Exodus 31; Exodus 32; Exodus 33; Matthew 22:1-22

1 Then the Lord said to Moses,

2 "See, Ihave chosen Bezalel son of Uri from the tribe of Judah. (Uri was the son of Hur.)

3 I have filled Bezalel with the Spirit of God and have given him the skill, ability, and knowledge to do all kinds of work.

4 He is able to design pieces to be made from gold, silver, and bronze,

5 to cut jewels and put them in metal, to carve wood, and to do all kinds of work.

6 I have also chosen Oholiab son of Ahisamach from the tribe of Dan to work with Bezalel. I have given skills to all the craftsmen, and they will be able to make all these things I have commanded you:

7 the Meeting Tent, the Ark of the Agreement, the lid that covers the Ark, and everything in the Tent.

8 This includes the table and everything on it, the pure gold lampstand and everything with it, the altar of incense,

9 the altar for burnt offerings and everything used with it, and the bowl and the stand under it.

10 They will make the woven clothes and the holy clothes for Aaron and the clothes for his sons to wear when they serve as priests.

11 They will also make the special olive oil used in appointing people and things to the service of the Lord, and the sweet-smelling incense for the Holy Place. "These workers will make all these things just as I have commanded you."

12 Then the Lord said to Moses,

13 "Tell the Israelites, 'You must keep the rules about my Sabbaths, because they will be a sign between you and me from now on. In this way you will know that I, the Lord, make you holy.

14 "'Make the Sabbath a holy day. If anyone treats the Sabbath like any other day, that person must be put to death; anyone who works on the Sabbath day must be cut off from his people.

15 There are six days for working, but the seventh day is a day of rest, a day holy for the Lord. Anyone who works during the Sabbath day must be put to death.

16 The Israelites must remember the Sabbath day as an agreement between them and me that will continue from now on.

17 The Sabbath day will be a sign between me and the Israelites forever, because in six days I, the Lord, made the sky and the earth. On the seventh day I did not work; I rested.'"

18 When the Lord finished speaking to Moses on Mount Sinai, he gave him the two stone tablets with the Agreement written on them, written by the finger of God.

1 The people saw that a long time had passed and Moses had not come down from the mountain. So they gathered around Aaron and said, "Moses led us out of Egypt, but we don't know what has happened to him. Make us gods who will lead us."

2 Aaron said to the people, "Take off the gold earrings that your wives, sons, and daughters are wearing, and bring them to me."

3 So all the people took their gold earrings and brought them to Aaron.

4 He took the gold from the people and formed it with a tool and made a statue of a calf. Then the people said, "Israel, these are your gods who brought you out of the land of Egypt!"

5 When Aaron saw all this, he built an altar before the calf and announced, "Tomorrow there will be a special feast to honor the Lord."

6 The people got up early the next morning and offered whole burnt offerings and fellowship offerings. They sat down to eat and drink, and then they got up and sinned sexually.

7 Then the Lord said to Moses, "Go down from this mountain, because your people, the people you brought out of the land of Egypt, have ruined themselves.

8 They have quickly turned away from the things I commanded them to do. They have made for themselves a calf covered with gold, and they have worshiped it and offered sacrifices to it. They have said, 'Israel, these are your gods who brought you out of Egypt.'"

9 The Lord said to Moses, "I have seen these people, and I know that they are very stubborn.

10 So now do not stop me. I am so angry with them that I am going to destroy them. Then I will make you and your descendants a great nation."

11 But Moses begged the Lord his God and said, "Lord, don't let your anger destroy your people, whom you brought out of Egypt with your great power and strength.

12 Don't let the people of Egypt say, 'The Lord brought the Israelites out of Egypt for an evil purpose. He planned to kill them in the mountains and destroy them from the earth.' So stop being angry, and don't destroy your people.

13 Remember the men who served you -- Abraham, Isaac, and Israel. You promised with an oath to them and said, 'I will make your descendants as many as the stars in the sky. I will give your descendants all this land that I have promised them, and it will be theirs forever.'"

14 So the Lord changed his mind and did not destroy the people as he had said he might.

15 Then Moses went down the mountain, and in his hands he had the two stone tablets with the Agreement on them. The commands were written on both sides of each stone, front and back.

16 God himself had made the tablets, and God himself had written the commands on the tablets.

17 When Joshua heard the sound of the people shouting, he said to Moses, "It sounds like war down in the camp."

18 Moses answered: "It is not a shout of victory; it is not a cry of defeat. It is the sound of singing that I hear."

19 When Moses came close to the camp, he saw the gold calf and the dancing, and he became very angry. He threw down the stone tablets that he was carrying and broke them at the bottom of the mountain.

20 Then he took the calf that the people had made and melted it in the fire. He ground it into powder. Then he threw the powder into the water and forced the Israelites to drink it.

21 Moses said to Aaron, "What did these people do to you? Why did you cause them to do such a terrible sin?"

22 Aaron answered, "Don't be angry, master. You know that these people are always ready to do wrong.

23 The people said to me, 'Moses led us out of Egypt, but we don't know what has happened to him. Make us gods who will lead us.'

24 So I told the people, 'Take off your gold jewelry.' When they gave me the gold, I threw it into the fire and out came this calf!"

25 Moses saw that the people were acting wildly. Aaron had let them get out of control and become fools in front of their enemies.

26 So Moses stood at the entrance to the camp and said, "Let anyone who wants to follow the Lord come to me." And all the people from the family of Levi gathered around Moses.

27 Then Moses said to them, "The Lord, the God of Israel, says this: 'Every man must put on his sword and go through the camp from one end to the other. Each man must kill his brother, his friend, and his neighbor.'"

28 The people from the family of Levi obeyed Moses, and that day about three thousand of the Israelites died.

29 Then Moses said, "Today you have been given for service to the Lord. You were willing to kill your own sons and brothers, and God has blessed you for this."

30 The next day Moses told the people, "You have done a terrible sin. But now I will go up to the Lord. Maybe I can do something so your sins will be removed."

31 So Moses went back to the Lord and said, "How terribly these people have sinned! They have made for themselves gods from gold.

32 Now, please forgive them of this sin. If you will not, then erase my name from the book in which you have written the names of your people."

33 But the Lord told Moses, "I will erase from my book the names of the people who sin against me.

34 So now, go. Lead the people where I have told you, and my angel will lead you. When the time comes to punish, I will punish them for their sin."

35 So the Lord caused terrible things to happen to the people because of what they did with the calf Aaron had made.

1 Then the Lord said to Moses, "You and the people you brought out of Egypt must leave this place. Go to the land that I promised with an oath to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob when I said, 'I will give that land to your descendants.'

2 I will send an angel to lead you, and I will force these people out of the land: the Canaanites, Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites.

3 Go up to a fertile land. But I will not go with you, because I might destroy you on the way, since you are such a stubborn people."

4 When the people heard this bad news, they became very sad, and none of them put on jewelry.

5 This was because the Lord had said to Moses, "Tell the Israelites, 'You are a stubborn people. If I were to go with you even for a moment, I would destroy you. So take off all your jewelry, and I will decide what to do with you.'"

6 So the people of Israel took off their jewelry at Mount Sinai.

7 Moses used to take a tent and set it up a long way outside the camp; he called it the "Meeting Tent." Anyone who wanted to ask the Lord about something would go to the Meeting Tent outside the camp.

8 Whenever Moses went out to the Tent, all the people would rise and stand at the entrances of their tents, watching him until he entered the Meeting Tent.

9 When Moses went into the Tent, the pillar of cloud would always come down and stay at the entrance of the Tent while the Lord spoke with Moses.

10 Whenever the people saw the pillar of cloud at the entrance of the Tent, they stood and worshiped, each person at the entrance of his own tent.

11 The Lord spoke to Moses face to face as a man speaks with his friend. Then Moses would return to the camp, but Moses' young helper, Joshua son of Nun, did not leave the Tent.

12 Moses said to the Lord, "You have told me to lead these people, but you did not say whom you would send with me. You have said to me, 'I know you very well, and I am pleased with you.'

13 If I have truly pleased you, show me your plans so that I may know you and continue to please you. Remember that this nation is your people."

14 The Lord answered, "I myself will go with you, and I will give you victory."

15 Then Moses said to him, "If you yourself don't go with us, then don't send us away from this place.

16 If you don't go with us, no one will know that you are pleased with me and with your people. These people and I will be no different from any other people on earth."

17 Then the Lord said to Moses, "I will do what you ask, because I know you very well, and I am pleased with you."

18 Then Moses said, "Now, please show me your glory."

19 The Lord answered, "I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will announce my name, the Lord, so you can hear it. I will show kindness to anyone to whom I want to show kindness, and I will show mercy to anyone to whom I want to show mercy.

20 But you cannot see my face, because no one can see me and live.

21 "There is a place near me where you may stand on a rock.

22 When my glory passes that place, I will put you in a large crack in the rock and cover you with my hand until I have passed by.

23 Then I will take away my hand, and you will see my back. But my face must not be seen."

1 Jesus again used stories to teach the people. He said,

2 "The kingdom of heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding feast for his son.

3 The king invited some people to the feast. When the feast was ready, the king sent his servants to tell the people, but they refused to come.

4 "Then the king sent other servants, saying, 'Tell those who have been invited that my feast is ready. I have killed my best bulls and calves for the dinner, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding feast.'

5 "But the people refused to listen to the servants and left to do other things. One went to work in his field, and another went to his business.

6 Some of the other people grabbed the servants, beat them, and killed them.

7 The king was furious and sent his army to kill the murderers and burn their city.

8 "After that, the king said to his servants, 'The wedding feast is ready. I invited those people, but they were not worthy to come.

9 So go to the street corners and invite everyone you find to come to my feast.'

10 So the servants went into the streets and gathered all the people they could find, both good and bad. And the wedding hall was filled with guests.

11 "When the king came in to see the guests, he saw a man who was not dressed for a wedding.

12 The king said, 'Friend, how were you allowed to come in here? You are not dressed for a wedding.' But the man said nothing.

13 So the king told some servants, 'Tie this man's hands and feet. Throw him out into the darkness, where people will cry and grind their teeth with pain.'

14 "Yes, many people are invited, but only a few are chosen."

15 Then the Pharisees left that place and made plans to trap Jesus in saying something wrong.

16 They sent some of their own followers and some people from the group called Herodians. They said, "Teacher, we know that you are an honest man and that you teach the truth about God's way. You are not afraid of what other people think about you, because you pay no attention to who they are.

17 So tell us what you think. Is it right to pay taxes to Caesar or not?"

18 But knowing that these leaders were trying to trick him, Jesus said, "You hypocrites! Why are you trying to trap me?

19 Show me a coin used for paying the tax." So the men showed him a coin.

20 Then Jesus asked, "Whose image and name are on the coin?"

21 The men answered, "Caesar's." Then Jesus said to them, "Give to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and give to God the things that are God's."

22 When the men heard what Jesus said, they were amazed and left him and went away.