Immerse: Beginnings Full Volume - Flipbook - Page 150
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IMMERSE
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BEGINNINGS
34:13-28
trapped. Instead, you must break down their pagan altars, smash their sacred pillars, and cut down their Asherah poles. You must worship no other
gods, for the Lord, whose very name is Jealous, is a God who is jealous
about his relationship with you.
“You must not make a treaty of any kind with the people living in the
land. They lust after their gods, offering sacrifices to them. They will invite you to join them in their sacrificial meals, and you will go with them.
Then you will accept their daughters, who sacrifice to other gods, as wives
for your sons. And they will seduce your sons to commit adultery against
me by worshiping other gods. You must not make any gods of molten
metal for yourselves.
“You must celebrate the Festival of Unleavened Bread. For seven days
the bread you eat must be made without yeast, just as I commanded you.
Celebrate this festival annually at the appointed time in early spring, in the
month of Abib, for that is the anniversary of your departure from Egypt.
“The firstborn of every animal belongs to me, including the firstborn
males from your herds of cattle and your flocks of sheep and goats. A firstborn donkey may be bought back from the Lord by presenting a lamb or
young goat in its place. But if you do not buy it back, you must break its
neck. However, you must buy back every firstborn son.
“No one may appear before me without an offering.
“You have six days each week for your ordinary work, but on the seventh day you must stop working, even during the seasons of plowing and
harvest.
“You must celebrate the Festival of Harvest with the first crop of the
wheat harvest, and celebrate the Festival of the Final Harvest at the end
of the harvest season. Three times each year every man in Israel must appear before the Sovereign, the Lord, the God of Israel. I will drive out the
other nations ahead of you and expand your territory, so no one will covet
and conquer your land while you appear before the Lord your God three
times each year.
“You must not offer the blood of my sacrificial offerings together with
any baked goods containing yeast. And none of the meat of the Passover
sacrifice may be kept over until the next morning.
“As you harvest your crops, bring the very best of the first harvest to the
house of the Lord your God.
“You must not cook a young goat in its mother’s milk.”
Then the Lord said to Moses, “Write down all these instructions, for
they represent the terms of the covenant I am making with you and with
Israel.”
Moses remained there on the mountain with the Lord forty days and
forty nights. In all that time he ate no bread and drank no water. And the