The Book of the Covenant

Then the LORD said to Moses, “This is what you are to tell the Israelites: ‘You have seen for yourselves that I have spoken to you from heaven. You are not to make any gods alongside Me; you are not to make for yourselves gods of silver or gold.

The LORD opens the laws by recalling that Israel heard Him speak from heaven, and He forbids gods of silver or gold beside Him.

You are to make for Me an altar of earth, and sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and peace offerings, your sheep and goats and cattle. In every place where I cause My name to be remembered, I will come to you and bless you. Now if you make an altar of stones for Me, you must not build it with stones shaped by tools; for if you use a chisel on it, you will defile it. And you must not go up to My altar on steps, lest your nakedness be exposed on it.’

The first law governs the place of worship before any law governs a neighbor.

“These are the ordinances that you are to set before them: If you buy a Hebrew servant, he is to serve you for six years. But in the seventh year, he shall go free without paying anything.

The ordinances open with the release of a Hebrew servant, the first case the judges would hear.

But if the servant declares, ‘I love my master and my wife and children; I do not want to go free,’ then his master is to bring him before the judges. And he shall take him to the door or doorpost and pierce his ear with an awl. Then he shall serve his master for life.

The law lets the servant refuse his release, and it sets that choice before the judges.

If a fellow Hebrew, a man or a woman, is sold to you and serves you six years, then in the seventh year you must set him free. And when you release him, do not send him away empty-handed. You are to furnish him liberally from your flock, your threshing floor, and your winepress. You shall give to him as the LORD your God has blessed you.

Deuteronomy repeats the seventh-year release and adds that the servant must not leave empty-handed.

“This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: I made a covenant with your forefathers when I brought them out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, saying: Every seventh year, each of you must free his Hebrew brother who has sold himself to you. He may serve you six years, but then you must let him go free. But your fathers did not listen or incline their ear.

Jeremiah recalls the release as part of the covenant made when Israel left Egypt and says the fathers did not listen.

Whoever strikes and kills a man must surely be put to death. If, however, he did not lie in wait, but God allowed it to happen, then I will appoint for you a place where he may flee. But if a man schemes and acts willfully against his neighbor to kill him, you must take him away from My altar to be put to death.

The law separates the killer who lay in wait from the one who did not, and it gives the second a place to flee.

If a man strikes his manservant or maidservant with a rod, and the servant dies by his hand, he shall surely be punished. However, if the servant gets up after a day or two, the owner shall not be punished, since the servant is his property.

The death of a servant at his master's hand is a crime the master must answer for.

If a man strikes and blinds the eye of his manservant or maidservant, he must let the servant go free as compensation for the eye. And if he knocks out the tooth of his manservant or maidservant, he must let the servant go free as compensation for the tooth.

A master who maims a servant must let the servant go free, which limits his power over the servant's body.

If an ox gores a man or woman to death, the ox must surely be stoned, and its meat must not be eaten. But the owner of the ox shall not be held responsible. But if the ox has a habit of goring, and its owner has been warned yet does not restrain it, and it kills a man or woman, then the ox must be stoned and its owner must also be put to death. If payment is demanded of him instead, he may redeem his life by paying the full amount demanded of him.

The law weighs what the owner knew before his animal killed.

If a man opens or digs a pit and fails to cover it, and an ox or a donkey falls into it, the owner of the pit shall make restitution; he must pay its owner, and the dead animal will be his.

The man who leaves a pit open pays for the loss it causes.

“If a man steals an ox or a sheep and slaughters or sells it, he must repay five oxen for an ox and four sheep for a sheep. If a thief is caught breaking in and is beaten to death, no one shall be guilty of bloodshed. But if it happens after sunrise, there is guilt for his bloodshed. A thief must make full restitution; if he has nothing, he himself shall be sold for his theft. If what was stolen is actually found alive in his possession—whether ox or donkey or sheep—he must pay back double.

The measure of repayment for theft depends on what became of the stolen animal.

If a man seduces a virgin who is not pledged in marriage and sleeps with her, he must pay the full dowry for her to be his wife. If her father absolutely refuses to give her to him, the man still must pay an amount comparable to the bridal price of a virgin.

The first case of this group protects a woman not yet pledged in marriage.

You must not allow a sorceress to live. Whoever lies with an animal must surely be put to death. If anyone sacrifices to any god other than the LORD alone, he must be set apart for destruction.

The penalties rise to death or destruction for sorcery, for lying with an animal and for sacrifice to another god.

You must not exploit or oppress a foreign resident, for you yourselves were foreigners in the land of Egypt. You must not mistreat any widow or orphan. If you do mistreat them, and they cry out to Me in distress, I will surely hear their cry. My anger will be kindled, and I will kill you with the sword; then your wives will become widows and your children will be fatherless.

God names no judge for this wrong, and He promises to hear the cry and to punish the oppressor Himself.

If you lend money to one of My people among you who is poor, you must not act as a creditor to him; you are not to charge him interest. If you take your neighbor’s cloak as collateral, return it to him by sunset, because his cloak is the only covering he has for his body. What else will he sleep in? And if he cries out to Me, I will hear, for I am compassionate.

The same care reaches the poor borrower, whose loan carries no interest and whose cloak comes back by sunset.

You must not blaspheme God or curse the ruler of your people.

Reverence for God and for the ruler stand together in one verse.

You must not hold back offerings from your granaries or vats. You are to give Me the firstborn of your sons. You shall do likewise with your cattle and your sheep. Let them stay with their mothers for seven days, but on the eighth day you are to give them to Me. You are to be My holy people. You must not eat the meat of a mauled animal found in the field; you are to throw it to the dogs.

The firstfruits and the firstborn are given to God, and the ban on meat torn by animals stands under the call to be His holy people.

If you encounter your enemy’s stray ox or donkey, you must return it to him. If you see the donkey of one who hates you fallen under its load, do not leave it there; you must help him with it.

The duty to help reaches the animal of a man who hates you.

Do not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds those who see and twists the words of the righteous.

This verse gives the reason behind the ban on bribes in the courts.

For six years you are to sow your land and gather its produce, but in the seventh year you must let it rest and lie fallow, so that the poor among your people may eat from the field and the wild animals may consume what they leave. Do the same with your vineyard and olive grove. For six days you are to do your work, but on the seventh day you must cease, so that your ox and your donkey may rest and the son of your maidservant may be refreshed, as well as the foreign resident.

These verses tie the holy times to the care of those who own nothing.

Pay close attention to everything I have said to you. You must not invoke the names of other gods; they must not be heard on your lips.

The laws of rest end with a charge to keep every word and to leave other gods unnamed.

Three times a year you are to celebrate a feast to Me. You are to keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread as I commanded you: At the appointed time in the month of Abib you are to eat unleavened bread for seven days, because that was the month you came out of Egypt. No one may appear before Me empty-handed. You are also to keep the Feast of Harvest with the firstfruits of the produce from what you sow in the field. And keep the Feast of Ingathering at the end of the year, when you gather your produce from the field. Three times a year all your males are to appear before the Lord GOD.

The harvests of Israel's farms become appointed times of worship in these verses.

Behold, I am sending an angel before you to protect you along the way and to bring you to the place I have prepared. Pay attention to him and listen to his voice; do not defy him, for he will not forgive rebellion, since My Name is in him.

The angel who guides Israel carries the LORD's Name, so to defy him is to defy the LORD.

Little by little I will drive them out ahead of you, until you become fruitful and possess the land. And I will establish your borders from the Red Sea to the Sea of the Philistines, and from the desert to the Euphrates. For I will deliver the inhabitants into your hand, and you will drive them out before you. You shall make no covenant with them or with their gods. They must not remain in your land, lest they cause you to sin against Me. For if you serve their gods, it will surely be a snare to you.”

The laws end on the danger that the peoples of the land would draw Israel into serving their gods.

By speaking of a new covenant, He has made the first one obsolete; and what is obsolete and aging will soon disappear.

Hebrews reads Jeremiah's promise of a new covenant as making the first covenant obsolete.