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[Adam and Eve] This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created. When the LORD God made the earth and the heavens--
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and no shrub of the field had yet appeared on the earth and no plant of the field had yet sprung up, for the LORD God had not sent rain on the earth and there was no man to work the ground,
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the LORD God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.
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Now the LORD God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed.
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And the LORD God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground--trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
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The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.
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And the LORD God commanded the man, "You are free to eat from any tree in the garden;
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The LORD God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him."
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Now the LORD God had formed out of the ground all the beasts of the field and all the birds of the air. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name.
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So the LORD God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man's ribs and closed up the place with flesh.
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Then the LORD God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man.
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[The Fall of Man] Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, "Did God really say, 'You must not eat from any tree in the garden'?"
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Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the LORD God among the trees of the garden.
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But the LORD God called to the man, "Where are you?"
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Then the LORD God said to the woman, "What is this you have done?" The woman said, "The serpent deceived me, and I ate."
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So the LORD God said to the serpent, "Because you have done this, "Cursed are you above all the livestock and all the wild animals! You will crawl on your belly and you will eat dust all the days of your life.
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The LORD God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them.
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And the LORD God said, "The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever."
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So the LORD God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken.
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[Cain and Abel] Adam lay with his wife Eve, and she became pregnant and gave birth to Cain. She said, "With the help of the LORD I have brought forth a man."
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In the course of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the LORD.
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But Abel brought fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock. The LORD looked with favor on Abel and his offering,
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Then the LORD said to Cain, "Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast?
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Then the LORD said to Cain, "Where is your brother Abel?" "I don't know," he replied. "Am I my brother's keeper?"
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The LORD said, "What have you done? Listen! Your brother's blood cries out to me from the ground.
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Cain said to the LORD, "My punishment is more than I can bear.
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But the LORD said to him, "Not so; if anyone kills Cain, he will suffer vengeance seven times over." Then the LORD put a mark on Cain so that no one who found him would kill him.
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So Cain went out from the LORD's presence and lived in the land of Nod, east of Eden.
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Seth also had a son, and he named him Enosh. At that time men began to call on the name of the LORD.
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He named him Noah and said, "He will comfort us in the labor and painful toil of our hands caused by the ground the LORD has cursed."
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Then the LORD said, "My Spirit will not contend with man forever, for he is mortal; his days will be a hundred and twenty years."
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The LORD saw how great man's wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time.
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The LORD was grieved that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was filled with pain.
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So the LORD said, "I will wipe mankind, whom I have created, from the face of the earth--men and animals, and creatures that move along the ground, and birds of the air--for I am grieved that I have made them."
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But Noah found favor in the eyes of the LORD.
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The LORD then said to Noah, "Go into the ark, you and your whole family, because I have found you righteous in this generation.
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And Noah did all that the LORD commanded him.
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The animals going in were male and female of every living thing, as God had commanded Noah. Then the LORD shut him in.
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Then Noah built an altar to the LORD and, taking some of all the clean animals and clean birds, he sacrificed burnt offerings on it.
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The LORD smelled the pleasing aroma and said in his heart: "Never again will I curse the ground because of man, even though every inclination of his heart is evil from childhood. And never again will I destroy all living creatures, as I have done.
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He also said, "Blessed be the LORD, the God of Shem! May Canaan be the slave of Shem.
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He was a mighty hunter before the LORD; that is why it is said, "Like Nimrod, a mighty hunter before the LORD."
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But the LORD came down to see the city and the tower that the men were building.
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The LORD said, "If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them.
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So the LORD scattered them from there over all the earth, and they stopped building the city.
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That is why it was called Babel--because there the LORD confused the language of the whole world. From there the LORD scattered them over the face of the whole earth.
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[The Call of Abram] The LORD had said to Abram, "Leave your country, your people and your father's household and go to the land I will show you.
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So Abram left, as the LORD had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he set out from Haran.
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The LORD appeared to Abram and said, "To your offspring I will give this land." So he built an altar there to the LORD, who had appeared to him.
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From there he went on toward the hills east of Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. There he built an altar to the LORD and called on the name of the LORD.
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But the LORD inflicted serious diseases on Pharaoh and his household because of Abram's wife Sarai.
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and where he had first built an altar. There Abram called on the name of the LORD.
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Lot looked up and saw that the whole plain of the Jordan was well watered, like the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt, toward Zoar. (This was before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.)
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Now the men of Sodom were wicked and were sinning greatly against the LORD.
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The LORD said to Abram after Lot had parted from him, "Lift up your eyes from where you are and look north and south, east and west.
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So Abram moved his tents and went to live near the great trees of Mamre at Hebron, where he built an altar to the LORD.
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But Abram said to the king of Sodom, "I have raised my hand to the LORD, God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth, and have taken an oath
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[God's Covenant With Abram] After this, the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision: "Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your very great reward."
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But Abram said, "O Sovereign LORD, what can you give me since I remain childless and the one who will inherit my estate is Eliezer of Damascus?"
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Then the word of the LORD came to him: "This man will not be your heir, but a son coming from your own body will be your heir."
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Abram believed the LORD, and he credited it to him as righteousness.
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He also said to him, "I am the LORD, who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to take possession of it."
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But Abram said, "O Sovereign LORD, how can I know that I will gain possession of it?"
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So the LORD said to him, "Bring me a heifer, a goat and a ram, each three years old, along with a dove and a young pigeon."
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Then the LORD said to him, "Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own, and they will be enslaved and mistreated four hundred years.
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On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram and said, "To your descendants I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates--
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so she said to Abram, "The LORD has kept me from having children. Go, sleep with my maidservant; perhaps I can build a family through her." Abram agreed to what Sarai said.
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Then Sarai said to Abram, "You are responsible for the wrong I am suffering. I put my servant in your arms, and now that she knows she is pregnant, she despises me. May the LORD judge between you and me."
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The angel of the LORD found Hagar near a spring in the desert; it was the spring that is beside the road to Shur.
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Then the angel of the LORD told her, "Go back to your mistress and submit to her."
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The angel of the LORD also said to her: "You are now with child and you will have a son. You shall name him Ishmael, for the LORD has heard of your misery.
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She gave this name to the LORD who spoke to her: "You are the God who sees me," for she said, "I have now seen the One who sees me."
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[The Covenant of Circumcision] When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to him and said, "I am God Almighty; walk before me and be blameless.
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[The Three Visitors] The LORD appeared to Abraham near the great trees of Mamre while he was sitting at the entrance to his tent in the heat of the day.
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He said, "If I have found favor in your eyes, my lord, do not pass your servant by.
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Then the LORD said, "I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah your wife will have a son." Now Sarah was listening at the entrance to the tent, which was behind him.
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Then the LORD said to Abraham, "Why did Sarah laugh and say, 'Will I really have a child, now that I am old?'
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Is anything too hard for the LORD? I will return to you at the appointed time next year and Sarah will have a son."
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Then the LORD said, "Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do?
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For I have chosen him, so that he will direct his children and his household after him to keep the way of the LORD by doing what is right and just, so that the LORD will bring about for Abraham what he has promised him."
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Then the LORD said, "The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is so great and their sin so grievous
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The men turned away and went toward Sodom, but Abraham remained standing before the LORD.
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The LORD said, "If I find fifty righteous people in the city of Sodom, I will spare the whole place for their sake."
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Then Abraham spoke up again: "Now that I have been so bold as to speak to the LORD, though I am nothing but dust and ashes,
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Then he said, "May the LORD not be angry, but let me speak. What if only thirty can be found there?" He answered, "I will not do it if I find thirty there."
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Abraham said, "Now that I have been so bold as to speak to the LORD, what if only twenty can be found there?" He said, "For the sake of twenty, I will not destroy it."
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Then he said, "May the LORD not be angry, but let me speak just once more. What if only ten can be found there?" He answered, "For the sake of ten, I will not destroy it."
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When the LORD had finished speaking with Abraham, he left, and Abraham returned home.
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because we are going to destroy this place. The outcry to the LORD against its people is so great that he has sent us to destroy it."
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So Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law, who were pledged to marry his daughters. He said, "Hurry and get out of this place, because the LORD is about to destroy the city!" But his sons-in-law thought he was joking.
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When he hesitated, the men grasped his hand and the hands of his wife and of his two daughters and led them safely out of the city, for the LORD was merciful to them.
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Then the LORD rained down burning sulfur on Sodom and Gomorrah--from the LORD out of the heavens.
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Early the next morning Abraham got up and returned to the place where he had stood before the LORD.
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Now Abimelech had not gone near her, so he said, "LORD, will you destroy an innocent nation?
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for the LORD had closed up every womb in Abimelech's household because of Abraham's wife Sarah.
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[The Birth of Isaac] Now the LORD was gracious to Sarah as he had said, and the LORD did for Sarah what he had promised.
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Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beersheba, and there he called upon the name of the LORD, the Eternal God.
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But the angel of the LORD called out to him from heaven, "Abraham! Abraham!" "Here I am," he replied.
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So Abraham called that place The LORD Will Provide. And to this day it is said, "On the mountain of the LORD it will be provided."
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The angel of the LORD called to Abraham from heaven a second time
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and said, "I swear by myself, declares the LORD, that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son,
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"No, my lord," he said. "Listen to me; I give you the field, and I give you the cave that is in it. I give it to you in the presence of my people. Bury your dead."
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"Listen to me, my lord; the land is worth four hundred shekels of silver, but what is that between me and you? Bury your dead."
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[Isaac and Rebekah] Abraham was now old and well advanced in years, and the LORD had blessed him in every way.
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I want you to swear by the LORD, the God of heaven and the God of earth, that you will not get a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I am living,
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"The LORD, the God of heaven, who brought me out of my father's household and my native land and who spoke to me and promised me on oath, saying, 'To your offspring I will give this land'--he will send his angel before you so that you can get a wife for my son from there.
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Then he prayed, "O LORD, God of my master Abraham, give me success today, and show kindness to my master Abraham.
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"Drink, my lord," she said, and quickly lowered the jar to her hands and gave him a drink.
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Without saying a word, the man watched her closely to learn whether or not the LORD had made his journey successful.
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Then the man bowed down and worshiped the LORD,
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saying, "Praise be to the LORD, the God of my master Abraham, who has not abandoned his kindness and faithfulness to my master. As for me, the LORD has led me on the journey to the house of my master's relatives."
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"Come, you who are blessed by the LORD," he said. "Why are you standing out here? I have prepared the house and a place for the camels."
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The LORD has blessed my master abundantly, and he has become wealthy. He has given him sheep and cattle, silver and gold, menservants and maidservants, and camels and donkeys.
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"He replied, 'The LORD, before whom I have walked, will send his angel with you and make your journey a success, so that you can get a wife for my son from my own clan and from my father's family.
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"When I came to the spring today, I said, 'O LORD, God of my master Abraham, if you will, please grant success to the journey on which I have come.
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and if she says to me, "Drink, and I'll draw water for your camels too," let her be the one the LORD has chosen for my master's son.'
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and I bowed down and worshiped the LORD. I praised the LORD, the God of my master Abraham, who had led me on the right road to get the granddaughter of my master's brother for his son.
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Laban and Bethuel answered, "This is from the LORD; we can say nothing to you one way or the other.
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Here is Rebekah; take her and go, and let her become the wife of your master's son, as the LORD has directed."
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When Abraham's servant heard what they said, he bowed down to the ground before the LORD.
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But he said to them, "Do not detain me, now that the LORD has granted success to my journey. Send me on my way so I may go to my master."
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Isaac prayed to the LORD on behalf of his wife, because she was barren. The LORD answered his prayer, and his wife Rebekah became pregnant.
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The babies jostled each other within her, and she said, "Why is this happening to me?" So she went to inquire of the LORD.
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The LORD said to her, "Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples from within you will be separated; one people will be stronger than the other, and the older will serve the younger."
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The LORD appeared to Isaac and said, "Do not go down to Egypt; live in the land where I tell you to live.
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Isaac planted crops in that land and the same year reaped a hundredfold, because the LORD blessed him.
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He moved on from there and dug another well, and no one quarreled over it. He named it Rehoboth, saying, "Now the LORD has given us room and we will flourish in the land."
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That night the LORD appeared to him and said, "I am the God of your father Abraham. Do not be afraid, for I am with you; I will bless you and will increase the number of your descendants for the sake of my servant Abraham."
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Isaac built an altar there and called on the name of the LORD. There he pitched his tent, and there his servants dug a well.
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They answered, "We saw clearly that the LORD was with you; so we said, 'There ought to be a sworn agreement between us'--between us and you. Let us make a treaty with you
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that you will do us no harm, just as we did not molest you but always treated you well and sent you away in peace. And now you are blessed by the LORD."
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'Bring me some game and prepare me some tasty food to eat, so that I may give you my blessing in the presence of the LORD before I die.'
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Isaac asked his son, "How did you find it so quickly, my son?" "The LORD your God gave me success," he replied.
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So he went to him and kissed him. When Isaac caught the smell of his clothes, he blessed him and said, "Ah, the smell of my son is like the smell of a field that the LORD has blessed.
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May nations serve you and peoples bow down to you. Be lord over your brothers, and may the sons of your mother bow down to you. May those who curse you be cursed and those who bless you be blessed."
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Isaac answered Esau, "I have made him lord over you and have made all his relatives his servants, and I have sustained him with grain and new wine. So what can I possibly do for you, my son?"
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There above it stood the LORD, and he said: "I am the LORD, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac. I will give you and your descendants the land on which you are lying.
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When Jacob awoke from his sleep, he thought, "Surely the LORD is in this place, and I was not aware of it."
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so that I return safely to my father's house, then the LORD will be my God
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[Jacob's Children] When the LORD saw that Leah was not loved, he opened her womb, but Rachel was barren.
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Leah became pregnant and gave birth to a son. She named him Reuben, for she said, "It is because the LORD has seen my misery. Surely my husband will love me now."
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She conceived again, and when she gave birth to a son she said, "Because the LORD heard that I am not loved, he gave me this one too." So she named him Simeon.
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She conceived again, and when she gave birth to a son she said, "This time I will praise the LORD." So she named him Judah. Then she stopped having children.
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She named him Joseph, and said, "May the LORD add to me another son."
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But Laban said to him, "If I have found favor in your eyes, please stay. I have learned by divination that the LORD has blessed me because of you."
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The little you had before I came has increased greatly, and the LORD has blessed you wherever I have been. But now, when may I do something for my own household?"
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Then the LORD said to Jacob, "Go back to the land of your fathers and to your relatives, and I will be with you."
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Rachel said to her father, "Don't be angry, my lord, that I cannot stand up in your presence; I'm having my period." So he searched but could not find the household gods.
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It was also called Mizpah, because he said, "May the LORD keep watch between you and me when we are away from each other.
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I have cattle and donkeys, sheep and goats, menservants and maidservants. Now I am sending this message to my lord, that I may find favor in your eyes.' "
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Then Jacob prayed, "O God of my father Abraham, God of my father Isaac, O LORD, who said to me, 'Go back to your country and your relatives, and I will make you prosper,'
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then you are to say, 'They belong to your servant Jacob. They are a gift sent to my lord Esau, and he is coming behind us.' "
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Esau asked, "What do you mean by all these droves I met?" "To find favor in your eyes, my lord," he said.
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But Jacob said to him, "My lord knows that the children are tender and that I must care for the ewes and cows that are nursing their young. If they are driven hard just one day, all the animals will die.
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So let my lord go on ahead of his servant, while I move along slowly at the pace of the droves before me and that of the children, until I come to my lord in Seir."
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Esau said, "Then let me leave some of my men with you." "But why do that?" Jacob asked. "Just let me find favor in the eyes of my lord."
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But Er, Judah's firstborn, was wicked in the LORD's sight; so the LORD put him to death.
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What he did was wicked in the LORD's sight; so he put him to death also.
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The LORD was with Joseph and he prospered, and he lived in the house of his Egyptian master.
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When his master saw that the LORD was with him and that the LORD gave him success in everything he did,
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From the time he put him in charge of his household and of all that he owned, the LORD blessed the household of the Egyptian because of Joseph. The blessing of the LORD was on everything Potiphar had, both in the house and in the field.
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the LORD was with him; he showed him kindness and granted him favor in the eyes of the prison warden.
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The warden paid no attention to anything under Joseph's care, because the LORD was with Joseph and gave him success in whatever he did.
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"No, my lord," they answered. "Your servants have come to buy food.
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"The man who is lord over the land spoke harshly to us and treated us as though we were spying on the land.
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"Then the man who is lord over the land said to us, 'This is how I will know whether you are honest men: Leave one of your brothers here with me, and take food for your starving households and go.
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But they said to him, "Why does my lord say such things? Far be it from your servants to do anything like that!
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If any of your servants is found to have it, he will die; and the rest of us will become my lord's slaves."
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"What can we say to my lord?" Judah replied. "What can we say? How can we prove our innocence? God has uncovered your servants' guilt. We are now my lord's slaves--we ourselves and the one who was found to have the cup."
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Then Judah went up to him and said: "Please, my lord, let your servant speak a word to my lord. Do not be angry with your servant, though you are equal to Pharaoh himself.
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My lord asked his servants, 'Do you have a father or a brother?'
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And we said to my lord, 'The boy cannot leave his father; if he leaves him, his father will die.'
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When we went back to your servant my father, we told him what my lord had said.
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"Now then, please let your servant remain here as my lord's slave in place of the boy, and let the boy return with his brothers.
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"So then, it was not you who sent me here, but God. He made me father to Pharaoh, lord of his entire household and ruler of all Egypt.
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Now hurry back to my father and say to him, 'This is what your son Joseph says: God has made me lord of all Egypt. Come down to me; don't delay.
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When that year was over, they came to him the following year and said, "We cannot hide from our lord the fact that since our money is gone and our livestock belongs to you, there is nothing left for our lord except our bodies and our land.
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"You have saved our lives," they said. "May we find favor in the eyes of our lord; we will be in bondage to Pharaoh."
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"I look for your deliverance, O LORD.
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There the angel of the LORD appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up.
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When the LORD saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, "Moses! Moses!" And Moses said, "Here I am."
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The LORD said, "I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering.
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God also said to Moses, "Say to the Israelites, 'The LORD, the God of your fathers--the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob--has sent me to you.' This is my name forever, the name by which I am to be remembered from generation to generation.
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"Go, assemble the elders of Israel and say to them, 'The LORD, the God of your fathers--the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob--appeared to me and said: I have watched over you and have seen what has been done to you in Egypt.
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"The elders of Israel will listen to you. Then you and the elders are to go to the king of Egypt and say to him, 'The LORD, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us. Let us take a three-day journey into the desert to offer sacrifices to the LORD our God.'
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[Signs for Moses] Moses answered, "What if they do not believe me or listen to me and say, 'The LORD did not appear to you'?"
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Then the LORD said to him, "What is that in your hand?" "A staff," he replied.
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The LORD said, "Throw it on the ground." Moses threw it on the ground and it became a snake, and he ran from it.
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Then the LORD said to him, "Reach out your hand and take it by the tail." So Moses reached out and took hold of the snake and it turned back into a staff in his hand.
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"This," said the LORD, "is so that they may believe that the LORD, the God of their fathers--the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob--has appeared to you."
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Then the LORD said, "Put your hand inside your cloak." So Moses put his hand into his cloak, and when he took it out, it was leprous, like snow.
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Then the LORD said, "If they do not believe you or pay attention to the first miraculous sign, they may believe the second.
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Moses said to the LORD, "O LORD, I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue."
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The LORD said to him, "Who gave man his mouth? Who makes him deaf or mute? Who gives him sight or makes him blind? Is it not I, the LORD?
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But Moses said, "O LORD, please send someone else to do it."
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Then the LORD's anger burned against Moses and he said, "What about your brother, Aaron the Levite? I know he can speak well. He is already on his way to meet you, and his heart will be glad when he sees you.
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Now the LORD had said to Moses in Midian, "Go back to Egypt, for all the men who wanted to kill you are dead."
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The LORD said to Moses, "When you return to Egypt, see that you perform before Pharaoh all the wonders I have given you the power to do. But I will harden his heart so that he will not let the people go.
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Then say to Pharaoh, 'This is what the LORD says: Israel is my firstborn son,
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At a lodging place on the way, the LORD met [Moses] and was about to kill him.
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So the LORD let him alone. (At that time she said "bridegroom of blood," referring to circumcision.)
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The LORD said to Aaron, "Go into the desert to meet Moses." So he met Moses at the mountain of God and kissed him.
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Then Moses told Aaron everything the LORD had sent him to say, and also about all the miraculous signs he had commanded him to perform.
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and Aaron told them everything the LORD had said to Moses. He also performed the signs before the people,
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and they believed. And when they heard that the LORD was concerned about them and had seen their misery, they bowed down and worshiped.
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[Bricks Without Straw] Afterward Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and said, "This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: 'Let my people go, so that they may hold a festival to me in the desert.' "
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Pharaoh said, "Who is the LORD, that I should obey him and let Israel go? I do not know the LORD and I will not let Israel go."
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Then they said, "The God of the Hebrews has met with us. Now let us take a three-day journey into the desert to offer sacrifices to the LORD our God, or he may strike us with plagues or with the sword."
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Pharaoh said, "Lazy, that's what you are--lazy! That is why you keep saying, 'Let us go and sacrifice to the LORD.'
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and they said, "May the LORD look upon you and judge you! You have made us a stench to Pharaoh and his officials and have put a sword in their hand to kill us."
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[God Promises Deliverance] Moses returned to the LORD and said, "O LORD, why have you brought trouble upon this people? Is this why you sent me?
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Then the LORD said to Moses, "Now you will see what I will do to Pharaoh: Because of my mighty hand he will let them go; because of my mighty hand he will drive them out of his country."
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God also said to Moses, "I am the LORD.
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I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob as God Almighty, but by my name the LORD I did not make myself known to them.
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"Therefore, say to the Israelites: 'I am the LORD, and I will bring you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. I will free you from being slaves to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgment.
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I will take you as my own people, and I will be your God. Then you will know that I am the LORD your God, who brought you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians.
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And I will bring you to the land I swore with uplifted hand to give to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob. I will give it to you as a possession. I am the LORD.' "
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Then the LORD said to Moses,
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But Moses said to the LORD, "If the Israelites will not listen to me, why would Pharaoh listen to me, since I speak with faltering lips ?"
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[Family Record of Moses and Aaron] Now the LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron about the Israelites and Pharaoh king of Egypt, and he commanded them to bring the Israelites out of Egypt.
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It was this same Aaron and Moses to whom the LORD said, "Bring the Israelites out of Egypt by their divisions."
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[Aaron to Speak for Moses] Now when the LORD spoke to Moses in Egypt,
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he said to him, "I am the LORD. Tell Pharaoh king of Egypt everything I tell you."
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But Moses said to the LORD, "Since I speak with faltering lips, why would Pharaoh listen to me?"
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Then the LORD said to Moses, "See, I have made you like God to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron will be your prophet.
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And the Egyptians will know that I am the LORD when I stretch out my hand against Egypt and bring the Israelites out of it."
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Moses and Aaron did just as the LORD commanded them.
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[Aaron's Staff Becomes a Snake] The LORD said to Moses and Aaron,
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So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and did just as the LORD commanded. Aaron threw his staff down in front of Pharaoh and his officials, and it became a snake.
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Yet Pharaoh's heart became hard and he would not listen to them, just as the LORD had said.
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[The Plague of Blood] Then the LORD said to Moses, "Pharaoh's heart is unyielding; he refuses to let the people go.
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Then say to him, 'The LORD, the God of the Hebrews, has sent me to say to you: Let my people go, so that they may worship me in the desert. But until now you have not listened.
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This is what the LORD says: By this you will know that I am the LORD: With the staff that is in my hand I will strike the water of the Nile, and it will be changed into blood.
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The LORD said to Moses, "Tell Aaron, 'Take your staff and stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt--over the streams and canals, over the ponds and all the reservoirs'--and they will turn to blood. Blood will be everywhere in Egypt, even in the wooden buckets and stone jars."
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Moses and Aaron did just as the LORD had commanded. He raised his staff in the presence of Pharaoh and his officials and struck the water of the Nile, and all the water was changed into blood.
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But the Egyptian magicians did the same things by their secret arts, and Pharaoh's heart became hard; he would not listen to Moses and Aaron, just as the LORD had said.
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[The Plague of Frogs] Seven days passed after the LORD struck the Nile.
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Then the LORD said to Moses, "Go to Pharaoh and say to him, 'This is what the LORD says: Let my people go, so that they may worship me.
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Then the LORD said to Moses, "Tell Aaron, 'Stretch out your hand with your staff over the streams and canals and ponds, and make frogs come up on the land of Egypt.' "
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Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and said, "Pray to the LORD to take the frogs away from me and my people, and I will let your people go to offer sacrifices to the LORD."
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"Tomorrow," Pharaoh said. Moses replied, "It will be as you say, so that you may know there is no one like the LORD our God.
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After Moses and Aaron left Pharaoh, Moses cried out to the LORD about the frogs he had brought on Pharaoh.
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And the LORD did what Moses asked. The frogs died in the houses, in the courtyards and in the fields.
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But when Pharaoh saw that there was relief, he hardened his heart and would not listen to Moses and Aaron, just as the LORD had said.
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[The Plague of Gnats] Then the LORD said to Moses, "Tell Aaron, 'Stretch out your staff and strike the dust of the ground,' and throughout the land of Egypt the dust will become gnats."
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The magicians said to Pharaoh, "This is the finger of God." But Pharaoh's heart was hard and he would not listen, just as the LORD had said.
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[The Plague of Flies] Then the LORD said to Moses, "Get up early in the morning and confront Pharaoh as he goes to the water and say to him, 'This is what the LORD says: Let my people go, so that they may worship me.
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" 'But on that day I will deal differently with the land of Goshen, where my people live; no swarms of flies will be there, so that you will know that I, the LORD, am in this land.
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And the LORD did this. Dense swarms of flies poured into Pharaoh's palace and into the houses of his officials, and throughout Egypt the land was ruined by the flies.
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But Moses said, "That would not be right. The sacrifices we offer the LORD our God would be detestable to the Egyptians. And if we offer sacrifices that are detestable in their eyes, will they not stone us?
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We must take a three-day journey into the desert to offer sacrifices to the LORD our God, as he commands us."
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Pharaoh said, "I will let you go to offer sacrifices to the LORD your God in the desert, but you must not go very far. Now pray for me."
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Moses answered, "As soon as I leave you, I will pray to the LORD, and tomorrow the flies will leave Pharaoh and his officials and his people. Only be sure that Pharaoh does not act deceitfully again by not letting the people go to offer sacrifices to the LORD."
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Then Moses left Pharaoh and prayed to the LORD,
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and the LORD did what Moses asked: The flies left Pharaoh and his officials and his people; not a fly remained.
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[The Plague on Livestock] Then the LORD said to Moses, "Go to Pharaoh and say to him, 'This is what the LORD, the God of the Hebrews, says: "Let my people go, so that they may worship me."
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the hand of the LORD will bring a terrible plague on your livestock in the field--on your horses and donkeys and camels and on your cattle and sheep and goats.
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But the LORD will make a distinction between the livestock of Israel and that of Egypt, so that no animal belonging to the Israelites will die.' "
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The LORD set a time and said, "Tomorrow the LORD will do this in the land."
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And the next day the LORD did it: All the livestock of the Egyptians died, but not one animal belonging to the Israelites died.
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[The Plague of Boils] Then the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, "Take handfuls of soot from a furnace and have Moses toss it into the air in the presence of Pharaoh.
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But the LORD hardened Pharaoh's heart and he would not listen to Moses and Aaron, just as the LORD had said to Moses.
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[The Plague of Hail] Then the LORD said to Moses, "Get up early in the morning, confront Pharaoh and say to him, 'This is what the LORD, the God of the Hebrews, says: Let my people go, so that they may worship me,
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Those officials of Pharaoh who feared the word of the LORD hurried to bring their slaves and their livestock inside.
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But those who ignored the word of the LORD left their slaves and livestock in the field.
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Then the LORD said to Moses, "Stretch out your hand toward the sky so that hail will fall all over Egypt--on men and animals and on everything growing in the fields of Egypt."
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When Moses stretched out his staff toward the sky, the LORD sent thunder and hail, and lightning flashed down to the ground. So the LORD rained hail on the land of Egypt;
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Then Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron. "This time I have sinned," he said to them. "The LORD is in the right, and I and my people are in the wrong.
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Pray to the LORD, for we have had enough thunder and hail. I will let you go; you don't have to stay any longer."
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Moses replied, "When I have gone out of the city, I will spread out my hands in prayer to the LORD. The thunder will stop and there will be no more hail, so you may know that the earth is the LORD's.
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But I know that you and your officials still do not fear the LORD God."
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Then Moses left Pharaoh and went out of the city. He spread out his hands toward the LORD; the thunder and hail stopped, and the rain no longer poured down on the land.
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So Pharaoh's heart was hard and he would not let the Israelites go, just as the LORD had said through Moses.
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[The Plague of Locusts] Then the LORD said to Moses, "Go to Pharaoh, for I have hardened his heart and the hearts of his officials so that I may perform these miraculous signs of mine among them
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that you may tell your children and grandchildren how I dealt harshly with the Egyptians and how I performed my signs among them, and that you may know that I am the LORD."
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So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and said to him, "This is what the LORD, the God of the Hebrews, says: 'How long will you refuse to humble yourself before me? Let my people go, so that they may worship me.
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Pharaoh's officials said to him, "How long will this man be a snare to us? Let the people go, so that they may worship the LORD their God. Do you not yet realize that Egypt is ruined?"
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Then Moses and Aaron were brought back to Pharaoh. "Go, worship the LORD your God," he said. "But just who will be going?"
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Moses answered, "We will go with our young and old, with our sons and daughters, and with our flocks and herds, because we are to celebrate a festival to the LORD."
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Pharaoh said, "The LORD be with you--if I let you go, along with your women and children! Clearly you are bent on evil.
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No! Have only the men go; and worship the LORD, since that's what you have been asking for." Then Moses and Aaron were driven out of Pharaoh's presence.
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And the LORD said to Moses, "Stretch out your hand over Egypt so that locusts will swarm over the land and devour everything growing in the fields, everything left by the hail."
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So Moses stretched out his staff over Egypt, and the LORD made an east wind blow across the land all that day and all that night. By morning the wind had brought the locusts;
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Pharaoh quickly summoned Moses and Aaron and said, "I have sinned against the LORD your God and against you.
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Now forgive my sin once more and pray to the LORD your God to take this deadly plague away from me."
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Moses then left Pharaoh and prayed to the LORD.
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And the LORD changed the wind to a very strong west wind, which caught up the locusts and carried them into the Red Sea. Not a locust was left anywhere in Egypt.
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But the LORD hardened Pharaoh's heart, and he would not let the Israelites go.
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[The Plague of Darkness] Then the LORD said to Moses, "Stretch out your hand toward the sky so that darkness will spread over Egypt--darkness that can be felt."
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Then Pharaoh summoned Moses and said, "Go, worship the LORD. Even your women and children may go with you; only leave your flocks and herds behind."
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But Moses said, "You must allow us to have sacrifices and burnt offerings to present to the LORD our God.
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Our livestock too must go with us; not a hoof is to be left behind. We have to use some of them in worshiping the LORD our God, and until we get there we will not know what we are to use to worship the LORD."
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But the LORD hardened Pharaoh's heart, and he was not willing to let them go.
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[The Plague on the Firstborn] Now the LORD had said to Moses, "I will bring one more plague on Pharaoh and on Egypt. After that, he will let you go from here, and when he does, he will drive you out completely.
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(The LORD made the Egyptians favorably disposed toward the people, and Moses himself was highly regarded in Egypt by Pharaoh's officials and by the people.)
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So Moses said, "This is what the LORD says: 'About midnight I will go throughout Egypt.
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But among the Israelites not a dog will bark at any man or animal.' Then you will know that the LORD makes a distinction between Egypt and Israel.
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The LORD had said to Moses, "Pharaoh will refuse to listen to you--so that my wonders may be multiplied in Egypt."
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Moses and Aaron performed all these wonders before Pharaoh, but the LORD hardened Pharaoh's heart, and he would not let the Israelites go out of his country.
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[The Passover] [12:14-20pp -- Lev 23:4-8; Nu 28:16-25; Dt 16:1-8] The LORD said to Moses and Aaron in Egypt,
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This is how you are to eat it: with your cloak tucked into your belt, your sandals on your feet and your staff in your hand. Eat it in haste; it is the LORD's Passover.
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"On that same night I will pass through Egypt and strike down every firstborn--both men and animals--and I will bring judgment on all the gods of Egypt. I am the LORD.
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"This is a day you are to commemorate; for the generations to come you shall celebrate it as a festival to the LORD--a lasting ordinance.
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When the LORD goes through the land to strike down the Egyptians, he will see the blood on the top and sides of the doorframe and will pass over that doorway, and he will not permit the destroyer to enter your houses and strike you down.
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When you enter the land that the LORD will give you as he promised, observe this ceremony.
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then tell them, 'It is the Passover sacrifice to the LORD, who passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt and spared our homes when he struck down the Egyptians.' " Then the people bowed down and worshiped.
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The Israelites did just what the LORD commanded Moses and Aaron.
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At midnight the LORD struck down all the firstborn in Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh, who sat on the throne, to the firstborn of the prisoner, who was in the dungeon, and the firstborn of all the livestock as well.
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[The Exodus] During the night Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and said, "Up! Leave my people, you and the Israelites! Go, worship the LORD as you have requested.
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The LORD had made the Egyptians favorably disposed toward the people, and they gave them what they asked for; so they plundered the Egyptians.
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At the end of the 430 years, to the very day, all the LORD's divisions left Egypt.
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Because the LORD kept vigil that night to bring them out of Egypt, on this night all the Israelites are to keep vigil to honor the LORD for the generations to come.
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[Passover Restrictions] The LORD said to Moses and Aaron, "These are the regulations for the Passover: "No foreigner is to eat of it.
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"An alien living among you who wants to celebrate the LORD's Passover must have all the males in his household circumcised; then he may take part like one born in the land. No uncircumcised male may eat of it.
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All the Israelites did just what the LORD had commanded Moses and Aaron.
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And on that very day the LORD brought the Israelites out of Egypt by their divisions.
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[Consecration of the Firstborn] The LORD said to Moses,
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Then Moses said to the people, "Commemorate this day, the day you came out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery, because the LORD brought you out of it with a mighty hand. Eat nothing containing yeast.
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When the LORD brings you into the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Hivites and Jebusites--the land he swore to your forefathers to give you, a land flowing with milk and honey--you are to observe this ceremony in this month:
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For seven days eat bread made without yeast and on the seventh day hold a festival to the LORD.
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On that day tell your son, 'I do this because of what the LORD did for me when I came out of Egypt.'
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This observance will be for you like a sign on your hand and a reminder on your forehead that the law of the LORD is to be on your lips. For the LORD brought you out of Egypt with his mighty hand.
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"After the LORD brings you into the land of the Canaanites and gives it to you, as he promised on oath to you and your forefathers,
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you are to give over to the LORD the first offspring of every womb. All the firstborn males of your livestock belong to the LORD.
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"In days to come, when your son asks you, 'What does this mean?' say to him, 'With a mighty hand the LORD brought us out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.
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When Pharaoh stubbornly refused to let us go, the LORD killed every firstborn in Egypt, both man and animal. This is why I sacrifice to the LORD the first male offspring of every womb and redeem each of my firstborn sons.'
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And it will be like a sign on your hand and a symbol on your forehead that the LORD brought us out of Egypt with his mighty hand."
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By day the LORD went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to guide them on their way and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so that they could travel by day or night.
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Then the LORD said to Moses,
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And I will harden Pharaoh's heart, and he will pursue them. But I will gain glory for myself through Pharaoh and all his army, and the Egyptians will know that I am the LORD." So the Israelites did this.
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The LORD hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt, so that he pursued the Israelites, who were marching out boldly.
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As Pharaoh approached, the Israelites looked up, and there were the Egyptians, marching after them. They were terrified and cried out to the LORD.
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Moses answered the people, "Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the LORD will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again.
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The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still."
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Then the LORD said to Moses, "Why are you crying out to me? Tell the Israelites to move on.
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The Egyptians will know that I am the LORD when I gain glory through Pharaoh, his chariots and his horsemen."
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Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and all that night the LORD drove the sea back with a strong east wind and turned it into dry land. The waters were divided,
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During the last watch of the night the LORD looked down from the pillar of fire and cloud at the Egyptian army and threw it into confusion.
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He made the wheels of their chariots come off so that they had difficulty driving. And the Egyptians said, "Let's get away from the Israelites! The LORD is fighting for them against Egypt."
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Then the LORD said to Moses, "Stretch out your hand over the sea so that the waters may flow back over the Egyptians and their chariots and horsemen."
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Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and at daybreak the sea went back to its place. The Egyptians were fleeing toward it, and the LORD swept them into the sea.
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That day the LORD saved Israel from the hands of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians lying dead on the shore.
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And when the Israelites saw the great power the LORD displayed against the Egyptians, the people feared the LORD and put their trust in him and in Moses his servant.
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[The Song of Moses and Miriam] Then Moses and the Israelites sang this song to the LORD: "I will sing to the LORD, for he is highly exalted. The horse and its rider he has hurled into the sea.
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The LORD is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation. He is my God, and I will praise him, my father's God, and I will exalt him.
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The LORD is a warrior; the LORD is his name.
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"Your right hand, O LORD, was majestic in power. Your right hand, O LORD, shattered the enemy.
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"Who among the gods is like you, O LORD? Who is like you--majestic in holiness, awesome in glory, working wonders?
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terror and dread will fall upon them. By the power of your arm they will be as still as a stone-- until your people pass by, O LORD, until the people you bought pass by.
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You will bring them in and plant them on the mountain of your inheritance-- the place, O LORD, you made for your dwelling, the sanctuary, O LORD, your hands established.
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The LORD will reign for ever and ever."
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When Pharaoh's horses, chariots and horsemen went into the sea, the LORD brought the waters of the sea back over them, but the Israelites walked through the sea on dry ground.
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Miriam sang to them: "Sing to the LORD, for he is highly exalted. The horse and its rider he has hurled into the sea."
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Then Moses cried out to the LORD, and the LORD showed him a piece of wood. He threw it into the water, and the water became sweet. There the LORD made a decree and a law for them, and there he tested them.
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He said, "If you listen carefully to the voice of the LORD your God and do what is right in his eyes, if you pay attention to his commands and keep all his decrees, I will not bring on you any of the diseases I brought on the Egyptians, for I am the LORD, who heals you."
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The Israelites said to them, "If only we had died by the LORD's hand in Egypt! There we sat around pots of meat and ate all the food we wanted, but you have brought us out into this desert to starve this entire assembly to death."
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Then the LORD said to Moses, "I will rain down bread from heaven for you. The people are to go out each day and gather enough for that day. In this way I will test them and see whether they will follow my instructions.
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So Moses and Aaron said to all the Israelites, "In the evening you will know that it was the LORD who brought you out of Egypt,
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and in the morning you will see the glory of the LORD, because he has heard your grumbling against him. Who are we, that you should grumble against us?"
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Moses also said, "You will know that it was the LORD when he gives you meat to eat in the evening and all the bread you want in the morning, because he has heard your grumbling against him. Who are we? You are not grumbling against us, but against the LORD."
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Then Moses told Aaron, "Say to the entire Israelite community, 'Come before the LORD, for he has heard your grumbling.' "
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While Aaron was speaking to the whole Israelite community, they looked toward the desert, and there was the glory of the LORD appearing in the cloud.
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The LORD said to Moses,
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"I have heard the grumbling of the Israelites. Tell them, 'At twilight you will eat meat, and in the morning you will be filled with bread. Then you will know that I am the LORD your God.' "
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When the Israelites saw it, they said to each other, "What is it?" For they did not know what it was. Moses said to them, "It is the bread the LORD has given you to eat.
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This is what the LORD has commanded: 'Each one is to gather as much as he needs. Take an omer for each person you have in your tent.' "
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He said to them, "This is what the LORD commanded: 'Tomorrow is to be a day of rest, a holy Sabbath to the LORD. So bake what you want to bake and boil what you want to boil. Save whatever is left and keep it until morning.' "
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"Eat it today," Moses said, "because today is a Sabbath to the LORD. You will not find any of it on the ground today.
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Then the LORD said to Moses, "How long will you refuse to keep my commands and my instructions?
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Bear in mind that the LORD has given you the Sabbath; that is why on the sixth day he gives you bread for two days. Everyone is to stay where he is on the seventh day; no one is to go out."
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Moses said, "This is what the LORD has commanded: 'Take an omer of manna and keep it for the generations to come, so they can see the bread I gave you to eat in the desert when I brought you out of Egypt.' "
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So Moses said to Aaron, "Take a jar and put an omer of manna in it. Then place it before the LORD to be kept for the generations to come."
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As the LORD commanded Moses, Aaron put the manna in front of the Testimony, that it might be kept.
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[Water From the Rock] The whole Israelite community set out from the Desert of Sin, traveling from place to place as the LORD commanded. They camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink.
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So they quarreled with Moses and said, "Give us water to drink." Moses replied, "Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you put the LORD to the test?"
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Then Moses cried out to the LORD, "What am I to do with these people? They are almost ready to stone me."
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The LORD answered Moses, "Walk on ahead of the people. Take with you some of the elders of Israel and take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go.
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And he called the place Massah and Meribah because the Israelites quarreled and because they tested the LORD saying, "Is the LORD among us or not?"
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Then the LORD said to Moses, "Write this on a scroll as something to be remembered and make sure that Joshua hears it, because I will completely blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven."
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Moses built an altar and called it The LORD is my Banner.
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He said, "For hands were lifted up to the throne of the LORD. The LORD will be at war against the Amalekites from generation to generation."
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[Jethro Visits Moses] Now Jethro, the priest of Midian and father-in-law of Moses, heard of everything God had done for Moses and for his people Israel, and how the LORD had brought Israel out of Egypt.
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Moses told his father-in-law about everything the LORD had done to Pharaoh and the Egyptians for Israel's sake and about all the hardships they had met along the way and how the LORD had saved them.
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Jethro was delighted to hear about all the good things the LORD had done for Israel in rescuing them from the hand of the Egyptians.
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He said, "Praise be to the LORD, who rescued you from the hand of the Egyptians and of Pharaoh, and who rescued the people from the hand of the Egyptians.
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Now I know that the LORD is greater than all other gods, for he did this to those who had treated Israel arrogantly."
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Then Moses went up to God, and the LORD called to him from the mountain and said, "This is what you are to say to the house of Jacob and what you are to tell the people of Israel:
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So Moses went back and summoned the elders of the people and set before them all the words the LORD had commanded him to speak.
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The people all responded together, "We will do everything the LORD has said." So Moses brought their answer back to the LORD.
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The LORD said to Moses, "I am going to come to you in a dense cloud, so that the people will hear me speaking with you and will always put their trust in you." Then Moses told the LORD what the people had said.
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And the LORD said to Moses, "Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow. Have them wash their clothes
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and be ready by the third day, because on that day the LORD will come down on Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people.
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Mount Sinai was covered with smoke, because the LORD descended on it in fire. The smoke billowed up from it like smoke from a furnace, the whole mountain trembled violently,
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The LORD descended to the top of Mount Sinai and called Moses to the top of the mountain. So Moses went up
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and the LORD said to him, "Go down and warn the people so they do not force their way through to see the LORD and many of them perish.
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Even the priests, who approach the LORD, must consecrate themselves, or the LORD will break out against them."
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Moses said to the LORD, "The people cannot come up Mount Sinai, because you yourself warned us, 'Put limits around the mountain and set it apart as holy.' "
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The LORD replied, "Go down and bring Aaron up with you. But the priests and the people must not force their way through to come up to the LORD, or he will break out against them."
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"I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.
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You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me,
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"You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God, for the LORD will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.
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but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your animals, nor the alien within your gates.
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For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.
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"Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the LORD your God is giving you.
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[Idols and Altars] Then the LORD said to Moses, "Tell the Israelites this: 'You have seen for yourselves that I have spoken to you from heaven:
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the issue between them will be settled by the taking of an oath before the LORD that the neighbor did not lay hands on the other person's property. The owner is to accept this, and no restitution is required.
-
"Whoever sacrifices to any god other than the LORD must be destroyed.
-
"Three times a year all the men are to appear before the Sovereign LORD.
-
"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.
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Worship the LORD your God, and his blessing will be on your food and water. I will take away sickness from among you,
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[The Covenant Confirmed] Then he said to Moses, "Come up to the LORD, you and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel. You are to worship at a distance,
-
but Moses alone is to approach the LORD; the others must not come near. And the people may not come up with him."
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When Moses went and told the people all the LORD's words and laws, they responded with one voice, "Everything the LORD has said we will do."
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Moses then wrote down everything the LORD had said. He got up early the next morning and built an altar at the foot of the mountain and set up twelve stone pillars representing the twelve tribes of Israel.
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Then he sent young Israelite men, and they offered burnt offerings and sacrificed young bulls as fellowship offerings to the LORD.
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Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read it to the people. They responded, "We will do everything the LORD has said; we will obey."
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Moses then took the blood, sprinkled it on the people and said, "This is the blood of the covenant that the LORD has made with you in accordance with all these words."
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The LORD said to Moses, "Come up to me on the mountain and stay here, and I will give you the tablets of stone, with the law and commands I have written for their instruction."
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and the glory of the LORD settled on Mount Sinai. For six days the cloud covered the mountain, and on the seventh day the LORD called to Moses from within the cloud.
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To the Israelites the glory of the LORD looked like a consuming fire on top of the mountain.
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[Offerings for the Tabernacle] [25:1-7pp -- Ex 35:4-9] The LORD said to Moses,
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In the Tent of Meeting, outside the curtain that is in front of the Testimony, Aaron and his sons are to keep the lamps burning before the LORD from evening till morning. This is to be a lasting ordinance among the Israelites for the generations to come.
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and fasten them on the shoulder pieces of the ephod as memorial stones for the sons of Israel. Aaron is to bear the names on his shoulders as a memorial before the LORD.
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"Whenever Aaron enters the Holy Place, he will bear the names of the sons of Israel over his heart on the breastpiece of decision as a continuing memorial before the LORD.
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Also put the Urim and the Thummim in the breastpiece, so they may be over Aaron's heart whenever he enters the presence of the LORD. Thus Aaron will always bear the means of making decisions for the Israelites over his heart before the LORD.
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Aaron must wear it when he ministers. The sound of the bells will be heard when he enters the Holy Place before the LORD and when he comes out, so that he will not die.
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"Make a plate of pure gold and engrave on it as on a seal: holy to the LORD.
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It will be on Aaron's forehead, and he will bear the guilt involved in the sacred gifts the Israelites consecrate, whatever their gifts may be. It will be on Aaron's forehead continually so that they will be acceptable to the LORD.
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Slaughter it in the LORD's presence at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting.
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Then burn the entire ram on the altar. It is a burnt offering to the LORD, a pleasing aroma, an offering made to the LORD by fire.
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From the basket of bread made without yeast, which is before the LORD, take a loaf, and a cake made with oil, and a wafer.
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Put all these in the hands of Aaron and his sons and wave them before the LORD as a wave offering.
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Then take them from their hands and burn them on the altar along with the burnt offering for a pleasing aroma to the LORD, an offering made to the LORD by fire.
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After you take the breast of the ram for Aaron's ordination, wave it before the LORD as a wave offering, and it will be your share.
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This is always to be the regular share from the Israelites for Aaron and his sons. It is the contribution the Israelites are to make to the LORD from their fellowship offerings.
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Sacrifice the other lamb at twilight with the same grain offering and its drink offering as in the morning--a pleasing aroma, an offering made to the LORD by fire.
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"For the generations to come this burnt offering is to be made regularly at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting before the LORD. There I will meet you and speak to you;
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They will know that I am the LORD their God, who brought them out of Egypt so that I might dwell among them. I am the LORD their God.
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He must burn incense again when he lights the lamps at twilight so incense will burn regularly before the LORD for the generations to come.
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Once a year Aaron shall make atonement on its horns. This annual atonement must be made with the blood of the atoning sin offering for the generations to come. It is most holy to the LORD."
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[Atonement Money] Then the LORD said to Moses,
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"When you take a census of the Israelites to count them, each one must pay the LORD a ransom for his life at the time he is counted. Then no plague will come on them when you number them.
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Each one who crosses over to those already counted is to give a half shekel, according to the sanctuary shekel, which weighs twenty gerahs. This half shekel is an offering to the LORD.
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All who cross over, those twenty years old or more, are to give an offering to the LORD.
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The rich are not to give more than a half shekel and the poor are not to give less when you make the offering to the LORD to atone for your lives.
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Receive the atonement money from the Israelites and use it for the service of the Tent of Meeting. It will be a memorial for the Israelites before the LORD, making atonement for your lives."
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[Basin for Washing] Then the LORD said to Moses,
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Whenever they enter the Tent of Meeting, they shall wash with water so that they will not die. Also, when they approach the altar to minister by presenting an offering made to the LORD by fire,
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[Anointing Oil] Then the LORD said to Moses,
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[Incense] Then the LORD said to Moses, "Take fragrant spices--gum resin, onycha and galbanum--and pure frankincense, all in equal amounts,
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Do not make any incense with this formula for yourselves; consider it holy to the LORD.
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[Bezalel and Oholiab] [31:2-6pp -- Ex 35:30-35] Then the LORD said to Moses,
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[The Sabbath] Then the LORD said to Moses,
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"Say to the Israelites, 'You must observe my Sabbaths. This will be a sign between me and you for the generations to come, so you may know that I am the LORD, who makes you holy.
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For six days, work is to be done, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of rest, holy to the LORD. Whoever does any work on the Sabbath day must be put to death.
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It will be a sign between me and the Israelites forever, for in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh day he abstained from work and rested.' "
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When the LORD finished speaking to Moses on Mount Sinai, he gave him the two tablets of the Testimony, the tablets of stone inscribed by the finger of God.
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When Aaron saw this, he built an altar in front of the calf and announced, "Tomorrow there will be a festival to the LORD."
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Then the LORD said to Moses, "Go down, because your people, whom you brought up out of Egypt, have become corrupt.
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"I have seen these people," the LORD said to Moses, "and they are a stiff-necked people.
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But Moses sought the favor of the LORD his God. "O LORD," he said, "why should your anger burn against your people, whom you brought out of Egypt with great power and a mighty hand?
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Then the LORD relented and did not bring on his people the disaster he had threatened.
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"Do not be angry, my lord," Aaron answered. "You know how prone these people are to evil.
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So he stood at the entrance to the camp and said, "Whoever is for the LORD, come to me." And all the Levites rallied to him.
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Then he said to them, "This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: 'Each man strap a sword to his side. Go back and forth through the camp from one end to the other, each killing his brother and friend and neighbor.' "
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Then Moses said, "You have been set apart to the LORD today, for you were against your own sons and brothers, and he has blessed you this day."
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The next day Moses said to the people, "You have committed a great sin. But now I will go up to the LORD; perhaps I can make atonement for your sin."
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So Moses went back to the LORD and said, "Oh, what a great sin these people have committed! They have made themselves gods of gold.
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The LORD replied to Moses, "Whoever has sinned against me I will blot out of my book.
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And the LORD struck the people with a plague because of what they did with the calf Aaron had made.
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Then the LORD said to Moses, "Leave this place, you and the people you brought up out of Egypt, and go up to the land I promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, saying, 'I will give it to your descendants.'
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For the LORD had said to Moses, "Tell the Israelites, 'You are a stiff-necked people. If I were to go with you even for a moment, I might destroy you. Now take off your ornaments and I will decide what to do with you.' "
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[The Tent of Meeting] Now Moses used to take a tent and pitch it outside the camp some distance away, calling it the "tent of meeting." Anyone inquiring of the LORD would go to the tent of meeting outside the camp.
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As Moses went into the tent, the pillar of cloud would come down and stay at the entrance, while the LORD spoke with Moses.
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The LORD would speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks with his friend. Then Moses would return to the camp, but his young aide Joshua son of Nun did not leave the tent.
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[Moses and the Glory of the LORD] Moses said to the LORD, "You have been telling me, 'Lead these people,' but you have not let me know whom you will send with me. You have said, 'I know you by name and you have found favor with me.'
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The LORD replied, "My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest."
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And the LORD said to Moses, "I will do the very thing you have asked, because I am pleased with you and I know you by name."
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And the LORD said, "I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the LORD, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.
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Then the LORD said, "There is a place near me where you may stand on a rock.
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[The New Stone Tablets] The 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.
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So Moses chiseled 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.
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Then the LORD came down in the cloud and stood there with him and proclaimed his name, the LORD.
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And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, "The LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness,
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"O LORD, if I have found favor in your eyes," he said, "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."
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Then 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.
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Do not worship any other god, for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God.
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Three times a year all your men are to appear before the Sovereign LORD, the God of Israel.
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I 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.
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"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."
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Then 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."
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Moses 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.
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[The Radiant Face of Moses] When Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of the Testimony in his hands, he was not aware that his face was radiant because he had spoken with the LORD.
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Afterward all the Israelites came near him, and he gave them all the commands the LORD had given him on Mount Sinai.
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But 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,
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they 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.
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[Sabbath Regulations] Moses assembled the whole Israelite community and said to them, "These are the things the LORD has commanded you to do:
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For six days, work is to be done, but the seventh day shall be your holy day, a Sabbath of rest to the LORD. Whoever does any work on it must be put to death.
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[Materials for the Tabernacle] [35:4-9pp -- Ex 25:1-7 35:10-19pp -- Ex 39:32-41] Moses said to the whole Israelite community, "This is what the LORD has commanded:
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From what you have, take an offering for the LORD. Everyone who is willing is to bring to the LORD an offering of gold, silver and bronze;