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¹Then all the congregation of the children of Israel moved on from the Wilderness of Sin by stages, according to the commandment of the LORD, and camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink.

²Therefore the people quarreled with Moses and said, "Give us water so we may [have something to] drink." And Moses said to them, "Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you tempt the LORD and try His patience?"

³But the people were thirsty for water; and the people murmured against Moses and said, "Why did you bring us up from Egypt to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?"

⁴So Moses cried out to the LORD for help, saying, "What shall I do with this people? They are almost ready to stone me."

⁵Then the LORD said to Moses, "Pass before the people and take with you some of the elders of Israel; and take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go.

⁶Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock at Horeb; there you shall strike the rock, and water will come out of it, so that the people may [have something to] drink." And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel.

⁷He named the place [where this miracle occurred] Massah (test) and Meribah (contention) because of the quarreling of the sons of Israel, and because they tested the [patience of the] LORD, saying, "Is the LORD among us, or not?"

⁸Then Amalek [and his people] came and fought with Israel at Rephidim.

⁹So Moses said to Joshua, "Choose men for us and go out, fight against Amalek [and his people]. Tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the staff of God in my hand."

¹⁰So Joshua did as Moses said, and fought with Amalek; and Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the hilltop.

¹¹Now when Moses held up his hand, Israel prevailed, and when he lowered his hand [due to fatigue], Amalek prevailed.

¹²But Moses' hands were heavy and he grew tired. So they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat on it. Then Aaron and Hur held up his hands, one on one side and one on the other side; so it was that his hands were steady until the sun set.

¹³So Joshua overwhelmed and defeated Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword.

¹⁴Then the LORD said to Moses, "Write this in the book as a memorial and recite it to Joshua, that I will utterly wipe out the memory of Amalek [and his people] from under heaven."

¹⁵And Moses built an altar and named it The LORD Is My Banner;

¹⁶saying, "The LORD has sworn [an oath]; the LORD will have war against [the people of] Amalek from generation to generation."

¹Now Jethro (Reuel), the priest of Midian, Moses' father-in-law, heard of all that God had done for Moses and for Israel His people, and that the LORD had brought Israel out of Egypt.

²Then Jethro, Moses' father-in-law, took Moses' wife Zipporah, after he had sent her away [from Egypt],

³along with her two sons, of whom one was named Gershom (stranger), for Moses said, "I have been a stranger in a foreign land."

⁴The other [son] was named Eliezer (my God is help), for Moses said, "The God of my father was my help, and He rescued me from the sword of Pharaoh."

⁵Then Jethro, his father-in-law, came with Moses' sons and his wife to [join] Moses in the wilderness where he was camped, at the mountain of God [that is, Mt. Sinai in Horeb].

⁶He sent a message to Moses, "I, your father-in-law Jethro, am coming to you with your wife and her two sons [who are] with her."

⁷So Moses went out to meet his father-in-law, and he bowed down [in respect] and kissed him. They asked each other about their well-being and went into the tent.

⁸Moses told his father-in-law about all that the LORD had done to Pharaoh and the Egyptians for Israel's sake, and about all the hardship that had happened during the journey, and how the LORD had rescued them.

⁹Jethro rejoiced over all the good things the LORD had done to Israel, in that He had rescued them from the hand of the Egyptians.

¹⁰Jethro said, "Blessed be the LORD, who has rescued you from the hand of the Egyptians and from the hand of Pharaoh, and who has rescued the people from under the hand of the Egyptians.

¹¹Now I know that the LORD is greater than all gods; indeed, it was proven when they acted insolently toward Israel [and the LORD showed Himself infinitely superior to all their gods]."

¹²Then Jethro, Moses' father-in-law, took a burnt offering and [other] sacrifices [to offer] to God, and Aaron came with all the elders of Israel to eat a meal with Moses' father-in-law before God.

¹³Now the next day Moses sat to judge [the disputes] the people [had with one another], and the people stood around Moses from dawn to dusk.

¹⁴When Moses' father-in-law saw everything that he was doing for the people, he said, "What is this that you are doing for the people? Why are you sitting alone [as a judge] with all the people standing around you from dawn to dusk?"

¹⁵Moses said to his father-in-law, "Because the people come to me to ask [about the will] of God.

¹⁶When they have a dispute they come to me, and I judge between a man and his neighbor and I make known the statutes of God and His laws."

¹⁷Moses' father-in-law said to him, "The thing that you are doing is not good.

¹⁸You will certainly wear out both yourself and these people who are with you, because the task is too heavy for you [to bear]; you cannot do it alone.

¹⁹Now listen to me; I will advise you, and may God be with you [to confirm my advice]. You shall represent the people before God. You shall bring their disputes and causes to Him.

²⁰You shall teach them the decrees and laws. You shall show them the way they are to live and the work they are to do.

²¹Furthermore, you shall select from all the people competent men who [reverently] fear God, men of truth, those who hate dishonest gain; you shall place these over the people as leaders of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties and of tens.

²²They shall judge the people at all times; have them bring every major dispute to you, but let them judge every minor dispute themselves. So it will be easier for you, and they will bear the burden with you.

²³If you will do this thing and God so commands you, then you will be able to endure [the responsibility], and all these people will also go [back] to their tents in peace."

²⁴So Moses listened to his father-in-law and did everything that he had said.

²⁵Moses chose able men from all Israel and made them heads over the people, leaders of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties and of tens [from the highest to the lowest judicial levels].

²⁶And they judged the people at all times; they would bring the difficult cases to Moses, but every minor dispute they judged and decided themselves.

²⁷Then Moses said goodbye to his father-in-law, and Jethro went back to his own land (Midian).

¹In the third month after the children of Israel had left the land of Egypt, the very same day, they came into the Wilderness of Sinai.

²When they moved out from Rephidim, they came to the Wilderness of Sinai and they camped there; Israel camped at the base of the mountain [of Sinai].

³Moses went up to God [on the mountain], and the LORD called to him from the mountain, saying, "Say this to the house of Jacob and tell the Israelites:

⁴'You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I carried you on eagles' wings, and brought you to Myself.

⁵Now therefore, if you will in fact obey My voice and keep My covenant (agreement), then you shall be My own special possession and treasure from among all peoples [of the world], for all the earth is Mine;

⁶and you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation [set apart for My purpose].' These are the words that you shall speak to the Israelites."

⁷So Moses called for the elders of the people, and told them all these words which the LORD commanded him.

⁸All the people answered together and said, "We will do everything that the LORD has spoken." And Moses reported the words of the people to the LORD.

⁹The LORD said to Moses, "Behold, I will come to you in a thick cloud, so that the people may hear when I speak with you and may believe and trust in you forever." Then Moses repeated the words of the people to the LORD.

¹⁰The LORD also said to Moses, "Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow [that is, prepare them for My sacred purpose], and have them wash their clothes

¹¹and be ready by the third day, because on the third day the LORD will come down on Mount Sinai [in the cloud] in the sight of all the people.

¹²You shall set barriers for the people all around [the mountain], saying, 'Beware that you do not go up on the mountain or touch its border; whoever touches the mountain must be put to death.

¹³No hand shall touch him [that is, no one shall try to save the guilty party], but the offender must be stoned or shot through [with arrows]; whether man or animal [that touches the mountain], he shall not live.' When the ram's horn sounds a long blast, they shall come up to the mountain."

¹⁴So Moses went down from the mountain to the people and sanctified them [for God's sacred purpose], and they washed their clothes.

¹⁵He said to the people, "Be prepared for the third day; do not be intimate with a woman."

¹⁶So it happened on the third day, when it was morning, that there were thunder and flashes of lightning, and a thick cloud was on the mountain, and a very loud blast was sounded on a ram's horn, so that all the people who were in the camp trembled.

¹⁷Then Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God, and they stood and presented themselves at the foot of the mountain.

¹⁸Mount Sinai was wrapped in smoke because the LORD descended upon it in fire; its smoke ascended like the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mountain quaked violently.

¹⁹And it happened, as the blast of the ram's horn grew louder and louder, Moses spoke and God answered him with [a voice of] thunder.

²⁰The LORD came down on Mount Sinai, to the top of the mountain; and the LORD called Moses to the top of the mountain, and he went up.

²¹Then the LORD spoke to Moses, "Go down, warn the people, so that they do not break through [the barriers around the mountain] to the LORD to see [Me], and many of them perish [as a result].

²²Also have the priests who approach the LORD consecrate (sanctify, set apart) themselves [for My sacred purpose], or else the LORD will break forth [in judgment] against them [and destroy them]."

²³Moses said to the LORD, "The people cannot come up to Mount Sinai, because You warned us, saying, 'Set barriers around the mountain and consecrate it.'"

²⁴Then the LORD said to him, "Go down and come up again, you and Aaron with you; but do not let the priests and the people break through [the barriers] to come up to the LORD, or He will break forth [in judgment] against them [and destroy them]."

²⁵So Moses went down to the people and told them [again about God's warning].

¹Then God spoke all these words:

²"I am the LORD your God, who has brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.

³"You shall have no other gods before Me.

⁴"You shall not make for yourself any idol, or any likeness (form, manifestation) of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth [as an object to worship].

⁵You shall not worship them nor serve them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous (impassioned) God [ demanding what is rightfully and uniquely mine], visiting (avenging) the iniquity (sin, guilt) of the fathers on the children [that is, calling the children to account for the sins of their fathers], to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me,

⁶but showing graciousness and steadfast lovingkindness to thousands [of generations] of those who love Me and keep My commandments.

⁷"You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain [that is, irreverently, in false affirmations or in ways that impugn the character of God]; for the LORD will not hold guiltless nor leave unpunished the one who takes His name in vain [disregarding its reverence and its power].

⁸"Remember the Sabbath (seventh) day to keep it holy (set apart, dedicated to God).

⁹Six days you shall labor and do all your work,

¹⁰but the seventh day is a Sabbath [a day of rest dedicated] to the LORD your God; on that day you shall not do any work, you or your son, or your daughter, or your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock or the temporary resident (foreigner) who stays within your [city] gates.

¹¹For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea and everything that is in them, and He rested (ceased) on the seventh day. That is why the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy [that is, set it apart for His purposes].

¹²"Honor (respect, obey, care for) your father and your mother, so that your days may be prolonged in the land the LORD your God gives you.

¹³"You shall not commit murder (unjustified, deliberate homicide).

¹⁴"You shall not commit adultery.

¹⁵"You shall not steal [secretly, openly, fraudulently, or through carelessness].

¹⁶"You shall not testify falsely [that is, lie, withhold, or manipulate the truth] against your neighbor (any person).

¹⁷"You shall not covet [that is, selfishly desire and attempt to acquire] your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his male servant, or his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor."

¹⁸Now all the people witnessed the thunder and the flashes of lightning and the sound of the trumpet and the smoking mountain; and as they looked, the people were afraid, and they trembled [and moved backward] and stood at a [safe] distance.

¹⁹Then they said to Moses, "You speak to us and we will listen, but do not let God speak to us or we will die."

²⁰Moses said to the people, "Do not be afraid; for God has come in order to test you, and in order that the fear of Him [that is, a profound reverence for Him] will remain with you, so that you do not sin."

²¹So the people stood at a [safe] distance, but Moses approached the thick cloud where God was.

²²Then the LORD said to Moses, "Thus you shall say to the Israelites, 'You have seen for yourselves that I have spoken to you from heaven.

²³You shall not make other gods [to worship] besides Me; gods of silver or gods of gold, you shall not make [these lifeless idols] for yourselves.

²⁴You shall make an altar of earth for Me, and sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and your peace offerings, your sheep and your oxen. In every place where I cause My Name to be recorded and remembered [through revelation of My divine nature] I will come to you and bless you.

²⁵If you make an altar of stone for Me, you shall not build it of cut stones, for if you use a chisel on it, you will profane it.

²⁶Nor shall you go up to My altar on steps, so that your nakedness will not be exposed on it.'