The Story of Moses

Quotations from the Qur'an and Exodus

Edited for the Internet by 'a volunteer'

From the Koran

The Story -- Sura 28

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

28:1 Ta. Sin. Mim. These are the verses of the Glorious Book.

In all truth We shall recount to you the tale of Moses and Pharaoh for the instruction of the faithful.

Now Pharaoh made himself a tyrant in the land. He divided his people into castes, one group of which he persecuted, putting their sons to death and sparing only their daughters. Truly, he was an evil-doer.

But it was Our will to favour those who were oppressed in the land and to make them leaders among men, to bestow on them a noble heritage and to give them power in the land; and to inflict on Pharaoh, Haman, and their warriors the very scourge they dreaded.

We revealed Our will to Moses' mother, saying: 'Give him suck, but if you are concerned about his safety, then put him down onto the river. Have no fear, nor be dismayed; for We shall restore him to you and shall invest him with a mission.'

28:8 Pharaoh's household picked him up, though he was to become their adversary and their scourge. For Pharaoh, Haman, and their warriors were sinners all. His wife said to Pharaoh: 'This child may bring joy to us both. Do not slay him. He may show promise, and we may adopt him as our son.' But they little knew what they were doing.

Moses' mother's heart was sorely troubled. She would have revealed who he was, had We not given her strength so that she might become a true believer. She said to his sister: 'Go, and follow him.'

28:12 She watched him from a distance, unseen by others. Now We had caused him to refuse his nurses' breasts. His sister said to them: 'Shall I direct you to a family who will bring him up for you and take good care of him?' Thus did We restore him to his mother, so that she might rejoice in him and grieve no more, and that she might learn that God's promise was true. Yet most men are not aware of this.

And when he had reached maturity and grown to manhood We bestowed on him wisdom and knowledge. Thus do We reward the righteous. He entered the town unnoticed by its people, and found two men at each other's throats, the one of his own race, the other an enemy.

The Israelite appealed for Moses' help against his enemy, so that Moses struck him with his fist and slew him. 'This is the work of Satan,' said Moses. 'He is the sworn enemy of man and seeks to lead him astray. Forgive me, Lord,' he said, 'for I have sinned against my soul.'

28:17 And God forgave him; for He is the Forgiving one, the Merciful. He said: 'By the favour You have shown me, Lord, I vow that I will never lend a helping hand to wrongdoers.'

28:18 Next morning, as he was walking in the town in fear and caution, the man who sought his help the day before cried, out to him again for help. 'Clearly,' said Moses, 'you are a quarrelsome man.'

And when Moses was about to lay his hands on their enemy, the Egyptian said: 'Moses, would you slay me as you slew that man yesterday? You are surely seeking to be a tyrant in the land, not an upright man.'

A man came running from the farthest quarter of the city. 'Moses,' he cried, 'the elders are plotting to kill you. Fly for your life, if you, will heed my counsel!' He went away in fear and caution, saying: 'Lord, deliver me from the wicked people.' And as he made his way towards Midian, he said: 'May the Lord guide me to the even path.'

28:23 When he came to the well of Midian he found around it a multitude of men watering their flocks, and beside them two women who were keeping back their sheep. 'What is it that troubles you?' he asked.

They replied: 'We cannot water them until the 'shepherds have driven away their flocks. Our father is an aged man.' Moses watered their sheep for them and then retired to the shade, saying: 'Lord, I surely stand in need of the blessing which You have sent me.'

One of the two girls came bashfully towards him and said: 'My father calls you. He wishes to reward you for watering our flock.' And when Moses went and recounted to him his story, the old man said: 'Fear nothing. You are now safe from the wicked people.'

One of the girls said: 'Father, take this man into your service. A man who is strong and honest is the best that you can hire.' The old man said: 'I will give you one of these two daughters of mine in marriage if you stay eight years in my service; but if you wish it, you may stay ten.'

'I shall not deal harshly with you; God willing, you shall find me an upright man. So be it between us,' said Moses. 'Whichever term I shall fulfil, I trust I shall not be wronged. God is the witness of what we say.'

28:29 And when he had fulfilled his term and was journeying with his folk, Moses descried a fire on the mountain-side. He said to his people: 'Stay here, for I can see a fire. Perhaps I can bring you news, or a lighted torch to warm yourselves with.'

When he came near, a voice called out to him from a bush in a blessed-spot on the right side of the valley, saying: 'Moses, I am God, Lord of the Worlds. Throw down your staff.' And when he saw it slithering like a serpent, he turned and fled, without a backward glance.

28:31 'Moses,' said the voice, 'approach and have no fear. You are safe. Put your hand in your pocket: it will come out white, although unharmed. Now draw back your arm, and do not stretch it out in terror.

These are two signs from your Lord for Pharaoh and his people. Surely, they are sinful men.'

28:33 'Lord,' said Moses, 'I have killed one of their number and fear that they will slay me. Aaron my brother is more fluent of tongue than I; send him with me that he may help me and confirm my words, for I fear they will reject me.'

He replied: 'We will strengthen your arm with your brother, and will bestow such power on you both, that none shall harm you. Set forth, with Our signs. You, and those who follow you, shall surely triumph.' And when Moses came to them with Our undoubted signs, they said: 'This is nothing but baseless sorcery; nor have we heard of the like among Our forefathers.'

Moses replied: 'My Lord knows best the man who brings guidance from His presence and gains the recompense of the life to come. The wrongdoers shall never prosper.'

'Nobles,' said Pharaoh, 'you have no other god that I know of except myself. Make me, Haman, bricks of clay, and build for me a tower that I may climb to the god of Moses. I am convinced that he is lying.'

28:39 Pharaoh and his warriors conducted themselves with arrogance and injustice in the land, thinking they would never be recalled to Us. But We took him and his warriors, and We cast them into the sea. Consider the fate of the evildoers. We made them leaders who called men to the Fire, but on the Day of Resurrection none shall help them. In this world We laid a curse on them, and on the Day of Resurrection they shall be among the damned.

After We had destroyed the first generations We gave the Book to Moses as a clear sign, a guide and a blessing for mankind, so that they might take thought.

28:44 You were not present on the western side of the Mountain when We charged Moses with his commission, nor did you witness the event. We raised many generations after him whose lives were prolonged. You did not dwell among the people of Midian, nor did you recite to them Our revelations; but it was We who sent you forth.

You were not present on the mountain-side when We called out. Yet have We sent you forth, as a blessing from your Lord, to forewarn a nation to whom no one has been sent before, so that they may take heed and may not say, when evil befalls them on account of their misdeeds:

'Lord, had You sent us an apostle, we should have obeyed Your revelations and believed in them.'

And now that they have received the truth from Us, they ask: 'Why is he not given the like of what was given to Moses?' But do they not deny what was formerly given to Moses?

They say: 'Two works of sorcery complementing one another!' And they declare: 'We will believe in neither of them.'

28:49 Say: 'Bring down from God a scripture that is a better guide than these and I will follow it, if what you say be true!'

If they make you no answer, know that they are led by their desires. And who is in greater error than the man who is led by his desire, without guidance from God? God does not guide the evil-doers.

28:51 We have caused the Word to reach them so that they may take thought. Those to whom We gave the Scriptures before this believe in it. When it is recited to them they say: 'We believe in it; it is the truth from our Lord. We submitted to Him long before it came.'

Twice shall their reward be given them, because they have endured with fortitude, requiting evil with good and giving in alms from what We gave them; and because they pay no heed to idle talk, but say: 'We have our actions and you have yours. We wish you peace. We will have nothing to do with ignorant men.'

You cannot guide whomever you please: it is God who guides whom He will. He best knows those who yield to guidance.

28:57 They say: 'If we accept your guidance, we shall be driven from our land.' But have We not given them a sanctuary of safety to which fruits of every kind are brought as a provision from Ourself? Indeed, most of them have no knowledge.

28:58 How many nations have We destroyed who once flourished in wanton ease! The dwellings they left behind are but scarcely inhabited; We Ourself were the only heirs.

Nor did your Lord destroy the nations until He had sent apostles to their capital cities proclaiming to them Our revelations. We destroyed those cities only because their inhabitants were wrongdoers.

. . .

Never did you expect the Book to be revealed to you. Yet through your Lord's mercy you have received it. Therefore give no help to the unbelievers. Let no one turn you away from God's revelations, now that they have been revealed to you. Call men to your Lord, and serve none besides Him.

28:88 Invoke no other god together with God. There is no god but Him. All things shall perish except Himself. His is the Judgement, and to Him shall you be recalled. (The Qur'an, s28-story_dawood)

2:44 Children of Israel, remember the favour I have bestowed upon you, and that I exalted you above the nations. Guard yourselves against the day on which no soul shall stand for another: when no intercession shall be accepted for it, no ransom be taken from it, no help be given it.

Remember how We delivered you from Pharaoh's people, who had oppressed you cruelly, slaying your sons and sparing only your daughters. Surely that was a great trial by your Lord. We parted the sea for you and, taking you to safety, drowned Pharaoh's men before your very eyes. We made a tryst with Moses for the fortieth night, and in his absence you took up the calf and thus committed evil. Yet after that We pardoned you, so that you might give thanks.

2:50 We gave Moses the Scriptures and knowledge of right and wrong, so that you might be rightly guided. Moses said to his people: 'You have wronged yourselves, my people, in worshipping the calf. Turn in penitence to your Creator and slay the culprits among you. That will be best for you in your Creator's sight.' And He relented towards you. He is the Relenting One, the Merciful.

When you said to Moses: 'We will not believe in you until we see God with our own eyes,' the thunderbolt struck you while you were looking on. Then We revived you from your stupor, so that you might give thanks. We caused the clouds to draw their shadow over you and sent down for you manna and quails,' saying: 'Eat of the good things We have given you.' Indeed, they did not wrong Us, but they wronged themselves.

'Enter this city,' We said, 'and eat where you will to your hearts' content. Make your way reverently through the gates, saying: "We repent." We shall forgive you your sins and bestow abundance on the righteous.'

But that which they were told the wrongdoers replaced with other words; and We let loose on the wrongdoers a scourge from heaven as punishment for their misdeeds.

When Moses requested water for his people We said to him: 'Strike the Rock with your staff.' Thereupon twelve springs gushed from the Rock, and each tribe knew their drinking-place. We said: 'Eat and drink of that which God has provided and do not foul the land with evil.'

'Moses,' you said, 'we will no longer put up with this monotonous diet. Call on your Lord to give us some of the varied produce of the earth, green herbs and cucumbers, corn and lentils and onions.'

'What!' he answered. 'Would you exchange that which is good for what is worse? Go back to some city. There you will find all you have asked for.'

Shame and misery were stamped upon them and they incurred the wrath of God; because they disbelieved God's signs and slew the prophets unjustly; because they were rebels and transgressors.

Believers, Jews, Christians, and Sabaeans -- whoever believes in God and the Last Day and does what is right shall be rewarded by their Lord; they have nothing to fear nor to regret.

2:60 We made a covenant with you and raised the Mount above you, saying: 'Grasp fervently what We have given you, and bear in mind its precepts, that You may guard yourselves against evil.'

Yet after that you turned away, and but for God's grace and mercy you would have surely been among the lost. You have heard those of you that broke the Sabbath. We said to them: 'You shall be changed into detested apes.' We made their fate an example to their own generation and to those that followed them, and a lesson to the righteous.

When Moses said to his people: 'God commands you to sacrifice a cow,' they replied: 'Are you trifling with us?' 'God forbid that I should be so foolish!' he rejoined. 'Call on your Lord,' they said, 'to make known to us what kind of cow she shall be.' He replied:. 'Your Lord says: "Let her be. neither an old cow nor a young heifer, but in between." Do, therefore, as you are bidden.'

'Call on your Lord,' they said, 'to make known to us what her colour shall be.' He replied: 'Your Lord says: "Let the cow be yellow, a rich yellow, pleasing to those that see it. 'Call on your Lord,' they said, 'to make known to us the exact type of cow she shall be; for to us cows look all alike. If God wills we shall be rightly guided.'

Moses replied: 'Your Lord says: "Let her be a healthy cow, not worn out with ploughing the earth or watering the field; a cow free from any blemish."' 'Now you have told us all,' they answered. And they slaughtered a cow, after they had nearly declined to do so.

And when you slew a man and then fell out with one another concerning him, God made known what you concealed. We said: 'Strike him with a part of it.' Thus God restores the dead to life and shows you His signs, that you may grow in understanding.

2:69 Yet after that your hearts became as hard as rock or even harder; for from some rocks rivers take their course: some break asunder and water gushes from them: and others tumble down through fear of God. God is not unaware of what you do.

. . .

But those that have faith and do good works are the heirs of Paradise; there shall they abide for ever.

2:82 When We made a covenant with the Israelites We said: 'Serve none but God. Show kindness to your parents, to your kinsfolk, to orphans, and to the destitute. Exhort men to righteousness. Attend to your prayers and render the alms levy.' But you all broke your covenant except a few, and paid no heed.

And when We made a covenant with you We said: 'You shall not shed your kinsmen's blood or turn them out of their dwellings.' To this you consented and bore witness.

2:79 Yet there you were, slaying your own kinsfolk, and turning a number of them out of their dwellings, and helping each other against them with sin and aggression; though had they come to you as captives, You would have ransomed them. Surely their expulsion was unlawful. Can you believe in one part of the Scriptures and deny another?

Those of you that act thus shall be rewarded with disgrace in this world and with grievous punishment on the Day of Resurrection. God is never heedless of what you do.

2:80 Such are they who buy the life of this world at the price of the life to come. Their puhishment shall not be mitigated, nor shall they be helped.

To Moses We gave the Scriptures and after him We sent other apostles. We gave Jesus son of Mary veritable signs and strengthened him with the Holy Spirit. Will you then scorn each apostle whose message does not suit your fancies, charging some with imposture and slaying others?

They say: 'Our hearts are sealed.' But God has cursed them for their unbelief. They have but little faith.

. . .

2:92 Say: 'Why did you kill the prophets of God, if you are true believers? Moses came to you with veritable signs, but in his absence you worshipped the calf and committed evil.'

When We made a covenant with you and raised the Mount above you, saying: 'Grasp fervently what We have given you and hear Our commandments,' you replied: 'We hear but disobey.' For their unbelief they were made to drink down the calf into their hearts. Say: 'Evil is that to which your faith prompts you if you are indeed believers.' (The Qur'an, s02-cow_dawood)

4:153 The People of the Book ask you to bring down for them a book from heaven. Of Moses they demanded a harder thing than that. They said to him: 'Show us God distinctly.' And for their wickedness the thunderbolt smote them. They worshipped the calf after clear signs had been revealed to them; yet We forgave them that, and bestowed on Moses clear authority.

When We made a covenant with them We raised the Mount above them and said: 'Enter the gates in adoration Do not break the Sabbath.' We took from them a solemn covenant. But they broke their covenant, denied the revelations of God, and killed the prophets unjustly. They said: 'Our hearts are sealed.'

It is God who has sealed their hearts, on account of their unbelief. They have no faith, except a few of them. (The Qur'an, s04-women_dawood)

5:21 Bear in mind the words of Moses to his people. He said: 'Remember, my people, the favour which God has bestowed upon you. He has raised up prophets among you, made you kings, and given you that which He has given to no other nation. Enter, my people, the holy land which God has assigned for you. Do not turn back, and thus lose all.'

'Moses,' they replied, 'a race of giants dwells in this land. We will not set foot in it till they are gone. As soon as they are gone we will enter.'

Thereupon two God-fearing men whom God had favoured said: 'Go in to them through the gates, and when you have entered you shall surely be victorious. In God put your trust, if you are true believers.' But they replied: 'Moses, we will not go in so long as they are in it. Go, you and your Lord, and fight. Here we will stay.'

'Lord,' cried Moses, 'I have none but myself and my brother. Keep us apart from these wicked people.' He replied: 'They shall be forbidden this land for forty years, during which time they shall wander homeless on the earth. Do not grieve for these wicked people.' (The Qur'an, s05-table_dawood)

6:154 To Moses We gave the Scriptures, a perfect code for the righteous with precepts about all things, a guide and a benison, so that they might believe in meeting their Lord. (The Qur'an, s06-cattle_dawood)

7:103 After those We sent forth Moses with Our signs to Pharaoh and his chieftains, but they too disbelieved them. Consider the fate of the evil-doers.

Moses said: 'Pharaoh, I am an apostle from the Lord of the Worlds, and may tell nothing of God but what is true. I bring you a clear sign from your Lord. Let the Children of Israel depart with me.

He answered: 'If you have brought a sign, show it to us.' Moses threw down his staff, and thereupon it changed to a veritable serpent. Then he drew out his hand, and it was white to all who saw it. The elders of Pharaoh's people said: 'This man is a skilful sorcerer who seeks to drive you from your land. What would you have us do?'

Others said: 'Put them off awhile, him and his brother, and send forth heralds to the cities to summon every skilful sorcerer to your presence.'

7:113 The sorcerers came to Pharaoh. They said: 'Shall we be rewarded if we win?' 'Yes,' he answered. 'And you shall become my favoured friends.

They said: 'Moses, will you first throw, or shall we?' 'Throw,' he replied.

And when the magicians threw, they bewitched the people's eyes and terrified them by a display of mighty sorcery.

Then We signalled to Moses: 'Now throw down your staff.' And thereupon it swallowed up their false devices.

Thus did the truth prevail, and all their doings proved vain. Pharaoh and his men were defeated and put to shame, and the enchanters prostrated themselves, saying: 'We believe in the Lord of the Worlds, the Lord of Moses and Aaron.'

7:122 Pharaoh said: 'Do you dare believe in Him before I give you leave? This is a plot you have contrived to turn the people out of their city. But you shall learn. I will cut off your hands and feet on alternate sides and then crucify you all!'

They replied: 'We shall surely return to our Lord. You would punish us only because we believed in the signs of our Lord when they were shown to us. Lord, give us patience and let us die in submission.'

The elders of Pharaoh's nation said: 'Will you allow Moses and his people to perpetrate corruption in the land and to forsake you and your gods?' He replied: 'We will put their sons to death and spare only their daughters. We shall yet triumph over them.'

Moses said to his people: 'Seek help in God and be patient. The earth is God's; He gives it to those of His servants whom He chooses. Happy shall be the lot of the righteous.'

They replied: 'We were oppressed before you came to us, and oppressed we still remain.' He said: 'Your Lord will perchance destroy your enemies and make you rulers in the land. Then He will see how you conduct yourselves.'

We afflicted Pharaoh's people with dearth and famine so that they might take heed. When good things came their way, they said: 'It is our due,' but when evil befell them they ascribed it to Moses and his people. Yet it was God who had ordained their ills, though most of them did not know it.

7:132 They said: 'Whatever miracles you work to enchant us, we will not believe in you.' So We plagued them with floods and locusts, with lice and frogs and blood: clear miracles, yet they scorned them all, for they were a wicked nation.

And when each plague smote them, they said: 'Moses, pray to your Lord for us: invoke the promise He has made you. If you lift the plague from us, we will believe in you and let the Israelites go with you.'

But when We had lifted the plague from them and the appointed time had come, they broke their promise. So We took vengeance on them and drowned them in the sea, for they had denied Our signs and paid no heed to them.

We gave the persecuted people dominion over the eastern and the western lands which We had blessed. Thus was your Lord's gracious word fulfilled for the Israelites, because they had endured with fortitude; and We destroyed the edifices and the towers of Pharaoh and his people.

We led the Israelites across the sea, and they came upon a people who worshipped idols which they had. They said to Moses: 'Make us a god just like the gods they have.'

Moses replied: 'You are indeed an ignorant people. That which they follow is doomed, and all their works are vain. Am I to seek for you a deity other than God, when He has exalted you above the nations? We delivered you from Pharaoh's people, who had oppressed you cruelly, putting your sons to death and sparing only your daughters. Surely that was a great trial by your Lord.'

We promised Moses thirty nights, to which We added ten nights more: so that the appointment with his Lord was after forty nights. Moses said to his brother Aaron: 'Take my place among my people. Do what is right and do not follow the path of the wrongdoers.'

And when Moses came at the appointed time and His Lord communed with him, he said: 'Lord, reveal Yourself to me, that I may look upon You.' He replied: 'You shall never see Me. But look upon the Mountain; if it remains firm upon its base, then only shall you see Me.'

7:143 And when his Lord revealed Himself to the Mountain, He levelled it to dust. Moses fell down senseless, and, when he recovered, said: 'Glory be to You! I turn to You in penitence, being the first of the believers.

He replied: 'Moses; I have chosen you of all mankind to make known My messages and My commandments. Take therefore what I have given you, and be thankful.'

We inscribed for him upon the Tablets all manner of precepts, and instructions concerning all things, and said to him: 'Observe these steadfastly, and enjoin your people to observe what is best in them. I shall show you the home of the wicked. I will turn away from My signs those who lord it in the land with arrogance and injustice, so that even if they witness each and every sign they shall deny them.

If they see the right path, they shall not walk upon it: but if they see the path of error, they shall choose it for their path; because they disbelieved Our signs and paid no heed to them. 'Vain are the deeds of those who disbelieve in Our signs and in the life to come. Shall they not be rewarded according only to their deeds?'

In his absence the people of Moses made a calf from their ornaments, an image with a hollow sound. Did they not see that it could neither speak to them nor give them guidance? Yet they worshipped it and thus committed evil. But when they repented and realized that they had sinned they said: 'If our Lord does not have mercy on us and pardon us, we shall surely be among the lost.'

7:150 And when Moses returned to his people, angry and sorrowful, he said: 'Evil is the thing you did in my absence! Would you hasten the retribution of your Lord?'

He threw down the Tablets and, seizing his brother by the hair, dragged him closer. 'Son of my mother,' cried Aaron, 'the people overpowered me and almost did me to death. Do not let my enemies gloat over me; do not number me among the wrongdoers.'

'Lord,' said Moses; 'forgive me and forgive my brother. Admit us to Your mercy, for, of all those that show mercy, You are the most merciful.'

Those that worshipped the calf incurred the anger of their Lord and disgrace in this life. Thus shall We reward those who fabricate falsehoods. As for those that do evil but later repent and have faith, they shall find your Lord forgiving and merciful.

When his anger was allayed, Moses took up the Tablets, upon which was inscribed a pledge of guidance and of mercy to those that fear their Lord. He chose from among his people seventy men for Our appointment and, when the earth shook beneath their feet, said:

'Had it been Your will, Lord, You could have destroyed them long ago, and myself too. But would You destroy us because of what the fools among us did? That trial was ordained by You, to confound whom You willed and to guide whom You pleased. You alone are our guardian. Forgive us and have mercy on us: You are the noblest of those who forgive. Ordain for us what is good, both in this life and in the hereafter. To You alone we turn.'

He replied: 'I will visit My scourge upon whom I please: yet My mercy encompasses all things. I will show mercy to those that keep from evil and give alms, and to those that in Our signs believe; to those that shall follow the Apostle -- the Unlettered Prophet -- whom they shall find described to them in the Torah and the Gospel.

He will enjoin righteousness upon them and forbid them to do evil He will make good things lawful to them and prohibit all that is foul. He will relieve them of their burdens and of the shackles that weigh upon them. Those that believe in him and honour him, those that aid him and follow the light sent down with him, shall surely triumph.'

Say: 'You people! I am God's emissary to you all. He has sovereignty over the heavens and the earth. There is no god but Him. He ordains life and death. Therefore have faith in God and His apostle, the Unlettered Prophet, who believes in God and His commandments. Follow him so that you may be rightly guided.'

7:160 Yet among the people of Moses there are some who preach the truth and act justly. We divided them into twelve tribes, each a whole commumty. And when his people demanded drink of him, We revealed our Will to Moses, saying: 'Strike the rock with your staff.'

Thereupon twelve springs gushed from the rock and each tribe knew its drinking-place. We caused the clouds to draw their shadow over them and sent down for them manna and quails, saying: 'Eat of the wholesome things We have given you.' Indeed they did Us no wrong, but they wronged themselves.

When they were told: 'Dwell in this town, and eat of whatever you please; pray for forgiveness and enter the gates adoring: We will forgive you your sins and bestow abundance on the righteous,' -- the wrongdoers among them replaced what they were told with other words; and We let loose on them a scourge from heaven as punishment for their misdeeds. (The Qur'an, s07-heights_dawood)

10:75 Then We sent forth Moses and Aaron with Our signs to Pharaoh and his nobles. But they responded with scorn, for they were wicked men. When the truth had come to them from Us, they declared: 'Surely this is but plain sorcery.'

Moses replied: 'Is this what you say of the Truth when it has come to you? Is this sorcery? Sorcerers shall never prosper.'

They said: 'Have you come to turn us away from the faith of our fathers, so that you two may lord it over the land? We will never believe in the pair of you.'

10:79 Then Pharaoh said: 'Bring every learned sorcerer to my presence.' And when the sorcerers attended, Moses said to them: 'Cast down what you wish to cast.'

And when they had thrown, he said: 'The sorcery that you have wrought, God will surely bring to nothing. He does not bless the work of those who do evil. By His words He vindicates the truth, much as the guilty may dislike it.'

Few of his people believed in Moses, for they feared the persecution of Pharaoh and his nobles. Surely Pharaoh was a tyrant in the land, a man of rampant wickedness.

Moses said: 'If you believe in God, my people, and have surrendered yourselves to Him, in Him alone then put your trust.' They replied: 'In God we have put our trust. Lord, do not let us suffer at the hands of wicked men. Deliver us, through Your mercy, from the unbelievers.'

We revealed Our will to Moses and his brother, saying: 'Build houses in Egypt for your people and make your homes places of worship. Conduct prayers and give good tidings to the faithful.'

'Lord,' said Moses, 'You have bestowed on Pharaoh and his nobles splendour and riches in this life, so that they may stray from Your path. Lord, destroy their riches and harden their hearts, so that they shall persist in unbelief until they face the woeful scourge.'

He replied: 'Your prayer shall be answered. Follow the straight path and do not walk in the footsteps of ignorant men.'

10:91 We led the Israelites across the sea, and Pharaoh and his legions pursued them with wickedness and spite. But as he was drowning, Pharaoh cried: 'Now I believe no god exists except the God in whom the Israelites believe. To Him I give up myself.'

'Only now! But before this you were a rebel and a wrongdoer. We shall today save your body, so that you may become a sign for all posterity: for a great many of mankind do not heed Our signs.'

We settled the Israelites in a secure land and provided them with wholesome things. Nor did they disagree among themselves until knowledge was given them. Your Lord will on the Day of Resurrection judge their differences. (The Qur'an, s10-jonah_dawood)

11:96 We sent forth Moses with Our signs and with clear authority to Pharaoh and his nobles.

But they followed the behests of their master; misguided were Pharaoh's behests. He shall stand at the head of his people on the Day of Resurrection, and shall lead them into the Fire. Evil is the place they shall be led to.

A curse followed them in this world, and a curse shall follow them on the Day of Resurrection. Evil is the gift they shall receive. (The Qur'an, s11-hud_dawood)

14:5 We sent forth Moses with Our signs, saying: 'Lead your people out of the darkness into the light, and remind them of God's favours.' Surely in this there are signs for every steadfast, thankful man.

Moses said to his people: 'Remember God's goodness to you when He delivered you from Pharaoh's nation, who had oppressed you cruelly, slaughtering your sons and sparing only your daughters. Surely that was a grievous trial by your Lord.

For He had declared: "If you give thanks, I will bestow abundance upon you: but if you deny My favours, My punishment is terrible indeed."'

And Moses said: 'If you and all who dwell on earth prove thankless, He does not need your thanks, though He deserves your praise.' (The Qur'an, s14-abraham_dawood)

17:100 To Moses We gave nine clear signs. Ask the Israelites how he first appeared among them. Pharaoh said to him: 'Moses, I can see that you are bewitched.'

'You know full well,' he replied, 'that none but the Lord of the heavens and the earth has revealed these visible signs. Indeed, Pharaoh, I can see that you are doomed.'

He sought to scare them out of the land: but We drowned him, together with all who were with him. Then We said to the Israelites: 'Dwell in the land. When the promise of the hereafter comes to be fulfilled, We shall assemble you all together.' (The Qur'an, s17-night_dawood)

18:60 Moses said to his servant: 'I will journey on until I reach the land where the two seas meet, though I may march for ages.' But when at last they came to the land where the two seas met, they forgot their fish, which made its way into the water, swimming at will.

And when they had journeyed farther on, Moses said to his servant: 'Bring us some food; we are worn out with travelling.' 'Know,' he replied, 'that I forgot the fish when we were resting on the rock. It was Satan who made me forget to mention this. The fish made its way miraculously into the sea.

'This is what we have been seeking,' said Moses. They went back the way they came, and found one of Our servants to whom We had vouchsafed Our mercy and whom We had endowed with knowledge of Our own. Moses said to him: 'May I follow you, so that you may guide me by that which you have been taught?'

'You will not bear with me,' replied the other. 'For how can you bear with that which is beyond your knowledge?' Moses said: 'If God wills, you shall find me patient: I shall in no way cross you.' He said: 'If you are bent on following me, you must not question me about anything until I mention it to you myself.'

18:70 The two set forth, but as soon as they embarked, Moses' companion bored a hole in the bottom of the ship. 'Is it to drown her passengers that you have bored a hole in her?' Moses asked. 'A strange thing you have done.'

'Did I not tell you,' he replied, 'that you would not bear with me?' 'Pardon my forgetfulness,' said Moses. 'Do not be angry with me on account of this.'

They journeyed on until they fell in with a certain youth. Moses' companion slew him, and Moses said: 'You have killed an innocent man who has slain no one. Surely you have done a wicked thing.'

'Did I not tell you,' he replied, 'that you would not bear with me?' Moses said: 'If ever I question you again, abandon me; for then I should deserve it.'

They travelled on until they came to a city. They asked its people for some food, but they declined to receive them as their guests. There they found a wall on the point of falling down. His companion restored it, and Moses said: 'Had you wished, you could have demanded payment for your labours.'

'Now has the time arrived when we must part,' said the other. 'But first I will explain to you those acts of mine which you could not bear to watch with patience. Know that the ship belonged to some poor fishermen. I damaged it because at their rear there was a king who was taking every ship by force. As for the youth, his parents both are true believers, and we feared lest he should plague them with wickedness and unbelief.

18:80 It was our wish that their Lord should grant them another in his place, a son more righteous and more filial.

'As for the wall, it belonged to two orphan boys in the city whose father was an honest man. Beneath it their treasure is buried. Your Lord decreed, as a mercy from your Lord, that they should dig up their treasure when they grew to manhood. What I did was not done by my will. That is the meaning of what you could not bear to watch with patience.' (The Qur'an, s18-cave_dawood)

19:51 In the Book tell also of Moses, who was a chosen man, an apostle, and a prophet. We called out to him from the right side of the Mountain, and when he came near We communed with him in secret. We gave him, of Our mercy, his brother Aaron, himself a prophet. (The Qur'an, s19-mary_dawood)

20:9 Have you heard the story of Moses? When he saw a fire, he said to his people: 'Stay here, for I can see a fire. Perchance I can bring you a lighted torch or find a guide hard by.'

When he came near, a voice called out to him: 'Moses, I am your Lord. Take off your sandals, for you are now in the sacred valley of Tuwa.

20:13 'Know that I have chosen you. Therefore listen to what shall be revealed. I am God. There is no god but Me. Serve Me, and recite your prayers in My remembrance. The Hour of Doom is sure to come. But I choose to keep it hidden, so that every soul shall be rewarded for its labours. Let those who disbelieve in it and yield to their desires not turn your thoughts from it, lest you perish. What is it you are carrying in your right hand, Moses?'

He replied: 'It is my staff; upon it I lean and with it I beat down the leaves for my flock. And I have other uses for it besides.'

He said: 'Moses, cast it down.' Moses threw it down, and thereupon it turned into a slithering serpent.

'Take it up and have no fear,' He said. 'We will change it back to its former state. Now put your hand under your armpit. It shall come out white, although unharmed: another sign.

'We shall show you the most wondrous of all Our signs. Go to Pharaoh; he has transgressed all bounds.'

'Lord,' said Moses, 'put courage into my heart, and make my task easy. Free my tongue from its impediment, that men may understand my speech. Appoint for me a helper from among my kinsmen, Aaron my brother. Grant me strength through him and let him share my task, so that we may give glory to You always and remember You always. You are surely watching over us.'

He replied: 'Your request is granted, Moses. We had already shown you favour when We revealed Our will to your mother, saying: "Put your child in the ark and let him be carried away by the river. The river will cast him on to the bank, and he shall be taken up by an enemy of Mine and his."

I lavished My love on you, so that you might be reared under My watchful eye.

20:40 'Your sister went to them and said: "Shall I direct you to one who will nurse him?" 'Thus did We restore you to your mother, so that her mind might be set at ease and that she might not grieve. And when you slew a man We delivered you from distress and then proved you by other trials.

'You stayed among the people of Midian for many years, and at length you came here, Moses, as was ordained. I have chosen you for Myself. Go, you and your brother, with My signs, and do not cease to remember Me. Go both of you to Pharaoh, for he has transgressed all bounds. Speak to him with gentle words; he may yet take heed and fear Our punishment.'

'Lord,' they said, 'we dread his malevolence and tyranny.'

20:46 He replied: 'Have no fear. I shall be with you. I hear all and see all. Go to him and say: "We are the emissaries of your Lord. Let the Israelites depart with us, and oppress them no more. We have come to you with a revelation from your Lord: blessed is he that follows the right guidance. It is revealed to us that the scourge will fall on those who deny His signs and pay no heed to them."'

20:49 Pharaoh said: 'And who is your Lord, Moses?'

'Our Lord,' he replied, 'is He that gave all creatures their distinctive form and then rightly guided them.'

'How was it, then, with the early generations?' asked Pharaoh.

He answered: 'My Lord alone has knowledge of that, recorded in a Book. He does not err, neither does He forget. It is He who has made the earth your cradle and traced on it paths for you to walk on. It is He who sends down water from the sky with which We bring forth every kind of plant, saying:

"Eat and graze your cattle. Surely in this there are signs for men of understanding. From the earth We have created you, and to the earth We will restore you; and from it We will bring you back to life."'

20:56 We showed Pharaoh all Our signs, but he denied them and paid no heed. He said: 'Have you come to drive us from our land with your sorcery, Moses? Know that we will confront you with sorcery as powerful as yours. Appoint a day when both of us can meet, a tryst which neither we nor you shall fail to keep, and a place at an equal distance from us both.'

He said: 'Meet me on the day of the Feast, and let all the people come together before noon.'

Pharaoh withdrew; he gathered his sorcerers and returned. 'Woe betide you!' said Moses to them. 'Invent no falsehoods against God, or He will destroy you with a scourge. Impostors will surely come to grief.'

The sorcerers conferred among themselves, whispering to one another. They said to Pharaoh:

'These two are sorcerers who intend to drive you from your land by their sorcery and do away with your best traditions. Muster all your forces and array them in their ranks; those who win today will surely triumph.'

20:65 To Moses they said: 'Will you throw down, or shall we throw down first?' 'Throw you down,' he answered.

And by their sorcery their ropes and staffs appeared to Moses' eyes as though they were running. Moses was much alarmed. But We said to him: 'Have no fear; you shall surely win. Throw that which is in your right hand. It will swallow up their devices, for their devices are but the deceitful show of a sorcerer. Sorcerers shall not prosper, whatever they do.'

The sorcerers prostrated themselves, crying: 'We believe in the Lord of Aaron and Moses.'

'Do you dare believe in Him before I give leave?' said Pharaoh. 'This man must be your master, who taught you witchcraft. I will cut off your hands and feet on alternate sides and crucify you on the trunks of palm-trees. You shall learn whose punishment is more terrible, and more lasting.'

They replied: 'We cannot have greater faith in you than in the miracles which we have witnessed and in Him who has created us. Therefore do your worst; you can punish us only in this present life. We have put our faith in our Lord so that He may forgive us our sins and the sorcery you have imposed upon us. Better is God's recompense, and more lasting. He that comes before his Lord laden with sin shall be consigned to Hell, where he shall neither die nor live.

But he that comes before Him with true faith, having done good works, shall be exalted to the highest ranks. He shall abide for ever in the gardens of Eden, in gardens watered by running streams. Such shall be the recompense of those that keep themselves pure.'

Then We revealed Our will to Moses, saying: 'Set forth with My servants in the night and strike for them a dry path across the sea. Have no fear of being overtaken, nor let anything dismay you.

Pharaoh pursued them with his legions, but the waters overwhelmed them. For Pharaoh misled his people: he did not guide them.

20:80 Children of Israel! We delivered you from your enemies and made a covenant with you on the right flank of the Mountain. We sent down manna and quails for you. Eat of the wholesome things with which We have provided you and do not transgress, lest you should incur My wrath,'

We said. 'He that incurs My wrath shall assuredly be lost, but he that repents and believes in Me, does good works and follows the right path shall be forgiven. But, Moses, why have you come with such haste from your people?'

20:83 Moses replied: 'They are close behind me. I hastened to You, Lord, so that I might earn Your pleasure.'

God said: 'We proved your people in your absence, but the Samiri has led them astray.'

Angry and sorrowful, Moses went back to them. 'My people,' he said, 'did your Lord not make you a gracious promise? Did my absence seem too long to you, or was it to incur your Lord's anger that you failed me?'

They replied: 'We did not fail you of our own free will. We were made to carry the people's trinkets and throw them into the fire. The Simiri threw likewise, and forged a calf for them, an image with a hollow sound. "This," they said, "is your god and the god of Moses whom he has forgotten."'

20:89 Did they not see that it returned no answer, and that it could neither harm nor help them?

Aaron had said to them: 'My people, this is but a test for you. Your Lord is the Merciful. Follow me and do as I bid you.' But they had replied: 'We will worship it until Moses returns.' Moses said to Aaron: 'Why did you not seek me out when you saw them go astray? Why did you disobey me?'

'Son of my mother,' he replied, 'let go, I pray you, of my beard and my head. I was afraid that you might say: "You have sown discord among the Israelites and did not wait for my orders."'

'Samiri,' cried Moses, 'what had come over you?'

20:96 He replied: 'I saw what they did not see. I took a handful of dust from the trail of the Messenger and flung it away: thus did my soul prompt me.'

'Go!' cried Moses. 'An outcast shall you be in this life, nor shall you escape your appointed doom. Behold this idol which you have served with such devotion: we will burn it to cinders and scatter its ashes far and wide over the sea.

Your Lord is God, other than whom there is no god. His knowledge encompasses all things. Thus do We recount to you the history of past events. (The Qur'an, s20-taha_dawood)

21:49 We showed Moses and Aaron the distinction between right and wrong, and gave them a light and an admonition for righteous men: those who truly fear their Lord, although unseen, and dread the terrors of the final hour. (The Qur'an, s21-prophets_dawood)

23:45 Then We sent Moses and his brother Aaron, with Our signs and with clear authority, to Pharaoh and his nobles. But they received them with contempt, for they were arrogant men. 'What!' said they. 'Are we to believe in two men like ourselves, whose people are our bondsmen?' They denied them, and thus incurred destruction. And We gave Moses the Book, so that they might be rightly guided. (The Qur'an, s23-believers_dawood)

26:10 Surely your Lord is the Mighty One, the Merciful. Your Lord called out to Moses, saying: 'Go to those wicked people; the people of Pharaoh. Will they not take heed?'

'Lord,' he replied, 'I fear they will reject me. I may become impatient and stammer in my speech. Send for Aaron. They accuse me of a crime, and I fear that they may put me to death.'

'Have no fear,' said He. 'Go both of you with Our signs; We shall be with you and shall hear all. Go to Pharaoh and say to him: "We are messengers from the Lord of the Worlds. Let the Israelites depart with us."'

Pharaoh said to Moses: 'Did we not bring you up when you were an infant? And did you not stay in our midst several years of your life? Yet you have done what you have done; surely you are ungrateful.'

26:23 Moses replied: 'I did that when I was a misguided youth. I fled from you because I feared you. But my Lord has given me wisdom and made me an apostle. And this is the favour with which you taunt me: you have made the Israelites your bondsmen.'

'Who is the Lord of the Worlds?' asked Pharaoh.

He replied: 'The Lord of the heavens and the earth and all that lies between them. If only you had faith!' 'Do you hear?' said Pharaoh to those around him.

'He is your Lord,' went on Moses, 'and the Lord of your forefathers.'

Pharaoh said: 'The apostle who has been sent to you is surely possessed!'

'The Lord of the East and the West,' said Moses, 'and all that lies between them. If only you could understand!'

'If you serve any other god but myself,' replied Pharaoh, 'I shall have you thrown into prison.'

'Even if I showed you a convincing sign?' said Moses.

26:31 He replied: 'Show us your sign, if what you say be true.'

Moses threw down his staff and thereupon it changed to a veritable serpent. Then he drew out his hand, and it was white to all who saw it.

26:34 'This man,' he said to the nobles around him, 'is a skilful sorcerer who seeks to drive you from your land by his sorcery. What is your counsel?'

They replied: 'Put them off awhile, him and his brother, and send forth heralds to the cities to summon every skilled enchanter to your presence.'

The sorcerers were gathered on an appointed day, and the people were asked if they had all assembled. They declared. 'We will follow the sorcerers if they win the day.'

26:40 And when the sorcerers came they said to Pharaoh: 'Shall we be rewarded if we win?'

'Yes,' he answered, 'and you shall become my favoured friends.'

Moses said to them: 'Throw down all that you wish to throw.'

They cast down their ropes and staffs, saying: 'By Pharaoh's glory, we shall surely win!'

Then Moses threw down his staff, and it swallowed their false devices. The sorcerers prostrated themselves in adoration, saying: 'We now believe in the Lord of the Worlds, the Lord of Moses and Aaron.'

26:49 Pharaoh said: 'Do you dare believe in him before I give you leave? He must surely be your master, who has taught you witchcraft. But you shall see. I will cut off your hands and feet on alternate sides and crucify you all.'

26:50 'That cannot harm us,' they replied, 'for to our Lord we shall return. We trust that our Lord will forgive us our sins, since we are the first who have believed.'

Then We revealed Our will to Moses, saying: 'Set forth with My servants in the night, for you will be pursued.'

Pharaoh sent forth heralds to all the cities. 'These,' they said, 'are but a puny band, who have provoked us much. But we are a numerous army, well-prepared.'

Thus did We make them leave their gardens and their fountains, their treasures and their sumptuous dwellings. Even thus; and to the Israelites We gave those.

26:60 At sunrise the Egyptians followed them. And when the two multitudes came within sight of each other, Moses' companions said: 'We are surely undone!'

'No,' Moses replied, 'my Lord is with me, and He will guide me.'

We bade Moses strike the sea with his staff, and the sea was cleft asunder, each part as high as a massive mountain. In between We made the others follow. We delivered Moses and all who were with him, and drowned the rest.

Surely in that there was a sign; yet most of them did not believe. Surely, your Lord is the Mighty One, the Merciful. Recount to them the story of Abraham.

26:70 He said to his father and to his people: 'What is that which you worship?'

They replied: 'We worship idols and pray to them with all fervour.'

'Do they hear you when you call on them?' he asked. 'Can they help you or do you harm?'

They replied: 'This was what our fathers did before us.'

He said: 'Do you see those which you have worshipped, you and your forefathers? They are my enemies.

26:77 'Not so the Lord of the Worlds, who has created me; who gives me guidance, food and drink; who, when I am sick, restores me; who will cause me to die and bring me back to life hereafter; who, I hope, will forgive me my sins on the Day of Judgement.

'Lord, bestow wisdom upon me, and admit me among the righteous. Make me deserving of praise among posterity and count me among the heirs of the Blissful Garden. Forgive my father, for he has gone astray.

'Do not hold me up to shame on the Day of Resurrection; the day when wealth and offspring will be of no avail, and when none shall be saved but him who comes before his Lord with a pure heart; When Paradise shall be brought within sight of the righteous and Hell be revealed to the erring. They will be asked: "Where are your idols now? Can they help you or even help themselves?" And into Hell they shall be hurled, they and those who misled them, and Satan's legions all.

26:96 "By the Lord," they will say to their idols, as they contend with them, "we erred indeed when we made you equals with the Lord of the Worlds. (The Qur'an, s26-poets_dawood)

27:6 Tell of Moses, who said to his people: 'I can descry a fire. I will go and bring you news and a lighted torch to warm yourselves with.'

And when he came near, a voice called out to him: 'Blessed be He who is in the fire and all around it! Glory to God, Lord of the Worlds! Moses, I am God, the Mighty, the Wise One. Throw down your staff.'

And when he saw it slithering like a serpent, he turned and fled, without a backward glance.

'Moses, do not be alarmed,' said He. 'My apostles are never afraid in My presence. As for those who sin and then do good after evil, I am forgiving and merciful to them.

27:12 'Put your hand into your pocket. It will come out white, although unharmed. This is but one of the nine signs for Pharaoh and his people; surely they are wicked men.

But when Our visible signs were shown to them, they said: 'This is plain sorcery.' Their souls knew them to be true, yet they denied them in their wickedness and their pride. (The Qur'an, s27-ant_dawood)

37:118 We showed favour to Moses and to Aaron and delivered them, with all their people, from the mighty scourge. We succoured them, and they became victorious. We gave them the Glorious Book and guided them to the straight path.

37:121 We bestowed on them the praise of later generations: 'Peace be on Moses and Aaron!'

Thus do We reward the righteous. They were two of Our believing servants. (The Qur'an, s37-ranks_dawood)

We sent forth Moses with Our signs and with clear authority to Pharaoh, Haman, and Korah. But they said: 'A sorcerer, a teller of lies.'

40:25 And when he brought them the Truth from Ourself, they said: 'Put to death the sons of those who share his faith, and spare only their daughters.' Futile were the schemes of the unbelievers.

40:26 Pharaoh said: 'Let me slay Moses, and then let him invoke his god! I fear that he will change your religion and spread disorder in the land.'

Moses said: 'I take refuge in my Lord and in your Lord from every tyrant who denies the Day of Reckoning.'

But one of Pharaoh's kinsmen, who in secret was a true believer, said: 'Would you slay a man merely because he says:

"My Lord is God"? He has brought you evident signs from your Lord. If he is lying, may his lie be on his head; but if he is speaking the truth, a part at least of what he threatens will smite you. God does not guide the lying transgressor.

'Today you are the masters, my people, illustrious throughout the earth. But who will save us from the might of God when it bears down upon us?'

Pharaoh said: 'I have told you what I think. I will surely guide you to the right path.'

40:30 He who was a true believer said: 'I warn you, my people, against the fate which overtook the factions: the people of Noah, 'Ad, and Thamud, and those that came after them. God does not seek to wrong His servants.

'I warn you, my people, against the day when men will cry out to one another, when you will turn and flee, with none to defend you against God. He whom God confounds shall have none to guide him.

Long before this, Joseph came to you with veritable signs, but you never ceased to doubt them; and when he died you said: "After him God will never send another apostle."

Thus God confounds the doubting transgressor. Those who dispute God's revelations, with no authority vouchsafed to them, are held in deep abhorrence by God and by the faithful. Thus God seals up the heart of every scornful tyrant.'

40:37 Pharaoh said to Haman: 'Build me a tower that I may reach the highways the very highways - of the heavens, and look upon the god of Moses. I am convinced that he is lying.'

40:40 Thus was Pharaoh seduced by his foul deeds and was turned away from the right path. Pharaoh's cunning led only to perdition.

He who was a true believer said: 'Follow me, my people, that I may guide you to the right path. My people, the life of this world is but a fleeting pleasure; the life to come is the everlasting mansion. Those that do evil shall be rewarded with evil; but those that have faith and do good works, both men and women, shall enter Paradise and therein receive blessings without number.

'My people, how is it that I call you to salvation, while you call me to the Fire?

'You bid me deny God and serve other gods I know nothing of; while I call you to the Almighty, the Forgiving One.

'Indeed, the gods to whom you call me can be invoked neither in this world nor in the world to come. To God we shall return. The transgressors shall be the inmates of the Fire.

'Bear in mind what I have told you. To God I commend myself. God is cognizant of all His servants.'

40:45 God delivered him from the evils which they planned, and a grievous scourge encompassed Pharaoh's people.

Before the Fire they shall be brought morning and evening, and on the day the Hour strikes, a voice will cry: 'Mete out the sternest punishment to Pharaoh's people!'

40:50 And when they argue in the Fire, the humble will say to those who deemed themselves mighty: 'We have been your followers: will you now ward off from us some of the flames?'

But those who deemed themselves. mighty will reply: 'Here are all of us now. God has judged His servants.(The Qur'an, s40-believers_dawood)

43:45 We sent forth Moses with Our signs to Pharaoh and his nobles. He said: 'I am the apostle of the Lord of the Worlds.' But when he showed them Our signs they laughed at them; yet each fresh sign We revealed to them was more powerful than the one that came before. We therefore smote them with the scourge, so that they might return to the right path.

'Sorcerer,' they said, 'pray for us to your Lord and invoke the promise He has made you. We will accept your guidance.' But when We removed the scourge from them, they broke their pledge.

43:50 Pharaoh made a proclamation to his people. 'My people,' said he, 'is the kingdom of Egypt not mine, and are these rivers which flow at my feet not mine also?

Can you not see? Am I not better than this despicable wretch, who can scarcely make his meaning plain? Why have no bracelets of gold been given him, or angels sent down to accompany him?'

Thus did he incite his people. They obeyed him, for they were degenerate men. And when they provoked Us, We took vengeance on them and drowned them all, as a lesson and an example to those who succeeded them. (The Qur'an, s43-ornaments_dawood)

51:36 In Moses, too, there was a sign. We sent him forth to Pharaoh with clear authority, but he turned his back, he and his nobles, saying: 'A sorcerer, or a madman.' So We seized him and his warriors, and cast them into the sea. Indeed, he deserved much blame. (The Qur'an, s51-winds_dawood)

61:4 Tell of Moses, who said to his people: 'Why do you seek to harm me, my people, when you know that I am sent to you by God?' And when they went astray, God led their very hearts astray. God does not guide the evil-doers. (The Qur'an, s61-battle_dawood)

79:12 Have you heard the story of Moses?

His Lord called out to him in the sacred valley of Tuwa, saying: 'Go to Pharaoh: he has transgressed all bounds; and say: "Will you reform yourself?

"I will guide you to your Lord, -- so that you may have fear of Him."'

79:20 He showed Pharaoh the mightiest sign, but he denied it and rebelled. He quickly went away and, summoning all his men, made -- to them a proclamation.

'I am your supreme Lord,'he said. God smote him with the scourge of the hereafter, and of this life. Surely in this there is a lesson for the God-fearing. (The Qur'an, s79-soul_dawood)

87:18 Yet you prefer this life, although the life to come is better and more lasting. All this is written in earlier scriptures; the scriptures of Abraham and Moses.

EXODUS

Israel enslaved in Egypt

EXODUS 1

1 THESE ARE THE NAMES of the Israelites who entered Egypt with Jacob, each with his household: Reuben, Simeon, Levi and Judah; Issachar, Zebulun and Benjamin; Dan and Naphtali, Gad and Asher. There were seventy of them all told, all direct descendants of Jacob. Joseph was already in Egypt.

6 In course of time Joseph died, he and all his brothers and that whole generation. Now the Israelites were fruitful and prolific; they increased in numbers and became very powerful, so that the country was overrun by them. Then a new king ascended the throne of Egypt, one who knew nothing of Joseph. He said to his people, 'These Israelites have become too many and too strong for us. We must take precautions to see that they do not increase any further; or we shall find that, if war breaks out, they will join the enemy and fight against us, and they will become masters of the country.' So they were made to work in gangs with officers set over them, to break their spirit with heavy labour. This is how Pharaoh's store-cities, Pithom and Rameses, were built. But the more harshly they were treated, the more their numbers increased beyond all bounds, until the Egyptians came to loathe the sight of them. So they treated their Israelite slaves with ruthless severity, and made life bitter for them with cruel servitude, setting them to work on clay and brick-making, and all sorts of work in the fields. In short they made ruthless use of them as slaves in every kind of hard labour.

15 Then the king of Egypt spoke to the Hebrew midwives, whose names were Shiphrah and Puab. 'When you are attending the Hebrew women in childbirth,' he told them, 'watch as the child is delivered and if it is a boy, kill him; if it is a girl, let her live.' But they were God-fearing women. They did not do what the king of Egypt had told them to do, but let the boys live. So he summoned those Hebrew midwives and asked them why they had done this and let the boys live. They told Pharaoh that Hebrew women were not like Egyptian women. When they were in laboar they gave birth before the midwife could get to them. So God made the midwives prosper, and the people increased in numbers and in strength. God gave the midwives homes and families of their own, because they feared him. Pharaoh then ordered all his people to throw every new-born Hebrew boy into the Nile, but to let the girls live.

EXODUS 2

1 A descendant of Levi married a Levite woman who conceived and bore a son. When she saw what a fine child he was, she hid him for three months, but she could conceal him no longer. So she got a rush basket for him, made it watertight with clay and tar, laid him in it, and put it among the reeds by the bank of the Nile. The child's sister took her stand at a distance to see what would happen to him. Pharaoh's daughter came down to bathe in the river, while her ladies-in-waiting walked along the bank. She noticed the basket among the reeds and sent her slave-girl for it. She took it from her and when she opened it, she saw the child. It was crying, and she was filled with pity for it. 'Why,' she said, 'it is a little Hebrew boy.' Thereupon the sister said to Pharaoh's daughter, 'Shall I go and fetch one of the Hebrew women as a wet-nurse to suckle the child for you?' Pharaoh's daughter told her to go; so the girl went and called the baby's mother. Then Pharaoh's daughter said to her, 'Here is the child, suckle him for me, and I will pay you for it myself.' So the woman took the child and suckled him. When the child was old enough, she brought him to Pharaoh's daughter, who adopted him and called him Moses, 'because', she said, 'I drew him out of the water.'

11 ONE DAY WHEN MOSES WAS GROWN up, he went out to his own kinsmen and saw them at their heavy labour. He saw an Egyptian strike one of his fellow-Hebrews. He looked this way and that, and, seeing there was no one about, he struck the Egyptian down and hid his body in the sand. When he went out next day, two Hebrews were fighting together. He asked the man who was in the wrong, 'Why are you striking him?' 'Who set you up as an officer and judge over us?' the man replied. 'Do you mean to murder me as you murdered the Egyptian?' Moses was alarmed. 'The thing must have become known', he said to himself. When Pharaoh heard of it, he tried to put Moses to death, but Moses made good his escape and settled in the land of Midian.

16 Now the priest of Midian had seven daughters. One day as Moses sat by a well, they came to draw water and filled the troughs to water their father's sheep. Some shepherds came and drove them away; but Moses got up, took the girls' part and watered their sheep himself. When the girls came back to their father Reuel, he asked, 'How is it that you are back so quickly today?' 'An Egyptian rescued us from the shepherds,' they answered; 'and he even drew the water for us and watered the sheep.'

20 'But where is he then?' he said to his daughters. 'Why did you leave him behind? Go and invite him to eat with us.' So it came about that Moses agreed to live with the man, and he gave Moses his daughter Zipporah in marriage. She bore him a son, and Moses called him Gershom, 'because', he said, 'I have become an alien living in a foreign land.'

23 YEARS PASSED, and the king of Egypt died, but the Israelites still groaned in slavery. They cried out, and their appeal for rescue from their slavery rose up to God. He heard their groaning, and remembered his covenant with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; he saw the plight of Israel, and he took heed of it.

EXODUS 3

1 Moses was minding the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, priest of Midian. He led the flock along the side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in the flame of a burning bush. Moses noticed that, although the bush was on fire, it was not being burnt up; so he sald to himself; 'I must go across to see this wonderful sight. Why does not the bush burn away?' When the Lord saw that Moses had turned aside to look, he called to him out of the bush, 'Moses, Moses.' And Moses answered, 'Yes, I am here.' God said, 'Come no nearer; take off your sandals; the place where you are standing is holy ground.' Then he said, 'I am the God of your forefathers; the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob.' Moses covered his face, for he was afraid to gaze on God.

7 The Lord said, 'I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt, I have heard their outcry against their slave-masters. I have taken heed of their sufferings, and have come down to rescue them from the power of Egypt, and to bring them up out of that country into a fine, broad land:; it is a land flowing with milk and honey, the home of Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites. The outcry of the Israelites has now reached me; yes, I have seen the brutality of the Egyptians towards them. Come now; I will send you to Pharaoh and you shall bring my people Israel out of Egypt.' 'But who am I,' Moses said to God, 'that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should bring the Israelites out of Egypt?' God answered, 'I am with you. This shall be the proof that it is I who have sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall all worship God here on this mountain.

13 Then Moses said to God, 'If I go to the Israelites and tell them that the God of their forefathers has sent me to them, and they ask me his name, what shall I say?' God answered, 'I AM; that is who I am. Tell them that I AM has sent you to them.' And God said further, 'You must tell the Israelites this, that it is JEHOVAH the God of their forefathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob, who has sent you to them. This is my name for ever; this is my title in every generation. Go and assemble the elders of Israel and tell them that JEHOVAH the God of their forefathers, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, has appeared to you and has said, "I have indeed turned my eyes towards you; I have marked all that has been done to you in Egypt, and I am resolved to bring you up out of your misery in Egypt, into the country of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, a land flowing with milk and honey." They will listen to you, and then you and the elders of Israel must go to the king of Egypt. Tell him, "It has happened that the Lord the God of the Hebrews met us. So now give us leave to go a three days' journey into the wilderness to offer sacrifice to the Lord Our God." I know well that the king of Egypt will not give you leave unless he is compelled. I shall then stretch out my hand and assail the Egyptians with all the miracles I shall work among them. After that he will send you away. Further, I will bring this people into such favour with the Egyptians that, when you go, you will not go empty-handed. Every woman shall ask her neighbour or any woman who lives in her house for jewellery of silver and gold and for clothing. Load your sons and daughters with them, and plunder Egypt.'

EXODUS 4

1 Moses answered, 'But they will never believe me or listen to me; they will say, "The Lord did not appear to you."' The Lord said, 'What have you there in your hand?' 'A staff', Moses answered. The Lord said, 'Throw it on the ground.' Moses threw it down and it turned into a snake. He ran away from it, but the Lord said, 'Put your hand out and seize it by the tail.' He did so and gripped it firmly, and it turned back into a staff in his hand. 'This is to convince the people that the Lord the God of their forefathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob, has appeared to you.' Then the Lord said, 'Put your hand inside the fold of your cloak.' He did so, and when he drew it out the skin was diseased, white as snow. The Lord said, 'Put it back again', and he did so. When he drew it out this -- time it was as healthy as the rest of his body. 'Now,' said the Lord, 'if they I do not believe you and do not accept the evidence of the first sign, they may accept the evidence of the second. But if they are not convinced even ; by these two signs, and will not accept what you say, then fetch some water from the Nile and pour it out on the dry ground, and the water you take from the Nile will turn to blood on the ground.'

10 But Moses said, 'O Lord, I have never been a man of ready speech, never in my life, not even now that thou hast spoken to me; I am slow and hesitant of speech.' The Lord said to him, 'Who is it that gives man speech? Who makes him dumb or deaf? Who makes him clear-sighted or blind? Is it not I, the Lord? Go now; I will help your speech and tell you what to say.' But Moses still protested, 'No, Lord, send whom thou wilt.' At this the Lord grew angry with Moses and said, 'Have you not a brother, Aaron the Levite? He, I know, will do all the speaking. He is already on his way out to meet you, and he will be glad indeed to see you. You shall speak to him and put the words in his mouth; I will help both of you to speak and tell you both what to do. He will do all the speaking to the people for you, he will be the mouthpiece, and you will be the god he speaks for. But take this staff, for with it you are to work the signs.'

18 At length Moses went back to Jethro his father-in-law and said, 'Let me return to my kinsfolk in Egypt and see if they are still alive.' Jethro told him to go and wished him well.

19 THE LORD SPOKE TO MOSES in Midian and said to him, 'Go back to Egypt, for all those who wished to kill you are dead.' So Moses took his wife and children, mounted them on an ass and set out for Egypt with the staff of God in his hand. The Lord said to Moses, 'While you are on your way back to Egypt, keep in mind all the portents I have given you power to show. You shall display these before Pharaoh, but I will make him obstinate and he will not let the people go. Then tell Pharaoh that these are the words of the Lord: "Israel is my first-born son. I have told you to let my son go, so that he may worship me. You have refused to let him go, so I will kill your first-born son."'

24 During the journey, while they were encamped for the night, the Lord met Moses, meaning to kill him, but Zipporah picked up a sharp flint, cut off her son's foreskin, and touched him with it, saying, 'You are my blood-bridegroom.' So the Lord let Moses alone. Then she said, a 'Blood-bride-groom by circumcision.'

27 Meanwhile the Lord had ordered Aaron to go and meet Moses in the wilderness. Aaron went and met him at the mountain of God, and he kissed him. Then Moses told Aaron everything, the words the Lord had sent him to say and the signs he had commanded him to perform. Moses and Aaron went and assembled all the elders of Israel. Aaron told them everything that the Lord had said to Moses; he performed the signs before the people, and they were convinced. They heard that the Lord had shown his concern for the Israelites and seen their misery; and they bowed themselves to the ground in worship.

EXODUS 5

1 After this, Moses and Aaron came to Pharaoh and said, 'These are the words of the Lord the God of Israel: "Let my people go so that they may keep my pilgrim-feast in the wilderness."' 'Who is the Lord,' asked Pharaoh, 'that I should obey him and let Israel go? I care nothing for the Lord: and I tell you I will not let Israel go.' They replied, 'It has happened that the God of the Hebrews met us. So let us go three days' journey into the wilderness to offer sacrifice to the Lord our God, or else he will attack us with pestilence or sword.' But the king of Egypt said, 'Moses and Aaron, what do you mean by distracting the people from their work? Back to your labours! Your people already outnumber the native Egyptians; yet you would have them stop working!'

6 That very day Pharaoh ordered the people's overseers and their foremen not to supply the people with the straw used in making bricks, as they had done hitherto. 'Let them go and collect their own straw, but see that they produce the same tally of bricks as before. On no account reduce it. They are a lazy people, and that is why they are clamouring to go and offer sacrifice to their god. Keep the men hard at work; let them attend to that and take no notice of a pack of lies.' The overseers and foremen went out and said to the people: 'Pharaoh's orders are that no more straw is to be supplied. Go and get it for yourselves wherever you can find it; but there will be no reduction in your daily task.' So the people scattered all over Egypt to gather stubble for straw, while the overseers kept urging them on, bidding them complete, day after day, the same quantity as when straw was supplied. Then the Israelite foremen were flogged because they were held responsible by Pharaoh's overseers, who asked them, 'Why did you not complete the usual number of bricks yesterday or today?' So the foremen came and appealed to Pharaoh: 'Why do you treat your servants like this?' they said. 'We are given no straw, yet they keep on telling us to make bricks. Here are we being flogged, but it is your people's fault.' But Pharaoh replied, 'You are lazy, you are lazy. That is why you talk about going to offer sacrifice to the Lord. Now go; get on with your work. You will be given no straw, but you must produce the tally of bricks.' When they were told that they must not let the daily tally of bricks fall short, the Israelite foremen saw that they were in trouble. As they came out from Pharaoh's presence they found Moses and Aaron waiting to meet them, and said, 'May this bring the Lord's judgement down upon you: you have made us stink in the nostrils of Pharaoh and his subjects; you have put a sword in their hands to kill us.'

22 Moses went back to the Lord, and said, 'Why, O Lord, hast thou brought misfortune on this people? And why didst thou ever send me? Since I first went to Pharaoh to speak in thy name he has heaped misfortune on thy people, and thou hast done nothing at all to rescue them.'

EXODUS 6

1 The Lord answered, 'Now you shall see what I will do to Pharaoh. In the end Pharaoh will let them go with a strong hand, nay, will drive them from his country with an outstretched arm.'

2 God spoke to Moses and said, 'I am the Lord. I appeared to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as God Almighty. But I did not let myself be known to them by my name JEHOVAH. Moreover, I made a covenant with them to give them Canaan, the land where they settled for a time as foreigners. And now I have heard the groaning of the Israelites, enslaved by the Egyptians, and I have called my covenant to mind. Say therefore to the Israelites, "I am the Lord. I will release you from your labours in Egypt. I will rescue you from slavery there. I will redeem you with arm outstretched and with mighty acts of judgement. I will adopt you as my people, and I will become your God. You shall know that I, the Lord, am your God, the God who releases you from your labours in Egypt. I will lead you to the land which I swore with uplifted hand to give to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob. I will give it you for your possession. I am the Lord."'

9 Moses repeated these words to the Israelites, but they did not listen to him; they had become impatient because of their cruel slavery.

10 Then the Lord spoke to Moses and said, 'Go and tell Pharaoh king of Egypt to set the Israelites free to leave his country.' Moses made answer in the presence of the Lord, 'If the Israelites do not listen to me, how will Pharaoh listen to such a halting speaker as I am?' 12 Thus the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron and gave them their commission to the Israelites and to Pharaoh, namely that they should bring the Israelites out of Egypt.

14 THESE WERE THE HEADS of fathers' families: Sons of Reuben, Israel's eldest son: Enoch, Pallu, Hezron and Carmi; these were the families of Reuben.

15 Sons of Simeon: Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jachin, Zohar, and Saul, who was the son of a Canaanite woman; these were the families of Simeon.

16 These were the names of the sons of Levi in order of seniority: Gershon, Kohath and Merari. Levi lived to be a hundred and thirty-seven.

17 Sons of Gershon, family by family: Libni and Shimei.

18 Sons of Kohath: Amram, Izhar, Hebron and Uzziel. Kohath lived to be a hundred and thirty-three.

19 Sons of Merari: Mahli and Mushi.

20 These were the families of Levi in order of seniority. Amram married his father's sister Jochebed, and she bore him Aaron and Moses. Amram lived to be a hundred and thirty-seven.

21 Sons of Ixhar: Korah, Nepheg and Zichri.

22 Sons of Uzziel: Mishael, Elzaphan and Sithri.

23 Aaron married Elisheba, who was the daughter of Amminadab and the sister of Nahshon, and she bore him Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar.

24 Sons of Korah: Assir, Elkanah and Abiasaph; these were the Korahite families.

25 Eleazar son of Aaron married one of the daughters of Putiel, and she bore him Phinehas These were the heads of the Levite famIlies, family by family.

26 It was this Aaron, together with Moses, to whom the Lord said, 'Bring the Israelites out of Egypt, mustered in their tribal hosts.' These were the men who told Pharaoh king of Egypt to let the Israelites leave Egypt. It was this same Moses and Aaron.

28 WHEN THE LORD SPOKE TO MOSES in Egypt he said, 'I am the Lord. Tell Pharaoh king of Egypt all that I say to you.' Moses made answer in the presence of the Lord, 'I am a halting speaker; how will Pharaoh listen to me?'

EXODUS 7

1 The Lord answered Moses, 'See now, I have made you like a god for Pharaoh, with your brother Aaron as your spokesman. You must tell your brother Aaron all I bid you say, and he will tell Pharaoh, and Pharaoh will let the Israelites go out of his country; but I will make him stubborn. Then will I show sign after sign and portent after portent in the land of Egypt. But Pharaoh will not listen to you, so I will assert my power in Egypt, and with mighty acts of judgement I will bring my people, the Israelites, out of Egypt in their tribal hosts. When I put forth my power against the Egyptians and bring the Israelites out from them, then Egypt will know that I am the Lord.' So Moses and Aaron did exactly as the Lord had commanded. At the time when they spoke to Pharaoh, Moses was eighty years old and Aaron eighty-three.

8 The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, 'If Pharaoh demands some portent from you, then you, Moses, must say to Aaron, "Take your staff and throw it down in front of Pharaoh, and it will turn into a serpent." 'When Moses and Aaron came to Pharaoh, they did as the Lord had told them. Aaron threw down his staff in front of Pharaoh and his courtiers, and it turned into a serpent. At this, Pharaoh summoned the wise men and the sorcerers, and the Egyptian magicians too did the same thing by their spells. Every man threw his staff down, and each staff turned into a serpent; but Aaron's staff swallowed up theirs. Pharaoh, however, was obstinate; as the Lord had foretold, he would not listen to Moses and Aaron.

14 Then the Lord said to Moses, 'Pharaoh is obdurate: he has refused to set the people free. Go to him in the morning on his way out to the river. Stand and wait on the bank of the Nile to meet him, and take with you the staff that turned into a snake. Say this to him: "The Lord the God of the Hebrews sent me to bid you let his people go in order to worship him in the wilderness. So far you have not listened to his words; so now the Lord says, 'By this you shall know that I am the Lord.' With this rod that I have in my hand, I shall now strike the water in the Nile and it will be changed into blood. The fish will die and the river will stink, and the Egyptians will be unable to drink water from the Nile." The Lord then told Moses to say to Aaron, 'Take your staff and stretch your hand out over the waters of Egypt, its rivers and its streams, and over every pool and cistern, to turn them into blood. There shall be blood throughout the whole of Egypt, blood even in their wooden bowls and jars of stone.' So Moses and Aaron did as the Lord had commanded. He lifted up his staff and struck the water of the Nile in the sight of Pharaoh and his courtiers, and all the water was changed into blood. The fish died and the river stank, and the Egyptians could not drink water from the Nile. There was blood everywhere in Egypt. But the Egyptian magicians did the same thing by their spells; and still Pharaoh remained obstinate, as the Lord had foretold, and did not listen to Moses and Aaron. He turned away, went into his house and dismissed the matter from his mind. Then the Egyptians all dug for drinking water round about the river, because they could not drink from the waters of the Nile itself. This lasted for seven days from the time when the Lord struck the Nile.

EXODUS 8

1 The Lord then told Moses to go into Pharaoh's presence and say to him, 'These are the words of the Lord: "Let my people go in order to worship me. If you refuse to let them go, I will plague the whole of your territory with frogs. The Nile shall swarm with them. They shall come up from the river into your house, into your bedroom and on to your bed, into the houses of your courtiers and your people, into your ovens and your kneading-troughs. The frogs shall clamber over you, your people, and your courtiers. Then the Lord told Moses to say to Aaron, 'Take your staff in your hand and stretch it out over the rivers, streams, and pools, to bring up frogs upon the land of Egypt.' So Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt, and the frogs came up and covered all the land. The magicians did the same thing by their spells: they too brought up frogs upon the land of Egypt. Then Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron. 'Pray to the Lord', he said, 'to take the frogs away from me and my people, and I will let the people go to sacrifice to the Lord.' Moses said, 'Of your royal favour, appoint a time when I may intercede for you and your courtiers and people, so that you and your houses may be rid of the frogs, and none be left except in the Nile.' 'Tomorrow', Pharaoh said. 'It shall be as you say,' replied Moses, 'so that you may know there is no one like our God, the Lord. The frogs shall depart from you, from your houses, your courtiers, and your people: none shall be left except in the Nile.' Moses and Aaron left Pharaoh's presence, and Moses appealed to the Lord to remove the frogs which he had brought on Pharaoh. The Lord did as Moses had asked, and in house and courtyard and in the open the frogs all perished. They piled them into countless heaps and the land stank; but when Pharaoh found that he was given relief he became obdurate; as the Lord had foretold, he did not listen to Moses and Aaron.

16 The Lord then told Moses to say to Aaron, 'Stretch out your staff and strike the dust on the ground, and it will turn into maggots throughout the land of Egypt', and they obeyed. Aaron stretched out his staff and struck the dust, and it turned into maggots on man and beast. All the dust turned into maggots throughout the land of Egypt. The magicians tried to produce maggots in the same way by their spells, but they failed. The maggots were everywhere, on man and beast. 'It is the finger of God', said the magicians to Pharaoh, but Pharaoh remained obstinate; as the Lord had foretold, he did not listen to them.

20 The Lord told Moses to rise early in the morning and stand in Pharaoh's path as he went out to the river and to say to him, 'These are the words of the Lord: "Let my people go in order to worship me. If you do not let my people go, I will send swarms of flies upon you, your courtiers, your people; and your houses. The houses of the Egyptians shall be filled with the swarms and so shall all the land they live in, but on that day I will make an exception of Goshen, the land where my people live: there shall be no swarms there. Thus you shall know that I, the Lord, am here in the land. I will make a distinction between my people and yours. Tomorrow this sign shall appear."' The Lord did this; dense swarms of flies infested Pharaoh's house and those of his courtiers; throughout Egypt the land was threatened with ruin by the swarms. Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and said to them, 'Go and sacrifice to your God, but in this country.' 'That we cannot do,' replied Moses, 'because the victim we shall sacrifice to the Lord our God is an abomination to the Egyptians. If the Egyptians see us offer such an animal, will they not stone us to death? We must go a three days' journey into the wilderness to sacrifice to the Lord our God, as he commands us.' 'I will let you go,' said Pharaoh, 'and you shall sacrifice to your God in the wilderness; only do not go far. Now intercede for me.' Moses answered, 'As soon as I leave you I will intercede with the Lord. Tomorrow the swarms will depart from Pharaoh, his courtiers, and his people. Only let not Pharaoh trifle any more with the people by preventing them from.going to sacrifice to the Lord.' Then Moses left Pharaoh and interceded with the Lord. The Lord did as Moses had said; he removed the swarms from Pharaoh, his courtiers, and his people; not one was left. But once again Pharaoh became obdurate and did not let the people go.

EXODUS 9

1 The Lord said to Moses, 'Go into Pharaoh's presence and say to him, "These are the words of the Lord the God of the Hebrews: 'Let my people go in order to worship me.' If you refuse to let them go and still keep your hold on them, the Lord will strike your grazing herds, your horses and asses, your camels, cattle, and sheep with a terrible pestilence. But the Lord will make a distinction between Israel's herds and those of the Egyptians. Of all that belong to Israel not a single one shall die."' The Lord fixed a time and said, 'Tomorrow I will do this throughout the land.' The next day the Lord struck. All the herds of Egypt died, but from the herds of the Israelites not one single beast died. Pharaoh inquired and was told that not a beast from the herds of Israel had died; and yet he remained obdurate and did not let the people go.

8 The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, 'Take handfuls of soot from a kiln. Moses shall toss it into the air in Pharaoh's sight, and it will turn into a fine dust over the whole of Egypt. All over Egypt it will become festering boils on man and beast.' They took the soot from the kiln and stood before Pharaoh. Moses tossed it into the air and it produced festering boils on man and beast. The magicians were no match for Moses because of the boils, which attacked them and all the Egyptians. But the Lord made Pharaoh obstinate; as the Lord had foretold to Moses, he did not listen to Moses and Aaron.

13 The Lord then told Moses to rise early in the morning, present himself before Pharaoh, and say to him, 'These are the words of the Lord the God of the Hebrews: "Let my people go in order to worship me. This time I will strike home with all my plagues against you, your courtiers, and your people, so that you may know that there is none like me in all the earth. By now I could have stretched out my hand, and struck you and your people with pestilence, and you would have vanished from the earth. I have let you live only to show you my power and to spread my fame throughout the land. Since you still obstruct my people and will not let them go, tomorrow at this time I will send a violent hailstorm, such as has never been in Egypt from its first beginnings until now. Send now and bring your herds under cover, and everything you have out in the open field. If anything, whether man or beast, which happens to be in the open, is not brought in, the hail will fall on it, and it will die."' Those of Pharaoh's subjects who feared the word of the Lord hurried their slaves and cattle into their houses. But those who did not take to heart the word of the Lord left their slaves and cattle in the open.

22 The Lord said to Moses, 'Stretch out your hand towards the sky to bring down hail on the whole land of Egypt, on man and beast and every growing thing throughout the land.' Moses stretched out his staff towards the sky, and the Lord sent thunder and hail, with fire flashing down to the ground. The Lord rained down hail on the land of Egypt, hail and fiery flashes through the hail, so heavy that there had been nothing like it in all Egypt from the time that Egypt became a nation. Throughout Egypt the hail struck everything in the fields, both man and beast; it beat down every growing thing and shattered every tree. Only in the land of Goshen, where the Israelites lived, was there no hail.

27 Pharaoh sent and summoned Moses and Aaron. 'This time I have sinned,' he said; 'the Lord is in the right; I and my people are in the wrong. Intercede with the Lord, for we can bear no more of this thunder and hail. I will let you go; you need wait no longer.' Moses said, 'When I leave the city I will spread out my hands in prayer to the Lord. The thunder shall cease, and there shall be no more hail, so that you may know that the earth is the Lord's. But you and your subjects -- I know that you do not yet fear the Lord God.' (The flax and barley were destroyed because the barley was in the ear and the flax in bud, but the wheat and spelt were not destroyed because they come later.) Moses left Pharaoh's presence, went out of the city and lifted up his hands to the Lord in prayer: the thunder and hail ceased, and no more rain fell. When Pharaoh saw that the downpour, the hail, and the thunder had ceased, he sinned again, he and his courtiers, and became obdurate. So Pharaoh remained obstinate; as the Lord had foretold through Moses, he did not let the people go.

EXODUS 10

1 Then the Lord said to Moses, 'Go into Pharaoh's presence. I have made him and his courtiers obdurate, so that I may show these my signs among them, and so that you can tell your children and grand-children the story: how I made sport of the Egyptians, and what signs I showed among them. Thus you will know that I am the Lord.' Moses and Aaron went in to Pharaoh and said to him, 'These are the words of the Lord the God of the Hebrews: "How long will you refuse to humble yourself before me? Let my people go in order to worship me. If you refuse to let my people go, tomorrow I will bring locusts into your country. They shall cover the face of the land so that it cannot be seen. They shall eat up the last remnant left you by the hail. They shall devour every tree that grows in your countryside. Your houses and your courtiers' houses, every house in Egypt, shall be full of them; your fathers never saw the like nor their fathers before them; such a thing has not happened from their time until now." 'He turned and left Pharaoh's presence. Pharaoh's courtiers said to him, 'How long must we be caught in this man's toils? Let their menfolk go and worship the Lord their God. Do you not know by now that Egypt is ruined?' So Moses and Aaron were brought back to Pharaoh, and he said to them, 'You may go and worship the Lord your God; but who exactly is to go?' 'All,' said Moses, 'young and old, boys and girls, sheep and cattle; for we have to keep the Lord's pilgrim-feast.' Pharaoh replied, 'Very well then; take your dependants with you when you go; and the Lord be with you. But beware, there is trouble in store for you. No, your menfolk may go and worship the Lord, for that is all you asked.' So they were driven out from Pharaoh's presence.

12 Then the Lord said to Moses, 'Stretch out your hand over Egypt so that the locusts may come and invade the land and devour all the vegetation in it, everything the hail has left.' Moses stretched out his staff over the land of Egypt, and the Lord sent a wind roaring in from the east all that day and all that night. When morning came, the east wind had brought the locusts. They invaded the whole land of Egypt, and settled on all its territory in swarms so dense that the like of them had never been seen before, nor ever will be again. They covered the surface of the whole land till it was black with them. They devoured all the vegetation and all the fruit of the trees that the hail had spared. There was no green left on tree or plant throughout all Egypt. Pharaoh hastily summoned Moses and Aaron. 'I have sinned against the Lord your God and against you', he said. 'Forgive my sin, I pray, just this once. Intercede with the Lord your God and beg him only to remove this deadly plague from me.' Moses left Pharaoh and interceded with the Lord. The Lord changed the wind into a westerly gale, which carried the locusts away and swept them into the Red Sea. There was not a single locust left in all the territory of Egypt. But the Lord made Pharaoh obstinate, and he did not let the Israelites go.

21 Then the Lord said to Moses, 'Stretch out your hand towards the sky so that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, darkness that can be felt.' Moses stretched out his hand towards the sky, and it became pitch dark throughout the land of Egypt for three days. Men could not see one another; for three days no one stirred from where he was. But there was no darkness wherever the Israelites lived. Pharaoh summoned Moses. 'Go', he said, 'and worship the Lord. Your dependants may go with you; but your flocks and herds must be left with us.' But Moses said, 'No, you must yourself supply us with animals for sacrifice and whole-offering to the Lord our God; and our own flocks must go with us too -- not a hoof must be left behind. We may need animals from our own flocks to worship the Lord our God; we ourselves cannot tell until we are there how we are to worship the Lord.' The Lord made Pharaoh obstinate, and he refused to let them go. 'Out! Pester me no more!' he said to Moses. 'Take care you do not see my face again, for on the day you do, you die.' 'You are right,' said Moses; 'I shall never see your face again.'

EXODUS 11

1 Then the Lord said to Moses, 'One last plague I will bring upon Pharaoh and Egypt. After that he will let you go; he will send you packing, as a man dismisses a rejected bride. Let the people be told that men and women alike should ask their neighbours for jewellery of silver and gold.' The Lord made the Egyptians well-disposed towards them, and, moreover, Moses was a very great man in Egypt in the eyes of Pharaoh's courtiers and of the people.

4 Moses then said, 'These are the words of the Lord: "At midnight I will go out among the Egyptians. Every first-born creature in the land of Egypt shall die: the first-born of Pharaoh who sits on his throne, the first-born of the slave-girl at the handmill, and all the first-born of the cattle. All Egypt will send up a great cry of anguish, a cry the like of which has never been heard before, nor ever will be again. But among all Israel not a dog's tongue shall be so much as scratched, no man or beast be hurt." Thus you shall know that the Lord does make a distinction between Egypt and Israel. Then all these courtiers of yours will come down to me, prostrate themselves and cry, "Go away, you and all the people who follow at your heels." After that I will go away.' Then Moses left Pharaoh's presence hot with anger.

9 The Lord said to Moses, 'Pharaoh will not listen to you; I will therefore show still more portents in the land of Egypt.' All these portents had Moses and Aaron shown in the presence of Pharaoh, and yet the Lord made him obstinate, and he did not let the Israelites leave the country.

The institution of the Passover

EXODUS 12

1 THE LORD SAID TO MOSES and Aaron in Egypt: This month is for you the first of months; you shall make it the first month of the year. Speak to the whole community of Israel and say to them: On the tenth day of this month let each man take a lamb or a kid for his family, one for each household, but if a household is too small for one lamb or one kid, then the man and his nearest neighbour may take one between them. They shall share the cost, taking into account both the number of persons and the amount each of them eats. Your lamb or kid must be without blemish, a yearling male. You may take equally a sheep or a goat. You must have it in safe keeping until the fourteenth day of this month, and then all the assembled community of Israel shall slaughter the victim between dusk and dark. They must take some of the blood and smear it on the two doorposts and on the lintel of every house in which they eat the lamb. On that night they shall eat the flesh roast on the fire; they shall eat it with unleavened cakes and bitter herbs. You are not to eat any of it raw or even boiled in water, but roasted, head, shins, and entrails. You shall not leave any of it till morning; if anything is left over until morning, it must be destroyed by fire.

11 This is the way in which you must eat it: you shall have your belt fastened, your sandals on your feet and your staff in your hand, and you must eat in urgent haste. It is the Lord's Passover. On that night I shall pass through the land of Egypt and kill every first-born of man and beast. Thus will I execute judgement, I the Lord, against all the gods of Egypt. And as for you, the blood will be a sign on the houses in which you are: when I see the blood I will pass over you; the mortal blow shall not touch you, when I strike the land of Egypt.

14 You shall keep this day as a day of remembrance, and make it a pilgrim-feast, a festival of the Lord; you shall keep it generation after generation as a rule for all time. For seven days you shall eat unleavened cakes. On the very first day you shall rid your houses of leaven; from the first day to the seventh anyone who eats leavened bread shall be outlawed from Israel. On the first day there shall be a sacred assembly and on the seventh day there shall be a sacred assembly: on these days no work shall be done, except what must be done to provide food for everyone; and that will be allowed. You shall observe these commandments because this was the very day on which I brought you our of Egypt in your tribal hosts. You shall observe this day from generation to generation as a rule for all time.

18 You shall eat unleavened cakes in the first month from the evening which begins the fourteenth day until the evening which begins the twenty-first day. For seven days no leaven may be found in your houses, for anyone who eats anything fermented shall be outlawed from the community of Israel, be he foreigner or native. You must eat nothing fermented. Wherever you live you must eat your cakes unleavened.

21 Moses summoned all the elders of Israel and said to them, 'Go at once and get sheep for your families and slaughter the Passover. Then take a bunch of marjoram, dip it in the blood in the basin and smear some blood from the basine on the lintel and the two door-posts. Nobody may go out through the door of his house till morning. The Lord will go through Egypt and strike it, but when he sees the blood on the lintel and the two door-posts, he will pass over that door and will not let the destroyer enter your houses to strike you. You shall keep this as a rule for you and your children for all time. When you enter the land which the Lord will give you as he promised, you shall observe this rite. Then, when your children ask you, "What is the meaning of this rite?" you shall say, "It is the Lord's Passover, for he passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt when he struck the Egyptians but spared our houses."' The people bowed down and prostrated themselves.

28 The Israelites went and did all that the Lord had commanded Moses and Aaron; and by midnight the Lord had struck down every first-born in Egypt, from the first-born of Pharaoh on his throne to the first-born of the captive in the dungeon, and the first-born of cattle. Before night was over Pharaoh rose, he and all his courtiers and all the Egyptians, and a great cry of anguish went up, because not a house in Egypt was without its dead. Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron while it was still night and said, 'Up with you! Be off, and leave my people, you and your Israelites. Go and worship the Lord, as you ask; take your sheep and cattle, and go; and ask God's blessing on me also.' The Egyptians urged on the people and hurried them out of the country, 'or else', they said, 'we shall all be dead.' The people picked up their dough before it was leavened, wrapped their kneading troughs in their cloaks, and slung them on their shoulders. Meanwhile the Israelites had done as Moses had told them, asking the Egyptians for jewellery of silver and gold and for clothing. As the Lord had made the Egyptians well-disposed towards them, they let them have what they asked; in this way they plundered the Egyptians.

The exodus from Egypt

37 THE ISRAELITES SET OUT from Rameses on the way to Succoth, about six hundred thousand men on foot, not counting dependants. And with them too went a large company of every kind, and cattle in great numbers, both flocks and herds. The dough they had brought from Egypt they baked into unleavened cakes, because there was no leaven; for they had been driven out of Egypt and allowed no time even to get food ready for themselves.

40 The Israelites had been settled in Egypt for four hundred and thirty years. At the end of four hundred and thirty years, on this very day, all the tribes of the Lord came out of Egypt. This was a night of vigil as the Lord waited to bring them out of Egypt. It is the Lord's night; all Israelites keep their vigil generation after generation.

43 The Lord said to Moses and Aaron: These are the rules for the Passover. No foreigner may partake of it; any bought slave may eat it if you have circumcised him; no stranger or hired man may eat it. Each lamb must be eaten inside the one house, and you must not take any of the flesh outside the house. You must not break a single bone of it. The whole community of Israel shall keep this feast. If there are aliens living with you and they are to keep the Passover to the Lord, every male of them must be circumcised, and then he can take part; he shall rank as native-born. No one who is uncircumcised may eat of it. The same law shall apply both to the native-born and to the alien who is living among you.

50 The Israelites did all that the Lord had commanded Moses and Aaron; and on this very day the Lord brought the Israelites out of Egypt mustered in their tribal hosts.

EXODUS 13

1 The Lord spoke to Moses and said, 'Every first-born, the first birth of every womb among the Israelites, you must dedicate to me, both man and beast; it is mine.'

3 Then Moses said to the people, 'Remember this day, the day on which you have come out of Egypt, the land of slavery, because the Lord by the strength of his hand has brought you out. No leaven may be eaten this day, for today, in the month of Abib, is the day of your exodus; and when the Lord has brought you into the country of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Hivites, and Jebusites, the land which he swore to your forefathers to give you, a land flowing with milk and honey, then you must observe this rite in this same month. For seven days you shall eat unleavened cakes, and on the seventh day there shall be a pilgrim-feast of the Lord. Only unleavened cakes shall be eaten during the seven days; nothing fermented and no leaven shall be seen throughout your territory. On that day you shall tell your son, "This commemorates what the Lord did for me when I came out of Egypt." You shall have the record of it as a sign upon your hand, and upon your forehead as a reminder, to make sure that the law of the Lord is always on your lips, because the Lord with a strong hand brought you out of Egypt. This is a rule, and you shall keep it at the appointed time from year to year.

11 'When the Lord has brought you into the land of the Canaanites as he swore to you and to your forefathers, and given it to you, you shall surrender to the Lord the first birth of every womb; and of all first-born offspring of your cattle the males belong to the Lord. Every first-born male ass you may redeem with a kid or lamb, but if you do not redeem it, you must break its neck. Every first-born among your sons you must redeem.

14 When in time to come your son asks you what this means, you shall say to him, "By the strength of his hand the Lord brought us out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. When Pharaoh proved stubborn and refused to let us go, the Lord killed all the first-born in Egypt both man and beast. That is why I sacrifice to the Lord the first birth of eve ry womb if it is a male and redeem every first-born of my sons. You shall have the record of it as a sign upon your hand, and upon your forehead as a phylactery, because by the strength of his hand the Lord brought us out of Egypt."'

17 NOW WHEN PHARAOH LET THE PEOPLE GO, God did not guide them by the road towards the Philistines; although that was the shortest; for he said, 'The people may change their minds when they see war before them, and turn back to Egypt.' So God made them go round by way of the wilderness towards the Red Sea, and the fifth generation of Israelites departed from Egypt.

19 Moses took the bones of Joseph with him, because Joseph had exacted an oath from the Israelites: 'Some day', he said, 'God will show his care for you, and then, as you go, you must 'take my bones with you.'

20 They set out from Succoth and encamped at Etham on the edge of the wilderness. And all the time the Lord went before them, by day a pillar of cloud to guide them on their journey, by night a pillar of fire to give them light, so that they could travel night and day. The pillar of cloud never left its place in front of the people by day, nor the pillar of fire by night.

EXODUS 14

1 The Lord spoke to Moses and said, 'Speak to the Israelites: they are to turn back and encamp before Pi-hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea to the east of Baal-zephon; your camp shall be opposite, by the sea. Pharaoh will then think that the Israelites are finding themselves in difficult country, and are hemmed in by the wilderness. I will make Pharaoh obstinate, and he will pursue them, so that I may win glory for myself at the expense of Pharaoh and all his army; and the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord.' The Israelites did as they were bidden.

5 When the king of Egypt was told that the Israelites had slipped away, he and his courtiers changed their minds completely, and said, 'What have we done? We have let Our Israelite slaves go free!' So Pharaoh put horses to his chariot, and took his troops with him. He took six hundred picked chariots and all the other chariots of Egypt, with a commander in each. Then Pharaoh king of Egypt, made obstinate by the Lord, pursued the Israelites as they marched defiantly away. The Egyptians, all Pharaoh's chariots and horses, cavalry and infantry, pursued them and overtook them encamped beside the sea by Pi-hahiroth to the east of Baal-zephon. Pharaoh was almost upon them when the Israelites looked up and saw the Egyptians close behind. In their terror they clamoured to the Lord for help and said to Moses, 'Were there no graves in Egypt, that you should have brought us here to die in the wilderness? See what you have done to us by bringing us out of Egypt! Is not this just what we meant when we said in Egypt, "Leave us alone; let us be slaves to the Egyptians"? We would rather be slaves to the Egyptians than die here in the wilderness'.' 'Have no fear,' Moses answered; 'stand firm and see the deliverance that the Lord will bring you this day; for as sure as you see the Egyptians now, you will never see them again. The Lord will fight for you; so hold your peace.'

15 The Lord said to Moses, 'What is the meaning of this clamour? Tell the Israelites to strike camp. And you shall raise high your staff, stretch out your hand over the sea and cleave it in two, so that the Israelites can pass through the sea on dry ground. For my part I will make the Egyptians obstinate and they will come after you; thus will I win glory for myself at the expense of Pharaoh and his army, chariots and cavalry all together. The Egyptians will know that I am the Lord when I win glory for myself at the expense of their Pharaoh, his chariots and cavalry.'

19 The angel of God, who had kept in front of the Israelites, moved away to the rear. The pillar of cloud moved from the front and took its place behind them and so came between the Egyptians and the Israelites. And the cloud brought on darkness and early nightfall, so that contact was lost throughout the night.

21 Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the Lord drove the sea away all night with a strong east wind and turned the sea-bed into dry land. The waters were torn apart, and the Israelites went through the sea on the dry ground, while the waters made a wall for them to right and to left. The Egyptians went in pursuit of them far into the sea, all Pharaoh's horse, his chariots, and his cavalry. In the morning watch the Lord looked down on the Egyptian army through the pillar of fire and cloud, and he threw them into a panic. He clogged their chariot wheels and made them lumber along heavily, so that the Egyptians said, 'It is the Lord fighting for Israel against Egypt; let us flee.' Then the Lord said to Moses, 'Stretch out your hand over the sea, and let the water flow back over the Egyptians, their chariots and their cavalry.' So Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and at daybreak the water returned to its accustomed place; but the Egyptians were in flight as it advanced, and the Lord swept them out into the sea. The water flowed back and covered all Pharaoh's army, the chariots and the cavalry, which had pressed the pursuit into the sea. Not one man was left alive. Meanwhile the Israelites had passed along the dry ground through the sea, with the water making a wall for them to right and to left. That day the Lord saved Israel from the power of Egypt, and the Israelites saw the Egyptians lying dead on the sea-shore. When Israel saw the great power which the Lord had put forth against Egypt, all the people feared the Lord, and they put 'their faith in him and in Moses his servant.

EXODUS 15

1 Then Moses and the Israelites sang this song to the Lord:

I will sing to the Lord, for he has risen up in triumph;
the horse and his rider he has hurled into the sea.
2       The Lord is my refuge and my defence,
he has shown himself my deliverer.
He is my God, and I will glorify him;
he is my father's God, and I will exalt him.

The Lord is a warrior: the Lord is his name.
The chariots of Pharaoh and his army
he has cast into the sea;
the flower of his officers
are engulfed in the Red Sea.
The watery abyss has covered them,
they sartk into the depths like a stone.

Thy right hand, O Lord, is majestic in strength:
thy right hand, O Lord, shattered the enemy.
In the fullness of thy triumph
thou didst cast the rebels down:
thou didst let loose thy fury; it consumed them like chaff.
At the blast of thy anger the sea piled up:
the waters stood up like a bank:
out at sea the great deep congealed.
The enemy said, 'I will pursue, I willovertake;
I will divide the spoil,
I will glut my appetite upon them;
I will draw my sword,
I will rid myself of them.'

10      Thou didst blow with thy blast;
the sea covered them.
They sank like lead in the swelling waves.
Who is like thee, O Lord, among the gods?
Who is like thee, majestic in holiness,
worthy of awe and praise, who workest wonders?
Thou didst stretch out thy right hand, earth engulfed them.
In thy constant love thou hast led the people
whom thou didst ransom:
thou hast guided them by thy strength
to thy holy dwelling-place.
Nations heard and trembled;
agony seized the dwellers in Philistia.
Then the chieftains of Edorn were dismayed,
trembling seized the leaders of Moab,
all the inhabitants of Canaan were in turmoil;
terror and dread fell upon them:
through the might of thy arm they stayed stone-still,
where thy people passed, O Lord,
while the people whom thou madest thy own passed by.
Thou broughtest them in and didst plant them
in the mount that is thy possession,
the dwelling-place, O Lord, of thy own making,
the sanctuary, O Lord, which thy own hands prepared.
18      The Lord shall reign for ever and for ever.

19 For Pharaoh's horse, both chariots and cavalry, went into the sea, and the Lord brought back the waters over them, but Israel had passed through the sea on dry ground. And Miriam the prophetess, Aaron's sister, took up her tambourine, and all the women followed her, dancing to the sound of tambourines; and Miriam sang them this refrain:

21 Sing to the Lord, for he has risen up in triumph;
        the horse and his rider he has hurled into the sea.

22 MOSES LED ISRAEL FROM THE RED SEA out into the wilderness of Shur. For three days they travelled through the wilderness without finding water. They came to Marah, but could not drink the Marah water because it was bitter; that is why the place was called Marah. The people complained to Moses and asked, 'What are we to drink?' Moses cried to the Lord, and the Lord showed him a log which he threw into the water, and then the water became sweet.

26 It was there that the Lord laid down a precept and rule of life; there he put them to the test. He said, 'If only you will obey the Lord your God, if you will do what is right in his eyes, if you will listen to his commands and keep all his statutes, then I will never bring upon you any of the sufferings which I brought on the Egyptians; for I the Lord am your healer.'

27 They came to Elim, where there were twelve springs and seventy palm-trees, and there they encamped beside the water.

EXODUS 16

1 The whole community of the Israelites set out from Elim and came into the wilderness of Sin, which lies between Elim and Sinai. This was on the fifteenth day of the second month after they had left Egypt.

2 The Israelites complained to Moses and Aaron in the wilderness and said, 'If only we had died at the Lord's hand in Egypt, where we sat round the fleshpots and had plenty of bread to eat! But you have brought us out into this wilderness to let this whole assembly starve to death.' The Lord said to Moses, 'I will rain down bread from heaven for you. Each day the people shall go out and gather a day's supply, so that I can put them to the test and see whether they will follow my instructions or not. But on the sixth day, when they prepare what they bring in, it shall be twice as much as they have gathered on other days.' Moses and Aaron then said to all the Israelites, 'In the evening you will know that it was the Lord who brought you out of Egypt, and in the morning you will see the glory of the Lord, because he has heeded your complaints against him; it is not against us that you bring your complaints; we are nothing.' 'You shall know this', Moses said, 'when the Lord, in answer to your complaints, gives you flesh to eat in the evening, and in the morning bread in plenty. What are we? It is against the Lord that you bring your complaints, and not against us.'

9 Moses told Aaron to say to the whole community of Israel, 'Come into the presence of the Lord, for he has heeded your complaints.' While Aaron was speaking to the community of the Israelites, they looked towards the wilderness, and there was the glory of the Lord appearing in the cloud. The Lord spoke to Moses and said, 'I have heard the complaints of the Israelites. Say to them, "Between dusk and dark you will have flesh to eat and in the morning bread in plenty. You shall know that I the Lord am your God."'

13 That evening a flock of quails flew in and settled all over the camp, and in the morning a fall of dew lay all around it. When the dew was gone, there in the wilderness, fine flakes appeared, fine as hoar-frost on the ground. When the Israelites saw it, they said to one another, 'What is that?', because they did not know what it was. Moses said to them, 'That is the bread which the Lord has given you to eat. This is the command the Lord has given: "Each of you is to gather as much as he can eat: let every man take an omer a head for every person in his tent."' The Israelite's did this, and they gathered, some more, some less, but when they measured it by the omer, those who had gathered more had not too much, and those who had gathered less had not too little. Each had just as much as he could eat. Moses said,' 'No one may keep any of it till morning.' Some, however, did not listen to Moses; they kept part of it till morning, and it became full of maggots and stank, and Moses was angry with them. Each morning every man gathered as much as he could eat, and when the sun grew hot, it melted away. On the sixth day they gathered twice as much food, two omers each. All the chiefs of the community came and told Moses. 'This', he answered, 'is what the Lord has said: "Tomorrow is a day of sacred rest, a sabbath holy to the Lord." So bake what you want to bake now, and boil what you want to boil; put aside what remains over and keep it safe till morning.' So they put it aside till morning as Moses had commanded, and it did not stink, nor did maggots appear in it. 'Eat it today,' said Moses, 'because today is a sabbath of the Lord. Today you will find none outside. For six days you may gather it, but on the seventh day, the sabbath, there will be none.'

27 Some of the people did go out to gather it on the seventh day, but they found none. The Lord said to Moses, 'How long will you refuse to obey my commands and instructions? The Lord has given you the sabbath, and so he gives you two days' food every sixth day. Let each man stay where he is; no one may stir from his home on the seventh day.' And the people kept the sabbath on the seventh day.

31 Israel called the food manna; it was white, like coriander seed, and it tasted like a wafer made with honey.

32 'This', said Moses, 'is the command which the Lord has given: "Take a full omer of it to be kept for future generations, so that they may see the bread with which I fed you in the wilderness when I brought you out of Egypt."' So Moses said to Aaron, 'Take a jar and fill it with an omer of manna, and store it in the presence of the Lord to be kept for future generations.' Aaron did as the Lord had commanded Moses, and stored it before the Testimony for safe keeping. The Israelites ate the manna for forty years until they came to a land where they could settle; they ate it until they came to the border of Canaan. (An omer is One tenth of an ephah.)

EXODUS 17

1 The whole community of Israel set out from the wilderness of Sin and travelled by stages as the Lord told them. They encamped at Rephidim, where there was no water for the people to drink, and a dispute arose between them and Moses. When they said, 'Give us water to drink', Moses said, 'Why do you dispute with me? Why do you challenge the Lord?' There the people became so thirsty that they raised an outcry against Moses: 'Why have you brought us out of Egypt with our children and our herds to let us all die of thirst?' Moses cried to the Lord, 'What shall I do with these people? In a moment they will be stoning me.' The Lord answered, 'Go forward ahead of the people; take with you some of the elders of Israel and the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go. You will find me waiting for you there, by a rock in Horeb. Strike the rock; water will pour out of it, and the people shall drink.' Moses did this in the sight of the elders of Israel. He named the place Massah and Meribah, because the Israelites had disputed with him and challenged the Lord with their question, 'Is the Lord in our midst or not?'

8 The Amalekites came and attacked Israel at Rephidim. Moses said to Joshua, 'Pick your men, and march out tomorrow to fight for us against Amalek; and I will take my stand on the hill-top with the staff of God in my hand.' Joshua carried out his orders and fought against Amalek while Moses, Aaron and Hur climbed to the top of the hill. Whenever Moses raised his hands Israel had the advantage, and when he lowered his hands Amalek had the advantage. But when his arms grew heavy they took a stone and put it under him and, as he sat, Aaron and Hur held up his hands, one on each side, so that his hands remained steady till sunset. Thus Joshua defeated Amalek and put its people to the sword.

14 The Lord said to Moses, 'Record this in writing, and tell it to Joshua in these words: "I am resolved to blot Out all memory of Amalek from under heaven."' Moses built an altar, and named it Jehovah-nissi and said, 'My oath upon it: the Lord is at war with Amalek generation after generation.'

EXODUS 18

1 JETHRO PRIEST OF MIDIAN, father-in-law of Moses, heard all that God had done for Moses and Israel his people, and how the Lord had brought Israel out of Egypt. When Moses had dismissed his wife Zipporah, Jethro his father-in-law had received her and her two sons. The name of the one was Gershom, 'for', said Moses, 'I have become an alien living in a foreign land'; the other's name was Eliezer, 'for', he said, 'the God of my father was my help and saved me from Pharaoh's sword.'

5 Jethro, Moses' father-in-law, now came to him with his sons and his wife, to the wilderness where he was encamped at the mountain of God. Moses was told, 'Here is Jethro, your father-in-law, coming to you with your wife and her two sons.' Moses went out to meet his father-in-law, bowed low to him and kissed him, and they greeted one another. When they came into the tent Moses told him all that the Lord had done to Pharaoh and to Egypt for Israel's sake, and about all their hardships on the journey, and how the Lord had saved them. Jethro rejoiced at all the good the Lord had done for Israel in saving them from the power of Egypt. He said, 'Blessed be the Lord who has saved you from the power of Egypt and of Pharaoh. Now I know that the Lord is the greatest of all gods, because he has delivered the people from the power of the Egyptians who dealt so arrogantly with them.' Jethro, Moses' father-in-law, brought a whole-offering and sacrifices for God; and Aaron and all the elders of Israel came and shared the meal with Jethro in the presence of God.

13 The next day Moses took his seat to settle disputes among the people, and they were standing round him from morning till evening. When Jethro saw all that he was doing for the people, he said, 'What are you doing for all these people? Why do you sit alone with all of them standing round you from morning till evening?' 'The people come to me', Moses answered, 'to seek God's guidance. Whenever there is a dispute among them, they come to me, and I decide between man and man. I declare the statutes and laws of God.' But his father-in-law said to Moses, 'This is not the best way to do it. You will only wear yourself out and wear out all the people who are here. The task is too heavy for you; you cannot do it by yourself. Now listen to me: take my advice, and God be with you. It is for you to be the people's representative before God, and bring their disputes to him. You must instruct them in the statutes and laws, and teach them how they must behave and what they must do. But you must yourself search for capable, God-fearing men among all the people, honest and incorruptible men, and appoint them over the people as officers over units of a thousand, of a hundred, of fifty or of ten. They shall sit as a permanent court for the people; they must refer difficult cases to you but decide simple cases themselves. In this way your burden will be lightened, and they will share it with you. If you do this, God will give you strength, and you will be able to go on. And, moreover, this whole people will here and now regain peace and harmony.' Moses listened to his father-in-law and did all he had suggested. He chose capable men from all Israel and appointed them leaders of the people, officers over units of a thousand, of a hundred, of fifty or of ten. They sat as a permanent court, bringing the difficult cases to Moses but deciding simple cases themselves. Moses set his father-in-law on his way, and he went back to his own country.

Israel at Mount Sinai

EXODUS 19

1 IN THE THIRD MONTH after Israel had left Egypt, they came to the wilderness of Sinai. They set out from Rephidim and entered the wilderness of Sinai, where they encamped, pitching their tents opposite the mountain. Moses went up the mountain of God, and the Lord called to him from the mountain and said, 'Speak thus to the house of Jacob, and tell this to the sons of Israel: You have seen with your own eyes what I did to Egypt, and how I have carried you on eagles' wings and brought you here to me. If only you will now listen to me and keep my covenant, then out of all peoples you shall become my special possession; for the whole earth is mine. You shall be my kingdom of priests, my holy nation. These are the words you shall speak to the Israelites.'

7 Moses came and summoned the elders of the people and set before them all these commands which the Lord had laid upon him. The people all answered together, 'Whatever the Lord has said we will do.' Moses brought this answer back to the Lord. The Lord said to Moses, 'I am now coming to you in a thick cloud, so that I may speak to you in the hearing of the people, and their faith in you may never fail.' Moses told the Lord what the people had said, and the Lord said to him, 'Go to the people and hallow them today and tomorrow and make them wash their clothes. They must be ready by the third day, because on the third day the Lord will descend upon Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people. You must put barriers round the mountain and say, "Take care not to go up the mountain or even to touch the edge of it." Any man who touches the mountain must be put to death. No hand shall touch him; he shall be stoned or shot dead: neither man nor beast may live. But when the ram's horn sounds, they may go up the mountain.' Moses came down from the mountain to the people. He hallowed them and they washed their clothes. He said to the people, 'Be ready by the third day; do not go near a woman.' On the third day, when morning came, there were peals of thunder and flashes of lightning, dense cloud on the mountain and a loud trumpet blast; the people in the camp were all terrified.

17 Moses brought the people out from the camp to meet God, and they took their stand at the foot of the mountain. Mount Sinai was all smoking because the Lord had come down upon it in fire; the smoke went up like the smoke of a kiln; all the people were terrified, and the sound of the trumpet grew ever louder. Whenever Moses spoke, God answered him in a peal of thunder. The Lord came down upon the top of Mount Sinai and summoned Moses to the mountain-top, and Moses went up. The Lord said to Moses, 'Go down; warn the people solemnly that they must not force their way through to the Lord to see him, or many of them will perish. Even the priests, who have access to the Lord, must hallow themselves, for fear that the Lord may break out against them.' Moses answered the Lord, 'The people cannot come up Mount Sinai, because thou thyself didst solemnly warn us to set a barrier to the mountain and so to keep it holy.' The Lord therefore said to him, 'Go down; then come up and bring Aaron with you, but let neither priests nor people force their way up to the Lord, for fear that he may break out against them.' So Moses went down to the people and spoke to them.

EXODUS 20

1 God spoke, and these were his words:

2 I am the Lord your God who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.

3 You shall have no other god to set against me.

4 You shall not make a carved image for yourself nor the likeness of anything in the heavens above, or on the earth below, or in the waters under the earth.

5 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous god. I punish the children for the sins of the fathers to the third and fourth generations of those who hate me. But I keep faith with thousands, with a those who love me and keep my commandments.

7 You shall not make wrong use of the name of the Lord your God; the Lord will not leave unpunished the man who misuses his name.

8 Remember to keep the sabbath day holy. You have six days to labour and do all your work. But the seventh day is a sabbath of the Lord your God; that day you shall not do any work, you, your son or your daughter, your slave or your slave-girl, your cattle or the alien within your gates; for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and on the seventh day he rested. Therefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day and declared it holy.

12 Honour your father and your mother, that you may live long in the land which the Lord your God is giving you.

13 You shall not commit murder.

14 You shall not commit adultery.

15 You shall not steal.

16 You shall not give false evidence against your neighbour.

17 You shall not covet your neighbour's house; you shall not covet your neighbour's wife, his slave, his slave-girl, his ox, his ass, or anything that belongs to him.

18 When all the people saw how it thundered and the lightning flashed, when they heard the trumpet sound and saw the mountain smoking, they trembled and stood: at a distance. 'Speak-to us yourself,' they said to Moses, 'and we will listen; but if God speaks to us we shall die.' Moses answered, 'Do not be afraid. God has come only to test you, so that the fear of him may remain with you and keep you from sin.' So the people stood at a distance, while Moses approached the dark cloud where God was.

22 THE LORD SAID TO MOSES, Say this to the Israelites: You know now that I have spoken to you from heaven; You shall not make gods of silver to be worshipped as well as me, nor shall you make yourselves gods of gold. You shall make an altar of earth for me, and you shall sacrifice on it both your whole-offerings and your shared-offerings, your sheep and your cattle. Wherever I cause my name to be invoked, I will come to you and bless you. If you make an altar of stones for me, you must not build it of hewn stones, for if you use a chisel on it, you will profane it. You must not mount up to my altar by steps, in case your private parts be exposed on it.

EXODUS 21

1 These are the laws you shall set before them:

2 When you buy a Hebrew slave, he shall be your slave for six years, but in the seventh year he shall go free and pay nothing.

3 If he comes to you alone, he shall go away alone; but if he is married, his wife shall go away with him.

4 If his master gives him a wife, and she bears him sons or daughters, the woman and her children shall belong to her master, and the man shall go away alone. But if the slave should say, 'I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go free', then his master shall bring him to God: he shall bring him to the door or the door-post, and his master shall pierce his ear with an awl, and the man shall be his slave for life.

7 When a man sells his daughter into slavery, she shall not go free as a male slave may. If her master has not had intercourse with her and she does not please him, he shall let her be ransomed. He has treated her unfairly and therefore has no right to sell her to strangers. If he assigns her to his son, he shall allow her the rights of a daughter. If he takes another woman, he shall not deprive the first of meat, clothes, and conjugal rights. If he does not provide her with these three things, she shall go free without any payment.

12 Whoever strikes another man and kills him shall be put to death. But if he did not act with intent, but they met by act of God, the slayer may flee to a place which I will appoint for you. But if a man has the presumption to kill another by treachery, you shall take him even from my altar to be put to death.

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

16 Whoever kidnaps a man shall be put to death, whether he has sold him, or the man is found in his possession.

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

18 When men quarrel and one hits another with a stone or with a spade, and the man is not killed but takes to his bed; if he recovers so as to walk about outside with a stick, then the one who struck hirn has no liability, except that he shall pay for loss of time and shall see that he is cured.

20 When a man strikes his slave or his slave-girl with a stick and the slave dies on the spot, he must be punished. But he shall not be punished if the slave survives for one day or two, because he is worth money to his master.

22 When, in the course of a brawl, a man knocks against a pregnant woman so that she has a miscarnage but suffers no further hurt, then the offender must pay whatever fine the woman's husband demands after assessment.

23 Wherever hurt is done, you shall give life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, bruise for bruise, wound for wound.

26 When a man strikes his slave or slave-girl in the eye and destroys it, he shall let the slave go free in compensation for the eye. When he knocks out the tooth of a slave or a slave-girl, he shall let the slave go free in compensation for the tooth.

28 When an ox gores a man or a woman to death, the ox shall be stoned, and its flesh may not be eaten; the owner of the ox shall be free from liability, If, however, the ox has for some time past been a vicious animal, and the owner has been duly warned but has not kept it under control, and the ox kills a man or a woman, then the ox shall be stoned, and the owner shalt be put to death as well. If, however, the penalty is commuted for a money payment, he shall pay in redemption of his life whatever is imposed upon him. If the ox gores a son or a daughter, the same rule shall apply. If the ox gores a slave or slave-girl, its owner shall pay thirty shekels of silver to their master, and the ox shall be stoned.

33 When a man removes the cover of a well or digs a well and leaves it uncovered, then if an ox or an ass falls into it, the owner of the well shall make good the loss. He shall repay the owner of the beast in silver, and the dead beast shall be his.

35 When one man's ox butts another's and kills it, they shall sell the live ox, share the price and also share the dead beast. But if it is known that the ox has for some time past been vicious and the owner has not kept it under control, he shall make good the loss, ox for ox, but the dead beast is his.

EXODUS 22

1 When a man steals an ox or a sheep and slaughters or sells it, he shall repay five beasts for the ox and four sheep for the sheep. He shall pay in full; if he has no means, he shall be sold to pay for the theft. But if the animal is found alive in his possession, be it ox, ass, or sheep, he shall repay two.

If a burglar is caught in the act and is fatally injured, it is not murder; but if he breaks in after sunrise and is fatally injured, then it is murder.

5 When a man burns off a field or a vineyard and lets the fire spread so that it burns another man's field, he shall make restitution from his own field according to the yield expected; and if the whole field is laid waste, he shall make restitution from the best part of his own field or vineyard.

6 When a fire starts and spreads to a heap of brushwood, so that sheaves, or standing corn, or a whole field is destroyed, he who started the fire shall make full restitution.

7 When one man gives another silver or chattels for safe keeping, and they are stolen from that man's house, the thief, if he is found, shall restore twofold. But if the thief is not found, the owner of the house shall appeal before God, to make a declaration that he has not touched his neighbour's property. In every case of law-breaking involving an ox, an ass, or a sheep, a cloak, or any lost property which may be claimed, each party shall bring his case before God; he whom God declares to be in the wrong shall restore twofold to his neighbour.

10 When a man gives an ass, an ox, a sheep or any beast into his neighbour's keeping, and it dies or is injured or is carried off, there being no witness, the neighbour shall swear by the Lord that he has not touched the man's property. The owner shall accept this, and no restitution shall be made. If it has been stolen from him, he shall make restitution to the owner. If it has been mauled by a wild beast, he shall bring it in as evidence; he shall not make restitution for what has been mauled.

14 When a man borrows a beast from his neighbour and it is injured or dies while its owner is not with it, the borrower shall make full restitution; but if the owner is with it, the borrower shall not make restitution. If it was hired, only the hire shall be due.

16 When a man seduces a virgin who is not yet betrothed, he shall pay the bride-price for her to be his wife. If her father refuses to give her to him, the seducer shall pay in silver a sum equal to the bride-price for virgins.

18 You shall not allow a witch to live.

19 Whoever has unnatural connection with a beast shall be put to death.

20 Whoever sacrifices to any god but the Lord shall be put to death under solemn ban.

21 You shall not wrong an alien, or be hard upon him; you were yourselves aliens in Egypt. You shall not ill-treat any widow or fatherless child. If you do, be sure that I will listen if they appeal to me; my anger will be roused and I will kill you with the sword; your own wives shall become widows and your children fatherless.

25 If you advance money to any poor man amongst my people, you shall not act like a money-lender: you must not exact interest in advance from him.

26 If you take your neighbour's cloak in pawn, you shall return it to him by sunset, because it is his only covering. It is the cloak in which he wraps his body; in what else can he sleep? If he appeals to me, I will listen, for I am full of compassion.

28 You shall not revile God, nor curse a chief of your own people.

29 You shall not hold back the first of your harvest, whether corn or wine. You shall give me your first-born sons. You shall do the same with your oxen and your sheep. They shall stay with the mother for seven days; on the eighth day you shall give them to me.

31 You shall be holy to me: you shall not eat the flesh of anything in the open country killed by beasts, but you shall throw it to the dogs.

EXODUS 23

1 You shall not spread a baseless rumour. You shall not make common cause with a wicked man by giving malicious evidence.

2 You shall not be led into wrongdoing by the majority, nor, when you give evidence in a lawsuit, shall you side with the majority to pervert justice; nor shall you favour the poor man in his suit.

4 When you come upon your enemy's ox or ass straying, you shall take it back to him. When you see the ass of someone who hates you lying helpless under its load, however unwilling you may be to help it, you must give him a hand with it.

6 You shall not deprive the poor man of justice in his suit. Avoid all lies, and do not cause the death of the innocent and the guiltless; for I the Lord will never acquit the guilty. You shall not accept a bribe, for bribery makes the discerning man blind and the just man give a crooked answer.

9 You shall not oppress the alien, for you know how it feels to be an alien; you were aliens yourselves in Egypt.

10 For six years you may sow your land and gather its produce; but in the seventh year you shall let it lie fallow and leave it alone. It shall provide food for the poor of your people, and what they leave the wild animals may eat. You shall do likewise with your vineyard and your olive-grove.

12 For six days you may do your work, but on the seventh day you shall abstain from work, so that your ox and your ass may rest, and your home-born slave and the alien may refresh themselves.

13 Be attentive to every word of mine. You shall not invoke other gods: your lips shall not speak their names.

14 Three times a year you shall keep a pilgrim-feast to me. You shall celebrate the pilgrim-feast of Unleavened Bread for seven days; you shall eat unleavened cakes as I have commanded you, at the appointed time in the month of Abib, for in that month you came out of Egypt.

16 No one shall come into my presence empty-handed. You shall celebrate Israel at the pilgrim-feast of Harvest, with the first-fruits of your work in sowing the land, and the pilgrim-feast of Ingathering at the end of the year, when you bring in the fruits of all your work on the land. These three times a year shall all your males come into the presence of the Lord God.

18 You shall not offer the blood of my sacrifice at the same time as anything leavened. The fat of my festal offering shall not remain overnight till morning.

19 You shall bring the choicest first-fruits of your soil to the house of the Lord your God. You shall not boil a kid in its mother's milk.

20 And now I send an angel before you to guard you on your way and to bring you to the place I have prepared. Take heed of him and listen to his voice. Do not defy him; he will not pardon your rebelliousness, for my authority rests in him. If you will only listen to his voice and do all I tell you, then I will be an enemy to your enemies, and I will harass those who harass you. My angel will go before you and bring you to the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Canaanites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, and I will make an end of them. You are not to bow down to their gods, nor worship them, nor observe their rites, but you shall tear down all their images and smash their sacred pillars. Worship the Lord your God, and he will bless your bread and your water. I will take away all sickness out of your midst. None shall miscarry or be barren in your land. I will grant you a full span of life.

27 I will send my terror before you and throw into confusion all the peoples whom you find in your path. I will make all your enemies turn their backs. I will spread panic before you to drive out in front of you the Hivites, the Canannites and the Hittites. I will not drive them out all in one year, or the land would become waste and the wild beasts too many for you. I will drive them out little by little until your numbers have grown enough to take possession of the whole country. I will establish your frontiers from the Red Sea to the sea of the Philistines, and from the wilderness to the River. I will give the inhabitants of the country into your power, and you shall drive them out before you. You shall make no covenant with them and their gods. They shall not stay in your land for fear they make you sin against me; for then you would worship their gods, and in this way you would be ensnared.

EXODUS 24

1 THEN HE SAID TO MOSES, 'Come up to the Lord, you and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel. While you are still at a distance, you are to bow down; and then Moses shall approach the Lord by himself, but not the others. The people may not go up with him at all.'

3 Moses came and told the people all the words of the Lord, all his laws. The whole people answered with one voice and said, 'We will do all that the Lord has told us.' Moses wrote down all the words of the Lord. He rose early in the morning and built an altar at the foot of the mountain, and put up twelve sacred pillars, one for each of the twelve tribes of Israel. He then sent the young men of Israel and they sacrificed bulls to the Lord as whole-offerings and shared-offerings. Moses took half the blood and put it in basins and the other half he flung against the altar. Then he took the book of the covenant and read it aloud for all the people to hear. They said, 'We will obey, and do all that the Lord has said.' Moses then took the blood and flung it over the people, saying, 'This is the blood of the covenant which the Lord has made with you on the terms of this book.'

9 Moses went up with Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel, and they saw the God of Israel. Under his feet there was, as it were, a pavement of sapphire, clear blue as the very heavens; but the Lord did not stretch out his hand towards the leaders of Israel. They stayed there before God; they ate and they drank. The Lord said to Moses, 'Come up to me on the mountain, stay there and let me give you the tablets of stone, the law and the commandment, which I have written down that you may teach them.' Moses arose with Joshua his assistant and went up the mountain of God; he said to the elders, 'Wait for us here until we come back to you. You have Aaron and Hur; if anyone has a dispute, let him go to them.' So Moses went up the mountain and a cloud covered it. The glory of the Lord rested upon Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered the mountain for six days; on the seventh day he called to Moses out of the cloud. The glory of the Lord looked to the Israelites like a devouring fire on the mountain-top. Moses entered the cloud and went up the mountain; there he stayed forty days and forty nights.

EXODUS 25

1 THE LORD SPOKE TO MOSES AND SAID: Tell the Israelites to set aside a contribution for me; you shall accept whatever contribution each man shall freely offer. This is what you shall accept: gold, silver, copper; violet, purple, and scarlet yarn; fine linen and goats' hair; tanned rams' skins, porpoise-hides, and acacia-wood; oil for the lamp, balsam for the anointing oil and for the fragrant incense; cornelian and other stones ready for setting in the ephod and the breast-piece. Make me a sanctuary, and I will dwell among them. Make it exactly according to the design I show you, the design for the Tabernacle and for all its furniture. This is how you must make it:

10 Make an Ark, a chest of acacia-wood, two and a half cubits long, one cubit and a half wide, and one cubit and a half high. Overlay it with pure gold both inside and out, and put a band of gold all round it. Cast four gold rings for it, and fasten them to its four feet, two rings on each side. Make poles of acacia-wood and plate them with gold, and insert the poles in the rings at the sides of the Ark to lift it. The poles shall remain in the rings of the Ark and never be removed. Put into the Ark the Tokens of the Covenant, which I shall give you. Make a cover of pure gold, two and a half cubits long and one cubit and a half wide. Make two gold cherubim of beaten work at the ends of the cover, one at each end; make each cherub of one piece with the cover. They shall be made with wings outspread and pointing upwards, and shall screen the cover with their wings. They shall be face to face, looking inwards over the cover. Put the cover above the Ark, and put into the Ark the Tokens that I shall give you. It is there that I shall meet you, and from above the cover, between the two cherubim over the Ark of the Tokens, I shall deliver to you all my commands for the Israelites.

23 Make a table of acacia-wood, two cubits long, one cubit wide, and one cubit and a half high. Overlay it with pure gold, and put a band of gold all round it. Make a rim round it a hand's breadth wide, and a gold band round the rim. Make four gold rings for the table, and put the rings at the four corners by the legs. The rings, which are to receive the poles for carrying the table, must be adjacent to the rim. Make the poles of acacia-wood and plate them with gold; they are to be used for carrying the table. Make its dishes and saucers, and its flagons and bowls from which drink-offerings maybe poured: make them of pure gold. Put the Bread of the Presence on the table, to be always before me.

31 Make a lamp-stand of pure gold. The lamp-stand, stem and branches, shall be of beaten work, its cups, both calyxes and petals, shall be of one piece with it. There are to be six branches springing from its sides; three branches of the lamp-stand shall spring from the one side and three branches from the other side. There shall be three cups shaped like almond blossoms, with calyx and petals, on the first branch, three cups shaped like almond blossoms, with calyx and petals, on the next branch, and similarly for all six branches springing from the lamp-stand. On the main stem of the lamp-stand there are to be four cups shaped like almond blossoms, with calyx and petals, and there shall be calyxes of one piece with it under the six branches which spring from the lamp-stand, a single calyx under each pair of branches. The calyxes and the branches are to be of one piece with it, all a single piece of beaten work of pure gold. Make seven lamps for this and mount them to shed light over the space in front of it. Its tongs and firepans shall be of pure gold. The lamp-stand and all these fittings shall be made from one talent of pure gold. See that you work to the design which you were shown on the mountain.

[At this point we get the description of the Ark of the Covenant so you might want to skip this as there is no story line. ]see further details on Moses

see Leviticus

see Numbers

see Deuteronomy

EXODUS 26

1 Make the Tabernacle of ten hangings of finely woven linen, and violet, purple, and scarlet yarn, with cherubim worked on them, all made by a seamster. The length of each hanging shall be twenty-eight cubits and the breadth four cubits; all are to be of the same size. Five of the hangings shall be joined together, and similarly the other five. Make violet loops along the edge of the last hanging in each set, fifty for each set; they must be opposite one another. Make fifty gold fasteners, join the hangings one to another with them, and the Tabernacle will be a single whole.

7 Make hangings of goats' hair, eleven in all, to form a tent over the Tabernacle; each hanging is to be thirty cubits long and four wide; all eleven are to be of the same size. Join five of the hangings together, and similarly the other six; then fold the sixth hanging double at the front of the tent. Make fifty loops on the edge of the last hanging in the first set and make fifty loops on the joining edge of the second set. Make fifty bronze a fasteners, insert them into the loops and join up the tent to make it a single whole. The additional length of the tent hanging is to fall over the back of the Tabernade. On each side there will be an additional cubit in the length of the tent hangings; this shall fall over the two sides of the Tabernacle to cover it. Make for the tent a cover of tanned rams-skins and an outer covering of porpoise-hides.

15 Make for the Tabernacle planks of acacia-wood as uprights, each plank ten cubits long and a cubit and a half wide, and two tenons for each plank joined to each other. You shall do the same for all the planks of the Tabernacle. Arrange the planks thus: twenty planks for the south side, facing southwards, with forty silver sockets under them, two sockets under each plank for its two tenons; and for the second or northern side of the Tabernacle, twenty planks, with forty silver sockets, two under each plank. Make six planks for the far end of the Tabernacle on the west. Make two planks for the corners of the Tabernacle at the far end; at the bottom they shall be alike, and at the top, both alike, they shall fit into a single ring. Do the same for both of them; they shall be for the two corners. There shall be eight planks with their silver sockets, sixteen sockets in all, two sockets under each plank severally.

26 Make bars of acacia-wood: five for the planks on the one side of the Tabernacle, five for the planks on the other side and five for the planks on the far end of the Tabernacle on the west. The middle bar is to run along from end to end half-way up the planks. Overlay the planks with gold, make rings of gold on them to hold the bars, and plate the bars with gold. Set up the Tabernade according to the design you were shown on the mountain.

31 Make a Veil of finely woven linen and violet, purple, and scarlet yarn, with cherubim worked on it, all made by a seamster. Fasten it with hooks of gold to four posts of acacia-wood overlaid with gold, standing in four silver sockets. Hang the Veil below the fasteners and bring the Ark of the Tokens inside the Veil. Thus the Veil will make a clear separation for you between the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies. Place the cover over the Ark of the Tokens in the Holy of Holies. Put the table outside the Veil and the lamp-stand at the south side of the Tabernacle, opposite the table which you shall put at the north side. For the entrance of the tent make a screen of finely woven linen, embroidered with violet, purple, and scarlet. Make five posts of acacia-wood for the screen and overlay them with gold; make golden hooks for them and cast five bronze sockets for them.

EXODUS 27

1 Make the altar of acacia-wood; it shall be square, five cubits long by five cubits broad and three cubits high. Let its horns at the four corners be of one piece with it, and overlay it with bronze. Make for it pots to take away the fat and the ashes, with shovels, tossing bowls, forks, and firepans, all of bronze. Make a grating for it of bronze network, and fit four bronze rings on the network at its four corners. Put it below the ledge of the altar, so that the network comes half-way up the altar. Make poles of acacia-wood for the altar and overlay them with bronze. They shall be inserted in the rings at both sides of the altar to carry it. Leave the altar a hollow shell. As you were shown on the mountain, so shall it be made.

9 Make the court of the Tabernacle. For the one side, the south side facing southwards, the court shall have hangings of finely woven linen a hundred cubits long, with twenty posts and twenty sockets of bronze; the hooks and bands on the posts shall be of silver. Similarly all along the north side there shall be hangings a hundred cubits long, with twenty posts and twenty sockets of bronze; the hooks and bands on the posts shall be of silver. For the breadth of the court, on the west side, there shall be hangings fifty cubits long, with ten posts and ten sockets. On the east side, towards the sunrise, which was fifty cubits, hangings shall extend fifteen cubits from one corner, with three posts and three sockets, and hangings shall extend fifteen cubits from the other corner, with three posts and three sockets. At the gateway of the court, there shall be a screen twenty cubits long of finely woven linen embroidered with violet, purple, and scarlet, with four posts and four sockets. The posts all round the court shall have bands of sflver, with hooks of silver, and sockets of bronze. The length of the court shall be a hundred cubits, and the breadth fifty, and the height five cubits, with finely woven linen and bronze sockets throughout. All the equipment needed for serving the Tabernacle, all its pegs and those of the court, shall be of bronze.

20 You yourself are to command the Israelites to bring you pure oil of pounded olives ready for the regular mounting of the lamp. In the Tent of the Presence outside the Veil that hides the Tokens, Aaron and his sons shall keep the lamp in trim from dusk to dawn before the Lord. This is a rule binding on their descendants among the Israelites for all time.

EXODUS 28

1 You yourself are to summon to your presence your brother Aaron and his sons out of all the Israelites to serve as my priests: Aaron and his sons Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar. For your brother Aaron make sacred vestments, to give him dignity and grandeur. Tell all the craftsmen whom I have endowed with skill to make the vestments for the consecration of Aaron as my priest. These are the vestments they shall make: a breast-piece, an ephod, a mantle, a chequered tunic, a turban, and a sash. They shall make sacred vestments for Aaron your brother and his sons to wear when they serve as my priests, using gold; violet, purple, and scarlet yarn; and fine linen.

6 The ephod shall be made of gold, and with violet, purple, and scarlet yarn, and with finely woven linen worked by a seamster. It shall have two shoulder-pieces joined back and front. The waist-band on it shall be of the same workmanship and material as the fabric of the ephod, and shall be of gold, with violet, purple, and scarlet yarn, and finely woven linen. You shall take two cornelians and engrave on them the names of the sons of Israel: six of their names on the one stoney and the six other names on the second, all in order of seniority. With the skill of a craftsman, a sealcutter, you shall engrave the two stones with the names of the sons of Israel; you shall set them in gold rosettes, and fasten them on the shoulders of the ephod, as reminders of the sons of Israel. Aaron shall bear their names on his two shoulders as a reminder before the Lord.

13 Make gold rosettes and two chains of pure gold worked into the form of ropes, and fix them on the rosettes. Make the breast-piece of judgement; it shall be made like the ephod, by a seamster in gold, with violet, purple, and scarlet yarn, and finely woven linen. It shall be a square folded, a span long and a span wide. Set in it four rows of precious stones: the first row, sardin, chrysolite and green felspar; the second row, purple garnet, lapis lazuli and jade; the third row, turquoise, agate and jasper; the fourth row, topaz, cornelian and green jasper, all set in gold rosettes. The stones shall correspond to the twelve sons of Israel name by name; each stone shall bear the name of one of the twelve tribes engraved as on a seal.

22 Make for the breast-piece chains of pure gold worked into a rope. Make two gold rings, and fix them on the two upper corners of the breast-piece. Fasten the two gold ropes to the two rings at those corners of the breast-piece, and the other ends of the ropes to the two rosettes, thus binding the breast-piece to the shoulder-pieces on the front of the ephod. Make two gold rings and put them at the two lower corners of the breast-piece on the inner side next to the ephod. Make two gold rings and fix them on the two shoulder-pieces of the ephod, low down in front, along its seam above the waist-band of the ephod. Then the breast-piece shall be bound by its rings to the rings of the ephod with violet braid, just above the waist-band of the ephod, so that the breast-piece will not be detached from the ephod. Thus, when Aaron enters the Holy Place, he shall carry over his heart in the breast-piece of judgement the names of the sons of Israel, as a constant reminder before the Lord.

30 Finally, put the Urim and the Thummim into the breast-piece of judgement, and they will be over Aaron's heart when he enters the presence of the Lord. So shall Aaron bear these symbols of judgement upon the sons of Israel over his heart constantly before the Lord.

31 Make the mantle of the ephod a single piece of violet stuff. There shall be a hole for the head in the middle of it. All round the hole there shall be a hem of woven work, with an oversewn edge, so that it cannot be torn. All round its skirts make pomegranates of violet, purple, and scarlet stuff, with golden bells between them, a golden bell and a pomegranate alternately the whole way round the skirts of the mantle. Aaron shall wear it when he ministers, and the sound of it shall be heard when he enters the Holy Place before the Lord and when he comes out; and so he shall not die.

36 Make a rosette of pure gold and engrave on it as on a seal, 'Holy to the Lord'. Fasten it on a violet braid and set it on the very front of the turban. It shall be on Aaron's forehead; he has to bear the blame for shortcomings in the rites with which the Israelites offer their sacred gifts, and the rosette shall be always on his forehead so that they may be acceptable to the Lord.

39 Make the chequered tunic and the turban of fine linen, but the sash of embroidered work. For Aaron's sons make tunics and sashes; and make tall head-dresses to give them dignity and grandeur. With these invest your brother Aaron and his sons, anoint them, install them and consecrate them; so shall they serve me as priests. Make for them linen drawers reaching to the thighs to cover their private parts; and Aaron and his sons shall wear them when they enter the Tent of the Presence or approach the altar to minister in the Holy Place. Thus they will not incur guilt and die. This is a rule binding on him and his descendants for all time.

EXODUS 29

1 In consecrating them to be my priests this is the rite to be observed. Take a young bull and two rams without blemish. Take unleavened loaves, unleavened cakes mixed with oil, and unleavened wafers smeared with oil, all made of wheaten flour; put them in a single basket and bring them in it. Bring also the bull and the two rams. Bring Aaron and his sons to the entrance of the Tent of the Presence, and wash them with water. Take the vestments and invest Aaron with the tunic, the mantle of the ephod, the ephod itself and the breast-piece, and fasten the ephod to him with its waist-band. Set the turban on his head, and the symbol of holy dedication on the turban. Take the anointing oil, pour it on his head and anoint him. Then bring his sons forward, invest them with tunics, gird them with the sashes and tie their tall head-dresses on them. They shall hold the priesthood by a rule binding for all time.

10 Next you shall install Aaron and his sons. Bring the bull to the front of the Tent of the Presence, and they shall lay their hands on its head. Slaughter the bull before the Lord at the entrance to the Tent of the Presence. Take some of its blood, and put it with your finger on the horns of the altar. Pour all the rest of it at the base of the altar. Then take the fat covering the entrails, the long lobe of the liver, and the two kidneys with the fat upon them, and burn it on the altar; but the flesh of the bull, and its skin and offal, you shall destroy by fire outside the camp. It is a sin-offering.

15 Take one of the rams, and Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands on its head. Then slaughter it, take its blood and fling it against the sides of the altar. Cut the ram up; wash its entrails and its shins, lay them with the pieces and the head, and burn the whole ram on the altar: it is a whole-offering to the Lord; it is a soothing odour, a food-offering to the Lord.

19 Take the second ram, and let Aaron and his sons lay their hands on its head. Then slaughter it, take some of its blood, and put it on the lobes of the right ears of Aaron and his sons, and on their right thumbs and big toes. Fling the rest of the blood against the sides of the altar. Take some of the blood which is on the altar and some of the anointing oil, and sprinkle it on Aaron and his vestments, and on his sons and their vestments. So shall he and his vestments, and his sons and their vestments become holy. Take the fat from the ram, the fat-tail, the fat covering the entrails, the long lobe of the liver, the two kidneys with the fat upon them, and the right leg: for it is a ram of installation. Take also one round loaf of bread, one cake cooked with oil, and one wafer from the basket of unleavened bread that is before the Lord. Set all these on the hands of Aaron and of his sons and present them as a special gift before the Lord. Then take them out of their hands, and burn them on the altar with the whole-offering for a soothing odour to the Lord: it is a food-offering to the Lord. Take the breast of Aaron's tam of installation, present it as a special gift before the Lord, and it shall be your perquisite.

27 Hallow the breast of the special gift and the leg of the contribution, that which is presented and that which is set aside from the ram of installation, that which is for Aaron and that which is for his sons; and they shall belong to Aaron and his sons, by a rule binding for all time, as a gift from the Israelites, for it is a contribution, set aside from their shared-offerings, their contribution to the Lord.

29 Aaron's sacred vestments shall be kept for the anointing and installation of his sons after him. The priest appointed in his stead from among his sons, the one who enters the Tent of the Presence to minister in the Holy Place, shall wear them for seven days.

31 Take the ram of installation, and boil its flesh in a sacred place; Aaron and his sons shall eat the ram's flesh and the bread left in the basket, at the entrance to the Tent of the Presence. They shall eat the things with which expiation was made at their installation and their consecration. No unqualified person may eat them, for they are holy. If any of the flesh of the installation, or any of the bread, is left over till morning, you shall destroy it by fire; it shall not be eaten, for it is holy.

35 Do this with Aaron and his sons as I have commanded you, spending seven days over their installation.

36 Offer a bull daily, a sin-offering -- as expiation for sin; offer the sin-offering on the altar when you make expiation for it, and consecrate it by anointing. For seven days you shall make expiation for the altar, and consecrate it, and it shall be most holy. Whatever touches the altar shall be forfeit as sacred.

38 This is what you shall offer on the altar: two yearling rams regularly every day. You shall offer the one ram at dawn, and the second between dusk and dark, a tenth of an ephah of flour mixed with a quarter of a bin of pure oil of pounded olives, and a drink-offering of a quarter of a bin of wine for the first ram. You shall offer the second ram between dusk and dark, and with it the same grain-offering and drink-offering as at dawn, for a soothing odour: it is a food-offering to the Lord, a regular whole-offering -- in every generation; you shall make the offering at the entrance to the Tent of the Presence before the Lord, where I meet you and speak to you. I shall meet the Israelites there, and the place will be hallowed by my glory. I shall hallow the Tent of the Presence and the altar; and Aaron and his sons I shall consecrate to serve me as priests. I shall dwell in the midst of the Israelites, I shall become their God, and by my dwelling among them they will know that I am the Lord their God who brought them out of Egypt. I am the Lord their God.

EXODUS 30

1 Make an altar on which to burn incense; make it of acacia-wood. It shall be square, a cubit long by a cubit broad and two cubits high; the horns of one piece with it. Overlay it with pure gold, the top, the sides all round, and the horns; and put round it a band of gold. Make pairs of gold rings for it; put them under the band at the two corners on both sides to receive the poles by which it is to be carried. Make the poles of acacia-wood and overlay them with gold. Put it before the Veil in front of the Ark of the Tokens where I will meet you. On it Aaron shall burn fragrant incense; every morning when he tends the lamps he shall burn the incense, and when he mounts the lamps between dusk and dark, he shall burn the incense; so there shall be a regular burning of incense before the Lord for all time. You shall not offer on it any unauthorized incense, nor any whole-offering or grain-offering; and you shall not pour a drink-offering over it. Aaron shall make expiation with blood on its horns once a year; with blood from the sin-offering of the yearly Expiation he shall do this for a time. It is most holy to the Lord.

11 The Lord spoke to Moses and said: When you number the Israelites for the purpose of registration, each man shall give a ransom for his life to the Lord, to avert plague among them during the registration. As each man crosses over to those already counted he shall give half a shekel by the sacred standard (twenty gerahs to the shekel) as a contribution to the Lord. Everyone from twenty years old and upwards who has crossed over to those already counted shall give a contribution to the Lord. The rich man shall give no more than the half-shekel, and the poor man shall give no less, when you give the contribution to the Lord to make expiation for your lives. The money received from the Israelites for expiation you shall apply to the service of the Tent of the Presence. The expiation for your lives shall be a reminder of the Israelites to the Lord.

17 The Lord spoke to Moses and said: Make a bronze basin for ablution with its stand of bronze; put it between the Tent of the Presence and the altar, and fill it with water with which Aaron and his sons shall wash their hands and feet. When they enter the Tent of the Presence they shall wash with water, lest they die. So also when they approach the altar to minister, to burn a food-offering to the Lord, they shall wash their hands and feet, lest they die. It shall be a rule for all time binding on him and his descendants in every generation. The Lord spoke to Moses and said: You yourself shall take spices as follows: five hundred shekels of sticks of myrrh, half that amount (two hundred and fifty shekels) of fragrant cinnamon, two hundred and fifty shekels of aromatic cane, five hundred shekels of cassia by the sacred standard, and a hin of olive oil. From these prepare sacred anointing oil, a perfume compounded by the perfumer's art. This shall be the sacred anointing oil. Anoint with it the Tent of the Presence and the Ark of the Tokens, the table and all its vessels, the lamp-stand and its fittings, the altar of incense, the altar of whole-offering and all its vessels, the basin and its stand. You shall consecrate them, and they shall be most holy; whatever touches them shall be forfeit as sacred. Anoint Aaron and his sons, and consecrate them to be my priests. Speak to the Israelites and say: This shall be the holy anointing oil for my service in every generation. It shall not be used for anointing the human body, and you must not prepare any oil like it after the same prescription. It is holy, and you shall treat it as holy. The man who compounds perfume like it, or who puts any of it on any unqualified person, shall be cut off from his father's kin.

22 The Lord said to Moses, Take fragrant spices: gum resin, aromatic shell, galbanum; add pure frankincense to the spices in equal proportions. Make it into incense, perfume made by the perfumer's craft, salted and pure, a holy thing. Pound some of it into fine powder, and put it in front of the Tokens in the Tent of the Presence, where I shall meet you; you shall treat it as most holy. The incense prepared according to this prescription you shall not make for your own use. You shall treat it as holy to the Lord. The man who makes any like it for his own pleasure shall be cut off from his father's kin.

EXODUS 31

1 THE LORD SPOKE TO MOSES AND SAID, Mark this: I have specially chosen Bezalel son of Uri, son of Hur, of the tribe of Judab. I have filled him with divine spirit, making him skilful and ingenious, expert in every craft, and a master of design, whether in gold, silver, copper, or cutting stones to be set, or carving wood, for workmanship of every kind. Further, I have appointed Aholiab son of Ahisamach of the tribe of Dan to help him, and I have endowed every skilled craftsman with the skill which he has. They shall make everything that I have commanded you: the Tent of the Presence, the Ark for the Tokens, the cover over it, and all the furnishings of the tent; the table and its vessels, the pure lamp-stand and all its fittings, the altar of incense, the altar of whole-offering and all its vessels, the basin and its stand; the stitched vestments, that is the sacred vestments for Aaron the priest and the vestments for his sons when they minister as priests, the anointing oil and the fragrantincense for the Holy Place. They shall carry out all I have commanded you.

12 The Lord spoke to Moses and said, Speak to the Israelites, you yourself, and say to them: Above all you shall observe my sabbaths, for the sabbath is a sign between me and you in every generation that you may know that I am the Lord who hallows you. You shall keep the sabbath, because it is a holy day for you. If anyone profanes it he must be put to death. Anyone who does work on it shall be cut off from his father's kin. Work may be done on six days, but on the seventh day there is a sabbath of sacred rest, holy to the Lord. Whoever does work on the sabbath day must be put to death. The Israelites shall keep the sabbath, they shall keep it in every generation as a covenant for ever. It is a sign for ever between me and the Israelites, for in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, but on the seventh day he ceased work and refreshed himself.

18 When he had finished speaking with Moses on Mount Sinai, the Lord gave him the two tablets of the Tokens, tablets of stone written with the finger of God.

EXODUS 32

1 WHEN THE PEOPLE SAW that Moses was so long in coming down from the mountain, they confronted Aaron and said to him, 'Come, make us gods to go ahead of us. As for this fellow Moses, who brought us up from Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.' Aaron answered them, 'Strip the gold rings from the ears of your wives and daughters, and bring them to me.' So all the people stripped themselves of their gold earrings and brought them to Aaron. He took them out of their hands, cast the metal in a mould, and made it into the image of a bull-calf. 'These', he said, 'are your gods, O Israel, that brought you up from Egypt.' Then Aaron was afraid and built an altar in front of it and issued this proclamation, 'Tomorrow there is to be a pilgrim-feast to the Lord.' Next day the people rose early, offered whole-offerings, and brought shared-offerings. After this they sat down to eat and drink and then gave themselves up to revelry. But the Lord said to Moses, 'Go down at once, for your people, the people you brought up from Egypt, have done a disgraceful thing; so quickly have they turned aside from the way I commanded them. They have made themselves an image of a bull-calf, they have prostrated themselves before it, sacrificed to it and said, "These are your gods, O Israel, that brought you up from Egypt."' So the Lord said to Moses, 'I have considered this people, and I see that they are a stubborn people. Now, let me alone to vent my anger upon them, so that I may put an end to them and make a great nation spring from you.' But Moses set himself to placate the Lord his God: 'O Lord,' he said, 'why shouldst thou vent thy anger upon thy people, whom thou didst bring out of Egypt with great power and a strong hand? Why let the Egyptians say, "So he meant evil when he took them out, to kill them in the mountains and wipe them off the face of the earth"? Turn from thy anger, and think better of the evil thou dost intend against thy people. Remember Abraham, Isaac and Israel, thy servants, to whom thou didst swear by thy own self: "I will make your posterity countless as the stars in the sky, and all this land, of which I have spoken, I will give to them, and they shall possess it forever."' So the Lord relented, and spared his people the evil with which he had threatened them.

15 Moses turned and went down the mountain with the two tablets of the Tokens in his hands, inscribed on both sides; on the front and on the back they were inscribed. The tablets were the handiwork of God, and the writing was God's writing, engraved on the tablets. Joshua, hearing the uproar the people were making, said to Moses, 'Listen, There is fighting in the camp.' Moses replied,

18 'This is not the clamour of warriors,
        nor the clamour of a defeated people;
        it is the sound of singing that I hear.'

19 As he approached the camp, Moses saw the bull-calf and the dancing, and he was angry; he flung the tablets down, and they were shattered to pieces at the foot of the mountain. Then he took the calf they had made and burnt it; he ground it to powder, sprinkled it on water, and made the Israelites drink it. He demanded of Aaron, 'What did this people do to you that you should have brought such great guilt upon them?' Aaron replied, 'Do not be angry, sir. The people were deeply troubled; that you well know. And they said to me, "Make us gods to go ahead of us, because, as for this fellow Moses, who brought us up from Egypt, we do not know what has become of him." So I said to them, "Those of you who have any gold, strip it off." They gave it me, I threw it in the fire, and out came this bull-calf.' Moses saw that the people were out of control and that Aaron had laid them open to the secret malice of their enemies. He took his place at the gate of the camp and said, 'Who is on the Lord's side? Come here to me'; and the Levites all rallied to him. He said to them, 'These are the words of the Lord the God of Israel: "Arm yourselves, each of you, with his sword. Go through the camp from gate to gate and back again. Each of you kill his brother, his friend, his neighbour."' The Levites obeyed, and about three thousand of the people died that day. Moses then said, 'Today you have consecrated yourselves to the Lord completely, because you have turned each against his own son and his own brother and so have this day brought a blessing upon yourselves.'

30 The next day Moses said to the people, 'You have committed a great sin. I shall now go up to the Lord; perhaps I may be able to secure pardon for your sin.' So Moses returned to the Lord and said, 'O hear me! This people has committed a great sin: they have made themselves gods of gold. If thou wilt forgive them forgive. But if not, blot out my name, I pray, from thy book which thou hast written.' The Lord answered Moses, 'It is the man who has sinned against me that I will blot out from my book. But go now, lead the people to the place which I have told you of. My angel shall go ahead of you, but a day will come when I shall punish them for their sin.' And the Lord smote the people for worshipping the bull-calf which Aaron had made.

EXODUS 33

1 THE LORD SPOKE TO MOSES: 'Come, go up from here, you and the people you have brought up from Egypt, to the land which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob that I would give to their posterity. I will send an angel ahead of you, and will drive out the Canaanites, the Amorites and the Hittites and the Perizzites, the Hivites and the Jebusites. I will bring you to a land flowing with milk and honey, but I will not journey in your company, for fear that I annihilate you on the way; for you are a stubborn people.' When the people heard this harsh sentence they went about like mourners, and no man put on his Ornaments. The Lord said to Moses, 'Tell the Israelites, "You are a stubborn people: at any moment, if I journey in your company, I may annihilate you. Put away your ornaments now, and I will determine what to do to you." 'And so the Israelites stripped off their ornaments, and wore them no more from Mount Horeb onwards. Moses used to take a tent and pitch it at a distance outside the camp. He called it the Tent of the Presence, and everyone who sought the Lord would go out to the Tent of the Presence outside the camp. Whenever Moses went out to the tent, all the people would rise and stand, each at the entrance to his tent, and follow Moses with their eyes until he entered the tent. When Moses entered it, the pillar of cloud came down, and stayed at the entrance to the tent while the Lord spoke with Moses. As soon as the people saw the pillar of cloud standing at the entrance to the tent, they would all prostrate themselves, every man at the entrance to his tent. The Lord would speak with Moses face to face, as one man speaks to another. Then Moses would return to the camp, but his young assistant, Joshua son of Nun, never moved from inside the tent.

12 Moses said to the Lord, 'Thou bidst me lead this people up, but thou hast not told me whom thou wilt send with me. Thou hast said to me, "I know you by name, and, further, you have found favour with me." If I have indeed won thy favour, then teach me to know thy way, so that I can know thee and continue in favour with thee, for this nation is thy own people.' The Lord answered, 'I will go with you in person and set your mind at rest.' Moses said to him, 'Indeed if thou dost not go in person, do not send us up from here; for how can it ever be known that I and thy people have found favour with thee, except by thy going with us? So shall we be distinct, I and thy people, from all the peoples on earth.' The Lord said to Moses, 'I will do this thing that you have asked, because you have found favour with me, and I know you by name.'

18 And Moses prayed, 'Show me thy glory.' The Lord answered, 'I will make all my goodness a pass before you, and I will pronounce in your hearing the Name JEHOVAH. I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.' But he added, 'My face you cannot see, for no mortal man may see me and live.' The Lord said, 'Here is a place beside me. Take your stand on the rock and when my glory passes by, I will put you in a crevice of the rock and cover you with my hand until I have passed by. Then I will take away my hand, and you shall see my back, but my face shall not be seen.'

EXODUS 34

1 The Lord said to Moses, 'Cut two stone tablets like the first, and I will write on the tablets the words which were on the first tablets, which you broke in pieces. Be ready by morning. Then in the morning go up Mount Sinai; stand and wait for me there on the top. No man shall go up with you, no man shall even be seen anywhere on the mountain, nor shall flocks or herds graze within sight of that mountain.' So Moses cut two stone tablets like the first, and he rose early in the morning and went up Mount Sinai as the Lord had commanded him, taking the two stone tablets in his hands. And the Lord came down in the cloud and took his place beside him and pronounced the Name JEHOVAH. Then the Lord passed in front of him and called aloud, 'JEHOVAH, the Lord, a god compassionate and gracious, long-suffering, ever constant and true, maintaining constancy to thousands, forgiving iniquity, rebellion, and sin, and not sweeping the guilty clean away; but one who punishes sons and grandsons to the third and fourth generation for the iniquity of their fathers!' Moses made haste, bowed to the ground and prostrated himself. He said, 'If I have indeed won thy favour, O Lord, then may the Lord go in our company. However stubborn a people they are, forgive our iniquity and our sin and take us as thy own possession.'

10 The Lord said, Here and now I make a covenant. In full view of all your people I will do such miracles as have never been performed in all the world or in any nation. All the surrounding peoples shall see the work of the Lord, for fearful is that which I will do for you. Observe all I command you this day; and I for my part will drive out before you the Amorites and the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites. Be careful not to make a covenant with the natives of the land against which you are going, or they will prove a snare in your midst. No: you shall demolish their altars, smash their sacred pillars and cut down their sacred poles. You shall not prostrate yourselves to any other god. For the Lord's name is the Jealous God, and a jealous god he is. Be careful not to make a covenant with the natives of the land, or, when they go wantonly after their gods and sacrifice to them, you may be invited, any one of you, to partake of their sacrifices, and marry your sons to their daughters, and when their daughters go wantonly after their gods, they may lead your sons astray too.

17 You shall not make yourselves gods of cast metal.

18 You shall observe the pilgrim-feast of Unleavened Bread: for seven days, as I have commanded you, you shall eat unleavened cakes at the appointed time, in the month of Abib, because in the month of Abib you went out from Egypt.

19 Every first birth of the womb belongs to me, and the males of all your herds, both cattle and sheep. You may buy back the first birth of an ass by giving a sheep instead, but if you do not buy it, you must break its neck. You shall buy back all the first-born of your sons, and no one shall come into my presence empty-handed.

21 For six days you shall work, but on the seventh day you shall cease work; even at ploughing time and harvest you shall cease work.

22 You shall observe the pilgrim-feast of Weeks, the first-fruits of the wheat harvest, and the pilgrim-feast of Ingathering at the turn of the year. Three times a year all your males shall come into the presence of the Lord, the Lord the God of Israel; for after I have driven out the nations before you and extended your frontiers, there will be no danger from covetous neighbours when you go up these three times to enter the presence of the Lord your God.

25 You shall not offer the blood of my sacrifice at the same time as anything leavened, nor shall any portion of the victim of the pilgrim-feast of Passover remain overnight till morning.

26 You shall bring the choicest first-fruits of your Soil to the house of the Lord your God.

27 You shall not boil a kid in its mother's milk.

28 The Lord said to Moses, 'Write these words down, because the covenant I make with you and with Israelis in these words.' So Moses stayed there with the Lord forty days and forty nights, neither eating nor drinking, and wrote down the words of the covenant, the Ten Words, a on the tablets. At length Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two stone tablets of the Tokens in his hands, and when he descended, he did not know that the skin of his face shone because he had been speaking with the Lord. When Aaron and the Israelltes saw how the skin of Moses' face shone, they were afraid to approach him. He called out to them, and Aaron and all the chiefs in the congregation turned towards him. Moses spoke to them, and afterwards all the Israelites drew near. He gave them all the commands with which the Lord had charged him on Mount Sinai, and finished what he had to say.

34 Then Moses put a veil over his face, and whenever he went in before the Lord to speak with him, he removed the veil until he came out. Then he would go out and tell the Israelites all the commands he had received. Whenever the skin of Moses' face shone in the sight of the Israelites, he would put the veil back over his face until he went in again to speak with the Lord.

EXODUS 35

1 MOSES CALLED THE WHOLE COMMUNITY of Israelites together and thus addressed them: These are the Lord's commands to you: On six days you may work, but the seventh you are to keep as a sabbath of sacred rest, holy to the Lord. Whoever works on that day shall be put to death. You are not even to light your fire at home on the sabbath day.

4 These words Moses spoke to all the community of Israelites: This is the command the Lord has given: Each of you set aside a contribution to the Lord. Let all who wish, bring a contribution to the Lord: gold, silver, copper; violet, purple, and scarlet yarn; fine linen and goats' hair; tanned rams'-skins, porpoise-hides, and acacia-wood; oil for the lamp, perfume for the anointing oil and for the fragrant incense; cornelians and other stones ready for setting in the ephod and the breast-piece. Let every craftsman among you come and make everything the Lord has commanded. The Tabernacle, its tent and covering, fasteners, planks, bars, posts, and sockets, the Ark and its poles, the cover and the Veil of the screen, the table, its poles, and all its vessels, and the Bread of the Presence, the lamp-stand for the light, its fittings, lamps and the lamp oil; the altar of incense and its poles, the anointing oil, the fragrant incense, and the screen for the entrance of the Tabernacle, the altar of whole-offering, its bronze grating, poles, and all appurtenances, the basin and its stand; the hangings of the court, its posts and sockets, and the screen for the gateway of the court; the pegs of the Tabernacle and court and their cords, the stitched vestments for ministering in the Holy Place, that is the sacred vestments for Aaron the priest and the vestments for his sons when they minister as priests.

20 The whole community of the Israelites went out from Moses' presence, and everyone who was so minded brought of his own free will a contribution to the Lord for the making of the Tent of the Presence and all its service, and for the sacred vestments. Men and women alike came and freely brought clasps, earrings, finger-rings, and pendants, gold ornaments of every kind, every one of them presenting a special gift of gold to the Lord. And every man brought what he possessed of violet, purple, and scarlet yam, fine linen and goats' hair, tanned rams' skins and porpoise-hides. Every man, setting aside a contribution of silver or copper, brought it as a contribution to the Lord, and all who had acacia-wood suitable for any part of the work brought it. Every woman with the skill spun and brought the violet, purple, and scarlet yarn, and fine linen. All the women whose skill moved them spun the goats' hair. The chiefs brought cornelians and other stones ready for setting in the ephod and the breast-piece, the perfume and oil for the light, for the anointing oil, and for the fragrant incense. Every Israelite man and woman who was minded to bring offerings to the Lord for all the work which he had commanded through Moses did so freely.

30 Moses said to the Israelites, 'Mark this: the Lord has specially chosen Bezalel son of Uri, son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah. He has filled him with divine spirit, making him skilful and ingenious, expert in every craft, and a master of design, whether in gold, silver, and copper, or cutting precious stones for setting, or carving wood, in every kind of design. He has inspired both him and Aholiab son of Ahisamach of the tribe of Dan to instruct workers and designers 6f every kind, engravers, seamsters, embroiderers in violet, purple, and scarlet yarn and fine linen, and weavers, fully endowing them with skill to execute all kinds of work.

EXODUS 36

1 Bezalel and Aholiab shall work exactly as the Lord has commanded, and so also shall every craftsman whom the Lord has made skilful and ingenious in these matters, to know how to execute every kind of work for the service of the sanctuary.'

2 Moses summoned Bezalel, Aholiab, and every craftsman to whom the Lord had given skill and who was willing, to come forward and set to work. They received from Moses every contribution which the Israelites had brought for the work of the service of the sanctuary, but the people still brought freewill offerings morning after morning, so that the craftsmen at work on the sanctuary left what they were doing, every one of them, and came to Moses and said, 'The people are bringing much more than we need for doing the work which the Lord has commanded.' So Moses sent word round the camp that no man or woman should prepare anything more as a contribution for the sanctuary. So the people stopped bringing gifts; what was there already was more than enough for all the work they had to do.

8 Then all the craftsmen among the workers made the Tabernacle of ten hangings of finely woven linen, and violet, purple, and scarlet yarn, with cherubim worked on them, all made by a seamster. The length of each hanging was twenty-eight cubits and the breadth four cubits, all of the same size. They joined five of the hangings together, and similarly the other five. They made violet loops on the outer edge of the one set of hangings and they did the same for the outer edge of the other set of hangings. They made fifty loops for each hanging; they made also fifty loops for the end hanging in the second set, the loops being opposite each other. They made fifty gold fasteners, with which they joined the hangings one to another, and the Tabernacle became a single whole.

14 They made hangings of goats' hair, eleven in all, to form a tent over the Tabernacle; each hanging was thirty cubits long and four cubits wide, all eleven of the same size. They joined five of the hangings together, and similarly the other six. They made fifty loops on the edge of the outer hanging in the first set and fifty loops on the joining edge of the second set, and fifty bronze fasteners to join up the tent and make it a single whole. They made for the tent a cover of tanned rams' skins and an outer covering of porpoise-hides.

20 They made for the Tabernacle planks of acacia-wood as uprights, each plank ten cubits long and a cubit and a half wide, and two tenons for each plank joined to each other. They did the same for all the planks of the Tabernacle. They arranged the planks thus: twenty planks for the south side, facing southwards, with forty silver sockets under them, two sockets under each plank for its two tenons; and for the second ot northern side of the Tabernacle twenty planks with forty silver sockets, two under each plank. They made six planks for the far end of the Tabernacle on the west. They made two planks for the corners of the Tabernacle at the far end; at the bottom they were alike, and at the top, both alike, they fitted into a single ring. They did the same for both of them at the two corners. There were eight planks with their silver sockets, sixteen sockets in all, two sockets under each plank.

31 They made bars of acacia-wood: five for the planks on the one side of the Tabernacle, five bars for the planks on the second side of the Tabernacle, and five bars for the planks on the far end of the Tabernacle on the west. They made the middle bar to run along from end to end half-way up the frames. They overlaid the frames with gold, made rings of gold on them to hold the bars and plated the bars with gold.

35 They made the Veil of finely woven linen and violet, purple, and scarlet yarn, with cherubim worked on it, all made by a seamster. And they made for it four posts of acacia-wood overlaid with gold, with gold hooks, and cast four silver sockets for them. For the entrance of the tent a screen of finely woven linen was made, embroidered with violet, purple, and scarlet, and five posts of acacia-wood with their hooks. They overlaid the tops of the posts and the bands round them with gold; the five sockets for them were of bronze.

EXODUS 37

1 Bezalel then made the Ark, a chest of acacia-wood, two and a half cubits long, one cubit and a half wide, and one cubit and a half high. He overlaid it with pure gold, both inside and out, and put a band of gold all round it. He cast four gold rings to be on its four feet, two rings on each side of it. He made poles of acacia-wood and plated them with gold, and inserted the poles in the rings at the sides of the Ark to lift it. He made a cover of pure gold, two and a half cubits long and one cubit and a half wide. He made two gold cherubim of beaten work at the ends of the cover, one at each end; he made each cherub of one piece with the cover. They had wings outspread and pointing upwards, screening the cover with their wings; they stood face to face, looking inwards over the cover.

10 He made the table of acacia-wood, two cubits long, one cubit wide, and one cubit anda half high. He overlaid it with pure gold and put a band of gold all round it. He made a rim round it a hand's breadth wide, and a gold band round the nim. He cast four gold rings for it, and put the rings at the four corners by the four legs. The rings, which were to receive the poles for carrying the table, were close to the rim. These carrying-poles he made of acacia-wood and plated them with gold. He made the vessels for the table, its dishes and saucers, and its flagons and bowls from which drink-offerings were to be poured; he made them of pure gold.

17 He made the lamp-stand of pure gold. The lamp-stand, stem, and branches; were of beaten work, its cups, both calyxes and petals, were of one piece with it. There were six branches springing from its sides; three branches of the lamp-stand sprang from one side and three branches from the other side. There were three cups shaped like almond blossoms, with calyx and petals, on the first branch, three cups shaped like almond blossoms, with calyx and petals, on the next branch, and similarly for all six branches springing from the lamp-stand. On the main stem of the lamp-stand there were four cups shaped like almond blossoms, with calyx and petals, and there were calyxes of one piece with it under the six branches which sprang from the lamp-stand, a single calyx under each pair of branches. The calyxes and the branches were of one piece with it, all a single piece of beaten work of pure gold. He made its seven lamps, its tongs and firepans of pure gold. The lamp-stand and all these fittings were made from one talent of pure gold.

25 He made the altar of incense of acacia-wood, square, a cubit long by a cubit broad and two cubits high, the horns of one piece with it. He overlaid it with pure gold, the top, the sides all round, and the horns, and he put round it a band of gold. He made pairs of gold rings for it; he put them under the band at the two corners on both sides to receive the poles by which it was to he carried. He made the poles of acacia-wood and overlaid them with gold.

29 He prepared the sacred anointing oil and the fragrant incense, pure, compounded by the perfumer's art.

EXODUS 38

1 He made the altar of whole-offering of acacia-wood, square, five cubits long by five cubits broad and three cubits high. Its horns at the four corners were of one piece with it, and he overlaid it with bronze. He made all the vessels for the altar, its pots, shovels, tossing bowls, forks, and firepans, all of bronze. He made for the altar a grating of bronze network under the ledge, coming half-way up. He cast four rings for the four corners of the bronze grating to receive the pples, and he made the poles of acacia-wood and overlaid them witla bronze. He inserted the poles in the rings at the sides of the altar to carry it. He left the altar a hollow shell.

8 The basin and its stand of bronze he made out of the bronze mirrors of the women who were on duty at the entrance to the Tent of the Presence.

9 He made the court. For the south side facing southwards the hangings of the court were of finely woven linen a hundred cubits long, with twenty posts and twenty sockets of bronze; the hooks and bands on the posts were of silver. Along the north side there were hangings of a hundred cubits, with twenty posts and twenty sockets of bronze; the hooks and bands on the posts were of silver. On the west side there were hangings fifty cubits long, with ten posts and ten sockets; the hooks and bands on the posts were of silver. On the east side, towards the sunrise, fifty cubits, there were hangings on either side of the gateway of the court; they extended fifteen cubits to one corner, with their three posts and their three sockets, and fifteen cubits to the second corner, with their three posts and their three sockets. The hangings of the court all round were of finely woven linen. The sockets for the posts were of bronze, the hooks and bands on the posts of silver, the tops of them overlaid with silver, and all the posts of the court were bound with silver. The screen at the gateway of the court was of finely woven linen, embroidered with violet, purple, and scarlet, twenty cubits long and five cubits high to correspond to the hangings of the court, with four posts and four sockets of bronze, their hooks of silver, and the tops of them and their bands overlaid with silver. All the pegs for the Tabernacle and those for the court were of bronze.

21 These were the appointments of the Tabernacle, that is the Tabernacle of the Tokens which was assigned by Moses to the charge of the Levites under Ithamar son of Aaron the priest. Bezalel son of Uri, son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah made everything the Lord had commanded Moses. He was assisted by Aholiab son of Ahisamach of the tribe of Dan, an engraver, a seamster, and an embroiderer in fine linen with violet, purple, and scarlet yarn.

24 The gold of the special gift used for the work of the sanctuary amounted in all to twenty-nine talents seven hundred and thirty shekels, by the sacred standard. The silver contributed by the community when registered was one hundred talents one thousand seven hundred and seventy-five shekels, by the sacred standard.

26 This amounted to a beka a head, that is half a shekel by the sacred standard, for every man from twenty years old and upwards, who had been registered, a total of six hundred and three thousand five hundred and fifty men. The hundred talents of silver were for casting the sockets for the sanctuary and for the Veil, a hundred sockets to a hundred talents, a talent to a socket. With the one thousand seven hundred and seventy-five shekels he made hooks for the posts, overlaid the tops of the posts and put bands round them. The bronze of the special gift came to seventy talents two thousand four hundred shekels; with this he made sockets for the entrance to the Tent of the Presence, the bronze altar and its bronze grating, all the vessels for the altar, the sockets all round the court, the sockets for the posts at the gateway of the court, all the pegs for the Tabernacle, and the pegs all round the court.

EXODUS 49

1 They used violet, purple, and scarlet yarn in making the stitched vestments for ministering in the sanctuary and in making the sacred vestments for Aaron, as the Lord had commanded Moses.

2 They made the ephod of gold, with violet, purple, and scarlet yarn, and finely woven linen. The gold was beaten into thin plates, cut and twisted into braid to be worked in by a seamster with the violet, purple, and scarlet yarn, and fine linen. They made shoulder-pieces for it, joined back and front. The waist-band on it was of the same workmanship and material as the fabric of the ephod; it was gold, with violet, purple, and scarlet yarn, and finely woven linen, as the Lord commanded Moses.

6 They prepared the cornelians, fixed in gold rosettes, engraved by the art of a seal-cutter with the names of the sons of Israel, and fastened them on the shoulders of the ephod as reminders of the sons of Israel, as the Lord had commanded Moses.

8 They made the breast-piece; it was worked like the ephod by a seamster, in gold, with violet, purple, and scarlet yarn, and finely woven linen. They made the breast-piece square, folded, a span long and a span wide. They set in it four rows of precious stones: the first row, sardin, chrysolite and green felspar; the second row, purple garnet, lapis lazuli and jade; the third row, turquoise, agate and jasper; the fourth row, topaz, cornelian and green jasper, all set in gold rosettes. The stones corresponded to the twelve sons of Israel, name by name, each bearing the name of one of the twelve tribes engraved as on a seal. They made for the breast-piece twisted cords of pure gold worked into a rope. They made two gold rosettes and two gold rings, and they fixed the two rings on the two corners of the breast-piece. They fastened the two gold ropes to the two rings at those corners of the breast-piece, and the other ends of the two ropes to the two rosettes, thus binding them to the shoulder-pieces on the front of the ephod. They made two gold rings and put them at the two corners of the breast-piece on the inner side next to the ephod. They made two gold rings and fixed them on the two shoulder-pieces of the ephod, low down and in front, close to its seam above the waist-band on the ephod. They bound the breast-piece by its rings to the rings of the ephod with a violet braid, just above the waistband on the ephod, so that the breast-piece would not become detached from the ephod; so the Lord had commanded Moses. They made the mantle of the ephod a single piece of woven violet stuff, with a hole in the middle of it which had a hem round it, with an oversewn edge so that it could not be torn. All round its skirts they made pomegranates of violet, purple, and scarlet stuff, and finely woven linen. They made bells of pure gold and put them all round the skirts of the mantle between the pomegranates, a bell and a pomegranate alternately the whole way round the skirts of the mantle, to be worn when ministering, as the Lord commanded Moses.

27 They made the tunics of fine linen, woven work, for Aaron and his sons, the turban of fine linen, the tall head-dresses and their bands all of fine linen, the drawers of finely woven linen, and the sash of finely woven linen, embroidered in violet, purple, and scarlet, as the Lord had commanded Moses.

30 They made a rosette of pure gold as the symbol of their holy dedication and inscribed on it as the engraving on a seal, 'Holy to the Lord', and they fastened on it a violet braid to fix it on the turban at the top, as the Lord had commanded Moses.

32 Thus all the work of the Tabernacle of the Tent of the Presence was completed, and the Israelites did everything exactly as the Lord had commanded Moses. They brought the Tabernacle to Moses, the tent and all its furnishings, its fasteners, planks, bars, posts and sockets, the covering of tanned rams' skins and the outer covering of porpoise-hides, the Veil of the screen, the Ark of the Tokens and its poles, the cover, the table and its vessels, and the Bread of the Presence, the pure lamp-stand with its lamps in a row and all its fittings, and the lamp oil, the gold altar, the anointing oil, the fragrant incense, and the screen at the entrance of the tent, the bronze altar, the bronze grating attached to it, its poles and all its furnishings, the basin and its stand, the hangings of the court, its posts and sockets, the screen for the gateway of the court, its cords and pegs, and all the equipment for the service of the Tabernacle for the Tent of the Presence, the stitched vestments for ministering in the sanctuary, that is the sacred vestments for Aaron the priest and the vestments for his sons when they minister as priests. As the Lord had commanded Moses, so the Israelites carried out the whole work. Moses inspected all the work, and saw that they had carried it out according to the command of the Lord; and he blessed them.

EXODUS 40

1 THE LORD SPOKE TO MOSES AND SAID: On the first day of the first month you shall set up the Tabernacle, the Tent of the Presence. You shall put the Ark of the Tokens in it and screen the Ark with the Veil; You shall bring in the table and lay it; then you shall bring in the lamp-stand and mount its lamps. You shall then set the gold altar of incense in front of the Ark of the Tokens and put the screen of the entrance of the Tabernacle in place. You shall put the altar of whole-offering in front of the entrance of the Tabernacle, the Tent of the Presence. You shall put the basin between the Tent of the Presence and the altar and put water in it. You shall set up the court all round and put in place the screen of the gateway of the court. You shall take the anointing oil and anoint the Tabernacle and everything in it; thus you shall consecrate it and all its furnishings, and it shall be holy. You shall anoint the altar of whole-offering and all its vessels; thus shall you consecrate it, and it shall be most holy. You shall anoint the basin and its stand and consecrate it. You shall bring Aaron and his sons to the entrance of the Tent of the Presence and wash them with the water. Then you shall clothe Aaron with the sacred vestments, anoint him and consecrate him; so shall he be my priest. You shall then bring forward his sons, clothe-them in tunics, anoint them as you anointed their father, and they shall be my priests. Their anointing shall inaugurate a hereditary priesthood for all time.

16 Exactly as the Lord had comnianded him, so Moses did. In the first month of the second year, on the first day of that month, the Tabernacle was set up.

18 Moses set up the Tabernacle. He put the sockets in place, inserted the planks, fixed the crossbars and set up the posts. He spread the tent over the Tabernacle and fixed the covering of the tent above it, as the Lord had commanded him. He took the Tokens and put them in the Ark, inserted the poles in the Ark, and put the cover over the top of the Ark. He brought the Ark into the Tabernacle, set up the Veil of the screen and so screened the Ark of the Tokens, as the Lord had commanded him. He put the table in the Tent of the Presence on the north side of the Tabernacle outside the Veil and arranged bread on it before the Lord, as the Lord had commanded him. He set the lamp-stand in the Tent of the Presence Opposite the table at the south side of the Tabernacle and mounted the lamps before the Lord, as the Lord had commanded him. He set up the gold altar in the Tent of the Presence in front of the Veil and burnt fragrant incense on it, as the Lord had commanded him. He set up the screen at the entrance of the Tabernacle, fixed the altar of whole-offering at the entrance of the Tabernacle, the Tent of the Presence; and offered on it whole-offerings and grain-offerings, as the Lord had commanded him. He set up the basin between the Tent of the Presence and the altar and put water there for washing, and Moses and Aaron and his sons used to wash their hands and feet when they entered the Tent of the Presence or approached the altar, as the Lord had commanded Moses. He set up the court all round the Tabernacle and the altar, and put a screen at the gateway of the court.

Thus Moses completed the work, and the cloud covered the Tent of the Presence, and the glory of the Lord filled the Tabernacle. Moses was unable to enter the Tent of the Presence, because the cloud had settled on it and the glory of the Lord filled the Tabernacle. At every stage of their journey, when the cloud lifted from the Tabernacle, the Israelites broke camp; but if the cloud did not lift from the Tabernacle, they did not break camp until the day it lifted. For the cloud of the Lord hovered over the Tabernacle by day, and there was fire in the cloud by night, and the Israelites could see it at every stage of their journey.