Exodus 19

Israel at Sinai

1 s In the third month after the Israelites went outt from the land of Egypt, on the very day,t they came to the Desert of Sinai.

2 After they journeyedt from Rephidim, they came to the Desert of Sinai, and they camped in the desert; Israel camped there in front of the mountain.s
3 Mosest went up to God, and the Lord called to him from the mountain, “Thus you will tell the house of Jacob, and declare to the peoplet of Israel:4 ‘You yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt and how I lifted you on eagles’ wingst and brought you to myself.s5 And now, if you will diligently listen to met and keept my covenant, then you will be myt special possessiont out of all the nations, for all the earth is mine,

6 and you will be to met a kingdom of priestst and a holy nation.’t These are the words that you will speak to the Israelites.”
7 So Moses came and summoned the elders of Israel. He set before them all these words that the Lord had commanded him,

8 and all the people answered together, “All that the Lord has commanded we will do!”t So Moses brought the words of the people back to the Lord.

9 The Lord said to Moses, “I am going to comet to you in a dense cloud,t so that the people may hear when I speak with you and so that they will always believe in you.”t And Moses told the words of the people to the Lord.
10 The Lord said to Moses, “Go to the people and sanctify themt today and tomorrow, and make them washt their clothes11 and be ready for the third day, for on the third day the Lord will come down on Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people.12 You must set boundariest for the people all around, saying, ‘Take heedt to yourselves not to go up on the mountain nor touch its edge. Whoever touches the mountain will surely be put to death!

13 No hand will touch hims – but he will surely be stoned or shot through, whether a beast or a human being;t he must not live.’ When the ram’s horn sounds a long blast they mayt go up on the mountain.”
14 Then 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 for the third day. Do not go near your wives.”ts
16 Ont the third day in the morning there was thunder and lightning and a denset cloud on the mountain, and the sound of a very loudt horn;t all the people who were in the camp trembled.17 Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God, and they took their place at the foot of the mountain.18 Now Mount Sinai was completely covered with smoke because the Lord had descended on it in fire, and its smoke went up like the smoke of a great furnace,s and the whole mountain shookt violently.

19 When the sound of the horn grew louder and louder,t Moses was speakingt and God was answering him with a voice.t
20 The Lord came down on Mount Sinai, on the top of the mountain, and the Lord summoned Moses to the top of the mountain, and Moses went up.21 The Lord said to Moses, “Go down and solemnly warnt the people, lest they force their way through to the Lord to look, and many of them perish.t

22 Let the priests also, who approach the Lord, sanctify themselves, lest the Lord break throught against them.”
23 Moses said to the Lord, “The people are not able to come up to Mount Sinai, because you solemnly warned us,t ‘Set boundaries for the mountain and set it apart.’”t24 The Lord said to him, “Go, get down, and come up, and Aaron with you, but do not let the priests and the people force their way through to come up to the Lord, lest he break through against them.”

25 So Moses went down to the people and spoke to them.s

Exodus 20

The Decalogue

1 s God spoke all these words:s

2 “I,s the Lord, am your God,t who brought yout from the land of Egypt, from the house of slavery.ts

3 “You shall have not other gods before me.t
4 “You shall not make for yourself a carved imaget or any likenesst of anythingt that is in heaven above or that is on the earth beneath or that is in the water below.t5 You shall not bow down to them or serve them,t for I, the Lord, your God, am a jealouss God, responding tot the transgression of fathers by dealing with children to the third and fourth generationst of those who reject me,t

6 and showing covenant faithfulnesst to a thousand generationst of those who love me and keep my commandments.

7 “You shall not taket the name of the Lord your God in vain,t for the Lord will not hold guiltlesst anyone who takes his name in vain.
8 “Remembert the Sabbatht day to set it apart as holy.t9 For six dayst you may labort and do all your work,t10 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God; on itt you shall not do any work, you,s or your son, or your daughter, or your male servant, or your female servant, or your cattle, or the resident foreigner who is in your gates.s

11 For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth and the sea and all that is in them, and he rested on the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and set it apart as holy.

12 “Honort your father and your mother, that you may live a long timet in the lands the Lord your God is giving to you.

13 “You shall not murder.t

14 “You shall not commit adultery.s

15 “You shall not steal.s

16 “You shall not givet false testimonyt against your neighbor.

17 “You shall not covett 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 belongs to your neighbor.”s
18 All the people were seeingt the thundering and the lightning, and heardt the sound of the horn, and sawt the mountain smoking – and whent the people saw it they trembled with feart and kept their distance.t19 They said to Moses, “You speakt to us and we will listen, but do not let God speak with us, lest we die.”20 Moses said to the people, “Do not fear, for God has come to test you,t that the fear of himt may be before you so that you do nott sin.”

21 The people keptt their distance, but Moses drew near the thick darknesss where God was.s

The Altar

22 s The Lord saidt to Moses: “Thus you will tell the Israelites: ‘You yourselves have seen that I have spoken with you from heaven.

23 You must not make gods of silver alongside me,t nor make gods of gold for yourselves.ts
24 ‘You must make for me an altar made of earth,s and you will sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and your peace offerings,s your sheep and your cattle. In every placet where I cause my name to be honoredt I will come to you and I will bless you.25 If you make me an altar of stone, you must not build itt of stones shaped with tools,t for if you use your tool on it you have defiled it.t

26 And you must not go up by steps to my altar, so that your nakedness is not exposed.’t

Exodus 21

The Decisions

1 s “These are the decisions that you will set before them:

Hebrew Servants

2 s “If you buyt a Hebrew servant,s he is to serve you for six years, but in the seventh year he will go out frees without paying anything.t3 If he camet in by himselft he will go out by himself; if he hadt a wife when he came in, then his wife will go out with him.4 If his master gaves him a wife, and she bore sons or daughters, the wife and the children will belong to her master, and he will go out by himself.5 But if the servant should declare,t ‘I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go outt free,’

6 then his master must bring him to the judges,t and he will bring him to the door or the doorposts, and his master will pierce his ear with an awl, and he shall serve him forever.t
7 “If a man sells his daughters as a female servant,t she will not go out as the male servants do.8 If she does not pleaset her master, who has designated hert for himself, then he must let her be redeemed.t He has no rightt to sell her to a foreign nation, because he has dealt deceitfullys with her.9 If he designated her for his son, then he will deal with her according to the customary rightst of daughters.10 If he takes another wife,t he must not diminish the first one’s food,t her clothing, or her marital rights.s

11 If he does not provide her with these three things, then she will go out free, without paying money.s

Personal Injuries

12 s “Whoever strikes someonet so that he diest must surely be put to death.s13 But if he does not do it with premeditation,t but it happens by accident,t then I will appoint for you a place where he may flee.

14 But if a man willfully attacks his neighbor to kill him cunningly,t you will take him even from my altar that he may die.

15 “Whoever strikess his father or his mother must surely be put to death.

16 “Whoever kidnaps someonet and sells him,s or is caught still holding him,t must surely be put to death.

17 “Whoever treats his father or his mother disgracefullyt must surely be put to death.
18 “If men fight, and one strikes his neighbor with a stone or with his fist and he does not die, but must remain in bed,t

19 and thent if he gets up and walks aboutt outside on his staff, then the one who struck him is innocent, except he must payt for the injured person’st loss of timet and see to it that he is fully healed.
20 “If a man strikes his male servant or his female servant with a staff so that he or shet dies as a result of the blow,t he will surely be punished.t

21 However, if the injured servantt survives one or two days, the ownert will not be punished, for he has suffered the loss.t
22 “If men fight and hit a pregnant woman and her child is born prematurely,t but there is no serious injury, he will surely be punished in accordance with what the woman’s husband demands of him, and he will pay what the court decides.t23 But if there is serious injury, then you will give a life for a life,24 eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot,

25 burn for burn, wound for wound, bruise for bruise.s
26 “If a man strikes the eye of his male servant or his female servant so that he destroys it,t he will let the servantt go frees as compensation for the eye.

27 If he knocks out the tooth of his male servant or his female servant, he will let the servantt go free as compensation for the tooth.

Laws about Animals

28 s “If an oxt gores a man or a woman so that either dies,t then the ox must surelyt be stoned and its flesh must not be eaten, but the owner of the ox will be acquitted.29 But if the ox had the habit of goring, and its owner was warned,t and he did not take the necessary precautions,t and then it killed a man or a woman, the ox must be stoned and the man must be put to death.30 If a ransom is set for him,s then he must pay the redemption for his life according to whatever amount was set for him.31 If the oxt gores a son or a daughter, the ownert will be dealt with according to this rule.t

32 If the ox gores a male servant or a female servant, the ownert must pay thirty shekels of silver,s and the ox must be stoned.s
33 “If a man opens a pit or if a man digs a pit and does not cover it, and an ox or a donkey falls into it,34 the owner of the pit must repayt the loss. He must give moneyt to its owner, and the dead animalt will become his.35 If the ox of one man injures the ox of his neighbor so that it dies, then they will sell the live ox and divide its proceeds,t and they will also divide the dead ox.t

36 Or if it is known that the ox had the habit of goring, and its owner did not take the necessary precautions, he must surely payt ox for ox, and the dead animal will become his.s