The Ransom Money

11 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: 12 (A)“When you take the census of the children of Israel for their number, then every man shall give (B)a[a] ransom for himself to the Lord, when you number them, that there may be no (C)plague among them when you number them. 13 (D)This is what everyone among those who are numbered shall give: half a shekel according to the shekel of the sanctuary (E)(a shekel is twenty gerahs). (F)The half-shekel shall be an offering to the Lord. 14 Everyone included among those who are numbered, from twenty years old and above, shall give an [b]offering to the Lord. 15 The (G)rich shall not give more and the poor shall not give less than half a shekel, when you give an offering to the Lord, to make atonement for yourselves. 16 And you shall take the atonement money of the children of Israel, and (H)shall [c]appoint it for the service of the tabernacle of meeting, that it may be (I)a memorial for the children of Israel before the Lord, to make atonement for yourselves.”

The Bronze Laver

17 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: 18 (J)“You shall also make a [d]laver of bronze, with its base also of bronze, for washing. You shall (K)put it between the tabernacle of meeting and the altar. And you shall put water in it, 19 for Aaron and his sons (L)shall wash their hands and their feet in water from it. 20 When they go into the tabernacle of meeting, or when they come near the altar to minister, to burn an offering made by fire to the Lord, they shall wash with water, lest they die. 21 So they shall wash their hands and their feet, lest they die. And (M)it shall be a [e]statute forever to them—to him and his descendants throughout their generations.”

The Holy Anointing Oil(N)

22 Moreover the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: 23 “Also take for yourself (O)quality spices—five hundred shekels of liquid (P)myrrh, half as much sweet-smelling cinnamon (two hundred and fifty shekels), two hundred and fifty shekels of sweet-smelling (Q)cane, 24 five hundred shekels of (R)cassia, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, and a (S)hin of olive oil. 25 And you shall make from these a holy anointing oil, an ointment compounded according to the art of the perfumer. It shall be (T)a holy anointing oil. 26 (U)With it you shall anoint the tabernacle of meeting and the ark of the Testimony; 27 the table and all its utensils, the lampstand and its utensils, and the altar of incense; 28 the altar of burnt offering with all its utensils, and the laver and its base. 29 You shall consecrate them, that they may be most holy; (V)whatever touches them must be holy. 30 (W)And you shall anoint Aaron and his sons, and consecrate them, that they may minister to Me as priests.

31 “And you shall speak to the children of Israel, saying: ‘This shall be a holy anointing oil to Me throughout your generations. 32 It shall not be poured on man’s flesh; nor shall you make any other like it, according to its composition. (X)It is holy, and it shall be holy to you. 33 (Y)Whoever [f]compounds any like it, or whoever puts any of it on an outsider, (Z)shall be [g]cut off from his people.’ ”

The Incense(AA)

34 And the Lord said to Moses: (AB)“Take sweet spices, stacte and onycha and galbanum, and pure frankincense with these sweet spices; there shall be equal amounts of each. 35 You shall make of these an incense, a compound (AC)according to the art of the perfumer, salted, pure, and holy. 36 And you shall beat some of it very fine, and put some of it before the Testimony in the tabernacle of meeting (AD)where I will meet with you. (AE)It shall be most holy to you. 37 But as for the incense which you shall make, (AF)you shall not make any for yourselves, according to its [h]composition. It shall be to you holy for the Lord. 38 (AG)Whoever makes any like it, to smell it, he shall be cut off from his people.”

Artisans for Building the Tabernacle(AH)

31 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: (AI)“See, I have called by name Bezalel the (AJ)son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah. And I have (AK)filled him with the Spirit of God, in wisdom, in understanding, in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship, to design artistic works, to work in gold, in silver, in bronze, in cutting jewels for setting, in carving wood, and to work in all manner of workmanship.

“And I, indeed I, have appointed with him (AL)Aholiab the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan; and I have put wisdom in the hearts of all the (AM)gifted artisans, that they may make all that I have commanded you: (AN)the tabernacle of meeting, (AO)the ark of the Testimony and (AP)the mercy seat that is on it, and all the furniture of the tabernacle— (AQ)the table and its utensils, (AR)the pure gold lampstand with all its utensils, the altar of incense, (AS)the altar of burnt offering with all its utensils, and (AT)the laver and its base— 10 (AU)the [i]garments of ministry, the holy garments for Aaron the priest and the garments of his sons, to minister as priests, 11 (AV)and the anointing oil and (AW)sweet incense for the holy place. According to all that I have commanded you they shall do.”

The Sabbath Law

12 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 13 “Speak also to the children of Israel, saying: (AX)‘Surely My Sabbaths you shall keep, for it is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I am the Lord who (AY)sanctifies[j] you. 14 (AZ)You shall keep the Sabbath, therefore, for it is holy to you. Everyone who [k]profanes it shall surely be put to death; for (BA)whoever does any work on it, that person shall be cut off from among his people. 15 Work shall be done for (BB)six days, but the (BC)seventh is the Sabbath of rest, holy to the Lord. Whoever does any work on the Sabbath day, he shall surely be put to death. 16 Therefore the children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, to observe the Sabbath throughout their generations as a perpetual covenant. 17 It is (BD)a sign between Me and the children of Israel forever; for (BE)in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh day He rested and was refreshed.’ ”

18 And when He had made an end of speaking with him on Mount Sinai, He gave Moses (BF)two tablets of the Testimony, tablets of stone, written with the finger of God.

The Gold Calf(BG)

32 Now when the people saw that Moses (BH)delayed coming down from the mountain, the people (BI)gathered together to Aaron, and said to him, (BJ)“Come, make us [l]gods that shall (BK)go before us; for as for this Moses, the man who (BL)brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.”

And Aaron said to them, “Break off the (BM)golden earrings which are in the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me.” So all the people broke off the golden earrings which were in their ears, and brought them to Aaron. (BN)And he received the gold from their hand, and he fashioned it with an engraving tool, and made a molded calf.

Then they said, “This is your god, O Israel, that (BO)brought you out of the land of Egypt!”

So when Aaron saw it, he built an altar before it. And Aaron made a (BP)proclamation and said, “Tomorrow is a feast to the Lord.” Then they rose early on the next day, offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings; and the people (BQ)sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play.

And the Lord said to Moses, (BR)“Go, get down! For your people whom you brought out of the land of Egypt (BS)have corrupted themselves. They have turned aside quickly out of the way which (BT)I commanded them. They have made themselves a molded calf, and worshiped it and sacrificed to it, and said, (BU)‘This is your god, O Israel, that brought you out of the land of Egypt!’ ” And the Lord said to Moses, (BV)“I have seen this people, and indeed it is a [m]stiff-necked people! 10 Now therefore, (BW)let Me alone, that (BX)My wrath may burn hot against them and I may [n]consume them. And (BY)I will make of you a great nation.”

11 (BZ)Then Moses pleaded with [o]the Lord his God, and said: “Lord, why does Your wrath burn hot against Your people whom You have brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand? 12 (CA)Why should the Egyptians speak, and say, ‘He brought them out to harm them, to kill them in the mountains, and to consume them from the face of the earth’? Turn from Your fierce wrath, and (CB)relent from this harm to Your people. 13 Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, Your servants, to whom You (CC)swore by Your own self, and said to them, (CD)‘I will multiply your descendants as the stars of heaven; and all this land that I have spoken of I give to your descendants, and they shall inherit it forever.’ ” 14 So the Lord (CE)relented from the harm which He said He would do to His people.

15 And (CF)Moses turned and went down from the mountain, and the two tablets of the Testimony were in his hand. The tablets were written on both sides; on the one side and on the other they were written. 16 Now the (CG)tablets were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God engraved on the tablets.

17 And when Joshua heard the noise of the people as they shouted, he said to Moses, “There is a noise of war in the camp.”

18 But he said:

It is not the noise of the shout of victory,
Nor the noise of the cry of defeat,
But the sound of singing I hear.”

19 So it was, as soon as he came near the camp, that (CH)he saw the calf and the dancing. So Moses’ anger became hot, and he cast the tablets out of his hands and broke them at the foot of the mountain. 20 (CI)Then he took the calf which they had made, burned it in the fire, and ground it to powder; and he scattered it on the water and made the children of Israel drink it. 21 And Moses said to Aaron, (CJ)“What did this people do to you that you have brought so great a sin upon them?”

22 So Aaron said, “Do not let the anger of my lord become hot. (CK)You know the people, that they are set on evil. 23 For they said to me, ‘Make us gods that shall go before us; as for this Moses, the man who brought us out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.’ 24 And I said to them, ‘Whoever has any gold, let them break it off.’ So they gave it to me, and I cast it into the fire, and this calf came out.”

25 Now when Moses saw that the people were (CL)unrestrained (for Aaron (CM)had not restrained them, to their shame among their enemies), 26 then Moses stood in the entrance of the camp, and said, “Whoever is on the Lord’s side—come to me!” And all the sons of Levi gathered themselves together to him. 27 And he said to them, “Thus says the Lord God of Israel: ‘Let every man put his sword on his side, and go in and out from entrance to entrance throughout the camp, and (CN)let every man kill his brother, every man his companion, and every man his neighbor.’ ” 28 So the sons of Levi did according to the word of Moses. And about three thousand men of the people fell that day. 29 (CO)Then Moses said, [p]“Consecrate yourselves today to the Lord, that He may bestow on you a blessing this day, for every man has opposed his son and his brother.”

30 Now it came to pass on the next day that Moses said to the people, (CP)“You have committed a great sin. So now I will go up to the Lord; (CQ)perhaps I can (CR)make atonement for your sin.” 31 Then Moses (CS)returned to the Lord and said, “Oh, these people have committed a great sin, and have (CT)made for themselves a god of gold! 32 Yet now, if You will forgive their sin—but if not, I pray, (CU)blot me (CV)out of Your book which You have written.”

33 And the Lord said to Moses, (CW)“Whoever has sinned against Me, I will (CX)blot him out of My book. 34 Now therefore, go, lead the people to the place of which I have (CY)spoken to you. (CZ)Behold, My Angel shall go before you. Nevertheless, (DA)in the day when I (DB)visit for punishment, I will visit punishment upon them for their sin.”

35 So the Lord plagued the people because of (DC)what they did with the calf which Aaron made.

The Command to Leave Sinai

33 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Depart and go up from here, you (DD)and the people whom you have brought out of the land of Egypt, to the land of which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, saying, (DE)‘To your descendants I will give it.’ (DF)And I will send My Angel before you, (DG)and I will drive out the Canaanite and the Amorite and the Hittite and the Perizzite and the Hivite and the Jebusite. Go up (DH)to a land flowing with milk and honey; for I will not go up in your midst, lest (DI)I [q]consume you on the way, for you are a (DJ)stiff-necked[r] people.”

And when the people heard this bad news, (DK)they mourned, (DL)and no one put on his ornaments. For the Lord had said to Moses, “Say to the children of Israel, ‘You are a stiff-necked people. I could come up into your midst in one moment and consume you. Now therefore, take off your [s]ornaments, that I may (DM)know what to do to you.’ ” So the children of Israel stripped themselves of their ornaments by Mount Horeb.

Moses Meets with the Lord

Moses took his tent and pitched it outside the camp, far from the camp, and (DN)called it the tabernacle of meeting. And it came to pass that everyone who (DO)sought the Lord went out to the tabernacle of meeting which was outside the camp. So it was, whenever Moses went out to the tabernacle, that all the people rose, and each man stood (DP)at his tent door and watched Moses until he had gone into the tabernacle. And it came to pass, when Moses entered the tabernacle, that the pillar of cloud descended and stood at the door of the tabernacle, and the Lord (DQ)talked with Moses. 10 All the people saw the pillar of cloud standing at the tabernacle door, and all the people rose and (DR)worshiped, each man in his tent door. 11 So (DS)the Lord spoke to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend. And he would return to the camp, but (DT)his servant Joshua the son of Nun, a young man, did not depart from the tabernacle.

The Promise of God’s Presence

12 Then Moses said to the Lord, “See, (DU)You say to me, ‘Bring up this people.’ But You have not let me know whom You will send with me. Yet You have said, (DV)‘I know you by name, and you have also found grace in My sight.’ 13 Now therefore, I pray, (DW)if I have found grace in Your sight, (DX)show me now Your way, that I may know You and that I may find grace in Your sight. And consider that this nation is (DY)Your people.”

14 And He said, (DZ)“My Presence will go with you, and I will give you (EA)rest.”

15 Then he said to Him, (EB)“If Your Presence does not go with us, do not bring us up from here. 16 For how then will it be known that Your people and I have found grace in Your sight, (EC)except You go with us? So we (ED)shall be separate, Your people and I, from all the people who are upon the face of the earth.”

17 So the Lord said to Moses, (EE)“I will also do this thing that you have spoken; for you have found grace in My sight, and I know you by name.”

18 And he said, “Please, show me (EF)Your glory.”

19 Then He said, “I will make all My (EG)goodness pass before you, and I will proclaim the name of the Lord before you. (EH)I will be gracious to whom I will be (EI)gracious, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.” 20 But He said, “You cannot see My face; for (EJ)no man shall see Me, and live.” 21 And the Lord said, “Here is a place by Me, and you shall stand on the rock. 22 So it shall be, while My glory passes by, that I will put you (EK)in the cleft of the rock, and will (EL)cover you with My hand while I pass by. 23 Then I will take away My hand, and you shall see My back; but My face shall (EM)not be seen.”

Moses Makes New Tablets(EN)

34 And the Lord said to Moses, (EO)“Cut two tablets of stone like the first ones, and (EP)I will write on these tablets the words that were on the first tablets which you broke. So be ready in the morning, and come up in the morning to Mount Sinai, and present yourself to Me there (EQ)on the top of the mountain. And no man shall (ER)come up with you, and let no man be seen throughout all the mountain; let neither flocks nor herds feed before that mountain.”

So he cut two tablets of stone like the first ones. Then Moses rose early in the morning and went up Mount Sinai, as the Lord had commanded him; and he took in his hand the two tablets of stone.

Now the Lord descended in the (ES)cloud and stood with him there, and (ET)proclaimed the name of the Lord. And the Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord (EU)God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in (EV)goodness and (EW)truth, (EX)keeping mercy for thousands, (EY)forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, (EZ)by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and the children’s children to the third and the fourth generation.”

So Moses made haste and (FA)bowed his head toward the earth, and worshiped. Then he said, “If now I have found grace in Your sight, O Lord, (FB)let my Lord, I pray, go among us, even though we are a (FC)stiff-necked[t] people; and pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us as (FD)Your inheritance.”

The Covenant Renewed(FE)

10 And He said: “Behold, (FF)I make a covenant. Before all your people I will (FG)do [u]marvels such as have not been done in all the earth, nor in any nation; and all the people among whom you are shall see the work of the Lord. For it is (FH)an awesome thing that I will do with you. 11 (FI)Observe what I command you this day. Behold, (FJ)I am driving out from before you the Amorite and the Canaanite and the Hittite and the Perizzite and the Hivite and the Jebusite. 12 (FK)Take heed to yourself, lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land where you are going, lest it be a snare in your midst. 13 But you shall (FL)destroy their altars, break their sacred pillars, and (FM)cut down their wooden images 14 (for you shall worship (FN)no other god, for the Lord, whose (FO)name is Jealous, is a (FP)jealous God), 15 lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, and they (FQ)play the harlot with their gods and make sacrifice to their gods, and one of them (FR)invites you and you (FS)eat of his sacrifice, 16 and you take of (FT)his daughters for your sons, and his daughters (FU)play the harlot with their gods and make your sons play the harlot with their gods.

17 (FV)“You shall make no molded gods for yourselves.

18 “The Feast of (FW)Unleavened Bread you shall keep. Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, as I commanded you, in the appointed time of the month of Abib; for in the (FX)month of Abib you came out from Egypt.

19 (FY)“All [v]that open the womb are Mine, and every male firstborn among your livestock, whether ox or sheep. 20 But (FZ)the firstborn of a donkey you shall redeem with a lamb. And if you will not redeem him, then you shall break his neck. All the firstborn of your sons you shall redeem.

“And none shall appear before Me (GA)empty-handed.

21 (GB)“Six days you shall work, but on the seventh day you shall rest; in plowing time and in harvest you shall rest.

22 “And you shall observe the Feast of Weeks, of the firstfruits of wheat harvest, and the Feast of Ingathering at the year’s end.

23 (GC)“Three times in the year all your men shall appear before the Lord, the Lord God of Israel. 24 For I will (GD)cast out the nations before you and enlarge your borders; neither will any man covet your land when you go up to appear before the Lord your God three times in the year.

25 “You shall not offer the blood of My sacrifice with leaven, (GE)nor shall the sacrifice of the Feast of the Passover be left until morning.

26 (GF)“The first of the firstfruits of your land you shall bring to the house of the Lord your God. You shall not boil a young goat in its mother’s milk.”

27 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Write (GG)these words, for according to the tenor of these words I have made a covenant with you and with Israel.” 28 (GH)So he was there with the Lord forty days and forty nights; he neither ate bread nor drank water. And (GI)He wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant, the [w]Ten Commandments.

The Shining Face of Moses

29 Now it was so, when Moses came down from Mount Sinai (and the (GJ)two tablets of the Testimony were in Moses’ hand when he came down from the mountain), that Moses did not know that (GK)the skin of his face shone while he talked with Him. 30 So when Aaron and all the children of Israel saw Moses, behold, the skin of his face shone, and they were afraid to come near him. 31 Then Moses called to them, and Aaron and all the rulers of the congregation returned to him; and Moses talked with them. 32 Afterward all the children of Israel came near, (GL)and he gave them as commandments all that the Lord had spoken with him on Mount Sinai. 33 And when Moses had finished speaking with them, he put (GM)a veil on his face. 34 But (GN)whenever Moses went in before the Lord to speak with Him, he would take the veil off until he came out; and he would come out and speak to the children of Israel whatever he had been commanded. 35 And whenever the children of Israel saw the face of Moses, that the skin of Moses’ face shone, then Moses would put the veil on his face again, until he went in to speak with Him.

Footnotes

  1. Exodus 30:12 the price of a life
  2. Exodus 30:14 contribution
  3. Exodus 30:16 give
  4. Exodus 30:18 basin
  5. Exodus 30:21 requirement
  6. Exodus 30:33 mixes
  7. Exodus 30:33 Put to death
  8. Exodus 30:37 Lit. proportion
  9. Exodus 31:10 Or woven garments
  10. Exodus 31:13 consecrates
  11. Exodus 31:14 defiles
  12. Exodus 32:1 Or a god
  13. Exodus 32:9 stubborn
  14. Exodus 32:10 destroy
  15. Exodus 32:11 Lit. the face of the Lord
  16. Exodus 32:29 Lit. Fill your hand
  17. Exodus 33:3 destroy
  18. Exodus 33:3 stubborn
  19. Exodus 33:5 jewelry
  20. Exodus 34:9 stubborn
  21. Exodus 34:10 wonderful acts
  22. Exodus 34:19 the firstborn
  23. Exodus 34:28 Lit. Ten Words

Elijah’s Message to Ahab

18 And it came to pass after (A)many days that the word of the Lord came to Elijah, in the third year, saying, “Go, present yourself to Ahab, and (B)I will send rain on the earth.”

So Elijah went to present himself to Ahab; and there was a severe famine in Samaria. And Ahab had called Obadiah, who was [a]in charge of his house. (Now Obadiah feared the Lord greatly. For so it was, while Jezebel [b]massacred the prophets of the Lord, that Obadiah had taken one hundred prophets and hidden them, fifty to a cave, and had fed them with bread and water.) And Ahab had said to Obadiah, “Go into the land to all the springs of water and to all the brooks; perhaps we may find grass to keep the horses and mules alive, so that we will not have to kill any livestock.” So they divided the land between them to explore it; Ahab went one way by himself, and Obadiah went another way by himself.

Now as Obadiah was on his way, suddenly Elijah met him; and he (C)recognized him, and fell on his face, and said, “Is that you, my lord Elijah?”

And he answered him, “It is I. Go, tell your master, ‘Elijah is here.’ ”

So he said, “How have I sinned, that you are delivering your servant into the hand of Ahab, to kill me? 10 As the Lord your God lives, there is no nation or kingdom where my master has not sent someone to hunt for you; and when they said, ‘He is not here,’ he took an oath from the kingdom or nation that they could not find you. 11 And now you say, ‘Go, tell your master, “Elijah is here” ’! 12 And it shall come to pass, as soon as I am gone from you, that (D)the Spirit of the Lord will carry you to a place I do not know; so when I go and tell Ahab, and he cannot find you, he will kill me. But I your servant have feared the Lord from my youth. 13 Was it not reported to my lord what I did when Jezebel killed the prophets of the Lord, how I hid one hundred men of the Lord’s prophets, fifty to a cave, and fed them with bread and water? 14 And now you say, ‘Go, tell your master, “Elijah is here.” ’ He will kill me!”

15 Then Elijah said, “As the Lord of hosts lives, before whom I stand, I will surely present myself to him today.”

16 So Obadiah went to meet Ahab, and told him; and Ahab went to meet Elijah.

17 Then it happened, when Ahab saw Elijah, that Ahab said to him, (E)Is that you, O (F)troubler of Israel?”

18 And he answered, “I have not troubled Israel, but you and your father’s house have, (G)in that you have forsaken the commandments of the Lord and have followed the Baals. 19 Now therefore, send and gather all Israel to me on (H)Mount Carmel, the four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal, (I)and the four hundred prophets of [c]Asherah, who [d]eat at Jezebel’s table.”

Elijah’s Mount Carmel Victory

20 So Ahab sent for all the children of Israel, and (J)gathered the prophets together on Mount Carmel. 21 And Elijah came to all the people, and said, (K)“How long will you falter between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow Him; but if Baal, (L)follow him.” But the people answered him not a word. 22 Then Elijah said to the people, (M)“I alone am left a prophet of the Lord; (N)but Baal’s prophets are four hundred and fifty men. 23 Therefore let them give us two bulls; and let them choose one bull for themselves, cut it in pieces, and lay it on the wood, but put no fire under it; and I will prepare the other bull, and lay it on the wood, but put no fire under it. 24 Then you call on the name of your gods, and I will call on the name of the Lord; and the God who (O)answers by fire, He is God.”

So all the people answered and said, [e]“It is well spoken.”

25 Now Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, “Choose one bull for yourselves and prepare it first, for you are many; and call on the name of your god, but put no fire under it.

26 So they took the bull which was given them, and they prepared it, and called on the name of Baal from morning even till noon, saying, “O Baal, [f]hear us!” But there was (P)no voice; no one answered. Then they [g]leaped about the altar which they had made.

27 And so it was, at noon, that Elijah mocked them and said, “Cry [h]aloud, for he is a god; either he is meditating, or he is busy, or he is on a journey, or perhaps he is sleeping and must be awakened.” 28 So they cried aloud, and (Q)cut themselves, as was their custom, with [i]knives and lances, until the blood gushed out on them. 29 And when midday was past, (R)they prophesied until the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice. But there was (S)no voice; no one answered, no one paid attention.

30 Then Elijah said to all the people, “Come near to me.” So all the people came near to him. (T)And he repaired the altar of the Lord that was broken down. 31 And Elijah took twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, to whom the word of the Lord had come, saying, (U)“Israel shall be your name.” 32 Then with the stones he built an altar (V)in the name of the Lord; and he made a trench around the altar large enough to hold two seahs of seed. 33 And he (W)put the wood in order, cut the bull in pieces, and laid it on the wood, and said, “Fill four waterpots with water, and (X)pour it on the burnt sacrifice and on the wood.” 34 Then he said, “Do it a second time,” and they did it a second time; and he said, “Do it a third time,” and they did it a third time. 35 So the water ran all around the altar; and he also filled (Y)the trench with water.

36 And it came to pass, at the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, that Elijah the prophet came near and said, “Lord (Z)God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, (AA)let it be known this day that You are God in Israel and I am Your servant, and that (AB)I have done all these things at Your word. 37 Hear me, O Lord, hear me, that this people may know that You are the Lord God, and that You have turned their hearts back to You again.”

38 Then (AC)the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood and the stones and the dust, and it licked up the water that was in the trench. 39 Now when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces; and they said, (AD)“The Lord, He is God! The Lord, He is God!”

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Footnotes

  1. 1 Kings 18:3 Lit. over the house
  2. 1 Kings 18:4 Lit. cut off
  3. 1 Kings 18:19 A Canaanite goddess
  4. 1 Kings 18:19 Are provided for by Jezebel
  5. 1 Kings 18:24 Lit. The word is good
  6. 1 Kings 18:26 answer
  7. 1 Kings 18:26 Lit. limped about, leaped in dancing around
  8. 1 Kings 18:27 with a loud voice
  9. 1 Kings 18:28 swords

Christ’s Epistle(A)

Do (B)we begin again to commend ourselves? Or do we need, as some others, (C)epistles of commendation to you or letters of commendation from you? (D)You are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read by all men; clearly you are an epistle of Christ, (E)ministered by us, written not with ink but by the Spirit of the living God, not (F)on tablets of stone but (G)on tablets of flesh, that is, of the heart.

The Spirit, Not the Letter

And we have such trust through Christ toward God. (H)Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but (I)our sufficiency is from God, who also made us sufficient as (J)ministers of (K)the new covenant, not (L)of the letter but of the [a]Spirit; for (M)the letter kills, (N)but the Spirit gives life.

Glory of the New Covenant

But if (O)the ministry of death, (P)written and engraved on stones, was glorious, (Q)so that the children of Israel could not look steadily at the face of Moses because of the glory of his countenance, which glory was passing away, how will (R)the ministry of the Spirit not be more glorious? For if the ministry of condemnation had glory, the ministry (S)of righteousness exceeds much more in glory. 10 For even what was made glorious had no glory in this respect, because of the glory that excels. 11 For if what is passing away was glorious, what remains is much more glorious.

12 Therefore, since we have such hope, (T)we use great boldness of speech— 13 unlike Moses, (U)who put a veil over his face so that the children of Israel could not look steadily at (V)the end of what was passing away. 14 But (W)their minds were blinded. For until this day the same veil remains unlifted in the reading of the Old Testament, because the veil is taken away in Christ. 15 But even to this day, when Moses is read, a veil lies on their heart. 16 Nevertheless (X)when one turns to the Lord, (Y)the veil is taken away. 17 Now (Z)the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is (AA)liberty. 18 But we all, with unveiled face, beholding (AB)as in a mirror (AC)the glory of the Lord, (AD)are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as [b]by the Spirit of the Lord.

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Footnotes

  1. 2 Corinthians 3:6 Or spirit
  2. 2 Corinthians 3:18 Or from the Lord, the Spirit

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