Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

¹⁵ Moshe turned and went down from the mountain with the two tablets of the testimony in his hand, tablets inscribed on both sides, on the front and on the back. ¹⁶ The tablets were the work of God; and the writing was the writing of God, engraved on the tablets. ¹⁷ When Y’hoshua heard the noise of the people shouting he said to Moshe, “It sounds like war in the camp!” ¹⁸ He answered, “That is neither the clamor of victory nor the wailings of defeat; what I hear is the sound of people singing.”

¹⁹ But the moment Moshe got near the camp, when he saw the calf and the dancing, his own anger blazed up. He threw down the tablets he had been holding and shattered them at the base of the mountain. ²⁰ Seizing the calf they had made, he melted it in the fire and ground it to powder, which he scattered on the water. Then he made the people of Isra’el drink it.

²¹ Moshe said to Aharon, “What did these people do to you to make you lead them into such a terrible sin?” ²² Aharon replied, “My lord shouldn’t be so angry. You know what these people are like, that they are determined to do evil. ²³ So they said to me, ‘Make us gods to go ahead of us; because this Moshe, the man that brought us up from the land of Egypt — we don’t know what has become of him.’ ²⁴ I answered them, ‘Anyone with gold, strip it off!’ So they gave it to me. I threw it in the fire, and out came this calf!”

²⁵ When Moshe saw that the people had gotten out of control — because Aharon had allowed them to get out of control, to the derision of their enemies — ²⁶ Moshe stood at the entrance to the camp and shouted, “Whoever is for Adonai, come to me!” All the descendants of Levi rallied around him. ²⁷ He told them, “Here is what Adonai, the God of Isra’el, says: ‘Each of you, put his sword on his side; and go up and down the camp, from gate to gate; and every man is to kill his own kinsman, his own friend and his own neighbor!” ²⁸ The sons of Levi did what Moshe said, and that day three thousand of the people died. ²⁹ Moshe said, “You have consecrated yourselves today to Adonai, because every one of you has been against his own son and against his own kinsman, in order to bring a blessing on yourselves today.”

³⁰ The next day Moshe said to the people, “You have committed a terrible sin. Now I will go up to Adonai ; maybe I will be able to atone for your sin.” ³¹ Moshe went back to Adonai and said, “Please! These people have committed a terrible sin: they have made themselves a god out of gold. ³² Now, if you will just forgive their sin! But if you won’t, then, I beg you, blot me out of your book which you have written!” ³³ Adonai answered Moshe, “Those who have sinned against me are the ones I will blot out of my book. ³⁴ Now go and lead the people to the place I told you about; my angel will go ahead of you. Nevertheless, the time for punishment will come; and then I will punish them for their sin.” ³⁵ Adonai struck the people with a plague because they had made the calf, the one Aharon made.

⁹ Let the brother in humble circumstances boast about his high position. ¹⁰ But let the rich brother boast about his being humbled; since, like a wildflower, he will pass away. ¹¹ For just as the sun rises with the sharav and dries up the plant, so that its flower falls off and its beauty is destroyed, so too the rich person going about his business will wither away.

¹² How blessed is the man who perseveres through temptation! For after he has passed the test, he will receive as his crown the Life which God has promised to those who love him. ¹³ No one being tempted should say, “I am being tempted by God.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, and God himself tempts no one. ¹⁴ Rather, each person is being tempted whenever he is being dragged off and enticed by the bait of his own desire. ¹⁵ Then, having conceived, the desire gives birth to sin; and when sin is fully grown, it gives birth to death. ¹⁶ Don’t delude yourselves, my dear brothers.