Introduction

The following passages from the Old Testament are intended to exemplify a couple of points made by William Irwin, Russell Kirk, and Christopher Dawson. One point is that the Old Testament includes different kinds of myths or stories. In this it reflects the cultures of other ancient, pre-philosophic civilizations. Myths are attempts to understand or come to terms with one’s experiences on the assumption that the world in which we live is not an inanimate It, but a living Thou with a will of its own. Thus, the accounts of events were stories about the interaction of us with the living world in which we are living.

This is not to say that the living world or “Thou” that we are describing here was understood to be divine, much less God or a god. The spirit(s) animating trees, mountain peaks, rivers, and animals, or forces of anger, shame, or joy were just that—spirits that were every bit as much part of the world as we are. If we call the world “Nature,” then we and the spirits were natural, not supernatural. The distinction between some aspects of the world as sacred and some as profane also took place in ancient times. This distinction is comparable to the later distinction between the supernatural and the natural. It is difficult, if not impossible, to generalize about the order in which different steps in this mythopoeic, or “myth-making,” process of understanding the living world took place, if indeed it did take place in an orderly procession, which is doubtful.

The understanding that trees and streams and rocks are living spirits is called animism. The understanding that the world is, in fact, God is called pantheism. The idea that there are many gods is polytheism; the idea that there is but one god is monotheism.

Regarding the stories themselves, ancient cultures all had myths explaining the origin of the world. These “creation” or cosmogonic myths are represented in the Mesopotamian epic Enuma Elish, the Egyptian myth of Osiris, or the Greek stories of the origins of the gods (“theogony”) by Hesiod. “Hero myths” describe men’s interactions with the gods, typically looking back to a time when men were bigger, stronger, and just generally superior to people today or to the audience hearing the myth.

Kirk explains the difference between sacred history and secular history: the Hebrew history as distinguished from the history of the Hebrews, for example. Sacred history records a people’s understanding of its relationship with its gods; secular history, a newer invention, records events for other purposes.

Dawson explains that the beginning of the Jewish tradition began with a divine promise and offer revealed by God to a succession of individuals: Abram, Moses, David, and the prophets. Acceptance of the promise bound Abram (become Abraham) and his people, and then Moses and the Hebrew nation, to a covenant which gave Israel a mission and a duty. This covenant gave the Hebrew civilization is unique foundation.

Keep these concepts in mind as you read the passages below. Which of the stories are myths? Which are creation myths? Hero myths? What conceptions of God (Yahweh) are reflected in the stories? Which passages are historical? Sacred or secular? What is the covenant between God and the Hebrews? Remember also that the Old Testament was written, or begun to be written, only in the sixth or fifth centuries B.C. The events recorded took place years, even hundreds of years, before they were written down. The Old Testament is thus a collection of many different stories handed down from generation to generation of Hebrews in poems and oral form. This handing down is called “tradition.” The written version of the Old Testament, as we know it, included some but not all of these stories and sometimes included different versions of the same stories.

(For more information on the material above see Christopher Dawson, The Formation of Christendom (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1965); Mircea Eliade, The Sacred and the Profane (New York: Harcourt, Brace, Jovanovich, 1987); William Irwin, “The Hebrews,” in Frankfort et al, Intellectual Adventure of Ancient Man (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1977); Russell Kirk, The Roots of American Order (Malibu: Pepperdine University Press, 1974; Wilmington, DE: ISI, 2003).

Genesis

 

(Revised Standard Version) Genesis 1:1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.   2 The earth was without form and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep; and the Spirit of God was moving over the the face of the waters.   3 And God said, "Let there be light"; and there was light.   4 And God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness.   5 God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, one day.   6 And God said, "Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters."   7 And God made the firmament and separated the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament. And it was so.   8 And God called the firmament Heaven. And there was evening and there was morning, a second day.   9 And God said, "Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear." And it was so.   10 God called the dry land Earth, and the waters that were gathered together he called Seas. And God saw that it was good.   11 And God said, "Let the earth put forth vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind, upon the earth." And it was so.   12 The earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed according to their own kinds, and trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.   13 And there was evening and there was morning, a third day.   14 And God said, "Let there be lights in the firmament of the heavens to separate the day from the night; and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and years,   15 and let them be lights in the firmament of the heavens to give light upon the earth." And it was so.   16 And God made the two great lights, the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night; he made the stars also.   17 And God set them in the firmament of the heavens to give light upon the earth,   18 to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good.   19 And there was evening and there was morning, a fourth day.   20 And God said, "Let the waters bring forth swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the firmament of the heavens."   21 So God created the great sea monsters and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarm, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.   22 And God blessed them, saying, "Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth."   23 And there was evening and there was morning, a fifth day.   24 And God said, "Let the earth bring forth living creatures according to their kinds: cattle and creeping things and beasts of the earth according to their kinds." And it was so.   25 And God made the beasts of the earth according to their kinds and the cattle according to their kinds, and everything that creeps upon the ground according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.   26 Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth."   27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.   28 And God blessed them, and God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth."   29 And God said, "Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit; you shall have them for food.   30 And to every beast of the earth, and to every bird of the air, and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food." And it was so.   31 And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, a sixth day.

 

Genesis 2:1 Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them.   2 And on the seventh day God finished his work which he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had done.   3 So God blessed the seventh day and hallowed it, because on it God rested from all his work which he had done in creation.   4 These are the generations of the heavens and the earth when they were created. In the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens,   5 when no plant of the field was yet in the earth and no herb of the field had yet sprung up-for the Lord God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was no man to till the ground;   6 but a mist went up from the earth and watered the whole face of the ground-   7 then the Lord God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.   8 And the Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the east; and there he put the man whom he had formed.   9 And out of the ground the Lord God made to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food, the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.   10 A river flowed out of Eden to water the garden, and there it divided and became four rivers.   11 The name of the first is Pishon; it is the one which flows around the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold;   12 and the gold of that land is good; bdellium and onyx stone are there.   13 The name of the second river is Gihon; it is the one which flows around the whole land of Cush.   14 And the name of the third river is Tigris, which flows east of Assyria. And the fourth river is the Euphrates.   15 The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to till it and keep it.   16 And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, "You may freely eat of every tree of the garden;   17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall die."   18 Then the Lord God said, "It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him."   19 So out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the air, and brought them to the man to see what he would call them; and whatever the man called every living creature, that was its name.   20 The man gave names to all cattle, and to the birds of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for the man there was not found a helper fit for him.   21 So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh;   22 and the rib which the Lord God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man.   23 Then the man said, "This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man."   24 Therefore a man leaves his father and his mother and cleaves to his wife, and they become one flesh.   25 And the man and his wife were both naked, and were not ashamed.

 

Genesis 6:1 When men began to multiply on the face of the ground, and daughters were born to them,   2 the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were fair; and they took to wife such of them as they chose.   3 Then the Lord said, "My spirit shall not abide in man for ever, for he is flesh, but his days shall be a hundred and twenty years."   4 The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of men, and they bore children to them. These were the mighty men that were of old, the men of renown.   5 The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.   6 And the Lord was sorry that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart.   7 So the Lord said, "I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the ground, man and beast and creeping things and birds of the air, for I am sorry that I have made them."   8 But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord.   9 These are the generations of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his generation; Noah walked with God.   10 And Noah had three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth.  

 

Genesis 14:11 And they took all the goods of Sodom and Gomorrah, and all their victuals, and went their way.   12 And they took Lot, Abram's brother's son, who dwelt in Sodom, and his goods, and departed.   13 And there came one that had escaped, and told Abram the Hebrew; for he dwelt in the plain of Mamre the Amorite, brother of Eshcol, and brother of Aner: and these [were] confederate with Abram.   14 And when Abram heard that his brother was taken captive, he armed his trained [servants], born in his own house, three hundred and eighteen, and pursued [them] unto Dan. {armed: or, led forth} {trained: or, instructed}   15 And he divided himself against them, he and his servants, by night, and smote them, and pursued them unto Hobah, which [is] on the left hand of Damascus.   16 And he brought back all the goods, and also brought again his brother Lot, and his goods, and the women also, and the people.   17 And the king of Sodom went out to meet him after his return from the slaughter of Chedorlaomer, and of the kings that [were] with him, at the valley of Shaveh, which [is] the king's dale.   18 And Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine: and he [was] the priest of the most high God.   19 And he blessed him, and said, Blessed [be] Abram of the most high God, possessor of heaven and earth:   20 And blessed be the most high God, which hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand. And he gave him tithes of all.   21 And the king of Sodom said unto Abram, Give me the persons, and take the goods to thyself. {persons: Heb. souls}   22 And Abram said to the king of Sodom, I have lift up mine hand unto the LORD, the most high God, the possessor of heaven and earth,   23 That I will not [take] from a thread even to a shoelatchet, and that I will not take any thing that [is] thine, lest thou shouldest say, I have made Abram rich:   24 Save only that which the young men have eaten, and the portion of the men which went with me, Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre; let them take their portion.

 

Genesis 15:1 After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, "Fear not, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great."   2 But Abram said, "O Lord God, what wilt thou give me, for I continue childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?"   3 And Abram said, "Behold, thou hast given me no offspring; and a slave born in my house will be my heir."   4 And behold, the word of the Lord came to him, "This man shall not be your heir; your own son shall be your heir."   5 And he brought him outside and said, "Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them." Then he said to him, "So shall your descendants be."   6 And he believed the Lord; and he reckoned it to him as righteousness.   7 And he said to him, "I am the Lord who brought you from Ur of the Chaldeans, to give you this land to possess."   8 But he said, "O Lord God, how am I to know that I shall possess it?"   9 He said to him, "Bring me a heifer three years old, a she-goat three years old, a ram three years old, a turtledove, and a young pigeon."   10 And he brought him all these, cut them in two, and laid each half over against the other; but he did not cut the birds in two.   11 And when birds of prey came down upon the carcasses, Abram drove them away.   12 As the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell on Abram; and lo, a dread and great darkness fell upon him.   13 Then the Lord said to Abram, "Know of a surety that your descendants will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs, and will be slaves there, and they will be oppressed for four hundred years;   14 but I will bring judgment on the nation which they serve, and afterward they shall come out with great possessions.   15 As for yourself, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you shall be buried in a good old age.   16 And they shall come back here in the fourth generation; for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete."   17 When the sun had gone down and it was dark, behold, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch passed between these pieces.   18 On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, "To your descendants I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates,   19 the land of the Kenites, the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites,   20 the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim,   21 the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites and the Jebusites."

 

Genesis 32:1 Jacob went on his way and the angels of God met him;   2 and when Jacob saw them he said, "This is God's army!" So he called the name of that place Mahanaim.   3 And Jacob sent messengers before him to Esau his brother in the land of Seir, the country of Edom,   4 instructing them, "Thus you shall say to my lord Esau: Thus says your servant Jacob, "I have sojourned with Laban, and stayed until now;   5 and I have oxen, asses, flocks, menservants, and maidservants; and I have sent to tell my lord, in order that I may find favor in your sight.' "   6 And the messengers returned to Jacob, saying, "We came to your brother Esau, and he is coming to meet you, and four hundred men with him."   7 Then Jacob was greatly afraid and distressed; and he divided the people that were with him, and the flocks and herds and camels, into two companies,   8 thinking, "If Esau comes to the one company and destroys it, then the company which is left will escape."   9 And Jacob said, "O God of my father Abraham and God of my father Isaac, O Lord who didst say to me, "Return to your country and to your kindred, and I will do you good,'   10 I am not worthy of the least of all the steadfast love and all the faithfulness which thou hast shown to thy servant, for with only my staff I crossed this Jordan; and now I have become two companies.   11 Deliver me, I pray thee, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau, for I fear him, lest he come and slay us all, the mothers with the children.   12 But thou didst say, "I will do you good, and make your descendants as the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude.' "   13 So he lodged there that night, and took from what he had with him a present for his brother Esau,   14 two hundred she-goats and twenty he-goats, two hundred ewes and twenty rams,   15 thirty milch camels and their colts, forty cows and ten bulls, twenty she-asses and ten he-asses.   16 These he delivered into the hand of his servants, every drove by itself, and said to his servants, "Pass on before me, and put a space between drove and drove."   17 He instructed the foremost, "When Esau my brother meets you, and asks you, "To whom do you belong? Where are you going? And whose are these before you?'   18 then you shall say, "They belong to your servant Jacob; they are a present sent to my lord Esau; and moreover he is behind us.' "   19 He likewise instructed the second and the third and all who followed the droves, "You shall say the same thing to Esau when you meet him,   20 and you shall say, "Moreover your servant Jacob is behind us.’" For he thought, "I may appease him with the present that goes before me, and afterwards I shall see his face; perhaps he will accept me."   21 So the present passed on before him; and he himself lodged that night in the camp.   22 The same night he arose and took his two wives, his two maids, and his eleven children, and crossed the ford of the Jabbok.   23 He took them and sent them across the stream, and likewise everything that he had.   24 And Jacob was left alone; and a man wrestled with him until the breaking of the day.   25 When the man saw that he did not prevail against Jacob, he touched the hollow of his thigh; and Jacob's thigh was put out of joint as he wrestled with him.   26 Then he said, "Let me go, for the day is breaking." But Jacob said, "I will not let you go, unless you bless me."   27 And he said to him, "What is your name?" And he said, "Jacob."   28 Then he said, "Your name shall no more be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with men, and have prevailed."   29 Then Jacob asked him, "Tell me, I pray, your name." But he said, "Why is it that you ask my name?" And there he blessed him.   30 So Jacob called the name of the place Peniel, saying, "For I have seen God face to face, and yet my life is preserved."   31 The sun rose upon him as he passed Penuel, limping because of his thigh.   32 Therefore to this day the Israelites do not eat the sinew of the hip which is upon the hollow of the thigh, because he touched the hollow of Jacob's thigh on the sinew of the hip.

 

Exodus

 

Exodus 3:1 Now Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro, the priest of Midian; and he led his flock to the west side of the wilderness, and came to Horeb, the mountain of God.   2 And the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush; and he looked, and lo, the bush was burning, yet it was not consumed.   3 And Moses said, "I will turn aside and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt."   4 When the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, "Moses, Moses!" And he said, "Here am I."   5 Then he said, "Do not come near; put off your shoes from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground."   6 And he said, "I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob." And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.   7 Then the Lord said, "I have seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt, and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters; I know their sufferings,   8 and I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites.   9 And now, behold, the cry of the people of Israel has come to me, and I have seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them.   10 Come, I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring forth my people, the sons of Israel, out of Egypt."   11 But Moses said to God, "Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh, and bring the sons of Israel out of Egypt?"   12 He said, "But I will be with you; and this shall be the sign for you, that I have sent you: when you have brought forth the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God upon this mountain."   13 Then Moses said to God, "If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, "The God of your fathers has sent me to you,' and they ask me, "What is his name?' what shall I say to them?"   14 God said to Moses, "I am who I am." And he said, "Say this to the people of Israel, "I am has sent me to you.' "   15 God also said to Moses, "Say this to the people of Israel, "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 for ever, and thus I am to be remembered throughout all generations.   16 Go and gather the elders of Israel together, and say to them, "The Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, has appeared to me, saying, "I have observed you and what has been done to you in Egypt;   17 and I promise that I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt, to the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, a land flowing with milk and honey." '   18 And they will hearken to your voice; and you and the elders of Israel shall go to the king of Egypt and say to him, "The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us; and now, we pray you, let us go a three days' journey into the wilderness, that we may sacrifice to the Lord our God.'   19 I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go unless compelled by a mighty hand.   20 So I will stretch out my hand and smite Egypt with all the wonders which I will do in it; after that he will let you go.   21 And I will give this people favor in the sight of the Egyptians; and when you go, you shall not go empty,   22 but each woman shall ask of her neighbor, and of her who sojourns in her house, jewelry of silver and of gold, and clothing, and you shall put them on your sons and on your daughters; thus you shall despoil the Egyptians."

 

Exodus 14:1 Then the Lord said to Moses,   2 "Tell the people of Israel to turn back and encamp in front of Pi-ha-hiroth, between Migdol and the sea, in front of Baal-zephon; you shall encamp over against it, by the sea.   3 For Pharaoh will say of the people of Israel, "They are entangled in the land; the wilderness has shut them in.'   4 And I will harden Pharaoh's heart, and he will pursue them and I will get glory over Pharaoh and all his host; and the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord." And they did so.   5 When the king of Egypt was told that the people had fled, the mind of Pharaoh and his servants was changed toward the people, and they said, "What is this we have done, that we have let Israel go from serving us?"   6 So he made ready his chariot and took his army with him,   7 and took six hundred picked chariots and all the other chariots of Egypt with officers over all of them.   8 And the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt and he pursued the people of Israel as they went forth defiantly.   9 The Egyptians pursued them, all Pharaoh's horses and chariots and his horsemen and his army, and overtook them encamped at the sea, by Pi-ha-hiroth, in front of Baal-zephon.   10 When Pharaoh drew near, the people of Israel lifted up their eyes, and behold, the Egyptians were marching after them; and they were in great fear. And the people of Israel cried out to the Lord;   11 and they said to Moses, "Is it because there are no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness? What have you done to us, in bringing us out of Egypt?   12 Is not this what we said to you in Egypt, "Let us alone and let us serve the Egyptians'? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness."   13 And Moses said to the people, "Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will work for you today; for the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall never see again.   14 The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to be still."   15 The Lord said to Moses, "Why do you cry to me? Tell the people of Israel to go forward.   16 Lift up your rod, and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it, that the people of Israel may go on dry ground through the sea.   17 And I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians so that they shall go in after them, and I will get glory over Pharaoh and all his host, his chariots, and his horsemen.   18 And the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, when I have gotten glory over Pharaoh, his chariots, and his horsemen."   19 Then the angel of God who went before the host of Israel moved and went behind them; and the pillar of cloud moved from before them and stood behind them,   20 coming between the host of Egypt and the host of Israel. And there was the cloud and the darkness; and the night passed without one coming near the other all night.   21 Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and the Lord drove the sea back by a strong east wind all night, and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided.   22 And the people of Israel went into the midst of the sea on dry ground, the waters being a wall to them on their right hand and on their left.   23 The Egyptians pursued, and went in after them into the midst of the sea, all Pharaoh's horses, his chariots, and his horsemen.   24 And in the morning watch the Lord in the pillar of fire and of cloud looked down upon the host of the Egyptians, and discomfited the host of the Egyptians,   25 clogging their chariot wheels so that they drove heavily; and the Egyptians said, "Let us flee from before Israel; for the Lord fights for them against the Egyptians."   26 Then the Lord said to Moses, "Stretch out your hand over the sea, that the water may come back upon the Egyptians, upon their chariots, and upon their horsemen."   27 So Moses stretched forth his hand over the sea, and the sea returned to its wonted flow when the morning appeared; and the Egyptians fled into it, and the Lord routed the Egyptians in the midst of the sea.   28 The waters returned and covered the chariots and the horsemen and all the host of Pharaoh that had followed them into the sea; not so much as one of them remained.   29 But the people of Israel walked on dry ground through the sea, the waters being a wall to them on their right hand and on their left.   30 Thus the Lord saved Israel that day from the hand of the Egyptians; and Israel saw the Egyptians dead upon the seashore.   31 And Israel saw the great work which the Lord did against the Egyptians, and the people feared the Lord; and they believed in the Lord and in his servant Moses.

 

Exodus 19:1 On the third new moon after the people of Israel had gone forth out of the land of Egypt, on that day they came into the wilderness of Sinai.   2 And when they set out from Rephidim and came into the wilderness of Sinai, they encamped in the wilderness; and there Israel encamped before the mountain.   3 And Moses went up to God, and the Lord called to him out of the mountain, saying, "Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob, and tell the people of Israel:   4 You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles' wings and brought you to myself.   5 Now therefore, if you will obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my own possession among all peoples; for all the earth is mine,   6 and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. These are the words which you shall speak to the children of Israel."   7 So Moses came and called the elders of the people, and set before them all these words which the Lord had commanded him.   8 And all the people answered together and said, "All that the Lord has spoken we will do." And Moses reported the words of the people to the Lord.   9 And the Lord said to Moses. "Lo, I am coming to you in a thick cloud, that the people may hear when I speak with you, and may also believe you for ever." Then Moses told the words of the people to the Lord.   10 And the Lord said to Moses, "Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow, and let them wash their garments,   11 and be ready by the third day; for on the third day the Lord will come down upon Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people.   12 And you shall set bounds for the people round about, saying, "Take heed that you do not go up into the mountain or touch the border of it; whoever touches the mountain shall be put to death;   13 no hand shall touch him, but he shall be stoned or shot; whether beast or man, he shall not live.' When the trumpet sounds a long blast, they shall come up to the mountain."   14 So Moses went down from the mountain to the people, and consecrated the people; and they washed their garments.   15 And he said to the people, "Be ready by the third day; do not go near a woman."   16 On the morning of the third day there were thunders and lightnings, and a thick cloud upon the mountain, and a very loud trumpet blast, so that all the people who were in the camp trembled.   17 Then Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God; and they took their stand at the foot of the mountain.   18 And Mount Sinai was wrapped in smoke, because the Lord descended upon it in fire; and the smoke of it went up like the smoke of a kiln, and the whole mountain quaked greatly.   19 And as the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder, Moses spoke, and God answered him in thunder.   20 And the Lord came down upon Mount Sinai, to the top of the mountain; and the Lord called Moses to the top of the mountain, and Moses went up.   21 And the Lord said to Moses, "Go down and warn the people, lest they break through to the Lord to gaze and many of them perish.   22 And also let the priests who come near to the Lord consecrate themselves, lest the Lord break out upon them."   23 And Moses said to the Lord, "The people cannot come up to Mount Sinai; for thou thyself didst charge us, saying, "Set bounds about the mountain, and consecrate it.' "   24 And the Lord said to him, "Go down, and come up bringing Aaron with you; but do not let the priests and the people break through to come up to the Lord, lest he break out against them."   25 So Moses went down to the people and told them.

 

Exodus 20:1 And God spoke all these words, saying,   2 "I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.   3 "You shall have no other gods before me.   4 "You shall not make for yourself a graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth;   5 you shall not bow down to them or serve them; for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me,   6 but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.   7 "You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.   8 "Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.   9 Six days you shall labor, and do all your work;   10 but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God; in it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your manservant, or your maidservant, or your cattle, or the sojourner who is within your gates;   11 for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day and hallowed it.   12 "Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land which the Lord your God gives you.   13 "You shall not kill.   14 "You shall not commit adultery.   15 "You shall not steal.   16 "You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.   17 "You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his manservant, or his maidservant, or his ox, or his ass, or anything that is your neighbor's."   18 Now when all the people perceived the thunderings and the lightnings and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking, the people were afraid and trembled; and they stood afar off,   19 and said to Moses, "You speak to us, and we will hear; but let not God speak to us, lest we die."   20 And Moses said to the people, "Do not fear; for God has come to prove you, and that the fear of him may be before your eyes, that you may not sin."   21 And the people stood afar off, while Moses drew near to the thick darkness where God was.   22 And the Lord said to Moses, "Thus you shall say to the people of Israel: "You have seen for yourselves that I have talked with you from heaven.   23 You shall not make gods of silver to be with me, nor shall you make for yourselves gods of gold.   24 An altar of earth you shall make 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 remembered I will come to you and bless you.   25 And if you make me an altar of stone, you shall not build it of hewn stones; for if you wield your tool upon it you profane it.   26 And you shall not go up by steps to my altar, that your nakedness be not exposed on it.'

 

Exodus 21:1 "Now these are the ordinances which you shall set before them.   2 When you buy a Hebrew slave, he shall serve six years, and in the seventh he shall go out free, for nothing.   3 If he comes in single, he shall go out single; if he comes in married, then his wife shall go out with him.   4 If his master gives him a wife and she bears him sons or daughters, the wife and her children shall be her master's and he shall go out alone.   5 But if the slave plainly says, "I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free,'   6 then his master shall bring him to God, and he shall bring him to the door or the doorpost; and his master shall bore his ear through with an awl; and he shall serve him for life.   7 "When a man sells his daughter as a slave, she shall not go out as the male slaves do.   8 If she does not please her master, who has designated her for himself, then he shall let her be redeemed; he shall have no right to sell her to a foreign people, since he has dealt faithlessly with her.   9 If he designates her for his son, he shall deal with her as with a daughter.   10 If he takes another wife to himself, he shall not diminish her food, her clothing, or her marital rights.   11 And if he does not do these three things for her, she shall go out for nothing, without payment of money.   12 "Whoever strikes a man so that he dies shall be put to death.   13 But if he did not lie in wait for him, but God let him fall into his hand, then I will appoint for you a place to which he may flee.   14 But if a man willfully attacks another to kill him treacherously, you shall take him from my altar, that he may die.   15 "Whoever strikes his father or his mother shall be put to death.   16 "Whoever steals a man, whether he sells him or is found in possession of him, shall be put to death.   17 "Whoever curses his father or his mother shall be put to death.   18 "When men quarrel and one strikes the other with a stone or with his fist and the man does not die but keeps his bed,   19 then if the man rises again and walks abroad with his staff, he that struck him shall be clear; only he shall pay for the loss of his time, and shall have him thoroughly healed.   20 "When a man strikes his slave, male or female, with a rod and the slave dies under his hand, he shall be punished.   21 But if the slave survives a day or two, he is not to be punished; for the slave is his money.   22 "When men strive together, and hurt a woman with child, so that there is a miscarriage, and yet no harm follows, the one who hurt her shall be fined, according as the woman's husband shall lay upon him; and he shall pay as the judges determine.   23 If any harm follows, then you shall give life for life,   24 eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot,   25 burn for burn, wound for wound, stripe for stripe.

 

Deuteronomy

 

Deuteronomy 4:1 "And now, O Israel, give heed to the statutes and the ordinances which I teach you, and do them; that you may live, and go in and take possession of the land which the Lord, the God of your fathers, gives you.   2 You shall not add to the word which I command you, nor take from it; that you may keep the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you.   3 Your eyes have seen what the Lord did at Baal-peor; for the Lord your God destroyed from among you all the men who followed the Baal of Peor;   4 but you who held fast to the Lord your God are all alive this day.   5 Behold, I have taught you statutes and ordinances, as the Lord my God commanded me, that you should do them in the land which you are entering to take possession of it.   6 Keep them and do them; for that will be your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples, who, when they hear all these statutes, will say, "Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.'   7 For what great nation is there that has a god so near to it as the Lord our God is to us, whenever we call upon him?   8 And what great nation is there, that has statutes and ordinances so righteous as all this law which I set before you this day?   9 "Only take heed, and keep your soul diligently, lest you forget the things which your eyes have seen, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life; make them known to your children and your children's children-   10 how on the day that you stood before the Lord your God at Horeb, the Lord said to me, "Gather the people to me, that I may let them hear my words, so that they may learn to fear me all the days that they live upon the earth, and that they may teach their children so.'   11 And you came near and stood at the foot of the mountain, while the mountain burned with fire to the heart of heaven, wrapped in darkness, cloud, and gloom.   12 Then the Lord spoke to you out of the midst of the fire; you heard the sound of words, but saw no form; there was only a voice.   13 And he declared to you his covenant, which he commanded you to perform, that is, the ten commandments; and he wrote them upon two tables of stone.   14 And the Lord commanded me at that time to teach you statutes and ordinances, that you might do them in the land which you are going over to possess.   15 "Therefore take good heed to yourselves. Since you saw no form on the day that the Lord spoke to you at Horeb out of the midst of the fire,   16 beware lest you act corruptly by making a graven image for yourselves, in the form of any figure, the likeness of male or female,   17 the likeness of any beast that is on the earth, the likeness of any winged bird that flies in the air,   18 the likeness of anything that creeps on the ground, the likeness of any fish that is in the water under the earth.   19 And beware lest you lift up your eyes to heaven, and when you see the sun and the moon and the stars, all the host of heaven, you be drawn away and worship them and serve them, things which the Lord your God has allotted to all the peoples under the whole heaven.   20 But the Lord has taken you, and brought you forth out of the iron furnace, out of Egypt, to be a people of his own possession, as at this day.   21 Furthermore the Lord was angry with me on your account, and he swore that I should not cross the Jordan, and that I should not enter the good land which the Lord your God gives you for an inheritance.   22 For I must die in this land, I must not go over the Jordan; but you shall go over and take possession of that good land.   23 Take heed to yourselves, lest you forget the covenant of the Lord your God, which he made with you, and make a graven image in the form of anything which the Lord your God has forbidden you.   24 For the Lord your God is a devouring fire, a jealous God.   25 "When you beget children and children's children, and have grown old in the land, if you act corruptly by making a graven image in the form of anything, and by doing what is evil in the sight of the Lord your God, so as to provoke him to anger,   26 I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that you will soon utterly perish from the land which you are going over the Jordan to possess; you will not live long upon it, but will be utterly destroyed.   27 And the Lord will scatter you among the peoples, and you will be left few in number among the nations where the Lord will drive you.   28 And there you will serve gods of wood and stone, the work of men's hands, that neither see, nor hear, nor eat, nor smell.   29 But from there you will seek the Lord your God, and you will find him, if you search after him with all your heart and with all your soul.   30 When you are in tribulation, and all these things come upon you in the latter days, you will return to the Lord your God and obey his voice,   31 for the Lord your God is a merciful God; he will not fail you or destroy you or forget the covenant with your fathers which he swore to them.   32 "For ask now of the days that are past, which were before you, since the day that God created man upon the earth, and ask from one end of heaven to the other, whether such a great thing as this has ever happened or was ever heard of.   33 Did any people ever hear the voice of a god speaking out of the midst of the fire, as you have heard, and still live?   34 Or has any god ever attempted to go and take a nation for himself from the midst of another nation, by trials, by signs, by wonders, and by war, by a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, and by great terrors, according to all that the Lord your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes?   35 To you it was shown, that you might know that the Lord is God; there is no other besides him.   36 Out of heaven he let you hear his voice, that he might discipline you; and on earth he let you see his great fire, and you heard his words out of the midst of the fire.   37 And because he loved your fathers and chose their descendants after them, and brought you out of Egypt with his own presence, by his great power,   38 driving out before you nations greater and mightier than yourselves, to bring you in, to give you their land for an inheritance, as at this day;   39 know therefore this day, and lay it to your heart, that the Lord is God in heaven above and on the earth beneath; there is no other.   40 Therefore you shall keep his statutes and his commandments, which I command you this day, that it may go well with you, and with your children after you, and that you may prolong your days in the land which the Lord your God gives you for ever."   41 Then Moses set apart three cities in the east beyond the Jordan,   42 that the manslayer might flee there, who kills his neighbor unintentionally, without being at enmity with him in time past, and that by fleeing to one of these cities he might save his life:   43 Bezer in the wilderness on the tableland for the Reubenites, and Ramoth in Gilead for the Gadites, and Golan in Bashan for the Manassites.   44 This is the law which Moses set before the children of Israel;   45 these are the testimonies, the statutes, and the ordinances, which Moses spoke to the children of Israel when they came out of Egypt,   46 beyond the Jordan in the valley opposite Beth-peor, in the land of Sihon the king of the Amorites, who lived at Heshbon, whom Moses and the children of Israel defeated when they came out of Egypt.   47 And they took possession of his land and the land of Og the king of Bashan, the two kings of the Amorites, who lived to the east beyond the Jordan;   48 from Aroer, which is on the edge of the valley of the Arnon, as far as Mount Sirion (that is, Hermon),   49 together with all the Arabah on the east side of the Jordan as far as the Sea of the Arabah, under the slopes of Pisgah.

 

Deuteronomy 6:1 "Now this is the commandment, the statutes and the ordinances which the Lord your God commanded me to teach you, that you may do them in the land to which you are going over, to possess it;   2 that you may fear the Lord you God, you and your son and your son's son, by keeping all his statutes and his commandments, which I command you, all the days of your life; and that your days may be prolonged.   3 Hear therefore, O Israel, and be careful to do them; that it may go well with you, and that you may multiply greatly, as the Lord, the God of your fathers, has promised you, in a land flowing with milk and honey.   4 "Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord;   5 and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might.   6 And these words which I command you this day shall be upon your heart;   7 and you shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.   8 And you shall bind them as a sign upon your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes.   9 And you shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.   10 "And when the Lord your God brings you into the land which he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give you, with great and goodly cities, which you did not build,   11 and houses full of all good things, which you did not fill, and cisterns hewn out, which you did not hew, and vineyards and olive trees, which you did not plant, and when you eat and are full,   12 then take heed lest you forget the Lord, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.   13 You shall fear the Lord your God; you shall serve him, and swear by his name.   14 You shall not go after other gods, of the gods of the peoples who are round about you;   15 for the Lord your God in the midst of you is a jealous God; lest the anger of the Lord your God be kindled against you, and he destroy you from off the face of the earth.  

 

2 Samuel

 

2 Samuel 7:8 Now therefore thus you shall say to my servant David, "Thus says the Lord of hosts, I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep, that you should be prince over my people Israel;   9 and I have been with you wherever you went, and have cut off all your enemies from before you; and I will make for you a great name, like the name of the great ones of the earth.   10 And I will appoint a place for my people Israel, and will plant them, that they may dwell in their own place, and be disturbed no more; and violent men shall afflict them no more, as formerly,   11 from the time that I appointed judges over my people Israel; and I will give you rest from all your enemies. Moreover the Lord declares to you that the Lord will make you a house.   12 When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come forth from your body, and I will establish his kingdom.   13 He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom for ever.   14 I will be his father, and he shall be my son. When he commits iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men, with the stripes of the sons of men;   15 but I will not take my steadfast love from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away from before you.   16 And your house and your kingdom shall be made sure for ever before me; your throne shall be established for ever.' "   17 In accordance with all these words, and in accordance with all this vision, Nathan spoke to David.   18 Then King David went in and sat before the Lord, and said, "Who am I, O Lord God, and what is my house, that thou hast brought me thus far?   19 And yet this was a small thing in thy eyes, O Lord God; thou hast spoken also of thy servant's house for a great while to come, and hast shown me future generations, O Lord God!   20 And what more can David say to thee? For thou knowest thy servant, O Lord God!   21 Because of thy promise, and according to thy own heart, thou hast wrought all this greatness, to make thy servant know it.   22 Therefore thou art great, O Lord God; for there is none like thee, and there is no God besides thee, according to all that we have heard with our ears.   23 What other nation on earth is like thy people Israel, whom God went to redeem to be his people, making himself a name, and doing for them great and terrible things, by driving out before his people a nation and its gods?   24 And thou didst establish for thyself thy people Israel to be thy people for ever; and thou, O Lord, didst become their God.   25 And now, O Lord God, confirm for ever the word which thou hast spoken concerning thy servant and concerning his house, and do as thou hast spoken;   26 and thy name will be magnified for ever, saying, "The Lord of hosts is God over Israel,' and the house of thy servant David will be established before thee.   27 For thou, O Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, hast made this revelation to thy servant, saying, "I will build you a house'; therefore thy servant has found courage to pray this prayer to thee.   28 And now, O Lord God, thou art God, and thy words are true, and thou hast promised this good thing to thy servant;   29 now therefore may it please thee to bless the house of thy servant, that it may continue for ever before thee; for thou, O Lord God, hast spoken, and with thy blessing shall the house of thy servant be blessed for ever."

 

1 Kings

 

1 Kings 19:1 Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and how he had slain all the prophets with the sword.   2 Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, "So may the gods do to me and more also, if I do not make your life as the life of one of them by this time tomorrow."   3 Then he was afraid, and he arose and went for his life, and came to Beer-sheba, which belongs to Judah, and left his servant there.   4 But he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a broom tree; and he asked that he might die, saying, "It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life; for I am no better than my fathers."   5 And he lay down and slept under a broom tree; and behold, an angel touched him, and said to him, "Arise and eat."   6 And he looked, and behold, there was at his head a cake baked on hot stones and a jar of water. And he ate and drank, and lay down again.   7 And the angel of the Lord came again a second time, and touched him, and said, "Arise and eat, else the journey will be too great for you."   8 And he arose, and ate and drank, and went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to Horeb the mount of God.   9 And there he came to a cave, and lodged there; and behold, the word of the Lord came to him, and he said to him, "What are you doing here, Elijah?"   10 He said, "I have been very jealous for the Lord, the God of hosts; for the people of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thy altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away."   11 And he said, "Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the Lord." And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and broke in pieces the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake;   12 and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a still small voice.   13 And when Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. And behold, there came a voice to him, and said, "What are you doing here, Elijah?"