Exodus 31:1-18
Bezalel and Oholiab
Then the Lord spoke to Moses. He said, “I have chosen Bezalel, the son of Uri. Uri is the son of Hur. Bezalel is from the tribe of Judah. I have filled him with the Spirit of God. I have filled Bezalel with wisdom, with understanding, with knowledge and with all kinds of skill. He can make beautiful patterns in gold, silver and bronze. He can cut and set stones. He can work with wood. In fact, he can work in all kinds of crafts. I have also appointed Oholiab, the son of Ahisamak, to help him. Oholiab is from the tribe of Dan.
“I have given ability to all the skilled workers. They can make everything I have commanded you to make. Here is the complete list.
“the tent of meeting
the ark where the tablets of the covenant law are kept
the cover for the ark
the table for the holy bread and its things
the pure gold lampstand and everything used with it
the altar for burning incense
the altar for burnt offerings and all its tools
the large bowl with its stand
the sacred clothes for Aaron the priest and the clothes for his sons when they serve as priests
the anointing oil
and the sweet-smelling incense for the Holy Room
“The skilled workers must make them just as I commanded you.”
The Sabbath Day
Then the Lord spoke to Moses. He said, “Tell the people of Israel, ‘You must always keep my Sabbath days. That will be the sign of the covenant I have made between me and you for all time to come. Then you will know that I am the Lord. I am the one who makes you holy.
“ ‘Keep the Sabbath day. It is holy to you. Those who misuse it must be put to death. Those who do any work on that day must be separated from their people. Do your work in six days. But the seventh day is a day of sabbath rest. You must rest on it. It is set apart for the Lord. Those who work on the Sabbath day must be put to death. The Israelites must keep the Sabbath day. They must celebrate it for all time to come. It will be a covenant that lasts forever. It will be the sign of the covenant I have made between me and the Israelites forever. The Lord made the heavens and the earth in six days. But on the seventh day he did not work. He rested.’ ”
The Lord finished speaking to Moses on Mount Sinai. Then he gave him the two tablets of the covenant law. They were made out of stone. The words on them were written by the finger of God.
Exodus 32:1-35
Israel Worships a Golden Calf
The people saw that Moses took a long time to come down from the mountain. So they gathered around Aaron. They said to him, “Come. Make us a god that will lead us. This fellow Moses brought us up out of Egypt. But we don’t know what has happened to him.”
Aaron answered them, “Take the gold earrings off your wives, your sons and your daughters. Bring the earrings to me.” So all the people took off their earrings. They brought them to Aaron. He took what they gave him and made it into a metal statue of a god. It looked like a calf. Aaron shaped it with a tool. Then the people said, “Israel, here is your god who brought you up out of Egypt.”
When Aaron saw what they were doing, he built an altar in front of the calf. He said, “Tomorrow will be a feast day to honor the Lord.” So the next day the people got up early. They sacrificed burnt offerings and brought friendship offerings. They sat down to eat and drink. Then they got up to dance wildly in front of their god.
The Lord spoke to Moses. He said, “Go down. Your people you brought up out of Egypt have become very sinful. They have quickly turned away from what I commanded them. They have made themselves a metal statue of a god in the shape of a calf. They have bowed down and sacrificed to it. And they have said, ‘Israel, here is your god who brought you up out of Egypt.’
“I have seen these people,” the Lord said to Moses. “They are stubborn. Now leave me alone. I will destroy them because of my great anger. Then I will make you into a great nation.”
But Moses asked the Lord his God to have mercy on the people. “Lord,” he said, “why should you destroy your people in anger? You used your great power and mighty hand to bring them out of Egypt. Why should the Egyptians say, ‘He brought them out to hurt them. He wanted to kill them in the mountains. He wanted to wipe them off the face of the earth’? Turn away from your great anger. Please take pity on your people. Don’t destroy them! Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac and Israel. You made a promise to them in your own name. You said, ‘I will make your children after you as many as the stars in the sky. I will give them all this land I promised them. It will belong to them forever.’ ” Then the Lord took pity on his people. He didn’t destroy them as he had said he would.
Moses turned and went down the mountain. He had the two tablets of the covenant law in his hands. Words were written on both sides of the tablets, front and back. The tablets were the work of God. The words had been written by God. They had been carved on the tablets.
Joshua heard the noise of the people shouting. So he said to Moses, “It sounds like war in the camp.”
Moses replied,
“It’s not the sound of winning.
It’s not the sound of losing.
It’s the sound of singing that I hear.”
As Moses approached the camp, he saw the calf. He also saw the people dancing. So he was very angry. He threw the tablets out of his hands. They broke into pieces at the foot of the mountain. He took the calf the people had made. He burned it in the fire. Then he ground it into powder. He scattered it on the water. And he made the Israelites drink it.
He said to Aaron, “What did these people do to you? How did they make you lead them into such terrible sin?”
“Please don’t be angry,” Aaron answered. “You know how these people like to do what is evil. They said to me, ‘Make us a god that will lead us. This fellow Moses brought us up out of Egypt. But we don’t know what has happened to him.’ So I told them, ‘Anyone who has any gold jewelry, take it off.’ They gave me the gold. I threw it into the fire. And out came this calf!”
Moses saw that the people were running wild. Aaron had let them get out of control. The people had become a joke to their enemies. Moses stood at the entrance to the camp. He said, “Anyone on the Lord’s side, come to me.” All the Levites joined him.
Then he spoke to them. He said, “The Lord, the God of Israel, says, ‘Each man must put on his sword. Then he must go back and forth through the camp from one end to the other. Each man must kill his brother and friend and neighbor.’ ” The Levites did as Moses commanded. About 3,000 of the people died that day. Then Moses said to the Levites, “You have been set apart for the Lord today. You fought against your own sons and brothers. And he has blessed you this day.”
The next day Moses said to the people, “You have committed a terrible sin. But now I will go up to the Lord. Maybe if I pray to him, he will forgive your sin.”
So Moses went back to the Lord. He said, “These people have committed a terrible sin. They have made a god out of gold for themselves. Now please forgive their sin. But if you won’t, then erase my name out of the book you have written.”
The Lord replied to Moses. The Lord said, “I will erase out of my book only the names of those who have sinned against me. Now go. Lead the people to the place I spoke about. My angel will go ahead of you. But when the time comes for me to punish, I will punish them for their sin.”
The Lord struck the people with a plague. That’s because of what they did with the calf Aaron had made.
Exodus 33:1-6
Then the Lord said to Moses, “Leave this place. You and the people you brought up out of Egypt must leave it. Go up to the land I promised to give to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. I said to them, ‘I will give it to your children after you.’ I will send an angel ahead of you. I will drive out the Canaanites, Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. Go up to the land that has plenty of milk and honey. But I will not go with you. You are stubborn. I might destroy you on the way.”
When the people heard these painful words, they began to mourn. No one put on any jewelry. The Lord had said to Moses, “Tell the Israelites, ‘You are stubborn. If I went with you even for a moment, I might destroy you. Now take off your jewelry. Then I will decide what to do with you.’ ” So the people took off their jewelry at Mount Horeb.
