Exodus 34
Big idea: God says his own name out loud, and it is mercy. Two new tablets are chiselled — this time by Moses — and he goes up alone in the morning. Yahweh descends in the cloud, stands with him, and passes by proclaiming: Yahweh, Yahweh, a merciful and gracious God, slow to anger and abundant in loving kindness and truth, keeping loving kindness for thousands, forgiving iniquity, disobedience and sin — and who will by no means clear the guilty. Moses bows and asks for exactly what he has been asking for: go among us, pardon our iniquity, and take us for your inheritance. The covenant is remade, with warnings about the altars and marriages of the land and a repeat of the feasts. Forty more days without bread or water, and Moses comes down not knowing that the skin of his face shines.
Chapter 34 restores the covenant and sends Moses down with a shining face. Chapter 35 gathers the people to build — starting, as chapter 31 ended, with the sabbath.
34:1–9 — Merciful and gracious
Yahweh tells Moses to chisel two stone tablets like the first, and he will write on them the words that were on the first, which Moses broke. Be ready in the morning and come up alone; no one else on the mountain, and no flocks or herds in front of it. Moses chisels the tablets, rises early and goes up with them. Yahweh descends in the cloud, stands with him there, and proclaims the name of Yahweh. He passes by before him and proclaims: Yahweh! Yahweh, a merciful and gracious God, slow to anger and abundant in loving kindness and truth, keeping loving kindness for thousands, forgiving iniquity, disobedience and sin — and who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation. Moses hurries, bows his head to the earth and worships, and says: if I have found favour, let the Lord go among us, even though this is a stiff-necked people; pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us for your inheritance.
1 Yahweh said to Moses, “Chisel two stone tablets like the first. I will write on the tablets the words that were on the first tablets, which you broke. 2 Be ready by the morning, and come up in the morning to Mount Sinai, and present yourself there to me on the top of the mountain. 3 No one shall come up with you or be seen anywhere on the mountain. Do not let the flocks or herds graze in front of that mountain.” 4 He chiseled two tablets of stone like the first; then Moses rose up early in the morning, and went up to Mount Sinai, as Yahweh had commanded him, and took in his hand two stone tablets. 5 Yahweh descended in the cloud, and stood with him there, and proclaimed Yahweh’s name. 6 Yahweh passed by before him, and proclaimed, “Yahweh! Yahweh, a merciful and gracious God, slow to anger, and abundant in loving kindness and truth, 7 keeping loving kindness for thousands, forgiving iniquity and disobedience and sin; and who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, and on the children’s children, on the third and on the fourth generation.” 8 Moses hurried and bowed his head toward the earth, and worshiped. 9 He said, “If now I have found favor in your sight, Lord, please let the Lord go among us, even though this is a stiff-necked people; pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us for your inheritance.”
34:10–28 — The covenant remade
God says: behold, I make a covenant; before all your people I will do marvels such as have not been done in all the earth or in any nation, and all the people among whom you are shall see Yahweh's work. Observe what I command today: I will drive out the Amorite, Canaanite, Hittite, Perizzite, Hivite and Jebusite. Be careful not to make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, lest it become a snare; break down their altars, dash their pillars in pieces and cut down their Asherah poles — for you shall worship no other god, since Yahweh, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God. Don't take their daughters for your sons, lest they play the prostitute after their gods and make your sons do the same. Make no cast idols. Keep the feast of unleavened bread; all that opens the womb is mine; redeem the firstborn donkey with a lamb, and every firstborn of your sons. None shall appear before me empty. Six days you shall work, but on the seventh rest — even in plowing time and harvest. Keep the feast of weeks and the feast of ingathering; three times a year all your males shall appear before the Lord Yahweh. And Yahweh tells Moses to write these words, for in accordance with them he has made a covenant with Israel. He is there forty days and forty nights, neither eating bread nor drinking water, and writes on the tablets the words of the covenant, the ten commandments.
10 He said, “Behold, I make a covenant: before all your people I will do marvels, such as have not been worked in all the earth, nor in any nation; and all the people among whom you are shall see the work of Yahweh; for it is an awesome thing that I do with you. 11 Observe that which I command you today. Behold, I will drive out before you the Amorite, the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite. 12 Be careful, lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land where you are going, lest it be for a snare among you; 13 but you shall break down their altars, and dash in pieces their pillars, and you shall cut down their Asherah poles; 14 for you shall worship no other god; for Yahweh, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God. 15 “Don’t make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, lest they play the prostitute after their gods, and sacrifice to their gods, and one call you and you eat of his sacrifice; 16 and you take of their daughters to your sons, and their daughters play the prostitute after their gods, and make your sons play the prostitute after their gods. 17 “You shall make no cast idols for yourselves. 18 “You shall keep the feast of unleavened bread. Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, as I commanded you, at the time appointed in the month Abib; for in the month Abib you came out of Egypt. 19 “All that opens the womb is mine; and all your livestock that is male, the firstborn of cow and sheep. 20 You shall redeem the firstborn of a donkey with a lamb. If you will not redeem it, then you shall break its neck. You shall redeem all the firstborn of your sons. No one shall appear before me empty. 21 “Six days you shall work, but on the seventh day you shall rest: in plowing time and in harvest you shall rest. 22 “You shall observe the feast of weeks with the first fruits of wheat harvest, and the feast of harvest at the year’s end. 23 Three times in the year all your males shall appear before the Lord Yahweh, the God of Israel. 24 For I will drive out nations before you and enlarge your borders; neither shall any man desire your land when you go up to appear before Yahweh, your God, three times in the year. 25 “You shall not offer the blood of my sacrifice with leavened bread. The sacrifice of the feast of the Passover shall not be left to the morning. 26 “You shall bring the first of the first fruits of your ground to the house of Yahweh your God. “You shall not boil a young goat in its mother’s milk.” 27 Yahweh said to Moses, “Write these words; for in accordance with these words I have made a covenant with you and with Israel.” 28 He was there with Yahweh forty days and forty nights; he neither ate bread, nor drank water. He wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant, the ten commandments.
34:29–35 — The skin of his face shone
When Moses comes down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets in his hand, he does not know that the skin of his face shines because he has been speaking with God. Aaron and all the children of Israel see it and are afraid to come near him. Moses calls to them, and Aaron and the rulers of the congregation return to him, and he speaks with them; afterward all the children of Israel come near, and he gives them all the commandments Yahweh has spoken with him on the mountain. When he is done speaking, he puts a veil on his face. But whenever he goes in before Yahweh to speak with him, he takes the veil off until he comes out; and he tells the children of Israel what he is commanded, and they see his face shining — and he puts the veil back on until he goes in to speak with God again.
29 When Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of the covenant in Moses’ hand, when he came down from the mountain, Moses didn’t know that the skin of his face shone by reason of his speaking with him. 30 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 Moses called to them, and Aaron and all the rulers of the congregation returned to him; and Moses spoke to them. 32 Afterward all the children of Israel came near, and he gave them all the commandments that Yahweh had spoken with him on Mount Sinai. 33 When Moses was done speaking with them, he put a veil on his face. 34 But when Moses went in before Yahweh to speak with him, he took the veil off, until he came out; and he came out, and spoke to the children of Israel that which he was commanded. 35 The children of Israel saw Moses’ face, that the skin of Moses’ face shone; so Moses put the veil on his face again, until he went in to speak with him.
Scripture text: World English Bible (public domain).