Chapter 31

The Skilled Craftsmen

1 aNow the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,

2 “See, I have called by name Bezalel, the ason of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah.

3 “I have afilled him with the Spirit of God in wisdom, in understanding, in knowledge, and in all kinds of 1craftsmanship,

4 to 1make artistic designs for work in gold, in silver, and in 2bronze,

5 and in the cutting of stones 1for settings, and in the carving of wood, that he may work in all kinds of 2craftsmanship.

6 “And behold, I Myself have 1appointed with him aOholiab, the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan; and in the hearts of all who are 2skillful I have put 3skill, that they may make all that I have commanded you:

7 athe tent of meeting, and bthe ark of testimony, and cthe 1mercy seat upon it, and all the furniture of the tent,

8 athe table also and its 1utensils, and the bpure gold lampstand with all its 1utensils, and cthe altar of incense,

9 athe altar of burnt offering also with all its 1utensils, and bthe laver and its stand,

10 the 1awoven garments as well, and the holy garments for Aaron the priest, and the garments of his sons, with which to 2carry on their priesthood;

11 athe anointing oil also, and the bfragrant incense for the holy place, they are to make them according to all that I have commanded you.”

The Sign of the Sabbath

12 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying,

13 “But as for you, speak to the sons of Israel, saying, ‘aYou shall surely observe My sabbaths; for this is ba sign between Me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I am the Lord who sanctifies you.

14 ‘Therefore you are to observe the sabbath, for it is holy to you. aEveryone who profanes it shall surely be put to death; for whoever does any work on it, that person shall be cut off from among his people.

15 ‘aFor six days work may be done, but on the seventh day there is a bsabbath of complete rest, holy to the Lord; cwhoever does any work on the sabbath day shall surely be put to death.

16 ‘So the sons of Israel shall observe the sabbath, to 1celebrate the sabbath throughout their generations as a perpetual covenant.’

17 “aIt is a sign between Me and the sons of Israel forever; bfor 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 upon Mount Sinai, He gave Moses athe two tablets of the testimony, tablets of stone, bwritten by the finger of God.

Chapter 32

The Golden Calf

1 Now when the people saw that Moses adelayed to come down from the mountain, the people assembled about Aaron and said to him, “Come, bmake us 1a god who will go before us; as for cthis Moses, the man who brought us up from the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.”

2 Aaron said to them, “aTear off the gold rings which are in the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me.”

3 Then all the people tore off the gold rings which were in their ears and brought them to Aaron.

4 He took this from their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool and made it into a amolten calf; and they said, “1This is your god, O Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt.”

5 Now when Aaron saw this, he built an altar before it; and Aaron made a proclamation and said, “Tomorrow shall be a feast to the Lord.”

6 So the next day they rose early and aoffered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings; and bthe people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up cto play.

7 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, “Go 1down at once, for your people, whom ayou brought up from the land of Egypt, have bcorrupted themselves.

8 “They have quickly turned aside from the way which I commanded them. aThey have made for themselves a molten calf, and have worshiped it and bhave sacrificed to it and said, ‘1cThis is your god, O Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt!’ ”

9 aThe Lord said to Moses, “I have seen this people, and behold, they are 1ban obstinate people.

10 “Now then alet Me alone, that My anger may burn against them and that I may destroy them; and bI will make of you a great nation.”

Moses’ Entreaty

11 Then aMoses entreated the Lord his God, and said, “O 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 athe Egyptians speak, saying, ‘With evil intent He brought them out to kill them in the mountains and to destroy them from the face of the earth’? Turn from Your burning anger and change Your mind about doing harm to Your people.

13 “Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, Your servants to whom You aswore by Yourself, and said to them, ‘I will bmultiply your 1descendants as the stars of the heavens, and call this land of which I have spoken I will give to your 1descendants, and they shall inherit it forever.’ ”

14 aSo the Lord changed His mind about the harm which He said He would do to His people.

15 aThen Moses turned and went down from the mountain with the two tablets of the testimony in his hand, btablets which were written on both 1sides; 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 1as 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 triumph,

Nor is it the sound of the cry of defeat;

But the sound of singing I hear.”

Moses’ Anger

19 It came about, as soon as 1Moses came near the camp, that ahe saw the calf and the dancing; and Moses’ anger burned, and bhe threw the tablets from his hands and shattered them 2at the foot of the mountain.

20 aHe took the calf which they had made and 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 great sin upon them?”

22 Aaron said, “Do not let the anger of my lord burn; you know the people yourself, athat they are 1prone to evil.

23 “For athey said to me, ‘Make 1a 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 has become of him.’

24 “I said to them, ‘Whoever has any gold, let them tear it off.’ So they gave it to me, and aI threw it into the fire, and out came this calf.”

25 Now when Moses saw that the people were 1out of control—for Aaron had alet them 2get out of control to be a derision among 3their enemies—

26 then Moses stood in 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 He said to them, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘Every man of you put his sword upon 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 1neighbor.’ ”

28 So athe sons of Levi did 1as Moses instructed, and about three thousand men of the people fell that day.

29 Then Moses said, “1Dedicate 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 On the next day Moses said to the people, “aYou yourselves have 1committed a great sin; and now I am going up to the Lord, perhaps I can bmake atonement for your sin.”

31 Then Moses returned to the Lord, and said, “Alas, this people has 1committed a great sin, and they have made 2a agod of gold for themselves.

32 “But now, if You will, forgive their sin—and if not, please blot me out from Your abook which You have written!”

33 The Lord said to Moses, “Whoever has sinned against Me, aI will blot him out of My book.

34 “But go now, lead the people awhere I told you. Behold, bMy angel shall go before you; nevertheless cin the day when I 1punish, dI will 2punish them for their sin.”

35 aThen the Lord smote the people, because of bwhat they did with the calf which Aaron had made.

Chapter 33

The Journey Resumed

1 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, “Depart, go up from here, you and the people whom you have brought up from the land of Egypt, to the land of which aI swore to Abraham, bIsaac, and cJacob, saying, ‘dTo your 1descendants I will give it.’

2 “I will send aan angel before you and bI will drive out the Canaanite, the Amorite, the Hittite, the Perizzite, the Hivite and the Jebusite.

3 “Go up to a land aflowing with milk and honey; for I will not go up in your midst, because you are 1ban obstinate people, and cI might destroy you on the way.”

4 When the people heard this 1sad word, athey went into mourning, and none of them put on his ornaments.

5 For the Lord had said to Moses, “Say to the sons of Israel, ‘You are 1aan obstinate people; should I go up in your midst for one moment, I would destroy you. Now therefore, put off your ornaments from you, that I may know what I shall do with you.’ ”

6 So the sons of Israel stripped themselves of their ornaments, from Mount Horeb onward.

7 Now Moses used to take athe tent and pitch it outside the camp, a good distance from the camp, and he called it the tent of meeting. And beveryone who sought the Lord would go out to the tent of meeting which was outside the camp.

8 And it came about, whenever Moses went out to the tent, that all the people would arise and stand, each at the entrance of his tent, and gaze after Moses until he entered the tent.

9 Whenever Moses entered the tent, athe pillar of cloud would descend and stand at the entrance of the tent; band 1the Lord would speak with Moses.

10 When all the people saw the pillar of cloud standing at the entrance of the tent, all the people would arise and worship, each at the entrance of his tent.

11 Thus athe Lord used to speak to Moses face to face, just as a man speaks to his friend. When 1Moses returned to the camp, bhis servant Joshua, the son of Nun, a young man, would not depart from the tent.

Moses Intercedes

12 Then Moses said to the Lord, “See, You say to me, ‘aBring up this people!’ But You Yourself have not let me know bwhom You will send with me. cMoreover, You have said, ‘I have known you by name, and you have also found favor in My sight.’

13 “Now therefore, I pray You, if I have found favor in Your sight, alet me know Your ways that I may know You, so that I may find favor in Your sight. bConsider too, that this nation is Your people.”

14 And He said, “aMy presence shall go with you, and bI will give you rest.”

15 Then he said to Him, “aIf Your presence does not go with us, do not lead us up from here.

16 “For how then can it be known that I have found favor in Your sight, I and Your people? Is it not by Your going with us, so that awe, I and Your people, may be distinguished from all the other people who are upon the face of the 1earth?”

17 The Lord said to Moses, “I will also do this thing of which you have spoken; afor you have found favor in My sight and I have known you by name.”

18 aThen 1Moses said, “I pray You, show me Your glory!”

19 And He said, “aI Myself will make all My goodness pass before you, and will proclaim the name of the Lord before you; and bI will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show compassion on whom I will show compassion.”

20 But He said, “You cannot see My face, afor no man can see Me and live!”

21 Then the Lord said, “Behold, there is a place 1by Me, and ayou shall stand there on the rock;

22 and it will come about, while My glory is passing by, that I will put you in the cleft of the rock and acover you with My hand until I have passed by.

23 “Then I will take My hand away and you shall see My back, but aMy face shall not be seen.”