Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

Who May Dwell on Your Holy Mountain?

A Psalm of David.

The Golden Calf

32 Then the people saw that Moses ^(A)delayed to come down from the mountain. So the people assembled about Aaron and said to him, “Arise, ^(B)make us ^[a]gods who will go before us; as for ^(C)this Moses, the man who brought us up from the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.” ² And Aaron said to them, “^(D)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 And he took this from their hand and fashioned it with a graving tool and made it into a ^(E)molten calf; and they said, “^[b]These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt.” ⁵ And Aaron looked and built an altar before it; and Aaron made a proclamation and said, “Tomorrow shall be a feast to Yahweh.” ⁶ So the next day they rose early and ^(F)offered burnt offerings and brought peace offerings; and ^(G)the people sat down to eat and to drink and rose up ^(H)to play.

⁷ Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, “Go! Go down at once, for your people, whom ^(I)you brought up from the land of Egypt, have ^(J)corrupted themselves. ⁸ They have quickly turned aside from the way which I commanded them. ^(K)They have made for themselves a molten calf and have worshiped it and ^(L)have sacrificed to it and said, ‘^[c](M)These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt!’” ^9 (N)And Yahweh said to Moses, “I have seen this people, and behold, they are ^(O)a stiff-necked people. ¹⁰ Now then ^(P)let Me alone, that My anger may burn against them and that I may consume them; and ^(Q)I will make you a great nation.”

¹¹ Then ^(R)Moses entreated ^[d]the favor of Yahweh his God and said, “O Yahweh, why does Your anger burn against Your people whom You have brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a strong hand? ¹² Why should ^(S)the Egyptians speak, saying, ‘With evil intent He brought them out to kill them in the mountains and to consume them from the face of the earth’? Turn from Your burning anger and relent concerning doing harm to Your people. ¹³ Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, Your servants to whom You ^(T)swore by Yourself, and You said to them, ‘I will ^(U)multiply your seed as the stars of the heavens, and ^(V)all this land of which I have spoken I will give to your seed, and they shall inherit it forever.’” ^14 (W)So Yahweh relented concerning the harm which He said He would do to His people.

Testing Your Faith

1 ^[a](A)James, a ^(B)slave of God and ^(C)of the Lord Jesus Christ,

To ^(D)the twelve tribes who are in the ^(E)Dispersion: ^(F)Greetings.

^2 (G)Consider it all joy, my brothers, when you encounter ^(H)various ^[b]trials, ³ knowing that ^(I)the testing of your ^(J)faith brings about ^(K)perseverance. ⁴ And let ^(L)perseverance have its perfect work, so that you may be ^[c](M)perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

⁵ But if any of you ^(N)lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and ^[d]without reproach, and ^(O)it will be given to him. ⁶ But he must ^(P)ask in faith, ^(Q)doubting nothing, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, ^(R)driven and tossed by the wind. ⁷ For that man ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord, ⁸ being a ^[e](S)double-minded man, ^(T)unstable in all his ways.