Study Desk

The other [son] was named Eliezer (my God is help), for Moses said, "The God of my father was my help, and He rescued me from the sword of Pharaoh."

Moses told his father-in-law about all that the LORD had done to Pharaoh and the Egyptians for Israel's sake, and about all the hardship that had happened during the journey, and how the LORD had rescued them.

When Moses' father-in-law saw everything that he was doing for the people, he said, "What is this that you are doing for the people? Why are you sitting alone [as a judge] with all the people standing around you from dawn to dusk?"

"You will certainly wear out both yourself and these people who are with you, because the task is too heavy for you [to bear]; you cannot do it alone.

"They shall judge the people at all times; have them bring every major dispute to you, but let them judge every minor dispute themselves. So it will be easier for you, and they will bear the burden with you.

'Now therefore, if you will in fact obey My voice and keep My covenant (agreement), then you shall be My own special possession and treasure from among all peoples [of the world], for all the earth is Mine;

and you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation [set apart for My purpose].' These are the words that you shall speak to the Israelites."

So Moses called for the elders of the people, and told them all these words which the LORD commanded him.

The LORD also said to Moses, "Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow [that is, prepare them for My sacred purpose], and have them wash their clothes

"You shall set barriers for the people all around [the mountain], saying, 'Beware that you do not go up on the mountain or touch its border; whoever touches the mountain must be put to death.

So Moses went down from the mountain to the people and sanctified them [for God's sacred purpose], and they washed their clothes.

He said to the people, "Be prepared for the third day; do not be intimate with a woman."

"Also have the priests who approach the LORD consecrate (sanctify, set apart) themselves [for My sacred purpose], or else the LORD will break forth [in judgment] against them [and destroy them]."

"You shall not make for yourself any idol, or any likeness (form, manifestation) of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth [as an object to worship].

"You shall not worship them nor serve them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous (impassioned) God [demanding what is rightfully and uniquely mine], visiting (avenging) the iniquity (sin, guilt) of the fathers on the children [that is, calling the children to account for the sins of their fathers], to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me,

"You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain [that is, irreverently, in false affirmations or in ways that impugn the character of God]; for the LORD will not hold guiltless nor leave unpunished the one who takes His name in vain [disregarding its reverence and its power].

"For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea and everything that is in them, and He rested (ceased) on the seventh day. That is why the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy [that is, set it apart for His purposes].

"Honor (respect, obey, care for) your father and your mother, so that your days may be prolonged in the land the LORD your God gives you.

Moses said to the people, "Do not be afraid; for God has come in order to test you, and in order that the fear of Him [that is, a profound reverence for Him] will remain with you, so that you do not sin."

Then the LORD said to Moses, "Thus you shall say to the Israelites, 'You have seen for yourselves that I have spoken to you from heaven.