Exodus 17-20

Exodus 17

¹And all the company of the sons of Israel journey from the wilderness of Sin, on their journeyings, by the command of Jehovah, and encamp in Rephidim, and there is no water for the people to drink;

²and the people strive with Moses, and say, ‘Give us water, and we drink.' And Moses saith to them, ‘What? -- ye strive with me, what? -- ye try Jehovah?'

³and the people thirst there for water, and the people murmur against Moses, and say, ‘Why is this? -- thou hast brought us up out of Egypt, to put us to death, also our sons and our cattle, with thirst.'

⁴And Moses crieth to Jehovah, saying, ‘What do I to this people? yet a little, and they have stoned me.'

⁵And Jehovah saith unto Moses, ‘Pass over before the people, and take with thee of the elders of Israel, and thy rod with which thou hast smitten the River take in thy hand, and thou hast gone:

⁶Lo, I am standing before thee there on the rock in Horeb, and thou hast smitten on the rock, and waters have come out from it, and the people have drunk.' And Moses doth so before the eyes of the elders of Israel,

⁷and he calleth the name of the place Massah, and Meribah, because of the ‘strife' of the sons of Israel, and because of their ‘trying' Jehovah, saying, ‘Is Jehovah in our midst or not?'

⁸And Amalek cometh, and fighteth with Israel in Rephidim,

⁹and Moses saith unto Joshua, ‘Choose for us men, and go out, fight with Amalek: to-morrow I am standing on the top of the hill, and the rod of God in my hand.'

¹⁰And Joshua doth as Moses hath said to him, to fight with Amalek, and Moses, Aaron, and Hur, have gone up to the top of the height;

¹¹and it hath come to pass, when Moses lifteth up his hand, that Israel hath been mighty, and when he letteth his hands rest, that Amalek hath been mighty.

¹²And the hands of Moses are heavy, and they take a stone, and set it under him, and he sitteth on it: and Aaron and Hur have taken hold on his hands, on this side one, and on that one, and his hands are stedfast till the going in of the sun;

¹³and Joshua weakeneth Amalek and his people by the mouth of the sword.

¹⁴And Jehovah saith unto Moses, ‘Write this, a memorial in a Book, and set it in the ears of Joshua, that I do utterly wipe away the remembrance of Amalek from under the heavens;'

¹⁵and Moses buildeth an altar, and calleth its name Jehovah-Nissi,

¹⁶and saith, ‘Because a hand is on the throne of Jah, war is to Jehovah with Amalek from generation -- generation.'

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.