Exodus 22 

Protection of Property

1 ^[a]“If someone steals an ox^[b] or sheep and then kills or sells it, the thief must pay back five oxen for each ox stolen, and four sheep for each sheep stolen.

^2 [c]“If a thief is caught in the act of breaking into a house and is struck and killed in the process, the person who killed the thief is not guilty of murder. ³ But if it happens in daylight, the one who killed the thief is guilty of murder.

“A thief who is caught must pay in full for everything he stole. If he cannot pay, he must be sold as a slave to pay for his theft. ⁴ If someone steals an ox or a donkey or a sheep and it is found in the thief’s possession, then the thief must pay double the value of the stolen animal.

⁵ “If an animal is grazing in a field or vineyard and the owner lets it stray into someone else’s field to graze, then the animal’s owner must pay compensation from the best of his own grain or grapes.

⁶ “If you are burning thornbushes and the fire gets out of control and spreads into another person’s field, destroying the sheaves or the uncut grain or the whole crop, the one who started the fire must pay for the lost crop.

⁷ “Suppose someone leaves money or goods with a neighbor for safekeeping, and they are stolen from the neighbor’s house. If the thief is caught, the compensation is double the value of what was stolen. ⁸ But if the thief is not caught, the neighbor must appear before God,^[d]who will determine if he stole the property.

⁹ “Suppose there is a dispute between two people who both claim to own a particular ox, donkey, sheep, article of clothing, or any lost property. Both parties must come before God, and the person whom God declares^[e] guilty must pay double compensation to the other.

¹⁰ “Now suppose someone leaves a donkey, ox, sheep, or any other animal with a neighbor for safekeeping, but it dies or is injured or is taken away, and no one sees what happened.¹¹ The neighbor must then take an oath in the presence of the Lord. If the Lord confirms that the neighbor did not steal the property, the owner must accept the verdict, and no payment will be required. ¹² But if the animal was indeed stolen, the guilty person must pay compensation to the owner. ¹³ If it was torn to pieces by a wild animal, the remains of the carcass must be shown as evidence, and no compensation will be required.

¹⁴ “If someone borrows an animal from a neighbor and it is injured or dies when the owner is absent, the person who borrowed it must pay full compensation. ¹⁵ But if the owner was present, no compensation is required. And no compensation is required if the animal was rented, for this loss is covered by the rental fee.

Social Responsibility

¹⁶ “If a man seduces a virgin who is not engaged to anyone and has sex with her, he must pay the customary bride price and marry her. ¹⁷ But if her father refuses to let him marry her, the man must still pay him an amount equal to the bride price of a virgin.

¹⁸ “You must not allow a sorceress to live.

¹⁹ “Anyone who has sexual relations with an animal must certainly be put to death.

²⁰ “Anyone who sacrifices to any god other than the Lord must be destroyed.^[f]

²¹ “You must not mistreat or oppress foreigners in any way. Remember, you yourselves were once foreigners in the land of Egypt.

²² “You must not exploit a widow or an orphan. ²³ If you exploit them in any way and they cry out to me, then I will certainly hear their cry. ²⁴ My anger will blaze against you, and I will kill you with the sword. Then your wives will be widows and your children fatherless.

²⁵ “If you lend money to any of my people who are in need, do not charge interest as a money lender would. ²⁶ If you take your neighbor’s cloak as security for a loan, you must return it before sunset. ²⁷ This coat may be the only blanket your neighbor has. How can a person sleep without it? If you do not return it and your neighbor cries out to me for help, then I will hear, for I am merciful.

²⁸ “You must not dishonor God or curse any of your rulers.

²⁹ “You must not hold anything back when you give me offerings from your crops and your wine.

“You must give me your firstborn sons.

³⁰ “You must also give me the firstborn of your cattle, sheep, and goats. But leave the newborn animal with its mother for seven days; then give it to me on the eighth day.

³¹ “You must be my holy people. Therefore, do not eat any animal that has been torn up and killed by wild animals. Throw it to the dogs.

Exodus 16 

Manna and Quail from Heaven

1 Then the whole community of Israel set out from Elim and journeyed into the wilderness of Sin,^[a] between Elim and Mount Sinai. They arrived there on the fifteenth day of the second month, one month after leaving the land of Egypt.^[b] 2 There, too, the whole community of Israel complained about Moses and Aaron.

³ “If only the Lord had killed us back in Egypt,” they moaned. “There we sat around pots filled with meat and ate all the bread we wanted. But now you have brought us into this wilderness to starve us all to death.”

⁴ Then the Lord said to Moses, “Look, I’m going to rain down food from heaven for you. Each day the people can go out and pick up as much food as they need for that day. I will test them in this to see whether or not they will follow my instructions. ⁵ On the sixth day they will gather food, and when they prepare it, there will be twice as much as usual.”

⁶ So Moses and Aaron said to all the people of Israel, “By evening you will realize it was the Lord who brought you out of the land of Egypt. ⁷ In the morning you will see the glory of the Lord, because he has heard your complaints, which are against him, not against us. What have we done that you should complain about us?” ⁸ Then Moses added, “The Lord will give you meat to eat in the evening and bread to satisfy you in the morning, for he has heard all your complaints against him. What have we done? Yes, your complaints are against the Lord, not against us.”

⁹ Then Moses said to Aaron, “Announce this to the entire community of Israel: ‘Present yourselves before the Lord, for he has heard your complaining.’” ¹⁰ And as Aaron spoke to the whole community of Israel, they looked out toward the wilderness. There they could see the awesome glory of the Lord in the cloud.

¹¹ Then the Lord said to Moses, ¹² “I have heard the Israelites’ complaints. Now tell them, ‘In the evening you will have meat to eat, and in the morning you will have all the bread you want. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God.’”

¹³ That evening vast numbers of quail flew in and covered the camp. And the next morning the area around the camp was wet with dew. ¹⁴ When the dew evaporated, a flaky substance as fine as frost blanketed the ground. ¹⁵ The Israelites were puzzled when they saw it. “What is it?” they asked each other. They had no idea what it was.

And Moses told them, “It is the food the Lord has given you to eat. ¹⁶ These are the Lord’s instructions: Each household should gather as much as it needs. Pick up two quarts^[c] for each person in your tent.”

¹⁷ So the people of Israel did as they were told. Some gathered a lot, some only a little. ¹⁸ But when they measured it out,^[d] everyone had just enough. Those who gathered a lot had nothing left over, and those who gathered only a little had enough. Each family had just what it needed.

¹⁹ Then Moses told them, “Do not keep any of it until morning.” ²⁰ But some of them didn’t listen and kept some of it until morning. But by then it was full of maggots and had a terrible smell. Moses was very angry with them.

²¹ After this the people gathered the food morning by morning, each family according to its need. And as the sun became hot, the flakes they had not picked up melted and disappeared. ²² On the sixth day, they gathered twice as much as usual—four quarts^[e] for each person instead of two. Then all the leaders of the community came and asked Moses for an explanation. ²³ He told them, “This is what the Lord commanded: Tomorrow will be a day of complete rest, a holy Sabbath day set apart for the Lord. So bake or boil as much as you want today, and set aside what is left for tomorrow.”

²⁴ So they put some aside until morning, just as Moses had commanded. And in the morning the leftover food was wholesome and good, without maggots or odor. ²⁵ Moses said, “Eat this food today, for today is a Sabbath day dedicated to the Lord. There will be no food on the ground today. ²⁶ You may gather the food for six days, but the seventh day is the Sabbath. There will be no food on the ground that day.”

²⁷ Some of the people went out anyway on the seventh day, but they found no food. ²⁸ The Lord asked Moses, “How long will these people refuse to obey my commands and instructions? ²⁹ They must realize that the Sabbath is the Lord’s gift to you. That is why he gives you a two-day supply on the sixth day, so there will be enough for two days. On the Sabbath day you must each stay in your place. Do not go out to pick up food on the seventh day.” ³⁰ So the people did not gather any food on the seventh day.

³¹ The Israelites called the food manna.^[f] It was white like coriander seed, and it tasted like honey wafers.

³² Then Moses said, “This is what the Lord has commanded: Fill a two-quart container with manna to preserve it for your descendants. Then later generations will be able to see the food I gave you in the wilderness when I set you free from Egypt.”

³³ Moses said to Aaron, “Get a jar and fill it with two quarts of manna. Then put it in a sacred place before the Lord to preserve it for all future generations.” ³⁴ Aaron did just as the Lordhad commanded Moses. He eventually placed it in the Ark of the Covenant—in front of the stone tablets inscribed with the terms of the covenant.^[g] 35 So the people of Israel ate manna for forty years until they arrived at the land where they would settle. They ate manna until they came to the border of the land of Canaan.

³⁶ The container used to measure the manna was an omer, which was one-tenth of an ephah; it held about two quarts.^[h]

Exodus 6 

Promises of Deliverance

1 Then the Lord told Moses, “Now you will see what I will do to Pharaoh. When he feels the force of my strong hand, he will let the people go. In fact, he will force them to leave his land!”

² And God said to Moses, “I am Yahweh—‘the Lord.’^[a] 3 I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob as El-Shaddai—‘God Almighty’^[b]—but I did not reveal my name, Yahweh, to them.⁴ And I reaffirmed my covenant with them. Under its terms, I promised to give them the land of Canaan, where they were living as foreigners. ⁵ You can be sure that I have heard the groans of the people of Israel, who are now slaves to the Egyptians. And I am well aware of my covenant with them.

⁶ “Therefore, say to the people of Israel: ‘I am the Lord. I will free you from your oppression and will rescue you from your slavery in Egypt. I will redeem you with a powerful arm and great acts of judgment. ⁷ I will claim you as my own people, and I will be your God. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God who has freed you from your oppression in Egypt. ⁸ I will bring you into the land I swore to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. I will give it to you as your very own possession. I am the Lord!’”

⁹ So Moses told the people of Israel what the Lord had said, but they refused to listen anymore. They had become too discouraged by the brutality of their slavery.

¹⁰ Then the Lord said to Moses, ¹¹ “Go back to Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, and tell him to let the people of Israel leave his country.”

¹² “But Lord!” Moses objected. “My own people won’t listen to me anymore. How can I expect Pharaoh to listen? I’m such a clumsy speaker!^[c]”

¹³ But the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron and gave them orders for the Israelites and for Pharaoh, the king of Egypt. The Lord commanded Moses and Aaron to lead the people of Israel out of Egypt.

The Ancestors of Moses and Aaron

¹⁴ These are the ancestors of some of the clans of Israel:

The sons of Reuben, Israel’s oldest son, were Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi. Their descendants became the clans of Reuben.

¹⁵ The sons of Simeon were Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jakin, Zohar, and Shaul. (Shaul’s mother was a Canaanite woman.) Their descendants became the clans of Simeon.

¹⁶ These are the descendants of Levi, as listed in their family records: The sons of Levi were Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. (Levi lived to be 137 years old.)

These are the clans of the Levites, as listed in their family records.

²⁰ Amram married his father’s sister Jochebed, and she gave birth to his sons, Aaron and Moses. (Amram lived to be 137 years old.)

²¹ The sons of Izhar were Korah, Nepheg, and Zicri.

²² The sons of Uzziel were Mishael, Elzaphan, and Sithri.

²³ Aaron married Elisheba, the daughter of Amminadab and sister of Nahshon, and she gave birth to his sons, Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar.

²⁴ The sons of Korah were Assir, Elkanah, and Abiasaph. Their descendants became the clans of Korah.

²⁵ Eleazar son of Aaron married one of the daughters of Putiel, and she gave birth to his son, Phinehas.

These are the ancestors of the Levite families, listed according to their clans.

²⁶ The Aaron and Moses named in this list are the same ones to whom the Lord said, “Lead the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt like an army.” ²⁷ It was Moses and Aaron who spoke to Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, about leading the people of Israel out of Egypt.

²⁸ When the Lord spoke to Moses in the land of Egypt, ²⁹ he said to him, “I am the Lord! Tell Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, everything I am telling you.” ³⁰ But Moses argued with the Lord, saying, “I can’t do it! I’m such a clumsy speaker! Why should Pharaoh listen to me?”

Exodus 4 

Signs of the Lord’s Power

1 But Moses protested again, “What if they won’t believe me or listen to me? What if they say, ‘The Lord never appeared to you’?”

² Then the Lord asked him, “What is that in your hand?”

“A shepherd’s staff,” Moses replied.

³ “Throw it down on the ground,” the Lord told him. So Moses threw down the staff, and it turned into a snake! Moses jumped back.

⁴ Then the Lord told him, “Reach out and grab its tail.” So Moses reached out and grabbed it, and it turned back into a shepherd’s staff in his hand.

⁵ “Perform this sign,” the Lord told him. “Then they will believe that the Lord, the God of their ancestors—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob—really has appeared to you.”

⁶ Then the Lord said to Moses, “Now put your hand inside your cloak.” So Moses put his hand inside his cloak, and when he took it out again, his hand was white as snow with a severe skin disease.^[a] 7 “Now put your hand back into your cloak,” the Lord said. So Moses put his hand back in, and when he took it out again, it was as healthy as the rest of his body.

⁸ The Lord said to Moses, “If they do not believe you and are not convinced by the first miraculous sign, they will be convinced by the second sign. ⁹ And if they don’t believe you or listen to you even after these two signs, then take some water from the Nile River and pour it out on the dry ground. When you do, the water from the Nile will turn to blood on the ground.”

¹⁰ But Moses pleaded with the Lord, “O Lord, I’m not very good with words. I never have been, and I’m not now, even though you have spoken to me. I get tongue-tied, and my words get tangled.”

¹¹ Then the Lord asked Moses, “Who makes a person’s mouth? Who decides whether people speak or do not speak, hear or do not hear, see or do not see? Is it not I, the Lord? ¹² Now go! I will be with you as you speak, and I will instruct you in what to say.”

¹³ But Moses again pleaded, “Lord, please! Send anyone else.”

¹⁴ Then the Lord became angry with Moses. “All right,” he said. “What about your brother, Aaron the Levite? I know he speaks well. And look! He is on his way to meet you now. He will be delighted to see you. ¹⁵ Talk to him, and put the words in his mouth. I will be with both of you as you speak, and I will instruct you both in what to do. ¹⁶ Aaron will be your spokesman to the people. He will be your mouthpiece, and you will stand in the place of God for him, telling him what to say. ¹⁷ And take your shepherd’s staff with you, and use it to perform the miraculous signs I have shown you.”

Moses Returns to Egypt

¹⁸ So Moses went back home to Jethro, his father-in-law. “Please let me return to my relatives in Egypt,” Moses said. “I don’t even know if they are still alive.”

“Go in peace,” Jethro replied.

¹⁹ Before Moses left Midian, the Lord said to him, “Return to Egypt, for all those who wanted to kill you have died.”

²⁰ So Moses took his wife and sons, put them on a donkey, and headed back to the land of Egypt. In his hand he carried the staff of God.

²¹ And the Lord told Moses, “When you arrive back in Egypt, go to Pharaoh and perform all the miracles I have empowered you to do. But I will harden his heart so he will refuse to let the people go. ²² Then you will tell him, ‘This is what the Lord says: Israel is my firstborn son.²³ I commanded you, “Let my son go, so he can worship me.” But since you have refused, I will now kill your firstborn son!’”

²⁴ On the way to Egypt, at a place where Moses and his family had stopped for the night, the Lord confronted him and was about to kill him. ²⁵ But Moses’ wife, Zipporah, took a flint knife and circumcised her son. She touched his feet^[b] with the foreskin and said, “Now you are a bridegroom of blood to me.” ²⁶ (When she said “a bridegroom of blood,” she was referring to the circumcision.) After that, the Lord left him alone.

²⁷ Now the Lord had said to Aaron, “Go out into the wilderness to meet Moses.” So Aaron went and met Moses at the mountain of God, and he embraced him. ²⁸ Moses then told Aaron everything the Lord had commanded him to say. And he told him about the miraculous signs the Lord had commanded him to perform.

²⁹ Then Moses and Aaron returned to Egypt and called all the elders of Israel together.³⁰ Aaron told them everything the Lord had told Moses, and Moses performed the miraculous signs as they watched. ³¹ Then the people of Israel were convinced that the Lord had sent Moses and Aaron. When they heard that the Lord was concerned about them and had seen their misery, they bowed down and worshiped.