Exodus 18-21

Exodus 18

¹And Jethro priest of Midian, father-in-law of Moses, heareth all that God hath done for Moses, and for Israel his people, that Jehovah hath brought out Israel from Egypt,

²and Jethro, father-in-law of Moses, taketh Zipporah, wife of Moses, besides her parents,

³and her two sons, of whom the name of the one is Gershom, for he said, ‘a sojourner I have been in a strange land:'

⁴and the name of the other is Eliezer, for, ‘the God of my father is for my help, and doth deliver me from the sword of Pharaoh.'

⁵And Jethro, father-in-law of Moses, cometh, and his sons, and his wife, unto Moses, unto the wilderness where he is encamping -- the mount of God;

⁶and he saith unto Moses, ‘I, thy father-in-law, Jethro, am coming unto thee, and thy wife, and her two sons with her.'

⁷And Moses goeth out to meet his father-in-law, and boweth himself, and kisseth him, and they ask one at another of welfare, and come into the tent;

⁸and Moses recounteth to his father-in-law all that Jehovah hath done to Pharaoh, and to the Egyptians, on account of Israel, all the travail which hath found them in the way, and Jehovah doth deliver them.

⁹And Jethro rejoiceth for all the good which Jehovah hath done to Israel, whom He hath delivered from the hand of the Egyptians;

¹⁰and Jethro saith, ‘Blessed is Jehovah, who hath delivered you from the hand of the Egyptians, and from the hand of Pharaoh -- who hath delivered this people from under the hand of the Egyptians;

¹¹now I have known that Jehovah is greater than all the gods, for in the thing they have acted proudly -- He is above them!'

¹²And Jethro, father-in-law of Moses, taketh a burnt-offering and sacrifices for God; and Aaron cometh in, and all the elders of Israel, to eat bread with the father-in-law of Moses, before God.

¹³And it cometh to pass on the morrow, that Moses sitteth to judge the people, and the people stand before Moses, from the morning unto the evening;

¹⁴and the father-in-law of Moses seeth all that he is doing to the people, and saith, ‘What is this thing which thou art doing to the people? wherefore art thou sitting by thyself, and all the people standing by thee from morning till evening?'

¹⁵And Moses saith to his father-in-law, ‘Because the people come unto me to seek God;

¹⁶when they have a matter, it hath come unto me, and I have judged between a man and his neighbour, and made known the statutes of God, and His laws.'

¹⁷And the father-in-law of Moses saith unto him, ‘The thing which thou art doing is not good;

¹⁸thou dost surely wear away, both thou, and this people which is with thee, for the thing is too heavy for thee, thou art not able to do it by thyself.

¹⁹‘Now, hearken to my voice, I counsel thee, and God is with thee: be thou for the people over-against God, and thou hast brought in the things unto God;

²⁰and thou hast warned them concerning the statutes and the laws, and hast made known to them the way in which they go, and the work which they do.

²¹‘And thou -- thou dost provide out of all the people men of ability, fearing God, men of truth, hating dishonest gain, and hast placed these over them, heads of thousands, heads of hundreds, heads of fifties, and heads of tens,

²²and they have judged the people at all times; and it hath come to pass, every great matter they bring in unto thee, and every small matter they judge themselves; and lighten it from off thyself, and they have borne with thee.

²³If thou dost this thing, and God hath commanded thee, then thou hast been able to stand, and all this people also goeth in unto its place in peace.'

²⁴And Moses hearkeneth to the voice of his father-in-law, and doth all that he said,

²⁵and Moses chooseth men of ability out of all Israel, and maketh them chiefs over the people, heads of thousands, heads of hundreds, heads of fifties, and heads of tens,

²⁶and they have judged the people at all times; the hard matter they bring in unto Moses, and every small matter they judge themselves.

²⁷And Moses sendeth his father-in-law away, and he goeth away unto his own land.

Exodus 19

¹In the third month of the going out of the sons of Israel from the land of Egypt, in this day they have come into the wilderness of Sinai,

²and they journey from Rephidim, and enter the wilderness of Sinai, and encamp in the wilderness; and Israel encampeth there before the mount.

³And Moses hath gone up unto God, and Jehovah calleth unto him out of the mount, saying, ‘Thus dost thou say to the house of Jacob, and declare to the sons of Israel,

⁴Ye -- ye have seen that which I have done to the Egyptians, and I bear you on eagles' wings, and bring you in unto Myself.

⁵‘And now, if ye really hearken to My voice, then ye have kept My covenant, and been to Me a peculiar treasure more than all the peoples, for all the earth is Mine;

⁶and ye -- ye are to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation: these are the words which thou dost speak unto the sons of Israel.'

⁷And Moses cometh, and calleth for the elders of the people, and setteth before them all these words which Jehovah hath commanded him;

⁸and all the people answer together and say, ‘All that Jehovah hath spoken we do;' and Moses returneth the words of the people unto Jehovah.

⁹And Jehovah saith unto Moses, ‘Lo, I am coming unto thee in the thickness of the cloud, so that the people hear in My speaking with thee, and also believe in thee to the age;' and Moses declareth the words of the people unto Jehovah.

¹⁰And Jehovah saith unto Moses, ‘Go unto the people; and thou hast sanctified them to-day and to-morrow, and they have washed their garments,

¹¹and have been prepared for the third day; for on the third day doth Jehovah come down before the eyes of all the people, on mount Sinai.

¹²‘And thou hast made a border for the people round about, saying, Take heed to yourselves, going up into the mount, or coming against its extremity; whoever is coming against the mount is certainly put to death;

¹³a hand cometh not against him, for he is certainly stoned or shot through, whether beast or man it liveth not; in the drawing out of the jubilee cornet they go up into the mount.'

¹⁴And Moses cometh down from the mount unto the people, and sanctifieth the people, and they wash their garments;

¹⁵and he saith unto the people, ‘Be ye prepared for the third day, come not nigh unto a woman.'

¹⁶And it cometh to pass, on the third day, while it is morning, that there are voices, and lightnings, and a heavy cloud, on the mount, and the sound of a trumpet very strong; and all the people who are in the camp do tremble.

¹⁷And Moses bringeth out the people to meet God from the camp, and they station themselves at the lower part of the mount,

¹⁸and mount Sinai is wholly a smoke from the presence of Jehovah, who hath come down on it in fire, and its smoke goeth up as smoke of the furnace, and the whole mount trembleth exceedingly;

¹⁹and the sound of the trumpet is going on, and very strong; Moses speaketh, and God doth answer him with a voice.

²⁰And Jehovah cometh down on mount Sinai, unto the top of the mount, and Jehovah calleth for Moses unto the top of the mount, and Moses goeth up.

²¹And Jehovah saith unto Moses, ‘Go down, protest to the people, lest they break through unto Jehovah to see, and many of them have fallen;

²²and also the priests who are coming nigh unto Jehovah do sanctify themselves, lest Jehovah break forth on them.'

²³And Moses saith unto Jehovah, ‘The people is unable to come up unto mount Sinai, for Thou -- Thou hast protested to us, saying, Make a border for the mount, then thou hast sanctified it.'

²⁴And Jehovah saith unto him, ‘Go, descend, then thou hast come up, thou, and Aaron with thee; and the priests and the people do not break through, to come up unto Jehovah, lest He break forth upon them.'

²⁵And Moses goeth down unto the people, and saith unto them: --

Exodus 20

¹‘And God speaketh all these words, saying,

²I am Jehovah thy God, who hath brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of a house of servants.

³‘Thou hast no other Gods before Me.

⁴‘Thou dost not make to thyself a graven image, or any likeness which is in the heavens above, or which is in the earth beneath, or which is in the waters under the earth.

⁵Thou dost not bow thyself to them, nor serve them: for I, Jehovah thy God, am a zealous God, charging iniquity of fathers on sons, on the third generation, and on the fourth, of those hating Me,

⁶and doing kindness to thousands, of those loving Me and keeping My commands.

⁷‘Thou dost not take up the name of Jehovah thy God for a vain thing, for Jehovah acquitteth not him who taketh up His name for a vain thing.

⁸‘Remember the Sabbath-day to sanctify it;

⁹six days thou dost labour, and hast done all thy work,

¹⁰and the seventh day is a Sabbath to Jehovah thy God; thou dost not do any work, thou, and thy son, and thy daughter, thy man-servant, and thy handmaid, and thy cattle, and thy sojourner who is within thy gates, --

¹¹for six days hath Jehovah made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and resteth in the seventh day; therefore hath Jehovah blessed the Sabbath-day, and doth sanctify it.

¹²‘Honour thy father and thy mother, so that thy days are prolonged on the ground which Jehovah thy God is giving to thee.

¹³‘Thou dost not murder.

¹⁴‘Thou dost not commit adultery.

¹⁵‘Thou dost not steal.

¹⁶‘Thou dost not answer against thy neighbour a false testimony.

¹⁷‘Thou dost not desire the house of thy neighbour, thou dost not desire the wife of thy neighbour, or his man-servant, or his handmaid, or his ox, or his ass, or anything which is thy neighbour's.'

¹⁸And all the people are seeing the voices, and the flames, and the sound of the trumpet, and the mount smoking; and the people see, and move, and stand afar off,

¹⁹and say unto Moses, ‘Speak thou with us, and we hear, and let not God speak with us, lest we die.'

²⁰And Moses saith unto the people, ‘Fear not, for to try you hath God come, and in order that His fear may be before your faces -- that ye sin not.'

²¹And the people stand afar off, and Moses hath drawn nigh unto the thick darkness where God is.

²²And Jehovah saith unto Moses, ‘Thus dost thou say unto the sons of Israel: Ye -- ye have seen that from the heavens I have spoken with you;

²³ye do not make with Me gods of silver, even gods of gold ye do not make to yourselves.

²⁴‘An altar of earth thou dost make for Me, and thou hast sacrificed on it thy burnt-offerings and thy peace-offerings, thy flock and thy herd; in every place where I cause My name to be remembered I come in unto thee, and have blessed thee.

²⁵‘And if an altar of stones thou dost make to Me, thou dost not build them of hewn work; when thy tool thou hast waved over it, then thou dost pollute it;

²⁶neither dost thou go up by steps on Mine altar, that thy nakedness be not revealed upon it.

Exodus 21

¹‘And these are the judgments which thou dost set before them:

²‘When thou buyest a Hebrew servant -- six years he doth serve, and in the seventh he goeth out as a freeman for nought;

³if by himself he cometh in, by himself he goeth out; if he is owner of a wife, then his wife hath gone out with him;

⁴if his lord give to him a wife, and she hath borne to him sons or daughters -- the wife and her children are her lord's, and he goeth out by himself.

⁵‘And if the servant really say: I have loved my lord, my wife, and my sons -- I do not go out free;

⁶then hath his lord brought him nigh unto God, and hath brought him nigh unto the door, or unto the side-post, and his lord hath bored his ear with an awl, and he hath served him -- to the age.

⁷‘And when a man selleth his daughter for a handmaid, she doth not go out according to the going out of the men-servants;

⁸if evil in the eyes of her lord, so that he hath not betrothed her, then he hath let her be ransomed; to a strange people he hath not power to sell her, in his dealing treacherously with her.

⁹‘And if to his son he betroth her, according to the right of daughters he doth to her.

¹⁰‘If another woman he take for him, her food, her covering, and her habitation, he doth not withdraw;

¹¹and if these three he do not to her, then she hath gone out for nought, without money.

¹²‘He who smiteth a man so that he hath died, is certainly put to death;

¹³as to him who hath not laid wait, and God hath brought to his hand, I have even set for thee a place whither he doth flee.

¹⁴‘And when a man doth presume against his neighbour to slay him with subtilty, from Mine altar thou dost take him to die.

¹⁵‘And he who smiteth his father or his mother is certainly put to death.

¹⁶‘And he who stealeth a man, and hath sold him, and he hath been found in his hand, is certainly put to death.

¹⁷‘And he who is reviling his father or his mother is certainly put to death.

¹⁸‘And when men contend, and a man hath smitten his neighbour with a stone, or with the fist, and he die not, but hath fallen on the bed;

¹⁹if he rise, and hath gone up and down without on his staff, then hath the smiter been acquitted; only his cessation he giveth, and he is thoroughly healed.

²⁰‘And when a man smiteth his man-servant or his handmaid, with a rod, and he hath died under his hand -- he is certainly avenged;

²¹only if he remain a day, or two days, he is not avenged, for he is his money.

²²‘And when men strive, and have smitten a pregnant woman, and her children have come out, and there is no mischief, he is certainly fined, as the husband of the woman doth lay upon him, and he hath given through the judges;

²³and if there is mischief, then thou hast given life for life,

²⁴eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot,

²⁵burning for burning, wound for wound, stripe for stripe.

²⁶‘And when a man smiteth the eye of his man-servant, or the eye of his handmaid, and hath destroyed it, as a freeman he doth send him away for his eye;

²⁷and if a tooth of his man-servant or a tooth of his handmaid he knock out, as a freeman he doth send him away for his tooth.

²⁸‘And when an ox doth gore man or woman, and they have died, the ox is certainly stoned, and his flesh is not eaten, and the owner of the ox is acquitted;

²⁹and if the ox is one accustomed to gore heretofore, and it hath been testified to its owner, and he doth not watch it, and it hath put to death a man or woman, the ox is stoned, and its owner also is put to death.

³⁰‘If atonement is laid upon him, then he hath given the ransom of his life, according to all that is laid upon him;

³¹whether it gore a son or gore a daughter, according to this judgment it is done to him.

³²‘If the ox gore a man-servant or a handmaid, thirty silver shekels he doth give to their lord, and the ox is stoned.

³³‘And when a man doth open a pit, or when a man doth dig a pit, and doth not cover it, and an ox or ass hath fallen thither, --

³⁴the owner of the pit doth repay, money he doth give back to its owner, and the dead is his.

³⁵‘And when a man's ox doth smite the ox of his neighbour, and it hath died, then they have sold the living ox, and halved its money, and also the dead one they do halve;

³⁶or, it hath been known that the ox is one accustomed to gore heretofore, and its owner doth not watch it, he certainly repayeth ox for ox, and the dead is his.