Jeroboam v5.17 Multilingual serial key or number

God’s instructions to Moses

An EasyEnglish Bible Version and Commentary ( word vocabulary) on Exodus chapters 19 to 40

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Hilda Bright and Kitty Pride

This commentary has been through Advanced Checking.

Words in boxes are from the Bible.

A word list at the end explains words with a *star by them.

Exodus is one of the first 5 books of the *Old Testament. We speak about these 5 books together as ‘the Pentateuch’. The *Greek translation gave this book its name ‘Exodus’. It means ‘to go out’. God helped the *Israelites ‘to go out’ from *Egypt. The book is in two parts:

Chapters the first part of Moses’ life; the *Israelites’ troubles in Egypt; the events and the *plagues that led the *Israelites to leave Egypt.

Chapters how God gave the Law to Moses; how they built the special holy tent (*Tabernacle); the rules for *worship.

Moses was the most important person in all these events. He was the main person who recorded the events. Exodus has these words. ‘Then Moses wrote down everything that the *LORD had said.’ Later, when Joshua built an *altar, he followed Moses’ instructions for it (Joshua ).

Moses’ name appears times in the Bible. It appears in the books of both the *Old Testament and the *New Testament. Numbers describes Moses as ‘a very humble man. He was more humble than anyone else on the earth’. But Moses was a great leader. He had great courage and he had a very close relationship with God. Without Moses, the *Israelites might not have escaped from the country called Egypt. They might not have reached the country that God had promised to them.

God had prepared Moses. And he chose Moses to act on his behalf (Exodus ). God does not change, and he carries out his promises. Many years before that time, God had spoken to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. He had told them that the number of people in their families would increase. And they would become great nations in the future. God had told them that he would give to them the country called *Canaan (Genesis ). God rescued his people from Egypt, because he controls history. *Pharaoh, Egypt’s ruler, was powerful, but he could not stop God’s plans. God carried out his promise to guide the *Israelites in the *desert. The *desert was a wild place where there are small bushes and not much water. It has poor soil and people cannot grow crops there. Then God brought them to the country called *Canaan.

This book, Exodus, emphasises that God is holy. He looks after his people but he is separate from them. The *Israelites had to stay away from *Mount Sinai (Exodus ). Not even Moses could see God himself (Exodus ). They used many objects when they *worshipped God. And each of those objects was special and holy. Each thing reminded the *Israelites that nobody should approach God in a careless way. God expected his people to be holy. ‘Be holy, because I, the *LORD your God, am holy’ (Leviticus ). God’s 10 *commandments and the other rules are in Exodus chapters They show what God demands from his people. He wants moral behaviour all the time in people’s ordinary lives.

God is the *LORD (in *Hebrew his name is ‘Yahweh’). His name means: ‘the Person who lives for all time’. And he called himself ‘I AM’ (Exodus ). Nobody can understand his nature completely. But he shows himself to us by means of his acts and his *commandments. He loves and he forgives. Also he acts to punish *sin (Exodus ). People gained a more complete knowledge about God when Jesus came to earth. Jesus showed us what God is like (John and ).

At *Mount Sinai – verses

The *LORD’s instructions – verses

Verses Many events happened to the *Israelites in the *desert. This *desert was in the region that is called Sinai. We read about these events in the rest of Exodus, in Leviticus and in Numbers chapters 1 –

Verse 3 God had given to Jacob the new name, *Israel. That happened after Jacob had struggled with God. Jacob had wanted God to *bless him (Genesis ).

Verse 4 God had protected the *Israelites and he had guided them. He acted like the large, powerful bird called an *eagle. *Eagles live in high places and they protect their young birds. Deuteronomy describes how an *eagle teaches her young birds to fly. She causes them to fall out of the nest. If they do not fly, she catches them on her wings. And she carries them, so that they do not have any injury.

Verses Already, God had chosen the *Israelites to be his people (Exodus ). Now he tells them directly. They must obey God in order that he can *bless them. That was his agreement with them. *Treasure is something that is precious. And when people obtain a *treasure, they want to keep it. A king had his personal *treasure. For example, King David had his *treasure (1 Chronicles ). The *LORD is the King to whom the whole earth belongs. But he had chosen *Israel out of all the nations to be his special *treasure. They knew that God was their King. The *Israelites must serve their King like priests. Priests had many functions as they served the *LORD. They were teachers (Malachi ). They acted as medical officers (Leviticus chapter 13). And they gave gifts to God on behalf of the people in order to bring them closer to God. The whole nation must be like priests in order to bring other nations closer to God.

In the *New Testament Peter wrote about Christians. He said that they were a group of holy priests for the King. It is the Christians’ joy and responsibility to serve God. And they *praise him (1 Peter , 9). God chose *Israel as his special, holy nation. They were separate from other nations because they belonged to God. Also, holy has a moral meaning. Because God is holy, he is completely *clean and pure. So his people must be holy and good too (Leviticus ). Peter wrote that Christians are a holy nation. So they should live very good lives because other people watch them. Then people, who do not believe God, will ask about it. Then those people will come to know God (1 Peter ).

Verse 8 All the *Israelites promised that they would obey God. They wanted him to be their God. They did not know yet all that a holy nation needed to do. Soon they did wrong things. So they did not obey God (Exodus ).

Verse 9 A dense cloud was a *sign that God was present with them. The people would learn to have confidence in Moses as their leader.

Verses The *Israelites had to prepare themselves so that God could show himself to them. They had to become aware that God is completely holy. They wanted to be pure and *clean in their spirit too. So they washed their clothes as a *sign. Moses put boundaries round the mountain so that nobody would approach it. The mountain was holy when God was present on it. So the people and their animals must stay outside the boundaries. Nobody must touch any person who did not obey that order. And they must not go near to such a person. A person who did not obey had become dangerous to the *Israelites. So they must kill that person with stones or with arrows. The people could climb up the mountain only if they heard the sound from a male sheep’s *horn. The priests sounded those *horns as a signal. Also, the people must not have sex for a time. It is not wrong for a husband and wife to have sex. But the people must prepare their emotions as well as their minds. They had to be ready for the holy God.

The holy God arrives – verses

Verse 16 In a bad storm there is often lightning and its loud noise called *thunder. These *signs showed that God was present. And that frightened the *Israelites. The *trumpet was a male sheep’s *horn, which they used as a musical instrument. It can give a very loud sound.

Verses It is possible that *Mount Sinai was a volcano. (A volcano is a mountain with a hole in the top of it. Fire and smoke come out of that hole). But fire and smoke were *signs that God was present. Fire and smoke appeared when God made a special promise to Abraham (Genesis ). Fire is a *sign. It shows how pure and *clean God is. He is so holy that wicked people cannot approach him. For example, Moses did not go near to the bush that was burning (Exodus ).

Verses If anyone tried to pass the boundaries round the mountain they would die. Perhaps some people would try to do that because they were curious. Perhaps they wanted to know what would happen. But that would mean that they did not believe God’s words. Some people do not like to obey orders. So God warned them again. The priests must not think that they were different because of their special work. They must prepare themselves too so that God would not become angry. Everyone should approach God carefully.

Verses Moses had warned the people already. And he had put marks on the boundaries. These boundaries should prevent the people if they tried to go onto the mountain. Moses and Aaron had to climb up the mountain. But everyone else must remember what God had said. If people tried to break through the boundaries, other people had to kill them.

God’s ten *commandments – verses

In the *Hebrew language God’s 10 *commandments are called the ‘ten words’. The first 4 *commandments say how we should be loyal to God. The 5th *commandment refers to our duty to our family. *Commandments number tell about our duty to other people. They describe how we should act. They also describe how we should behave towards other people in society. God’s *commandments show to us a peaceful way in which to live in God’s world.

Verses These words are a message from God. He is the *LORD. His name is I AM (Exodus ). The *Israelites began to know God when he rescued them from Egypt. He freed them, and now they were not slaves.

Verse 3 The first *commandment means that God is the only real God. Only God deserves that people *worship him. ‘Other god’ does not mean that other gods existed. The *Canaanites *worshipped images. And they thought that those images were alive. But those images might attract the *Israelites too. They would cause the *Israelites to *sin. For example, the *Canaanites *worshipped a false god called Baal. And wrong acts of sex were part of their way to *worship Baal. But God cannot accept anyone who is not completely loyal to him. There is only one real God. So people must *worship him with the whole of themselves (Deuteronomy ). *Jews repeat these verses in Deuteronomy at regular times. It is their statement about what they believe.

Verses The original *commandment was probably the short order. ‘You must not make an image for yourself. You must not *worship such images.’ People used to make images to *worship. Usually, they made them out of wood or stone. Isaiah laughed at people who made images. He said that they wasted their time and energy. They used half a piece of wood to make the image. But they used the other half of the piece of wood to burn in their fire (Isaiah ).

Many people do not make wooden images now. But people *worship other things. Everyone should give the most honour to God. But perhaps someone or something is more important than God to a person. People *worship the person or the thing to whom they give the most honour. But God wants people to *worship him only. Nobody can make an image that *represents God completely. God’s thoughts and his ways are completely different from how people live. People think and act in a very different way from God (Isaiah ). An image that *represents God, would give wrong thoughts to people. They might think that God lived in only one place. And people might think that they could please God with a beautiful image.

‘Jealous’ is not the bad emotion that people have. That bad emotion leads to bad behaviour. But it was right for God to be jealous. He did not want the people to *worship any false gods. The *Israelites should put God first. That is the only right way. God loves his people so much that he cannot share them. The people who hate God do not obey him. People live in society. When someone does not obey God’s laws, it affects other people in a bad way. For example in a family, perhaps one person becomes a thief. This affects the whole family. And it continues to affect them into the future. In the *Hebrew language the words, ‘and I will punish their children, and their children’s children’ shows that. Actions have effects that continue into the future.

Verse 6 To love God is an action. It is not only an emotion. Those people who love God, obey his *commandments. God loves all those people who obey him. And he does not change. ‘Thousands’ is not an exact number. It emphasises how much God loves people.

Verse 7 People can use the *LORD’s name in the wrong way. Some translations of the Bible say, ‘do not take the *LORD’s name in vain’. This meant not to respect a promise. Sometimes people used God’s name to make their promise stronger (Leviticus ). The *Israelites might use this phrase, ‘It is as sure as that God lives’. Then they would promise something. But later they might not do what they promised. So that would suggest that God is not real. In the *Hebrew language ‘name’ means character. So people can show what God is like by their speech and their actions. Anyone who uses God’s name in a careless way forgets God’s character. God is completely holy.

Verses At the beginning of time, God rested on the 7th day. He rested after he had made everything (Genesis ). The *Israelites were slaves in Egypt. But God gave rest to them when he freed them from their hard work there (Deuteronomy ). Those were the reasons for the *Sabbath day. The *Hebrew word *sabbath means rest. On their way from Egypt, the *Israelites remembered the *Sabbath day. They rested and they did not collect food on that day (Exodus ). So the *Sabbath day should allow everyone to rest from their normal work. Animals, slaves, and strangers who had come to stay in *Israel, should all enjoy rest on the *Sabbath. They would have freedom from work on that day. Jesus said that God made the *Sabbath for man’s benefit (Mark ). And Isaiah spoke about the *Sabbath as a delight (Isaiah ). The *Sabbath became a *sign that God had made a special promise to the *Israelites. He made those promises at *Mount Sinai (Exodus ).

Verse 12 Children learn about God from their parents. They also learn from their parents how they should behave towards other people. So this *commandment links the first four *commandments with the other *commandments. The Book of Proverbs emphasises this *commandment. It teaches that children need to respect their parents (Proverbs ; ; ). Parents deserve that their children should respect them. And children should look after their parents when their parents are old. Jesus blamed people who tried to avoid the responsibility for their parents (Mark ). And Ephesians describes this *commandment as ‘the first *commandment with a promise’. The promise is ‘that you will live for a long time’. This would be a result when people obeyed this *commandment. To live for a long time in this world was very important to those people. They did not know what would happen after they died. Also, this promise meant that they would be able to live in safety later. And they would arrive in the country that God would give to them. It is safer to live in a nation where people respect each another.

Verse 13 The law made a difference between murder and when someone killed another person in an accident (Exodus ). God makes us alive. Cain murdered his brother. And he learned that murder is a *sin against God (Genesis ). Jesus showed that the *commandment against murder involved bad emotions too. Such emotions (for example, to hate someone) can lead to murder. To be angry without a good reason deserves punishment. People should settle their quarrels quickly. They should respect other people. It is wrong to speak about other people with anger. And is it wrong to speak to them with anger. (Matthew ).

Verse 14 This *commandment is against the *sin that involves a wrong sex relationship. It is wrong to have sex with another man’s wife or with another woman’s husband. People considered this relationship as *sin a long time before God gave this law to them. For example, Joseph refused to listen to Potiphar’s wife. He knew that it would be a *sin against God. Also, he knew that it would be a *sin against his master (Genesis ). Jesus spoke about this *sin too. He said that sometimes a man looks at a woman with the wrong desires. And that is as bad as if he had sex with her.

Verse 15 ‘Do not steal.’ However small the amount that a person steals, they are not obeying this *commandment. But to steal refers to more than just to take another person’s property. It is possible to steal an employer’s time. You do that when you waste time at work. And if you find something, you should return that thing to its owner. It does not belong to you. People should not keep something that someone lends to them. Also, if you claim other people’s ideas as your own ideas, you are stealing their ideas. And you are stealing from the company if you neglect to pay for a service. For example, one day you travel on a bus or on a train. But you do not pay your fare. Then you are stealing from the company.

Verse 16 Sometimes, a person tells lies about someone in a court of law. That person is a false witness. In Moses’ time, the punishment for a false witness was death. Some witnesses knew the truth, and those witnesses had to carry out the punishment. James writes about the wrong way in which we can speak (James ). We must not speak against people because God made people in his image. We must not say untrue things about other people. Those words can hurt their feelings. And those words can cause other people to think badly about a person’s character too. But sometimes people say untrue things when they gossip. Or perhaps we say nothing to deny such lies. Then we are guilty too, because we are helping that lie.

Verse 17 We can allow ourselves to desire something too much. But it belongs to another person. And then we try to obtain that property. Often if a person does not obey one *commandment then it leads to another *sin. King Ahab desired Naboth’s land so much that Ahab murdered him. Then Ahab stole the land after Naboth’s murder. So Ahab let his desire (*commandment number 10) lead to murder (*commandment number 6). Then he stole. (*Commandment number 8. See 1 Kings ) David desired Bathsheba (*commandment number 10). He had sex with another man’s wife (*commandment number 7). Then he murdered her husband. (*Commandment number 6. See 2 Samuel ; )

When politicians desire power for themselves, they can cause trouble. Their actions can cause difficulties for very many people.

The people are afraid – verses

Verse 18 This verse repeats the *signs with the lightning and its loud noise, the *thunder. These *signs showed that the *LORD was present (Exodus ). Abraham saw flashes of fire when God made a special promise to him. The word for flashes of fire is the same word as the word lightning here (Genesis ).

Verse 19 The people knew that they were not good enough. They were afraid because they realised their situation. They were not good enough to stand in front of God. They were afraid to hear his voice. They wanted Moses to stand in front of God on their behalf. After Moses died, priests, *prophets and kings *represented the people in front of God. Finally, Jesus Christ came. Now he *represents us to God, so we call him our Mediator (Hebrews ).

Verse 20 The *thunder and lightning were a way to test people. To be afraid of God is when we really respect God. We understand that he is completely holy, completely pure and completely *clean. Isaiah realised that God is like that (Isaiah ). This kind of fear should help us to desire good things. It should help us not to *sin.

Verses are a connection between God’s 10 *commandments and the book about God’s special promise. This book (the next few chapters of Exodus) explains the practical ways to obey the 10 *commandments.

Chapter to

This section contains rules for the main social problems with which the *Israelites needed to deal.

*Idols and *altars – verses

Verses There is only one real God. The *Israelites must not make images of any kind that they intend to *worship. Those images are false gods. People usually made images out of wood. But sometimes people covered the wood with precious metals.

Verse 24 God would *bless the *Israelites wherever they *worshipped him. They should use earth to make an *altar for him. The *altar was a place where they gave their gifts to God.

Verse 25 Also, they could make an *altar out of stone. But they must not try to shape natural stone with a tool. A person’s hand would hold the tool. Then the work would make the stone not *clean enough for God. Joshua obeyed that rule when he made a stone *altar on *Mount Ebal (Joshua ). Nobody knows the whole reason for the rule. Perhaps it refers to people who did not *worship the real God. Perhaps they made their altars with tools.

Verse 26 Often people placed their *altar high up, perhaps on a hill. Then they made steps for their priests to reach the *altar. This showed that the people must be humble in front of their false god. But to go up those steps would let people see the priests’ legs. People would see the priest’s naked body underneath his clothes. So God said this. ‘Do not go up steps to my *altar.’ Later, Aaron and all the priests after him served God at an *altar that had steps. So they wore short trousers, which they made out of cloth. They wore them underneath their clothes (Exodus ).

*Hebrew slaves – verses

Verses A *Hebrew man who was a slave had to serve for 6 years only. He would obtain his freedom in year 7. Also in their calendar, year 50 was the year called jubilee. This name was the same as the *trumpet’s name that announced that year. The year called jubilee might come before the end of the 6 years as a slave. If that happened, the slave could have his freedom then. And that meant that he had his freedom earlier (Leviticus ).

Verses A man might choose to remain with his master. Especially if the master had given to him a wife and they had children. Then the master would take him to the judges. The man would declare in front of witnesses that he wanted to stay with his master. Then the master would make that a permanent arrangement. He would make a small hole in his slave’s ear. The slave heard his master’s orders with his ears. So that hole in his ear was a *sign that he would obey his master always.

Verses A female slave might become the master’s wife or his son’s wife. These verses deal with her rights. The husband had no right to sell her to a stranger. If he did not want her, he must tell her family. He must allow her relatives to buy her back. Perhaps the master married a second wife. Then he must continue to provide for the first wife, although she was only his slave. He must provide food and clothes. Also he must provide her right to have children. If he did not provide for her actual needs, he had not been loyal to his agreement. So he must allow her to have her freedom.

Laws about injuries – verses

1. People injure other people – verses

Verses A man might kill on purpose or kill by an accident. God said that these were different. Someone could avoid punishment if he had killed a person by an accident. Later, when the *Israelites lived in the country called *Canaan, the man could run away to a safe city. They established 6 cities as those safe places. 3 of those cities were on one side of the River Jordan. The other 3 cities were on the other side of the River Jordan (Numbers ). The man could stay safely in one of those cities until he had to go to court. If he was not guilty, still he had to stay there until the most important priest had died (Joshua ). A person, who had murdered someone, would try to escape. He would grasp the *horns of the *altar in God’s special tent. (After Solomon had built the *Temple in Jerusalem a person would go to the *altar there). These *horns stood up at the *altar’s four corners. Adonijah hoped to avoid punishment for his plot against King Solomon (1 Kings ). Joab had thought that he would be safe by the *altar. But actually the king’s servant killed him by the *altar (1 Kings ).

Verse 16 To seize someone like that is wrong. The guilty person hopes that a relative or friend will pay money to him for his prisoner’s freedom. In modern society, sometimes people do that for political reasons. The guilty person may demand money. But the guilty person may demand something else, in order to free the prisoners.

Verse 17 To *curse expresses a wish that something terrible will happen to someone. To *curse a parent is against God’s *commandment. He said that we must respect our parents. To *curse a parent also shows a bad attitude. Such an attitude may develop into murder.

Verses Perhaps a person has to stay in bed as the result of a fight. Then he recovers enough to go out. But the guilty person who hit him must pay him. The person had a time when he could not work. And the guilty person must make sure that the person recovers completely.

Verses Perhaps a man hits his slave so much that the slave dies. Then the master deserves punishment. But if his slave recovers, the master is not guilty. He was using his right to correct a slave. The master could hit someone who was his property. And the master did not deserve punishment.

Verses Perhaps a woman who was expecting a baby, tried to stop a quarrel. But she received an injury so that the baby was born too soon. But if neither she nor the baby had a serious injury, the husband could ask for money. The people who were fighting must pay for any injury. The court would make the decision about how much money was fair. The judge would not allow the husband to demand an excess amount. A person could demand payment for an injury or loss. Often, we want to hurt a person more than he has hurt us. But the law meant that there were limits to those demands. The punishment had to be equal to the crime, no more and no less. It was a law that the courts had to make the decision. People could not make the decision about payment by themselves. Jesus spoke about this law. He told his people to forgive an enemy. They should be generous to their enemies (Matthew ).

Verses A slave had the right to freedom if his master hurt him with a permanent injury.

2. Animals injure people – verses

Verses An animal that had killed someone was guilty. It had caused a person’s death. So people had to throw stones at the animal in order to kill it. The animal’s owner must not sell the meat, because nobody must eat it. But suppose that the owner was careless. People had warned him that his animal attacked people all the time. Then they must kill the owner too. But he could ask the dead person’s relatives if they would receive money instead. In that way, he could buy himself back. The law about a slave’s death was different. They must kill the dangerous animal. And the animal’s owner must pay 30 silver coins (called *shekels) to the slave’s owner. That was the price for a slave. In the *New Testament, the priests wanted to seize Jesus. So they paid 30 silver coins to Judas so that he would help them (Matthew ).

3. People cause injuries to animals – verses

Verses People used deep holes as traps to catch animals. Benaiah killed a lion in a deep hole (2 Samuel ). They also used deep holes as prisons. Joseph’s brothers put him into a deep hole (Genesis ). And people used deep holes in which to store things like water or grain. A careless man might remove the cover from his hole and then forget to cover it again. So he left the hole open. Or he might dig a new hole and he might leave that without a cover. If an animal fell into the hole, the owner of the hole must pay the animal’s owner. The owner had lost a valuable animal. It was the fault of the owner of the hole. A farmer needed his animal to work on his farm. Without that animal, the farmer could not do his work properly. So it was only fair that he should receive money for the dead animal. Then he could buy another one to replace it.

Verses Suppose that a *bull attacked and killed another person’s *bull. The owner must sell the *bull that was still alive. Then he must share the money with the owner of the dead animal. They must divide the dead animal so that they each had half of it. Suppose that a particular *bull’s owner knew that his animal was dangerous. But the owner did nothing to control it. Then he had to give another animal to replace the dead animal. And the dead animal would belong to him.

Laws about property – verses

Verse 2 If a thief breaks into a house at night, the house’s owner might kill him. He cannot see the thief in the dark. In a struggle with the thief, the owner might cause the thief’s death. But the owner did not intend to kill the thief. So the owner is not guilty of murder. But if it happens in the day, the owner can see the thief. He can see what he and the thief are doing. Then the owner will be guilty, if the thief dies.

Verse 5 Perhaps a person allows his animals to wander into another man’s field or into his *vineyard. Then he must pay for what his animals have damaged of his neighbour’s property. He must pay with his own crops. He must be generous, so he must give from his best crops.

Verse 6 If a person starts a fire, he must pay for any damage to other people’s property. Perhaps the fire spreads into other people’s fields. Perhaps it destroys everything. There would be a hedge of bushes round a field. But bushes burn very quickly and help to spread the fire. Perhaps the owner had cut some of his corn already. He tied it in bundles. Then the bundles stood in the field in order to dry completely. The rest of his corn might be growing still, but that would burn too. His harvest in that field would be a total loss.

Verses On some occasions, it was difficult to know whether someone was guilty or not. A thief might steal goods that someone had left with a neighbour. But they could not find the thief. Or people might find someone else’s property, but they did not give it back to its owner. Then those people must go to the judges. The judges would declare who was the guilty person. Then the guilty person must pay the real owner. The thieves must pay back twice as much as they stole.

Verses A neighbour was looking after an animal but someone might take away that animal. There were no witnesses. Or perhaps a wild animal had hurt the animal or it might have killed the animal. Then the neighbour must prove that he did not steal the animal himself. The neighbour must make a definite statement in front of the *LORD. Or he must produce a piece of the animal as evidence that a wild animal attacked it. The animal’s owner must agree with the neighbour’s definite statement. Or he must receive as evidence what remained after an attack by an animal. Then the neighbour does not need to pay the owner. This law existed a long time before Moses. For example, Jacob had complained about Laban, who was his employer. Laban had accused Jacob. He said that Jacob was stealing his animals. And Laban had demanded payment for them. Also, Laban demanded payment for any of his animals that wild animals had attacked (Genesis ).

Verse 14 A man might ask his neighbour to lend an animal to him for a time. But if the animal died, he must pay his neighbour for it. Or if it had an injury, he must pay for it. But if the owner was present too, the man need not pay. He had paid money to hire the man and his animal. And that money would pay for the possible injury or loss.

Laws about social problems – verses

Verses A girl who had not yet married was her father’s property. He expected a gift of money for her when the two fathers agreed that she would marry. They called that the price for a bride. When she agreed to marry a man, the man and the girl met in an official way. This was as permanent as marriage. So if she had a sex relationship with another man, she was not loyal to her bridegroom. The man might persuade a young girl to go with him. But if he has not asked her father, then he has not paid the price for a bride. The Law says that he must pay it. And he must marry her. But her father may refuse to let her become his wife. Then the man must pay the price for a bride still. This payment will punish him because of what he has done. It will pay the father, who will have difficulty now. It will not be easy for the father to find a husband for his daughter. Many men do not want to marry a girl who has had sex already with another man.

Verse 18 God does not want us to try to know the future. He does not want us to try to do bad things with magic. In the *New Testament Paul’s work in the city called Ephesus affected many people. And many people who used evil magic, burnt their books (Acts ). Still today, some people say that they can tell other people about their future. And other people say that they can receive messages from dead people. This is bad because all those people cause trouble. The people who ask them for help can gain false confidence. They can depend on false information, or they can become anxious. They can become unhappy when it is not necessary.

Verse 19 To have a sex relationship with an animal is not natural. Also, it was a part of local religions where they did not *worship God himself. So God’s people who did that must die.

Verse 20 This verse refers to God’s *commandment in Exodus If someone gives gifts to a false god, he must not continue to live with God’s people. This is a very serious *sin against God, so the punishment is severe.

Verses God cares about poor people. He cares about those people who cannot defend themselves.

Verse 21 The *Israelites should look after any strangers who lived among them. They must remember that they themselves had been strangers in Egypt.

Verses Often people are not fair to widows. A widow might not receive her rights. But perhaps someone could prevent that. Someone might have owed money to her husband when he was alive. But now, they refused to pay back the money to the widow. Or she might not be able to claim all her land. With nobody to support her, she might not receive a fair judgement in court. Someone might pay the judge to be favourable on their behalf. That judge would not be fair to the widow.

Verse 25 People might owe money because there had been a poor harvest. They needed money to buy food. And they could not plant more crops until they bought the seed. So they needed someone to lend money to them. But sometimes those people ask for a great amount extra. This law said that a poor person should not have to pay that extra money. It was wrong to obtain money in that way from a poor neighbour. Jesus spoke about loans too. Christians must not think that they will always receive back the payment. Even if they lend money to an enemy, they must not demand it back. And certainly they should not ask for any extra money. The loan should become a gift (Luke ).

Verses A person needed to leave something as a promise that he would pay his debt. But a poor person had nothing. His only possession was his coat. So he could leave that as his promise. Usually he wore it during the day. Then he used it as a blanket to cover him during the cold night. God ordered that he should receive back his coat at sunset. Then he would be warm and he would sleep during the night. The coat was valuable to its owner. So that would remind the owner about his debt every day.

Verses These verses describe what God wants his people to give to him.

Verse 28 If we respect God, then we should respect authority. In the *New Testament, Paul used this verse when the most important priest was his judge (Acts ). Also, Paul wrote that everyone should respect people with authority (Romans ). There is only one exception to this rule. Perhaps you cannot give honour to God when you obey the person with authority. Then you must choose to respect God (Matthew and Acts ).

Verses God had said that the people must give regular gifts to him from their corn and from their wine. Their oldest sons belonged to God too. Also, the cows and sheep that were born first belonged to God (Exodus ). But those sons and animals should remain with their mothers for the first week. Then their parents or owners should give them to God. If it was an animal, they gave it to God as a *sacrifice. But for a son, they *sacrificed an animal to God instead of the child (Leviticus ). Mary and Joseph obeyed this law with the baby Jesus (Luke ).

Verse 31 God wanted all the *Israelites to serve him as priests (Exodus ). When a wild animal kills a domestic animal, the blood remains inside the animal. God had told them the proper way to kill animals. There must be no blood in the meat that they ate (Leviticus and 1 Samuel ). So, like the priests, who were from Aaron’s family, none of the *Israelites should eat such an animal (Leviticus ). They were a nation that was God’s special nation. And they must eat meat as if God had given it all to them as a gift.

Laws about how to be fair and how to be kind – verses

Verse 1 emphasises God’s *commandment number 9 (Exodus ). False reports can cause a person to lose his good character. Also they may cause an innocent man to receive death as his punishment.

Verses You must tell the truth, whatever other people might say. Both rich people and poor people should receive the same fair judgement. It is wrong to listen to rich people more than to poor people. And it is wrong to listen to poor people more than to rich people.

Verses You must not try to punish an enemy when you can help him. An owner, who is your enemy, might let his animals wander away. But then he might lose the animals. People may hurry away from a *donkey that had fallen under its load. But the owner cannot without help. And the animal might hurt itself, or it might die. Someone should rescue the owner’s property. A man must be willing to help his enemy.

Verses contain 4 orders to people who have authority as judges.

Verse 6: (1) A judge must be fair to poor people.

Verse 7: (2) A judge must be cautious whether or not he declares death as someone’s punishment. Perhaps people lied when they accused that person. And really that person is innocent. God himself would decide whether the person was guilty.

Verse 8: (3) A judge must not take money from people. If people give money to a judge, it prevents a fair decision. In the *New Testament, a ruler called Felix wanted money. He hoped that Paul would pay him. Then he would free Paul (Acts ).

Verse 9: (4) This repeats the advice in Exodus The people must remember their lives when they were strangers in Egypt. And also the judges must remember that when they are carrying out their official duties. Judges should know from their experience what it was like as a stranger. So they should make sure that they behave fairly to strangers.

Laws about the *Sabbath day and year 7 – verses

Verses Leviticus , record more details about the law for year 7. The *Israelites must allow the land to rest for a year every 7 years. This was a good agricultural method. Also it showed whether the *Israelites believed God. He could supply what they needed for year 7. But they had to trust God. Also it taught them that God cares about everybody, and about animals as well. Psalm says this. ‘*LORD, you look after both people and animals.’ And Jesus said that God cares, even about the little birds. They called the birds sparrows, and people bought 2 sparrows for a very small coin. They got an extra bird free if they paid 2 very small coins for 4 birds (Luke ).

Verse 12 The *Sabbath day each week was God’s *commandment number 4 (Exodus ). It reminded people about God’s work when he created everything at the beginning. He created things for 6 days, and then he rested on the 7th day. In Deuteronomy , God reminds the people how he rescued them from Egypt. He gave them rest from their work as slaves. The *Sabbath day was an opportunity when both men and animals would rest. They gained new energy in every way. It showed that they were God’s special people. And they used that particular day when they remembered God especially.

Verse 13 It is wrong to pray to another god. Any other god is a false god. And it would show that the people did not trust the *LORD completely. Sometimes people used the name of a false god to emphasise a serious promise. That is wrong too.

The three annual *feasts – verses

Verses 14 and 17 All the men who are adults, must go to God’s holy place three times each year.

Verses The three parties called *Feasts were part of the agricultural year. The *Israelites gave honour to God for his gifts of food. Also, they remembered all the things that he had done for them in the past. So they gave honour to God. The *Feast of flat bread without *yeast followed the night called the *Passover. It reminded the *Israelites how God had rescued them from Egypt. This *feast happened when the harvest of the first grain began in April.

7 weeks later was the *Feast of early harvest. Another name for that was the *Feast of weeks. (7 weeks = 49 days. We know that *feast by the name Pentecost, which is the word in the Latin language for day ) This came during the harvest of the wheat. At that time they must remember how God gave the Law to them at *Mount Sinai.

The third *feast was in the autumn. That was when they gathered the harvest of the fruit (especially the fruit called grapes and *olives). They called it the *Feast of tents or the *Feast of tabernacles. The *Israelites lived in tents or small shelters during that *feast. That reminded them about how God had looked after them in the *desert (Leviticus ). Even today, the *Jews have parties during these *feasts. They build temporary shelters. And live in them during the *Feast of tents in October.

Verse 18 Usually, people use *yeast when they make bread. It makes the bread rise. So bread without *yeast is flat or thin bread. Perhaps the rule reminded the *Israelites about the *Passover. It was not suitable to give bread with *yeast in it to God. Maybe they did not burn all the animal’s fat when they gave it to God. But they must throw it away, because it would become bad fat by the next day.

Verse 19 Only the best grain and fruit from the year’s first crops was good enough to give to God.

It was probably a local *Canaanite custom to cook a young goat in its mother’s milk. The *Canaanites used acts of magic like that. They wanted to encourage things to increase. They wanted good harvests and they wanted plenty of new animals. But the *Israelites must trust God. They must not trust magic.

The promise – verses

Verses *Angel means ‘someone who brings a message’. *Angels are God’s servants who have God’s authority. An *angel speaks on God’s behalf and with his character. It is possible that this particular *angel is God himself. He tells the *Israelites that he will protect them. And he will guide them until they come to the country called *Canaan. God had prepared that place called *Canaan on their behalf.

Verses God promised Abraham that he would protect Abraham’s family. God would oppose those people who opposed Abraham’s children and his children’s children (Genesis ). Also that means that we shall be enemies to God’s enemies (Psalm ). The *Canaanites had special holy stones. They used the stones when they *worshipped their false gods. The stones were probably a *sign of the male part in plants. The plant needs both male and female parts to produce crops. So those stones were different from other special stones. So the *Israelites must break completely any stones that the *Canaanites used. Sometimes people erect special stones to remember an important event. And that can be a good thing. Jacob erected a stone to remember that God was with him at Bethel (Genesis ). Moses would place 12 stones as a *sign that *Israel’s 12 families had remembered God’s special promise (Exodus ).

Verses God promised food and health, the gift of children and a long life to those people who obeyed him. This does not seem to be true all over the world. But people who obey God’s laws will share their food fairly. The *Israelite rules about food meant that they had a better standard of health. The people in other countries near to them were not so healthy. A husband and wife should be loyal to each other. And children should respect their parents. Families that are like this make a better society. But the best things that God gives are for our spirits, not just to help our bodies. Habakkuk said that he would thank God. He would be happy whatever happened. Even if the crops failed, still he would *praise God (Habakkuk ). In the *New Testament Paul had learned how to be content, whatever the circumstances (Philippians ).

Verses The news that the *Israelites were coming would frighten the local people (Joshua ). The fierce insects can give painful stings. And sometimes they can cause death when they sting people. This is probably a description of a powerful army. The fierce insects may be like the *Egyptians. Their attacks were making the nations in the country called *Canaan very weak. So they would be preparing the way. Then the *Israelites would be able to defeat those nations completely.

Verses give the reason why the *Israelites advanced slowly into the country called *Canaan. If the country became empty with no people there, then wild animals would live there. This happened hundreds of years later when King Nebuchadnezzar’s army defeated the *Israelites. They took the *Israelites to another country. Then the people called Samaritans came to live in the *Israelite’s country. They found lions there (2 Kings ). In Judges – we read about another reason. If the *Israelites did not obey God’s instructions, then they would not win battles. Also, if the *Israelites advanced slowly, it would teach them how to fight.

Verse 31 God intended that *Israel’s boundary should be the Gulf of Aqaba (the Red Sea) in the east. The boundary should reach to the Mediterranean coast in the west. The *desert should be the boundary in the south. And the river Euphrates should be the border in the north. However, that whole territory belonged to *Israel only during the time when David and Solomon were kings. Then the nation divided. The territory was never as large again.

Verses Chapter 24 describes how Moses and the *Israelites accepted God’s special promise to them. So it was right to warn the *Israelites. They must not make an agreement with any other people nor with other people’s false gods. To *worship the *Canaanite gods would not be loyal to God. It would cause the *Israelites to *sin. They would be like animals that fall into a trap. And they would die because they could not rescue themselves.

God’s special promise

Verse 1 Nadab and Abihu were Aaron’s sons. Leviticus records how they died later. They gave a gift that God did not accept. They were priests, but they had not obeyed God’s strict instructions about the priests’ duties. The 70 leaders *represented the whole *Israelite nation.

Verses All the people agreed that they would obey the *LORD’s *commandments. After Moses had recorded the *LORD’s words, he read them to the people. So there was a permanent account to which they referred. The 12 tall stones *represented the 12 families of *Israel. The *altar *represented the *LORD in the events that happened next.

Verses Perhaps the young men were the oldest sons from various families. Moses had separated them from the other *Israelites to act as priests. Later, Moses appointed Aaron and his sons, and his grandsons, and his grandsons’ sons to be priests for all time. These young men gave two kinds of gifts on the *altar that Moses had built. They killed and burnt whole animals as gifts to God. This was a *sign that they would hold back nothing from God. They also gave friendship gifts (sometimes the Bible calls them peace gifts). These gifts were a *sign of friendship with God. And they were a *sign of friendship with each other. When people gave a friendship gift, usually they had a meal together afterwards. They would eat a part of the friendship or peace gift together. Moses splashed the blood on the *altar as a *sign. It showed that God was making a special promise to the people. Then the *Israelites promised to obey God’s laws because they were God’s special people.

Verse 8 Probably Moses splashed some blood on the leaders because they *represented all the people. The blood was a *sign that God was making a special promise to all the people. Jesus referred to his own blood as the *sign of God’s special promise (Matthew ).

Verses ‘They saw *Israel’s God.’ This does not mean that they saw God’s face. Nobody can see the full, wonderful light from God and continue to live. Moses saw only God’s back (Exodus ). The leaders saw God’s feet. He was standing on something that looked like a *sapphire floor. *Sapphire is a blue precious stone. And that floor was like the blue colour of a clear sky. Although the leaders saw God, he did not punish them. They all ate the friendship meal afterwards. They shared the peace gift that they had given to God.

Verses Moses and Joshua went further up the mountain. (Joshua had led the *Israelites when they defeated the *Amalekites.) Moses said that Aaron and Hur would settle any problems. They had helped Moses to pray in the battle with the *Amalekites. They had held up his hands (Exodus ).

People can cut letters into flat pieces of stone. God used those stones when he wrote his 10 *commandments. And he gave the stones to Moses. In Deuteronomy the writer calls the two flat stones the ‘flat stones of the special promise’. God had written his 10 *commandments on them. Cloud and fire were the *signs that God was present. 40 days and 40 nights is a long time. Jesus was in the *desert for that amount of time (Matthew ).

Chapters – contain details about how the *Israelites *worshipped God. These chapters describe God’s special tent (also called the *Tabernacle) with all its equipment. Also they describe the priests and their duties.

Introduction – verses

Verses describe the materials that Moses needed for God’s tent. In the special tent the *Israelites can *worship God. And the workers must make everything that the priests will use in it. God wanted everyone to help. So he gave a list of the materials that they would need. But each person must decide which of those things he wanted to give to God. And the amount that they gave should be generous.

Some of the gold and the silver came from Egypt (Exodus ). *Bronze is a metal. People make it out of two other metals called copper and tin. People dug copper out of the ground in that area. Probably the blue and the purple colours came from the shells of fish that lived in the Mediterranean Sea. The bright red colour came from a small insect. Goats’ hair made a dark material that the rain did not go through. People who wandered from place to place, made their tents out of goat’s hair. Paul used goats’ hair to make tents (Acts ). And people who wander like that today use it for their tents. The male sheep’s skins and the goat’s skins provided good quality leather. *Acacia trees are common in the region that is called Sinai. They provide a dark, hard kind of wood.

There was a list of powders with a sweet smell. And the *Israelites made the special oil only out of the powders on the list (Exodus ). These powders came from plants with a strong, pleasant smell. They put that special oil on a person’s head. It was a *sign that God chose him for a special job. Then he served God as a king or as a priest. God told Moses to make that oil from a special mixture of expensive powders. Nobody must use it for ordinary purposes. Moses had to put that oil on Aaron and his sons. He had to separate them from other people in order to serve as priests. Also, Moses had to put that oil on God’s tent (the *Tabernacle). And he had to put that oil on everything that was in the tent. It showed that those things belonged to God. They were holy. The *Israelites should use them to *worship God only.

*Onyx is a precious stone. It has stripes of two different colours in it. An *onyx stone was one of the special stones that they put on the priests’ special clothes (Exodus ). They cut the names of Israel’s 12 sons into the *onyx stones.

Verses Moses had to make a special tent for the *LORD. This tent is called the *Tabernacle. It is where God would live with the *Israelites. Moses had to make sure that everything was right. He had to make everything as God ordered.

The special box – verses

Verse 10 This special box was about 42 inches ( centimetres) long, 25 inches (66 centimetres) wide, and 25 inches (66 centimetres) high.

• Ishmael was 13, Sarai/Sarah 89, Abram/Abraham 99, Terah , Serug , Eber , Shelah , Arpachshad , Shem years old.
• Brimstone and fire rained down on Sodom and Gomorrah.
  SeeZoara, Meteor shower, Impact event, Firestorm

• Ishmael was 14, Sarah 90, Abraham , Terah , Serug , Eber , Shelah , Arpachshad , Shem years old.

• Isaac was 1 year old, Ishmael 15, Sarah 91, Abraham , Terah , Eber , Shelah , Arpachshad , Shem years old.

• The next morning Hagar and Ishmael were cast out.
• Ishmael was 17–20 years old, a "child". Genesis ^{[note 2]}

• The testing of Abraham. "now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me."
• Isaac was between the ages of 12 and 20 years, a "lad" (KJV, RSV), a "boy" (NRSV, REB, NAB, NJB), a youth.^{[note 3]} He was old enough and strong enough to carry on his shoulders the wood for the burnt offering.

• Isaac was 35, Ishmael 49, Sarah , Abraham , Eber , Shelah , Arpachshad , Shem years old.

• Isaac was 37, Ishmael 51, Abraham , Eber , Shelah , Arpachshad , Shem years old.

• Isaac was 48, Ishmael 62, Sarah , Abraham , Eber , Shelah , Shem years old.

• Esau and Jacob were 15, Isaac 75, Ishmael 89, Eber , Shelah , Shem years old.
• Intef I reigned 4–16 years c. BCE

• Esau and Jacob were 18, Isaac 78, Ishmael 92, Eber , Shem years old.
• Intef II reigned almost 50 years – BCE

• Esau and Jacob were 50, Isaac , Ishmael , Eber years old.

• Esau and Jacob were 63, Isaac , Eber years old.

• Jacob was 77, Esau 77, Isaac , Eber years old.
• Jacob began to serve Laban 7 years for Rachel (–).

• Jacob was 79, Esau 79, Isaac years old.

• Rachel was given to Jacob in return for another 7 years of service (–).
• Jacob was 84, Esau 84, Isaac years old.

• Jacob began to serve Laban another 6 years for his flocks (–).
• Jacob was 91, Esau 91, Isaac years old.

• Jacob was named "Israel".
• Joseph was 6, Jacob/Israel 97, Esau 97, Isaac years old.

• Jacob/Israel was , Isaac years old.

• In prison he interpreted the dreams of Pharaoh's chief butler and chief baker.
• The chief butler forgot Joseph for 2 whole years (–).

• Joseph was 29, Jacob years old.

• The 7 years of plenty began (–).
• Jacob/Israel was years old.
• See Mentuhotep II (reigned – BCE)

• Joseph was 36, Israel years old.

• Joseph was 37, Israel years old.

• Joseph settled his father and his brothers in Egypt, "and gave them a possession in the land of Egypt, in the best of the land, in the land of Rameses", also called Avaris, and Qantir.^{[note 4]}SeeLand of Goshen.
• Joseph was 39, Israel years old.
• 5 more years of famine remained (–).
• Israel and his sons, families and servants, dwelt in Egypt 17 years (–).
• The people of Israel dwelt in the land of Egypt a total of years (–).

• Joseph was 55 years old (–).

• Joseph was 69 years old (–). He lived another 41 years.
• Ephraim and Manasseh were about 39, Levi about 74 years old.
• See Amenemhat I (reigned – BCE)

also Senusret I (coregency –, reigned – BCE)