Sundry Laws

23 “^(A)You shall not bear a false report; do not join your hand with a wicked man to be a ^(B)malicious witness. ² You shall not follow ^[a]the masses in doing evil, nor shall you ^[b]testify in a dispute so as to turn aside after ^[c]a multitude in order to ^(C)pervert justice; ^3 (D)nor shall you ^[d]be partial to a poor man in his dispute.

⁴ “^(E)If you meet your enemy’s ox or his donkey wandering away, you shall surely return it to him. ^5 (F)If you see the donkey of one who hates you lying helpless under its load, you shall refrain from leaving it to him, you shall surely release it with him.

⁶ “^(G)You shall not pervert the justice due to your needy brother in his dispute. ^7 (H)Keep far from a false charge, and ^(I)do not kill the innocent or the righteous, for ^(J)I will not acquit the guilty.

⁸ “^(K)You shall not take a bribe, for a bribe blinds the clear-sighted and ^[e]subverts the cause of the just.

⁹ “^(L)You shall not oppress a ^[f]stranger, since you yourselves know the ^[g]feelings of a ^[h]stranger, for you also were ^[i]strangers in the land of Egypt.

The Sabbath and Land

¹⁰ “^(M)You shall sow your land for six years and gather in its yield, ¹¹ but on the seventh year you shall let it ^[j]rest and lie fallow, so that the needy of your people may eat; and whatever they leave the beast of the field may eat. You are to do the same with your vineyard and your olive grove.

¹² “^(N)Six days you are to do your work, but on the seventh day you shall cease from labor so that your ox and your donkey may rest, and the son of your female slave, as well as ^[k]your stranger, may refresh themselves. ¹³ Now ^(O)concerning everything which I have said to you, be on your guard; and ^(P)do not mention the name of other gods, nor let them be heard ^[l]from your mouth.

Three National Feasts

¹⁴ “^(Q)Three times a year you shall celebrate a feast to Me. ¹⁵ You shall observe ^(R)the Feast of Unleavened Bread; for seven days you are to eat unleavened bread, as I commanded you, at the appointed time in the ^(S)month Abib, for in it you came out of Egypt. And ^[m](T)none shall appear before Me empty-handed. ¹⁶ Also you shall observe ^(U)the Feast of the Harvest of the first fruits of your labors from what you sow in the field; also the Feast of the Ingathering at the end of the year ^(V)when you gather in the fruit of your labors from the field. ^17 (W)Three times a year all your males shall appear before the Lord ^[n]God.

¹⁸ “^(X)You shall not offer the blood of My sacrifice with leavened bread; ^(Y)nor is the fat of My ^[o]feast to remain overnight until morning.

¹⁹ “You shall bring ^(Z)the choice first fruits of your soil into the house of the Lord your God.

“^(AA)You are not to boil a young goat in the milk of its mother.

Conquest of the Land

²⁰ “Behold, I am going to send ^(AB)an angel before you to guard you along the way and ^(AC)to bring you into the place which I have prepared. ²¹ Be on your guard before him and obey his voice; ^(AD)do not be rebellious toward him, for he will not pardon your transgression, since ^(AE)My name is in him. ²² But if you truly obey his voice and do all that I say, then ^(AF)I will be an enemy to your enemies and an adversary to your adversaries. ^23 (AG)For My angel will go before you and bring you in to the land of the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Canaanites, the Hivites and the Jebusites; and I will completely destroy them. ^24 (AH)You shall not worship their gods, nor serve them, nor do according to their deeds; ^(AI)but you shall utterly overthrow them and break their ^(AJ)sacred pillars in pieces. ^25 (AK)But you shall serve the Lord your God, ^[p]and He will bless your bread and your water; and ^(AL)I will remove sickness from your midst. ²⁶ There shall be no one miscarrying or ^(AM)barren in your land; ^(AN)I will fulfill the number of your days. ²⁷ I will ^(AO)send My terror ahead of you, and ^(AP)throw into confusion all the people among whom you come, and I will ^(AQ)make all your enemies turn their backs to you. ²⁸ I will send ^(AR)hornets ahead of you so that they will ^(AS)drive out the Hivites, the Canaanites, and the Hittites before you. ^29 (AT)I will not drive them out before you in a single year, that the land may not become desolate and the beasts of the field become too numerous for you. ³⁰ I will drive them out before you ^(AU)little by little, until you become fruitful and take possession of the land. ^31 (AV)I will fix your boundary from the ^[q]Red Sea to the sea of the Philistines, and from the wilderness to the River Euphrates; ^(AW)for I will deliver the inhabitants of the land into your hand, and you will ^(AX)drive them out before you. ^32 (AY)You shall ^[r]make no covenant with them ^(AZ)or with their gods. ^33 (BA)They shall not live in your land, because they will make you sin against Me; for if you serve their gods, ^(BB)it will surely be a snare to you.”

People Affirm Their Covenant with God

24 Then He said to Moses, “^(BC)Come up to the Lord, you and Aaron, ^(BD)Nadab and Abihu and ^(BE)seventy of the elders of Israel, and you shall worship at a distance. ² Moses alone, however, shall come near to the Lord, but they shall not come near, nor shall the people come up with him.”

³ Then Moses came and recounted to the people all the words of the Lord and all the ^[s]ordinances; and all the people answered with one voice and said, “^(BF)All the words which the Lord has spoken we will do!” ^4 (BG)Moses wrote down all the words of the Lord. Then he arose early in the morning, and built an ^(BH)altar ^[t]at the foot of the mountain with twelve pillars for the twelve tribes of Israel. ⁵ He sent young men of the sons of Israel, ^(BI)and they offered burnt offerings and sacrificed young bulls as peace offerings to the Lord. ^6 (BJ)Moses took half of the blood and put it in basins, and the other half of the blood he sprinkled on the altar. ⁷ Then he took ^(BK)the book of the covenant and read it in the hearing of the people; and they said, “^(BL)All that the Lord has spoken we will do, and we will be obedient!” ⁸ So ^(BM)Moses took the blood and sprinkled it on the people, and said, “Behold ^(BN)the blood of the covenant, which the Lord has ^[u]made with you ^[v]in accordance with all these words.”

⁹ Then Moses went up ^[w]with Aaron, ^(BO)Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel, ¹⁰ and ^(BP)they saw the God of Israel; and under His feet ^[x](BQ)there appeared to be a pavement of sapphire, ^[y]as clear as the sky itself. ¹¹ Yet He did not stretch out His hand against the nobles of the sons of Israel; and ^(BR)they saw God, and they ate and drank.

¹² Now the Lord said to Moses, “Come up to Me on the mountain and ^[z]remain there, and ^(BS)I will give you the stone tablets ^[aa]with the law and the commandment which I have written for their instruction.” ¹³ So Moses arose ^[ab]with ^(BT)Joshua his ^[ac]servant, and Moses went up to ^(BU)the mountain of God. ¹⁴ But to the elders he said, “^(BV)Wait here for us until we return to you. And behold, ^(BW)Aaron and Hur are with you; whoever ^[ad]has a legal matter, let him approach them.” ¹⁵ Then Moses went up to the mountain, and ^(BX)the cloud covered the mountain. ^16 (BY)The glory of the Lord ^[ae]rested on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it for six days; and on the seventh day He ^(BZ)called to Moses from the midst of the cloud. ^17 (CA)And to the eyes of the sons of Israel the appearance of the glory of the Lord was like a ^(CB)consuming fire on the mountain top. ¹⁸ Moses entered the midst of the cloud ^[af]as he went up to the mountain; and Moses was on the mountain ^(CC)forty days and forty nights.

Offerings for the Sanctuary

25 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ² “^(CD)Tell the sons of Israel to ^[ag]raise a ^[ah]contribution for Me; ^(CE)from every man whose heart moves him you shall ^[ai]raise My ^[aj]contribution. ³ This is the ^[ak]contribution which you are to ^[al]raise from them: gold, silver and bronze, ^4 [am](CF)blue, purple and scarlet material, fine linen, goat hair, ⁵ rams’ skins dyed red, porpoise skins, acacia wood, ^6 (CG)oil for lighting, ^(CH)spices for the anointing oil and for the fragrant incense, ⁷ onyx stones and setting stones for the ^(CI)ephod and for the ^[an](CJ)breastpiece. ⁸ Let them ^(CK)construct a sanctuary for Me, ^(CL)that I may dwell among them. ^9 (CM)According to all that I am going to show you, as the pattern of the tabernacle and the pattern of all its furniture, just so you shall construct it.

Ark of the Covenant

¹⁰ “^(CN)They shall construct an ark of acacia wood two and a half ^[ao]cubits ^[ap]long, and one and a half cubits ^[aq]wide, and one and a half cubits ^[ar]high. ¹¹ You shall ^(CO)overlay it with pure gold, inside and out you shall overlay it, and you shall make a gold molding ^[as]around it. ¹² You shall cast four gold rings for it and ^[at]fasten them on its four feet, and two rings shall be on one side of it and two rings on the other side of it. ¹³ You shall make poles of acacia wood and overlay them with gold. ¹⁴ You shall put the poles into the rings on the sides of the ark, to carry the ark with them. ¹⁵ The ^(CP)poles shall ^[au]remain in the rings of the ark; they shall not be removed from it. ¹⁶ You shall ^(CQ)put into the ark the testimony which I shall give you.

¹⁷ “You shall ^(CR)make a ^[av]mercy seat of pure gold, two and a half ^[aw]cubits ^[ax]long and one and a half cubits ^[ay]wide. ¹⁸ You shall make two cherubim of gold, make them of hammered work ^[az]at the two ends of the mercy seat. ¹⁹ Make one cherub ^[ba]at one end and one cherub ^[bb]at the other end; you shall make the cherubim of one piece with the mercy seat at its two ends. ^20 (CS)The cherubim shall have their wings spread upward, covering the mercy seat with their wings and ^[bc]facing one another; the faces of the cherubim are to be turned toward the mercy seat. ^21 (CT)You shall put the mercy seat ^[bd]on top of the ark, and ^(CU)in the ark you shall put the testimony which I will give to you. ^22 (CV)There I will meet with you; and from above the mercy seat, from ^(CW)between the two cherubim which are upon the ark of the testimony, I will speak to you about all that I will give you in commandment for the sons of Israel.

The Table of Showbread

²³ “^(CX)You shall make a table of acacia wood, two cubits ^[be]long and one cubit ^[bf]wide and one and a half cubits ^[bg]high. ²⁴ You shall overlay it with pure gold and make a gold ^(CY)border around it. ²⁵ You shall make for it a rim of a handbreadth around it; and you shall make a gold border for the rim around it. ²⁶ You shall make four gold rings for it and put rings on the four corners which are on its four feet. ²⁷ The rings shall be close to the rim as holders for the poles to carry the table. ²⁸ You shall make the poles of acacia wood and overlay them with gold, so that with them the table may be carried. ²⁹ You shall make its ^[bh](CZ)dishes and its pans and its jars and its ^[bi]bowls with which to pour drink offerings; you shall make them of pure gold. ³⁰ You shall set ^(DA)the bread of the ^[bj]Presence on the table before Me ^[bk]at all times.

The Golden Lampstand

³¹ “^(DB)Then you shall make a lampstand of pure gold. The lampstand and its base and its shaft are to be made of hammered work; its cups, its ^[bl]bulbs and its flowers shall be of one piece with it. ^32 (DC)Six branches shall go out from its sides; three branches of the lampstand from its one side and three branches of the lampstand from its ^[bm]other side. ^33 (DD)Three cups shall be shaped like almond blossoms in the one branch, a ^[bn]bulb and a flower, and three cups shaped like almond blossoms in the ^[bo]other branch, a ^[bp]bulb and a flower—so for six branches going out from the lampstand; ³⁴ and ^(DE)in the lampstand four cups shaped like almond blossoms, its ^[bq]bulbs and its flowers. ^35 (DF)A ^[br]bulb shall be under the first pair of branches coming out of it, and a ^[bs]bulb under the second pair of branches coming out of it, and a ^[bt]bulb under the third pair of branches coming out of it, for the six branches coming out of the lampstand. ^36 (DG)Their ^[bu]bulbs and their branches shall be of one piece with it; all of it shall be one piece of hammered work of pure gold. ³⁷ Then you shall make its lamps seven in number; and ^(DH)they shall ^[bv]mount its lamps so as to shed light on the space in front of it. ³⁸ Its snuffers and ^[bw]their trays shall be of pure gold. ³⁹ It shall be made from a talent of pure gold, with all these utensils. ^40 (DI)See that you make them ^(DJ)after the pattern for them, which was shown to you on the mountain.

Parable of Ten Virgins

25 “Then ^(A)the kingdom of heaven will be comparable to ten virgins, who took their ^(B)lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. ² Five of them were foolish, and five were ^(C)prudent. ³ For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them, ⁴ but the ^(D)prudent took oil in flasks along with their lamps. ⁵ Now while the bridegroom was delaying, they all got drowsy and began to sleep. ⁶ But at midnight there was a shout, ‘Behold, the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.’ ⁷ Then all those virgins rose and trimmed their lamps. ⁸ The foolish said to the prudent, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ ⁹ But the ^(E)prudent answered, ‘No, there will not be enough for us and you too; go instead to the dealers and buy some for yourselves.’ ¹⁰ And while they were going away to make the purchase, the bridegroom came, and those who were ^(F)ready went in with him to ^(G)the wedding feast; and ^(H)the door was shut. ¹¹ Later the other virgins also came, saying, ‘^(I)Lord, lord, open up for us.’ ¹² But he answered, ‘Truly I say to you, I do not know you.’ ^13 (J)Be on the alert then, for you do not know the day nor the hour.

Parable of the Talents

¹⁴ “^(K)For it is just like a man ^(L)about to go on a journey, who called his own slaves and entrusted his possessions to them. ¹⁵ To one he gave five ^[a](M)talents, to another, two, and to another, one, each according to his own ability; and he ^(N)went on his journey. ¹⁶ Immediately the one who had received the five ^(O)talents went and traded with them, and gained five more talents. ¹⁷ In the same manner the one who had received the two talents gained two more. ¹⁸ But he who received the one talent went away, and dug a hole in the ground and hid his ^[b]master’s money.

¹⁹ “Now after a long time the master of those slaves *came and *^(P)settled accounts with them. ²⁰ The one who had received the five ^(Q)talents came up and brought five more talents, saying, ‘Master, you entrusted five talents to me. See, I have gained five more talents.’ ²¹ His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and ^(R)faithful slave. You were faithful with a few things, I will ^(S)put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your ^[c]master.’

²² “Also the one who had received the two ^(T)talents came up and said, ‘Master, you entrusted two talents to me. See, I have gained two more talents.’ ²³ His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and ^(U)faithful slave. You were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.’

²⁴ “And the one also who had received the one ^(V)talent came up and said, ‘Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow and gathering where you scattered no seed. ²⁵ And I was afraid, and went away and hid your talent in the ground. See, you have what is yours.’

²⁶ “But his master answered and said to him, ‘You wicked, lazy slave, you knew that I reap where I did not sow and gather where I scattered no seed. ²⁷ Then you ought to have put my money ^[d]in the bank, and on my arrival I would have received my money back with interest. ²⁸ Therefore take away the talent from him, and give it to the one who has the ten talents.’

²⁹ “^(W)For to everyone who has, more shall be given, and he will have an abundance; but from the one who does not have, even what he does have shall be taken away. ³⁰ Throw out the worthless slave into ^(X)the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

The Judgment

³¹ “But when ^(Y)the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then ^(Z)He will sit on His glorious throne. ³² All the nations will be ^(AA)gathered before Him; and He will separate them from one another, ^(AB)as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats; ³³ and He will put the sheep ^(AC)on His right, and the goats ^(AD)on the left.

³⁴ “Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed of My Father, ^(AE)inherit the kingdom prepared for you ^(AF)from the foundation of the world. ³⁵ For ^(AG)I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; ^(AH)I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; ^36 (AI)naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you ^(AJ)visited Me; ^(AK)I was in prison, and you came to Me.’ ³⁷ Then the righteous will answer Him, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink? ³⁸ And when did we see You a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You? ³⁹ When did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ ^40 (AL)The King will answer and say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, ^(AM)to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.’

⁴¹ “Then He will also say to those on His left, ‘^(AN)Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the ^(AO)eternal fire which has been prepared for ^(AP)the devil and his angels; ⁴² for I was hungry, and you gave Me nothing to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me nothing to drink; ⁴³ I was a stranger, and you did not invite Me in; naked, and you did not clothe Me; sick, and in prison, and you did not visit Me.’ ⁴⁴ Then they themselves also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not ^[e]take care of You?’ ⁴⁵ Then He will answer them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’ ⁴⁶ These will go away into ^(AQ)eternal punishment, but the righteous into ^(AR)eternal life.”