And Moses returned unto the Lord, and said, "Oh, this people have sinned a great sin, and have made them G.o.ds of gold. Yet now, if thou wilt forgive their sin--; and if not, blot me, I pray thee, out of thy book which thou hast written."

And the Lord said to Moses, "Whosover hath sinned against me, him will I blot out of my book. And now go, lead the people unto the place of which I have spoken unto thee: behold, mine angel shall go before thee: nevertheless in the day when I punish, I will punish them for their sins."

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And the Lord smote the people, because they made the calf, which Aaron made.

THE NEW TABLES OF STONE.

_How the Tables Which Had Been Broken Were Replaced_.

And the Lord said unto Moses, "Hew thee two tables of stone like unto the first: and I will write upon the tables the words that were on the first tables, which thou brokest.

"And be ready by the morning, and come up in the morning unto Mount Sinai, and present thyself there to me on the top of the mount.

"And no man shall come up with thee; neither let any man be seen throughout all the mount; neither let the flocks nor herds feed before that mount."

And he hewed two tables of stone like unto the first; and Moses rose up early in the morning, and went up unto Mount Sinai, as the Lord had commanded him, and took in his hand two tables of stone.

And the Lord descended in the cloud, and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the Lord.

And the Lord pa.s.sed by before him, and a voice said, "The Lord, the Lord, a G.o.d merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abundant in loving kindness and truth; keeping loving kindness for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin; who will by no means clear the guilty."

And Moses made haste, and bowed his head toward the earth, and worshiped.

And he said, "If now I have found favor in thy sight, {213} O Lord, let the Lord, I pray thee, go in the midst of us; and pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us for thine inheritance."

And he was there with the Lord forty days and forty nights; he did neither eat bread, nor drink water. And he wrote upon the tables the words of the covenant, the ten commandments.

And Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tables of the testimony in his hand.

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THE TABERNACLE IN THE WILDERNESS

THE PEOPLE GIVE A FREE-WILL OFFERING TO THE LORD.

And Moses a.s.sembled all the congregation of the children of Israel, and said unto them, "These are the words which the Lord hath commanded, that ye should do them. 'Six days shall work be done, but on the seventh day there shall be to you an holy day, a sabbath of solemn rest to the Lord: whosoever doeth any work therein shall be put to death. Ye shall kindle no fire throughout your habitations upon the sabbath day.'"

And Moses spoke unto all the congregation of the children of Israel, saying, "This is the thing which the Lord commanded, saying, 'Take ye from among you an offering unto the Lord: whosoever is of a willing heart, let him bring it, the Lord's offering; gold, and silver, and bra.s.s; and blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine linen, and goats'

hair; and rams' skins dyed red, and sealskins, and acacia wood; and oil for the light, and spices for the anointing oil, and for the sweet incense; and onyx stones, and stones to be set, for the ephod, and for the breastplate.

"'And let every skilled workman among you come, and make all that the Lord hath commanded; the tabernacle, its tent, and its covering, its clasps, and its boards, its bars, its pillars, and its sockets; the ark, and the staves {215} thereof, the mercy-seat, and the veil of the screen; the table, and its staves, and all its vessels, and the shewbread; the candlestick also for the light, and its vessels, and its lamps, and the oil for the light; and the altar of incense, and its staves, and the anointing oil, and the sweet incense, and the screen for the door, at the door of the tabernacle; the altar of burnt offering, with its grating of bra.s.s, its staves, and all its vessels, the laver and its base; the hangings of the court, the pillars thereof, and their sockets, and the screen for the gate of the court; the pins of the tabernacle, and the pins of the court, and their cords; the finely wrought garments, for ministering in the holy place, the holy garments for Aaron the priest, and the garments of his sons, to minister in the priest's office.'"

And all the congregation of the children of Israel departed from the presence of Moses.

And they came, everyone whose heart stirred him up, and everyone whom his spirit made willing, and brought the Lord's offering, for the work of the tent of meeting, and for all the service thereof, and for the holy garments.

And they came, both men and women, as many as were willing hearted, and brought brooches, and earrings, and signet-rings, and armlets, all jewels of gold; even every man that offered an offering of gold unto the Lord.

And every man, who had blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine linen, and goats' hair, and rams' skins dyed red, and sealskins, brought them. Everyone that offered an offering of silver and bra.s.s brought the Lord's offering: {216} and every man, who had acacia wood for any work of the service, brought it.

And all the women that were skillful spun with their hands, and brought that which they had spun, the blue, and the purple, the scarlet, and the fine linen.

And all the women who were skillful spun the goats' hair.

And the rulers brought the onyx stones, and the stones to be set, for the ephod, and for the breastplate; and the spice, and the oil; for the light, and for the anointing oil, and for the sweet incense.

The children of Israel brought a freewill offering unto the Lord; every man and woman, whose heart made them willing to bring for all the work, which the Lord had commanded to be made by the hand of Moses.

And Moses said unto the children of Israel, "See, the Lord hath called by name Bezalel, the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah; and he hath filled him with the spirit of G.o.d, in wisdom, in understanding, and in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship; and to devise cunning works, to work in gold, and in silver, and in bra.s.s, and in cutting of stones for setting, and in carving of wood, to work in all manner of cunning workmanship. And he hath put in his heart that he may teach, both he, and Oholiab, the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan. Them hath he filled with wisdom of heart, to work all manner of workmanship, of the engraver, and of the cunning workman, and of the embroiderer, in blue, and in purple, in scarlet, and in fine linen, and of the {217} weaver, even of them that do any workmanship, and of those that devise cunning works."

THE TABERNACLE AND ITS FURNISHINGS.

_The Tent_.

And every skillful man among them that wrought the work made the tabernacle with ten curtains; of fine linen, and blue, and purple, and scarlet, with cherubim the work of the cunning workman made he them.

The length of each curtain was eight and twenty cubits, and the breadth of each curtain four cubits: all the curtains had one measure.

And he coupled five curtains one to another: and the other five curtains he coupled one to another. And he made loops of blue upon the edge of the one curtain from the selvedge in the coupling: likewise he made in the edge of the curtain that was outmost in the second coupling. Fifty loops made he in the one curtain, and fifty loops made he in the edge of the curtain that was in the second coupling: the loops were opposite one to another. And he made fifty clasps of gold, and coupled the curtains one to another with the clasps: so the tabernacle was one. And he made curtains of goats' hair for a tent over the tabernacle: eleven curtains he made. The length of each curtain was thirty cubits, and four cubits the breadth of each curtain: the eleven curtains had one measure. And he coupled five curtains by themselves, and six curtains by themselves. And he made fifty loops on the edge of the curtain that was outmost in the coupling, and fifty loops made he upon the edge of the curtain which {218} was outmost in the second coupling. And he made fifty clasps of bra.s.s to couple the tent together, that it might be one. And he made a covering for the tent of rams' skins dyed red, and a covering of sealskins above.

And he made the boards for the tabernacle of acacia wood, standing up.

Ten cubits was the length of a board, and a cubit and a half the breadth of each board. Each board had two tenons, joined one to another: thus did he make for all the boards of the tabernacle. And he made the boards for the tabernacle; twenty boards for the south side southward; and he made forty sockets of silver under the twenty boards; two sockets under one board for its two tenons, and two sockets under another board for its two tenons. And for the second side of the tabernacle, on the north side, he made twenty boards, and their forty sockets of silver; two sockets under one board, and two sockets under another board. And for the hinder part of the tabernacle westward he made six boards. And two boards made he for the corners of the tabernacle in the hinder part. And there were eight boards, and their sockets of silver, sixteen sockets; under every board two sockets. And he made bars of acacia wood; five for the boards of the one side of the tabernacle, and five bars for the boards of the other side of the tabernacle, and five bars for the boards of the tabernacle for the hinder part westward. And he made the middle bar to pa.s.s through in the midst of the boards from the one end to the other. And he overlaid the boards with gold, and made their rings of gold for places for the bars, and overlaid the bars with gold.

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And he made the veil of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen: with cherubim the work of the cunning workman made he it. And he made thereunto four pillars of acacia, and overlaid them with gold: their hooks were of gold; and he cast for them four sockets of silver.

And he made a screen for the door of the Tent, of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine linen, the work of the embroiderer; and the five pillars of it with their hooks: and he overlaid their capitals and their fillets with gold: and their five sockets were of bra.s.s.

_The Workmen Are Chosen_.

"And Bezalel and Oholiab shall work, and every skillful man, in whom the Lord hath put wisdom and understanding to know how to work all the work for the service of the sanctuary, according to all that the Lord hath commanded."

And Moses called Bezalel and Oholiab, and every skillful man, in whose heart the Lord had put wisdom, even everyone whose heart stirred him up to come unto the work to do it: and they received of Moses all the offering, which the children of Israel had brought for the work of the service of the sanctuary, to make it. And they brought yet unto him freewill offerings every morning. And all the wise men, that wrought all the work of the sanctuary, came every man from his work which they wrought; and they spoke unto Moses, saying, "The people bring much more than enough for the service of the work, which the Lord commanded to make."

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And Moses gave commandment, and they caused it to be proclaimed throughout the camp, saying,--

"Let neither man nor woman make any more work for the offering of the sanctuary." So the people were restrained from bringing. For the stuff they had was sufficient for all the work to make it, and too much.