Exodus 31-32

American Standard Version

31 And Jehovah spake unto Moses, saying, ² See, I have called by name Bezalel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah: ³ and I have filled him with the Spirit of God, in wisdom, and in understanding, and in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship, ⁴ to devise skilful works, to work in gold, and in silver, and in brass, ⁵ and in cutting of stones for setting, and in carving of wood, to work in all manner of workmanship. ⁶ And I, behold, I have appointed with him Oholiab, the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan; and in the heart of all that are wise-hearted I have put wisdom, that they may make all that I have commanded thee: ⁷ the tent of meeting, and the ark of the testimony, and the mercy-seat that is thereupon, and all the furniture of the Tent, ⁸ and the table and its vessels, and the pure candlestick with all its vessels, and the altar of incense, ⁹ and the altar of burnt-offering with all its vessels, and the laver and its base, ¹⁰ and the finely wrought garments, and the holy garments for Aaron the priest, and the garments of his sons, to minister in the priest’s office, ¹¹ and the anointing oil, and the incense of sweet spices for the holy place: according to all that I have commanded thee shall they do.

¹² And Jehovah spake unto Moses, saying, ¹³ Speak thou also unto the children of Israel, saying, Verily ye shall keep my sabbaths: for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations; that ye may know that I am Jehovah who sanctifieth you. ¹⁴ Ye shall keep the sabbath therefore; for it is holy unto you: every one that profaneth it shall surely be put to death; for whosoever doeth any work therein, that soul shall be cut off from among his people. ¹⁵ Six days shall work be done; but on the seventh day is a sabbath of solemn rest, holy to Jehovah; whosoever doeth any work on the sabbath day, he shall surely be put to death. ¹⁶ Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the sabbath, to observe the sabbath throughout their generations, for a perpetual covenant. ¹⁷ It is a sign between me and the children of Israel for ever: for in six days Jehovah made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested, and was refreshed.

¹⁸ And he gave unto Moses, when he had made an end of communing with him upon mount Sinai, the two tables of the testimony, tables of stone, written with the finger of God.

32 And when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mount, the people gathered themselves together unto Aaron, and said unto him, Up, make us ^[a]gods, which shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we know not what is become of him. ² And Aaron said unto them, Break off the golden rings, which are in the ears of your wives, of your sons, and of your daughters, and bring them unto me. ³ And all the people brake off the golden rings which were in their ears, and brought them unto Aaron. ⁴ And he received it at their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool, and made it a molten calf: and they said, ^[b]These are thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt. ⁵ And when Aaron saw this, he built an altar before it; and Aaron made proclamation, and said, To-morrow shall be a feast to Jehovah. ⁶ And they rose up early on the morrow, and offered burnt-offerings, and brought peace-offerings; and the people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to play.

⁷ And Jehovah spake unto Moses, Go, get thee down; for thy people, that thou broughtest up out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves: ⁸ they have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them: they have made them a molten calf, and have worshipped it, and have sacrificed unto it, and said, These are thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt. ⁹ And Jehovah said unto Moses, I have seen this people, and, behold, it is a stiffnecked people: ¹⁰ now therefore let me alone, that my wrath may wax hot against them, and that I may consume them: and I will make of thee a great nation. ¹¹ And Moses besought Jehovah his God, and said, Jehovah, why doth thy wrath wax hot against thy people, that thou hast brought forth out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand? ¹² Wherefore should the Egyptians speak, saying, For evil did he bring them forth, to slay them in the mountains, and to consume them from the face of the earth? Turn from thy fierce wrath, and repent of this evil against thy people. ¹³ Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, thy servants, to whom thou swarest by thine own self, and saidst unto them, I will multiply your seed as the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have spoken of will I give unto your seed, and they shall inherit it for ever. ¹⁴ And Jehovah repented of the evil which he said he would do unto his people.

¹⁵ And Moses turned, and went down from the mount, with the two tables of the testimony in his hand; tables that were written on both their sides; on the one side and on the other were they written. ¹⁶ And the tables were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, graven upon the tables. ¹⁷ And when Joshua heard the noise of the people as they shouted, he said unto Moses, There is a noise of war in the camp. ¹⁸ And he said, It is not the voice of them that shout for mastery, neither is it the voice of them that cry for being overcome; but the noise of them that sing do I hear. ¹⁹ And it came to pass, as soon as he came nigh unto the camp, that he saw the calf and the dancing: and Moses’ anger waxed hot, and he cast the tables out of his hands, and brake them beneath the mount. ²⁰ And he took the calf which they had made, and burnt it with fire, and ground it to powder, and strewed it upon the water, and made the children of Israel drink of it.

²¹ And Moses said unto Aaron, What did this people unto thee, that thou hast brought a great sin upon them? ²² And Aaron said, Let not the anger of my lord wax hot: thou knowest the people, that they are set on evil. ²³ For they said unto me, Make us gods, which shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we know not what is become of him. ²⁴ And I said unto them, Whosoever hath any gold, let them break it off: so they gave it me; and I cast it into the fire, and there came out this calf.

²⁵ And when Moses saw that the people were broken loose (for Aaron had let them loose for a ^[c]derision among their enemies), ²⁶ then Moses stood in the gate of the camp, and said, Whoso is on Jehovah’s side, let him come unto me. And all the sons of Levi gathered themselves together unto him. ²⁷ And he said unto them, Thus saith Jehovah, the God of Israel, Put ye every man his sword upon his thigh, and go to and fro from gate to gate throughout the camp, and slay every man his brother, and every man his companion, and every man his neighbor. ²⁸ And the sons of Levi did according to the word of Moses: and there fell of the people that day about three thousand men. ²⁹ And Moses said, ^[d]Consecrate yourselves to-day to Jehovah, ^[e]yea, every man ^[f]against his son, and ^[g]against his brother; that he may bestow upon you a blessing this day.

³⁰ And it came to pass on the morrow, that Moses said unto the people, Ye have sinned a great sin: and now I will go up unto Jehovah; peradventure I shall make atonement for your sin. ³¹ And Moses returned unto Jehovah, and said, Oh, this people have sinned a great sin, and have made them gods of gold. ³² Yet now, if thou wilt forgive their sin—; and if not, blot me, I pray thee, out of thy book which thou hast written. ³³ And Jehovah said unto Moses, Whosoever hath sinned against me, him will I blot out of my book. ³⁴ And now go, lead the people unto the place of which I have spoken unto thee: behold, mine angel shall go before thee; nevertheless in the day when I visit, I will visit their sin upon them. ³⁵ And Jehovah smote the people, because they made the calf, which Aaron made.