33:12] Moses said to the Eternal, “See, You say to me, ‘Lead this people forward,’ but You have not made known to me whom You will send with me. Further, You have said, ‘I have singled you out by name, and you have, indeed, gained My favor.’ 13] Now, if I have truly gained Your favor, pray let me know Your ways, that I may know You and continue in Your favor. Consider, too, that this nation is Your people.” 14] And [God] said, “I will go in the lead and will lighten your burden.” 15] And he replied, “Unless You go in the lead, do not make us leave this place. 16] For how shall it be known that Your people have gained Your favor unless You go with us, so that we may be distinguished, Your people and I, from every people on the face of the earth?”
17] And the Eternal One said to Moses, “I will also do this thing that you have asked; for you have truly gained My favor and I have singled you out by name.” 18] He said, “Oh, let me behold Your Presence!” 19] And [God] answered, “I will make all My goodness pass before you, and I will proclaim before you the name Eternal, and the grace that I grant and the compassion that I show,” 20] continuing, “But you cannot see My face, for a human being may not see Me and live.” 21] And the Eternal said, “See, there is a place near Me. Station yourself on the rock 22] and, as My Presence passes by, I will put you in a cleft of the rock and shield you with My hand until I have passed by. 23] Then I will take My hand away and you will see My back; but My face must not be seen.”
34:1] The Eternal One said to Moses: “Carve two tablets of stone like the first, and I will inscribe upon the tablets the words that were on the first tablets, which you shattered. 2] Be ready by morning, and in the morning come up to Mount Sinai and present yourself there to Me, on the top of the mountain. 3] No one else shall come up with you, and no one else shall be seen anywhere on the mountain; neither shall the flocks and the herds graze at the foot of this mountain.”
4] So Moses carved two tablets of stone, like the first, and early in the morning he went up on Mount Sinai, as the Eternal had commanded him, taking the two stone tablets with him. 5] The Eternal came down in a cloud—and stood with him there, proclaiming the name Eternal. 6] The Eternal One passed before him and proclaimed: “The Eternal! the Eternal! a God compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in kindness and faithfulness, 7] extending kindness to the thousandth generation, forgiving iniquity, transgression, and sin—yet not remitting all punishment, but visiting the iniquity of parents upon children and children’s children, upon the third and fourth generations.”
8] Moses hastened to bow low to the ground in homage, 9] and said, “If I have gained Your favor, O my lord, pray, let my lord go in our midst, even though this is a stiffnecked people. Pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us for Your own!”
10] [God] said: I hereby make a covenant. Before all your people I will work such wonders as have not been wrought on all the earth or in any nation; and all the people who are with you shall see how awesome are the Eternal’s deeds which I will perform for you. 11] Mark well what I command you this day. I will drive out before you the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. 12] Beware of making a covenant with the inhabitants of the land against which you are advancing, lest they be a snare in your midst. 13] No, you must tear down their altars, smash their pillars, and cut down their sacred posts; 14] for you must not worship any other god, because the Eternal, whose name is Impassioned, is an impassioned God. 15] You must not make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, for they will lust after their gods and sacrifice to their gods and invite you, and you will eat of their sacrifices. 16] And when you take wives from among their daughters for your sons, their daughters will lust after their gods and will cause your sons to lust after their gods.
17] You shall not make molten gods for yourselves.
18] You shall observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread—eating unleavened bread for seven days, as I have commanded you—at the set time of the month of Abib, for in the month of Abib you went forth from Egypt.
19] Every first issue of the womb is Mine, from all your livestock that drop a male as firstling, whether cattle or sheep. 20] But the firstling of an ass you shall redeem with a sheep; if you do not redeem it, you must break its neck. And you must redeem every male first-born among your children.
None shall appear before Me empty-handed.
21] Six days you shall work, but on the seventh day you shall cease from labor; you shall cease from labor even at plowing time and harvest time.
22] You shall observe the Feast of Weeks, of the first fruits of the wheat harvest; and the Feast of Ingathering at the turn of the year. 23] Three times a year all your males shall appear before the Sovereign Eternal, the God of Israel. 24] I will drive out nations from your path and enlarge your territory; no one will covet your land when you go up to appear before the Eternal your God three times a year.
25] You shall not offer the blood of My sacrifice with anything leavened; and the sacrifice of the Feast of Passover shall not be left lying until morning.
26] The choice first fruits of your soil you shall bring to the house of the Eternal your God.
You shall not boil a kid in its mother’s milk.
Translation from The Torah: A Modern Commentary, copyright (c) 2016 by CCAR Press. All rights reserved. Translation of Exodus; Leviticus; Numbers; Deuteronomy from NJPS © 1962, 1985, 1999; CJPS © 2006. Used and adapted by CCAR Press with permission from The Jewish Publication Society and the University of Nebraska Press. No part of this translation may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, distributed, or be transmitted without express written permission from the Central Conference of American Rabbis. For permission, please contact CCAR Press.
