The new stone tablets
1The Lord said to Moses, ‘Chisel out two stone tablets like the first ones, and I will write on them the words that were on the first tablets, which you broke. 2Be ready in the morning, and then come up on Mount Sinai. Present yourself to me there on top of the mountain. 3No-one is to come with you or be seen anywhere on the mountain; not even the flocks and herds may graze in front of the mountain.’
4So Moses chiselled out two stone tablets like the first ones and went up Mount Sinai early in the morning, as the Lord had commanded him; and he carried the two stone tablets in his hands. 5Then the Lord came down in the cloud and stood there with him and proclaimed his name, the Lord. 6And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, ‘The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, 7maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation.’
8Moses bowed to the ground at once and worshipped. 9‘Lord,’ he said, ‘if I have found favour in your eyes, then let the Lord go with us. Although this is a stiff-necked people, forgive our wickedness and our sin, and take us as your inheritance.’
10Then the Lord said: ‘I am making a covenant with you. Before all your people I will do wonders never before done in any nation in all the world. The people you live among will see how awesome is the work that I, the Lord, will do for you. 11Obey what I command you today. I will drive out before you the Amorites, Canaanites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. 12Be careful not to make a treaty with those who live in the land where you are going, or they will be a snare among you. 13Break down their altars, smash their sacred stones and cut down their Asherah poles.34:13 That is, wooden symbols of the goddess Asherah 14Do not worship any other god, for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God.
15‘Be careful not to make a treaty with those who live in the land; for when they prostitute themselves to their gods and sacrifice to them, they will invite you and you will eat their sacrifices. 16And when you choose some of their daughters as wives for your sons and those daughters prostitute themselves to their gods, they will lead your sons to do the same.
17‘Do not make any idols.
18‘Celebrate the Festival of Unleavened Bread. For seven days eat bread made without yeast, as I commanded you. Do this at the appointed time in the month of Aviv, for in that month you came out of Egypt.
19‘The first offspring of every womb belongs to me, including all the firstborn males of your livestock, whether from herd or flock. 20Redeem the firstborn donkey with a lamb, but if you do not redeem it, break its neck. Redeem all your firstborn sons.
‘No-one is to appear before me empty-handed.
21‘Six days you shall labour, but on the seventh day you shall rest; even during the ploughing season and harvest you must rest.
22‘Celebrate the Festival of Weeks with the firstfruits of the wheat harvest, and the Festival of Ingathering at the turn of the year.34:22 That is, in the autumn 23Three times a year all your men are to appear before the Sovereign Lord, the God of Israel. 24I will drive out nations before you and enlarge your territory, and no-one will covet your land when you go up three times each year to appear before the Lord your God.
25‘Do not offer the blood of a sacrifice to me along with anything containing yeast, and do not let any of the sacrifice from the Passover Festival remain until morning.
26‘Bring the best of the firstfruits of your soil to the house of the Lord your God.
‘Do not cook a young goat in its mother’s milk.’
27Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Write down these words, for in accordance with these words I have made a covenant with you and with Israel.’ 28Moses was there with the Lord forty days and forty nights without eating bread or drinking water. And he wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant – the Ten Commandments.
The radiant face of Moses
29When Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of the covenant law in his hands, he was not aware that his face was radiant because he had spoken with the Lord. 30When Aaron and all the Israelites saw Moses, his face was radiant, and they were afraid to come near him. 31But Moses called to them; so Aaron and all the leaders of the community came back to him, and he spoke to them. 32Afterwards all the Israelites came near him, and he gave them all the commands the Lord had given him on Mount Sinai.
33When Moses finished speaking to them, he put a veil over his face. 34But whenever he entered the Lord’s presence to speak with him, he removed the veil until he came out. And when he came out and told the Israelites what he had been commanded, 35they saw that his face was radiant. Then Moses would put the veil back over his face until he went in to speak with the Lord.
አዲሶቹ የድንጋይ ጽላቶች
1እግዚአብሔር (ያህዌ) ሙሴን አለው፤ “እንደ መጀመሪያዎቹ ያሉ ሁለት የድንጋይ ጽላቶች ጥረብ፤ እኔም አንተ በሰበርካቸው በመጀመሪያዎቹ ጽላቶች ላይ የነበሩትን ቃሎች እጽፍባቸዋለሁ። 2በማለዳ ተዘጋጅተህ ወደ ሲና ተራራ ውጣ፤ በዚያ በተራራው ጫፍ ላይ በፊቴ ቁም፤ 3ከአንተ ጋር ማንም እንዳይመጣ ወይም በተራራው ላይ በየትኛውም ቦታ እንዳይታይ፤ የበግና የፍየል መንጋዎች የቀንድ ከብቶችም እንኳ፣ በተራራው ፊት ለፊት መጋጥ የለባቸውም።”
4ስለዚህ ሙሴ እንደ መጀመሪያዎቹ ያሉ ሁለት የድንጋይ ጽላቶች ጠርቦ፣ እግዚአብሔር (ያህዌ) እንዳዘዘው በማለዳ ወደ ሲና ተራራ ወጣ፤ ሁለቱን የድንጋይ ጽላቶችም በእጆቹ ያዘ። 5ከዚያም እግዚአብሔር (ያህዌ) በደመና ወረደ፤ በዚያም ከእርሱ ጋር ቆሞ ስሙን እግዚአብሔርን (ያህዌ) ዐወጀ። 6እርሱም በሙሴ ፊት እንዲህ እያለ እያወጀ ዐለፈ፤ “እግዚአብሔር (ያህዌ) ርኅሩኅ ቸር አምላክ፣ እግዚአብሔር (ያህዌ) ለቍጣ የዘገየ፣ ፍቅሩና ታማኝነቱ የበዛ፣ 7ፍቅርን ለሺዎች የሚጠብቅ፣ ክፋትን፣ ዐመፅንና ኀጢአትን ይቅር የሚል፣ በደለኛውን ግን ሳይቀጣ ዝም ብሎ አይተውም፤ በአባቶች ኀጢአት ልጆችን የልጅ ልጆቻቸውን እስከ ሦስትና አራት ትውልድ ይቀጣል።”
8ሙሴም ወዲያውኑ ወደ መሬት ዝቅ ብሎ ሰገደ፤ 9“አቤቱ ጌታ (አዶናይ) ሆይ፤ በፊትህ ሞገስ አግኝቼ ከሆነ፣ ጌታ (አዶናይ) ከእኛ ጋር ይሂድ፤ ይህ ዐንገተ ደንዳና ሕዝብ ቢሆንም እንኳ፣ ክፋታችንንና ኀጢአታችንን ይቅር በል፤ እንደ ርስትህም አድርገህ ውሰደን።”
10ከዚያም እግዚአብሔር (ያህዌ) እንዲህ አለ፤ “ከአንተ ጋር ኪዳን እገባለሁ፤ ከዚህ ቀደም በዓለም ሁሉ ለየትኛውም ሕዝብ ከቶ ያልተደረገ፣ በሕዝብህ ሁሉ ፊት ድንቅ አደርጋለሁ፤ በመካከላቸው አብረሃቸው የምትኖር ሕዝብ እኔ እግዚአብሔር (ያህዌ) ለአንተ የማደርግልህ ሥራ የቱን ያህል አስፈሪ እንደ ሆነ ያያሉ። 11ዛሬ የማዝህን ፈጽም፤ አሞራውያንን፣ ከነዓናውያንን፣ ኬጢያውያንን፣ ፌርዛውያንን፣ ኤዊያውያንንና ኢያቡሳውያንን በፊትህ አስወጣቸዋለሁ። 12ከምትሄድበት አገር ነዋሪዎች ጋር ቃል ኪዳን እንዳታደርግ ተጠንቀቅ፤ አለዚያ በመካከልህ ወጥመድ ይሆኑብሃል። 13መሠዊያዎቻቸውን ሰባብሩ፤ የማምለኪያ ዐምዶቻቸውን አድቅቁ34፥13 አሼራ የምትባለውን ጣዖት አምላክ ምስል ማለት ነው።፤ የአሼራ ዐፀዶቻቸውንም ቍረጡ። 14ስሙ ቀናተኛ የሆነው እግዚአብሔር (ያህዌ) ቀናተኛ አምላክ (ኤሎሂም) ነውና ሌላ አምላክ አታምልክ።
15“በምድሪቱ ከሚኖሩት ጋር ቃል ኪዳን እንዳታደርግ ተጠንቀቅ፤ ምክንያቱም አምላኮቻቸውን ተከትለው ባመነዘሩና መሥዋዕትም ባቀረቡላቸው ጊዜ ይጋብዙሃል፤ አንተም መሥዋዕታቸውን ትበላለህ። 16ለወንዶች ልጆችህም ሴቶች ልጆቻቸውን ስታጭላቸውና እነዚህም ሴቶች ልጆች አምላኮቻቸውን በመከተል ሲያመነዝሩ፣ ወንዶች ልጆችህን ተመሳሳይ ድርጊት እንዲፈጽሙ ያነሣሷቸዋል።
17“ቀልጠው የሚሠሩ አማልክትን አታብጅ።
18“የቂጣን በዓል አክብር። እንዳዘዝሁህም ለሰባት ቀን እርሾ ያልገባበት ቂጣ ብላ፤ ይህንም በተወሰነው ጊዜ በአቢብ ወር አድርግ፤ በዚያ ወር ከግብፅ ወጥተሃልና።
19“የመንጋህ ወይም የበግና የፍየልህ፣ የቀንድ ከብትህ ተባዕት በኵር ሁሉ ሳይቀር፣ ከማሕፀን በኵር ሆኖ የሚወጣ ሁሉ የእኔ ነው። 20የአህያን በኵር በበግ ጠቦት ዋጀው፤ ካልዋጀኸው ግን ዐንገቱን ስበረው። በኵር ወንድ ልጆችህን ሁሉ ዋጅ።
“ማንም በፊቴ ባዶ እጁን አይቅረብ።
21“ስድስት ቀን ሥራ፤ በሰባተኛው ቀን ግን ዕረፍ፤ በዕርሻና በመከር ወቅት እንኳ ቢሆን ማረፍ አለብህ።
22“የሰባቱን ሱባዔ በዓል ከስንዴው መከር በኵራቶች ጋር፣ እንዲሁም የመክተቻ በዓልን በዓመቱ መጨረሻ34፥22 በዚያ አካባቢ ክረምት መግቢያ ላይ ማለት ነው። ላይ አክብር። 23በዓመት ሦስት ጊዜ ወንድ ሁሉ በእስራኤል አምላክ (ኤሎሂም) በጌታ እግዚአብሔር (አዶናይ ያህዌ) ፊት ይቅረብ። 24አሕዛብን ከፊትህ አስወጣለሁ፤ ድንበርህን አሰፋለሁ፤ በዓመት ሦስት ጊዜ በአምላክህ በእግዚአብሔር (ያህዌ) ፊት ለመቅረብ ስትወጣ፣ ምድርህን ማንም አይመኝም።
25“እርሾ ካለው ከማንኛውም ነገር ጋር የደም መሥዋዕት ለእኔ አታቅርብ፤ ከፋሲካ በዓል የተረፈው መሥዋዕት እስከ ማለዳ አይቈይ።
26“የዐፈርህን ምርጥ በኵራት ለአምላክህ ለእግዚአብሔር (ያህዌ) ቤት አምጣ።
“ጠቦት ፍየልን በእናቱ ወተት አትቀቅል።”
27ከዚያም እግዚአብሔር (ያህዌ) ሙሴን፣ “እነዚህን ቃሎች ጻፋቸው፤ በእነዚህ ቃሎች መሠረት ከአንተና ከእስራኤል ጋር ቃል ኪዳን አድርጌአለሁና” አለው። 28ሙሴ እህል ሳይበላ፣ ውሃም ሳይጠጣ ከእግዚአብሔር (ያህዌ) ጋር አርባ ቀንና አርባ ሌሊት በዚያ ነበር፤ በጽላቶቹ ላይ የቃል ኪዳኑን ቃሎች፣ ዐሥርቱ ትእዛዛትን ጻፈ።
የሚያበራው የሙሴ ፊት
29ሙሴ ሁለቱን የምስክር ጽላቶች በእጆቹ ይዞ ከሲና ተራራ በወረደ ጊዜ ከእግዚአብሔር (ያህዌ) ጋር ከመነጋገሩ የተነሣ ፊቱ እንደሚያበራ አላወቀም ነበር። 30አሮንና እስራኤላውያን ሁሉ ሙሴን ባዩት ጊዜ ፊቱ ያበራ ነበር፤ ወደ እርሱ ለመቅረብም ፈርተው ነበር። 31ሙሴ ግን ጠራቸው፤ ስለዚህ አሮንና የማኅበሩ መሪዎች ወደ እርሱ ተመለሱ፤ እርሱም አናገራቸው። 32ከዚያም በኋላ እስራኤላውያን ሁሉ ወደ እርሱ ቀረቡ፤ እግዚአብሔር (ያህዌ) በሲና ተራራ የሰጠውን ትእዛዞች ሁሉ ሰጣቸው። 33ሙሴ ለእነርሱ ተናግሮ ከጨረሰ በኋላ በፊቱ ላይ መሸፈኛ አደረገ። 34ከእርሱ ጋር ለመነጋገር ወደ እግዚአብሔር (ያህዌ) ሀልዎት በሚገባበት ጊዜ ሁሉ ግን፣ እስከሚወጣ ድረስ መሸፈኛውን ያነሣ ነበር፤ በወጣም ጊዜ የታዘዘውን ለእስራኤላውያን ነገራቸው። 35ፊቱ የሚያበራ መሆኑን አዩ፤ ከዚያም ሙሴ ከእግዚአብሔር (ያህዌ) ጋር ለመነጋገር ተመልሶ እስኪሄድ ድረስ መሸፈኛውን መልሶ በፊቱ ላይ ያደርግ ነበር።
