Study Desk

If your neighbor gives you his coat as a promise for the money he owes you, you must give it back to him by sunset,

because it is the only cover to keep his body warm. He has nothing else to sleep in. If he cries out to me for help, I will listen, because I am merciful.

You must do the same with your bulls and your sheep. Let the firstborn males stay with their mothers for seven days, and on the eighth day you must give them to me.

"For six years you are to plant and harvest crops on your land.

You must celebrate the Feast of Unleavened Bread in the way I commanded you. For seven days you must eat bread that is made without yeast at the set time during the month of Abib, the month when you came out of Egypt. No one is to come to worship me without bringing an offering.

"You must not offer animal blood along with anything that has yeast in it. "You must not save any of the fat from the sacrifice for the next day.

But I will not force all those people out in only one year. If I did, the land would become a desert and the wild animals would become too many for you.

Moses told the people all the Lord 's words and laws for living. Then all of the people answered out loud together, "We will do all the things the Lord has said."

So Moses wrote down all the words of the Lord . And he got up early the next morning and built an altar near the bottom of the mountain. He set up twelve stones, one stone for each of the twelve tribes of Israel.

Moses said to the elders, "Wait here for us until we come back to you. Aaron and Hur are with you, and anyone who has a disagreement with others can take it to them."

The glory of the Lord came down on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it for six days. On the seventh day the Lord called to Moses from inside the cloud.

Then Moses went into the cloud and went higher up the mountain. He was on the mountain for forty days and forty nights.

"Tell the Israelites to bring me gifts. Receive for me the gifts each person wants to give.

olive oil to burn in the lamps; spices for sweet-smelling incense, and the special olive oil poured on a person's head to make him a priest;

"The people must build a holy place for me so that I can live among them.

Make four gold rings for the Ark and attach them to its four feet, two rings on each side.

"Then make a lid of pure gold for the Ark; this is the mercy seat. Make it forty-five inches long and twenty-seven inches wide.

I will meet with you there, above the lid between the two winged creatures on the Ark of the Agreement. There I will give you all my commands for the Israelites.

Put the rings close to the frame around the top of the table, because they will hold the poles for carrying it.

Make the plates and bowls for the table, as well as the jars and cups, out of pure gold. They will be used for pouring out the drink offerings.