Old/New Testament
Chapter 31
The Choice of Craftsmen for the Tabernacle. 1 The Lord spoke to Moses and said to him, 2 “Behold, I have chosen Bezalel, the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah. 3 I have filled him with the Spirit of God[a] so that he possesses wisdom, understanding, knowledge, and is expert in every kind of craft 4 to design artistic works in gold, silver, and bronze, 5 to know how to cut stones for settings and how to carve wood. He is expert in every craft. 6 And behold, I have sent Oholiab, the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan to him. I have also given all skillful men their ability, so that they may make all that I have commanded you to make: 7 the meeting tent, the Ark of Testimony, the seat of atonement over it, and all the accessories of the tent, 8 the table with its accessories, the pure lampstand and its accessories, the altar of incense, 9 the altar of burnt offerings with all of its accessories, the basin and its base, 10 the finely crafted vestments, the sacred vestments for Aaron and the vestments for his sons, for their priestly ministry, 11 the oil of anointing, and the fragrant incense for the sanctuary. They shall produce all that I have commanded you.”
12 The Sabbath.[b] The Lord said to Moses, 13 “Say to the children of Israel, ‘You shall observe my Sabbaths, for the Sabbath is a sign between me and you for all your generations, so that you may know that I am the Lord, who makes you holy.
14 “ ‘Therefore, you shall observe the Sabbath, for it is holy to you. Whoever profanes it shall be put to death. Whoever works on that day shall be cut off from his people. 15 Six days you shall work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of sacred rest for you, holy to the Lord. Whoever works on the Sabbath shall be put to death. 16 The children of Israel shall observe the Sabbath, celebrating the Sabbath throughout their generations as a perpetual covenant. 17 This is a perpetual sign between me and the children of Israel, for the Lord made the heavens and the earth in six days, but on the seventh he ceased and rested.’ ”
18 Moses Receives the Tablets of the Law. When the Lord had finished speaking with Moses on Mount Sinai, he gave him the two tablets of Testimony, the stone tablets, written with the finger of God.
The Golden Calf and the Renewal of the Covenant
Chapter 32
The Golden Calf. 1 When the people saw that Moses delayed coming down the mountain, they gathered around Aaron and told him, “Make a god to walk before us, because we do not know what has happened to Moses, the one who brought us out of the land of Egypt.”
2 Aaron answered them, “Take the gold earrings off your wives and sons and daughters and bring them to me.” 3 All the people took off their gold earrings and brought them to Aaron. 4 He took the gold from their hands and fashioned it with a chisel and made a molten calf.[c] They said, “Behold your God, O Israel, who brought you out of the land of Egypt.” 5 Seeing this, Aaron built an altar before the calf and proclaimed, “Tomorrow shall be a feast in honor of the Lord.” 6 The following day they rose early, offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings. The people sat down and ate and drank. They then rose to divert themselves.
7 The Lord said to Moses, “Leave, go down, because your people, whom you brought out of the land of Egypt, have become perverse. 8 They have quickly departed from the way that I have commanded them. They have made a molten calf for themselves, and have bowed down before it. They have offered sacrifices and said, ‘Behold your God, Israel, who brought you out of the land of Egypt.’ ”
9 The Lord also said to Moses, “I have observed this people, and I have seen that it is a stubborn people. 10 Now let me be, so that my rage can blaze out against them and destroy them. I will then make you a great nation.”
11 The Prayer of Moses. But Moses entreated the Lord, his God, and said, “Why, O Lord, will you let your rage blaze out against your people, whom you brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and a mighty hand? 12 Why should the Egyptians be able to say about them, ‘He brought them out for evil purposes, to kill them in the mountains and to consume them from the face of the earth’? Turn back your wrath and change your mind about harming your people. 13 Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your servants, to whom you swore by yourself and said, ‘I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars of the heavens. All this land, of which I have spoken, I will give to your descendants as their possession forever.’ ” 14 Then the Lord changed his mind and decided not to harm his people.
15 Moses Shatters the Tablets of the Law. Moses left and went down the mountain with the two tablets of Testimony in his hands, tablets written on both sides. They were written on one side and the other. 16 The tablets were made by God, and the writing on them was God’s writing.
17 Joshua heard the noise of the people as they shouted, and he cried out to Moses, “There are battle sounds coming from the camp!” 18 But Moses answered, “It is not the shout of victory, nor the sound of defeat. It is the sound of singing that I hear.”
19 When they drew near the camp, he saw the calf and the dancing. Moses became very angry. He flung down the tablets, breaking them to pieces at the foot of the mountain. 20 He then seized the calf that they had made and burned it with fire. He ground it down until it was a powder and scattered it on water that he made the children of Israel drink.
21 The Zeal of the Levites. Moses said to Aaron, “What has this people done to you that you have brought such a great sin upon them?” 22 But Aaron answered, “Let my lord not be angry, for you know this people and that they are set on evil. 23 They said to me, ‘Make a god to walk before us, because we do not know what has happened to Moses, the man who brought us out of the land of Egypt.’ 24 I said to them, ‘Whoever has gold, take it off.’ They gave it to me, and I threw it in the fire, and out came this calf.”
25 Moses saw that the people had lost control of themselves (for Aaron had let them run so wild that their enemies mocked them). 26 So he stood at the gate to the camp and said, “Whoever is for the Lord, come to me!” All the sons of Levi gathered around him. 27 He cried out to them, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Each man strap a sword to his side. Then pass back and forth in the camp from one gate to another and slay your brother, your companion, and your neighbor.”
28 The sons of Levi did as Moses had commanded them. On that day three thousand men from among the people perished. 29 Moses then said, “Today you have consecrated yourself to the service of the Lord, each one at the cost of his son or his brother, that he might bestow a blessing upon you this day.”
30 Moses Intercedes for His People. The next day Moses said to the people, “You have committed a great sin. Today I will climb up to the Lord. Perhaps I will obtain pardon for your sin.”
31 Moses returned to the Lord and said, “This people has committed a great sin. They made a god out of gold for themselves.[d] 32 But now, if you will, pardon their sin—if not, I pray, blot me out of the book that you have written.”[e]
33 The Lord said to Moses, “I will blot out of my book only him who has sinned against me. 34 Now go, lead the people to the place about which I told you. Behold, my angel will go before you. But on the day of reckoning, I will punish them for their sin.”
35 The Lord smote his people because they had made the calf that Aaron had fashioned.
Chapter 33
The Israelites Are Ordered To Depart. 1 The Lord said to Moses, “Get up and leave this place, you and the people whom I brought out of the land of Egypt, to go to the land that I have promised with an oath to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, saying, ‘To your descendants I will give it.’ 2 I will send an angel before you to drive out the Canaanites, Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites. 3 Go up to the land flowing with milk and honey. But I will not go up in your midst, lest I destroy you along the way, for you are an obstinate people.”
4 The people heard this sad news and they mourned. No one put on his ornaments.
5 The Lord said to Moses, “Say this to the children of Israel, ‘You are an obstinate people. If I were to go up with you for a single moment, I would surely destroy you. Now, take off your ornaments so that I may know what to do with you.’ ”
6 The children of Israel stripped themselves of their ornaments, from Mount Horeb onward.
A Provisional Tent for the Colloquy between God and Moses. 7 Moses took the tent and pitched it quite a distance outside of the camp, calling it the meeting tent. Anyone who sought the Lord would go to the meeting tent that was outside the camp.[f] 8 Whenever Moses went out to the tent, all the people rose up and each one stood in the door to his tent. They watched Moses pass by until he entered the tent. 9 When Moses entered the tent, a column of cloud descended and remained at the entrance to the tent, and the Lord spoke with Moses. 10 The whole people saw the column of cloud that stood at the entrance to the tent, and they all got up and worshiped at the doors to their tents. 11 Thus the Lord spoke to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend. He then returned to the camp while his servant Joshua, son of Nun, a young man, did not leave the tent.[g]
12 The Prayer of Moses. Moses said to the Lord, “Behold, you commanded me, ‘Bring up this people,’ but you did not tell me whom you would send with me. You even said, ‘I know you by name,[h] and you have found favor with me.’ 13 Now, therefore, I beseech you, if I have found favor with you, show me your ways, so that I may know you and stay in your favor. Keep in mind that this people is your people.”
14 The Lord answered, “I will walk with you and give you rest.” 15 Moses replied, “If you will not go with us, then do not make us go up from here, 16 for how will it then be known if I have found favor with you, I and your people? Is it not in your journeying with us, with me and your people, that we are marked out as being distinct from all the other peoples who are upon the face of the earth?”
17 The Lord said to Moses, “I will also do this very thing that you have said, for you have found favor with me and I know you by name.”
18 So Moses said to him, “Show me your glory!”
19 He answered, “I will make all my splendor pass in front of you and I will proclaim my name, the Lord, before you. I will show favor to those to whom I show favor and I will have mercy on those on whom I have mercy.” 20 He continued, “But you cannot see my face, for no one can see my face and live.” 21 And the Lord continued, “There is a place near me. You will stand upon the rock. 22 When my glory passes by, I will place you in the cleft of the rock and cover you with my hand until I will have passed by. 23 Then I will take away my hand and you will see my back, but you cannot see my face.”
Chapter 22
The Parable of the Wedding Banquet.[a] 1 Jesus spoke to them again in parables, saying, 2 “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding banquet for his son. 3 He sent forth his servants to summon those who had been invited to the banquet, but they refused to come. 4 Then he sent other servants, saying, ‘Tell those who have been invited, “Behold, my banquet has been prepared, my oxen and my fattened cattle have been slaughtered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding banquet.” ’
5 “But they ignored his invitation. One went off to his farm, another to his business, 6 while the rest seized his servants, mistreated them, and killed them.
7 “The king was enraged, and he sent forth his troops who destroyed those murderers and burned their city to the ground. 8 Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding banquet is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy of that honor. 9 Go forth, therefore, to the main roads and invite everyone you can find to the wedding banquet.’ 10 The servants went forth into the streets and gathered together everyone they could find, good and bad alike. And so the wedding hall was filled with guests.
11 [b]“But when the king came in to greet the guests, he noticed one man who was not properly dressed for a wedding. 12 ‘My friend,’ he said to him, ‘how did you gain entrance here without a wedding garment?’ The man was speechless. 13 Then the king said to the attendants, ‘Bind his hands and feet and cast him outside into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ 14 For many are called, but few are chosen.”[c]
15 God or Caesar.[d] Then the Pharisees went off and made plans to trap him in what he said. 16 They sent some of their disciples to him, along with the Herodians,[e] and said, “Teacher, we know that you are truthful and that you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. Nor are you concerned with anyone’s opinion for you do not care about people’s opinions. 17 Tell us then what you think about this: Is it lawful or not for us to pay taxes to Caesar?”
18 Jesus was aware of their malicious intent, and he said, “You hypocrites! Why are you trying to trap me? 19 Show me the coin that is used for paying the tax.” When they brought him a denarius,[f] 20 he asked them, “Whose image is this, and whose inscription?” 21 They replied, “Caesar’s.” On hearing this, he said to them, “Give to Caesar what is due to Caesar, and to God what is due to God.”[g] 22 Stunned on hearing this reply, they went away and left him alone.
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