and made their lives bitter with difficult labor in brick and mortar and in all kinds of fieldwork. They ruthlessly imposed all this work on them.

“Who made you a leader and judge over us?” the man replied. “Are you planning to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?”

Then Moses became afraid and thought: What I did is certainly known.

They will listen to what you say. Then you, along with the elders of Israel, must go to the king of Egypt and say to him: Yahweh, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us. Now please let us go on a three-day trip into the wilderness so that we may sacrifice to Yahweh our God.

Yahweh said to him, “Who made the human mouth? Who makes him mute or deaf, seeing or blind? Is it not I, Yahweh?

Then the Lord’s anger burned against Moses, and He said, “Isn’t Aaron the Levite your brother? I know that he can speak well. And also, he is on his way now to meet you. He will rejoice when he sees you.

Now the Lord had said to Aaron, “Go and meet Moses in the wilderness.” So he went and met him at the mountain of God and kissed him.

Then they answered, “The God of the Hebrews has met with us. Please let us go on a three-day trip into the wilderness so that we may sacrifice to Yahweh our God, or else He may strike us with plague or sword.”

When they left Pharaoh, they confronted Moses and Aaron, who stood waiting to meet them.

“May the Lord take note of you and judge,” they said to them, “because you have made us reek in front of Pharaoh and his officials—putting a sword in their hand to kill us!”

The Lord answered Moses, “See, I have made you like God to Pharaoh, and Aaron your brother will be your prophet.

Go to Pharaoh in the morning. When you see him walking out to the water, stand ready to meet him by the bank of the Nile. Take in your hand the staff that turned into a snake.

Those among Pharaoh’s officials who feared the word of the Lord made their servants and livestock flee to shelters,

They are to eat the meat that night; they should eat it, roasted over the fire along with unleavened bread and bitter herbs.

It is to be eaten in one house. You may not take any of the meat outside the house, and you may not break any of its bones.

Moses took the bones of Joseph with him, because Joseph had made the Israelites swear a solemn oath, saying, “God will certainly come to your aid; then you must take my bones with you from this place.”

He caused their chariot wheels to swerve and made them drive with difficulty. “Let’s get away from Israel,” the Egyptians said, “because Yahweh is fighting for them against Egypt!”

So he cried out to the Lord, and the Lord showed him a tree. When he threw it into the water, the water became drinkable.

He made a statute and ordinance for them at Marah and He tested them there.

The Israelites said to them, “If only we had died by the Lord’s hand in the land of Egypt, when we sat by pots of meat and ate all the bread we wanted. Instead, you brought us into this wilderness to make this whole assembly die of hunger!”

Moses continued, “The Lord will give you meat to eat this evening and more than enough bread in the morning, for He has heard the complaints that you are raising against Him. Who are we? Your complaints are not against us but against the Lord.”

“I have heard the complaints of the Israelites. Tell them: At twilight you will eat meat, and in the morning you will eat bread until you are full. Then you will know that I am Yahweh your God.”

The house of Israel named the substance manna. It resembled coriander seed, was white, and tasted like wafers made with honey.

So Moses went out to meet his father-in-law, bowed down, and then kissed him. They asked each other how they had been and went into the tent.

So Moses chose able men from all Israel and made them leaders over the people as commanders of thousands, hundreds, fifties, and tens.

Then Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain.

For the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and everything in them in six days; then He rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and declared it holy.

“When an ox gores a man or a woman to death, the ox must be stoned, and its meat may not be eaten, but the ox’s owner is innocent.

“Be My holy people. You must not eat the meat of a mauled animal found in the field; throw it to the dogs.

Moses took the blood, sprinkled it on the people, and said, “This is the blood of the covenant that the Lord has made with you concerning all these words.”

and they saw the God of Israel. Beneath His feet was something like a pavement made of sapphire stone, as clear as the sky itself.

I will meet with you there above the mercy seat, between the two cherubim that are over the ark of the testimony; I will speak with you from there about all that I command you regarding the Israelites.

“You are to make a lampstand out of pure, hammered gold. It is to be made of one piece: its base and shaft, its ornamental cups, and its calyxes and petals.

The lampstand with all these utensils is to be made from 75 pounds of pure gold.

Make its pots for removing ashes, and its shovels, basins, meat forks, and firepans; make all its utensils of bronze.

The length of the courtyard is to be 150 feet, the width 75 feet at each end, and the height 7½ feet, all of it made of finely spun linen. The bases of the posts must be bronze.

All the tools of the tabernacle for every use and all its tent pegs as well as all the tent pegs of the courtyard are to be made of bronze.

take one loaf of bread, one cake of bread made with oil, and one wafer from the basket of unleavened bread that is before the Lord;

Aaron and his sons are to eat the meat of the ram and the bread that is in the basket at the entrance to the tent of meeting.

They must eat those things by which atonement was made at the time of their ordination and consecration. An unauthorized person must not eat them, for these things are holy.

If any of the meat of ordination or any of the bread is left until morning, burn up what is left over. It must not be eaten because it is holy.

This will be a regular burnt offering throughout your generations at the entrance to the tent of meeting before the Lord, where I will meet you to speak with you.

I will also meet with the Israelites there, and that place will be consecrated by My glory.

And they will know that I am Yahweh their God, who brought them out of the land of Egypt, so that I might dwell among them. I am Yahweh their God.

“You are to place the altar in front of the veil by the ark of the testimony—in front of the mercy seat that is over the testimony—where I will meet with you.

Grind some of it into a fine powder and put some in front of the testimony in the tent of meeting, where I will meet with you. It must be especially holy to you.

It is a sign forever between Me and the Israelites, for in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, but on the seventh day He rested and was refreshed.”

He took the gold from their hands, fashioned it with an engraving tool, and made it into an image of a calf.

Then they said, “Israel, this is your God, who brought you up from the land of Egypt!”

When Aaron saw this, he built an altar before it; then he made an announcement: “There will be a festival to the Lord tomorrow.”

They have quickly turned from the way I commanded them; they have made for themselves an image of a calf. They have bowed down to it, sacrificed to it, and said, ‘Israel, this is your God, who brought you up from the land of Egypt.’”

Then he took the calf they had made, burned it up, and ground it to powder. He scattered the powder over the surface of the water and forced the Israelites to drink the water.

So Moses returned to the Lord and said, “Oh, these people have committed a grave sin; they have made a god of gold for themselves.

And the Lord inflicted a plague on the people for what they did with the calf Aaron had made.

Go up to a land flowing with milk and honey. But I will not go with you because you are a stiff-necked people; otherwise, I might destroy you on the way.”

The Lord also said to Moses, “Write down these words, for I have made a covenant with you and with Israel based on these words.”

All the skilled craftsmen among those doing the work made the tabernacle with 10 curtains. Bezalel made them of finely spun linen, as well as blue, purple, and scarlet yarn, with a design of cherubim worked into them.

He made loops of blue yarn on the edge of the last curtain in the first set and did the same on the edge of the outermost curtain in the second set.

He made 50 loops on the one curtain and 50 loops on the edge of the curtain in the second set, so that the loops lined up with each other.

He also made 50 gold clasps and joined the curtains to each other, so that the tabernacle became a single unit.

He made curtains of goat hair for a tent over the tabernacle; he made 11 of them.

He made 50 loops on the edge of the outermost curtain in the first set and 50 loops on the edge of the corresponding curtain in the second set.

He made 50 bronze clasps to join the tent together as a single unit.

He also made a covering for the tent from ram skins dyed red and a covering of manatee skins on top of it.

He made upright planks of acacia wood for the tabernacle.

He made planks for the tabernacle as follows: 20 for the south side,

and he made 40 silver bases to put under the 20 planks, two bases under the first plank for its two tenons, and two bases under each of the following planks for their two tenons;

for the second side of the tabernacle, the north side, he made 20 planks,

and for the west side of the tabernacle he made six planks.

He also made two additional planks for the two back corners of the tabernacle.

He made five crossbars of acacia wood for the planks on one side of the tabernacle,

He made the central crossbar run through the middle of the planks from one end to the other.

He overlaid them with gold and made their rings out of gold as holders for the crossbars. He also overlaid the crossbars with gold.

Then he made the veil with blue, purple, and scarlet yarn, and finely spun linen. He made it with a design of cherubim worked into it.

He made four posts of acacia wood for it and overlaid them with gold; their hooks were of gold. And he cast four silver bases for the posts.

He made a screen embroidered with blue, purple, and scarlet yarn, and finely spun linen for the entrance to the tent,

Bezalel made the ark of acacia wood, 45 inches long, 27 inches wide, and 27 inches high.

He overlaid it with pure gold inside and out and made a gold molding all around it.

He made poles of acacia wood and overlaid them with gold.

He made a mercy seat of pure gold, 45 inches long and 27 inches wide.

He made two cherubim of gold; he made them of hammered work at the two ends of the mercy seat,

one cherub at one end and one cherub at the other end. At each end, he made a cherub of one piece with the mercy seat.

He overlaid it with pure gold and made a gold molding all around it.

He made a three-inch frame all around it and made a gold molding all around its frame.

He made the poles for carrying the table from acacia wood and overlaid them with gold.

He also made the utensils that would be on the table out of pure gold: its plates and cups, as well as its bowls and pitchers for pouring drink offerings.

Then he made the lampstand out of pure hammered gold. He made it all of one piece: its base and shaft, its ornamental cups, and its calyxes and petals.

He also made its seven lamps, snuffers, and firepans of pure gold.

He made it and all its utensils of 75 pounds of pure gold.

He made the altar of incense out of acacia wood. It was square, 18 inches long and 18 inches wide; it was 36 inches high. Its horns were of one piece.

He overlaid it, its top, all around its sides, and its horns with pure gold. Then he made a gold molding all around it.

He made two gold rings for it under the molding on two of its sides; he put these on opposite sides of it to be holders for the poles to carry it with.

He made the poles of acacia wood and overlaid them with gold.

He also made the holy anointing oil and the pure, fragrant, and expertly blended incense.

He made horns for it on its four corners; the horns were of one piece. Then he overlaid it with bronze.

He made all the altar’s utensils: the pots, shovels, basins, meat forks, and firepans; he made all its utensils of bronze.

Also, he made the poles of acacia wood and overlaid them with bronze.

He made the bronze basin and its stand from the bronze mirrors of the women who served at the entrance to the tent of meeting.

Then he made the courtyard. The hangings on the south side of the courtyard were of finely spun linen, 150 feet in length,

Bezalel son of Uri, son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, made everything that the Lord commanded Moses.

With the remaining 44 pounds he made the hooks for the posts, overlaid their tops, and supplied bands for them.

He made with it the bases for the entrance to the tent of meeting, the bronze altar and its bronze grate, all the utensils for the altar,

They made specially woven garments for ministry in the sanctuary, and the holy garments for Aaron from the blue, purple, and scarlet yarn, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.