Exodus 31:1-32:25

English Standard Version

Oholiab and Bezalel

31 The Lord said to Moses, ² “See, I have called by name ^(A)Bezalel the son of Uri, son of ^(B)Hur, of the tribe of Judah, ³ and I have ^(C)filled him with the Spirit of God, with ability and intelligence, with knowledge and all craftsmanship, ⁴ to devise artistic designs, to work in gold, silver, and bronze, ⁵ in cutting stones for setting, and in carving wood, to work in every craft. ⁶ And behold, I have appointed with him ^(D)Oholiab, the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan. And I have given to all able men ^(E)ability, that they may make all that I have commanded you: ^7 (F)the tent of meeting, and ^(G)the ark of the testimony, and ^(H)the mercy seat that is on it, and all the furnishings of the tent, ^8 (I)the table and its utensils, and ^(J)the pure lampstand with all its utensils, and ^(K)the altar of incense, ⁹ and ^(L)the altar of burnt offering with all its utensils, and ^(M)the basin and its stand, ¹⁰ and ^(N)the finely worked garments,^[a] the holy garments for Aaron the priest and the garments of his sons, for their service as priests, ¹¹ and ^(O)the anointing oil and the fragrant ^(P)incense for the Holy Place. According to all that I have commanded you, they shall do.”

The Sabbath

¹² And the Lord said to Moses, ¹³ “You are to speak to the people of Israel and say, ‘Above all you shall keep my Sabbaths, for this is a sign between me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I, the Lord, sanctify you. ¹⁴ You shall keep the Sabbath, because it is holy for you. Everyone who profanes it shall be put to death. ^(Q)Whoever does any work on it, that soul shall be cut off from among his people. ^15 (R)Six days shall work be done, but ^(S)the seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, holy to the Lord. ^(T)Whoever does any work on the Sabbath day shall be put to death. ¹⁶ Therefore the people of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, observing the Sabbath throughout their generations, as a covenant forever. ^17 (U)It is a sign forever between me and the people of Israel that ^(V)in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and ^(W)on the seventh day he rested and was refreshed.’”

¹⁸ And he gave to Moses, when he had finished speaking with him on Mount Sinai, the ^(X)two tablets of the testimony, tablets of stone, written with ^(Y)the finger of God.

The Golden Calf

32 When the people saw that Moses ^(Z)delayed to come down from the mountain, the people gathered themselves together to Aaron and said to him, ^(AA)“Up, make us gods who shall ^(AB)go before us. As for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.” ² So Aaron said to them, “Take off the ^(AC)rings of gold that are in the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me.” ³ So all the people took off the rings of gold that were in their ears and brought them to Aaron. ^4 (AD)And he received the gold from their hand and fashioned it with a graving tool and made a golden^[b] calf. And they said, ^(AE)“These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!” ⁵ When Aaron saw this, he built an altar before it. And Aaron ^(AF)made a proclamation and said, “Tomorrow shall be a feast to the Lord.” ⁶ And they rose up early the next day and offered burnt offerings and brought peace offerings. And ^(AG)the people sat down to eat and drink and rose up ^(AH)to play.

⁷ And the Lord said to Moses, ^(AI)“Go down, for your people, whom you brought up out of the land of Egypt, have ^(AJ)corrupted themselves. ⁸ They have turned aside quickly out of the way that ^(AK)I commanded them. They have made for themselves a golden calf and have worshiped it and sacrificed to it and said, ‘These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!’” ⁹ And the Lord said to Moses, “I have seen this people, and behold, ^(AL)it is a stiff-necked people. ¹⁰ Now therefore ^(AM)let me alone, that ^(AN)my wrath may burn hot against them and ^(AO)I may consume them, in order that ^(AP)I may make a great nation of you.”

¹¹ But ^(AQ)Moses implored the Lord his God and said, “O 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 (AR)Why should the Egyptians say, ‘With evil intent did he bring them out, to kill them in the mountains and to consume them from the face of the earth’? Turn from your burning anger and ^(AS)relent from this disaster against your people. ¹³ Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your servants, to whom you ^(AT)swore by your own self, and said to them, ^(AU)‘I will multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have promised I will give to your offspring, and they shall inherit it forever.’” ¹⁴ And the Lord ^(AV)relented from the disaster that he had spoken of bringing on his people.

¹⁵ Then ^(AW)Moses turned and went down from the mountain with the ^(AX)two tablets of the testimony in his hand, tablets that were written on both sides; on the front and on the back they were written. ^16 (AY)The tablets were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, engraved on the tablets. ¹⁷ When ^(AZ)Joshua heard the noise of the people as they shouted, he said to Moses, “There is a noise of war in the camp.” ¹⁸ But he said, “It is not the sound of ^(BA)shouting for victory, or the sound of the cry of defeat, but the sound of singing that I hear.” ¹⁹ And as soon as he came near the camp and ^(BB)saw the calf and the dancing, Moses' anger burned hot, and he threw the tablets out of his hands and broke them at the foot of the mountain. ²⁰ He took the calf that they had made and burned it with fire and ground it to powder and scattered it on the water and made the people of Israel drink it.

²¹ And Moses said to Aaron, ^(BC)“What did this people do to you that you have brought such a great sin upon them?” ²² And Aaron said, “Let not the anger of my lord burn hot. ^(BD)You know the people, that they are set on evil. ²³ For ^(BE)they said to me, ‘Make us gods who shall go before us. As for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.’ ²⁴ So ^(BF)I said to them, ‘Let any who have gold take it off.’ So they gave it to me, and I threw it into the fire, and out came this calf.”

²⁵ And when Moses saw that the people had broken loose (for Aaron had let them break loose, ^(BG)to the derision of their enemies),