that you are my sister, that it may be well with me for your sake, and that my soul may live because of you.”

¹⁴ When Abram had come into Egypt, Egyptians saw that the woman was very beautiful. ¹⁵ The princes of Pharaoh saw her, and praised her to Pharaoh; and the woman was taken into Pharaoh’s house. ¹⁶ He dealt well with Abram for her sake. He had sheep, cattle, male donkeys, male servants, female servants, female donkeys, and camels. ¹⁷ Yahweh afflicted Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai, Abram’s wife. ¹⁸ Pharaoh called Abram and said, “What is this that you have done to me? Why didn’t you tell me that she was your wife? ¹⁹ Why did you say, ‘She is my sister,’ so that I took her to be my wife? Now therefore, see your wife, take her, and go your way.”

²⁰ Pharaoh commanded men concerning him, and they escorted him away with his wife and all that he had.

13Abram went up out of Egypt—he, his wife, all that he had, and Lot with him—into the South. ² Abram was very rich in livestock, in silver, and in gold. ³ He went on his journeys from the South as far as Bethel, to the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Bethel and Ai, ⁴ to the place of the altar, which he had made there at the first. There Abram called on Yahweh’s name. ⁵ Lot also, who went with Abram, had flocks, herds, and tents. ⁶ The land was not able to bear them, that they might live together; for their possessions were so great that they couldn’t live together. ⁷ There was strife between the herdsmen of Abram’s livestock and the herdsmen of Lot’s livestock. The Canaanites and the Perizzites lived in the land at that time. ⁸ Abram said to Lot, “Please, let there be no strife between you and me, and between your herdsmen and my herdsmen; for we are relatives. ⁹ Isn’t the whole land before you? Please separate yourself from me. If you go to the left hand, then I will go to the right. Or if you go to the right hand, then I will go to the left.”

¹⁰ Lot lifted up his eyes, and saw all the plain of the Jordan, that it was well-watered everywhere, before Yahweh destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, like the garden of Yahweh, like the land of Egypt, as you go to Zoar. ¹¹ So Lot chose the Plain of the Jordan for himself. Lot traveled east, and they separated themselves from one other. ¹² Abram lived in the land of Canaan, and Lot lived in the cities of the plain, and moved his tent as far as Sodom. ¹³ Now the men of Sodom were exceedingly wicked and sinners against Yahweh.

¹⁴ Yahweh said to Abram, after Lot was separated from him, “Now, lift up your eyes, and look from the place where you are, northward and southward and eastward and westward, ¹⁵ for I will give all the land which you see to you and to your offspring forever. ¹⁶ I will make your offspring as the dust of the earth, so that if a man can count the dust of the earth, then your offspring may also be counted. ¹⁷ Arise, walk through the land in its length and in its width; for I will give it to you.”

¹⁸ Abram moved his tent, and came and lived by the oaks of Mamre, which are in Hebron, and built an altar there to Yahweh.

14In the days of Amraphel, king of Shinar; Arioch, king of Ellasar; Chedorlaomer, king of Elam; and Tidal, king of Goiim, ² they made war with Bera, king of Sodom; Birsha, king of Gomorrah; Shinab, king of Admah; Shemeber, king of Zeboiim; and the king of Bela (also called Zoar). ³ All these joined together in the valley of Siddim (also called the Salt Sea). ⁴ They served Chedorlaomer for twelve years, and in the thirteenth year they rebelled. ⁵ In the fourteenth year Chedorlaomer came, and the kings who were with him, and struck the Rephaim in Ashteroth Karnaim, the Zuzim in Ham, the Emim in Shaveh Kiriathaim, ⁶ and the Horites in their Mount Seir, to El Paran, which is by the wilderness. ⁷ They returned, and came to En Mishpat (also called Kadesh), and struck all the country of the Amalekites, and also the Amorites, that lived in Hazazon Tamar. ⁸ The king of Sodom, and the king of Gomorrah, the king of Admah, the king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (also called Zoar) went out; and they set the battle in array against them in the valley of Siddim ⁹ against Chedorlaomer king of Elam, Tidal king of Goiim, Amraphel king of Shinar, and Arioch king of Ellasar; four kings against the five. ¹⁰ Now the valley of Siddim was full of tar pits; and the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, and some fell there. Those who remained fled to the hills. ¹¹ They took all the goods of Sodom and Gomorrah, and all their food, and went their way. ¹² They took Lot, Abram’s brother’s son, who lived in Sodom, and his goods, and departed.

¹³ One who had escaped came and told Abram, the Hebrew. At that time, he lived by the oaks of Mamre, the Amorite, brother of Eshcol and brother of Aner. They were allies of Abram. ¹⁴ When Abram heard that his relative was taken captive, he led out his three hundred eighteen trained men, born in his house, and pursued as far as Dan. ¹⁵ He divided himself against them by night, he and his servants, and struck them, and pursued them to Hobah, which is on the left hand of Damascus. ¹⁶ He brought back all the goods, and also brought back his relative Lot and his goods, and the women also, and the other people.

¹⁷ The king of Sodom went out to meet him after his return from the slaughter of Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him, at the valley of Shaveh (that is, the King’s Valley). ¹⁸ Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. He was priest of God Most High. ¹⁹ He blessed him, and said, “Blessed be Abram of God Most High, possessor of heaven and earth. ²⁰ Blessed be God Most High, who has delivered your enemies into your hand.”

Abram gave him a tenth of all.

²¹ The king of Sodom said to Abram, “Give me the people, and take the goods for yourself.”

²² Abram said to the king of Sodom, “I have lifted up my hand to Yahweh, God Most High, possessor of heaven and earth, ²³ that I will not take a thread nor a sandal strap nor anything that is yours, lest you should say, ‘I have made Abram rich.’ ²⁴ I will accept nothing from you except that which the young men have eaten, and the portion of the men who went with me: Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre. Let them take their portion.”

15After these things Yahweh’s word came to Abram in a vision, saying, “Don’t be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward.”

² Abram said, “Lord Yahweh, what will you give me, since I go childless, and he who will inherit my estate is Eliezer of Damascus?” ³ Abram said, “Behold, you have given no children to me: and, behold, one born in my house is my heir.”

⁴ Behold, Yahweh’s word came to him, saying, “This man will not be your heir, but he who will come out of your own body will be your heir.” ⁵ Yahweh brought him outside, and said, “Look now toward the sky, and count the stars, if you are able to count them.” He said to Abram, “So your offspring will be.” ⁶ He believed in Yahweh, who credited it to him for righteousness. ⁷ He said to Abram, “I am Yahweh who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldees, to give you this land to inherit it.”

⁸ He said, “Lord Yahweh, how will I know that I will inherit it?”

⁹ He said to him, “Bring me a heifer three years old, a female goat three years old, a ram three years old, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.” ¹⁰ He brought him all these, and divided them in the middle, and laid each half opposite the other; but he didn’t divide the birds. ¹¹ The birds of prey came down on the carcasses, and Abram drove them away.

¹² When the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell on Abram. Now terror and great darkness fell on him. ¹³ He said to Abram, “Know for sure that your offspring will live as foreigners in a land that is not theirs, and will serve them. They will afflict them four hundred years. ¹⁴ I will also judge that nation, whom they will serve. Afterward they will come out with great wealth; ¹⁵ but you will go to your fathers in peace. You will be buried at a good old age. ¹⁶ In the fourth generation they will come here again, for the iniquity of the Amorite is not yet full.” ¹⁷ It came to pass that, when the sun went down, and it was dark, behold, a smoking furnace and a flaming torch passed between these pieces. ¹⁸ In that day Yahweh made a covenant with Abram, saying, “I have given this land to your offspring, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates: ¹⁹ the land of the Kenites, the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites, ²⁰ the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim, ²¹ the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites, and the Jebusites.”

16Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, bore him no children. She had a servant, an Egyptian, whose name was Hagar. ² Sarai said to Abram, “See now, Yahweh has restrained me from bearing. Please go in to my servant. It may be that I will obtain children by her.” Abram listened to the voice of Sarai. ³ Sarai, Abram’s wife, took Hagar the Egyptian, her servant, after Abram had lived ten years in the land of Canaan, and gave her to Abram her husband to be his wife. ⁴ He went in to Hagar, and she conceived. When she saw that she had conceived, her mistress was despised in her eyes. ⁵ Sarai said to Abram, “This wrong is your fault. I gave my servant into your bosom, and when she saw that she had conceived, she despised me. May Yahweh judge between me and you.”

⁶ But Abram said to Sarai, “Behold, your maid is in your hand. Do to her whatever is good in your eyes.” Sarai dealt harshly with her, and she fled from her face.

⁷ Yahweh’s angel found her by a fountain of water in the wilderness, by the fountain on the way to Shur. ⁸ He said, “Hagar, Sarai’s servant, where did you come from? Where are you going?”

She said, “I am fleeing from the face of my mistress Sarai.”

⁹ Yahweh’s angel said to her, “Return to your mistress, and submit yourself under her hands.” ¹⁰ Yahweh’s angel said to her, “I will greatly multiply your offspring, that they will not be counted for multitude.” ¹¹ Yahweh’s angel said to her, “Behold, you are with child, and will bear a son. You shall call his name Ishmael, because Yahweh has heard your affliction. ¹² He will be like a wild donkey among men. His hand will be against every man, and every man’s hand against him. He will live opposed to all of his brothers.”

¹³ She called the name of Yahweh who spoke to her, “You are a God who sees,” for she said, “Have I even stayed alive after seeing him?” ¹⁴ Therefore the well was called Beer Lahai Roi. Behold, it is between Kadesh and Bered.

¹⁵ Hagar bore a son for Abram. Abram called the name of his son, whom Hagar bore, Ishmael. ¹⁶ Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore Ishmael to Abram.

17When Abram was ninety-nine years old, Yahweh appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am God Almighty. Walk before me and be blameless. ² I will make my covenant between me and you, and will multiply you exceedingly.”

³ Abram fell on his face. God talked with him, saying, ⁴ “As for me, behold, my covenant is with you. You will be the father of a multitude of nations. ⁵ Your name will no more be called Abram, but your name will be Abraham; for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations. ⁶ I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make nations of you. Kings will come out of you. ⁷ I will establish my covenant between me and you and your offspring after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God to you and to your offspring after you. ⁸ I will give to you, and to your offspring after you, the land where you are traveling, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession. I will be their God.”

⁹ God said to Abraham, “As for you, you will keep my covenant, you and your offspring after you throughout their generations. ¹⁰ This is my covenant, which you shall keep, between me and you and your offspring after you. Every male among you shall be circumcised. ¹¹ You shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskin. It will be a token of the covenant between me and you. ¹² He who is eight days old will be circumcised among you, every male throughout your generations, he who is born in the house, or bought with money from any foreigner who is not of your offspring. ¹³ He who is born in your house, and he who is bought with your money, must be circumcised. My covenant will be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant. ¹⁴ The uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin, that soul shall be cut off from his people. He has broken my covenant.”

¹⁵ God said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but her name will be Sarah. ¹⁶ I will bless her, and moreover I will give you a son by her. Yes, I will bless her, and she will be a mother of nations. Kings of peoples will come from her.”

¹⁷ Then Abraham fell on his face, and laughed, and said in his heart, “Will a child be born to him who is one hundred years old? Will Sarah, who is ninety years old, give birth?” ¹⁸ Abraham said to God, “Oh that Ishmael might live before you!”

¹⁹ God said, “No, but Sarah, your wife, will bear you a son. You shall call his name Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant for his offspring after him. ²⁰ As for Ishmael, I have heard you. Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly. He will become the father of twelve princes, and I will make him a great nation. ²¹ But I will establish my covenant with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you at this set time next year.”

²² When he finished talking with him, God went up from Abraham. ²³ Abraham took Ishmael his son, all who were born in his house, and all who were bought with his money: every male among the men of Abraham’s house, and circumcised the flesh of their foreskin in the same day, as God had said to him. ²⁴ Abraham was ninety-nine years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin. ²⁵ Ishmael, his son, was thirteen years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin. ²⁶ In the same day both Abraham and Ishmael, his son, were circumcised. ²⁷ All the men of his house, those born in the house, and those bought with money from a foreigner, were circumcised with him.

18Yahweh appeared to him by the oaks of Mamre, as he sat in the tent door in the heat of the day. ² He lifted up his eyes and looked, and saw that three men stood near him. When he saw them, he ran to meet them from the tent door, and bowed himself to the earth, ³ and said, “My lord, if now I have found favor in your sight, please don’t go away from your servant. ⁴ Now let a little water be fetched, wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree. ⁵ I will get a piece of bread so you can refresh your heart. After that you may go your way, now that you have come to your servant.”

They said, “Very well, do as you have said.”

⁶ Abraham hurried into the tent to Sarah, and said, “Quickly prepare three seahs of fine meal, knead it, and make cakes.” ⁷ Abraham ran to the herd, and fetched a tender and good calf, and gave it to the servant. He hurried to dress it. ⁸ He took butter, milk, and the calf which he had dressed, and set it before them. He stood by them under the tree, and they ate.

⁹ They asked him, “Where is Sarah, your wife?”

He said, “There, in the tent.”

¹⁰ He said, “I will certainly return to you at about this time next year; and behold, Sarah your wife will have a son.”

Sarah heard in the tent door, which was behind him. ¹¹ Now Abraham and Sarah were old, well advanced in age. Sarah had passed the age of childbearing. ¹² Sarah laughed within herself, saying, “After I have grown old will I have pleasure, my lord being old also?”

¹³ Yahweh said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh, saying, ‘Will I really bear a child when I am old?’ ¹⁴ Is anything too hard for Yahweh? At the set time I will return to you, when the season comes round, and Sarah will have a son.”

¹⁵ Then Sarah denied it, saying, “I didn’t laugh,” for she was afraid.

He said, “No, but you did laugh.”

¹⁶ The men rose up from there, and looked toward Sodom. Abraham went with them to see them on their way. ¹⁷ Yahweh said, “Will I hide from Abraham what I do, ¹⁸ since Abraham will surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth will be blessed in him? ¹⁹ For I have known him, to the end that he may command his children and his household after him, that they may keep the way of Yahweh, to do righteousness and justice; to the end that Yahweh may bring on Abraham that which he has spoken of him.” ²⁰ Yahweh said, “Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grievous, ²¹ I will go down now, and see whether their deeds are as bad as the reports which have come to me. If not, I will know.”

²² The men turned from there, and went toward Sodom, but Abraham stood yet before Yahweh. ²³ Abraham came near, and said, “Will you consume the righteous with the wicked? ²⁴ What if there are fifty righteous within the city? Will you consume and not spare the place for the fifty righteous who are in it? ²⁵ May it be far from you to do things like that, to kill the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous should be like the wicked. May that be far from you. Shouldn’t the Judge of all the earth do right?”

²⁶ Yahweh said, “If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare the whole place for their sake.” ²⁷ Abraham answered, “See now, I have taken it on myself to speak to the Lord, although I am dust and ashes. ²⁸ What if there will lack five of the fifty righteous? Will you destroy all the city for lack of five?”

He said, “I will not destroy it if I find forty-five there.”

²⁹ He spoke to him yet again, and said, “What if there are forty found there?”

He said, “I will not do it for the forty’s sake.”

³⁰ He said, “Oh don’t let the Lord be angry, and I will speak. What if there are thirty found there?”

He said, “I will not do it if I find thirty there.”

³¹ He said, “See now, I have taken it on myself to speak to the Lord. What if there are twenty found there?”

He said, “I will not destroy it for the twenty’s sake.”

³² He said, “Oh don’t let the Lord be angry, and I will speak just once more. What if ten are found there?”

He said, “I will not destroy it for the ten’s sake.”

³³ Yahweh went his way, as soon as he had finished communing with Abraham, and Abraham returned to his place.

19The two angels came to Sodom at evening. Lot sat in the gate of Sodom. Lot saw them, and rose up to meet them. He bowed himself with his face to the earth, ² and he said, “See now, my lords, please come into your servant’s house, stay all night, wash your feet, and you can rise up early, and go on your way.”

They said, “No, but we will stay in the street all night.”

³ He urged them greatly, and they came in with him, and entered into his house. He made them a feast, and baked unleavened bread, and they ate. ⁴ But before they lay down, the men of the city, the men of Sodom, surrounded the house, both young and old, all the people from every quarter. ⁵ They called to Lot, and said to him, “Where are the men who came in to you this night? Bring them out to us, that we may have sex with them.”

⁶ Lot went out to them through the door, and shut the door after himself. ⁷ He said, “Please, my brothers, don’t act so wickedly. ⁸ See now, I have two virgin daughters. Please let me bring them out to you, and you may do to them what seems good to you. Only don’t do anything to these men, because they have come under the shadow of my roof.”

⁹ They said, “Stand back!” Then they said, “This one fellow came in to live as a foreigner, and he appoints himself a judge. Now we will deal worse with you than with them!” They pressed hard on the man Lot, and came near to break the door. ¹⁰ But the men reached out their hand, and brought Lot into the house to them, and shut the door. ¹¹ They struck the men who were at the door of the house with blindness, both small and great, so that they wearied themselves to find the door.

¹² The men said to Lot, “Do you have anybody else here? Sons-in-law, your sons, your daughters, and whomever you have in the city, bring them out of the place: ¹³ for we will destroy this place, because the outcry against them has grown so great before Yahweh that Yahweh has sent us to destroy it.”

¹⁴ Lot went out, and spoke to his sons-in-law, who were pledged to marry his daughters, and said, “Get up! Get out of this place, for Yahweh will destroy the city!”

But he seemed to his sons-in-law to be joking. ¹⁵ When the morning came, then the angels hurried Lot, saying, “Get up! Take your wife and your two daughters who are here, lest you be consumed in the iniquity of the city.” ¹⁶ But he lingered; and the men grabbed his hand, his wife’s hand, and his two daughters’ hands, Yahweh being merciful to him; and they took him out, and set him outside of the city. ¹⁷ It came to pass, when they had taken them out, that he said, “Escape for your life! Don’t look behind you, and don’t stay anywhere in the plain. Escape to the mountains, lest you be consumed!”

¹⁸ Lot said to them, “Oh, not so, my lord. ¹⁹ See now, your servant has found favor in your sight, and you have magnified your loving kindness, which you have shown to me in saving my life. I can’t escape to the mountain, lest evil overtake me, and I die. ²⁰ See now, this city is near to flee to, and it is a little one. Oh let me escape there (isn’t it a little one?), and my soul will live.”

²¹ He said to him, “Behold, I have granted your request concerning this thing also, that I will not overthrow the city of which you have spoken. ²² Hurry, escape there, for I can’t do anything until you get there.” Therefore the name of the city was called Zoar.

²³ The sun had risen on the earth when Lot came to Zoar. ²⁴ Then Yahweh rained on Sodom and on Gomorrah sulfur and fire from Yahweh out of the sky. ²⁵ He overthrew those cities, all the plain, all the inhabitants of the cities, and that which grew on the ground. ²⁶ But Lot’s wife looked back from behind him, and she became a pillar of salt.

²⁷ Abraham went up early in the morning to the place where he had stood before Yahweh. ²⁸ He looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the plain, and saw that the smoke of the land went up as the smoke of a furnace.

²⁹ When God destroyed the cities of the plain, God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the middle of the overthrow, when he overthrew the cities in which Lot lived.

³⁰ Lot went up out of Zoar, and lived in the mountain, and his two daughters with him; for he was afraid to live in Zoar. He lived in a cave with his two daughters. ³¹ The firstborn said to the younger, “Our father is old, and there is not a man in the earth to come in to us in the way of all the earth. ³² Come, let’s make our father drink wine, and we will lie with him, that we may preserve our father’s family line.” ³³ They made their father drink wine that night: and the firstborn went in, and lay with her father. He didn’t know when she lay down, nor when she arose. ³⁴ It came to pass on the next day, that the firstborn said to the younger, “Behold, I lay last night with my father. Let’s make him drink wine again tonight. You go in, and lie with him, that we may preserve our father’s family line.” ³⁵ They made their father drink wine that night also. The younger went and lay with him. He didn’t know when she lay down, nor when she got up. ³⁶ Thus both of Lot’s daughters were with child by their father. ³⁷ The firstborn bore a son, and named him Moab. He is the father of the Moabites to this day. ³⁸ The younger also bore a son, and called his name Ben Ammi. He is the father of the children of Ammon to this day.

20Abraham traveled from there toward the land of the South, and lived between Kadesh and Shur. He lived as a foreigner in Gerar. ² Abraham said about Sarah his wife, “She is my sister.” Abimelech king of Gerar sent, and took Sarah. ³ But God came to Abimelech in a dream of the night, and said to him, “Behold, you are a dead man, because of the woman whom you have taken; for she is a man’s wife.”

⁴ Now Abimelech had not come near her. He said, “Lord, will you kill even a righteous nation? ⁵ Didn’t he tell me, ‘She is my sister’? She, even she herself, said, ‘He is my brother.’ I have done this in the integrity of my heart and the innocence of my hands.”

⁶ God said to him in the dream, “Yes, I know that in the integrity of your heart you have done this, and I also withheld you from sinning against me. Therefore I didn’t allow you to touch her. ⁷ Now therefore, restore the man’s wife. For he is a prophet, and he will pray for you, and you will live. If you don’t restore her, know for sure that you will die, you, and all who are yours.”

⁸ Abimelech rose early in the morning, and called all his servants, and told all these things in their ear. The men were very scared. ⁹ Then Abimelech called Abraham, and said to him, “What have you done to us? How have I sinned against you, that you have brought on me and on my kingdom a great sin? You have done deeds to me that ought not to be done!” ¹⁰ Abimelech said to Abraham, “What did you see, that you have done this thing?”

¹¹ Abraham said, “Because I thought, ‘Surely the fear of God is not in this place. They will kill me for my wife’s sake.’ ¹² Besides, she is indeed my sister, the daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother; and she became my wife. ¹³ When God caused me to wander from my father’s house, I said to her, ‘This is your kindness which you shall show to me. Everywhere that we go, say of me, “He is my brother.” ’ ”

¹⁴ Abimelech took sheep and cattle, male servants and female servants, and gave them to Abraham, and restored Sarah, his wife, to him. ¹⁵ Abimelech said, “Behold, my land is before you. Dwell where it pleases you.” ¹⁶ To Sarah he said, “Behold, I have given your brother a thousand pieces of silver. Behold, it is for you a covering of the eyes to all that are with you. In front of all you are vindicated.”

¹⁷ Abraham prayed to God. God healed Abimelech, and his wife, and his female servants, and they bore children. ¹⁸ For Yahweh had closed up tight all the wombs of the house of Abimelech, because of Sarah, Abraham’s wife.

21Yahweh visited Sarah as he had said, and Yahweh did to Sarah as he had spoken. ² Sarah conceived, and bore Abraham a son in his old age, at the set time of which God had spoken to him. ³ Abraham called his son who was born to him, whom Sarah bore to him, Isaac. ⁴ Abraham circumcised his son, Isaac, when he was eight days old, as God had commanded him. ⁵ Abraham was one hundred years old when his son, Isaac, was born to him. ⁶ Sarah said, “God has made me laugh. Everyone who hears will laugh with me.” ⁷ She said, “Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? For I have borne him a son in his old age.”

⁸ The child grew and was weaned. Abraham made a great feast on the day that Isaac was weaned. ⁹ Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne to Abraham, mocking. ¹⁰ Therefore she said to Abraham, “Cast out this servant and her son! For the son of this servant will not be heir with my son, Isaac.”

¹¹ The thing was very grievous in Abraham’s sight on account of his son. ¹² God said to Abraham, “Don’t let it be grievous in your sight because of the boy, and because of your servant. In all that Sarah says to you, listen to her voice. For your offspring will be named through Isaac. ¹³ I will also make a nation of the son of the servant, because he is your child.” ¹⁴ Abraham rose up early in the morning, and took bread and a container of water, and gave it to Hagar, putting it on her shoulder; and gave her the child, and sent her away. She departed, and wandered in the wilderness of Beersheba. ¹⁵ The water in the container was spent, and she put the child under one of the shrubs. ¹⁶ She went and sat down opposite him, a good way off, about a bow shot away. For she said, “Don’t let me see the death of the child.” She sat opposite him, and lifted up her voice, and wept. ¹⁷ God heard the voice of the boy.

The angel of God called to Hagar out of the sky, and said to her, “What troubles you, Hagar? Don’t be afraid. For God has heard the voice of the boy where he is. ¹⁸ Get up, lift up the boy, and hold him with your hand. For I will make him a great nation.”

¹⁹ God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water. She went, filled the container with water, and gave the boy a drink. ²⁰ God was with the boy, and he grew. He lived in the wilderness, and as he grew up, became an archer. ²¹ He lived in the wilderness of Paran. His mother got a wife for him out of the land of Egypt.

²² At that time, Abimelech and Phicol the captain of his army spoke to Abraham, saying, “God is with you in all that you do. ²³ Now, therefore, swear to me here by God that you will not deal falsely with me, nor with my son, nor with my son’s son. But according to the kindness that I have done to you, you shall do to me, and to the land in which you have lived as a foreigner.”

²⁴ Abraham said, “I will swear.” ²⁵ Abraham complained to Abimelech because of a water well, which Abimelech’s servants had violently taken away. ²⁶ Abimelech said, “I don’t know who has done this thing. You didn’t tell me, and I didn’t hear of it until today.”

²⁷ Abraham took sheep and cattle, and gave them to Abimelech. Those two made a covenant. ²⁸ Abraham set seven ewe lambs of the flock by themselves. ²⁹ Abimelech said to Abraham, “What do these seven ewe lambs, which you have set by themselves, mean?”

³⁰ He said, “You shall take these seven ewe lambs from my hand, that it may be a witness to me, that I have dug this well.” ³¹ Therefore he called that place Beersheba, because they both swore an oath there. ³² So they made a covenant at Beersheba. Abimelech rose up with Phicol, the captain of his army, and they returned into the land of the Philistines. ³³ Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beersheba, and called there on the name of Yahweh, the Everlasting God. ³⁴ Abraham lived as a foreigner in the land of the Philistines many days.

22After these things, God tested Abraham, and said to him, “Abraham!”

He said, “Here I am.”

² He said, “Now take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and go into the land of Moriah. Offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains which I will tell you of.”

³ Abraham rose early in the morning, and saddled his donkey; and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son. He split the wood for the burnt offering, and rose up, and went to the place of which God had told him. ⁴ On the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes, and saw the place far off. ⁵ Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey. The boy and I will go over there. We will worship, and come back to you.” ⁶ Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son. He took in his hand the fire and the knife. They both went together. ⁷ Isaac spoke to Abraham his father, and said, “My father?”

He said, “Here I am, my son.”

He said, “Here is the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?”

⁸ Abraham said, “God will provide himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.” So they both went together. ⁹ They came to the place which God had told him of. Abraham built the altar there, and laid the wood in order, bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar, on the wood. ¹⁰ Abraham stretched out his hand, and took the knife to kill his son.

¹¹ Yahweh’s angel called to him out of the sky, and said, “Abraham, Abraham!”

He said, “Here I am.”

¹² He said, “Don’t lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him. For now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.”

¹³ Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and saw that behind him was a ram caught in the thicket by his horns. Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering instead of his son. ¹⁴ Abraham called the name of that place “Yahweh Will Provide”. As it is said to this day, “On Yahweh’s mountain, it will be provided.”

¹⁵ Yahweh’s angel called to Abraham a second time out of the sky, ¹⁶ and said, “ ‘I have sworn by myself,’ says Yahweh, ‘because you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only son, ¹⁷ that I will bless you greatly, and I will multiply your offspring greatly like the stars of the heavens, and like the sand which is on the seashore. Your offspring will possess the gate of his enemies. ¹⁸ All the nations of the earth will be blessed by your offspring, because you have obeyed my voice.’ ”

¹⁹ So Abraham returned to his young men, and they rose up and went together to Beersheba. Abraham lived at Beersheba.

²⁰ After these things, Abraham was told, “Behold, Milcah, she also has borne children to your brother Nahor: ²¹ Uz his firstborn, Buz his brother, Kemuel the father of Aram, ²² Chesed, Hazo, Pildash, Jidlaph, and Bethuel.” ²³ Bethuel became the father of Rebekah. These eight Milcah bore to Nahor, Abraham’s brother. ²⁴ His concubine, whose name was Reumah, also bore Tebah, Gaham, Tahash, and Maacah.

23Sarah lived one hundred twenty-seven years. This was the length of Sarah’s life. ² Sarah died in Kiriath Arba (also called Hebron), in the land of Canaan. Abraham came to mourn for Sarah, and to weep for her. ³ Abraham rose up from before his dead and spoke to the children of Heth, saying, ⁴ “I am a stranger and a foreigner living with you. Give me a possession of a burying-place with you, that I may bury my dead out of my sight.”

⁵ The children of Heth answered Abraham, saying to him, ⁶ “Hear us, my lord. You are a prince of God among us. Bury your dead in the best of our tombs. None of us will withhold from you his tomb. Bury your dead.”

⁷ Abraham rose up, and bowed himself to the people of the land, to the children of Heth. ⁸ He talked with them, saying, “If you agree that I should bury my dead out of my sight, hear me, and entreat for me to Ephron the son of Zohar, ⁹ that he may sell me the cave of Machpelah, which he has, which is in the end of his field. For the full price let him sell it to me among you as a possession for a burial place.”

¹⁰ Now Ephron was sitting in the middle of the children of Heth. Ephron the Hittite answered Abraham in the hearing of the children of Heth, even of all who went in at the gate of his city, saying, ¹¹ “No, my lord, hear me. I give you the field, and I give you the cave that is in it. In the presence of the children of my people I give it to you. Bury your dead.”

¹² Abraham bowed himself down before the people of the land. ¹³ He spoke to Ephron in the audience of the people of the land, saying, “But if you will, please hear me. I will give the price of the field. Take it from me, and I will bury my dead there.”

¹⁴ Ephron answered Abraham, saying to him, ¹⁵ “My lord, listen to me. What is a piece of land worth four hundred shekels of silver between me and you? Therefore bury your dead.”

¹⁶ Abraham listened to Ephron. Abraham weighed to Ephron the silver which he had named in the hearing of the children of Heth, four hundred shekels of silver, according to the current merchants’ standard.

¹⁷ So the field of Ephron, which was in Machpelah, which was before Mamre, the field, the cave which was in it, and all the trees that were in the field, that were in all of its borders, were deeded ¹⁸ to Abraham for a possession in the presence of the children of Heth, before all who went in at the gate of his city. ¹⁹ After this, Abraham buried Sarah his wife in the cave of the field of Machpelah before Mamre (that is, Hebron), in the land of Canaan. ²⁰ The field, and the cave that is in it, were deeded to Abraham by the children of Heth as a possession for a burial place.

24Abraham was old, and well advanced in age. Yahweh had blessed Abraham in all things. ² Abraham said to his servant, the elder of his house, who ruled over all that he had, “Please put your hand under my thigh. ³ I will make you swear by Yahweh, the God of heaven and the God of the earth, that you shall not take a wife for my son of the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I live. ⁴ But you shall go to my country, and to my relatives, and take a wife for my son Isaac.”

⁵ The servant said to him, “What if the woman isn’t willing to follow me to this land? Must I bring your son again to the land you came from?”

⁶ Abraham said to him, “Beware that you don’t bring my son there again. ⁷ Yahweh, the God of heaven—who took me from my father’s house, and from the land of my birth, who spoke to me, and who swore to me, saying, ‘I will give this land to your offspring—he will send his angel before you, and you shall take a wife for my son from there. ⁸ If the woman isn’t willing to follow you, then you shall be clear from this oath to me. Only you shall not bring my son there again.”

⁹ The servant put his hand under the thigh of Abraham his master, and swore to him concerning this matter. ¹⁰ The servant took ten of his master’s camels, and departed, having a variety of good things of his master’s with him. He arose, and went to Mesopotamia, to the city of Nahor. ¹¹ He made the camels kneel down outside the city by the well of water at the time of evening, the time that women go out to draw water. ¹² He said, “Yahweh, the God of my master Abraham, please give me success today, and show kindness to my master Abraham. ¹³ Behold, I am standing by the spring of water. The daughters of the men of the city are coming out to draw water. ¹⁴ Let it happen, that the young lady to whom I will say, ‘Please let down your pitcher, that I may drink,’ then she says, ‘Drink, and I will also give your camels a drink,’—let her be the one you have appointed for your servant Isaac. By this I will know that you have shown kindness to my master.”

¹⁵ Before he had finished speaking, behold, Rebekah came out, who was born to Bethuel the son of Milcah, the wife of Nahor, Abraham’s brother, with her pitcher on her shoulder. ¹⁶ The young lady was very beautiful to look at, a virgin. No man had known her. She went down to the spring, filled her pitcher, and came up. ¹⁷ The servant ran to meet her, and said, “Please give me a drink, a little water from your pitcher.”

¹⁸ She said, “Drink, my lord.” She hurried, and let down her pitcher on her hand, and gave him a drink. ¹⁹ When she had finished giving him a drink, she said, “I will also draw for your camels, until they have finished drinking.” ²⁰ She hurried, and emptied her pitcher into the trough, and ran again to the well to draw, and drew for all his camels.

²¹ The man looked steadfastly at her, remaining silent, to know whether Yahweh had made his journey prosperous or not. ²² As the camels were done drinking, the man took a golden ring of half a shekel weight, and two bracelets for her hands of ten shekels weight of gold, ²³ and said, “Whose daughter are you? Please tell me. Is there room in your father’s house for us to stay?”

²⁴ She said to him, “I am the daughter of Bethuel the son of Milcah, whom she bore to Nahor.” ²⁵ She said moreover to him, “We have both straw and feed enough, and room to lodge in.”

²⁶ The man bowed his head, and worshiped Yahweh. ²⁷ He said, “Blessed be Yahweh, the God of my master Abraham, who has not forsaken his loving kindness and his truth toward my master. As for me, Yahweh has led me on the way to the house of my master’s relatives.”

²⁸ The young lady ran, and told her mother’s house about these words. ²⁹ Rebekah had a brother, and his name was Laban. Laban ran out to the man, to the spring. ³⁰ When he saw the ring, and the bracelets on his sister’s hands, and when he heard the words of Rebekah his sister, saying, “This is what the man said to me,” he came to the man. Behold, he was standing by the camels at the spring. ³¹ He said, “Come in, you blessed of Yahweh. Why do you stand outside? For I have prepared the house, and room for the camels.”

³² The man came into the house, and he unloaded the camels. He gave straw and feed for the camels, and water to wash his feet and the feet of the men who were with him. ³³ Food was set before him to eat, but he said, “I will not eat until I have told my message.”

Laban said, “Speak on.”

³⁴ He said, “I am Abraham’s servant. ³⁵ Yahweh has blessed my master greatly. He has become great. Yahweh has given him flocks and herds, silver and gold, male servants and female servants, and camels and donkeys. ³⁶ Sarah, my master’s wife, bore a son to my master when she was old. He has given all that he has to him. ³⁷ My master made me swear, saying, ‘You shall not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, in whose land I live, ³⁸ but you shall go to my father’s house, and to my relatives, and take a wife for my son.’ ³⁹ I asked my master, ‘What if the woman will not follow me?’ ⁴⁰ He said to me, ‘Yahweh, before whom I walk, will send his angel with you, and prosper your way. You shall take a wife for my son from my relatives, and of my father’s house. ⁴¹ Then you will be clear from my oath, when you come to my relatives. If they don’t give her to you, you shall be clear from my oath.’ ⁴² I came today to the spring, and said, ‘Yahweh, the God of my master Abraham, if now you do prosper my way which I go— ⁴³ behold, I am standing by this spring of water. Let it happen, that the maiden who comes out to draw, to whom I will say, “Please give me a little water from your pitcher to drink,” ⁴⁴ then she tells me, “Drink, and I will also draw for your camels,”—let her be the woman whom Yahweh has appointed for my master’s son.’ ⁴⁵ Before I had finished speaking in my heart, behold, Rebekah came out with her pitcher on her shoulder. She went down to the spring, and drew. I said to her, ‘Please let me drink.’ ⁴⁶ She hurried and let down her pitcher from her shoulder, and said, ‘Drink, and I will also give your camels a drink.’ So I drank, and she also gave the camels a drink. ⁴⁷ I asked her, and said, ‘Whose daughter are you?’ She said, ‘The daughter of Bethuel, Nahor’s son, whom Milcah bore to him.’ I put the ring on her nose, and the bracelets on her hands. ⁴⁸ I bowed my head, and worshiped Yahweh, and blessed Yahweh, the God of my master Abraham, who had led me in the right way to take my master’s brother’s daughter for his son. ⁴⁹ Now if you will deal kindly and truly with my master, tell me. If not, tell me, that I may turn to the right hand, or to the left.”

⁵⁰ Then Laban and Bethuel answered, “The thing proceeds from Yahweh. We can’t speak to you bad or good. ⁵¹ Behold, Rebekah is before you. Take her, and go, and let her be your master’s son’s wife, as Yahweh has spoken.”

⁵² When Abraham’s servant heard their words, he bowed himself down to the earth to Yahweh. ⁵³ The servant brought out jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and clothing, and gave them to Rebekah. He also gave precious things to her brother and her mother. ⁵⁴ They ate and drank, he and the men who were with him, and stayed all night. They rose up in the morning, and he said, “Send me away to my master.”

⁵⁵ Her brother and her mother said, “Let the young lady stay with us a few days, at least ten. After that she will go.”

⁵⁶ He said to them, “Don’t hinder me, since Yahweh has prospered my way. Send me away that I may go to my master.”

⁵⁷ They said, “We will call the young lady, and ask her.” ⁵⁸ They called Rebekah, and said to her, “Will you go with this man?”

She said, “I will go.”

⁵⁹ They sent away Rebekah, their sister, with her nurse, Abraham’s servant, and his men. ⁶⁰ They blessed Rebekah, and said to her, “Our sister, may you be the mother of thousands of ten thousands, and let your offspring possess the gate of those who hate them.”

⁶¹ Rebekah arose with her ladies. They rode on the camels, and followed the man. The servant took Rebekah, and went his way. ⁶² Isaac came from the way of Beer Lahai Roi, for he lived in the land of the South. ⁶³ Isaac went out to meditate in the field at the evening. He lifted up his eyes and looked. Behold, there were camels coming. ⁶⁴ Rebekah lifted up her eyes, and when she saw Isaac, she got off the camel. ⁶⁵ She said to the servant, “Who is the man who is walking in the field to meet us?”

The servant said, “It is my master.”

She took her veil, and covered herself. ⁶⁶ The servant told Isaac all the things that he had done. ⁶⁷ Isaac brought her into his mother Sarah’s tent, and took Rebekah, and she became his wife. He loved her. So Isaac was comforted after his mother’s death.

25Abraham took another wife, and her name was Keturah. ² She bore him Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah. ³ Jokshan became the father of Sheba, and Dedan. The sons of Dedan were Asshurim, Letushim, and Leummim. ⁴ The sons of Midian were Ephah, Epher, Hanoch, Abida, and Eldaah. All these were the children of Keturah. ⁵ Abraham gave all that he had to Isaac, ⁶ but Abraham gave gifts to the sons of Abraham’s concubines. While he still lived, he sent them away from Isaac his son, eastward, to the east country. ⁷ These are the days of the years of Abraham’s life which he lived: one hundred seventy-five years. ⁸ Abraham gave up his spirit, and died at a good old age, an old man, and full of years, and was gathered to his people. ⁹ Isaac and Ishmael, his sons, buried him in the cave of Machpelah, in the field of Ephron, the son of Zohar the Hittite, which is near Mamre, ¹⁰ the field which Abraham purchased from the children of Heth. Abraham was buried there with Sarah, his wife. ¹¹ After the death of Abraham, God blessed Isaac, his son. Isaac lived by Beer Lahai Roi.

¹² Now this is the history of the generations of Ishmael, Abraham’s son, whom Hagar the Egyptian, Sarah’s servant, bore to Abraham. ¹³ These are the names of the sons of Ishmael, by their names, according to the order of their birth: the firstborn of Ishmael, Nebaioth, then Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam, ¹⁴ Mishma, Dumah, Massa, ¹⁵ Hadad, Tema, Jetur, Naphish, and Kedemah. ¹⁶ These are the sons of Ishmael, and these are their names, by their villages, and by their encampments: twelve princes, according to their nations. ¹⁷ These are the years of the life of Ishmael: one hundred thirty-seven years. He gave up his spirit and died, and was gathered to his people. ¹⁸ They lived from Havilah to Shur that is before Egypt, as you go toward Assyria. He lived opposite all his relatives.

¹⁹ This is the history of the generations of Isaac, Abraham’s son. Abraham became the father of Isaac. ²⁰ Isaac was forty years old when he took Rebekah, the daughter of Bethuel the Syrian of Paddan Aram, the sister of Laban the Syrian, to be his wife. ²¹ Isaac entreated Yahweh for his wife, because she was barren. Yahweh was entreated by him, and Rebekah his wife conceived. ²² The children struggled together within her. She said, “If it is like this, why do I live?” She went to inquire of Yahweh. ²³ Yahweh said to her,

“Two nations are in your womb.

Two peoples will be separated from your body.

The one people will be stronger than the other people.

The elder will serve the younger.”

²⁴ When her days to be delivered were fulfilled, behold, there were twins in her womb. ²⁵ The first came out red all over, like a hairy garment. They named him Esau. ²⁶ After that, his brother came out, and his hand had hold on Esau’s heel. He was named Jacob. Isaac was sixty years old when she bore them.

²⁷ The boys grew. Esau was a skillful hunter, a man of the field. Jacob was a quiet man, living in tents. ²⁸ Now Isaac loved Esau, because he ate his venison. Rebekah loved Jacob. ²⁹ Jacob boiled stew. Esau came in from the field, and he was famished. ³⁰ Esau said to Jacob, “Please feed me with some of that red stew, for I am famished.” Therefore his name was called Edom.

³¹ Jacob said, “First, sell me your birthright.”

³² Esau said, “Behold, I am about to die. What good is the birthright to me?”

³³ Jacob said, “Swear to me first.”

He swore to him. He sold his birthright to Jacob. ³⁴ Jacob gave Esau bread and lentil stew. He ate and drank, rose up, and went his way. So Esau despised his birthright.

26There was a famine in the land, in addition to the first famine that was in the days of Abraham. Isaac went to Abimelech king of the Philistines, to Gerar. ² Yahweh appeared to him, and said, “Don’t go down into Egypt. Live in the land I will tell you about. ³ Live in this land, and I will be with you, and will bless you. For I will give to you, and to your offspring, all these lands, and I will establish the oath which I swore to Abraham your father. ⁴ I will multiply your offspring as the stars of the sky, and will give all these lands to your offspring. In your offspring all the nations of the earth will be blessed, ⁵ because Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my requirements, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.”

⁶ Isaac lived in Gerar. ⁷ The men of the place asked him about his wife. He said, “She is my sister,” for he was afraid to say, “My wife”, lest, he thought, “the men of the place might kill me for Rebekah, because she is beautiful to look at.” ⁸ When he had been there a long time, Abimelech king of the Philistines looked out at a window, and saw, and, behold, Isaac was caressing Rebekah, his wife. ⁹ Abimelech called Isaac, and said, “Behold, surely she is your wife. Why did you say, ‘She is my sister?’ ”

Isaac said to him, “Because I said, ‘Lest I die because of her.’ ”

¹⁰ Abimelech said, “What is this you have done to us? One of the people might easily have lain with your wife, and you would have brought guilt on us!”

¹¹ Abimelech commanded all the people, saying, “He who touches this man or his wife will surely be put to death.”

¹² Isaac sowed in that land, and reaped in the same year one hundred times what he planted. Yahweh blessed him. ¹³ The man grew great, and grew more and more until he became very great. ¹⁴ He had possessions of flocks, possessions of herds, and a great household. The Philistines envied him. ¹⁵ Now all the wells which his father’s servants had dug in the days of Abraham his father, the Philistines had stopped, and filled with earth. ¹⁶ Abimelech said to Isaac, “Go away from us, for you are much mightier than we.”

¹⁷ Isaac departed from there, encamped in the valley of Gerar, and lived there.

¹⁸ Isaac dug again the wells of water, which they had dug in the days of Abraham his father, for the Philistines had stopped them after the death of Abraham. He called their names after the names by which his father had called them. ¹⁹ Isaac’s servants dug in the valley, and found there a well of springing water. ²⁰ The herdsmen of Gerar argued with Isaac’s herdsmen, saying, “The water is ours.” He called the name of the well Esek, because they contended with him. ²¹ They dug another well, and they argued over that, also. He called its name Sitnah. ²² He left that place, and dug another well. They didn’t argue over that one. He called it Rehoboth. He said, “For now Yahweh has made room for us, and we will be fruitful in the land.”

²³ He went up from there to Beersheba. ²⁴ Yahweh appeared to him the same night, and said, “I am the God of Abraham your father. Don’t be afraid, for I am with you, and will bless you, and multiply your offspring for my servant Abraham’s sake.”

²⁵ He built an altar there, and called on Yahweh’s name, and pitched his tent there. There Isaac’s servants dug a well.

²⁶ Then Abimelech went to him from Gerar, and Ahuzzath his friend, and Phicol the captain of his army. ²⁷ Isaac said to them, “Why have you come to me, since you hate me, and have sent me away from you?”

²⁸ They said, “We saw plainly that Yahweh was with you. We said, ‘Let there now be an oath between us, even between us and you, and let’s make a covenant with you, ²⁹ that you will do us no harm, as we have not touched you, and as we have done to you nothing but good, and have sent you away in peace.’ You are now the blessed of Yahweh.”

³⁰ He made them a feast, and they ate and drank. ³¹ They rose up some time in the morning, and swore an oath to one another. Isaac sent them away, and they departed from him in peace. ³² The same day, Isaac’s servants came, and told him concerning the well which they had dug, and said to him, “We have found water.” ³³ He called it “Shibah”. Therefore the name of the city is “Beersheba” to this day.

³⁴ When Esau was forty years old, he took as wife Judith, the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Basemath, the daughter of Elon the Hittite. ³⁵ They grieved Isaac’s and Rebekah’s spirits.

27When Isaac was old, and his eyes were dim, so that he could not see, he called Esau his elder son, and said to him, “My son?”

He said to him, “Here I am.”

² He said, “See now, I am old. I don’t know the day of my death. ³ Now therefore, please take your weapons, your quiver and your bow, and go out to the field, and get me venison. ⁴ Make me savory food, such as I love, and bring it to me, that I may eat, and that my soul may bless you before I die.”

⁵ Rebekah heard when Isaac spoke to Esau his son. Esau went to the field to hunt for venison, and to bring it. ⁶ Rebekah spoke to Jacob her son, saying, “Behold, I heard your father speak to Esau your brother, saying, ⁷ ‘Bring me venison, and make me savory food, that I may eat, and bless you before Yahweh before my death.’ ⁸ Now therefore, my son, obey my voice according to that which I command you. ⁹ Go now to the flock and get me two good young goats from there. I will make them savory food for your father, such as he loves. ¹⁰ You shall bring it to your father, that he may eat, so that he may bless you before his death.”

¹¹ Jacob said to Rebekah his mother, “Behold, Esau my brother is a hairy man, and I am a smooth man. ¹² What if my father touches me? I will seem to him as a deceiver, and I would bring a curse on myself, and not a blessing.”

¹³ His mother said to him, “Let your curse be on me, my son. Only obey my voice, and go get them for me.”

¹⁴ He went, and got them, and brought them to his mother. His mother made savory food, such as his father loved. ¹⁵ Rebekah took the good clothes of Esau, her elder son, which were with her in the house, and put them on Jacob, her younger son. ¹⁶ She put the skins of the young goats on his hands, and on the smooth of his neck. ¹⁷ She gave the savory food and the bread, which she had prepared, into the hand of her son Jacob.

¹⁸ He came to his father, and said, “My father?”

He said, “Here I am. Who are you, my son?”

¹⁹ Jacob said to his father, “I am Esau your firstborn. I have done what you asked me to do. Please arise, sit and eat of my venison, that your soul may bless me.”

²⁰ Isaac said to his son, “How is it that you have found it so quickly, my son?”

He said, “Because Yahweh your God gave me success.”

²¹ Isaac said to Jacob, “Please come near, that I may feel you, my son, whether you are really my son Esau or not.”

²² Jacob went near to Isaac his father. He felt him, and said, “The voice is Jacob’s voice, but the hands are the hands of Esau.” ²³ He didn’t recognize him, because his hands were hairy, like his brother, Esau’s hands. So he blessed him. ²⁴ He said, “Are you really my son Esau?”

He said, “I am.”

²⁵ He said, “Bring it near to me, and I will eat of my son’s venison, that my soul may bless you.”

He brought it near to him, and he ate. He brought him wine, and he drank. ²⁶ His father Isaac said to him, “Come near now, and kiss me, my son.” ²⁷ He came near, and kissed him. He smelled the smell of his clothing, and blessed him, and said,

“Behold, the smell of my son

is as the smell of a field which Yahweh has blessed.

²⁸ God give you of the dew of the sky,

of the fatness of the earth,

and plenty of grain and new wine.

²⁹ Let peoples serve you,

and nations bow down to you.

Be lord over your brothers.

Let your mother’s sons bow down to you.

Cursed be everyone who curses you.

Blessed be everyone who blesses you.”

³⁰ As soon as Isaac had finished blessing Jacob, and Jacob had just gone out from the presence of Isaac his father, Esau his brother came in from his hunting. ³¹ He also made savory food, and brought it to his father. He said to his father, “Let my father arise, and eat of his son’s venison, that your soul may bless me.”

³² Isaac his father said to him, “Who are you?”

He said, “I am your son, your firstborn, Esau.”

³³ Isaac trembled violently, and said, “Who, then, is he who has taken venison, and brought it me, and I have eaten of all before you came, and have blessed him? Yes, he will be blessed.”

³⁴ When Esau heard the words of his father, he cried with an exceedingly great and bitter cry, and said to his father, “Bless me, even me also, my father.”

³⁵ He said, “Your brother came with deceit, and has taken away your blessing.”

³⁶ He said, “Isn’t he rightly named Jacob? For he has supplanted me these two times. He took away my birthright. See, now he has taken away my blessing.” He said, “Haven’t you reserved a blessing for me?”

³⁷ Isaac answered Esau, “Behold, I have made him your lord, and all his brothers I have given to him for servants. I have sustained him with grain and new wine. What then will I do for you, my son?”

³⁸ Esau said to his father, “Do you have just one blessing, my father? Bless me, even me also, my father.” Esau lifted up his voice, and wept.

³⁹ Isaac his father answered him,

“Behold, your dwelling will be of the fatness of the earth,

and of the dew of the sky from above.

⁴⁰ You will live by your sword, and you will serve your brother.

It will happen, when you will break loose,

that you will shake his yoke from off your neck.”

⁴¹ Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing with which his father blessed him. Esau said in his heart, “The days of mourning for my father are at hand. Then I will kill my brother Jacob.”

⁴² The words of Esau, her elder son, were told to Rebekah. She sent and called Jacob, her younger son, and said to him, “Behold, your brother Esau comforts himself about you by planning to kill you. ⁴³ Now therefore, my son, obey my voice. Arise, flee to Laban, my brother, in Haran. ⁴⁴ Stay with him a few days, until your brother’s fury turns away— ⁴⁵ until your brother’s anger turns away from you, and he forgets what you have done to him. Then I will send, and get you from there. Why should I be bereaved of you both in one day?”

⁴⁶ Rebekah said to Isaac, “I am weary of my life because of the daughters of Heth. If Jacob takes a wife of the daughters of Heth, such as these, of the daughters of the land, what good will my life do me?”

28Isaac called Jacob, blessed him, and commanded him, “You shall not take a wife of the daughters of Canaan. ² Arise, go to Paddan Aram, to the house of Bethuel your mother’s father. Take a wife from there from the daughters of Laban, your mother’s brother. ³ May God Almighty bless you, and make you fruitful, and multiply you, that you may be a company of peoples, ⁴ and give you the blessing of Abraham, to you and to your offspring with you, that you may inherit the land where you travel, which God gave to Abraham.”

⁵ Isaac sent Jacob away. He went to Paddan Aram to Laban, son of Bethuel the Syrian, the brother of Rebekah, Jacob’s and Esau’s mother.

⁶ Now Esau saw that Isaac had blessed Jacob and sent him away to Paddan Aram, to take him a wife from there, and that as he blessed him he gave him a command, saying, “You shall not take a wife of the daughters of Canaan;” ⁷ and that Jacob obeyed his father and his mother, and was gone to Paddan Aram. ⁸ Esau saw that the daughters of Canaan didn’t please Isaac, his father. ⁹ Esau went to Ishmael, and took, in addition to the wives that he had, Mahalath the daughter of Ishmael, Abraham’s son, the sister of Nebaioth, to be his wife.

¹⁰ Jacob went out from Beersheba, and went toward Haran. ¹¹ He came to a certain place, and stayed there all night, because the sun had set. He took one of the stones of the place, and put it under his head, and lay down in that place to sleep. ¹² He dreamed and saw a stairway set upon the earth, and its top reached to heaven. Behold, the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. ¹³ Behold, Yahweh stood above it, and said, “I am Yahweh, the God of Abraham your father, and the God of Isaac. I will give the land you lie on to you and to your offspring. ¹⁴ Your offspring will be as the dust of the earth, and you will spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south. In you and in your offspring, all the families of the will earth be blessed. ¹⁵ Behold, I am with you, and will keep you, wherever you go, and will bring you again into this land. For I will not leave you, until I have done that which I have spoken of to you.”

¹⁶ Jacob awakened out of his sleep, and he said, “Surely Yahweh is in this place, and I didn’t know it.” ¹⁷ He was afraid, and said, “How awesome this place is! This is none other than God’s house, and this is the gate of heaven.”

¹⁸ Jacob rose up early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put under his head, and set it up for a pillar, and poured oil on its top. ¹⁹ He called the name of that place Bethel, but the name of the city was Luz at the first. ²⁰ Jacob vowed a vow, saying, “If God will be with me, and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat, and clothing to put on, ²¹ so that I come again to my father’s house in peace, and Yahweh will be my God, ²² then this stone, which I have set up for a pillar, will be God’s house. Of all that you will give me I will surely give a tenth to you.”

29Then Jacob went on his journey, and came to the land of the children of the east. ² He looked, and behold, a well in the field, and saw three flocks of sheep lying there by it. For out of that well they watered the flocks. The stone on the well’s mouth was large. ³ There all the flocks were gathered. They rolled the stone from the well’s mouth, and watered the sheep, and put the stone again on the well’s mouth in its place. ⁴ Jacob said to them, “My relatives, where are you from?”

They said, “We are from Haran.”

⁵ He said to them, “Do you know Laban, the son of Nahor?”

They said, “We know him.”

⁶ He said to them, “Is it well with him?”

They said, “It is well. See, Rachel, his daughter, is coming with the sheep.”

⁷ He said, “Behold, it is still the middle of the day, not time to gather the livestock together. Water the sheep, and go and feed them.”

⁸ They said, “We can’t, until all the flocks are gathered together, and they roll the stone from the well’s mouth. Then we water the sheep.”

⁹ While he was yet speaking with them, Rachel came with her father’s sheep, for she kept them. ¹⁰ When Jacob saw Rachel the daughter of Laban, his mother’s brother, and the sheep of Laban, his mother’s brother, Jacob went near, and rolled the stone from the well’s mouth, and watered the flock of Laban his mother’s brother. ¹¹ Jacob kissed Rachel, and lifted up his voice, and wept. ¹² Jacob told Rachel that he was her father’s relative, and that he was Rebekah’s son. She ran and told her father.

¹³ When Laban heard the news of Jacob, his sister’s son, he ran to meet Jacob, and embraced him, and kissed him, and brought him to his house. Jacob told Laban all these things. ¹⁴ Laban said to him, “Surely you are my bone and my flesh.” Jacob stayed with him for a month. ¹⁵ Laban said to Jacob, “Because you are my relative, should you therefore serve me for nothing? Tell me, what will your wages be?”

¹⁶ Laban had two daughters. The name of the elder was Leah, and the name of the younger was Rachel. ¹⁷ Leah’s eyes were weak, but Rachel was beautiful in form and attractive. ¹⁸ Jacob loved Rachel. He said, “I will serve you seven years for Rachel, your younger daughter.”

¹⁹ Laban said, “It is better that I give her to you, than that I should give her to another man. Stay with me.”

²⁰ Jacob served seven years for Rachel. They seemed to him but a few days, for the love he had for her.

²¹ Jacob said to Laban, “Give me my wife, for my days are fulfilled, that I may go in to her.”

²² Laban gathered together all the men of the place, and made a feast. ²³ In the evening, he took Leah his daughter, and brought her to Jacob. He went in to her. ²⁴ Laban gave Zilpah his servant to his daughter Leah for a servant. ²⁵ In the morning, behold, it was Leah! He said to Laban, “What is this you have done to me? Didn’t I serve with you for Rachel? Why then have you deceived me?”

²⁶ Laban said, “It is not done so in our place, to give the younger before the firstborn. ²⁷ Fulfill the week of this one, and we will give you the other also for the service which you will serve with me for seven more years.”

²⁸ Jacob did so, and fulfilled her week. He gave him Rachel his daughter as wife. ²⁹ Laban gave Bilhah, his servant, to his daughter Rachel to be her servant. ³⁰ He went in also to Rachel, and he loved also Rachel more than Leah, and served with him seven more years.

³¹ Yahweh saw that Leah was hated, and he opened her womb, but Rachel was barren. ³² Leah conceived, and bore a son, and she named him Reuben. For she said, “Because Yahweh has looked at my affliction; for now my husband will love me.” ³³ She conceived again, and bore a son, and said, “Because Yahweh has heard that I am hated, he has therefore given me this son also.” She named him Simeon. ³⁴ She conceived again, and bore a son. She said, “Now this time my husband will be joined to me, because I have borne him three sons.” Therefore his name was called Levi. ³⁵ She conceived again, and bore a son. She said, “This time I will praise Yahweh.” Therefore she named him Judah. Then she stopped bearing.

30When Rachel saw that she bore Jacob no children, Rachel envied her sister. She said to Jacob, “Give me children, or else I will die.”

² Jacob’s anger burned against Rachel, and he said, “Am I in God’s place, who has withheld from you the fruit of the womb?”

³ She said, “Behold, my maid Bilhah. Go in to her, that she may bear on my knees, and I also may obtain children by her.” ⁴ She gave him Bilhah her servant as wife, and Jacob went in to her. ⁵ Bilhah conceived, and bore Jacob a son. ⁶ Rachel said, “God has judged me, and has also heard my voice, and has given me a son.” Therefore she called his name Dan. ⁷ Bilhah, Rachel’s servant, conceived again, and bore Jacob a second son. ⁸ Rachel said, “I have wrestled with my sister with mighty wrestlings, and have prevailed.” She named him Naphtali.

⁹ When Leah saw that she had finished bearing, she took Zilpah, her servant, and gave her to Jacob as a wife. ¹⁰ Zilpah, Leah’s servant, bore Jacob a son. ¹¹ Leah said, “How fortunate!” She named him Gad. ¹² Zilpah, Leah’s servant, bore Jacob a second son. ¹³ Leah said, “Happy am I, for the daughters will call me happy.” She named him Asher.

¹⁴ Reuben went in the days of wheat harvest, and found mandrakes in the field, and brought them to his mother, Leah. Then Rachel said to Leah, “Please give me some of your son’s mandrakes.”

¹⁵ Leah said to her, “Is it a small matter that you have taken away my husband? Would you take away my son’s mandrakes, also?”

Rachel said, “Therefore he will lie with you tonight for your son’s mandrakes.”

¹⁶ Jacob came from the field in the evening, and Leah went out to meet him, and said, “You must come in to me; for I have surely hired you with my son’s mandrakes.”

He lay with her that night. ¹⁷ God listened to Leah, and she conceived, and bore Jacob a fifth son. ¹⁸ Leah said, “God has given me my hire, because I gave my servant to my husband.” She named him Issachar. ¹⁹ Leah conceived again, and bore a sixth son to Jacob. ²⁰ Leah said, “God has endowed me with a good dowry. Now my husband will live with me, because I have borne him six sons.” She named him Zebulun. ²¹ Afterwards, she bore a daughter, and named her Dinah.

²² God remembered Rachel, and God listened to her, and opened her womb. ²³ She conceived, bore a son, and said, “God has taken away my reproach.” ²⁴ She named him Joseph, saying, “May Yahweh add another son to me.”

²⁵ When Rachel had borne Joseph, Jacob said to Laban, “Send me away, that I may go to my own place, and to my country. ²⁶ Give me my wives and my children for whom I have served you, and let me go; for you know my service with which I have served you.”

²⁷ Laban said to him, “If now I have found favor in your eyes, stay here, for I have divined that Yahweh has blessed me for your sake.” ²⁸ He said, “Appoint me your wages, and I will give it.”

²⁹ Jacob said to him, “You know how I have served you, and how your livestock have fared with me. ³⁰ For it was little which you had before I came, and it has increased to a multitude. Yahweh has blessed you wherever I turned. Now when will I provide for my own house also?”

³¹ Laban said, “What shall I give you?”

Jacob said, “You shall not give me anything. If you will do this thing for me, I will again feed your flock and keep it. ³² I will pass through all your flock today, removing from there every speckled and spotted one, and every black one among the sheep, and the spotted and speckled among the goats. This will be my hire. ³³ So my righteousness will answer for me hereafter, when you come concerning my hire that is before you. Every one that is not speckled and spotted among the goats, and black among the sheep, that might be with me, will be considered stolen.”

³⁴ Laban said, “Behold, let it be according to your word.”

³⁵ That day, he removed the male goats that were streaked and spotted, and all the female goats that were speckled and spotted, every one that had white in it, and all the black ones among the sheep, and gave them into the hand of his sons. ³⁶ He set three days’ journey between himself and Jacob, and Jacob fed the rest of Laban’s flocks.

³⁷ Jacob took to himself rods of fresh poplar, almond, and plane tree, peeled white streaks in them, and made the white appear which was in the rods. ³⁸ He set the rods which he had peeled opposite the flocks in the watering troughs where the flocks came to drink. They conceived when they came to drink. ³⁹ The flocks conceived before the rods, and the flocks produced streaked, speckled, and spotted. ⁴⁰ Jacob separated the lambs, and set the faces of the flocks toward the streaked and all the black in Laban’s flock. He put his own droves apart, and didn’t put them into Laban’s flock. ⁴¹ Whenever the stronger of the flock conceived, Jacob laid the rods in front of the eyes of the flock in the watering troughs, that they might conceive among the rods; ⁴² but when the flock were feeble, he didn’t put them in. So the feebler were Laban’s, and the stronger Jacob’s. ⁴³ The man increased exceedingly, and had large flocks, female servants and male servants, and camels and donkeys.

31Jacob heard Laban’s sons’ words, saying, “Jacob has taken away all that was our father’s. He has obtained all this wealth from that which was our father’s.” ² Jacob saw the expression on Laban’s face, and, behold, it was not toward him as before. ³ Yahweh said to Jacob, “Return to the land of your fathers, and to your relatives, and I will be with you.”

⁴ Jacob sent and called Rachel and Leah to the field to his flock, ⁵ and said to them, “I see the expression on your father’s face, that it is not toward me as before; but the God of my father has been with me. ⁶ You know that I have served your father with all of my strength. ⁷ Your father has deceived me, and changed my wages ten times, but God didn’t allow him to hurt me. ⁸ If he said, ‘The speckled will be your wages,’ then all the flock bore speckled. If he said, ‘The streaked will be your wages,’ then all the flock bore streaked. ⁹ Thus God has taken away your father’s livestock, and given them to me. ¹⁰ During mating season, I lifted up my eyes, and saw in a dream, and behold, the male goats which leaped on the flock were streaked, speckled, and grizzled. ¹¹ The angel of God said to me in the dream, ‘Jacob,’ and I said, ‘Here I am.’ ¹² He said, ‘Now lift up your eyes, and behold, all the male goats which leap on the flock are streaked, speckled, and grizzled, for I have seen all that Laban does to you. ¹³ I am the God of Bethel, where you anointed a pillar, where you vowed a vow to me. Now arise, get out from this land, and return to the land of your birth.’ ”

¹⁴ Rachel and Leah answered him, “Is there yet any portion or inheritance for us in our father’s house? ¹⁵ Aren’t we considered as foreigners by him? For he has sold us, and has also used up our money. ¹⁶ For all the riches which God has taken away from our father are ours and our children’s. Now then, whatever God has said to you, do.”

¹⁷ Then Jacob rose up, and set his sons and his wives on the camels, ¹⁸ and he took away all his livestock, and all his possessions which he had gathered, including the livestock which he had gained in Paddan Aram, to go to Isaac his father, to the land of Canaan. ¹⁹ Now Laban had gone to shear his sheep; and Rachel stole the teraphim that were her father’s.

²⁰ Jacob deceived Laban the Syrian, in that he didn’t tell him that he was running away. ²¹ So he fled with all that he had. He rose up, passed over the River, and set his face toward the mountain of Gilead.

²² Laban was told on the third day that Jacob had fled. ²³ He took his relatives with him, and pursued him seven days’ journey. He overtook him in the mountain of Gilead. ²⁴ God came to Laban the Syrian in a dream of the night, and said to him, “Be careful that you don’t speak to Jacob either good or bad.”

²⁵ Laban caught up with Jacob. Now Jacob had pitched his tent in the mountain, and Laban with his relatives encamped in the mountain of Gilead. ²⁶ Laban said to Jacob, “What have you done, that you have deceived me, and carried away my daughters like captives of the sword? ²⁷ Why did you flee secretly, and deceive me, and didn’t tell me, that I might have sent you away with mirth and with songs, with tambourine and with harp; ²⁸ and didn’t allow me to kiss my sons and my daughters? Now have you done foolishly. ²⁹ It is in the power of my hand to hurt you, but the God of your father spoke to me last night, saying, ‘Be careful that you don’t speak to Jacob either good or bad.’ ³⁰ Now, you want to be gone, because you greatly longed for your father’s house, but why have you stolen my gods?”

³¹ Jacob answered Laban, “Because I was afraid, for I said, ‘Lest you should take your daughters from me by force.’ ³² Anyone you find your gods with shall not live. Before our relatives, discern what is yours with me, and take it.” For Jacob didn’t know that Rachel had stolen them.

³³ Laban went into Jacob’s tent, into Leah’s tent, and into the tent of the two female servants; but he didn’t find them. He went out of Leah’s tent, and entered into Rachel’s tent. ³⁴ Now Rachel had taken the teraphim, put them in the camel’s saddle, and sat on them. Laban felt around all the tent, but didn’t find them. ³⁵ She said to her father, “Don’t let my lord be angry that I can’t rise up before you; for I’m having my period.” He searched, but didn’t find the teraphim.

³⁶ Jacob was angry, and argued with Laban. Jacob answered Laban, “What is my trespass? What is my sin, that you have hotly pursued me? ³⁷ Now that you have felt around in all my stuff, what have you found of all your household stuff? Set it here before my relatives and your relatives, that they may judge between us two.

³⁸ “These twenty years I have been with you. Your ewes and your female goats have not cast their young, and I haven’t eaten the rams of your flocks. ³⁹ That which was torn of animals, I didn’t bring to you. I bore its loss. Of my hand you required it, whether stolen by day or stolen by night. ⁴⁰ This was my situation: in the day the drought consumed me, and the frost by night; and my sleep fled from my eyes. ⁴¹ These twenty years I have been in your house. I served you fourteen years for your two daughters, and six years for your flock, and you have changed my wages ten times. ⁴² Unless the God of my father, the God of Abraham, and the fear of Isaac, had been with me, surely now you would have sent me away empty. God has seen my affliction and the labor of my hands, and rebuked you last night.”

⁴³ Laban answered Jacob, “The daughters are my daughters, the children are my children, the flocks are my flocks, and all that you see is mine! What can I do today to these my daughters, or to their children whom they have borne? ⁴⁴ Now come, let’s make a covenant, you and I. Let it be for a witness between me and you.”

⁴⁵ Jacob took a stone, and set it up for a pillar. ⁴⁶ Jacob said to his relatives, “Gather stones.” They took stones, and made a heap. They ate there by the heap. ⁴⁷ Laban called it Jegar Sahadutha, but Jacob called it Galeed. ⁴⁸ Laban said, “This heap is witness between me and you today.” Therefore it was named Galeed ⁴⁹ and Mizpah, for he said, “Yahweh watch between me and you, when we are absent one from another. ⁵⁰ If you afflict my daughters, or if you take wives in addition to my daughters, no man is with us; behold, God is witness between me and you.” ⁵¹ Laban said to Jacob, “See this heap, and see the pillar, which I have set between me and you. ⁵² May this heap be a witness, and the pillar be a witness, that I will not pass over this heap to you, and that you will not pass over this heap and this pillar to me, for harm. ⁵³ The God of Abraham, and the God of Nahor, the God of their father, judge between us.” Then Jacob swore by the fear of his father, Isaac. ⁵⁴ Jacob offered a sacrifice in the mountain, and called his relatives to eat bread. They ate bread, and stayed all night in the mountain. ⁵⁵ Early in the morning, Laban rose up, and kissed his sons and his daughters, and blessed them. Laban departed and returned to his place.

32Jacob went on his way, and the angels of God met him. ² When he saw them, Jacob said, “This is God’s army.” He called the name of that place Mahanaim.

³ Jacob sent messengers in front of him to Esau, his brother, to the land of Seir, the field of Edom. ⁴ He commanded them, saying, “This is what you shall tell my lord, Esau: ‘This is what your servant, Jacob, says. I have lived as a foreigner with Laban, and stayed until now. ⁵ I have cattle, donkeys, flocks, male servants, and female servants. I have sent to tell my lord, that I may find favor in your sight.’ ” ⁶ The messengers returned to Jacob, saying, “We came to your brother Esau. He is coming to meet you, and four hundred men are with him.” ⁷ Then Jacob was greatly afraid and was distressed. He divided the people who were with him, and the flocks, and the herds, and the camels, into two companies; ⁸ and he said, “If Esau comes to the one company, and strikes it, then the company which is left will escape.” ⁹ Jacob said, “God of my father Abraham, and God of my father Isaac, Yahweh, who said to me, ‘Return to your country, and to your relatives, and I will do you good,’ ¹⁰ I am not worthy of the least of all the loving kindnesses, and of all the truth, which you have shown to your servant; for with just my staff I crossed over this Jordan; and now I have become two companies. ¹¹ Please deliver me from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau; for I fear him, lest he come and strike me and the mothers with the children. ¹² You said, ‘I will surely do you good, and make your offspring as the sand of the sea, which can’t be counted because there are so many.’ ”

¹³ He stayed there that night, and took from that which he had with him a present for Esau, his brother: ¹⁴ two hundred female goats and twenty male goats, two hundred ewes and twenty rams, ¹⁵ thirty milk camels and their colts, forty cows, ten bulls, twenty female donkeys and ten foals. ¹⁶ He delivered them into the hands of his servants, every herd by itself, and said to his servants, “Pass over before me, and put a space between herd and herd.” ¹⁷ He commanded the foremost, saying, “When Esau, my brother, meets you, and asks you, saying, ‘Whose are you? Where are you going? Whose are these before you?’ ¹⁸ Then you shall say, ‘They are your servant, Jacob’s. It is a present sent to my lord, Esau. Behold, he also is behind us.’ ” ¹⁹ He commanded also the second, and the third, and all that followed the herds, saying, “This is how you shall speak to Esau, when you find him. ²⁰ You shall say, ‘Not only that, but behold, your servant, Jacob, is behind us.’ ” For, he said, “I will appease him with the present that goes before me, and afterward I will see his face. Perhaps he will accept me.”

²¹ So the present passed over before him, and he himself stayed that night in the camp.

²² He rose up that night, and took his two wives, and his two servants, and his eleven sons, and crossed over the ford of the Jabbok. ²³ He took them, and sent them over the stream, and sent over that which he had. ²⁴ Jacob was left alone, and wrestled with a man there until the breaking of the day. ²⁵ When he saw that he didn’t prevail against him, the man touched the hollow of his thigh, and the hollow of Jacob’s thigh was strained as he wrestled. ²⁶ The man said, “Let me go, for the day breaks.”

Jacob said, “I won’t let you go unless you bless me.”

²⁷ He said to him, “What is your name?”

He said, “Jacob”.

²⁸ He said, “Your name will no longer be called Jacob, but Israel; for you have fought with God and with men, and have prevailed.”

²⁹ Jacob asked him, “Please tell me your name.”

He said, “Why is it that you ask what my name is?” He blessed him there.

³⁰ Jacob called the name of the place Peniel; for he said, “I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved.” ³¹ The sun rose on him as he passed over Peniel, and he limped because of his thigh. ³² Therefore the children of Israel don’t eat the sinew of the hip, which is on the hollow of the thigh, to this day, because he touched the hollow of Jacob’s thigh in the sinew of the hip.

33Jacob lifted up his eyes, and looked, and, behold, Esau was coming, and with him four hundred men. He divided the children between Leah, Rachel, and the two servants. ² He put the servants and their children in front, Leah and her children after, and Rachel and Joseph at the rear. ³ He himself passed over in front of them, and bowed himself to the ground seven times, until he came near to his brother.

⁴ Esau ran to meet him, embraced him, fell on his neck, kissed him, and they wept. ⁵ He lifted up his eyes, and saw the women and the children; and said, “Who are these with you?”

He said, “The children whom God has graciously given your servant.” ⁶ Then the servants came near with their children, and they bowed themselves. ⁷ Leah also and her children came near, and bowed themselves. After them, Joseph came near with Rachel, and they bowed themselves.

⁸ Esau said, “What do you mean by all this company which I met?”

Jacob said, “To find favor in the sight of my lord.”

⁹ Esau said, “I have enough, my brother; let that which you have be yours.”

¹⁰ Jacob said, “Please, no, if I have now found favor in your sight, then receive my present at my hand, because I have seen your face, as one sees the face of God, and you were pleased with me. ¹¹ Please take the gift that I brought to you, because God has dealt graciously with me, and because I have enough.” He urged him, and he took it.

¹² Esau said, “Let’s take our journey, and let’s go, and I will go before you.”

¹³ Jacob said to him, “My lord knows that the children are tender, and that the flocks and herds with me have their young, and if they overdrive them one day, all the flocks will die. ¹⁴ Please let my lord pass over before his servant, and I will lead on gently, according to the pace of the livestock that are before me and according to the pace of the children, until I come to my lord to Seir.”

¹⁵ Esau said, “Let me now leave with you some of the people who are with me.”

He said, “Why? Let me find favor in the sight of my lord.”

¹⁶ So Esau returned that day on his way to Seir. ¹⁷ Jacob traveled to Succoth, built himself a house, and made shelters for his livestock. Therefore the name of the place is called Succoth.

¹⁸ Jacob came in peace to the city of Shechem, which is in the land of Canaan, when he came from Paddan Aram; and encamped before the city. ¹⁹ He bought the parcel of ground where he had spread his tent, at the hand of the children of Hamor, Shechem’s father, for one hundred pieces of money. ²⁰ He erected an altar there, and called it El Elohe Israel.

34Dinah, the daughter of Leah, whom she bore to Jacob, went out to see the daughters of the land. ² Shechem the son of Hamor the Hivite, the prince of the land, saw her. He took her, lay with her, and humbled her. ³ His soul joined to Dinah, the daughter of Jacob, and he loved the young lady, and spoke kindly to the young lady. ⁴ Shechem spoke to his father, Hamor, saying, “Get me this young lady as a wife.”

⁵ Now Jacob heard that he had defiled Dinah, his daughter; and his sons were with his livestock in the field. Jacob held his peace until they came. ⁶ Hamor the father of Shechem went out to Jacob to talk with him. ⁷ The sons of Jacob came in from the field when they heard it. The men were grieved, and they were very angry, because he had done folly in Israel in lying with Jacob’s daughter, a thing ought not to be done. ⁸ Hamor talked with them, saying, “The soul of my son, Shechem, longs for your daughter. Please give her to him as a wife. ⁹ Make marriages with us. Give your daughters to us, and take our daughters for yourselves. ¹⁰ You shall dwell with us, and the land will be before you. Live and trade in it, and get possessions in it.”

¹¹ Shechem said to her father and to her brothers, “Let me find favor in your eyes, and whatever you will tell me I will give. ¹² Ask me a great amount for a dowry, and I will give whatever you ask of me, but give me the young lady as a wife.”

¹³ The sons of Jacob answered Shechem and Hamor his father with deceit when they spoke, because he had defiled Dinah their sister, ¹⁴ and said to them, “We can’t do this thing, to give our sister to one who is uncircumcised; for that is a reproach to us. ¹⁵ Only on this condition will we consent to you. If you will be as we are, that every male of you be circumcised, ¹⁶ then will we give our daughters to you; and we will take your daughters to us, and we will dwell with you, and we will become one people. ¹⁷ But if you will not listen to us and be circumcised, then we will take our sister, and we will be gone.”

¹⁸ Their words pleased Hamor and Shechem, Hamor’s son. ¹⁹ The young man didn’t wait to do this thing, because he had delight in Jacob’s daughter, and he was honored above all the house of his father. ²⁰ Hamor and Shechem, his son, came to the gate of their city, and talked with the men of their city, saying, ²¹ “These men are peaceful with us. Therefore let them live in the land and trade in it. For behold, the land is large enough for them. Let’s take their daughters to us for wives, and let’s give them our daughters. ²² Only on this condition will the men consent to us to live with us, to become one people, if every male among us is circumcised, as they are circumcised. ²³ Won’t their livestock and their possessions and all their animals be ours? Only let’s give our consent to them, and they will dwell with us.”

²⁴ All who went out of the gate of his city listened to Hamor, and to Shechem his son; and every male was circumcised, all who went out of the gate of his city. ²⁵ On the third day, when they were sore, two of Jacob’s sons, Simeon and Levi, Dinah’s brothers, each took his sword, came upon the unsuspecting city, and killed all the males. ²⁶ They killed Hamor and Shechem, his son, with the edge of the sword, and took Dinah out of Shechem’s house, and went away. ²⁷ Jacob’s sons came on the dead, and plundered the city, because they had defiled their sister. ²⁸ They took their flocks, their herds, their donkeys, that which was in the city, that which was in the field, ²⁹ and all their wealth. They took captive all their little ones and their wives, and took as plunder everything that was in the house. ³⁰ Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, “You have troubled me, to make me odious to the inhabitants of the land, among the Canaanites and the Perizzites. I am few in number. They will gather themselves together against me and strike me, and I will be destroyed, I and my house.”

³¹ They said, “Should he deal with our sister as with a prostitute?”

35God said to Jacob, “Arise, go up to Bethel, and live there. Make there an altar to God, who appeared to you when you fled from the face of Esau your brother.”

² Then Jacob said to his household, and to all who were with him, “Put away the foreign gods that are among you, purify yourselves, change your garments. ³ Let’s arise, and go up to Bethel. I will make there an altar to God, who answered me in the day of my distress, and was with me on the way which I went.”

⁴ They gave to Jacob all the foreign gods which were in their hands, and the rings which were in their ears; and Jacob hid them under the oak which was by Shechem. ⁵ They traveled, and a terror of God was on the cities that were around them, and they didn’t pursue the sons of Jacob. ⁶ So Jacob came to Luz (that is, Bethel), which is in the land of Canaan, he and all the people who were with him. ⁷ He built an altar there, and called the place El Beth El; because there God was revealed to him, when he fled from the face of his brother. ⁸ Deborah, Rebekah’s nurse, died, and she was buried below Bethel under the oak; and its name was called Allon Bacuth.

⁹ God appeared to Jacob again, when he came from Paddan Aram, and blessed him. ¹⁰ God said to him, “Your name is Jacob. Your name shall not be Jacob any more, but your name will be Israel.” He named him Israel. ¹¹ God said to him, “I am God Almighty. Be fruitful and multiply. A nation and a company of nations will be from you, and kings will come out of your body. ¹² The land which I gave to Abraham and Isaac, I will give it to you, and to your offspring after you I will give the land.”

¹³ God went up from him in the place where he spoke with him. ¹⁴ Jacob set up a pillar in the place where he spoke with him, a pillar of stone. He poured out a drink offering on it, and poured oil on it. ¹⁵ Jacob called the name of the place where God spoke with him “Bethel”.

¹⁶ They traveled from Bethel. There was still some distance to come to Ephrath, and Rachel travailed. She had hard labor. ¹⁷ When she was in hard labor, the midwife said to her, “Don’t be afraid, for now you will have another son.”

¹⁸ As her soul was departing (for she died), she named him Benoni, but his father named him Benjamin. ¹⁹ Rachel died, and was buried on the way to Ephrath (also called Bethlehem). ²⁰ Jacob set up a pillar on her grave. The same is the Pillar of Rachel’s grave to this day. ²¹ Israel traveled, and spread his tent beyond the tower of Eder. ²² While Israel lived in that land, Reuben went and lay with Bilhah, his father’s concubine, and Israel heard of it.

Now the sons of Jacob were twelve. ²³ The sons of Leah: Reuben (Jacob’s firstborn), Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun. ²⁴ The sons of Rachel: Joseph and Benjamin. ²⁵ The sons of Bilhah (Rachel’s servant): Dan and Naphtali. ²⁶ The sons of Zilpah (Leah’s servant): Gad and Asher. These are the sons of Jacob, who were born to him in Paddan Aram. ²⁷ Jacob came to Isaac his father, to Mamre, to Kiriath Arba (which is Hebron), where Abraham and Isaac lived as foreigners.

²⁸ The days of Isaac were one hundred eighty years. ²⁹ Isaac gave up the spirit and died, and was gathered to his people, old and full of days. Esau and Jacob, his sons, buried him.

36Now this is the history of the generations of Esau (that is, Edom). ² Esau took his wives from the daughters of Canaan: Adah the daughter of Elon, the Hittite; and Oholibamah the daughter of Anah, the daughter of Zibeon, the Hivite; ³ and Basemath, Ishmael’s daughter, sister of Nebaioth. ⁴ Adah bore to Esau Eliphaz. Basemath bore Reuel. ⁵ Oholibamah bore Jeush, Jalam, and Korah. These are the sons of Esau, who were born to him in the land of Canaan. ⁶ Esau took his wives, his sons, his daughters, and all the members of his household, with his livestock, all his animals, and all his possessions, which he had gathered in the land of Canaan, and went into a land away from his brother Jacob. ⁷ For their substance was too great for them to dwell together, and the land of their travels couldn’t bear them because of their livestock. ⁸ Esau lived in the hill country of Seir. Esau is Edom.

⁹ This is the history of the generations of Esau the father of the Edomites in the hill country of Seir: ¹⁰ these are the names of Esau’s sons: Eliphaz, the son of Adah, the wife of Esau; and Reuel, the son of Basemath, the wife of Esau. ¹¹ The sons of Eliphaz were Teman, Omar, Zepho, and Gatam, and Kenaz. ¹² Timna was concubine to Eliphaz, Esau’s son; and she bore to Eliphaz Amalek. These are the descendants of Adah, Esau’s wife. ¹³ These are the sons of Reuel: Nahath, Zerah, Shammah, and Mizzah. These were the descendants of Basemath, Esau’s wife. ¹⁴ These were the sons of Oholibamah, the daughter of Anah, the daughter of Zibeon, Esau’s wife: she bore to Esau Jeush, Jalam, and Korah.

¹⁵ These are the chiefs of the sons of Esau: the sons of Eliphaz the firstborn of Esau: chief Teman, chief Omar, chief Zepho, chief Kenaz, ¹⁶ chief Korah, chief Gatam, chief Amalek. These are the chiefs who came of Eliphaz in the land of Edom. These are the sons of Adah. ¹⁷ These are the sons of Reuel, Esau’s son: chief Nahath, chief Zerah, chief Shammah, chief Mizzah. These are the chiefs who came of Reuel in the land of Edom. These are the sons of Basemath, Esau’s wife. ¹⁸ These are the sons of Oholibamah, Esau’s wife: chief Jeush, chief Jalam, chief Korah. These are the chiefs who came of Oholibamah the daughter of Anah, Esau’s wife. ¹⁹ These are the sons of Esau (that is, Edom), and these are their chiefs.

²⁰ These are the sons of Seir the Horite, the inhabitants of the land: Lotan, Shobal, Zibeon, Anah, ²¹ Dishon, Ezer, and Dishan. These are the chiefs who came of the Horites, the children of Seir in the land of Edom. ²² The children of Lotan were Hori and Heman. Lotan’s sister was Timna. ²³ These are the children of Shobal: Alvan, Manahath, Ebal, Shepho, and Onam. ²⁴ These are the children of Zibeon: Aiah and Anah. This is Anah who found the hot springs in the wilderness, as he fed the donkeys of Zibeon his father. ²⁵ These are the children of Anah: Dishon and Oholibamah, the daughter of Anah. ²⁶ These are the children of Dishon: Hemdan, Eshban, Ithran, and Cheran. ²⁷ These are the children of Ezer: Bilhan, Zaavan, and Akan. ²⁸ These are the children of Dishan: Uz and Aran. ²⁹ These are the chiefs who came of the Horites: chief Lotan, chief Shobal, chief Zibeon, chief Anah, ³⁰ chief Dishon, chief Ezer, and chief Dishan. These are the chiefs who came of the Horites, according to their chiefs in the land of Seir.

³¹ These are the kings who reigned in the land of Edom, before any king reigned over the children of Israel. ³² Bela, the son of Beor, reigned in Edom. The name of his city was Dinhabah. ³³ Bela died, and Jobab, the son of Zerah of Bozrah, reigned in his place. ³⁴ Jobab died, and Husham of the land of the Temanites reigned in his place. ³⁵ Husham died, and Hadad, the son of Bedad, who struck Midian in the field of Moab, reigned in his place. The name of his city was Avith. ³⁶ Hadad died, and Samlah of Masrekah reigned in his place. ³⁷ Samlah died, and Shaul of Rehoboth by the river, reigned in his place. ³⁸ Shaul died, and Baal Hanan the son of Achbor reigned in his place. ³⁹ Baal Hanan the son of Achbor died, and Hadar reigned in his place. The name of his city was Pau. His wife’s name was Mehetabel, the daughter of Matred, the daughter of Mezahab.

⁴⁰ These are the names of the chiefs who came from Esau, according to their families, after their places, and by their names: chief Timna, chief Alvah, chief Jetheth, ⁴¹ chief Oholibamah, chief Elah, chief Pinon, ⁴² chief Kenaz, chief Teman, chief Mibzar, ⁴³ chief Magdiel, and chief Iram. These are the chiefs of Edom, according to their habitations in the land of their possession. This is Esau, the father of the Edomites.

37Jacob lived in the land of his father’s travels, in the land of Canaan. ² This is the history of the generations of Jacob. Joseph, being seventeen years old, was feeding the flock with his brothers. He was a boy with the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, his father’s wives. Joseph brought an evil report of them to their father. ³ Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was the son of his old age, and he made him a tunic of many colors. ⁴ His brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, and they hated him, and couldn’t speak peaceably to him.

⁵ Joseph dreamed a dream, and he told it to his brothers, and they hated him all the more. ⁶ He said to them, “Please hear this dream which I have dreamed: ⁷ for behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and behold, my sheaf arose and also stood upright; and behold, your sheaves came around, and bowed down to my sheaf.”

⁸ His brothers asked him, “Will you indeed reign over us? Will you indeed have dominion over us?” They hated him all the more for his dreams and for his words. ⁹ He dreamed yet another dream, and told it to his brothers, and said, “Behold, I have dreamed yet another dream: and behold, the sun and the moon and eleven stars bowed down to me.” ¹⁰ He told it to his father and to his brothers. His father rebuked him, and said to him, “What is this dream that you have dreamed? Will I and your mother and your brothers indeed come to bow ourselves down to you to the earth?” ¹¹ His brothers envied him, but his father kept this saying in mind.

¹² His brothers went to feed their father’s flock in Shechem. ¹³ Israel said to Joseph, “Aren’t your brothers feeding the flock in Shechem? Come, and I will send you to them.” He said to him, “Here I am.”

¹⁴ He said to him, “Go now, see whether it is well with your brothers, and well with the flock; and bring me word again.” So he sent him out of the valley of Hebron, and he came to Shechem. ¹⁵ A certain man found him, and behold, he was wandering in the field. The man asked him, “What are you looking for?”

¹⁶ He said, “I am looking for my brothers. Tell me, please, where they are feeding the flock.”

¹⁷ The man said, “They have left here, for I heard them say, ‘Let’s go to Dothan.’ ”

Joseph went after his brothers, and found them in Dothan. ¹⁸ They saw him afar off, and before he came near to them, they conspired against him to kill him. ¹⁹ They said to one another, “Behold, this dreamer comes. ²⁰ Come now therefore, and let’s kill him, and cast him into one of the pits, and we will say, ‘An evil animal has devoured him.’ We will see what will become of his dreams.”

²¹ Reuben heard it, and delivered him out of their hand, and said, “Let’s not take his life.” ²² Reuben said to them, “Shed no blood. Throw him into this pit that is in the wilderness, but lay no hand on him”—that he might deliver him out of their hand, to restore him to his father. ²³ When Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped Joseph of his tunic, the tunic of many colors that was on him; ²⁴ and they took him, and threw him into the pit. The pit was empty. There was no water in it.

²⁵ They sat down to eat bread, and they lifted up their eyes and looked, and saw a caravan of Ishmaelites was coming from Gilead, with their camels bearing spices and balm and myrrh, going to carry it down to Egypt. ²⁶ Judah said to his brothers, “What profit is it if we kill our brother and conceal his blood? ²⁷ Come, and let’s sell him to the Ishmaelites, and not let our hand be on him; for he is our brother, our flesh.” His brothers listened to him. ²⁸ Midianites who were merchants passed by, and they drew and lifted up Joseph out of the pit, and sold Joseph to the Ishmaelites for twenty pieces of silver. The merchants brought Joseph into Egypt.

²⁹ Reuben returned to the pit, and saw that Joseph wasn’t in the pit; and he tore his clothes. ³⁰ He returned to his brothers, and said, “The child is no more; and I, where will I go?” ³¹ They took Joseph’s tunic, and killed a male goat, and dipped the tunic in the blood. ³² They took the tunic of many colors, and they brought it to their father, and said, “We have found this. Examine it, now, and see if it is your son’s tunic or not.”

³³ He recognized it, and said, “It is my son’s tunic. An evil animal has devoured him. Joseph is without doubt torn in pieces.” ³⁴ Jacob tore his clothes, and put sackcloth on his waist, and mourned for his son many days. ³⁵ All his sons and all his daughters rose up to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted. He said, “For I will go down to Sheol to my son, mourning.” His father wept for him. ³⁶ The Midianites sold him into Egypt to Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh’s, the captain of the guard.

38At that time, Judah went down from his brothers, and visited a certain Adullamite, whose name was Hirah. ² There, Judah saw the daughter of a certain Canaanite man named Shua. He took her, and went in to her. ³ She conceived, and bore a son; and he named him Er. ⁴ She conceived again, and bore a son; and she named him Onan. ⁵ She yet again bore a son, and named him Shelah. He was at Chezib when she bore him. ⁶ Judah took a wife for Er, his firstborn, and her name was Tamar. ⁷ Er, Judah’s firstborn, was wicked in Yahweh’s sight. So Yahweh killed him. ⁸ Judah said to Onan, “Go in to your brother’s wife, and perform the duty of a husband’s brother to her, and raise up offspring for your brother.” ⁹ Onan knew that the offspring wouldn’t be his; and when he went in to his brother’s wife, he spilled his semen on the ground, lest he should give offspring to his brother. ¹⁰ The thing which he did was evil in Yahweh’s sight, and he killed him also. ¹¹ Then Judah said to Tamar, his daughter-in-law, “Remain a widow in your father’s house, until Shelah, my son, is grown up;” for he said, “Lest he also die, like his brothers.” Tamar went and lived in her father’s house.

¹² After many days, Shua’s daughter, the wife of Judah, died. Judah was comforted, and went up to his sheep shearers to Timnah, he and his friend Hirah, the Adullamite. ¹³ Tamar was told, “Behold, your father-in-law is going up to Timnah to shear his sheep.” ¹⁴ She took off the garments of her widowhood, and covered herself with her veil, and wrapped herself, and sat in the gate of Enaim, which is on the way to Timnah; for she saw that Shelah was grown up, and she wasn’t given to him as a wife. ¹⁵ When Judah saw her, he thought that she was a prostitute, for she had covered her face. ¹⁶ He turned to her by the way, and said, “Please come, let me come in to you,” for he didn’t know that she was his daughter-in-law.

She said, “What will you give me, that you may come in to me?”

¹⁷ He said, “I will send you a young goat from the flock.”

She said, “Will you give me a pledge, until you send it?”

¹⁸ He said, “What pledge will I give you?”

She said, “Your signet and your cord, and your staff that is in your hand.”

He gave them to her, and came in to her, and she conceived by him. ¹⁹ She arose, and went away, and put off her veil from her, and put on the garments of her widowhood. ²⁰ Judah sent the young goat by the hand of his friend, the Adullamite, to receive the pledge from the woman’s hand, but he didn’t find her. ²¹ Then he asked the men of her place, saying, “Where is the prostitute, that was at Enaim by the road?”

They said, “There has been no prostitute here.”

²² He returned to Judah, and said, “I haven’t found her; and also the men of the place said, ‘There has been no prostitute here.’ ” ²³ Judah said, “Let her keep it, lest we be shamed. Behold, I sent this young goat, and you haven’t found her.”

²⁴ About three months later, Judah was told, “Tamar, your daughter-in-law, has played the prostitute. Moreover, behold, she is with child by prostitution.”

Judah said, “Bring her out, and let her be burned.” ²⁵ When she was brought out, she sent to her father-in-law, saying, “I am with child by the man who owns these.” She also said, “Please discern whose these are—the signet, and the cords, and the staff.”

²⁶ Judah acknowledged them, and said, “She is more righteous than I, because I didn’t give her to Shelah, my son.”

He knew her again no more. ²⁷ In the time of her travail, behold, twins were in her womb. ²⁸ When she travailed, one put out a hand, and the midwife took and tied a scarlet thread on his hand, saying, “This came out first.” ²⁹ As he drew back his hand, behold, his brother came out, and she said, “Why have you made a breach for yourself?” Therefore his name was called Perez. ³⁰ Afterward his brother came out, who had the scarlet thread on his hand, and his name was called Zerah.

39Joseph was brought down to Egypt. Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh’s, the captain of the guard, an Egyptian, bought him from the hand of the Ishmaelites that had brought him down there. ² Yahweh was with Joseph, and he was a prosperous man. He was in the house of his master the Egyptian. ³ His master saw that Yahweh was with him, and that Yahweh made all that he did prosper in his hand. ⁴ Joseph found favor in his sight. He ministered to him, and Potiphar made him overseer over his house, and all that he had he put into his hand. ⁵ From the time that he made him overseer in his house, and over all that he had, Yahweh blessed the Egyptian’s house for Joseph’s sake. Yahweh’s blessing was on all that he had, in the house and in the field. ⁶ He left all that he had in Joseph’s hand. He didn’t concern himself with anything, except for the food which he ate.

Joseph was well-built and handsome. ⁷ After these things, his master’s wife set her eyes on Joseph; and she said, “Lie with me.”

⁸ But he refused, and said to his master’s wife, “Behold, my master doesn’t know what is with me in the house, and he has put all that he has into my hand. ⁹ No one is greater in this house than I am, and he has not kept back anything from me but you, because you are his wife. How then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?”

¹⁰ As she spoke to Joseph day by day, he didn’t listen to her, to lie by her, or to be with her. ¹¹ About this time, he went into the house to do his work, and there were none of the men of the house inside. ¹² She caught him by his garment, saying, “Lie with me!”

He left his garment in her hand, and ran outside. ¹³ When she saw that he had left his garment in her hand, and had run outside, ¹⁴ she called to the men of her house, and spoke to them, saying, “Behold, he has brought a Hebrew in to us to mock us. He came in to me to lie with me, and I cried with a loud voice. ¹⁵ When he heard that I lifted up my voice and cried, he left his garment by me, and ran outside.” ¹⁶ She laid up his garment by her, until his master came home. ¹⁷ She spoke to him according to these words, saying, “The Hebrew servant, whom you have brought to us, came in to me to mock me, ¹⁸ and as I lifted up my voice and cried, he left his garment by me, and ran outside.”

¹⁹ When his master heard the words of his wife, which she spoke to him, saying, “This is what your servant did to me,” his wrath was kindled. ²⁰ Joseph’s master took him, and put him into the prison, the place where the king’s prisoners were bound, and he was there in custody. ²¹ But Yahweh was with Joseph, and showed kindness to him, and gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison. ²² The keeper of the prison committed to Joseph’s hand all the prisoners who were in the prison. Whatever they did there, he was responsible for it. ²³ The keeper of the prison didn’t look after anything that was under his hand, because Yahweh was with him; and that which he did, Yahweh made it prosper.

40After these things, the butler of the king of Egypt and his baker offended their lord, the king of Egypt. ² Pharaoh was angry with his two officers, the chief cup bearer and the chief baker. ³ He put them in custody in the house of the captain of the guard, into the prison, the place where Joseph was bound. ⁴ The captain of the guard assigned them to Joseph, and he took care of them. They stayed in prison many days. ⁵ They both dreamed a dream, each man his dream, in one night, each man according to the interpretation of his dream, the cup bearer and the baker of the king of Egypt, who were bound in the prison. ⁶ Joseph came in to them in the morning, and saw them, and saw that they were sad. ⁷ He asked Pharaoh’s officers who were with him in custody in his master’s house, saying, “Why do you look so sad today?”

⁸ They said to him, “We have dreamed a dream, and there is no one who can interpret it.”

Joseph said to them, “Don’t interpretations belong to God? Please tell it to me.”

⁹ The chief cup bearer told his dream to Joseph, and said to him, “In my dream, behold, a vine was in front of me, ¹⁰ and in the vine were three branches. It was as though it budded, it blossomed, and its clusters produced ripe grapes. ¹¹ Pharaoh’s cup was in my hand; and I took the grapes, and pressed them into Pharaoh’s cup, and I gave the cup into Pharaoh’s hand.”

¹² Joseph said to him, “This is its interpretation: the three branches are three days. ¹³ Within three more days, Pharaoh will lift up your head, and restore you to your office. You will give Pharaoh’s cup into his hand, the way you did when you were his cup bearer. ¹⁴ But remember me when it is well with you. Please show kindness to me, and make mention of me to Pharaoh, and bring me out of this house. ¹⁵ For indeed, I was stolen away out of the land of the Hebrews, and here also I have done nothing that they should put me into the dungeon.”

¹⁶ When the chief baker saw that the interpretation was good, he said to Joseph, “I also was in my dream, and behold, three baskets of white bread were on my head. ¹⁷ In the uppermost basket there were all kinds of baked food for Pharaoh, and the birds ate them out of the basket on my head.”

¹⁸ Joseph answered, “This is its interpretation. The three baskets are three days. ¹⁹ Within three more days, Pharaoh will lift up your head from off you, and will hang you on a tree; and the birds will eat your flesh from off you.” ²⁰ On the third day, which was Pharaoh’s birthday, he made a feast for all his servants, and he lifted up the head of the chief cup bearer and the head of the chief baker among his servants. ²¹ He restored the chief cup bearer to his position again, and he gave the cup into Pharaoh’s hand; ²² but he hanged the chief baker, as Joseph had interpreted to them. ²³ Yet the chief cup bearer didn’t remember Joseph, but forgot him.

41At the end of two full years, Pharaoh dreamed, and behold, he stood by the river. ² Behold, seven cattle came up out of the river. They were sleek and fat, and they fed in the marsh grass. ³ Behold, seven other cattle came up after them out of the river, ugly and thin, and stood by the other cattle on the brink of the river. ⁴ The ugly and thin cattle ate up the seven sleek and fat cattle. So Pharaoh awoke. ⁵ He slept and dreamed a second time; and behold, seven heads of grain came up on one stalk, healthy and good. ⁶ Behold, seven heads of grain, thin and blasted with the east wind, sprung up after them. ⁷ The thin heads of grain swallowed up the seven healthy and full ears. Pharaoh awoke, and behold, it was a dream. ⁸ In the morning, his spirit was troubled, and he sent and called for all of Egypt’s magicians and wise men. Pharaoh told them his dreams, but there was no one who could interpret them to Pharaoh.

⁹ Then the chief cup bearer spoke to Pharaoh, saying, “I remember my faults today. ¹⁰ Pharaoh was angry with his servants, and put me in custody in the house of the captain of the guard, with the chief baker. ¹¹ We dreamed a dream in one night, he and I. Each man dreamed according to the interpretation of his dream. ¹² There was with us there a young man, a Hebrew, servant to the captain of the guard, and we told him, and he interpreted to us our dreams. He interpreted to each man according to his dream. ¹³ As he interpreted to us, so it was. He restored me to my office, and he hanged him.”

¹⁴ Then Pharaoh sent and called Joseph, and they brought him hastily out of the dungeon. He shaved himself, changed his clothing, and came in to Pharaoh. ¹⁵ Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I have dreamed a dream, and there is no one who can interpret it. I have heard it said of you, that when you hear a dream you can interpret it.”

¹⁶ Joseph answered Pharaoh, saying, “It isn’t in me. God will give Pharaoh an answer of peace.”

¹⁷ Pharaoh spoke to Joseph, “In my dream, behold, I stood on the brink of the river; ¹⁸ and behold, there came up out of the river seven cattle, fat and sleek. They fed in the marsh grass; ¹⁹ and behold, seven other cattle came up after them, poor and very ugly and thin, such as I never saw in all the land of Egypt for ugliness. ²⁰ The thin and ugly cattle ate up the first seven fat cattle; ²¹ and when they had eaten them up, it couldn’t be known that they had eaten them, but they were still ugly, as at the beginning. So I awoke. ²² I saw in my dream, and behold, seven heads of grain came up on one stalk, full and good; ²³ and behold, seven heads of grain, withered, thin, and blasted with the east wind, sprung up after them. ²⁴ The thin heads of grain swallowed up the seven good heads of grain. I told it to the magicians, but there was no one who could explain it to me.”

²⁵ Joseph said to Pharaoh, “The dream of Pharaoh is one. What God is about to do he has declared to Pharaoh. ²⁶ The seven good cattle are seven years; and the seven good heads of grain are seven years. The dream is one. ²⁷ The seven thin and ugly cattle that came up after them are seven years, and also the seven empty heads of grain blasted with the east wind; they will be seven years of famine. ²⁸ That is the thing which I have spoken to Pharaoh. God has shown Pharaoh what he is about to do. ²⁹ Behold, seven years of great plenty throughout all the land of Egypt are coming. ³⁰ Seven years of famine will arise after them, and all the plenty will be forgotten in the land of Egypt. The famine will consume the land, ³¹ and the plenty will not be known in the land by reason of that famine which follows; for it will be very grievous. ³² The dream was doubled to Pharaoh, because the thing is established by God, and God will shortly bring it to pass.

³³ “Now therefore let Pharaoh look for a discreet and wise man, and set him over the land of Egypt. ³⁴ Let Pharaoh do this, and let him appoint overseers over the land, and take up the fifth part of the land of Egypt’s produce in the seven plenteous years. ³⁵ Let them gather all the food of these good years that come, and store grain under the hand of Pharaoh for food in the cities, and let them keep it. ³⁶ The food will be to supply the land against the seven years of famine, which will be in the land of Egypt; so that the land will not perish through the famine.”

³⁷ The thing was good in the eyes of Pharaoh, and in the eyes of all his servants. ³⁸ Pharaoh said to his servants, “Can we find such a one as this, a man in whom is the Spirit of God?” ³⁹ Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Because God has shown you all of this, there is no one so discreet and wise as you. ⁴⁰ You shall be over my house. All my people will be ruled according to your word. Only in the throne I will be greater than you.” ⁴¹ Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Behold, I have set you over all the land of Egypt.” ⁴² Pharaoh took off his signet ring from his hand, and put it on Joseph’s hand, and arrayed him in robes of fine linen, and put a gold chain about his neck. ⁴³ He made him ride in the second chariot which he had. They cried before him, “Bow the knee!” He set him over all the land of Egypt. ⁴⁴ Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I am Pharaoh. Without you, no man shall lift up his hand or his foot in all the land of Egypt.” ⁴⁵ Pharaoh called Joseph’s name Zaphenath-Paneah. He gave him Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera priest of On as a wife. Joseph went out over the land of Egypt.

⁴⁶ Joseph was thirty years old when he stood before Pharaoh king of Egypt. Joseph went out from the presence of Pharaoh, and went throughout all the land of Egypt. ⁴⁷ In the seven plenteous years the earth produced abundantly. ⁴⁸ He gathered up all the food of the seven years which were in the land of Egypt, and laid up the food in the cities. He stored food in each city from the fields around that city. ⁴⁹ Joseph laid up grain as the sand of the sea, very much, until he stopped counting, for it was without number. ⁵⁰ To Joseph were born two sons before the year of famine came, whom Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera priest of On, bore to him. ⁵¹ Joseph called the name of the firstborn Manasseh, “For”, he said, “God has made me forget all my toil, and all my father’s house.” ⁵² The name of the second, he called Ephraim: “For God has made me fruitful in the land of my affliction.”

⁵³ The seven years of plenty, that were in the land of Egypt, came to an end. ⁵⁴ The seven years of famine began to come, just as Joseph had said. There was famine in all lands, but in all the land of Egypt there was bread. ⁵⁵ When all the land of Egypt was famished, the people cried to Pharaoh for bread, and Pharaoh said to all the Egyptians, “Go to Joseph. What he says to you, do.” ⁵⁶ The famine was over all the surface of the earth. Joseph opened all the store houses, and sold to the Egyptians. The famine was severe in the land of Egypt. ⁵⁷ All countries came into Egypt, to Joseph, to buy grain, because the famine was severe in all the earth.

42Now Jacob saw that there was grain in Egypt, and Jacob said to his sons, “Why do you look at one another?” ² He said, “Behold, I have heard that there is grain in Egypt. Go down there, and buy for us from there, so that we may live, and not die.” ³ Joseph’s ten brothers went down to buy grain from Egypt. ⁴ But Jacob didn’t send Benjamin, Joseph’s brother, with his brothers; for he said, “Lest perhaps harm happen to him.” ⁵ The sons of Israel came to buy among those who came, for the famine was in the land of Canaan. ⁶ Joseph was the governor over the land. It was he who sold to all the people of the land. Joseph’s brothers came, and bowed themselves down to him with their faces to the earth. ⁷ Joseph saw his brothers, and he recognized them, but acted like a stranger to them, and spoke roughly with them. He said to them, “Where did you come from?”

They said, “From the land of Canaan, to buy food.”

⁸ Joseph recognized his brothers, but they didn’t recognize him. ⁹ Joseph remembered the dreams which he dreamed about them, and said to them, “You are spies! You have come to see the nakedness of the land.”

¹⁰ They said to him, “No, my lord, but your servants have come to buy food. ¹¹ We are all one man’s sons; we are honest men. Your servants are not spies.”

¹² He said to them, “No, but you have come to see the nakedness of the land!”

¹³ They said, “We, your servants, are twelve brothers, the sons of one man in the land of Canaan; and behold, the youngest is today with our father, and one is no more.”

¹⁴ Joseph said to them, “It is like I told you, saying, ‘You are spies!’ ¹⁵ By this you shall be tested. By the life of Pharaoh, you shall not go out from here, unless your youngest brother comes here. ¹⁶ Send one of you, and let him get your brother, and you shall be bound, that your words may be tested, whether there is truth in you, or else by the life of Pharaoh surely you are spies.” ¹⁷ He put them all together into custody for three days.

¹⁸ Joseph said to them the third day, “Do this, and live, for I fear God. ¹⁹ If you are honest men, then let one of your brothers be bound in your prison; but you go, carry grain for the famine of your houses. ²⁰ Bring your youngest brother to me; so will your words be verified, and you won’t die.”

They did so. ²¹ They said to one another, “We are certainly guilty concerning our brother, in that we saw the distress of his soul, when he begged us, and we wouldn’t listen. Therefore this distress has come upon us.” ²² Reuben answered them, saying, “Didn’t I tell you, saying, ‘Don’t sin against the child,’ and you wouldn’t listen? Therefore also, behold, his blood is required.” ²³ They didn’t know that Joseph understood them; for there was an interpreter between them. ²⁴ He turned himself away from them, and wept. Then he returned to them, and spoke to them, and took Simeon from among them, and bound him before their eyes. ²⁵ Then Joseph gave a command to fill their bags with grain, and to restore each man’s money into his sack, and to give them food for the way. So it was done to them.

²⁶ They loaded their donkeys with their grain, and departed from there. ²⁷ As one of them opened his sack to give his donkey food in the lodging place, he saw his money. Behold, it was in the mouth of his sack. ²⁸ He said to his brothers, “My money is restored! Behold, it is in my sack!” Their hearts failed them, and they turned trembling to one another, saying, “What is this that God has done to us?” ²⁹ They came to Jacob their father, to the land of Canaan, and told him all that had happened to them, saying, ³⁰ “The man, the lord of the land, spoke roughly with us, and took us for spies of the country. ³¹ We said to him, ‘We are honest men. We are no spies. ³² We are twelve brothers, sons of our father; one is no more, and the youngest is today with our father in the land of Canaan.’ ³³ The man, the lord of the land, said to us, ‘By this I will know that you are honest men: leave one of your brothers with me, and take grain for the famine of your houses, and go your way. ³⁴ Bring your youngest brother to me. Then I will know that you are not spies, but that you are honest men. So I will deliver your brother to you, and you shall trade in the land.’ ”

³⁵ As they emptied their sacks, behold, each man’s bundle of money was in his sack. When they and their father saw their bundles of money, they were afraid. ³⁶ Jacob, their father, said to them, “You have bereaved me of my children! Joseph is no more, Simeon is no more, and you want to take Benjamin away. All these things are against me.”

³⁷ Reuben spoke to his father, saying, “Kill my two sons, if I don’t bring him to you. Entrust him to my care, and I will bring him to you again.”

³⁸ He said, “My son shall not go down with you; for his brother is dead, and he only is left. If harm happens to him along the way in which you go, then you will bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to Sheol.”

43The famine was severe in the land. ² When they had eaten up the grain which they had brought out of Egypt, their father said to them, “Go again, buy us a little more food.”

³ Judah spoke to him, saying, “The man solemnly warned us, saying, ‘You shall not see my face, unless your brother is with you.’ ⁴ If you’ll send our brother with us, we’ll go down and buy you food; ⁵ but if you don’t send him, we won’t go down, for the man said to us, ‘You shall not see my face, unless your brother is with you.’ ”

⁶ Israel said, “Why did you treat me so badly, telling the man that you had another brother?”

⁷ They said, “The man asked directly concerning ourselves, and concerning our relatives, saying, ‘Is your father still alive? Have you another brother?’ We just answered his questions. Is there any way we could know that he would say, ‘Bring your brother down?’ ”

⁸ Judah said to Israel, his father, “Send the boy with me, and we’ll get up and go, so that we may live, and not die, both we, and you, and also our little ones. ⁹ I’ll be collateral for him. From my hand will you require him. If I don’t bring him to you, and set him before you, then let me bear the blame forever; ¹⁰ for if we hadn’t delayed, surely we would have returned a second time by now.”

¹¹ Their father, Israel, said to them, “If it must be so, then do this: Take from the choice fruits of the land in your bags, and carry down a present for the man, a little balm, a little honey, spices and myrrh, nuts, and almonds; ¹² and take double money in your hand, and take back the money that was returned in the mouth of your sacks. Perhaps it was an oversight. ¹³ Take your brother also, get up, and return to the man. ¹⁴ May God Almighty give you mercy before the man, that he may release to you your other brother and Benjamin. If I am bereaved of my children, I am bereaved.”

¹⁵ The men took that present, and they took double money in their hand, and Benjamin; and got up, went down to Egypt, and stood before Joseph. ¹⁶ When Joseph saw Benjamin with them, he said to the steward of his house, “Bring the men into the house, and butcher an animal, and prepare; for the men will dine with me at noon.”

¹⁷ The man did as Joseph commanded, and the man brought the men to Joseph’s house. ¹⁸ The men were afraid, because they were brought to Joseph’s house; and they said, “Because of the money that was returned in our sacks the first time, we’re brought in; that he may seek occasion against us, attack us, and seize us as slaves, along with our donkeys.” ¹⁹ They came near to the steward of Joseph’s house, and they spoke to him at the door of the house, ²⁰ and said, “Oh, my lord, we indeed came down the first time to buy food. ²¹ When we came to the lodging place, we opened our sacks, and behold, each man’s money was in the mouth of his sack, our money in full weight. We have brought it back in our hand. ²² We have brought down other money in our hand to buy food. We don’t know who put our money in our sacks.”

²³ He said, “Peace be to you. Don’t be afraid. Your God, and the God of your father, has given you treasure in your sacks. I received your money.” He brought Simeon out to them. ²⁴ The man brought the men into Joseph’s house, and gave them water, and they washed their feet. He gave their donkeys fodder. ²⁵ They prepared the present for Joseph’s coming at noon, for they heard that they should eat bread there.

²⁶ When Joseph came home, they brought him the present which was in their hand into the house, and bowed themselves down to the earth before him. ²⁷ He asked them of their welfare, and said, “Is your father well, the old man of whom you spoke? Is he yet alive?”

²⁸ They said, “Your servant, our father, is well. He is still alive.” They bowed down humbly. ²⁹ He lifted up his eyes, and saw Benjamin, his brother, his mother’s son, and said, “Is this your youngest brother, of whom you spoke to me?” He said, “God be gracious to you, my son.” ³⁰ Joseph hurried, for his heart yearned over his brother; and he sought a place to weep. He entered into his room, and wept there. ³¹ He washed his face, and came out. He controlled himself, and said, “Serve the meal.”

³² They served him by himself, and them by themselves, and the Egyptians who ate with him by themselves, because the Egyptians don’t eat with the Hebrews, for that is an abomination to the Egyptians. ³³ They sat before him, the firstborn according to his birthright, and the youngest according to his youth, and the men marveled with one another. ³⁴ He sent portions to them from before him, but Benjamin’s portion was five times as much as any of theirs. They drank, and were merry with him.

44He commanded the steward of his house, saying, “Fill the men’s sacks with food, as much as they can carry, and put each man’s money in his sack’s mouth. ² Put my cup, the silver cup, in the sack’s mouth of the youngest, with his grain money.” He did according to the word that Joseph had spoken. ³ As soon as the morning was light, the men were sent away, they and their donkeys. ⁴ When they had gone out of the city, and were not yet far off, Joseph said to his steward, “Up, follow after the men. When you overtake them, ask them, ‘Why have you rewarded evil for good? ⁵ Isn’t this that from which my lord drinks, and by which he indeed divines? You have done evil in so doing.’ ” ⁶ He overtook them, and he spoke these words to them.

⁷ They said to him, “Why does my lord speak such words as these? Far be it from your servants that they should do such a thing! ⁸ Behold, the money, which we found in our sacks’ mouths, we brought again to you out of the land of Canaan. How then should we steal silver or gold out of your lord’s house? ⁹ With whomever of your servants it is found, let him die, and we also will be my lord’s slaves.”

¹⁰ He said, “Now also let it be according to your words. He with whom it is found will be my slave; and you will be blameless.”

¹¹ Then they hurried, and each man took his sack down to the ground, and each man opened his sack. ¹² He searched, beginning with the oldest, and ending at the youngest. The cup was found in Benjamin’s sack. ¹³ Then they tore their clothes, and each man loaded his donkey, and returned to the city.

¹⁴ Judah and his brothers came to Joseph’s house, and he was still there. They fell on the ground before him. ¹⁵ Joseph said to them, “What deed is this that you have done? Don’t you know that such a man as I can indeed do divination?”

¹⁶ Judah said, “What will we tell my lord? What will we speak? How will we clear ourselves? God has found out the iniquity of your servants. Behold, we are my lord’s slaves, both we and he also in whose hand the cup is found.”

¹⁷ He said, “Far be it from me that I should do so. The man in whose hand the cup is found, he will be my slave; but as for you, go up in peace to your father.”

¹⁸ Then Judah came near to him, and said, “Oh, my lord, please let your servant speak a word in my lord’s ears, and don’t let your anger burn against your servant; for you are even as Pharaoh. ¹⁹ My lord asked his servants, saying, ‘Have you a father, or a brother?’ ²⁰ We said to my lord, ‘We have a father, an old man, and a child of his old age, a little one; and his brother is dead, and he alone is left of his mother; and his father loves him.’ ²¹ You said to your servants, ‘Bring him down to me, that I may set my eyes on him.’ ²² We said to my lord, ‘The boy can’t leave his father, for if he should leave his father, his father would die.’ ²³ You said to your servants, ‘Unless your youngest brother comes down with you, you will see my face no more.’ ²⁴ When we came up to your servant my father, we told him the words of my lord. ²⁵ Our father said, ‘Go again and buy us a little food.’ ²⁶ We said, ‘We can’t go down. If our youngest brother is with us, then we will go down: for we may not see the man’s face, unless our youngest brother is with us.’ ²⁷ Your servant, my father, said to us, ‘You know that my wife bore me two sons. ²⁸ One went out from me, and I said, “Surely he is torn in pieces;” and I haven’t seen him since. ²⁹ If you take this one also from me, and harm happens to him, you will bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to Sheol.’ ³⁰ Now therefore when I come to your servant my father, and the boy is not with us; since his life is bound up in the boy’s life; ³¹ it will happen, when he sees that the boy is no more, that he will die. Your servants will bring down the gray hairs of your servant, our father, with sorrow to Sheol. ³² For your servant became collateral for the boy to my father, saying, ‘If I don’t bring him to you, then I will bear the blame to my father forever.’ ³³ Now therefore, please let your servant stay instead of the boy, my lord’s slave; and let the boy go up with his brothers. ³⁴ For how will I go up to my father, if the boy isn’t with me?—lest I see the evil that will come on my father.”

45Then Joseph couldn’t control himself before all those who stood before him, and he called out, “Cause everyone to go out from me!” No one else stood with him, while Joseph made himself known to his brothers. ² He wept aloud. The Egyptians heard, and the house of Pharaoh heard. ³ Joseph said to his brothers, “I am Joseph! Does my father still live?”

His brothers couldn’t answer him; for they were terrified at his presence. ⁴ Joseph said to his brothers, “Come near to me, please.”

They came near. He said, “I am Joseph, your brother, whom you sold into Egypt. ⁵ Now don’t be grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that you sold me here, for God sent me before you to preserve life. ⁶ For these two years the famine has been in the land, and there are yet five years, in which there will be no plowing and no harvest. ⁷ God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant in the earth, and to save you alive by a great deliverance. ⁸ So now it wasn’t you who sent me here, but God, and he has made me a father to Pharaoh, lord of all his house, and ruler over all the land of Egypt. ⁹ Hurry, and go up to my father, and tell him, ‘This is what your son Joseph says, “God has made me lord of all Egypt. Come down to me. Don’t wait. ¹⁰ You shall dwell in the land of Goshen, and you will be near to me, you, your children, your children’s children, your flocks, your herds, and all that you have. ¹¹ There I will provide for you; for there are yet five years of famine; lest you come to poverty, you, and your household, and all that you have.” ’ ¹² Behold, your eyes see, and the eyes of my brother Benjamin, that it is my mouth that speaks to you. ¹³ You shall tell my father of all my glory in Egypt, and of all that you have seen. You shall hurry and bring my father down here.” ¹⁴ He fell on his brother Benjamin’s neck and wept, and Benjamin wept on his neck. ¹⁵ He kissed all his brothers, and wept on them. After that his brothers talked with him.

¹⁶ The report of it was heard in Pharaoh’s house, saying, “Joseph’s brothers have come.” It pleased Pharaoh well, and his servants. ¹⁷ Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Tell your brothers, ‘Do this: Load your animals, and go, travel to the land of Canaan. ¹⁸ Take your father and your households, and come to me, and I will give you the good of the land of Egypt, and you will eat the fat of the land.’ ¹⁹ Now you are commanded to do this: Take wagons out of the land of Egypt for your little ones, and for your wives, and bring your father, and come. ²⁰ Also, don’t concern yourselves about your belongings, for the good of all the land of Egypt is yours.”

²¹ The sons of Israel did so. Joseph gave them wagons, according to the commandment of Pharaoh, and gave them provision for the way. ²² He gave each one of them changes of clothing, but to Benjamin he gave three hundred pieces of silver and five changes of clothing. ²³ He sent the following to his father: ten donkeys loaded with the good things of Egypt, and ten female donkeys loaded with grain and bread and provision for his father by the way. ²⁴ So he sent his brothers away, and they departed. He said to them, “See that you don’t quarrel on the way.”

²⁵ They went up out of Egypt, and came into the land of Canaan, to Jacob their father. ²⁶ They told him, saying, “Joseph is still alive, and he is ruler over all the land of Egypt.” His heart fainted, for he didn’t believe them. ²⁷ They told him all the words of Joseph, which he had said to them. When he saw the wagons which Joseph had sent to carry him, the spirit of Jacob, their father, revived. ²⁸ Israel said, “It is enough. Joseph my son is still alive. I will go and see him before I die.”

46Israel traveled with all that he had, and came to Beersheba, and offered sacrifices to the God of his father, Isaac. ² God spoke to Israel in the visions of the night, and said, “Jacob, Jacob!”

He said, “Here I am.”

³ He said, “I am God, the God of your father. Don’t be afraid to go down into Egypt, for there I will make of you a great nation. ⁴ I will go down with you into Egypt. I will also surely bring you up again. Joseph’s hand will close your eyes.”

⁵ Jacob rose up from Beersheba, and the sons of Israel carried Jacob, their father, their little ones, and their wives, in the wagons which Pharaoh had sent to carry him. ⁶ They took their livestock, and their goods, which they had gotten in the land of Canaan, and came into Egypt—Jacob, and all his offspring with him, ⁷ his sons, and his sons’ sons with him, his daughters, and his sons’ daughters, and he brought all his offspring with him into Egypt.

⁸ These are the names of the children of Israel, who came into Egypt, Jacob and his sons: Reuben, Jacob’s firstborn. ⁹ The sons of Reuben: Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi. ¹⁰ The sons of Simeon: Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jachin, Zohar, and Shaul the son of a Canaanite woman. ¹¹ The sons of Levi: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. ¹² The sons of Judah: Er, Onan, Shelah, Perez, and Zerah; but Er and Onan died in the land of Canaan. The sons of Perez were Hezron and Hamul. ¹³ The sons of Issachar: Tola, Puvah, Iob, and Shimron. ¹⁴ The sons of Zebulun: Sered, Elon, and Jahleel. ¹⁵ These are the sons of Leah, whom she bore to Jacob in Paddan Aram, with his daughter Dinah. All the souls of his sons and his daughters were thirty-three. ¹⁶ The sons of Gad: Ziphion, Haggi, Shuni, Ezbon, Eri, Arodi, and Areli. ¹⁷ The sons of Asher: Imnah, Ishvah, Ishvi, Beriah, and Serah their sister. The sons of Beriah: Heber and Malchiel. ¹⁸ These are the sons of Zilpah, whom Laban gave to Leah, his daughter, and these she bore to Jacob, even sixteen souls. ¹⁹ The sons of Rachel, Jacob’s wife: Joseph and Benjamin. ²⁰ To Joseph in the land of Egypt were born Manasseh and Ephraim, whom Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera, priest of On, bore to him. ²¹ The sons of Benjamin: Bela, Becher, Ashbel, Gera, Naaman, Ehi, Rosh, Muppim, Huppim, and Ard. ²² These are the sons of Rachel, who were born to Jacob: all the souls were fourteen. ²³ The son of Dan: Hushim. ²⁴ The sons of Naphtali: Jahzeel, Guni, Jezer, and Shillem. ²⁵ These are the sons of Bilhah, whom Laban gave to Rachel, his daughter, and these she bore to Jacob: all the souls were seven. ²⁶ All the souls who came with Jacob into Egypt, who were his direct offspring, in addition to Jacob’s sons’ wives, all the souls were sixty-six. ²⁷ The sons of Joseph, who were born to him in Egypt, were two souls. All the souls of the house of Jacob, who came into Egypt, were seventy.

²⁸ Jacob sent Judah before him to Joseph, to show the way before him to Goshen, and they came into the land of Goshen. ²⁹ Joseph prepared his chariot, and went up to meet Israel, his father, in Goshen. He presented himself to him, and fell on his neck, and wept on his neck a good while. ³⁰ Israel said to Joseph, “Now let me die, since I have seen your face, that you are still alive.”

³¹ Joseph said to his brothers, and to his father’s house, “I will go up, and speak with Pharaoh, and will tell him, ‘My brothers, and my father’s house, who were in the land of Canaan, have come to me. ³² These men are shepherds, for they have been keepers of livestock, and they have brought their flocks, and their herds, and all that they have.’ ³³ It will happen, when Pharaoh summons you, and will say, ‘What is your occupation?’ ³⁴ that you shall say, ‘Your servants have been keepers of livestock from our youth even until now, both we, and our fathers:’ that you may dwell in the land of Goshen; for every shepherd is an abomination to the Egyptians.”

47Then Joseph went in and told Pharaoh, and said, “My father and my brothers, with their flocks, their herds, and all that they own, have come out of the land of Canaan; and behold, they are in the land of Goshen.” ² From among his brothers he took five men, and presented them to Pharaoh. ³ Pharaoh said to his brothers, “What is your occupation?”

They said to Pharaoh, “Your servants are shepherds, both we, and our fathers.” ⁴ They also said to Pharaoh, “We have come to live as foreigners in the land, for there is no pasture for your servants’ flocks. For the famine is severe in the land of Canaan. Now therefore, please let your servants dwell in the land of Goshen.”

⁵ Pharaoh spoke to Joseph, saying, “Your father and your brothers have come to you. ⁶ The land of Egypt is before you. Make your father and your brothers dwell in the best of the land. Let them dwell in the land of Goshen. If you know any able men among them, then put them in charge of my livestock.”

⁷ Joseph brought in Jacob, his father, and set him before Pharaoh; and Jacob blessed Pharaoh. ⁸ Pharaoh said to Jacob, “How old are you?”

⁹ Jacob said to Pharaoh, “The years of my pilgrimage are one hundred thirty years. The days of the years of my life have been few and evil. They have not attained to the days of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their pilgrimage.” ¹⁰ Jacob blessed Pharaoh, and went out from the presence of Pharaoh.

¹¹ Joseph placed his father and his brothers, and gave them a possession in the land of Egypt, in the best of the land, in the land of Rameses, as Pharaoh had commanded. ¹² Joseph provided his father, his brothers, and all of his father’s household with bread, according to the sizes of their families.

¹³ There was no bread in all the land; for the famine was very severe, so that the land of Egypt and the land of Canaan fainted by reason of the famine. ¹⁴ Joseph gathered up all the money that was found in the land of Egypt, and in the land of Canaan, for the grain which they bought: and Joseph brought the money into Pharaoh’s house. ¹⁵ When the money was all spent in the land of Egypt, and in the land of Canaan, all the Egyptians came to Joseph, and said, “Give us bread, for why should we die in your presence? For our money fails.”

¹⁶ Joseph said, “Give me your livestock; and I will give you food for your livestock, if your money is gone.”

¹⁷ They brought their livestock to Joseph, and Joseph gave them bread in exchange for the horses, and for the flocks, and for the herds, and for the donkeys: and he fed them with bread in exchange for all their livestock for that year. ¹⁸ When that year was ended, they came to him the second year, and said to him, “We will not hide from my lord how our money is all spent, and the herds of livestock are my lord’s. There is nothing left in the sight of my lord, but our bodies, and our lands. ¹⁹ Why should we die before your eyes, both we and our land? Buy us and our land for bread, and we and our land will be servants to Pharaoh. Give us seed, that we may live, and not die, and that the land won’t be desolate.”

²⁰ So Joseph bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh, for every man of the Egyptians sold his field, because the famine was severe on them, and the land became Pharaoh’s. ²¹ As for the people, he moved them to the cities from one end of the border of Egypt even to the other end of it. ²² Only he didn’t buy the land of the priests, for the priests had a portion from Pharaoh, and ate their portion which Pharaoh gave them. That is why they didn’t sell their land. ²³ Then Joseph said to the people, “Behold, I have bought you and your land today for Pharaoh. Behold, here is seed for you, and you shall sow the land. ²⁴ It will happen at the harvests, that you shall give a fifth to Pharaoh, and four parts will be your own, for seed of the field, for your food, for them of your households, and for food for your little ones.”

²⁵ They said, “You have saved our lives! Let us find favor in the sight of my lord, and we will be Pharaoh’s servants.”

²⁶ Joseph made it a statute concerning the land of Egypt to this day, that Pharaoh should have the fifth. Only the land of the priests alone didn’t become Pharaoh’s.

²⁷ Israel lived in the land of Egypt, in the land of Goshen; and they got themselves possessions therein, and were fruitful, and multiplied exceedingly. ²⁸ Jacob lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years. So the days of Jacob, the years of his life, were one hundred forty-seven years. ²⁹ The time came near that Israel must die, and he called his son Joseph, and said to him, “If now I have found favor in your sight, please put your hand under my thigh, and deal kindly and truly with me. Please don’t bury me in Egypt, ³⁰ but when I sleep with my fathers, you shall carry me out of Egypt, and bury me in their burying place.”

Joseph said, “I will do as you have said.”

³¹ Israel said, “Swear to me,” and he swore to him. Then Israel bowed himself on the bed’s head.

48After these things, someone said to Joseph, “Behold, your father is sick.” He took with him his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim. ² Someone told Jacob, and said, “Behold, your son Joseph comes to you,” and Israel strengthened himself, and sat on the bed. ³ Jacob said to Joseph, “God Almighty appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan, and blessed me, ⁴ and said to me, ‘Behold, I will make you fruitful, and multiply you, and I will make of you a company of peoples, and will give this land to your offspring after you for an everlasting possession.’ ⁵ Now your two sons, who were born to you in the land of Egypt before I came to you into Egypt, are mine; Ephraim and Manasseh, even as Reuben and Simeon, will be mine. ⁶ Your offspring, whom you become the father of after them, will be yours. They will be called after the name of their brothers in their inheritance. ⁷ As for me, when I came from Paddan, Rachel died beside me in the land of Canaan on the way, when there was still some distance to come to Ephrath, and I buried her there on the way to Ephrath (also called Bethlehem).”

⁸ Israel saw Joseph’s sons, and said, “Who are these?”

⁹ Joseph said to his father, “They are my sons, whom God has given me here.”

He said, “Please bring them to me, and I will bless them.” ¹⁰ Now the eyes of Israel were dim for age, so that he couldn’t see well. Joseph brought them near to him; and he kissed them, and embraced them. ¹¹ Israel said to Joseph, “I didn’t think I would see your face, and behold, God has let me see your offspring also.” ¹² Joseph brought them out from between his knees, and he bowed himself with his face to the earth. ¹³ Joseph took them both, Ephraim in his right hand toward Israel’s left hand, and Manasseh in his left hand toward Israel’s right hand, and brought them near to him. ¹⁴ Israel stretched out his right hand, and laid it on Ephraim’s head, who was the younger, and his left hand on Manasseh’s head, guiding his hands knowingly, for Manasseh was the firstborn. ¹⁵ He blessed Joseph, and said,

“The God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked,

the God who has fed me all my life long to this day,

¹⁶ the angel who has redeemed me from all evil, bless the lads,

and let my name be named on them,

and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac.

Let them grow into a multitude upon the earth.”

¹⁷ When Joseph saw that his father laid his right hand on the head of Ephraim, it displeased him. He held up his father’s hand, to remove it from Ephraim’s head to Manasseh’s head. ¹⁸ Joseph said to his father, “Not so, my father, for this is the firstborn. Put your right hand on his head.”

¹⁹ His father refused, and said, “I know, my son, I know. He also will become a people, and he also will be great. However, his younger brother will be greater than he, and his offspring will become a multitude of nations.” ²⁰ He blessed them that day, saying, “Israel will bless in you, saying, ‘God make you as Ephraim and as Manasseh’ ” He set Ephraim before Manasseh. ²¹ Israel said to Joseph, “Behold, I am dying, but God will be with you, and bring you again to the land of your fathers. ²² Moreover I have given to you one portion above your brothers, which I took out of the hand of the Amorite with my sword and with my bow.”

49Jacob called to his sons, and said: “Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you that which will happen to you in the days to come.

² Assemble yourselves, and hear, you sons of Jacob.

Listen to Israel, your father.

³ “Reuben, you are my firstborn, my might, and the beginning of my strength;

excelling in dignity, and excelling in power.

⁴ Boiling over like water, you shall not excel;

because you went up to your father’s bed,

then defiled it. He went up to my couch.

⁵ “Simeon and Levi are brothers.

Their swords are weapons of violence.

⁶ My soul, don’t come into their council.

My glory, don’t be united to their assembly;

for in their anger they killed men.

In their self-will they hamstrung cattle.

⁷ Cursed be their anger, for it was fierce;

and their wrath, for it was cruel.

I will divide them in Jacob,

and scatter them in Israel.

⁸ “Judah, your brothers will praise you.

Your hand will be on the neck of your enemies.

Your father’s sons will bow down before you.

⁹ Judah is a lion’s cub.

From the prey, my son, you have gone up.

He stooped down, he crouched as a lion,

as a lioness.

Who will rouse him up?

¹⁰ The scepter will not depart from Judah,

nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet,

until he comes to whom it belongs.

To him will the obedience of the peoples be.

¹¹ Binding his foal to the vine,

his donkey’s colt to the choice vine;

he has washed his garments in wine,

his robes in the blood of grapes.

¹² His eyes will be red with wine,

his teeth white with milk.

¹³ “Zebulun will dwell at the haven of the sea.

He will be for a haven of ships.

His border will be on Sidon.

¹⁴ “Issachar is a strong donkey,

lying down between the saddlebags.

¹⁵ He saw a resting place, that it was good,

the land, that it was pleasant.

He bows his shoulder to the burden,

and becomes a servant doing forced labor.

¹⁶ “Dan will judge his people,

as one of the tribes of Israel.

¹⁷ Dan will be a serpent on the trail,

an adder in the path,

That bites the horse’s heels,

so that his rider falls backward.

¹⁸ I have waited for your salvation, Yahweh.

¹⁹ “A troop will press on Gad,

but he will press on their heel.

²⁰ “Asher’s food will be rich.

He will produce royal dainties.

²¹ “Naphtali is a doe set free,

who bears beautiful fawns.

²² “Joseph is a fruitful vine,

a fruitful vine by a spring.

His branches run over the wall.

²³ The archers have severely grieved him,

shot at him, and persecuted him:

²⁴ But his bow remained strong.

The arms of his hands were made strong,

by the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob,

(from there is the shepherd, the stone of Israel),

²⁵ even by the God of your father, who will help you,

by the Almighty, who will bless you,

with blessings of heaven above,

blessings of the deep that lies below,

blessings of the breasts, and of the womb.

²⁶ The blessings of your father have prevailed above the blessings of your ancestors,

above the boundaries of the ancient hills.

They will be on the head of Joseph,

on the crown of the head of him who is separated from his brothers.

²⁷ “Benjamin is a ravenous wolf.

In the morning he will devour the prey.

At evening he will divide the plunder.”

²⁸ All these are the twelve tribes of Israel, and this is what their father spoke to them, and blessed them. He blessed everyone according to his own blessing. ²⁹ He instructed them, and said to them, “I am to be gathered to my people. Bury me with my fathers in the cave that is in the field of Ephron the Hittite, ³⁰ in the cave that is in the field of Machpelah, which is before Mamre, in the land of Canaan, which Abraham bought with the field from Ephron the Hittite as a burial place. ³¹ There they buried Abraham and Sarah, his wife. There they buried Isaac and Rebekah, his wife, and there I buried Leah: ³² the field and the cave that is therein, which was purchased from the children of Heth.” ³³ When Jacob finished charging his sons, he gathered up his feet into the bed, breathed his last breath, and was gathered to his people.50 Joseph fell on his father’s face, wept on him, and kissed him. ² Joseph commanded his servants, the physicians, to embalm his father; and the physicians embalmed Israel. ³ Forty days were used for him, for that is how many the days it takes to embalm. The Egyptians wept for Israel for seventy days.

⁴ When the days of weeping for him were past, Joseph spoke to Pharaoh’s staff, saying, “If now I have found favor in your eyes, please speak in the ears of Pharaoh, saying, ⁵ ‘My father made me swear, saying, “Behold, I am dying. Bury me in my grave which I have dug for myself in the land of Canaan.” Now therefore, please let me go up and bury my father, and I will come again.’ ”

⁶ Pharaoh said, “Go up, and bury your father, just like he made you swear.”

⁷ Joseph went up to bury his father; and with him went up all the servants of Pharaoh, the elders of his house, all the elders of the land of Egypt, ⁸ All the house of Joseph, his brothers, and his father’s house. Only their little ones, their flocks, and their herds, they left in the land of Goshen. ⁹ There went up with him both chariots and horsemen. It was a very great company. ¹⁰ They came to the threshing floor of Atad, which is beyond the Jordan, and there they lamented with a very great and severe lamentation. He mourned for his father seven days. ¹¹ When the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites, saw the mourning in the floor of Atad, they said, “This is a grievous mourning by the Egyptians.” Therefore its name was called Abel Mizraim, which is beyond the Jordan. ¹² His sons did to him just as he commanded them, ¹³ for his sons carried him into the land of Canaan, and buried him in the cave of the field of Machpelah, which Abraham bought with the field, as a possession for a burial site, from Ephron the Hittite, near Mamre. ¹⁴ Joseph returned into Egypt—he, and his brothers, and all that went up with him to bury his father, after he had buried his father.

¹⁵ When Joseph’s brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, “It may be that Joseph will hate us, and will fully pay us back for all the evil which we did to him.” ¹⁶ They sent a message to Joseph, saying, “Your father commanded before he died, saying, ¹⁷ ‘You shall tell Joseph, “Now please forgive the disobedience of your brothers, and their sin, because they did evil to you.” ’ Now, please forgive the disobedience of the servants of the God of your father.” Joseph wept when they spoke to him. ¹⁸ His brothers also went and fell down before his face; and they said, “Behold, we are your servants.” ¹⁹ Joseph said to them, “Don’t be afraid, for am I in the place of God? ²⁰ As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to save many people alive, as is happening today. ²¹ Now therefore don’t be afraid. I will provide for you and your little ones.” He comforted them, and spoke kindly to them.

²² Joseph lived in Egypt, he, and his father’s house. Joseph lived one hundred ten years. ²³ Joseph saw Ephraim’s children to the third generation. The children also of Machir, the son of Manasseh, were born on Joseph’s knees. ²⁴ Joseph said to his brothers, “I am dying, but God will surely visit you, and bring you up out of this land to the land which he swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.” ²⁵ Joseph took an oath from the children of Israel, saying, “God will surely visit you, and you shall carry up my bones from here.” ²⁶ So Joseph died, being one hundred ten years old, and they embalmed him, and he was put in a coffin in Egypt.

Exodus

1Now these are the names of the sons of Israel, who came into Egypt (every man and his household came with Jacob): ² Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah, ³ Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin, ⁴ Dan and Naphtali, Gad and Asher. ⁵ All the souls who came out of Jacob’s body were seventy souls, and Joseph was in Egypt already. ⁶ Joseph died, as did all his brothers, and all that generation. ⁷ The children of Israel were fruitful, and increased abundantly, and multiplied, and grew exceedingly mighty; and the land was filled with them.

⁸ Now there arose a new king over Egypt, who didn’t know Joseph. ⁹ He said to his people, “Behold, the people of the children of Israel are more and mightier than we. ¹⁰ Come, let’s deal wisely with them, lest they multiply, and it happen that when any war breaks out, they also join themselves to our enemies and fight against us, and escape out of the land.” ¹¹ Therefore they set taskmasters over them to afflict them with their burdens. They built storage cities for Pharaoh: Pithom and Raamses. ¹² But the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and the more they spread out. They started to dread the children of Israel. ¹³ The Egyptians ruthlessly made the children of Israel serve, ¹⁴ and they made their lives bitter with hard service in mortar and in brick, and in all kinds of service in the field, all their service, in which they ruthlessly made them serve.

¹⁵ The king of Egypt spoke to the Hebrew midwives, of whom the name of the one was Shiphrah, and the name of the other Puah, ¹⁶ and he said, “When you perform the duty of a midwife to the Hebrew women, and see them on the birth stool, if it is a son, then you shall kill him; but if it is a daughter, then she shall live.” ¹⁷ But the midwives feared God, and didn’t do what the king of Egypt commanded them, but saved the baby boys alive. ¹⁸ The king of Egypt called for the midwives, and said to them, “Why have you done this thing and saved the boys alive?”

¹⁹ The midwives said to Pharaoh, “Because the Hebrew women aren’t like the Egyptian women; for they are vigorous and give birth before the midwife comes to them.”

²⁰ God dealt well with the midwives, and the people multiplied, and grew very mighty. ²¹ Because the midwives feared God, he gave them families. ²² Pharaoh commanded all his people, saying, “You shall cast every son who is born into the river, and every daughter you shall save alive.”

2A man of the house of Levi went and took a daughter of Levi as his wife. ² The woman conceived and bore a son. When she saw that he was a fine child, she hid him three months. ³ When she could no longer hide him, she took a papyrus basket for him, and coated it with tar and with pitch. She put the child in it, and laid it in the reeds by the river’s bank. ⁴ His sister stood far off, to see what would be done to him. ⁵ Pharaoh’s daughter came down to bathe at the river. Her maidens walked along by the riverside. She saw the basket among the reeds, and sent her servant to get it. ⁶ She opened it, and saw the child, and behold, the baby cried. She had compassion on him, and said, “This is one of the Hebrews’ children.”

⁷ Then his sister said to Pharaoh’s daughter, “Should I go and call a nurse for you from the Hebrew women, that she may nurse the child for you?”

⁸ Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Go.”

The young woman went and called the child’s mother. ⁹ Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Take this child away, and nurse him for me, and I will give you your wages.”

The woman took the child, and nursed it. ¹⁰ The child grew, and she brought him to Pharaoh’s daughter, and he became her son. She named him Moses, and said, “Because I drew him out of the water.”

¹¹ In those days, when Moses had grown up, he went out to his brothers and saw their burdens. He saw an Egyptian striking a Hebrew, one of his brothers. ¹² He looked this way and that way, and when he saw that there was no one, he killed the Egyptian, and hid him in the sand.

¹³ He went out the second day, and behold, two men of the Hebrews were fighting with each other. He said to him who did the wrong, “Why do you strike your fellow?”

¹⁴ He said, “Who made you a prince and a judge over us? Do you plan to kill me, as you killed the Egyptian?”

Moses was afraid, and said, “Surely this thing is known.” ¹⁵ Now when Pharaoh heard this thing, he sought to kill Moses. But Moses fled from the face of Pharaoh, and lived in the land of Midian, and he sat down by a well.

¹⁶ Now the priest of Midian had seven daughters. They came and drew water, and filled the troughs to water their father’s flock. ¹⁷ The shepherds came and drove them away; but Moses stood up and helped them, and watered their flock. ¹⁸ When they came to Reuel, their father, he said, “How is it that you have returned so early today?”

¹⁹ They said, “An Egyptian delivered us out of the hand of the shepherds, and moreover he drew water for us, and watered the flock.”

²⁰ He said to his daughters, “Where is he? Why is it that you have left the man? Call him, that he may eat bread.”

²¹ Moses was content to dwell with the man. He gave Moses Zipporah, his daughter. ²² She bore a son, and he named him Gershom, for he said, “I have lived as a foreigner in a foreign land.”

²³ In the course of those many days, the king of Egypt died, and the children of Israel sighed because of the bondage, and they cried, and their cry came up to God because of the bondage. ²⁴ God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. ²⁵ God saw the children of Israel, and God was concerned about them.

3Now Moses was keeping the flock of Jethro, his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the back of the wilderness, and came to God’s mountain, to Horeb. ² Yahweh’s angel appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the middle of a bush. He looked, and behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed. ³ Moses said, “I will go now, and see this great sight, why the bush is not burned.”

⁴ When Yahweh saw that he came over to see, God called to him out of the middle of the bush, and said, “Moses! Moses!”

He said, “Here I am.”

⁵ He said, “Don’t come close. Take off your sandals, for the place you are standing on is holy ground.” ⁶ Moreover he said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.”

Moses hid his face because he was afraid to look at God.

⁷ Yahweh said, “I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt, and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters, for I know their sorrows. ⁸ I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land to a good and large land, to a land flowing with milk and honey; to the place of the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite. ⁹ Now, behold, the cry of the children of Israel has come to me. Moreover I have seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them. ¹⁰ Come now therefore, and I will send you to Pharaoh, that you may bring my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.”

¹¹ Moses said to God, “Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?”

¹² He said, “Certainly I will be with you. This will be the token to you, that I have sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain.”

¹³ Moses said to God, “Behold, when I come to the children of Israel, and tell them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what should I tell them?”

¹⁴ God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM,” and he said, “You shall tell the children of Israel this: ‘I AM has sent me to you.’ ” ¹⁵ God said moreover to Moses, “You shall tell the children of Israel this, ‘Yahweh, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.’ This is my name forever, and this is my memorial to all generations. ¹⁶ Go and gather the elders of Israel together, and tell them, ‘Yahweh, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, has appeared to me, saying, “I have surely visited you, and seen that which is done to you in Egypt. ¹⁷ I have said, I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt to the land of the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite, to a land flowing with milk and honey.” ’ ¹⁸ They will listen to your voice. You shall come, you and the elders of Israel, to the king of Egypt, and you shall tell him, ‘Yahweh, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us. Now please let us go three days’ journey into the wilderness, that we may sacrifice to Yahweh, our God.’ ¹⁹ I know that the king of Egypt won’t give you permission to go, no, not by a mighty hand. ²⁰ I will reach out my hand and strike Egypt with all my wonders which I will do among them, and after that he will let you go. ²¹ I will give this people favor in the sight of the Egyptians, and it will happen that when you go, you shall not go empty-handed. ²² But every woman shall ask of her neighbor, and of her who visits her house, jewels of silver, jewels of gold, and clothing. You shall put them on your sons, and on your daughters. You shall plunder the Egyptians.”

4Moses answered, “But, behold, they will not believe me, nor listen to my voice; for they will say, ‘Yahweh has not appeared to you.’ ”

² Yahweh said to him, “What is that in your hand?”

He said, “A rod.”

³ He said, “Throw it on the ground.”

He threw it on the ground, and it became a snake; and Moses ran away from it.

⁴ Yahweh said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand, and take it by the tail.”

He stretched out his hand, and took hold of it, and it became a rod in his hand.

⁵ “This is so that they may believe that Yahweh, the God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has appeared to you.” ⁶ Yahweh said furthermore to him, “Now put your hand inside your cloak.”

He put his hand inside his cloak, and when he took it out, behold, his hand was leprous, as white as snow.

⁷ He said, “Put your hand inside your cloak again.”

He put his hand inside his cloak again, and when he took it out of his cloak, behold, it had turned again as his other flesh.

⁸ “It will happen, if they will not believe you or listen to the voice of the first sign, that they will believe the voice of the latter sign. ⁹ It will happen, if they will not believe even these two signs or listen to your voice, that you shall take of the water of the river, and pour it on the dry land. The water which you take out of the river will become blood on the dry land.”

¹⁰ Moses said to Yahweh, “O Lord, I am not eloquent, neither before now, nor since you have spoken to your servant; for I am slow of speech, and of a slow tongue.”

¹¹ Yahweh said to him, “Who made man’s mouth? Or who makes one mute, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? Isn’t it I, Yahweh? ¹² Now therefore go, and I will be with your mouth, and teach you what you shall speak.”

¹³ Moses said, “Oh, Lord, please send someone else.”

¹⁴ Yahweh’s anger burned against Moses, and he said, “What about Aaron, your brother, the Levite? I know that he can speak well. Also, behold, he is coming out to meet you. When he sees you, he will be glad in his heart. ¹⁵ You shall speak to him, and put the words in his mouth. I will be with your mouth, and with his mouth, and will teach you what you shall do. ¹⁶ He will be your spokesman to the people. It will happen that he will be to you a mouth, and you will be to him as God. ¹⁷ You shall take this rod in your hand, with which you shall do the signs.”

¹⁸ Moses went and returned to Jethro his father-in-law, and said to him, “Please let me go and return to my brothers who are in Egypt, and see whether they are still alive.”

Jethro said to Moses, “Go in peace.”

¹⁹ Yahweh said to Moses in Midian, “Go, return into Egypt; for all the men who sought your life are dead.”

²⁰ Moses took his wife and his sons, and set them on a donkey, and he returned to the land of Egypt. Moses took God’s rod in his hand. ²¹ Yahweh said to Moses, “When you go back into Egypt, see that you do before Pharaoh all the wonders which I have put in your hand, but I will harden his heart and he will not let the people go. ²² You shall tell Pharaoh, ‘Yahweh says, Israel is my son, my firstborn, ²³ and I have said to you, “Let my son go, that he may serve me;” and you have refused to let him go. Behold, I will kill your firstborn son.’ ”

²⁴ On the way at a lodging place, Yahweh met Moses and wanted to kill him. ²⁵ Then Zipporah took a flint, and cut off the foreskin of her son, and cast it at his feet; and she said, “Surely you are a bridegroom of blood to me.”

²⁶ So he let him alone. Then she said, “You are a bridegroom of blood,” because of the circumcision.

²⁷ Yahweh said to Aaron, “Go into the wilderness to meet Moses.”

He went, and met him on God’s mountain, and kissed him. ²⁸ Moses told Aaron all Yahweh’s words with which he had sent him, and all the signs with which he had instructed him. ²⁹ Moses and Aaron went and gathered together all the elders of the children of Israel. ³⁰ Aaron spoke all the words which Yahweh had spoken to Moses, and did the signs in the sight of the people. ³¹ The people believed, and when they heard that Yahweh had visited the children of Israel, and that he had seen their affliction, then they bowed their heads and worshiped.

5Afterward Moses and Aaron came, and said to Pharaoh, “This is what Yahweh, the God of Israel, says, ‘Let my people go, that they may hold a feast to me in the wilderness.’ ”

² Pharaoh said, “Who is Yahweh, that I should listen to his voice to let Israel go? I don’t know Yahweh, and moreover I will not let Israel go.”

³ They said, “The God of the Hebrews has met with us. Please let us go three days’ journey into the wilderness, and sacrifice to Yahweh, our God, lest he fall on us with pestilence, or with the sword.”

⁴ The king of Egypt said to them, “Why do you, Moses and Aaron, take the people from their work? Get back to your burdens!” ⁵ Pharaoh said, “Behold, the people of the land are now many, and you make them rest from their burdens.” ⁶ The same day Pharaoh commanded the taskmasters of the people and their officers, saying, ⁷ “You shall no longer give the people straw to make brick, as before. Let them go and gather straw for themselves. ⁸ You shall require from them the number of the bricks which they made before. You shall not diminish anything of it, for they are idle. Therefore they cry, saying, ‘Let’s go and sacrifice to our God.’ ⁹ Let heavier work be laid on the men, that they may labor in it. Don’t let them pay any attention to lying words.”

¹⁰ The taskmasters of the people went out, and their officers, and they spoke to the people, saying, “This is what Pharaoh says: ‘I will not give you straw. ¹¹ Go yourselves, get straw where you can find it, for nothing of your work shall be diminished.’ ” ¹² So the people were scattered abroad throughout all the land of Egypt to gather stubble for straw. ¹³ The taskmasters were urgent saying, “Fulfill your work quota daily, as when there was straw!” ¹⁴ The officers of the children of Israel, whom Pharaoh’s taskmasters had set over them, were beaten, and were asked, “Why haven’t you fulfilled your quota both yesterday and today, in making brick as before?”

¹⁵ Then the officers of the children of Israel came and cried to Pharaoh, saying, “Why do you deal this way with your servants? ¹⁶ No straw is given to your servants, and they tell us, ‘Make brick!’ and behold, your servants are beaten; but the fault is in your own people.”

¹⁷ But Pharaoh said, “You are idle! You are idle! Therefore you say, ‘Let’s go and sacrifice to Yahweh.’ ¹⁸ Go therefore now, and work; for no straw shall be given to you; yet you shall deliver the same number of bricks!”

¹⁹ The officers of the children of Israel saw that they were in trouble when it was said, “You shall not diminish anything from your daily quota of bricks!”

²⁰ They met Moses and Aaron, who stood along the way, as they came out from Pharaoh. ²¹ They said to them, “May Yahweh look at you and judge, because you have made us a stench to be abhorred in the eyes of Pharaoh, and in the eyes of his servants, to put a sword in their hand to kill us!”

²² Moses returned to Yahweh, and said, “Lord, why have you brought trouble on this people? Why is it that you have sent me? ²³ For since I came to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has brought trouble on this people. You have not rescued your people at all!”

6Yahweh said to Moses, “Now you shall see what I will do to Pharaoh, for by a strong hand he shall let them go, and by a strong hand he shall drive them out of his land.”

² God spoke to Moses, and said to him, “I am Yahweh. ³ I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, as God Almighty; but by my name Yahweh I was not known to them. ⁴ I have also established my covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the land of their travels, in which they lived as aliens. ⁵ Moreover I have heard the groaning of the children of Israel, whom the Egyptians keep in bondage, and I have remembered my covenant. ⁶ Therefore tell the children of Israel, ‘I am Yahweh, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will rid you out of their bondage, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm, and with great judgments. ⁷ I will take you to myself for a people. I will be your God; and you shall know that I am Yahweh your God, who brings you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. ⁸ I will bring you into the land which I swore to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob; and I will give it to you for a heritage: I am Yahweh.’ ”

⁹ Moses spoke so to the children of Israel, but they didn’t listen to Moses for anguish of spirit, and for cruel bondage.

¹⁰ Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ¹¹ “Go in, speak to Pharaoh king of Egypt, that he let the children of Israel go out of his land.”

¹² Moses spoke before Yahweh, saying, “Behold, the children of Israel haven’t listened to me. How then shall Pharaoh listen to me, when I have uncircumcised lips?” ¹³ Yahweh spoke to Moses and to Aaron, and gave them a command to the children of Israel, and to Pharaoh king of Egypt, to bring the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt.

¹⁴ These are the heads of their fathers’ houses. The sons of Reuben the firstborn of Israel: Hanoch, and Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi; these are the families of Reuben. ¹⁵ The sons of Simeon: Jemuel, and Jamin, and Ohad, and Jachin, and Zohar, and Shaul the son of a Canaanite woman; these are the families of Simeon. ¹⁶ These are the names of the sons of Levi according to their generations: Gershon, and Kohath, and Merari; and the years of the life of Levi were one hundred thirty-seven years. ¹⁷ The sons of Gershon: Libni and Shimei, according to their families. ¹⁸ The sons of Kohath: Amram, and Izhar, and Hebron, and Uzziel; and the years of the life of Kohath were one hundred thirty-three years. ¹⁹ The sons of Merari: Mahli and Mushi. These are the families of the Levites according to their generations. ²⁰ Amram took Jochebed his father’s sister to himself as wife; and she bore him Aaron and Moses. The years of the life of Amram were one hundred thirty-seven years. ²¹ The sons of Izhar: Korah, and Nepheg, and Zichri. ²² The sons of Uzziel: Mishael, and Elzaphan, and Sithri. ²³ Aaron took Elisheba, the daughter of Amminadab, the sister of Nahshon, as his wife; and she bore him Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar. ²⁴ The sons of Korah: Assir, and Elkanah, and Abiasaph; these are the families of the Korahites. ²⁵ Eleazar Aaron’s son took one of the daughters of Putiel as his wife; and she bore him Phinehas. These are the heads of the fathers’ houses of the Levites according to their families. ²⁶ These are that Aaron and Moses to whom Yahweh said, “Bring out the children of Israel from the land of Egypt according to their armies.” ²⁷ These are those who spoke to Pharaoh king of Egypt, to bring out the children of Israel from Egypt. These are that Moses and Aaron.

²⁸ On the day when Yahweh spoke to Moses in the land of Egypt, ²⁹ Yahweh said to Moses, “I am Yahweh. Tell Pharaoh king of Egypt all that I tell you.”

³⁰ Moses said before Yahweh, “Behold, I am of uncircumcised lips, and how shall Pharaoh listen to me?”

7Yahweh said to Moses, “Behold, I have made you as God to Pharaoh; and Aaron your brother shall be your prophet. ² You shall speak all that I command you; and Aaron your brother shall speak to Pharaoh, that he let the children of Israel go out of his land. ³ I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and multiply my signs and my wonders in the land of Egypt. ⁴ But Pharaoh will not listen to you, so I will lay my hand on Egypt, and bring out my armies, my people the children of Israel, out of the land of Egypt by great judgments. ⁵ The Egyptians shall know that I am Yahweh when I stretch out my hand on Egypt, and bring the children of Israel out from among them.”

⁶ Moses and Aaron did so. As Yahweh commanded them, so they did. ⁷ Moses was eighty years old, and Aaron eighty-three years old, when they spoke to Pharaoh.

⁸ Yahweh spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying, ⁹ “When Pharaoh speaks to you, saying, ‘Perform a miracle!’ then you shall tell Aaron, ‘Take your rod, and cast it down before Pharaoh, and it will become a serpent.’ ”

¹⁰ Moses and Aaron went in to Pharaoh, and they did so, as Yahweh had commanded. Aaron cast down his rod before Pharaoh and before his servants, and it became a serpent. ¹¹ Then Pharaoh also called for the wise men and the sorcerers. They also, the magicians of Egypt, did the same thing with their enchantments. ¹² For they each cast down their rods, and they became serpents; but Aaron’s rod swallowed up their rods. ¹³ Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he didn’t listen to them, as Yahweh had spoken.

¹⁴ Yahweh said to Moses, “Pharaoh’s heart is stubborn. He refuses to let the people go. ¹⁵ Go to Pharaoh in the morning. Behold, he is going out to the water. You shall stand by the river’s bank to meet him. You shall take the rod which was turned to a serpent in your hand. ¹⁶ You shall tell him, ‘Yahweh, the God of the Hebrews, has sent me to you, saying, “Let my people go, that they may serve me in the wilderness. Behold, until now you haven’t listened.” ¹⁷ Yahweh says, “In this you shall know that I am Yahweh. Behold: I will strike with the rod that is in my hand on the waters which are in the river, and they shall be turned to blood. ¹⁸ The fish that are in the river will die and the river will become foul. The Egyptians will loathe to drink water from the river.” ’ ” ¹⁹ Yahweh said to Moses, “Tell Aaron, ‘Take your rod, and stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt, over their rivers, over their streams, and over their pools, and over all their ponds of water, that they may become blood. There will be blood throughout all the land of Egypt, both in vessels of wood and in vessels of stone.’ ”

²⁰ Moses and Aaron did so, as Yahweh commanded; and he lifted up the rod, and struck the waters that were in the river, in the sight of Pharaoh, and in the sight of his servants; and all the waters that were in the river were turned to blood. ²¹ The fish that were in the river died. The river became foul. The Egyptians couldn’t drink water from the river. The blood was throughout all the land of Egypt. ²² The magicians of Egypt did the same thing with their enchantments. So Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he didn’t listen to them, as Yahweh had spoken. ²³ Pharaoh turned and went into his house, and he didn’t even take this to heart. ²⁴ All the Egyptians dug around the river for water to drink; for they couldn’t drink the river water. ²⁵ Seven days were fulfilled, after Yahweh had struck the river.

8Yahweh spoke to Moses, “Go in to Pharaoh, and tell him, ‘This is what Yahweh says, “Let my people go, that they may serve me. ² If you refuse to let them go, behold, I will plague all your borders with frogs. ³ The river will swarm with frogs, which will go up and come into your house, and into your bedroom, and on your bed, and into the house of your servants, and on your people, and into your ovens, and into your kneading troughs. ⁴ The frogs shall come up both on you, and on your people, and on all your servants.” ’ ” ⁵ Yahweh said to Moses, “Tell Aaron, ‘Stretch out your hand with your rod over the rivers, over the streams, and over the pools, and cause frogs to come up on the land of Egypt.’ ” ⁶ Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt; and the frogs came up, and covered the land of Egypt. ⁷ The magicians did the same thing with their enchantments, and brought up frogs on the land of Egypt.

⁸ Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron, and said, “Entreat Yahweh, that he take away the frogs from me and from my people; and I will let the people go, that they may sacrifice to Yahweh.”

⁹ Moses said to Pharaoh, “I give you the honor of setting the time that I should pray for you, and for your servants, and for your people, that the frogs be destroyed from you and your houses, and remain in the river only.”

¹⁰ Pharaoh said, “Tomorrow.”

Moses said, “Let it be according to your word, that you may know that there is no one like Yahweh our God. ¹¹ The frogs shall depart from you, and from your houses, and from your servants, and from your people. They shall remain in the river only.”

¹² Moses and Aaron went out from Pharaoh, and Moses cried to Yahweh concerning the frogs which he had brought on Pharaoh. ¹³ Yahweh did according to the word of Moses, and the frogs died out of the houses, out of the courts, and out of the fields. ¹⁴ They gathered them together in heaps, and the land stank. ¹⁵ But when Pharaoh saw that there was a respite, he hardened his heart, and didn’t listen to them, as Yahweh had spoken.

¹⁶ Yahweh said to Moses, “Tell Aaron, ‘Stretch out your rod, and strike the dust of the earth, that it may become lice throughout all the land of Egypt.’ ” ¹⁷ They did so; and Aaron stretched out his hand with his rod, and struck the dust of the earth, and there were lice on man, and on animal; all the dust of the earth became lice throughout all the land of Egypt. ¹⁸ The magicians tried with their enchantments to produce lice, but they couldn’t. There were lice on man, and on animal. ¹⁹ Then the magicians said to Pharaoh, “This is God’s finger;” but Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he didn’t listen to them, as Yahweh had spoken.

²⁰ Yahweh said to Moses, “Rise up early in the morning, and stand before Pharaoh; behold, he comes out to the water; and tell him, ‘This is what Yahweh says, “Let my people go, that they may serve me. ²¹ Else, if you will not let my people go, behold, I will send swarms of flies on you, and on your servants, and on your people, and into your houses. The houses of the Egyptians shall be full of swarms of flies, and also the ground they are on. ²² I will set apart in that day the land of Goshen, in which my people dwell, that no swarms of flies shall be there, to the end you may know that I am Yahweh on the earth. ²³ I will put a division between my people and your people. This sign shall happen by tomorrow.” ’ ” ²⁴ Yahweh did so; and there came grievous swarms of flies into the house of Pharaoh, and into his servants’ houses. In all the land of Egypt the land was corrupted by reason of the swarms of flies.

²⁵ Pharaoh called for Moses and for Aaron, and said, “Go, sacrifice to your God in the land!”

²⁶ Moses said, “It isn’t appropriate to do so; for we shall sacrifice the abomination of the Egyptians to Yahweh our God. Behold, if we sacrifice the abomination of the Egyptians before their eyes, won’t they stone us? ²⁷ We will go three days’ journey into the wilderness, and sacrifice to Yahweh our God, as he shall command us.”

²⁸ Pharaoh said, “I will let you go, that you may sacrifice to Yahweh your God in the wilderness, only you shall not go very far away. Pray for me.”

²⁹ Moses said, “Behold, I am going out from you. I will pray to Yahweh that the swarms of flies may depart from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people, tomorrow; only don’t let Pharaoh deal deceitfully any more in not letting the people go to sacrifice to Yahweh.” ³⁰ Moses went out from Pharaoh, and prayed to Yahweh. ³¹ Yahweh did according to the word of Moses, and he removed the swarms of flies from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people. There remained not one. ³² Pharaoh hardened his heart this time also, and he didn’t let the people go.

9Then Yahweh said to Moses, “Go in to Pharaoh, and tell him, ‘This is what Yahweh, the God of the Hebrews, says: “Let my people go, that they may serve me. ² For if you refuse to let them go, and hold them still, ³ behold, Yahweh’s hand is on your livestock which are in the field, on the horses, on the donkeys, on the camels, on the herds, and on the flocks with a very grievous pestilence. ⁴ Yahweh will make a distinction between the livestock of Israel and the livestock of Egypt; and nothing shall die of all that belongs to the children of Israel.” ’ ” ⁵ Yahweh appointed a set time, saying, “Tomorrow Yahweh shall do this thing in the land.” ⁶ Yahweh did that thing on the next day; and all the livestock of Egypt died, but of the livestock of the children of Israel, not one died. ⁷ Pharaoh sent, and, behold, there was not so much as one of the livestock of the Israelites dead. But the heart of Pharaoh was stubborn, and he didn’t let the people go.

⁸ Yahweh said to Moses and to Aaron, “Take handfuls of ashes of the furnace, and let Moses sprinkle it toward the sky in the sight of Pharaoh. ⁹ It shall become small dust over all the land of Egypt, and shall be a boils and blisters breaking out on man and on animal, throughout all the land of Egypt.”

¹⁰ They took ashes of the furnace, and stood before Pharaoh; and Moses sprinkled it up toward the sky; and it became boils and blisters breaking on man and on animal. ¹¹ The magicians couldn’t stand before Moses because of the boils; for the boils were on the magicians and on all the Egyptians. ¹² Yahweh hardened the heart of Pharaoh, and he didn’t listen to them, as Yahweh had spoken to Moses.

¹³ Yahweh said to Moses, “Rise up early in the morning, and stand before Pharaoh, and tell him, ‘This is what Yahweh, the God of the Hebrews, says: “Let my people go, that they may serve me. ¹⁴ For this time I will send all my plagues against your heart, against your officials, and against your people; that you may know that there is no one like me in all the earth. ¹⁵ For now I would have stretched out my hand, and struck you and your people with pestilence, and you would have been cut off from the earth; ¹⁶ but indeed for this cause I have made you stand: to show you my power, and that my name may be declared throughout all the earth, ¹⁷ because you still exalt yourself against my people, that you won’t let them go. ¹⁸ Behold, tomorrow about this time I will cause it to rain a very grievous hail, such as has not been in Egypt since the day it was founded even until now. ¹⁹ Now therefore command that all of your livestock and all that you have in the field be brought into shelter. The hail will come down on every man and animal that is found in the field, and isn’t brought home, and they will die.” ’ ”

²⁰ Those who feared Yahweh’s word among the servants of Pharaoh made their servants and their livestock flee into the houses. ²¹ Whoever didn’t respect Yahweh’s word left his servants and his livestock in the field.

²² Yahweh said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand toward the sky, that there may be hail in all the land of Egypt, on man, and on animal, and on every herb of the field, throughout the land of Egypt.”

²³ Moses stretched out his rod toward the heavens, and Yahweh sent thunder and hail; and lightning flashed down to the earth. Yahweh rained hail on the land of Egypt. ²⁴ So there was very severe hail, and lightning mixed with the hail, such as had not been in all the land of Egypt since it became a nation. ²⁵ The hail struck throughout all the land of Egypt all that was in the field, both man and animal; and the hail struck every herb of the field, and broke every tree of the field. ²⁶ Only in the land of Goshen, where the children of Israel were, there was no hail.

²⁷ Pharaoh sent and called for Moses and Aaron, and said to them, “I have sinned this time. Yahweh is righteous, and I and my people are wicked. ²⁸ Pray to Yahweh; for there has been enough of mighty thunderings and hail. I will let you go, and you shall stay no longer.”

²⁹ Moses said to him, “As soon as I have gone out of the city, I will spread out my hands to Yahweh. The thunders shall cease, and there will not be any more hail; that you may know that the earth is Yahweh’s. ³⁰ But as for you and your servants, I know that you don’t yet fear Yahweh God.”

³¹ The flax and the barley were struck, for the barley had ripened and the flax was blooming. ³² But the wheat and the spelt were not struck, for they had not grown up. ³³ Moses went out of the city from Pharaoh, and spread out his hands to Yahweh; and the thunders and hail ceased, and the rain was not poured on the earth. ³⁴ When Pharaoh saw that the rain and the hail and the thunders had ceased, he sinned yet more, and hardened his heart, he and his servants. ³⁵ The heart of Pharaoh was hardened, and he didn’t let the children of Israel go, just as Yahweh had spoken through Moses.

10Yahweh said to Moses, “Go in to Pharaoh, for I have hardened his heart and the heart of his servants, that I may show these my signs among them; ² and that you may tell in the hearing of your son, and of your son’s son, what things I have done to Egypt, and my signs which I have done among them; that you may know that I am Yahweh.”

³ Moses and Aaron went in to Pharaoh, and said to him, “This is what Yahweh, the God of the Hebrews, says: ‘How long will you refuse to humble yourself before me? Let my people go, that they may serve me. ⁴ Or else, if you refuse to let my people go, behold, tomorrow I will bring locusts into your country, ⁵ and they shall cover the surface of the earth, so that one won’t be able to see the earth. They shall eat the residue of that which has escaped, which remains to you from the hail, and shall eat every tree which grows for you out of the field. ⁶ Your houses shall be filled, and the houses of all your servants, and the houses of all the Egyptians, as neither your fathers nor your fathers’ fathers have seen, since the day that they were on the earth to this day.’ ” He turned, and went out from Pharaoh.

⁷ Pharaoh’s servants said to him, “How long will this man be a snare to us? Let the men go, that they may serve Yahweh, their God. Don’t you yet know that Egypt is destroyed?”

⁸ Moses and Aaron were brought again to Pharaoh, and he said to them, “Go, serve Yahweh your God; but who are those who will go?”

⁹ Moses said, “We will go with our young and with our old. We will go with our sons and with our daughters, with our flocks and with our herds; for we must hold a feast to Yahweh.”

¹⁰ He said to them, “Yahweh be with you if I let you go with your little ones! See, evil is clearly before your faces. ¹¹ Not so! Go now you who are men, and serve Yahweh; for that is what you desire!” Then they were driven out from Pharaoh’s presence.

¹² Yahweh said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the land of Egypt for the locusts, that they may come up on the land of Egypt, and eat every herb of the land, even all that the hail has left.” ¹³ Moses stretched out his rod over the land of Egypt, and Yahweh brought an east wind on the land all that day, and all night; and when it was morning, the east wind brought the locusts. ¹⁴ The locusts went up over all the land of Egypt, and rested in all the borders of Egypt. They were very grievous. Before them there were no such locusts as they, nor will there ever be again. ¹⁵ For they covered the surface of the whole earth, so that the land was darkened, and they ate every herb of the land, and all the fruit of the trees which the hail had left. There remained nothing green, either tree or herb of the field, through all the land of Egypt. ¹⁶ Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron in haste, and he said, “I have sinned against Yahweh your God, and against you. ¹⁷ Now therefore please forgive my sin again, and pray to Yahweh your God, that he may also take away from me this death.”

¹⁸ Moses went out from Pharaoh, and prayed to Yahweh. ¹⁹ Yahweh sent an exceedingly strong west wind, which took up the locusts, and drove them into the Red Sea. There remained not one locust in all the borders of Egypt. ²⁰ But Yahweh hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he didn’t let the children of Israel go.

²¹ Yahweh said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand toward the sky, that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, even darkness which may be felt.” ²² Moses stretched out his hand toward the sky, and there was a thick darkness in all the land of Egypt for three days. ²³ They didn’t see one another, and nobody rose from his place for three days; but all the children of Israel had light in their dwellings.

²⁴ Pharaoh called to Moses, and said, “Go, serve Yahweh. Only let your flocks and your herds stay behind. Let your little ones also go with you.”

²⁵ Moses said, “You must also give into our hand sacrifices and burnt offerings, that we may sacrifice to Yahweh our God. ²⁶ Our livestock also shall go with us. Not a hoof shall be left behind, for of it we must take to serve Yahweh our God; and we don’t know with what we must serve Yahweh, until we come there.”

²⁷ But Yahweh hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he wouldn’t let them go. ²⁸ Pharaoh said to him, “Get away from me! Be careful to see my face no more; for in the day you see my face you shall die!”

²⁹ Moses said, “You have spoken well. I will see your face again no more.”

11Yahweh said to Moses, “I will bring yet one more plague on Pharaoh, and on Egypt; afterwards he will let you go. When he lets you go, he will surely thrust you out altogether. ² Speak now in the ears of the people, and let every man ask of his neighbor, and every woman of her neighbor, jewels of silver, and jewels of gold.” ³ Yahweh gave the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians. Moreover, the man Moses was very great in the land of Egypt, in the sight of Pharaoh’s servants, and in the sight of the people.

⁴ Moses said, “This is what Yahweh says: ‘About midnight I will go out into the middle of Egypt, ⁵ and all the firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sits on his throne, even to the firstborn of the female servant who is behind the mill, and all the firstborn of livestock. ⁶ There will be a great cry throughout all the land of Egypt, such as there has not been, nor will be any more. ⁷ But against any of the children of Israel a dog won’t even bark or move its tongue, against man or animal, that you may know that Yahweh makes a distinction between the Egyptians and Israel. ⁸ All these servants of yours will come down to me, and bow down themselves to me, saying, “Get out, with all the people who follow you;” and after that I will go out.’ ” He went out from Pharaoh in hot anger.

⁹ Yahweh said to Moses, “Pharaoh won’t listen to you, that my wonders may be multiplied in the land of Egypt.” ¹⁰ Moses and Aaron did all these wonders before Pharaoh, but Yahweh hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he didn’t let the children of Israel go out of his land.

12Yahweh spoke to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying, ² “This month shall be to you the beginning of months. It shall be the first month of the year to you. ³ Speak to all the congregation of Israel, saying, ‘On the tenth day of this month, they shall take to them every man a lamb, according to their fathers’ houses, a lamb for a household; ⁴ and if the household is too little for a lamb, then he and his neighbor next to his house shall take one according to the number of the souls. You shall make your count for the lamb according to what everyone can eat. ⁵ Your lamb shall be without defect, a male a year old. You shall take it from the sheep, or from the goats. ⁶ You shall keep it until the fourteenth day of the same month; and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it at evening. ⁷ They shall take some of the blood, and put it on the two door posts and on the lintel, on the houses in which they shall eat it. ⁸ They shall eat the meat in that night, roasted with fire, and unleavened bread. They shall eat it with bitter herbs. ⁹ Don’t eat it raw, nor boiled at all with water, but roasted with fire; with its head, its legs and its inner parts. ¹⁰ You shall let nothing of it remain until the morning; but that which remains of it until the morning you shall burn with fire. ¹¹ This is how you shall eat it: with your belt on your waist, your shoes on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and you shall eat it in haste: it is Yahweh’s Passover. ¹² For I will go through the land of Egypt in that night, and will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and animal. I will execute judgments against all the gods of Egypt. I am Yahweh. ¹³ The blood shall be to you for a token on the houses where you are. When I see the blood, I will pass over you, and no plague will be on you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt. ¹⁴ This day shall be a memorial for you. You shall keep it as a feast to Yahweh. You shall keep it as a feast throughout your generations by an ordinance forever.

¹⁵ “ ‘Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread; even the first day you shall put away yeast out of your houses, for whoever eats leavened bread from the first day until the seventh day, that soul shall be cut off from Israel. ¹⁶ In the first day there shall be to you a holy convocation, and in the seventh day a holy convocation; no kind of work shall be done in them, except that which every man must eat, only that may be done by you. ¹⁷ You shall observe the feast of unleavened bread; for in this same day I have brought your armies out of the land of Egypt. Therefore you shall observe this day throughout your generations by an ordinance forever. ¹⁸ In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at evening, you shall eat unleavened bread, until the twenty first day of the month at evening. ¹⁹ There shall be no yeast found in your houses for seven days, for whoever eats that which is leavened, that soul shall be cut off from the congregation of Israel, whether he is a foreigner, or one who is born in the land. ²⁰ You shall eat nothing leavened. In all your habitations you shall eat unleavened bread.’ ”

²¹ Then Moses called for all the elders of Israel, and said to them, “Draw out, and take lambs according to your families, and kill the Passover. ²² You shall take a bunch of hyssop, and dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and strike the lintel and the two door posts with the blood that is in the basin. None of you shall go out of the door of his house until the morning. ²³ For Yahweh will pass through to strike the Egyptians; and when he sees the blood on the lintel, and on the two door posts, Yahweh will pass over the door, and will not allow the destroyer to come in to your houses to strike you. ²⁴ You shall observe this thing for an ordinance to you and to your sons forever. ²⁵ It shall happen when you have come to the land which Yahweh will give you, as he has promised, that you shall keep this service. ²⁶ It will happen, when your children ask you, ‘What do you mean by this service?’ ²⁷ that you shall say, ‘It is the sacrifice of Yahweh’s Passover, who passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt, when he struck the Egyptians, and spared our houses.’ ”

The people bowed their heads and worshiped. ²⁸ The children of Israel went and did so; as Yahweh had commanded Moses and Aaron, so they did.

²⁹ At midnight, Yahweh struck all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sat on his throne to the firstborn of the captive who was in the dungeon, and all the firstborn of livestock. ³⁰ Pharaoh rose up in the night, he, and all his servants, and all the Egyptians; and there was a great cry in Egypt, for there was not a house where there was not one dead. ³¹ He called for Moses and Aaron by night, and said, “Rise up, get out from among my people, both you and the children of Israel; and go, serve Yahweh, as you have said! ³² Take both your flocks and your herds, as you have said, and be gone; and bless me also!”

³³ The Egyptians were urgent with the people, to send them out of the land in haste, for they said, “We are all dead men.” ³⁴ The people took their dough before it was leavened, their kneading troughs being bound up in their clothes on their shoulders. ³⁵ The children of Israel did according to the word of Moses; and they asked of the Egyptians jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and clothing. ³⁶ Yahweh gave the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they let them have what they asked. They plundered the Egyptians.

³⁷ The children of Israel traveled from Rameses to Succoth, about six hundred thousand on foot who were men, in addition to children. ³⁸ A mixed multitude went up also with them, with flocks, herds, and even very much livestock. ³⁹ They baked unleavened cakes of the dough which they brought out of Egypt; for it wasn’t leavened, because they were thrust out of Egypt, and couldn’t wait, and they had not prepared any food for themselves. ⁴⁰ Now the time that the children of Israel lived in Egypt was four hundred thirty years. ⁴¹ At the end of four hundred thirty years, to the day, all of Yahweh’s armies went out from the land of Egypt. ⁴² It is a night to be much observed to Yahweh for bringing them out from the land of Egypt. This is that night of Yahweh, to be much observed by all the children of Israel throughout their generations.

⁴³ Yahweh said to Moses and Aaron, “This is the ordinance of the Passover. No foreigner shall eat of it, ⁴⁴ but every man’s servant who is bought for money, when you have circumcised him, then shall he eat of it. ⁴⁵ A foreigner and a hired servant shall not eat of it. ⁴⁶ It must be eaten in one house. You shall not carry any of the meat outside of the house. Do not break any of its bones. ⁴⁷ All the congregation of Israel shall keep it. ⁴⁸ When a stranger lives as a foreigner with you, and would like to keep the Passover to Yahweh, let all his males be circumcised, and then let him come near and keep it. He shall be as one who is born in the land; but no uncircumcised person shall eat of it. ⁴⁹ One law shall be to him who is born at home, and to the stranger who lives as a foreigner among you.” ⁵⁰ All the children of Israel did so. As Yahweh commanded Moses and Aaron, so they did. ⁵¹ That same day, Yahweh brought the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt by their armies.

13Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ² “Sanctify to me all the firstborn, whatever opens the womb among the children of Israel, both of man and of animal. It is mine.”

³ Moses said to the people, “Remember this day, in which you came out of Egypt, out of the house of bondage; for by strength of hand Yahweh brought you out from this place. No leavened bread shall be eaten. ⁴ Today you go out in the month Abib. ⁵ It shall be, when Yahweh brings you into the land of the Canaanite, and the Hittite, and the Amorite, and the Hivite, and the Jebusite, which he swore to your fathers to give you, a land flowing with milk and honey, that you shall keep this service in this month. ⁶ Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, and in the seventh day shall be a feast to Yahweh. ⁷ Unleavened bread shall be eaten throughout the seven days; and no leavened bread shall be seen with you. No yeast shall be seen with you, within all your borders. ⁸ You shall tell your son in that day, saying, ‘It is because of that which Yahweh did for me when I came out of Egypt.’ ⁹ It shall be for a sign to you on your hand, and for a memorial between your eyes, that Yahweh’s law may be in your mouth; for with a strong hand Yahweh has brought you out of Egypt. ¹⁰ You shall therefore keep this ordinance in its season from year to year.

¹¹ “It shall be, when Yahweh brings you into the land of the Canaanite, as he swore to you and to your fathers, and will give it you, ¹² that you shall set apart to Yahweh all that opens the womb, and every firstborn that comes from an animal which you have. The males shall be Yahweh’s. ¹³ Every firstborn of a donkey you shall redeem with a lamb; and if you will not redeem it, then you shall break its neck; and you shall redeem all the firstborn of man among your sons. ¹⁴ It shall be, when your son asks you in time to come, saying, ‘What is this?’ that you shall tell him, ‘By strength of hand Yahweh brought us out from Egypt, from the house of bondage. ¹⁵ When Pharaoh stubbornly refused to let us go, Yahweh killed all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both the firstborn of man, and the firstborn of livestock. Therefore I sacrifice to Yahweh all that opens the womb, being males; but all the firstborn of my sons I redeem.’ ¹⁶ It shall be for a sign on your hand, and for symbols between your eyes; for by strength of hand Yahweh brought us out of Egypt.”

¹⁷ When Pharaoh had let the people go, God didn’t lead them by the way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near; for God said, “Lest perhaps the people change their minds when they see war, and they return to Egypt”; ¹⁸ but God led the people around by the way of the wilderness by the Red Sea; and the children of Israel went up armed out of the land of Egypt. ¹⁹ Moses took the bones of Joseph with him, for he had made the children of Israel swear, saying, “God will surely visit you, and you shall carry up my bones away from here with you.” ²⁰ They took their journey from Succoth, and encamped in Etham, in the edge of the wilderness. ²¹ Yahweh went before them by day in a pillar of cloud, to lead them on their way, and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light, that they might go by day and by night: ²² the pillar of cloud by day, and the pillar of fire by night, didn’t depart from before the people.

14Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ² “Speak to the children of Israel, that they turn back and encamp before Pihahiroth, between Migdol and the sea, before Baal Zephon. You shall encamp opposite it by the sea. ³ Pharaoh will say of the children of Israel, ‘They are entangled in the land. The wilderness has shut them in.’ ⁴ I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and he will follow after them; and I will get honor over Pharaoh, and over all his armies; and the Egyptians shall know that I am Yahweh.” They did so.

⁵ The king of Egypt was told that the people had fled; and the heart of Pharaoh and of his servants was changed toward the people, and they said, “What is this we have done, that we have let Israel go from serving us?” ⁶ He prepared his chariot, and took his army with him; ⁷ and he took six hundred chosen chariots, and all the chariots of Egypt, with captains over all of them. ⁸ Yahweh hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and he pursued the children of Israel; for the children of Israel went out with a high hand. ⁹ The Egyptians pursued them. All the horses and chariots of Pharaoh, his horsemen, and his army overtook them encamping by the sea, beside Pihahiroth, before Baal Zephon.

¹⁰ When Pharaoh came near, the children of Israel lifted up their eyes, and behold, the Egyptians were marching after them; and they were very afraid. The children of Israel cried out to Yahweh. ¹¹ They said to Moses, “Because there were no graves in Egypt, have you taken us away to die in the wilderness? Why have you treated us this way, to bring us out of Egypt? ¹² Isn’t this the word that we spoke to you in Egypt, saying, ‘Leave us alone, that we may serve the Egyptians?’ For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness.”

¹³ Moses said to the people, “Don’t be afraid. Stand still, and see the salvation of Yahweh, which he will work for you today; for you will never again see the Egyptians whom you have seen today. ¹⁴ Yahweh will fight for you, and you shall be still.”

¹⁵ Yahweh said to Moses, “Why do you cry to me? Speak to the children of Israel, that they go forward. ¹⁶ Lift up your rod, and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it. Then the children of Israel shall go into the middle of the sea on dry ground. ¹⁷ Behold, I myself will harden the hearts of the Egyptians, and they will go in after them. I will get myself honor over Pharaoh, and over all his armies, over his chariots, and over his horsemen. ¹⁸ The Egyptians shall know that I am Yahweh when I have gotten myself honor over Pharaoh, over his chariots, and over his horsemen.” ¹⁹ The angel of God, who went before the camp of Israel, moved and went behind them; and the pillar of cloud moved from before them, and stood behind them. ²⁰ It came between the camp of Egypt and the camp of Israel. There was the cloud and the darkness, yet gave it light by night. One didn’t come near the other all night.

²¹ Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and Yahweh caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all night, and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided. ²² The children of Israel went into the middle of the sea on the dry ground, and the waters were a wall to them on their right hand, and on their left. ²³ The Egyptians pursued, and went in after them into the middle of the sea: all of Pharaoh’s horses, his chariots, and his horsemen. ²⁴ In the morning watch, Yahweh looked out on the Egyptian army through the pillar of fire and of cloud, and confused the Egyptian army. ²⁵ He took off their chariot wheels, and they drove them heavily; so that the Egyptians said, “Let’s flee from the face of Israel, for Yahweh fights for them against the Egyptians!”

²⁶ Yahweh said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the sea, that the waters may come again on the Egyptians, on their chariots, and on their horsemen.” ²⁷ Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the sea returned to its strength when the morning appeared; and the Egyptians fled against it. Yahweh overthrew the Egyptians in the middle of the sea. ²⁸ The waters returned, and covered the chariots and the horsemen, even all Pharaoh’s army that went in after them into the sea. There remained not so much as one of them. ²⁹ But the children of Israel walked on dry land in the middle of the sea, and the waters were a wall to them on their right hand, and on their left. ³⁰ Thus Yahweh saved Israel that day out of the hand of the Egyptians; and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore. ³¹ Israel saw the great work which Yahweh did to the Egyptians, and the people feared Yahweh; and they believed in Yahweh and in his servant Moses.

15Then Moses and the children of Israel sang this song to Yahweh, and said,

“I will sing to Yahweh, for he has triumphed gloriously.

He has thrown the horse and his rider into the sea.

² Yah is my strength and song.

He has become my salvation.

This is my God, and I will praise him;

my father’s God, and I will exalt him.

³ Yahweh is a man of war.

Yahweh is his name.

⁴ He has cast Pharaoh’s chariots and his army into the sea.

His chosen captains are sunk in the Red Sea.

⁵ The deeps cover them.

They went down into the depths like a stone.

⁶ Your right hand, Yahweh, is glorious in power.

Your right hand, Yahweh, dashes the enemy in pieces.

⁷ In the greatness of your excellency, you overthrow those who rise up against you.

You send out your wrath. It consumes them as stubble.

⁸ With the blast of your nostrils, the waters were piled up.

The floods stood upright as a heap.

The deeps were congealed in the heart of the sea.

⁹ The enemy said, ‘I will pursue. I will overtake. I will divide the plunder.

My desire will be satisfied on them.

I will draw my sword. My hand will destroy them.’

¹⁰ You blew with your wind.

The sea covered them.

They sank like lead in the mighty waters.

¹¹ Who is like you, Yahweh, among the gods?

Who is like you, glorious in holiness,

fearful in praises, doing wonders?

¹² You stretched out your right hand.

The earth swallowed them.

¹³ “You, in your loving kindness, have led the people that you have redeemed.

You have guided them in your strength to your holy habitation.

¹⁴ The peoples have heard.

They tremble.

Pangs have taken hold of the inhabitants of Philistia.

¹⁵ Then the chiefs of Edom were dismayed.

Trembling takes hold of the mighty men of Moab.

All the inhabitants of Canaan have melted away.

¹⁶ Terror and dread falls on them.

By the greatness of your arm they are as still as a stone,

until your people pass over, Yahweh,

until the people you have purchased pass over.

¹⁷ You will bring them in, and plant them in the mountain of your inheritance,

the place, Yahweh, which you have made for yourself to dwell in;

the sanctuary, Lord, which your hands have established.

¹⁸ Yahweh will reign forever and ever.”

¹⁹ For the horses of Pharaoh went in with his chariots and with his horsemen into the sea, and Yahweh brought back the waters of the sea on them; but the children of Israel walked on dry land in the middle of the sea. ²⁰ Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took a tambourine in her hand; and all the women went out after her with tambourines and with dances. ²¹ Miriam answered them,

“Sing to Yahweh, for he has triumphed gloriously.

The horse and his rider he has thrown into the sea.”

²² Moses led Israel onward from the Red Sea, and they went out into the wilderness of Shur; and they went three days in the wilderness, and found no water. ²³ When they came to Marah, they couldn’t drink from the waters of Marah, for they were bitter. Therefore its name was called Marah. ²⁴ The people murmured against Moses, saying, “What shall we drink?” ²⁵ Then he cried to Yahweh. Yahweh showed him a tree, and he threw it into the waters, and the waters were made sweet. There he made a statute and an ordinance for them, and there he tested them. ²⁶ He said, “If you will diligently listen to Yahweh your God’s voice, and will do that which is right in his eyes, and will pay attention to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you, which I have put on the Egyptians; for I am Yahweh who heals you.”

²⁷ They came to Elim, where there were twelve springs of water, and seventy palm trees. They encamped there by the waters.

16They took their journey 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 their departing out of the land of Egypt. ² The whole congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron in the wilderness; ³ and the children of Israel said to them, “We wish that we had died by Yahweh’s hand in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the meat pots, when we ate our fill of bread, for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.”

⁴ Then Yahweh said to Moses, “Behold, I will rain bread from the sky 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. ⁵ It shall come to pass on the sixth day, that they shall prepare that which they bring in, and it shall be twice as much as they gather daily.”

⁶ Moses and Aaron said to all the children of Israel, “At evening, you shall know that Yahweh has brought you out from the land of Egypt. ⁷ In the morning, you shall see Yahweh’s glory; because he hears your murmurings against Yahweh. Who are we, that you murmur against us?” ⁸ Moses said, “Now Yahweh will give you meat to eat in the evening, and in the morning bread to satisfy you, because Yahweh hears your murmurings which you murmur against him. And who are we? Your murmurings are not against us, but against Yahweh.” ⁹ Moses said to Aaron, “Tell all the congregation of the children of Israel, ‘Come close to Yahweh, for he has heard your murmurings.’ ” ¹⁰ As Aaron spoke to the whole congregation of the children of Israel, they looked toward the wilderness, and behold, Yahweh’s glory appeared in the cloud. ¹¹ Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ¹² “I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel. Speak to them, saying, ‘At evening you shall eat meat, and in the morning you shall be filled with bread. Then you will know that I am Yahweh your God.’ ”

¹³ In the evening, quail came up and covered the camp; and in the morning the dew lay around the camp. ¹⁴ When the dew that lay had gone, behold, on the surface of the wilderness was a small round thing, small as the frost on the ground. ¹⁵ When the children of Israel saw it, they said to one another, “What is it?” For they didn’t know what it was. Moses said to them, “It is the bread which Yahweh has given you to eat. ¹⁶ “This is the thing which Yahweh has commanded: ‘Gather of it everyone according to his eating; an omer a head, according to the number of your persons, you shall take it, every man for those who are in his tent.’ ” ¹⁷ The children of Israel did so, and some gathered more, some less. ¹⁸ When they measured it with an omer, he who gathered much had nothing over, and he who gathered little had no lack. They each gathered according to his eating. ¹⁹ Moses said to them, “Let no one leave of it until the morning.” ²⁰ Notwithstanding they didn’t listen to Moses, but some of them left of it until the morning, so it bred worms and became foul; and Moses was angry with them. ²¹ They gathered it morning by morning, everyone according to his eating. When the sun grew hot, it melted. ²² On the sixth day, they gathered twice as much bread, two omers for each one; and all the rulers of the congregation came and told Moses. ²³ He said to them, “This is that which Yahweh has spoken, ‘Tomorrow is a solemn rest, a holy Sabbath to Yahweh. Bake that which you want to bake, and boil that which you want to boil; and all that remains over lay up for yourselves to be kept until the morning.’ ” ²⁴ They laid it up until the morning, as Moses ordered, and it didn’t become foul, and there were no worms in it. ²⁵ Moses said, “Eat that today, for today is a Sabbath to Yahweh. Today you shall not find it in the field. ²⁶ Six days you shall gather it, but on the seventh day is the Sabbath. In it there shall be none.” ²⁷ On the seventh day, some of the people went out to gather, and they found none. ²⁸ Yahweh said to Moses, “How long do you refuse to keep my commandments and my laws? ²⁹ Behold, because Yahweh has given you the Sabbath, therefore he gives you on the sixth day the bread of two days. Everyone stay in his place. Let no one go out of his place on the seventh day.” ³⁰ So the people rested on the seventh day.

³¹ The house of Israel called its name “Manna”, and it was like coriander seed, white; and its taste was like wafers with honey. ³² Moses said, “This is the thing which Yahweh has commanded, ‘Let an omer-full of it be kept throughout 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.’ ” ³³ Moses said to Aaron, “Take a pot, and put an omer-full of manna in it, and lay it up before Yahweh, to be kept throughout your generations.” ³⁴ As Yahweh commanded Moses, so Aaron laid it up before the Testimony, to be kept. ³⁵ The children of Israel ate the manna forty years, until they came to an inhabited land. They ate the manna until they came to the borders of the land of Canaan. ³⁶ Now an omer is one tenth of an ephah.

17All the congregation of the children of Israel traveled from the wilderness of Sin, starting according to Yahweh’s commandment, and encamped in Rephidim; but there was no water for the people to drink. ² Therefore the people quarreled with Moses, and said, “Give us water to drink.”

Moses said to them, “Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you test Yahweh?”

³ The people were thirsty for water there; so the people murmured against Moses, and said, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt, to kill us, our children, and our livestock with thirst?”

⁴ Moses cried to Yahweh, saying, “What shall I do with these people? They are almost ready to stone me.”

⁵ Yahweh said to Moses, “Walk on before the people, and take the elders of Israel with you, and take the rod in your hand with which you struck the Nile, and go. ⁶ Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock in Horeb. You shall strike the rock, and water will come out of it, that the people may drink.” Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel. ⁷ He called the name of the place Massah, and Meribah, because the children of Israel quarreled, and because they tested Yahweh, saying, “Is Yahweh among us, or not?”

⁸ Then Amalek came and fought with Israel in Rephidim. ⁹ Moses said to Joshua, “Choose men for us, and go out, fight with Amalek. Tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill with God’s rod in my hand.” ¹⁰ So Joshua did as Moses had told him, and fought with Amalek; and Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill. ¹¹ When Moses held up his hand, Israel prevailed. When he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed. ¹² But Moses’ hands were heavy; so they took a stone, and put it under him, and he sat on it. Aaron and Hur held up his hands, the one on the one side, and the other on the other side. His hands were steady until sunset. ¹³ Joshua defeated Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword. ¹⁴ Yahweh said to Moses, “Write this for a memorial in a book, and rehearse it in the ears of Joshua: that I will utterly blot out the memory of Amalek from under the sky.” ¹⁵ Moses built an altar, and called its name “Yahweh our Banner”. ¹⁶ He said, “Yah has sworn: ‘Yahweh will have war with Amalek from generation to generation.’ ”

18Now Jethro, the priest of Midian, Moses’ father-in-law, heard of all that God had done for Moses, and for Israel his people, how Yahweh had brought Israel out of Egypt. ² Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, received Zipporah, Moses’ wife, after he had sent her away, ³ and her two sons. The name of one son was Gershom, for Moses said, “I have lived as a foreigner in a foreign land”. ⁴ The name of the other was Eliezer, for he said, “My father’s God was my help and delivered me from Pharaoh’s sword.” ⁵ Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, came with Moses’ sons and his wife to Moses into the wilderness where he was encamped, at the Mountain of God. ⁶ He said to Moses, “I, your father-in-law Jethro, have come to you with your wife, and her two sons with her.”

⁷ Moses went out to meet his father-in-law, and bowed and kissed him. They asked each other of their welfare, and they came into the tent. ⁸ Moses told his father-in-law all that Yahweh had done to Pharaoh and to the Egyptians for Israel’s sake, all the hardships that had come on them on the way, and how Yahweh delivered them. ⁹ Jethro rejoiced for all the goodness which Yahweh had done to Israel, in that he had delivered them out of the hand of the Egyptians. ¹⁰ Jethro said, “Blessed be Yahweh, who has delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians, and out of the hand of Pharaoh; who has delivered the people from under the hand of the Egyptians. ¹¹ Now I know that Yahweh is greater than all gods because of the way that they treated people arrogantly.” ¹² Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, took a burnt offering and sacrifices for God. Aaron came with all the elders of Israel, to eat bread with Moses’ father-in-law before God.

¹³ On the next day, Moses sat to judge the people, and the people stood around Moses from the morning to the evening. ¹⁴ When Moses’ father-in-law saw all that he did to the people, he said, “What is this thing that you do for the people? Why do you sit alone, and all the people stand around you from morning to evening?”

¹⁵ Moses said to his father-in-law, “Because the people come to me to inquire of God. ¹⁶ When they have a matter, they come to me, and I judge between a man and his neighbor, and I make them know the statutes of God, and his laws.” ¹⁷ Moses’ father-in-law said to him, “The thing that you do is not good. ¹⁸ You will surely wear away, both you, and this people that is with you; for the thing is too heavy for you. You are not able to perform it yourself alone. ¹⁹ Listen now to my voice. I will give you counsel, and God be with you. You represent the people before God, and bring the causes to God. ²⁰ You shall teach them the statutes and the laws, and shall show them the way in which they must walk, and the work that they must do. ²¹ Moreover you shall provide out of all the people able men which fear God: men of truth, hating unjust gain; and place such over them, to be rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens. ²² Let them judge the people at all times. It shall be that every great matter they shall bring to you, but every small matter they shall judge themselves. So shall it be easier for you, and they shall share the load with you. ²³ If you will do this thing, and God commands you so, then you will be able to endure, and all these people also will go to their place in peace.”

²⁴ So Moses listened to the voice of his father-in-law, and did all that he had said. ²⁵ 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. ²⁶ They judged the people at all times. They brought the hard causes to Moses, but every small matter they judged themselves. ²⁷ Moses let his father-in-law depart, and he went his way into his own land.

19In the third month after the children of Israel had gone out of the land of Egypt, on that same day they came into the wilderness of Sinai. ² When they had departed from Rephidim, and had come to the wilderness of Sinai, they encamped in the wilderness; and there Israel encamped before the mountain. ³ Moses went up to God, and Yahweh called to him out of the mountain, saying, “This is what you shall tell 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. ⁵ Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice, and keep my covenant, then you shall be my own possession from among all peoples; for all the earth is mine; ⁶ and 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.”

⁷ Moses came and called for the elders of the people, and set before them all these words which Yahweh commanded him. ⁸ All the people answered together, and said, “All that Yahweh has spoken we will do.”

Moses reported the words of the people to Yahweh. ⁹ Yahweh said to Moses, “Behold, I come to you in a thick cloud, that the people may hear when I speak with you, and may also believe you forever.” Moses told the words of the people to Yahweh. ¹⁰ Yahweh said to Moses, “Go to the people, and sanctify them today and tomorrow, and let them wash their garments, ¹¹ and be ready for the third day; for on the third day Yahweh will come down in the sight of all the people on Mount Sinai. ¹² You shall set bounds to the people all around, saying, ‘Be careful that you don’t go up onto the mountain, or touch its border. Whoever touches the mountain shall be surely put to death. ¹³ No hand shall touch him, but he shall surely be stoned or shot through; whether it is animal or man, he shall not live.’ When the trumpet sounds long, they shall come up to the mountain.”

¹⁴ Moses went down from the mountain to the people, and sanctified the people; and they washed their clothes. ¹⁵ He said to the people, “Be ready by the third day. Don’t have sexual relations with a woman.”

¹⁶ On the third day, when it was morning, there were thunders and lightnings, and a thick cloud on the mountain, and the sound of an exceedingly loud trumpet; and all the people who were in the camp trembled. ¹⁷ Moses led the people out of the camp to meet God; and they stood at the lower part of the mountain. ¹⁸ All of Mount Sinai smoked, because Yahweh descended on it in fire; and its smoke ascended like the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mountain quaked greatly. ¹⁹ When the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder, Moses spoke, and God answered him by a voice. ²⁰ Yahweh came down on Mount Sinai, to the top of the mountain. Yahweh called Moses to the top of the mountain, and Moses went up.

²¹ Yahweh said to Moses, “Go down, warn the people, lest they break through to Yahweh to gaze, and many of them perish. ²² Let the priests also, who come near to Yahweh, sanctify themselves, lest Yahweh break out on them.”

²³ Moses said to Yahweh, “The people can’t come up to Mount Sinai, for you warned us, saying, ‘Set bounds around the mountain, and sanctify it.’ ”

²⁴ Yahweh said to him, “Go down! You shall bring Aaron up with you, but don’t let the priests and the people break through to come up to Yahweh, lest he break out against them.”

²⁵ So Moses went down to the people, and told them.

20God spoke all these words, saying, ² “I am Yahweh 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 yourselves an idol, nor any image of anything that is in the heavens above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: ⁵ you shall not bow yourself down to them, nor serve them, for I, Yahweh your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and on the fourth generation of those who hate me, ⁶ and showing loving kindness to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.

⁷ “You shall not misuse the name of Yahweh your God, for Yahweh will not hold him guiltless who misuses his name.

⁸ “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. ⁹ You shall labor six days, and do all your work, ¹⁰ but the seventh day is a Sabbath to Yahweh your God. You shall not do any work in it, you, nor your son, nor your daughter, your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your livestock, nor your stranger who is within your gates; ¹¹ for in six days Yahweh made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day; therefore Yahweh blessed the Sabbath day, and made it holy.

¹² “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land which Yahweh your God gives you.

¹³ “You shall not murder.

¹⁴ “You shall not commit adultery.

¹⁵ “You shall not steal.

¹⁶ “You shall not give false testimony 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.”

¹⁸ All the people perceived the thunderings, the lightnings, the sound of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking. When the people saw it, they trembled, and stayed at a distance. ¹⁹ They said to Moses, “Speak with us yourself, and we will listen; but don’t let God speak with us, lest we die.”

²⁰ Moses said to the people, “Don’t be afraid, for God has come to test you, and that his fear may be before you, that you won’t sin.” ²¹ The people stayed at a distance, and Moses came near to the thick darkness where God was.

²² Yahweh said to Moses, “This is what you shall tell the children of Israel: ‘You yourselves have seen that I have talked with you from heaven. ²³ You shall most certainly not make gods of silver or gods of gold for yourselves to be alongside me. ²⁴ You shall make an altar of earth for me, and shall sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and your peace offerings, your sheep and your cattle. In every place where I record my name I will come to you and I will bless you. ²⁵ If you make me an altar of stone, you shall not build it of cut stones; for if you lift up your tool on it, you have polluted it. ²⁶ You shall not go up by steps to my altar, that your nakedness may not be exposed to it.’

21“Now these are the ordinances which you shall set before them:

² “If you buy a Hebrew servant, he shall serve six years, and in the seventh he shall go out free without paying anything. ³ If he comes in by himself, he shall go out by himself. If he is married, then his wife shall go out with him. ⁴ If 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 by himself. ⁵ But if the servant shall plainly say, ‘I love my master, my wife, and my children. I will not go out free;’ ⁶ then his master shall bring him to God, and shall bring him to the door or to the doorpost, and his master shall bore his ear through with an awl, and he shall serve him forever.

⁷ “If a man sells his daughter to be a female servant, she shall not go out as the male servants do. ⁸ If she doesn’t please her master, who has married 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. ⁹ If he marries her to his son, he shall deal with her as a daughter. ¹⁰ If he takes another wife to himself, he shall not diminish her food, her clothing, and her marital rights. ¹¹ If he doesn’t do these three things for her, she may go free without paying any money.

¹² “One who strikes a man so that he dies shall surely be put to death, ¹³ but not if it is unintentional, but God allows it to happen; then I will appoint you a place where he shall flee. ¹⁴ If a man schemes and comes presumptuously on his neighbor to kill him, you shall take him from my altar, that he may die.

¹⁵ “Anyone who attacks his father or his mother shall be surely put to death.

¹⁶ “Anyone who kidnaps someone and sells him, or if he is found in his hand, he shall surely be put to death.

¹⁷ “Anyone who curses his father or his mother shall surely be put to death.

¹⁸ “If men quarrel and one strikes the other with a stone, or with his fist, and he doesn’t die, but is confined to bed; ¹⁹ if he rises again and walks around with his staff, then he who struck him shall be cleared; only he shall pay for the loss of his time, and shall provide for his healing until he is thoroughly healed.

²⁰ “If a man strikes his servant or his maid with a rod, and he dies under his hand, the man shall surely be punished. ²¹ Notwithstanding, if his servant gets up after a day or two, he shall not be punished, for the servant is his property.

²² “If men fight and hurt a pregnant woman so that she gives birth prematurely, and yet no harm follows, he shall be surely fined as much as the woman’s husband demands and the judges allow. ²³ But if any harm follows, then you must take life for life, ²⁴ eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, ²⁵ burning for burning, wound for wound, and bruise for bruise.

²⁶ “If a man strikes his servant’s eye, or his maid’s eye, and destroys it, he shall let him go free for his eye’s sake. ²⁷ If he strikes out his male servant’s tooth, or his female servant’s tooth, he shall let the servant go free for his tooth’s sake.

²⁸ “If a bull gores a man or a woman to death, the bull shall surely be stoned, and its meat shall not be eaten; but the owner of the bull shall not be held responsible. ²⁹ But if the bull had a habit of goring in the past, and this has been testified to its owner, and he has not kept it in, but it has killed a man or a woman, the bull shall be stoned, and its owner shall also be put to death. ³⁰ If a ransom is imposed on him, then he shall give for the redemption of his life whatever is imposed. ³¹ Whether it has gored a son or has gored a daughter, according to this judgment it shall be done to him. ³² If the bull gores a male servant or a female servant, thirty shekels of silver shall be given to their master, and the ox shall be stoned.

³³ “If a man opens a pit, or if a man digs a pit and doesn’t cover it, and a bull or a donkey falls into it, ³⁴ the owner of the pit shall make it good. He shall give money to its owner, and the dead animal shall be his.

³⁵ “If one man’s bull injures another’s, so that it dies, then they shall sell the live bull, and divide its price; and they shall also divide the dead animal. ³⁶ Or if it is known that the bull was in the habit of goring in the past, and its owner has not kept it in, he shall surely pay bull for bull, and the dead animal shall be his own.

22“If a man steals an ox or a sheep, and kills it or sells it, he shall pay five oxen for an ox, and four sheep for a sheep. ² If the thief is found breaking in, and is struck so that he dies, there shall be no guilt of bloodshed for him. ³ If the sun has risen on him, he is guilty of bloodshed. He shall make restitution. If he has nothing, then he shall be sold for his theft. ⁴ If the stolen property is found in his hand alive, whether it is ox, donkey, or sheep, he shall pay double.

⁵ “If a man causes a field or vineyard to be eaten by letting his animal loose, and it grazes in another man’s field, he shall make restitution from the best of his own field, and from the best of his own vineyard.

⁶ “If fire breaks out, and catches in thorns so that the shocks of grain, or the standing grain, or the field are consumed; he who kindled the fire shall surely make restitution.

⁷ “If a man delivers to his neighbor money or stuff to keep, and it is stolen out of the man’s house, if the thief is found, he shall pay double. ⁸ If the thief isn’t found, then the master of the house shall come near to God, to find out whether or not he has put his hand on his neighbor’s goods. ⁹ For every matter of trespass, whether it is for ox, for donkey, for sheep, for clothing, or for any kind of lost thing, about which one says, ‘This is mine,’ the cause of both parties shall come before God. He whom God condemns shall pay double to his neighbor.

¹⁰ “If a man delivers to his neighbor a donkey, an ox, a sheep, or any animal to keep, and it dies or is injured, or driven away, no man seeing it; ¹¹ the oath of Yahweh shall be between them both, he has not put his hand on his neighbor’s goods; and its owner shall accept it, and he shall not make restitution. ¹² But if it is stolen from him, the one who stole shall make restitution to its owner. ¹³ If it is torn in pieces, let him bring it for evidence. He shall not make good that which was torn.

¹⁴ “If a man borrows anything of his neighbor’s, and it is injured, or dies, its owner not being with it, he shall surely make restitution. ¹⁵ If its owner is with it, he shall not make it good. If it is a leased thing, it came for its lease.

¹⁶ “If a man entices a virgin who isn’t pledged to be married, and lies with her, he shall surely pay a dowry for her to be his wife. ¹⁷ If her father utterly refuses to give her to him, he shall pay money according to the dowry of virgins.

¹⁸ “You shall not allow a sorceress to live.

¹⁹ “Whoever has sex with an animal shall surely be put to death.

²⁰ “He who sacrifices to any god, except to Yahweh only, shall be utterly destroyed.

²¹ “You shall not wrong an alien or oppress him, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt.

²² “You shall not take advantage of any widow or fatherless child. ²³ If you take advantage of them at all, and they cry at all to me, I will surely hear their cry; ²⁴ and my wrath will grow hot, and I will kill you with the sword; and your wives shall be widows, and your children fatherless.

²⁵ “If you lend money to any of my people with you who is poor, you shall not be to him as a creditor. You shall not charge him interest. ²⁶ If you take your neighbor’s garment as collateral, you shall restore it to him before the sun goes down, ²⁷ for that is his only covering, it is his garment for his skin. What would he sleep in? It will happen, when he cries to me, that I will hear, for I am gracious.

²⁸ “You shall not blaspheme God, nor curse a ruler of your people.

²⁹ “You shall not delay to offer from your harvest and from the outflow of your presses.

“You shall give the firstborn of your sons to me. ³⁰ You shall do likewise with your cattle and with your sheep. It shall be with its mother seven days, then on the eighth day you shall give it to me.

³¹ “You shall be holy men to me, therefore you shall not eat any meat that is torn by animals in the field. You shall cast it to the dogs.

23“You shall not spread a false report. Don’t join your hand with the wicked to be a malicious witness.

² “You shall not follow a crowd to do evil. You shall not testify in court to side with a multitude to pervert justice. ³ You shall not favor a poor man in his cause.

⁴ “If you meet your enemy’s ox or his donkey going astray, you shall surely bring it back to him again. ⁵ If you see the donkey of him who hates you fallen down under his burden, don’t leave him. You shall surely help him with it.

⁶ “You shall not deny justice to your poor people in their lawsuits.

⁷ “Keep far from a false charge, and don’t kill the innocent and righteous; for I will not justify the wicked.

⁸ “You shall take no bribe, for a bribe blinds those who have sight and perverts the words of the righteous.

⁹ “You shall not oppress an alien, for you know the heart of an alien, since you were aliens in the land of Egypt.

¹⁰ “For six years you shall sow your land, and shall gather in its increase, ¹¹ but the seventh year you shall let it rest and lie fallow, that the poor of your people may eat; and what they leave the animal of the field shall eat. In the same way, you shall deal with your vineyard and with your olive grove.

¹² “Six days you shall do your work, and on the seventh day you shall rest, that your ox and your donkey may have rest, and the son of your servant, and the alien may be refreshed.

¹³ “Be careful to do all things that I have said to you; and don’t invoke the name of other gods or even let them be heard out of your mouth.

¹⁴ “You shall observe a feast to me three times a year. ¹⁵ You shall observe the feast of unleavened bread. Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, as I commanded you, at the time appointed in the month Abib (for in it you came out of Egypt), and no one shall appear before me empty. ¹⁶ And the feast of harvest, the first fruits of your labors, which you sow in the field; and the feast of ingathering, at the end of the year, when you gather in your labors out of the field. ¹⁷ Three times in the year all your males shall appear before the Lord Yahweh.

¹⁸ “You shall not offer the blood of my sacrifice with leavened bread. The fat of my feast shall not remain all night until the morning.

¹⁹ You shall bring the first of the first fruits of your ground into the house of Yahweh your God.

“You shall not boil a young goat in its mother’s milk.

²⁰ “Behold, I send an angel before you, to keep you by the way, and to bring you into the place which I have prepared. ²¹ Pay attention to him, and listen to his voice. Don’t provoke him, for he will not pardon your disobedience, for my name is in him. ²² But if you indeed listen to his voice, and do all that I speak, then I will be an enemy to your enemies, and an adversary to your adversaries. ²³ For my angel shall go before you, and bring you in to the Amorite, the Hittite, the Perizzite, the Canaanite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite; and I will cut them off. ²⁴ You shall not bow down to their gods, nor serve them, nor follow their practices, but you shall utterly overthrow them and demolish their pillars. ²⁵ You shall serve Yahweh your God, and he will bless your bread and your water, and I will take sickness away from among you. ²⁶ No one will miscarry or be barren in your land. I will fulfill the number of your days. ²⁷ I will send my terror before you, and will confuse all the people to whom you come, and I will make all your enemies turn their backs to you. ²⁸ I will send the hornet before you, which will drive out the Hivite, the Canaanite, and the Hittite, from before you. ²⁹ I will not drive them out from before you in one year, lest the land become desolate, and the animals of the field multiply against you. ³⁰ Little by little I will drive them out from before you, until you have increased and inherit the land. ³¹ I will set your border from the Red Sea even to the sea of the Philistines, and from the wilderness to the River; for I will deliver the inhabitants of the land into your hand, and you shall drive them out before you. ³² You shall make no covenant with them, nor with their gods. ³³ They shall not dwell in your land, lest they make you sin against me, for if you serve their gods, it will surely be a snare to you.”

24He said to Moses, “Come up to Yahweh, you, and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel; and worship from a distance. ² Moses alone shall come near to Yahweh, but they shall not come near. The people shall not go up with him.”

³ Moses came and told the people all Yahweh’s words, and all the ordinances; and all the people answered with one voice, and said, “All the words which Yahweh has spoken will we do.”

⁴ Moses wrote all Yahweh’s words, then rose up early in the morning and built an altar at the base of the mountain, with twelve pillars for the twelve tribes of Israel. ⁵ He sent young men of the children of Israel, who offered burnt offerings and sacrificed peace offerings of cattle to Yahweh. ⁶ Moses took half of the blood and put it in basins, and half of the blood he sprinkled on the altar. ⁷ He took the book of the covenant and read it in the hearing of the people, and they said, “We will do all that Yahweh has said, and be obedient.”

⁸ Moses took the blood, and sprinkled it on the people, and said, “Look, this is the blood of the covenant, which Yahweh has made with you concerning all these words.”

⁹ Then Moses, Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel went up. ¹⁰ They saw the God of Israel. Under his feet was like a paved work of sapphire stone, like the skies for clearness. ¹¹ He didn’t lay his hand on the nobles of the children of Israel. They saw God, and ate and drank.

¹² Yahweh said to Moses, “Come up to me on the mountain, and stay here, and I will give you the stone tablets with the law and the commands that I have written, that you may teach them.”

¹³ Moses rose up with Joshua, his servant, and Moses went up onto God’s Mountain. ¹⁴ He said to the elders, “Wait here for us, until we come again to you. Behold, Aaron and Hur are with you. Whoever is involved in a dispute can go to them.”

¹⁵ Moses went up on the mountain, and the cloud covered the mountain. ¹⁶ Yahweh’s glory settled on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it six days. The seventh day he called to Moses out of the middle of the cloud. ¹⁷ The appearance of Yahweh’s glory was like devouring fire on the top of the mountain in the eyes of the children of Israel. ¹⁸ Moses entered into the middle of the cloud, and went up on the mountain; and Moses was on the mountain forty days and forty nights.

25Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ² “Speak to the children of Israel, that they take an offering for me. From everyone whose heart makes him willing you shall take my offering. ³ This is the offering which you shall take from them: gold, silver, bronze, ⁴ blue, purple, scarlet, fine linen, goats’ hair, ⁵ rams’ skins dyed red, sea cow hides, acacia wood, ⁶ oil for the light, spices for the anointing oil and for the sweet incense, ⁷ onyx stones, and stones to be set for the ephod and for the breastplate. ⁸ Let them make me a sanctuary, that I may dwell among them. ⁹ According to all that I show you, the pattern of the tabernacle, and the pattern of all of its furniture, even so you shall make it.

¹⁰ “They shall make an ark of acacia wood. Its length shall be two and a half cubits, its width a cubit and a half, and a cubit and a half its height. ¹¹ You shall overlay it with pure gold. You shall overlay it inside and outside, and you shall make a gold molding around it. ¹² You shall cast four rings of gold for it, and put them in its four feet. Two rings shall be on the one side of it, and two rings on the other side of it. ¹³ You shall make poles of acacia wood, and overlay them with gold. ¹⁴ You shall put the poles into the rings on the sides of the ark to carry the ark. ¹⁵ The poles shall be in the rings of the ark. They shall not be taken from it. ¹⁶ You shall put the covenant which I shall give you into the ark. ¹⁷ You shall make a mercy seat of pure gold. Two and a half cubits shall be its length, and a cubit and a half its width. ¹⁸ You shall make two cherubim of hammered gold. You shall make them at the two ends of the mercy seat. ¹⁹ Make one cherub at the one end, and one cherub at the other end. You shall make the cherubim on its two ends of one piece with the mercy seat. ²⁰ The cherubim shall spread out their wings upward, covering the mercy seat with their wings, with their faces toward one another. The faces of the cherubim shall be toward the mercy seat. ²¹ You shall put the mercy seat on top of the ark, and in the ark you shall put the covenant that I will give you. ²² There I will meet with you, and I will tell you from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim which are on the ark of the covenant, all that I command you for the children of Israel.

²³ “You shall make a table of acacia wood. Its length shall be two cubits, and its width a cubit, and its height one and a half cubits. ²⁴ You shall overlay it with pure gold, and make a gold molding around it. ²⁵ You shall make a rim of a hand width around it. You shall make a golden molding on its rim around it. ²⁶ You shall make four rings of gold for it, and put the rings in the four corners that are on its four feet. ²⁷ The rings shall be close to the rim, for places for the poles to carry the table. ²⁸ You shall make the poles of acacia wood, and overlay them with gold, that the table may be carried with them. ²⁹ You shall make its dishes, its spoons, its ladles, and its bowls to pour out offerings with. You shall make them of pure gold. ³⁰ You shall set bread of the presence on the table before me always.

³¹ “You shall make a lamp stand of pure gold. The lamp stand shall be made of hammered work. Its base, its shaft, its cups, its buds, and its flowers shall be of one piece with it. ³² There shall be six branches going out of its sides: three branches of the lamp stand out of its one side, and three branches of the lamp stand out of its other side; ³³ three cups made like almond blossoms in one branch, a bud and a flower; and three cups made like almond blossoms in the other branch, a bud and a flower, so for the six branches going out of the lamp stand; ³⁴ and in the lamp stand four cups made like almond blossoms, its buds and its flowers; ³⁵ and a bud under two branches of one piece with it, and a bud under two branches of one piece with it, and a bud under two branches of one piece with it, for the six branches going out of the lamp stand. ³⁶ Their buds and their branches shall be of one piece with it, all of it one beaten work of pure gold. ³⁷ You shall make its lamps seven, and they shall light its lamps to give light to the space in front of it. ³⁸ Its snuffers and its snuff dishes shall be of pure gold. ³⁹ It shall be made of a talent of pure gold, with all these accessories. ⁴⁰ See that you make them after their pattern, which has been shown to you on the mountain.

26“Moreover you shall make the tabernacle with ten curtains of fine twined linen, and blue, and purple, and scarlet, with cherubim. You shall make them with the work of a skillful workman. ² The length of each curtain shall be twenty-eight cubits, and the width of each curtain four cubits: all the curtains shall have one measure. ³ Five curtains shall be coupled together to one another, and the other five curtains shall be coupled to one another. ⁴ You shall make loops of blue on the edge of the one curtain from the edge in the coupling, and you shall do likewise on the edge of the curtain that is outermost in the second coupling. ⁵ You shall make fifty loops in the one curtain, and you shall make fifty loops in the edge of the curtain that is in the second coupling. The loops shall be opposite one another. ⁶ You shall make fifty clasps of gold, and couple the curtains to one another with the clasps. The tabernacle shall be a unit.

⁷ “You shall make curtains of goats’ hair for a covering over the tabernacle. You shall make eleven curtains. ⁸ The length of each curtain shall be thirty cubits, and the width of each curtain four cubits: the eleven curtains shall have one measure. ⁹ You shall couple five curtains by themselves, and six curtains by themselves, and shall double over the sixth curtain in the forefront of the tent. ¹⁰ You shall make fifty loops on the edge of the one curtain that is outermost in the coupling, and fifty loops on the edge of the curtain which is outermost in the second coupling. ¹¹ You shall make fifty clasps of bronze, and put the clasps into the loops, and couple the tent together, that it may be one. ¹² The overhanging part that remains of the curtains of the tent—the half curtain that remains—shall hang over the back of the tabernacle. ¹³ The cubit on the one side and the cubit on the other side, of that which remains in the length of the curtains of the tent, shall hang over the sides of the tabernacle on this side and on that side, to cover it. ¹⁴ You shall make a covering for the tent of rams’ skins dyed red, and a covering of sea cow hides above.

¹⁵ “You shall make the boards for the tabernacle of acacia wood, standing upright. ¹⁶ Ten cubits shall be the length of a board, and one and a half cubits the width of each board. ¹⁷ There shall be two tenons in each board, joined to one another: thus you shall make for all the boards of the tabernacle. ¹⁸ You shall make twenty boards for the tabernacle, for the south side southward. ¹⁹ You shall make forty sockets of silver under the twenty boards; two sockets under one board for its two tenons, and two sockets under another board for its two tenons. ²⁰ For the second side of the tabernacle, on the north side, twenty boards, ²¹ and their forty sockets of silver; two sockets under one board, and two sockets under another board. ²² For the far side of the tabernacle westward you shall make six boards. ²³ You shall make two boards for the corners of the tabernacle in the far side. ²⁴ They shall be double beneath, and in the same way they shall be whole to its top to one ring: thus shall it be for them both; they shall be for the two corners. ²⁵ There shall be eight boards, and their sockets of silver, sixteen sockets; two sockets under one board, and two sockets under another board.

²⁶ “You shall make bars of acacia wood: five for the boards of the one side of the tabernacle, ²⁷ and five bars for the boards of the other side of the tabernacle, and five bars for the boards of the side of the tabernacle, for the far side westward. ²⁸ The middle bar in the middle of the boards shall pass through from end to end. ²⁹ You shall overlay the boards with gold, and make their rings of gold for places for the bars. You shall overlay the bars with gold. ³⁰ You shall set up the tabernacle according to the way that it was shown to you on the mountain.

³¹ “You shall make a veil of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen, with cherubim. It shall be the work of a skillful workman. ³² You shall hang it on four pillars of acacia overlaid with gold; their hooks shall be of gold, on four sockets of silver. ³³ You shall hang up the veil under the clasps, and shall bring the ark of the covenant in there within the veil. The veil shall separate the holy place from the most holy for you. ³⁴ You shall put the mercy seat on the ark of the covenant in the most holy place. ³⁵ You shall set the table outside the veil, and the lamp stand opposite the table on the side of the tabernacle toward the south. You shall put the table on the north side.

³⁶ “You shall make a screen for the door of the Tent, of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen, the work of the embroiderer. ³⁷ You shall make for the screen five pillars of acacia, and overlay them with gold. Their hooks shall be of gold. You shall cast five sockets of bronze for them.

27“You shall make the altar of acacia wood, five cubits long, and five cubits wide. The altar shall be square. Its height shall be three cubits. ² You shall make its horns on its four corners. Its horns shall be of one piece with it. You shall overlay it with bronze. ³ You shall make its pots to take away its ashes; and its shovels, its basins, its meat hooks, and its fire pans. You shall make all its vessels of bronze. ⁴ You shall make a grating for it of network of bronze. On the net you shall make four bronze rings in its four corners. ⁵ You shall put it under the ledge around the altar beneath, that the net may reach halfway up the altar. ⁶ You shall make poles for the altar, poles of acacia wood, and overlay them with bronze. ⁷ Its poles shall be put into the rings, and the poles shall be on the two sides of the altar when carrying it. ⁸ You shall make it hollow with planks. They shall make it as it has been shown you on the mountain.

⁹ “You shall make the court of the tabernacle: for the south side southward there shall be hangings for the court of fine twined linen one hundred cubits long for one side. ¹⁰ Its pillars shall be twenty, and their sockets twenty, of bronze. The hooks of the pillars and their fillets shall be of silver. ¹¹ Likewise for the length of the north side, there shall be hangings one hundred cubits long, and its pillars twenty, and their sockets twenty, of bronze; the hooks of the pillars, and their fillets, of silver. ¹² For the width of the court on the west side shall be hangings of fifty cubits; their pillars ten, and their sockets ten. ¹³ The width of the court on the east side eastward shall be fifty cubits. ¹⁴ The hangings for the one side of the gate shall be fifteen cubits; their pillars three, and their sockets three. ¹⁵ For the other side shall be hangings of fifteen cubits; their pillars three, and their sockets three. ¹⁶ For the gate of the court shall be a screen of twenty cubits, of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen, the work of the embroiderer; their pillars four, and their sockets four. ¹⁷ All the pillars of the court around shall be filleted with silver; their hooks of silver, and their sockets of bronze. ¹⁸ The length of the court shall be one hundred cubits, and the width fifty throughout, and the height five cubits, of fine twined linen, and their sockets of bronze. ¹⁹ All the instruments of the tabernacle in all its service, and all its pins, and all the pins of the court, shall be of bronze.

²⁰ “You shall command the children of Israel, that they bring to you pure olive oil beaten for the light, to cause a lamp to burn continually. ²¹ In the Tent of Meeting, outside the veil which is before the covenant, Aaron and his sons shall keep it in order from evening to morning before Yahweh: it shall be a statute forever throughout their generations on the behalf of the children of Israel.

28“Bring Aaron your brother, and his sons with him, near to you from among the children of Israel, that he may minister to me in the priest’s office: Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar, Aaron’s sons. ² You shall make holy garments for Aaron your brother, for glory and for beauty. ³ You shall speak to all who are wise-hearted, whom I have filled with the spirit of wisdom, that they make Aaron’s garments to sanctify him, that he may minister to me in the priest’s office. ⁴ These are the garments which they shall make: a breastplate, an ephod, a robe, a fitted tunic, a turban, and a sash. They shall make holy garments for Aaron your brother and his sons, that he may minister to me in the priest’s office. ⁵ They shall use the gold, and the blue, and the purple, and the scarlet, and the fine linen.

⁶ “They shall make the ephod of gold, blue, purple, scarlet, and fine twined linen, the work of the skillful workman. ⁷ It shall have two shoulder straps joined to the two ends of it, that it may be joined together. ⁸ The skillfully woven band, which is on it, shall be like its work and of the same piece; of gold, blue, purple, scarlet, and fine twined linen. ⁹ You shall take two onyx stones, and engrave on them the names of the children of Israel. ¹⁰ Six of their names on the one stone, and the names of the six that remain on the other stone, in the order of their birth. ¹¹ With the work of an engraver in stone, like the engravings of a signet, you shall engrave the two stones, according to the names of the children of Israel. You shall make them to be enclosed in settings of gold. ¹² You shall put the two stones on the shoulder straps of the ephod, to be stones of memorial for the children of Israel. Aaron shall bear their names before Yahweh on his two shoulders for a memorial. ¹³ You shall make settings of gold, ¹⁴ and two chains of pure gold; you shall make them like cords of braided work. You shall put the braided chains on the settings.

¹⁵ “You shall make a breastplate of judgment, the work of the skillful workman; like the work of the ephod you shall make it; of gold, of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen, you shall make it. ¹⁶ It shall be square and folded double; a span shall be its length, and a span its width. ¹⁷ You shall set in it settings of stones, four rows of stones: a row of ruby, topaz, and beryl shall be the first row; ¹⁸ and the second row a turquoise, a sapphire, and an emerald; ¹⁹ and the third row a jacinth, an agate, and an amethyst; ²⁰ and the fourth row a chrysolite, an onyx, and a jasper. They shall be enclosed in gold in their settings. ²¹ The stones shall be according to the names of the children of Israel, twelve, according to their names; like the engravings of a signet, everyone according to his name, they shall be for the twelve tribes. ²² You shall make on the breastplate chains like cords, of braided work of pure gold. ²³ You shall make on the breastplate two rings of gold, and shall put the two rings on the two ends of the breastplate. ²⁴ You shall put the two braided chains of gold in the two rings at the ends of the breastplate. ²⁵ The other two ends of the two braided chains you shall put on the two settings, and put them on the shoulder straps of the ephod in its forepart. ²⁶ You shall make two rings of gold, and you shall put them on the two ends of the breastplate, on its edge, which is toward the side of the ephod inward. ²⁷ You shall make two rings of gold, and shall put them on the two shoulder straps of the ephod underneath, in its forepart, close by its coupling, above the skillfully woven band of the ephod. ²⁸ They shall bind the breastplate by its rings to the rings of the ephod with a lace of blue, that it may be on the skillfully woven band of the ephod, and that the breastplate may not swing out from the ephod. ²⁹ Aaron shall bear the names of the children of Israel in the breastplate of judgment on his heart, when he goes in to the holy place, for a memorial before Yahweh continually. ³⁰ You shall put in the breastplate of judgment the Urim and the Thummim; and they shall be on Aaron’s heart, when he goes in before Yahweh. Aaron shall bear the judgment of the children of Israel on his heart before Yahweh continually.

³¹ “You shall make the robe of the ephod all of blue. ³² It shall have a hole for the head in the middle of it. It shall have a binding of woven work around its hole, as it were the hole of a coat of mail, that it not be torn. ³³ On its hem you shall make pomegranates of blue, and of purple, and of scarlet, all around its hem; with bells of gold between and around them: ³⁴ a golden bell and a pomegranate, a golden bell and a pomegranate, around the hem of the robe. ³⁵ It shall be on Aaron to minister: and its sound shall be heard when he goes in to the holy place before Yahweh, and when he comes out, that he not die.

³⁶ “You shall make a plate of pure gold, and engrave on it, like the engravings of a signet, ‘HOLY TO YAHWEH.’ ³⁷ You shall put it on a lace of blue, and it shall be on the sash. It shall be on the front of the sash. ³⁸ It shall be on Aaron’s forehead, and Aaron shall bear the iniquity of the holy things, which the children of Israel shall make holy in all their holy gifts; and it shall be always on his forehead, that they may be accepted before Yahweh. ³⁹ You shall weave the tunic with fine linen. You shall make a turban of fine linen. You shall make a sash, the work of the embroiderer.

⁴⁰ “You shall make tunics for Aaron’s sons. You shall make sashes for them. You shall make headbands for them, for glory and for beauty. ⁴¹ You shall put them on Aaron your brother, and on his sons with him, and shall anoint them, and consecrate them, and sanctify them, that they may minister to me in the priest’s office. ⁴² You shall make them linen pants to cover their naked flesh. They shall reach from the waist even to the thighs. ⁴³ They shall be on Aaron and on his sons, when they go in to the Tent of Meeting, or when they come near to the altar to minister in the holy place, that they don’t bear iniquity, and die. This shall be a statute forever to him and to his offspring after him.

29“This is the thing that you shall do to them to make them holy, to minister to me in the priest’s office: take one young bull and two rams without defect, ² unleavened bread, unleavened cakes mixed with oil, and unleavened wafers anointed with oil. You shall make them of fine wheat flour. ³ You shall put them into one basket, and bring them in the basket, with the bull and the two rams. ⁴ You shall bring Aaron and his sons to the door of the Tent of Meeting, and shall wash them with water. ⁵ You shall take the garments, and put on Aaron the tunic, the robe of the ephod, the ephod, and the breastplate, and clothe him with the skillfully woven band of the ephod. ⁶ You shall set the turban on his head, and put the holy crown on the turban. ⁷ Then you shall take the anointing oil, and pour it on his head, and anoint him. ⁸ You shall bring his sons, and put tunics on them. ⁹ You shall clothe them with belts, Aaron and his sons, and bind headbands on them. They shall have the priesthood by a perpetual statute. You shall consecrate Aaron and his sons.

¹⁰ “You shall bring the bull before the Tent of Meeting; and Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands on the head of the bull. ¹¹ You shall kill the bull before Yahweh at the door of the Tent of Meeting. ¹² You shall take of the blood of the bull, and put it on the horns of the altar with your finger; and you shall pour out all the blood at the base of the altar. ¹³ You shall take all the fat that covers the innards, the cover of the liver, the two kidneys, and the fat that is on them, and burn them on the altar. ¹⁴ But the meat of the bull, and its skin, and its dung, you shall burn with fire outside of the camp. It is a sin offering.

¹⁵ “You shall also take the one ram, and Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands on the head of the ram. ¹⁶ You shall kill the ram, and you shall take its blood, and sprinkle it around on the altar. ¹⁷ You shall cut the ram into its pieces, and wash its innards, and its legs, and put them with its pieces, and with its head. ¹⁸ You shall burn the whole ram on the altar: it is a burnt offering to Yahweh; it is a pleasant aroma, an offering made by fire to Yahweh.

¹⁹ “You shall take the other ram, and Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands on the head of the ram. ²⁰ Then you shall kill the ram, and take some of its blood, and put it on the tip of the right ear of Aaron, and on the tip of the right ear of his sons, and on the thumb of their right hand, and on the big toe of their right foot; and sprinkle the blood around on the altar. ²¹ You shall take of the blood that is on the altar, and of the anointing oil, and sprinkle it on Aaron, and on his garments, and on his sons, and on the garments of his sons with him: and he shall be made holy, and his garments, and his sons, and his sons’ garments with him. ²² Also you shall take some of the ram’s fat, the fat tail, the fat that covers the innards, the cover of the liver, the two kidneys, the fat that is on them, and the right thigh (for it is a ram of consecration), ²³ and one loaf of bread, one cake of oiled bread, and one wafer out of the basket of unleavened bread that is before Yahweh. ²⁴ You shall put all of this in Aaron’s hands, and in his sons’ hands, and shall wave them for a wave offering before Yahweh. ²⁵ You shall take them from their hands, and burn them on the altar on the burnt offering, for a pleasant aroma before Yahweh: it is an offering made by fire to Yahweh.

²⁶ “You shall take the breast of Aaron’s ram of consecration, and wave it for a wave offering before Yahweh. It shall be your portion. ²⁷ You shall sanctify the breast of the wave offering and the thigh of the wave offering, which is waved, and which is raised up, of the ram of consecration, even of that which is for Aaron, and of that which is for his sons. ²⁸ It shall be for Aaron and his sons as their portion forever from the children of Israel; for it is a wave offering. It shall be a wave offering from the children of Israel of the sacrifices of their peace offerings, even their wave offering to Yahweh.

²⁹ “The holy garments of Aaron shall be for his sons after him, to be anointed in them, and to be consecrated in them. ³⁰ Seven days shall the son who is priest in his place put them on, when he comes into the Tent of Meeting to minister in the holy place.

³¹ “You shall take the ram of consecration and boil its meat in a holy place. ³² Aaron and his sons shall eat the meat of the ram, and the bread that is in the basket, at the door of the Tent of Meeting. ³³ They shall eat those things with which atonement was made, to consecrate and sanctify them; but a stranger shall not eat of it, because they are holy. ³⁴ If anything of the meat of the consecration, or of the bread, remains to the morning, then you shall burn the remainder with fire. It shall not be eaten, because it is holy.

³⁵ “You shall do so to Aaron and to his sons, according to all that I have commanded you. You shall consecrate them seven days. ³⁶ Every day you shall offer the bull of sin offering for atonement. You shall cleanse the altar when you make atonement for it. You shall anoint it, to sanctify it. ³⁷ Seven days you shall make atonement for the altar, and sanctify it; and the altar shall be most holy. Whatever touches the altar shall be holy.

³⁸ “Now this is that which you shall offer on the altar: two lambs a year old day by day continually. ³⁹ The one lamb you shall offer in the morning; and the other lamb you shall offer at evening; ⁴⁰ and with the one lamb a tenth part of an ephah of fine flour mixed with the fourth part of a hin of beaten oil, and the fourth part of a hin of wine for a drink offering. ⁴¹ The other lamb you shall offer at evening, and shall do to it according to the meal offering of the morning and according to its drink offering, for a pleasant aroma, an offering made by fire to Yahweh. ⁴² It shall be a continual burnt offering throughout your generations at the door of the Tent of Meeting before Yahweh, where I will meet with you, to speak there to you. ⁴³ There I will meet with the children of Israel; and the place shall be sanctified by my glory. ⁴⁴ I will sanctify the Tent of Meeting and the altar. I will also sanctify Aaron and his sons to minister to me in the priest’s office. ⁴⁵ I will dwell among the children of Israel, and will be their God. ⁴⁶ They shall know that I am Yahweh their God, who brought them out of the land of Egypt, that I might dwell among them: I am Yahweh their God.

30“You shall make an altar to burn incense on. You shall make it of acacia wood. ² Its length shall be a cubit, and its width a cubit. It shall be square, and its height shall be two cubits. Its horns shall be of one piece with it. ³ You shall overlay it with pure gold, its top, its sides around it, and its horns; and you shall make a gold molding around it. ⁴ You shall make two golden rings for it under its molding; on its two ribs, on its two sides you shall make them; and they shall be for places for poles with which to bear it. ⁵ You shall make the poles of acacia wood, and overlay them with gold. ⁶ You shall put it before the veil that is by the ark of the covenant, before the mercy seat that is over the covenant, where I will meet with you. ⁷ Aaron shall burn incense of sweet spices on it every morning. When he tends the lamps, he shall burn it. ⁸ When Aaron lights the lamps at evening, he shall burn it, a perpetual incense before Yahweh throughout your generations. ⁹ You shall offer no strange incense on it, nor burnt offering, nor meal offering; and you shall pour no drink offering on it. ¹⁰ Aaron shall make atonement on its horns once in the year; with the blood of the sin offering of atonement once in the year he shall make atonement for it throughout your generations. It is most holy to Yahweh.”

¹¹ Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ¹² “When you take a census of the children of Israel, according to those who are counted among them, then each man shall give a ransom for his soul to Yahweh, when you count them; that there be no plague among them when you count them. ¹³ They shall give this, everyone who passes over to those who are counted, half a shekel according to the shekel of the sanctuary (the shekel is twenty gerahs); half a shekel for an offering to Yahweh. ¹⁴ Everyone who passes over to those who are counted, from twenty years old and upward, shall give the offering to Yahweh. ¹⁵ The rich shall not give more, and the poor shall not give less, than the half shekel, when they give the offering of Yahweh, to make atonement for your souls. ¹⁶ You shall take the atonement money from the children of Israel, and shall appoint it for the service of the Tent of Meeting; that it may be a memorial for the children of Israel before Yahweh, to make atonement for your souls.”

¹⁷ Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ¹⁸ “You shall also make a basin of bronze, and its base of bronze, in which to wash. You shall put it between the Tent of Meeting and the altar, and you shall put water in it. ¹⁹ Aaron and his sons shall wash their hands and their feet in it. ²⁰ When they go into the Tent of Meeting, they shall wash with water, that they not die; or when they come near to the altar to minister, to burn an offering made by fire to Yahweh. ²¹ So they shall wash their hands and their feet, that they not die. This shall be a statute forever to them, even to him and to his descendants throughout their generations.”

²² Moreover Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ²³ “Also take fine spices: of liquid myrrh, five hundred shekels; and of fragrant cinnamon half as much, even two hundred and fifty; and of fragrant cane, two hundred and fifty; ²⁴ and of cassia five hundred, according to the shekel of the sanctuary; and a hin of olive oil. ²⁵ You shall make it into a holy anointing oil, a perfume compounded after the art of the perfumer: it shall be a holy anointing oil. ²⁶ You shall use it to anoint the Tent of Meeting, the ark of the covenant, ²⁷ the table and all its articles, the lamp stand and its accessories, the altar of incense, ²⁸ the altar of burnt offering with all its utensils, and the basin with its base. ²⁹ You shall sanctify them, that they may be most holy. Whatever touches them shall be holy. ³⁰ You shall anoint Aaron and his sons, and sanctify them, that they may minister to me in the priest’s office. ³¹ You shall speak to the children of Israel, saying, ‘This shall be a holy anointing oil to me throughout your generations. ³² It shall not be poured on man’s flesh, and do not make any like it, according to its composition. It is holy. It shall be holy to you. ³³ Whoever compounds any like it, or whoever puts any of it on a stranger, he shall be cut off from his people.’ ”

³⁴ Yahweh said to Moses, “Take to yourself sweet spices, gum resin, onycha, and galbanum; sweet spices with pure frankincense. There shall be an equal weight of each. ³⁵ You shall make incense of it, a perfume after the art of the perfumer, seasoned with salt, pure and holy. ³⁶ You shall beat some of it very small, and put some of it before the covenant in the Tent of Meeting, where I will meet with you. It shall be to you most holy. ³⁷ The incense which you shall make, according to its composition you shall not make for yourselves: it shall be to you holy for Yahweh. ³⁸ Whoever shall make any like that, to smell of it, he shall be cut off from his people.”

31Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ² “Behold, I have called by name Bezalel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah. ³ I have filled him with the Spirit of God, in wisdom, and in understanding, and in knowledge, and in all kinds of workmanship, ⁴ to devise skillful works, to work in gold, and in silver, and in bronze, ⁵ and in cutting of stones for setting, and in carving of wood, to work in all kinds of workmanship. ⁶ Behold, I myself have appointed with him Oholiab, the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan; and in the heart of all who are wise-hearted I have put wisdom, that they may make all that I have commanded you: ⁷ the Tent of Meeting, the ark of the covenant, the mercy seat that is on it, all the furniture of the Tent, ⁸ the table and its vessels, the pure lamp stand with all its vessels, the altar of incense, ⁹ the altar of burnt offering with all its vessels, the basin and its base, ¹⁰ the finely worked garments—the holy garments for Aaron the priest, the garments of his sons to minister in the priest’s office— ¹¹ the anointing oil, and the incense of sweet spices for the holy place: according to all that I have commanded you they shall do.”

¹² Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ¹³ “Speak also to the children of Israel, saying, ‘Most certainly you shall keep my Sabbaths; for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I am Yahweh who sanctifies you. ¹⁴ You shall keep the Sabbath therefore, for it is holy to you. Everyone who profanes it shall surely be put to death; for whoever does any work therein, that soul shall be cut off from among his people. ¹⁵ Six days shall work be done, but on the seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, holy to Yahweh. Whoever does any work on the Sabbath day shall surely be put to death. ¹⁶ Therefore the children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, to observe the Sabbath throughout their generations, for a perpetual covenant. ¹⁷ It is a sign between me and the children of Israel forever; for in six days Yahweh made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested, and was refreshed.’ ”

¹⁸ When he finished speaking with him on Mount Sinai, he gave Moses the two tablets of the covenant, stone tablets, written with God’s finger.

32When the people saw that Moses delayed coming down from the mountain, the people gathered themselves together to Aaron, and said to him, “Come, make us gods, which shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we don’t know what has become of him.”

² Aaron said to them, “Take off the golden rings, which are in the ears of your wives, of your sons, and of your daughters, and bring them to me.”

³ All the people took off the golden rings which were in their ears, and brought them to Aaron. ⁴ He received what they handed him, fashioned it with an engraving tool, and made it a molded calf. Then they said, “These are your gods, Israel, which brought you up out of the land of Egypt.”

⁵ When Aaron saw this, he built an altar before it; and Aaron made a proclamation, and said, “Tomorrow shall be a feast to Yahweh.”

⁶ They rose up early on the next day, and offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings; and the people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to play.

⁷ Yahweh spoke to Moses, “Go, get down; for your people, who you brought up out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves! ⁸ They have turned away quickly out of the way which I commanded them. They have made themselves a molded calf, and have worshiped it, and have sacrificed to it, and said, ‘These are your gods, Israel, which brought you up out of the land of Egypt.’ ”

⁹ Yahweh said to Moses, “I have seen these people, and behold, they are a stiff-necked people. ¹⁰ Now therefore leave me alone, that my wrath may burn hot against them, and that I may consume them; and I will make of you a great nation.”

¹¹ Moses begged Yahweh his God, and said, “Yahweh, why does your wrath burn hot against your people, that you have brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand? ¹² Why should the Egyptians talk, saying, ‘He brought them out for evil, to kill them in the mountains, and to consume them from the surface of the earth?’ Turn from your fierce wrath, and turn away from this evil against your people. ¹³ Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your servants, to whom you swore by your own self, and said to them, ‘I will multiply your offspring as the stars of the sky, and all this land that I have spoken of I will give to your offspring, and they shall inherit it forever.’ ”

¹⁴ So Yahweh turned away from the evil which he said he would do to his people.

¹⁵ Moses turned, and went down from the mountain, with the two tablets of the covenant in his hand; tablets that were written on both their sides. They were written on one side and on the other. ¹⁶ The tablets were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, engraved on the tablets.

¹⁷ When Joshua heard the noise of the people as they shouted, he said to Moses, “There is the noise of war in the camp.”

¹⁸ He said, “It isn’t the voice of those who shout for victory. It is not the voice of those who cry for being overcome; but the noise of those who sing that I hear.” ¹⁹ As soon as he came near to the camp, he saw the calf and the dancing. Then Moses’ anger grew hot, and he threw the tablets out of his hands, and broke them beneath the mountain. ²⁰ He took the calf which they had made, and burned it with fire, ground it to powder, and scattered it on the water, and made the children of Israel drink it.

²¹ Moses said to Aaron, “What did these people do to you, that you have brought a great sin on them?”

²² Aaron said, “Don’t let the anger of my lord grow hot. You know the people, that they are set on evil. ²³ For they said to me, ‘Make us gods, which shall go before us. As for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we don’t know what has become of him.’ ²⁴ I said to them, ‘Whoever has any gold, let them take it off.’ So they gave it to me; and I threw it into the fire, and out came this calf.”

²⁵ When Moses saw that the people were out of control, (for Aaron had let them lose control, causing derision among their enemies), ²⁶ then Moses stood in the gate of the camp, and said, “Whoever is on Yahweh’s side, come to me!”

All the sons of Levi gathered themselves together to him. ²⁷ He said to them, “Yahweh, the God of Israel, says, ‘Every man put his sword on his thigh, and go back and forth from gate to gate throughout the camp, and every man kill his brother, and every man his companion, and every man his neighbor.’ ” ²⁸ The sons of Levi did according to the word of Moses. About three thousand men fell of the people that day. ²⁹ Moses said, “Consecrate yourselves today to Yahweh, for every man was against his son and against his brother, that he may give you a blessing today.”

³⁰ On the next day, Moses said to the people, “You have sinned a great sin. Now I will go up to Yahweh. Perhaps I shall make atonement for your sin.”

³¹ Moses returned to Yahweh, and said, “Oh, this people have sinned a great sin, and have made themselves gods of gold. ³² Yet now, if you will, forgive their sin—and if not, please blot me out of your book which you have written.”

³³ Yahweh said to Moses, “Whoever has sinned against me, I will blot him out of my book. ³⁴ Now go, lead the people to the place of which I have spoken to you. Behold, my angel shall go before you. Nevertheless, in the day when I punish, I will punish them for their sin.” ³⁵ Yahweh struck the people, because of what they did with the calf, which Aaron made.

33Yahweh spoke to Moses, “Depart, go up from here, you and the people that you have brought up out of the land of Egypt, to the land of which I swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, saying, ‘I will give it to your offspring.’ ² I will send an angel before you; and I will drive out the Canaanite, the Amorite, and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite. ³ Go to a land flowing with milk and honey; but I will not go up among you, for you are a stiff-necked people, lest I consume you on the way.”

⁴ When the people heard this evil news, they mourned; and no one put on his jewelry.

⁵ Yahweh had said to Moses, “Tell the children of Israel, ‘You are a stiff-necked people. If I were to go up among you for one moment, I would consume you. Therefore now take off your jewelry from you, that I may know what to do to you.’ ”

⁶ The children of Israel stripped themselves of their jewelry from Mount Horeb onward.

⁷ Now Moses used to take the tent and pitch it outside the camp, far away from the camp, and he called it “The Tent of Meeting.” Everyone who sought Yahweh went out to the Tent of Meeting, which was outside the camp. ⁸ When Moses went out to the Tent, all the people rose up, and stood, everyone at their tent door, and watched Moses, until he had gone into the Tent. ⁹ When Moses entered into the Tent, the pillar of cloud descended, stood at the door of the Tent, and Yahweh spoke with Moses. ¹⁰ All the people saw the pillar of cloud stand at the door of the Tent, and all the people rose up and worshiped, everyone at their tent door. ¹¹ Yahweh spoke to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend. He turned again into the camp, but his servant Joshua, the son of Nun, a young man, didn’t depart from the Tent.

¹² Moses said to Yahweh, “Behold, you tell me, ‘Bring up this people;’ and you haven’t let me know whom you will send with me. Yet you have said, ‘I know you by name, and you have also found favor in my sight.’ ¹³ Now therefore, if I have found favor in your sight, please show me your way, now, that I may know you, so that I may find favor in your sight; and consider that this nation is your people.”

¹⁴ He said, “My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.”

¹⁵ Moses said to him, “If your presence doesn’t go with me, don’t carry us up from here. ¹⁶ For how would people know that I have found favor in your sight, I and your people? Isn’t it that you go with us, so that we are separated, I and your people, from all the people who are on the surface of the earth?”

¹⁷ Yahweh said to Moses, “I will do this thing also that you have spoken; for you have found favor in my sight, and I know you by name.”

¹⁸ Moses said, “Please show me your glory.”

¹⁹ He said, “I will make all my goodness pass before you, and will proclaim Yahweh’s name before you. I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy.” ²⁰ He said, “You cannot see my face, for man may not see me and live.” ²¹ Yahweh also said, “Behold, there is a place by me, and you shall stand on the rock. ²² It will happen, while my glory passes by, that I will put you in a cleft of the rock, and will cover you with my hand until I have passed by; ²³ then I will take away my hand, and you will see my back; but my face shall not be seen.”

34Yahweh said to Moses, “Chisel two stone tablets like the first. I will write on the tablets the words that were on the first tablets, which you broke. ² Be ready by the morning, and come up in the morning to Mount Sinai, and present yourself there to me on the top of the mountain. ³ No one shall come up with you or be seen anywhere on the mountain. Do not let the flocks or herds graze in front of that mountain.”

⁴ He chiseled two tablets of stone like the first; then Moses rose up early in the morning, and went up to Mount Sinai, as Yahweh had commanded him, and took in his hand two stone tablets. ⁵ Yahweh descended in the cloud, and stood with him there, and proclaimed Yahweh’s name. ⁶ Yahweh passed by before him, and proclaimed, “Yahweh! Yahweh, a merciful and gracious God, slow to anger, and abundant in loving kindness and truth, ⁷ keeping loving kindness for thousands, forgiving iniquity and disobedience and sin; and who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, and on the children’s children, on the third and on the fourth generation.”

⁸ Moses hurried and bowed his head toward the earth, and worshiped. ⁹ He said, “If now I have found favor in your sight, Lord, please let the Lord go among us, even though this is a stiff-necked people; pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us for your inheritance.”

¹⁰ He said, “Behold, I make a covenant: before all your people I will do marvels, such as have not been worked in all the earth, nor in any nation; and all the people among whom you are shall see the work of Yahweh; for it is an awesome thing that I do with you. ¹¹ Observe that which I command you today. Behold, I will drive out before you the Amorite, the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite. ¹² Be careful, lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land where you are going, lest it be for a snare among you; ¹³ but you shall break down their altars, and dash in pieces their pillars, and you shall cut down their Asherah poles; ¹⁴ for you shall worship no other god; for Yahweh, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God.

¹⁵ “Don’t make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, lest they play the prostitute after their gods, and sacrifice to their gods, and one call you and you eat of his sacrifice; ¹⁶ and you take of their daughters to your sons, and their daughters play the prostitute after their gods, and make your sons play the prostitute after their gods.

¹⁷ “You shall make no cast idols for yourselves.

¹⁸ “You shall keep the feast of unleavened bread. Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, as I commanded you, at the time appointed in the month Abib; for in the month Abib you came out of Egypt.

¹⁹ “All that opens the womb is mine; and all your livestock that is male, the firstborn of cow and sheep. ²⁰ You shall redeem the firstborn of a donkey with a lamb. If you will not redeem it, then you shall break its neck. You shall redeem all the firstborn of your sons. No one shall appear before me empty.

²¹ “Six days you shall work, but on the seventh day you shall rest: in plowing time and in harvest you shall rest.

²² “You shall observe the feast of weeks with the first fruits of wheat harvest, and the feast of harvest at the year’s end. ²³ Three times in the year all your males shall appear before the Lord Yahweh, the God of Israel. ²⁴ For I will drive out nations before you and enlarge your borders; neither shall any man desire your land when you go up to appear before Yahweh, your God, three times in the year.

²⁵ “You shall not offer the blood of my sacrifice with leavened bread. The sacrifice of the feast of the Passover shall not be left to the morning.

²⁶ “You shall bring the first of the first fruits of your ground to the house of Yahweh your God.

“You shall not boil a young goat in its mother’s milk.”

²⁷ Yahweh said to Moses, “Write these words; for in accordance with these words I have made a covenant with you and with Israel.”

²⁸ He was there with Yahweh forty days and forty nights; he neither ate bread, nor drank water. He wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant, the ten commandments.

²⁹ When Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of the covenant in Moses’ hand, when he came down from the mountain, Moses didn’t know that the skin of his face shone by reason of his speaking with him. ³⁰ When Aaron and all the children of Israel saw Moses, behold, the skin of his face shone; and they were afraid to come near him. ³¹ Moses called to them, and Aaron and all the rulers of the congregation returned to him; and Moses spoke to them. ³² Afterward all the children of Israel came near, and he gave them all the commandments that Yahweh had spoken with him on Mount Sinai. ³³ When Moses was done speaking with them, he put a veil on his face. ³⁴ But when Moses went in before Yahweh to speak with him, he took the veil off, until he came out; and he came out, and spoke to the children of Israel that which he was commanded. ³⁵ The children of Israel saw Moses’ face, that the skin of Moses’ face shone; so Moses put the veil on his face again, until he went in to speak with him.

35Moses assembled all the congregation of the children of Israel, and said to them, “These are the words which Yahweh has commanded, that you should do them. ² ‘Six days shall work be done, but on the seventh day there shall be a holy day for you, a Sabbath of solemn rest to Yahweh: whoever does any work in it shall be put to death. ³ You shall kindle no fire throughout your habitations on the Sabbath day.’ ”

⁴ Moses spoke to all the congregation of the children of Israel, saying, “This is the thing which Yahweh commanded, saying, ⁵ ‘Take from among you an offering to Yahweh. Whoever is of a willing heart, let him bring it as Yahweh’s offering: gold, silver, bronze, ⁶ blue, purple, scarlet, fine linen, goats’ hair, ⁷ rams’ skins dyed red, sea cow hides, acacia wood, ⁸ oil for the light, spices for the anointing oil and for the sweet incense, ⁹ onyx stones, and stones to be set for the ephod and for the breastplate.

¹⁰ “ ‘Let every wise-hearted man among you come, and make all that Yahweh has commanded: ¹¹ the tabernacle, its outer covering, its roof, its clasps, its boards, its bars, its pillars, and its sockets; ¹² the ark, and its poles, the mercy seat, the veil of the screen; ¹³ the table with its poles and all its vessels, and the show bread; ¹⁴ the lamp stand also for the light, with its vessels, its lamps, and the oil for the light; ¹⁵ and the altar of incense with its poles, the anointing oil, the sweet incense, the screen for the door, at the door of the tabernacle; ¹⁶ the altar of burnt offering, with its grating of bronze, its poles, and all its vessels, the basin and its base; ¹⁷ the hangings of the court, its pillars, their sockets, and the screen for the gate of the court; ¹⁸ the pins of the tabernacle, the pins of the court, and their cords; ¹⁹ the finely worked garments for ministering in the holy place—the holy garments for Aaron the priest, and the garments of his sons—to minister in the priest’s office.’ ”

²⁰ All the congregation of the children of Israel departed from the presence of Moses. ²¹ They came, everyone whose heart stirred him up, and everyone whom his spirit made willing, and brought Yahweh’s offering for the work of the Tent of Meeting, and for all of its service, and for the holy garments. ²² They came, both men and women, as many as were willing-hearted, and brought brooches, earrings, signet rings, and armlets, all jewels of gold; even every man who offered an offering of gold to Yahweh. ²³ Everyone with whom was found blue, purple, scarlet, fine linen, goats’ hair, rams’ skins dyed red, and sea cow hides, brought them. ²⁴ Everyone who offered an offering of silver and bronze brought Yahweh’s offering; and everyone with whom was found acacia wood for any work of the service, brought it. ²⁵ All the women who were wise-hearted spun with their hands, and brought that which they had spun: the blue, the purple, the scarlet, and the fine linen. ²⁶ All the women whose heart stirred them up in wisdom spun the goats’ hair. ²⁷ The rulers brought the onyx stones and the stones to be set for the ephod and for the breastplate; ²⁸ with the spice and the oil for the light, for the anointing oil, and for the sweet incense. ²⁹ The children of Israel brought a free will offering to Yahweh; every man and woman whose heart made them willing to bring for all the work, which Yahweh had commanded to be made by Moses.

³⁰ Moses said to the children of Israel, “Behold, Yahweh has called by name Bezalel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah. ³¹ He has filled him with the Spirit of God, in wisdom, in understanding, in knowledge, and in all kinds of workmanship; ³² and to make skillful works, to work in gold, in silver, in bronze, ³³ in cutting of stones for setting, and in carving of wood, to work in all kinds of skillful workmanship. ³⁴ He has put in his heart that he may teach, both he and Oholiab, the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan. ³⁵ He has filled them with wisdom of heart to work all kinds of workmanship, of the engraver, of the skillful workman, and of the embroiderer, in blue, in purple, in scarlet, and in fine linen, and of the weaver, even of those who do any workmanship, and of those who make skillful works.

36“Bezalel and Oholiab shall work with every wise-hearted man, in whom Yahweh has put wisdom and understanding to know how to do all the work for the service of the sanctuary, according to all that Yahweh has commanded.”

² Moses called Bezalel and Oholiab, and every wise-hearted man, in whose heart Yahweh had put wisdom, even everyone whose heart stirred him up to come to the work to do it. ³ They received from Moses all the offering which the children of Israel had brought for the work of the service of the sanctuary, with which to make it. They kept bringing free will offerings to him every morning. ⁴ All the wise men, who performed all the work of the sanctuary, each came from his work which he did. ⁵ They spoke to Moses, saying, “The people have brought much more than enough for the service of the work which Yahweh commanded to make.”

⁶ Moses gave a commandment, and they caused it to be proclaimed throughout the camp, saying, “Let neither man nor woman make anything else for the offering for the sanctuary.” So the people were restrained from bringing. ⁷ For the stuff they had was sufficient to do all the work, and too much.

⁸ All the wise-hearted men among those who did the work made the tabernacle with ten curtains of fine twined linen, blue, purple, and scarlet. They made them with cherubim, the work of a skillful workman. ⁹ The length of each curtain was twenty-eight cubits, and the width of each curtain four cubits. All the curtains had one measure. ¹⁰ He coupled five curtains to one another, and the other five curtains he coupled to one another. ¹¹ He made loops of blue on the edge of the one curtain from the edge in the coupling. Likewise he made in the edge of the curtain that was outermost in the second coupling. ¹² He made fifty loops in the one curtain, and he made fifty loops in the edge of the curtain that was in the second coupling. The loops were opposite to one another. ¹³ He made fifty clasps of gold, and coupled the curtains to one another with the clasps: so the tabernacle was a unit.

¹⁴ He made curtains of goats’ hair for a covering over the tabernacle. He made them eleven curtains. ¹⁵ The length of each curtain was thirty cubits, and four cubits the width of each curtain. The eleven curtains had one measure. ¹⁶ He coupled five curtains by themselves, and six curtains by themselves. ¹⁷ He made fifty loops on the edge of the curtain that was outermost in the coupling, and he made fifty loops on the edge of the curtain which was outermost in the second coupling. ¹⁸ He made fifty clasps of bronze to couple the tent together, that it might be a unit. ¹⁹ He made a covering for the tent of rams’ skins dyed red, and a covering of sea cow hides above.

²⁰ He made the boards for the tabernacle of acacia wood, standing up. ²¹ Ten cubits was the length of a board, and a cubit and a half the width of each board. ²² Each board had two tenons, joined to one another. He made all the boards of the tabernacle this way. ²³ He made the boards for the tabernacle, twenty boards for the south side southward. ²⁴ He made forty sockets of silver under the twenty boards: two sockets under one board for its two tenons, and two sockets under another board for its two tenons. ²⁵ For the second side of the tabernacle, on the north side, he made twenty boards ²⁶ and their forty sockets of silver: two sockets under one board, and two sockets under another board. ²⁷ For the far part of the tabernacle westward he made six boards. ²⁸ He made two boards for the corners of the tabernacle in the far part. ²⁹ They were double beneath, and in the same way they were all the way to its top to one ring. He did this to both of them in the two corners. ³⁰ There were eight boards and their sockets of silver, sixteen sockets—under every board two sockets.

³¹ He made bars of acacia wood: five for the boards of the one side of the tabernacle, ³² and five bars for the boards of the other side of the tabernacle, and five bars for the boards of the tabernacle for the hinder part westward. ³³ He made the middle bar to pass through in the middle of the boards from the one end to the other. ³⁴ He overlaid the boards with gold, and made their rings of gold as places for the bars, and overlaid the bars with gold.

³⁵ He made the veil of blue, purple, scarlet, and fine twined linen, with cherubim. He made it the work of a skillful workman. ³⁶ He made four pillars of acacia for it, and overlaid them with gold. Their hooks were of gold. He cast four sockets of silver for them. ³⁷ He made a screen for the door of the tent, of blue, purple, scarlet, and fine twined linen, the work of an embroiderer; ³⁸ and the five pillars of it with their hooks. He overlaid their capitals and their fillets with gold, and their five sockets were of bronze.

37Bezalel made the ark of acacia wood. Its length was two and a half cubits, and its width a cubit and a half, and a cubit and a half its height. ² He overlaid it with pure gold inside and outside, and made a molding of gold for it around it. ³ He cast four rings of gold for it, in its four feet—two rings on its one side, and two rings on its other side. ⁴ He made poles of acacia wood, and overlaid them with gold. ⁵ He put the poles into the rings on the sides of the ark, to bear the ark. ⁶ He made a mercy seat of pure gold. Its length was two and a half cubits, and a cubit and a half its width. ⁷ He made two cherubim of gold. He made them of beaten work, at the two ends of the mercy seat: ⁸ one cherub at the one end, and one cherub at the other end. He made the cherubim of one piece with the mercy seat at its two ends. ⁹ The cherubim spread out their wings above, covering the mercy seat with their wings, with their faces toward one another. The faces of the cherubim were toward the mercy seat.

¹⁰ He made the table of acacia wood. Its length was two cubits, and its width was a cubit, and its height was a cubit and a half. ¹¹ He overlaid it with pure gold, and made a gold molding around it. ¹² He made a border of a hand’s width around it, and made a golden molding on its border around it. ¹³ He cast four rings of gold for it, and put the rings in the four corners that were on its four feet. ¹⁴ The rings were close by the border, the places for the poles to carry the table. ¹⁵ He made the poles of acacia wood, and overlaid them with gold, to carry the table. ¹⁶ He made the vessels which were on the table, its dishes, its spoons, its bowls, and its pitchers with which to pour out, of pure gold.

¹⁷ He made the lamp stand of pure gold. He made the lamp stand of beaten work. Its base, its shaft, its cups, its buds, and its flowers were of one piece with it. ¹⁸ There were six branches going out of its sides: three branches of the lamp stand out of its one side, and three branches of the lamp stand out of its other side: ¹⁹ three cups made like almond blossoms in one branch, a bud and a flower, and three cups made like almond blossoms in the other branch, a bud and a flower; so for the six branches going out of the lamp stand. ²⁰ In the lamp stand were four cups made like almond blossoms, its buds and its flowers; ²¹ and a bud under two branches of one piece with it, and a bud under two branches of one piece with it, and a bud under two branches of one piece with it, for the six branches going out of it. ²² Their buds and their branches were of one piece with it. The whole thing was one beaten work of pure gold. ²³ He made its seven lamps, and its snuffers, and its snuff dishes, of pure gold. ²⁴ He made it of a talent of pure gold, with all its vessels.

²⁵ He made the altar of incense of acacia wood. It was square: its length was a cubit, and its width a cubit. Its height was two cubits. Its horns were of one piece with it. ²⁶ He overlaid it with pure gold: its top, its sides around it, and its horns. He made a gold molding around it. ²⁷ He made two golden rings for it under its molding crown, on its two ribs, on its two sides, for places for poles with which to carry it. ²⁸ He made the poles of acacia wood, and overlaid them with gold. ²⁹ He made the holy anointing oil and the pure incense of sweet spices, after the art of the perfumer.

38He made the altar of burnt offering of acacia wood. It was square. Its length was five cubits, its width was five cubits, and its height was three cubits. ² He made its horns on its four corners. Its horns were of one piece with it, and he overlaid it with bronze. ³ He made all the vessels of the altar: the pots, the shovels, the basins, the forks, and the fire pans. He made all its vessels of bronze. ⁴ He made for the altar a grating of a network of bronze, under the ledge around it beneath, reaching halfway up. ⁵ He cast four rings for the four corners of bronze grating, to be places for the poles. ⁶ He made the poles of acacia wood, and overlaid them with bronze. ⁷ He put the poles into the rings on the sides of the altar, with which to carry it. He made it hollow with planks.

⁸ He made the basin of bronze, and its base of bronze, out of the mirrors of the ministering women who ministered at the door of the Tent of Meeting.

⁹ He made the court: for the south side southward the hangings of the court were of fine twined linen, one hundred cubits; ¹⁰ their pillars were twenty, and their sockets twenty, of bronze; the hooks of the pillars and their fillets were of silver. ¹¹ For the north side one hundred cubits, their pillars twenty, and their sockets twenty, of bronze; the hooks of the pillars, and their fillets, of silver. ¹² For the west side were hangings of fifty cubits, their pillars ten, and their sockets ten; the hooks of the pillars, and their fillets, of silver. ¹³ For the east side eastward fifty cubits, ¹⁴ the hangings for the one side were fifteen cubits; their pillars three, and their sockets three; ¹⁵ and so for the other side: on this hand and that hand by the gate of the court were hangings of fifteen cubits; their pillars three, and their sockets three. ¹⁶ All the hangings around the court were of fine twined linen. ¹⁷ The sockets for the pillars were of bronze. The hooks of the pillars and their fillets were of silver. Their capitals were overlaid with silver. All the pillars of the court had silver bands. ¹⁸ The screen for the gate of the court was the work of the embroiderer, of blue, purple, scarlet, and fine twined linen. Twenty cubits was the length, and the height along the width was five cubits, like the hangings of the court. ¹⁹ Their pillars were four, and their sockets four, of bronze; their hooks of silver, and the overlaying of their capitals, and their fillets, of silver. ²⁰ All the pins of the tabernacle, and around the court, were of bronze.

²¹ These are the amounts of materials used for the tabernacle, even the Tabernacle of the Testimony, as they were counted, according to the commandment of Moses, for the service of the Levites, by the hand of Ithamar, the son of Aaron the priest. ²² Bezalel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, made all that Yahweh commanded Moses. ²³ With him was Oholiab, the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan, an engraver, and a skillful workman, and an embroiderer in blue, in purple, in scarlet, and in fine linen.

²⁴ All the gold that was used for the work in all the work of the sanctuary, even the gold of the offering, was twenty-nine talents and seven hundred thirty shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary. ²⁵ The silver of those who were counted of the congregation was one hundred talents and one thousand seven hundred seventy-five shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary: ²⁶ a beka a head, that is, half a shekel, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, for everyone who passed over to those who were counted, from twenty years old and upward, for six hundred three thousand five hundred fifty men. ²⁷ The one hundred talents of silver were for casting the sockets of the sanctuary and the sockets of the veil: one hundred sockets for the one hundred talents, one talent per socket. ²⁸ From the one thousand seven hundred seventy-five shekels he made hooks for the pillars, overlaid their capitals, and made fillets for them. ²⁹ The bronze of the offering was seventy talents and two thousand four hundred shekels. ³⁰ With this he made the sockets to the door of the Tent of Meeting, the bronze altar, the bronze grating for it, all the vessels of the altar, ³¹ the sockets around the court, the sockets of the gate of the court, all the pins of the tabernacle, and all the pins around the court.

39Of the blue, purple, and scarlet, they made finely worked garments for ministering in the holy place, and made the holy garments for Aaron, as Yahweh commanded Moses.

² He made the ephod of gold, blue, purple, scarlet, and fine twined linen. ³ They beat the gold into thin plates, and cut it into wires, to work it in with the blue, the purple, the scarlet, and the fine linen, the work of the skillful workman. ⁴ They made shoulder straps for it, joined together. It was joined together at the two ends. ⁵ The skillfully woven band that was on it, with which to fasten it on, was of the same piece, like its work: of gold, of blue, purple, scarlet, and fine twined linen, as Yahweh commanded Moses.

⁶ They worked the onyx stones, enclosed in settings of gold, engraved with the engravings of a signet, according to the names of the children of Israel. ⁷ He put them on the shoulder straps of the ephod, to be stones of memorial for the children of Israel, as Yahweh commanded Moses.

⁸ He made the breastplate, the work of a skillful workman, like the work of the ephod: of gold, of blue, purple, scarlet, and fine twined linen. ⁹ It was square. They made the breastplate double. Its length was a span, and its width a span, being double. ¹⁰ They set in it four rows of stones. A row of ruby, topaz, and beryl was the first row; ¹¹ and the second row, a turquoise, a sapphire, and an emerald; ¹² and the third row, a jacinth, an agate, and an amethyst; ¹³ and the fourth row, a chrysolite, an onyx, and a jasper. They were enclosed in gold settings. ¹⁴ The stones were according to the names of the children of Israel, twelve, according to their names; like the engravings of a signet, everyone according to his name, for the twelve tribes. ¹⁵ They made on the breastplate chains like cords, of braided work of pure gold. ¹⁶ They made two settings of gold, and two gold rings, and put the two rings on the two ends of the breastplate. ¹⁷ They put the two braided chains of gold in the two rings at the ends of the breastplate. ¹⁸ The other two ends of the two braided chains they put on the two settings, and put them on the shoulder straps of the ephod, in its front. ¹⁹ They made two rings of gold, and put them on the two ends of the breastplate, on its edge, which was toward the side of the ephod inward. ²⁰ They made two more rings of gold, and put them on the two shoulder straps of the ephod underneath, in its front, close by its coupling, above the skillfully woven band of the ephod. ²¹ They bound the breastplate by its rings to the rings of the ephod with a lace of blue, that it might be on the skillfully woven band of the ephod, and that the breastplate might not come loose from the ephod, as Yahweh commanded Moses.

²² He made the robe of the ephod of woven work, all of blue. ²³ The opening of the robe in the middle of it was like the opening of a coat of mail, with a binding around its opening, that it should not be torn. ²⁴ They made on the skirts of the robe pomegranates of blue, purple, scarlet, and twined linen. ²⁵ They made bells of pure gold, and put the bells between the pomegranates around the skirts of the robe, between the pomegranates; ²⁶ a bell and a pomegranate, a bell and a pomegranate, around the skirts of the robe, to minister in, as Yahweh commanded Moses.

²⁷ They made the tunics of fine linen of woven work for Aaron and for his sons, ²⁸ the turban of fine linen, the linen headbands of fine linen, the linen trousers of fine twined linen, ²⁹ the sash of fine twined linen, blue, purple, and scarlet, the work of the embroiderer, as Yahweh commanded Moses.

³⁰ They made the plate of the holy crown of pure gold, and wrote on it an inscription, like the engravings of a signet: “HOLY TO YAHWEH”. ³¹ They tied to it a lace of blue, to fasten it on the turban above, as Yahweh commanded Moses.

³² Thus all the work of the tabernacle of the Tent of Meeting was finished. The children of Israel did according to all that Yahweh commanded Moses; so they did. ³³ They brought the tabernacle to Moses: the tent, with all its furniture, its clasps, its boards, its bars, its pillars, its sockets, ³⁴ the covering of rams’ skins dyed red, the covering of sea cow hides, the veil of the screen, ³⁵ the ark of the covenant with its poles, the mercy seat, ³⁶ the table, all its vessels, the show bread, ³⁷ the pure lamp stand, its lamps, even the lamps to be set in order, all its vessels, the oil for the light, ³⁸ the golden altar, the anointing oil, the sweet incense, the screen for the door of the Tent, ³⁹ the bronze altar, its grating of bronze, its poles, all of its vessels, the basin and its base, ⁴⁰ the hangings of the court, its pillars, its sockets, the screen for the gate of the court, its cords, its pins, and all the instruments of the service of the tabernacle, for the Tent of Meeting, ⁴¹ the finely worked garments for ministering in the holy place, the holy garments for Aaron the priest, and the garments of his sons, to minister in the priest’s office. ⁴² According to all that Yahweh commanded Moses, so the children of Israel did all the work. ⁴³ Moses saw all the work, and behold, they had done it as Yahweh had commanded. They had done so; and Moses blessed them.

40Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ² “On the first day of the first month you shall raise up the tabernacle of the Tent of Meeting. ³ You shall put the ark of the covenant in it, and you shall screen the ark with the veil. ⁴ You shall bring in the table, and set in order the things that are on it. You shall bring in the lamp stand, and light its lamps. ⁵ You shall set the golden altar for incense before the ark of the covenant, and put the screen of the door to the tabernacle.

⁶ “You shall set the altar of burnt offering before the door of the tabernacle of the Tent of Meeting. ⁷ You shall set the basin between the Tent of Meeting and the altar, and shall put water therein. ⁸ You shall set up the court around it, and hang up the screen of the gate of the court.

⁹ “You shall take the anointing oil, and anoint the tabernacle and all that is in it, and shall make it holy, and all its furniture, and it will be holy. ¹⁰ You shall anoint the altar of burnt offering, with all its vessels, and sanctify the altar, and the altar will be most holy. ¹¹ You shall anoint the basin and its base, and sanctify it.

¹² “You shall bring Aaron and his sons to the door of the Tent of Meeting, and shall wash them with water. ¹³ You shall put on Aaron the holy garments; and you shall anoint him, and sanctify him, that he may minister to me in the priest’s office. ¹⁴ You shall bring his sons, and put tunics on them. ¹⁵ You shall anoint them, as you anointed their father, that they may minister to me in the priest’s office. Their anointing shall be to them for an everlasting priesthood throughout their generations.” ¹⁶ Moses did so. According to all that Yahweh commanded him, so he did.

¹⁷ In the first month in the second year, on the first day of the month, the tabernacle was raised up. ¹⁸ Moses raised up the tabernacle, and laid its sockets, and set up its boards, and put in its bars, and raised up its pillars. ¹⁹ He spread the covering over the tent, and put the roof of the tabernacle above on it, as Yahweh commanded Moses. ²⁰ He took and put the covenant into the ark, and set the poles on the ark, and put the mercy seat above on the ark. ²¹ He brought the ark into the tabernacle, and set up the veil of the screen, and screened the ark of the covenant, as Yahweh commanded Moses. ²² He put the table in the Tent of Meeting, on the north side of the tabernacle, outside of the veil. ²³ He set the bread in order on it before Yahweh, as Yahweh commanded Moses. ²⁴ He put the lamp stand in the Tent of Meeting, opposite the table, on the south side of the tabernacle. ²⁵ He lit the lamps before Yahweh, as Yahweh commanded Moses. ²⁶ He put the golden altar in the Tent of Meeting before the veil; ²⁷ and he burned incense of sweet spices on it, as Yahweh commanded Moses. ²⁸ He put up the screen of the door to the tabernacle. ²⁹ He set the altar of burnt offering at the door of the tabernacle of the Tent of Meeting, and offered on it the burnt offering and the meal offering, as Yahweh commanded Moses. ³⁰ He set the basin between the Tent of Meeting and the altar, and put water therein, with which to wash. ³¹ Moses, Aaron, and his sons washed their hands and their feet there. ³² When they went into the Tent of Meeting, and when they came near to the altar, they washed, as Yahweh commanded Moses. ³³ He raised up the court around the tabernacle and the altar, and set up the screen of the gate of the court. So Moses finished the work.

³⁴ Then the cloud covered the Tent of Meeting, and Yahweh’s glory filled the tabernacle. ³⁵ Moses wasn’t able to enter into the Tent of Meeting, because the cloud stayed on it, and Yahweh’s glory filled the tabernacle. ³⁶ When the cloud was taken up from over the tabernacle, the children of Israel went onward, throughout all their journeys; ³⁷ but if the cloud wasn’t taken up, then they didn’t travel until the day that it was taken up. ³⁸ For the cloud of Yahweh was on the tabernacle by day, and there was fire in the cloud by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel, throughout all their journeys.

Leviticus

1Yahweh called to Moses, and spoke to him from the Tent of Meeting, saying, ² “Speak to the children of Israel, and tell them, ‘When anyone of you offers an offering to Yahweh, you shall offer your offering of the livestock, from the herd and from the flock.

³ “ ‘If his offering is a burnt offering from the herd, he shall offer a male without defect. He shall offer it at the door of the Tent of Meeting, that he may be accepted before Yahweh. ⁴ He shall lay his hand on the head of the burnt offering, and it shall be accepted for him to make atonement for him. ⁵ He shall kill the bull before Yahweh. Aaron’s sons, the priests, shall present the blood and sprinkle the blood around on the altar that is at the door of the Tent of Meeting. ⁶ He shall skin the burnt offering, and cut it into pieces. ⁷ The sons of Aaron the priest shall put fire on the altar, and lay wood in order on the fire; ⁸ and Aaron’s sons, the priests, shall lay the pieces, the head, and the fat in order on the wood that is on the fire which is on the altar; ⁹ but he shall wash its innards and its legs with water. The priest shall burn all of it on the altar, for a burnt offering, an offering made by fire, of a pleasant aroma to Yahweh.

¹⁰ “ ‘If his offering is from the flock, from the sheep or from the goats, for a burnt offering, he shall offer a male without defect. ¹¹ He shall kill it on the north side of the altar before Yahweh. Aaron’s sons, the priests, shall sprinkle its blood around on the altar. ¹² He shall cut it into its pieces, with its head and its fat. The priest shall lay them in order on the wood that is on the fire which is on the altar, ¹³ but the innards and the legs he shall wash with water. The priest shall offer the whole, and burn it on the altar. It is a burnt offering, an offering made by fire, of a pleasant aroma to Yahweh.

¹⁴ “ ‘If his offering to Yahweh is a burnt offering of birds, then he shall offer his offering from turtledoves or of young pigeons. ¹⁵ The priest shall bring it to the altar, and wring off its head, and burn it on the altar; and its blood shall be drained out on the side of the altar; ¹⁶ and he shall take away its crop and its feathers, and cast it beside the altar on the east part, in the place of the ashes. ¹⁷ He shall tear it by its wings, but shall not divide it apart. The priest shall burn it on the altar, on the wood that is on the fire. It is a burnt offering, an offering made by fire, of a pleasant aroma to Yahweh.

2“ ‘When anyone offers an offering of a meal offering to Yahweh, his offering shall be of fine flour. He shall pour oil on it, and put frankincense on it. ² He shall bring it to Aaron’s sons, the priests. He shall take his handful of its fine flour, and of its oil, with all its frankincense, and the priest shall burn its memorial on the altar, an offering made by fire, of a pleasant aroma to Yahweh. ³ That which is left of the meal offering shall be Aaron’s and his sons’. It is a most holy part of the offerings of Yahweh made by fire.

⁴ “ ‘When you offer an offering of a meal offering baked in the oven, it shall be unleavened cakes of fine flour mixed with oil, or unleavened wafers anointed with oil. ⁵ If your offering is a meal offering made on a griddle, it shall be of unleavened fine flour, mixed with oil. ⁶ You shall cut it in pieces, and pour oil on it. It is a meal offering. ⁷ If your offering is a meal offering of the pan, it shall be made of fine flour with oil. ⁸ You shall bring the meal offering that is made of these things to Yahweh. It shall be presented to the priest, and he shall bring it to the altar. ⁹ The priest shall take from the meal offering its memorial, and shall burn it on the altar, an offering made by fire, of a pleasant aroma to Yahweh. ¹⁰ That which is left of the meal offering shall be Aaron’s and his sons’. It is a most holy part of the offerings of Yahweh made by fire.

¹¹ “ ‘No meal offering which you shall offer to Yahweh shall be made with yeast; for you shall burn no yeast, nor any honey, as an offering made by fire to Yahweh. ¹² As an offering of first fruits you shall offer them to Yahweh, but they shall not rise up as a pleasant aroma on the altar. ¹³ Every offering of your meal offering you shall season with salt. You shall not allow the salt of the covenant of your God to be lacking from your meal offering. With all your offerings you shall offer salt.

¹⁴ “ ‘If you offer a meal offering of first fruits to Yahweh, you shall offer for the meal offering of your first fruits fresh heads of grain parched with fire and crushed. ¹⁵ You shall put oil on it and lay frankincense on it. It is a meal offering. ¹⁶ The priest shall burn as its memorial part of its crushed grain and part of its oil, along with all its frankincense. It is an offering made by fire to Yahweh.

3“ ‘If his offering is a sacrifice of peace offerings, if he offers it from the herd, whether male or female, he shall offer it without defect before Yahweh. ² He shall lay his hand on the head of his offering, and kill it at the door of the Tent of Meeting. Aaron’s sons, the priests, shall sprinkle the blood around on the altar. ³ He shall offer of the sacrifice of peace offerings an offering made by fire to Yahweh. The fat that covers the innards, and all the fat that is on the innards, ⁴ and the two kidneys, and the fat that is on them, which is by the loins, and the cover on the liver, with the kidneys, he shall take away. ⁵ Aaron’s sons shall burn it on the altar on the burnt offering, which is on the wood that is on the fire: it is an offering made by fire, of a pleasant aroma to Yahweh.

⁶ “ ‘If his offering for a sacrifice of peace offerings to Yahweh is from the flock, either male or female, he shall offer it without defect. ⁷ If he offers a lamb for his offering, then he shall offer it before Yahweh; ⁸ and he shall lay his hand on the head of his offering, and kill it before the Tent of Meeting. Aaron’s sons shall sprinkle its blood around on the altar. ⁹ He shall offer from the sacrifice of peace offerings an offering made by fire to Yahweh; its fat, the entire tail fat, he shall take away close to the backbone; and the fat that covers the entrails, and all the fat that is on the entrails, ¹⁰ and the two kidneys, and the fat that is on them, which is by the loins, and the cover on the liver, with the kidneys, he shall take away. ¹¹ The priest shall burn it on the altar: it is the food of the offering made by fire to Yahweh.

¹² “ ‘If his offering is a goat, then he shall offer it before Yahweh. ¹³ He shall lay his hand on its head, and kill it before the Tent of Meeting; and the sons of Aaron shall sprinkle its blood around on the altar. ¹⁴ He shall offer from it as his offering, an offering made by fire to Yahweh; the fat that covers the innards, and all the fat that is on the innards, ¹⁵ and the two kidneys, and the fat that is on them, which is by the loins, and the cover on the liver, with the kidneys, he shall take away. ¹⁶ The priest shall burn them on the altar: it is the food of the offering made by fire, for a pleasant aroma; all the fat is Yahweh’s.

¹⁷ “ ‘It shall be a perpetual statute throughout your generations in all your dwellings, that you shall eat neither fat nor blood.’ ”

4Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ² “Speak to the children of Israel, saying, ‘If anyone sins unintentionally, in any of the things which Yahweh has commanded not to be done, and does any one of them, ³ if the anointed priest sins so as to bring guilt on the people, then let him offer for his sin which he has sinned a young bull without defect to Yahweh for a sin offering. ⁴ He shall bring the bull to the door of the Tent of Meeting before Yahweh; and he shall lay his hand on the head of the bull, and kill the bull before Yahweh. ⁵ The anointed priest shall take some of the blood of the bull, and bring it to the Tent of Meeting. ⁶ The priest shall dip his finger in the blood, and sprinkle some of the blood seven times before Yahweh, before the veil of the sanctuary. ⁷ The priest shall put some of the blood on the horns of the altar of sweet incense before Yahweh, which is in the Tent of Meeting; and he shall pour out the rest of the blood of the bull at the base of the altar of burnt offering, which is at the door of the Tent of Meeting. ⁸ He shall take all the fat of the bull of the sin offering from it: the fat that covers the innards, and all the fat that is on the innards, ⁹ and the two kidneys, and the fat that is on them, which is by the loins, and the cover on the liver, with the kidneys, he shall remove, ¹⁰ as it is removed from the bull of the sacrifice of peace offerings. The priest shall burn them on the altar of burnt offering. ¹¹ He shall carry the bull’s skin, all its meat, with its head, and with its legs, its innards, and its dung ¹² —all the rest of the bull—outside of the camp to a clean place where the ashes are poured out, and burn it on wood with fire. It shall be burned where the ashes are poured out.

¹³ “ ‘If the whole congregation of Israel sins, and the thing is hidden from the eyes of the assembly, and they have done any of the things which Yahweh has commanded not to be done, and are guilty; ¹⁴ when the sin in which they have sinned is known, then the assembly shall offer a young bull for a sin offering, and bring it before the Tent of Meeting. ¹⁵ The elders of the congregation shall lay their hands on the head of the bull before Yahweh; and the bull shall be killed before Yahweh. ¹⁶ The anointed priest shall bring some of the blood of the bull to the Tent of Meeting. ¹⁷ The priest shall dip his finger in the blood and sprinkle it seven times before Yahweh, before the veil. ¹⁸ He shall put some of the blood on the horns of the altar which is before Yahweh, that is in the Tent of Meeting; and the rest of the blood he shall pour out at the base of the altar of burnt offering, which is at the door of the Tent of Meeting. ¹⁹ All its fat he shall take from it, and burn it on the altar. ²⁰ Thus shall he do with the bull; as he did with the bull of the sin offering, so shall he do with this; and the priest shall make atonement for them, and they shall be forgiven. ²¹ He shall carry the bull outside the camp, and burn it as he burned the first bull. It is the sin offering for the assembly.

²² “ ‘When a ruler sins, and unwittingly does any one of all the things which Yahweh his God has commanded not to be done, and is guilty, ²³ if his sin in which he has sinned is made known to him, he shall bring as his offering a goat, a male without defect. ²⁴ He shall lay his hand on the head of the goat, and kill it in the place where they kill the burnt offering before Yahweh. It is a sin offering. ²⁵ The priest shall take some of the blood of the sin offering with his finger, and put it on the horns of the altar of burnt offering. He shall pour out the rest of its blood at the base of the altar of burnt offering. ²⁶ All its fat he shall burn on the altar, like the fat of the sacrifice of peace offerings; and the priest shall make atonement for him concerning his sin, and he will be forgiven.

²⁷ “ ‘If anyone of the common people sins unwittingly, in doing any of the things which Yahweh has commanded not to be done, and is guilty, ²⁸ if his sin which he has sinned is made known to him, then he shall bring for his offering a goat, a female without defect, for his sin which he has sinned. ²⁹ He shall lay his hand on the head of the sin offering, and kill the sin offering in the place of burnt offering. ³⁰ The priest shall take some of its blood with his finger, and put it on the horns of the altar of burnt offering; and the rest of its blood he shall pour out at the base of the altar. ³¹ All its fat he shall take away, like the fat is taken away from the sacrifice of peace offerings; and the priest shall burn it on the altar for a pleasant aroma to Yahweh; and the priest shall make atonement for him, and he will be forgiven.

³² “ ‘If he brings a lamb as his offering for a sin offering, he shall bring a female without defect. ³³ He shall lay his hand on the head of the sin offering, and kill it for a sin offering in the place where they kill the burnt offering. ³⁴ The priest shall take some of the blood of the sin offering with his finger, and put it on the horns of the altar of burnt offering; and all the rest of its blood he shall pour out at the base of the altar. ³⁵ He shall remove all its fat, like the fat of the lamb is removed from the sacrifice of peace offerings. The priest shall burn them on the altar, on the offerings of Yahweh made by fire. The priest shall make atonement for him concerning his sin that he has sinned, and he will be forgiven.

5“ ‘If anyone sins, in that he hears a public adjuration to testify, he being a witness, whether he has seen or known, if he doesn’t report it, then he shall bear his iniquity.

² “ ‘Or if anyone touches any unclean thing, whether it is the carcass of an unclean animal, or the carcass of unclean livestock, or the carcass of unclean creeping things, and it is hidden from him, and he is unclean, then he shall be guilty.

³ “ ‘Or if he touches the uncleanness of man, whatever his uncleanness is with which he is unclean, and it is hidden from him; when he knows of it, then he shall be guilty.

⁴ “ ‘Or if anyone swears rashly with his lips to do evil or to do good—whatever it is that a man might utter rashly with an oath, and it is hidden from him—when he knows of it, then he will be guilty of one of these. ⁵ It shall be, when he is guilty of one of these, he shall confess that in which he has sinned; ⁶ and he shall bring his trespass offering to Yahweh for his sin which he has sinned: a female from the flock, a lamb or a goat, for a sin offering; and the priest shall make atonement for him concerning his sin.

⁷ “ ‘If he can’t afford a lamb, then he shall bring his trespass offering for that in which he has sinned, two turtledoves, or two young pigeons, to Yahweh; one for a sin offering, and the other for a burnt offering. ⁸ He shall bring them to the priest, who shall first offer the one which is for the sin offering. He shall wring off its head from its neck, but shall not sever it completely. ⁹ He shall sprinkle some of the blood of the sin offering on the side of the altar; and the rest of the blood shall be drained out at the base of the altar. It is a sin offering. ¹⁰ He shall offer the second for a burnt offering, according to the ordinance; and the priest shall make atonement for him concerning his sin which he has sinned, and he shall be forgiven.

¹¹ “ ‘But if he can’t afford two turtledoves or two young pigeons, then he shall bring as his offering for that in which he has sinned, one tenth of an ephah of fine flour for a sin offering. He shall put no oil on it, and he shall not put any frankincense on it, for it is a sin offering. ¹² He shall bring it to the priest, and the priest shall take his handful of it as the memorial portion, and burn it on the altar, on the offerings of Yahweh made by fire. It is a sin offering. ¹³ The priest shall make atonement for him concerning his sin that he has sinned in any of these things, and he will be forgiven; and the rest shall be the priest’s, as the meal offering.’ ”

¹⁴ Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ¹⁵ “If anyone commits a trespass, and sins unwittingly regarding Yahweh’s holy things, then he shall bring his trespass offering to Yahweh: a ram without defect from the flock, according to your estimation in silver by shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, for a trespass offering. ¹⁶ He shall make restitution for that which he has done wrong regarding the holy thing, and shall add a fifth part to it, and give it to the priest; and the priest shall make atonement for him with the ram of the trespass offering, and he will be forgiven.

¹⁷ “If anyone sins, doing any of the things which Yahweh has commanded not to be done, though he didn’t know it, he is still guilty, and shall bear his iniquity. ¹⁸ He shall bring a ram without defect from of the flock, according to your estimation, for a trespass offering, to the priest; and the priest shall make atonement for him concerning the thing in which he sinned and didn’t know it, and he will be forgiven. ¹⁹ It is a trespass offering. He is certainly guilty before Yahweh.”

6Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ² “If anyone sins, and commits a trespass against Yahweh, and deals falsely with his neighbor in a matter of deposit, or of bargain, or of robbery, or has oppressed his neighbor, ³ or has found that which was lost, and lied about it, and swearing to a lie—in any of these things that a man sins in his actions— ⁴ then it shall be, if he has sinned, and is guilty, he shall restore that which he took by robbery, or the thing which he has gotten by oppression, or the deposit which was committed to him, or the lost thing which he found, ⁵ or any thing about which he has sworn falsely: he shall restore it in full, and shall add a fifth part more to it. He shall return it to him to whom it belongs in the day of his being found guilty. ⁶ He shall bring his trespass offering to Yahweh: a ram without defect from the flock, according to your estimation, for a trespass offering, to the priest. ⁷ The priest shall make atonement for him before Yahweh, and he will be forgiven concerning whatever he does to become guilty.”

⁸ Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ⁹ “Command Aaron and his sons, saying, ‘This is the law of the burnt offering: the burnt offering shall be on the hearth on the altar all night until the morning; and the fire of the altar shall be kept burning on it. ¹⁰ The priest shall put on his linen garment, and he shall put on his linen trousers upon his body; and he shall remove the ashes from where the fire has consumed the burnt offering on the altar, and he shall put them beside the altar. ¹¹ He shall take off his garments, and put on other garments, and carry the ashes outside the camp to a clean place. ¹² The fire on the altar shall be kept burning on it, it shall not go out; and the priest shall burn wood on it every morning. He shall lay the burnt offering in order upon it, and shall burn on it the fat of the peace offerings. ¹³ Fire shall be kept burning on the altar continually; it shall not go out.

¹⁴ “ ‘This is the law of the meal offering: the sons of Aaron shall offer it before Yahweh, before the altar. ¹⁵ He shall take from there his handful of the fine flour of the meal offering, and of its oil, and all the frankincense which is on the meal offering, and shall burn it on the altar for a pleasant aroma, as its memorial portion, to Yahweh. ¹⁶ That which is left of it Aaron and his sons shall eat. It shall be eaten without yeast in a holy place. They shall eat it in the court of the Tent of Meeting. ¹⁷ It shall not be baked with yeast. I have given it as their portion of my offerings made by fire. It is most holy, as are the sin offering and the trespass offering. ¹⁸ Every male among the children of Aaron shall eat of it, as their portion forever throughout your generations, from the offerings of Yahweh made by fire. Whoever touches them shall be holy.’ ”

¹⁹ Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ²⁰ “This is the offering of Aaron and of his sons, which they shall offer to Yahweh in the day when he is anointed: one tenth of an ephah of fine flour for a meal offering perpetually, half of it in the morning, and half of it in the evening. ²¹ It shall be made with oil in a griddle. When it is soaked, you shall bring it in. You shall offer the meal offering in baked pieces for a pleasant aroma to Yahweh. ²² The anointed priest that will be in his place from among his sons shall offer it. By a statute forever, it shall be wholly burned to Yahweh. ²³ Every meal offering of a priest shall be wholly burned. It shall not be eaten.”

²⁴ Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ²⁵ “Speak to Aaron and to his sons, saying, ‘This is the law of the sin offering: in the place where the burnt offering is killed, the sin offering shall be killed before Yahweh. It is most holy. ²⁶ The priest who offers it for sin shall eat it. It shall be eaten in a holy place, in the court of the Tent of Meeting. ²⁷ Whatever shall touch its flesh shall be holy. When there is any of its blood sprinkled on a garment, you shall wash that on which it was sprinkled in a holy place. ²⁸ But the earthen vessel in which it is boiled shall be broken; and if it is boiled in a bronze vessel, it shall be scoured, and rinsed in water. ²⁹ Every male among the priests shall eat of it. It is most holy. ³⁰ No sin offering, of which any of the blood is brought into the Tent of Meeting to make atonement in the Holy Place, shall be eaten. It shall be burned with fire.

7“ ‘This is the law of the trespass offering: It is most holy. ² In the place where they kill the burnt offering, he shall kill the trespass offering; and its blood he shall sprinkle around on the altar. ³ He shall offer all of its fat: the fat tail, and the fat that covers the innards, ⁴ and he shall take away the two kidneys, and the fat that is on them, which is by the loins, and the cover on the liver, with the kidneys; ⁵ and the priest shall burn them on the altar for an offering made by fire to Yahweh: it is a trespass offering. ⁶ Every male among the priests may eat of it. It shall be eaten in a holy place. It is most holy.

⁷ “ ‘As is the sin offering, so is the trespass offering; there is one law for them. The priest who makes atonement with them shall have it. ⁸ The priest who offers any man’s burnt offering shall have for himself the skin of the burnt offering which he has offered. ⁹ Every meal offering that is baked in the oven, and all that is prepared in the pan and on the griddle, shall be the priest’s who offers it. ¹⁰ Every meal offering, mixed with oil or dry, belongs to all the sons of Aaron, one as well as another.

¹¹ “ ‘This is the law of the sacrifice of peace offerings, which one shall offer to Yahweh: ¹² If he offers it for a thanksgiving, then he shall offer with the sacrifice of thanksgiving unleavened cakes mixed with oil, and unleavened wafers anointed with oil, and cakes mixed with oil. ¹³ He shall offer his offering with the sacrifice of his peace offerings for thanksgiving with cakes of leavened bread. ¹⁴ Of it he shall offer one out of each offering for a heave offering to Yahweh. It shall be the priest’s who sprinkles the blood of the peace offerings. ¹⁵ The flesh of the sacrifice of his peace offerings for thanksgiving shall be eaten on the day of his offering. He shall not leave any of it until the morning.

¹⁶ “ ‘But if the sacrifice of his offering is a vow, or a free will offering, it shall be eaten on the day that he offers his sacrifice. On the next day what remains of it shall be eaten, ¹⁷ but what remains of the meat of the sacrifice on the third day shall be burned with fire. ¹⁸ If any of the meat of the sacrifice of his peace offerings is eaten on the third day, it will not be accepted, and it shall not be credited to him who offers it. It will be an abomination, and the soul who eats any of it will bear his iniquity.

¹⁹ “ ‘The meat that touches any unclean thing shall not be eaten. It shall be burned with fire. As for the meat, everyone who is clean may eat it; ²⁰ but the soul who eats of the meat of the sacrifice of peace offerings that belongs to Yahweh, having his uncleanness on him, that soul shall be cut off from his people. ²¹ When anyone touches any unclean thing, the uncleanness of man, or an unclean animal, or any unclean abomination, and eats some of the meat of the sacrifice of peace offerings which belong to Yahweh, that soul shall be cut off from his people.’ ”

²² Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ²³ “Speak to the children of Israel, saying, ‘You shall eat no fat, of bull, or sheep, or goat. ²⁴ The fat of that which dies of itself, and the fat of that which is torn of animals, may be used for any other service, but you shall in no way eat of it. ²⁵ For whoever eats the fat of the animal which men offer as an offering made by fire to Yahweh, even the soul who eats it shall be cut off from his people. ²⁶ You shall not eat any blood, whether it is of bird or of animal, in any of your dwellings. ²⁷ Whoever it is who eats any blood, that soul shall be cut off from his people.’ ”

²⁸ Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ²⁹ “Speak to the children of Israel, saying, ‘He who offers the sacrifice of his peace offerings to Yahweh shall bring his offering to Yahweh out of the sacrifice of his peace offerings. ³⁰ With his own hands he shall bring the offerings of Yahweh made by fire. He shall bring the fat with the breast, that the breast may be waved for a wave offering before Yahweh. ³¹ The priest shall burn the fat on the altar, but the breast shall be Aaron’s and his sons’. ³² The right thigh you shall give to the priest for a heave offering out of the sacrifices of your peace offerings. ³³ He among the sons of Aaron who offers the blood of the peace offerings, and the fat, shall have the right thigh for a portion. ³⁴ For the waved breast and the heaved thigh I have taken from the children of Israel out of the sacrifices of their peace offerings, and have given them to Aaron the priest and to his sons as their portion forever from the children of Israel.’ ”

³⁵ This is the consecrated portion of Aaron, and the consecrated portion of his sons, out of the offerings of Yahweh made by fire, in the day when he presented them to minister to Yahweh in the priest’s office; ³⁶ which Yahweh commanded to be given them of the children of Israel, in the day that he anointed them. It is their portion forever throughout their generations. ³⁷ This is the law of the burnt offering, the meal offering, the sin offering, the trespass offering, the consecration, and the sacrifice of peace offerings ³⁸ which Yahweh commanded Moses in Mount Sinai in the day that he commanded the children of Israel to offer their offerings to Yahweh, in the wilderness of Sinai.

8Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ² “Take Aaron and his sons with him, and the garments, and the anointing oil, and the bull of the sin offering, and the two rams, and the basket of unleavened bread; ³ and assemble all the congregation at the door of the Tent of Meeting.”

⁴ Moses did as Yahweh commanded him; and the congregation was assembled at the door of the Tent of Meeting. ⁵ Moses said to the congregation, “This is the thing which Yahweh has commanded to be done.” ⁶ Moses brought Aaron and his sons, and washed them with water. ⁷ He put the tunic on him, tied the sash on him, clothed him with the robe, put the ephod on him, and he tied the skillfully woven band of the ephod on him and fastened it to him with it. ⁸ He placed the breastplate on him. He put the Urim and Thummim in the breastplate. ⁹ He set the turban on his head. He set the golden plate, the holy crown, on the front of the turban, as Yahweh commanded Moses. ¹⁰ Moses took the anointing oil, and anointed the tabernacle and all that was in it, and sanctified them. ¹¹ He sprinkled it on the altar seven times, and anointed the altar and all its vessels, and the basin and its base, to sanctify them. ¹² He poured some of the anointing oil on Aaron’s head, and anointed him, to sanctify him. ¹³ Moses brought Aaron’s sons, and clothed them with tunics, and tied sashes on them, and put headbands on them, as Yahweh commanded Moses.

¹⁴ He brought the bull of the sin offering, and Aaron and his sons laid their hands on the head of the bull of the sin offering. ¹⁵ He killed it; and Moses took the blood, and put it around on the horns of the altar with his finger, and purified the altar, and poured out the blood at the base of the altar, and sanctified it, to make atonement for it. ¹⁶ He took all the fat that was on the innards, and the cover of the liver, and the two kidneys, and their fat; and Moses burned it on the altar. ¹⁷ But the bull, and its skin, and its meat, and its dung, he burned with fire outside the camp, as Yahweh commanded Moses. ¹⁸ He presented the ram of the burnt offering. Aaron and his sons laid their hands on the head of the ram. ¹⁹ He killed it; and Moses sprinkled the blood around on the altar. ²⁰ He cut the ram into its pieces; and Moses burned the head, and the pieces, and the fat. ²¹ He washed the innards and the legs with water; and Moses burned the whole ram on the altar. It was a burnt offering for a pleasant aroma. It was an offering made by fire to Yahweh, as Yahweh commanded Moses. ²² He presented the other ram, the ram of consecration. Aaron and his sons laid their hands on the head of the ram. ²³ He killed it; and Moses took some of its blood, and put it on the tip of Aaron’s right ear, and on the thumb of his right hand, and on the great toe of his right foot. ²⁴ He brought Aaron’s sons; and Moses put some of the blood on the tip of their right ear, and on the thumb of their right hand, and on the great toe of their right foot; and Moses sprinkled the blood around on the altar. ²⁵ He took the fat, the fat tail, all the fat that was on the innards, the cover of the liver, the two kidneys and their fat, and the right thigh; ²⁶ and out of the basket of unleavened bread that was before Yahweh, he took one unleavened cake, one cake of oiled bread, and one wafer, and placed them on the fat and on the right thigh. ²⁷ He put all these in Aaron’s hands and in his sons’ hands, and waved them for a wave offering before Yahweh. ²⁸ Moses took them from their hands, and burned them on the altar on the burnt offering. They were a consecration offering for a pleasant aroma. It was an offering made by fire to Yahweh. ²⁹ Moses took the breast, and waved it for a wave offering before Yahweh. It was Moses’ portion of the ram of consecration, as Yahweh commanded Moses. ³⁰ Moses took some of the anointing oil, and some of the blood which was on the altar, and sprinkled it on Aaron, on his garments, and on his sons, and on his sons’ garments with him, and sanctified Aaron, his garments, and his sons, and his sons’ garments with him.

³¹ Moses said to Aaron and to his sons, “Boil the meat at the door of the Tent of Meeting, and there eat it and the bread that is in the basket of consecration, as I commanded, saying, ‘Aaron and his sons shall eat it.’ ³² What remains of the meat and of the bread you shall burn with fire. ³³ You shall not go out from the door of the Tent of Meeting for seven days, until the days of your consecration are fulfilled: for he shall consecrate you seven days. ³⁴ What has been done today, so Yahweh has commanded to do, to make atonement for you. ³⁵ You shall stay at the door of the Tent of Meeting day and night seven days, and keep Yahweh’s command, that you don’t die: for so I am commanded.” ³⁶ Aaron and his sons did all the things which Yahweh commanded by Moses.

9On the eighth day, Moses called Aaron and his sons, and the elders of Israel; ² and he said to Aaron, “Take a calf from the herd for a sin offering, and a ram for a burnt offering, without defect, and offer them before Yahweh. ³ You shall speak to the children of Israel, saying, ‘Take a male goat for a sin offering; and a calf and a lamb, both a year old, without defect, for a burnt offering; ⁴ and a bull and a ram for peace offerings, to sacrifice before Yahweh; and a meal offering mixed with oil: for today Yahweh appears to you.’ ”

⁵ They brought what Moses commanded before the Tent of Meeting. All the congregation came near and stood before Yahweh. ⁶ Moses said, “This is the thing which Yahweh commanded that you should do; and Yahweh’s glory shall appear to you.” ⁷ Moses said to Aaron, “Draw near to the altar, and offer your sin offering, and your burnt offering, and make atonement for yourself, and for the people; and offer the offering of the people, and make atonement for them, as Yahweh commanded.”

⁸ So Aaron came near to the altar, and killed the calf of the sin offering, which was for himself. ⁹ The sons of Aaron presented the blood to him; and he dipped his finger in the blood, and put it on the horns of the altar, and poured out the blood at the base of the altar; ¹⁰ but the fat, and the kidneys, and the cover from the liver of the sin offering, he burned upon the altar, as Yahweh commanded Moses. ¹¹ The meat and the skin he burned with fire outside the camp. ¹² He killed the burnt offering; and Aaron’s sons delivered the blood to him, and he sprinkled it around on the altar. ¹³ They delivered the burnt offering to him, piece by piece, and the head. He burned them upon the altar. ¹⁴ He washed the innards and the legs, and burned them on the burnt offering on the altar. ¹⁵ He presented the people’s offering, and took the goat of the sin offering which was for the people, and killed it, and offered it for sin, like the first. ¹⁶ He presented the burnt offering, and offered it according to the ordinance. ¹⁷ He presented the meal offering, and filled his hand from there, and burned it upon the altar, in addition to the burnt offering of the morning. ¹⁸ He also killed the bull and the ram, the sacrifice of peace offerings, which was for the people. Aaron’s sons delivered to him the blood, which he sprinkled around on the altar; ¹⁹ and the fat of the bull and of the ram, the fat tail, and that which covers the innards, and the kidneys, and the cover of the liver; ²⁰ and they put the fat upon the breasts, and he burned the fat on the altar. ²¹ Aaron waved the breasts and the right thigh for a wave offering before Yahweh, as Moses commanded. ²² Aaron lifted up his hands toward the people, and blessed them; and he came down from offering the sin offering, and the burnt offering, and the peace offerings.

²³ Moses and Aaron went into the Tent of Meeting, and came out, and blessed the people; and Yahweh’s glory appeared to all the people. ²⁴ Fire came out from before Yahweh, and consumed the burnt offering and the fat upon the altar. When all the people saw it, they shouted, and fell on their faces.

10Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, each took his censer, and put fire in it, and laid incense on it, and offered strange fire before Yahweh, which he had not commanded them. ² Fire came out from before Yahweh, and devoured them, and they died before Yahweh.

³ Then Moses said to Aaron, “This is what Yahweh spoke of, saying,

‘I will show myself holy to those who come near me,

and before all the people I will be glorified.’ ”

Aaron held his peace. ⁴ Moses called Mishael and Elzaphan, the sons of Uzziel the uncle of Aaron, and said to them, “Draw near, carry your brothers from before the sanctuary out of the camp.” ⁵ So they came near, and carried them in their tunics out of the camp, as Moses had said.

⁶ Moses said to Aaron, and to Eleazar and to Ithamar, his sons, “Don’t let the hair of your heads go loose, and don’t tear your clothes, so that you don’t die, and so that he will not be angry with all the congregation; but let your brothers, the whole house of Israel, bewail the burning which Yahweh has kindled. ⁷ You shall not go out from the door of the Tent of Meeting, lest you die; for the anointing oil of Yahweh is on you.” They did according to the word of Moses. ⁸ Then Yahweh said to Aaron, ⁹ “You and your sons are not to drink wine or strong drink whenever you go into the Tent of Meeting, or you will die. This shall be a statute forever throughout your generations. ¹⁰ You are to make a distinction between the holy and the common, and between the unclean and the clean. ¹¹ You are to teach the children of Israel all the statutes which Yahweh has spoken to them by Moses.”

¹² Moses spoke to Aaron, and to Eleazar and to Ithamar, his sons who were left, “Take the meal offering that remains of the offerings of Yahweh made by fire, and eat it without yeast beside the altar; for it is most holy; ¹³ and you shall eat it in a holy place, because it is your portion, and your sons’ portion, of the offerings of Yahweh made by fire; for so I am commanded. ¹⁴ The waved breast and the heaved thigh you shall eat in a clean place, you, and your sons, and your daughters with you: for they are given as your portion, and your sons’ portion, out of the sacrifices of the peace offerings of the children of Israel. ¹⁵ The heaved thigh and the waved breast they shall bring with the offerings made by fire of the fat, to wave it for a wave offering before Yahweh. It shall be yours, and your sons’ with you, as a portion forever, as Yahweh has commanded.”

¹⁶ Moses diligently inquired about the goat of the sin offering, and, behold, it was burned. He was angry with Eleazar and with Ithamar, the sons of Aaron who were left, saying, ¹⁷ “Why haven’t you eaten the sin offering in the place of the sanctuary, since it is most holy, and he has given it to you to bear the iniquity of the congregation, to make atonement for them before Yahweh? ¹⁸ Behold, its blood was not brought into the inner part of the sanctuary. You certainly should have eaten it in the sanctuary, as I commanded.”

¹⁹ Aaron spoke to Moses, “Behold, today they have offered their sin offering and their burnt offering before Yahweh; and such things as these have happened to me. If I had eaten the sin offering today, would it have been pleasing in Yahweh’s sight?”

²⁰ When Moses heard that, it was pleasing in his sight.

11Yahweh spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying to them, ² “Speak to the children of Israel, saying, ‘These are the living things which you may eat among all the animals that are on the earth. ³ Whatever parts the hoof, and is cloven-footed, and chews the cud among the animals, that you may eat.

⁴ “ ‘Nevertheless these you shall not eat of those that chew the cud, or of those who part the hoof: the camel, because it chews the cud but doesn’t have a parted hoof, is unclean to you. ⁵ The hyrax, because it chews the cud but doesn’t have a parted hoof, is unclean to you. ⁶ The hare, because it chews the cud but doesn’t have a parted hoof, is unclean to you. ⁷ The pig, because it has a split hoof, and is cloven-footed, but doesn’t chew the cud, is unclean to you. ⁸ You shall not eat their meat. You shall not touch their carcasses. They are unclean to you.

⁹ “ ‘These you may eat of all that are in the waters: whatever has fins and scales in the waters, in the seas, and in the rivers, that you may eat. ¹⁰ All that don’t have fins and scales in the seas and rivers, all that move in the waters, and all the living creatures that are in the waters, they are an abomination to you, ¹¹ and you shall detest them. You shall not eat of their meat, and you shall detest their carcasses. ¹² Whatever has no fins nor scales in the waters is an abomination to you.

¹³ “ ‘You shall detest these among the birds; they shall not be eaten because they are an abomination: the eagle, the vulture, the black vulture, ¹⁴ the red kite, any kind of black kite, ¹⁵ any kind of raven, ¹⁶ the horned owl, the screech owl, the gull, any kind of hawk, ¹⁷ the little owl, the cormorant, the great owl, ¹⁸ the white owl, the desert owl, the osprey, ¹⁹ the stork, any kind of heron, the hoopoe, and the bat.

²⁰ “ ‘All flying insects that walk on all fours are an abomination to you. ²¹ Yet you may eat these: of all winged creeping things that go on all fours, which have long, jointed legs for hopping on the earth. ²² Even of these you may eat: any kind of locust, any kind of katydid, any kind of cricket, and any kind of grasshopper. ²³ But all winged creeping things which have four feet are an abomination to you.

²⁴ “ ‘By these you will become unclean: whoever touches their carcass shall be unclean until the evening. ²⁵ Whoever carries any part of their carcass shall wash his clothes, and be unclean until the evening.

²⁶ “ ‘Every animal which has a split hoof that isn’t completely divided, or doesn’t chew the cud, is unclean to you. Everyone who touches them shall be unclean. ²⁷ Whatever goes on its paws, among all animals that go on all fours, they are unclean to you. Whoever touches their carcass shall be unclean until the evening. ²⁸ He who carries their carcass shall wash his clothes, and be unclean until the evening. They are unclean to you.

²⁹ “ ‘These are they which are unclean to you among the creeping things that creep on the earth: the weasel, the rat, any kind of great lizard, ³⁰ the gecko, and the monitor lizard, the wall lizard, the skink, and the chameleon. ³¹ These are they which are unclean to you among all that creep. Whoever touches them when they are dead shall be unclean until the evening. ³² Anything they fall on when they are dead shall be unclean; whether it is any vessel of wood, or clothing, or skin, or sack, whatever vessel it is, with which any work is done, it must be put into water, and it shall be unclean until the evening. Then it will be clean. ³³ Every earthen vessel into which any of them falls and all that is in it shall be unclean. You shall break it. ³⁴ All food which may be eaten which is soaked in water shall be unclean. All drink that may be drunk in every such vessel shall be unclean. ³⁵ Everything whereupon part of their carcass falls shall be unclean; whether oven, or range for pots, it shall be broken in pieces. They are unclean, and shall be unclean to you. ³⁶ Nevertheless a spring or a cistern in which water is gathered shall be clean, but that which touches their carcass shall be unclean. ³⁷ If part of their carcass falls on any sowing seed which is to be sown, it is clean. ³⁸ But if water is put on the seed, and part of their carcass falls on it, it is unclean to you.

³⁹ “ ‘If any animal of which you may eat dies, he who touches its carcass shall be unclean until the evening. ⁴⁰ He who eats of its carcass shall wash his clothes, and be unclean until the evening. He also who carries its carcass shall wash his clothes, and be unclean until the evening.

⁴¹ “ ‘Every creeping thing that creeps on the earth is an abomination. It shall not be eaten. ⁴² Whatever goes on its belly, and whatever goes on all fours, or whatever has many feet, even all creeping things that creep on the earth, them you shall not eat; for they are an abomination. ⁴³ You shall not make yourselves abominable with any creeping thing that creeps. You shall not make yourselves unclean with them, that you should be defiled by them. ⁴⁴ For I am Yahweh your God. Sanctify yourselves therefore, and be holy; for I am holy. You shall not defile yourselves with any kind of creeping thing that moves on the earth. ⁴⁵ For I am Yahweh who brought you up out of the land of Egypt, to be your God. You shall therefore be holy, for I am holy.

⁴⁶ “ ‘This is the law of the animal, and of the bird, and of every living creature that moves in the waters, and of every creature that creeps on the earth, ⁴⁷ to make a distinction between the unclean and the clean, and between the living thing that may be eaten and the living thing that may not be eaten.’ ”

12Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ² “Speak to the children of Israel, saying, ‘If a woman conceives, and bears a male child, then she shall be unclean seven days; as in the days of her monthly period she shall be unclean. ³ In the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised. ⁴ She shall continue in the blood of purification thirty-three days. She shall not touch any holy thing, nor come into the sanctuary, until the days of her purifying are completed. ⁵ But if she bears a female child, then she shall be unclean two weeks, as in her period; and she shall continue in the blood of purification sixty-six days.

⁶ “ ‘When the days of her purification are completed for a son or for a daughter, she shall bring to the priest at the door of the Tent of Meeting, a year old lamb for a burnt offering, and a young pigeon or a turtledove, for a sin offering. ⁷ He shall offer it before Yahweh, and make atonement for her; then she shall be cleansed from the fountain of her blood.

“ ‘This is the law for her who bears, whether a male or a female. ⁸ If she cannot afford a lamb, then she shall take two turtledoves or two young pigeons: the one for a burnt offering, and the other for a sin offering. The priest shall make atonement for her, and she shall be clean.’ ”

13Yahweh spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying, ² “When a man shall have a swelling in his body’s skin, or a scab, or a bright spot, and it becomes in the skin of his body the plague of leprosy, then he shall be brought to Aaron the priest or to one of his sons, the priests. ³ The priest shall examine the plague in the skin of the body. If the hair in the plague has turned white, and the appearance of the plague is deeper than the body’s skin, it is the plague of leprosy; so the priest shall examine him and pronounce him unclean. ⁴ If the bright spot is white in the skin of his body, and its appearance isn’t deeper than the skin, and its hair hasn’t turned white, then the priest shall isolate the infected person for seven days. ⁵ The priest shall examine him on the seventh day. Behold, if in his eyes the plague is arrested and the plague hasn’t spread in the skin, then the priest shall isolate him for seven more days. ⁶ The priest shall examine him again on the seventh day. Behold, if the plague has faded and the plague hasn’t spread in the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him clean. It is a scab. He shall wash his clothes, and be clean. ⁷ But if the scab spreads on the skin after he has shown himself to the priest for his cleansing, he shall show himself to the priest again. ⁸ The priest shall examine him; and behold, if the scab has spread on the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him unclean. It is leprosy.

⁹ “When the plague of leprosy is in a man, then he shall be brought to the priest; ¹⁰ and the priest shall examine him. Behold, if there is a white swelling in the skin, and it has turned the hair white, and there is raw flesh in the swelling, ¹¹ it is a chronic leprosy in the skin of his body, and the priest shall pronounce him unclean. He shall not isolate him, for he is already unclean.

¹² “If the leprosy breaks out all over the skin, and the leprosy covers all the skin of the infected person from his head even to his feet, as far as it appears to the priest, ¹³ then the priest shall examine him. Behold, if the leprosy has covered all his flesh, he shall pronounce him clean of the plague. It has all turned white: he is clean. ¹⁴ But whenever raw flesh appears in him, he shall be unclean. ¹⁵ The priest shall examine the raw flesh, and pronounce him unclean: the raw flesh is unclean. It is leprosy. ¹⁶ Or if the raw flesh turns again, and is changed to white, then he shall come to the priest. ¹⁷ The priest shall examine him. Behold, if the plague has turned white, then the priest shall pronounce him clean of the plague. He is clean.

¹⁸ “When the body has a boil on its skin, and it has healed, ¹⁹ and in the place of the boil there is a white swelling, or a bright spot, reddish-white, then it shall be shown to the priest. ²⁰ The priest shall examine it. Behold, if its appearance is deeper than the skin, and its hair has turned white, then the priest shall pronounce him unclean. It is the plague of leprosy. It has broken out in the boil. ²¹ But if the priest examines it, and behold, there are no white hairs in it, and it isn’t deeper than the skin, but is dim, then the priest shall isolate him seven days. ²² If it spreads in the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him unclean. It is a plague. ²³ But if the bright spot stays in its place, and hasn’t spread, it is the scar from the boil; and the priest shall pronounce him clean.

²⁴ “Or when the body has a burn from fire on its skin, and the raw flesh of the burn becomes a bright spot, reddish-white, or white, ²⁵ then the priest shall examine it; and behold, if the hair in the bright spot has turned white, and its appearance is deeper than the skin, it is leprosy. It has broken out in the burning, and the priest shall pronounce him unclean. It is the plague of leprosy. ²⁶ But if the priest examines it, and behold, there is no white hair in the bright spot, and it isn’t deeper than the skin, but has faded, then the priest shall isolate him seven days. ²⁷ The priest shall examine him on the seventh day. If it has spread in the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him unclean. It is the plague of leprosy. ²⁸ If the bright spot stays in its place, and hasn’t spread in the skin, but is faded, it is the swelling from the burn, and the priest shall pronounce him clean, for it is the scar from the burn.

²⁹ “When a man or woman has a plague on the head or on the beard, ³⁰ then the priest shall examine the plague; and behold, if its appearance is deeper than the skin, and the hair in it is yellow and thin, then the priest shall pronounce him unclean. It is an itch. It is leprosy of the head or of the beard. ³¹ If the priest examines the plague of itching, and behold, its appearance isn’t deeper than the skin, and there is no black hair in it, then the priest shall isolate the person infected with itching seven days. ³² On the seventh day the priest shall examine the plague; and behold, if the itch hasn’t spread, and there is no yellow hair in it, and the appearance of the itch isn’t deeper than the skin, ³³ then he shall be shaved, but he shall not shave the itch. Then the priest shall isolate the one who has the itch seven more days. ³⁴ On the seventh day, the priest shall examine the itch; and behold, if the itch hasn’t spread in the skin, and its appearance isn’t deeper than the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him clean. He shall wash his clothes and be clean. ³⁵ But if the itch spreads in the skin after his cleansing, ³⁶ then the priest shall examine him; and behold, if the itch has spread in the skin, the priest shall not look for the yellow hair; he is unclean. ³⁷ But if in his eyes the itch is arrested and black hair has grown in it, then the itch is healed. He is clean. The priest shall pronounce him clean.

³⁸ “When a man or a woman has bright spots in the skin of the body, even white bright spots, ³⁹ then the priest shall examine them. Behold, if the bright spots on the skin of their body are a dull white, it is a harmless rash. It has broken out in the skin. He is clean.

⁴⁰ “If a man’s hair has fallen from his head, he is bald. He is clean. ⁴¹ If his hair has fallen off from the front part of his head, he is forehead bald. He is clean. ⁴² But if a reddish-white plague is in the bald head or the bald forehead, it is leprosy breaking out in his bald head or his bald forehead. ⁴³ Then the priest shall examine him. Behold, if the swelling of the plague is reddish-white in his bald head, or in his bald forehead, like the appearance of leprosy in the skin of the body, ⁴⁴ he is a leprous man. He is unclean. The priest shall surely pronounce him unclean. His plague is on his head.

⁴⁵ “The leper in whom the plague is shall wear torn clothes, and the hair of his head shall hang loose. He shall cover his upper lip, and shall cry, ‘Unclean! Unclean!’ ⁴⁶ All the days in which the plague is in him he shall be unclean. He is unclean. He shall dwell alone. His dwelling shall be outside of the camp.

⁴⁷ “The garment also that the plague of leprosy is in, whether it is a woolen garment, or a linen garment; ⁴⁸ whether it is in warp or woof; of linen or of wool; whether in a leather, or in anything made of leather; ⁴⁹ if the plague is greenish or reddish in the garment, or in the leather, or in the warp, or in the woof, or in anything made of leather; it is the plague of leprosy, and shall be shown to the priest. ⁵⁰ The priest shall examine the plague, and isolate the plague seven days. ⁵¹ He shall examine the plague on the seventh day. If the plague has spread in the garment, either in the warp, or in the woof, or in the skin, whatever use the skin is used for, the plague is a destructive mildew. It is unclean. ⁵² He shall burn the garment, whether the warp or the woof, in wool or in linen, or anything of leather, in which the plague is, for it is a destructive mildew. It shall be burned in the fire.

⁵³ “If the priest examines it, and behold, the plague hasn’t spread in the garment, either in the warp, or in the woof, or in anything of skin; ⁵⁴ then the priest shall command that they wash the thing that the plague is in, and he shall isolate it seven more days. ⁵⁵ Then the priest shall examine it, after the plague is washed; and behold, if the plague hasn’t changed its color, and the plague hasn’t spread, it is unclean; you shall burn it in the fire. It is a mildewed spot, whether the bareness is inside or outside. ⁵⁶ If the priest looks, and behold, the plague has faded after it is washed, then he shall tear it out of the garment, or out of the skin, or out of the warp, or out of the woof; ⁵⁷ and if it appears again in the garment, either in the warp, or in the woof, or in anything of skin, it is spreading. You shall burn with fire that in which the plague is. ⁵⁸ The garment, either the warp, or the woof, or whatever thing of skin it is, which you shall wash, if the plague has departed from them, then it shall be washed the second time, and it will be clean.”

⁵⁹ This is the law of the plague of mildew in a garment of wool or linen, either in the warp, or the woof, or in anything of skin, to pronounce it clean, or to pronounce it unclean.

14Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,

² “This shall be the law of the leper in the day of his cleansing: He shall be brought to the priest, ³ and the priest shall go out of the camp. The priest shall examine him. Behold, if the plague of leprosy is healed in the leper, ⁴ then the priest shall command them to take for him who is to be cleansed two living clean birds, cedar wood, scarlet, and hyssop. ⁵ The priest shall command them to kill one of the birds in an earthen vessel over running water. ⁶ As for the living bird, he shall take it, the cedar wood, the scarlet, and the hyssop, and shall dip them and the living bird in the blood of the bird that was killed over the running water. ⁷ He shall sprinkle on him who is to be cleansed from the leprosy seven times, and shall pronounce him clean, and shall let the living bird go into the open field.

⁸ “He who is to be cleansed shall wash his clothes, and shave off all his hair, and bathe himself in water; and he shall be clean. After that he shall come into the camp, but shall dwell outside his tent seven days. ⁹ It shall be on the seventh day, that he shall shave all his hair off his head and his beard and his eyebrows, even all his hair he shall shave off. He shall wash his clothes, and he shall bathe his body in water. Then he shall be clean.

¹⁰ “On the eighth day he shall take two male lambs without defect, one ewe lamb a year old without defect, three tenths of an ephah of fine flour for a meal offering, mixed with oil, and one log of oil. ¹¹ The priest who cleanses him shall set the man who is to be cleansed, and those things, before Yahweh, at the door of the Tent of Meeting.

¹² “The priest shall take one of the male lambs, and offer him for a trespass offering, with the log of oil, and wave them for a wave offering before Yahweh. ¹³ He shall kill the male lamb in the place where they kill the sin offering and the burnt offering, in the place of the sanctuary; for as the sin offering is the priest’s, so is the trespass offering. It is most holy. ¹⁴ The priest shall take some of the blood of the trespass offering, and the priest shall put it on the tip of the right ear of him who is to be cleansed, and on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot. ¹⁵ The priest shall take some of the log of oil, and pour it into the palm of his own left hand. ¹⁶ The priest shall dip his right finger in the oil that is in his left hand, and shall sprinkle some of the oil with his finger seven times before Yahweh. ¹⁷ The priest shall put some of the rest of the oil that is in his hand on the tip of the right ear of him who is to be cleansed, and on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot, upon the blood of the trespass offering. ¹⁸ The rest of the oil that is in the priest’s hand he shall put on the head of him who is to be cleansed, and the priest shall make atonement for him before Yahweh.

¹⁹ “The priest shall offer the sin offering, and make atonement for him who is to be cleansed because of his uncleanness. Afterward he shall kill the burnt offering; ²⁰ then the priest shall offer the burnt offering and the meal offering on the altar. The priest shall make atonement for him, and he shall be clean.

²¹ “If he is poor, and can’t afford so much, then he shall take one male lamb for a trespass offering to be waved, to make atonement for him, and one tenth of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil for a meal offering, and a log of oil; ²² and two turtledoves, or two young pigeons, such as he is able to afford; and the one shall be a sin offering, and the other a burnt offering.

²³ “On the eighth day he shall bring them for his cleansing to the priest, to the door of the Tent of Meeting, before Yahweh. ²⁴ The priest shall take the lamb of the trespass offering, and the log of oil, and the priest shall wave them for a wave offering before Yahweh. ²⁵ He shall kill the lamb of the trespass offering. The priest shall take some of the blood of the trespass offering and put it on the tip of the right ear of him who is to be cleansed, and on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot. ²⁶ The priest shall pour some of the oil into the palm of his own left hand; ²⁷ and the priest shall sprinkle with his right finger some of the oil that is in his left hand seven times before Yahweh. ²⁸ Then the priest shall put some of the oil that is in his hand on the tip of the right ear of him who is to be cleansed, and on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot, on the place of the blood of the trespass offering. ²⁹ The rest of the oil that is in the priest’s hand he shall put on the head of him who is to be cleansed, to make atonement for him before Yahweh. ³⁰ He shall offer one of the turtledoves, or of the young pigeons, which ever he is able to afford, ³¹ of the kind he is able to afford, the one for a sin offering, and the other for a burnt offering, with the meal offering. The priest shall make atonement for him who is to be cleansed before Yahweh.”

³² This is the law for him in whom is the plague of leprosy, who is not able to afford the sacrifice for his cleansing.

³³ Yahweh spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying, ³⁴ “When you have come into the land of Canaan, which I give to you for a possession, and I put a spreading mildew in a house in the land of your possession, ³⁵ then he who owns the house shall come and tell the priest, saying, ‘There seems to me to be some sort of plague in the house.’ ³⁶ The priest shall command that they empty the house, before the priest goes in to examine the plague, that all that is in the house not be made unclean. Afterward the priest shall go in to inspect the house. ³⁷ He shall examine the plague; and behold, if the plague is in the walls of the house with hollow streaks, greenish or reddish, and it appears to be deeper than the wall, ³⁸ then the priest shall go out of the house to the door of the house, and shut up the house seven days. ³⁹ The priest shall come again on the seventh day, and look. If the plague has spread in the walls of the house, ⁴⁰ then the priest shall command that they take out the stones in which is the plague, and cast them into an unclean place outside of the city. ⁴¹ He shall cause the inside of the house to be scraped all over. They shall pour out the mortar that they scraped off outside of the city into an unclean place. ⁴² They shall take other stones, and put them in the place of those stones; and he shall take other mortar, and shall plaster the house.

⁴³ “If the plague comes again, and breaks out in the house after he has taken out the stones, and after he has scraped the house, and after it was plastered, ⁴⁴ then the priest shall come in and look; and behold, if the plague has spread in the house, it is a destructive mildew in the house. It is unclean. ⁴⁵ He shall break down the house, its stones, and its timber, and all the house’s mortar. He shall carry them out of the city into an unclean place.

⁴⁶ “Moreover he who goes into the house while it is shut up shall be unclean until the evening. ⁴⁷ He who lies down in the house shall wash his clothes; and he who eats in the house shall wash his clothes.

⁴⁸ “If the priest shall come in, and examine it, and behold, the plague hasn’t spread in the house, after the house was plastered, then the priest shall pronounce the house clean, because the plague is healed. ⁴⁹ To cleanse the house he shall take two birds, cedar wood, scarlet, and hyssop. ⁵⁰ He shall kill one of the birds in an earthen vessel over running water. ⁵¹ He shall take the cedar wood, the hyssop, the scarlet, and the living bird, and dip them in the blood of the slain bird, and in the running water, and sprinkle the house seven times. ⁵² He shall cleanse the house with the blood of the bird, and with the running water, with the living bird, with the cedar wood, with the hyssop, and with the scarlet; ⁵³ but he shall let the living bird go out of the city into the open field. So shall he make atonement for the house; and it shall be clean.”

⁵⁴ This is the law for any plague of leprosy, and for an itch, ⁵⁵ and for the destructive mildew of a garment, and for a house, ⁵⁶ and for a swelling, and for a scab, and for a bright spot; ⁵⁷ to teach when it is unclean, and when it is clean.

This is the law of leprosy.

15Yahweh spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying, ² “Speak to the children of Israel, and tell them, ‘When any man has a discharge from his body, because of his discharge he is unclean. ³ This shall be his uncleanness in his discharge: whether his body runs with his discharge, or his body has stopped from his discharge, it is his uncleanness.

⁴ “ ‘Every bed on which he who has the discharge lies shall be unclean; and everything he sits on shall be unclean. ⁵ Whoever touches his bed shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the evening. ⁶ He who sits on anything on which the man who has the discharge sat shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the evening.

⁷ “ ‘He who touches the body of him who has the discharge shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the evening.

⁸ “ ‘If he who has the discharge spits on him who is clean, then he shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the evening.

⁹ “ ‘Whatever saddle he who has the discharge rides on shall be unclean. ¹⁰ Whoever touches anything that was under him shall be unclean until the evening. He who carries those things shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the evening.

¹¹ “ ‘Whomever he who has the discharge touches, without having rinsed his hands in water, he shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the evening.

¹² “ ‘The earthen vessel, which he who has the discharge touches, shall be broken; and every vessel of wood shall be rinsed in water.

¹³ “ ‘When he who has a discharge is cleansed of his discharge, then he shall count to himself seven days for his cleansing, and wash his clothes; and he shall bathe his flesh in running water, and shall be clean.

¹⁴ “ ‘On the eighth day he shall take two turtledoves, or two young pigeons, and come before Yahweh to the door of the Tent of Meeting, and give them to the priest. ¹⁵ The priest shall offer them, the one for a sin offering, and the other for a burnt offering. The priest shall make atonement for him before Yahweh for his discharge.

¹⁶ “ ‘If any man has an emission of semen, then he shall bathe all his flesh in water, and be unclean until the evening. ¹⁷ Every garment and every skin which the semen is on shall be washed with water, and be unclean until the evening. ¹⁸ If a man lies with a woman and there is an emission of semen, they shall both bathe themselves in water, and be unclean until the evening.

¹⁹ “ ‘If a woman has a discharge, and her discharge in her flesh is blood, she shall be in her impurity seven days. Whoever touches her shall be unclean until the evening.

²⁰ “ ‘Everything that she lies on in her impurity shall be unclean. Everything also that she sits on shall be unclean. ²¹ Whoever touches her bed shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the evening. ²² Whoever touches anything that she sits on shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the evening. ²³ If it is on the bed, or on anything she sits on, when he touches it, he shall be unclean until the evening.

²⁴ “ ‘If any man lies with her, and her monthly flow is on him, he shall be unclean seven days; and every bed he lies on shall be unclean.

²⁵ “ ‘If a woman has a discharge of her blood many days not in the time of her period, or if she has a discharge beyond the time of her period, all the days of the discharge of her uncleanness shall be as in the days of her period. She is unclean. ²⁶ Every bed she lies on all the days of her discharge shall be to her as the bed of her period. Everything she sits on shall be unclean, as the uncleanness of her period. ²⁷ Whoever touches these things shall be unclean, and shall wash his clothes and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the evening.

²⁸ “ ‘But if she is cleansed of her discharge, then she shall count to herself seven days, and after that she shall be clean. ²⁹ On the eighth day she shall take two turtledoves, or two young pigeons, and bring them to the priest, to the door of the Tent of Meeting. ³⁰ The priest shall offer the one for a sin offering, and the other for a burnt offering; and the priest shall make atonement for her before Yahweh for the uncleanness of her discharge.

³¹ “ ‘Thus you shall separate the children of Israel from their uncleanness, so they will not die in their uncleanness when they defile my tabernacle that is among them.’ ”

³² This is the law of him who has a discharge, and of him who has an emission of semen, so that he is unclean by it; ³³ and of her who has her period, and of a man or woman who has a discharge, and of him who lies with her who is unclean.

16Yahweh spoke to Moses after the death of the two sons of Aaron, when they came near before Yahweh, and died; ² and Yahweh said to Moses, “Tell Aaron your brother not to come at just any time into the Most Holy Place within the veil, before the mercy seat which is on the ark; lest he die; for I will appear in the cloud on the mercy seat.

³ “Aaron shall come into the sanctuary with a young bull for a sin offering, and a ram for a burnt offering. ⁴ He shall put on the holy linen tunic. He shall have the linen trousers on his body, and shall put on the linen sash, and he shall be clothed with the linen turban. They are the holy garments. He shall bathe his body in water, and put them on. ⁵ He shall take from the congregation of the children of Israel two male goats for a sin offering, and one ram for a burnt offering.

⁶ “Aaron shall offer the bull of the sin offering, which is for himself, and make atonement for himself and for his house. ⁷ He shall take the two goats, and set them before Yahweh at the door of the Tent of Meeting. ⁸ Aaron shall cast lots for the two goats: one lot for Yahweh, and the other lot for the scapegoat. ⁹ Aaron shall present the goat on which the lot fell for Yahweh, and offer him for a sin offering. ¹⁰ But the goat on which the lot fell for the scapegoat shall be presented alive before Yahweh, to make atonement for him, to send him away as the scapegoat into the wilderness.

¹¹ “Aaron shall present the bull of the sin offering, which is for himself, and shall make atonement for himself and for his house, and shall kill the bull of the sin offering which is for himself. ¹² He shall take a censer full of coals of fire from off the altar before Yahweh, and two handfuls of sweet incense beaten small, and bring it within the veil. ¹³ He shall put the incense on the fire before Yahweh, that the cloud of the incense may cover the mercy seat that is on the covenant, so that he will not die. ¹⁴ He shall take some of the blood of the bull, and sprinkle it with his finger on the mercy seat on the east; and before the mercy seat he shall sprinkle some of the blood with his finger seven times.

¹⁵ “Then he shall kill the goat of the sin offering that is for the people, and bring his blood within the veil, and do with his blood as he did with the blood of the bull, and sprinkle it on the mercy seat and before the mercy seat. ¹⁶ He shall make atonement for the Holy Place, because of the uncleanness of the children of Israel, and because of their transgressions, even all their sins; and so he shall do for the Tent of Meeting that dwells with them in the middle of their uncleanness. ¹⁷ No one shall be in the Tent of Meeting when he enters to make atonement in the Holy Place, until he comes out, and has made atonement for himself and for his household, and for all the assembly of Israel.

¹⁸ “He shall go out to the altar that is before Yahweh and make atonement for it, and shall take some of the bull’s blood, and some of the goat’s blood, and put it around on the horns of the altar. ¹⁹ He shall sprinkle some of the blood on it with his finger seven times, and cleanse it, and make it holy from the uncleanness of the children of Israel.

²⁰ “When he has finished atoning for the Holy Place, the Tent of Meeting, and the altar, he shall present the live goat. ²¹ Aaron shall lay both his hands on the head of the live goat, and confess over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions, even all their sins; and he shall put them on the head of the goat, and shall send him away into the wilderness by the hand of a man who is ready. ²² The goat shall carry all their iniquities on himself to a solitary land, and he shall release the goat in the wilderness.

²³ “Aaron shall come into the Tent of Meeting, and shall take off the linen garments which he put on when he went into the Holy Place, and shall leave them there. ²⁴ Then he shall bathe himself in water in a holy place, put on his garments, and come out and offer his burnt offering and the burnt offering of the people, and make atonement for himself and for the people. ²⁵ The fat of the sin offering he shall burn on the altar.

²⁶ “He who lets the goat go as the scapegoat shall wash his clothes, and bathe his flesh in water, and afterward he shall come into the camp. ²⁷ The bull for the sin offering, and the goat for the sin offering, whose blood was brought in to make atonement in the Holy Place, shall be carried outside the camp; and they shall burn their skins, their flesh, and their dung with fire. ²⁸ He who burns them shall wash his clothes, and bathe his flesh in water, and afterward he shall come into the camp.

²⁹ “It shall be a statute to you forever: in the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, you shall afflict your souls, and shall do no kind of work, whether native-born or a stranger who lives as a foreigner among you; ³⁰ for on this day shall atonement be made for you, to cleanse you. You shall be clean from all your sins before Yahweh. ³¹ It is a Sabbath of solemn rest to you, and you shall afflict your souls. It is a statute forever. ³² The priest, who is anointed and who is consecrated to be priest in his father’s place, shall make the atonement, and shall put on the linen garments, even the holy garments. ³³ Then he shall make atonement for the Holy Sanctuary; and he shall make atonement for the Tent of Meeting and for the altar; and he shall make atonement for the priests and for all the people of the assembly.

³⁴ “This shall be an everlasting statute for you, to make atonement for the children of Israel once in the year because of all their sins.”

It was done as Yahweh commanded Moses.

17Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ² “Speak to Aaron, and to his sons, and to all the children of Israel, and say to them, ‘This is the thing which Yahweh has commanded: ³ Whatever man there is of the house of Israel who kills a bull, or lamb, or goat in the camp, or who kills it outside the camp, ⁴ and hasn’t brought it to the door of the Tent of Meeting to offer it as an offering to Yahweh before Yahweh’s tabernacle: blood shall be imputed to that man. He has shed blood. That man shall be cut off from among his people. ⁵ This is to the end that the children of Israel may bring their sacrifices, which they sacrifice in the open field, that they may bring them to Yahweh, to the door of the Tent of Meeting, to the priest, and sacrifice them for sacrifices of peace offerings to Yahweh. ⁶ The priest shall sprinkle the blood on Yahweh’s altar at the door of the Tent of Meeting, and burn the fat for a pleasant aroma to Yahweh. ⁷ They shall no more sacrifice their sacrifices to the goat idols, after which they play the prostitute. This shall be a statute forever to them throughout their generations.’

⁸ “You shall say to them, ‘Any man there is of the house of Israel, or of the strangers who live as foreigners among them, who offers a burnt offering or sacrifice, ⁹ and doesn’t bring it to the door of the Tent of Meeting to sacrifice it to Yahweh, that man shall be cut off from his people.

¹⁰ “ ‘Any man of the house of Israel, or of the strangers who live as foreigners among them, who eats any kind of blood, I will set my face against that soul who eats blood, and will cut him off from among his people. ¹¹ For the life of the flesh is in the blood. I have given it to you on the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood that makes atonement by reason of the life. ¹² Therefore I have said to the children of Israel, “No person among you may eat blood, nor may any stranger who lives as a foreigner among you eat blood.”

¹³ “ ‘Whatever man there is of the children of Israel, or of the strangers who live as foreigners among them, who takes in hunting any animal or bird that may be eaten, he shall pour out its blood, and cover it with dust. ¹⁴ For as to the life of all flesh, its blood is with its life. Therefore I said to the children of Israel, “You shall not eat the blood of any kind of flesh; for the life of all flesh is its blood. Whoever eats it shall be cut off.”

¹⁵ “ ‘Every person that eats what dies of itself, or that which is torn by animals, whether he is native-born or a foreigner, shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the evening. Then he shall be clean. ¹⁶ But if he doesn’t wash them, or bathe his flesh, then he shall bear his iniquity.’ ”

18Yahweh said to Moses, ² “Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them, ‘I am Yahweh your God. ³ You shall not do as they do in the land of Egypt, where you lived. You shall not do as they do in the land of Canaan, where I am bringing you. You shall not follow their statutes. ⁴ You shall do my ordinances. You shall keep my statutes and walk in them. I am Yahweh your God. ⁵ You shall therefore keep my statutes and my ordinances, which if a man does, he shall live in them. I am Yahweh.

⁶ “ ‘None of you shall approach any close relatives, to uncover their nakedness: I am Yahweh.

⁷ “ ‘You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father, nor the nakedness of your mother: she is your mother. You shall not uncover her nakedness.

⁸ “ ‘You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father’s wife. It is your father’s nakedness.

⁹ “ ‘You shall not uncover the nakedness of your sister, the daughter of your father, or the daughter of your mother, whether born at home or born abroad.

¹⁰ “ ‘You shall not uncover the nakedness of your son’s daughter, or of your daughter’s daughter, even their nakedness; for theirs is your own nakedness.

¹¹ “ ‘You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father’s wife’s daughter, conceived by your father, since she is your sister.

¹² “ ‘You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father’s sister. She is your father’s near kinswoman.

¹³ “ ‘You shall not uncover the nakedness of your mother’s sister, for she is your mother’s near kinswoman.

¹⁴ “ ‘You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father’s brother. You shall not approach his wife. She is your aunt.

¹⁵ “ ‘You shall not uncover the nakedness of your daughter-in-law. She is your son’s wife. You shall not uncover her nakedness.

¹⁶ “ ‘You shall not uncover the nakedness of your brother’s wife. It is your brother’s nakedness.

¹⁷ “ ‘You shall not uncover the nakedness of a woman and her daughter. You shall not take her son’s daughter, or her daughter’s daughter, to uncover her nakedness. They are near kinswomen. It is wickedness.

¹⁸ “ ‘You shall not take a wife in addition to her sister, to be a rival, to uncover her nakedness, while her sister is still alive.

¹⁹ “ ‘You shall not approach a woman to uncover her nakedness, as long as she is impure by her uncleanness.

²⁰ “ ‘You shall not lie carnally with your neighbor’s wife, and defile yourself with her.

²¹ “ ‘You shall not give any of your children as a sacrifice to Molech. You shall not profane the name of your God. I am Yahweh.

²² “ ‘You shall not lie with a man as with a woman. That is detestable.

²³ “ ‘You shall not lie with any animal to defile yourself with it. No woman may give herself to an animal, to lie down with it: it is a perversion.

²⁴ “ ‘Don’t defile yourselves in any of these things; for in all these the nations which I am casting out before you were defiled. ²⁵ The land was defiled. Therefore I punished its iniquity, and the land vomited out her inhabitants. ²⁶ You therefore shall keep my statutes and my ordinances, and shall not do any of these abominations; neither the native-born, nor the stranger who lives as a foreigner among you ²⁷ (for the men of the land that were before you had done all these abominations, and the land became defiled), ²⁸ that the land not vomit you out also, when you defile it, as it vomited out the nation that was before you.

²⁹ “ ‘For whoever shall do any of these abominations, even the souls that do them shall be cut off from among their people. ³⁰ Therefore you shall keep my requirements, that you do not practice any of these abominable customs which were practiced before you, and that you do not defile yourselves with them. I am Yahweh your God.’ ”

19Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ² “Speak to all the congregation of the children of Israel, and tell them, ‘You shall be holy; for I, Yahweh your God, am holy.

³ “ ‘Each one of you shall respect his mother and his father. You shall keep my Sabbaths. I am Yahweh your God.

⁴ “ ‘Don’t turn to idols, nor make molten gods for yourselves. I am Yahweh your God.

⁵ “ ‘When you offer a sacrifice of peace offerings to Yahweh, you shall offer it so that you may be accepted. ⁶ It shall be eaten the same day you offer it, and on the next day. If anything remains until the third day, it shall be burned with fire. ⁷ If it is eaten at all on the third day, it is an abomination. It will not be accepted; ⁸ but everyone who eats it shall bear his iniquity, because he has profaned the holy thing of Yahweh, and that soul shall be cut off from his people.

⁹ “ ‘When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not wholly reap the corners of your field, neither shall you gather the gleanings of your harvest. ¹⁰ You shall not glean your vineyard, neither shall you gather the fallen grapes of your vineyard. You shall leave them for the poor and for the foreigner. I am Yahweh your God.

¹¹ “ ‘You shall not steal.

“ ‘You shall not lie.

“ ‘You shall not deceive one another.

¹² “ ‘You shall not swear by my name falsely, and profane the name of your God. I am Yahweh.

¹³ “ ‘You shall not oppress your neighbor, nor rob him.

“ ‘The wages of a hired servant shall not remain with you all night until the morning.

¹⁴ “ ‘You shall not curse the deaf, nor put a stumbling block before the blind; but you shall fear your God. I am Yahweh.

¹⁵ “ ‘You shall do no injustice in judgment. You shall not be partial to the poor, nor show favoritism to the great; but you shall judge your neighbor in righteousness.

¹⁶ “ ‘You shall not go around as a slanderer among your people.

“ ‘You shall not endanger the life of your neighbor. I am Yahweh.

¹⁷ “ ‘You shall not hate your brother in your heart. You shall surely rebuke your neighbor, and not bear sin because of him.

¹⁸ “ ‘You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of your people; but you shall love your neighbor as yourself. I am Yahweh.

¹⁹ “ ‘You shall keep my statutes.

“ ‘You shall not cross-breed different kinds of animals.

“ ‘You shall not sow your field with two kinds of seed;

“ ‘Don’t wear a garment made of two kinds of material.

²⁰ “ ‘If a man lies carnally with a woman who is a slave girl, pledged to be married to another man, and not ransomed or given her freedom; they shall be punished. They shall not be put to death, because she was not free. ²¹ He shall bring his trespass offering to Yahweh, to the door of the Tent of Meeting, even a ram for a trespass offering. ²² The priest shall make atonement for him with the ram of the trespass offering before Yahweh for his sin which he has committed; and the sin which he has committed shall be forgiven him.

²³ “ ‘When you come into the land, and have planted all kinds of trees for food, then you shall count their fruit as forbidden. For three years it shall be forbidden to you. It shall not be eaten. ²⁴ But in the fourth year all its fruit shall be holy, for giving praise to Yahweh. ²⁵ In the fifth year you shall eat its fruit, that it may yield its increase to you. I am Yahweh your God.

²⁶ “ ‘You shall not eat any meat with the blood still in it. You shall not use enchantments, nor practice sorcery.

²⁷ “ ‘You shall not cut the hair on the sides of your head or clip off the edge of your beard.

²⁸ “ ‘You shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor tattoo any marks on you. I am Yahweh.

²⁹ “ ‘Don’t profane your daughter, to make her a prostitute; lest the land fall to prostitution, and the land become full of wickedness.

³⁰ “ ‘You shall keep my Sabbaths, and reverence my sanctuary; I am Yahweh.

³¹ “ ‘Don’t turn to those who are mediums, nor to the wizards. Don’t seek them out, to be defiled by them. I am Yahweh your God.

³² “ ‘You shall rise up before the gray head and honor the face of the elderly; and you shall fear your God. I am Yahweh.

³³ “ ‘If a stranger lives as a foreigner with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong. ³⁴ The stranger who lives as a foreigner with you shall be to you as the native-born among you, and you shall love him as yourself; for you lived as foreigners in the land of Egypt. I am Yahweh your God.

³⁵ “ ‘You shall do no unrighteousness in judgment, in measures of length, of weight, or of quantity. ³⁶ You shall have just balances, just weights, a just ephah, and a just hin. I am Yahweh your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt.

³⁷ “ ‘You shall observe all my statutes and all my ordinances, and do them. I am Yahweh.’ ”

20Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ² “Moreover, you shall tell the children of Israel, ‘Anyone of the children of Israel, or of the strangers who live as foreigners in Israel, who gives any of his offspring to Molech shall surely be put to death. The people of the land shall stone that person with stones. ³ I also will set my face against that person, and will cut him off from among his people, because he has given of his offspring to Molech, to defile my sanctuary, and to profane my holy name. ⁴ If the people of the land all hide their eyes from that person when he gives of his offspring to Molech, and don’t put him to death, ⁵ then I will set my face against that man and against his family, and will cut him off, and all who play the prostitute after him to play the prostitute with Molech, from among their people.

⁶ “ ‘The person that turns to those who are mediums and wizards, to play the prostitute after them, I will even set my face against that person, and will cut him off from among his people.

⁷ “ ‘Sanctify yourselves therefore, and be holy; for I am Yahweh your God. ⁸ You shall keep my statutes, and do them. I am Yahweh who sanctifies you.

⁹ “ ‘For everyone who curses his father or his mother shall surely be put to death. He has cursed his father or his mother. His blood shall be upon himself.

¹⁰ “ ‘The man who commits adultery with another man’s wife, even he who commits adultery with his neighbor’s wife, the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death.

¹¹ “ ‘The man who lies with his father’s wife has uncovered his father’s nakedness. Both of them shall surely be put to death. Their blood shall be upon themselves.

¹² “ ‘If a man lies with his daughter-in-law, both of them shall surely be put to death. They have committed a perversion. Their blood shall be upon themselves.

¹³ “ ‘If a man lies with a male, as with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination. They shall surely be put to death. Their blood shall be upon themselves.

¹⁴ “ ‘If a man takes a wife and her mother, it is wickedness. They shall be burned with fire, both he and they, that there may be no wickedness among you.

¹⁵ “ ‘If a man lies with an animal, he shall surely be put to death; and you shall kill the animal.

¹⁶ “ ‘If a woman approaches any animal and lies with it, you shall kill the woman and the animal. They shall surely be put to death. Their blood shall be upon them.

¹⁷ “ ‘If a man takes his sister—his father’s daughter, or his mother’s daughter—and sees her nakedness, and she sees his nakedness, it is a shameful thing. They shall be cut off in the sight of the children of their people. He has uncovered his sister’s nakedness. He shall bear his iniquity.

¹⁸ “ ‘If a man lies with a woman having her monthly period, and uncovers her nakedness, he has made her fountain naked, and she has uncovered the fountain of her blood. Both of them shall be cut off from among their people.

¹⁹ “ ‘You shall not uncover the nakedness of your mother’s sister, nor of your father’s sister, for he has made his close relative naked. They shall bear their iniquity. ²⁰ If a man lies with his uncle’s wife, he has uncovered his uncle’s nakedness. They shall bear their sin. They shall die childless.

²¹ “ ‘If a man takes his brother’s wife, it is an impurity. He has uncovered his brother’s nakedness. They shall be childless.

²² “ ‘You shall therefore keep all my statutes and all my ordinances, and do them, that the land where I am bringing you to dwell may not vomit you out. ²³ You shall not walk in the customs of the nation which I am casting out before you; for they did all these things, and therefore I abhorred them. ²⁴ But I have said to you, “You shall inherit their land, and I will give it to you to possess it, a land flowing with milk and honey.” I am Yahweh your God, who has separated you from the peoples.

²⁵ “ ‘You shall therefore make a distinction between the clean animal and the unclean, and between the unclean fowl and the clean. You shall not make yourselves abominable by animal, or by bird, or by anything with which the ground teems, which I have separated from you as unclean for you. ²⁶ You shall be holy to me, for I, Yahweh, am holy, and have set you apart from the peoples, that you should be mine.

²⁷ “ ‘A man or a woman that is a medium or is a wizard shall surely be put to death. They shall be stoned with stones. Their blood shall be upon themselves.’ ”

21Yahweh said to Moses, “Speak to the priests, the sons of Aaron, and say to them, ‘A priest shall not defile himself for the dead among his people, ² except for his relatives that are near to him: for his mother, for his father, for his son, for his daughter, for his brother, ³ and for his virgin sister who is near to him, who has had no husband; for her he may defile himself. ⁴ He shall not defile himself, being a chief man among his people, to profane himself.

⁵ “ ‘They shall not shave their heads or shave off the corners of their beards or make any cuttings in their flesh. ⁶ They shall be holy to their God, and not profane the name of their God, for they offer the offerings of Yahweh made by fire, the bread of their God. Therefore they shall be holy.

⁷ “ ‘They shall not marry a woman who is a prostitute, or profane. A priest shall not marry a woman divorced from her husband; for he is holy to his God. ⁸ Therefore you shall sanctify him, for he offers the bread of your God. He shall be holy to you, for I Yahweh, who sanctify you, am holy.

⁹ “ ‘The daughter of any priest, if she profanes herself by playing the prostitute, she profanes her father. She shall be burned with fire.

¹⁰ “ ‘He who is the high priest among his brothers, upon whose head the anointing oil is poured, and who is consecrated to put on the garments, shall not let the hair of his head hang loose, or tear his clothes. ¹¹ He must not go in to any dead body, or defile himself for his father or for his mother. ¹² He shall not go out of the sanctuary, nor profane the sanctuary of his God; for the crown of the anointing oil of his God is upon him. I am Yahweh.

¹³ “ ‘He shall take a wife in her virginity. ¹⁴ He shall not marry a widow, or one divorced, or a woman who has been defiled, or a prostitute. He shall take a virgin of his own people as a wife. ¹⁵ He shall not profane his offspring among his people, for I am Yahweh who sanctifies him.’ ”

¹⁶ Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ¹⁷ “Say to Aaron, ‘None of your offspring throughout their generations who has a defect may approach to offer the bread of his God. ¹⁸ For whatever man he is that has a defect, he shall not draw near: a blind man, or a lame, or he who has a flat nose, or any deformity, ¹⁹ or a man who has an injured foot, or an injured hand, ²⁰ or hunchbacked, or a dwarf, or one who has a defect in his eye, or an itching disease, or scabs, or who has damaged testicles. ²¹ No man of the offspring of Aaron the priest who has a defect shall come near to offer the offerings of Yahweh made by fire. Since he has a defect, he shall not come near to offer the bread of his God. ²² He shall eat the bread of his God, both of the most holy, and of the holy. ²³ He shall not come near to the veil, nor come near to the altar, because he has a defect; that he may not profane my sanctuaries, for I am Yahweh who sanctifies them.’ ”

²⁴ So Moses spoke to Aaron, and to his sons, and to all the children of Israel.

22Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ² “Tell Aaron and his sons to separate themselves from the holy things of the children of Israel, which they make holy to me, and that they not profane my holy name. I am Yahweh.

³ “Tell them, ‘If anyone of all your offspring throughout your generations approaches the holy things which the children of Israel make holy to Yahweh, having his uncleanness on him, that soul shall be cut off from before me. I am Yahweh.

⁴ “ ‘Whoever of the offspring of Aaron is a leper or has a discharge shall not eat of the holy things until he is clean. Whoever touches anything that is unclean by the dead, or a man who has a seminal emission, ⁵ or whoever touches any creeping thing whereby he may be made unclean, or a man from whom he may become unclean, whatever uncleanness he has— ⁶ the person that touches any such shall be unclean until the evening, and shall not eat of the holy things unless he bathes his body in water. ⁷ When the sun is down, he shall be clean; and afterward he shall eat of the holy things, because it is his bread. ⁸ He shall not eat that which dies of itself or is torn by animals, defiling himself by it. I am Yahweh.

⁹ “ ‘They shall therefore follow my commandment, lest they bear sin for it and die in it, if they profane it. I am Yahweh who sanctifies them.

¹⁰ “ ‘No stranger shall eat of the holy thing: a foreigner living with the priests, or a hired servant, shall not eat of the holy thing. ¹¹ But if a priest buys a slave, purchased by his money, he shall eat of it; and those who are born in his house shall eat of his bread. ¹² If a priest’s daughter is married to an outsider, she shall not eat of the heave offering of the holy things. ¹³ But if a priest’s daughter is a widow, or divorced, and has no child, and has returned to her father’s house as in her youth, she may eat of her father’s bread; but no stranger shall eat any of it.

¹⁴ “ ‘If a man eats something holy unwittingly, then he shall add the fifth part of its value to it, and shall give the holy thing to the priest. ¹⁵ The priests shall not profane the holy things of the children of Israel, which they offer to Yahweh, ¹⁶ and so cause them to bear the iniquity that brings guilt when they eat their holy things; for I am Yahweh who sanctifies them.’ ”

¹⁷ Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ¹⁸ “Speak to Aaron, and to his sons, and to all the children of Israel, and say to them, ‘Whoever is of the house of Israel, or of the foreigners in Israel, who offers his offering, whether it is any of their vows or any of their free will offerings, which they offer to Yahweh for a burnt offering: ¹⁹ that you may be accepted, you shall offer a male without defect, of the bulls, of the sheep, or of the goats. ²⁰ But you shall not offer whatever has a defect, for it shall not be acceptable for you. ²¹ Whoever offers a sacrifice of peace offerings to Yahweh to accomplish a vow, or for a free will offering of the herd or of the flock, it shall be perfect to be accepted. It shall have no defect. ²² You shall not offer what is blind, is injured, is maimed, has a wart, is festering, or has a running sore to Yahweh, nor make an offering by fire of them on the altar to Yahweh. ²³ Either a bull or a lamb that has any deformity or lacking in his parts, that you may offer for a free will offering; but for a vow it shall not be accepted. ²⁴ You must not offer to Yahweh that which has its testicles bruised, crushed, broken, or cut. You must not do this in your land. ²⁵ You must not offer any of these as the bread of your God from the hand of a foreigner, because their corruption is in them. There is a defect in them. They shall not be accepted for you.’ ”

²⁶ Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ²⁷ “When a bull, a sheep, or a goat is born, it shall remain seven days with its mother. From the eighth day on it shall be accepted for the offering of an offering made by fire to Yahweh. ²⁸ Whether it is a cow or ewe, you shall not kill it and its young both in one day.

²⁹ “When you sacrifice a sacrifice of thanksgiving to Yahweh, you shall sacrifice it so that you may be accepted. ³⁰ It shall be eaten on the same day; you shall leave none of it until the morning. I am Yahweh.

³¹ “Therefore you shall keep my commandments, and do them. I am Yahweh. ³² You shall not profane my holy name, but I will be made holy among the children of Israel. I am Yahweh who makes you holy, ³³ who brought you out of the land of Egypt, to be your God. I am Yahweh.”

23Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ² “Speak to the children of Israel, and tell them, ‘The set feasts of Yahweh, which you shall proclaim to be holy convocations, even these are my set feasts.

³ “ ‘Six days shall work be done, but on the seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, a holy convocation; you shall do no kind of work. It is a Sabbath to Yahweh in all your dwellings.

⁴ “ ‘These are the set feasts of Yahweh, even holy convocations, which you shall proclaim in their appointed season. ⁵ In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month in the evening, is Yahweh’s Passover. ⁶ On the fifteenth day of the same month is the feast of unleavened bread to Yahweh. Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread. ⁷ In the first day you shall have a holy convocation. You shall do no regular work. ⁸ But you shall offer an offering made by fire to Yahweh seven days. In the seventh day is a holy convocation. You shall do no regular work.’ ”

⁹ Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ¹⁰ “Speak to the children of Israel, and tell them, ‘When you have come into the land which I give to you, and shall reap its harvest, then you shall bring the sheaf of the first fruits of your harvest to the priest. ¹¹ He shall wave the sheaf before Yahweh, to be accepted for you. On the next day after the Sabbath the priest shall wave it. ¹² On the day when you wave the sheaf, you shall offer a male lamb without defect a year old for a burnt offering to Yahweh. ¹³ The meal offering with it shall be two tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil, an offering made by fire to Yahweh for a pleasant aroma; and the drink offering with it shall be of wine, the fourth part of a hin. ¹⁴ You must not eat bread, or roasted grain, or fresh grain, until this same day, until you have brought the offering of your God. This is a statute forever throughout your generations in all your dwellings.

¹⁵ “ ‘You shall count from the next day after the Sabbath, from the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering: seven Sabbaths shall be completed. ¹⁶ The next day after the seventh Sabbath you shall count fifty days; and you shall offer a new meal offering to Yahweh. ¹⁷ You shall bring out of your habitations two loaves of bread for a wave offering made of two tenths of an ephah of fine flour. They shall be baked with yeast, for first fruits to Yahweh. ¹⁸ You shall present with the bread seven lambs without defect a year old, one young bull, and two rams. They shall be a burnt offering to Yahweh, with their meal offering and their drink offerings, even an offering made by fire, of a sweet aroma to Yahweh. ¹⁹ You shall offer one male goat for a sin offering, and two male lambs a year old for a sacrifice of peace offerings. ²⁰ The priest shall wave them with the bread of the first fruits for a wave offering before Yahweh, with the two lambs. They shall be holy to Yahweh for the priest. ²¹ You shall make proclamation on the same day that there shall be a holy convocation to you. You shall do no regular work. This is a statute forever in all your dwellings throughout your generations.

²² “ ‘When you reap the harvest of your land, you must not wholly reap into the corners of your field, and you must not gather the gleanings of your harvest. You must leave them for the poor, and for the foreigner. I am Yahweh your God.’ ”

²³ Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ²⁴ “Speak to the children of Israel, saying, ‘In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, there shall be a solemn rest for you, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, a holy convocation. ²⁵ You shall do no regular work. You shall offer an offering made by fire to Yahweh.’ ”

²⁶ Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ²⁷ “However on the tenth day of this seventh month is the day of atonement. It shall be a holy convocation to you. You shall afflict yourselves and you shall offer an offering made by fire to Yahweh. ²⁸ You shall do no kind of work in that same day, for it is a day of atonement, to make atonement for you before Yahweh your God. ²⁹ For whoever it is who shall not deny himself in that same day shall be cut off from his people. ³⁰ Whoever does any kind of work in that same day, I will destroy that person from among his people. ³¹ You shall do no kind of work: it is a statute forever throughout your generations in all your dwellings. ³² It shall be a Sabbath of solemn rest for you, and you shall deny yourselves. In the ninth day of the month at evening, from evening to evening, you shall keep your Sabbath.”

³³ Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ³⁴ “Speak to the children of Israel, and say, ‘On the fifteenth day of this seventh month is the feast of booths for seven days to Yahweh. ³⁵ On the first day shall be a holy convocation. You shall do no regular work. ³⁶ Seven days you shall offer an offering made by fire to Yahweh. On the eighth day shall be a holy convocation to you. You shall offer an offering made by fire to Yahweh. It is a solemn assembly; you shall do no regular work.

³⁷ “ ‘These are the appointed feasts of Yahweh which you shall proclaim to be holy convocations, to offer an offering made by fire to Yahweh, a burnt offering, a meal offering, a sacrifice, and drink offerings, each on its own day— ³⁸ in addition to the Sabbaths of Yahweh, and in addition to your gifts, and in addition to all your vows, and in addition to all your free will offerings, which you give to Yahweh.

³⁹ “ ‘So on the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you have gathered in the fruits of the land, you shall keep the feast of Yahweh seven days. On the first day shall be a solemn rest, and on the eighth day shall be a solemn rest. ⁴⁰ You shall take on the first day the fruit of majestic trees, branches of palm trees, and boughs of thick trees, and willows of the brook; and you shall rejoice before Yahweh your God seven days. ⁴¹ You shall keep it as a feast to Yahweh seven days in the year. It is a statute forever throughout your generations. You shall keep it in the seventh month. ⁴² You shall dwell in temporary shelters for seven days. All who are native-born in Israel shall dwell in temporary shelters, ⁴³ that your generations may know that I made the children of Israel to dwell in temporary shelters when I brought them out of the land of Egypt. I am Yahweh your God.’ ”

⁴⁴ So Moses declared to the children of Israel the appointed feasts of Yahweh.

24Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ² “Command the children of Israel, that they bring to you pure olive oil beaten for the light, to cause a lamp to burn continually. ³ Outside of the veil of the Testimony, in the Tent of Meeting, Aaron shall keep it in order from evening to morning before Yahweh continually. It shall be a statute forever throughout your generations. ⁴ He shall keep in order the lamps on the pure gold lamp stand before Yahweh continually.

⁵ “You shall take fine flour, and bake twelve cakes of it: two tenths of an ephah shall be in one cake. ⁶ You shall set them in two rows, six on a row, on the pure gold table before Yahweh. ⁷ You shall put pure frankincense on each row, that it may be to the bread for a memorial, even an offering made by fire to Yahweh. ⁸ Every Sabbath day he shall set it in order before Yahweh continually. It is an everlasting covenant on the behalf of the children of Israel. ⁹ It shall be for Aaron and his sons. They shall eat it in a holy place; for it is most holy to him of the offerings of Yahweh made by fire by a perpetual statute.”

¹⁰ The son of an Israelite woman, whose father was an Egyptian, went out among the children of Israel; and the son of the Israelite woman and a man of Israel strove together in the camp. ¹¹ The son of the Israelite woman blasphemed the Name, and cursed; and they brought him to Moses. His mother’s name was Shelomith, the daughter of Dibri, of the tribe of Dan. ¹² They put him in custody until Yahweh’s will should be declared to them. ¹³ Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ¹⁴ “Bring him who cursed out of the camp; and let all who heard him lay their hands on his head, and let all the congregation stone him. ¹⁵ You shall speak to the children of Israel, saying, ‘Whoever curses his God shall bear his sin. ¹⁶ He who blasphemes Yahweh’s name, he shall surely be put to death. All the congregation shall certainly stone him. The foreigner as well as the native-born shall be put to death when he blasphemes the Name.

¹⁷ “ ‘He who strikes any man mortally shall surely be put to death. ¹⁸ He who strikes an animal mortally shall make it good, life for life. ¹⁹ If anyone injures his neighbor, it shall be done to him as he has done: ²⁰ fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth. It shall be done to him as he has injured someone. ²¹ He who kills an animal shall make it good; and he who kills a man shall be put to death. ²² You shall have one kind of law for the foreigner as well as the native-born; for I am Yahweh your God.’ ”

²³ Moses spoke to the children of Israel; and they brought him who had cursed out of the camp, and stoned him with stones. The children of Israel did as Yahweh commanded Moses.

25Yahweh said to Moses in Mount Sinai, ² “Speak to the children of Israel, and tell them, ‘When you come into the land which I give you, then the land shall keep a Sabbath to Yahweh. ³ You shall sow your field six years, and you shall prune your vineyard six years, and gather in its fruits; ⁴ but in the seventh year there shall be a Sabbath of solemn rest for the land, a Sabbath to Yahweh. You shall not sow your field or prune your vineyard. ⁵ What grows of itself in your harvest you shall not reap, and you shall not gather the grapes of your undressed vine. It shall be a year of solemn rest for the land. ⁶ The Sabbath of the land shall be for food for you; for yourself, for your servant, for your maid, for your hired servant, and for your stranger, who lives as a foreigner with you. ⁷ For your livestock also, and for the animals that are in your land, shall all its increase be for food.

⁸ “ ‘You shall count off seven Sabbaths of years, seven times seven years; and there shall be to you the days of seven Sabbaths of years, even forty-nine years. ⁹ Then you shall sound the loud trumpet on the tenth day of the seventh month. On the Day of Atonement you shall sound the trumpet throughout all your land. ¹⁰ You shall make the fiftieth year holy, and proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee to you; and each of you shall return to his own property, and each of you shall return to his family. ¹¹ That fiftieth year shall be a jubilee to you. In it you shall not sow, neither reap that which grows of itself, nor gather from the undressed vines. ¹² For it is a jubilee; it shall be holy to you. You shall eat of its increase out of the field.

¹³ “ ‘In this Year of Jubilee each of you shall return to his property.

¹⁴ “ ‘If you sell anything to your neighbor, or buy from your neighbor, you shall not wrong one another. ¹⁵ According to the number of years after the Jubilee you shall buy from your neighbor. According to the number of years of the crops he shall sell to you. ¹⁶ According to the length of the years you shall increase its price, and according to the shortness of the years you shall diminish its price; for he is selling the number of the crops to you. ¹⁷ You shall not wrong one another, but you shall fear your God; for I am Yahweh your God.

¹⁸ “ ‘Therefore you shall do my statutes, and keep my ordinances and do them; and you shall dwell in the land in safety. ¹⁹ The land shall yield its fruit, and you shall eat your fill, and dwell therein in safety. ²⁰ If you said, “What shall we eat the seventh year? Behold, we shall not sow, nor gather in our increase;” ²¹ then I will command my blessing on you in the sixth year, and it shall bear fruit for the three years. ²² You shall sow the eighth year, and eat of the fruits from the old store until the ninth year. Until its fruits come in, you shall eat the old store.

²³ “ ‘The land shall not be sold in perpetuity, for the land is mine; for you are strangers and live as foreigners with me. ²⁴ In all the land of your possession you shall grant a redemption for the land.

²⁵ “ ‘If your brother becomes poor, and sells some of his possessions, then his kinsman who is next to him shall come, and redeem that which his brother has sold. ²⁶ If a man has no one to redeem it, and he becomes prosperous and finds sufficient means to redeem it, ²⁷ then let him reckon the years since its sale, and restore the surplus to the man to whom he sold it; and he shall return to his property. ²⁸ But if he isn’t able to get it back for himself, then what he has sold shall remain in the hand of him who has bought it until the Year of Jubilee. In the Jubilee it shall be released, and he shall return to his property.

²⁹ “ ‘If a man sells a dwelling house in a walled city, then he may redeem it within a whole year after it has been sold. For a full year he shall have the right of redemption. ³⁰ If it isn’t redeemed within the space of a full year, then the house that is in the walled city shall be made sure in perpetuity to him who bought it, throughout his generations. It shall not be released in the Jubilee. ³¹ But the houses of the villages which have no wall around them shall be accounted for with the fields of the country: they may be redeemed, and they shall be released in the Jubilee.

³² “ ‘Nevertheless, in the cities of the Levites, the Levites may redeem the houses in the cities of their possession at any time. ³³ The Levites may redeem the house that was sold, and the city of his possession, and it shall be released in the Jubilee; for the houses of the cities of the Levites are their possession among the children of Israel. ³⁴ But the field of the pasture lands of their cities may not be sold, for it is their perpetual possession.

³⁵ “ ‘If your brother has become poor, and his hand can’t support himself among you, then you shall uphold him. He shall live with you like an alien and a temporary resident. ³⁶ Take no interest from him or profit; but fear your God, that your brother may live among you. ³⁷ You shall not lend him your money at interest, nor give him your food for profit. ³⁸ I am Yahweh your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, to give you the land of Canaan, and to be your God.

³⁹ “ ‘If your brother has grown poor among you, and sells himself to you, you shall not make him to serve as a slave. ⁴⁰ As a hired servant, and as a temporary resident, he shall be with you; he shall serve with you until the Year of Jubilee. ⁴¹ Then he shall go out from you, he and his children with him, and shall return to his own family, and to the possession of his fathers. ⁴² For they are my servants, whom I brought out of the land of Egypt. They shall not be sold as slaves. ⁴³ You shall not rule over him with harshness, but shall fear your God.

⁴⁴ “ ‘As for your male and your female slaves, whom you may have from the nations that are around you, from them you may buy male and female slaves. ⁴⁵ Moreover, of the children of the aliens who live among you, of them you may buy, and of their families who are with you, which they have conceived in your land; and they will be your property. ⁴⁶ You may make them an inheritance for your children after you, to hold for a possession. Of them you may take your slaves forever, but over your brothers the children of Israel you shall not rule, one over another, with harshness.

⁴⁷ “ ‘If an alien or temporary resident with you becomes rich, and your brother beside him has grown poor, and sells himself to the stranger or foreigner living among you, or to a member of the stranger’s family, ⁴⁸ after he is sold he may be redeemed. One of his brothers may redeem him; ⁴⁹ or his uncle, or his uncle’s son, may redeem him, or any who is a close relative to him of his family may redeem him; or if he has grown rich, he may redeem himself. ⁵⁰ He shall reckon with him who bought him from the year that he sold himself to him to the Year of Jubilee. The price of his sale shall be according to the number of years; he shall be with him according to the time of a hired servant. ⁵¹ If there are yet many years, according to them he shall give back the price of his redemption out of the money that he was bought for. ⁵² If there remain but a few years to the year of jubilee, then he shall reckon with him; according to his years of service he shall give back the price of his redemption. ⁵³ As a servant hired year by year shall he be with him. He shall not rule with harshness over him in your sight. ⁵⁴ If he isn’t redeemed by these means, then he shall be released in the Year of Jubilee: he and his children with him. ⁵⁵ For to me the children of Israel are servants; they are my servants whom I brought out of the land of Egypt. I am Yahweh your God.

26“ ‘You shall make for yourselves no idols, and you shall not raise up a carved image or a pillar, and you shall not place any figured stone in your land, to bow down to it; for I am Yahweh your God.

² “ ‘You shall keep my Sabbaths, and have reverence for my sanctuary. I am Yahweh.

³ “ ‘If you walk in my statutes and keep my commandments, and do them, ⁴ then I will give you your rains in their season, and the land shall yield its increase, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit. ⁵ Your threshing shall continue until the vintage, and the vintage shall continue until the sowing time. You shall eat your bread to the full, and dwell in your land safely.

⁶ “ ‘I will give peace in the land, and you shall lie down, and no one will make you afraid. I will remove evil animals out of the land, neither shall the sword go through your land. ⁷ You shall chase your enemies, and they shall fall before you by the sword. ⁸ Five of you shall chase a hundred, and a hundred of you shall chase ten thousand; and your enemies shall fall before you by the sword.

⁹ “ ‘I will have respect for you, make you fruitful, multiply you, and will establish my covenant with you. ¹⁰ You shall eat old supplies long kept, and you shall move out the old because of the new. ¹¹ I will set my tent among you, and my soul won’t abhor you. ¹² I will walk among you, and will be your God, and you will be my people. ¹³ I am Yahweh your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, that you should not be their slaves. I have broken the bars of your yoke, and made you walk upright.

¹⁴ “ ‘But if you will not listen to me, and will not do all these commandments, ¹⁵ and if you shall reject my statutes, and if your soul abhors my ordinances, so that you will not do all my commandments, but break my covenant, ¹⁶ I also will do this to you: I will appoint terror over you, even consumption and fever, that shall consume the eyes, and make the soul to pine away. You will sow your seed in vain, for your enemies will eat it. ¹⁷ I will set my face against you, and you will be struck before your enemies. Those who hate you will rule over you; and you will flee when no one pursues you.

¹⁸ “ ‘If you in spite of these things will not listen to me, then I will chastise you seven times more for your sins. ¹⁹ I will break the pride of your power, and I will make your sky like iron, and your soil like bronze. ²⁰ Your strength will be spent in vain; for your land won’t yield its increase, neither will the trees of the land yield their fruit.

²¹ “ ‘If you walk contrary to me, and won’t listen to me, then I will bring seven times more plagues on you according to your sins. ²² I will send the wild animals among you, which will rob you of your children, destroy your livestock, and make you few in number. Your roads will become desolate.

²³ “ ‘If by these things you won’t be turned back to me, but will walk contrary to me, ²⁴ then I will also walk contrary to you; and I will strike you, even I, seven times for your sins. ²⁵ I will bring a sword upon you that will execute the vengeance of the covenant. You will be gathered together within your cities, and I will send the pestilence among you. You will be delivered into the hand of the enemy. ²⁶ When I break your staff of bread, ten women shall bake your bread in one oven, and they shall deliver your bread again by weight. You shall eat, and not be satisfied.

²⁷ “ ‘If you in spite of this won’t listen to me, but walk contrary to me, ²⁸ then I will walk contrary to you in wrath. I will also chastise you seven times for your sins. ²⁹ You will eat the flesh of your sons, and you will eat the flesh of your daughters. ³⁰ I will destroy your high places, and cut down your incense altars, and cast your dead bodies upon the bodies of your idols; and my soul will abhor you. ³¹ I will lay your cities waste, and will bring your sanctuaries to desolation. I will not take delight in the sweet fragrance of your offerings. ³² I will bring the land into desolation, and your enemies that dwell in it will be astonished at it. ³³ I will scatter you among the nations, and I will draw out the sword after you. Your land will be a desolation, and your cities shall be a waste. ³⁴ Then the land will enjoy its Sabbaths as long as it lies desolate and you are in your enemies’ land. Even then the land will rest and enjoy its Sabbaths. ³⁵ As long as it lies desolate it shall have rest, even the rest which it didn’t have in your Sabbaths when you lived on it.

³⁶ “ ‘As for those of you who are left, I will send a faintness into their hearts in the lands of their enemies. The sound of a driven leaf will put them to flight; and they shall flee, as one flees from the sword. They will fall when no one pursues. ³⁷ They will stumble over one another, as it were before the sword, when no one pursues. You will have no power to stand before your enemies. ³⁸ You will perish among the nations. The land of your enemies will eat you up. ³⁹ Those of you who are left will pine away in their iniquity in your enemies’ lands; and also in the iniquities of their fathers they shall pine away with them.

⁴⁰ “ ‘If they confess their iniquity and the iniquity of their fathers, in their trespass which they trespassed against me; and also that because they walked contrary to me, ⁴¹ I also walked contrary to them, and brought them into the land of their enemies; if then their uncircumcised heart is humbled, and they then accept the punishment of their iniquity, ⁴² then I will remember my covenant with Jacob, my covenant with Isaac, and also my covenant with Abraham; and I will remember the land. ⁴³ The land also will be left by them, and will enjoy its Sabbaths while it lies desolate without them; and they will accept the punishment of their iniquity because they rejected my ordinances, and their soul abhorred my statutes. ⁴⁴ Yet for all that, when they are in the land of their enemies, I will not reject them, neither will I abhor them, to destroy them utterly and to break my covenant with them; for I am Yahweh their God. ⁴⁵ But I will for their sake remember the covenant of their ancestors, whom I brought out of the land of Egypt in the sight of the nations, that I might be their God. I am Yahweh.’ ”

⁴⁶ These are the statutes, ordinances, and laws, which Yahweh made between him and the children of Israel in Mount Sinai by Moses.

27Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ² “Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them, ‘When a man consecrates a person to Yahweh in a vow, according to your valuation, ³ your valuation of a male from twenty years old to sixty years old shall be fifty shekels of silver, according to the shekel of the sanctuary. ⁴ If she is a female, then your valuation shall be thirty shekels. ⁵ If the person is from five years old to twenty years old, then your valuation shall be for a male twenty shekels, and for a female ten shekels. ⁶ If the person is from a month old to five years old, then your valuation shall be for a male five shekels of silver, and for a female your valuation shall be three shekels of silver. ⁷ If the person is from sixty years old and upward; if he is a male, then your valuation shall be fifteen shekels, and for a female ten shekels. ⁸ But if he is poorer than your valuation, then he shall be set before the priest, and the priest shall assign a value to him. The priest shall assign a value according to his ability to pay.

⁹ “ ‘If it is an animal of which men offer an offering to Yahweh, all that any man gives of such to Yahweh becomes holy. ¹⁰ He shall not alter it, nor exchange it, a good for a bad, or a bad for a good. If he shall at all exchange animal for animal, then both it and that for which it is exchanged shall be holy. ¹¹ If it is any unclean animal, of which they do not offer as an offering to Yahweh, then he shall set the animal before the priest; ¹² and the priest shall evaluate it, whether it is good or bad. As the priest evaluates it, so it shall be. ¹³ But if he will indeed redeem it, then he shall add the fifth part of it to its valuation.

¹⁴ “ ‘When a man dedicates his house to be holy to Yahweh, then the priest shall evaluate it, whether it is good or bad. As the priest evaluates it, so it shall stand. ¹⁵ If he who dedicates it will redeem his house, then he shall add the fifth part of the money of your valuation to it, and it shall be his.

¹⁶ “ ‘If a man dedicates to Yahweh part of the field of his possession, then your valuation shall be according to the seed for it. The sowing of a homer of barley shall be valued at fifty shekels of silver. ¹⁷ If he dedicates his field from the Year of Jubilee, according to your valuation it shall stand. ¹⁸ But if he dedicates his field after the Jubilee, then the priest shall reckon to him the money according to the years that remain to the Year of Jubilee; and an abatement shall be made from your valuation. ¹⁹ If he who dedicated the field will indeed redeem it, then he shall add the fifth part of the money of your valuation to it, and it shall remain his. ²⁰ If he will not redeem the field, or if he has sold the field to another man, it shall not be redeemed any more; ²¹ but the field, when it goes out in the Jubilee, shall be holy to Yahweh, as a devoted field. It shall be owned by the priests.

²² “ ‘If he dedicates a field to Yahweh which he has bought, which is not of the field of his possession, ²³ then the priest shall reckon to him the worth of your valuation up to the Year of Jubilee; and he shall give your valuation on that day, as a holy thing to Yahweh. ²⁴ In the Year of Jubilee the field shall return to him from whom it was bought, even to him to whom the possession of the land belongs. ²⁵ All your valuations shall be according to the shekel of the sanctuary: twenty gerahs to the shekel.

²⁶ “ ‘However the firstborn among animals, which belongs to Yahweh as a firstborn, no man may dedicate, whether an ox or a sheep. It is Yahweh’s. ²⁷ If it is an unclean animal, then he shall buy it back according to your valuation, and shall add to it the fifth part of it; or if it isn’t redeemed, then it shall be sold according to your valuation.

²⁸ “ ‘Notwithstanding, no devoted thing that a man devotes to Yahweh of all that he has, whether of man or animal, or of the field of his possession, shall be sold or redeemed. Everything that is permanently devoted is most holy to Yahweh.

²⁹ “ ‘No one devoted to destruction, who shall be devoted from among men, shall be ransomed. He shall surely be put to death.

³⁰ “ ‘All the tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land or of the fruit of the trees, is Yahweh’s. It is holy to Yahweh. ³¹ If a man redeems anything of his tithe, he shall add a fifth part to it. ³² All the tithe of the herds or the flocks, whatever passes under the rod, the tenth shall be holy to Yahweh. ³³ He shall not examine whether it is good or bad, neither shall he exchange it. If he exchanges it at all, then both it and that for which it is exchanged shall be holy. It shall not be redeemed.’ ”

³⁴ These are the commandments which Yahweh commanded Moses for the children of Israel on Mount Sinai.

Numbers

1Yahweh spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, in the Tent of Meeting, on the first day of the second month, in the second year after they had come out of the land of Egypt, saying, ² “Take a census of all the congregation of the children of Israel, by their families, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of the names, every male, one by one, ³ from twenty years old and upward, all who are able to go out to war in Israel. You and Aaron shall count them by their divisions. ⁴ With you there shall be a man of every tribe, each one head of his fathers’ house. ⁵ These are the names of the men who shall stand with you:

Of Reuben: Elizur the son of Shedeur.

⁶ Of Simeon: Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai.

⁷ Of Judah: Nahshon the son of Amminadab.

⁸ Of Issachar: Nethanel the son of Zuar.

⁹ Of Zebulun: Eliab the son of Helon.

¹⁰ Of the children of Joseph: of Ephraim: Elishama the son of Ammihud; of Manasseh: Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur.

¹¹ Of Benjamin: Abidan the son of Gideoni.

¹² Of Dan: Ahiezer the son of Ammishaddai.

¹³ Of Asher: Pagiel the son of Ochran.

¹⁴ Of Gad: Eliasaph the son of Deuel.

¹⁵ Of Naphtali: Ahira the son of Enan.”

¹⁶ These are those who were called of the congregation, the princes of the tribes of their fathers; they were the heads of the thousands of Israel. ¹⁷ Moses and Aaron took these men who are mentioned by name. ¹⁸ They assembled all the congregation together on the first day of the second month; and they declared their ancestry by their families, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, one by one. ¹⁹ As Yahweh commanded Moses, so he counted them in the wilderness of Sinai.

²⁰ The children of Reuben, Israel’s firstborn, their generations, by their families, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of the names, one by one, every male from twenty years old and upward, all who were able to go out to war: ²¹ those who were counted of them, of the tribe of Reuben, were forty-six thousand five hundred.

²² Of the children of Simeon, their generations, by their families, by their fathers’ houses, those who were counted of it, according to the number of the names, one by one, every male from twenty years old and upward, all who were able to go out to war: ²³ those who were counted of them, of the tribe of Simeon, were fifty-nine thousand three hundred.

²⁴ Of the children of Gad, their generations, by their families, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all who were able to go out to war: ²⁵ those who were counted of them, of the tribe of Gad, were forty-five thousand six hundred fifty.

²⁶ Of the children of Judah, their generations, by their families, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all who were able to go out to war: ²⁷ those who were counted of them, of the tribe of Judah, were seventy-four thousand six hundred.

²⁸ Of the children of Issachar, their generations, by their families, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all who were able to go out to war: ²⁹ those who were counted of them, of the tribe of Issachar, were fifty-four thousand four hundred.

³⁰ Of the children of Zebulun, their generations, by their families, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all who were able to go out to war: ³¹ those who were counted of them, of the tribe of Zebulun, were fifty-seven thousand four hundred.

³² Of the children of Joseph: of the children of Ephraim, their generations, by their families, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all who were able to go out to war: ³³ those who were counted of them, of the tribe of Ephraim, were forty thousand five hundred.

³⁴ Of the children of Manasseh, their generations, by their families, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all who were able to go out to war: ³⁵ those who were counted of them, of the tribe of Manasseh, were thirty-two thousand two hundred.

³⁶ Of the children of Benjamin, their generations, by their families, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all who were able to go out to war: ³⁷ those who were counted of them, of the tribe of Benjamin, were thirty-five thousand four hundred.

³⁸ Of the children of Dan, their generations, by their families, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all who were able to go out to war: ³⁹ those who were counted of them, of the tribe of Dan, were sixty-two thousand seven hundred.

⁴⁰ Of the children of Asher, their generations, by their families, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all who were able to go out to war: ⁴¹ those who were counted of them, of the tribe of Asher, were forty-one thousand five hundred.

⁴² Of the children of Naphtali, their generations, by their families, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all who were able to go out to war: ⁴³ those who were counted of them, of the tribe of Naphtali, were fifty-three thousand four hundred.

⁴⁴ These are those who were counted, whom Moses and Aaron counted, and the twelve men who were princes of Israel, each one for his fathers’ house. ⁴⁵ So all those who were counted of the children of Israel by their fathers’ houses, from twenty years old and upward, all who were able to go out to war in Israel— ⁴⁶ all those who were counted were six hundred three thousand five hundred fifty. ⁴⁷ But the Levites after the tribe of their fathers were not counted among them. ⁴⁸ For Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ⁴⁹ “Only the tribe of Levi you shall not count, neither shall you take a census of them among the children of Israel; ⁵⁰ but appoint the Levites over the Tabernacle of the Testimony, and over all its furnishings, and over all that belongs to it. They shall carry the tabernacle and all its furnishings; and they shall take care of it, and shall encamp around it. ⁵¹ When the tabernacle is to move, the Levites shall take it down; and when the tabernacle is to be set up, the Levites shall set it up. The stranger who comes near shall be put to death. ⁵² The children of Israel shall pitch their tents, every man by his own camp, and every man by his own standard, according to their divisions. ⁵³ But the Levites shall encamp around the Tabernacle of the Testimony, that there may be no wrath on the congregation of the children of Israel. The Levites shall be responsible for the Tabernacle of the Testimony.”

⁵⁴ Thus the children of Israel did. According to all that Yahweh commanded Moses, so they did.

2Yahweh spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying, ² “The children of Israel shall encamp every man by his own standard, with the banners of their fathers’ houses. They shall encamp around the Tent of Meeting at a distance from it.”

³ Those who encamp on the east side toward the sunrise shall be of the standard of the camp of Judah, according to their divisions. The prince of the children of Judah shall be Nahshon the son of Amminadab. ⁴ His division, and those who were counted of them, were seventy-four thousand six hundred.

⁵ Those who encamp next to him shall be the tribe of Issachar. The prince of the children of Issachar shall be Nethanel the son of Zuar. ⁶ His division, and those who were counted of it, were fifty-four thousand four hundred.

⁷ The tribe of Zebulun: the prince of the children of Zebulun shall be Eliab the son of Helon. ⁸ His division, and those who were counted of it, were fifty-seven thousand four hundred.

⁹ All who were counted of the camp of Judah were one hundred eighty-six thousand four hundred, according to their divisions. They shall set out first.

¹⁰ “On the south side shall be the standard of the camp of Reuben according to their divisions. The prince of the children of Reuben shall be Elizur the son of Shedeur. ¹¹ His division, and those who were counted of it, were forty-six thousand five hundred.

¹² “Those who encamp next to him shall be the tribe of Simeon. The prince of the children of Simeon shall be Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai. ¹³ His division, and those who were counted of them, were fifty-nine thousand three hundred.

¹⁴ “The tribe of Gad: the prince of the children of Gad shall be Eliasaph the son of Reuel. ¹⁵ His division, and those who were counted of them, were forty-five thousand six hundred fifty.

¹⁶ “All who were counted of the camp of Reuben were one hundred fifty-one thousand four hundred fifty, according to their armies. They shall set out second.

¹⁷ “Then the Tent of Meeting shall set out, with the camp of the Levites in the middle of the camps. As they encamp, so shall they set out, every man in his place, by their standards.

¹⁸ “On the west side shall be the standard of the camp of Ephraim according to their divisions. The prince of the children of Ephraim shall be Elishama the son of Ammihud. ¹⁹ His division, and those who were counted of them, were forty thousand five hundred.

²⁰ “Next to him shall be the tribe of Manasseh. The prince of the children of Manasseh shall be Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur. ²¹ His division, and those who were counted of them, were thirty-two thousand two hundred.

²² “The tribe of Benjamin: the prince of the children of Benjamin shall be Abidan the son of Gideoni. ²³ His army, and those who were counted of them, were thirty-five thousand four hundred.

²⁴ “All who were counted of the camp of Ephraim were one hundred eight thousand one hundred, according to their divisions. They shall set out third.

²⁵ “On the north side shall be the standard of the camp of Dan according to their divisions. The prince of the children of Dan shall be Ahiezer the son of Ammishaddai. ²⁶ His division, and those who were counted of them, were sixty-two thousand seven hundred.

²⁷ “Those who encamp next to him shall be the tribe of Asher. The prince of the children of Asher shall be Pagiel the son of Ochran. ²⁸ His division, and those who were counted of them, were forty-one thousand and five hundred.

²⁹ “The tribe of Naphtali: the prince of the children of Naphtali shall be Ahira the son of Enan. ³⁰ His division, and those who were counted of them, were fifty-three thousand four hundred.

³¹ “All who were counted of the camp of Dan were one hundred fifty-seven thousand six hundred. They shall set out last by their standards.”

³² These are those who were counted of the children of Israel by their fathers’ houses. All who were counted of the camps according to their armies were six hundred three thousand five hundred fifty. ³³ But the Levites were not counted among the children of Israel, as Yahweh commanded Moses.

³⁴ Thus the children of Israel did. According to all that Yahweh commanded Moses, so they encamped by their standards, and so they set out, everyone by their families, according to their fathers’ houses.

3Now this is the history of the generations of Aaron and Moses in the day that Yahweh spoke with Moses in Mount Sinai. ² These are the names of the sons of Aaron: Nadab the firstborn, and Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar.

³ These are the names of the sons of Aaron, the priests who were anointed, whom he consecrated to minister in the priest’s office. ⁴ Nadab and Abihu died before Yahweh when they offered strange fire before Yahweh in the wilderness of Sinai, and they had no children. Eleazar and Ithamar ministered in the priest’s office in the presence of Aaron their father.

⁵ Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ⁶ “Bring the tribe of Levi near, and set them before Aaron the priest, that they may minister to him. ⁷ They shall keep his requirements, and the requirements of the whole congregation before the Tent of Meeting, to do the service of the tabernacle. ⁸ They shall keep all the furnishings of the Tent of Meeting, and the obligations of the children of Israel, to do the service of the tabernacle. ⁹ You shall give the Levites to Aaron and to his sons. They are wholly given to him on the behalf of the children of Israel. ¹⁰ You shall appoint Aaron and his sons, and they shall keep their priesthood, but the stranger who comes near shall be put to death.”

¹¹ Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ¹² “Behold, I have taken the Levites from among the children of Israel instead of all the firstborn who open the womb among the children of Israel; and the Levites shall be mine, ¹³ for all the firstborn are mine. On the day that I struck down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt I made holy to me all the firstborn in Israel, both man and animal. They shall be mine. I am Yahweh.”

¹⁴ Yahweh spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, saying, ¹⁵ “Count the children of Levi by their fathers’ houses, by their families. You shall count every male from a month old and upward.”

¹⁶ Moses counted them according to Yahweh’s word, as he was commanded.

¹⁷ These were the sons of Levi by their names: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.

¹⁸ These are the names of the sons of Gershon by their families: Libni and Shimei.

¹⁹ The sons of Kohath by their families: Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel.

²⁰ The sons of Merari by their families: Mahli and Mushi.

These are the families of the Levites according to their fathers’ houses.

²¹ Of Gershon was the family of the Libnites, and the family of the Shimeites. These are the families of the Gershonites.

²² Those who were counted of them, according to the number of all the males from a month old and upward, even those who were counted of them were seven thousand five hundred.

²³ The families of the Gershonites shall encamp behind the tabernacle westward.

²⁴ Eliasaph the son of Lael shall be the prince of the fathers’ house of the Gershonites. ²⁵ The duty of the sons of Gershon in the Tent of Meeting shall be the tabernacle, the tent, its covering, the screen for the door of the Tent of Meeting, ²⁶ the hangings of the court, the screen for the door of the court which is by the tabernacle and around the altar, and its cords for all of its service.

²⁷ Of Kohath was the family of the Amramites, the family of the Izharites, the family of the Hebronites, and the family of the Uzzielites. These are the families of the Kohathites. ²⁸ According to the number of all the males from a month old and upward, there were eight thousand six hundred keeping the requirements of the sanctuary.

²⁹ The families of the sons of Kohath shall encamp on the south side of the tabernacle. ³⁰ The prince of the fathers’ house of the families of the Kohathites shall be Elizaphan the son of Uzziel. ³¹ Their duty shall be the ark, the table, the lamp stand, the altars, the vessels of the sanctuary with which they minister, the screen, and all its service. ³² Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest shall be prince of the princes of the Levites, with the oversight of those who keep the requirements of the sanctuary.

³³ Of Merari was the family of the Mahlites and the family of the Mushites. These are the families of Merari. ³⁴ Those who were counted of them, according to the number of all the males from a month old and upward, were six thousand two hundred.

³⁵ The prince of the fathers’ house of the families of Merari was Zuriel the son of Abihail. They shall encamp on the north side of the tabernacle. ³⁶ The appointed duty of the sons of Merari shall be the tabernacle’s boards, its bars, its pillars, its sockets, all its instruments, all its service, ³⁷ the pillars of the court around it, their sockets, their pins, and their cords. ³⁸ Those who encamp before the tabernacle eastward, in front of the Tent of Meeting toward the sunrise, shall be Moses, and Aaron and his sons, keeping the requirements of the sanctuary for the duty of the children of Israel. The outsider who comes near shall be put to death. ³⁹ All who were counted of the Levites, whom Moses and Aaron counted at the commandment of Yahweh, by their families, all the males from a month old and upward, were twenty-two thousand.

⁴⁰ Yahweh said to Moses, “Count all the firstborn males of the children of Israel from a month old and upward, and take the number of their names. ⁴¹ You shall take the Levites for me—I am Yahweh—instead of all the firstborn among the children of Israel; and the livestock of the Levites instead of all the firstborn among the livestock of the children of Israel.”

⁴² Moses counted, as Yahweh commanded him, all the firstborn among the children of Israel. ⁴³ All the firstborn males according to the number of names from a month old and upward, of those who were counted of them, were twenty-two thousand two hundred seventy-three.

⁴⁴ Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ⁴⁵ “Take the Levites instead of all the firstborn among the children of Israel, and the livestock of the Levites instead of their livestock; and the Levites shall be mine. I am Yahweh. ⁴⁶ For the redemption of the two hundred seventy-three of the firstborn of the children of Israel who exceed the number of the Levites, ⁴⁷ you shall take five shekels apiece for each one; according to the shekel of the sanctuary you shall take them (the shekel is twenty gerahs); ⁴⁸ and you shall give the money, with which their remainder is redeemed, to Aaron and to his sons.”

⁴⁹ Moses took the redemption money from those who exceeded the number of those who were redeemed by the Levites; ⁵⁰ from the firstborn of the children of Israel he took the money, one thousand three hundred sixty-five shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary; ⁵¹ and Moses gave the redemption money to Aaron and to his sons, according to Yahweh’s word, as Yahweh commanded Moses.

4Yahweh spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying, ² “Take a census of the sons of Kohath from among the sons of Levi, by their families, by their fathers’ houses, ³ from thirty years old and upward even until fifty years old, all who enter into the service to do the work in the Tent of Meeting.

⁴ “This is the service of the sons of Kohath in the Tent of Meeting, regarding the most holy things. ⁵ When the camp moves forward, Aaron shall go in with his sons; and they shall take down the veil of the screen, cover the ark of the Testimony with it, ⁶ put a covering of sealskin on it, spread a blue cloth over it, and put in its poles.

⁷ “On the table of show bread they shall spread a blue cloth, and put on it the dishes, the spoons, the bowls, and the cups with which to pour out; and the continual bread shall be on it. ⁸ They shall spread on them a scarlet cloth, and cover it with a covering of sealskin, and shall put in its poles.

⁹ “They shall take a blue cloth and cover the lamp stand of the light, its lamps, its snuffers, its snuff dishes, and all its oil vessels, with which they minister to it. ¹⁰ They shall put it and all its vessels within a covering of sealskin, and shall put it on the frame.

¹¹ “On the golden altar they shall spread a blue cloth, and cover it with a covering of sealskin, and shall put in its poles.

¹² “They shall take all the vessels of ministry with which they minister in the sanctuary, and put them in a blue cloth, cover them with a covering of sealskin, and shall put them on the frame.

¹³ “They shall take away the ashes from the altar, and spread a purple cloth on it. ¹⁴ They shall put on it all its vessels with which they minister about it, the fire pans, the meat hooks, the shovels, and the basins—all the vessels of the altar; and they shall spread on it a covering of sealskin, and put in its poles.

¹⁵ “When Aaron and his sons have finished covering the sanctuary and all the furniture of the sanctuary, as the camp moves forward; after that, the sons of Kohath shall come to carry it; but they shall not touch the sanctuary, lest they die. The sons of Kohath shall carry these things belonging to the Tent of Meeting.

¹⁶ “The duty of Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest shall be the oil for the light, the sweet incense, the continual meal offering, and the anointing oil, the requirements of all the tabernacle, and of all that is in it, the sanctuary, and its furnishings.”

¹⁷ Yahweh spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying, ¹⁸ “Don’t cut off the tribe of the families of the Kohathites from among the Levites; ¹⁹ but thus do to them, that they may live, and not die, when they approach the most holy things: Aaron and his sons shall go in and appoint everyone to his service and to his burden; ²⁰ but they shall not go in to see the sanctuary even for a moment, lest they die.”

²¹ Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ²² “Take a census of the sons of Gershon also, by their fathers’ houses, by their families; ²³ you shall count them from thirty years old and upward until fifty years old: all who enter in to wait on the service, to do the work in the Tent of Meeting.

²⁴ “This is the service of the families of the Gershonites, in serving and in bearing burdens: ²⁵ they shall carry the curtains of the tabernacle and the Tent of Meeting, its covering, the covering of sealskin that is on it, the screen for the door of the Tent of Meeting, ²⁶ the hangings of the court, the screen for the door of the gate of the court which is by the tabernacle and around the altar, their cords, and all the instruments of their service, and whatever shall be done with them. They shall serve in there. ²⁷ At the commandment of Aaron and his sons shall be all the service of the sons of the Gershonites, in all their burden and in all their service; and you shall appoint their duty to them in all their responsibilities. ²⁸ This is the service of the families of the sons of the Gershonites in the Tent of Meeting. Their duty shall be under the hand of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest.

²⁹ “As for the sons of Merari, you shall count them by their families, by their fathers’ houses; ³⁰ you shall count them from thirty years old and upward even to fifty years old—everyone who enters on the service, to do the work of the Tent of Meeting. ³¹ This is the duty of their burden, according to all their service in the Tent of Meeting: the tabernacle’s boards, its bars, its pillars, its sockets, ³² the pillars of the court around it, their sockets, their pins, their cords, with all their instruments, and with all their service. You shall appoint the instruments of the duty of their burden to them by name. ³³ This is the service of the families of the sons of Merari, according to all their service in the Tent of Meeting, under the hand of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest.”

³⁴ Moses and Aaron and the princes of the congregation counted the sons of the Kohathites by their families, and by their fathers’ houses, ³⁵ from thirty years old and upward even to fifty years old, everyone who entered into the service for work in the Tent of Meeting. ³⁶ Those who were counted of them by their families were two thousand seven hundred fifty. ³⁷ These are those who were counted of the families of the Kohathites, all who served in the Tent of Meeting, whom Moses and Aaron counted according to the commandment of Yahweh by Moses.

³⁸ Those who were counted of the sons of Gershon, by their families, and by their fathers’ houses, ³⁹ from thirty years old and upward even to fifty years old—everyone who entered into the service for work in the Tent of Meeting, ⁴⁰ even those who were counted of them, by their families, by their fathers’ houses, were two thousand six hundred thirty. ⁴¹ These are those who were counted of the families of the sons of Gershon, all who served in the Tent of Meeting, whom Moses and Aaron counted according to the commandment of Yahweh.

⁴² Those who were counted of the families of the sons of Merari, by their families, by their fathers’ houses, ⁴³ from thirty years old and upward even to fifty years old—everyone who entered into the service for work in the Tent of Meeting, ⁴⁴ even those who were counted of them by their families, were three thousand two hundred. ⁴⁵ These are those who were counted of the families of the sons of Merari, whom Moses and Aaron counted according to the commandment of Yahweh by Moses.

⁴⁶ All those who were counted of the Levites whom Moses and Aaron and the princes of Israel counted, by their families and by their fathers’ houses, ⁴⁷ from thirty years old and upward even to fifty years old, everyone who entered in to do the work of service and the work of bearing burdens in the Tent of Meeting, ⁴⁸ even those who were counted of them, were eight thousand five hundred eighty. ⁴⁹ According to the commandment of Yahweh they were counted by Moses, everyone according to his service and according to his burden. Thus they were counted by him, as Yahweh commanded Moses.

5Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ² “Command the children of Israel that they put out of the camp every leper, everyone who has a discharge, and whoever is unclean by a corpse. ³ You shall put both male and female outside of the camp so that they don’t defile their camp, in the midst of which I dwell.”

⁴ The children of Israel did so, and put them outside of the camp; as Yahweh spoke to Moses, so the children of Israel did.

⁵ Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ⁶ “Speak to the children of Israel: ‘When a man or woman commits any sin that men commit, so as to trespass against Yahweh, and that soul is guilty, ⁷ then he shall confess his sin which he has done; and he shall make restitution for his guilt in full, add to it the fifth part of it, and give it to him in respect of whom he has been guilty. ⁸ But if the man has no kinsman to whom restitution may be made for the guilt, the restitution for guilt which is made to Yahweh shall be the priest’s, in addition to the ram of the atonement, by which atonement shall be made for him. ⁹ Every heave offering of all the holy things of the children of Israel, which they present to the priest, shall be his. ¹⁰ Every man’s holy things shall be his; whatever any man gives the priest, it shall be his.’ ”

¹¹ Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ¹² “Speak to the children of Israel, and tell them: ‘If any man’s wife goes astray and is unfaithful to him, ¹³ and a man lies with her carnally, and it is hidden from the eyes of her husband and this is kept concealed, and she is defiled, there is no witness against her, and she isn’t taken in the act; ¹⁴ and the spirit of jealousy comes on him, and he is jealous of his wife and she is defiled; or if the spirit of jealousy comes on him, and he is jealous of his wife and she isn’t defiled; ¹⁵ then the man shall bring his wife to the priest, and shall bring her offering for her: one tenth of an ephah of barley meal. He shall pour no oil on it, nor put frankincense on it, for it is a meal offering of jealousy, a meal offering of memorial, bringing iniquity to memory. ¹⁶ The priest shall bring her near, and set her before Yahweh. ¹⁷ The priest shall take holy water in an earthen vessel; and the priest shall take some of the dust that is on the floor of the tabernacle and put it into the water. ¹⁸ The priest shall set the woman before Yahweh, and let the hair of the woman’s head go loose, and put the meal offering of memorial in her hands, which is the meal offering of jealousy. The priest shall have in his hand the water of bitterness that brings a curse. ¹⁹ The priest shall cause her to take an oath and shall tell the woman, “If no man has lain with you, and if you haven’t gone aside to uncleanness, being under your husband’s authority, be free from this water of bitterness that brings a curse. ²⁰ But if you have gone astray, being under your husband’s authority, and if you are defiled, and some man has lain with you besides your husband—” ²¹ then the priest shall cause the woman to swear with the oath of cursing, and the priest shall tell the woman, “May Yahweh make you a curse and an oath among your people, when Yahweh allows your thigh to fall away, and your body to swell; ²² and this water that brings a curse will go into your bowels, and make your body swell, and your thigh fall away.” The woman shall say, “Amen, Amen.”

²³ “ ‘The priest shall write these curses in a book, and he shall wipe them into the water of bitterness. ²⁴ He shall make the woman drink the water of bitterness that causes the curse; and the water that causes the curse shall enter into her and become bitter. ²⁵ The priest shall take the meal offering of jealousy out of the woman’s hand, and shall wave the meal offering before Yahweh, and bring it to the altar. ²⁶ The priest shall take a handful of the meal offering, as its memorial portion, and burn it on the altar, and afterward shall make the woman drink the water. ²⁷ When he has made her drink the water, then it shall happen, if she is defiled and has committed a trespass against her husband, that the water that causes the curse will enter into her and become bitter, and her body will swell, and her thigh will fall away; and the woman will be a curse among her people. ²⁸ If the woman isn’t defiled, but is clean; then she shall be free, and shall conceive offspring.

²⁹ “ ‘This is the law of jealousy, when a wife, being under her husband, goes astray, and is defiled, ³⁰ or when the spirit of jealousy comes on a man, and he is jealous of his wife; then he shall set the woman before Yahweh, and the priest shall execute on her all this law. ³¹ The man shall be free from iniquity, and that woman shall bear her iniquity.’ ”

6Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ² “Speak to the children of Israel, and tell them: ‘When either man or woman shall make a special vow, the vow of a Nazirite, to separate himself to Yahweh, ³ he shall separate himself from wine and strong drink. He shall drink no vinegar of wine, or vinegar of fermented drink, neither shall he drink any juice of grapes, nor eat fresh grapes or dried. ⁴ All the days of his separation he shall eat nothing that is made of the grapevine, from the seeds even to the skins.

⁵ “ ‘All the days of his vow of separation no razor shall come on his head, until the days are fulfilled in which he separates himself to Yahweh. He shall be holy. He shall let the locks of the hair of his head grow long.

⁶ “ ‘All the days that he separates himself to Yahweh he shall not go near a dead body. ⁷ He shall not make himself unclean for his father, or for his mother, for his brother, or for his sister, when they die, because his separation to God is on his head. ⁸ All the days of his separation he is holy to Yahweh.

⁹ “ ‘If any man dies very suddenly beside him, and he defiles the head of his separation, then he shall shave his head in the day of his cleansing. On the seventh day he shall shave it. ¹⁰ On the eighth day he shall bring two turtledoves or two young pigeons to the priest, to the door of the Tent of Meeting. ¹¹ The priest shall offer one for a sin offering, and the other for a burnt offering, and make atonement for him, because he sinned by reason of the dead, and shall make his head holy that same day. ¹² He shall separate to Yahweh the days of his separation, and shall bring a male lamb a year old for a trespass offering; but the former days shall be void, because his separation was defiled.

¹³ “ ‘This is the law of the Nazirite: when the days of his separation are fulfilled, he shall be brought to the door of the Tent of Meeting, ¹⁴ and he shall offer his offering to Yahweh: one male lamb a year old without defect for a burnt offering, one ewe lamb a year old without defect for a sin offering, one ram without defect for peace offerings, ¹⁵ a basket of unleavened bread, cakes of fine flour mixed with oil, and unleavened wafers anointed with oil with their meal offering and their drink offerings. ¹⁶ The priest shall present them before Yahweh, and shall offer his sin offering and his burnt offering. ¹⁷ He shall offer the ram for a sacrifice of peace offerings to Yahweh, with the basket of unleavened bread. The priest shall offer also its meal offering and its drink offering. ¹⁸ The Nazirite shall shave the head of his separation at the door of the Tent of Meeting, take the hair of the head of his separation, and put it on the fire which is under the sacrifice of peace offerings. ¹⁹ The priest shall take the boiled shoulder of the ram, one unleavened cake out of the basket, and one unleavened wafer, and shall put them on the hands of the Nazirite after he has shaved the head of his separation; ²⁰ and the priest shall wave them for a wave offering before Yahweh. They are holy for the priest, together with the breast that is waved and the thigh that is offered. After that the Nazirite may drink wine.

²¹ “ ‘This is the law of the Nazirite who vows and of his offering to Yahweh for his separation, in addition to that which he is able to afford. According to his vow which he vows, so he must do after the law of his separation.’ ”

²² Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ²³ “Speak to Aaron and to his sons, saying, ‘This is how you shall bless the children of Israel.’ You shall tell them,

²⁴ ‘Yahweh bless you, and keep you.

²⁵ Yahweh make his face to shine on you,

and be gracious to you.

²⁶ Yahweh lift up his face toward you,

and give you peace.’

²⁷ “So they shall put my name on the children of Israel; and I will bless them.”

7On the day that Moses had finished setting up the tabernacle, and had anointed it and sanctified it with all its furniture, and the altar with all its vessels, and had anointed and sanctified them; ² that the princes of Israel, the heads of their fathers’ houses, offered. These were the princes of the tribes. These are they who were over those who were counted; ³ and they brought their offering before Yahweh, six covered wagons and twelve oxen; a wagon for every two of the princes, and for each one an ox. They presented them before the tabernacle. ⁴ Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ⁵ “Accept these from them, that they may be used in doing the service of the Tent of Meeting; and you shall give them to the Levites, to every man according to his service.”

⁶ Moses took the wagons and the oxen, and gave them to the Levites. ⁷ He gave two wagons and four oxen to the sons of Gershon, according to their service. ⁸ He gave four wagons and eight oxen to the sons of Merari, according to their service, under the direction of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest. ⁹ But to the sons of Kohath he gave none, because the service of the sanctuary belonged to them; they carried it on their shoulders.

¹⁰ The princes gave offerings for the dedication of the altar in the day that it was anointed. The princes gave their offerings before the altar.

¹¹ Yahweh said to Moses, “They shall offer their offering, each prince on his day, for the dedication of the altar.”

¹² He who offered his offering the first day was Nahshon the son of Amminadab, of the tribe of Judah, ¹³ and his offering was:

one silver platter, the weight of which was one hundred thirty shekels,

one silver bowl of seventy shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary; both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil for a meal offering;

¹⁴ one golden ladle of ten shekels, full of incense;

¹⁵ one young bull,

one ram,

one male lamb a year old, for a burnt offering;

¹⁶ one male goat for a sin offering;

¹⁷ and for the sacrifice of peace offerings, two head of cattle, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs a year old. This was the offering of Nahshon the son of Amminadab.

¹⁸ On the second day Nethanel the son of Zuar, prince of Issachar, gave his offering. ¹⁹ He offered for his offering:

one silver platter, the weight of which was one hundred thirty shekels,

one silver bowl of seventy shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary; both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil for a meal offering;

²⁰ one golden ladle of ten shekels, full of incense;

²¹ one young bull,

one ram,

one male lamb a year old, for a burnt offering;

²² one male goat for a sin offering;

²³ and for the sacrifice of peace offerings, two head of cattle, five rams, five male goats, five male lambs a year old. This was the offering of Nethanel the son of Zuar.

²⁴ On the third day Eliab the son of Helon, prince of the children of Zebulun, ²⁵ gave his offering:

one silver platter, the weight of which was a hundred and thirty shekels,

one silver bowl of seventy shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary; both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil for a meal offering;

²⁶ one golden ladle of ten shekels, full of incense;

²⁷ one young bull,

one ram,

one male lamb a year old, for a burnt offering;

²⁸ one male goat for a sin offering;

²⁹ and for the sacrifice of peace offerings, two head of cattle, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs a year old. This was the offering of Eliab the son of Helon.

³⁰ On the fourth day Elizur the son of Shedeur, prince of the children of Reuben, ³¹ gave his offering:

one silver platter, the weight of which was one hundred thirty shekels,

one silver bowl of seventy shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary; both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil for a meal offering;

³² one golden ladle of ten shekels, full of incense;

³³ one young bull,

one ram,

one male lamb a year old, for a burnt offering;

³⁴ one male goat for a sin offering;

³⁵ and for the sacrifice of peace offerings, two head of cattle, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs a year old. This was the offering of Elizur the son of Shedeur.

³⁶ On the fifth day Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai, prince of the children of Simeon, ³⁷ gave his offering:

one silver platter, the weight of which was one hundred thirty shekels,

one silver bowl of seventy shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary; both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil for a meal offering;

³⁸ one golden ladle of ten shekels, full of incense;

³⁹ one young bull,

one ram,

one male lamb a year old, for a burnt offering;

⁴⁰ one male goat for a sin offering;

⁴¹ and for the sacrifice of peace offerings, two head of cattle, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs a year old: this was the offering of Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai.

⁴² On the sixth day, Eliasaph the son of Deuel, prince of the children of Gad, ⁴³ gave his offering:

one silver platter, the weight of which was one hundred thirty shekels,

one silver bowl of seventy shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary; both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil for a meal offering;

⁴⁴ one golden ladle of ten shekels, full of incense;

⁴⁵ one young bull,

one ram,

one male lamb a year old, for a burnt offering;

⁴⁶ one male goat for a sin offering;

⁴⁷ and for the sacrifice of peace offerings, two head of cattle, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs a year old. This was the offering of Eliasaph the son of Deuel.

⁴⁸ On the seventh day Elishama the son of Ammihud, prince of the children of Ephraim, ⁴⁹ gave his offering:

one silver platter, the weight of which was one hundred thirty shekels,

one silver bowl of seventy shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary; both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil for a meal offering;

⁵⁰ one golden ladle of ten shekels, full of incense;

⁵¹ one young bull,

one ram,

one male lamb a year old, for a burnt offering;

⁵² one male goat for a sin offering;

⁵³ and for the sacrifice of peace offerings, two head of cattle, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs a year old. This was the offering of Elishama the son of Ammihud.

⁵⁴ On the eighth day Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur, prince of the children of Manasseh, ⁵⁵ gave his offering:

one silver platter, the weight of which was one hundred thirty shekels,

one silver bowl of seventy shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary; both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil for a meal offering;

⁵⁶ one golden ladle of ten shekels, full of incense;

⁵⁷ one young bull,

one ram,

one male lamb a year old, for a burnt offering;

⁵⁸ one male goat for a sin offering;

⁵⁹ and for the sacrifice of peace offerings, two head of cattle, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs a year old. This was the offering of Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur.

⁶⁰ On the ninth day Abidan the son of Gideoni, prince of the children of Benjamin, ⁶¹ gave his offering:

one silver platter, the weight of which was one hundred thirty shekels,

one silver bowl of seventy shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary; both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil for a meal offering;

⁶² one golden ladle of ten shekels, full of incense;

⁶³ one young bull,

one ram,

one male lamb a year old, for a burnt offering;

⁶⁴ one male goat for a sin offering;

⁶⁵ and for the sacrifice of peace offerings, two head of cattle, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs a year old. This was the offering of Abidan the son of Gideoni.

⁶⁶ On the tenth day Ahiezer the son of Ammishaddai, prince of the children of Dan, ⁶⁷ gave his offering:

one silver platter, the weight of which was one hundred thirty shekels,

one silver bowl of seventy shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary; both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil for a meal offering;

⁶⁸ one golden ladle of ten shekels, full of incense;

⁶⁹ one young bull,

one ram,

one male lamb a year old, for a burnt offering;

⁷⁰ one male goat for a sin offering;

⁷¹ and for the sacrifice of peace offerings, two head of cattle, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs a year old. This was the offering of Ahiezer the son of Ammishaddai.

⁷² On the eleventh day Pagiel the son of Ochran, prince of the children of Asher, ⁷³ gave his offering:

one silver platter, the weight of which was one hundred thirty shekels,

one silver bowl of seventy shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary; both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil for a meal offering;

⁷⁴ one golden ladle of ten shekels, full of incense;

⁷⁵ one young bull,

one ram,

one male lamb a year old, for a burnt offering;

⁷⁶ one male goat for a sin offering;

⁷⁷ and for the sacrifice of peace offerings, two head of cattle, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs a year old. This was the offering of Pagiel the son of Ochran.

⁷⁸ On the twelfth day Ahira the son of Enan, prince of the children of Naphtali, ⁷⁹ gave his offering:

one silver platter, the weight of which was one hundred thirty shekels,

one silver bowl of seventy shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary; both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil for a meal offering;

⁸⁰ one golden spoon of ten shekels, full of incense;

⁸¹ one young bull,

one ram,

one male lamb a year old, for a burnt offering;

⁸² one male goat for a sin offering;

⁸³ and for the sacrifice of peace offerings, two head of cattle, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs a year old. This was the offering of Ahira the son of Enan.

⁸⁴ This was the dedication offering of the altar, on the day when it was anointed, by the princes of Israel: twelve silver platters, twelve silver bowls, twelve golden ladles; ⁸⁵ each silver platter weighing one hundred thirty shekels, and each bowl seventy; all the silver of the vessels two thousand four hundred shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary; ⁸⁶ the twelve golden ladles, full of incense, weighing ten shekels apiece, according to the shekel of the sanctuary; all the gold of the ladles weighed one hundred twenty shekels; ⁸⁷ all the cattle for the burnt offering twelve bulls, the rams twelve, the male lambs a year old twelve, and their meal offering; and twelve male goats for a sin offering; ⁸⁸ and all the cattle for the sacrifice of peace offerings: twenty-four bulls, sixty rams, sixty male goats, and sixty male lambs a year old. This was the dedication offering of the altar, after it was anointed.

⁸⁹ When Moses went into the Tent of Meeting to speak with Yahweh, he heard his voice speaking to him from above the mercy seat that was on the ark of the Testimony, from between the two cherubim; and he spoke to him.

8Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ² “Speak to Aaron, and tell him, ‘When you light the lamps, the seven lamps shall give light in front of the lamp stand.’ ”

³ Aaron did so. He lit its lamps to light the area in front of the lamp stand, as Yahweh commanded Moses. ⁴ This was the workmanship of the lamp stand, beaten work of gold. From its base to its flowers, it was beaten work. He made the lamp stand according to the pattern which Yahweh had shown Moses.

⁵ Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ⁶ “Take the Levites from among the children of Israel, and cleanse them. ⁷ You shall do this to them, to cleanse them: sprinkle the water of cleansing on them, let them shave their whole bodies with a razor, let them wash their clothes, and cleanse themselves. ⁸ Then let them take a young bull and its meal offering, fine flour mixed with oil; and another young bull you shall take for a sin offering. ⁹ You shall present the Levites before the Tent of Meeting. You shall assemble the whole congregation of the children of Israel. ¹⁰ You shall present the Levites before Yahweh. The children of Israel shall lay their hands on the Levites, ¹¹ and Aaron shall offer the Levites before Yahweh for a wave offering on the behalf of the children of Israel, that it may be theirs to do the service of Yahweh.

¹² “The Levites shall lay their hands on the heads of the bulls, and you shall offer the one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering to Yahweh, to make atonement for the Levites. ¹³ You shall set the Levites before Aaron and before his sons, and offer them as a wave offering to Yahweh. ¹⁴ Thus you shall separate the Levites from among the children of Israel, and the Levites shall be mine.

¹⁵ “After that, the Levites shall go in to do the service of the Tent of Meeting. You shall cleanse them, and offer them as a wave offering. ¹⁶ For they are wholly given to me from among the children of Israel; instead of all who open the womb, even the firstborn of all the children of Israel, I have taken them to me. ¹⁷ For all the firstborn among the children of Israel are mine, both man and animal. On the day that I struck all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, I sanctified them for myself. ¹⁸ I have taken the Levites instead of all the firstborn among the children of Israel. ¹⁹ I have given the Levites as a gift to Aaron and to his sons from among the children of Israel, to do the service of the children of Israel in the Tent of Meeting, and to make atonement for the children of Israel, so that there will be no plague among the children of Israel when the children of Israel come near to the sanctuary.”

²⁰ Moses, and Aaron, and all the congregation of the children of Israel did so to the Levites. According to all that Yahweh commanded Moses concerning the Levites, so the children of Israel did to them. ²¹ The Levites purified themselves from sin, and they washed their clothes; and Aaron offered them for a wave offering before Yahweh and Aaron made atonement for them to cleanse them. ²² After that, the Levites went in to do their service in the Tent of Meeting before Aaron and before his sons: as Yahweh had commanded Moses concerning the Levites, so they did to them.

²³ Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ²⁴ “This is what is assigned to the Levites: from twenty-five years old and upward they shall go in to wait on the service in the work of the Tent of Meeting; ²⁵ and from the age of fifty years they shall retire from doing the work, and shall serve no more, ²⁶ but shall assist their brothers in the Tent of Meeting, to perform the duty, and shall perform no service. This is how you shall have the Levites do their duties.”

9Yahweh spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, in the first month of the second year after they had come out of the land of Egypt, saying, ² “Let the children of Israel keep the Passover in its appointed season. ³ On the fourteenth day of this month, at evening, you shall keep it in its appointed season. You shall keep it according to all its statutes and according to all its ordinances.”

⁴ Moses told the children of Israel that they should keep the Passover. ⁵ They kept the Passover in the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at evening, in the wilderness of Sinai. According to all that Yahweh commanded Moses, so the children of Israel did. ⁶ There were certain men, who were unclean because of the dead body of a man, so that they could not keep the Passover on that day, and they came before Moses and Aaron on that day. ⁷ Those men said to him, “We are unclean because of the dead body of a man. Why are we kept back, that we may not offer the offering of Yahweh in its appointed season among the children of Israel?”

⁸ Moses answered them, “Wait, that I may hear what Yahweh will command concerning you.”

⁹ Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ¹⁰ “Say to the children of Israel, ‘If any man of you or of your generations is unclean by reason of a dead body, or is on a journey far away, he shall still keep the Passover to Yahweh. ¹¹ In the second month, on the fourteenth day at evening they shall keep it; they shall eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. ¹² They shall leave none of it until the morning, nor break a bone of it. According to all the statute of the Passover they shall keep it. ¹³ But the man who is clean, and is not on a journey, and fails to keep the Passover, that soul shall be cut off from his people. Because he didn’t offer the offering of Yahweh in its appointed season, that man shall bear his sin.

¹⁴ “ ‘If a foreigner lives among you, and desires to keep the Passover to Yahweh, then he shall do so according to the statute of the Passover, and according to its ordinance. You shall have one statute, both for the foreigner, and for him who is born in the land.’ ”

¹⁵ On the day that the tabernacle was raised up, the cloud covered the tabernacle, even the Tent of the Testimony. At evening it was over the tabernacle, as it were the appearance of fire, until morning. ¹⁶ So it was continually. The cloud covered it, and the appearance of fire by night. ¹⁷ Whenever the cloud was taken up from over the Tent, then after that the children of Israel traveled; and in the place where the cloud remained, there the children of Israel encamped. ¹⁸ At the commandment of Yahweh, the children of Israel traveled, and at the commandment of Yahweh they encamped. As long as the cloud remained on the tabernacle they remained encamped. ¹⁹ When the cloud stayed on the tabernacle many days, then the children of Israel kept Yahweh’s command, and didn’t travel. ²⁰ Sometimes the cloud was a few days on the tabernacle; then according to the commandment of Yahweh they remained encamped, and according to the commandment of Yahweh they traveled. ²¹ Sometimes the cloud was from evening until morning; and when the cloud was taken up in the morning, they traveled; or by day and by night, when the cloud was taken up, they traveled. ²² Whether it was two days, or a month, or a year that the cloud stayed on the tabernacle, remaining on it, the children of Israel remained encamped, and didn’t travel; but when it was taken up, they traveled. ²³ At the commandment of Yahweh they encamped, and at the commandment of Yahweh they traveled. They kept Yahweh’s command, at the commandment of Yahweh by Moses.

10Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ² “Make two trumpets of silver. You shall make them of beaten work. You shall use them for the calling of the congregation, and for the journeying of the camps. ³ When they blow them, all the congregation shall gather themselves to you at the door of the Tent of Meeting. ⁴ If they blow just one, then the princes, the heads of the thousands of Israel, shall gather themselves to you. ⁵ When you blow an alarm, the camps that lie on the east side shall go forward. ⁶ When you blow an alarm the second time, the camps that lie on the south side shall go forward. They shall blow an alarm for their journeys. ⁷ But when the assembly is to be gathered together, you shall blow, but you shall not sound an alarm.

⁸ “The sons of Aaron, the priests, shall blow the trumpets. This shall be to you for a statute forever throughout your generations. ⁹ When you go to war in your land against the adversary who oppresses you, then you shall sound an alarm with the trumpets. Then you will be remembered before Yahweh your God, and you will be saved from your enemies.

¹⁰ “Also in the day of your gladness, and in your set feasts, and in the beginnings of your months, you shall blow the trumpets over your burnt offerings, and over the sacrifices of your peace offerings; and they shall be to you for a memorial before your God. I am Yahweh your God.”

¹¹ In the second year, in the second month, on the twentieth day of the month, the cloud was taken up from over the tabernacle of the covenant. ¹² The children of Israel went forward on their journeys out of the wilderness of Sinai; and the cloud stayed in the wilderness of Paran. ¹³ They first went forward according to the commandment of Yahweh by Moses.

¹⁴ First, the standard of the camp of the children of Judah went forward according to their armies. Nahshon the son of Amminadab was over his army. ¹⁵ Nethanel the son of Zuar was over the army of the tribe of the children of Issachar. ¹⁶ Eliab the son of Helon was over the army of the tribe of the children of Zebulun. ¹⁷ The tabernacle was taken down; and the sons of Gershon and the sons of Merari, who bore the tabernacle, went forward. ¹⁸ The standard of the camp of Reuben went forward according to their armies. Elizur the son of Shedeur was over his army. ¹⁹ Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai was over the army of the tribe of the children of Simeon. ²⁰ Eliasaph the son of Deuel was over the army of the tribe of the children of Gad.

²¹ The Kohathites set forward, bearing the sanctuary. The others set up the tabernacle before they arrived.

²² The standard of the camp of the children of Ephraim set forward according to their armies. Elishama the son of Ammihud was over his army. ²³ Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur was over the army of the tribe of the children of Manasseh. ²⁴ Abidan the son of Gideoni was over the army of the tribe of the children of Benjamin.

²⁵ The standard of the camp of the children of Dan, which was the rear guard of all the camps, set forward according to their armies. Ahiezer the son of Ammishaddai was over his army. ²⁶ Pagiel the son of Ochran was over the army of the tribe of the children of Asher. ²⁷ Ahira the son of Enan was over the army of the tribe of the children of Naphtali. ²⁸ Thus were the travels of the children of Israel according to their armies; and they went forward.

²⁹ Moses said to Hobab, the son of Reuel the Midianite, Moses’ father-in-law, “We are journeying to the place of which Yahweh said, ‘I will give it to you.’ Come with us, and we will treat you well; for Yahweh has spoken good concerning Israel.”

³⁰ He said to him, “I will not go; but I will depart to my own land, and to my relatives.”

³¹ Moses said, “Don’t leave us, please; because you know how we are to encamp in the wilderness, and you can be our eyes. ³² It shall be, if you go with us—yes, it shall be—that whatever good Yahweh does to us, we will do the same to you.”

³³ They set forward from the Mount of Yahweh three days’ journey. The ark of Yahweh’s covenant went before them three days’ journey, to seek out a resting place for them. ³⁴ The cloud of Yahweh was over them by day, when they set forward from the camp. ³⁵ When the ark went forward, Moses said, “Rise up, Yahweh, and let your enemies be scattered! Let those who hate you flee before you!” ³⁶ When it rested, he said, “Return, Yahweh, to the ten thousands of the thousands of Israel.”

11The people were complaining in the ears of Yahweh. When Yahweh heard it, his anger burned; and Yahweh’s fire burned among them, and consumed some of the outskirts of the camp. ² The people cried to Moses; and Moses prayed to Yahweh, and the fire abated. ³ The name of that place was called Taberah, because Yahweh’s fire burned among them.

⁴ The mixed multitude that was among them lusted exceedingly; and the children of Israel also wept again, and said, “Who will give us meat to eat? ⁵ We remember the fish, which we ate in Egypt for nothing; the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlic; ⁶ but now we have lost our appetite. There is nothing at all except this manna to look at.” ⁷ The manna was like coriander seed, and it looked like bdellium. ⁸ The people went around, gathered it, and ground it in mills, or beat it in mortars, and boiled it in pots, and made cakes of it. Its taste was like the taste of fresh oil. ⁹ When the dew fell on the camp in the night, the manna fell on it.

¹⁰ Moses heard the people weeping throughout their families, every man at the door of his tent; and Yahweh’s anger burned greatly; and Moses was displeased. ¹¹ Moses said to Yahweh, “Why have you treated your servant so badly? Why haven’t I found favor in your sight, that you lay the burden of all this people on me? ¹² Have I conceived all this people? Have I brought them out, that you should tell me, ‘Carry them in your bosom, as a nurse carries a nursing infant, to the land which you swore to their fathers?’ ¹³ Where could I get meat to give all these people? For they weep before me, saying, ‘Give us meat, that we may eat.’ ¹⁴ I am not able to bear all this people alone, because it is too heavy for me. ¹⁵ If you treat me this way, please kill me right now, if I have found favor in your sight; and don’t let me see my wretchedness.”

¹⁶ Yahweh said to Moses, “Gather to me seventy men of the elders of Israel, whom you know to be the elders of the people and officers over them; and bring them to the Tent of Meeting, that they may stand there with you. ¹⁷ I will come down and talk with you there. I will take of the Spirit which is on you, and will put it on them; and they shall bear the burden of the people with you, that you don’t bear it yourself alone.

¹⁸ “Say to the people, ‘Sanctify yourselves in preparation for tomorrow, and you will eat meat; for you have wept in the ears of Yahweh, saying, “Who will give us meat to eat? For it was well with us in Egypt.” Therefore Yahweh will give you meat, and you will eat. ¹⁹ You will not eat just one day, or two days, or five days, or ten days, or twenty days, ²⁰ but a whole month, until it comes out at your nostrils, and it is loathsome to you; because you have rejected Yahweh who is among you, and have wept before him, saying, “Why did we come out of Egypt?” ’ ”

²¹ Moses said, “The people, among whom I am, are six hundred thousand men on foot; and you have said, ‘I will give them meat, that they may eat a whole month.’ ²² Shall flocks and herds be slaughtered for them, to be sufficient for them? Shall all the fish of the sea be gathered together for them, to be sufficient for them?”

²³ Yahweh said to Moses, “Has Yahweh’s hand grown short? Now you will see whether my word will happen to you or not.”

²⁴ Moses went out, and told the people Yahweh’s words; and he gathered seventy men of the elders of the people, and set them around the Tent. ²⁵ Yahweh came down in the cloud, and spoke to him, and took of the Spirit that was on him, and put it on the seventy elders. When the Spirit rested on them, they prophesied, but they did so no more. ²⁶ But two men remained in the camp. The name of one was Eldad, and the name of the other Medad; and the Spirit rested on them. They were of those who were written, but had not gone out to the Tent; and they prophesied in the camp. ²⁷ A young man ran, and told Moses, and said, “Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp!”

²⁸ Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of Moses, one of his chosen men, answered, “My lord Moses, forbid them!”

²⁹ Moses said to him, “Are you jealous for my sake? I wish that all Yahweh’s people were prophets, that Yahweh would put his Spirit on them!”

³⁰ Moses went into the camp, he and the elders of Israel. ³¹ A wind from Yahweh went out and brought quails from the sea, and let them fall by the camp, about a day’s journey on this side, and a day’s journey on the other side, around the camp, and about two cubits above the surface of the earth. ³² The people rose up all that day, and all of that night, and all the next day, and gathered the quails. He who gathered least gathered ten homers; and they spread them all out for themselves around the camp. ³³ While the meat was still between their teeth, before it was chewed, Yahweh’s anger burned against the people, and Yahweh struck the people with a very great plague. ³⁴ The name of that place was called Kibroth Hattaavah, because there they buried the people who lusted.

³⁵ From Kibroth Hattaavah the people traveled to Hazeroth; and they stayed at Hazeroth.

12Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Cushite woman whom he had married; for he had married a Cushite woman. ² They said, “Has Yahweh indeed spoken only with Moses? Hasn’t he spoken also with us?” And Yahweh heard it.

³ Now the man Moses was very humble, more than all the men who were on the surface of the earth. ⁴ Yahweh spoke suddenly to Moses, to Aaron, and to Miriam, “You three come out to the Tent of Meeting!”

The three of them came out. ⁵ Yahweh came down in a pillar of cloud, and stood at the door of the Tent, and called Aaron and Miriam; and they both came forward. ⁶ He said, “Now hear my words. If there is a prophet among you, I, Yahweh, will make myself known to him in a vision. I will speak with him in a dream. ⁷ My servant Moses is not so. He is faithful in all my house. ⁸ With him, I will speak mouth to mouth, even plainly, and not in riddles; and he shall see Yahweh’s form. Why then were you not afraid to speak against my servant, against Moses?” ⁹ Yahweh’s anger burned against them; and he departed.

¹⁰ The cloud departed from over the Tent; and behold, Miriam was leprous, as white as snow. Aaron looked at Miriam, and behold, she was leprous.

¹¹ Aaron said to Moses, “Oh, my lord, please don’t count this sin against us, in which we have done foolishly, and in which we have sinned. ¹² Let her not, I pray, be as one dead, of whom the flesh is half consumed when he comes out of his mother’s womb.”

¹³ Moses cried to Yahweh, saying, “Heal her, God, I beg you!”

¹⁴ Yahweh said to Moses, “If her father had but spit in her face, shouldn’t she be ashamed seven days? Let her be shut up outside of the camp seven days, and after that she shall be brought in again.”

¹⁵ Miriam was shut up outside of the camp seven days, and the people didn’t travel until Miriam was brought in again. ¹⁶ Afterward the people traveled from Hazeroth, and encamped in the wilderness of Paran.

13Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ² “Send men, that they may spy out the land of Canaan, which I give to the children of Israel. Of every tribe of their fathers, you shall send a man, every one a prince among them.”

³ Moses sent them from the wilderness of Paran according to the commandment of Yahweh. All of them were men who were heads of the children of Israel. ⁴ These were their names:

Of the tribe of Reuben, Shammua the son of Zaccur.

⁵ Of the tribe of Simeon, Shaphat the son of Hori.

⁶ Of the tribe of Judah, Caleb the son of Jephunneh.

⁷ Of the tribe of Issachar, Igal the son of Joseph.

⁸ Of the tribe of Ephraim, Hoshea the son of Nun.

⁹ Of the tribe of Benjamin, Palti the son of Raphu.

¹⁰ Of the tribe of Zebulun, Gaddiel the son of Sodi.

¹¹ Of the tribe of Joseph, of the tribe of Manasseh, Gaddi the son of Susi.

¹² Of the tribe of Dan, Ammiel the son of Gemalli.

¹³ Of the tribe of Asher, Sethur the son of Michael.

¹⁴ Of the tribe of Naphtali, Nahbi the son of Vophsi.

¹⁵ Of the tribe of Gad, Geuel the son of Machi.

¹⁶ These are the names of the men who Moses sent to spy out the land. Moses called Hoshea the son of Nun Joshua. ¹⁷ Moses sent them to spy out the land of Canaan, and said to them, “Go up this way by the South, and go up into the hill country. ¹⁸ See the land, what it is; and the people who dwell therein, whether they are strong or weak, whether they are few or many; ¹⁹ and what the land is that they dwell in, whether it is good or bad; and what cities they are that they dwell in, whether in camps, or in strongholds; ²⁰ and what the land is, whether it is fertile or poor, whether there is wood therein, or not. Be courageous, and bring some of the fruit of the land.” Now the time was the time of the first-ripe grapes.

²¹ So they went up, and spied out the land from the wilderness of Zin to Rehob, to the entrance of Hamath. ²² They went up by the South, and came to Hebron; and Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, the children of Anak, were there. (Now Hebron was built seven years before Zoan in Egypt.) ²³ They came to the valley of Eshcol, and cut down from there a branch with one cluster of grapes, and they bore it on a staff between two. They also brought some of the pomegranates and figs. ²⁴ That place was called the valley of Eshcol, because of the cluster which the children of Israel cut down from there. ²⁵ They returned from spying out the land at the end of forty days. ²⁶ They went and came to Moses, to Aaron, and to all the congregation of the children of Israel, to the wilderness of Paran, to Kadesh; and brought back word to them and to all the congregation. They showed them the fruit of the land. ²⁷ They told him, and said, “We came to the land where you sent us. Surely it flows with milk and honey, and this is its fruit. ²⁸ However, the people who dwell in the land are strong, and the cities are fortified and very large. Moreover, we saw the children of Anak there. ²⁹ Amalek dwells in the land of the South. The Hittite, the Jebusite, and the Amorite dwell in the hill country. The Canaanite dwells by the sea, and along the side of the Jordan.”

³⁰ Caleb stilled the people before Moses, and said, “Let’s go up at once, and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it!”

³¹ But the men who went up with him said, “We aren’t able to go up against the people; for they are stronger than we.” ³² They brought up an evil report of the land which they had spied out to the children of Israel, saying, “The land, through which we have gone to spy it out, is a land that eats up its inhabitants; and all the people who we saw in it are men of great stature. ³³ There we saw the Nephilim, the sons of Anak, who come from the Nephilim. We were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight.”

14All the congregation lifted up their voice, and cried; and the people wept that night. ² All the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron. The whole congregation said to them, “We wish that we had died in the land of Egypt, or that we had died in this wilderness! ³ Why does Yahweh bring us to this land, to fall by the sword? Our wives and our little ones will be captured or killed! Wouldn’t it be better for us to return into Egypt?” ⁴ They said to one another, “Let’s choose a leader, and let’s return into Egypt.”

⁵ Then Moses and Aaron fell on their faces before all the assembly of the congregation of the children of Israel.

⁶ Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, who were of those who spied out the land, tore their clothes. ⁷ They spoke to all the congregation of the children of Israel, saying, “The land, which we passed through to spy it out, is an exceedingly good land. ⁸ If Yahweh delights in us, then he will bring us into this land, and give it to us: a land which flows with milk and honey. ⁹ Only don’t rebel against Yahweh, neither fear the people of the land; for they are bread for us. Their defense is removed from over them, and Yahweh is with us. Don’t fear them.”

¹⁰ But all the congregation threatened to stone them with stones.

Yahweh’s glory appeared in the Tent of Meeting to all the children of Israel. ¹¹ Yahweh said to Moses, “How long will this people despise me? and how long will they not believe in me, for all the signs which I have worked among them? ¹² I will strike them with the pestilence, and disinherit them, and will make of you a nation greater and mightier than they.”

¹³ Moses said to Yahweh, “Then the Egyptians will hear it; for you brought up this people in your might from among them. ¹⁴ They will tell it to the inhabitants of this land. They have heard that you Yahweh are among this people; for you Yahweh are seen face to face, and your cloud stands over them, and you go before them, in a pillar of cloud by day, and in a pillar of fire by night. ¹⁵ Now if you killed this people as one man, then the nations which have heard the fame of you will speak, saying, ¹⁶ ‘Because Yahweh was not able to bring this people into the land which he swore to them, therefore he has slain them in the wilderness.’ ¹⁷ Now please let the power of the Lord be great, according as you have spoken, saying, ¹⁸ ‘Yahweh is slow to anger, and abundant in loving kindness, forgiving iniquity and disobedience; and he will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and on the fourth generation.’ ¹⁹ Please pardon the iniquity of this people according to the greatness of your loving kindness, and just as you have forgiven this people, from Egypt even until now.”

²⁰ Yahweh said, “I have pardoned according to your word; ²¹ but in very deed—as I live, and as all the earth shall be filled with Yahweh’s glory— ²² because all those men who have seen my glory, and my signs, which I worked in Egypt and in the wilderness, yet have tempted me these ten times, and have not listened to my voice; ²³ surely they shall not see the land which I swore to their fathers, neither shall any of those who despised me see it. ²⁴ But my servant Caleb, because he had another spirit with him, and has followed me fully, him I will bring into the land into which he went. His offspring shall possess it. ²⁵ Since the Amalekite and the Canaanite dwell in the valley, tomorrow turn and go into the wilderness by the way to the Red Sea.” ²⁶ Yahweh spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying, ²⁷ “How long shall I bear with this evil congregation that complain against me? I have heard the complaints of the children of Israel, which they complain against me. ²⁸ Tell them, ‘As I live, says Yahweh, surely as you have spoken in my ears, so I will do to you. ²⁹ Your dead bodies shall fall in this wilderness; and all who were counted of you, according to your whole number, from twenty years old and upward, who have complained against me, ³⁰ surely you shall not come into the land concerning which I swore that I would make you dwell therein, except Caleb the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua the son of Nun. ³¹ But I will bring your little ones that you said should be captured or killed in, and they shall know the land which you have rejected. ³² But as for you, your dead bodies shall fall in this wilderness. ³³ Your children shall be wanderers in the wilderness forty years, and shall bear your prostitution, until your dead bodies are consumed in the wilderness. ³⁴ After the number of the days in which you spied out the land, even forty days, for every day a year, you will bear your iniquities, even forty years, and you will know my alienation.’ ³⁵ I, Yahweh, have spoken. I will surely do this to all this evil congregation who are gathered together against me. In this wilderness they shall be consumed, and there they shall die.”

³⁶ The men whom Moses sent to spy out the land, who returned and made all the congregation to murmur against him by bringing up an evil report against the land, ³⁷ even those men who brought up an evil report of the land, died by the plague before Yahweh. ³⁸ But Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh remained alive of those men who went to spy out the land.

³⁹ Moses told these words to all the children of Israel, and the people mourned greatly. ⁴⁰ They rose up early in the morning and went up to the top of the mountain, saying, “Behold, we are here, and will go up to the place which Yahweh has promised; for we have sinned.”

⁴¹ Moses said, “Why now do you disobey the commandment of Yahweh, since it shall not prosper? ⁴² Don’t go up, for Yahweh isn’t among you; that way you won’t be struck down before your enemies. ⁴³ For there the Amalekite and the Canaanite are before you, and you will fall by the sword because you turned back from following Yahweh; therefore Yahweh will not be with you.”

⁴⁴ But they presumed to go up to the top of the mountain. Nevertheless, the ark of Yahweh’s covenant and Moses didn’t depart out of the camp. ⁴⁵ Then the Amalekites came down, and the Canaanites who lived in that mountain, and struck them and beat them down, even to Hormah.

15Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ² “Speak to the children of Israel, and tell them, ‘When you have come into the land of your habitations, which I give to you, ³ and will make an offering by fire to Yahweh—a burnt offering, or a sacrifice, to accomplish a vow, or as a free will offering, or in your set feasts, to make a pleasant aroma to Yahweh, of the herd, or of the flock— ⁴ then he who offers his offering shall offer to Yahweh a meal offering of one tenth of an ephah of fine flour mixed with one fourth of a hin of oil. ⁵ You shall prepare wine for the drink offering, one fourth of a hin, with the burnt offering or for the sacrifice, for each lamb.

⁶ “ ‘For a ram, you shall prepare for a meal offering two tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with the third part of a hin of oil; ⁷ and for the drink offering you shall offer the third part of a hin of wine, of a pleasant aroma to Yahweh. ⁸ When you prepare a bull for a burnt offering or for a sacrifice, to accomplish a vow, or for peace offerings to Yahweh, ⁹ then he shall offer with the bull a meal offering of three tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with half a hin of oil; ¹⁰ and you shall offer for the drink offering half a hin of wine, for an offering made by fire, of a pleasant aroma to Yahweh. ¹¹ Thus it shall be done for each bull, for each ram, for each of the male lambs, or of the young goats. ¹² According to the number that you shall prepare, so you shall do to everyone according to their number.

¹³ “ ‘All who are native-born shall do these things in this way, in offering an offering made by fire, of a pleasant aroma to Yahweh. ¹⁴ If a stranger lives as a foreigner with you, or whoever may be among you throughout your generations, and will offer an offering made by fire, of a pleasant aroma to Yahweh, as you do, so he shall do. ¹⁵ For the assembly, there shall be one statute for you and for the stranger who lives as a foreigner, a statute forever throughout your generations. As you are, so the foreigner shall be before Yahweh. ¹⁶ One law and one ordinance shall be for you and for the stranger who lives as a foreigner with you.’ ”

¹⁷ Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ¹⁸ “Speak to the children of Israel, and tell them, ‘When you come into the land where I bring you, ¹⁹ then it shall be that when you eat of the bread of the land, you shall offer up a wave offering to Yahweh. ²⁰ Of the first of your dough you shall offer up a cake for a wave offering. As the wave offering of the threshing floor, so you shall heave it. ²¹ Of the first of your dough, you shall give to Yahweh a wave offering throughout your generations.

²² “ ‘When you err, and don’t observe all these commandments which Yahweh has spoken to Moses— ²³ even all that Yahweh has commanded you by Moses, from the day that Yahweh gave commandment and onward throughout your generations— ²⁴ then it shall be, if it was done unwittingly, without the knowledge of the congregation, that all the congregation shall offer one young bull for a burnt offering, for a pleasant aroma to Yahweh, with its meal offering and its drink offering, according to the ordinance, and one male goat for a sin offering. ²⁵ The priest shall make atonement for all the congregation of the children of Israel, and they shall be forgiven; for it was an error, and they have brought their offering, an offering made by fire to Yahweh, and their sin offering before Yahweh, for their error. ²⁶ All the congregation of the children of Israel shall be forgiven, as well as the stranger who lives as a foreigner among them; for with regard to all the people, it was done unwittingly.

²⁷ “ ‘If a person sins unwittingly, then he shall offer a female goat a year old for a sin offering. ²⁸ The priest shall make atonement for the soul who errs when he sins unwittingly before Yahweh. He shall make atonement for him; and he shall be forgiven. ²⁹ You shall have one law for him who does anything unwittingly, for him who is native-born among the children of Israel, and for the stranger who lives as a foreigner among them.

³⁰ “ ‘But the soul who does anything with a high hand, whether he is native-born or a foreigner, blasphemes Yahweh. That soul shall be cut off from among his people. ³¹ Because he has despised Yahweh’s word, and has broken his commandment, that soul shall be utterly cut off. His iniquity shall be on him.’ ”

³² While the children of Israel were in the wilderness, they found a man gathering sticks on the Sabbath day. ³³ Those who found him gathering sticks brought him to Moses and Aaron, and to all the congregation. ³⁴ They put him in custody, because it had not been declared what should be done to him.

³⁵ Yahweh said to Moses, “The man shall surely be put to death. All the congregation shall stone him with stones outside of the camp.” ³⁶ All the congregation brought him outside of the camp, and stoned him to death with stones, as Yahweh commanded Moses.

³⁷ Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ³⁸ “Speak to the children of Israel, and tell them that they should make themselves fringes on the borders of their garments throughout their generations, and that they put on the fringe of each border a cord of blue. ³⁹ It shall be to you for a fringe, that you may see it, and remember all Yahweh’s commandments, and do them; and that you don’t follow your own heart and your own eyes, after which you used to play the prostitute; ⁴⁰ so that you may remember and do all my commandments, and be holy to your God. ⁴¹ I am Yahweh your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, to be your God: I am Yahweh your God.”

16Now Korah, the son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, with Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, and On, the son of Peleth, sons of Reuben, took some men. ² They rose up before Moses, with some of the children of Israel, two hundred fifty princes of the congregation, called to the assembly, men of renown. ³ They assembled themselves together against Moses and against Aaron, and said to them, “You take too much on yourself, since all the congregation are holy, everyone of them, and Yahweh is among them! Why do you lift yourselves up above Yahweh’s assembly?”

⁴ When Moses heard it, he fell on his face. ⁵ He said to Korah and to all his company, “In the morning, Yahweh will show who are his, and who is holy, and will cause him to come near to him. Even him whom he shall choose, he will cause to come near to him. ⁶ Do this: have Korah and all his company take censers, ⁷ put fire in them, and put incense on them before Yahweh tomorrow. It shall be that the man whom Yahweh chooses, he shall be holy. You have gone too far, you sons of Levi!”

⁸ Moses said to Korah, “Hear now, you sons of Levi! ⁹ Is it a small thing to you that the God of Israel has separated you from the congregation of Israel, to bring you near to himself, to do the service of Yahweh’s tabernacle, and to stand before the congregation to minister to them; ¹⁰ and that he has brought you near, and all your brothers the sons of Levi with you? Do you seek the priesthood also? ¹¹ Therefore you and all your company have gathered together against Yahweh! What is Aaron that you complain against him?”

¹² Moses sent to call Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab; and they said, “We won’t come up! ¹³ Is it a small thing that you have brought us up out of a land flowing with milk and honey, to kill us in the wilderness, but you must also make yourself a prince over us? ¹⁴ Moreover you haven’t brought us into a land flowing with milk and honey, nor given us inheritance of fields and vineyards. Will you put out the eyes of these men? We won’t come up.”

¹⁵ Moses was very angry, and said to Yahweh, “Don’t respect their offering. I have not taken one donkey from them, neither have I hurt one of them.”

¹⁶ Moses said to Korah, “You and all your company go before Yahweh, you, and they, and Aaron, tomorrow. ¹⁷ Each man take his censer and put incense on it, and each man bring before Yahweh his censer, two hundred fifty censers; you also, and Aaron, each with his censer.”

¹⁸ They each took his censer, and put fire in it, and laid incense on it, and stood at the door of the Tent of Meeting with Moses and Aaron. ¹⁹ Korah assembled all the congregation opposite them to the door of the Tent of Meeting.

Yahweh’s glory appeared to all the congregation. ²⁰ Yahweh spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying, ²¹ “Separate yourselves from among this congregation, that I may consume them in a moment!”

²² They fell on their faces, and said, “God, the God of the spirits of all flesh, shall one man sin, and will you be angry with all the congregation?”

²³ Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ²⁴ “Speak to the congregation, saying, ‘Get away from around the tent of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram!’ ”

²⁵ Moses rose up and went to Dathan and Abiram; and the elders of Israel followed him. ²⁶ He spoke to the congregation, saying, “Depart, please, from the tents of these wicked men, and touch nothing of theirs, lest you be consumed in all their sins!”

²⁷ So they went away from the tent of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, on every side. Dathan and Abiram came out, and stood at the door of their tents with their wives, their sons, and their little ones.

²⁸ Moses said, “Hereby you shall know that Yahweh has sent me to do all these works; for they are not from my own mind. ²⁹ If these men die the common death of all men, or if they experience what all men experience, then Yahweh hasn’t sent me. ³⁰ But if Yahweh makes a new thing, and the ground opens its mouth, and swallows them up with all that belong to them, and they go down alive into Sheol, then you shall understand that these men have despised Yahweh.”

³¹ As he finished speaking all these words, the ground that was under them split apart. ³² The earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up with their households, all of Korah’s men, and all their goods. ³³ So they, and all that belonged to them went down alive into Sheol. The earth closed on them, and they perished from among the assembly. ³⁴ All Israel that were around them fled at their cry; for they said, “Lest the earth swallow us up!” ³⁵ Fire came out from Yahweh, and devoured the two hundred fifty men who offered the incense.

³⁶ Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ³⁷ “Speak to Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest, that he take up the censers out of the burning, and scatter the fire away from the camp; for they are holy, ³⁸ even the censers of those who sinned against their own lives. Let them be beaten into plates for a covering of the altar, for they offered them before Yahweh. Therefore they are holy. They shall be a sign to the children of Israel.”

³⁹ Eleazar the priest took the bronze censers which those who were burned had offered; and they beat them out for a covering of the altar, ⁴⁰ to be a memorial to the children of Israel, to the end that no stranger who isn’t of the offspring of Aaron, would come near to burn incense before Yahweh, that he not be as Korah, and as his company; as Yahweh spoke to him by Moses.

⁴¹ But on the next day all the congregation of the children of Israel complained against Moses and against Aaron, saying, “You have killed Yahweh’s people!”

⁴² When the congregation was assembled against Moses and against Aaron, they looked toward the Tent of Meeting. Behold, the cloud covered it, and Yahweh’s glory appeared. ⁴³ Moses and Aaron came to the front of the Tent of Meeting. ⁴⁴ Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ⁴⁵ “Get away from among this congregation, that I may consume them in a moment!” They fell on their faces.

⁴⁶ Moses said to Aaron, “Take your censer, put fire from the altar in it, lay incense on it, carry it quickly to the congregation, and make atonement for them; for wrath has gone out from Yahweh! The plague has begun.”

⁴⁷ Aaron did as Moses said, and ran into the middle of the assembly. The plague had already begun among the people. He put on the incense, and made atonement for the people. ⁴⁸ He stood between the dead and the living; and the plague was stayed. ⁴⁹ Now those who died by the plague were fourteen thousand and seven hundred, in addition to those who died about the matter of Korah. ⁵⁰ Aaron returned to Moses to the door of the Tent of Meeting, and the plague was stopped.

17Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ² “Speak to the children of Israel, and take rods from them, one for each fathers’ house, of all their princes according to their fathers’ houses, twelve rods. Write each man’s name on his rod. ³ You shall write Aaron’s name on Levi’s rod. There shall be one rod for each head of their fathers’ houses. ⁴ You shall lay them up in the Tent of Meeting before the covenant, where I meet with you. ⁵ It shall happen that the rod of the man whom I shall choose shall bud. I will make the murmurings of the children of Israel, which they murmur against you, cease from me.”

⁶ Moses spoke to the children of Israel; and all their princes gave him rods, for each prince one, according to their fathers’ houses, a total of twelve rods. Aaron’s rod was among their rods. ⁷ Moses laid up the rods before Yahweh in the Tent of the Testimony.

⁸ On the next day, Moses went into the Tent of the Testimony; and behold, Aaron’s rod for the house of Levi had sprouted, budded, produced blossoms, and bore ripe almonds. ⁹ Moses brought out all the rods from before Yahweh to all the children of Israel. They looked, and each man took his rod.

¹⁰ Yahweh said to Moses, “Put back the rod of Aaron before the covenant, to be kept for a token against the children of rebellion; that you may make an end of their complaining against me, that they not die.” ¹¹ Moses did so. As Yahweh commanded him, so he did.

¹² The children of Israel spoke to Moses, saying, “Behold, we perish! We are undone! We are all undone! ¹³ Everyone who keeps approaching Yahweh’s tabernacle, dies! Will we all perish?”

18Yahweh said to Aaron, “You and your sons and your fathers’ house with you shall bear the iniquity of the sanctuary; and you and your sons with you shall bear the iniquity of your priesthood. ² Bring your brothers also, the tribe of Levi, the tribe of your father, near with you, that they may be joined to you, and minister to you; but you and your sons with you shall be before the Tent of the Testimony. ³ They shall keep your commands and the duty of the whole Tent; only they shall not come near to the vessels of the sanctuary and to the altar, that they not die, neither they nor you. ⁴ They shall be joined to you and keep the responsibility of the Tent of Meeting, for all the service of the Tent. A stranger shall not come near to you.

⁵ “You shall perform the duty of the sanctuary and the duty of the altar, that there be no more wrath on the children of Israel. ⁶ Behold, I myself have taken your brothers the Levites from among the children of Israel. They are a gift to you, dedicated to Yahweh, to do the service of the Tent of Meeting. ⁷ You and your sons with you shall keep your priesthood for everything of the altar, and for that within the veil. You shall serve. I give you the service of the priesthood as a gift. The stranger who comes near shall be put to death.”

⁸ Yahweh spoke to Aaron, “Behold, I myself have given you the command of my wave offerings, even all the holy things of the children of Israel. I have given them to you by reason of the anointing, and to your sons, as a portion forever. ⁹ This shall be yours of the most holy things from the fire: every offering of theirs, even every meal offering of theirs, and every sin offering of theirs, and every trespass offering of theirs, which they shall render to me, shall be most holy for you and for your sons. ¹⁰ You shall eat of it like the most holy things. Every male shall eat of it. It shall be holy to you.

¹¹ “This is yours, too: the wave offering of their gift, even all the wave offerings of the children of Israel. I have given them to you, and to your sons and to your daughters with you, as a portion forever. Everyone who is clean in your house shall eat of it.

¹² “I have given to you all the best of the oil, all the best of the vintage, and of the grain, the first fruits of them which they give to Yahweh. ¹³ The first-ripe fruits of all that is in their land, which they bring to Yahweh, shall be yours. Everyone who is clean in your house shall eat of it.

¹⁴ “Everything devoted in Israel shall be yours. ¹⁵ Everything that opens the womb, of all flesh which they offer to Yahweh, both of man and animal, shall be yours. Nevertheless, you shall surely redeem the firstborn of man, and you shall redeem the firstborn of unclean animals. ¹⁶ You shall redeem those who are to be redeemed of them from a month old, according to your estimation, for five shekels of money, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, which weighs twenty gerahs.

¹⁷ “But you shall not redeem the firstborn of a cow, or the firstborn of a sheep, or the firstborn of a goat. They are holy. You shall sprinkle their blood on the altar, and shall burn their fat for an offering made by fire, for a pleasant aroma to Yahweh. ¹⁸ Their meat shall be yours, as the wave offering breast and as the right thigh, it shall be yours. ¹⁹ All the wave offerings of the holy things which the children of Israel offer to Yahweh, I have given you and your sons and your daughters with you, as a portion forever. It is a covenant of salt forever before Yahweh to you and to your offspring with you.”

²⁰ Yahweh said to Aaron, “You shall have no inheritance in their land, neither shall you have any portion among them. I am your portion and your inheritance among the children of Israel.

²¹ “To the children of Levi, behold, I have given all the tithe in Israel for an inheritance, in return for their service which they serve, even the service of the Tent of Meeting. ²² Henceforth the children of Israel shall not come near the Tent of Meeting, lest they bear sin, and die. ²³ But the Levites shall do the service of the Tent of Meeting, and they shall bear their iniquity. It shall be a statute forever throughout your generations. Among the children of Israel, they shall have no inheritance. ²⁴ For the tithe of the children of Israel, which they offer as a wave offering to Yahweh, I have given to the Levites for an inheritance. Therefore I have said to them, ‘Among the children of Israel they shall have no inheritance.’ ”

²⁵ Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ²⁶ “Moreover you shall speak to the Levites, and tell them, ‘When you take of the children of Israel the tithe which I have given you from them for your inheritance, then you shall offer up a wave offering of it for Yahweh, a tithe of the tithe. ²⁷ Your wave offering shall be credited to you, as though it were the grain of the threshing floor, and as the fullness of the wine press. ²⁸ Thus you also shall offer a wave offering to Yahweh of all your tithes, which you receive of the children of Israel; and of it you shall give Yahweh’s wave offering to Aaron the priest. ²⁹ Out of all your gifts, you shall offer every wave offering to Yahweh, of all its best parts, even the holy part of it.’

³⁰ “Therefore you shall tell them, ‘When you heave its best from it, then it shall be credited to the Levites as the increase of the threshing floor, and as the increase of the wine press. ³¹ You may eat it anywhere, you and your households, for it is your reward in return for your service in the Tent of Meeting. ³² You shall bear no sin by reason of it, when you have heaved from it its best. You shall not profane the holy things of the children of Israel, that you not die.’ ”

19Yahweh spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying, ² “This is the statute of the law which Yahweh has commanded. Tell the children of Israel to bring you a red heifer without spot, in which is no defect, and which was never yoked. ³ You shall give her to Eleazar the priest, and he shall bring her outside of the camp, and one shall kill her before his face. ⁴ Eleazar the priest shall take some of her blood with his finger, and sprinkle her blood toward the front of the Tent of Meeting seven times. ⁵ One shall burn the heifer in his sight; her skin, and her meat, and her blood, with her dung, shall he burn. ⁶ The priest shall take cedar wood, hyssop, and scarlet, and cast it into the middle of the burning of the heifer. ⁷ Then the priest shall wash his clothes, and he shall bathe his flesh in water, and afterward he shall come into the camp, and the priest shall be unclean until the evening. ⁸ He who burns her shall wash his clothes in water, and bathe his flesh in water, and shall be unclean until the evening.

⁹ “A man who is clean shall gather up the ashes of the heifer, and lay them up outside of the camp in a clean place; and it shall be kept for the congregation of the children of Israel for use in water for cleansing impurity. It is a sin offering. ¹⁰ He who gathers the ashes of the heifer shall wash his clothes, and be unclean until the evening. It shall be to the children of Israel, and to the stranger who lives as a foreigner among them, for a statute forever.

¹¹ “He who touches the dead body of any man shall be unclean seven days. ¹² He shall purify himself with water on the third day, and on the seventh day he shall be clean; but if he doesn’t purify himself the third day, then the seventh day he shall not be clean. ¹³ Whoever touches a dead person, the body of a man who has died, and doesn’t purify himself, defiles Yahweh’s tabernacle; and that soul shall be cut off from Israel; because the water for impurity was not sprinkled on him, he shall be unclean. His uncleanness is yet on him.

¹⁴ “This is the law when a man dies in a tent: everyone who comes into the tent, and everyone who is in the tent, shall be unclean seven days. ¹⁵ Every open vessel, which has no covering bound on it, is unclean.

¹⁶ “Whoever in the open field touches one who is slain with a sword, or a dead body, or a bone of a man, or a grave, shall be unclean seven days.

¹⁷ “For the unclean, they shall take of the ashes of the burning of the sin offering; and running water shall be poured on them in a vessel. ¹⁸ A clean person shall take hyssop, dip it in the water, and sprinkle it on the tent, on all the vessels, on the persons who were there, and on him who touched the bone, or the slain, or the dead, or the grave. ¹⁹ The clean person shall sprinkle on the unclean on the third day, and on the seventh day. On the seventh day, he shall purify him. He shall wash his clothes and bathe himself in water, and shall be clean at evening. ²⁰ But the man who shall be unclean, and shall not purify himself, that soul shall be cut off from among the assembly, because he has defiled the sanctuary of Yahweh. The water for impurity has not been sprinkled on him. He is unclean. ²¹ It shall be a perpetual statute to them. He who sprinkles the water for impurity shall wash his clothes, and he who touches the water for impurity shall be unclean until evening.

²² “Whatever the unclean person touches shall be unclean; and the soul that touches it shall be unclean until evening.”

20The children of Israel, even the whole congregation, came into the wilderness of Zin in the first month. The people stayed in Kadesh. Miriam died there, and was buried there. ² There was no water for the congregation; and they assembled themselves together against Moses and against Aaron. ³ The people quarreled with Moses, and spoke, saying, “We wish that we had died when our brothers died before Yahweh! ⁴ Why have you brought Yahweh’s assembly into this wilderness, that we should die there, we and our animals? ⁵ Why have you made us to come up out of Egypt, to bring us in to this evil place? It is no place of seed, or of figs, or of vines, or of pomegranates; neither is there any water to drink.”

⁶ Moses and Aaron went from the presence of the assembly to the door of the Tent of Meeting, and fell on their faces. Yahweh’s glory appeared to them. ⁷ Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ⁸ “Take the rod, and assemble the congregation, you, and Aaron your brother, and speak to the rock before their eyes, that it pour out its water. You shall bring water to them out of the rock; so you shall give the congregation and their livestock drink.”

⁹ Moses took the rod from before Yahweh, as he commanded him. ¹⁰ Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly together before the rock, and he said to them, “Hear now, you rebels! Shall we bring water out of this rock for you?” ¹¹ Moses lifted up his hand, and struck the rock with his rod twice, and water came out abundantly. The congregation and their livestock drank.

¹² Yahweh said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you didn’t believe in me, to sanctify me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given them.”

¹³ These are the waters of Meribah; because the children of Israel strove with Yahweh, and he was sanctified in them.

¹⁴ Moses sent messengers from Kadesh to the king of Edom, saying:

“Thus says your brother Israel: You know all the travail that has happened to us; ¹⁵ how our fathers went down into Egypt, and we lived in Egypt a long time. The Egyptians mistreated us and our fathers. ¹⁶ When we cried to Yahweh, he heard our voice, sent an angel, and brought us out of Egypt. Behold, we are in Kadesh, a city in the edge of your border.

¹⁷ “Please let us pass through your land. We will not pass through field or through vineyard, neither will we drink from the water of the wells. We will go along the king’s highway. We will not turn away to the right hand nor to the left, until we have passed your border.”

¹⁸ Edom said to him, “You shall not pass through me, lest I come out with the sword against you.”

¹⁹ The children of Israel said to him, “We will go up by the highway; and if we drink your water, I and my livestock, then I will give its price. Only let me, without doing anything else, pass through on my feet.”

²⁰ He said, “You shall not pass through.” Edom came out against him with many people, and with a strong hand. ²¹ Thus Edom refused to give Israel passage through his border, so Israel turned away from him.

²² They traveled from Kadesh, and the children of Israel, even the whole congregation, came to Mount Hor. ²³ Yahweh spoke to Moses and Aaron in Mount Hor, by the border of the land of Edom, saying, ²⁴ “Aaron shall be gathered to his people; for he shall not enter into the land which I have given to the children of Israel, because you rebelled against my word at the waters of Meribah. ²⁵ Take Aaron and Eleazar his son, and bring them up to Mount Hor; ²⁶ and strip Aaron of his garments, and put them on Eleazar his son. Aaron shall be gathered, and shall die there.”

²⁷ Moses did as Yahweh commanded. They went up onto Mount Hor in the sight of all the congregation. ²⁸ Moses stripped Aaron of his garments, and put them on Eleazar his son. Aaron died there on the top of the mountain, and Moses and Eleazar came down from the mountain. ²⁹ When all the congregation saw that Aaron was dead, they wept for Aaron thirty days, even all the house of Israel.

21The Canaanite, the king of Arad, who lived in the South, heard that Israel came by the way of Atharim. He fought against Israel, and took some of them captive. ² Israel vowed a vow to Yahweh, and said, “If you will indeed deliver this people into my hand, then I will utterly destroy their cities.” ³ Yahweh listened to the voice of Israel, and delivered up the Canaanites; and they utterly destroyed them and their cities. The name of the place was called Hormah.

⁴ They traveled from Mount Hor by the way to the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom. The soul of the people was very discouraged because of the journey. ⁵ The people spoke against God and against Moses: “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no bread, there is no water, and our soul loathes this disgusting food!”

⁶ Yahweh sent venomous snakes among the people, and they bit the people. Many people of Israel died. ⁷ The people came to Moses, and said, “We have sinned, because we have spoken against Yahweh and against you. Pray to Yahweh, that he take away the serpents from us.” Moses prayed for the people.

⁸ Yahweh said to Moses, “Make a venomous snake, and set it on a pole. It shall happen that everyone who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live.” ⁹ Moses made a serpent of bronze, and set it on the pole. If a serpent had bitten any man, when he looked at the serpent of bronze, he lived.

¹⁰ The children of Israel traveled, and encamped in Oboth. ¹¹ They traveled from Oboth, and encamped at Iyeabarim, in the wilderness which is before Moab, toward the sunrise. ¹² From there they traveled, and encamped in the valley of Zered. ¹³ From there they traveled, and encamped on the other side of the Arnon, which is in the wilderness that comes out of the border of the Amorites; for the Arnon is the border of Moab, between Moab and the Amorites. ¹⁴ Therefore it is said in the book of the Wars of Yahweh, “Vaheb in Suphah, the valleys of the Arnon, ¹⁵ the slope of the valleys that incline toward the dwelling of Ar, leans on the border of Moab.”

¹⁶ From there they traveled to Beer; that is the well of which Yahweh said to Moses, “Gather the people together, and I will give them water.”

¹⁷ Then Israel sang this song:

“Spring up, well! Sing to it,

¹⁸ the well, which the princes dug,

which the nobles of the people dug,

with the scepter, and with their poles.”

From the wilderness they traveled to Mattanah; ¹⁹ and from Mattanah to Nahaliel; and from Nahaliel to Bamoth; ²⁰ and from Bamoth to the valley that is in the field of Moab, to the top of Pisgah, which looks down on the desert. ²¹ Israel sent messengers to Sihon king of the Amorites, saying, ²² “Let me pass through your land. We will not turn away into field or vineyard. We will not drink of the water of the wells. We will go by the king’s highway, until we have passed your border.”

²³ Sihon would not allow Israel to pass through his border, but Sihon gathered all his people together, and went out against Israel into the wilderness, and came to Jahaz. He fought against Israel. ²⁴ Israel struck him with the edge of the sword, and possessed his land from the Arnon to the Jabbok, even to the children of Ammon; for the border of the children of Ammon was fortified. ²⁵ Israel took all these cities. Israel lived in all the cities of the Amorites, in Heshbon, and in all its villages. ²⁶ For Heshbon was the city of Sihon the king of the Amorites, who had fought against the former king of Moab, and taken all his land out of his hand, even to the Arnon. ²⁷ Therefore those who speak in proverbs say,

“Come to Heshbon.

Let the city of Sihon be built and established;

²⁸ for a fire has gone out of Heshbon,

a flame from the city of Sihon.

It has devoured Ar of Moab,

The lords of the high places of the Arnon.

²⁹ Woe to you, Moab!

You are undone, people of Chemosh!

He has given his sons as fugitives,

and his daughters into captivity,

to Sihon king of the Amorites.

³⁰ We have shot at them.

Heshbon has perished even to Dibon.

We have laid waste even to Nophah,

Which reaches to Medeba.”

³¹ Thus Israel lived in the land of the Amorites. ³² Moses sent to spy out Jazer. They took its villages, and drove out the Amorites who were there. ³³ They turned and went up by the way of Bashan. Og the king of Bashan went out against them, he and all his people, to battle at Edrei.

³⁴ Yahweh said to Moses, “Don’t fear him, for I have delivered him into your hand, with all his people, and his land. You shall do to him as you did to Sihon king of the Amorites, who lived at Heshbon.”

³⁵ So they struck him, with his sons and all his people, until there were no survivors; and they possessed his land.

22The children of Israel traveled, and encamped in the plains of Moab beyond the Jordan at Jericho. ² Balak the son of Zippor saw all that Israel had done to the Amorites. ³ Moab was very afraid of the people, because they were many. Moab was distressed because of the children of Israel. ⁴ Moab said to the elders of Midian, “Now this multitude will lick up all that is around us, as the ox licks up the grass of the field.”

Balak the son of Zippor was king of Moab at that time. ⁵ He sent messengers to Balaam the son of Beor, to Pethor, which is by the River, to the land of the children of his people, to call him, saying, “Behold, there is a people who came out of Egypt. Behold, they cover the surface of the earth, and they are staying opposite me. ⁶ Please come now therefore, and curse this people for me; for they are too mighty for me. Perhaps I shall prevail, that we may strike them, and that I may drive them out of the land; for I know that he whom you bless is blessed, and he whom you curse is cursed.”

⁷ The elders of Moab and the elders of Midian departed with the rewards of divination in their hand. They came to Balaam, and spoke to him the words of Balak.

⁸ He said to them, “Lodge here this night, and I will bring you word again, as Yahweh shall speak to me.” The princes of Moab stayed with Balaam.

⁹ God came to Balaam, and said, “Who are these men with you?”

¹⁰ Balaam said to God, “Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, has said to me, ¹¹ ‘Behold, the people that has come out of Egypt covers the surface of the earth. Now, come curse them for me. Perhaps I shall be able to fight against them, and shall drive them out.’ ”

¹² God said to Balaam, “You shall not go with them. You shall not curse the people, for they are blessed.”

¹³ Balaam rose up in the morning, and said to the princes of Balak, “Go to your land; for Yahweh refuses to permit me to go with you.”

¹⁴ The princes of Moab rose up, and they went to Balak, and said, “Balaam refuses to come with us.”

¹⁵ Balak again sent princes, more, and more honorable than they. ¹⁶ They came to Balaam, and said to him, “Thus says Balak the son of Zippor, ‘Please let nothing hinder you from coming to me, ¹⁷ for I will promote you to very great honor, and whatever you say to me I will do. Please come therefore, and curse this people for me.’ ”

¹⁸ Balaam answered the servants of Balak, “If Balak would give me his house full of silver and gold, I can’t go beyond the word of Yahweh my God, to do less or more. ¹⁹ Now therefore please stay here tonight as well, that I may know what else Yahweh will speak to me.”

²⁰ God came to Balaam at night, and said to him, “If the men have come to call you, rise up, go with them; but only the word which I speak to you, that you shall do.”

²¹ Balaam rose up in the morning, and saddled his donkey, and went with the princes of Moab. ²² God’s anger burned because he went; and Yahweh’s angel placed himself in the way as an adversary against him. Now he was riding on his donkey, and his two servants were with him. ²³ The donkey saw Yahweh’s angel standing in the way, with his sword drawn in his hand; and the donkey turned out of the path, and went into the field. Balaam struck the donkey, to turn her into the path. ²⁴ Then Yahweh’s angel stood in a narrow path between the vineyards, a wall being on this side, and a wall on that side. ²⁵ The donkey saw Yahweh’s angel, and she thrust herself to the wall, and crushed Balaam’s foot against the wall. He struck her again.

²⁶ Yahweh’s angel went further, and stood in a narrow place, where there was no way to turn either to the right hand or to the left. ²⁷ The donkey saw Yahweh’s angel, and she lay down under Balaam. Balaam’s anger burned, and he struck the donkey with his staff.

²⁸ Yahweh opened the mouth of the donkey, and she said to Balaam, “What have I done to you, that you have struck me these three times?”

²⁹ Balaam said to the donkey, “Because you have mocked me, I wish there were a sword in my hand, for now I would have killed you.”

³⁰ The donkey said to Balaam, “Am I not your donkey, on which you have ridden all your life long until today? Was I ever in the habit of doing so to you?”

He said, “No.”

³¹ Then Yahweh opened the eyes of Balaam, and he saw Yahweh’s angel standing in the way, with his sword drawn in his hand; and he bowed his head, and fell on his face. ³² Yahweh’s angel said to him, “Why have you struck your donkey these three times? Behold, I have come out as an adversary, because your way is perverse before me. ³³ The donkey saw me, and turned away before me these three times. Unless she had turned away from me, surely now I would have killed you, and saved her alive.”

³⁴ Balaam said to Yahweh’s angel, “I have sinned; for I didn’t know that you stood in the way against me. Now therefore, if it displeases you, I will go back again.”

³⁵ Yahweh’s angel said to Balaam, “Go with the men; but only the word that I shall speak to you, that you shall speak.”

So Balaam went with the princes of Balak. ³⁶ When Balak heard that Balaam had come, he went out to meet him to the City of Moab, which is on the border of the Arnon, which is in the utmost part of the border. ³⁷ Balak said to Balaam, “Didn’t I earnestly send for you to summon you? Why didn’t you come to me? Am I not able indeed to promote you to honor?”

³⁸ Balaam said to Balak, “Behold, I have come to you. Have I now any power at all to speak anything? The word that God puts in my mouth, that shall I speak.”

³⁹ Balaam went with Balak, and they came to Kiriath Huzoth. ⁴⁰ Balak sacrificed cattle and sheep, and sent to Balaam, and to the princes who were with him. ⁴¹ In the morning, Balak took Balaam, and brought him up into the high places of Baal; and he saw from there part of the people.

23Balaam said to Balak, “Build here seven altars for me, and prepare here seven bulls and seven rams for me.”

² Balak did as Balaam had spoken; and Balak and Balaam offered on every altar a bull and a ram. ³ Balaam said to Balak, “Stand by your burnt offering, and I will go. Perhaps Yahweh will come to meet me. Whatever he shows me I will tell you.”

He went to a bare height. ⁴ God met Balaam, and he said to him, “I have prepared the seven altars, and I have offered up a bull and a ram on every altar.”

⁵ Yahweh put a word in Balaam’s mouth, and said, “Return to Balak, and thus you shall speak.”

⁶ He returned to him, and behold, he was standing by his burnt offering, he, and all the princes of Moab. ⁷ He took up his parable, and said,

“From Aram has Balak brought me,

the king of Moab from the mountains of the East.

Come, curse Jacob for me.

Come, defy Israel.

⁸ How shall I curse whom God has not cursed?

How shall I defy whom Yahweh has not defied?

⁹ For from the top of the rocks I see him.

From the hills I see him.

Behold, it is a people that dwells alone,

and shall not be listed among the nations.

¹⁰ Who can count the dust of Jacob,

or count the fourth part of Israel?

Let me die the death of the righteous!

Let my last end be like his!”

¹¹ Balak said to Balaam, “What have you done to me? I took you to curse my enemies, and behold, you have blessed them altogether.”

¹² He answered and said, “Must I not take heed to speak that which Yahweh puts in my mouth?”

¹³ Balak said to him, “Please come with me to another place, where you may see them. You shall see just part of them, and shall not see them all. Curse them from there for me.”

¹⁴ He took him into the field of Zophim, to the top of Pisgah, and built seven altars, and offered up a bull and a ram on every altar. ¹⁵ He said to Balak, “Stand here by your burnt offering, while I meet God over there.”

¹⁶ Yahweh met Balaam, and put a word in his mouth, and said, “Return to Balak, and say this.”

¹⁷ He came to him, and behold, he was standing by his burnt offering, and the princes of Moab with him. Balak said to him, “What has Yahweh spoken?”

¹⁸ He took up his parable, and said,

“Rise up, Balak, and hear!

Listen to me, you son of Zippor.

¹⁹ God is not a man, that he should lie,

nor a son of man, that he should repent.

Has he said, and will he not do it?

Or has he spoken, and will he not make it good?

²⁰ Behold, I have received a command to bless.

He has blessed, and I can’t reverse it.

²¹ He has not seen iniquity in Jacob.

Neither has he seen perverseness in Israel.

Yahweh his God is with him.

The shout of a king is among them.

²² God brings them out of Egypt.

He has as it were the strength of the wild ox.

²³ Surely there is no enchantment with Jacob;

Neither is there any divination with Israel.

Now it shall be said of Jacob and of Israel,

‘What has God done!’

²⁴ Behold, a people rises up as a lioness.

As a lion he lifts himself up.

He shall not lie down until he eats of the prey,

and drinks the blood of the slain.”

²⁵ Balak said to Balaam, “Neither curse them at all, nor bless them at all.”

²⁶ But Balaam answered Balak, “Didn’t I tell you, saying, ‘All that Yahweh speaks, that I must do?’ ”

²⁷ Balak said to Balaam, “Come now, I will take you to another place; perhaps it will please God that you may curse them for me from there.”

²⁸ Balak took Balaam to the top of Peor, that looks down on the desert. ²⁹ Balaam said to Balak, “Build seven altars for me here, and prepare seven bulls and seven rams for me here.”

³⁰ Balak did as Balaam had said, and offered up a bull and a ram on every altar.

24When Balaam saw that it pleased Yahweh to bless Israel, he didn’t go, as at the other times, to use divination, but he set his face toward the wilderness. ² Balaam lifted up his eyes, and he saw Israel dwelling according to their tribes; and the Spirit of God came on him. ³ He took up his parable, and said,

“Balaam the son of Beor says,

the man whose eyes are open says;

⁴ he says, who hears the words of God,

who sees the vision of the Almighty,

falling down, and having his eyes open:

⁵ How goodly are your tents, Jacob,

and your dwellings, Israel!

⁶ As valleys they are spread out,

as gardens by the riverside,

as aloes which Yahweh has planted,

as cedar trees beside the waters.

⁷ Water shall flow from his buckets.

His seed shall be in many waters.

His king shall be higher than Agag.

His kingdom shall be exalted.

⁸ God brings him out of Egypt.

He has as it were the strength of the wild ox.

He shall consume the nations his adversaries,

shall break their bones in pieces,

and pierce them with his arrows.

⁹ He couched, he lay down as a lion,

as a lioness;

who shall rouse him up?

Everyone who blesses you is blessed.

Everyone who curses you is cursed.”

¹⁰ Balak’s anger burned against Balaam, and he struck his hands together. Balak said to Balaam, “I called you to curse my enemies, and, behold, you have altogether blessed them these three times. ¹¹ Therefore, flee to your place, now! I thought to promote you to great honor; but, behold, Yahweh has kept you back from honor.”

¹² Balaam said to Balak, “Didn’t I also tell your messengers whom you sent to me, saying, ¹³ ‘If Balak would give me his house full of silver and gold, I can’t go beyond Yahweh’s word, to do either good or bad from my own mind. I will say what Yahweh says’? ¹⁴ Now, behold, I go to my people. Come, I will inform you what this people shall do to your people in the latter days.”

¹⁵ He took up his parable, and said,

“Balaam the son of Beor says,

the man whose eyes are open says;

¹⁶ he says, who hears the words of God,

knows the knowledge of the Most High,

and who sees the vision of the Almighty,

Falling down, and having his eyes open:

¹⁷ I see him, but not now.

I see him, but not near.

A star will come out of Jacob.

A scepter will rise out of Israel,

and shall strike through the corners of Moab,

and crush all the sons of Sheth.

¹⁸ Edom shall be a possession.

Seir, his enemies, also shall be a possession,

while Israel does valiantly.

¹⁹ Out of Jacob shall one have dominion,

and shall destroy the remnant from the city.”

²⁰ He looked at Amalek, and took up his parable, and said,

“Amalek was the first of the nations,

But his latter end shall come to destruction.”

²¹ He looked at the Kenite, and took up his parable, and said,

“Your dwelling place is strong.

Your nest is set in the rock.

²² Nevertheless Kain shall be wasted,

until Asshur carries you away captive.”

²³ He took up his parable, and said,

“Alas, who shall live when God does this?

²⁴ But ships shall come from the coast of Kittim.

They shall afflict Asshur, and shall afflict Eber.

He also shall come to destruction.”

²⁵ Balaam rose up, and went and returned to his place; and Balak also went his way.

25Israel stayed in Shittim; and the people began to play the prostitute with the daughters of Moab; ² for they called the people to the sacrifices of their gods. The people ate and bowed down to their gods. ³ Israel joined himself to Baal Peor, and Yahweh’s anger burned against Israel. ⁴ Yahweh said to Moses, “Take all the chiefs of the people, and hang them up to Yahweh before the sun, that the fierce anger of Yahweh may turn away from Israel.”

⁵ Moses said to the judges of Israel, “Everyone kill his men who have joined themselves to Baal Peor.”

⁶ Behold, one of the children of Israel came and brought to his brothers a Midianite woman in the sight of Moses, and in the sight of all the congregation of the children of Israel, while they were weeping at the door of the Tent of Meeting. ⁷ When Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, saw it, he rose up from the middle of the congregation, and took a spear in his hand. ⁸ He went after the man of Israel into the pavilion, and thrust both of them through, the man of Israel, and the woman through her body. So the plague was stopped among the children of Israel. ⁹ Those who died by the plague were twenty-four thousand.

¹⁰ Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ¹¹ “Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, has turned my wrath away from the children of Israel, in that he was jealous with my jealousy among them, so that I didn’t consume the children of Israel in my jealousy. ¹² Therefore say, ‘Behold, I give to him my covenant of peace. ¹³ It shall be to him, and to his offspring after him, the covenant of an everlasting priesthood, because he was jealous for his God, and made atonement for the children of Israel.’ ”

¹⁴ Now the name of the man of Israel that was slain, who was slain with the Midianite woman, was Zimri, the son of Salu, a prince of a fathers’ house among the Simeonites. ¹⁵ The name of the Midianite woman who was slain was Cozbi, the daughter of Zur. He was head of the people of a fathers’ house in Midian.

¹⁶ Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ¹⁷ “Harass the Midianites, and strike them; ¹⁸ for they harassed you with their wiles, wherein they have deceived you in the matter of Peor, and in the incident regarding Cozbi, the daughter of the prince of Midian, their sister, who was slain on the day of the plague in the matter of Peor.”

26After the plague, Yahweh spoke to Moses and to Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest, saying, ² “Take a census of all the congregation of the children of Israel, from twenty years old and upward, by their fathers’ houses, all who are able to go out to war in Israel.” ³ Moses and Eleazar the priest spoke with them in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho, saying, ⁴ “Take a census, from twenty years old and upward, as Yahweh commanded Moses and the children of Israel.”

These are those that came out of the land of Egypt. ⁵ Reuben, the firstborn of Israel; the sons of Reuben: of Hanoch, the family of the Hanochites; of Pallu, the family of the Palluites; ⁶ of Hezron, the family of the Hezronites; of Carmi, the family of the Carmites. ⁷ These are the families of the Reubenites; and those who were counted of them were forty-three thousand seven hundred thirty. ⁸ The son of Pallu: Eliab. ⁹ The sons of Eliab: Nemuel, Dathan, and Abiram. These are that Dathan and Abiram who were called by the congregation, who rebelled against Moses and against Aaron in the company of Korah when they rebelled against Yahweh; ¹⁰ and the earth opened its mouth, and swallowed them up together with Korah when that company died; at the time the fire devoured two hundred fifty men, and they became a sign. ¹¹ Notwithstanding, the sons of Korah didn’t die. ¹² The sons of Simeon after their families: of Nemuel, the family of the Nemuelites; of Jamin, the family of the Jaminites; of Jachin, the family of the Jachinites; ¹³ of Zerah, the family of the Zerahites; of Shaul, the family of the Shaulites. ¹⁴ These are the families of the Simeonites, twenty-two thousand two hundred. ¹⁵ The sons of Gad after their families: of Zephon, the family of the Zephonites; of Haggi, the family of the Haggites; of Shuni, the family of the Shunites; ¹⁶ of Ozni, the family of the Oznites; of Eri, the family of the Erites; ¹⁷ of Arod, the family of the Arodites; of Areli, the family of the Arelites. ¹⁸ These are the families of the sons of Gad according to those who were counted of them, forty thousand and five hundred. ¹⁹ The sons of Judah: Er and Onan. Er and Onan died in the land of Canaan. ²⁰ The sons of Judah after their families were: of Shelah, the family of the Shelanites; of Perez, the family of the Perezites; of Zerah, the family of the Zerahites. ²¹ The sons of Perez were: of Hezron, the family of the Hezronites; of Hamul, the family of the Hamulites. ²² These are the families of Judah according to those who were counted of them, seventy-six thousand five hundred. ²³ The sons of Issachar after their families: of Tola, the family of the Tolaites; of Puvah, the family of the Punites; ²⁴ of Jashub, the family of the Jashubites; of Shimron, the family of the Shimronites. ²⁵ These are the families of Issachar according to those who were counted of them, sixty-four thousand three hundred. ²⁶ The sons of Zebulun after their families: of Sered, the family of the Seredites; of Elon, the family of the Elonites; of Jahleel, the family of the Jahleelites. ²⁷ These are the families of the Zebulunites according to those who were counted of them, sixty thousand five hundred. ²⁸ The sons of Joseph after their families: Manasseh and Ephraim. ²⁹ The sons of Manasseh: of Machir, the family of the Machirites; and Machir became the father of Gilead; of Gilead, the family of the Gileadites. ³⁰ These are the sons of Gilead: of Iezer, the family of the Iezerites; of Helek, the family of the Helekites; ³¹ and Asriel, the family of the Asrielites; and Shechem, the family of the Shechemites; ³² and Shemida, the family of the Shemidaites; and Hepher, the family of the Hepherites. ³³ Zelophehad the son of Hepher had no sons, but daughters: and the names of the daughters of Zelophehad were Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah. ³⁴ These are the families of Manasseh. Those who were counted of them were fifty-two thousand seven hundred. ³⁵ These are the sons of Ephraim after their families: of Shuthelah, the family of the Shuthelahites; of Becher, the family of the Becherites; of Tahan, the family of the Tahanites. ³⁶ These are the sons of Shuthelah: of Eran, the family of the Eranites. ³⁷ These are the families of the sons of Ephraim according to those who were counted of them, thirty-two thousand five hundred. These are the sons of Joseph after their families. ³⁸ The sons of Benjamin after their families: of Bela, the family of the Belaites; of Ashbel, the family of the Ashbelites; of Ahiram, the family of the Ahiramites; ³⁹ of Shephupham, the family of the Shuphamites; of Hupham, the family of the Huphamites. ⁴⁰ The sons of Bela were Ard and Naaman: the family of the Ardites; and of Naaman, the family of the Naamites. ⁴¹ These are the sons of Benjamin after their families; and those who were counted of them were forty-five thousand six hundred. ⁴² These are the sons of Dan after their families: of Shuham, the family of the Shuhamites. These are the families of Dan after their families. ⁴³ All the families of the Shuhamites, according to those who were counted of them, were sixty-four thousand four hundred. ⁴⁴ The sons of Asher after their families: of Imnah, the family of the Imnites; of Ishvi, the family of the Ishvites; of Beriah, the family of the Berites. ⁴⁵ Of the sons of Beriah: of Heber, the family of the Heberites; of Malchiel, the family of the Malchielites. ⁴⁶ The name of the daughter of Asher was Serah. ⁴⁷ These are the families of the sons of Asher according to those who were counted of them, fifty-three thousand and four hundred. ⁴⁸ The sons of Naphtali after their families: of Jahzeel, the family of the Jahzeelites; of Guni, the family of the Gunites; ⁴⁹ of Jezer, the family of the Jezerites; of Shillem, the family of the Shillemites. ⁵⁰ These are the families of Naphtali according to their families; and those who were counted of them were forty-five thousand four hundred. ⁵¹ These are those who were counted of the children of Israel, six hundred one thousand seven hundred thirty.

⁵² Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ⁵³ “To these the land shall be divided for an inheritance according to the number of names. ⁵⁴ To the more you shall give the more inheritance, and to the fewer you shall give the less inheritance. To everyone according to those who were counted of him shall his inheritance be given. ⁵⁵ Notwithstanding, the land shall be divided by lot. According to the names of the tribes of their fathers they shall inherit. ⁵⁶ According to the lot shall their inheritance be divided between the more and the fewer.”

⁵⁷ These are those who were counted of the Levites after their families: of Gershon, the family of the Gershonites; of Kohath, the family of the Kohathites; of Merari, the family of the Merarites. ⁵⁸ These are the families of Levi: the family of the Libnites, the family of the Hebronites, the family of the Mahlites, the family of the Mushites, and the family of the Korahites. Kohath became the father of Amram. ⁵⁹ The name of Amram’s wife was Jochebed, the daughter of Levi, who was born to Levi in Egypt. She bore to Amram Aaron and Moses, and Miriam their sister. ⁶⁰ To Aaron were born Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar. ⁶¹ Nadab and Abihu died when they offered strange fire before Yahweh. ⁶² Those who were counted of them were twenty-three thousand, every male from a month old and upward; for they were not counted among the children of Israel, because there was no inheritance given them among the children of Israel. ⁶³ These are those who were counted by Moses and Eleazar the priest, who counted the children of Israel in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho. ⁶⁴ But among these there was not a man of them who were counted by Moses and Aaron the priest, who counted the children of Israel in the wilderness of Sinai. ⁶⁵ For Yahweh had said of them, “They shall surely die in the wilderness.” There was not a man left of them, except Caleb the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua the son of Nun.

27Then the daughters of Zelophehad, the son of Hepher, the son of Gilead, the son of Machir, the son of Manasseh, of the families of Manasseh the son of Joseph came near. These are the names of his daughters: Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah. ² They stood before Moses, before Eleazar the priest, and before the princes and all the congregation, at the door of the Tent of Meeting, saying, ³ “Our father died in the wilderness. He was not among the company of those who gathered themselves together against Yahweh in the company of Korah, but he died in his own sin. He had no sons. ⁴ Why should the name of our father be taken away from among his family, because he had no son? Give to us a possession among the brothers of our father.”

⁵ Moses brought their cause before Yahweh. ⁶ Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ⁷ “The daughters of Zelophehad speak right. You shall surely give them a possession of an inheritance among their father’s brothers. You shall cause the inheritance of their father to pass to them. ⁸ You shall speak to the children of Israel, saying, ‘If a man dies, and has no son, then you shall cause his inheritance to pass to his daughter. ⁹ If he has no daughter, then you shall give his inheritance to his brothers. ¹⁰ If he has no brothers, then you shall give his inheritance to his father’s brothers. ¹¹ If his father has no brothers, then you shall give his inheritance to his kinsman who is next to him of his family, and he shall possess it. This shall be a statute and ordinance for the children of Israel, as Yahweh commanded Moses.’ ”

¹² Yahweh said to Moses, “Go up into this mountain of Abarim, and see the land which I have given to the children of Israel. ¹³ When you have seen it, you also shall be gathered to your people, as Aaron your brother was gathered; ¹⁴ because in the strife of the congregation, you rebelled against my word in the wilderness of Zin, to honor me as holy at the waters before their eyes.” (These are the waters of Meribah of Kadesh in the wilderness of Zin.)

¹⁵ Moses spoke to Yahweh, saying, ¹⁶ “Let Yahweh, the God of the spirits of all flesh, appoint a man over the congregation, ¹⁷ who may go out before them, and who may come in before them, and who may lead them out, and who may bring them in, that the congregation of Yahweh may not be as sheep which have no shepherd.”

¹⁸ Yahweh said to Moses, “Take Joshua the son of Nun, a man in whom is the Spirit, and lay your hand on him. ¹⁹ Set him before Eleazar the priest, and before all the congregation; and commission him in their sight. ²⁰ You shall give authority to him, that all the congregation of the children of Israel may obey. ²¹ He shall stand before Eleazar the priest, who shall inquire for him by the judgment of the Urim before Yahweh. At his word they shall go out, and at his word they shall come in, both he and all the children of Israel with him, even all the congregation.”

²² Moses did as Yahweh commanded him. He took Joshua, and set him before Eleazar the priest and before all the congregation. ²³ He laid his hands on him and commissioned him, as Yahweh spoke by Moses.

28Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ² “Command the children of Israel, and tell them, ‘See that you present my offering, my food for my offerings made by fire, as a pleasant aroma to me, in their due season.’ ³ You shall tell them, ‘This is the offering made by fire which you shall offer to Yahweh: male lambs a year old without defect, two day by day, for a continual burnt offering. ⁴ You shall offer the one lamb in the morning, and you shall offer the other lamb at evening, ⁵ with one tenth of an ephah of fine flour for a meal offering, mixed with the fourth part of a hin of beaten oil. ⁶ It is a continual burnt offering which was ordained in Mount Sinai for a pleasant aroma, an offering made by fire to Yahweh. ⁷ Its drink offering shall be the fourth part of a hin for each lamb. You shall pour out a drink offering of strong drink to Yahweh in the holy place. ⁸ The other lamb you shall offer at evening. As the meal offering of the morning, and as its drink offering, you shall offer it, an offering made by fire, for a pleasant aroma to Yahweh.

⁹ “ ‘On the Sabbath day, you shall offer two male lambs a year old without defect, and two tenths of an ephah of fine flour for a meal offering mixed with oil, and its drink offering: ¹⁰ this is the burnt offering of every Sabbath, in addition to the continual burnt offering and its drink offering.

¹¹ “ ‘In the beginnings of your months, you shall offer a burnt offering to Yahweh: two young bulls, one ram, seven male lambs a year old without defect, ¹² and three tenths of an ephah of fine flour for a meal offering mixed with oil, for each bull; and two tenth parts of fine flour for a meal offering mixed with oil, for the one ram; ¹³ and one tenth part of fine flour mixed with oil for a meal offering to every lamb, as a burnt offering of a pleasant aroma, an offering made by fire to Yahweh. ¹⁴ Their drink offerings shall be half a hin of wine for a bull, the third part of a hin for the ram, and the fourth part of a hin for a lamb. This is the burnt offering of every month throughout the months of the year. ¹⁵ Also, one male goat for a sin offering to Yahweh shall be offered in addition to the continual burnt offering and its drink offering.

¹⁶ “ ‘In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month, is Yahweh’s Passover. ¹⁷ On the fifteenth day of this month shall be a feast. Unleavened bread shall be eaten for seven days. ¹⁸ In the first day shall be a holy convocation. You shall do no regular work, ¹⁹ but you shall offer an offering made by fire, a burnt offering to Yahweh: two young bulls, one ram, and seven male lambs a year old. They shall be without defect, ²⁰ with their meal offering, fine flour mixed with oil. You shall offer three tenths for a bull, and two tenths for the ram. ²¹ You shall offer one tenth for every lamb of the seven lambs; ²² and one male goat for a sin offering, to make atonement for you. ²³ You shall offer these in addition to the burnt offering of the morning, which is for a continual burnt offering. ²⁴ In this way you shall offer daily, for seven days, the food of the offering made by fire, of a pleasant aroma to Yahweh. It shall be offered in addition to the continual burnt offering and its drink offering. ²⁵ On the seventh day you shall have a holy convocation. You shall do no regular work.

²⁶ “ ‘Also in the day of the first fruits, when you offer a new meal offering to Yahweh in your feast of weeks, you shall have a holy convocation. You shall do no regular work; ²⁷ but you shall offer a burnt offering for a pleasant aroma to Yahweh: two young bulls, one ram, seven male lambs a year old; ²⁸ and their meal offering, fine flour mixed with oil, three tenths for each bull, two tenths for the one ram, ²⁹ one tenth for every lamb of the seven lambs; ³⁰ and one male goat, to make atonement for you. ³¹ Besides the continual burnt offering and its meal offering, you shall offer them and their drink offerings. See that they are without defect.

29“ ‘In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall have a holy convocation; you shall do no regular work. It is a day of blowing of trumpets to you. ² You shall offer a burnt offering for a pleasant aroma to Yahweh: one young bull, one ram, seven male lambs a year old without defect; ³ and their meal offering, fine flour mixed with oil: three tenths for the bull, two tenths for the ram, ⁴ and one tenth for every lamb of the seven lambs; ⁵ and one male goat for a sin offering, to make atonement for you; ⁶ in addition to the burnt offering of the new moon with its meal offering, and the continual burnt offering with its meal offering, and their drink offerings, according to their ordinance, for a pleasant aroma, an offering made by fire to Yahweh.

⁷ “ ‘On the tenth day of this seventh month you shall have a holy convocation. You shall afflict your souls. You shall do no kind of work; ⁸ but you shall offer a burnt offering to Yahweh for a pleasant aroma: one young bull, one ram, seven male lambs a year old, all without defect; ⁹ and their meal offering, fine flour mixed with oil: three tenths for the bull, two tenths for the one ram, ¹⁰ one tenth for every lamb of the seven lambs; ¹¹ one male goat for a sin offering, in addition to the sin offering of atonement, and the continual burnt offering, and its meal offering, and their drink offerings.

¹² “ ‘On the fifteenth day of the seventh month you shall have a holy convocation. You shall do no regular work. You shall keep a feast to Yahweh seven days. ¹³ You shall offer a burnt offering, an offering made by fire, of a pleasant aroma to Yahweh: thirteen young bulls, two rams, fourteen male lambs a year old, all without defect; ¹⁴ and their meal offering, fine flour mixed with oil: three tenths for every bull of the thirteen bulls, two tenths for each ram of the two rams, ¹⁵ and one tenth for every lamb of the fourteen lambs; ¹⁶ and one male goat for a sin offering, in addition to the continual burnt offering, its meal offering, and its drink offering.

¹⁷ “ ‘On the second day you shall offer twelve young bulls, two rams, and fourteen male lambs a year old without defect; ¹⁸ and their meal offering and their drink offerings for the bulls, for the rams, and for the lambs, according to their number, after the ordinance; ¹⁹ and one male goat for a sin offering, in addition to the continual burnt offering, with its meal offering and their drink offerings.

²⁰ “ ‘On the third day: eleven bulls, two rams, fourteen male lambs a year old without defect; ²¹ and their meal offering and their drink offerings for the bulls, for the rams, and for the lambs, according to their number, after the ordinance; ²² and one male goat for a sin offering, in addition to the continual burnt offering, and its meal offering, and its drink offering.

²³ “ ‘On the fourth day ten bulls, two rams, fourteen male lambs a year old without defect; ²⁴ their meal offering and their drink offerings for the bulls, for the rams, and for the lambs, according to their number, after the ordinance; ²⁵ and one male goat for a sin offering; in addition to the continual burnt offering, its meal offering, and its drink offering.

²⁶ “ ‘On the fifth day: nine bulls, two rams, fourteen male lambs a year old without defect; ²⁷ and their meal offering and their drink offerings for the bulls, for the rams, and for the lambs, according to their number, after the ordinance, ²⁸ and one male goat for a sin offering, in addition to the continual burnt offering, and its meal offering, and its drink offering.

²⁹ “ ‘On the sixth day: eight bulls, two rams, fourteen male lambs a year old without defect; ³⁰ and their meal offering and their drink offerings for the bulls, for the rams, and for the lambs, according to their number, after the ordinance, ³¹ and one male goat for a sin offering; in addition to the continual burnt offering, its meal offering, and the drink offerings of it.

³² “ ‘On the seventh day: seven bulls, two rams, fourteen male lambs a year old without defect; ³³ and their meal offering and their drink offerings for the bulls, for the rams, and for the lambs, according to their number, after the ordinance, ³⁴ and one male goat for a sin offering; in addition to the continual burnt offering, its meal offering, and its drink offering.

³⁵ “ ‘On the eighth day you shall have a solemn assembly. You shall do no regular work; ³⁶ but you shall offer a burnt offering, an offering made by fire, a pleasant aroma to Yahweh: one bull, one ram, seven male lambs a year old without defect; ³⁷ their meal offering and their drink offerings for the bull, for the ram, and for the lambs, shall be according to their number, after the ordinance, ³⁸ and one male goat for a sin offering, in addition to the continual burnt offering, with its meal offering, and its drink offering.

³⁹ “ ‘You shall offer these to Yahweh in your set feasts—in addition to your vows and your free will offerings—for your burnt offerings, your meal offerings, your drink offerings, and your peace offerings.’ ”

⁴⁰ Moses told the children of Israel according to all that Yahweh commanded Moses.

30Moses spoke to the heads of the tribes of the children of Israel, saying, “This is the thing which Yahweh has commanded. ² When a man vows a vow to Yahweh, or swears an oath to bind his soul with a bond, he shall not break his word. He shall do according to all that proceeds out of his mouth.

³ “Also, when a woman vows a vow to Yahweh and binds herself by a pledge, being in her father’s house, in her youth, ⁴ and her father hears her vow and her pledge with which she has bound her soul, and her father says nothing to her, then all her vows shall stand, and every pledge with which she has bound her soul shall stand. ⁵ But if her father forbids her in the day that he hears, none of her vows or of her pledges with which she has bound her soul, shall stand. Yahweh will forgive her, because her father has forbidden her.

⁶ “If she has a husband, while her vows are on her, or the rash utterance of her lips with which she has bound her soul, ⁷ and her husband hears it, and says nothing to her in the day that he hears it; then her vows shall stand, and her pledges with which she has bound her soul shall stand. ⁸ But if her husband forbids her in the day that he hears it, then he makes void her vow which is on her and the rash utterance of her lips, with which she has bound her soul. Yahweh will forgive her.

⁹ “But the vow of a widow, or of her who is divorced, everything with which she has bound her soul shall stand against her.

¹⁰ “If she vowed in her husband’s house or bound her soul by a bond with an oath, ¹¹ and her husband heard it, and held his peace at her and didn’t disallow her, then all her vows shall stand, and every pledge with which she bound her soul shall stand. ¹² But if her husband made them null and void in the day that he heard them, then whatever proceeded out of her lips concerning her vows, or concerning the bond of her soul, shall not stand. Her husband has made them void. Yahweh will forgive her. ¹³ Every vow, and every binding oath to afflict the soul, her husband may establish it, or her husband may make it void. ¹⁴ But if her husband says nothing to her from day to day, then he establishes all her vows or all her pledges which are on her. He has established them, because he said nothing to her in the day that he heard them. ¹⁵ But if he makes them null and void after he has heard them, then he shall bear her iniquity.”

¹⁶ These are the statutes which Yahweh commanded Moses, between a man and his wife, between a father and his daughter, being in her youth, in her father’s house.

31Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ² “Avenge the children of Israel on the Midianites. Afterward you shall be gathered to your people.”

³ Moses spoke to the people, saying, “Arm men from among you for war, that they may go against Midian, to execute Yahweh’s vengeance on Midian. ⁴ You shall send one thousand out of every tribe, throughout all the tribes of Israel, to the war.” ⁵ So there were delivered, out of the thousands of Israel, a thousand from every tribe, twelve thousand armed for war. ⁶ Moses sent them, one thousand of every tribe, to the war with Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest, to the war, with the vessels of the sanctuary and the trumpets for the alarm in his hand. ⁷ They fought against Midian, as Yahweh commanded Moses. They killed every male. ⁸ They killed the kings of Midian with the rest of their slain: Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, and Reba, the five kings of Midian. They also killed Balaam the son of Beor with the sword. ⁹ The children of Israel took the women of Midian captive with their little ones; and all their livestock, all their flocks, and all their goods, they took as plunder. ¹⁰ All their cities in the places in which they lived, and all their encampments, they burned with fire. ¹¹ They took all the captives, and all the plunder, both of man and of animal. ¹² They brought the captives with the prey and the plunder, to Moses, and to Eleazar the priest, and to the congregation of the children of Israel, to the camp at the plains of Moab, which are by the Jordan at Jericho. ¹³ Moses and Eleazar the priest, with all the princes of the congregation, went out to meet them outside of the camp. ¹⁴ Moses was angry with the officers of the army, the captains of thousands and the captains of hundreds, who came from the service of the war. ¹⁵ Moses said to them, “Have you saved all the women alive? ¹⁶ Behold, these caused the children of Israel, through the counsel of Balaam, to commit trespass against Yahweh in the matter of Peor, and so the plague was among the congregation of Yahweh. ¹⁷ Now therefore kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman who has known man by lying with him. ¹⁸ But all the girls, who have not known man by lying with him, keep alive for yourselves.

¹⁹ “Encamp outside of the camp for seven days. Whoever has killed any person, and whoever has touched any slain, purify yourselves on the third day and on the seventh day, you and your captives. ²⁰ You shall purify every garment, and all that is made of skin, and all work of goats’ hair, and all things made of wood.”

²¹ Eleazar the priest said to the men of war who went to the battle, “This is the statute of the law which Yahweh has commanded Moses: ²² however the gold, and the silver, the bronze, the iron, the tin, and the lead, ²³ everything that may withstand the fire, you shall make to go through the fire, and it shall be clean; nevertheless it shall be purified with the water for impurity. All that doesn’t withstand the fire you shall make to go through the water. ²⁴ You shall wash your clothes on the seventh day, and you shall be clean. Afterward you shall come into the camp.”

²⁵ Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ²⁶ “Count the plunder that was taken, both of man and of animal, you, and Eleazar the priest, and the heads of the fathers’ households of the congregation; ²⁷ and divide the plunder into two parts: between the men skilled in war, who went out to battle, and all the congregation. ²⁸ Levy a tribute to Yahweh of the men of war who went out to battle: one soul of five hundred; of the persons, of the cattle, of the donkeys, and of the flocks. ²⁹ Take it from their half, and give it to Eleazar the priest, for Yahweh’s wave offering. ³⁰ Of the children of Israel’s half, you shall take one drawn out of every fifty, of the persons, of the cattle, of the donkeys, and of the flocks, of all the livestock, and give them to the Levites, who perform the duty of Yahweh’s tabernacle.”

³¹ Moses and Eleazar the priest did as Yahweh commanded Moses.

³² Now the plunder, over and above the booty which the men of war took, was six hundred seventy-five thousand sheep, ³³ seventy-two thousand head of cattle, ³⁴ sixty-one thousand donkeys, ³⁵ and thirty-two thousand persons in all, of the women who had not known man by lying with him. ³⁶ The half, which was the portion of those who went out to war, was in number three hundred thirty-seven thousand five hundred sheep; ³⁷ and Yahweh’s tribute of the sheep was six hundred seventy-five. ³⁸ The cattle were thirty-six thousand, of which Yahweh’s tribute was seventy-two. ³⁹ The donkeys were thirty thousand five hundred, of which Yahweh’s tribute was sixty-one. ⁴⁰ The persons were sixteen thousand, of whom Yahweh’s tribute was thirty-two persons. ⁴¹ Moses gave the tribute, which was Yahweh’s wave offering, to Eleazar the priest, as Yahweh commanded Moses. ⁴² Of the children of Israel’s half, which Moses divided off from the men who fought ⁴³ (now the congregation’s half was three hundred thirty-seven thousand five hundred sheep, ⁴⁴ thirty-six thousand head of cattle, ⁴⁵ thirty thousand five hundred donkeys, ⁴⁶ and sixteen thousand persons), ⁴⁷ even of the children of Israel’s half, Moses took one drawn out of every fifty, both of man and of animal, and gave them to the Levites, who performed the duty of Yahweh’s tabernacle, as Yahweh commanded Moses.

⁴⁸ The officers who were over the thousands of the army, the captains of thousands, and the captains of hundreds, came near to Moses. ⁴⁹ They said to Moses, “Your servants have taken the sum of the men of war who are under our command, and there lacks not one man of us. ⁵⁰ We have brought Yahweh’s offering, what every man found: gold ornaments, armlets, bracelets, signet rings, earrings, and necklaces, to make atonement for our souls before Yahweh.”

⁵¹ Moses and Eleazar the priest took their gold, even all worked jewels. ⁵² All the gold of the wave offering that they offered up to Yahweh, of the captains of thousands, and of the captains of hundreds, was sixteen thousand seven hundred fifty shekels. ⁵³ The men of war had taken booty, every man for himself. ⁵⁴ Moses and Eleazar the priest took the gold of the captains of thousands and of hundreds, and brought it into the Tent of Meeting for a memorial for the children of Israel before Yahweh.

32Now the children of Reuben and the children of Gad had a very great multitude of livestock. They saw the land of Jazer, and the land of Gilead. Behold, the place was a place for livestock. ² Then the children of Gad and the children of Reuben came and spoke to Moses, and to Eleazar the priest, and to the princes of the congregation, saying, ³ “Ataroth, Dibon, Jazer, Nimrah, Heshbon, Elealeh, Sebam, Nebo, and Beon, ⁴ the land which Yahweh struck before the congregation of Israel, is a land for livestock; and your servants have livestock.” ⁵ They said, “If we have found favor in your sight, let this land be given to your servants for a possession. Don’t bring us over the Jordan.”

⁶ Moses said to the children of Gad, and to the children of Reuben, “Shall your brothers go to war while you sit here? ⁷ Why do you discourage the heart of the children of Israel from going over into the land which Yahweh has given them? ⁸ Your fathers did so when I sent them from Kadesh Barnea to see the land. ⁹ For when they went up to the valley of Eshcol, and saw the land, they discouraged the heart of the children of Israel, that they should not go into the land which Yahweh had given them. ¹⁰ Yahweh’s anger burned in that day, and he swore, saying, ¹¹ ‘Surely none of the men who came up out of Egypt, from twenty years old and upward, shall see the land which I swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob; because they have not wholly followed me, ¹² except Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite, and Joshua the son of Nun, because they have followed Yahweh completely.’ ¹³ Yahweh’s anger burned against Israel, and he made them wander back and forth in the wilderness forty years, until all the generation who had done evil in Yahweh’s sight was consumed.

¹⁴ “Behold, you have risen up in your fathers’ place, an increase of sinful men, to increase the fierce anger of Yahweh toward Israel. ¹⁵ For if you turn away from after him, he will yet again leave them in the wilderness; and you will destroy all these people.”

¹⁶ They came near to him, and said, “We will build sheepfolds here for our livestock, and cities for our little ones; ¹⁷ but we ourselves will be ready armed to go before the children of Israel, until we have brought them to their place. Our little ones shall dwell in the fortified cities because of the inhabitants of the land. ¹⁸ We will not return to our houses until the children of Israel have all received their inheritance. ¹⁹ For we will not inherit with them on the other side of the Jordan and beyond, because our inheritance has come to us on this side of the Jordan eastward.”

²⁰ Moses said to them: “If you will do this thing, if you will arm yourselves to go before Yahweh to the war, ²¹ and every one of your armed men will pass over the Jordan before Yahweh until he has driven out his enemies from before him, ²² and the land is subdued before Yahweh; then afterward you shall return, and be clear of obligation to Yahweh and to Israel. Then this land shall be your possession before Yahweh.

²³ “But if you will not do so, behold, you have sinned against Yahweh; and be sure your sin will find you out. ²⁴ Build cities for your little ones, and folds for your sheep; and do that which has proceeded out of your mouth.”

²⁵ The children of Gad and the children of Reuben spoke to Moses, saying, “Your servants will do as my lord commands. ²⁶ Our little ones, our wives, our flocks, and all our livestock shall be there in the cities of Gilead; ²⁷ but your servants will pass over, every man who is armed for war, before Yahweh to battle, as my lord says.”

²⁸ So Moses commanded concerning them to Eleazar the priest, and to Joshua the son of Nun, and to the heads of the fathers’ households of the tribes of the children of Israel. ²⁹ Moses said to them, “If the children of Gad and the children of Reuben will pass with you over the Jordan, every man who is armed to battle before Yahweh, and the land is subdued before you, then you shall give them the land of Gilead for a possession; ³⁰ but if they will not pass over with you armed, they shall have possessions among you in the land of Canaan.”

³¹ The children of Gad and the children of Reuben answered, saying, “As Yahweh has said to your servants, so will we do. ³² We will pass over armed before Yahweh into the land of Canaan, and the possession of our inheritance shall remain with us beyond the Jordan.”

³³ Moses gave to them, even to the children of Gad, and to the children of Reuben, and to the half-tribe of Manasseh the son of Joseph, the kingdom of Sihon king of the Amorites, and the kingdom of Og king of Bashan; the land, according to its cities and borders, even the cities of the surrounding land. ³⁴ The children of Gad built Dibon, Ataroth, Aroer, ³⁵ Atroth-shophan, Jazer, Jogbehah, ³⁶ Beth Nimrah, and Beth Haran: fortified cities and folds for sheep. ³⁷ The children of Reuben built Heshbon, Elealeh, Kiriathaim, ³⁸ Nebo, and Baal Meon, (their names being changed), and Sibmah. They gave other names to the cities which they built. ³⁹ The children of Machir the son of Manasseh went to Gilead, took it, and dispossessed the Amorites who were therein. ⁴⁰ Moses gave Gilead to Machir the son of Manasseh; and he lived therein. ⁴¹ Jair the son of Manasseh went and took its villages, and called them Havvoth Jair. ⁴² Nobah went and took Kenath and its villages, and called it Nobah, after his own name.

33These are the journeys of the children of Israel, when they went out of the land of Egypt by their armies under the hand of Moses and Aaron. ² Moses wrote the starting points of their journeys by the commandment of Yahweh. These are their journeys according to their starting points. ³ They traveled from Rameses in the first month, on the fifteenth day of the first month; on the next day after the Passover, the children of Israel went out with a high hand in the sight of all the Egyptians, ⁴ while the Egyptians were burying all their firstborn, whom Yahweh had struck among them. Yahweh also executed judgments on their gods. ⁵ The children of Israel traveled from Rameses, and encamped in Succoth. ⁶ They traveled from Succoth, and encamped in Etham, which is in the edge of the wilderness. ⁷ They traveled from Etham, and turned back to Pihahiroth, which is before Baal Zephon, and they encamped before Migdol. ⁸ They traveled from before Hahiroth, and crossed through the middle of the sea into the wilderness. They went three days’ journey in the wilderness of Etham, and encamped in Marah. ⁹ They traveled from Marah, and came to Elim. In Elim, there were twelve springs of water and seventy palm trees, and they encamped there. ¹⁰ They traveled from Elim, and encamped by the Red Sea. ¹¹ They traveled from the Red Sea, and encamped in the wilderness of Sin. ¹² They traveled from the wilderness of Sin, and encamped in Dophkah. ¹³ They traveled from Dophkah, and encamped in Alush. ¹⁴ They traveled from Alush, and encamped in Rephidim, where there was no water for the people to drink. ¹⁵ They traveled from Rephidim, and encamped in the wilderness of Sinai. ¹⁶ They traveled from the wilderness of Sinai, and encamped in Kibroth Hattaavah. ¹⁷ They traveled from Kibroth Hattaavah, and encamped in Hazeroth. ¹⁸ They traveled from Hazeroth, and encamped in Rithmah. ¹⁹ They traveled from Rithmah, and encamped in Rimmon Perez. ²⁰ They traveled from Rimmon Perez, and encamped in Libnah. ²¹ They traveled from Libnah, and encamped in Rissah. ²² They traveled from Rissah, and encamped in Kehelathah. ²³ They traveled from Kehelathah, and encamped in Mount Shepher. ²⁴ They traveled from Mount Shepher, and encamped in Haradah. ²⁵ They traveled from Haradah, and encamped in Makheloth. ²⁶ They traveled from Makheloth, and encamped in Tahath. ²⁷ They traveled from Tahath, and encamped in Terah. ²⁸ They traveled from Terah, and encamped in Mithkah. ²⁹ They traveled from Mithkah, and encamped in Hashmonah. ³⁰ They traveled from Hashmonah, and encamped in Moseroth. ³¹ They traveled from Moseroth, and encamped in Bene Jaakan. ³² They traveled from Bene Jaakan, and encamped in Hor Haggidgad. ³³ They traveled from Hor Haggidgad, and encamped in Jotbathah. ³⁴ They traveled from Jotbathah, and encamped in Abronah. ³⁵ They traveled from Abronah, and encamped in Ezion Geber. ³⁶ They traveled from Ezion Geber, and encamped at Kadesh in the wilderness of Zin. ³⁷ They traveled from Kadesh, and encamped in Mount Hor, in the edge of the land of Edom. ³⁸ Aaron the priest went up into Mount Hor at the commandment of Yahweh and died there, in the fortieth year after the children of Israel had come out of the land of Egypt, in the fifth month, on the first day of the month. ³⁹ Aaron was one hundred twenty-three years old when he died in Mount Hor. ⁴⁰ The Canaanite king of Arad, who lived in the South in the land of Canaan, heard of the coming of the children of Israel. ⁴¹ They traveled from Mount Hor, and encamped in Zalmonah. ⁴² They traveled from Zalmonah, and encamped in Punon. ⁴³ They traveled from Punon, and encamped in Oboth. ⁴⁴ They traveled from Oboth, and encamped in Iye Abarim, in the border of Moab. ⁴⁵ They traveled from Iyim, and encamped in Dibon Gad. ⁴⁶ They traveled from Dibon Gad, and encamped in Almon Diblathaim. ⁴⁷ They traveled from Almon Diblathaim, and encamped in the mountains of Abarim, before Nebo. ⁴⁸ They traveled from the mountains of Abarim, and encamped in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho. ⁴⁹ They encamped by the Jordan, from Beth Jeshimoth even to Abel Shittim in the plains of Moab. ⁵⁰ Yahweh spoke to Moses in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho, saying, ⁵¹ Speak to the children of Israel, and tell them, “When you pass over the Jordan into the land of Canaan, ⁵² then you shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you, destroy all their stone idols, destroy all their molten images, and demolish all their high places. ⁵³ You shall take possession of the land, and dwell therein; for I have given the land to you to possess it. ⁵⁴ You shall inherit the land by lot according to your families; to the more you shall give the more inheritance, and to the fewer you shall give the less inheritance. Wherever the lot falls to any man, that shall be his. You shall inherit according to the tribes of your fathers.

⁵⁵ “But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you, then those you let remain of them will be like pricks in your eyes and thorns in your sides. They will harass you in the land in which you dwell. ⁵⁶ It shall happen that as I thought to do to them, so I will do to you.”

34Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ² “Command the children of Israel, and tell them, ‘When you come into the land of Canaan (this is the land that shall fall to you for an inheritance, even the land of Canaan according to its borders), ³ then your south quarter shall be from the wilderness of Zin along by the side of Edom, and your south border shall be from the end of the Salt Sea eastward. ⁴ Your border shall turn about southward of the ascent of Akrabbim, and pass along to Zin; and it shall pass southward of Kadesh Barnea; and it shall go from there to Hazar Addar, and pass along to Azmon. ⁵ The border shall turn about from Azmon to the brook of Egypt, and it shall end at the sea.

⁶ “ ‘For the western border, you shall have the great sea and its border. This shall be your west border.

⁷ “ ‘This shall be your north border: from the great sea you shall mark out for yourselves Mount Hor. ⁸ From Mount Hor you shall mark out to the entrance of Hamath; and the border shall pass by Zedad. ⁹ Then the border shall go to Ziphron, and it shall end at Hazar Enan. This shall be your north border.

¹⁰ “ ‘You shall mark out your east border from Hazar Enan to Shepham. ¹¹ The border shall go down from Shepham to Riblah, on the east side of Ain. The border shall go down, and shall reach to the side of the sea of Chinnereth eastward. ¹² The border shall go down to the Jordan, and end at the Salt Sea. This shall be your land according to its borders around it.’ ”

¹³ Moses commanded the children of Israel, saying, “This is the land which you shall inherit by lot, which Yahweh has commanded to give to the nine tribes, and to the half-tribe; ¹⁴ for the tribe of the children of Reuben according to their fathers’ houses, the tribe of the children of Gad according to their fathers’ houses, and the half-tribe of Manasseh have received their inheritance. ¹⁵ The two tribes and the half-tribe have received their inheritance beyond the Jordan at Jericho eastward, toward the sunrise.”

¹⁶ Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ¹⁷ “These are the names of the men who shall divide the land to you for inheritance: Eleazar the priest, and Joshua the son of Nun. ¹⁸ You shall take one prince of every tribe, to divide the land for inheritance. ¹⁹ These are the names of the men: Of the tribe of Judah, Caleb the son of Jephunneh. ²⁰ Of the tribe of the children of Simeon, Shemuel the son of Ammihud. ²¹ Of the tribe of Benjamin, Elidad the son of Chislon. ²² Of the tribe of the children of Dan a prince, Bukki the son of Jogli. ²³ Of the children of Joseph: of the tribe of the children of Manasseh a prince, Hanniel the son of Ephod. ²⁴ Of the tribe of the children of Ephraim a prince, Kemuel the son of Shiphtan. ²⁵ Of the tribe of the children of Zebulun a prince, Elizaphan the son of Parnach. ²⁶ Of the tribe of the children of Issachar a prince, Paltiel the son of Azzan. ²⁷ Of the tribe of the children of Asher a prince, Ahihud the son of Shelomi. ²⁸ Of the tribe of the children of Naphtali a prince, Pedahel the son of Ammihud.” ²⁹ These are they whom Yahweh commanded to divide the inheritance to the children of Israel in the land of Canaan.

35Yahweh spoke to Moses in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho, saying, ² “Command the children of Israel to give to the Levites cities to dwell in out of their inheritance. You shall give pasture lands for the cities around them to the Levites. ³ They shall have the cities to dwell in. Their pasture lands shall be for their livestock, and for their possessions, and for all their animals.

⁴ “The pasture lands of the cities, which you shall give to the Levites, shall be from the wall of the city and outward one thousand cubits around it. ⁵ You shall measure outside of the city for the east side two thousand cubits, and for the south side two thousand cubits, and for the west side two thousand cubits, and for the north side two thousand cubits, the city being in the middle. This shall be the pasture lands of their cities.

⁶ “The cities which you shall give to the Levites, they shall be the six cities of refuge, which you shall give for the man slayer to flee to. Besides them you shall give forty-two cities. ⁷ All the cities which you shall give to the Levites shall be forty-eight cities together with their pasture lands. ⁸ Concerning the cities which you shall give of the possession of the children of Israel, from the many you shall take many, and from the few you shall take few. Everyone according to his inheritance which he inherits shall give some of his cities to the Levites.” ⁹ Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ¹⁰ “Speak to the children of Israel, and tell them, ‘When you pass over the Jordan into the land of Canaan, ¹¹ then you shall appoint for yourselves cities to be cities of refuge for you, that the man slayer who kills any person unwittingly may flee there. ¹² The cities shall be for your refuge from the avenger, that the man slayer not die until he stands before the congregation for judgment. ¹³ The cities which you shall give shall be for you six cities of refuge. ¹⁴ You shall give three cities beyond the Jordan, and you shall give three cities in the land of Canaan. They shall be cities of refuge. ¹⁵ For the children of Israel, and for the stranger and for the foreigner living among them, shall these six cities be for refuge, that everyone who kills any person unwittingly may flee there.

¹⁶ “ ‘But if he struck him with an instrument of iron, so that he died, he is a murderer. The murderer shall surely be put to death. ¹⁷ If he struck him with a stone in the hand, by which a man may die, and he died, he is a murderer. The murderer shall surely be put to death. ¹⁸ Or if he struck him with a weapon of wood in the hand, by which a man may die, and he died, he is a murderer. The murderer shall surely be put to death. ¹⁹ The avenger of blood shall himself put the murderer to death. When he meets him, he shall put him to death. ²⁰ If he shoved him out of hatred, or hurled something at him while lying in wait, so that he died, ²¹ or in hostility struck him with his hand, so that he died, he who struck him shall surely be put to death. He is a murderer. The avenger of blood shall put the murderer to death when he meets him.

²² “ ‘But if he shoved him suddenly without hostility, or hurled on him anything without lying in wait, ²³ or with any stone, by which a man may die, not seeing him, and cast it on him so that he died, and he was not his enemy and not seeking his harm, ²⁴ then the congregation shall judge between the striker and the avenger of blood according to these ordinances. ²⁵ The congregation shall deliver the man slayer out of the hand of the avenger of blood, and the congregation shall restore him to his city of refuge, where he had fled. He shall dwell therein until the death of the high priest, who was anointed with the holy oil.

²⁶ “ ‘But if the man slayer shall at any time go beyond the border of his city of refuge where he flees, ²⁷ and the avenger of blood finds him outside of the border of his city of refuge, and the avenger of blood kills the man slayer, he shall not be guilty of blood, ²⁸ because he should have remained in his city of refuge until the death of the high priest. But after the death of the high priest, the man slayer shall return into the land of his possession.

²⁹ “ ‘These things shall be for a statute and ordinance to you throughout your generations in all your dwellings.

³⁰ “ ‘Whoever kills any person, the murderer shall be slain based on the testimony of witnesses; but one witness shall not testify alone against any person so that he dies.

³¹ “ ‘Moreover you shall take no ransom for the life of a murderer who is guilty of death. He shall surely be put to death.

³² “ ‘You shall take no ransom for him who has fled to his city of refuge, that he may come again to dwell in the land before the death of the priest.

³³ “ ‘So you shall not pollute the land where you live; for blood pollutes the land. No atonement can be made for the land, for the blood that is shed in it, but by the blood of him who shed it. ³⁴ You shall not defile the land which you inhabit, where I dwell; for I, Yahweh, dwell among the children of Israel.’ ”

36The heads of the fathers’ households of the family of the children of Gilead, the son of Machir, the son of Manasseh, of the families of the sons of Joseph, came near, and spoke before Moses and before the princes, the heads of the fathers’ households of the children of Israel. ² They said, “Yahweh commanded my lord to give the land for inheritance by lot to the children of Israel. My lord was commanded by Yahweh to give the inheritance of Zelophehad our brother to his daughters. ³ If they are married to any of the sons of the other tribes of the children of Israel, then their inheritance will be taken away from the inheritance of our fathers, and will be added to the inheritance of the tribe to which they shall belong. So it will be taken away from the lot of our inheritance. ⁴ When the jubilee of the children of Israel comes, then their inheritance will be added to the inheritance of the tribe to which they shall belong. So their inheritance will be taken away from the inheritance of the tribe of our fathers.”

⁵ Moses commanded the children of Israel according to Yahweh’s word, saying, “The tribe of the sons of Joseph speak what is right. ⁶ This is the thing which Yahweh commands concerning the daughters of Zelophehad, saying, ‘Let them be married to whom they think best, only they shall marry into the family of the tribe of their father. ⁷ So shall no inheritance of the children of Israel move from tribe to tribe; for the children of Israel shall all keep the inheritance of the tribe of his fathers. ⁸ Every daughter who possesses an inheritance in any tribe of the children of Israel shall be wife to one of the family of the tribe of her father, that the children of Israel may each possess the inheritance of his fathers. ⁹ So shall no inheritance move from one tribe to another tribe; for the tribes of the children of Israel shall each keep his own inheritance.’ ”

¹⁰ The daughters of Zelophehad did as Yahweh commanded Moses: ¹¹ for Mahlah, Tirzah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Noah, the daughters of Zelophehad, were married to their father’s brothers’ sons. ¹² They were married into the families of the sons of Manasseh the son of Joseph. Their inheritance remained in the tribe of the family of their father.

¹³ These are the commandments and the ordinances which Yahweh commanded by Moses to the children of Israel in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho.

Deuteronomy

1These are the words which Moses spoke to all Israel beyond the Jordan in the wilderness, in the Arabah opposite Suf, between Paran, Tophel, Laban, Hazeroth, and Dizahab. ² It is eleven days’ journey from Horeb by the way of Mount Seir to Kadesh Barnea. ³ In the fortieth year, in the eleventh month, on the first day of the month, Moses spoke to the children of Israel according to all that Yahweh had given him in commandment to them, ⁴ after he had struck Sihon the king of the Amorites who lived in Heshbon, and Og the king of Bashan who lived in Ashtaroth, at Edrei. ⁵ Beyond the Jordan, in the land of Moab, Moses began to declare this law, saying, ⁶ “Yahweh our God spoke to us in Horeb, saying, ‘You have lived long enough at this mountain. ⁷ Turn, and take your journey, and go to the hill country of the Amorites and to all the places near there: in the Arabah, in the hill country, in the lowland, in the South, by the seashore, in the land of the Canaanites, and in Lebanon as far as the great river, the river Euphrates. ⁸ Behold, I have set the land before you. Go in and possess the land which Yahweh swore to your fathers—to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob—to give to them and to their offspring after them.’ ”

⁹ I spoke to you at that time, saying, “I am not able to bear you myself alone. ¹⁰ Yahweh your God has multiplied you, and behold, you are today as the stars of the sky for multitude. ¹¹ Yahweh, the God of your fathers, make you a thousand times as many as you are and bless you, as he has promised you! ¹² How can I myself alone bear your problems, your burdens, and your strife? ¹³ Take wise men of understanding who are respected among your tribes, and I will make them heads over you.”

¹⁴ You answered me, and said, “The thing which you have spoken is good to do.” ¹⁵ So I took the heads of your tribes, wise and respected men, and made them heads over you, captains of thousands, captains of hundreds, captains of fifties, captains of tens, and officers, according to your tribes. ¹⁶ I commanded your judges at that time, saying, “Hear cases between your brothers and judge righteously between a man and his brother, and the foreigner who is living with him. ¹⁷ You shall not show partiality in judgment; you shall hear the small and the great alike. You shall not be afraid of the face of man, for the judgment is God’s. The case that is too hard for you, you shall bring to me, and I will hear it.” ¹⁸ I commanded you at that time all the things which you should do. ¹⁹ We traveled from Horeb and went through all that great and terrible wilderness which you saw, by the way to the hill country of the Amorites, as Yahweh our God commanded us; and we came to Kadesh Barnea. ²⁰ I said to you, “You have come to the hill country of the Amorites, which Yahweh our God gives to us. ²¹ Behold, Yahweh your God has set the land before you. Go up, take possession, as Yahweh the God of your fathers has spoken to you. Don’t be afraid, neither be dismayed.”

²² You came near to me, everyone of you, and said, “Let’s send men before us, that they may search the land for us, and bring back to us word of the way by which we must go up, and the cities to which we shall come.”

²³ The thing pleased me well. I took twelve of your men, one man for every tribe. ²⁴ They turned and went up into the hill country, and came to the valley of Eshcol, and spied it out. ²⁵ They took some of the fruit of the land in their hands and brought it down to us, and brought us word again, and said, “It is a good land which Yahweh our God gives to us.”

²⁶ Yet you wouldn’t go up, but rebelled against the commandment of Yahweh your God. ²⁷ You murmured in your tents, and said, “Because Yahweh hated us, he has brought us out of the land of Egypt, to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites to destroy us. ²⁸ Where are we going up? Our brothers have made our heart melt, saying, ‘The people are greater and taller than we. The cities are great and fortified up to the sky. Moreover we have seen the sons of the Anakim there!’ ”

²⁹ Then I said to you, “Don’t be terrified. Don’t be afraid of them. ³⁰ Yahweh your God, who goes before you, he will fight for you, according to all that he did for you in Egypt before your eyes, ³¹ and in the wilderness where you have seen how that Yahweh your God carried you, as a man carries his son, in all the way that you went, until you came to this place.”

³² Yet in this thing you didn’t believe Yahweh your God, ³³ who went before you on the way, to seek out a place for you to pitch your tents in: in fire by night, to show you by what way you should go, and in the cloud by day. ³⁴ Yahweh heard the voice of your words and was angry, and swore, saying, ³⁵ “Surely not one of these men of this evil generation shall see the good land which I swore to give to your fathers, ³⁶ except Caleb the son of Jephunneh. He shall see it. I will give the land that he has trodden on to him and to his children, because he has wholly followed Yahweh.”

³⁷ Also Yahweh was angry with me for your sakes, saying, “You also shall not go in there. ³⁸ Joshua the son of Nun, who stands before you, shall go in there. Encourage him, for he shall cause Israel to inherit it. ³⁹ Moreover your little ones, whom you said would be captured or killed, your children, who today have no knowledge of good or evil, shall go in there. I will give it to them, and they shall possess it. ⁴⁰ But as for you, turn, and take your journey into the wilderness by the way to the Red Sea.”

⁴¹ Then you answered and said to me, “We have sinned against Yahweh. We will go up and fight, according to all that Yahweh our God commanded us.” Every man of you put on his weapons of war, and presumed to go up into the hill country.

⁴² Yahweh said to me, “Tell them, ‘Don’t go up and don’t fight; for I am not among you, lest you be struck before your enemies.’ ”

⁴³ So I spoke to you, and you didn’t listen; but you rebelled against the commandment of Yahweh, and were presumptuous, and went up into the hill country. ⁴⁴ The Amorites, who lived in that hill country, came out against you and chased you as bees do, and beat you down in Seir, even to Hormah. ⁴⁵ You returned and wept before Yahweh; but Yahweh didn’t listen to your voice, nor turn his ear to you. ⁴⁶ So you stayed in Kadesh many days, according to the days that you remained.

2Then we turned, and took our journey into the wilderness by the way to the Red Sea, as Yahweh spoke to me; and we encircled Mount Seir many days.

² Yahweh spoke to me, saying, ³ “You have encircled this mountain long enough. Turn northward. ⁴ Command the people, saying, ‘You are to pass through the border of your brothers, the children of Esau, who dwell in Seir; and they will be afraid of you. Therefore be careful. ⁵ Don’t contend with them; for I will not give you any of their land, no, not so much as for the sole of the foot to tread on, because I have given Mount Seir to Esau for a possession. ⁶ You shall purchase food from them for money, that you may eat. You shall also buy water from them for money, that you may drink.’ ”

⁷ For Yahweh your God has blessed you in all the work of your hands. He has known your walking through this great wilderness. These forty years, Yahweh your God has been with you. You have lacked nothing.

⁸ So we passed by from our brothers, the children of Esau, who dwell in Seir, from the way of the Arabah from Elath and from Ezion Geber. We turned and passed by the way of the wilderness of Moab.

⁹ Yahweh said to me, “Don’t bother Moab, neither contend with them in battle; for I will not give you any of his land for a possession, because I have given Ar to the children of Lot for a possession.”

¹⁰ (The Emim lived there before, a great and numerous people, and tall as the Anakim. ¹¹ These also are considered to be Rephaim, as the Anakim; but the Moabites call them Emim. ¹² The Horites also lived in Seir in the past, but the children of Esau succeeded them. They destroyed them from before them, and lived in their place, as Israel did to the land of his possession, which Yahweh gave to them.)

¹³ “Now rise up, and cross over the brook Zered.” We went over the brook Zered.

¹⁴ The days in which we came from Kadesh Barnea until we had come over the brook Zered were thirty-eight years: until all the generation of the men of war were consumed from the middle of the camp, as Yahweh swore to them. ¹⁵ Moreover Yahweh’s hand was against them, to destroy them from the middle of the camp, until they were consumed. ¹⁶ So, when all the men of war were consumed and dead from among the people, ¹⁷ Yahweh spoke to me, saying, ¹⁸ “You are to pass over Ar, the border of Moab, today. ¹⁹ When you come near the border of the children of Ammon, don’t bother them, nor contend with them; for I will not give you any of the land of the children of Ammon for a possession, because I have given it to the children of Lot for a possession.”

²⁰ (That also is considered a land of Rephaim. Rephaim lived there in the past, but the Ammonites call them Zamzummim, ²¹ a great people, many, and tall, as the Anakim; but Yahweh destroyed them from before Israel, and they succeeded them, and lived in their place; ²² as he did for the children of Esau who dwell in Seir, when he destroyed the Horites from before them; and they succeeded them, and lived in their place even to this day. ²³ Then the Avvim, who lived in villages as far as Gaza: the Caphtorim, who came out of Caphtor, destroyed them and lived in their place.)

²⁴ “Rise up, take your journey, and pass over the valley of the Arnon. Behold, I have given into your hand Sihon the Amorite, king of Heshbon, and his land; begin to possess it, and contend with him in battle. ²⁵ Today I will begin to put the dread of you and the fear of you on the peoples who are under the whole sky, who shall hear the report of you, and shall tremble and be in anguish because of you.”

²⁶ I sent messengers out of the wilderness of Kedemoth to Sihon king of Heshbon with words of peace, saying, ²⁷ “Let me pass through your land. I will go along by the highway. I will turn neither to the right hand nor to the left. ²⁸ You shall sell me food for money, that I may eat; and give me water for money, that I may drink. Just let me pass through on my feet, ²⁹ as the children of Esau who dwell in Seir, and the Moabites who dwell in Ar, did to me; until I pass over the Jordan into the land which Yahweh our God gives us.” ³⁰ But Sihon king of Heshbon would not let us pass by him; for Yahweh your God hardened his spirit and made his heart obstinate, that he might deliver him into your hand, as it is today.

³¹ Yahweh said to me, “Behold, I have begun to deliver up Sihon and his land before you. Begin to possess, that you may inherit his land.” ³² Then Sihon came out against us, he and all his people, to battle at Jahaz. ³³ Yahweh our God delivered him up before us; and we struck him, his sons, and all his people. ³⁴ We took all his cities at that time, and utterly destroyed every inhabited city, with the women and the little ones. We left no one remaining. ³⁵ Only the livestock we took for plunder for ourselves, with the plunder of the cities which we had taken. ³⁶ From Aroer, which is on the edge of the valley of the Arnon, and the city that is in the valley, even to Gilead, there was not a city too high for us. Yahweh our God delivered up all before us. ³⁷ Only to the land of the children of Ammon you didn’t come near: all the banks of the river Jabbok, and the cities of the hill country, and wherever Yahweh our God forbade us.

3Then we turned, and went up the way to Bashan. Og the king of Bashan came out against us, he and all his people, to battle at Edrei. ² Yahweh said to me, “Don’t fear him; for I have delivered him, with all his people, and his land, into your hand. You shall do to him as you did to Sihon king of the Amorites, who lived at Heshbon.”

³ So Yahweh our God delivered into our hand Og also, the king of Bashan, and all his people. We struck him until no one was left to him remaining. ⁴ We took all his cities at that time. There was not a city which we didn’t take from them: sixty cities, all the region of Argob, the kingdom of Og in Bashan. ⁵ All these were cities fortified with high walls, gates, and bars, in addition to a great many villages without walls. ⁶ We utterly destroyed them, as we did to Sihon king of Heshbon, utterly destroying every inhabited city, with the women and the little ones. ⁷ But all the livestock, and the plunder of the cities, we took for plunder for ourselves. ⁸ We took the land at that time out of the hand of the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan, from the valley of the Arnon to Mount Hermon. ⁹ (The Sidonians call Hermon Sirion, and the Amorites call it Senir.) ¹⁰ We took all the cities of the plain, and all Gilead, and all Bashan, to Salecah and Edrei, cities of the kingdom of Og in Bashan. ¹¹ (For only Og king of Bashan remained of the remnant of the Rephaim. Behold, his bedstead was a bedstead of iron. Isn’t it in Rabbah of the children of Ammon? Nine cubits was its length, and four cubits its width, after the cubit of a man.) ¹² This land we took in possession at that time: from Aroer, which is by the valley of the Arnon, and half the hill country of Gilead with its cities, I gave to the Reubenites and to the Gadites; ¹³ and the rest of Gilead, and all Bashan, the kingdom of Og, I gave to the half-tribe of Manasseh—all the region of Argob, even all Bashan. (The same is called the land of Rephaim. ¹⁴ Jair the son of Manasseh took all the region of Argob, to the border of the Geshurites and the Maacathites, and called them, even Bashan, after his own name, Havvoth Jair, to this day.) ¹⁵ I gave Gilead to Machir. ¹⁶ To the Reubenites and to the Gadites I gave from Gilead even to the valley of the Arnon, the middle of the valley, and its border, even to the river Jabbok, which is the border of the children of Ammon; ¹⁷ the Arabah also, and the Jordan and its border, from Chinnereth even to the sea of the Arabah, the Salt Sea, under the slopes of Pisgah eastward.

¹⁸ I commanded you at that time, saying, “Yahweh your God has given you this land to possess it. All of you men of valor shall pass over armed before your brothers, the children of Israel. ¹⁹ But your wives, and your little ones, and your livestock, (I know that you have much livestock), shall live in your cities which I have given you, ²⁰ until Yahweh gives rest to your brothers, as to you, and they also possess the land which Yahweh your God gives them beyond the Jordan. Then you shall each return to his own possession, which I have given you.”

²¹ I commanded Joshua at that time, saying, “Your eyes have seen all that Yahweh your God has done to these two kings. So shall Yahweh do to all the kingdoms where you go over. ²² You shall not fear them; for Yahweh your God himself fights for you.”

²³ I begged Yahweh at that time, saying, ²⁴ “Lord Yahweh, you have begun to show your servant your greatness, and your strong hand. For what god is there in heaven or in earth that can do works like yours, and mighty acts like yours? ²⁵ Please let me go over and see the good land that is beyond the Jordan, that fine mountain, and Lebanon.”

²⁶ But Yahweh was angry with me because of you, and didn’t listen to me. Yahweh said to me, “That is enough! Speak no more to me of this matter. ²⁷ Go up to the top of Pisgah, and lift up your eyes westward, and northward, and southward, and eastward, and see with your eyes; for you shall not go over this Jordan. ²⁸ But commission Joshua, and encourage him, and strengthen him; for he shall go over before this people, and he shall cause them to inherit the land which you shall see.” ²⁹ So we stayed in the valley near Beth Peor.

4Now, Israel, listen to the statutes and to the ordinances which I teach you, to do them; that you may live, and go in and possess the land which Yahweh, the God of your fathers, gives you. ² You shall not add to the word which I command you, neither shall you take away from it, that you may keep the commandments of Yahweh your God which I command you. ³ Your eyes have seen what Yahweh did because of Baal Peor; for Yahweh your God has destroyed all the men who followed Baal Peor from among you. ⁴ But you who were faithful to Yahweh your God are all alive today. ⁵ Behold, I have taught you statutes and ordinances, even as Yahweh my God commanded me, that you should do so in the middle of the land where you go in to possess it. ⁶ Keep therefore and do them; for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples who shall hear all these statutes and say, “Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.” ⁷ For what great nation is there that has a god so near to them as Yahweh our God is whenever we call on him? ⁸ What great nation is there that has statutes and ordinances so righteous as all this law which I set before you today?

⁹ Only be careful, and keep your soul diligently, lest you forget the things which your eyes saw, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life; but make them known to your children and your children’s children— ¹⁰ the day that you stood before Yahweh your God in Horeb, when Yahweh said to me, “Assemble the people to me, and I will make them hear my words, that they may learn to fear me all the days that they live on the earth, and that they may teach their children.” ¹¹ You came near and stood under the mountain. The mountain burned with fire to the heart of the sky, with darkness, cloud, and thick darkness. ¹² Yahweh spoke to you out of the middle of the fire: you heard the voice of words, but you saw no form; you only heard a voice. ¹³ He declared to you his covenant, which he commanded you to perform, even the ten commandments. He wrote them on two stone tablets. ¹⁴ Yahweh commanded me at that time to teach you statutes and ordinances, that you might do them in the land where you go over to possess it. ¹⁵ Be very careful, for you saw no kind of form on the day that Yahweh spoke to you in Horeb out of the middle of the fire, ¹⁶ lest you corrupt yourselves, and make yourself a carved image in the form of any figure, the likeness of male or female, ¹⁷ the likeness of any animal that is on the earth, the likeness of any winged bird that flies in the sky, ¹⁸ the likeness of anything that creeps on the ground, the likeness of any fish that is in the water under the earth; ¹⁹ and lest you lift up your eyes to the sky, and when you see the sun and the moon and the stars, even all the army of the sky, you are drawn away and worship them, and serve them, which Yahweh your God has allotted to all the peoples under the whole sky. ²⁰ But Yahweh has taken you, and brought you out of the iron furnace, out of Egypt, to be to him a people of inheritance, as it is today. ²¹ Furthermore Yahweh was angry with me for your sakes, and swore that I should not go over the Jordan, and that I should not go in to that good land which Yahweh your God gives you for an inheritance; ²² but I must die in this land. I must not go over the Jordan, but you shall go over and possess that good land. ²³ Be careful, lest you forget the covenant of Yahweh your God, which he made with you, and make yourselves a carved image in the form of anything which Yahweh your God has forbidden you. ²⁴ For Yahweh your God is a devouring fire, a jealous God. ²⁵ When you shall father children and children’s children, and you shall have been long in the land, and shall corrupt yourselves, and make a carved image in the form of anything, and shall do that which is evil in Yahweh your God’s sight to provoke him to anger, ²⁶ I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that you will soon utterly perish from off the land which you go over the Jordan to possess it. You will not prolong your days on it, but will utterly be destroyed. ²⁷ Yahweh will scatter you among the peoples, and you will be left few in number among the nations where Yahweh will lead you away. ²⁸ There you shall serve gods, the work of men’s hands, wood and stone, which neither see, nor hear, nor eat, nor smell. ²⁹ But from there you shall seek Yahweh your God, and you shall find him when you search after him with all your heart and with all your soul. ³⁰ When you are in oppression, and all these things have come on you, in the latter days you shall return to Yahweh your God and listen to his voice. ³¹ For Yahweh your God is a merciful God. He will not fail you nor destroy you, nor forget the covenant of your fathers which he swore to them. ³² For ask now of the days that are past, which were before you, since the day that God created man on the earth, and from the one end of the sky to the other, whether there has been anything as great as this thing is, or has been heard like it? ³³ Did a people ever hear the voice of God speaking out of the middle of the fire, as you have heard, and live? ³⁴ Or has God tried to go and take a nation for himself from among another nation, by trials, by signs, by wonders, by war, by a mighty hand, by an outstretched arm, and by great terrors, according to all that Yahweh your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes? ³⁵ It was shown to you so that you might know that Yahweh is God. There is no one else besides him. ³⁶ Out of heaven he made you to hear his voice, that he might instruct you. On earth he made you to see his great fire; and you heard his words out of the middle of the fire. ³⁷ Because he loved your fathers, therefore he chose their offspring after them, and brought you out with his presence, with his great power, out of Egypt; ³⁸ to drive out nations from before you greater and mightier than you, to bring you in, to give you their land for an inheritance, as it is today. ³⁹ Know therefore today, and take it to heart, that Yahweh himself is God in heaven above and on the earth beneath. There is no one else. ⁴⁰ You shall keep his statutes and his commandments which I command you today, that it may go well with you and with your children after you, and that you may prolong your days in the land which Yahweh your God gives you for all time.

⁴¹ Then Moses set apart three cities beyond the Jordan toward the sunrise, ⁴² that the man slayer might flee there, who kills his neighbor unawares and didn’t hate him in time past, and that fleeing to one of these cities he might live: ⁴³ Bezer in the wilderness, in the plain country, for the Reubenites; and Ramoth in Gilead for the Gadites; and Golan in Bashan for the Manassites.

⁴⁴ This is the law which Moses set before the children of Israel. ⁴⁵ These are the testimonies, and the statutes, and the ordinances which Moses spoke to the children of Israel when they came out of Egypt, ⁴⁶ beyond the Jordan, in the valley opposite Beth Peor, in the land of Sihon king of the Amorites, who lived at Heshbon, whom Moses and the children of Israel struck when they came out of Egypt. ⁴⁷ They took possession of his land and the land of Og king of Bashan, the two kings of the Amorites, who were beyond the Jordan toward the sunrise; ⁴⁸ from Aroer, which is on the edge of the valley of the Arnon, even to Mount Sion (also called Hermon), ⁴⁹ and all the Arabah beyond the Jordan eastward, even to the sea of the Arabah, under the slopes of Pisgah.

5Moses called to all Israel, and said to them, “Hear, Israel, the statutes and the ordinances which I speak in your ears today, that you may learn them, and observe to do them.” ² Yahweh our God made a covenant with us in Horeb. ³ Yahweh didn’t make this covenant with our fathers, but with us, even us, who are all of us here alive today. ⁴ Yahweh spoke with you face to face on the mountain out of the middle of the fire, ⁵ (I stood between Yahweh and you at that time, to show you Yahweh’s word; for you were afraid because of the fire, and didn’t go up onto the mountain) saying,

⁶ “I am Yahweh your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.

⁷ “You shall have no other gods before me.

⁸ “You shall not make a carved image for yourself—any likeness of what is in heaven above, or what is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. ⁹ You shall not bow yourself down to them, nor serve them; for I, Yahweh your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and on the third and on the fourth generation of those who hate me; ¹⁰ and showing loving kindness to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.

¹¹ “You shall not misuse the name of Yahweh your God; for Yahweh will not hold him guiltless who misuses his name.

¹² “Observe the Sabbath day, to keep it holy, as Yahweh your God commanded you. ¹³ You shall labor six days, and do all your work; ¹⁴ but the seventh day is a Sabbath to Yahweh your God, in which you shall not do any work— neither you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your ox, nor your donkey, nor any of your livestock, nor your stranger who is within your gates; that your male servant and your female servant may rest as well as you. ¹⁵ You shall remember that you were a servant in the land of Egypt, and Yahweh your God brought you out of there by a mighty hand and by an outstretched arm. Therefore Yahweh your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day.

¹⁶ “Honor your father and your mother, as Yahweh your God commanded you; that your days may be long, and that it may go well with you in the land which Yahweh your God gives you.

¹⁷ “You shall not murder.

¹⁸ “You shall not commit adultery.

¹⁹ “You shall not steal.

²⁰ “You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.

²¹ “You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife. Neither shall you desire your neighbor’s house, his field, or his male servant, or his female servant, his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor’s.”

²² Yahweh spoke these words to all your assembly on the mountain out of the middle of the fire, of the cloud, and of the thick darkness, with a great voice. He added no more. He wrote them on two stone tablets, and gave them to me. ²³ When you heard the voice out of the middle of the darkness, while the mountain was burning with fire, you came near to me, even all the heads of your tribes, and your elders; ²⁴ and you said, “Behold, Yahweh our God has shown us his glory and his greatness, and we have heard his voice out of the middle of the fire. We have seen today that God does speak with man, and he lives. ²⁵ Now therefore, why should we die? For this great fire will consume us. If we hear Yahweh our God’s voice any more, then we shall die. ²⁶ For who is there of all flesh, that has heard the voice of the living God speaking out of the middle of the fire, as we have, and lived? ²⁷ Go near, and hear all that Yahweh our God shall say, and tell us all that Yahweh our God tells you; and we will hear it, and do it.”

²⁸ Yahweh heard the voice of your words when you spoke to me; and Yahweh said to me, “I have heard the voice of the words of this people which they have spoken to you. They have well said all that they have spoken. ²⁹ Oh that there were such a heart in them that they would fear me and keep all my commandments always, that it might be well with them and with their children forever!

³⁰ “Go tell them, ‘Return to your tents.’ ³¹ But as for you, stand here by me, and I will tell you all the commandments, and the statutes, and the ordinances, which you shall teach them, that they may do them in the land which I give them to possess.”

³² You shall observe to do therefore as Yahweh your God has commanded you. You shall not turn away to the right hand or to the left. ³³ You shall walk in all the way which Yahweh your God has commanded you, that you may live and that it may be well with you, and that you may prolong your days in the land which you shall possess.

6Now these are the commandments, the statutes, and the ordinances, which Yahweh your God commanded to teach you, that you might do them in the land that you go over to possess; ² that you might fear Yahweh your God, to keep all his statutes and his commandments, which I command you—you, your son, and your son’s son, all the days of your life; and that your days may be prolonged. ³ Hear therefore, Israel, and observe to do it, that it may be well with you, and that you may increase mightily, as Yahweh, the God of your fathers, has promised to you, in a land flowing with milk and honey.

⁴ Hear, Israel: Yahweh is our God. Yahweh is one. ⁵ You shall love Yahweh your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your might. ⁶ These words, which I command you today, shall be on your heart; ⁷ and you shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise up. ⁸ You shall bind them for a sign on your hand, and they shall be for frontlets between your eyes. ⁹ You shall write them on the door posts of your house and on your gates.

¹⁰ It shall be, when Yahweh your God brings you into the land which he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give you, great and goodly cities which you didn’t build, ¹¹ and houses full of all good things which you didn’t fill, and cisterns dug out which you didn’t dig, vineyards and olive trees which you didn’t plant, and you shall eat and be full; ¹² then beware lest you forget Yahweh, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. ¹³ You shall fear Yahweh your God; and you shall serve him, and shall swear by his name. ¹⁴ You shall not go after other gods, of the gods of the peoples who are around you, ¹⁵ for Yahweh your God among you is a jealous God, lest the anger of Yahweh your God be kindled against you, and he destroy you from off the face of the earth. ¹⁶ You shall not tempt Yahweh your God, as you tempted him in Massah. ¹⁷ You shall diligently keep the commandments of Yahweh your God, and his testimonies, and his statutes, which he has commanded you. ¹⁸ You shall do that which is right and good in Yahweh’s sight, that it may be well with you and that you may go in and possess the good land which Yahweh swore to your fathers, ¹⁹ to thrust out all your enemies from before you, as Yahweh has spoken.

²⁰ When your son asks you in time to come, saying, “What do the testimonies, the statutes, and the ordinances, which Yahweh our God has commanded you mean?” ²¹ then you shall tell your son, “We were Pharaoh’s slaves in Egypt. Yahweh brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand; ²² and Yahweh showed great and awesome signs and wonders on Egypt, on Pharaoh, and on all his house, before our eyes; ²³ and he brought us out from there, that he might bring us in, to give us the land which he swore to our fathers. ²⁴ Yahweh commanded us to do all these statutes, to fear Yahweh our God, for our good always, that he might preserve us alive, as we are today. ²⁵ It shall be righteousness to us, if we observe to do all these commandments before Yahweh our God, as he has commanded us.”

7When Yahweh your God brings you into the land where you go to possess it, and casts out many nations before you—the Hittite, the Girgashite, the Amorite, the Canaanite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite—seven nations greater and mightier than you; ² and when Yahweh your God delivers them up before you, and you strike them, then you shall utterly destroy them. You shall make no covenant with them, nor show mercy to them. ³ You shall not make marriages with them. You shall not give your daughter to his son, nor shall you take his daughter for your son. ⁴ For that would turn away your sons from following me, that they may serve other gods. So Yahweh’s anger would be kindled against you, and he would destroy you quickly. ⁵ But you shall deal with them like this: you shall break down their altars, dash their pillars in pieces, cut down their Asherah poles, and burn their engraved images with fire. ⁶ For you are a holy people to Yahweh your God. Yahweh your God has chosen you to be a people for his own possession, above all peoples who are on the face of the earth. ⁷ Yahweh didn’t set his love on you nor choose you, because you were more in number than any people; for you were the fewest of all peoples; ⁸ but because Yahweh loves you, and because he desires to keep the oath which he swore to your fathers, Yahweh has brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you out of the house of bondage, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt. ⁹ Know therefore that Yahweh your God himself is God, the faithful God, who keeps covenant and loving kindness with them who love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations, ¹⁰ and repays those who hate him to their face, to destroy them. He will not be slack to him who hates him. He will repay him to his face. ¹¹ You shall therefore keep the commandments, the statutes, and the ordinances which I command you today, to do them. ¹² It shall happen, because you listen to these ordinances and keep and do them, that Yahweh your God will keep with you the covenant and the loving kindness which he swore to your fathers. ¹³ He will love you, bless you, and multiply you. He will also bless the fruit of your body and the fruit of your ground, your grain and your new wine and your oil, the increase of your livestock and the young of your flock, in the land which he swore to your fathers to give you. ¹⁴ You will be blessed above all peoples. There won’t be male or female barren among you, or among your livestock. ¹⁵ Yahweh will take away from you all sickness; and he will put none of the evil diseases of Egypt, which you know, on you, but will lay them on all those who hate you. ¹⁶ You shall consume all the peoples whom Yahweh your God shall deliver to you. Your eye shall not pity them. You shall not serve their gods; for that would be a snare to you. ¹⁷ If you shall say in your heart, “These nations are more than I; how can I dispossess them?” ¹⁸ you shall not be afraid of them. You shall remember well what Yahweh your God did to Pharaoh and to all Egypt: ¹⁹ the great trials which your eyes saw, the signs, the wonders, the mighty hand, and the outstretched arm, by which Yahweh your God brought you out. So shall Yahweh your God do to all the peoples of whom you are afraid. ²⁰ Moreover Yahweh your God will send the hornet among them, until those who are left, and hide themselves, perish from before you. ²¹ You shall not be scared of them; for Yahweh your God is among you, a great and awesome God. ²² Yahweh your God will cast out those nations before you little by little. You may not consume them at once, lest the animals of the field increase on you. ²³ But Yahweh your God will deliver them up before you, and will confuse them with a great confusion, until they are destroyed. ²⁴ He will deliver their kings into your hand, and you shall make their name perish from under the sky. No one will be able to stand before you until you have destroyed them. ²⁵ You shall burn the engraved images of their gods with fire. You shall not covet the silver or the gold that is on them, nor take it for yourself, lest you be snared in it; for it is an abomination to Yahweh your God. ²⁶ You shall not bring an abomination into your house and become a devoted thing like it. You shall utterly detest it. You shall utterly abhor it; for it is a devoted thing.

8You shall observe to do all the commandments which I command you today, that you may live, and multiply, and go in and possess the land which Yahweh swore to your fathers. ² You shall remember all the way which Yahweh your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble you, to test you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments or not. ³ He humbled you, allowed you to be hungry, and fed you with manna, which you didn’t know, neither did your fathers know, that he might teach you that man does not live by bread only, but man lives by every word that proceeds out of Yahweh’s mouth. ⁴ Your clothing didn’t grow old on you, neither did your foot swell, these forty years. ⁵ You shall consider in your heart that as a man disciplines his son, so Yahweh your God disciplines you. ⁶ You shall keep the commandments of Yahweh your God, to walk in his ways, and to fear him. ⁷ For Yahweh your God brings you into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of springs, and underground water flowing into valleys and hills; ⁸ a land of wheat, barley, vines, fig trees, and pomegranates; a land of olive trees and honey; ⁹ a land in which you shall eat bread without scarcity, you shall not lack anything in it; a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills you may dig copper. ¹⁰ You shall eat and be full, and you shall bless Yahweh your God for the good land which he has given you.

¹¹ Beware lest you forget Yahweh your God, in not keeping his commandments, his ordinances, and his statutes, which I command you today; ¹² lest, when you have eaten and are full, and have built fine houses and lived in them; ¹³ and when your herds and your flocks multiply, and your silver and your gold is multiplied, and all that you have is multiplied; ¹⁴ then your heart might be lifted up, and you forget Yahweh your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage; ¹⁵ who led you through the great and terrible wilderness, with venomous snakes and scorpions, and thirsty ground where there was no water; who poured water for you out of the rock of flint; ¹⁶ who fed you in the wilderness with manna, which your fathers didn’t know, that he might humble you, and that he might prove you, to do you good at your latter end; ¹⁷ and lest you say in your heart, “My power and the might of my hand has gotten me this wealth.” ¹⁸ But you shall remember Yahweh your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth, that he may establish his covenant which he swore to your fathers, as it is today.

¹⁹ It shall be, if you shall forget Yahweh your God, and walk after other gods, and serve them and worship them, I testify against you today that you shall surely perish. ²⁰ As the nations that Yahweh makes to perish before you, so you shall perish, because you wouldn’t listen to Yahweh your God’s voice.

9Hear, Israel! You are to pass over the Jordan today, to go in to dispossess nations greater and mightier than yourself, cities great and fortified up to the sky, ² a people great and tall, the sons of the Anakim, whom you know, and of whom you have heard say, “Who can stand before the sons of Anak?” ³ Know therefore today that Yahweh your God is he who goes over before you as a devouring fire. He will destroy them and he will bring them down before you. So you shall drive them out and make them perish quickly, as Yahweh has spoken to you.

⁴ Don’t say in your heart, after Yahweh your God has thrust them out from before you, “For my righteousness Yahweh has brought me in to possess this land;” because Yahweh drives them out before you because of the wickedness of these nations. ⁵ Not for your righteousness or for the uprightness of your heart do you go in to possess their land; but for the wickedness of these nations Yahweh your God does drive them out from before you, and that he may establish the word which Yahweh swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. ⁶ Know therefore that Yahweh your God doesn’t give you this good land to possess for your righteousness, for you are a stiff-necked people. ⁷ Remember, and don’t forget, how you provoked Yahweh your God to wrath in the wilderness. From the day that you left the land of Egypt until you came to this place, you have been rebellious against Yahweh. ⁸ Also in Horeb you provoked Yahweh to wrath, and Yahweh was angry with you to destroy you. ⁹ When I had gone up onto the mountain to receive the stone tablets, even the tablets of the covenant which Yahweh made with you, then I stayed on the mountain forty days and forty nights. I neither ate bread nor drank water. ¹⁰ Yahweh delivered to me the two stone tablets written with God’s finger. On them were all the words which Yahweh spoke with you on the mountain out of the middle of the fire in the day of the assembly.

¹¹ It came to pass at the end of forty days and forty nights that Yahweh gave me the two stone tablets, even the tablets of the covenant. ¹² Yahweh said to me, “Arise, get down quickly from here; for your people whom you have brought out of Egypt have corrupted themselves. They have quickly turned away from the way which I commanded them. They have made a molten image for themselves!”

¹³ Furthermore Yahweh spoke to me, saying, “I have seen this people, and behold, it is a stiff-necked people. ¹⁴ Leave me alone, that I may destroy them, and blot out their name from under the sky; and I will make of you a nation mightier and greater than they.”

¹⁵ So I turned and came down from the mountain, and the mountain was burning with fire. The two tablets of the covenant were in my two hands. ¹⁶ I looked, and behold, you had sinned against Yahweh your God. You had made yourselves a molded calf. You had quickly turned away from the way which Yahweh had commanded you. ¹⁷ I took hold of the two tablets, and threw them out of my two hands, and broke them before your eyes. ¹⁸ I fell down before Yahweh, as at the first, forty days and forty nights. I neither ate bread nor drank water, because of all your sin which you sinned, in doing that which was evil in Yahweh’s sight, to provoke him to anger. ¹⁹ For I was afraid of the anger and hot displeasure with which Yahweh was angry against you to destroy you. But Yahweh listened to me that time also. ²⁰ Yahweh was angry enough with Aaron to destroy him. I prayed for Aaron also at the same time. ²¹ I took your sin, the calf which you had made, and burned it with fire, and crushed it, grinding it very small, until it was as fine as dust. I threw its dust into the brook that descended out of the mountain. ²² At Taberah, at Massah, and at Kibroth Hattaavah you provoked Yahweh to wrath. ²³ When Yahweh sent you from Kadesh Barnea, saying, “Go up and possess the land which I have given you,” you rebelled against the commandment of Yahweh your God, and you didn’t believe him or listen to his voice. ²⁴ You have been rebellious against Yahweh from the day that I knew you. ²⁵ So I fell down before Yahweh the forty days and forty nights that I fell down, because Yahweh had said he would destroy you. ²⁶ I prayed to Yahweh, and said, “Lord Yahweh, don’t destroy your people and your inheritance that you have redeemed through your greatness, that you have brought out of Egypt with a mighty hand. ²⁷ Remember your servants, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Don’t look at the stubbornness of this people, nor at their wickedness, nor at their sin, ²⁸ lest the land you brought us out from say, ‘Because Yahweh was not able to bring them into the land which he promised to them, and because he hated them, he has brought them out to kill them in the wilderness.’ ²⁹ Yet they are your people and your inheritance, which you brought out by your great power and by your outstretched arm.”

10At that time Yahweh said to me, “Cut two stone tablets like the first, and come up to me onto the mountain, and make an ark of wood. ² I will write on the tablets the words that were on the first tablets which you broke, and you shall put them in the ark.” ³ So I made an ark of acacia wood, and cut two stone tablets like the first, and went up onto the mountain, having the two tablets in my hand. ⁴ He wrote on the tablets, according to the first writing, the ten commandments, which Yahweh spoke to you on the mountain out of the middle of the fire in the day of the assembly; and Yahweh gave them to me. ⁵ I turned and came down from the mountain, and put the tablets in the ark which I had made; and there they are as Yahweh commanded me.

⁶ (The children of Israel traveled from Beeroth Bene Jaakan to Moserah. There Aaron died, and there he was buried; and Eleazar his son ministered in the priest’s office in his place. ⁷ From there they traveled to Gudgodah; and from Gudgodah to Jotbathah, a land of brooks of water. ⁸ At that time Yahweh set apart the tribe of Levi to bear the ark of Yahweh’s covenant, to stand before Yahweh to minister to him, and to bless in his name, to this day. ⁹ Therefore Levi has no portion nor inheritance with his brothers; Yahweh is his inheritance, according as Yahweh your God spoke to him.)

¹⁰ I stayed on the mountain, as at the first time, forty days and forty nights; and Yahweh listened to me that time also. Yahweh would not destroy you. ¹¹ Yahweh said to me, “Arise, take your journey before the people; and they shall go in and possess the land which I swore to their fathers to give to them.”

¹² Now, Israel, what does Yahweh your God require of you, but to fear Yahweh your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, and to serve Yahweh your God with all your heart and with all your soul, ¹³ to keep Yahweh’s commandments and statutes, which I command you today for your good? ¹⁴ Behold, to Yahweh your God belongs heaven, the heaven of heavens, and the earth, with all that is therein. ¹⁵ Only Yahweh had a delight in your fathers to love them, and he chose their offspring after them, even you above all peoples, as it is today. ¹⁶ Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and be no more stiff-necked. ¹⁷ For Yahweh your God, he is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, the mighty, and the awesome, who doesn’t respect persons or take bribes. ¹⁸ He executes justice for the fatherless and widow and loves the foreigner in giving him food and clothing. ¹⁹ Therefore love the foreigner, for you were foreigners in the land of Egypt. ²⁰ You shall fear Yahweh your God. You shall serve him. You shall cling to him, and you shall swear by his name. ²¹ He is your praise, and he is your God, who has done for you these great and awesome things which your eyes have seen. ²² Your fathers went down into Egypt with seventy persons; and now Yahweh your God has made you as the stars of the sky for multitude.

11Therefore you shall love Yahweh your God, and keep his instructions, his statutes, his ordinances, and his commandments, always. ² Know this day—for I don’t speak with your children who have not known, and who have not seen the chastisement of Yahweh your God, his greatness, his mighty hand, his outstretched arm, ³ his signs, and his works, which he did in the middle of Egypt to Pharaoh the king of Egypt, and to all his land; ⁴ and what he did to the army of Egypt, to their horses, and to their chariots; how he made the water of the Red Sea to overflow them as they pursued you, and how Yahweh has destroyed them to this day; ⁵ and what he did to you in the wilderness, until you came to this place; ⁶ and what he did to Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, the son of Reuben; how the earth opened its mouth, and swallowed them up, with their households, their tents, and every living thing that followed them, in the middle of all Israel; ⁷ but your eyes have seen all of Yahweh’s great work which he did. ⁸ Therefore you shall keep all the commandment which I command you today, that you may be strong, and go in and possess the land, where you go over to possess it; ⁹ and that you may prolong your days in the land, which Yahweh swore to your fathers to give to them and to their offspring, a land flowing with milk and honey. ¹⁰ For the land, where you go in to possess, isn’t like the land of Egypt, that you came out of, where you sowed your seed, and watered it with your foot, as a garden of herbs; ¹¹ but the land, where you go over to possess it, is a land of hills and valleys which drinks water from the rain of the sky, ¹² a land which Yahweh your God cares for. Yahweh your God’s eyes are always on it, from the beginning of the year even to the end of the year. ¹³ It shall happen, if you shall listen diligently to my commandments which I command you today, to love Yahweh your God, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul, ¹⁴ that I will give the rain of your land in its season, the early rain and the latter rain, that you may gather in your grain, your new wine, and your oil. ¹⁵ I will give grass in your fields for your livestock, and you shall eat and be full. ¹⁶ Be careful, lest your heart be deceived, and you turn away, and serve other gods, and worship them; ¹⁷ and Yahweh’s anger be kindled against you, and he shut up the sky, so that there is no rain, and the land doesn’t yield its fruit; and you perish quickly from off the good land which Yahweh gives you. ¹⁸ Therefore you shall lay up these words of mine in your heart and in your soul. You shall bind them for a sign on your hand, and they shall be for frontlets between your eyes. ¹⁹ You shall teach them to your children, talking of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. ²⁰ You shall write them on the door posts of your house, and on your gates; ²¹ that your days may be multiplied, and the days of your children, in the land which Yahweh swore to your fathers to give them, as the days of the heavens above the earth. ²² For if you shall diligently keep all these commandments which I command you, to do them, to love Yahweh your God, to walk in all his ways, and to cling to him; ²³ then Yahweh will drive out all these nations from before you, and you shall dispossess nations greater and mightier than yourselves. ²⁴ Every place on which the sole of your foot treads shall be yours: from the wilderness, and Lebanon, from the river, the river Euphrates, even to the western sea shall be your border. ²⁵ No man will be able to stand before you. Yahweh your God will lay the fear of you and the dread of you on all the land that you tread on, as he has spoken to you. ²⁶ Behold, I set before you today a blessing and a curse: ²⁷ the blessing, if you listen to the commandments of Yahweh your God, which I command you today; ²⁸ and the curse, if you do not listen to the commandments of Yahweh your God, but turn away out of the way which I command you today, to go after other gods, which you have not known. ²⁹ It shall happen, when Yahweh your God brings you into the land where you go to possess it, that you shall set the blessing on Mount Gerizim, and the curse on Mount Ebal. ³⁰ Aren’t they beyond the Jordan, behind the way of the going down of the sun, in the land of the Canaanites who dwell in the Arabah, near Gilgal, beside the oaks of Moreh? ³¹ For you are to pass over the Jordan to go in to possess the land which Yahweh your God gives you, and you shall possess it, and dwell therein. ³² You shall observe to do all the statutes and the ordinances which I set before you today.

12These are the statutes and the ordinances which you shall observe to do in the land which Yahweh, the God of your fathers, has given you to possess it, all the days that you live on the earth. ² You shall surely destroy all the places in which the nations that you shall dispossess served their gods, on the high mountains, and on the hills, and under every green tree. ³ You shall break down their altars, and dash their pillars in pieces, and burn their Asherah poles with fire. You shall cut down the engraved images of their gods. You shall destroy their name out of that place. ⁴ You shall not do so to Yahweh your God. ⁵ But to the place which Yahweh your God shall choose out of all your tribes, to put his name there, you shall seek his habitation, and you shall come there. ⁶ You shall bring your burnt offerings, your sacrifices, your tithes, the wave offering of your hand, your vows, your free will offerings, and the firstborn of your herd and of your flock there. ⁷ There you shall eat before Yahweh your God, and you shall rejoice in all that you put your hand to, you and your households, in which Yahweh your God has blessed you. ⁸ You shall not do all the things that we do here today, every man whatever is right in his own eyes; ⁹ for you haven’t yet come to the rest and to the inheritance which Yahweh your God gives you. ¹⁰ But when you go over the Jordan, and dwell in the land which Yahweh your God causes you to inherit, and he gives you rest from all your enemies around you, so that you dwell in safety; ¹¹ then it shall happen that to the place which Yahweh your God shall choose, to cause his name to dwell there, there you shall bring all that I command you: your burnt offerings, your sacrifices, your tithes, the wave offering of your hand, and all your choice vows which you vow to Yahweh. ¹² You shall rejoice before Yahweh your God: you, and your sons, your daughters, your male servants, your female servants, and the Levite who is within your gates, because he has no portion nor inheritance with you. ¹³ Be careful that you don’t offer your burnt offerings in every place that you see; ¹⁴ but in the place which Yahweh chooses in one of your tribes, there you shall offer your burnt offerings, and there you shall do all that I command you. ¹⁵ Notwithstanding, you may kill and eat meat within all your gates, after all the desire of your soul, according to Yahweh your God’s blessing which he has given you. The unclean and the clean may eat of it, as of the gazelle, and as of the deer. ¹⁶ Only you shall not eat the blood. You shall pour it out on the earth like water. ¹⁷ You may not eat within your gates the tithe of your grain, or of your new wine, or of your oil, or the firstborn of your herd or of your flock, nor any of your vows which you vow, nor your free will offerings, nor the wave offering of your hand; ¹⁸ but you shall eat them before Yahweh your God in the place which Yahweh your God shall choose: you, your son, your daughter, your male servant, your female servant, and the Levite who is within your gates. You shall rejoice before Yahweh your God in all that you put your hand to. ¹⁹ Be careful that you don’t forsake the Levite as long as you live in your land.

²⁰ When Yahweh your God enlarges your border, as he has promised you, and you say, “I want to eat meat,” because your soul desires to eat meat; you may eat meat, after all the desire of your soul. ²¹ If the place which Yahweh your God shall choose, to put his name there, is too far from you, then you shall kill of your herd and of your flock, which Yahweh has given you, as I have commanded you; and you may eat within your gates, after all the desire of your soul. ²² Even as the gazelle and as the deer is eaten, so you shall eat of it. The unclean and the clean may eat of it alike. ²³ Only be sure that you don’t eat the blood; for the blood is the life. You shall not eat the life with the meat. ²⁴ You shall not eat it. You shall pour it out on the earth like water. ²⁵ You shall not eat it; that it may go well with you, and with your children after you, when you shall do that which is right in Yahweh’s eyes. ²⁶ Only your holy things which you have, and your vows, you shall take, and go to the place which Yahweh shall choose. ²⁷ You shall offer your burnt offerings, the meat and the blood, on Yahweh your God’s altar; and the blood of your sacrifices shall be poured out on Yahweh your God’s altar; and you shall eat the meat. ²⁸ Observe and hear all these words which I command you, that it may go well with you, and with your children after you forever, when you do that which is good and right in Yahweh your God’s eyes.

²⁹ When Yahweh your God cuts off the nations from before you, where you go in to dispossess them, and you dispossess them, and dwell in their land; ³⁰ be careful that you are not ensnared to follow them, after they are destroyed from before you; and that you not inquire after their gods, saying, “How do these nations serve their gods? I will do likewise.” ³¹ You shall not do so to Yahweh your God; for every abomination to Yahweh, which he hates, they have done to their gods; for they even burn their sons and their daughters in the fire to their gods. ³² Whatever thing I command you, that you shall observe to do. You shall not add to it, nor take away from it.

13If a prophet or a dreamer of dreams arises among you, and he gives you a sign or a wonder, ² and the sign or the wonder comes to pass, of which he spoke to you, saying, “Let’s go after other gods” (which you have not known) “and let’s serve them;” ³ you shall not listen to the words of that prophet, or to that dreamer of dreams; for Yahweh your God is testing you, to know whether you love Yahweh your God with all your heart and with all your soul. ⁴ You shall walk after Yahweh your God, fear him, keep his commandments, and obey his voice, and you shall serve him, and cling to him. ⁵ That prophet, or that dreamer of dreams, shall be put to death, because he has spoken rebellion against Yahweh your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed you out of the house of bondage, to draw you aside out of the way which Yahweh your God commanded you to walk in. So you shall remove the evil from among you.

⁶ If your brother, the son of your mother, or your son, or your daughter, or the wife of your bosom, or your friend, who is as your own soul, entices you secretly, saying, “Let’s go and serve other gods,” which you have not known, you, nor your fathers; ⁷ of the gods of the peoples who are around you, near to you, or far off from you, from the one end of the earth even to the other end of the earth; ⁸ you shall not consent to him, nor listen to him; neither shall your eye pity him, neither shall you spare, neither shall you conceal him; ⁹ but you shall surely kill him. Your hand shall be first on him to put him to death, and afterwards the hands of all the people. ¹⁰ You shall stone him to death with stones, because he has sought to draw you away from Yahweh your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. ¹¹ All Israel shall hear, and fear, and shall not do any more wickedness like this among you.

¹² If you shall hear about one of your cities, which Yahweh your God gives you to dwell there, that ¹³ certain wicked fellows have gone out from among you, and have drawn away the inhabitants of their city, saying, “Let’s go and serve other gods,” which you have not known; ¹⁴ then you shall inquire, and make search, and ask diligently. Behold, if it is true, and the thing certain, that such abomination was done among you, ¹⁵ you shall surely strike the inhabitants of that city with the edge of the sword, destroying it utterly, with all that is therein and its livestock, with the edge of the sword. ¹⁶ You shall gather all its plunder into the middle of its street, and shall burn with fire the city, and all of its plunder, to Yahweh your God. It shall be a heap forever. It shall not be built again. ¹⁷ Nothing of the devoted thing shall cling to your hand, that Yahweh may turn from the fierceness of his anger, and show you mercy, and have compassion on you, and multiply you, as he has sworn to your fathers; ¹⁸ when you listen to Yahweh your God’s voice, to keep all his commandments which I command you today, to do that which is right in Yahweh your God’s eyes.

14You are the children of Yahweh your God. You shall not cut yourselves, nor make any baldness between your eyes for the dead. ² For you are a holy people to Yahweh your God, and Yahweh has chosen you to be a people for his own possession, above all peoples who are on the face of the earth.

³ You shall not eat any abominable thing. ⁴ These are the animals which you may eat: the ox, the sheep, the goat, ⁵ the deer, the gazelle, the roebuck, the wild goat, the ibex, the antelope, and the chamois. ⁶ Every animal that parts the hoof, and has the hoof cloven in two and chews the cud, among the animals, that may you eat. ⁷ Nevertheless these you shall not eat of them that chew the cud, or of those who have the hoof cloven: the camel, the hare, and the rabbit. Because they chew the cud but don’t part the hoof, they are unclean to you. ⁸ The pig, because it has a split hoof but doesn’t chew the cud, is unclean to you. You shall not eat their meat, and you shall not touch their carcasses. ⁹ These you may eat of all that are in the waters: you may eat whatever has fins and scales. ¹⁰ You shall not eat whatever doesn’t have fins and scales. It is unclean to you. ¹¹ Of all clean birds you may eat. ¹² But these are they of which you shall not eat: the eagle, the vulture, the osprey, ¹³ the red kite, the falcon, the kite after its kind, ¹⁴ every raven after its kind, ¹⁵ the ostrich, the owl, the seagull, the hawk after its kind, ¹⁶ the little owl, the great owl, the horned owl, ¹⁷ the pelican, the vulture, the cormorant, ¹⁸ the stork, the heron after its kind, the hoopoe, and the bat. ¹⁹ All winged creeping things are unclean to you. They shall not be eaten. ²⁰ Of all clean birds you may eat.

²¹ You shall not eat of anything that dies of itself. You may give it to the foreigner living among you who is within your gates, that he may eat it; or you may sell it to a foreigner; for you are a holy people to Yahweh your God. You shall not boil a young goat in its mother’s milk.

²² You shall surely tithe all the increase of your seed, that which comes out of the field year by year. ²³ You shall eat before Yahweh your God, in the place which he chooses, to cause his name to dwell there, the tithe of your grain, of your new wine, and of your oil, and the firstborn of your herd and of your flock; that you may learn to fear Yahweh your God always. ²⁴ If the way is too long for you, so that you are not able to carry it, because the place is too far from you, which Yahweh your God shall choose, to set his name there, when Yahweh your God shall bless you; ²⁵ then you shall turn it into money, and bind up the money in your hand, and shall go to the place which Yahweh your God shall choose. ²⁶ You shall trade the money for whatever your soul desires, for cattle, or for sheep, or for wine, or for strong drink, or for whatever your soul asks of you; and you shall eat there before Yahweh your God, and you shall rejoice, you and your household. ²⁷ You shall not forsake the Levite who is within your gates, for he has no portion nor inheritance with you. ²⁸ At the end of every three years you shall bring all the tithe of your increase in the same year, and shall store it within your gates. ²⁹ The Levite, because he has no portion nor inheritance with you, and the foreigner living among you, and the fatherless, and the widow, who are within your gates, shall come, and shall eat and be satisfied; that Yahweh your God may bless you in all the work of your hand which you do.

15At the end of every seven years, you shall cancel debts. ² This is the way it shall be done: every creditor shall release that which he has lent to his neighbor. He shall not require payment from his neighbor and his brother; because Yahweh’s release has been proclaimed. ³ Of a foreigner you may require it; but whatever of yours is with your brother, your hand shall release. ⁴ However there shall be no poor with you (for Yahweh will surely bless you in the land which Yahweh your God gives you for an inheritance to possess it) ⁵ if only you diligently listen to Yahweh your God’s voice, to observe to do all this commandment which I command you today. ⁶ For Yahweh your God will bless you, as he promised you. You will lend to many nations, but you will not borrow. You will rule over many nations, but they will not rule over you. ⁷ If a poor man, one of your brothers, is with you within any of your gates in your land which Yahweh your God gives you, you shall not harden your heart, nor shut your hand from your poor brother; ⁸ but you shall surely open your hand to him, and shall surely lend him sufficient for his need, which he lacks. ⁹ Beware that there not be a wicked thought in your heart, saying, “The seventh year, the year of release, is at hand;” and your eye be evil against your poor brother, and you give him nothing; and he cry to Yahweh against you, and it be sin to you. ¹⁰ You shall surely give, and your heart shall not be grieved when you give to him; because that for this thing Yahweh your God will bless you in all your work, and in all that you put your hand to. ¹¹ For the poor will never cease out of the land. Therefore I command you to surely open your hand to your brother, to your needy, and to your poor, in your land. ¹² If your brother, a Hebrew man, or a Hebrew woman, is sold to you, and serves you six years; then in the seventh year you shall let him go free from you. ¹³ When you let him go free from you, you shall not let him go empty. ¹⁴ You shall furnish him liberally out of your flock, out of your threshing floor, and out of your wine press. As Yahweh your God has blessed you, you shall give to him. ¹⁵ You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and Yahweh your God redeemed you. Therefore I command you this thing today. ¹⁶ It shall be, if he tells you, “I will not go out from you,” because he loves you and your house, because he is well with you; ¹⁷ then you shall take an awl, and thrust it through his ear to the door, and he shall be your servant forever. Also to your female servant you shall do likewise. ¹⁸ It shall not seem hard to you, when you let him go free from you; for he has been double value of a hired hand as he served you six years. Yahweh your God will bless you in all that you do. ¹⁹ You shall dedicate all the firstborn males that are born of your herd and of your flock to Yahweh your God. You shall do no work with the firstborn of your herd, nor shear the firstborn of your flock. ²⁰ You shall eat it before Yahweh your God year by year in the place which Yahweh shall choose, you and your household. ²¹ If it has any defect, is lame or blind, or has any defect whatever, you shall not sacrifice it to Yahweh your God. ²² You shall eat it within your gates. The unclean and the clean shall eat it alike, as the gazelle, and as the deer. ²³ Only you shall not eat its blood. You shall pour it out on the ground like water.

16Observe the month of Abib, and keep the Passover to Yahweh your God; for in the month of Abib Yahweh your God brought you out of Egypt by night. ² You shall sacrifice the Passover to Yahweh your God, of the flock and the herd, in the place which Yahweh shall choose, to cause his name to dwell there. ³ You shall eat no leavened bread with it. You shall eat unleavened bread with it seven days, even the bread of affliction; for you came out of the land of Egypt in haste; that you may remember the day when you came out of the land of Egypt all the days of your life. ⁴ No yeast shall be seen with you in all your borders seven days; neither shall any of the meat, which you sacrifice the first day at evening, remain all night until the morning. ⁵ You may not sacrifice the Passover within any of your gates, which Yahweh your God gives you; ⁶ but at the place which Yahweh your God shall choose, to cause his name to dwell in, there you shall sacrifice the Passover at evening, at the going down of the sun, at the season that you came out of Egypt. ⁷ You shall roast and eat it in the place which Yahweh your God chooses. In the morning you shall return to your tents. ⁸ Six days you shall eat unleavened bread. On the seventh day shall be a solemn assembly to Yahweh your God. You shall do no work. ⁹ You shall count for yourselves seven weeks. From the time you begin to put the sickle to the standing grain you shall begin to count seven weeks. ¹⁰ You shall keep the feast of weeks to Yahweh your God with a tribute of a free will offering of your hand, which you shall give, according as Yahweh your God blesses you. ¹¹ You shall rejoice before Yahweh your God: you, your son, your daughter, your male servant, your female servant, the Levite who is within your gates, the foreigner, the fatherless, and the widow, who are among you, in the place which Yahweh your God shall choose to cause his name to dwell there. ¹² You shall remember that you were a slave in Egypt. You shall observe and do these statutes. ¹³ You shall keep the feast of booths seven days, after you have gathered in from your threshing floor and from your wine press. ¹⁴ You shall rejoice in your feast, you, your son, your daughter, your male servant, your female servant, the Levite, the foreigner, the fatherless, and the widow, who are within your gates. ¹⁵ You shall keep a feast to Yahweh your God seven days in the place which Yahweh chooses; because Yahweh your God will bless you in all your increase, and in all the work of your hands, and you shall be altogether joyful. ¹⁶ Three times in a year all of your males shall appear before Yahweh your God in the place which he chooses: in the feast of unleavened bread, in the feast of weeks, and in the feast of booths. They shall not appear before Yahweh empty. ¹⁷ Every man shall give as he is able, according to Yahweh your God’s blessing which he has given you. ¹⁸ You shall make judges and officers in all your gates, which Yahweh your God gives you, according to your tribes; and they shall judge the people with righteous judgment. ¹⁹ You shall not pervert justice. You shall not show partiality. You shall not take a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise, and perverts the words of the righteous. ²⁰ You shall follow that which is altogether just, that you may live, and inherit the land which Yahweh your God gives you. ²¹ You shall not plant for yourselves an Asherah of any kind of tree beside Yahweh your God’s altar, which you shall make for yourselves. ²² Neither shall you set yourself up a sacred stone which Yahweh your God hates.

17You shall not sacrifice to Yahweh your God an ox or a sheep in which is a defect, or anything evil; for that is an abomination to Yahweh your God. ² If there is found among you, within any of your gates which Yahweh your God gives you, a man or woman who does that which is evil in Yahweh your God’s sight, in transgressing his covenant, ³ and has gone and served other gods, and worshiped them, or the sun, or the moon, or any of the stars of the sky, which I have not commanded; ⁴ and you are told, and you have heard of it, then you shall inquire diligently. Behold, if it is true, and the thing certain, that such abomination is done in Israel, ⁵ then you shall bring out that man or that woman, who has done this evil thing, to your gates, even that same man or woman; and you shall stone them to death with stones. ⁶ At the mouth of two witnesses, or three witnesses, he who is to die shall be put to death. At the mouth of one witness he shall not be put to death. ⁷ The hand of the witnesses shall be first on him to put him to death, and afterward the hand of all the people. So you shall remove the evil from among you. ⁸ If there arises a matter too hard for you in judgment, between blood and blood, between plea and plea, and between stroke and stroke, being matters of controversy within your gates; then you shall arise, and go up to the place which Yahweh your God chooses. ⁹ You shall come to the priests who are Levites, and to the judge who shall be in those days. You shall inquire, and they shall give you the verdict. ¹⁰ You shall do according to the decisions of the verdict which they shall give you from that place which Yahweh chooses. You shall observe to do according to all that they shall teach you: ¹¹ according to the decisions of the law which they shall teach you, and according to the judgment which they shall tell you, you shall do. You shall not turn away from the sentence which they shall show you, to the right hand, nor to the left. ¹² The man who does presumptuously, in not listening to the priest who stands to minister there before Yahweh your God, or to the judge, even that man shall die. You shall put away the evil from Israel. ¹³ All the people shall hear, and fear, and do no more presumptuously.

¹⁴ When you have come to the land which Yahweh your God gives you, and possess it, and dwell in it, and say, “I will set a king over me, like all the nations that are around me;” ¹⁵ you shall surely set him king over yourselves, whom Yahweh your God chooses. You shall set as king over you one from among your brothers. You may not put a foreigner over you, who is not your brother. ¹⁶ Only he shall not multiply horses to himself, nor cause the people to return to Egypt, to the end that he may multiply horses; because Yahweh has said to you, “You shall not go back that way again.” ¹⁷ He shall not multiply wives to himself, that his heart not turn away. He shall not greatly multiply to himself silver and gold.

¹⁸ It shall be, when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, that he shall write himself a copy of this law in a book, out of that which is before the priests the Levites. ¹⁹ It shall be with him, and he shall read from it all the days of his life; that he may learn to fear Yahweh his God, to keep all the words of this law and these statutes, to do them; ²⁰ that his heart not be lifted up above his brothers, and that he not turn away from the commandment, to the right hand, or to the left; to the end that he may prolong his days in his kingdom, he and his children, in the middle of Israel.

18The priests the Levites, all the tribe of Levi, shall have no portion nor inheritance with Israel. They shall eat the offerings of Yahweh made by fire and his portion. ² They shall have no inheritance among their brothers. Yahweh is their inheritance, as he has spoken to them. ³ This shall be the priests’ due from the people, from those who offer a sacrifice, whether it be ox or sheep, that they shall give to the priest the shoulder, the two cheeks, and the inner parts. ⁴ The first fruits of your grain, of your new wine, and of your oil, and the first of the fleece of your sheep, you shall give him. ⁵ For Yahweh your God has chosen him out of all your tribes, to stand to minister in Yahweh’s name, him and his sons forever. ⁶ If a Levite comes from any of your gates out of all Israel, where he lives as a foreigner, and comes with all the desire of his soul to the place which Yahweh shall choose; ⁷ then he shall minister in the name of Yahweh his God, as all his brothers the Levites do, who stand there before Yahweh. ⁸ They shall have like portions to eat, in addition to that which comes from the sale of his family possessions. ⁹ When you have come into the land which Yahweh your God gives you, you shall not learn to imitate the abominations of those nations. ¹⁰ There shall not be found with you anyone who makes his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, one who uses divination, one who practices sorcery, or an enchanter, or a sorcerer, ¹¹ or a charmer, or someone who consults with a familiar spirit, or a wizard, or a necromancer. ¹² For whoever does these things is an abomination to Yahweh. Because of these abominations, Yahweh your God drives them out from before you. ¹³ You shall be perfect with Yahweh your God. ¹⁴ For these nations that you shall dispossess listen to those who practice sorcery and to diviners; but as for you, Yahweh your God has not allowed you so to do. ¹⁵ Yahweh your God will raise up to you a prophet from among you, of your brothers, like me. You shall listen to him. ¹⁶ This is according to all that you desired of Yahweh your God in Horeb in the day of the assembly, saying, “Let me not hear again Yahweh my God’s voice, neither let me see this great fire any more, that I not die.”

¹⁷ Yahweh said to me, “They have well said that which they have spoken. ¹⁸ I will raise them up a prophet from among their brothers, like you. I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I shall command him. ¹⁹ It shall happen, that whoever will not listen to my words which he shall speak in my name, I will require it of him. ²⁰ But the prophet who speaks a word presumptuously in my name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or who speaks in the name of other gods, that same prophet shall die.”

²¹ You may say in your heart, “How shall we know the word which Yahweh has not spoken?” ²² When a prophet speaks in Yahweh’s name, if the thing doesn’t follow, nor happen, that is the thing which Yahweh has not spoken. The prophet has spoken it presumptuously. You shall not be afraid of him.

19When Yahweh your God cuts off the nations whose land Yahweh your God gives you, and you succeed them and dwell in their cities and in their houses; ² you shall set apart three cities for yourselves in the middle of your land, which Yahweh your God gives you to possess it. ³ You shall prepare the way, and divide the borders of your land which Yahweh your God causes you to inherit into three parts, that every man slayer may flee there. ⁴ This is the case of the man slayer who shall flee there and live. Whoever kills his neighbor unawares, and didn’t hate him in time past; ⁵ as when a man goes into the forest with his neighbor to chop wood and his hand swings the ax to cut down the tree, and the head slips from the handle and hits his neighbor so that he dies, he shall flee to one of these cities and live. ⁶ Otherwise, the avenger of blood might pursue the man slayer while his heart is hot and overtake him, because the way is long, and strike him mortally; even though he was not worthy of death, because he didn’t hate him in time past. ⁷ Therefore I command you to set apart three cities for yourselves. ⁸ If Yahweh your God enlarges your border, as he has sworn to your fathers, and gives you all the land which he promised to give to your fathers; ⁹ if you keep all this commandment to do it, which I command you today, to love Yahweh your God, and to walk ever in his ways; then you shall add three cities more for yourselves, in addition to these three. ¹⁰ This is so that innocent blood will not be shed in the middle of your land which Yahweh your God gives you for an inheritance, leaving blood guilt on you. ¹¹ But if any man hates his neighbor, lies in wait for him, rises up against him, strikes him mortally so that he dies, and he flees into one of these cities; ¹² then the elders of his city shall send and bring him there, and deliver him into the hand of the avenger of blood, that he may die. ¹³ Your eye shall not pity him, but you shall purge the innocent blood from Israel that it may go well with you.

¹⁴ You shall not remove your neighbor’s landmark, which they of old time have set, in your inheritance which you shall inherit, in the land that Yahweh your God gives you to possess.

¹⁵ One witness shall not rise up against a man for any iniquity, or for any sin, in any sin that he sins. At the mouth of two witnesses, or at the mouth of three witnesses, shall a matter be established. ¹⁶ If an unrighteous witness rises up against any man to testify against him of wrongdoing, ¹⁷ then both the men, between whom the controversy is, shall stand before Yahweh, before the priests and the judges who shall be in those days; ¹⁸ and the judges shall make diligent inquisition: and behold, if the witness is a false witness, and has testified falsely against his brother; ¹⁹ then you shall do to him as he had thought to do to his brother. So you shall remove the evil from among you. ²⁰ Those who remain shall hear, and fear, and will never again commit any such evil among you. ²¹ Your eyes shall not pity: life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.

20When you go out to battle against your enemies, and see horses, chariots, and a people more than you, you shall not be afraid of them; for Yahweh your God is with you, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt. ² It shall be, when you draw near to the battle, that the priest shall approach and speak to the people, ³ and shall tell them, “Hear, Israel, you draw near today to battle against your enemies. Don’t let your heart faint! Don’t be afraid, nor tremble, neither be scared of them; ⁴ for Yahweh your God is he who goes with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to save you.”

⁵ The officers shall speak to the people, saying, “What man is there who has built a new house, and has not dedicated it? Let him go and return to his house, lest he die in the battle, and another man dedicate it. ⁶ What man is there who has planted a vineyard, and has not used its fruit? Let him go and return to his house, lest he die in the battle, and another man use its fruit. ⁷ What man is there who has pledged to be married a wife, and has not taken her? Let him go and return to his house, lest he die in the battle, and another man take her.” ⁸ The officers shall speak further to the people, and they shall say, “What man is there who is fearful and faint-hearted? Let him go and return to his house, lest his brother’s heart melt as his heart.” ⁹ It shall be, when the officers have finished speaking to the people, that they shall appoint captains of armies at the head of the people.

¹⁰ When you draw near to a city to fight against it, then proclaim peace to it. ¹¹ It shall be, if it makes you answer of peace, and opens to you, then it shall be, that all the people who are found therein shall become forced laborers to you, and shall serve you. ¹² If it will make no peace with you, but will make war against you, then you shall besiege it. ¹³ When Yahweh your God delivers it into your hand, you shall strike every male of it with the edge of the sword; ¹⁴ but the women, the little ones, the livestock, and all that is in the city, even all its plunder, you shall take for plunder for yourself. You may use the plunder of your enemies, which Yahweh your God has given you. ¹⁵ Thus you shall do to all the cities which are very far off from you, which are not of the cities of these nations. ¹⁶ But of the cities of these peoples, that Yahweh your God gives you for an inheritance, you shall save alive nothing that breathes; ¹⁷ but you shall utterly destroy them: the Hittite, the Amorite, the Canaanite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite; as Yahweh your God has commanded you; ¹⁸ that they not teach you to follow all their abominations, which they have done to their gods; so would you sin against Yahweh your God. ¹⁹ When you shall besiege a city a long time, in making war against it to take it, you shall not destroy its trees by wielding an ax against them; for you may eat of them. You shall not cut them down; for is the tree of the field man, that it should be besieged by you? ²⁰ Only the trees that you know are not trees for food, you shall destroy and cut them down. You shall build bulwarks against the city that makes war with you, until it falls.

21If someone is found slain in the land which Yahweh your God gives you to possess, lying in the field, and it isn’t known who has struck him; ² then your elders and your judges shall come out, and they shall measure to the cities which are around him who is slain. ³ It shall be that the elders of the city which is nearest to the slain man shall take a heifer of the herd, which hasn’t been worked with, and which has not drawn in the yoke. ⁴ The elders of that city shall bring the heifer down to a valley with running water, which is neither plowed nor sown, and shall break the heifer’s neck there in the valley. ⁵ The priests the sons of Levi shall come near; for them Yahweh your God has chosen to minister to him, and to bless in Yahweh’s name; and according to their word shall every controversy and every assault be decided. ⁶ All the elders of that city, who are nearest to the slain man, shall wash their hands over the heifer whose neck was broken in the valley. ⁷ They shall answer and say, “Our hands have not shed this blood, neither have our eyes seen it. ⁸ Forgive, Yahweh, your people Israel, whom you have redeemed, and don’t allow innocent blood among your people Israel.” The blood shall be forgiven them. ⁹ So you shall put away the innocent blood from among you, when you shall do that which is right in Yahweh’s eyes.

¹⁰ When you go out to battle against your enemies, and Yahweh your God delivers them into your hands, and you carry them away captive, ¹¹ and see among the captives a beautiful woman, and you are attracted to her, and desire to take her as your wife; ¹² then you shall bring her home to your house. She shall shave her head and trim her nails. ¹³ She shall take off the clothing of her captivity, and shall remain in your house, and bewail her father and her mother a full month. After that you shall go in to her and be her husband, and she shall be your wife. ¹⁴ It shall be, if you have no delight in her, then you shall let her go where she desires; but you shall not sell her at all for money. You shall not deal with her as a slave, because you have humbled her. ¹⁵ If a man has two wives, the one beloved, and the other hated, and they have borne him children, both the beloved and the hated; and if the firstborn son is hers who was hated; ¹⁶ then it shall be, in the day that he causes his sons to inherit that which he has, that he may not give the son of the beloved the rights of the firstborn before the son of the hated, who is the firstborn; ¹⁷ but he shall acknowledge the firstborn, the son of the hated, by giving him a double portion of all that he has; for he is the beginning of his strength. The right of the firstborn is his. ¹⁸ If a man has a stubborn and rebellious son, who will not obey the voice of his father or the voice of his mother, and though they chasten him, will not listen to them; ¹⁹ then his father and his mother shall take hold of him and bring him out to the elders of his city, and to the gate of his place. ²⁰ They shall tell the elders of his city, “This our son is stubborn and rebellious. He will not obey our voice. He is a glutton and a drunkard.” ²¹ All the men of his city shall stone him to death with stones. So you shall remove the evil from among you. All Israel shall hear, and fear.

²² If a man has committed a sin worthy of death, and he is put to death, and you hang him on a tree; ²³ his body shall not remain all night on the tree, but you shall surely bury him the same day; for he who is hanged is accursed of God; that you don’t defile your land which Yahweh your God gives you for an inheritance.

22You shall not see your brother’s ox or his sheep go astray, and hide yourself from them. You shall surely bring them again to your brother. ² If your brother isn’t near to you, or if you don’t know him, then you shall bring it home to your house, and it shall be with you until your brother comes looking for it, and you shall restore it to him. ³ So you shall do with his donkey. So you shall do with his garment. So you shall do with every lost thing of your brother’s, which he has lost, and you have found. You may not hide yourself. ⁴ You shall not see your brother’s donkey or his ox fallen down by the way, and hide yourself from them. You shall surely help him to lift them up again. ⁵ A woman shall not wear men’s clothing, neither shall a man put on women’s clothing; for whoever does these things is an abomination to Yahweh your God. ⁶ If you come across a bird’s nest on the way, in any tree or on the ground, with young ones or eggs, and the hen sitting on the young, or on the eggs, you shall not take the hen with the young. ⁷ You shall surely let the hen go, but the young you may take for yourself; that it may be well with you, and that you may prolong your days. ⁸ When you build a new house, then you shall make a railing around your roof, so that you don’t bring blood on your house if anyone falls from there. ⁹ You shall not sow your vineyard with two kinds of seed, lest all the fruit be defiled, the seed which you have sown, and the increase of the vineyard. ¹⁰ You shall not plow with an ox and a donkey together. ¹¹ You shall not wear clothes of wool and linen woven together. ¹² You shall make yourselves fringes on the four corners of your cloak with which you cover yourself.

¹³ If any man takes a wife, and goes in to her, hates her, ¹⁴ accuses her of shameful things, and gives her a bad name, and says, “I took this woman, and when I came near to her, I didn’t find in her the tokens of virginity;” ¹⁵ then the young lady’s father and mother shall take and bring the tokens of the young lady’s virginity to the elders of the city in the gate. ¹⁶ The young lady’s father shall tell the elders, “I gave my daughter to this man as his wife, and he hates her. ¹⁷ Behold, he has accused her of shameful things, saying, ‘I didn’t find in your daughter the tokens of virginity;’ and yet these are the tokens of my daughter’s virginity.” They shall spread the cloth before the elders of the city. ¹⁸ The elders of that city shall take the man and chastise him. ¹⁹ They shall fine him one hundred shekels of silver, and give them to the father of the young lady, because he has given a bad name to a virgin of Israel. She shall be his wife. He may not put her away all his days.

²⁰ But if this thing is true, that the tokens of virginity were not found in the young lady; ²¹ then they shall bring out the young lady to the door of her father’s house, and the men of her city shall stone her to death with stones, because she has done folly in Israel, to play the prostitute in her father’s house. So you shall remove the evil from among you. ²² If a man is found lying with a woman married to a husband, then they shall both die, the man who lay with the woman and the woman. So you shall remove the evil from Israel. ²³ If there is a young lady who is a virgin pledged to be married to a husband, and a man finds her in the city, and lies with her; ²⁴ then you shall bring them both out to the gate of that city, and you shall stone them to death with stones; the lady, because she didn’t cry, being in the city; and the man, because he has humbled his neighbor’s wife. So you shall remove the evil from among you. ²⁵ But if the man finds the lady who is pledged to be married in the field, and the man forces her, and lies with her; then only the man who lay with her shall die; ²⁶ but to the lady you shall do nothing. There is in the lady no sin worthy of death; for as when a man rises against his neighbor, and kills him, even so is this matter; ²⁷ for he found her in the field, the pledged to be married lady cried, and there was no one to save her. ²⁸ If a man finds a lady who is a virgin, who is not pledged to be married, grabs her, and lies with her, and they are found; ²⁹ then the man who lay with her shall give to the lady’s father fifty shekels of silver. She shall be his wife, because he has humbled her. He may not put her away all his days. ³⁰ A man shall not take his father’s wife, and shall not uncover his father’s skirt.

23He who is emasculated by crushing or cutting shall not enter into Yahweh’s assembly. ² A person born of a forbidden union shall not enter into Yahweh’s assembly; even to the tenth generation shall no one of his enter into Yahweh’s assembly. ³ An Ammonite or a Moabite shall not enter into Yahweh’s assembly; even to the tenth generation shall no one belonging to them enter into Yahweh’s assembly forever; ⁴ because they didn’t meet you with bread and with water on the way, when you came out of Egypt, and because they hired against you Balaam the son of Beor from Pethor of Mesopotamia, to curse you. ⁵ Nevertheless Yahweh your God wouldn’t listen to Balaam; but Yahweh your God turned the curse into a blessing to you, because Yahweh your God loved you. ⁶ You shall not seek their peace nor their prosperity all your days forever. ⁷ You shall not abhor an Edomite; for he is your brother. You shall not abhor an Egyptian, because you lived as a foreigner in his land. ⁸ The children of the third generation who are born to them may enter into Yahweh’s assembly. ⁹ When you go out and camp against your enemies, then you shall keep yourselves from every evil thing. ¹⁰ If there is among you any man who is not clean by reason of that which happens to him by night, then shall he go outside of the camp. He shall not come within the camp; ¹¹ but it shall be, when evening comes, he shall bathe himself in water. When the sun is down, he shall come within the camp. ¹² You shall have a place also outside of the camp where you go relieve yourself. ¹³ You shall have a trowel among your weapons. It shall be, when you relieve yourself, you shall dig with it, and shall turn back and cover your excrement; ¹⁴ for Yahweh your God walks in the middle of your camp, to deliver you, and to give up your enemies before you. Therefore your camp shall be holy, that he may not see an unclean thing in you, and turn away from you. ¹⁵ You shall not deliver to his master a servant who has escaped from his master to you. ¹⁶ He shall dwell with you, among you, in the place which he shall choose within one of your gates, where it pleases him best. You shall not oppress him. ¹⁷ There shall be no prostitute of the daughters of Israel, neither shall there be a sodomite of the sons of Israel. ¹⁸ You shall not bring the hire of a prostitute, or the wages of a male prostitute, into the house of Yahweh your God for any vow; for both of these are an abomination to Yahweh your God. ¹⁹ You shall not lend on interest to your brother; interest of money, interest of food, interest of anything that is lent on interest. ²⁰ You may charge a foreigner interest; but you shall not your brother interest, that Yahweh your God may bless you in all that you put your hand to, in the land where you go in to possess it. ²¹ When you vow a vow to Yahweh your God, you shall not be slack to pay it; for Yahweh your God will surely require it of you; and it would be sin in you. ²² But if you refrain from making a vow, it shall be no sin in you. ²³ You shall observe and do that which has gone out of your lips. Whatever you have vowed to Yahweh your God as a free will offering, which you have promised with your mouth, you must do. ²⁴ When you come into your neighbor’s vineyard, then you may eat of grapes your fill at your own pleasure; but you shall not put any in your container. ²⁵ When you come into your neighbor’s standing grain, then you may pluck the ears with your hand; but you shall not move a sickle to your neighbor’s standing grain.

24When a man takes a wife and marries her, then it shall be, if she finds no favor in his eyes, because he has found some unseemly thing in her, that he shall write her a certificate of divorce, and put it in her hand, and send her out of his house. ² When she has departed out of his house, she may go and be another man’s wife. ³ If the latter husband hates her, and write her a certificate of divorce, and puts it in her hand, and sends her out of his house; or if the latter husband die, who took her to be his wife; ⁴ her former husband, who sent her away, may not take her again to be his wife, after she is defiled; for that would be an abomination to Yahweh. You shall not cause the land to sin, which Yahweh your God gives you for an inheritance. ⁵ When a man takes a new wife, he shall not go out in the army, neither shall he be assigned any business. He shall be free at home one year, and shall cheer his wife whom he has taken. ⁶ No man shall take the mill or the upper millstone as a pledge; for he takes a life in pledge. ⁷ If a man is found stealing any of his brothers of the children of Israel, and he deals with him as a slave, or sells him; then that thief shall die. So you shall remove the evil from among you. ⁸ Be careful in the plague of leprosy, that you observe diligently, and do according to all that the priests the Levites teach you. As I commanded them, so you shall observe to do. ⁹ Remember what Yahweh your God did to Miriam, by the way as you came out of Egypt. ¹⁰ When you lend your neighbor any kind of loan, you shall not go into his house to get his pledge. ¹¹ You shall stand outside, and the man to whom you lend shall bring the pledge outside to you. ¹² If he is a poor man, you shall not sleep with his pledge. ¹³ You shall surely restore to him the pledge when the sun goes down, that he may sleep in his garment, and bless you. It shall be righteousness to you before Yahweh your God. ¹⁴ You shall not oppress a hired servant who is poor and needy, whether he is one of your brothers, or one of the foreigners who are in your land within your gates. ¹⁵ In his day you shall give him his hire, neither shall the sun go down on it; for he is poor, and sets his heart on it; lest he cry against you to Yahweh, and it be sin to you. ¹⁶ The fathers shall not be put to death for the children, neither shall the children be put to death for the fathers. Every man shall be put to death for his own sin. ¹⁷ You shall not deprive the foreigner or the fatherless of justice, nor take a widow’s clothing in pledge; ¹⁸ but you shall remember that you were a slave in Egypt, and Yahweh your God redeemed you there. Therefore I command you to do this thing. ¹⁹ When you reap your harvest in your field, and have forgotten a sheaf in the field, you shall not go again to get it. It shall be for the foreigner, for the fatherless, and for the widow; that Yahweh your God may bless you in all the work of your hands. ²⁰ When you beat your olive tree, you shall not go over the boughs again. It shall be for the foreigner, for the fatherless, and for the widow. ²¹ When you harvest your vineyard, you shall not glean it after yourselves. It shall be for the foreigner, for the fatherless, and for the widow. ²² You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt. Therefore I command you to do this thing.

25If there is a controversy between men, and they come to judgment, and the judges judge them; then they shall justify the righteous, and condemn the wicked. ² It shall be, if the wicked man is worthy to be beaten, that the judge shall cause him to lie down, and to be beaten before his face, according to his wickedness, by number. ³ He may sentence him to no more than forty stripes. He shall not give more; lest, if he should give more, and beat him more than that many stripes, then your brother will be degraded in your sight.

⁴ You shall not muzzle the ox when he treads out the grain.

⁵ If brothers dwell together, and one of them dies, and has no son, the wife of the dead shall not be married outside to a stranger. Her husband’s brother shall go in to her, and take her as his wife, and perform the duty of a husband’s brother to her. ⁶ It shall be that the firstborn whom she bears shall succeed in the name of his brother who is dead, that his name not be blotted out of Israel.

⁷ If the man doesn’t want to take his brother’s wife, then his brother’s wife shall go up to the gate to the elders, and say, “My husband’s brother refuses to raise up to his brother a name in Israel. He will not perform the duty of a husband’s brother to me.” ⁸ Then the elders of his city shall call him, and speak to him: and if he stands and says, “I don’t want to take her;” ⁹ then his brother’s wife shall come to him in the presence of the elders, and loose his shoe from off his foot, and spit in his face. She shall answer and say, “So shall it be done to the man who does not build up his brother’s house.” ¹⁰ His name shall be called in Israel, “The house of him who had his shoe removed.”

¹¹ When men strive against each other, and the wife of one draws near to deliver her husband out of the hand of him who strikes him, and puts out her hand, and takes him by his private parts, ¹² then you shall cut off her hand. Your eye shall have no pity.

¹³ You shall not have in your bag diverse weights, one heavy and one light. ¹⁴ You shall not have in your house diverse measures, one large and one small. ¹⁵ You shall have a perfect and just weight. You shall have a perfect and just measure, that your days may be long in the land which Yahweh your God gives you. ¹⁶ For all who do such things, all who do unrighteously, are an abomination to Yahweh your God.

¹⁷ Remember what Amalek did to you by the way as you came out of Egypt; ¹⁸ how he met you by the way, and struck the rearmost of you, all who were feeble behind you, when you were faint and weary; and he didn’t fear God. ¹⁹ Therefore it shall be, when Yahweh your God has given you rest from all your enemies all around, in the land which Yahweh your God gives you for an inheritance to possess it, that you shall blot out the memory of Amalek from under the sky. You shall not forget.

26It shall be, when you have come in to the land which Yahweh your God gives you for an inheritance, possess it, and dwell in it, ² that you shall take some of the first of all the fruit of the ground, which you shall bring in from your land that Yahweh your God gives you. You shall put it in a basket, and shall go to the place which Yahweh your God shall choose, to cause his name to dwell there. ³ You shall come to the priest who shall be in those days, and tell him, “I profess today to Yahweh your God, that I have come to the land which Yahweh swore to our fathers to give us.” ⁴ The priest shall take the basket out of your hand, and set it down before Yahweh your God’s altar. ⁵ You shall answer and say before Yahweh your God, “My father was a Syrian ready to perish. He went down into Egypt, and lived there, few in number. There he became a great, mighty, and populous nation. ⁶ The Egyptians mistreated us, afflicted us, and imposed hard labor on us. ⁷ Then we cried to Yahweh, the God of our fathers. Yahweh heard our voice, and saw our affliction, our toil, and our oppression. ⁸ Yahweh brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand, with an outstretched arm, with great terror, with signs, and with wonders; ⁹ and he has brought us into this place, and has given us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey. ¹⁰ Now, behold, I have brought the first of the fruit of the ground, which you, Yahweh, have given me.” You shall set it down before Yahweh your God, and worship before Yahweh your God. ¹¹ You shall rejoice in all the good which Yahweh your God has given to you, and to your house, you, and the Levite, and the foreigner who is among you.

¹² When you have finished tithing all the tithe of your increase in the third year, which is the year of tithing, then you shall give it to the Levite, to the foreigner, to the fatherless, and to the widow, that they may eat within your gates, and be filled. ¹³ You shall say before Yahweh your God, “I have put away the holy things out of my house, and also have given them to the Levite, to the foreigner, to the fatherless, and to the widow, according to all your commandment which you have commanded me. I have not transgressed any of your commandments, neither have I forgotten them. ¹⁴ I have not eaten of it in my mourning, neither have I removed any of it while I was unclean, nor given of it for the dead. I have listened to Yahweh my God’s voice. I have done according to all that you have commanded me. ¹⁵ Look down from your holy habitation, from heaven, and bless your people Israel, and the ground which you have given us, as you swore to our fathers, a land flowing with milk and honey.”

¹⁶ Today Yahweh your God commands you to do these statutes and ordinances. You shall therefore keep and do them with all your heart and with all your soul. ¹⁷ You have declared today that Yahweh is your God, and that you would walk in his ways, and keep his statutes, and his commandments, and his ordinances, and listen to his voice. ¹⁸ Yahweh has declared today that you are a people for his own possession, as he has promised you, and that you should keep all his commandments. ¹⁹ He will make you high above all nations that he has made, in praise, in name, and in honor; and that you may be a holy people to Yahweh your God, as he has spoken.

27Moses and the elders of Israel commanded the people, saying, “Keep all the commandment which I command you today. ² It shall be on the day when you shall pass over the Jordan to the land which Yahweh your God gives you, that you shall set yourself up great stones, and coat them with plaster. ³ You shall write on them all the words of this law, when you have passed over; that you may go in to the land which Yahweh your God gives you, a land flowing with milk and honey, as Yahweh, the God of your fathers, has promised you. ⁴ It shall be, when you have crossed over the Jordan, that you shall set up these stones, which I command you today, on Mount Ebal, and you shall coat them with plaster. ⁵ There you shall build an altar to Yahweh your God, an altar of stones. You shall not use any iron tool on them. ⁶ You shall build Yahweh your God’s altar of uncut stones. You shall offer burnt offerings on it to Yahweh your God. ⁷ You shall sacrifice peace offerings, and shall eat there. You shall rejoice before Yahweh your God. ⁸ You shall write on the stones all the words of this law very plainly.”

⁹ Moses and the priests the Levites spoke to all Israel, saying, “Be silent, and listen, Israel! Today you have become the people of Yahweh your God. ¹⁰ You shall therefore obey Yahweh your God’s voice, and do his commandments and his statutes, which I command you today.”

¹¹ Moses commanded the people the same day, saying, ¹² “These shall stand on Mount Gerizim to bless the people, when you have crossed over the Jordan: Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Joseph, and Benjamin. ¹³ These shall stand on Mount Ebal for the curse: Reuben, Gad, Asher, Zebulun, Dan, and Naphtali. ¹⁴ With a loud voice, the Levites shall say to all the men of Israel, ¹⁵ ‘Cursed is the man who makes an engraved or molten image, an abomination to Yahweh, the work of the hands of the craftsman, and sets it up in secret.’

All the people shall answer and say, ‘Amen.’

¹⁶ ‘Cursed is he who dishonors his father or his mother.’

All the people shall say, ‘Amen.’

¹⁷ ‘Cursed is he who removes his neighbor’s landmark.’

All the people shall say, ‘Amen.’

¹⁸ ‘Cursed is he who leads the blind astray on the road.’

All the people shall say, ‘Amen.’

¹⁹ ‘Cursed is he who withholds justice from the foreigner, fatherless, and widow.’

All the people shall say, ‘Amen.’

²⁰ ‘Cursed is he who lies with his father’s wife, because he dishonors his father’s bed.’

All the people shall say, ‘Amen.’

²¹ ‘Cursed is he who lies with any kind of animal.’

All the people shall say, ‘Amen.’

²² ‘Cursed is he who lies with his sister, his father’s daughter or his mother’s daughter.’

All the people shall say, ‘Amen.’

²³ ‘Cursed is he who lies with his mother-in-law.’

All the people shall say, ‘Amen.’

²⁴ ‘Cursed is he who secretly kills his neighbor.’

All the people shall say, ‘Amen.’

²⁵ ‘Cursed is he who takes a bribe to kill an innocent person.’

All the people shall say, ‘Amen.’

²⁶ ‘Cursed is he who doesn’t uphold the words of this law by doing them.’

All the people shall say, ‘Amen.’ ”

28It shall happen, if you shall listen diligently to Yahweh your God’s voice, to observe to do all his commandments which I command you today, that Yahweh your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth. ² All these blessings will come upon you, and overtake you, if you listen to Yahweh your God’s voice. ³ You shall be blessed in the city, and you shall be blessed in the field. ⁴ You shall be blessed in the fruit of your body, the fruit of your ground, the fruit of your animals, the increase of your livestock, and the young of your flock. ⁵ Your basket and your kneading trough shall be blessed. ⁶ You shall be blessed when you come in, and you shall be blessed when you go out. ⁷ Yahweh will cause your enemies who rise up against you to be struck before you. They will come out against you one way, and will flee before you seven ways. ⁸ Yahweh will command the blessing on you in your barns, and in all that you put your hand to. He will bless you in the land which Yahweh your God gives you. ⁹ Yahweh will establish you for a holy people to himself, as he has sworn to you, if you shall keep the commandments of Yahweh your God, and walk in his ways. ¹⁰ All the peoples of the earth shall see that you are called by Yahweh’s name, and they will be afraid of you. ¹¹ Yahweh will grant you abundant prosperity, in the fruit of your body, in the fruit of your livestock, and in the fruit of your ground, in the land which Yahweh swore to your fathers to give you. ¹² Yahweh will open to you his good treasure in the sky, to give the rain of your land in its season, and to bless all the work of your hand. You will lend to many nations, and you will not borrow. ¹³ Yahweh will make you the head, and not the tail. You will be above only, and you will not be beneath; if you listen to the commandments of Yahweh your God, which I command you today, to observe and to do, ¹⁴ and shall not turn away from any of the words which I command you today, to the right hand, or to the left, to go after other gods to serve them.

¹⁵ But it shall come to pass, if you will not listen to Yahweh your God’s voice, to observe to do all his commandments and his statutes which I command you today, that all these curses will come on you, and overtake you. ¹⁶ You will be cursed in the city, and you will be cursed in the field. ¹⁷ Your basket and your kneading trough will be cursed. ¹⁸ The fruit of your body, the fruit of your ground, the increase of your livestock, and the young of your flock will be cursed. ¹⁹ You will be cursed when you come in, and you will be cursed when you go out. ²⁰ Yahweh will send on you cursing, confusion, and rebuke, in all that you put your hand to do, until you are destroyed, and until you perish quickly; because of the evil of your doings, by which you have forsaken me. ²¹ Yahweh will make the pestilence cling to you, until he has consumed you from off the land, where you go in to possess it. ²² Yahweh will strike you with consumption, with fever, with inflammation, with fiery heat, with the sword, with blight, and with mildew. They will pursue you until you perish. ²³ Your sky that is over your head will be bronze, and the earth that is under you will be iron. ²⁴ Yahweh will make the rain of your land powder and dust. It will come down on you from the sky, until you are destroyed. ²⁵ Yahweh will cause you to be struck before your enemies. You will go out one way against them, and will flee seven ways before them. You will be tossed back and forth among all the kingdoms of the earth. ²⁶ Your dead body will be food to all birds of the sky, and to the animals of the earth; and there will be no one to frighten them away. ²⁷ Yahweh will strike you with the boils of Egypt, with the tumors, with the scurvy, and with the itch, of which you can not be healed. ²⁸ Yahweh will strike you with madness, with blindness, and with astonishment of heart. ²⁹ You will grope at noonday, as the blind gropes in darkness, and you shall not prosper in your ways. You will only be oppressed and robbed always, and there will be no one to save you. ³⁰ You will betroth a wife, and another man shall lie with her. You will build a house, and you won’t dwell in it. You will plant a vineyard, and not use its fruit. ³¹ Your ox will be slain before your eyes, and you will not eat any of it. Your donkey will be violently taken away from before your face, and will not be restored to you. Your sheep will be given to your enemies, and you will have no one to save you. ³² Your sons and your daughters will be given to another people. Your eyes will look, and fail with longing for them all day long. There will be no power in your hand. ³³ A nation which you don’t know will eat the fruit of your ground and all of your work. You will only be oppressed and crushed always; ³⁴ so that the sights that you see with your eyes will drive you mad. ³⁵ Yahweh will strike you in the knees and in the legs with a sore boil, of which you can not be healed, from the sole of your foot to the crown of your head. ³⁶ Yahweh will bring you, and your king whom you will set over yourselves, to a nation that you have not known, you nor your fathers. There you will serve other gods of wood and stone. ³⁷ You will become an astonishment, a proverb, and a byword among all the peoples where Yahweh will lead you away. ³⁸ You will carry much seed out into the field, and will gather little in; for the locust will consume it. ³⁹ You will plant vineyards and dress them, but you will neither drink of the wine, nor harvest, because worms will eat them. ⁴⁰ You will have olive trees throughout all your borders, but you won’t anoint yourself with the oil; for your olives will drop off. ⁴¹ You will father sons and daughters, but they will not be yours; for they will go into captivity. ⁴² Locusts will consume all of your trees and the fruit of your ground. ⁴³ The foreigner who is among you will mount up above you higher and higher, and you will come down lower and lower. ⁴⁴ He will lend to you, and you won’t lend to him. He will be the head, and you will be the tail. ⁴⁵ All these curses will come on you, and will pursue you, and overtake you, until you are destroyed; because you didn’t listen to Yahweh your God’s voice, to keep his commandments and his statutes which he commanded you. ⁴⁶ They will be for a sign and for a wonder to you and to your offspring forever. ⁴⁷ Because you didn’t serve Yahweh your God with joyfulness, and with gladness of heart, by reason of the abundance of all things; ⁴⁸ therefore you will serve your enemies whom Yahweh sends against you, in hunger, in thirst, in nakedness, and in lack of all things. He will put an iron yoke on your neck, until he has destroyed you. ⁴⁹ Yahweh will bring a nation against you from far, from the end of the earth, as the eagle flies; a nation whose language you will not understand; ⁵⁰ a nation of fierce facial expressions, that doesn’t respect the elderly, nor show favor to the young, ⁵¹ and they will eat the fruit of your livestock, and the fruit of your ground, until you are destroyed. They also won’t leave you grain, new wine, or oil, the increase of your livestock, or the young of your flock, until they have caused you to perish. ⁵² They will besiege you in all your gates, until your high and fortified walls come down, in which you trusted, throughout all your land. They will besiege you in all your gates throughout all your land, which Yahweh your God has given you. ⁵³ You will eat the fruit of your own body, the flesh of your sons and of your daughters, whom Yahweh your God has given you, in the siege and in the distress with which your enemies will distress you. ⁵⁴ The man who is tender among you, and very delicate, his eye will be evil toward his brother, toward the wife whom he loves, and toward the remnant of his children whom he has remaining; ⁵⁵ so that he will not give to any of them of the flesh of his children whom he will eat, because he has nothing left to him, in the siege and in the distress with which your enemy will distress you in all your gates. ⁵⁶ The tender and delicate woman among you, who would not venture to set the sole of her foot on the ground for delicateness and tenderness, her eye will be evil toward the husband that she loves, toward her son, toward her daughter, ⁵⁷ toward her young one who comes out from between her feet, and toward her children whom she bears; for she will eat them secretly for lack of all things, in the siege and in the distress with which your enemy will distress you in your gates. ⁵⁸ If you will not observe to do all the words of this law that are written in this book, that you may fear this glorious and fearful name, YAHWEH YOUR GOD; ⁵⁹ then Yahweh will make your plagues fearful, and the plagues of your offspring, even great plagues, and of long duration, and severe sicknesses, and of long duration. ⁶⁰ He will bring on you again all the diseases of Egypt, which you were afraid of; and they will cling to you. ⁶¹ Also every sickness and every plague, which is not written in the book of this law, Yahweh will bring them on you, until you are destroyed. ⁶² You will be left few in number, even though you were as the stars of the sky for multitude; because you didn’t listen to Yahweh your God’s voice. ⁶³ It will happen that as Yahweh rejoiced over you to do you good, and to multiply you, so Yahweh will rejoice over you to cause you to perish, and to destroy you. You will be plucked from the land that you are going in to possess. ⁶⁴ Yahweh will scatter you among all peoples, from one end of the earth to the other end of the earth. There you will serve other gods, which you have not known, you nor your fathers, even wood and stone. ⁶⁵ Among these nations you will find no ease, and there will be no rest for the sole of your foot; but Yahweh will give you there a trembling heart, failing of eyes, and pining of soul. ⁶⁶ Your life will hang in doubt before you. You will be afraid night and day, and will have no assurance of your life. ⁶⁷ In the morning you will say, “I wish it were evening!” and at evening you will say, “I wish it were morning!” for the fear of your heart which you will fear, and for the sights which your eyes will see. ⁶⁸ Yahweh will bring you into Egypt again with ships, by the way of which I told to you that you would never see it again. There you will sell yourselves to your enemies for male and female slaves, and nobody will buy you.

29These are the words of the covenant which Yahweh commanded Moses to make with the children of Israel in the land of Moab, in addition to the covenant which he made with them in Horeb. ² Moses called to all Israel, and said to them:

Your eyes have seen all that Yahweh did in the land of Egypt to Pharaoh, and to all his servants, and to all his land; ³ the great trials which your eyes saw, the signs, and those great wonders. ⁴ But Yahweh has not given you a heart to know, eyes to see, and ears to hear, to this day. ⁵ I have led you forty years in the wilderness. Your clothes have not grown old on you, and your shoes have not grown old on your feet. ⁶ You have not eaten bread, neither have you drunk wine or strong drink; that you may know that I am Yahweh your God. ⁷ When you came to this place, Sihon the king of Heshbon, and Og the king of Bashan, came out against us to battle, and we struck them. ⁸ We took their land, and gave it for an inheritance to the Reubenites, and to the Gadites, and to the half-tribe of the Manassites. ⁹ Therefore keep the words of this covenant and do them, that you may prosper in all that you do. ¹⁰ All of you stand today in the presence of Yahweh your God; your heads, your tribes, your elders, and your officers, even all the men of Israel, ¹¹ your little ones, your wives, and the foreigners who are in the middle of your camps, from the one who cuts your wood to the one who draws your water; ¹² that you may enter into the covenant of Yahweh your God, and into his oath, which Yahweh your God makes with you today; ¹³ that he may establish you today as his people, and that he may be your God, as he spoke to you, and as he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. ¹⁴ Neither do I make this covenant and this oath with you only, ¹⁵ but with those who stand here with us today before Yahweh our God, and also with those who are not here with us today ¹⁶ (for you know how we lived in the land of Egypt, and how we came through the middle of the nations through which you passed; ¹⁷ and you have seen their abominations, and their idols, wood and stone, silver and gold, which were among them); ¹⁸ lest there should be among you man, woman, family, or tribe whose heart turns away today from Yahweh our God, to go to serve the gods of those nations; lest there should be among you a root that produces bitter poison; ¹⁹ and it happen, when he hears the words of this curse, that he bless himself in his heart, saying, “I shall have peace, though I walk in the stubbornness of my heart, to destroy the moist with the dry.” ²⁰ Yahweh will not pardon him, but then Yahweh’s anger and his jealousy will smoke against that man, and all the curse that is written in this book will fall on him, and Yahweh will blot out his name from under the sky. ²¹ Yahweh will set him apart for evil out of all the tribes of Israel, according to all the curses of the covenant that is written in this book of the law.

²² The generation to come, your children who will rise up after you, and the foreigner who will come from a far land, will say, when they see the plagues of that land, and the sicknesses with which Yahweh has made it sick; ²³ and that all of its land is sulfur, salt, and burning, that it is not sown, doesn’t produce, nor does any grass grow in it, like the overthrow of Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboiim, which Yahweh overthrew in his anger, and in his wrath; ²⁴ even all the nations will say, “Why has Yahweh done this to this land? What does the heat of this great anger mean?”

²⁵ Then men will say, “Because they abandoned the covenant of Yahweh, the God of their fathers, which he made with them when he brought them out of the land of Egypt, ²⁶ and went and served other gods, and worshiped them, gods that they didn’t know, and that he had not given to them. ²⁷ Therefore Yahweh’s anger burned against this land, to bring on it all the curses that are written in this book. ²⁸ Yahweh rooted them out of their land in anger, in wrath, and in great indignation, and thrust them into another land, as it is today.”

²⁹ The secret things belong to Yahweh our God; but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.

30It shall happen, when all these things have come on you, the blessing and the curse, which I have set before you, and you shall call them to mind among all the nations, where Yahweh your God has driven you, ² and return to Yahweh your God, and obey his voice according to all that I command you today, you and your children, with all your heart, and with all your soul; ³ that then Yahweh your God will release you from captivity, have compassion on you, and will return and gather you from all the peoples where Yahweh your God has scattered you. ⁴ If your outcasts are in the uttermost parts of the heavens, from there Yahweh your God will gather you, and from there he will bring you back. ⁵ Yahweh your God will bring you into the land which your fathers possessed, and you will possess it. He will do you good, and increase your numbers more than your fathers. ⁶ Yahweh your God will circumcise your heart, and the heart of your offspring, to love Yahweh your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, that you may live. ⁷ Yahweh your God will put all these curses on your enemies, and on those who hate you, who persecuted you. ⁸ You shall return and obey Yahweh’s voice, and do all his commandments which I command you today. ⁹ Yahweh your God will make you plenteous in all the work of your hand, in the fruit of your body, in the fruit of your livestock, and in the fruit of your ground, for good; for Yahweh will again rejoice over you for good, as he rejoiced over your fathers; ¹⁰ if you will obey Yahweh your God’s voice, to keep his commandments and his statutes which are written in this book of the law; if you turn to Yahweh your God with all your heart, and with all your soul.

¹¹ For this commandment which I command you today is not too hard for you or too distant. ¹² It is not in heaven, that you should say, “Who will go up for us to heaven, and bring it to us, and proclaim it to us, that we may do it?” ¹³ Neither is it beyond the sea, that you should say, “Who will go over the sea for us, and bring it to us, and proclaim it to us, that we may do it?” ¹⁴ But the word is very near to you, in your mouth and in your heart, that you may do it. ¹⁵ Behold, I have set before you today life and prosperity, and death and evil. ¹⁶ For I command you today to love Yahweh your God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commandments, his statutes, and his ordinances, that you may live and multiply, and that Yahweh your God may bless you in the land where you go in to possess it. ¹⁷ But if your heart turns away, and you will not hear, but are drawn away, and worship other gods, and serve them; ¹⁸ I denounce to you today, that you will surely perish. You will not prolong your days in the land where you pass over the Jordan to go in to possess it. ¹⁹ I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. Therefore choose life, that you may live, you and your descendants; ²⁰ to love Yahweh your God, to obey his voice, and to cling to him; for he is your life, and the length of your days; that you may dwell in the land which Yahweh swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.

31Moses went and spoke these words to all Israel. ² He said to them, “I am one hundred twenty years old today. I can no more go out and come in. Yahweh has said to me, ‘You shall not go over this Jordan.’ ³ Yahweh your God himself will go over before you. He will destroy these nations from before you, and you shall dispossess them. Joshua will go over before you, as Yahweh has spoken. ⁴ Yahweh will do to them as he did to Sihon and to Og, the kings of the Amorites, and to their land; whom he destroyed. ⁵ Yahweh will deliver them up before you, and you shall do to them according to all the commandment which I have commanded you. ⁶ Be strong and courageous. Don’t be afraid or scared of them; for Yahweh your God himself is who goes with you. He will not fail you nor forsake you.”

⁷ Moses called to Joshua, and said to him in the sight of all Israel, “Be strong and courageous, for you shall go with this people into the land which Yahweh has sworn to their fathers to give them; and you shall cause them to inherit it. ⁸ Yahweh himself is who goes before you. He will be with you. He will not fail you nor forsake you. Don’t be afraid. Don’t be discouraged.”

⁹ Moses wrote this law, and delivered it to the priests the sons of Levi, who bore the ark of Yahweh’s covenant, and to all the elders of Israel. ¹⁰ Moses commanded them, saying, “At the end of every seven years, in the set time of the year of release, in the feast of booths, ¹¹ when all Israel has come to appear before Yahweh your God in the place which he will choose, you shall read this law before all Israel in their hearing. ¹² Assemble the people, the men and the women and the little ones, and the foreigners who are within your gates, that they may hear, and that they may learn, and fear Yahweh your God, and observe to do all the words of this law; ¹³ and that their children, who have not known, may hear, and learn to fear Yahweh your God, as long as you live in the land where you go over the Jordan to possess it.”

¹⁴ Yahweh said to Moses, “Behold, your days approach that you must die. Call Joshua, and present yourselves in the Tent of Meeting, that I may commission him.”

Moses and Joshua went, and presented themselves in the Tent of Meeting.

¹⁵ Yahweh appeared in the Tent in a pillar of cloud, and the pillar of cloud stood over the Tent’s door. ¹⁶ Yahweh said to Moses, “Behold, you shall sleep with your fathers. This people will rise up, and play the prostitute after the strange gods of the land, where they go to be among them, and will forsake me, and break my covenant which I have made with them. ¹⁷ Then my anger shall be kindled against them in that day, and I will forsake them, and I will hide my face from them, and they shall be devoured, and many evils and troubles shall come on them; so that they will say in that day, ‘Haven’t these evils come on us because our God is not among us?’ ¹⁸ I will surely hide my face in that day for all the evil which they have done, in that they have turned to other gods.

¹⁹ “Now therefore write this song for yourselves, and teach it to the children of Israel. Put it in their mouths, that this song may be a witness for me against the children of Israel. ²⁰ For when I have brought them into the land which I swore to their fathers, flowing with milk and honey, and they have eaten and filled themselves, and grown fat; then they will turn to other gods, and serve them, and despise me, and break my covenant. ²¹ It will happen, when many evils and troubles have come on them, that this song will testify before them as a witness; for it will not be forgotten out of the mouths of their descendants; for I know their ways and what they are doing today, before I have brought them into the land which I swore.”

²² So Moses wrote this song the same day, and taught it to the children of Israel.

²³ He commissioned Joshua the son of Nun, and said, “Be strong and courageous; for you shall bring the children of Israel into the land which I swore to them. I will be with you.”

²⁴ When Moses had finished writing the words of this law in a book, until they were finished, ²⁵ Moses commanded the Levites, who bore the ark of Yahweh’s covenant, saying, ²⁶ “Take this book of the law, and put it by the side of the ark of Yahweh your God’s covenant, that it may be there for a witness against you. ²⁷ For I know your rebellion, and your stiff neck. Behold, while I am yet alive with you today, you have been rebellious against Yahweh. How much more after my death? ²⁸ Assemble to me all the elders of your tribes, and your officers, that I may speak these words in their ears, and call heaven and earth to witness against them. ²⁹ For I know that after my death you will utterly corrupt yourselves, and turn away from the way which I have commanded you; and evil will happen to you in the latter days; because you will do that which is evil in Yahweh’s sight, to provoke him to anger through the work of your hands.”

³⁰ Moses spoke in the ears of all the assembly of Israel the words of this song, until they were finished.

32Give ear, you heavens, and I will speak.

Let the earth hear the words of my mouth.

² My doctrine will drop as the rain.

My speech will condense as the dew,

as the misty rain on the tender grass,

as the showers on the herb.

³ For I will proclaim Yahweh’s name.

Ascribe greatness to our God!

⁴ The Rock, his work is perfect,

for all his ways are just.

A God of faithfulness who does no wrong,

just and right is he.

⁵ They have dealt corruptly with him.

They are not his children, because of their defect.

They are a perverse and crooked generation.

⁶ Is this the way you repay Yahweh,

foolish and unwise people?

Isn’t he your father who has bought you?

He has made you and established you.

⁷ Remember the days of old.

Consider the years of many generations.

Ask your father, and he will show you;

your elders, and they will tell you.

⁸ When the Most High gave to the nations their inheritance,

when he separated the children of men,

he set the bounds of the peoples

according to the number of the children of Israel.

⁹ For Yahweh’s portion is his people.

Jacob is the lot of his inheritance.

¹⁰ He found him in a desert land,

in the waste howling wilderness.

He surrounded him.

He cared for him.

He kept him as the apple of his eye.

¹¹ As an eagle that stirs up her nest,

that flutters over her young,

he spread abroad his wings,

he took them,

he bore them on his feathers.

¹² Yahweh alone led him.

There was no foreign god with him.

¹³ He made him ride on the high places of the earth.

He ate the increase of the field.

He caused him to suck honey out of the rock,

oil out of the flinty rock;

¹⁴ butter from the herd, and milk from the flock,

with fat of lambs,

rams of the breed of Bashan, and goats,

with the finest of the wheat.

From the blood of the grape, you drank wine.

¹⁵ But Jeshurun grew fat, and kicked.

You have grown fat.

You have grown thick.

You have become sleek.

Then he abandoned God who made him,

and rejected the Rock of his salvation.

¹⁶ They moved him to jealousy with strange gods.

They provoked him to anger with abominations.

¹⁷ They sacrificed to demons, not God,

to gods that they didn’t know,

to new gods that came up recently,

which your fathers didn’t dread.

¹⁸ Of the Rock who became your father, you are unmindful,

and have forgotten God who gave you birth.

¹⁹ Yahweh saw and abhorred,

because of the provocation of his sons and his daughters.