3. No one may go up with you; in fact, no one must be seen anywhere on the mountain. Even the flocks and herds are not to graze in front of that mountain.”
4. Moses cut two stone tablets like the first ones. He got up early in the morning, and taking the two stone tablets in his hand, he climbed Mount Sinai, just as the Lord had commanded him.
5. The Lord came down in a cloud, stood with him there, and proclaimed His name Yahweh.
6. Then the Lord passed in front of him and proclaimed:Yahweh — Yahweh is a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger and rich in faithful love and truth,
7. maintaining faithful love to a thousand generations, forgiving wrongdoing, rebellion, and sin. But He will not leave the guilty unpunished, bringing the consequences of the fathers’ wrongdoing on the children and grandchildren to the third and fourth generation.
8. Moses immediately bowed down to the ground and worshiped.
9. Then he said, “My Lord, if I have indeed found favor in Your sight, my Lord, please go with us. Even though this is a stiff-necked people, forgive our wrongdoing and sin, and accept us as Your own possession.”
10. And the Lord responded: “Look, I am making a covenant. I will perform wonders in the presence of all your people that have never been done in all the earth or in any nation. All the people you live among will see the Lord’s work, for what I am doing with you is awe-inspiring.
11. Observe what I command you today. I am going to drive out before you the Amorites, Canaanites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites.
12. Be careful not to make a treaty with the inhabitants of the land that you are going to enter; otherwise, they will become a snare among you.
13. Instead, you must tear down their altars, smash their sacred pillars, and chop down their Asherah poles.
14. You are never to bow down to another god because Yahweh, being jealous by nature, is a jealous God.
15. “Do not make a treaty with the inhabitants of the land, or else when they prostitute themselves with their gods and sacrifice to their gods, they will invite you, and you will eat their sacrifices.
16. Then you will take some of their daughters as brides for your sons. Their daughters will prostitute themselves with their gods and cause your sons to prostitute themselves with their gods.
17. “Do not make cast images of gods for yourselves.