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Old Testament

Exodus

40 chapters

Start reading: Exodus 1

About this book

Exodus tells how God rescued the descendants of Abraham from slavery in Egypt and made them his covenant people. It begins with Israel oppressed and a baby, Moses, saved from Pharaoh's decree. God calls Moses at a burning bush, reveals his name and sends him to confront Pharaoh. Ten plagues follow, the first Passover marks the night of release, and the sea opens for the people to escape. In the wilderness God feeds and guides them, then meets them at Mount Sinai, where he gives the Ten Commandments and a body of laws that shape a whole way of life. The people quickly break the covenant with a golden calf, yet Moses pleads for them and God renews his promise, revealing himself as merciful and gracious. The book closes with the tabernacle built and God's glory filling it. Exodus is the great Old Testament picture of redemption, and later writers, including the New Testament authors, keep returning to it.

Author
Tradition names Moses; many scholars think the book reached its final form later from older material.
Date
The events are usually placed in the 15th or 13th century BC; scholars debate both the exodus and the writing.
Audience
Israel, gathered as God's people and remembering who rescued them.

Themes

Redemption from slaveryGod's name and presenceThe covenant at SinaiWorship and the tabernacleGod's mercy after failure

Outline

  1. 1:1–2:25Oppression and the birth of Moses
  2. 3:1–6:30The call of Moses
  3. 7:1–15:21Plagues, Passover and the sea
  4. 15:22–18:27Provision in the wilderness
  5. 19:1–24:18The covenant at Sinai
  6. 25:1–31:18Plans for the tabernacle
  7. 32:1–34:35The golden calf and renewal
  8. 35:1–40:38Building and filling the tabernacle

Key verses

Exodus 3:13-14Exodus 14:13-14Exodus 20:1-3Exodus 34:6-7

Chapters of Exodus

  1. 1Exodus 1Jacob's descendants in Egypt multiply until the land is filled with them, and a new king who did not know Joseph fears their numbers.
  2. 2Exodus 2A Levite woman hides her baby boy for three months, then places him in a basket among the reeds of the Nile, with his sister watching.
  3. 3Exodus 3While tending Jethro's flock near Horeb, Moses sees a bush that burns without being consumed, and God calls to him from it, telling him to remove his sandals because the ground is holy.
  4. 4Exodus 4Moses fears the people will not believe him, so God gives him three signs: his staff becomes a snake, his hand turns leprous and is healed, and Nile water becomes blood.
  5. 5Exodus 5Moses and Aaron ask Pharaoh to let the people hold a festival in the wilderness, but Pharaoh answers that he does not know the Lord and will not release Israel.
  6. 6Exodus 6God answers Moses that Pharaoh will be forced to let Israel go.
  7. 7Exodus 7God tells Moses he will be like God to Pharaoh, with Aaron as his prophet, and that Pharaoh's heart will be hardened so that God can multiply signs so the Egyptians will know he is the Lord.
  8. 8Exodus 8The plagues continue.
  9. 9Exodus 9Three more plagues fall on Egypt.
  10. 10Exodus 10God sends two more plagues, telling Moses that these signs are so that future generations will know he is the Lord.
  11. 11Exodus 11God tells Moses that one more plague will make Pharaoh let Israel go and even drive them out.
  12. 12Exodus 12God establishes the Passover and makes this month the first of the year.
  13. 13Exodus 13God claims every firstborn male of Israel and animal as his own, in memory of the deliverance from Egypt, and Moses tells the people to remember this day, eat unleavened bread for seven days and explain the meaning to their children.
  14. 14Exodus 14Pharaoh regrets releasing Israel and pursues them with chariots, trapping them against the sea.
  15. 15Exodus 15Moses and the Israelites sing a song of victory to the Lord, who has triumphed gloriously by throwing horse and rider into the sea.
  16. 16Exodus 16A month and a half after leaving Egypt, the community complains in the Desert of Sin that they would rather have died in Egypt with pots of meat than starve.
  17. 17Exodus 17At Rephidim there is no water, and the people quarrel with Moses and test the Lord by asking whether he is among them.
  18. 18Exodus 18Jethro, Moses' father-in-law, brings Zipporah and her two sons to Moses in the wilderness.
  19. 19Exodus 19Three months after leaving Egypt, Israel camps before Mount Sinai.
  20. 20Exodus 20God speaks the Ten Commandments to Israel after reminding them that he brought them out of slavery.
  21. 21Exodus 21God gives Moses the first of the civil laws that spell out how the covenant people are to live together.
  22. 22Exodus 22The laws continue with rules about property, such as restitution for theft, damage caused by livestock or fire, and items entrusted to a neighbor.
  23. 23Exodus 23God calls for honesty and fairness in court: no false reports, no following the crowd to do wrong, no favoritism to the poor or bias against them, and no bribes.
  24. 24Exodus 24The covenant is sealed at Sinai.
  25. 25Exodus 25On the mountain God asks Israel to bring offerings from willing hearts, including gold, silver, bronze, fabrics, oil, spices and precious stones, so that they can build a sanctuary and God may dwell among them.
  26. 26Exodus 26God gives detailed instructions for the tabernacle itself, a portable tent of worship.
  27. 27Exodus 27God instructs Moses to build the bronze altar of burnt offering, an acacia-wood box overlaid with bronze, with horns on its four corners and carrying poles, to be placed in the courtyard.
  28. 28Exodus 28God sets apart Aaron and his sons as priests and commands sacred garments made for their glory and dignity by skilled craftsmen.
  29. 29Exodus 29God gives the ceremony for consecrating Aaron and his sons as priests: they are washed, dressed in the sacred garments and anointed with oil, and sacrifices of a bull and two rams are offered, with blood applied to their right ear, thumb and toe and sprinkled on the altar and on them.
  30. 30Exodus 30God commands an altar of incense of acacia wood overlaid with gold, to be placed before the curtain, where Aaron burns fragrant incense every morning and evening.
  31. 31Exodus 31God names Bezalel of Judah and Oholiab of Dan as craftsmen, filling Bezalel with the Spirit of God, with skill, ability and knowledge in every kind of craft, to make everything commanded for the tabernacle.
  32. 32Exodus 32While Moses is delayed on the mountain, the people ask Aaron to make gods for them, and Aaron collects their gold earrings and fashions a golden calf, then announces a festival to the Lord.
  33. 33Exodus 33God tells Moses to go on to the promised land but says he himself will not go with a stiff-necked people, and the Israelites mourn.
  34. 34Exodus 34God tells Moses to cut two new stone tablets and meet him on Sinai.
  35. 35Exodus 35Moses assembles the Israelites and repeats the Sabbath command, then asks for offerings for the tabernacle from everyone whose heart is willing.
  36. 36Exodus 36Bezalel, Oholiab and every skilled person begin the work.
  37. 37Exodus 37Bezalel makes the furnishings of the tabernacle just as described.
  38. 38Exodus 38Bezalel makes the bronze altar of burnt offering with its utensils, and the bronze basin from the mirrors of the women who served at the entrance to the tent.
  39. 39Exodus 39The craftsmen make the priestly garments for Aaron as the Lord commanded Moses: the ephod of gold, blue, purple and scarlet yarn and fine linen, the onyx stones engraved with the names of the tribes, the breastpiece with its twelve stones, the blue robe with bells and pomegranates, the tunics, turbans and sashes, and the gold plate engraved Holy to the Lord.
  40. 40Exodus 40On the first day of the first month, in the second year after leaving Egypt, God tells Moses to set up the tabernacle.
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