Study Desk

You must remember the Festival of Unleavened Bread, because on this day I took all of your people out of Egypt in groups. All of your descendants must remember this day. This is a law that will last forever.

you will say, ‘This Passover is to honor the Lord , because when we were in Egypt, he passed over the houses of Israel. He killed the Egyptians, but he saved the people in our houses.'" Then the people bowed down and worshiped the Lord.

On this day you should tell your children, ‘We are having this festival because the Lord took me out of Egypt.'

Then Moses said, "In the evening the Lord will give you meat to eat, and in the morning you will have all the bread you want. The Lord will do this because he has heard your complaining, which was against him, not us. What can we do? We do only what he tells us to do, so your complaints are really against the Lord ."

Then Moses said to Aaron, "Tell the whole community of Israelites to come together before the Lord , because he has heard their complaints."

When the Israelites saw it, they asked each other, "What is that?" because they did not know what it was. So Moses told them, "This is the food the Lord is giving you to eat.

Moses told them, "This is what the Lord said would happen. It happened because tomorrow is the Sabbath, the special day of rest to honor the Lord . You can cook all the food you need to cook for today, but save the rest of this food for tomorrow morning."

Moses named that place Meribah and Massah, because this was the place that the Israelites turned against him and tested the Lord . The people wanted to know if the Lord was with them or not.

So Jethro went to Moses while Moses was camped near the mountain of God. Jethro brought Moses' wife, Zipporah, with him. (Zipporah was not with Moses, because Moses had sent her home.)

Jethro also brought Moses' two sons with him. The first son was named Gershom, because when he was born, Moses said, "I am a stranger in a foreign country."

The other son was named Eliezer, because when he was born, Moses said, "The God of my father helped me and saved me from the king of Egypt."

Mount Sinai was covered with smoke. Smoke rose off the mountain like smoke from a furnace. This happened because the Lord came down to the mountain in fire. Also the whole mountain began to shake.

Don't worship or serve idols of any kind, because I, the Lord , am your God. I hate my people worshiping other gods. People who sin against me become my enemies, and I will punish them. And I will punish their children, their grandchildren, and even their great-grandchildren.

That is because the Lord worked six days and made the sky, the earth, the sea, and everything in them. And on the seventh day, he rested. In this way the Lord blessed the Sabbath—the day of rest. He made that a very special day.

But if the slave gets up after a few days, then the master will not be punished. That is because someone paid their money for the slave, and the slave belongs to them.

But if the bull had hurt people in the past, and if the owner was warned, then the owner is guilty. That is because he did not keep the bull tied or locked in its place. So if the bull is allowed to be free and kills someone, the owner is guilty. You should kill the bull with stones and also kill the owner.

But if a man's bull has hurt other animals in the past, that owner is responsible for his bull. If his bull kills another bull, he is guilty because he allowed the bull to be free. That man must pay bull for bull. He must trade his bull for the bull that was killed.

"If a man borrows an animal from his neighbor, and the animal is hurt or dies, then the neighbor must pay the owner for the animal. The neighbor is responsible, because the owner was not there himself.

That cloak might be their only protection against the cold when they lie down to sleep. If they call to me for help, I will listen because I am kind.

"Don't do something just because everyone else is doing it. If you see a group of people doing wrong, don't join them. You must not let them persuade you to do wrong things—you must do what is right and fair.