In Yitro, Moshe’s father-in-law, Yitro, arrives at Isra’el’s encampment and advises them to set up a smoothly functioning legal system. The children of Isra’el experience the divine revelation at Mount Sinai, and hear the Ten Commandments.

1. Yitro 1st Portion (Exo 18)
1 Now Yitro, the priest of Midyan, Moshe’s father-in-law, heard all
that Elohim had done for Moshe and for Isra’el his people, and
that ‫יהוה‬ had brought Isra’el out of Mitsrayim.
2 Yitro, Moshe’s father-in-law, took Moshe’s wife Tzipporah, after
he had sent her away, 3 and her two sons, of which the name
of the one was Gershom [a foreigner there], for Moshe said, “I
have become a sojourner in a foreign land”;

2. Yitro 1st Portion (Exo 18)
4 and the name of the other was Eli‘ezer [my God helps], “For the
Elohim of my father,” said he, “was my helper; and delivered
me from the sword of Pharaoh.”
5 Then Yitro, Moshe’s father-in-law, came with his sons and his
wife to Moshe in the wilderness, where he was encamped near
the mountain of Elohim.

3. Yitro 1st Portion (Exo 18)
6 He sent word to Moshe, “I, your father-in-law Yitro, am coming
to you with your wife and her two sons with her.”
7 So Moshe went out to meet his father-in-law and he bowed
down and kissed him. And they asked each other of their
welfare and went into the tent.

4. Yitro 1st Portion (Exo 18)
8 Moshe told his father-in-law everything that ‫יהוה‬ had done to
Pharaoh and the Mitsrites for Isra’el’s sake and all the hardship
that had befallen them along the way and how ‫יהוה‬ had
delivered them.
9 Yitro rejoiced over all the goodness which ‫יהוה‬ had done for
Isra’el in rescuing them from the hand of the Mitsrites.

5. Yitro 1st Portion (Exo 18)
10 So Yitro said, “Blessed be ‫,יהוה‬ who delivered you from the
hand of the Mitsrites and from the hand of Pharaoh, and who
delivered the people from under the hand of the Mitsrites. 11
Now I know that ‫יהוה‬ is greater than all other gods, for it was
proven when they acted proudly he was above them.”

6. Yitro 1st Portion (Exo 18)
12 Then Yitro, Moshe’s father-in-law, brought a burnt offering and
slaughterings to Elohim, and Aharon came with all the elders of
Isra’el to eat bread with Moshe’s father-in-law before Elohim.

7. Yitro 2nd Portion (Exo 18)
13 And it came to pass on the next day that Moshe sat to judge
the people, and the people stood before Moshe from the
morning until the evening. 14 And when Moshe’s father-in-law
saw all that he did to the people, he said, “What is this thing
that you are doing for the people? Why do you alone sit as
judge, and all the people stand before you from morning until
evening?”

8. Yitro 2nd Portion (Exo 18)
15 And Moshe said to his father-in-law, “Because the people
come to me to seek Elohim. 16 When they have a matter, they
come to me, and I decide between one and another, and I do
make them know the laws of Elohim and his Torot.”
17 And Moshe’s father-in-law said to him, “The thing you are
doing is not good.

9. Yitro 2nd Portion (Exo 18)
18 You shall certainly wear yourself out both you and this people
that is with you. For the matter is too heavy for you; you are not
able to do it yourself alone. 19 Now listen to me. I will counsel
you, and may Elohim be with you. You represent the people
before Elohim, and you shall bring the matters to Elohim.

10. Yitro 2nd Portion (Exo 18)
20 And you shall enlighten them concerning the laws and the
Torot, and you shall show them the way in which they shall
walk and the work they shall do. 21 But you shall seek out of all
the people—able men who fear Elohim, men of truth, hating
unfair gain—and place these over them Isra’el as rulers of
thousands, and rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers
of tens.

11. Yitro 2nd Portion (Exo 18)
22 And they shall judge the people at all times, and it shall be that
every great matter they shall bring to you, but they themselves
shall judge every small matter. So it will be lighter for yourself,
and they shall bear the burden with you. 23 If you do this word,
and Elohim so commands you, then you shall be able to stand,
and all this people also will go to their place in peace.”

12. Yitro 3rd Portion (Exo 18)
24 Moshe listened to the voice of his father-in-law and did all that
he said. 25 And Moshe chose able men out of all Isra’el and
made them heads over the people, rulers of thousands, rulers
of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens. 26 And they
judged the people at all times. The hard matters they brought
to Moshe, but every small matter they decided themselves.

13. Yitro 3rd Portion (Exo 18)
27 And Moshe saw his father in law off, and he went away to his
own land.

14. Yitro 4th Portion (Exo 19)
1 In the third month after the children of Isra’el’s departure from
Mitsrayim—on the very day—they came into the Wilderness of
Sinai. 2 They set out from Refidim, and they came to the
Wilderness of Sinai, and camped in the wilderness, and Isra’el
camped there in front of the mountain.

15. Yitro 4th Portion (Exo 19)
3 Moshe went up to Elohim, and ‫יהוה‬ called to him from the
mountain, saying, “So shall you say to the house of Ya‘akov
and tell the children of Isra’el: 4 ‘You have seen what I did to
the Mitsrites, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought
you to me. 5 Now therefore, if you will obey my voice indeed
and guard my covenant, then you shall be a treasured
possession to me above all people: for all the earth is mine,

16. Yitro 4th Portion (Exo 19)
6 and you shall be to me a reign of cohanim and a set-apart
nation.’ These are the words which you shall speak to the
children of Isra’el.”

17. Yitro 5th Portion (Exo 19)
7 And Moshe came and called for the elders of the people and
set before their faces all these words which ‫יהוה‬ commanded
him. 8 And all the people answered together, and said,
“Everything that ‫יהוה‬ has spoken we shall do.” And Moshe
brought the words of the people to ‫.יהוה‬

18. Yitro 5th Portion (Exo 19)
9 And ‫יהוה‬ said to Moshe, “See, I come to you in the thick cloud,
that the people will hear when I speak with you and believe you
forever.” And Moshe reported the words of the people to ‫.יהוה‬
10 And ‫יהוה‬ said to Moshe, “Go to the people and consecrate
them today and tomorrow. And have them wash their garments
11 and be ready against the third day: for the third day ‫יהוה‬
shall come down in the sight of all the people on Mount Sinai.

19. Yitro 5th Portion (Exo 19)
12 And you shall put limits for the people all around, saying, ‘Take
heed to yourselves, that you do not go up into the mountain or
touch the foot of it. Whoever touches the mountain shall
certainly be put to death. 13 Not a hand shall touch it, but he
shall certainly be stoned or shot through. Whether it be man or
beast, he shall not live.’ When the shofar sounds a long blast,
they may go up to the mountain.”

20. Yitro 5th Portion (Exo 19)
14 So Moshe came down from the mountain to the people and
sanctified the people, and they washed their garments. 15 And
he said to the people, “Be ready for three days; do not come
near a wife.”

21. Yitro 5th Portion (Exo 19)
16 Then it came to pass on the third day, in the morning, that
there were thunders and lightnings, and a thick cloud on the
mountain; and the sound of the shofar was very loud, so that
all the people who were in the camp trembled. 17 And Moshe
brought the people out from the camp to meet with Elohim, and
they stood at the nether part of the mountain.

22. Yitro 5th Portion (Exo 19)
18 Now Mount Sinai was completely in smoke, because ‫יהוה‬
descended upon it in fire. Its smoke ascended like the smoke
of a furnace, and the whole mountain trembled exceedingly. 19
And when the blast of the shofar sounded long and became
louder and louder, Moshe spoke, and Elohim answered him by
a voice.

23. Yitro 6th Portion (Exo 19)
20 And ‫יהוה‬ came down upon Mount Sinai, on the top of the
mountain, and ‫יהוה‬ called Moshe up to the top of the
mountain; and Moshe went up 21 and ‫יהוה‬ said to Moshe, “Go
down and warn the people, lest they break their formation to go
nearer to ‫יהוה‬ to see and many of them fall. 22 And also, the
cohanim, who go near to ‫יהוה‬ consecrate themselves, or else
‫יהוה‬ will break out against them.”

24. Yitro 6th Portion (Exo 19)
23 Moshe said to ‫,יהוה‬ “The people cannot come up to Mount
Sinai, for you warned us saying, ‘Put limits for the mountain
and sanctify it.’ ”
24 But ‫יהוה‬ said to him, “Go down and come up again, you and
Aharon with you. But the cohanim and the people must not
break through to come up to ‫,יהוה‬ or he will break forth upon
them.”
25 So Moshe went down to the people and told them.

25. Yitro 6th Portion (Exo 20)
1 And Elohim spoke all these words, to respond:
2 “I am ‫יהוה‬ your Elohim, who brought you out of the land of
Mitsrayim, out of the house of slavery.
3 “You shall have no other gods before me.
4 “You shall not make for yourself an idol or any likeness of any
thing which is in heaven above or which is on the earth
beneath or which is in the water beneath the earth.

26. Yitro 6th Portion (Exo 20)
5 You shall not bow down to them or serve them; for I, ‫יהוה‬ your
Elohim, am a jealous El, visiting the crookedness of the fathers
upon the children, upon the third and fourth generation of those
who hate me, 6 and I perform loving kindness to thousands of
generations, to those who love me and guard my mitzvot.
7 “You shall not misuse the name of ‫יהוה‬ your Elohim, for ‫יהוה‬
will not leave him unpunished who takes his name in vain.

27. Yitro 6th Portion (Exo 20)
8 “Remember the day, Shabbat, to set it apart. 9 Six days you
shall labour and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a
Shabbat to ‫יהוה‬ your Elohim. In it you shall not do any work,
neither you, nor your son or your daughter, your manservant or
your maidservant, nor your beast, nor your stranger who is
within your gates.

28. Yitro 6th Portion (Exo 20)
11 For in six days ‫יהוה‬ made the heavens and the earth, the sea,
and all that is in them, and he rested on the seventh day.
Therefore ‫יהוה‬ blessed the day, Shabbat, and set it apart.
12 “Respect your father and your mother, in order that your days
may be long in the land that ‫יהוה‬ your Elohim is giving you.

29. Yitro 6th Portion (Exo 20)
13 “You shall not murder.
“You shall not commit adultery.
“You shall not steal.
“You shall not bear false witness against your neighbour.

30. Yitro 6th Portion (Exo 20)
14 “You shall not covet your neighbour’s house, you shall not
covet your neighbour’s wife, or his manservant or his
maidservant, his ox or his donkey, or anything that is your
neighbour’s.”

31. Yitro 7th Portion (Exo 20)
15 And all the people saw the thunders, the lightning flashes, the
sound of the shofar and the mountain smoking, and when the
people saw it, they trembled and stood at a distance 16 and
they said to Moshe, “Speak to us yourself and we will hear. But
let Elohim not speak to us or we will die.”

32. Yitro 7th Portion (Exo 20)
17 Moshe said to the people, “Do not fear; for Elohim has come
in order to prove you, and in order that his fear will be upon
your faces, so that you shall not sin.”
18 The people stood at a distance, while Moshe approached the
thick darkness where Elohim was.

33. Yitro Maftir (Exo 20)
19 Then ‫יהוה‬ said to Moshe, “So shall you say to the children of
Isra’el: ‘You yourselves have seen that I have spoken with you
from heaven: 20 You shall not make with me gods of silver;
neither shall you make for yourselves gods of gold.

34. Yitro Maftir (Exo 20)
21 “‘You shall make an altar of earth for me and you shall
slaughter on it your burnt offerings and your peace offerings,
your sheep and your cattle. Wherever I cause my name to be
remembered, I shall come to you and bless you. 22 If you
make an altar of stones for me, you shall not build them of cut
stones, for if you use your chisel on it, you will defile it.

35. Yitro Maftir (Exo 20)
23 Nor shall you go up by steps to my altar, so that your
nakedness may not be exposed on it.’