¹¹ The Lord also spoke to Moses, saying, ¹² “When you take ^(A)a ^[a]census of the sons of Israel ^[b]to number them, then each one of them shall give ^(B)a ransom for ^[c]himself to the Lord, when you ^[d]number them, so that there will be no plague among them when you ^[e]number them. ¹³ This is what everyone who ^[f]is numbered shall give: half a shekel according to the shekel of the sanctuary (^(C)the shekel is twenty gerahs), half a shekel as a ^[g]contribution to the Lord. ¹⁴ Everyone who ^[h]is numbered, from twenty years old and over, shall give the ^[i]contribution to the Lord. ¹⁵ The rich shall not pay more and the poor shall not pay less than the half shekel, when you give the ^[j]contribution to the Lord to make atonement for ^[k]yourselves. ¹⁶ You shall take the atonement money from the sons of Israel and shall give it for the service of the tent of meeting, that it may be a memorial for the sons of Israel before the Lord, to make atonement for ^[l]yourselves.”

¹⁷ The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ¹⁸ “You shall also make ^(D)a laver of ^[m]bronze, with its base of bronze, for washing; and you shall ^(E)put it between the tent of meeting and the altar, and you shall put water in it. ¹⁹ Aaron and his sons shall ^(F)wash their hands and their feet from it; ²⁰ when they enter the tent of meeting, they shall wash with water, so that they will not die; or when they approach the altar to minister, by offering up in smoke a fire sacrifice to the Lord. ²¹ So they shall wash their hands and their feet, so that they will not die; and ^(G)it shall be a perpetual statute for them, for ^[n]Aaron and his ^[o]descendants throughout their generations.”

The Anointing Oil

²² Moreover, the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ²³ “Take also for yourself the finest of spices: of flowing myrrh five hundred shekels, and of fragrant cinnamon half as much, two hundred and fifty, and of fragrant cane two hundred and fifty, ²⁴ and of cassia five hundred, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, and of olive oil a hin. ²⁵ You shall make ^[p]of these a holy anointing oil, a perfume mixture, the work of a perfumer; it shall be ^(H)a holy anointing oil. ²⁶ With it ^(I)you shall anoint the tent of meeting and the ark of the testimony, ²⁷ and the table and all its utensils, and the lampstand and its utensils, and the altar of incense, ²⁸ and the altar of burnt offering and all its utensils, and the laver and its stand. ²⁹ You shall also consecrate them, that they may be most holy; whatever touches them shall be holy. ^30 (J)You shall anoint Aaron and his sons, and consecrate them, that they may minister as priests to Me. ³¹ You shall speak to the sons of Israel, saying, ‘This shall be a holy anointing oil to Me throughout your generations. ³² It shall not be poured on ^[q]anyone’s body, nor shall you make any like it in ^[r]the same proportions; ^(K)it is holy, and it shall be holy to you. ^33 (L)Whoever shall mix any like it or whoever puts any of it on a ^[s]layman ^[t](M)shall be cut off from his people.’”

The Incense

³⁴ Then the Lord said to Moses, “Take for yourself spices, stacte and onycha and galbanum, spices with pure frankincense; there shall be an equal part of each. ³⁵ With it you shall make incense, a perfume, the work of a perfumer, salted, pure, and holy. ³⁶ You shall beat some of it very fine, and put part of it before the testimony in the tent of meeting ^(N)where I will meet with you; it shall be most holy to you. ³⁷ The incense which you shall make, ^(O)you shall not make in ^[u]the same proportions for yourselves; it shall be holy to you for the Lord. ^38 (P)Whoever shall make any like it, to ^[v]use as perfume, ^[w]shall be cut off from his people.”

The Skilled Craftsmen

31 ^(Q)Now the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ² “See, I have called by name Bezalel, the ^(R)son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah. ³ I have ^(S)filled him with the Spirit of God in wisdom, in understanding, in knowledge, and in all kinds of ^[x]craftsmanship, ⁴ to ^[y]make artistic designs for work in gold, in silver, and in ^[z]bronze, ⁵ and in the cutting of stones ^[aa]for settings, and in the carving of wood, that he may work in all kinds of ^[ab]craftsmanship. ⁶ And behold, I Myself have ^[ac]appointed with him ^(T)Oholiab, the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan; and in the hearts of all who are ^[ad]skillful I have put ^[ae]skill, that they may make all that I have commanded you: ^7 (U)the tent of meeting, and ^(V)the ark of testimony, and ^(W)the ^[af]mercy seat upon it, and all the furniture of the tent, ^8 (X)the table also and its ^[ag]utensils, and the ^(Y)pure gold lampstand with all its ^[ah]utensils, and ^(Z)the altar of incense, ^9 (AA)the altar of burnt offering also with all its ^[ai]utensils, and ^(AB)the laver and its stand, ¹⁰ the ^[aj](AC)woven garments as well, and the holy garments for Aaron the priest, and the garments of his sons, with which to ^[ak]carry on their priesthood; ^11 (AD)the anointing oil also, and the ^(AE)fragrant 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, ‘^(AF)You shall surely observe My sabbaths; for this is ^(AG)a 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. ^(AH)Everyone 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 (AI)For six days work may be done, but on the seventh day there is a ^(AJ)sabbath of complete rest, holy to the Lord; ^(AK)whoever does any work on the sabbath day shall surely be put to death. ¹⁶ So the sons of Israel shall observe the sabbath, to ^[al]celebrate the sabbath throughout their generations as a perpetual covenant.’ ^17 (AL)It is a sign between Me and the sons of Israel forever; ^(AM)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 upon Mount Sinai, He gave Moses ^(AN)the two tablets of the testimony, tablets of stone, ^(AO)written by the finger of God.

The Golden Calf

32 Now when the people saw that Moses ^(AP)delayed to come down from the mountain, the people assembled about Aaron and said to him, “Come, ^(AQ)make us ^[am]a god who will go before us; as for ^(AR)this 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, “^(AS)Tear 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 ^(AT)molten calf; and they said, “^[an]This 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 ^(AU)offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings; and ^(AV)the people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up ^(AW)to play.

⁷ Then the Lord spoke to Moses, “Go ^[ao]down at once, for your people, whom ^(AX)you brought up from the land of Egypt, have ^(AY)corrupted themselves. ⁸ They have quickly turned aside from the way which I commanded them. ^(AZ)They have made for themselves a molten calf, and have worshiped it and ^(BA)have sacrificed to it and said, ‘^[ap](BB)This is your god, O Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt!’” ^9 (BC)The Lord said to Moses, “I have seen this people, and behold, they are ^[aq](BD)an obstinate people. ¹⁰ Now then ^(BE)let Me alone, that My anger may burn against them and that I may destroy them; and ^(BF)I will make of you a great nation.”

Moses’ Entreaty

¹¹ Then ^(BG)Moses 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 ^(BH)the 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 ^(BI)swore by Yourself, and said to them, ‘I will ^(BJ)multiply your ^[ar]descendants as the stars of the heavens, and ^(BK)all this land of which I have spoken I will give to your ^[as]descendants, and they shall inherit it forever.’” ^14 (BL)So the Lord changed His mind about the harm which He said He would do to His people.

^15 (BM)Then Moses turned and went down from the mountain with the two tablets of the testimony in his hand, ^(BN)tablets which were written on both ^[at]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 ^[au]as they shouted, he said to Moses, “There is a sound of war in the camp.” ¹⁸ But he said,

Moses’ Anger

¹⁹ It came about, as soon as ^[av]Moses came near the camp, that ^(BO)he saw the calf and the dancing; and Moses’ anger burned, and ^(BP)he threw the tablets from his hands and shattered them ^[aw]at the foot of the mountain. ^20 (BQ)He 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, ^(BR)that they are ^[ax]prone to evil. ²³ For ^(BS)they said to me, ‘Make ^[ay]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 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 ^(BT)I threw it into the fire, and out came this calf.”

²⁵ Now when Moses saw that the people were ^[az]out of control—for Aaron had ^(BU)let them ^[ba]get out of control to be a derision among ^[bb]their 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 ^[bc]neighbor.’” ²⁸ So ^(BV)the sons of Levi did ^[bd]as Moses instructed, and about three thousand men of the people fell that day. ²⁹ Then Moses said, “^[be]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 On the next day Moses said to the people, “^(BW)You yourselves have ^[bf]committed a great sin; and now I am going up to the Lord, perhaps I can ^(BX)make atonement for your sin.” ³¹ Then Moses returned to the Lord, and said, “Alas, this people has ^[bg]committed a great sin, and they have made ^[bh]a ^(BY)god of gold for themselves. ³² But now, if You will, forgive their sin—and if not, please blot me out from Your ^(BZ)book which You have written!” ³³ The Lord said to Moses, “Whoever has sinned against Me, ^(CA)I will blot him out of My book. ³⁴ But go now, lead the people ^(CB)where I told you. Behold, ^(CC)My angel shall go before you; nevertheless ^(CD)in the day when I ^[bi]punish, ^(CE)I will ^[bj]punish them for their sin.” ^35 (CF)Then the Lord smote the people, because of ^(CG)what they did with the calf which Aaron had made.

The Journey Resumed

33 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 ^(CH)I swore to Abraham, ^(CI)Isaac, and ^(CJ)Jacob, saying, ‘^(CK)To your ^[bk]descendants I will give it.’ ² I will send ^(CL)an angel before you and ^(CM)I will drive out the Canaanite, the Amorite, the Hittite, the Perizzite, the Hivite and the Jebusite. ³ Go up to a land ^(CN)flowing with milk and honey; for I will not go up in your midst, because you are ^[bl](CO)an obstinate people, and ^(CP)I might destroy you on the way.”

⁴ When the people heard this ^[bm]sad word, ^(CQ)they 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 ^[bn](CR)an 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 ^(CS)the tent and pitch it outside the camp, a good distance from the camp, and he called it the tent of meeting. And ^(CT)everyone 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, ^(CU)the pillar of cloud would descend and stand at the entrance of the tent; ^(CV)and ^[bo]the 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 ^(CW)the Lord used to speak to Moses face to face, just as a man speaks to his friend. When ^[bp]Moses returned to the camp, ^(CX)his 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, ‘^(CY)Bring up this people!’ But You Yourself have not let me know ^(CZ)whom You will send with me. ^(DA)Moreover, 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, ^(DB)let me know Your ways that I may know You, so that I may find favor in Your sight. ^(DC)Consider too, that this nation is Your people.” ¹⁴ And He said, “^(DD)My presence shall go with you, and ^(DE)I will give you rest.” ¹⁵ Then he said to Him, “^(DF)If 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 ^(DG)we, I and Your people, may be distinguished from all the other people who are upon the face of the ^[bq]earth?”

¹⁷ The Lord said to Moses, “I will also do this thing of which you have spoken; ^(DH)for you have found favor in My sight and I have known you by name.” ^18 (DI)Then ^[br]Moses said, “I pray You, show me Your glory!” ¹⁹ And He said, “^(DJ)I Myself will make all My goodness pass before you, and will proclaim the name of the Lord before you; and ^(DK)I 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, ^(DL)for no man can see Me and live!” ²¹ Then the Lord said, “Behold, there is a place ^[bs]by Me, and ^(DM)you 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 ^(DN)cover you with My hand until I have passed by. ²³ Then I will take My hand away and you shall see My back, but ^(DO)My face shall not be seen.”

The Two Tablets Replaced

34 Now the Lord said to Moses, “Cut out for yourself ^(DP)two stone tablets like the former ones, and ^(DQ)I will write on the tablets the words that were on the former tablets which you shattered. ² So be ready by morning, and come up in the morning to ^(DR)Mount Sinai, and ^[bt]present yourself there to Me on the top of the mountain. ^3 (DS)No man is to come up with you, nor let any man be seen ^[bu]anywhere on the mountain; even the flocks and the herds may not graze in front of that mountain.” ⁴ So he cut out ^(DT)two stone tablets like the former ones, and Moses rose up early in the morning and went up to Mount Sinai, as the Lord had commanded him, and he took two stone tablets in his hand. ^5 (DU)The Lord descended in the cloud and stood there with him as ^[bv]he called upon the name of the Lord. ⁶ Then the Lord passed by in front of him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord God, ^(DV)compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and ^[bw]truth; ⁷ who ^(DW)keeps lovingkindness for thousands, who forgives iniquity, transgression and sin; yet He ^(DX)will by no means leave the guilty unpunished, ^(DY)visiting the iniquity of fathers on the children and on the grandchildren to the third and fourth generations.” ⁸ Moses made haste ^[bx](DZ)to bow low toward the earth and worship. ⁹ He said, “^(EA)If now I have found favor in Your sight, O Lord, I pray, let the Lord go along in our midst, even though ^[by](EB)the people are so obstinate, and ^(EC)pardon our iniquity and our sin, and ^(ED)take us as Your own ^[bz]possession.”

The Covenant Renewed

¹⁰ Then ^[ca]God said, “Behold, ^(EE)I am going to make a covenant. Before all your people ^(EF)I will perform miracles which have not been ^[cb]produced in all the earth nor among any of the nations; and all the people ^[cc]among whom you live will see the working of the Lord, for it is a fearful thing that I am going to perform with you.

¹¹ “^[cd]Be sure to observe what I am commanding you this day: behold, ^(EG)I am going to drive out the Amorite before you, and the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Perizzite, the Hivite and the Jebusite. ^12 (EH)Watch yourself that you make no covenant with the inhabitants of the land into which you are going, or it will become a snare in your midst. ^13 (EI)But rather, you are to tear down their altars and smash their sacred pillars and cut down their ^[ce](EJ)Asherim ¹⁴ —for ^(EK)you shall not worship any other god, for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God— ¹⁵ otherwise you might make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land and they would play the harlot with their gods and ^(EL)sacrifice to their gods, and someone ^(EM)might invite you ^[cf]to eat of his sacrifice, ¹⁶ and ^(EN)you might take some of his daughters for your sons, and his daughters might play the harlot with their gods and cause your sons also to play the harlot with their gods. ^17 (EO)You shall make for yourself no molten gods.

¹⁸ “You shall observe ^(EP)the Feast of Unleavened Bread. For ^(EQ)seven days you are to eat unleavened bread, ^[cg]as I commanded you, at the appointed time in the ^(ER)month of Abib, for in the month of Abib you came out of Egypt.

¹⁹ “^(ES)The first offspring from every womb belongs to Me, and all your male livestock, the first offspring from ^[ch]cattle and sheep. ^20 (ET)You shall redeem with a lamb the ^[ci]first offspring from a donkey; and if you do not redeem it, then you shall break its neck. You shall redeem ^(EU)all the firstborn of your sons. ^[cj](EV)None shall appear before Me empty-handed.

²¹ “You shall work ^(EW)six days, but on the seventh day you shall rest; even during plowing time and harvest you shall rest. ²² You shall celebrate ^(EX)the Feast of Weeks, that is, the first fruits of the wheat harvest, and the Feast of Ingathering at the turn of the year. ^23 (EY)Three times a year all your males are to appear before the Lord ^[ck]God, the God of Israel. ²⁴ For I will ^[cl](EZ)drive out nations before you and enlarge your borders, and no man shall covet your land when you go up three times a year to appear before the Lord your God.

²⁵ “^(FA)You shall not ^[cm]offer the blood of My sacrifice with leavened bread, ^(FB)nor is the sacrifice of the Feast of the Passover to ^[cn]be left over until morning.

²⁶ “You shall bring ^(FC)the very first of the first fruits of your soil into the house of the Lord your God.

“You shall not boil a young goat in its mother’s milk.”

²⁷ Then the Lord said to Moses, “^(FD)Write ^[co]down these words, for in accordance with these words I have made ^(FE)a covenant with you and with Israel.” ²⁸ So he was there with the Lord ^(FF)forty days and forty nights; he did not eat bread or drink water. And ^[cp](FG)he wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant, ^(FH)the Ten ^[cq]Commandments.

Moses’ Face Shines

²⁹ It came about when Moses was coming down from Mount Sinai (and the ^(FI)two tablets of the testimony were in Moses’ hand as he was coming down from the mountain), that Moses did not know that ^(FJ)the skin of his face shone because of his speaking with Him. ³⁰ So when Aaron and all the sons of Israel saw Moses, behold, the skin of his face shone, and ^(FK)they were afraid to come near him. ³¹ Then Moses called to them, and Aaron and all the rulers in the congregation returned to him; and Moses spoke to them. ³² Afterward all the sons of Israel came near, and he commanded them to do everything that the Lord had spoken ^[cr]to him on Mount Sinai. ³³ When Moses had finished speaking with them, ^(FL)he put a veil over his face. ³⁴ But whenever Moses went in before the Lord to speak with Him, ^(FM)he would take off the veil until he came out; and whenever he came out and spoke to the sons of Israel what he had been commanded, ^35 (FN)the sons of Israel would see the face of Moses, that the skin of Moses’ face shone. So Moses would replace the veil over his face until he went in to speak with Him.

Obadiah Meets Elijah

18 Now it happened ^(A)after many days that the word of the Lord came to Elijah in the third year, saying, “Go, show yourself to Ahab, and ^(B)I will send rain on the face of the earth.” ² So Elijah went to show himself to Ahab. Now the famine was severe in Samaria. ³ Ahab called Obadiah ^(C)who was over the household. (Now Obadiah ^[a](D)feared the Lord greatly; ⁴ for ^(E)when Jezebel ^[b]destroyed the prophets of the Lord, Obadiah took a hundred prophets and hid them by fifties in a cave, and ^(F)provided them with bread and water.) ⁵ Then Ahab said to Obadiah, “Go through the land to all the springs of water and to all the valleys; perhaps we will find grass and keep the horses and mules alive, and not ^[c]have to kill some of the cattle.” ⁶ So they divided the land between them to ^[d]survey it; Ahab went one way by himself and Obadiah went another way by himself.

⁷ Now as Obadiah was on the way, behold, Elijah ^[e]met him, ^(G)and he recognized him and fell on his face and said, “Is this you, Elijah my master?” ⁸ He said to him, “It is I. Go, say to your master, ‘Behold, Elijah is here.’” ⁹ He said, “What ^[f]sin have I committed, that you are giving your servant into the hand of Ahab to put me to death? ^10 (H)As the Lord your God lives, there is no nation or kingdom where my master has not sent to search for you; and when they said, ‘He is not here,’ he made the kingdom or nation swear that they could not find you. ¹¹ And now you are saying, ‘Go, say to your master, “Behold, Elijah is here.”’ ¹² It will come about when I leave you ^(I)that the Spirit of the Lord will carry you where I do not know; so when I come and tell Ahab and he cannot find you, he will kill me, although I your servant have ^[g]feared the Lord from my youth. ^13 (J)Has it not been told to my master what I did when Jezebel killed the prophets of the Lord, that I hid ^[h]a hundred prophets of the Lord by fifties in a cave, and provided them with bread and water? ¹⁴ And now you are saying, ‘Go, say to your master, “Behold, Elijah is here”’; he will then kill me.” ¹⁵ Elijah said, “^(K)As the Lord of hosts lives, before whom I stand, I will surely show myself to him today.” ¹⁶ So Obadiah went to meet Ahab and told him; and Ahab went to meet Elijah.

¹⁷ When Ahab saw Elijah, ^(L)Ahab said to him, “Is this you, you troubler of Israel?” ¹⁸ He said, “I have not troubled Israel, but you and your father’s house have, because ^(M)you have forsaken the commandments of the Lord and ^(N)you have followed the Baals. ¹⁹ Now then send and gather to me all Israel at ^(O)Mount Carmel, ^(P)together with 450 prophets of Baal and 400 prophets of ^(Q)the Asherah, who eat at Jezebel’s table.”

God or Baal on Mount Carmel

²⁰ So Ahab sent a message among all the sons of Israel and brought the prophets together at Mount Carmel. ²¹ Elijah came near to all the people and said, “^(R)How long will you ^[i]hesitate between two opinions? ^(S)If the Lord is God, follow Him; but if Baal, follow him.” But the people did not answer him a word. ²² Then Elijah said to the people, “I ^(T)alone am left a prophet of the Lord, but Baal’s prophets are ^(U)450 men. ²³ Now let them give us two oxen; and let them choose one ox for themselves and cut it up, and place it on the wood, but put no fire under it; and I will prepare the other ox and lay it on the wood, and I will not put a fire under it. ²⁴ Then you call on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of the Lord, and ^(V)the God who answers by fire, He is God.” And all the people said, “^[j]That is a good idea.”

²⁵ So Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, “Choose one ox for yourselves and prepare it first for you are many, and call on the name of your god, but put no fire under it.” ²⁶ Then they took the ox which ^[k]was given them and they prepared it and called on the name of Baal from morning until noon saying, “O Baal, answer us.” But there was ^(W)no voice and no one answered. And they ^[l]leaped about the altar which ^[m]they made. ²⁷ It came about at noon, that Elijah mocked them and said, “Call out with a loud voice, for he is a god; either he is occupied or gone aside, or is on a journey, or perhaps he is asleep and needs to be awakened.” ²⁸ So they cried with a loud voice and ^(X)cut themselves according to their custom with swords and lances until the blood gushed out on them. ²⁹ When midday was past, they ^[n]raved ^(Y)until the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice; but there was no voice, no one answered, and no ^[o]one paid attention.

³⁰ Then Elijah said to all the people, “Come near to me.” So all the people came near to him. And ^(Z)he repaired the altar of the Lord which had been torn down. ³¹ Elijah took twelve stones according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, to whom the word of the Lord had come, saying, “^(AA)Israel shall be your name.” ³² So with the stones he built an altar in ^(AB)the name of the Lord, and he made a trench around the altar, large enough to hold two ^[p]measures of seed. ^33 (AC)Then he arranged the wood and cut the ox in pieces and laid it on the wood. ³⁴ And he said, “Fill four pitchers with water and pour it on the burnt offering and on the wood.” And he said, “Do it a second time,” and they did it a second time. And he said, “Do it a third time,” and they did it a third time. ³⁵ The water flowed around the altar and he also filled the trench with water.

Elijah’s Prayer

^36 (AD)At the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, Elijah the prophet came near and said, “^(AE)O Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, today let it be known that ^(AF)You are God in Israel and that I am Your servant and ^(AG)I have done all these things at Your word. ³⁷ Answer me, O Lord, answer me, that this people may know that You, O Lord, are God, and that You have turned their heart back again.” ³⁸ Then the ^(AH)fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt offering and the wood and the stones and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench. ³⁹ When all the people saw it, they fell on their faces; and they said, “^(AI)The Lord, He is God; the Lord, He is God.”

Ministers of a New Covenant

3 Are we beginning to ^(A)commend ourselves again? Or do we need, as some, ^(B)letters of commendation to you or from you? ^2 (C)You are our letter, written in our hearts, known and read by all men; ³ being manifested that you are a letter of Christ, ^[a](D)cared for by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of ^(E)the living God, not on ^(F)tablets of stone but on ^(G)tablets of ^[b](H)human hearts.

⁴ Such ^(I)confidence we have through Christ toward God. ⁵ Not that we are adequate in ourselves to consider anything as coming from ourselves, but ^(J)our adequacy is from God, ⁶ who also made us adequate as ^(K)servants of a ^(L)new covenant, not of ^(M)the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but ^(N)the Spirit gives life.

⁷ But if the ^(O)ministry of death, ^(P)in letters engraved on stones, came ^[c]with glory, ^(Q)so that the sons of Israel could not look intently at the face of Moses because of the glory of his face, fading as it was, ⁸ how will the ministry of the Spirit fail to be even more with glory? ⁹ For if ^(R)the ministry of condemnation has glory, much more does the ^(S)ministry of righteousness abound in glory. ¹⁰ For indeed what had glory, in this case has no glory because of the glory that surpasses it. ¹¹ For if that which fades away was ^[d]with glory, much more that which remains is in glory.

^12 (T)Therefore having such a hope, ^(U)we use great boldness in our speech, ¹³ and are not like Moses, ^(V)who used to put a veil over his face so that the sons of Israel would not look intently at the end of what was fading away. ¹⁴ But their minds were ^(W)hardened; for until this very day at the ^(X)reading of ^(Y)the old covenant the same veil ^[e]remains unlifted, because it is removed in Christ. ¹⁵ But to this day whenever Moses is read, a veil lies over their heart; ^16 (Z)but whenever a person turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. ¹⁷ Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where ^(AA)the Spirit of the Lord is, ^(AB)there is liberty. ¹⁸ But we all, with unveiled face, ^(AC)beholding as in a mirror the ^(AD)glory of the Lord, are being ^(AE)transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from ^(AF)the Lord, the Spirit.