Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

¹⁵ So I turned and went down the mountain. It was blazing with fire. I was carrying the two tablets of the covenant law. ¹⁶ When I looked, I saw that you had sinned against the Lord your God. You had made for yourselves a metal statue of a god. It looked like a calf. You had quickly turned away from the path the Lord had commanded you to follow. ¹⁷ So I threw the two tablets out of my hands. You watched them break into pieces.

¹⁸ Then once again I fell down flat in front of the Lord with my face toward the ground. I lay there for 40 days and 40 nights. I didn’t eat any food or drink any water. You had committed a terrible sin. You had done an evil thing in the Lord’s sight. You had made him angry. ¹⁹ I was afraid of the Lord’s great anger. He was so angry with you he wanted to destroy you. But the Lord listened to me again. ²⁰ And he was so angry with Aaron he wanted to destroy him too. But at that time I prayed for Aaron. ²¹ I also got that sinful calf you had made. I burned it in the fire. I crushed it and ground it into fine powder. Then I threw the powder into a stream that was flowing down the mountain.

²² You also made the Lord angry at Taberah, Massah and Kibroth Hattaavah.

²³ The Lord sent you out from Kadesh Barnea. He said, “Go up and take over the land I have given you.” But you refused to do what the Lord your God had commanded you to do. You didn’t trust him or obey him. ²⁴ You have been refusing to obey the Lord as long as I’ve known you.

²¹ At that time Jesus was full of joy through the Holy Spirit. He said, “I praise you, Father. You are Lord of heaven and earth. You have hidden these things from wise and educated people. But you have shown them to little children. Yes, Father. This is what you wanted to do.

²² “My Father has given all things to me. The Father is the only one who knows who the Son is. And the only ones who know the Father are the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to make the Father known.”

²³ Then Jesus turned to his disciples. He said to them in private, “Blessed are the eyes that see what you see. ²⁴ I tell you, many prophets and kings wanted to see what you see. But they didn’t see it. They wanted to hear what you hear. But they didn’t hear it.”