Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

The Lord rules as king!^[a]

¹⁵ Moses left the Lord and he went down the mountain. He carried in his hands the two flat stones with God's special commands on them. God had written his commands on both sides of the stones. ¹⁶ This was God's own work. He himself had written the words on the stones.

¹⁷ Joshua heard the noise of the Israelites as they were shouting down below. He said to Moses, ‘I can hear the sound of war in the camp!’ ¹⁸ But Moses said, ‘It is not the noise that soldiers make when they have won a battle. It is not the sound of soldiers who are crying because their enemy has won against them. I can hear the sound of people who are singing.’

¹⁹ Then Moses arrived at the camp. He saw the gold calf. He saw that the people were dancing. He became very angry. He threw the two flat stones that he was carrying onto the ground. He broke them into pieces there at the bottom of the mountain. ²⁰ Then he took the image of the calf that they had made. He burned it in the fire. He beat it into powder. He mixed the powder with the people's water. Then he commanded the Israelites to drink it.

²¹ Moses said to Aaron, ‘Why did you agree to do this? What did the people do to you? You have made them guilty of a great sin.’ ²² Aaron answered, ‘My lord, please do not be so angry with me. You know how quickly these people decide to do wicked things. ²³ They said to me, “Make us some gods that will lead us. This man Moses brought us here out of Egypt. But now we do not know what has happened to him.” ²⁴ So I said to them, “Everyone who has any gold rings must remove them.” So they gave the gold to me. I threw it into the fire. Then this image of a calf came out of the fire!’

God punishes the people

²⁵ Moses saw that the people were running about everywhere. Aaron had not been able to control them. If their enemies could see them, they would see how foolish they were. ²⁶ So Moses stood at the edge of the camp. He said, ‘Everyone who decides to serve the Lord must come here to me.’ Then all the Levites went to stand near Moses.

²⁷ Then Moses said to the Levites, ‘The Lord, Israel's God, says this: Each one of you must take his sword in his hand. You must go everywhere in the camp, from this side to the other side. You must kill everyone, even your brothers, your friends and your neighbours.’ ²⁸ The Levites obeyed Moses' command. About 3,000 Israelites died on that day.

²⁹ Then Moses said to the Levites, ‘You have shown today that you want to serve the Lord. You have become his special servants because you have obeyed him. You have agreed to kill even your own sons and brothers. God has blessed you because of this.’

³⁰ On the next day, Moses said to the people, ‘You have done a great sin. But now I will go back up the mountain. I will speak to the Lord. Perhaps I can do something so that the Lord will forgive your sin.’

³¹ So Moses returned to the Lord. He said to the Lord, ‘Please listen to me. These people have done a very great sin. They have made a gold idol to worship as their god. ³² But now I ask you to forgive them for their sin. But if you will not do that, then please remove my name from your book.’^[a]

³³ The Lord answered Moses, ‘I will only remove the names of the people who have turned against me. ³⁴ Now go! Lead the Israelites to the place that I have told you about. My angel will go in front of you. But on the day for punishment, I will certainly punish them for their sin.’

³⁵ The Lord did send a bad disease to punish the people. He punished them because they had caused Aaron to make an image of a calf.

Christians must continue to trust God

¹⁷ But as for you, my friends, remember the message that the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ have taught you. They spoke about what would happen in future times. ¹⁸ They said to you, ‘In the last days of this world, some people will laugh at God's message.^[a] They will say that it is silly to obey God. Instead, they will do the bad things that they want to do. Those things do not please God.’

¹⁹ It is people like this who cause you to argue with one another, so that you belong to separate groups. Their thoughts belong to this world. They do not have God's Spirit in them.

²⁰ But you, my friends, have believed the message that comes from God himself. So you must help one another to trust God more and more. Pray to God with the help of the Holy Spirit. ²¹ Continue to live in a way that shows God's love. As you wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to come, remember that he is very kind. Because of that, you will have life with God for ever.

²² Help those people who do not know whether to trust God. Be kind to them. ²³ Some people are in great danger. You must save them from the fire of God's punishment.^[b] Also be kind to people who have done wicked and disgusting things. But be careful! Do not let their sins make you bad too.

Jude thanks God

²⁴ God is able to keep you safe so that you continue to trust him. One day you will stand in front of him and you will be very happy. God will bring you to that place and you will be completely good. You will be able to stand near to God, who shines with beautiful light. ²⁵ He is the only God. He is the one who saves us because of our Lord Jesus Christ. So we praise him! We say that he is very great! He rules with power and authority. This has always been true. It is true now, and it will be true for ever. Amen!