More drama from Darwinism's apologists

Hype from New Scientist Aside, Lenski's E. coliResearch Shows Evolution of Nothing New

Casey Luskin June 25, 2015 10:45 AM

As we reported in April, the pro-Darwin media love to print triumphalist articles, declaring on the thinnest of evidence that the "creationists" are deathly scared of the latest discoveries in science. Now New Scientist takes a turn, claiming that the E. coli research of Richard Lenski "has become a poster child for evolution, causing consternation among creationists trying to explain away its compelling evidence." Yet read the article carefully, and you'll see that it confirms Lenski's research did not show the evolution of anything new.

New Scientist frames the article this way:

The biggest evolutionary shift occurred after about the 31,500 generation, when one line in one of the 12 populations evolved the ability to feed on citrate

Except that's not true. Normal E. coli already have the ability to feed on citrate -- they just don't typically do it under oxic conditions (i.e., where oxygen is present). The interesting thing about Lenski's research is that his bugs evolved the ability to uptake citrate under oxic conditions. But did anything new evolve? Here's what the article says:

But a mutation in the citrate-eaters allowed them to make an "antiporter" protein, CitT, that allows citrate to cross the membrane and enter the cell. The gene for this protein already existed, but it's usually switched off when oxygen is present.

The antiporter is a kind of revolving door. It allows one molecule to be swapped for another. In this case, the citrate is imported into the cell in exchange for one of three smaller, less-valuable molecules: succinate, fumarate or malate.

What really happened? A switch that normally represses expression of CitT under oxic conditions was broken, so the citrate-uptake pathway got turned on. This isn't the evolution of a new molecular feature. It's the breaking of a molecular feature -- a repressor switch. Of course none of this is disclosed in the article.

But New Scientist isn't done. It goes on:

Those citrate feeders soon became dominant, outcompeting all but one other strain of E. coli, which in turn evolved to exploit the changed environment -- which now contained the three exported molecules.

It did this by making more of a transporter protein called DctA, which imports - at a small energy cost - succinate and other molecules exported by the citrate-eating strain.

But things did not stop there. The citrate-eaters then also started making more DctA to try to claw back some of the succinate and other molecules they were losing in the process of acquiring citrate.

Again, did anything new evolve? No -- all we see is overexpression of pre-existing genes.

So in the end, E. coli are able to eat things that they could already metabolize before the experiments began. A molecular repressor switch has been broken, and another protein has been overexpressed.

Nothing new to see here: these are all the kinds of changes we already know Darwinian evolution can do -- breaking things at the molecular level, or making more of something you already have. This is how New Scientist spins it:

Turner's findings are also yet another example of the mindlessness of evolution. The best solution would be to use a little energy to import citrate directly, the paper says, rather than swapping it for succinate and then spending energy to try to get that succinate back before other bacteria can feed on it.

Bacteria are found almost everywhere on the earth -- from inside virtually every living organism to the deep sea to deep underground. They seem designed to be able to feed on just about anything they encounter. What Lenski may be seeing is the designed ability of bacteria to adapt to new environments using a diverse suite of metabolic pathways they have been gifted with, including the ability to break things or make more of them when needed.

The media will tell you that this shows the amazing power of "mindless" Darwinian evolution. A closer look at the facts reveals nothing of the sort.

Exodus29-35NWT(2013 Edition)

29 “This is what you are to do to sanctify them to serve as priests to me: Take a young bull, two unblemished rams,+ 2 unleavened bread, unleavened ring-shaped loaves mixed with oil, and unleavened wafers spread with oil.+ You are to make them with fine wheat flour 3 and put them in a basket and present them in the basket,+ along with the bull and the two rams.

4 “You will present Aaron and his sons at the entrance of the tent of meeting+ and wash them with water.+ 5 Then you are to take the garments+ and clothe Aaron with the robe, the sleeveless coat of the ephʹod, the ephʹod, and the breastpiece, and you are to tie the woven belt* of the ephʹod securely around his waist.+ 6 You will put the turban on his head and put the holy sign of dedication* on the turban;+ 7 and take the anointing oil+ and pour it on his head and anoint him.+

8 “Then bring his sons forward and clothe them with the robes+ 9 and wrap the sashes around them, Aaron as well as his sons, and put on their headgear; and the priesthood will become theirs as a permanent statute.+ This is how you should install Aaron and his sons to serve as priests.*+

10 “You are now to present the bull before the tent of meeting, and Aaron and his sons will lay their hands on the bull’s head.+ 11 Slaughter the bull before Jehovah, at the entrance of the tent of meeting.+ 12 Take some of the bull’s blood on your finger and put it on the horns of the altar,+ and pour out all the rest of the blood at the base of the altar.+ 13 Then take all the fat+ that covers the intestines, the appendage on the liver, and the two kidneys and the fat that is on them, and burn them so that they smoke on the altar.+ 14 But the bull’s flesh and its skin and its dung, you will burn with fire outside the camp. It is a sin offering.

15 “Then take the one ram, and Aaron and his sons are to lay their hands on the ram’s head.+ 16 Slaughter the ram and take its blood and sprinkle it on all sides of the altar.+ 17 Cut the ram into its pieces, and wash its intestines+ and its shanks, and arrange the pieces together with its head. 18 You must burn the entire ram, making it smoke on the altar. It is a burnt offering to Jehovah, a pleasing* aroma.+ It is an offering made by fire to Jehovah.

19 “Next you are to take the other ram, and Aaron and his sons are to lay their hands on the ram’s head.+ 20 Slaughter the ram and take some of its blood and put it on Aaron’s right earlobe and on his sons’ right earlobe and on the thumb of their right hand and the big toe of their right foot, and sprinkle the blood on all sides of the altar. 21 Then take some of the blood that is on the altar and some of the anointing oil+ and spatter it on Aaron and his garments and on his sons and his sons’ garments, so that he and his garments and his sons and their garments may be holy.+

22 “Then take from the ram the fat, the fat tail, the fat that covers the intestines, the appendage of the liver, the two kidneys and the fat that is on them,+ and the right leg, for it is a ram of installation.+ 23 Take also a round loaf of bread and a ring-shaped loaf of oiled bread and a wafer out of the basket of unleavened bread that is before Jehovah. 24 You must place them all in the hands of Aaron and in the hands of his sons, and you are to wave them back and forth as a wave offering before Jehovah. 25 Then you will take them out of their hands and burn them on the altar, on top of the burnt offering, as a pleasing*aroma before Jehovah. It is an offering made by fire to Jehovah.

26 “Then take the breast of the ram of installation,+ which is offered in behalf of Aaron, and wave it back and forth as a wave offering before Jehovah, and it will become your portion. 27 You are to sanctify the breast of the wave offering and the leg of the sacred portion that was waved and that was taken from the ram of installation,+ from what was offered for Aaron and for his sons. 28 It is to become Aaron’s and his sons’ by a permanent regulation to be carried out by the Israelites, for it is a sacred portion, and it will become a sacred portion to be given by the Israelites.+ It is their sacred portion for Jehovah from their communion sacrifices.+

29 “The holy garments+ that belong to Aaron will be used by his sons+ after him when they are anointed and installed as priests. 30 The priest from among his sons who succeeds him and who comes into the tent of meeting to minister in the holy place will wear them for seven days.+

31 “You will take the ram of installation and boil its flesh in a holy place.+32 Aaron and his sons will eat+ the flesh of the ram and the bread that is in the basket at the entrance of the tent of meeting. 33 They are to eat the things with which atonement was made to install them as priests* and to sanctify them. But an unauthorized person* may not eat them, for they are something holy.+ 34 If any of the flesh of the installation sacrifice and of the bread is left over until the morning, then you must burn what is left with fire.+ It must not be eaten, for it is something holy.

35 “You are to do this way to Aaron and his sons, according to all that I have commanded you. You will take seven days to install them as priests.*+ 36 You will offer the bull of the sin offering daily for an atonement, and you are to purify the altar from sin by making atonement for it, and you must anoint it to sanctify it.+ 37 You will take seven days to make atonement for the altar, and you must sanctify it so that it may become a most holy altar.+ Anyone who touches the altar is to be holy.

38 “This is what you will offer on the altar: two one-year-old rams each day, continually.+ 39 Offer the one young ram in the morning and the other ram at twilight.*+ 40 A tenth part of an eʹphah measure* of fine flour mixed with a fourth of a hin* of beaten oil, and a drink offering of a fourth of a hin of wine, will go for the first young ram. 41 You will offer the second young ram at twilight,*along with the same grain and drink offerings as in the morning. You will render it as a pleasing* aroma, an offering made by fire to Jehovah. 42 It is to be a regular burnt offering throughout your generations at the entrance of the tent of meeting before Jehovah, where I will present myself to you to speak to you there.+

43 “I will present myself there to the Israelites, and it will be sanctified by my glory.+ 44 I will sanctify the tent of meeting and the altar, and I will sanctify Aaron and his sons+ so that they may serve as priests to me. 45 I will reside*among the people of Israel, and I will be their God.+ 46 And they will certainly know that I am Jehovah their God, who brought them out of the land of Egypt so that I may reside among them.+ I am Jehovah their God.

30 “You are to make an altar as a place for burning incense;+ you will make it of acacia wood.+ 2 It should be square, one cubit* long, one cubit wide, and two cubits high. Its horns will be one piece with it.+ 3 You are to overlay it with pure gold: its top surface, its sides all around, and its horns; and you are to make a gold border* around it. 4 You will also make two rings of gold for it below its border* on two opposite sides, and these will hold the poles used to carry it.5 Make the poles of acacia wood and overlay them with gold. 6 You are to put it before the curtain that is near the ark of the Testimony,+ before the cover that is over the Testimony, where I will present myself to you.+

7 “Aaron+ will burn perfumed incense+ on it,+ making it smoke on the altar when he maintains the lamps+ each morning. 8 Also, when Aaron lights the lamps at twilight,* he will burn the incense. It is a regular incense offering before Jehovah throughout your generations. 9 You must not offer on it unauthorized incense+ or a burnt offering or a grain offering, and you must not pour a drink offering on it. 10 Aaron must make atonement on its horns once a year.+ With some of the blood of the sin offering of the atonement,+ he will make atonement for it once a year throughout your generations. It is most holy to Jehovah.”

11 Then Jehovah said to Moses: 12 “Whenever you take a census and count the sons of Israel,+ each one must give a ransom for his life* to Jehovah at the time of the census. This is so that no plague may be brought upon them when they are registered. 13 This is what all those who are registered will give: a half shekel* by the standard shekel of the holy place.*+ Twenty geʹrahs* equal a shekel. A half shekel is the contribution to Jehovah.+ 14 Everyone registered who is 20 years old and up will give Jehovah’s contribution.+ 15 The rich should not give more and the poor should not give less than the half shekel* as a contribution to Jehovah to make atonement for your lives.* 16 You are to take the silver money of the atonement from the Israelites and give it in behalf of the service of the tent of meeting, that it may serve as a remembrance before Jehovah for the Israelites, to make atonement for your lives.”*

17 Jehovah spoke further to Moses, saying: 18 “Make a copper basin and its stand for washing;+ then place it between the tent of meeting and the altar and put water into it.+ 19 Aaron and his sons will wash their hands and their feet there.+ 20 When they go into the tent of meeting or when they approach the altar to minister and to make offerings of fire and smoke to Jehovah, they will wash with water so that they do not die. 21 They must wash their hands and their feet so that they may not die, and it must serve as a permanent regulation for them, for him and his offspring, throughout their generations.”+

22 Jehovah continued to speak to Moses: 23 “Next, take the choicest perfumes: 500 units of solidified myrrh, and half that amount, 250 units, of sweet cinnamon, 250 units of sweet calamus, 24 and 500 units of cassia, measured by the standard shekel of the holy place,*+ along with a hin* of olive oil. 25 Then make out of it a holy anointing oil; it should be skillfully blended together.*+ It is to be a holy anointing oil.

26 “You are to anoint the tent of meeting+ and the ark of the Testimony with it, 27 as well as the table and all its utensils, the lampstand and its utensils, the altar of incense, 28 the altar of burnt offering and all its utensils, and the basin and its stand. 29 You must sanctify them that they may become most holy.+Anyone touching them is to be holy.+ 30 And you will anoint Aaron+ and his sons+ and sanctify them to serve as priests to me.+

31 “You will speak to the Israelites, saying, ‘This is to continue as a holy anointing oil to me during your generations.+ 32 It is not to be applied to the flesh of mankind, and you must not make anything with a composition like it. It is something holy. It is to continue as something holy for you. 33 Anyone who makes an ointment like it and who puts some of it on an unauthorized person*must be cut off* from his people.’”+

34 Then Jehovah said to Moses: “Take equal portions of these perfumes:+stacte drops, onycha, perfumed galbanum, and pure frankincense. 35 Make it into an incense;+ the spice mixture should be skillfully blended,* salted,+ pure, and holy. 36 You are to pound some of it into fine powder and put some of it before the Testimony in the tent of meeting, where I will present myself to you. It should be most holy to you. 37 You must not make for your own use the incense that you make with this composition.+ You are to regard it as something holy to Jehovah. 38 Whoever makes any like it to enjoy its smell must be cut off* from his people.”

31 Jehovah continued to speak to Moses, saying: 2 “See, I have chosen*Bezʹal·el+ the son of Uʹri the son of Hur of the tribe of Judah.+ 3 I will fill him with the spirit of God, giving him wisdom, understanding, and knowledge of every kind of craftsmanship, 4 for making artistic designs, for working with gold, silver, and copper, 5 for cutting and setting stones,+ and for making every kind of wood product.+ 6 Moreover, to assist him I have appointed O·hoʹli·ab+the son of A·hisʹa·mach of the tribe of Dan, and I am putting wisdom into the heart of all those who are skillful,* so that they may make everything I have commanded you:+ 7 the tent of meeting,+ the ark of the Testimony+ and the cover+ that is on it, all the utensils of the tent, 8 the table+ and its utensils, the lampstand of pure gold and all its utensils,+ the altar of incense,+ 9 the altar of burnt offering+ and all its utensils, the basin and its stand,+ 10 the finely woven garments, the holy garments for Aaron the priest, the garments of his sons to serve as priests,+ 11 the anointing oil, and the perfumed incense for the sanctuary.+ They will do everything I have commanded you.”

12 Jehovah said further to Moses: 13 “Speak to the Israelites and tell them, ‘Especially, you are to keep my sabbaths,+ for it is a sign between me and you during your generations in order that you may know that I, Jehovah, am sanctifying you. 14 You must keep the Sabbath, for it is something holy to you.+Whoever profanes it must be put to death. If anyone does any work on it, then that person* must be cut off* from among his people.+ 15 Six days work may be done, but on the seventh day is a sabbath of complete rest.+ It is something holy to Jehovah. Anyone doing work on the Sabbath day must be put to death.16 The Israelites must keep the Sabbath; they must observe the Sabbath during all their generations. It is a lasting covenant. 17 It is an enduring sign between me and the people of Israel,+ for in six days Jehovah made the heavens and the earth and on the seventh day he rested and refreshed himself.’”+

18 Now as soon as he had finished speaking with him on Mount Siʹnai, he gave Moses two tablets of the Testimony,+ tablets of stone written on by God’s finger.+

32 Meanwhile, the people saw that Moses was taking a long time coming down from the mountain.+ So the people gathered around Aaron and said to him: “Get up, make for us a god who will go ahead of us,+ because we do not know what has happened to this Moses, the man who led us up out of the land of Egypt.” 2 At this Aaron said to them: “Take the gold earrings+ from the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters and bring them to me.” 3 So all the people began taking off the gold earrings that were in their ears and bringing them to Aaron.4 Then he took the gold from them, and he formed it with an engraving tool and made it into a statue* of a calf.+ They began to say: “This is your God, O Israel, who led you up out of the land of Egypt.”+

5 When Aaron saw this, he built an altar before it. Then Aaron called out: “There is a festival to Jehovah tomorrow.” 6 So they got up early on the next day and began offering up burnt offerings and presenting communion sacrifices. After that the people sat down to eat and drink. Then they got up to have a good time.+

7 Jehovah now said to Moses: “Go, descend, because your people, whom you led up out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves.+ 8 They have quickly deviated from the way I commanded them to go.+ They have made for themselves a statue* of a calf, and they keep bowing down to it and sacrificing to it and saying, ‘This is your God, O Israel, who led you up out of the land of Egypt.’” 9 Jehovah went on to say to Moses: “I have seen that this is an obstinate* people.+ 10 So now let me be, and I will exterminate them in my burning anger, and let me make a great nation from you instead.”+

11 Then Moses appealed to* Jehovah his God+ and said: “Why, O Jehovah, should you turn your burning anger against your people after bringing them out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand?+ 12 Why should the Egyptians say, ‘He had evil intentions when he led them out. He wanted to kill them in the mountains and exterminate them from the surface of the earth’?+Turn from your burning anger and reconsider* your decision to bring this calamity on your people. 13 Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, to whom you swore by yourself and said: ‘I will multiply your offspring*like the stars of the heavens,+ and I will give all this land that I have designated to your offspring,* so that they may take it as a permanent possession.’”+

14 So Jehovah began to reconsider* the calamity that he had spoken of bringing on his people.+

15 Moses then turned and went down from the mountain with the two tablets of the Testimony+ in his hand.+ The tablets were inscribed on both sides; they were written on the front and on the back. 16 The tablets were the workmanship of God, and the writing was the writing of God engraved on the tablets.+17 When Joshua began to hear the noise of the people because of their shouting, he said to Moses: “There is the sound of battle in the camp.” 18 But Moses said:

“It is not the sound of singing over a victory,*

And it is not the sound of wailing over a defeat;

I hear the sound of another kind of singing.”

19 As soon as Moses got near the camp and saw the calf+ and the dances, his anger began to blaze, and he threw the tablets from his hands and shattered them at the foot of the mountain.+ 20 He took the calf that they had made and he burned it with fire and crushed it into powder;+ then he scattered it on the water and made the Israelites drink it.+ 21 And Moses said to Aaron: “What did this people do to you that you have brought a great sin upon them?” 22 Aaron replied: “Do not be enraged, my lord. You well know that the people are inclined to do evil.+ 23 So they said to me, ‘Make for us a god who will go ahead of us, for we do not know what has happened to this Moses, the man who led us up out of the land of Egypt.’+ 24 So I said to them, ‘Whoever has any gold must take it off and give it to me.’ Then I threw it into the fire and out came this calf.”

25 Moses saw that the people were unrestrained, for Aaron had let them go unrestrained, so that they were a disgrace before their opposers. 26 Then Moses took his position in the gate of the camp and said: “Who is on Jehovah’s side? Come to me!”+ And all the Levites gathered around him. 27 He now said to them: “This is what Jehovah the God of Israel has said, ‘Each of you must fasten on his sword and pass through all the camp from gate to gate, killing his brother, his neighbor, and his close companion.’”+ 28 The Levites did what Moses said. So about 3,000 men were killed on that day. 29 Then Moses said: “Set yourselves apart* for Jehovah today, for each of you has gone against his own son and his own brother;+ today he will give you a blessing.”+

30 On the very next day, Moses said to the people: “You committed a very great sin, and now I will go up to Jehovah to see if I can make amends for your sin.”+ 31 So Moses returned to Jehovah and said: “What a great sin this people has committed! They made themselves a god of gold!+ 32 But now if you are willing, pardon their sin;+ if not, please wipe me out from your book that you have written.”+ 33 However, Jehovah said to Moses: “Whoever has sinned against me, I will wipe him out of my book. 34 Go now, lead the people to the place about which I have spoken to you. Look! My angel will go ahead of you,+and on the day when I make an accounting, I will bring punishment on them for their sin.” 35 Then Jehovah began plaguing the people because they had made the calf, the one that Aaron had made.

33 Jehovah said further to Moses: “Go on your way from here with the people whom you led up out of the land of Egypt. Journey to the land about which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, saying, ‘To your offspring* I will give it.’+2 I will send an angel ahead of you+ and drive out the Caʹnaan·ites, the Amʹor·ites, the Hitʹtites, the Perʹiz·zites, the Hiʹvites, and the Jebʹu·sites.+ 3 Go up to a land flowing with milk and honey.+ But I will not go in the midst of you, for you are an obstinate* people,+ and I might exterminate you on the way.”+

4 When the people heard this harsh word, they began to mourn, and not one of them put on his ornaments. 5 Jehovah said to Moses: “Say to the Israelites, ‘You are an obstinate* people.+ In one moment I could go through the midst of you and exterminate you.+ So now keep your ornaments off while I consider what to do to you.’” 6 So from Mount Hoʹreb onward, the Israelites refrained from wearing* their ornaments.

7 Now Moses took his tent and pitched it outside the camp, at some distance from the camp, and he called it a tent of meeting. Everyone inquiring of Jehovah+ would go out to the tent of meeting, which was outside the camp. 8 As soon as Moses went out to the tent, all the people would rise and stand at the entrance of their own tents, and they would gaze after Moses until he entered into the tent. 9 As soon as Moses would go into the tent, the pillar of cloud+would come down and stand at the entrance of the tent while God spoke with Moses.+ 10 When all the people saw the pillar of cloud standing at the entrance of the tent, each of them rose and bowed down at the entrance of his own tent.11 Jehovah spoke to Moses face-to-face,+ just as one man would speak to another man. When he returned to the camp, Joshua+ the son of Nun, his minister and attendant,+ would not depart from the tent.

12 Now Moses said to Jehovah: “See, you are saying to me, ‘Lead this people up,’ but you have not let me know whom you will send with me. Moreover, you have said, ‘I know you by name,* and you have also found favor in my eyes.’13 Please, if I have found favor in your eyes, make me know your ways,+ so that I may know you and continue to find favor in your eyes. Consider, too, that this nation is your people.”+ 14 So he said: “I myself* will go with you,+ and I will give you rest.”+ 15 Then Moses said to him: “If you yourself are* not going along, do not lead us up from here. 16 How will it be known that I have found favor in your eyes, I and your people? Is it not by your going along with us,+ so that I and your people will be distinguished from every other people on the face of the earth?”+

17 Jehovah went on to say to Moses: “I will also do this thing that you request, because you have found favor in my eyes and I know you by name.”18 Then he said: “Please show me your glory.” 19 But he said: “I will make all my goodness pass before your face, and I will declare before you the name of Jehovah;+ and I will favor the one whom I favor, and I will show mercy to the one to whom I show mercy.”+ 20 But he added: “You cannot see my face, for no man can see me and live.”

21 Jehovah said further: “Here is a place near me. Station yourself on the rock. 22 When my glory is passing by, I will place you in a crevice of the rock, and I will shield you with my hand until I have passed by. 23 After that I will take my hand away, and you will see my back. But my face may not be seen.”+

34 Then Jehovah said to Moses: “Carve out for yourself two tablets of stone like the first ones,+ and I will write on the tablets the words that appeared on the first tablets,+ which you shattered.+ 2 Get ready for the morning, as you will go up in the morning to Mount Siʹnai and station yourself before me there on the top of the mountain.+ 3 But nobody may go up with you, and nobody else should be seen anywhere on the mountain. Not even the flocks or herds should graze in front of that mountain.”+

4 So Moses carved out two tablets of stone like the first ones and got up early in the morning and went up Mount Siʹnai, just as Jehovah had commanded him, and he took the two tablets of stone in his hand. 5 Then Jehovah came down+ in the cloud and stationed himself with him there and declared the name of Jehovah.+ 6 Jehovah was passing before him and declaring: “Jehovah, Jehovah, a God merciful+ and compassionate,*+ slow to anger+ and abundant in loyal love*+ and truth,*+ 7 showing loyal love to thousands,+ pardoning error and transgression and sin,+ but he will by no means leave the guilty unpunished,+ bringing punishment for the error of fathers upon sons and upon grandsons, upon the third generation and upon the fourth generation.”+

8 Moses hurried to bow low to the earth and prostrate himself. 9 Then he said: “If, now, I have found favor in your eyes, O Jehovah, then please, Jehovah, go along with us in our midst,+ although we are an obstinate* people,+ and forgive our error and our sin,+ and take us as your own possession.” 10 In turn he said: “Here I am making a covenant: Before all your people, I will do wonderful things that have never been done* in all the earth or among all the nations,+ and all the people among whom you live will see the work of Jehovah, for it is an awe-inspiring thing that I am doing with you.+

11 “Pay attention to what I am commanding you today.+ Here I am driving out from before you the Amʹor·ites, the Caʹnaan·ites, the Hitʹtites, the Perʹiz·zites, the Hiʹvites, and the Jebʹu·sites.+ 12 Be careful that you do not make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land to which you are going,+ or it may prove to be a snare among you.+ 13 But you are to pull down their altars, you are to shatter their sacred pillars, and their sacred poles* you are to cut down.+ 14 You must not bow down to another god,+ for Jehovah is known for* requiring exclusive devotion.* Yes, he is a God who requires exclusive devotion.+ 15 Be careful not to make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, because when they prostitute themselves to their gods and sacrifice to their gods,+ someone will invite you and you will eat from his sacrifice.+ 16 Then you will surely take some of their daughters for your sons,+ and their daughters will prostitute themselves to their gods and cause your sons to prostitute themselves to their gods.+

17 “You must not make gods of cast metal.+

18 “You are to observe the Festival of Unleavened Bread.+ You will eat unleavened bread, just as I have commanded you; do this for seven days at the appointed time in the month of Aʹbib,*+ because it was in the month of Aʹbib that you came out of Egypt.

19 “Every firstborn male* is mine,+ including all your livestock, whether the first male bull or sheep.+ 20 The firstling of a donkey you are to redeem with a sheep. But if you do not redeem it, then you must break its neck. You are to redeem every firstborn of your sons.+ No one may appear before me empty-handed.

21 “Six days you are to work, but on the seventh day you will rest.*+ Even during plowing time and in harvest, you will rest.

22 “And you will celebrate your Festival of Weeks with the first ripe fruits of the wheat harvest, and the Festival of Ingathering* at the turn of the year.+

23 “Three times a year, all your men* are to appear before the true Lord, Jehovah, the God of Israel.+ 24 For I will drive the nations away from before you,+ and I will enlarge your territory, and nobody will desire your land while you are going up to see the face of Jehovah your God three times a year.

25 “You must not offer the blood of my sacrifice along with anything leavened.+ The sacrifice of the festival of the Passover should not be kept overnight until the morning.+

26 “The best of the first ripe fruits of your soil you are to bring to the house of Jehovah your God.+

“You must not boil a young goat in its mother’s milk.”+

27 Jehovah went on to say to Moses: “You are to write down these words,+because in accordance with these words, I am making a covenant with you and with Israel.”+ 28 And he remained there with Jehovah 40 days and 40 nights. He ate no bread and drank no water.+ And He wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant, the Ten Commandments.*+

29 Moses then came down from Mount Siʹnai, and the two tablets of the Testimony were in his hand.+ When he came down from the mountain, Moses did not know that the skin of his face was emitting rays because he had been speaking with God. 30 When Aaron and all the Israelites saw Moses, they noticed that the skin of his face emitted rays and they were afraid to go near him.+

31 But Moses called to them, so Aaron and all the chieftains of the assembly came to him, and Moses spoke with them. 32 After that all the Israelites came near to him, and he gave them all the commands that Jehovah had given him on Mount Siʹnai.+ 33 When Moses would finish speaking with them, he would put a veil over his face.+ 34 But when Moses would go in before Jehovah to speak with him, he would take off the veil until he went out.+ Then he went out and revealed to the Israelites the commands he had received.+ 35 And the Israelites saw that the skin of Moses’ face emitted rays; then Moses put the veil back over his face until he went in to speak with God.*+

35 Moses later gathered the entire assembly of the Israelites together and said to them: “These are the things that Jehovah has commanded to be done:+2 Work may be done for six days, but the seventh day will become something holy to you, a sabbath of complete rest to Jehovah.+ Anybody doing work on it will be put to death.+ 3 You must not light a fire in any of your dwelling places on the Sabbath day.”

4 Moses then said to the entire assembly of the Israelites: “This is what Jehovah has commanded, 5 ‘Take up a contribution for Jehovah from among yourselves.+ Let everyone with a willing heart+ bring a contribution for Jehovah: gold, silver, copper, 6 blue thread, purple wool, scarlet material, fine linen, goat hair,+ 7 ram skins dyed red, sealskins, acacia wood, 8 oil for the lamps, balsam for the anointing oil and for the perfumed incense,+ 9 onyx stones, and other stones for setting in the ephʹod+ and the breastpiece.+

10 “‘Let all who are skilled*+ among you come and make everything that Jehovah has commanded, 11 namely, the tabernacle with its tent and its covering, its clasps and its panel frames, its bars, its pillars, and its socket pedestals; 12 the Ark+ and its poles,+ the cover,+ and the curtain+ for the screen; 13 the table+ and its poles and all its utensils and the showbread;+14 the lampstand+ for light and its utensils and its lamps and the oil for lighting;+ 15 the altar of incense+ and its poles; the anointing oil and the perfumed incense;+ the screen* for the tabernacle’s entrance; 16 the altar of burnt offering+ and its copper grating, its poles and all its utensils; the basin and its stand;+ 17 the hanging curtains of the courtyard,+ its pillars and its socket pedestals; the screen* of the entrance to the courtyard; 18 the tent pins of the tabernacle and the tent pins of the courtyard and their cords;+ 19 the finely woven garments+ for ministering in the sanctuary, the holy garments for Aaron+the priest, and the garments of his sons for serving as priests.’”

20 So all the assembly of the Israelites went out from before Moses. 21 Then everyone whose heart impelled him+ and everyone whose spirit incited him came and brought their contribution for Jehovah to be used for the tent of meeting, for all its service, and for the holy garments. 22 They kept coming, the men along with the women, each with a willing heart, bringing brooches, earrings, rings, and other jewelry, as well as all sorts of articles of gold. They all presented their offerings* of gold to Jehovah.+ 23 And all who had blue thread, purple wool, scarlet material, fine linen, goat hair, ram skins dyed red, and sealskins brought them. 24 All those contributing silver and copper brought Jehovah’s contribution, and all who had acacia wood for any part of the work brought it.

25 All the skilled women+ spun with their hands, and they brought what they had spun: blue thread, purple wool, scarlet material, and fine linen. 26 And all the skilled women whose hearts impelled them spun the goat hair.

27 And the chieftains brought onyx stones and other stones to be set in the ephʹod and the breastpiece,+ 28 and the balsam and the oil for lighting and for the anointing oil+ and for the perfumed incense.+ 29 All the men and women whose hearts incited them brought something for the work that Jehovah, through Moses, had commanded to be done; the Israelites brought it as a voluntary offering to Jehovah.+

30 Then Moses said to the Israelites: “See, Jehovah has chosen Bezʹal·el the son of Uʹri the son of Hur of the tribe of Judah.+ 31 He has filled him with the spirit of God, giving him wisdom, understanding, and knowledge of every sort of craftsmanship 32 for making artistic designs, for working with gold, silver, and copper, 33 for cutting and setting stones, and for making all kinds of artistic wood products. 34 And he has put it into his heart to teach, he and O·hoʹli·ab+the son of A·hisʹa·mach of the tribe of Dan. 35 He has filled them with skill*+ to do all the work of a craftsman, an embroiderer, and a weaver using blue thread, purple wool, scarlet material, and fine linen, and of a loom worker. These men will do every sort of work and prepare every sort of design.