Then the LORD said to Moses, “Cut ^atwo tablets of stone like the first, and ^bI will write on these tablets the words that were on the first tablets which you smashed when you learned of Israel’s idolatry. 2 So be ready by morning, and come up in the morning to ^aMount Sinai, and present yourself there to Me on the top of the mountain. 3 ^aNo man is to come up with you, nor let any man be seen anywhere on the mountain; nor let flocks or herds feed in front of that mountain.” 4 So Moses cut ^atwo tablets of stone like the first ones, and he got up early in the morning and went up on Mount Sinai, as the LORD had commanded him, and took ¹the two tablets of stone in his hand. 5 ^aThen the LORD descended in the cloud and stood there with Moses as he proclaimed the Name of the LORD. 6 Then the LORD passed by in front of him, and proclaimed, “The LORD, the LORD God, ^acompassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth (faithfulness) ; 7 ^akeeping mercy and lovingkindness for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin; but He ^bwill by no means leave the guilty unpunished, ^cvisiting (avenging) the iniquity (sin, guilt) of the fathers upon the children and the grandchildren to the third and fourth generations that is, calling the children to account for the sins of their fathers.” 8 Moses ^abowed to the earth immediately and worshiped the Lord. 9 And he said, “^aIf now I have found favor and lovingkindness in Your sight, O Lord, let the Lord, please, go in our midst, though it is a ^bstiff-necked (stubborn, rebellious) people, and ^cpardon our iniquity and our sin, and ^dtake us as Your possession.”

10 Then God said, “Behold, ^aI am going to make a covenant. Before all your people ^bI will do wondrous works (miracles) such as have not been created or produced in all the earth nor among any of the nations; and all the people among whom you live shall see the working of the LORD, for it is a fearful and awesome thing that I am going to do with you.

11 “Be sure to observe what I am commanding you this day: behold, ^aI am going to drive out the Amorite before you, and the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite. 12 ^aWatch yourself so that you do not make a covenant (solemn agreement, treaty) with the inhabitants of the land into which you are going, or it will become a dangerous trap among you. 13 ^aBut you shall tear down and destroy their pagan altars, smash in pieces their sacred pillars (obelisks, images) and cut down their ^1bAsherim 14 —for ^ayou shall not worship any other god; for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous (impassioned) God demanding what is rightfully and uniquely His— 15 otherwise you might make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land and they would play the prostitute with their gods and ^asacrifice to their gods, and someone ^bmight invite you ¹to eat his sacrifice (meal) , 16 and ^ayou might take some of his daughters for your sons, and his daughters would play the prostitute with their gods and cause your sons also to play the prostitute (commit apostasy) with their gods that is, abandon the true God for man-made idols. 17 ^aYou shall make for yourselves no molten gods.

18 “^aYou shall observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread (Passover) . ^bFor seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, as I have commanded you, at the appointed time in the ^cmonth of Abib; for in the month of Abib you came out of Egypt.

19 “^aAll the firstborn males among your livestock belong to Me, whether cattle or sheep. 20 ^aYou shall redeem the firstborn of a donkey with a lamb; but if you do not redeem it, then you shall break its neck. ^bYou shall redeem all the firstborn of your sons. ^cNone of you are to appear before Me empty-handed.

21 “^aYou shall work for six days, but on the seventh day you shall rest; even in plowing time and in harvest you shall rest on the Sabbath. 22 You shall observe and celebrate ^athe Feast of Weeks (Harvest, First Fruits, or Pentecost) , the first fruits of the wheat harvest, and the Feast of Ingathering (Booths or Tabernacles) at the year’s end. 23 ^aThree times a year all your males shall appear before the Lord ¹GOD, the God of Israel. 24 For I will ^adrive out and dispossess nations before you and enlarge your borders; nor shall any man covet (actively seek for himself) your land when you go up to appear before the LORD your God three times a year.

25 “^aYou shall not offer the blood of My sacrifice with leavened bread, ^bnor shall the sacrifice of the Feast of the Passover (Unleavened Bread) be left over until morning.

26 “^aYou shall bring the very first of the first fruits of your ground to the house of the LORD your God.“You shall not ¹boil a young goat in his mother’s milk as some pagans do.”

27 Then the LORD said to Moses, “^aWrite these words, for in accordance with these words I have made ^ba covenant with you and with Israel.” 28 Moses was there with the LORD ^aforty days and forty nights; he ate no bread and drank no water. And ^bHe wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant, ^cthe Ten Commandments.

29 When Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the ^atwo tablets of the Testimony in his hand, he did not know that ^bthe skin of his face was shining with a unique radiance because he had been speaking with God. 30 When Aaron and all the Israelites saw Moses, behold, the skin of his face shone, and ^athey were afraid to approach him. 31 But Moses called to them, and Aaron and all the leaders of the congregation returned to him; and he spoke to them. 32 Afterward all the Israelites approached him, and he commanded them to do everything that the LORD had said to him on Mount Sinai. 33 When Moses had finished speaking with them, ^ahe put a veil over his face. 34 But whenever Moses went in before the LORD to speak with Him, ^1ahe would take off the veil until he came out. When he came out and he told the Israelites what he had been commanded by God, 35 ^athe Israelites would see the face of Moses, how his skin shone with a unique radiance. So Moses put the veil on his face again until he went in to speak with God.