Moses entertains Jethro.

EXODUS. God's message to the Israelites. In-law Jethro am come unto thee, and thy matter they shall bring unto thee, but every wife, and her two sous with her. small matter they shall judge: so shall it 7 And Moses went out to meet his be easier for thyself, and they shall bear the father-in-law, and did obeisance, and kissed burden with thee.

him and they asked each other of their 23 If thou shalt do this thing, and God welfare and they came into the tent. command thee so, then thou shalt be able 8 And Moses told his father-in-law all to endure, and all this people shall also go that the LORD had done unto Pharaoh, and to their place in peace. to the Egyptians for Israel's sake, and all 24 So Moses hearkened to the voice of the travail that had come upon them by the his father-in-law, and did all that he had way, and how the LORD delivered them. said. 9¶ And Jethro rejoiced for all the goodness which the LORD had done to Israel, whom he had delivered out of the hand of the Egyptians.

25 And Moses chose able men out of all Israel, and made them heads over the people, rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens.

26 And they judged the people at all seasons: the hard causes they brought unto Moses, but every small matter they judged

10 And Jethro said, Blessed be the LORD, who hath delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians, and out of the hand of Pharaoh, who hath delivered the people from themselves. under the hand of the Egyptians.

27 And Moses let his father-in-law de

11 Now I know that the LORD is greater part: and he went his way into his own than all gods for in the thing wherein they land. dealt proudly, he was above them.

CHAP. XIX.

12 And Jethro, Moses' father-in-law, IN the third month, when the children of took a burnt-offering and sacrifices for God: Israel were gone forth out of the land and Aaron came, and all the elders of Israel of Egypt, the same day came they into the to eat bread with Moses' father-in-law be- wilderness of Sinai. fore God.

13 And it came to pass on the morrow, that Moses sat to judge the people and the people stood by Moses from the morning unto the evening.

14 And when Moses' father-in-law saw all that he did to the people, he said, What is this thing that thou doest to the people? Why sittest thou thyself alone, and all the people stand by thee from morning unto even?

15 And Moses said unto his father-inlaw, Because the people come unto me to inquire of God:

2 For they were departed from Rephidim, and were come to the desert of Sínai, and had pitched in the wilderness; and there Israel camped before the mount.

3¶ And Moses went up unto God, and the LORD called unto him out of the mountain, saying, Thus shalt thou say to the house of Jacob, and tell the children of Israel;

4 Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles' wings, and brought you unto myself.

5 Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above 16 When they have a matter, they come all people: for all the earth is mine: unto me, and I judge between one and 6 And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of another, and I do make them know the sta- priests, and an holy nation. These are the tutes of God, and his laws. words which thou shalt speak unto the

17 And Moses' father-in-law said unto children of Israel. him, The thing that thou doest is not good. 7 And Moses came and called for the 18 Thou wilt surely wear away, both elders of the people, and laid before their thou, and this people that is with thee: for faces all these words which the LORD com this thing is too heavy for thee; thou art manded him. not able to perform it thyself alone.

8 And all the people answered together,

19 Hearken now unto my voice, I will and said, All that the LORD hath spoken give thee counsel, and God shall be with we will do. And Moses returned the words thee: Be thou for the people to God-ward, of the people unto the LORD.

that thou mayest bring the causes unto God: 9 And the LORD said unto Moses, Lo, 1 20 And thou shalt teach them ordinances come unto thee in a thick cloud, that the and laws, and shalt shew them the way people may hear when I speak with thee, wherein they must walk, and the work that and believe thee for ever. And Moses told they must do. the words of the people unto the LORD.

21 Moreover, thou shalt provide out of 10 ¶ And the LORD said unto Moses, Go all the people, able men, such as fear God, unto the people, and sanctify them to-day men of truth, hating covetousness; and and to-morrow, and let them wash their place such over them to be rulers of thou- clothes, sands, and rulers of hundreds, rulers of 11 And be ready against the third day: fifties, and rulers of tens : for the third day the LORD will come down 22 And let them judge the people at all in the sight of all the people upon mount seasons: and it shall be, that every great Sinai.

Presence of God upon the mount. CHAP. XX,

12 And thou shalt set bounds unto the earth beneath, or that is in the water under people round about, saying, Take heed to the earth:

yourselves, that ye go not up into the mount, 5 Thou shalt not bow down thyself to or touch the border of it: whosoever touch-them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy eth the mount shall be surely put to death: God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity 13 There shall not an hand touch it, but of the fathers upon the children unto the he shall surely be stoned or shot through: third and fourth generation of them that whether it be beast or man, it shall not live: hate me; when the trumpet soundeth long, they shall come up to the mount.

16 And it came to pass on the third holy. day in the morning, that there were thunders and lightnings, and a thick cloud upon thy work: the mount, and the voice of the trumpet 10 But the seventh day is the sabbath of exceeding loud; so that all the people that the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do was in the camp trembled. any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daugh17 And Moses brought forth the people ter, thy man-servant, nor thy maid-servant, out of the camp to meet with God; and nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is they stood at the nether part of the mount. within thy gates:

Is And mount Sinai was altogether on a 11 For in six days the LORD made heasmoke, because the LORD descended upon ven and earth, the sea and all that in them it in fire: and the smoke thereof ascended is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore as the smoke of a furnace, and the whole the LORD blessed the sabbath-day, and halmount quaked greatly. lowed it.

23 Ye shall not make with me gods of silver, neither shall ye make unto you gods 4 Thou shalt not make unto thee any of gold. graven image, or any likeness of any thing 24 ¶ An altar of earth thou shalt make that is in heaven above, or that is in the unto me, and shalt sacrifice thereon thy

EXODUS. and ordinances. burnt-offerings, and thy peace-offerings, thy 19 If he rise again, and walk abroad upon sheep, and thine oxen: in all places where his staff, then shall he that smote him be I record my name I will come unto thee, quit: only he shall pay for the loss of his and I will bless thee. time, and shall cause him to be thoroughly healed.

26 And if a man smite the eye of his 5 And if the servant shall plainly say, servant, or the eye of his maid, that it perish; I love my master, my wife, and my chil- he shall let him go free for his eye's sake. dren; I will not go out free:

6 Then his master shall bring him unto tooth, or his maid-servant's tooth; he shall the judges; he shall also bring him to the let him go free for his tooth's sake. door, or unto the door-post: and his mas- 28 If an ox gore a man or a woman, ter shall bore his ear through with an awl; that they die: then the ox shall be surely and he shall serve him for ever. stoned, and his flesh shall not be eaten; but the owner of the ox shall be quit.

13 And if a man lie not in wait, but God deliver him into his hand; then I will appoint thee a place whither he shall flee. 34 The owner of the pit shall make it 14 But if a man come presumptuously good, and give money unto the owner of upon his neighbour, to slay him with guile; them; and the dead beast shall be his. thou shait take him from mine altar, that he may die.

Sundry laws

CHAP. XXIII.

and ordinances. 2 If a thief be found breaking up, and save unto the LORD only, he shall be utterly be smuitten that he die, there shall no blood destroyed.

be shed for him.

21 Thou shalt neither vex a stranger,

3 If the sun be risen upon him there shall nor oppress him: for ye were strangers in be blood shed for him: for he should make the land of Egypt.

fall restitution; if he have nothing, then he shall be sold for his theft.

22 Ye shall not afflict any widow, or fa therless child.

4 If the theft be certainly found in his 23 If thou afflict them in any wise, and hand alive, whether it be ox, or ass, or they cry at all unto me, I will surely hear sheep; he shall restore double. their cry;

5 If a man shall cause a field or vine- 24 And my wrath shall wax hot, and I yard to be eaten, and shall put in his beast, will kill you with the sword; and your and shall feed in another man's field: of the wives shall be widows, and your children best of his own field, and of the best of his fatherless. own vineyard shall he make restitution.

25 If thou lend money to any of my 6 If fire break out, and catch in thorns, people that is poor by thee, thou shalt not so that the stacks of corn, or the standing be to him as an usurer, neither shalt thou corn, or the field be consumed therewith; lay upon him usury. he that kindled the fire shall surely make restitution.

7 ¶ If a man shall deliver unto his neightbour money or stuff to keep, and it be stolen out of the man's house; if the thief be found, let him pay double.

8 If the thief be not found, then the master of the house shall be brought unto the judges, to see whether he have put his hand unto his neighbour's goods.

26 If thou at all take thy neighbour's raiment to pledge, thou shalt deliver it unto him by that the sun goeth down:

27 For that is his covering only, it is his raiment for his skin: wherein shall he sleep? and it shall come to pass, when he crieth unto me, that I will hear; for I am gracious

28 Thou shalt not revile the gods, nor curse the ruler of thy people.

29 Thou shalt not delay to offer the 9 For all manner of trespass, whether it first of thy ripe fruits, and of thy liquors: be for ox, for ass, for sheep, for raiment, or the first-born of thy sons shalt thou give for any manner of lost thing which another unto me.

challengeth to be his: the cause of both 30 Likewise shalt thou do with thine parties shall come before the judges; and oxen, and with thy sheep: seven days it whom the judges shall condemn, he shall shall be with his dam; on the eighth day pay double unto his neighbour. thou shalt give it me.

10 If a man deliver unto his neighbour an ass, or an ox, or a sheep, or any beast to keep; and it die, or be hurt, or driven away, no man seeing it:

11 Then shall an oath of the LORD be between them both, that he hath not put his hand unto his neighbour's goods; and the owner of it shall accept thereof, and he shall not make it good.

12 And if it be stolen from him, he shall make restitution unto the owner thereof.

13 If it be torn in pieces; then let him, bring it for witness, and he shall not make good that which was torn.

14 And if a man borrow ought of his neighbour, and it be hurt, or die, the owner thereof being not with it, he shall surely make it good.

15 But if the owner thereof be with it, he shall not make it good: if it be an hired thing, it came for his hire.

16 And if a man entice a maid that is not betrothed, and lie with her, he shall sirely endow her to be his wife.

31 ¶ And ye shall be holy men unto me: neither shall ye eat any flesh that is torn of beasts in the field; ye shall cast it to the dogs.

CHAP. XXIII.

HOU shalt not raise a false report: put Thott sine hand with the wicked to be an unrighteous witness.

2 Thou shalt not follow a multitude to do evil; neither shalt thou speak in a cause to decline after many to wrest judgment:

3 Neither shalt thou countenance a poor man in his cause.

4 ¶ If thou meet thine enemy's ox or his ass going astray, thou shalt surely bring it back to him again.

5 If thou see the ass of him that hateth thee lying under his burden, and wouldest forbear to help him, thou shalt surely help with him.

6 Thou shalt not wrest the judgment of thy poor in his cause.

7 Keep thee far from a false matter; and the innocent and righteous slay thou not: 17 If her father utterly refuse to give her for I will not justify the wicked. unto him, he shall pay money according to the dowry of virgins.

8¶ And thou shalt take no gift; for the gift blindeth the wise, and perverteth the

18¶ Thou shalt not suffer a witch to words of the righteous.

live.

9 Also thou shalt not oppress a stran

19 Whosoever lieth with a beast shall ger: for ye know the heart of a stranger, surely be put to death.

20

seeing ye were strangers in the land of

He that sacrificeth unto any god, Egypt.

An Angel is promised.

EXODUS.

The glory of God appears.

10 ¶ And six years thou shalt sow thy 27 I will send my fear before thee, and land, and shalt gather in the fruits thereof: will destroy all the people to whom thou 11 But the seventh year thou shalt let it shalt come, and I will make all thine enerest and lie still; that the poor of thy peo- mies turn their backs unto thee. ple may eat and what they leave the beasts of the field shall eat. In like manner thou shalt deal with thy vineyard, and with thy oliveyard.

12 Six days thou shalt do thy work, and on the seventh day thou shalt rest: that thine ox and thine ass may rest, and the son of thy handmaid, and the stranger, may be refreshed.

28 And I will send hornets before thee, which shall drive out the Hivite, the Canaanite, and the Hittite from before thee.

29 I will not drive them out from before thee in one year; lest the land become desolate, and the beast of the field multiply against thee.

30 By little and little I will drive then out from before thee, until thou be increased, and inherit the land.

31 And I will set thy bounds from the Red sea even unto the sea of the Philistines, and from the desert unto the river:

18 And in all things that I have said unto you be circumspect: and make no mention of the names of other gods, neither let it be heard out of thy mouth. 14 ¶ Three times thou shalt keep a for I will deliver the inhabitants of the land feast unto me in the year. into your hand; and thou shalt drive them

15 Thou shalt keep the feast of unlea-out before thee. vened bread: (thou shalt cat unleavened 32 Thou shalt make no covenant with bread seven days, as I commanded thee, in them nor with their gods.

the time appointed of the month Abib; for 33 They shall not dwell in thy land, lest in it thou camest out from Egypt: and none they make thee sin against me: for if thou shall appear before me empty :) serve their gods, it will surely be a snare unto thee.

16 And the feast of harvest, the firstfruits of thy labours, which thou hast sown in thy field: and the feast of ingathering, which is in the end of the year, when thou hast gathered in thy labours out of the field.

17 Three times in the year all thy males shall appear before the LORD God.

18 Thou shalt not offer the blood of my sacrifice with leavened bread: neither shall the fat of my sacrifice remain until the morning.

19 The first of the first-fruits of thy land thou shalt bring into the house of the LORD thy God. Thou shalt not seethe a kid in his mother's milk.

20 Behold, I send an Angel before thee, to keep thee in the way, and to bring thee into the place which I have prepared.

CHAP. XXIV.

AND he said unto Moses, Come up unto the LORD, thou, and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel; and worship ye afar off.

2 And Moses alone shall come near the LORD: but they shall not come nigh; neither shall the people go up with him.

3 ¶ And Moses came and told the people all the words of the LORD, and all the judgments: and all the people answered with one voice, and said, All the words which the LORD hath said will we do.

4 And Moses wrote all the words of the LORD, and rose up early in the morning, and builded an altar under the hill, and twelve pillars according to the twelve tribes of Israel.

21 Beware of him, and obey his voice, 5 And he sent young men of the chilprovoke him not; for he will not pardon dren of Israel, which offered burnt-offeryour transgressions: for my name is in him. ings, and sacrificed peace-offerings of oxen 22 But if thou shalt indeed obey his unto the LORD.

voice, and do all that I speak; then I will 6 And Moses took half of the blood, and be an enemy unto thine enemies, and an put it in basins; and half of the blood he adversary unto thine adversaries. sprinkled on the altar.

23 For mine Angel shall go before thee, 7 And he took the book of the covenant, and bring thee in unto the Amorites, and and read in the audience of the people: the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Ca- and they said, 'All that the LORD hath said naanites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites; will we do, and be obedient. and I will cut them off. 8 And Moses took the blood, and sprink 24 Thou shalt not bow down to their led it on the people, and said, Behold the gods, nor serve them, nor do after their blood of the covenant, which the LORD hath works: but thou shalt utterly overthrow made with you concerning all these words. them, and quite break down their images. 9 ¶ Then went up Moses, and Aaron, 25 And ye shall serve the LORD your Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elGod, and he shall bless thy bread, and thy ders of Israel: water; and I will take sickness away from the midst of thee.

26 There shall nothing cast their young, nor be barren, in thy land: the number of thy days I will fulfil.

10 And they saw the God of Israel: and there was under his feet as it were a paved work of a sapphire stone, and as it were the body of heaven in his clearness.

11 And upon the nobles of the children