The Skilled Craftsmen

31 (A)Now the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “See, I have called by name Bezalel, the (B)son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah. And I have (C)filled him with the Spirit of God in wisdom, in understanding, in knowledge, and in all kinds of [a]craftsmanship, to create [b]artistic designs for work in gold, in silver, and in [c]bronze, and in the cutting of stones [d]for settings, and in the carving of wood, so that he may work in all kinds of [e]craftsmanship. And behold, I Myself have [f]appointed with him (D)Oholiab, the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan; and in the hearts of all who are [g]skillful I have put [h]skill, so that they may make everything that I have commanded you: (E)the tent of meeting, (F)the ark of testimony, (G)the [i]atoning cover that is on it, and all the furniture of the tent, (H)the table and its [j]utensils, the (I)pure gold lampstand with all its [k]utensils, and (J)the altar of incense, (K)the altar of burnt offering with all its [l]utensils, and (L)the basin and its stand, 10 the [m](M)woven garments as well: the holy garments for Aaron the priest and the garments of his sons, with which to [n]carry out their priesthood; 11 (N)the anointing oil also, and the (O)fragrant incense for the Holy Place, they are to make them according to everything that I have commanded you.”

The Sign of the Sabbath

12 Now the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 13 “Now as for you, speak to the sons of Israel, saying, ‘(P)You must keep My Sabbaths; for this is (Q)a sign between Me and you throughout your generations, so that you may know that I am the Lord who sanctifies you. 14 Therefore you are to keep the Sabbath, for it is holy to you. (R)Everyone who profanes it must be put to death; for whoever does any work on it, that person shall be cut off from among his people. 15 (S)For six days work may be done, but on the seventh day there is a (T)Sabbath of complete rest, holy to the Lord; (U)whoever does any work on the Sabbath day must be put to death. 16 So the sons of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, to [o]celebrate the Sabbath throughout their generations as a permanent covenant.’ 17 (V)It is a sign between Me and the sons of Israel forever; (W)for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, but on the seventh day He ceased from labor, and was refreshed.”

18 When He had finished speaking with him on Mount Sinai, He gave Moses (X)the two tablets of the testimony, tablets of stone, (Y)written by the finger of God.

The Golden Calf

32 Now when the people saw that Moses (Z)delayed to come down from the mountain, the people assembled around Aaron and said to him, “Come, (AA)make us [p]a god who will go before us; for (AB)this Moses, the man who brought us up from the land of Egypt—we do not know what happened to him.” Aaron said to them, “(AC)Tear off the gold rings which are in the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me.” So all the people tore off the gold rings which were in their ears and brought them to Aaron. Then he took the gold from their [q]hands, and fashioned it with an engraving tool and made it into a (AD)cast metal calf; and they said, “[r]This is your god, Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt.” Now when Aaron saw this, he built an altar in front of it; and Aaron made a proclamation and said, “Tomorrow shall be a feast to the Lord.” So the next day they got up early and (AE)offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings; and (AF)the people sat down to eat and to drink, and got up (AG)to engage in lewd behavior.

Then the Lord spoke to Moses, “Go [s]down at once, for your people, whom (AH)you brought up from the land of Egypt, have (AI)behaved corruptly. They have quickly turned aside from the way which I commanded them. (AJ)They have made for themselves a cast metal calf, and have worshiped it and (AK)have sacrificed to it and said, ‘[t](AL)This is your god, Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt!’” (AM)Then the Lord said to Moses, “I have seen this people, and behold, they are [u](AN)an obstinate people. 10 So now (AO)leave Me alone, that My anger may burn against them and that I may destroy them; and (AP)I will make of you a great nation.”

Moses’ Plea

11 Then (AQ)Moses pleaded with the Lord his God, and said, “Lord, why does Your anger burn against Your people whom You have brought out from the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand? 12 Why should (AR)the Egyptians talk, saying, ‘With evil motives He brought them out, to kill them on the mountains and to destroy them from the face of the earth’? Turn from Your burning anger and relent of doing harm to Your people. 13 Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, Your servants to whom You (AS)swore by Yourself, and said to them, ‘I will (AT)multiply your [v]descendants as the stars of the heavens, and (AU)all this land of which I have spoken I will give to your [w]descendants, and they shall inherit it forever.’” 14 (AV)So the Lord relented of the harm which He said He would do to His people.

15 (AW)Then Moses turned and went down from the mountain with the two tablets of the testimony in his hand, (AX)tablets which were written on both [x]sides; they were written on one side and the other. 16 The tablets were God’s work, and the writing was God’s writing engraved on the tablets. 17 Now when Joshua heard the sound of the people [y]as they shouted, he said to Moses, “There is a sound of war in the camp.” 18 But he said,

“It is not the sound of the cry of victory,
Nor is it the sound of the cry of defeat;
But I hear the sound of singing.”

Moses’ Anger

19 And it came about, as soon as [z]Moses approached the camp, that (AY)he saw the calf and the people dancing; and Moses’ anger burned, and (AZ)he threw the tablets from his hands and shattered them to pieces [aa]at the foot of the mountain. 20 Then (BA)he took the calf which they had made and completely burned it with fire, and ground it to powder, and scattered it over the surface of the water and made the sons of Israel drink it.

21 Then Moses said to Aaron, “What did this people do to you, that you have brought such a great sin upon them?” 22 And Aaron said, “Do not let the anger of my lord burn; you know the people yourself, (BB)that they are [ab]prone to evil. 23 For (BC)they said to me, ‘Make [ac]a god for us who will go before us; for this Moses, the man who brought us up from the land of Egypt—we do not know what happened to him.’ 24 So I said to them, ‘Whoever has any gold, let them tear it off.’ Then they gave it to me, and (BD)I threw it into the fire, and out came this calf.”

25 Now when Moses saw that the people were [ad]out of control—for Aaron had (BE)let them [ae]get out of control to the point of being an object of ridicule among [af]their enemies— 26 Moses then stood at the gate of the camp, and said, “Whoever is for the Lord, come to me!” And all the sons of Levi gathered together to him. 27 And he said to them, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel says: ‘Every man of you put his sword on his thigh, and go back and forth from gate to gate in the camp, and kill every man his brother, and every man his friend, and every man his [ag]neighbor.’” 28 So (BF)the sons of Levi did [ah]as Moses instructed, and about three thousand men of the people fell that day. 29 Then Moses said, “[ai]Dedicate yourselves today to the Lord—for every man has been against his son and against his brother—in order that He may bestow a blessing upon you today.”

30 And on the next day Moses said to the people, “(BG)You yourselves have [aj]committed a great sin; and now I am going up to the Lord; perhaps I can (BH)make atonement for your sin.” 31 Then Moses returned to the Lord and said, “Oh, this people has [ak]committed a great sin, and they have made a (BI)god of gold for themselves! 32 But now, if You will forgive their sin, very well; but if not, please wipe me out from Your (BJ)book which You have written!” 33 However, the Lord said to Moses, “Whoever has sinned against Me, (BK)I will wipe him out of My book. 34 But go now, lead the people (BL)where I told you. Behold, (BM)My angel shall go before you; nevertheless (BN)on the day when I [al]punish, (BO)I will [am]punish them for their sin.” 35 (BP)Then the Lord struck the people with a plague, because of (BQ)what they did with the calf which Aaron had made.

Footnotes

  1. Exodus 31:3 Or workmanship
  2. Exodus 31:4 Lit devices
  3. Exodus 31:4 Or copper
  4. Exodus 31:5 Lit to fill in (for a setting)
  5. Exodus 31:5 Or workmanship
  6. Exodus 31:6 Lit given
  7. Exodus 31:6 Lit wise of heart
  8. Exodus 31:6 Lit wisdom
  9. Exodus 31:7 Also called mercy seat; i.e., where blood was sprinkled on the Day of Atonement
  10. Exodus 31:8 Or vessels
  11. Exodus 31:8 Or vessels
  12. Exodus 31:9 Or vessels
  13. Exodus 31:10 Or service garments
  14. Exodus 31:10 Lit minister as priests
  15. Exodus 31:16 Lit perform
  16. Exodus 32:1 Or gods
  17. Exodus 32:4 Lit hand
  18. Exodus 32:4 Or These are your gods
  19. Exodus 32:7 Lit go down
  20. Exodus 32:8 Or These are your gods
  21. Exodus 32:9 Or a stiff-necked
  22. Exodus 32:13 Lit seed
  23. Exodus 32:13 Lit seed
  24. Exodus 32:15 Lit their sides
  25. Exodus 32:17 Lit in its shouting
  26. Exodus 32:19 Lit he
  27. Exodus 32:19 Lit beneath
  28. Exodus 32:22 Lit in evil
  29. Exodus 32:23 Or gods
  30. Exodus 32:25 Lit let loose
  31. Exodus 32:25 Lit go loose
  32. Exodus 32:25 Lit those who rise against them
  33. Exodus 32:27 Or kin
  34. Exodus 32:28 Lit according to Moses’ word
  35. Exodus 32:29 Lit Fill your hand
  36. Exodus 32:30 Lit sinned
  37. Exodus 32:31 Lit sinned
  38. Exodus 32:34 Lit visit
  39. Exodus 32:34 Lit visit their sin upon them

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