The Golden Calf
1Now when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain, the people assembled about Aaron and said to him, “Come, make us a god who will go before us; as for this Moses, the man who brought us up from the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.” 2Aaron said to them, “Tear off the gold rings which are in the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me.” 3Then all the people tore off the gold rings which were in their ears and brought them to Aaron. 4He took this from their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool and made it into a molten calf; and they said, “This is your god, O Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt.” 5Now when Aaron saw this, he built an altar before it; and Aaron made a proclamation and said, “Tomorrow shall be a feast to the Lord.” 6So the next day they rose early and offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings; and the people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to play.
7Then the Lord spoke to Moses, “Go down at once, for your people, whom you brought up from the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves. 8They have quickly turned aside from the way which I commanded them. They have made for themselves a molten calf, and have worshiped it and have sacrificed to it and said, ‘This is your god, O Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt!’ ” 9The Lord said to Moses, “I have seen this people, and behold, they are an obstinate people. 10Now then let Me alone, that My anger may burn against them and that I may destroy them; and I will make of you a great nation.”
Moses’ Entreaty
11Then Moses entreated the Lord his God, and said, “O Lord, why does Your anger burn against Your people whom You have brought out from the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand? 12Why should the Egyptians speak, saying, ‘With evil intent He brought them out to kill them in the mountains and to destroy them from the face of the earth’? Turn from Your burning anger and change Your mind about doing harm to Your people. 13Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, Your servants to whom You swore by Yourself, and said to them, ‘I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heavens, and all this land of which I have spoken I will give to your descendants, and they shall inherit it forever.’ ” 14So the Lord changed His mind about the harm which He said He would do to His people.
15Then Moses turned and went down from the mountain with the two tablets of the testimony in his hand, tablets which were written on both sides; they were written on one side and the other. 16The tablets were God’s work, and the writing was God’s writing engraved on the tablets. 17Now when Joshua heard the sound of the people as they shouted, he said to Moses, “There is a sound of war in the camp.” 18But he said,
“It is not the sound of the cry of triumph,
Nor is it the sound of the cry of defeat;
But the sound of singing I hear.”
Moses’ Anger
19It came about, as soon as Moses came near the camp, that he saw the calf and the dancing; and Moses’ anger burned, and he threw the tablets from his hands and shattered them at the foot of the mountain. 20He took the calf which they had made and burned it with fire, and ground it to powder, and scattered it over the surface of the water and made the sons of Israel drink it.
21Then Moses said to Aaron, “What did this people do to you, that you have brought such great sin upon them?” 22Aaron said, “Do not let the anger of my lord burn; you know the people yourself, that they are prone to evil. 23For they said to me, ‘Make a god for us who will go before us; for this Moses, the man who brought us up from the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.’ 24I said to them, ‘Whoever has any gold, let them tear it off.’ So they gave it to me, and I threw it into the fire, and out came this calf.”
25Now when Moses saw that the people were out of control—for Aaron had let them get out of control to be a derision among their enemies— 26then Moses stood in the gate of the camp, and said, “Whoever is for the Lord, come to me!” And all the sons of Levi gathered together to him. 27He said to them, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘Every man of you put his sword upon his thigh, and go back and forth from gate to gate in the camp, and kill every man his brother, and every man his friend, and every man his neighbor.’ ” 28So the sons of Levi did as Moses instructed, and about three thousand men of the people fell that day. 29Then Moses said, “Dedicate yourselves today to the Lord—for every man has been against his son and against his brother—in order that He may bestow a blessing upon you today.”
30On the next day Moses said to the people, “You yourselves have committed a great sin; and now I am going up to the Lord, perhaps I can make atonement for your sin.” 31Then Moses returned to the Lord, and said, “Alas, this people has committed a great sin, and they have made a god of gold for themselves. 32But now, if You will, forgive their sin—and if not, please blot me out from Your book which You have written!” 33The Lord said to Moses, “Whoever has sinned against Me, I will blot him out of My book. 34But go now, lead the people where I told you. Behold, My angel shall go before you; nevertheless in the day when I punish, I will punish them for their sin.” 35Then the Lord smote the people, because of what they did with the calf which Aaron had made.
13They quickly forgot His works;
They did not wait for His counsel,
14But craved intensely in the wilderness,
And tempted God in the desert.
15So He gave them their request,
But sent a wasting disease among them.
16When they became envious of Moses in the camp,
And of Aaron, the holy one of the Lord,
17The earth opened and swallowed up Dathan,
And engulfed the company of Abiram.
18And a fire blazed up in their company;
The flame consumed the wicked.
19They made a calf in Horeb
And worshiped a molten image.
20Thus they exchanged their glory
For the image of an ox that eats grass.
21They forgot God their Savior,
Who had done great things in Egypt,
22Wonders in the land of Ham
And awesome things by the Red Sea.
23Therefore He said that He would destroy them,
Had not Moses His chosen one stood in the breach before Him,
To turn away His wrath from destroying them.
6Now these things happened as examples for us, so that we would not crave evil things as they also craved. 7Do not be idolaters, as some of them were; as it is written, “The people sat down to eat and drink, and stood up to play.” 8Nor let us act immorally, as some of them did, and twenty-three thousand fell in one day. 9Nor let us try the Lord, as some of them did, and were destroyed by the serpents. 10Nor grumble, as some of them did, and were destroyed by the destroyer. 11Now these things happened to them as an example, and they were written for our instruction, upon whom the ends of the ages have come.
1) Why was idolatry Israel’s first breach of covenant?
2) How does Moses’ intercession in Psalm 106 shape your view of leadership?
3) What warnings does Paul draw for a holy community today?
Divisions of the Gatekeepers
1For the divisions of the gatekeepers there were of the Korahites, Meshelemiah the son of Kore, of the sons of Asaph. 2Meshelemiah had sons: Zechariah the firstborn, Jediael the second, Zebadiah the third, Jathniel the fourth, 3Elam the fifth, Johanan the sixth, Eliehoenai the seventh. 4Obed-edom had sons: Shemaiah the firstborn, Jehozabad the second, Joah the third, Sacar the fourth, Nethanel the fifth, 5Ammiel the sixth, Issachar the seventh and Peullethai the eighth; God had indeed blessed him. 6Also to his son Shemaiah sons were born who ruled over the house of their father, for they were mighty men of valor. 7The sons of Shemaiah were Othni, Rephael, Obed and Elzabad, whose brothers, Elihu and Semachiah, were valiant men. 8All these were of the sons of Obed-edom; they and their sons and their relatives were able men with strength for the service, 62 from Obed-edom. 9Meshelemiah had sons and relatives, 18 valiant men. 10Also Hosah, one of the sons of Merari had sons: Shimri the first (although he was not the firstborn, his father made him first), 11Hilkiah the second, Tebaliah the third, Zechariah the fourth; all the sons and relatives of Hosah were 13.
12To these divisions of the gatekeepers, the chief men, were given duties like their relatives to minister in the house of the Lord. 13They cast lots, the small and the great alike, according to their fathers’ households, for every gate. 14The lot to the east fell to Shelemiah. Then they cast lots for his son Zechariah, a counselor with insight, and his lot came out to the north. 15For Obed-edom it fell to the south, and to his sons went the storehouse. 16For Shuppim and Hosah it was to the west, by the gate of Shallecheth, on the ascending highway. Guard corresponded to guard. 17On the east there were six Levites, on the north four daily, on the south four daily, and at the storehouse two by two. 18At the Parbar on the west there were four at the highway and two at the Parbar. 19These were the divisions of the gatekeepers of the sons of Korah and of the sons of Merari.
Keepers of the Treasure
20The Levites, their relatives, had charge of the treasures of the house of God and of the treasures of the dedicated gifts. 21The sons of Ladan, the sons of the Gershonites belonging to Ladan, namely, the Jehielites, were the heads of the fathers’ households, belonging to Ladan the Gershonite.
22The sons of Jehieli, Zetham and Joel his brother, had charge of the treasures of the house of the Lord. 23As for the Amramites, the Izharites, the Hebronites and the Uzzielites, 24Shebuel the son of Gershom, the son of Moses, was officer over the treasures. 25His relatives by Eliezer were Rehabiah his son, Jeshaiah his son, Joram his son, Zichri his son and Shelomoth his son. 26This Shelomoth and his relatives had charge of all the treasures of the dedicated gifts which King David and the heads of the fathers’ households, the commanders of thousands and hundreds, and the commanders of the army, had dedicated. 27They dedicated part of the spoil won in battles to repair the house of the Lord. 28And all that Samuel the seer had dedicated and Saul the son of Kish, Abner the son of Ner and Joab the son of Zeruiah, everyone who had dedicated anything, all of this was in the care of Shelomoth and his relatives.
Outside Duties
29As for the Izharites, Chenaniah and his sons were assigned to outside duties for Israel, as officers and judges. 30As for the Hebronites, Hashabiah and his relatives, 1,700 capable men, had charge of the affairs of Israel west of the Jordan, for all the work of the Lord and the service of the king. 31As for the Hebronites, Jerijah the chief (these Hebronites were investigated according to their genealogies and fathers’ households, in the fortieth year of David’s reign, and men of outstanding capability were found among them at Jazer of Gilead) 32and his relatives, capable men, were 2,700 in number, heads of fathers’ households. And King David made them overseers of the Reubenites, the Gadites and the half-tribe of the Manassites concerning all the affairs of God and of the king.
45And He remembered His covenant for their sake,
And relented according to the greatness of His lovingkindness.
46He also made them objects of compassion
In the presence of all their captors.
47Save us, O Lord our God,
And gather us from among the nations,
To give thanks to Your holy name
And glory in Your praise.
48Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel,
From everlasting even to everlasting.
And let all the people say, “Amen.”
Praise the Lord!