Study Desk

"You shall not worship them nor serve them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, inflicting the punishment of the fathers on the children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me,

but showing favor to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.

'You shall not make other gods besides Me; gods of silver or gods of gold, you shall not make for yourselves.

'You shall make an altar of earth for Me, and you shall sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and your peace offerings, your sheep and your oxen; in every place where I cause My name to be remembered, I will come to you and bless you.

'And if you make an altar of stone for Me, you shall not build it of cut stones, for if you wield your chisel on it, you will profane it.

"If you oppress him at all, and if he does cry out to Me, I will assuredly hear his cry;

for that is his only covering; it is his cloak for his body. What else is he to sleep in? And it will come about that when he cries out to Me, I will listen to him, for I am gracious.

"You shall not hold back the offering from your entire harvest and your wine. The firstborn of your sons you shall give to Me.

"You shall do the same with your oxen and with your sheep. It shall be with its mother for seven days; on the eighth day you shall give it to Me.

"You shall be holy people to Me, therefore you shall not eat any flesh torn to pieces in the field; you shall throw it to the dogs.

"Three times a year you shall celebrate a feast to Me.

"You shall keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread; for seven days you are to eat unleavened bread, as I commanded you, at the appointed time in the month of Abib, for in that month you came out of Egypt. And no one is to appear before Me empty-handed.

"They shall not live in your land, otherwise they will make you sin against Me; for if you serve their gods, it is certain to be a snare to you."

Now the LORD said to Moses, "Come up to Me on the mountain and stay there, and I will give you the stone tablets with the Law and the commandments which I have written for their instruction."

"Tell the sons of Israel to take a contribution for Me; from everyone whose heart moves him you shall take My contribution.

"Have them construct a sanctuary for Me, so that I may dwell among them.

"And you shall set the bread of the Presence on the table before Me continually.

"Then bring forward to yourself your brother Aaron, and his sons with him, from among the sons of Israel, to serve as priest to Me—Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar, Aaron's sons.

"You shall speak to all the skillful people whom I have endowed with the spirit of wisdom, that they make Aaron's garments to consecrate him, that he may serve as priest to Me.

"And these are the garments which they shall make: a breastpiece, an ephod, a robe, a tunic of checkered work, a turban, and a sash. They shall make holy garments for your brother Aaron and his sons, so that he may serve as priest to Me.