Exodus 22-25

Exodus 22

¹“If a man steals an ox or a sheep and slaughters or sells it, he must repay five oxen for an ox and four sheep for a sheep.

²If a thief is caught breaking in and is beaten to death, no one shall be guilty of bloodshed.

³But if it happens after sunrise, there is guilt for his bloodshed. A thief must make full restitution; if he has nothing, he himself shall be sold for his theft.

⁴If what was stolen is actually found alive in his possession—whether ox or donkey or sheep—he must pay back double.

⁵If a man grazes his livestock in a field or vineyard and allows them to stray so that they graze in someone else’s field, he must make restitution from the best of his own field or vineyard.

⁶If a fire breaks out and spreads to thornbushes so that it consumes stacked or standing grain, or the whole field, the one who started the fire must make full restitution.

⁷If a man gives his neighbor money or goods for safekeeping and they are stolen from the neighbor’s house, the thief, if caught, must pay back double.

⁸If the thief is not found, the owner of the house must appear before the judges to determine whether he has taken his neighbor’s property.

⁹In all cases of illegal possession of an ox, a donkey, a sheep, a garment, or any lost item that someone claims, ‘This is mine,’ both parties shall bring their cases before the judges. The one whom the judges find guilty must pay back double to his neighbor.

¹⁰If a man gives a donkey, an ox, a sheep, or any other animal to be cared for by his neighbor, but it dies or is injured or stolen while no one is watching,

¹¹an oath before the LORD shall be made between the parties to determine whether or not the man has taken his neighbor’s property. The owner must accept the oath and require no restitution.

¹²But if the animal was actually stolen from the neighbor, he must make restitution to the owner.

¹³If the animal was torn to pieces, he shall bring it as evidence; he need not make restitution for the torn carcass.

¹⁴If a man borrows an animal from his neighbor and it is injured or dies while its owner is not present, he must make full restitution.

¹⁵If the owner was present, no restitution is required. If the animal was rented, the fee covers the loss.

¹⁶If a man seduces a virgin who is not pledged in marriage and sleeps with her, he must pay the full dowry for her to be his wife.

¹⁷If her father absolutely refuses to give her to him, the man still must pay an amount comparable to the bridal price of a virgin.

¹⁸You must not allow a sorceress to live.

¹⁹Whoever lies with an animal must surely be put to death.

²⁰If anyone sacrifices to any god other than the LORD alone, he must be set apart for destruction.

²¹You must not exploit or oppress a foreign resident, for you yourselves were foreigners in the land of Egypt.

²²You must not mistreat any widow or orphan.

²³If you do mistreat them, and they cry out to Me in distress, I will surely hear their cry.

²⁴My anger will be kindled, and I will kill you with the sword; then your wives will become widows and your children will be fatherless.

²⁵If you lend money to one of My people among you who is poor, you must not act as a creditor to him; you are not to charge him interest.

²⁶If you take your neighbor’s cloak as collateral, return it to him by sunset,

²⁷because his cloak is the only covering he has for his body. What else will he sleep in? And if he cries out to Me, I will hear, for I am compassionate.

²⁸You must not blaspheme God or curse the ruler of your people.

²⁹You must not hold back offerings from your granaries or vats. You are to give Me the firstborn of your sons.

³⁰You shall do likewise with your cattle and your sheep. Let them stay with their mothers for seven days, but on the eighth day you are to give them to Me.

³¹You are to be My holy people. You must not eat the meat of a mauled animal found in the field; you are to throw it to the dogs.

Exodus 23

¹“You shall not spread a false report. Do not join the wicked by being a malicious witness.

²You shall not follow the crowd in wrongdoing. When you testify in a lawsuit, do not pervert justice by siding with the crowd.

³And do not show favoritism to a poor man in his lawsuit.

⁴If you encounter your enemy’s stray ox or donkey, you must return it to him.

⁵If you see the donkey of one who hates you fallen under its load, do not leave it there; you must help him with it.

⁶You shall not deny justice to the poor in their lawsuits.

⁷Stay far away from a false accusation. Do not kill the innocent or the just, for I will not acquit the guilty.

⁸Do not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds those who see and twists the words of the righteous.

⁹Do not oppress a foreign resident, since you yourselves know how it feels to be foreigners; for you were foreigners in the land of Egypt.

¹⁰For six years you are to sow your land and gather its produce,

¹¹but in the seventh year you must let it rest and lie fallow, so that the poor among your people may eat from the field and the wild animals may consume what they leave. Do the same with your vineyard and olive grove.

¹²For six days you are to do your work, but on the seventh day you must cease, so that your ox and your donkey may rest and the son of your maidservant may be refreshed, as well as the foreign resident.

¹³Pay close attention to everything I have said to you. You must not invoke the names of other gods; they must not be heard on your lips.

¹⁴Three times a year you are to celebrate a feast to Me.

¹⁵You are to keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread as I commanded you: At the appointed time in the month of Abib you are to eat unleavened bread for seven days, because that was the month you came out of Egypt. No one may appear before Me empty-handed.

¹⁶You are also to keep the Feast of Harvest with the firstfruits of the produce from what you sow in the field. And keep the Feast of Ingathering at the end of the year, when you gather your produce from the field.

¹⁷Three times a year all your males are to appear before the Lord GOD.

¹⁸You must not offer the blood of My sacrifices with anything leavened, nor may the fat of My feast remain until morning.

¹⁹Bring the best of the firstfruits of your soil to the house of the LORD your God. You must not cook a young goat in its mother’s milk.

²⁰Behold, I am sending an angel before you to protect you along the way and to bring you to the place I have prepared.

²¹Pay attention to him and listen to his voice; do not defy him, for he will not forgive rebellion, since My Name is in him.

²²But if you will listen carefully to his voice and do everything I say, I will be an enemy to your enemies and a foe to your foes.

²³For My angel will go before you and bring you into the land of the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Canaanites, Hivites, and Jebusites, and I will annihilate them.

²⁴You must not bow down to their gods or serve them or follow their practices. Instead, you are to demolish them and smash their sacred stones to pieces.

²⁵So you shall serve the LORD your God, and He will bless your bread and your water. And I will take away sickness from among you.

²⁶No woman in your land will miscarry or be barren; I will fulfill the number of your days.

²⁷I will send My terror ahead of you and throw into confusion every nation you encounter. I will make all your enemies turn and run.

²⁸I will send the hornet before you to drive the Hivites and Canaanites and Hittites out of your way.

²⁹I will not drive them out before you in a single year; otherwise the land would become desolate and wild animals would multiply against you.

³⁰Little by little I will drive them out ahead of you, until you become fruitful and possess the land.

³¹And I will establish your borders from the Red Sea to the Sea of the Philistines, and from the desert to the Euphrates. For I will deliver the inhabitants into your hand, and you will drive them out before you.

³²You shall make no covenant with them or with their gods.

³³They must not remain in your land, lest they cause you to sin against Me. For if you serve their gods, it will surely be a snare to you.”

Exodus 24

¹Then the LORD said to Moses, “Come up to the LORD—you and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of Israel’s elders—and you are to worship at a distance.

²Moses alone shall approach the LORD, but the others must not come near. And the people may not go up with him.”

³When Moses came and told the people all the words and ordinances of the LORD, they all responded with one voice: “All the words that the LORD has spoken, we will do.”

⁴And Moses wrote down all the words of the LORD. Early the next morning he got up and built an altar at the base of the mountain, along with twelve pillars for the twelve tribes of Israel.

⁵Then he sent out some young men of Israel, and they offered burnt offerings and sacrificed young bulls as peace offerings to the LORD.

⁶Moses took half of the blood and put it in bowls, and the other half he sprinkled on the altar.

⁷Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read it to the people, who replied, “All that the LORD has spoken we will do, and we will be obedient.”

⁸So Moses took the blood, sprinkled it on the people, and said, “This is the blood of the covenant that the LORD has made with you in accordance with all these words.”

⁹Then Moses went up with Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel,

¹⁰and they saw the God of Israel. Under His feet was a work like a pavement made of sapphire, as clear as the sky itself.

¹¹But God did not lay His hand on the nobles of Israel; they saw Him, and they ate and drank.

¹²Then the LORD said to Moses, “Come up to Me on the mountain and stay here, so that I may give you the tablets of stone, with the law and commandments I have written for their instruction.”

¹³So Moses set out with Joshua his attendant and went up on the mountain of God.

¹⁴And he said to the elders, “Wait here for us until we return to you. Aaron and Hur are here with you. Whoever has a dispute can go to them.”

¹⁵When Moses went up on the mountain, the cloud covered it,

¹⁶and the glory of the LORD settled on Mount Sinai. For six days the cloud covered it, and on the seventh day the LORD called to Moses from within the cloud.

¹⁷And the sight of the glory of the LORD was like a consuming fire on the mountaintop in the eyes of the Israelites.

¹⁸Moses entered the cloud as he went up on the mountain, and he remained on the mountain forty days and forty nights.

Exodus 25

¹Then the LORD said to Moses,

²“Tell the Israelites to bring Me an offering. You are to receive My offering from every man whose heart compels him.

³This is the offering you are to accept from them: gold, silver, and bronze;

⁴blue, purple, and scarlet yarn; fine linen and goat hair;

⁵ram skins dyed red and fine leather; acacia wood;

⁶olive oil for the light; spices for the anointing oil and for the fragrant incense;

⁷and onyx stones and gemstones to be mounted on the ephod and breastpiece.

⁸And they are to make a sanctuary for Me, so that I may dwell among them.

⁹You must make the tabernacle and design all its furnishings according to the pattern I show you.

¹⁰And they are to construct an ark of acacia wood, two and a half cubits long, a cubit and a half wide, and a cubit and a half high.

¹¹Overlay it with pure gold both inside and out, and make a gold molding around it.

¹²Cast four gold rings for it and fasten them to its four feet, two rings on one side and two on the other.

¹³And make poles of acacia wood and overlay them with gold.

¹⁴Insert the poles into the rings on the sides of the ark, in order to carry it.

¹⁵The poles are to remain in the rings of the ark; they must not be removed.

¹⁶And place inside the ark the Testimony, which I will give you.

¹⁷And you are to construct a mercy seat of pure gold, two and a half cubits long and a cubit and a half wide.

¹⁸Make two cherubim of hammered gold at the ends of the mercy seat,

¹⁹one cherub on one end and one on the other, all made from one piece of gold.

²⁰And the cherubim are to have wings that spread upward, overshadowing the mercy seat. The cherubim are to face each other, looking toward the mercy seat.

²¹Set the mercy seat atop the ark, and put the Testimony that I will give you into the ark.

²²And I will meet with you there above the mercy seat, between the two cherubim that are over the ark of the Testimony; I will speak with you about all that I command you regarding the Israelites.

²³You are also to make a table of acacia wood two cubits long, a cubit wide, and a cubit and a half high.

²⁴Overlay it with pure gold and make a gold molding around it.

²⁵And make a rim around it a handbreadth wide and put a gold molding on the rim.

²⁶Make four gold rings for the table and fasten them to the four corners at its four legs.

²⁷The rings are to be close to the rim, to serve as holders for the poles used to carry the table.

²⁸Make the poles of acacia wood and overlay them with gold, so that the table may be carried with them.

²⁹You are also to make the plates and dishes, as well as the pitchers and bowls for pouring drink offerings. Make them out of pure gold.

³⁰And place the Bread of the Presence on the table before Me at all times.

³¹Then you are to make a lampstand of pure, hammered gold. It shall be made of one piece, including its base and shaft, its cups, and its buds and petals.

³²Six branches are to extend from the sides of the lampstand—three on one side and three on the other.

³³There are to be three cups shaped like almond blossoms on the first branch, each with buds and petals, three on the next branch, and the same for all six branches that extend from the lampstand.

³⁴And on the lampstand there shall be four cups shaped like almond blossoms with buds and petals.

³⁵For the six branches that extend from the lampstand, a bud must be under the first pair of branches, a bud under the second pair, and a bud under the third pair.

³⁶The buds and branches are to be all of one piece with the lampstand, hammered out of pure gold.

³⁷Make seven lamps and set them up on the lampstand so that they illuminate the area in front of it.

³⁸The wick trimmers and their trays must be of pure gold.

³⁹The lampstand and all these utensils shall be made from a talent of pure gold.

⁴⁰See to it that you make everything according to the pattern shown you on the mountain.