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Exod 26:1-37

CHAPTER 26

1 “Moreover you shall make the tabernacle with ten
curtains of fine twined linen and blue and purple and
scarlet stuff; with cherubim skilfully worked shall
you make them.

2 The length of each curtain shall be twenty-eight
cubits, and the breadth of each curtain four cubits;
all the curtains shall have one measure.

3 Five curtains shall be coupled to one another; and
the other five curtains shall be coupled to one
another.

4 And you shall make loops of blue on the edge of the
outmost curtain in the first set; and likewise you
shall make loops on the edge of the outmost curtain in
the second set.

5 Fifty loops you shall make on the one curtain, and
fifty loops you shall make on the edge of the curtain
that is in the second set; the loops shall be opposite
one another.

6 And you shall make fifty clasps of gold, and couple
the curtains one to the other with the clasps, that
the tabernacle may be one whole.

7 “You shall also make curtains of goats’ hair for a
tent over the tabernacle; eleven curtains shall you
make.

8 The length of each curtain shall be thirty cubits,
and the breadth of each curtain four cubits; the
eleven curtains shall have the same measure.

9 And you shall couple five curtains by themselves,
and six curtains by themselves, and the sixth curtain
you shall double over at the front of the tent.

10 And you shall make fifty loops on the edge of the
curtain that is outmost in one set, and fifty loops on
the edge of the curtain which is outmost in the second
set.

11 “And you shall make fifty clasps of bronze, and put
the clasps into the loops, and couple the tent
together that it may be one whole.

12 And the part that remains of the curtains of the
tent, the half curtain that remains, shall hang over
the back of the tabernacle.

13 And the cubit on the one side, and the cubit on the
other side, of what remains in the length of the
curtains of the tent shall hang over the sides of the
tabernacle, on this side and that side, to cover it.

14 And you shall make for the tent a covering of
tanned rams’ skins and goatskins.

15 “And you shall make upright frames for the
tabernacle of acacia wood.

16 Ten cubits shall be the length of a frame, and a
cubit and a half the breadth of each frame.

17 There shall be two tenons in each frame, for
fitting together; so shall you do for all the frames
of the tabernacle.

18 You shall make the frames for the tabernacle:
twenty frames for the south side;

19 and forty bases of silver you shall make under the
twenty frames, two bases under one frame for its two
tenons, and two bases under another frame for its two
tenons;

20 and for the second side of the tabernacle, on the
north side twenty frames,

21 and their forty bases of silver, two bases under
one frame, and two bases under another frame;

22 and for the rear of the tabernacle westward you
shall make six frames.

23 And you shall make two frames for corners of the
tabernacle in the rear;

24 they shall be separate beneath, but joined at the
top, at the first ring; thus shall it be with both of
them; they shall form the two corners.

25 And there shall be eight frames, with their bases
of silver, sixteen bases; two bases under one frame,
and two bases under another frame.

26 “And you shall make bars of acacia wood, five for
the frames of the one side of the tabernacle,

27 and five bars for the frames of the other side of
the tabernacle, and five bars for the frames of the
side of the tabernacle at the rear westward.

28 The middle bar, halfway up the frames, shall pass
through from end to end.

29 You shall overlay the frames with gold, and shall
make their rings of gold for holders for the bars; and
you shall overlay the bars with gold.

30 And you shall erect the tabernacle according to the
plan for it which has been shown you on the mountain.

31 “And you shall make a veil of blue and purple and
scarlet stuff and fine twined linen; in skilled work
shall it be made, with cherubim;

32 and you shall hang it upon four pillars of acacia
overlaid with gold, with hooks of gold, upon four
bases of silver.

33 And you shall hang the veil from the clasps, and
bring the ark of the testimony in thither within the
veil; and the veil shall separate for you the holy
place from the most holy.

34 You shall put the mercy seat upon the ark of the
testimony in the most holy place.

35 And you shall set the table outside the veil, and
the lampstand on the south side of the tabernacle
opposite the table; and you shall put the table on the
north side.

36 “And you shall make a screen for the door of the
tent, of blue and purple and scarlet stuff and fine
twined linen, embroidered with needlework.

37 And you shall make for the screen five pillars of
acacia, and overlay them with gold; their hooks shall
be of gold, and you shall cast five bases of bronze
for them.

(RSV)

Exod 27:1-21

CHAPTER 27

1 “You shall make the altar of acacia wood, five
cubits long and five cubits broad; the altar shall be
square, and its height shall be three cubits.

2 And you shall make horns for it on its four corners;
its horns shall be of one piece with it, and you shall
overlay it with bronze.

3 You shall make pots for it to receive its ashes, and
shovels and basins and forks and firepans; all its
utensils you shall make of bronze.

4 You shall also make for it a grating, a network of
bronze; and upon the net you shall make four bronze
rings at its four corners.

5 And you shall set it under the ledge of the altar so
that the net shall extend halfway down the altar.

6 And you shall make poles for the altar, poles of
acacia wood, and overlay them with bronze;

7 and the poles shall be put through the rings, so
that the poles shall be upon the two sides of the
altar, when it is carried.

8 You shall make it hollow, with boards; as it has
been shown you on the mountain, so shall it be made.

9 “You shall make the court of the tabernacle. On the
south side the court shall have hangings of fine
twined linen a hundred cubits long for one side;

10 their pillars shall be twenty and their bases
twenty, of bronze, but the hooks of the pillars and
their fillets shall be of silver.

11 And likewise for its length on the north side there
shall be hangings a hundred cubits long, their pillars
twenty and their bases twenty, of bronze, but the
hooks of the pillars and their fillets shall be of
silver.

12 And for the breadth of the court on the west side
there shall be hangings for fifty cubits, with ten
pillars and ten bases.

13 The breadth of the court on the front to the east
shall be fifty cubits.

14 The hangings for the one side of the gate shall be
fifteen cubits, with three pillars and three bases.

15 On the other side the hangings shall be fifteen
cubits, with three pillars and three bases.

16 For the gate of the court there shall be a screen
twenty cubits long, of blue and purple and scarlet
stuff and fine twined linen, embroidered with
needlework; it shall have four pillars and with them
four bases.

17 All the pillars around the court shall be filleted
with silver; their hooks shall be of silver, and their
bases of bronze.

18 The length of the court shall be a hundred cubits,
the breadth fifty, and the height five cubits, with
hangings of fine twined linen and bases of bronze.

19 All the utensils of the tabernacle for every use,
and all its pegs and all the pegs of the court, shall
be of bronze.

20 “And you shall command the people of Israel that
they bring to you pure beaten olive oil for the light,
that a lamp may be set up to burn continually.

21 In the tent of meeting, outside the veil which is
before the testimony, Aaron and his sons shall tend it
from evening to morning before the LORD. It shall be a
statute for ever to be observed throughout their
generations by the people of Israel.

(RSV)

Exod 28:1-43

CHAPTER 28

1 “Then bring near to you Aaron your brother, and his
sons with him, from among the people of Israel, to
serve me as priests– Aaron and Aaron’s sons, Nadab
and Abi’hu, Elea’zar and Ith’amar.

2 And you shall make holy garments for Aaron your
brother, for glory and for beauty.

3 And you shall speak to all who have ability, whom I
have endowed with an able mind, that they make Aaron’s
garments to consecrate him for my priesthood.

4 These are the garments which they shall make: a
breastpiece, an ephod, a robe, a coat of checker work,
a turban, and a girdle; they shall make holy garments
for Aaron your brother and his sons to serve me as
priests.

5 “They shall receive gold, blue and purple and
scarlet stuff, and fine twined linen.

6 And they shall make the ephod of gold, of blue and
purple and scarlet stuff, and of fine twined linen,
skilfully worked.

7 It shall have two shoulder-pieces attached to its
two edges, that it may be joined together.

8 And the skilfully woven band upon it, to gird it on,
shall be of the same workmanship and materials, of
gold, blue and purple and scarlet stuff, and fine
twined linen.

9 And you shall take two onyx stones, and engrave on
them the names of the sons of Israel,

10 six of their names on the one stone, and the names
of the remaining six on the other stone, in the order
of their birth.

11 As a jeweler engraves signets, so shall you engrave
the two stones with the names of the sons of Israel;
you shall enclose them in settings of gold filigree.

12 And you shall set the two stones upon the
shoulder-pieces of the ephod, as stones of remembrance
for the sons of Israel; and Aaron shall bear their
names before the LORD upon his two shoulders for
remembrance.

13 And you shall make settings of gold filigree,

14 and two chains of pure gold, twisted like cords;
and you shall attach the corded chains to the
settings.

15 “And you shall make a breastpiece of judgment, in
skilled work; like the work of the ephod you shall
make it; of gold, blue and purple and scarlet stuff,
and fine twined linen shall you make it.

16 It shall be square and double, a span its length
and a span its breadth.

17 And you shall set in it four rows of stones. A row
of sardius, topaz, and carbuncle shall be the first
row;

18 and the second row an emerald, a sapphire, and a
diamond;

19 and the third row a jacinth, an agate, and an
amethyst;

20 and the fourth row a beryl, an onyx, and a jasper;
they shall be set in gold filigree.

21 There shall be twelve stones with their names
according to the names of the sons of Israel; they
shall be like signets, each engraved with its name,
for the twelve tribes.

22 And you shall make for the breastpiece twisted
chains like cords, of pure gold;

23 and you shall make for the breastpiece two rings of
gold, and put the two rings on the two edges of the
breastpiece.

24 And you shall put the two cords of gold in the two
rings at the edges of the breastpiece;

25 the two ends of the two cords you shall attach to
the two settings of filigree, and so attach it in
front to the shoulder-pieces of the ephod.

26 And you shall make two rings of gold, and put them
at the two ends of the breastpiece, on its inside edge
next to the ephod.

27 And you shall make two rings of gold, and attach
them in front to the lower part of the two
shoulder-pieces of the ephod, at its joining above the
skilfully woven band of the ephod.

28 And they shall bind the breastpiece by its rings to
the rings of the ephod with a lace of blue, that it
may lie upon the skilfully woven band of the ephod,
and that the breastpiece shall not come loose from the
ephod.

29 So Aaron shall bear the names of the sons of Israel
in the breastpiece of judgment upon his heart, when he
goes into the holy place, to bring them to continual
remembrance before the LORD.

30 And in the breastpiece of judgment you shall put
the Urim and the Thummim, and they shall be upon
Aaron’s heart, when he goes in before the LORD; thus
Aaron shall bear the judgment of the people of Israel
upon his heart before the LORD continually.

31 “And you shall make the robe of the ephod all of
blue.

32 It shall have in it an opening for the head, with a
woven binding around the opening, like the opening in
a garment, that it may not be torn.

33 On its skirts you shall make pomegranates of blue
and purple and scarlet stuff, around its skirts, with
bells of gold between them,

34 a golden bell and a pomegranate, a golden bell and
a pomegranate, round about on the skirts of the robe.

35 And it shall be upon Aaron when he ministers, and
its sound shall be heard when he goes into the holy
place before the LORD, and when he comes out, lest he
die.

36 “And you shall make a plate of pure gold, and
engrave on it, like the engraving of a signet, ‘Holy
to the LORD.’

37 And you shall fasten it on the turban by a lace of
blue; it shall be on the front of the turban.

38 It shall be upon Aaron’s forehead, and Aaron shall
take upon himself any guilt incurred in the holy
offering which the people of Israel hallow as their
holy gifts; it shall always be upon his forehead, that
they may be accepted before the LORD.

39 “And you shall weave the coat in checker work of
fine linen, and you shall make a turban of fine linen,
and you shall make a girdle embroidered with
needlework.

40 “And for Aaron’s sons you shall make coats and
girdles and caps; you shall make them for glory and
beauty.

41 And you shall put them upon Aaron your brother, and
upon his sons with him, and shall anoint them and
ordain them and consecrate them, that they may serve
me as priests.

42 And you shall make for them linen breeches to cover
their naked flesh; from the loins to the thighs they
shall reach;

43 and they shall be upon Aaron, and upon his sons,
when they go into the tent of meeting, or when they
come near the altar to minister in the holy place;
lest they bring guilt upon themselves and die. This
shall be a perpetual statute for him and for his
descendants after him.

(RSV)

Exod 23:1-33

CHAPTER 23

1 “You shall not utter a false report. You shall not
join hands with a wicked man, to be a malicious
witness.

2 You shall not follow a multitude to do evil; nor
shall you bear witness in a suit, turning aside after
a multitude, so as to pervert justice;

3 nor shall you be partial to a poor man in his suit.

4 “If you meet your enemy’s ox or his ass going
astray, you shall bring it back to him.

5 If you see the ass of one who hates you lying under
its burden, you shall refrain from leaving him with
it, you shall help him to lift it up.

6 “You shall not pervert the justice due to your poor
in his suit.

7 Keep far from a false charge, and do not slay the
innocent and righteous, for I will not acquit the
wicked.

8 And you shall take no bribe, for a bribe blinds the
officials, and subverts the cause of those who are in
the right.

9 “You shall not oppress a stranger; you know the
heart of a stranger, for you were strangers in the
land of Egypt.

10 “For six years you shall sow your land and gather
in its yield;

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 wild beasts may eat. You shall do
likewise with your vineyard, and with your olive
orchard.

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

13 Take heed to all that I have said to you; and make
no mention of the names of other gods, nor let such be
heard out of your mouth.

14 “Three times in the year you shall keep a feast to
me.

15 You shall keep the feast of unleavened bread; as I
commanded you, you shall eat unleavened bread for
seven days at the appointed time in the month of Abib,
for in it you came out of Egypt. None shall appear
before me empty-handed.

16 You shall keep the feast of harvest, of the first
fruits of your labor, of what you sow in the field.
You shall keep the feast of ingathering at the end of
the year, when you gather in from the field the fruit
of your labor.

17 Three times in the year shall all your males appear
before the Lord GOD.

18 “You shall not offer the blood of my sacrifice with
leavened bread, or let the fat of my feast remain
until the morning.

19 “The first of the first fruits of your ground you
shall bring into the house of the LORD your God. “You
shall not boil a kid in its mother’s milk.

20 “Behold, I send an angel before you, to guard you
on the way and to bring you to the place which I have
prepared.

21 Give heed to him and hearken to his voice, do not
rebel against him, for he will not pardon your
transgression; for my name is in him.

22 “But if you hearken attentively to his voice and do
all that I say, then I will be an enemy to your
enemies and an adversary to your adversaries.

23 “When my angel goes before you, and brings you in
to the Amorites, and the Hittites, and the
Per’izzites, and the Canaanites, the Hivites, and the
Jeb’usites, and I blot them out,

24 you shall not bow down to their gods, nor serve
them, nor do according to their works, but you shall
utterly overthrow them and break their pillars in
pieces.

25 You shall serve the LORD your God, and I will bless
your bread and your water; and I will take sickness
away from the midst of you.

26 None shall cast her young or be barren in your
land; I will fulfil the number of your days.

27 I will send my terror before you, and will throw
into confusion all the people against whom you shall
come, and I will make all your enemies turn their
backs to you.

28 And I will send hornets before you, which shall
drive out Hivite, Canaanite, and Hittite from before
you.

29 I will not drive them out from before you in one
year, lest the land become desolate and the wild
beasts multiply against you.

30 Little by little I will drive them out from before
you, until you are increased and possess the land.

31 And I will set your bounds from the Red Sea to the
sea of the Philistines, and from the wilderness to the
Euphra’tes; 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 or 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.”

(RSV)

Exod 24:1-18

CHAPTER 24

1 And he said to Moses, “Come up to the LORD, you and
Aaron, Nadab, and Abi’hu, and seventy of the elders of
Israel, and worship afar off.

2 Moses alone shall come near to the LORD; but the
others shall not come near, and the people shall not
come up with him.”

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

4 And Moses wrote all the words of the LORD. And he
rose early in the morning, and built an altar at the
foot of the mountain, and twelve pillars, according to
the twelve tribes of Israel.

5 And he sent young men of the people of Israel, who
offered burnt offerings and sacrificed peace offerings
of oxen to the LORD.

6 And Moses took half of the blood and put it in
basins, and half of the blood he threw against the
altar.

7 Then he took the book of the covenant, and read it
in the hearing of the people; and they said, “All that
the LORD has spoken we will do, and we will be
obedient.”

8 And Moses took the blood and threw it upon the
people, and said, “Behold the blood of the covenant
which the LORD has made with you in accordance with
all these words.”

9 Then Moses and Aaron, Nadab, and Abi’hu, and seventy
of the elders of Israel went up,

10 and they saw the God of Israel; and there was under
his feet as it were a pavement of sapphire stone, like
the very heaven for clearness.

11 And he did not lay his hand on the chief men of the
people of Israel; they beheld God, and ate and drank.

12 The LORD said to Moses, “Come up to me on the
mountain, and wait there; and I will give you the
tables of stone, with the law and the commandment,
which I have written for their instruction.”

13 So Moses rose with his servant Joshua, and Moses
went up into the mountain of God.

14 And he said to the elders, “Tarry here for us,
until we come to you again; and, behold, Aaron and Hur
are with you; whoever has a cause, let him go to
them.”

15 Then Moses went up on the mountain, and the cloud
covered the mountain.

16 The glory of the LORD settled on Mount Sinai, and
the cloud covered it six days; and on the seventh day
he called to Moses out of the midst of the cloud.

17 Now the appearance of the glory of the LORD was
like a devouring fire on the top of the mountain in
the sight of the people of Israel.

18 And Moses entered the cloud, and went up on the
mountain. And Moses was on the mountain forty days and
forty nights.

(RSV)

Exod 25:1-40

CHAPTER 25

1 The LORD said to Moses,

2 “Speak to the people of Israel, that they take for
me an offering; from every man whose heart makes him
willing you shall receive the offering for me.

3 And this is the offering which you shall receive
from them: gold, silver, and bronze,

4 blue and purple and scarlet stuff and fine twined
linen, goats’ hair,

5 tanned rams’ skins, goatskins, acacia wood,

6 oil for the lamps, spices for the anointing oil and
for the fragrant incense,

7 onyx stones, and stones for setting, for the ephod
and for the breastpiece.

8 And let them make me a sanctuary, that I may dwell
in their midst.

9 According to all that I show you concerning the
pattern of the tabernacle, and of all its furniture,
so you shall make it.

10 “They shall make an ark of acacia wood; two cubits
and a half shall be its length, a cubit and a half its
breadth, and a cubit and a half its height.

11 And you shall overlay it with pure gold, within and
without shall you overlay it, and you shall make upon
it a molding of gold round about.

12 And you shall cast four rings of gold for it and
put them on its four feet, two rings 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 And you shall put the poles into the rings on the
sides of the ark, to carry the ark by them.

15 The poles shall remain in the rings of the ark;
they shall not be taken from it.

16 And you shall put into the ark the testimony which
I shall give you.

17 Then you shall make a mercy seat of pure gold; two
cubits and a half shall be its length, and a cubit and
a half its breadth.

18 And you shall make two cherubim of gold; of
hammered work shall you make them, on the two ends of
the mercy seat.

19 Make one cherub on the one end, and one cherub on
the other end; of one piece with the mercy seat shall
you make the cherubim on its two ends.

20 The cherubim shall spread out their wings above,
overshadowing the mercy seat with their wings, their
faces one to another; toward the mercy seat shall the
faces of the cherubim be.

21 And you shall put the mercy seat on the top of the
ark; and in the ark you shall put the testimony that I
shall give you.

22 There I will meet with you, and from above the
mercy seat, from between the two cherubim that are
upon the ark of the testimony, I will speak with you
of all that I will give you in commandment for the
people of Israel.

23 “And you shall make a table of acacia wood; two
cubits shall be its length, a cubit its breadth, and a
cubit and a half its height.

24 You shall overlay it with pure gold, and make a
molding of gold around it.

25 And you shall make around it a frame a handbreadth
wide, and a molding of gold around the frame.

26 And you shall make for it four rings of gold, and
fasten the rings to the four corners at its four legs.

27 Close to the frame the rings shall lie, as holders
for the poles to carry the table.

28 You shall make the poles of acacia wood, and
overlay them with gold, and the table shall be carried
with these.

29 And you shall make its plates and dishes for
incense, and its flagons and bowls with which to pour
libations; of pure gold you shall make them.

30 And you shall set the bread of the Presence on the
table before me always.

31 “And you shall make a lampstand of pure gold. The
base and the shaft of the lampstand shall be made of
hammered work; its cups, its capitals, and its flowers
shall be of one piece with it;

32 and there shall be six branches going out of its
sides, three branches of the lampstand out of one side
of it and three branches of the lampstand out of the
other side of it;

33 three cups made like almonds, each with capital and
flower, on one branch, and three cups made like
almonds, each with capital and flower, on the other
branch– so for the six branches going out of the
lampstand;

34 and on the lampstand itself four cups made like
almonds, with their capitals and flowers,

35 and a capital of one piece with it under each pair
of the six branches going out from the lampstand.

36 Their capitals and their branches shall be of one
piece with it, the whole of it one piece of hammered
work of pure gold.

37 And you shall make the seven lamps for it; and the
lamps shall be set up so as to give light upon the
space in front of it.

38 Its snuffers and their trays shall be of pure gold.

39 Of a talent of pure gold shall it be made, with all
these utensils.

40 And see that you make them after the pattern for
them, which is being shown you on the mountain.

(RSV)

Exod 21:1-36

CHAPTER 21

1 “Now these are the ordinances which you shall set
before them.

2 When you buy a Hebrew slave, he shall serve six
years, and in the seventh he shall go out free, for
nothing.

3 If he comes in single, he shall go out single; if he
comes in 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 alone.

5 But if the slave plainly says, ‘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 he shall
bring him to the door or the doorpost; and his master
shall bore his ear through with an awl; and he shall
serve him for life.

7 “When a man sells his daughter as a slave, she shall
not go out as the male slaves do.

8 If she does not please her master, who has
designated her for himself, then he shall let her be
redeemed; he shall have no right to sell her to a
foreign people, since he has dealt faithlessly with
her.

9 If he designates her for his son, he shall deal with
her as with a daughter.

10 If he takes another wife to himself, he shall not
diminish her food, her clothing, or her marital
rights.

11 And if he does not do these three things for her,
she shall go out for nothing, without payment of
money.

12 “Whoever strikes a man so that he dies shall be put
to death.

13 But if he did not lie in wait for him, but God let
him fall into his hand, then I will appoint for you a
place to which he may flee.

14 But if a man willfully attacks another to kill him
treacherously, you shall take him from my altar, that
he may die.

15 “Whoever strikes his father or his mother shall be
put to death.

16 “Whoever steals a man, whether he sells him or is
found in possession of him, shall be put to death.

17 “Whoever curses his father or his mother shall be
put to death.

18 “When men quarrel and one strikes the other with a
stone or with his fist and the man does not die but
keeps his bed,

19 then if the man rises again and walks abroad with
his staff, he that struck him shall be clear; only he
shall pay for the loss of his time, and shall have him
thoroughly healed.

20 “When a man strikes his slave, male or female, with
a rod and the slave dies under his hand, he shall be
punished.

21 But if the slave survives a day or two, he is not
to be punished; for the slave is his money.

22 “When men strive together, and hurt a woman with
child, so that there is a miscarriage, and yet no harm
follows, the one who hurt her shall be fined,
according as the woman’s husband shall lay upon him;
and he shall pay as the judges determine.

23 If any harm follows, then you shall give life for
life,

24 eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot
for foot,

25 burn for burn, wound for wound, stripe for stripe.

26 “When a man strikes the eye of his slave, male or
female, and destroys it, he shall let the slave go
free for the eye’s sake.

27 If he knocks out the tooth of his slave, male or
female, he shall let the slave go free for the tooth’s
sake.

28 “When an ox gores a man or a woman to death, the ox
shall be stoned, and its flesh shall not be eaten; but
the owner of the ox shall be clear.

29 But if the ox has been accustomed to gore in the
past, and its owner has been warned but has not kept
it in, and it kills a man or a woman, the ox shall be
stoned, and its owner also shall be put to death.

30 If a ransom is laid on him, then he shall give for
the redemption of his life whatever is laid upon him.

31 If it gores a man’s son or daughter, he shall be
dealt with according to this same rule.

32 If the ox gores a slave, male or female, the owner
shall give to their master thirty shekels of silver,
and the ox shall be stoned.

33 “When a man leaves a pit open, or when a man digs a
pit and does not cover it, and an ox or an ass falls
into it,

34 the owner of the pit shall make it good; he shall
give money to its owner, and the dead beast shall be
his.

35 “When one man’s ox hurts another’s, so that it
dies, then they shall sell the live ox and divide the
price of it; and the dead beast also they shall
divide.

36 Or if it is known that the ox has been accustomed
to gore in the past, and its owner has not kept it in,
he shall pay ox for ox, and the dead beast shall be
his.

(RSV)

Exod 22:1-28

CHAPTER 22

1 be sold for his theft. x he shall pax double. y “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. He shall make restitution; if he has
nothing, then he shall If the stolen beast is found
alive in his possession, whether it is an ox or an ass
or a sheep, “If a thief is found breaking in, and is
struck so that he dies, there shall be no bloodguilt
for him;

2 bloodguilt for him. x but if the sun has risen upon
him, there shall be “When a man causes a field or
vineyard to be grazed over, or lets his beast loose
and it feeds in another man’s field, he shall make
restitution from the best in his own field and in his
own vineyard.

3 “When fire breaks out and catches in thorns so that
the stacked grain or the standing grain or the field
is consumed, he that kindled the fire shall make full
restitution.

4 “If a man delivers to his neighbor money or goods to
keep, and it is stolen out of the man’s house, then,
if the thief is found, he shall pay double.

5 If the thief is not found, the owner of the house
shall come near to God, to show whether or not he has
put his hand to his neighbor’s goods.

6 “For every breach of trust, whether it is for ox,
for ass, for sheep, for clothing, or for any kind of
lost thing, of which one says, ‘This is it,’ the case
of both parties shall come before God; he whom God
shall condemn shall pay double to his neighbor.

7 “If a man delivers to his neighbor an ass or an ox
or a sheep or any beast to keep, and it dies or is
hurt or is driven away, without any one seeing it,

8 an oath by the LORD shall be between them both to
see whether he has not put his hand to his neighbor’s
property; and the owner shall accept the oath, and he
shall not make restitution.

9 But if it is stolen from him, he shall make
restitution to its owner.

10 If it is torn by beasts, let him bring it as
evidence; he shall not make restitution for what has
been torn.

11 “If a man borrows anything of his neighbor, and it
is hurt or dies, the owner not being with it, he shall
make full restitution.

12 If the owner was with it, he shall not make
restitution; if it was hired, it came for its hire.

13 “If a man seduces a virgin who is not betrothed,
and lies with her, he shall give the marriage present
for her, and make her his wife.

14 If her father utterly refuses to give her to him,
he shall pay money equivalent to the marriage present
for virgins.

15 “You shall not permit a sorceress to live.

16 “Whoever lies with a beast shall be put to death.

17 “Whoever sacrifices to any god, save to the LORD
only, shall be utterly destroyed.

18 “You shall not wrong a stranger or oppress him, for
you were strangers in the land of Egypt.

19 You shall not afflict any widow or orphan.

20 If you do afflict them, and they cry out to me, I
will surely hear their cry;

21 and my wrath will burn, and I will kill you with
the sword, and your wives shall become widows and your
children fatherless.

22 “If you lend money to any of my people with you who
is poor, you shall not be to him as a creditor, and
you shall not exact interest from him.

23 If ever you take your neighbor’s garment in pledge,
you shall restore it to him before the sun goes down;

24 for that is his only covering, it is his mantle for
his body; in what else shall he sleep? And if he cries
to me, I will hear, for I am compassionate.

25 “You shall not revile God, nor curse a ruler of
your people.

26 “You shall not delay to offer from the fulness of
your harvest and from the outflow of your presses.
“The first-born of your sons you shall give to me.

27 You shall do likewise with your oxen and with your
sheep: seven days it shall be with its dam; on the
eighth day you shall give it to me.

28 “You shall be men consecrated to me; therefore you
shall not eat any flesh that is torn by beasts in the
field; you shall cast it to the dogs.

(RSV)

Exod 17:1-16

CHAPTER 17

1 All the congregation of the people of Israel moved
on from the wilderness of Sin by stages, according to
the commandment of the LORD, and camped at Reph’idim;
but there was no water for the people to drink.

2 Therefore the people found fault with Moses, and
said, “Give us water to drink.” And Moses said to
them, “Why do you find fault with me? Why do you put
the LORD to the proof?”

3 But the people thirsted there for water, and the
people murmured against Moses, and said, “Why did you
bring us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children
and our cattle with thirst?”

4 So Moses cried to the LORD, “What shall I do with
this people? They are almost ready to stone me.”

5 And the LORD said to Moses, “Pass on before the
people, taking with you some of the elders of Israel;
and take in your hand the rod with which you struck
the Nile, and go.

6 Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock at
Horeb; and you shall strike the rock, and water shall
come out of it, that the people may drink.” And Moses
did so, in the sight of the elders of Israel.

7 And he called the name of the place Massah and
Mer’ibah, because of the faultfinding of the children
of Israel, and because they put the LORD to the proof
by saying, “Is the LORD among us or not?”

8 Then came Am’alek and fought with Israel at
Reph’idim.

9 And Moses said to Joshua, “Choose for us men, and go
out, fight with Am’alek; tomorrow I will stand on the
top of the hill with the rod of God in my hand.”

10 So Joshua did as Moses told him, and fought with
Am’alek; and Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top
of the hill.

11 Whenever Moses held up his hand, Israel prevailed;
and whenever he lowered his hand, Am’alek prevailed.

12 But Moses’ hands grew weary; so they took a stone
and put it under him, and he sat upon it, and Aaron
and Hur held up his hands, one on one side, and the
other on the other side; so his hands were steady
until the going down of the sun.

13 And Joshua mowed down Am’alek and his people with
the edge of the sword.

14 And the LORD said to Moses, “Write this as a
memorial in a book and recite it in the ears of
Joshua, that I will utterly blot out the remembrance
of Am’alek from under heaven.”

15 And Moses built an altar and called the name of it,
The LORD is my banner,

16 saying, “A hand upon the banner of the LORD! The
LORD will have war with Am’alek from generation to
generation.”

(RSV)

Exod 18:1-27

CHAPTER 18

1 Jethro, the priest of Mid’ian, Moses’ father-in-law,
heard of all that God had done for Moses and for
Israel his people, how the LORD had brought Israel out
of Egypt.

2 Now Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, had taken
Zippo’rah, Moses’ wife, after he had sent her away,

3 and her two sons, of whom the name of the one was
Gershom (for he said, “I have been a sojourner in a
foreign land”),

4 and the name of the other, Elie’zer (for he said,
“The God of my father was my help, and delivered me
from the sword of Pharaoh”).

5 And Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, came with his sons
and his wife to Moses in the wilderness where he was
encamped at the mountain of God.

6 And when one told Moses, “Lo, your father-in-law
Jethro is coming to you with your wife and her two
sons with her,”

7 Moses went out to meet his father-in-law, and did
obeisance and kissed him; and they asked each other of
their welfare, and went into the tent.

8 Then Moses told his father-in-law all that the LORD
had done to Pharaoh and to the Egyptians for Israel’s
sake, all the hardship that had come upon them in the
way, and how the LORD had delivered them.

9 And Jethro rejoiced for all the good which the LORD
had done to Israel, in that he had delivered them out
of the hand of the Egyptians.

10 And Jethro said, “Blessed be the LORD, who has
delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians and out
of the hand of Pharaoh.

11 Now I know that the LORD is greater than all gods,
because he delivered the people from under the hand of
the Egyptians, when they dealt arrogantly with them.”

12 And Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, offered a burnt
offering and sacrifices to God; and Aaron came with
all the elders of Israel to eat bread with Moses’
father-in-law before God.

13 On the morrow Moses sat to judge the people, and
the people stood about Moses from morning till
evening.

14 When Moses’ father-in-law saw all that he was doing
for the people, he said, “What is this that you are
doing for the people? Why do you sit alone, and all
the people stand about you from morning till evening?”

15 And Moses said to his father-in-law, “Because the
people come to me to inquire of God;

16 when they have a dispute, they come to me and I
decide between a man and his neighbor, and I make them
know the statutes of God and his decisions.”

17 Moses’ father-in-law said to him, “What you are
doing is not good.

18 You and the people with you will wear yourselves
out, for the thing is too heavy for you; you are not
able to perform it alone.

19 Listen now to my voice; I will give you counsel,
and God be with you! You shall represent the people
before God, and bring their cases to God;

20 and you shall teach them the statutes and the
decisions, and make them know the way in which they
must walk and what they must do.

21 Moreover choose able men from all the people, such
as fear God, men who are trustworthy and who hate a
bribe; and place such men over the people as rulers of
thousands, of hundreds, of fifties, and of tens.

22 And let them judge the people at all times; every
great matter they shall bring to you, but any small
matter they shall decide themselves; so it will be
easier for you, and they will bear the burden with
you.

23 If you do this, and God so commands you, then you
will be able to endure, and all this people also will
go to their place in peace.”

24 So Moses gave heed 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, of
hundreds, of fifties, and of tens.

26 And they judged the people at all times; hard cases
they brought to Moses, but any small matter they
decided themselves.

27 Then Moses let his father-in-law depart, and he
went his way to his own country.

(RSV)

Exod 19:1-25

CHAPTER 19

1 On the third new moon after the people of Israel had
gone forth out of the land of Egypt, on that day they
came into the wilderness of Sinai.

2 And when they set out from Reph’idim and came into
the wilderness of Sinai, they encamped in the
wilderness; and there Israel encamped before the
mountain.

3 And Moses went up to God, and the LORD called to him
out of the mountain, saying, “Thus you shall say to
the house of Jacob, and tell the people of Israel:

4 You 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 obey my voice and keep my
covenant, you shall be my own possession 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 So Moses came and called the elders of the people,
and set before them all these words which the LORD had
commanded him.

8 And all the people answered together and said, “All
that the LORD has spoken we will do.” And Moses
reported the words of the people to the LORD.

9 And the LORD said to Moses, “Lo, I am coming to you
in a thick cloud, that the people may hear when I
speak with you, and may also believe you for ever.”
Then Moses told the words of the people to the LORD.

10 And the LORD said to Moses, “Go to the people and
consecrate them today and tomorrow, and let them wash
their garments,

11 and be ready by the third day; for on the third day
the LORD will come down upon Mount Sinai in the sight
of all the people.

12 And you shall set bounds for the people round
about, saying, ‘Take heed that you do not go up into
the mountain or touch the border of it; whoever
touches the mountain shall be put to death;

13 no hand shall touch him, but he shall be stoned or
shot; whether beast or man, he shall not live.’ When
the trumpet sounds a long blast, they shall come up to
the mountain.”

14 So Moses went down from the mountain to the people,
and consecrated the people; and they washed their
garments.

15 And he said to the people, “Be ready by the third
day; do not go near a woman.”

16 On the morning of the third day there were thunders
and lightnings, and a thick cloud upon the mountain,
and a very loud trumpet blast, so that all the people
who were in the camp trembled.

17 Then Moses brought the people out of the camp to
meet God; and they took their stand at the foot of the
mountain.

18 And Mount Sinai was wrapped in smoke, because the
LORD descended upon it in fire; and the smoke of it
went up like the smoke of a kiln, and the whole
mountain quaked greatly.

19 And as the sound of the trumpet grew louder and
louder, Moses spoke, and God answered him in thunder.

20 And the LORD came down upon Mount Sinai, to the top
of the mountain; and the LORD called Moses to the top
of the mountain, and Moses went up.

21 And the LORD said to Moses, “Go down and warn the
people, lest they break through to the LORD to gaze
and many of them perish.

22 And also let the priests who come near to the LORD
consecrate themselves, lest the LORD break out upon
them.”

23 And Moses said to the LORD, “The people cannot come
up to Mount Sinai; for thou thyself didst charge us,
saying, ‘Set bounds about the mountain, and consecrate
it.'”

24 And the LORD said to him, “Go down, and come up
bringing Aaron with you; but do not let the priests
and the people break through to come up to the LORD,
lest he break out against them.”

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

(RSV)

Exod 20:1-26

CHAPTER 20

1 And God spoke all these words, saying,

2 “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the
land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.

3 “You shall have no other gods before me.

4 “You shall not make for yourself a graven image, or
any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or
that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water
under the earth;

5 you shall not bow down to them or serve them; for I
the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the
iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third
and the fourth generation of those who hate me,

6 but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who
love me and keep my commandments.

7 “You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in
vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who
takes his name in vain.

8 “Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.

9 Six days you shall labor, and do all your work;

10 but the seventh day is a sabbath to the LORD your
God; in it you shall not do any work, you, or your
son, or your daughter, your manservant, or your
maidservant, or your cattle, or the sojourner who is
within your gates;

11 for in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the
sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh
day; therefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day and
hallowed it.

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

13 “You shall not kill.

14 “You shall not commit adultery.

15 “You shall not steal.

16 “You shall not bear false witness against your
neighbor.

17 “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you
shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his
manservant, or his maidservant, or his ox, or his ass,
or anything that is your neighbor’s.”

18 Now when all the people perceived the thunderings
and the lightnings and the sound of the trumpet and
the mountain smoking, the people were afraid and
trembled; and they stood afar off,

19 and said to Moses, “You speak to us, and we will
hear; but let not God speak to us, lest we die.”

20 And Moses said to the people, “Do not fear; for God
has come to prove you, and that the fear of him may be
before your eyes, that you may not sin.”

21 And the people stood afar off, while Moses drew
near to the thick darkness where God was.

22 And the LORD said to Moses, “Thus you shall say to
the people of Israel: ‘You have seen for yourselves
that I have talked with you from heaven.

23 You shall not make gods of silver to be with me,
nor shall you make for yourselves gods of gold.

24 An altar of earth you shall make for me and
sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and your peace
offerings, your sheep and your oxen; in every place
where I cause my name to be remembered I will come to
you and bless you.

25 And if you make me an altar of stone, you shall not
build it of hewn stones; for if you wield your tool
upon it you profane it.

26 And you shall not go up by steps to my altar, that
your nakedness be not exposed on it.’

(RSV)

Exod 14:1-31

CHAPTER 14

1 Then the LORD said to Moses,

2 “Tell the people of Israel to turn back and encamp
in front of Pi-ha-hi’roth, between Migdol and the sea,
in front of Ba’al-ze’phon; you shall encamp over
against it, by the sea.

3 For Pharaoh will say of the people of Israel, ‘They
are entangled in the land; the wilderness has shut
them in.’

4 And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and he will
pursue them and I will get glory over Pharaoh and all
his host; and the Egyptians shall know that I am the
LORD.” And they did so.

5 When the king of Egypt was told that the people had
fled, the mind of Pharaoh and 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 So he made ready his chariot and took his army with
him,

7 and took six hundred picked chariots and all the
other chariots of Egypt with officers over all of
them.

8 And the LORD hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of
Egypt and he pursued the people of Israel as they went
forth defiantly.

9 The Egyptians pursued them, all Pharaoh’s horses and
chariots and his horsemen and his army, and overtook
them encamped at the sea, by Pi-ha-hi’roth, in front
of Ba’al-ze’phon.

10 When Pharaoh drew near, the people of Israel lifted
up their eyes, and behold, the Egyptians were marching
after them; and they were in great fear. And the
people of Israel cried out to the LORD;

11 and they said to Moses, “Is it because there are no
graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in
the wilderness? What have you done to us, in bringing
us out of Egypt?

12 Is not this what we said to you in Egypt, ‘Let us
alone and let us serve the Egyptians’? For it would
have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to
die in the wilderness.”

13 And Moses said to the people, “Fear not, stand
firm, and see the salvation of the LORD, which he will
work for you today; for the Egyptians whom you see
today, you shall never see again.

14 The LORD will fight for you, and you have only to
be still.”

15 The LORD said to Moses, “Why do you cry to me? Tell
the people of Israel to go forward.

16 Lift up your rod, and stretch out your hand over
the sea and divide it, that the people of Israel may
go on dry ground through the sea.

17 And I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians so
that they shall go in after them, and I will get glory
over Pharaoh and all his host, his chariots, and his
horsemen.

18 And the Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD,
when I have gotten glory over Pharaoh, his chariots,
and his horsemen.”

19 Then the angel of God who went before the host of
Israel moved and went behind them; and the pillar of
cloud moved from before them and stood behind them,

20 coming between the host of Egypt and the host of
Israel. And there was the cloud and the darkness; and
the night passed without one coming near the other all
night.

21 Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and
the LORD drove the sea back by a strong east wind all
night, and made the sea dry land, and the waters were
divided.

22 And the people of Israel went into the midst of the
sea on dry ground, the waters being a wall to them on
their right hand and on their left.

23 The Egyptians pursued, and went in after them into
the midst of the sea, all Pharaoh’s horses, his
chariots, and his horsemen.

24 And in the morning watch the LORD in the pillar of
fire and of cloud looked down upon the host of the
Egyptians, and discomfited the host of the Egyptians,

25 clogging their chariot wheels so that they drove
heavily; and the Egyptians said, “Let us flee from
before Israel; for the LORD fights for them against
the Egyptians.”

26 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand
over the sea, that the water may come back upon the
Egyptians, upon their chariots, and upon their
horsemen.”

27 So Moses stretched forth his hand over the sea, and
the sea returned to its wonted flow when the morning
appeared; and the Egyptians fled into it, and the LORD
routed the Egyptians in the midst of the sea.

28 The waters returned and covered the chariots and
the horsemen and all the host of Pharaoh that had
followed them into the sea; not so much as one of them
remained.

29 But the people of Israel walked on dry ground
through the sea, the waters being a wall to them on
their right hand and on their left.

30 Thus the LORD saved Israel that day from the hand
of the Egyptians; and Israel saw the Egyptians dead
upon the seashore.

31 And Israel saw the great work which the LORD did
against the Egyptians, and the people feared the LORD;
and they believed in the LORD and in his servant
Moses.

(RSV)

Exod 15:1-27

CHAPTER 15

1 Then Moses and the people of Israel sang this song
to the LORD, saying, “I will sing to the LORD, for he
has triumphed gloriously; the horse and his rider he
has thrown into the sea.

2 The LORD is my strength and my song, and he has
become my salvation; this is my God, and I will praise
him, my father’s God, and I will exalt him.

3 The LORD is a man of war; the LORD is his name.

4 “Pharaoh’s chariots and his host he cast into the
sea; and his picked officers are sunk in the Red Sea.

5 The floods cover them; they went down into the
depths like a stone.

6 Thy right hand, O LORD, glorious in power, thy right
hand, O LORD, shatters the enemy.

7 In the greatness of thy majesty thou overthrowest
thy adversaries; thou sendest forth thy fury, it
consumes them like stubble.

8 At the blast of thy nostrils the waters piled up,
the floods stood up in a heap; the deeps congealed in
the heart of the sea.

9 The enemy said, ‘I will pursue, I will overtake, I
will divide the spoil, my desire shall have its fill
of them. I will draw my sword, my hand shall destroy
them.’

10 Thou didst blow with thy wind, the sea covered
them; they sank as lead in the mighty waters.

11 “Who is like thee, O LORD, among the gods? Who is
like thee, majestic in holiness, terrible in glorious
deeds, doing wonders?

12 Thou didst stretch out thy right hand, the earth
swallowed them.

13 “Thou hast led in thy steadfast love the people
whom thou hast redeemed, thou hast guided them by thy
strength to thy holy abode.

14 The peoples have heard, they tremble; pangs have
seized on the inhabitants of Philistia.

15 Now are the chiefs of Edom dismayed; the leaders of
Moab, trembling seizes them; all the inhabitants of
Canaan have melted away.

16 Terror and dread fall upon them; because of the
greatness of thy arm, they are as still as a stone,
till thy people, O LORD, pass by, till the people pass
by whom thou hast purchased.

17 Thou wilt bring them in, and plant them on thy own
mountain, the place, O LORD, which thou hast made for
thy abode, the sanctuary, O LORD, which thy hands have
established.

18 The LORD will reign for ever and ever.”

19 For when the horses of Pharaoh with his chariots
and his horsemen went into the sea, the LORD brought
back the waters of the sea upon them; but the people
of Israel walked on dry ground in the midst of the
sea.

20 Then Miriam, the prophetess, the sister of Aaron,
took a timbrel in her hand; and all the women went out
after her with timbrels and dancing.

21 And Miriam sang to them: “Sing to the LORD, for he
has triumphed gloriously; the horse and his rider he
has thrown into the sea.”

22 Then Moses led Israel onward from the Red Sea, and
they went into the wilderness of Shur; they went three
days in the wilderness and found no water.

23 When they came to Marah, they could not drink the
water of Marah because it was bitter; therefore it was
named Marah.

24 And the people murmured against Moses, saying,
“What shall we drink?”

25 And he cried to the LORD; and the LORD showed him a
tree, and he threw it into the water, and the water
became sweet. There the LORD made for them a statute
and an ordinance and there he proved them,

26 saying, “If you will diligently hearken to the
voice of the LORD your God, and do that which is right
in his eyes, and give heed to his commandments and
keep all his statutes, I will put none of the diseases
upon you which I put upon the Egyptians; for I am the
LORD, your healer.”

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

(RSV)

Exod 16:1-36

CHAPTER 16

1 They set out from Elim, and all the congregation of
the people of Israel came to the wilderness of Sin,
which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day
of the second month after they had departed from the
land of Egypt.

2 And the whole congregation of the people of Israel
murmured against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness,

3 and said to them, “Would that we had died by the
hand of the LORD in the land of Egypt, when we sat by
the fleshpots and ate bread to the full; for you have
brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole
assembly with hunger.”

4 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Behold, I will rain
bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out
and gather a day’s portion every day, that I may prove
them, whether they will walk in my law or not.

5 On the sixth day, when they prepare what they bring
in, it will be twice as much as they gather daily.”

6 So Moses and Aaron said to all the people of Israel,
“At evening you shall know that it was the LORD who
brought you out of the land of Egypt,

7 and in the morning you shall see the glory of the
LORD, because he has heard your murmurings against the
LORD. For what are we, that you murmur against us?”

8 And Moses said, “When the LORD gives you in the
evening flesh to eat and in the morning bread to the
full, because the LORD has heard your murmurings which
you murmur against him– what are we? Your murmurings
are not against us but against the LORD.”

9 And Moses said to Aaron, “Say to the whole
congregation of the people of Israel, ‘Come near
before the LORD, for he has heard your murmurings.'”

10 And as Aaron spoke to the whole congregation of the
people of Israel, they looked toward the wilderness,
and behold, the glory of the LORD appeared in the
cloud.

11 And the LORD said to Moses,

12 “I have heard the murmurings of the people of
Israel; say to them, ‘At twilight you shall eat flesh,
and in the morning you shall be filled with bread;
then you shall know that I am the LORD your God.'”

13 In the evening quails came up and covered the camp;
and in the morning dew lay round about the camp.

14 And when the dew had gone up, there was on the face
of the wilderness a fine, flake-like thing, fine as
hoarfrost on the ground.

15 When the people of Israel saw it, they said to one
another, “What is it?” For they did not know what it
was. And Moses said to them, “It is the bread which
the LORD has given you to eat.

16 This is what the LORD has commanded: ‘Gather of it,
every man of you, as much as he can eat; you shall
take an omer apiece, according to the number of the
persons whom each of you has in his tent.'”

17 And the people of Israel did so; they gathered,
some more, some less.

18 But when they measured it with an omer, he that
gathered much had nothing over, and he that gathered
little had no lack; each gathered according to what he
could eat.

19 And Moses said to them, “Let no man leave any of it
till the morning.”

20 But they did not listen to Moses; some left part of
it till the morning, and it bred worms and became
foul; and Moses was angry with them.

21 Morning by morning they gathered it, each as much
as he could eat; but when the sun grew hot, it melted.

22 On the sixth day they gathered twice as much bread,
two omers apiece; and when all the leaders of the
congregation came and told Moses,

23 he said to them, “This is what the LORD has
commanded: ‘Tomorrow is a day of solemn rest, a holy
sabbath to the LORD; bake what you will bake and boil
what you will boil, and all that is left over lay by
to be kept till the morning.'”

24 So they laid it by till the morning, as Moses bade
them; and it did not become foul, and there were no
worms in it.

25 Moses said, “Eat it today, for today is a sabbath
to the LORD; today you will not find it in the field.

26 Six days you shall gather it; but on the seventh
day, which is a sabbath, there will be none.”

27 On the seventh day some of the people went out to
gather, and they found none.

28 And the LORD said to Moses, “How long do you refuse
to keep my commandments and my laws?

29 See! The LORD has given you the sabbath, therefore
on the sixth day he gives you bread for two days;
remain every man of you in his place, let no man go
out of his place on the seventh day.”

30 So the people rested on the seventh day.

31 Now the house of Israel called its name manna; it
was like coriander seed, white, and the taste of it
was like wafers made with honey.

32 And Moses said, “This is what the LORD has
commanded: ‘Let an omer 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 And Moses said to Aaron, “Take a jar, and put an
omer of manna in it, and place it before the LORD, to
be kept throughout your generations.”

34 As the LORD commanded Moses, so Aaron placed it
before the testimony, to be kept.

35 And the people of Israel ate the manna forty years,
till they came to a habitable land; they ate the
manna, till they came to the border of the land of
Canaan.

36 (An omer is the tenth part of an ephah.)

(RSV)

Exod 11:1-10

CHAPTER 11

1 The LORD said to Moses, “Yet one plague more I will
bring upon Pharaoh and upon Egypt; afterwards he will
let you go hence; when he lets you go, he will drive
you away completely.

2 Speak now in the hearing of the people, that they
ask, every man of his neighbor and every woman of her
neighbor, jewelry of silver and of gold.”

3 And the LORD 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 And Moses said, “Thus says the LORD: About midnight
I will go forth in the midst of Egypt;

5 and all the first-born in the land of Egypt shall
die, from the first-born of Pharaoh who sits upon his
throne, even to the first-born of the maidservant who
is behind the mill; and all the first-born of the
cattle.

6 And there shall be a great cry throughout all the
land of Egypt, such as there has never been, nor ever
shall be again.

7 But against any of the people of Israel, either man
or beast, not a dog shall growl; that you may know
that the LORD makes a distinction between the
Egyptians and Israel.

8 And all these your servants shall come down to me,
and bow down to me, saying, ‘Get you out, and all the
people who follow you.’ And after that I will go out.”
And he went out from Pharaoh in hot anger.

9 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Pharaoh will not
listen to you; that my wonders may be multiplied in
the land of Egypt.”

10 Moses and Aaron did all these wonders before
Pharaoh; and the LORD hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he
did not let the people of Israel go out of his land.

(RSV)

Exod 12:1-51

CHAPTER 12

1 The LORD said to Moses and Aaron in the land of
Egypt,

2 “This month shall be for you the beginning of
months; it shall be the first month of the year for
you.

3 Tell all the congregation of Israel that on the
tenth day of this month they shall take every man a
lamb according to their fathers’ houses, a lamb for a
household;

4 and if the household is too small for a lamb, then a
man and his neighbor next to his house shall take
according to the number of persons; according to what
each can eat you shall make your count for the lamb.

5 Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male a year
old; you shall take it from the sheep or from the
goats;

6 and you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of
this month, when the whole assembly of the
congregation of Israel shall kill their lambs in the
evening.

7 Then they shall take some of the blood, and put it
on the two doorposts and the lintel of the houses in
which they eat them.

8 They shall eat the flesh that night, roasted; with
unleavened bread and bitter herbs they shall eat it.

9 Do not eat any of it raw or boiled with water, but
roasted, its head with its legs and its inner parts.

10 And you shall let none of it remain until the
morning, anything that remains until the morning you
shall burn.

11 In this manner you shall eat it: your loins girded,
your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your
hand; and you shall eat it in haste. It is the LORD’s
passover.

12 For I will pass through the land of Egypt that
night, and I will smite all the first-born in the land
of Egypt, both man and beast; and on all the gods of
Egypt I will execute judgments: I am the LORD.

13 The blood shall be a sign for you, upon the houses
where you are; and when I see the blood, I will pass
over you, and no plague shall fall upon you to destroy
you, when I smite the land of Egypt.

14 “This day shall be for you a memorial day, and you
shall keep it as a feast to the LORD; throughout your
generations you shall observe it as an ordinance for
ever.

15 Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread; on the
first day you shall put away leaven out of your
houses, for if any one eats what is leavened, from the
first day until the seventh day, that person shall be
cut off from Israel.

16 On the first day you shall hold a holy assembly,
and on the seventh day a holy assembly; no work shall
be done on those days; but what every one must eat,
that only may be prepared by you.

17 And you shall observe the feast of unleavened
bread, for on this very day I brought your hosts out
of the land of Egypt: therefore you shall observe this
day, throughout your generations, as an ordinance for
ever.

18 In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the
month at evening, you shall eat unleavened bread, and
so until the twenty-first day of the month at evening.

19 For seven days no leaven shall be found in your
houses; for if any one eats what is leavened, that
person shall be cut off from the congregation of
Israel, whether he is a sojourner or a native of the
land.

20 You shall eat nothing leavened; in all your
dwellings you shall eat unleavened bread.”

21 Then Moses called all the elders of Israel, and
said to them, “Select lambs for yourselves according
to your families, and kill the passover lamb.

22 Take a bunch of hyssop and dip it in the blood
which is in the basin, and touch the lintel and the
two doorposts with the blood which is in the basin;
and none of you shall go out of the door of his house
until the morning.

23 For the LORD will pass through to slay the
Egyptians; and when he sees the blood on the lintel
and on the two doorposts, the LORD will pass over the
door, and will not allow the destroyer to enter your
houses to slay you.

24 You shall observe this rite as an ordinance for you
and for your sons for ever.

25 And when you come to the land which the LORD will
give you, as he has promised, you shall keep this
service.

26 And when your children say to you, ‘What do you
mean by this service?’

27 you shall say, ‘It is the sacrifice of the LORD’s
passover, for he passed over the houses of the people
of Israel in Egypt, when he slew the Egyptians but
spared our houses.'” And the people bowed their heads
and worshiped.

28 Then the people of Israel went and did so; as the
LORD had commanded Moses and Aaron, so they did.

29 At midnight the LORD smote all the first-born in
the land of Egypt, from the first-born of Pharaoh who
sat on his throne to the first-born of the captive who
was in the dungeon, and all the first-born of the
cattle.

30 And 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 one was
not dead.

31 And he summoned Moses and Aaron by night, and said,
“Rise up, go forth from among my people, both you and
the people of Israel; and go, serve the LORD, as you
have said.

32 Take your flocks and your herds, as you have said,
and be gone; and bless me also!”

33 And 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 So the people took their dough before it was
leavened, their kneading bowls being bound up in their
mantles on their shoulders.

35 The people of Israel had also done as Moses told
them, for they had asked of the Egyptians jewelry of
silver and of gold, and clothing;

36 and the LORD had given the people favor in the
sight of the Egyptians, so that they let them have
what they asked. Thus they despoiled the Egyptians.

37 And the people of Israel journeyed from Ram’eses to
Succoth, about six hundred thousand men on foot,
besides women and children.

38 A mixed multitude also went up with them, and very
many cattle, both flocks and herds.

39 And they baked unleavened cakes of the dough which
they had brought out of Egypt, for it was not
leavened, because they were thrust out of Egypt and
could not tarry, neither had they prepared for
themselves any provisions.

40 The time that the people of Israel dwelt in Egypt
was four hundred and thirty years.

41 And at the end of four hundred and thirty years, on
that very day, all the hosts of the LORD went out from
the land of Egypt.

42 It was a night of watching by the LORD, to bring
them out of the land of Egypt; so this same night is a
night of watching kept to the LORD by all the people
of Israel throughout their generations.

43 And the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, “This is the
ordinance of the passover: no foreigner shall eat of
it;

44 but every slave that is bought for money may eat of
it after you have circumcised him.

45 No sojourner or hired servant may eat of it.

46 In one house shall it be eaten; you shall not carry
forth any of the flesh outside the house; and you
shall not break a bone of it.

47 All the congregation of Israel shall keep it.

48 And when a stranger shall sojourn with you and
would keep the passover to the LORD, let all his males
be circumcised, then he may come near and keep it; he
shall be as a native of the land. But no uncircumcised
person shall eat of it.

49 There shall be one law for the native and for the
stranger who sojourns among you.”

50 Thus did all the people of Israel; as the LORD
commanded Moses and Aaron, so they did.

51 And on that very day the LORD brought the people of
Israel out of the land of Egypt by their hosts.

(RSV)

Exod 13:1-22

CHAPTER 13

1 The LORD said to Moses,

2 “Consecrate to me all the first-born; whatever is
the first to open the womb among the people of Israel,
both of man and of beast, is mine.”

3 And Moses said to the people, “Remember this day, in
which you came out from Egypt, out of the house of
bondage, for by strength of hand the LORD brought you
out from this place; no leavened bread shall be eaten.

4 This day you are to go forth, in the month of Abib.

5 And when the LORD brings you into the land of the
Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Hivites,
and the Jeb’usites, which he swore to your fathers to
give you, a land flowing with milk and honey, you
shall keep this service in this month.

6 Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, and on
the seventh day there shall be a feast to the LORD.

7 Unleavened bread shall be eaten for seven days; no
leavened bread shall be seen with you, and no leaven
shall be seen with you in all your territory.

8 And you shall tell your son on that day, ‘It is
because of what the LORD did for me when I came out of
Egypt.’

9 And it shall be to you as a sign on your hand and as
a memorial between your eyes, that the law of the LORD
may be in your mouth; for with a strong hand the LORD
has brought you out of Egypt.

10 You shall therefore keep this ordinance at its
appointed time from year to year.

11 “And when the LORD brings you into the land of the
Canaanites, as he swore to you and your fathers, and
shall give it to you,

12 you shall set apart to the LORD all that first
opens the womb. All the firstlings of your cattle that
are males shall be the LORD’s.

13 Every firstling of an ass you shall redeem with a
lamb, or if you will not redeem it you shall break its
neck. Every first-born of man among your sons you
shall redeem.

14 And when in time to come your son asks you, ‘What
does this mean?’ you shall say to him, ‘By strength of
hand the LORD brought us out of Egypt, from the house
of bondage.

15 For when Pharaoh stubbornly refused to let us go,
the LORD slew all the first-born in the land of Egypt,
both the first-born of man and the first-born of
cattle. Therefore I sacrifice to the LORD all the
males that first open the womb; but all the first-born
of my sons I redeem.’

16 It shall be as a mark on your hand or frontlets
between your eyes; for by a strong hand the LORD
brought us out of Egypt.”

17 When Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead
them by way of the land of the Philistines, although
that was near; for God said, “Lest the people repent
when they see war, and return to Egypt.”

18 But God led the people round by the way of the
wilderness toward the Red Sea. And the people of
Israel went up out of the land of Egypt equipped for
battle.

19 And Moses took the bones of Joseph with him; for
Joseph had solemnly sworn the people of Israel,
saying, “God will visit you; then you must carry my
bones with you from here.”

20 And they moved on from Succoth, and encamped at
Etham, on the edge of the wilderness.

21 And the LORD went before them by day in a pillar of
cloud to lead them along the way, and by night in a
pillar of fire to give them light, that they might
travel by day and by night;

22 the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire
by night did not depart from before the people.

(RSV)

Exod 8:1-32

CHAPTER 8

1 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Go in to Pharaoh and
say to him, ‘Thus says the LORD, “Let my people go,
that they may serve me.

2 But if you refuse to let them go, behold, I will
plague all your country with frogs;

3 the Nile shall swarm with frogs which shall come up
into your house, and into your bedchamber and on your
bed, and into the houses of your servants and of your
people, and into your ovens and your kneading bowls;

4 the frogs shall come up on you and on your people
and on all your servants.”‘”

5 And the LORD said to Moses, “Say to Aaron, ‘Stretch
out your hand with your rod over the rivers, over the
canals, and over the pools, and cause frogs to come
upon the land of Egypt!'”

6 So Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of
Egypt; and the frogs came up and covered the land of
Egypt.

7 But the magicians did the same by their secret arts,
and brought frogs upon the land of Egypt.

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

9 Moses said to Pharaoh, “Be pleased to command me
when I am to entreat, for you and for your servants
and for your people, that the frogs be destroyed from
you and your houses and be left only in the Nile.”

10 And he said, “Tomorrow.” Moses said, “Be it as you
say, that you may know that there is no one like the
LORD our God.

11 The frogs shall depart from you and your houses and
your servants and your people; they shall be left only
in the Nile.”

12 So Moses and Aaron went out from Pharaoh; and Moses
cried to the LORD concerning the frogs, as he had
agreed with Pharaoh.

13 And the LORD did according to the word of Moses;
the frogs died out of the houses and courtyards and
out of the fields.

14 And 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 would not listen to them; as
the LORD had said.

16 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Say to Aaron,
‘Stretch out your rod and strike the dust of the
earth, that it may become gnats throughout all the
land of Egypt.'”

17 And they did so; Aaron stretched out his hand with
his rod, and struck the dust of the earth, and there
came gnats on man and beast; all the dust of the earth
became gnats throughout all the land of Egypt.

18 The magicians tried by their secret arts to bring
forth gnats, but they could not. So there were gnats
on man and beast.

19 And the magicians said to Pharaoh, “This is the
finger of God.” But Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and
he would not listen to them; as the LORD had said.

20 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Rise up early in the
morning and wait for Pharaoh, as he goes out to the
water, and say to him, ‘Thus says the LORD, “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 your servants and
your people, and into your houses; and the houses of
the Egyptians shall be filled with swarms of flies,
and also the ground on which they stand.

22 But on that day I will set apart the land of
Goshen, where my people dwell, so that no swarms of
flies shall be there; that you may know that I am the
LORD in the midst of the earth.

23 Thus I will put a division between my people and
your people. By tomorrow shall this sign be.”‘”

24 And the LORD did so; there came great swarms of
flies into the house of Pharaoh and into his servants’
houses, and in all the land of Egypt the land was
ruined by reason of the flies.

25 Then Pharaoh called Moses and Aaron, and said, “Go,
sacrifice to your God within the land.”

26 But Moses said, “It would not be right to do so;
for we shall sacrifice to the LORD our God offerings
abominable to the Egyptians. If we sacrifice offerings
abominable to the Egyptians before their eyes, will
they not stone us?

27 We must go three days’ journey into the wilderness
and sacrifice to the LORD our God as he will command
us.”

28 So Pharaoh said, “I will let you go, to sacrifice
to the LORD your God in the wilderness; only you shall
not go very far away. Make entreaty for me.”

29 Then Moses said, “Behold, I am going out from you
and I will pray to the LORD that the swarms of flies
may depart from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from
his people, tomorrow; only let not Pharaoh deal
falsely again by not letting the people go to
sacrifice to the LORD.”

30 So Moses went out from Pharaoh and prayed to the
LORD.

31 And the LORD did as Moses asked, and removed the
swarms of flies from Pharaoh, from his servants, and
from his people; not one remained.

32 But Pharaoh hardened his heart this time also, and
did not let the people go.

(RSV)

Exod 9:1-35

CHAPTER 9

1 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Go in to Pharaoh, and
say to him, ‘Thus says the LORD, the God of the
Hebrews, “Let my people go, that they may serve me.

2 For if you refuse to let them go and still hold
them,

3 behold, the hand of the LORD will fall with a very
severe plague upon your cattle which are in the field,
the horses, the asses, the camels, the herds, and the
flocks.

4 But the LORD will make a distinction between the
cattle of Israel and the cattle of Egypt, so that
nothing shall die of all that belongs to the people of
Israel.”‘”

5 And the LORD set a time, saying, “Tomorrow the LORD
will do this thing in the land.”

6 And on the morrow the LORD did this thing; all the
cattle of the Egyptians died, but of the cattle of the
people of Israel not one died.

7 And Pharaoh sent, and behold, not one of the cattle
of the Israelites was dead. But the heart of Pharaoh
was hardened, and he did not let the people go.

8 And the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, “Take handfuls
of ashes from the kiln, and let Moses throw them
toward heaven in the sight of Pharaoh.

9 And it shall become fine dust over all the land of
Egypt, and become boils breaking out in sores on man
and beast throughout all the land of Egypt.”

10 So they took ashes from the kiln, and stood before
Pharaoh, and Moses threw them toward heaven, and it
became boils breaking out in sores on man and beast.

11 And the magicians could not stand before Moses
because of the boils, for the boils were upon the
magicians and upon all the Egyptians.

12 But the LORD hardened the heart of Pharaoh, and he
did not listen to them; as the LORD had spoken to
Moses.

13 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Rise up early in the
morning and stand before Pharaoh, and say to him,
‘Thus says the LORD, the God of the Hebrews, “Let my
people go, that they may serve me.

14 For this time I will send all my plagues upon your
heart, and upon your servants and your people, that
you may know that there is none like me in all the
earth.

15 For by now I could have put forth my hand and
struck you and your people with pestilence, and you
would have been cut off from the earth;

16 but for this purpose have I let you live, to show
you my power, so that my name may be declared
throughout all the earth.

17 You are still exalting yourself against my people,
and will not let them go.

18 Behold, tomorrow about this time I will cause very
heavy hail to fall, such as never has been in Egypt
from the day it was founded until now.

19 Now therefore send, get your cattle and all that
you have in the field into safe shelter; for the hail
shall come down upon every man and beast that is in
the field and is not brought home, and they shall
die.”‘”

20 Then he who feared the word of the LORD among the
servants of Pharaoh made his slaves and his cattle
flee into the houses;

21 but he who did not regard the word of the LORD left
his slaves and his cattle in the field.

22 And the LORD said to Moses, “Stretch forth your
hand toward heaven, that there may be hail in all the
land of Egypt, upon man and beast and every plant of
the field, throughout the land of Egypt.”

23 Then Moses stretched forth his rod toward heaven;
and the LORD sent thunder and hail, and fire ran down
to the earth. And the LORD rained hail upon the land
of Egypt;

24 there was hail, and fire flashing continually in
the midst of the hail, very heavy hail, such as had
never been in all the land of Egypt since it became a
nation.

25 The hail struck down everything that was in the
field throughout all the land of Egypt, both man and
beast; and the hail struck down every plant of the
field, and shattered every tree of the field.

26 Only in the land of Goshen, where the people of
Israel were, there was no hail.

27 Then Pharaoh sent, and called Moses and Aaron, and
said to them, “I have sinned this time; the LORD is in
the right, and I and my people are in the wrong.

28 Entreat the LORD; for there has been enough of this
thunder 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 stretch out my hands to the LORD; the
thunder will cease, and there will be no more hail,
that you may know that the earth is the LORD’s.

30 But as for you and your servants, I know that you
do not yet fear the LORD God.”

31 (The flax and the barley were ruined, for the
barley was in the ear and the flax was in bud.

32 But the wheat and the spelt were not ruined, for
they are late in coming up.)

33 So Moses went out of the city from Pharaoh, and
stretched out his hands to the LORD; and the thunder
and the hail ceased, and the rain no longer poured
upon the earth.

34 But when Pharaoh saw that the rain and the hail and
the thunder had ceased, he sinned yet again, and
hardened his heart, he and his servants.

35 So the heart of Pharaoh was hardened, and he did
not let the people of Israel go; as the LORD had
spoken through Moses.

(RSV)

Exod 10:1-29

CHAPTER 10

1 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Go in to Pharaoh; for
I have hardened his heart and the heart of his
servants, that I may show these signs of mine among
them,

2 and that you may tell in the hearing of your son and
of your son’s son how I have made sport of the
Egyptians and what signs I have done among them; that
you may know that I am the LORD.”

3 So Moses and Aaron went in to Pharaoh, and said to
him, “Thus says the LORD, the God of the Hebrews, ‘How
long will you refuse to humble yourself before me? Let
my people go, that they may serve me.

4 For if you refuse to let my people go, behold,
tomorrow I will bring locusts into your country,

5 and they shall cover the face of the land, so that
no one can see the land; and they shall eat what is
left to you after the hail, and they shall eat every
tree of yours which grows in the field,

6 and they shall fill your houses, and the houses of
all your servants and of all the Egyptians; as neither
your fathers nor your grandfathers have seen, from the
day they came on earth to this day.'” Then he turned
and went out from Pharaoh.

7 And Pharaoh’s servants said to him, “How long shall
this man be a snare to us? Let the men go, that they
may serve the LORD their God; do you not yet
understand that Egypt is ruined?”

8 So Moses and Aaron were brought back to Pharaoh; and
he said to them, “Go, serve the LORD your God; but who
are to go?”

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

10 And he said to them, “The LORD be with you, if ever
I let you and your little ones go! Look, you have some
evil purpose in mind.

11 No! Go, the men among you, and serve the LORD, for
that is what you desire.” And they were driven out
from Pharaoh’s presence.

12 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand
over the land of Egypt for the locusts, that they may
come upon the land of Egypt, and eat every plant in
the land, all that the hail has left.”

13 So Moses stretched forth his rod over the land of
Egypt, and the LORD brought an east wind upon the land
all that day and all that night; and when it was
morning the east wind had brought the locusts.

14 And the locusts came up over all the land of Egypt,
and settled on the whole country of Egypt, such a
dense swarm of locusts as had never been before, nor
ever shall be again.

15 For they covered the face of the whole land, so
that the land was darkened, and they ate all the
plants in the land and all the fruit of the trees
which the hail had left; not a green thing remained,
neither tree nor plant of the field, through all the
land of Egypt.

16 Then Pharaoh called Moses and Aaron in haste, and
said, “I have sinned against the LORD your God, and
against you.

17 Now therefore, forgive my sin, I pray you, only
this once, and entreat the LORD your God only to
remove this death from me.”

18 So he went out from Pharaoh, and entreated the
LORD.

19 And the LORD turned a very strong west wind, which
lifted the locusts and drove them into the Red Sea;
not a single locust was left in all the country of
Egypt.

20 But the LORD hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he did
not let the children of Israel go.

21 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand
toward heaven that there may be darkness over the land
of Egypt, a darkness to be felt.”

22 So Moses stretched out his hand toward heaven, and
there was thick darkness in all the land of Egypt
three days;

23 they did not see one another, nor did any rise from
his place for three days; but all the people of Israel
had light where they dwelt.

24 Then Pharaoh called Moses, and said, “Go, serve the
LORD; your children also may go with you; only let
your flocks and your herds remain behind.”

25 But Moses said, “You must also let us have
sacrifices and burnt offerings, that we may sacrifice
to the LORD our God.

26 Our cattle also must go with us; not a hoof shall
be left behind, for we must take of them to serve the
LORD our God, and we do not know with what we must
serve the LORD until we arrive there.”

27 But the LORD hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he would
not let them go.

28 Then Pharaoh said to him, “Get away from me; take
heed to yourself; never see my face again; for in the
day you see my face you shall die.”

29 Moses said, “As you say! I will not see your face
again.”

(RSV)

Exod 5:1-23

CHAPTER 5

1 Afterward Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and said,
“Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, ‘Let my people
go, that they may hold a feast to me in the
wilderness.'”

2 But Pharaoh said, “Who is the LORD, that I should
heed his voice and let Israel go? I do not know the
LORD, and moreover I will not let Israel go.”

3 Then they said, “The God of the Hebrews has met with
us; let us go, we pray, a three days’ journey into the
wilderness, and sacrifice to the LORD our God, lest he
fall upon us with pestilence or with the sword.”

4 But the king of Egypt said to them, “Moses and
Aaron, why do you take the people away from their
work? Get to your burdens.”

5 And 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 foremen,

7 “You shall no longer give the people straw to make
bricks, as heretofore; let them go and gather straw
for themselves.

8 But the number of bricks which they made heretofore
you shall lay upon them, you shall by no means lessen
it; for they are idle; therefore they cry, ‘Let us go
and offer sacrifice to our God.’

9 Let heavier work be laid upon the men that they may
labor at it and pay no regard to lying words.”

10 So the taskmasters and the foremen of the people
went out and said to the people, “Thus says Pharaoh,
‘I will not give you straw.

11 Go yourselves, get your straw wherever you can find
it; but your work will not be lessened in the least.'”

12 So the people were scattered abroad throughout all
the land of Egypt, to gather stubble for straw.

13 The taskmasters were urgent, saying, “Complete your
work, your daily task, as when there was straw.”

14 And the foremen of the people of Israel, whom
Pharaoh’s taskmasters had set over them, were beaten,
and were asked, “Why have you not done all your task
of making bricks today, as hitherto?”

15 Then the foremen of the people of Israel came and
cried to Pharaoh, “Why do you deal thus with your
servants?

16 No straw is given to your servants, yet they say to
us, ‘Make bricks!’ And behold, your servants are
beaten; but the fault is in your own people.”

17 But he said, “You are idle, you are idle; therefore
you say, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to the LORD.’

18 Go now, and work; for no straw shall be given you,
yet you shall deliver the same number of bricks.”

19 The foremen of the people of Israel saw that they
were in evil plight, when they said, “You shall by no
means lessen your daily number of bricks.”

20 They met Moses and Aaron, who were waiting for
them, as they came forth from Pharaoh;

21 and they said to them, “The LORD look upon you and
judge, because you have made us offensive in the sight
of Pharaoh and his servants, and have put a sword in
their hand to kill us.”

22 Then Moses turned again to the LORD and said, “O
LORD, why hast thou done evil to this people? Why
didst thou ever send me?

23 For since I came to Pharaoh to speak in thy name,
he has done evil to this people, and thou hast not
delivered thy people at all.”

(RSV)

Exod 6:1-30

CHAPTER 6

1 But the LORD said to Moses, “Now you shall see what
I will do to Pharaoh; for with a strong hand he will
send them out, yea, with a strong hand he will drive
them out of his land.”

2 And God said to Moses, “I am the LORD.

3 I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, as
God Almighty, but by my name the LORD I did not make
myself known to them.

4 I also established my covenant with them, to give
them the land of Canaan, the land in which they dwelt
as sojourners.

5 Moreover I have heard the groaning of the people of
Israel whom the Egyptians hold in bondage and I have
remembered my covenant.

6 Say therefore to the people of Israel, ‘I am the
LORD, and I will bring you out from under the burdens
of the Egyptians, and I will deliver you from their
bondage, and I will redeem you with an outstretched
arm and with great acts of judgment,

7 and I will take you for my people, and I will be
your God; and you shall know that I am the LORD your
God, who has brought you out from under the burdens of
the Egyptians.

8 And I will bring you into the land which I swore to
give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob; I will give
it to you for a possession. I am the LORD.'”

9 Moses spoke thus to the people of Israel; but they
did not listen to Moses, because of their broken
spirit and their cruel bondage.

10 And the LORD said to Moses,

11 “Go in, tell Pharaoh king of Egypt to let the
people of Israel go out of his land.”

12 But Moses said to the LORD, “Behold, the people of
Israel have not listened to me; how then shall Pharaoh
listen to me, who am a man of uncircumcised lips?”

13 But the LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron, and gave
them a charge to the people of Israel and to Pharaoh
king of Egypt to bring the people of Israel out of the
land of Egypt.

14 These are the heads of their fathers’ houses: the
sons of Reuben, the first-born of Israel: Hanoch,
Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi; these are the families of
Reuben.

15 The sons of Simeon: Jemu’el, Jamin, Ohad, Jachin,
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, Kohath, and Merar’i,
the years of the life of Levi being a hundred and
thirty-seven years.

17 The sons of Gershon: Libni and Shim’e-i, by their
families.

18 The sons of Kohath: Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and
Uz’ziel, the years of the life of Kohath being a
hundred and thirty-three years.

19 The sons of Merar’i: Mahli and Mushi. These are the
families of the Levites according to their
generations.

20 Amram took to wife Joch’ebed his father’s sister
and she bore him Aaron and Moses, the years of the
life of Amram being one hundred and thirty-seven
years.

21 The sons of Izhar: Korah, Nepheg, and Zichri.

22 And the sons of Uz’ziel: Mi’sha-el, Elza’phan, and
Sithri.

23 Aaron took to wife Eli’sheba, the daughter of
Ammin’adab and the sister of Nahshon; and she bore him
Nadab, Abi’hu, Elea’zar, and Ith’amar.

24 The sons of Korah: Assir, Elka’nah, and Abi’asaph;
these are the families of the Ko’rahites.

25 Elea’zar, Aaron’s son, took to wife one of the
daughters of Pu’ti-el; and she bore him Phin’ehas.
These are the heads of the fathers’ houses of the
Levites by their families.

26 These are the Aaron and Moses to whom the LORD
said: “Bring out the people of Israel from the land of
Egypt by their hosts.”

27 It was they who spoke to Pharaoh king of Egypt
about bringing out the people of Israel from Egypt,
this Moses and this Aaron.

28 On the day when the LORD spoke to Moses in the land
of Egypt,

29 the LORD said to Moses, “I am the LORD; tell
Pharaoh king of Egypt all that I say to you.”

30 But Moses said to the LORD, “Behold, I am of
uncircumcised lips; how then shall Pharaoh listen to
me?”

(RSV)

Exod 7:1-25

CHAPTER 7

1 And the LORD said to Moses, “See, I make 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 tell Pharaoh to let the people of
Israel go out of his land.

3 But I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and though I
multiply my signs and wonders in the land of Egypt,

4 Pharaoh will not listen to you; then I will lay my
hand upon Egypt and bring forth my hosts, my people
the sons of Israel, out of the land of Egypt by great
acts of judgment.

5 And the Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD,
when I stretch forth my hand upon Egypt and bring out
the people of Israel from among them.”

6 And Moses and Aaron did so; they did as the LORD
commanded them.

7 Now Moses was eighty years old, and Aaron
eightythree years old, when they spoke to Pharaoh.

8 And the LORD said to Moses and Aaron,

9 “When Pharaoh says to you, ‘Prove yourselves by
working a miracle,’ then you shall say to Aaron, ‘Take
your rod and cast it down before Pharaoh, that it may
become a serpent.'”

10 So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and did as the
LORD commanded; Aaron cast down his rod before Pharaoh
and his servants, and it became a serpent.

11 Then Pharaoh summoned the wise men and the
sorcerers; and they also, the magicians of Egypt, did
the same by their secret arts.

12 For every man cast down his rod, and they became
serpents. But Aaron’s rod swallowed up their rods.

13 Still Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he would
not listen to them; as the LORD had said.

14 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Pharaoh’s heart is
hardened, he refuses to let the people go.

15 Go to Pharaoh in the morning, as he is going out to
the water; wait for him by the river’s brink, and take
in your hand the rod which was turned into a serpent.

16 And you shall say to him, ‘The LORD, the God of the
Hebrews, sent me to you, saying, “Let my people go,
that they may serve me in the wilderness; and behold,
you have not yet obeyed.”

17 Thus says the LORD, “By this you shall know that I
am the LORD: behold, I will strike the water that is
in the Nile with the rod that is in my hand, and it
shall be turned to blood,

18 and the fish in the Nile shall die, and the Nile
shall become foul, and the Egyptians will loathe to
drink water from the Nile.”‘”

19 And the LORD said to Moses, “Say to Aaron, ‘Take
your rod and stretch out your hand over the waters of
Egypt, over their rivers, their canals, and their
ponds, and all their pools of water, that they may
become blood; and there shall be blood throughout all
the land of Egypt, both in vessels of wood and in
vessels of stone.'”

20 Moses and Aaron did as the LORD commanded; in the
sight of Pharaoh and in the sight of his servants, he
lifted up the rod and struck the water that was in the
Nile, and all the water that was in the Nile turned to
blood.

21 And the fish in the Nile died; and the Nile became
foul, so that the Egyptians could not drink water from
the Nile; and there was blood throughout all the land
of Egypt.

22 But the magicians of Egypt did the same by their
secret arts; so Pharaoh’s heart remained hardened, and
he would not listen to them; as the LORD had said.

23 Pharaoh turned and went into his house, and he did
not lay even this to heart.

24 And all the Egyptians dug round about the Nile for
water to drink, for they could not drink the water of
the Nile.

25 Seven days passed after the LORD had struck the
Nile.

(RSV)

Exod 2:1-25

CHAPTER 2

1 Now a man from the house of Levi went and took to
wife a daughter of Levi.

2 The woman conceived and bore a son; and when she saw
that he was a goodly child, she hid him three months.

3 And when she could hide him no longer she took for
him a basket made of bulrushes, and daubed it with
bitumen and pitch; and she put the child in it and
placed it among the reeds at the river’s brink.

4 And his sister stood at a distance, to know what
would be done to him.

5 Now the daughter of Pharaoh came down to bathe at
the river, and her maidens walked beside the river;
she saw the basket among the reeds and sent her maid
to fetch it.

6 When she opened it she saw the child; and lo, the
babe was crying. She took pity on him and said, “This
is one of the Hebrews’ children.”

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

8 And Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Go.” So the
girl went and called the child’s mother.

9 And Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Take this child
away, and nurse him for me, and I will give you your
wages.” So the woman took the child and nursed him.

10 And the child grew, and she brought him to
Pharaoh’s daughter, and he became her son; and she
named him Moses, for she said, “Because I drew him out
of the water.”

11 One day, when Moses had grown up, he went out to
his people and looked on their burdens; and he saw an
Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his people.

12 He looked this way and that, and seeing no one he
killed the Egyptian and hid him in the sand.

13 When he went out the next day, behold, two Hebrews
were struggling together; and he said to the man that
did the wrong, “Why do you strike your fellow?”

14 He answered, “Who made you a prince and a judge
over us? Do you mean to kill me as you killed the
Egyptian?” Then Moses was afraid, and thought, “Surely
the thing is known.”

15 When Pharaoh heard of it, he sought to kill Moses.
But Moses fled from Pharaoh, and stayed in the land of
Mid’ian; and he sat down by a well.

16 Now the priest of Mid’ian had seven daughters; and
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 their father Reu’el, he said,
“How is it that you have come so soon today?”

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

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

21 And Moses was content to dwell with the man, and he
gave Moses his daughter Zippo’rah.

22 She bore a son, and he called his name Gershom; for
he said, “I have been a sojourner in a foreign land.”

23 In the course of those many days the king of Egypt
died. And the people of Israel groaned under their
bondage, and cried out for help, and their cry under
bondage came up to God.

24 And God heard their groaning, and God remembered
his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob.

25 And God saw the people of Israel, and God knew
their condition.

(RSV)

Exod 3:1-22

CHAPTER 3

1 Now Moses was keeping the flock of his
father-in-law, Jethro, the priest of Mid’ian; and he
led his flock to the west side of the wilderness, and
came to Horeb, the mountain of God.

2 And the angel of the LORD appeared to him in a flame
of fire out of the midst of a bush; and he looked, and
lo, the bush was burning, yet it was not consumed.

3 And Moses said, “I will turn aside and see this
great sight, why the bush is not burnt.”

4 When the LORD saw that he turned aside to see, God
called to him out of the bush, “Moses, Moses!” And he
said, “Here am I.”

5 Then he said, “Do not come near; put off your shoes
from your feet, for the place on which you are
standing is holy ground.”

6 And he said, “I am the God of your father, the God
of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.”
And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at
God.

7 Then the LORD said, “I have seen the affliction of
my people who are in Egypt, and have heard their cry
because of their taskmasters; I know their sufferings,

8 and 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 broad land, a land flowing with
milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanites, the
Hittites, the Amorites, the Per’izzites, the Hivites,
and the Jeb’usites.

9 And now, behold, the cry of the people of Israel has
come to me, and I have seen the oppression with which
the Egyptians oppress them.

10 Come, I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring
forth my people, the sons of Israel, out of Egypt.”

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

12 He said, “But I will be with you; and this shall be
the sign for you, that I have sent you: when you have
brought forth the people out of Egypt, you shall serve
God upon this mountain.”

13 Then Moses said to God, “If I come to the people of
Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has
sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’
what shall I say to them?”

14 God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” And he said,
“Say this to the people of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me
to you.'”

15 God also said to Moses, “Say this to the people of
Israel, ‘The LORD, 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 for ever, and thus I
am to be remembered throughout all generations.

16 Go and gather the elders of Israel together, and
say to them, ‘The LORD, the God of your fathers, the
God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, has appeared
to me, saying, “I have observed you and what has been
done to you in Egypt;

17 and I promise that I will bring you up out of the
affliction of Egypt, to the land of the Canaanites,
the Hittites, the Amorites, the Per’izzites, the
Hivites, and the Jeb’usites, a land flowing with milk
and honey.”‘

18 And they will hearken to your voice; and you and
the elders of Israel shall go to the king of Egypt and
say to him, ‘The LORD, the God of the Hebrews, has met
with us; and now, we pray you, let us go a three days’
journey into the wilderness, that we may sacrifice to
the LORD our God.’

19 I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go
unless compelled by a mighty hand.

20 So I will stretch out my hand and smite Egypt with
all the wonders which I will do in it; after that he
will let you go.

21 And I will give this people favor in the sight of
the Egyptians; and when you go, you shall not go
empty,

22 but each woman shall ask of her neighbor, and of
her who sojourns in her house, jewelry of silver and
of gold, and clothing, and you shall put them on your
sons and on your daughters; thus you shall despoil the
Egyptians.”

(RSV)

Exod 4:1-31

CHAPTER 4

1 Then Moses answered, “But behold, they will not
believe me or listen to my voice, for they will say,
‘The LORD did not appear to you.'”

2 The LORD said to him, “What is that in your hand?”
He said, “A rod.”

3 And he said, “Cast it on the ground.” So he cast it
on the ground, and it became a serpent; and Moses fled
from it.

4 But the LORD said to Moses, “Put out your hand, and
take it by the tail”– so he put out his hand and
caught it, and it became a rod in his hand–

5 “that they may believe that the LORD, the God of
their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac,
and the God of Jacob, has appeared to you.”

6 Again, the LORD said to him, “Put your hand into
your bosom.” And he put his hand into his bosom; and
when he took it out, behold, his hand was leprous, as
white as snow.

7 Then God said, “Put your hand back into your bosom.”
So he put his hand back into his bosom; and when he
took it out, behold, it was restored like the rest of
his flesh.

8 “If they will not believe you,” God said, “or heed
the first sign, they may believe the latter sign.

9 If they will not believe even these two signs or
heed your voice, you shall take some water from the
Nile and pour it upon the dry ground; and the water
which you shall take from the Nile will become blood
upon the dry ground.”

10 But Moses said to the LORD, “Oh, my Lord, I am not
eloquent, either heretofore or since thou hast spoken
to thy servant; but I am slow of speech and of
tongue.”

11 Then the LORD said to him, “Who has made man’s
mouth? Who makes him dumb, or deaf, or seeing, or
blind? Is it not I, the LORD?

12 Now therefore go, and I will be with your mouth and
teach you what you shall speak.”

13 But he said, “Oh, my Lord, send, I pray, some other
person.”

14 Then the anger of the LORD was kindled against
Moses and he said, “Is there not Aaron, your brother,
the Levite? I know that he can speak well; and behold,
he is coming out to meet you, and when he sees you he
will be glad in his heart.

15 And you shall speak to him and put the words in his
mouth; and I will be with your mouth and with his
mouth, and will teach you what you shall do.

16 He shall speak for you to the people; and he shall
be a mouth for you, and you shall be to him as God.

17 And you shall take in your hand this rod, with
which you shall do the signs.”

18 Moses went back to Jethro his father-in-law and
said to him, “Let me go back, I pray, to my kinsmen in
Egypt and see whether they are still alive.” And
Jethro said to Moses, “Go in peace.”

19 And the LORD said to Moses in Mid’ian, “Go back to
Egypt; for all the men who were seeking your life are
dead.”

20 So Moses took his wife and his sons and set them on
an ass, and went back to the land of Egypt; and in his
hand Moses took the rod of God.

21 And the LORD said to Moses, “When you go back to
Egypt, see that you do before Pharaoh all the miracles
which I have put in your power; but I will harden his
heart, so that he will not let the people go.

22 And you shall say to Pharaoh, ‘Thus says the LORD,
Israel is my first-born son,

23 and I say to you, “Let my son go that he may serve
me”; if you refuse to let him go, behold, I will slay
your first-born son.'”

24 At a lodging place on the way the LORD met him and
sought to kill him.

25 Then Zippo’rah took a flint and cut off her son’s
foreskin, and touched Moses’ feet with it, and said,
“Surely you are a bridegroom of blood to me!”

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

27 The LORD said to Aaron, “Go into the wilderness to
meet Moses.” So he went, and met him at the mountain
of God and kissed him.

28 And Moses told Aaron all the words of the LORD with
which he had sent him, and all the signs which he had
charged him to do.

29 Then Moses and Aaron went and gathered together all
the elders of the people of Israel.

30 And Aaron spoke all the words which the LORD had
spoken to Moses, and did the signs in the sight of the
people.

31 And the people believed; and when they heard that
the LORD had visited the people of Israel and that he
had seen their affliction, they bowed their heads and
worshiped.

(RSV)

Gen 49:1-33

CHAPTER 49

1 Then Jacob called his sons, and said, “Gather
yourselves together, that I may tell you what shall
befall you in days to come.

2 Assemble and hear, O sons of Jacob, and hearken to
Israel your father.

3 Reuben, you are my first-born, my might, and the
first fruits of my strength, pre-eminent in pride and
pre-eminent in power.

4 Unstable as water, you shall not have pre-eminence
because you went up to your father’s bed; then you
defiled it– you went up to my couch!

5 Simeon and Levi are brothers; weapons of violence
are their swords.

6 O my soul, come not into their council; O my spirit,
be not joined to their company; for in their anger
they slay men, and in their wantonness they hamstring
oxen.

7 Cursed be their anger, for it is fierce; and their
wrath, for it is cruel! I will divide them in Jacob
and scatter them in Israel.

8 Judah, your brothers shall praise you; your hand
shall be on the neck of your enemies; your father’s
sons shall bow down before you.

9 Judah is a lion’s whelp; from the prey, my son, you
have gone up. He stooped down, he couched as a lion,
and as a lioness; who dares rouse him up?

10 The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the
ruler’s staff from between his feet, until he comes to
whom it belongs; and to him shall be the obedience of
the peoples.

11 Binding his foal to the vine and his ass’s colt to
the choice vine, he washes his garments in wine and
his vesture in the blood of grapes;

12 his eyes shall be red with wine, and his teeth
white with milk.

13 Zeb’ulun shall dwell at the shore of the sea; he
shall become a haven for ships, and his border shall
be at Sidon.

14 Is’sachar is a strong ass, crouching between the
sheepfolds;

15 he saw that a resting place was good, and that the
land was pleasant; so he bowed his shoulder to bear,
and became a slave at forced labor.

16 Dan shall judge his people as one of the tribes of
Israel.

17 Dan shall be a serpent in the way, a viper by the
path, that bites the horse’s heels so that his rider
falls backward.

18 I wait for thy salvation, O LORD.

19 Raiders shall raid Gad, but he shall raid at their
heels.

20 Asher’s food shall be rich, and he shall yield
royal dainties.

21 Naph’tali is a hind let loose, that bears comely
fawns.

22 Joseph is a fruitful bough, a fruitful bough by a
spring; his branches run over the wall.

23 The archers fiercely attacked him, shot at him, and
harassed him sorely;

24 yet his bow remained unmoved, his arms were made
agile by the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob (by the
name of the Shepherd, the Rock of Israel),

25 by the God of your father who will help you, by God
Almighty who will bless you with blessings of heaven
above, blessings of the deep that couches beneath,
blessings of the breasts and of the womb.

26 The blessings of your father are mighty beyond the
blessings of the eternal mountains, the bounties of
the everlasting hills; may they be on the head of
Joseph, and on the brow of him who was separate from
his brothers.

27 Benjamin is a ravenous wolf, in the morning
devouring the prey, and at even dividing the spoil.”

28 All these are the twelve tribes of Israel; and this
is what their father said to them as he blessed them,
blessing each with the blessing suitable to him.

29 Then he charged 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 at Mach-pe’lah, to
the east of Mamre, in the land of Canaan, which
Abraham bought with the field from Ephron the Hittite
to possess as a burying 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 in it were purchased
from the Hittites.”

33 When Jacob finished charging his sons, he drew up
his feet into the bed, and breathed his last, and was
gathered to his people.

(RSV)

Gen 50:1-26

CHAPTER 50

1 Then Joseph fell on his father’s face, and wept over
him, and kissed him.

2 And Joseph commanded his servants the physicians to
embalm his father. So the physicians embalmed Israel;

3 forty days were required for it, for so many are
required for embalming. And the Egyptians wept for him
seventy days.

4 And when the days of weeping for him were past,
Joseph spoke to the household of Pharaoh, saying, “If
now I have found favor in your eyes, speak, I pray
you, in the ears of Pharaoh, saying,

5 My father made me swear, saying, ‘I am about to die:
in my tomb which I hewed out for myself in the land of
Canaan, there shall you bury me.’ Now therefore let me
go up, I pray you, and bury my father; then I will
return.”

6 And Pharaoh answered, “Go up, and bury your father,
as he made you swear.”

7 So Joseph went up to bury his father; and with him
went up all the servants of Pharaoh, the elders of his
household, and all the elders of the land of Egypt,

8 as well as all the household of Joseph, his
brothers, and his father’s household; only their
children, their flocks, and their herds were left in
the land of Goshen.

9 And there went up with him both chariots and
horsemen; it was a very great company.

10 When they came to the threshing floor of Atad,
which is beyond the Jordan, they lamented there with a
very great and sorrowful lamentation; and he made a
mourning for his father seven days.

11 When the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites,
saw the mourning on the threshing floor of Atad, they
said, “This is a grievous mourning to the Egyptians.”
Therefore the place was named A’bel-mizraim; it is
beyond the Jordan.

12 Thus his sons did for him as he had commanded them;

13 for his sons carried him to the land of Canaan, and
buried him in the cave of the field at Mach-pe’lah, to
the east of Mamre, which Abraham bought with the field
from Ephron the Hittite, to possess as a burying
place.

14 After he had buried his father, Joseph returned to
Egypt with his brothers and all who had gone up with
him to bury his father.

15 When Joseph’s brothers saw that their father was
dead, they said, “It may be that Joseph will hate us
and pay us back for all the evil which we did to him.”

16 So they sent a message to Joseph, saying, “Your
father gave this command before he died,

17 ‘Say to Joseph, Forgive, I pray you, the
transgression of your brothers and their sin, because
they did evil to you.’ And now, we pray you, forgive
the transgression of the servants of the God of your
father.” Joseph wept when they spoke to him.

18 His brothers also came and fell down before him,
and said, “Behold, we are your servants.”

19 But Joseph said to them, “Fear not, for am I in the
place of God?

20 As for you, you meant evil against me; but God
meant it for good, to bring it about that many people
should be kept alive, as they are today.

21 So do not fear; I will provide for you and your
little ones.” Thus he reassured them and comforted
them.

22 So Joseph dwelt in Egypt, he and his father’s
house; and Joseph lived a hundred and ten years.

23 And Joseph saw E’phraim’s children of the third
generation; the children also of Machir the son of
Manas’seh were born upon Joseph’s knees.

24 And Joseph said to his brothers, “I am about to
die; but God will visit you, and bring you up out of
this land to the land which he swore to Abraham, to
Isaac, and to Jacob.”

25 Then Joseph took an oath of the sons of Israel,
saying, “God will visit you, and you shall carry up my
bones from here.”

26 So Joseph died, being a hundred and ten years old;
and they embalmed him, and he was put in a coffin in
Egypt.

(RSV)

Exod 1:1-22

CHAPTER 1

1 These are the names of the sons of Israel who came
to Egypt with Jacob, each with his household:

2 Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah,

3 Is’sachar, Zeb’ulun, and Benjamin,

4 Dan and Naph’tali, Gad and Asher.

5 All the offspring of Jacob were seventy persons;
Joseph was already in Egypt.

6 Then Joseph died, and all his brothers, and all that
generation.

7 But the descendants of Israel were fruitful and
increased greatly; they multiplied and grew
exceedingly strong; so that the land was filled with
them.

8 Now there arose a new king over Egypt, who did not
know Joseph.

9 And he said to his people, “Behold, the people of
Israel are too many and too mighty for us.

10 Come, let us deal shrewdly with them, lest they
multiply, and, if war befall us, they join our enemies
and fight against us and escape from the land.”

11 Therefore they set taskmasters over them to afflict
them with heavy burdens; and they built for Pharaoh
store-cities, Pithom and Ra-am’ses.

12 But the more they were oppressed, the more they
multiplied and the more they spread abroad. And the
Egyptians were in dread of the people of Israel.

13 So they made the people of Israel serve with rigor,

14 and made their lives bitter with hard service, in
mortar and brick, and in all kinds of work in the
field; in all their work they made them serve with
rigor.

15 Then the king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives,
one of whom was named Shiph’rah and the other Pu’ah,

16 “When you serve as midwife to the Hebrew women, and
see them upon the birthstool, if it is a son, you
shall kill him; but if it is a daughter, she shall
live.”

17 But the midwives feared God, and did not do as the
king of Egypt commanded them, but let the male
children live.

18 So the king of Egypt called the midwives, and said
to them, “Why have you done this, and let the male
children live?”

19 The midwives said to Pharaoh, “Because the Hebrew
women are not like the Egyptian women; for they are
vigorous and are delivered before the midwife comes to
them.”

20 So God dealt well with the midwives; and the people
multiplied and grew very strong.

21 And because the midwives feared God he gave them
families.

22 Then Pharaoh commanded all his people, “Every son
that is born to the Hebrews you shall cast into the
Nile, but you shall let every daughter live.”

(RSV)