Bezalel and Oholiab^(A)

31 Then the Lord said to Moses, ² “See, I have chosen Bezalel^(B) son of Uri, the son of Hur,^(C) of the tribe of Judah, ³ and I have filled him with the Spirit of God, with wisdom, with understanding, with knowledge^(D) and with all kinds of skills^(E)— ⁴ to make artistic designs for work in gold, silver and bronze, ⁵ to cut and set stones, to work in wood, and to engage in all kinds of crafts. ⁶ Moreover, I have appointed Oholiab^(F) son of Ahisamak, of the tribe of Dan,^(G) to help him. Also I have given ability to all the skilled workers^(H) to make everything I have commanded you: ⁷ the tent of meeting,^(I) the ark of the covenant law^(J) with the atonement cover^(K) on it, and all the other furnishings of the tent— ⁸ the table^(L) and its articles, the pure gold lampstand^(M) and all its accessories, the altar of incense,^{(N) 9} the altar of burnt offering^(O) and all its utensils, the basin^(P) with its stand— ¹⁰ and also the woven garments^(Q), both the sacred garments for Aaron the priest and the garments for his sons when they serve as priests, ¹¹ and the anointing oil^(R) and fragrant incense^(S) for the Holy Place. They are to make them just as I commanded^(T) you.”

The Sabbath

¹² Then the Lord said to Moses, ¹³ “Say to the Israelites, ‘You must observe my Sabbaths.^(U) This will be a sign^(V) between me and you for the generations to come,^(W) so you may know that I am the Lord, who makes you holy.^(X)

¹⁴ “‘Observe the Sabbath, because it is holy to you. Anyone who desecrates it is to be put to death;^(Y) those who do any work on that day must be cut off from their people. ¹⁵ For six days work^(Z) is to be done, but the seventh day is a day of sabbath rest,^(AA) holy to the Lord. Whoever does any work on the Sabbath day is to be put to death. ¹⁶ The Israelites are to observe the Sabbath,^(AB) celebrating it for the generations to come as a lasting covenant. ¹⁷ It will be a sign^(AC) between me and the Israelites forever, for in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh day he rested and was refreshed.^(AD)’”^(AE)

¹⁸ When the Lord finished speaking to Moses on Mount Sinai,^(AF) he gave him the two tablets of the covenant law, the tablets of stone^(AG) inscribed by the finger of God.^(AH)

The Golden Calf

32 When the people saw that Moses was so long in coming down from the mountain,^(AI) they gathered around Aaron and said, “Come, make us gods^[a] who will go before^(AJ) us. As for this fellow Moses who brought us up out of Egypt, we don’t know what has happened to him.”^(AK)

² Aaron answered them, “Take off the gold earrings^(AL) that your wives, your sons and your daughters are wearing, and bring them to me.” ³ So all the people took off their earrings and brought them to Aaron. ⁴ He took what they handed him and made it into an idol^(AM) cast in the shape of a calf,^(AN) fashioning it with a tool. Then they said, “These are your gods,^[b](AO) Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.”^(AP)

⁵ When Aaron saw this, he built an altar in front of the calf and announced, “Tomorrow there will be a festival^(AQ) to the Lord.” ⁶ So the next day the people rose early and sacrificed burnt offerings and presented fellowship offerings.^(AR) Afterward they sat down to eat and drink^(AS) and got up to indulge in revelry.^(AT)

⁷ Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go down, because your people, whom you brought up out of Egypt,^(AU) have become corrupt.^{(AV) 8} They have been quick to turn away^(AW) from what I commanded them and have made themselves an idol^(AX) cast in the shape of a calf.^(AY) They have bowed down to it and sacrificed^(AZ) to it and have said, ‘These are your gods, Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.’^(BA)

⁹ “I have seen these people,” the Lord said to Moses, “and they are a stiff-necked^(BB) people. ¹⁰ Now leave me alone^(BC) so that my anger may burn against them and that I may destroy^(BD) them. Then I will make you into a great nation.”^(BE)

¹¹ But Moses sought the favor^(BF) of the Lord his God. “Lord,” he said, “why should your anger burn against your people, whom you brought out of Egypt with great power and a mighty hand?^{(BG) 12} Why should the Egyptians say, ‘It was with evil intent that he brought them out, to kill them in the mountains and to wipe them off the face of the earth’?^(BH) Turn from your fierce anger; relent and do not bring disaster^(BI) on your people. ¹³ Remember^(BJ) your servants Abraham, Isaac and Israel, to whom you swore by your own self:^(BK) ‘I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars^(BL) in the sky and I will give your descendants all this land^(BM) I promised them, and it will be their inheritance forever.’” ¹⁴ Then the Lord relented^(BN) and did not bring on his people the disaster he had threatened.

¹⁵ Moses turned and went down the mountain with the two tablets of the covenant law^(BO) in his hands.^(BP) They were inscribed^(BQ) on both sides, front and back. ¹⁶ The tablets were the work of God; the writing was the writing of God, engraved on the tablets.^(BR)

¹⁷ When Joshua^(BS) heard the noise of the people shouting, he said to Moses, “There is the sound of war in the camp.”

¹⁸ Moses replied:

¹⁹ When Moses approached the camp and saw the calf^(BT) and the dancing,^(BU) his anger burned^(BV) and he threw the tablets out of his hands, breaking them to pieces^(BW) at the foot of the mountain. ²⁰ And he took the calf the people had made and burned^(BX) it in the fire; then he ground it to powder,^(BY) scattered it on the water^(BZ) and made the Israelites drink it.

²¹ He said to Aaron, “What did these people do to you, that you led them into such great sin?”

²² “Do not be angry,^(CA) my lord,” Aaron answered. “You know how prone these people are to evil.^{(CB) 23} They said to me, ‘Make us gods who will go before us. As for this fellow Moses who brought us up out of Egypt, we don’t know what has happened to him.’^{(CC) 24} So I told them, ‘Whoever has any gold jewelry, take it off.’ Then they gave me the gold, and I threw it into the fire, and out came this calf!”^(CD)

²⁵ Moses saw that the people were running wild and that Aaron had let them get out of control and so become a laughingstock^(CE) to their enemies. ²⁶ So he stood at the entrance to the camp and said, “Whoever is for the Lord, come to me.” And all the Levites rallied to him.

²⁷ Then he said to them, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘Each man strap a sword to his side. Go back and forth through the camp from one end to the other, each killing his brother and friend and neighbor.’”^{(CF) 28} The Levites did as Moses commanded, and that day about three thousand of the people died. ²⁹ Then Moses said, “You have been set apart to the Lord today, for you were against your own sons and brothers, and he has blessed you this day.”

³⁰ The next day Moses said to the people, “You have committed a great sin.^(CG) But now I will go up to the Lord; perhaps I can make atonement^(CH) for your sin.”

³¹ So Moses went back to the Lord and said, “Oh, what a great sin these people have committed!^(CI) They have made themselves gods of gold.^{(CJ) 32} But now, please forgive their sin^(CK)—but if not, then blot me^(CL) out of the book^(CM) you have written.”

³³ The Lord replied to Moses, “Whoever has sinned against me I will blot out^(CN) of my book. ³⁴ Now go, lead^(CO) the people to the place^(CP) I spoke of, and my angel^(CQ) will go before you. However, when the time comes for me to punish,^(CR) I will punish them for their sin.”

³⁵ And the Lord struck the people with a plague because of what they did with the calf^(CS) Aaron had made.

BOOK II

Psalms 42–72

Psalm 42^[a][b]

For the director of music. A maskil^[c] of the Sons of Korah.

Psalm 43^[e]

Paul’s Anguish Over Israel

9 I speak the truth in Christ—I am not lying,^(A) my conscience confirms^(B) it through the Holy Spirit— ² I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. ³ For I could wish that I myself^(C) were cursed^(D) and cut off from Christ for the sake of my people,^(E) those of my own race,^{(F) 4} the people of Israel.^(G) Theirs is the adoption to sonship;^(H) theirs the divine glory,^(I) the covenants,^(J) the receiving of the law,^(K) the temple worship^(L) and the promises.^{(M) 5} Theirs are the patriarchs,^(N) and from them is traced the human ancestry of the Messiah,^(O) who is God over all,^(P) forever praised!^[a](Q) Amen.

God’s Sovereign Choice

⁶ It is not as though God’s word^(R) had failed. For not all who are descended from Israel are Israel.^{(S) 7} Nor because they are his descendants are they all Abraham’s children. On the contrary, “It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.”^{[b](T) 8} In other words, it is not the children by physical descent who are God’s children,^(U) but it is the children of the promise who are regarded as Abraham’s offspring.^{(V) 9} For this was how the promise was stated: “At the appointed time I will return, and Sarah will have a son.”^[c](W)

¹⁰ Not only that, but Rebekah’s children were conceived at the same time by our father Isaac.^{(X) 11} Yet, before the twins were born or had done anything good or bad^(Y)—in order that God’s purpose^(Z) in election might stand: ¹² not by works but by him who calls—she was told, “The older will serve the younger.”^{[d](AA) 13} Just as it is written: “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.”^[e](AB)

¹⁴ What then shall we say?^(AC) Is God unjust? Not at all!^{(AD) 15} For he says to Moses,

¹⁶ It does not, therefore, depend on human desire or effort, but on God’s mercy.^{(AF) 17} For Scripture says to Pharaoh: “I raised you up for this very purpose, that I might display my power in you and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.”^{[g](AG) 18} Therefore God has mercy on whom he wants to have mercy, and he hardens whom he wants to harden.^(AH)

¹⁹ One of you will say to me:^(AI) “Then why does God still blame us?^(AJ) For who is able to resist his will?”^{(AK) 20} But who are you, a human being, to talk back to God?^(AL) “Shall what is formed say to the one who formed it,^(AM) ‘Why did you make me like this?’”^{[h](AN) 21} Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for special purposes and some for common use?^(AO)

²² What if God, although choosing to show his wrath and make his power known, bore with great patience^(AP) the objects of his wrath—prepared for destruction?^{(AQ) 23} What if he did this to make the riches of his glory^(AR) known to the objects of his mercy, whom he prepared in advance for glory^(AS)— ²⁴ even us, whom he also called,^(AT) not only from the Jews but also from the Gentiles?^{(AU) 25} As he says in Hosea:

²⁶ and,

²⁷ Isaiah cries out concerning Israel:

²⁹ It is just as Isaiah said previously:

Israel’s Unbelief

³⁰ What then shall we say?^(BC) That the Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have obtained it, a righteousness that is by faith;^{(BD) 31} but the people of Israel, who pursued the law as the way of righteousness,^(BE) have not attained their goal.^{(BF) 32} Why not? Because they pursued it not by faith but as if it were by works. They stumbled over the stumbling stone.^{(BG) 33} As it is written:

10 Brothers and sisters, my heart’s desire^(BI) and prayer to God for the Israelites is that they may be saved. ² For I can testify about them that they are zealous^(BJ) for God, but their zeal is not based on knowledge. ³ Since they did not know the righteousness of God and sought to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness.^{(BK) 4} Christ is the culmination of the law^(BL) so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes.^(BM)

⁵ Moses writes this about the righteousness that is by the law: “The person who does these things will live by them.”^{[n](BN) 6} But the righteousness that is by faith^(BO) says: “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’”^[o](BP) (that is, to bring Christ down) ⁷ “or ‘Who will descend into the deep?’”^[p](BQ) (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead).^{(BR) 8} But what does it say? “The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart,”^[q](BS) that is, the message concerning faith that we proclaim: ⁹ If you declare^(BT) with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,”^(BU) and believe^(BV) in your heart that God raised him from the dead,^(BW) you will be saved.^{(BX) 10} For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved. ¹¹ As Scripture says, “Anyone who believes in him will never be put to shame.”^{[r](BY) 12} For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile^(BZ)—the same Lord is Lord of all^(CA) and richly blesses all who call on him, ¹³ for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord^(CB) will be saved.”^[s](CC)

¹⁴ How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? ¹⁵ And how can anyone preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!”^[t](CD)

¹⁶ But not all the Israelites accepted the good news.^(CE) For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed our message?”^{[u](CF) 17} Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message,^(CG) and the message is heard through the word about Christ.^{(CH) 18} But I ask: Did they not hear? Of course they did:

¹⁹ Again I ask: Did Israel not understand? First, Moses says,

²⁰ And Isaiah boldly says,

²¹ But concerning Israel he says,