Good News Translation (GNT)

Moses Announces the Death of the First-Born

1 Then the Lord said to Moses, “I will send only one more punishment on the king of Egypt and his people. After that he will let you leave. In fact, he will drive all of you out of here.

2 Now speak to the people of Israel and tell all of them to ask their neighbors for gold and silver jewelry.”

3 The Lord made the Egyptians respect the Israelites. Indeed, the officials and all the people considered Moses to be a very great man.

4 Moses then said to the king, “The Lord says, ‘At about midnight I will go through Egypt,

5 and every first-born son in Egypt will die, from the king’s son, who is heir to the throne, to the son of the slave woman who grinds grain. The first-born of all the cattle will die also.

6 There will be loud crying all over Egypt, such as there has never been before or ever will be again.

7 But not even a dog will bark at the Israelites or their animals. Then you will know that I, the Lord, make a distinction between the Egyptians and the Israelites.’”

8 Moses concluded by saying, “All your officials will come to me and bow down before me, and they will beg me to take all my people and go away. After that, I will leave.” Then in great anger Moses left the king.

9 The Lord had said to Moses, “The king will continue to refuse to listen to you, in order that I may do more of my miracles in Egypt.”

10 Moses and Aaron performed all these miracles before the king, but the Lord made him stubborn, and he would not let the Israelites leave his country.

—https://d1b84921e69nmq.cloudfront.net/363/32k/EXO/11-1a6a891fa2ae3650b2737d9223981fca.mp3?version_id=68—

The Passover

1 The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron in Egypt:

2 “This month is to be the first month of the year for you.

3 Give these instructions to the whole community of Israel: On the tenth day of this month each man must choose either a lamb or a young goat for his household.

4 If his family is too small to eat a whole animal, he and his next-door neighbor may share an animal, in proportion to the number of people and the amount that each person can eat.

5 You may choose either a sheep or a goat, but it must be a one-year-old male without any defects.

6 Then, on the evening of the fourteenth day of the month, the whole community of Israel will kill the animals.

7 The people are to take some of the blood and put it on the doorposts and above the doors of the houses in which the animals are to be eaten.

8 That night the meat is to be roasted, and eaten with bitter herbs and with bread made without yeast.

9 Do not eat any of it raw or boiled, but eat it roasted whole, including the head, the legs, and the internal organs.

10 You must not leave any of it until morning; if any is left over, it must be burned.

11 You are to eat it quickly, for you are to be dressed for travel, with your sandals on your feet and your walking stick in your hand. It is the Passover Festival to honor me, the Lord.

12 “On that night I will go through the land of Egypt, killing every first-born male, both human and animal, and punishing all the gods of Egypt. I am the Lord.

13 The blood on the doorposts will be a sign to mark the houses in which you live. When I see the blood, I will pass over you and will not harm you when I punish the Egyptians.

14 You must celebrate this day as a religious festival to remind you of what I, the Lord, have done. Celebrate it for all time to come.”

The Festival of Unleavened Bread

15 The Lord said, “For seven days you must not eat any bread made with yeast—eat only unleavened bread. On the first day you are to get rid of all the yeast in your houses, for if anyone during those seven days eats bread made with yeast, he shall no longer be considered one of my people.

16 On the first day and again on the seventh day you are to meet for worship. No work is to be done on those days, but you may prepare food.

17 Keep this festival, because it was on this day that I brought your tribes out of Egypt. For all time to come you must celebrate this day as a festival.

18 From the evening of the fourteenth day of the first month to the evening of the twenty-first day, you must not eat any bread made with yeast.

19-20 For seven days no yeast must be found in your houses, for if anyone, native-born or foreign, eats bread made with yeast, he shall no longer be considered one of my people.”

The First Passover

21 Moses called for all the leaders of Israel and said to them, “Each of you is to choose a lamb or a young goat and kill it, so that your families can celebrate Passover.

22 Take a sprig of hyssop, dip it in the bowl containingthe animal’s blood, and wipe the blood on the doorposts and the beam above the door of your house. Not one of you is to leave the house until morning.

23 When the Lord goes through Egypt to kill the Egyptians, he will see the blood on the beams and the doorposts and will not let the Angel of Death enter your houses and kill you.

24 You and your children must obey these rules forever.

25 When you enter the land that the Lord has promised to give you, you must perform this ritual.

26 When your children ask you, ‘What does this ritual mean?’

27 you will answer, ‘It is the sacrifice of Passover to honor the Lord, because he passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt. He killed the Egyptians, but spared us.’”

The Israelites knelt down and worshiped.

28 Then they went and did what the Lord had commanded Moses and Aaron.

The Death of the First-Born

29 At midnight the Lord killed all the first-born sons in Egypt, from the king’s son, who was heir to the throne, to the son of the prisoner in the dungeon; all the first-born of the animals were also killed.

30 That night, the king, his officials, and all the other Egyptians were awakened. There was loud crying throughout Egypt, because there was not one home in which there was not a dead son.

31 That same night the king sent for Moses and Aaron and said, “Get out, you and your Israelites! Leave my country; go and worship the Lord, as you asked.

32 Take your sheep, goats, and cattle, and leave. Also pray for a blessing on me.”

33 The Egyptians urged the people to hurry and leave the country; they said, “We will all be dead if you don’t leave.”

34 So the people filled their baking pans with unleavened dough, wrapped them in clothing, and carried them on their shoulders.

35 The Israelites had done as Moses had said, and had asked the Egyptians for gold and silver jewelry and for clothes.

36 The Lord made the Egyptians respect the people and give them what they asked for. In this way the Israelites carried away the wealth of the Egyptians.

The Israelites Leave Egypt

37 The Israelites set out on foot from Rameses for Sukkoth. There were about 600,000 men, not counting women and children.

38 A large number of other people and many sheep, goats, and cattle also went with them.

39 They baked unleavened bread from the dough that they had brought out of Egypt, for they had been driven out of Egypt so suddenly that they did not have time to get their food ready or to prepare leavened dough.

40 The Israelites had lived in Egypt for 430 years.

41 On the day the 430 years ended, all the tribes of the Lord’s people left Egypt.

42 It was a night when the Lord kept watch to bring them out of Egypt; this same night is dedicated to the Lord for all time to come as a night when the Israelites must keep watch.

Regulations about Passover

43 The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “These are the Passover regulations: No foreigner shall eat the Passover meal,

44 but any slave that you have bought may eat it if you circumcise him first.

45 No temporary resident or hired worker may eat it.

46 The whole meal must be eaten in the house in which it was prepared; it must not be taken outside. And do not break any of the animal’s bones.

47 The whole community of Israel must celebrate this festival,

48 but no uncircumcised man may eat it. If a foreigner has settled among you and wants to celebrate Passover to honor the Lord, you must first circumcise all the males of his household. He is then to be treated like a native-born Israelite and may join in the festival.

49 The same regulations apply to native-born Israelites and to foreigners who settle among you.”

50 All the Israelites obeyed and did what the Lord had commanded Moses and Aaron.

51 On that day the Lord brought the Israelite tribes out of Egypt.

—https://d1b84921e69nmq.cloudfront.net/363/32k/EXO/12-cffdae6431f65ae47fb5fa5509512791.mp3?version_id=68—

Dedication of the First-Born

1 The Lord said to Moses,

2 “Dedicate all the first-born males to me, for every first-born male Israelite and every first-born male animal belongs to me.”

The Festival of Unleavened Bread

3 Moses said to the people, “Remember this day—the day on which you left Egypt, the place where you were slaves. This is the day the Lord brought you out by his great power. No leavened bread is to be eaten.

4 You are leaving Egypt on this day in the first month, the month of Abib.

5 The Lord solemnly promised your ancestors to give you the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. When he brings you into that rich and fertile land, you must celebrate this festival in the first month of every year.

6 For seven days you must eat unleavened bread and on the seventh day there is to be a festival to honor the Lord.

7 For seven days you must not eat any bread made with yeast; there must be no yeast or leavened bread anywhere in your land.

8 When the festival begins, explain to your sons that you do all this because of what the Lord did for you when you left Egypt.

9 This observance will be a reminder, like something tied on your hand or on your forehead; it will remind you to continue to recite and study the Law of the Lord, because the Lord brought you out of Egypt by his great power.

10 Celebrate this festival at the appointed time each year.

The First-Born

11 “The Lord will bring you into the land of the Canaanites, which he solemnly promised to you and your ancestors. When he gives it to you,

12 you must offer every first-born male to the Lord. Every first-born male of your animals belongs to the Lord,

13 but you must buy back from him every first-born male donkey by offering a lamb in its place. If you do not want to buy back the donkey, break its neck. You must buy back every first-born male child of yours.

14 In the future, when your son asks what this observance means, you will answer him, ‘By using great power the Lord brought us out of Egypt, the place where we were slaves.

15 When the king of Egypt was stubborn and refused to let us go, the Lord killed every first-born male in the land of Egypt, both human and animal. That is why we sacrifice every first-born male animal to the Lord, but buy back our first-born sons.

16 This observance will be a reminder, like something tied on our hands or on our foreheads; it will remind us that the Lord brought us out of Egypt by his great power.’”

The Pillar of Cloud and the Pillar of Fire

17 When the king of Egypt let the people go, God did not take them by the road that goes up the coast to Philistia, although it was the shortest way. God thought, “I do not want the people to change their minds and return to Egypt when they see that they are going to have to fight.”

18 Instead, he led them in a roundabout way through the desert toward the Red Sea.The Israelites were armed for battle.

19 Moses took the body of Joseph with him, as Joseph had made the Israelites solemnly promise to do. Joseph had said, “When God rescues you, you must carry my body with you from this place.”

20 The Israelites left Sukkoth and camped at Etham on the edge of the desert.

21 During the day the Lord went in front of them in a pillar of cloud to show them the way, and during the night he went in front of them in a pillar of fire to give them light, so that they could travel night and day.

22 The pillar of cloud was always in front of the people during the day, and the pillar of fire at night.

—https://d1b84921e69nmq.cloudfront.net/363/32k/EXO/13-81cd49a198ce602b1f53d73e992014d5.mp3?version_id=68—

Crossing the Red Sea

1 Then the Lord said to Moses,

2 “Tell the Israelites to turn back and camp in front of Pi Hahiroth, between Migdol and the Red Sea, near Baal Zephon.

3 The king will think that the Israelites are wandering around in the country and are closed in by the desert.

4 I will make him stubborn, and he will pursue you, and my victory over the king and his army will bring me honor. Then the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord.” The Israelites did as they were told.

5 When the king of Egypt was told that the people had escaped, he and his officials changed their minds and said, “What have we done? We have let the Israelites escape, and we have lost them as our slaves!”

6 The king got his war chariot and his army ready.

7 He set out with all his chariots, including the six hundred finest, commanded by their officers.

8 The Lord made the king stubborn, and he pursued the Israelites, who were leaving triumphantly.

9 The Egyptian army, with all the horses, chariots, and drivers, pursued them and caught up with them where they were camped by the Red Sea near Pi Hahiroth and Baal Zephon.

10 When the Israelites saw the king and his army marching against them, they were terrified and cried out to the Lord for help.

11 They said to Moses, “Weren’t there any graves in Egypt? Did you have to bring us out here in the desert to die? Look what you have done by bringing us out of Egypt!

12 Didn’t we tell you before we left that this would happen? We told you to leave us alone and let us go on being slaves of the Egyptians. It would be better to be slaves there than to die here in the desert.”

13 Moses answered, “Don’t be afraid! Stand your ground, and you will see what the Lord will do to save you today; you will never see these Egyptians again.

14 The Lord will fight for you, and all you have to do is keep still.”

15 The Lord said to Moses, “Why are you crying out for help? Tell the people to move forward.

16 Lift up your walking stick and hold it out over the sea. The water will divide, and the Israelites will be able to walk through the sea on dry ground.

17 I will make the Egyptians so stubborn that they will go in after them, and I will gain honor by my victory over the king, his army, his chariots, and his drivers.

18 When I defeat them, the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord.”

19 The angel of God, who had been in front of the army of Israel, moved and went to the rear. The pillar of cloud also moved until it was

20 between the Egyptians and the Israelites. The cloud made it dark for the Egyptians, but gave light to the people of Israel,and so the armies could not come near each other all night.

21 Moses held out his hand over the sea, and the Lord drove the sea back with a strong east wind. It blew all night and turned the sea into dry land. The water was divided,

22 and the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with walls of water on both sides.

23 The Egyptians pursued them and went after them into the sea with all their horses, chariots, and drivers.

24 Just before dawn the Lord looked down from the pillar of fire and cloud at the Egyptian army and threw them into a panic.

25 He made the wheels of their chariots get stuck, so that they moved with great difficulty. The Egyptians said, “The Lord is fighting for the Israelites against us. Let’s get out of here!”

26 The Lord said to Moses, “Hold out your hand over the sea, and the water will come back over the Egyptians and their chariots and drivers.”

27 So Moses held out his hand over the sea, and at daybreak the water returned to its normal level. The Egyptians tried to escape from the water, but the Lord threw them into the sea.

28 The water returned and covered the chariots, the drivers, and all the Egyptian army that had followed the Israelites into the sea; not one of them was left.

29 But the Israelites walked through the sea on dry ground, with walls of water on both sides.

30 On that day the Lord saved the people of Israel from the Egyptians, and the Israelites saw them lying dead on the seashore.

31 When the Israelites saw the great power with which the Lord had defeated the Egyptians, they stood in awe of the Lord; and they had faith in the Lord and in his servant Moses.

—https://d1b84921e69nmq.cloudfront.net/363/32k/EXO/14-3b30f8d7c6713bfdfdeeb10ea56c5fa8.mp3?version_id=68—

The Song of Moses

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

“I will sing to the Lord, because he has won a glorious victory;

he has thrown the horses and their riders into the sea.

2 The Lord is my strong defender;

he is the one who has saved me.

He is my God, and I will praise him,

my father’s God, and I will sing about his greatness.

3 The Lord is a warrior;

the Lord is his name.

4 “He threw Egypt’s army and its chariots into the sea;

the best of its officers were drowned in the Red Sea.

5 The deep sea covered them;

they sank to the bottom like a stone.

6 “Your right hand, Lord, is awesome in power;

it breaks the enemy in pieces.

7 In majestic triumph you overthrow your foes;

your anger blazes out and burns them up like straw.

8 You blew on the sea and the water piled up high;

it stood up straight like a wall;

the deepest part of the sea became solid.

9 The enemy said, ‘I will pursue them and catch them;

I will divide their wealth and take all I want;

I will draw my sword and take all they have.’

10 But one breath from you, Lord, and the Egyptians were drowned;

they sank like lead in the terrible water.

11 “Lord, who among the gods is like you?

Who is like you, wonderful in holiness?

Who can work miracles and mighty acts like yours?

12 You stretched out your right hand,

and the earth swallowed our enemies.

13 Faithful to your promise, you led the people you had rescued;

by your strength you guided them to your sacred land.

14 The nations have heard, and they tremble with fear;

the Philistines are seized with terror.

15 The leaders of Edom are terrified;

Moab’s mighty men are trembling;

the people of Canaan lose their courage.

16 Terror and dread fall upon them.

They see your strength, O Lord,

and stand helpless with fear

until your people have marched past—

the people you set free from slavery.

17 You bring them in and plant them on your mountain,

the place that you, Lord, have chosen for your home,

the Temple that you yourself have built.

18 You, Lord, will be king forever and ever.”

The Song of Miriam

19 The Israelites walked through the sea on dry ground. But when the Egyptian chariots with their horses and drivers went into the sea, the Lord brought the water back, and it covered them.

20 The prophet Miriam, Aaron’s sister, took her tambourine, and all the women followed her, playing tambourines and dancing.

21 Miriam sang for them:

“Sing to the Lord, because he has won a glorious victory;

he has thrown the horses and their riders into the sea.”

Bitter Water

22 Then Moses led the people of Israel away from the Red Sea into the desert of Shur. For three days they walked through the desert, but found no water.

23 Then they came to a place called Marah, but the water there was so bitter that they could not drink it. That is why it was named Marah.

24 The people complained to Moses and asked, “What are we going to drink?”

25 Moses prayed earnestly to the Lord, and the Lord showed him a piece of wood, which he threw into the water; and the water became fit to drink.

There the Lord gave them laws to live by, and there he also tested them.

26 He said, “If you will obey me completely by doing what I consider right and by keeping my commands, I will not punish you with any of the diseases that I brought on the Egyptians. I am the Lord, the one who heals you.”

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

—https://d1b84921e69nmq.cloudfront.net/363/32k/EXO/15-8c726c56fa400c9d936eecb2c0852d6b.mp3?version_id=68—

The Manna and the Quails

1 The whole Israelite community set out from Elim, and on the fifteenth day of the second month after they had left Egypt, they came to the desert of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai.

2 There in the desert they all complained to Moses and Aaron

3 and said to them, “We wish that the Lord had killed us in Egypt. There we could at least sit down and eat meat and as much other food as we wanted. But you have brought us out into this desert to starve us all to death.”

4 The Lord said to Moses, “Now I am going to cause food to rain down from the sky for all of you. The people must go out every day and gather enough for that day. In this way I can test them to find out if they will follow my instructions.

5 On the sixth day they are to bring in twice as much as usual and prepare it.”

6 So Moses and Aaron said to all the Israelites, “This evening you will know that it was the Lord who brought you out of Egypt.

7 In the morning you will see the dazzling light of the Lord’s presence. He has heard your complaints against him—yes, against him, because we are only carrying out his instructions.”

8 Then Moses said, “It is the Lord who will give you meat to eat in the evening and as much bread as you want in the morning, because he has heard how much you have complained against him. When you complain against us, you are really complaining against the Lord.”

9 Moses said to Aaron, “Tell the whole community to come and stand before the Lord, because he has heard their complaints.”

10 As Aaron spoke to the whole community, they turned toward the desert, and suddenly the dazzling light of the Lord appeared in a cloud.

11 The Lord said to Moses,

12 “I have heard the complaints of the Israelites. Tell them that at twilight they will have meat to eat, and in the morning they will have all the bread they want. Then they will know that I, the Lord, am their God.”

13 In the evening a large flock of quails flew in, enough to cover the camp, and in the morning there was dew all around the camp.

14 When the dew evaporated, there was something thin and flaky on the surface of the desert. It was as delicate as frost.

15 When the Israelites saw it, they didn’t know what it was and asked each other, “What is it?”

Moses said to them, “This is the food that the Lord has given you to eat.

16 The Lord has commanded that each of you is to gather as much of it as he needs, two quarts for each member of his household.”

17 The Israelites did this, some gathering more, others less.

18 When they measured it, those who gathered much did not have too much, and those who gathered less did not have too little. Each had gathered just what he needed.

19 Moses said to them, “No one is to keep any of it for tomorrow.”

20 But some of them did not listen to Moses and saved part of it. The next morning it was full of worms and smelled rotten, and Moses was angry with them.

21 Every morning each one gathered as much as he needed; and when the sun grew hot, what was left on the ground melted.

22 On the sixth day they gathered twice as much food, four quarts for each person. All the leaders of the community came and told Moses about it,

23 and he said to them, “The Lord has commanded that tomorrow is a holy day of rest, dedicated to him. Bake today what you want to bake and boil what you want to boil. Whatever is left should be put aside and kept for tomorrow.”

24 As Moses had commanded, they kept what was left until the next day; it did not spoil or get worms in it.

25 Moses said, “Eat this today, because today is the Sabbath, a day of rest dedicated to the Lord, and you will not find any food outside the camp.

26 You must gather food for six days, but on the seventh day, the day of rest, there will be none.”

27 On the seventh day some of the people went out to gather food, but they did not find any.

28 Then the Lord said to Moses, “How much longer will you people refuse to obey my commands?

29 Remember that I, the Lord, have given you a day of rest, and that is why on the sixth day I will always give you enough food for two days. Everyone is to stay where he is on the seventh day and not leave his home.”

30 So the people did no work on the seventh day.

31 The people of Israel called the food manna.It was like a small white seed, and tasted like thin cakes made with honey.

32 Moses said, “The Lord has commanded us to save some manna, to be kept for our descendants, so that they can see the food which he gave us to eat in the desert when he brought us out of Egypt.”

33 Moses said to Aaron, “Take a jar, put two quarts of manna in it, and place it in the Lord’s presence to be kept for our descendants.”

34 As the Lord had commanded Moses, Aaron put it in front of the Covenant Box, so that it could be kept.

35 The Israelites ate manna for the next forty years, until they reached the land of Canaan, where they settled. (

36 The standard dry measure then in use equaled twenty quarts.)

—https://d1b84921e69nmq.cloudfront.net/363/32k/EXO/16-830e81c90b0ddef2bf94af699255cbeb.mp3?version_id=68—

Water from the Rock

1 The whole Israelite community left the desert of Sin, moving from one place to another at the command of the Lord. They camped at Rephidim, but there was no water there to drink.

2 They complained to Moses and said, “Give us water to drink.”

Moses answered, “Why are you complaining? Why are you putting the Lord to the test?”

3 But the people were very thirsty and continued to complain to Moses. They said, “Why did you bring us out of Egypt? To kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?”

4 Moses prayed earnestly to the Lord and said, “What can I do with these people? They are almost ready to stone me.”

5 The Lord said to Moses, “Take some of the leaders of Israel with you, and go on ahead of the people. Take along the stick with which you struck the Nile.

6 I will stand before you on a rock at Mount Sinai. Strike the rock, and water will come out of it for the people to drink.” Moses did so in the presence of the leaders of Israel.

7 The place was named Massah and Meribah,because the Israelites complained and put the Lord to the test when they asked, “Is the Lord with us or not?”

War with the Amalekites

8 The Amalekites came and attacked the Israelites at Rephidim.

9 Moses said to Joshua, “Pick out some men to go and fight the Amalekites tomorrow. I will stand on top of the hill holding the stick that God told me to carry.”

10 Joshua did as Moses commanded him and went out to fight the Amalekites, while Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill.

11 As long as Moses held up his arms, the Israelites won, but when he put his arms down, the Amalekites started winning.

12 When Moses’ arms grew tired, Aaron and Hur brought a stone for him to sit on, while they stood beside him and held up his arms, holding them steady until the sun went down.

13 In this way Joshua totally defeated the Amalekites.

14 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Write an account of this victory, so that it will be remembered. Tell Joshua that I will completely destroy the Amalekites.”

15 Moses built an altar and named it “The Lord is my Banner.”

16 He said, “Hold high the banner of the Lord!The Lord will continue to fight against the Amalekites forever!”

—https://d1b84921e69nmq.cloudfront.net/363/32k/EXO/17-e542b3af2605d6dfe00dfac81a1f443f.mp3?version_id=68—

Jethro Visits Moses

1 Moses’ father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian, heard about everything that God had done for Moses and the people of Israel when he led them out of Egypt.

2 So he came to Moses, bringing with him Moses’ wife Zipporah, who had been left behind,

3 and Gershom and Eliezer, her two sons. (Moses had said, “I have been a foreigner in a strange land”; so he had named one son Gershom.

4 He had also said, “The God of my father helped me and saved me from being killed by the king of Egypt”; so he had named the other son Eliezer.)

5 Jethro came with Moses’ wife and her two sons into the desert where Moses was camped at the holy mountain.

6 He had sent word to Moses that they were coming,

7 so Moses went out to meet him, bowed before him, and kissed him. They asked about each other’s health and then went into Moses’ tent.

8 Moses told Jethro everything that the Lord had done to the king and the people of Egypt in order to rescue the Israelites. He also told him about the hardships the people had faced on the way and how the Lord had saved them.

9 When Jethro heard all this, he was happy

10 and said, “Praise the Lord, who saved you from the king and the people of Egypt! Praise the Lord, who saved his people from slavery!

11 Now I know that the Lord is greater than all the gods, because he did this when the Egyptians treated the Israelites with such contempt.”

12 Then Jethro brought an offering to be burned whole and other sacrifices to be offered to God; and Aaron and all the leaders of Israel went with him to eat the sacred meal as an act of worship.

The Appointment of Judges

13 The next day Moses was settling disputes among the people, and he was kept busy from morning till night.

14 When Jethro saw everything that Moses had to do, he asked, “What is all this that you are doing for the people? Why are you doing this all alone, with people standing here from morning till night to consult you?”

15 Moses answered, “I must do this because the people come to me to learn God’s will.

16 When two people have a dispute, they come to me, and I decide which one of them is right, and I tell them God’s commands and laws.”

17 Then Jethro said, “You are not doing this right.

18 You will wear yourself out and these people as well. This is too much for you to do alone.

19 Now let me give you some good advice, and God will be with you. It is right for you to represent the people before God and bring their disputes to him.

20 You should teach them God’s commands and explain to them how they should live and what they should do.

21 But in addition, you should choose some capable men and appoint them as leaders of the people: leaders of thousands, hundreds, fifties, and tens. They must be God-fearing men who can be trusted and who cannot be bribed.

22 Let them serve as judges for the people on a permanent basis. They can bring all the difficult cases to you, but they themselves can decide all the smaller disputes. That will make it easier for you, as they share your burden.

23 If you do this, as God commands, you will not wear yourself out, and all these people can go home with their disputes settled.”

24 Moses took Jethro’s advice

25 and chose capable men from among all the Israelites. He appointed them as leaders of thousands, hundreds, fifties, and tens.

26 They served as judges for the people on a permanent basis, bringing the difficult cases to Moses but deciding the smaller disputes themselves.

27 Then Moses said good-bye to Jethro, and Jethro went back home.

—https://d1b84921e69nmq.cloudfront.net/363/32k/EXO/18-5b3dc40116aeb1670958450707dc6084.mp3?version_id=68—

The Israelites at Mount Sinai

1-2 The people of Israel left Rephidim, and on the first day of the third month after they had left Egypt they came to the desert of Sinai. There they set up camp at the foot of Mount Sinai,

3 and Moses went up the mountain to meet with God.

The Lord called to him from the mountain and told him to say to the Israelites, Jacob’s descendants:

4 “You saw what I, the Lord, did to the Egyptians and how I carried you as an eagle carries her young on her wings, and brought you here to me.

5 Now, if you will obey me and keep my covenant, you will be my own people. The whole earth is mine, but you will be my chosen people,

6 a people dedicated to me alone, and you will serve me as priests.”

7 So Moses went down and called the leaders of the people together and told them everything that the Lord had commanded him.

8 Then all the people answered together, “We will do everything that the Lord has said,” and Moses reported this to the Lord.

9 The Lord said to Moses, “I will come to you in a thick cloud, so that the people will hear me speaking with you and will believe you from now on.”

Moses told the Lord what the people had answered,

10 and the Lord said to him, “Go to the people and tell them to spend today and tomorrow purifying themselves for worship. They must wash their clothes

11 and be ready the day after tomorrow. On that day I will come down on Mount Sinai, where all the people can see me.

12 Mark a boundary around the mountain that the people must not cross, and tell them not to go up the mountain or even get near it. If any of you set foot on it, you are to be put to death;

13 you must either be stoned or shot with arrows, without anyone touching you. This applies to both people and animals; they must be put to death. But when the trumpet is blown, then the people are to go up to the mountain.”

14 Then Moses came down the mountain and told the people to get ready for worship. So they washed their clothes,

15 and Moses told them, “Be ready by the day after tomorrow and don’t have sexual intercourse in the meantime.”

16 On the morning of the third day there was thunder and lightning, a thick cloud appeared on the mountain, and a very loud trumpet blast was heard. All the people in the camp trembled with fear.

17 Moses led them out of the camp to meet God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain.

18 All of Mount Sinai was covered with smoke, because the Lord had come down on it in fire. The smoke went up like the smoke of a furnace, and all the people trembled violently.

19 The sound of the trumpet became louder and louder. Moses spoke, and God answered him with thunder.

20 The Lord came down on the top of Mount Sinai and called Moses to the top of the mountain. Moses went up

21 and the Lord said to him, “Go down and warn the people not to cross the boundary to come and look at me; if they do, many of them will die.

22 Even the priests who come near me must purify themselves, or I will punish them.”

23 Moses said to the Lord, “The people cannot come up, because you commanded us to consider the mountain sacred and to mark a boundary around it.”

24 The Lord replied, “Go down and bring Aaron back with you. But the priests and the people must not cross the boundary to come up to me, or I will punish them.”

25 Moses then went down to the people and told them what the Lord had said.

—https://d1b84921e69nmq.cloudfront.net/363/32k/EXO/19-69f49f06544e9604cf90ebbe6f293b09.mp3?version_id=68—

The Ten Commandments

1 God spoke, and these were his words:

2 “I am the Lord your God who brought you out of Egypt, where you were slaves.

3 “Worship no god but me.

4 “Do not make for yourselves images of anything in heaven or on earth or in the water under the earth.

5 Do not bow down to any idol or worship it, because I am the Lord your God and I tolerate no rivals. I bring punishment on those who hate me and on their descendants down to the third and fourth generation.

6 But I show my love to thousands of generationsof those who love me and obey my laws.

7 “Do not use my name for evil purposes, for I, the Lord your God, will punish anyone who misuses my name.

8 “Observe the Sabbath and keep it holy.

9 You have six days in which to do your work,

10 but the seventh day is a day of rest dedicated to me. On that day no one is to work—neither you, your children, your slaves, your animals, nor the foreigners who live in your country.

11 In six days I, the Lord, made the earth, the sky, the seas, and everything in them, but on the seventh day I rested. That is why I, the Lord, blessed the Sabbath and made it holy.

12 “Respect your father and your mother, so that you may live a long time in the land that I am giving you.

13 “Do not commit murder.

14 “Do not commit adultery.

15 “Do not steal.

16 “Do not accuse anyone falsely.

17 “Do not desire another man’s house; do not desire his wife, his slaves, his cattle, his donkeys, or anything else that he owns.”

The People’s Fear

18 When the people heard the thunder and the trumpet blast and saw the lightning and the smoking mountain, they trembled with fear and stood a long way off.

19 They said to Moses, “If you speak to us, we will listen; but we are afraid that if God speaks to us, we will die.”

20 Moses replied, “Don’t be afraid; God has only come to test you and make you keep on obeying him, so that you will not sin.”

21 But the people continued to stand a long way off, and only Moses went near the dark cloud where God was.

Laws about Altars

22 The Lord commanded Moses to tell the Israelites: “You have seen how I, the Lord, have spoken to you from heaven.

23 Do not make for yourselves gods of silver or gold to be worshiped in addition to me.

24 Make an altar of earth for me, and on it sacrifice your sheep and your cattle as offerings to be completely burned and as fellowship offerings. In every place that I set aside for you to worship me, I will come to you and bless you.

25 If you make an altar of stone for me, do not build it out of cut stones, because when you use a chisel on stones, you make them unfit for my use.

26 Do not build an altar for me with steps leading up to it; if you do, you will expose yourselves as you go up the steps.

—https://d1b84921e69nmq.cloudfront.net/363/32k/EXO/20-7b0eafa295e544468963cf9799deef0f.mp3?version_id=68—