Exodus 19-21

Common English Bible

Arrival at Mount Sinai

19 On exactly the third-month anniversary of the Israelites’ leaving the land of Egypt, they came into the Sinai desert. ² They traveled from Rephidim, came into the Sinai desert, and set up camp there. Israel camped there in front of the mountain ³ while Moses went up to God. The Lord called to him from the mountain, “This is what you should say to Jacob’s household and declare to the Israelites: ⁴ You saw what I did to the Egyptians, and how I lifted you up on eagles’ wings and brought you to me. ⁵ So now, if you faithfully obey me and stay true to my covenant, you will be my most precious possession out of all the peoples, since the whole earth belongs to me. ⁶ You will be a kingdom of priests for me and a holy nation. These are the words you should say to the Israelites.”

⁷ So Moses came down, called together the people’s elders, and set before them all these words that the Lord had commanded him. ⁸ The people all responded with one voice: “Everything that the Lord has said we will do.” Moses reported to the Lord what the people said.

Preparing for a divine encounter

⁹ Then the Lord said to Moses, “I’m about to come to you in a thick cloud in order that the people will hear me talking with you so that they will always trust you.”

Moses told the Lord what the people said, ¹⁰ and the Lord said to Moses: “Go to the people and take today and tomorrow to make them holy. Have them wash their clothes. ¹¹ Be ready for the third day, because on the third day the Lord will come down on Mount Sinai for all the people to see. ¹² Set up a fence for the people all around and tell them, ‘Be careful not to go up the mountain or to touch any part of it.’ Anyone who even touches the mountain must be put to death. ¹³ No one should touch anyone who has touched it, or they must be either stoned to death or shot with arrows. Whether an animal or a human being, they must not be allowed to live. Only when the ram’s horn sounds may they go up on the mountain.”

¹⁴ So Moses went down the mountain to the people. He made sure the people were holy and that they washed their clothes. ¹⁵ He told the men, “Prepare yourselves for three days. Don’t go near a woman.”

¹⁶ When morning dawned on the third day, there was thunder, lightning, and a thick cloud on the mountain, and a very loud blast of a horn. All the people in the camp shook with fear. ¹⁷ Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God, and they took their place at the foot of the mountain. ¹⁸ Mount Sinai was all in smoke because the Lord had come down on it with lightning. The smoke went up like the smoke of a hot furnace, while the whole mountain shook violently. ¹⁹ The blasts of the horn grew louder and louder. Moses would speak, and God would answer him with thunder. ²⁰ The Lord came down on Mount Sinai to the top of the mountain. The Lord called Moses to come up to the top of the mountain, and Moses went up. ²¹ The Lord said to Moses, “Go down and warn the people not to break through to try to see the Lord, or many of them will fall dead. ²² Even the priests who come near to the Lord must keep themselves holy, or the Lord will break loose against them.”

²³ Moses said to the Lord, “The people aren’t allowed to come up on Mount Sinai because you warned us and said, ‘Set up a fence around the mountain to keep it holy.’”

²⁴ The Lord said to him, “Go down, and bring Aaron back up with you. But the priests and the people must not break through and come up to the Lord. Otherwise, the Lord will break loose against them.” ²⁵ So Moses went down to the people and told them.

The Ten Commandments

20 Then God spoke all these words:

¹⁸ When all the people witnessed the thunder and lightning, the sound of the horn, and the mountain smoking, the people shook with fear and stood at a distance. ¹⁹ They said to Moses, “You speak to us, and we’ll listen. But don’t let God speak to us, or we’ll die.”

²⁰ Moses said to the people, “Don’t be afraid, because God has come only to test you and to make sure you are always in awe of God so that you don’t sin.” ²¹ The people stood at a distance while Moses approached the thick darkness in which God was present.

Instructions about worship

²² The Lord said to Moses: “Say this to the Israelites: You saw for yourselves how I spoke with you from heaven. ²³ Don’t make alongside me gods of silver or gold for yourselves. ²⁴ Make for me an altar from fertile soil on which to sacrifice your entirely burned offerings, your well-being sacrifices, your sheep, and your oxen. I will come to you and bless you in every place where I make sure my name is remembered. ²⁵ But if you do make for me an altar from stones, don’t build it with chiseled stone since using your chisel on the stone will make it impure. ²⁶ Don’t climb onto my altar using steps: then your genitals won’t be exposed by doing so.”

Instructions about slaves

21 These are the case laws that you should set before them:

² When you buy a male Hebrew slave, he will serve you for six years. But in the seventh year, he will go free without any payment. ³ If he came in single, he will leave single. If he came in married, then his wife will leave with him. ⁴ If his master gave him a wife and she bore him sons or daughters, the wife and her children will belong to her master. He will leave single. ⁵ However, if the slave clearly states, “I love my master, my wife, and my children, and I don’t want to go free,” ⁶ then his master will bring him before God. He will bring him to the door or the doorpost. There his master will pierce his ear with a pointed tool, and he will serve him as his slave for life.

⁷ When a man sells his daughter as a slave, she shouldn’t be set free in the same way as male slaves are set free. ⁸ If she doesn’t please her master who chose her for himself, then her master must let her be bought back by her family. He has no right to sell her to a foreign people since he has treated her unfairly. ⁹ If he assigns her to his son, he must give her the rights of a daughter. ¹⁰ If he takes another woman for himself, he may not reduce her food, clothing, or marital rights. ¹¹ If he doesn’t do these three things for her, she will go free without any payment, for no money.

Instructions about human violence

¹² Anyone who hits and kills someone should be put to death. ¹³ If the killing wasn’t on purpose but an accident allowed by God, then I will designate a place to which the killer can run away. ¹⁴ But if someone plots and kills another person on purpose, you should remove the killer from my altar and put him to death.

¹⁵ Anyone who violently hits their father or mother should be put to death.

¹⁶ Anyone who kidnaps a person, whether they have been sold or are still being held, should be put to death.

¹⁷ Anyone who curses their father or mother should be put to death.

¹⁸ When two people are fighting and one hits the other with a stone or with his fist so that he is in bed for a while but doesn’t die— ¹⁹ if he recovers and is able to walk around outside with a cane, then the one who hit him shouldn’t be punished, except to pay for the loss of time from work and to pay for his full recovery.

²⁰ When a slave owner hits a male or female slave with a rod and the slave dies immediately, the owner should be punished. ²¹ But if the slave gets up after a day or two, the slave owner shouldn’t be punished because the slave is the owner’s property.

²² When people who are fighting injure a pregnant woman so that she has a miscarriage but no other injury occurs, then the guilty party will be fined what the woman’s husband demands, as negotiated with the judges. ²³ If there is further injury, then you will give a life for a life, ²⁴ an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, a hand for a hand, a foot for a foot, ²⁵ a burn for a burn, a bruise for a bruise, a wound for a wound.

²⁶ When a slave owner hits and blinds the eye of a male or female slave, he should let the slave go free on account of the eye. ²⁷ If he knocks out a tooth of a male or female slave, he should let the slave go free on account of the tooth.

Instructions about animals and property

²⁸ When an ox gores a man or a woman to death, the ox should be stoned to death, and the meat of the ox shouldn’t be eaten. But the owner of the ox shouldn’t be punished. ²⁹ However, if the ox had gored people in the past and its owner had been warned but didn’t watch out for it, and the ox ends up killing a man or a woman, then the ox should be stoned to death, and its owner should also be put to death. ³⁰ If the owner has to pay compensation instead, he must pay the agreed amount to save his life. ³¹ If the ox gores a boy or a girl, this same case law applies to the owner. ³² If the ox gores a male or female slave, the owner will pay thirty silver shekels to the slave’s owner, and the ox will be stoned to death.

³³ When someone leaves a pit open or digs a pit and doesn’t cover it and an ox or a donkey falls into the pit, ³⁴ the owner of the pit must make good on the loss. He should pay money to the ox’s owner, but he may keep the dead animal.

³⁵ When someone’s ox hurts someone else’s ox and it dies, then they should sell the live ox and divide its price. They should also divide the dead animal between them. ³⁶ But if the ox was known for goring in the past and its owner hadn’t watched out for it, the owner must make good the loss, an ox for an ox, but may keep the dead animal.