God’s Provision of the Skilled Workers

31 The Lord also spoke to Moses: ² “Look, I have appointed by name Bezalel^(A) son of Uri, son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah. ³ I have filled him with God’s Spirit, with wisdom, understanding, and ability in every craft^{(B) 4} to design artistic works in gold, silver, and bronze, ⁵ to cut gemstones for mounting, and to carve wood for work in every craft. ⁶ I have also selected Oholiab^[a] son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan, to be with him. I have put wisdom in the heart of every skilled artisan^[b] in order to make all that I have commanded you: ⁷ the tent of meeting, the ark of the testimony, the mercy seat that is on top of it, and all the other furnishings of the tent^(C)— ⁸ the table with its utensils, the pure gold lampstand with all its utensils, the altar of incense, ⁹ the altar of burnt offering with all its utensils, the basin with its stand— ¹⁰ the specially woven^[c] garments, both the holy garments for the priest Aaron and the garments for his sons to serve as priests, ¹¹ the anointing oil, and the fragrant incense for the sanctuary. They must make them according to all that I have commanded you.”^(D)

Observing the Sabbath

¹² The Lord said to Moses, ¹³ “Tell the Israelites: You must observe my Sabbaths, for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations, so that you will know that I am the Lord who consecrates you.^{(E) 14} Observe the Sabbath, for it is holy to you. Whoever profanes it must be put to death. If anyone does work on it, that person must be cut off from his people.^{(F) 15} Work may be done for six days, but on the seventh day there must be a Sabbath of complete rest,^(G) holy to the Lord. Anyone who does work on the Sabbath day must be put to death. ¹⁶ The Israelites must observe the Sabbath, celebrating it throughout their generations as a permanent covenant. ¹⁷ It is a sign forever between me and the Israelites, for in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, but on the seventh day he rested and was refreshed.”

The Two Stone Tablets

¹⁸ When he finished speaking with Moses on Mount Sinai, he gave him the two tablets of the testimony, stone tablets inscribed by the finger of God.^(H)

The Gold Calf

32 When the people saw that Moses delayed in coming down from the mountain, they gathered around Aaron and said to him, “Come, make gods^[a] for us who will go before us because this Moses, the man who brought us up from the land of Egypt—we don’t know what has happened to him!” ^(A)

² Aaron replied to them, “Take off the gold rings^(B) that are on the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters and bring them to me.” ³ So all the people took off the gold rings that were on their ears and brought them to Aaron. ⁴ He took the gold from them, fashioned it with an engraving tool, and made it into an image of a calf.

Then they said, “Israel, these are your gods,^[b] who brought you up from the land of Egypt!” ^(C)

⁵ When Aaron saw this, he built an altar in front of it and made an announcement: “There will be a festival^(D) to the Lord tomorrow.” ⁶ Early the next morning they arose, offered burnt offerings, and presented fellowship offerings. The people sat down to eat and drink, and got up to party.^(E)

⁷ The Lord spoke to Moses: “Go down at once! For your people you brought up from the land of Egypt have acted corruptly.^{(F) 8} They have quickly turned from the way I commanded them; they have made for themselves an image of a calf. They have bowed down to it, sacrificed to it, and said, ‘Israel, these are your gods, who brought you up from the land of Egypt.’”^{(G) 9} The Lord also said to Moses, “I have seen this people, and they are indeed a stiff-necked^(H) people. ¹⁰ Now leave me alone, so that my anger can burn against them and I can destroy them. Then I will make you into a great nation.”^(I)

¹¹ But Moses sought the favor of the Lord his God: “Lord, why does your anger burn against your people you brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and a strong hand? ¹² Why should the Egyptians say, ‘He brought them out with an evil intent to kill them in the mountains and eliminate them from the face of the earth’? Turn from your fierce anger and relent concerning this disaster planned for your people.^{(J) 13} Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac, and Israel—you swore to them by yourself^(K) and declared, ‘I will make your offspring as numerous as the stars of the sky and will give your offspring all this land that I have promised, and they will inherit it forever.’”^{(L) 14} So the Lord relented^(M) concerning the disaster he had said he would bring on his people.

¹⁵ Then Moses turned and went down the mountain with the two tablets of the testimony in his hands. They were inscribed on both sides—inscribed front and back. ¹⁶ The tablets were the work of God, and the writing was God’s writing, engraved on the tablets.^(N)

¹⁷ When Joshua heard the sound of the people as they shouted, he said to Moses, “There is a sound of war in the camp.”

¹⁸ But Moses replied,

¹⁹ As he approached the camp and saw the calf and the dancing, Moses became enraged and threw the tablets out of his hands, smashing them at the base of the mountain. ²⁰ He took the calf they had made, burned it up, and ground it to powder. He scattered the powder over the surface of the water and forced the Israelites to drink the water.

²¹ Then Moses asked Aaron, “What did these people do to you that you have led them into such a grave sin?”

²² “Don’t be enraged, my lord,” Aaron replied. “You yourself know that the people are intent on evil.^{(O) 23} They said to me, ‘Make gods for us who will go before us because this Moses, the man who brought us up from the land of Egypt—we don’t know what has happened to him!’ ²⁴ So I said to them, ‘Whoever has gold, take it off,’ and they gave it to me. When I threw it into the fire, out came this calf!”

²⁵ Moses saw that the people were out of control, for Aaron had let them get out of control, making them a laughingstock to their enemies.^{[c] 26} And Moses stood at the camp’s entrance and said, “Whoever is for the Lord, come to me.” And all the Levites gathered around him. ²⁷ He told them, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says, ‘Every man fasten his sword to his side; go back and forth through the camp from entrance to entrance, and each of you kill his brother, his friend, and his neighbor.’”^{(P) 28} The Levites did as Moses commanded, and about three thousand men fell dead that day among the people. ²⁹ Afterward Moses said, “Today you have been dedicated^[d] to the Lord, since each man went against his son and his brother. Therefore you have brought a blessing on yourselves today.”^(Q)

³⁰ The following day Moses said to the people, “You have committed a grave sin. Now I will go up to the Lord; perhaps I will be able to atone for your sin.”^(R)

³¹ So Moses returned to the Lord and said, “Oh, these people have committed a grave sin; they have made a god of gold for themselves.^{(S) 32} Now if you would only forgive their sin. But if not, please erase me from the book you have written.”^(T)

³³ The Lord replied to Moses, “Whoever has sinned against me I will erase from my book.^{(U) 34} Now go, lead the people to the place I told you about; see, my angel will go before you. But on the day I settle accounts, I will hold them accountable for their sin.”^{(V) 35} And the Lord inflicted a plague on the people for what they did with the calf Aaron had made.

The Tent Outside the Camp

33 The Lord spoke to Moses: “Go up from here, you and the people you brought up from the land of Egypt, to the land I promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, saying: I will give it to your offspring.^{(A) 2} I will send an angel ahead of you and will drive out the Canaanites, Amorites, Hethites, Perizzites,^[a] Hivites, and Jebusites.^{(B) 3} Go up to a land flowing with milk and honey. But I will not go up with you because you are a stiff-necked people; otherwise, I might destroy you on the way.”^{(C) 4} When the people heard this bad news, they mourned and didn’t put on their jewelry.^(D)

⁵ For the Lord said to Moses, “Tell the Israelites: You are a stiff-necked people. If I went up with you for a single moment, I would destroy you. Now take off your jewelry, and I will decide what to do with you.” ⁶ So the Israelites remained stripped of their jewelry from Mount Horeb onward.