Exodus 31:1–33:23
Artisans for Building the Tabernacle
31 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: 2 a“See, I have called by name Bezalel the bson of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah. 3 And I have cfilled him with the Spirit of God, in wisdom, in understanding, in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship, 4 to design artistic works, to work in gold, in silver, in bronze, 5 in cutting jewels for setting, in carving wood, and to work in all manner of workmanship.
6 “And I, indeed I, have appointed with him dAholiab the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan; and I have put wisdom in the hearts of all the egifted artisans, that they may make all that I have commanded you: 7 fthe tabernacle of meeting, gthe ark of the Testimony and hthe mercy seat that is on it, and all the furniture of the tabernacle—8 ithe table and its utensils, jthe pure gold lampstand with all its utensils, the altar of incense, 9 kthe altar of burnt offering with all its utensils, and lthe laver and its base—10 mthe 1garments of ministry, the holy garments for Aaron the priest and the garments of his sons, to minister as priests, 11 nand the anointing oil and osweet incense for the holy place. According to all that I have commanded you they shall do.”
12 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 13 “Speak also to the children of Israel, saying: p‘Surely My Sabbaths you shall keep, for it is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I am the Lord who qsanctifies 2you. 14 rYou shall keep the Sabbath, therefore, for it is holy to you. Everyone who 3profanes it shall surely be put to death; for swhoever does any work on it, that person shall be cut off from among his people. 15 Work shall be done for tsix days, but the useventh is the Sabbath of rest, holy to the Lord. Whoever does any work on the Sabbath day, he shall surely be put to death. 16 Therefore the children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, to observe the Sabbath throughout their generations as a perpetual covenant. 17 It is va sign between Me and the children of Israel forever; for win six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh day He rested and was refreshed.’ ”
18 And when He had made an end of speaking with him on Mount Sinai, He gave Moses xtwo tablets of the Testimony, tablets of stone, written with the finger of God.
32 Now when the people saw that Moses adelayed coming down from the mountain, the people bgathered together to Aaron, and said to him, c“Come, make us 1gods that shall dgo before us; for as for this Moses, the man who ebrought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.”
2 And Aaron said to them, “Break off the fgolden earrings which are in the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me.” 3 So all the people broke off the golden earrings which were in their ears, and brought them to Aaron. 4 gAnd he received the gold from their hand, and he fashioned it with an engraving tool, and made a molded calf.
Then they said, “This is your god, O Israel, that hbrought you out of the land of Egypt!”
5 So when Aaron saw it, he built an altar before it. And Aaron made a iproclamation and said, “Tomorrow is a feast to the Lord.” 6 Then they rose early on the next day, offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings; and the people jsat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play.
7 And the Lord said to Moses, k“Go, get down! For your people whom you brought out of the land of Egypt lhave corrupted themselves. 8 They have turned aside quickly out of the way which mI commanded them. They have made themselves a molded calf, and worshiped it and sacrificed to it, and said, n‘This is your god, O Israel, that brought you out of the land of Egypt!’ ” 9 And the Lord said to Moses, o“I have seen this people, and indeed it is a 2stiff-necked people! 10 Now therefore, plet Me alone, that qMy wrath may burn hot against them and I may 3consume them. And rI will make of you a great nation.”
11 sThen Moses pleaded with 4the Lord his God, and said: “Lord, why does Your wrath burn hot against Your people whom You have brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand? 12 tWhy should the Egyptians speak, and say, ‘He brought them out to harm them, to kill them in the mountains, and to consume them from the face of the earth’? Turn from Your fierce wrath, and urelent from this harm to Your people. 13 Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, Your servants, to whom You vswore by Your own self, and said to them, w‘I will multiply your descendants as the stars of heaven; and all this land that I have spoken of I give to your descendants, and they shall inherit it forever.’ ” 14 So the Lord xrelented from the harm which He said He would do to His people.
15 And yMoses turned and went down from the mountain, and the two tablets of the Testimony were in his hand. The tablets were written on both sides; on the one side and on the other they were written. 16 Now the ztablets were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God engraved on the tablets.
17 And when Joshua heard the noise of the people as they shouted, he said to Moses, “There is a noise of war in the camp.”
“It is not the noise of the shout of victory,
Nor the noise of the cry of defeat,
But the sound of singing I hear.”
19 So it was, as soon as he came near the camp, that ahe saw the calf and the dancing. So Moses’ anger became hot, and he cast the tablets out of his hands and broke them at the foot of the mountain. 20 bThen he took the calf which they had made, burned it in the fire, and ground it to powder; and he scattered it on the water and made the children of Israel drink it. 21 And Moses said to Aaron, c“What did this people do to you that you have brought so great a sin upon them?”
22 So Aaron said, “Do not let the anger of my lord become hot. dYou know the people, that they are set on evil. 23 For they said to me, ‘Make us gods that shall go before us; as for this Moses, the man who brought us out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.’ 24 And I said to them, ‘Whoever has any gold, let them break it off.’ So they gave it to me, and I cast it into the fire, and this calf came out.”
25 Now when Moses saw that the people were eunrestrained (for Aaron fhad not restrained them, to their shame among their enemies), 26 then Moses stood in the entrance of the camp, and said, “Whoever is on the Lord’s side—come to me!” And all the sons of Levi gathered themselves together to him. 27 And he said to them, “Thus says the Lord God of Israel: ‘Let every man put his sword on his side, and go in and out from entrance to entrance throughout the camp, and glet every man kill his brother, every man his companion, and every man his neighbor.’ ” 28 So the sons of Levi did according to the word of Moses. And about three thousand men of the people fell that day. 29 hThen Moses said, 5“Consecrate yourselves today to the Lord, that He may bestow on you a blessing this day, for every man has opposed his son and his brother.”
30 Now it came to pass on the next day that Moses said to the people, i“You have committed a great sin. So now I will go up to the Lord; jperhaps I can kmake atonement for your sin.” 31 Then Moses lreturned to the Lord and said, “Oh, these people have committed a great sin, and have mmade for themselves a god of gold! 32 Yet now, if You will forgive their sin—but if not, I pray, nblot me oout of Your book which You have written.”
33 And the Lord said to Moses, p“Whoever has sinned against Me, I will qblot him out of My book. 34 Now therefore, go, lead the people to the place of which I have rspoken to you. sBehold, My Angel shall go before you. Nevertheless, tin the day when I uvisit for punishment, I will visit punishment upon them for their sin.”
35 So the Lord plagued the people because of vwhat they did with the calf which Aaron made.
33 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Depart and go up from here, you aand the people whom you have brought out of the land of Egypt, to the land of which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, saying, b‘To your descendants I will give it.’ 2 cAnd I will send My Angel before you, dand I will drive out the Canaanite and the Amorite and the Hittite and the Perizzite and the Hivite and the Jebusite. 3 Go up eto a land flowing with milk and honey; for I will not go up in your midst, lest fI 1consume you on the way, for you are a gstiff-necked 2people.”
4 And when the people heard this bad news, hthey mourned, iand no one put on his ornaments. 5 For the Lord had said to Moses, “Say to the children of Israel, ‘You are a stiff-necked people. I could come up into your midst in one moment and consume you. Now therefore, take off your 3ornaments, that I may jknow what to do to you.’ ” 6 So the children of Israel stripped themselves of their ornaments by Mount Horeb.
7 Moses took his tent and pitched it outside the camp, far from the camp, and kcalled it the tabernacle of meeting. And it came to pass that everyone who lsought the Lord went out to the tabernacle of meeting which was outside the camp. 8 So it was, whenever Moses went out to the tabernacle, that all the people rose, and each man stood mat his tent door and watched Moses until he had gone into the tabernacle. 9 And it came to pass, when Moses entered the tabernacle, that the pillar of cloud descended and stood at the door of the tabernacle, and the Lord ntalked with Moses. 10 All the people saw the pillar of cloud standing at the tabernacle door, and all the people rose and oworshiped, each man in his tent door. 11 So pthe Lord spoke to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend. And he would return to the camp, but qhis servant Joshua the son of Nun, a young man, did not depart from the tabernacle.
12 Then Moses said to the Lord, “See, rYou say to me, ‘Bring up this people.’ But You have not let