Chapter 7

32:2. And Aaron said to them: Take the golden earrings from the ears of your wives, and your sons and daughters, and bring them to me.

32:3. And the people did what he had commanded, bringing the earrings to Aaron.

32:4. And when he had received them, he fashioned them by founders' work, and made of them a molten calf. And they said: These are thy gods, O Israel, that have brought thee out of the land of Egypt.

32:5. And when Aaron saw this, he built an altar before it, and made proclamation by a crier's voice, saying To morrow is the solemnity of the Lord.

32:6. And rising in the morning, they offered holocausts, and peace victims, and the people sat down to eat and drink, and they rose up to play.

32:7. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: Go, get thee down: thy people, which thou hast brought out of the land of Egypt, hath sinned.

32:8. They have quickly strayed from the way which thou didst shew them: and they have made to themselves a molten calf, and have adored it, and sacrificing victims to it, have said: These are thy gods, O Israel, that have brought thee out of the land of Egypt.

32:9. And again the Lord said to Moses: I see that this people is stiffnecked:

32:10. Let me alone, that my wrath may be kindled against them, and that I may destroy them, and I will make of thee a great nation.

32:11. But Moses besought the Lord his God, saying: Why, O Lord, is thy indignation enkindled against thy people, whom thou hast brought out of the land of Egypt, with great power, and with a mighty hand?

32:12. Let not the Egyptians say, I beseech thee: He craftily brought them out, that he might kill them in the mountains, and destroy them from the earth: let thy anger cease, and be appeased upon the wickedness of thy people.

32:13. Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, thy servants, to whom thou sworest by thy own self, saying: I will multiply your seed as the stars of heaven: and this whole land that I have spoken of, I will give to your seed, and you shall possess it for ever:

32:14. And the Lord was appeased from doing the evil which he had spoken against his people.

32:15. And Moses returned from the mount, carrying the two tables of the testimony in his hand, written on both sides,

32:16. And made by the work of God; the writing also of God was graven in the tables.

32:17. And Josue hearing the noise of the people shouting, said to Moses: The noise of battle is heard in the camp.

32:18. But he answered: It is not the cry of men encouraging to fight, nor the shout of men compelling to flee: but I hear the voice of singers.

32:19. And when he came nigh to the camp, he saw the calf, and the dances: and being very angry, he threw the tables out of his hand, and broke them at the foot of the mount:

32:20. And laying hold of the calf which they had made, he burnt it, and beat it to powder, which he strewed into water, and gave thereof to the children of Israel to drink.

32:21. And he said to Aaron: What has this people done to thee, that thou shouldst bring upon them a most heinous sin?

32:22. And he answered him: Let not my lord be offended; for thou knowest this people, that they are prone to evil.

32:23. They said to me: make us gods, that may go before us; for as to this Moses, who brought us forth out of the land of Egypt, we know not what is befallen him.

32:24. And I said to them: Which of you hath any gold? and they took and brought it to me; and I cast it into the fire, and this calf came out.

32:25. And when Moses saw that the people were naked, (for Aaron had stripped them by occasion of the shame of the filth, and had set them naked among their enemies)

Naked... Having lost not only their gold, and their honour, but what was worst of all, being stripped also of the grace of God, and having lost him.-The shame of the filth... That is, of the idol, which they had taken for their god. It is the usual phrase of the scripture to call idols filth and abominations.

32:26. Then standing in the gate of the camp, he said: If any man be on the Lord's side, let him join with me. And all the sons of Levi gathered themselves together unto him:

32:27. And he said to them: Thus saith the Lord God of Israel: Put every man his sword upon his thigh: go, and return from gate to gate through the midst of the camp, and let every man kill his brother, and friend, and neighbour.

32:28. And the sons of Levi did according to the words of Moses, and there were slain that day about three and twenty thousand men.

32:29. And Moses said: You have consecrated your hands this day to the Lord, every man in his son and in his brother, that a blessing may be given to you.

32:30. And when the next day was come, Moses spoke to the people: You have sinned a very great sin: I will go up to the Lord, if by any means I may be able to entreat him for your crime.

32:31. And returning to the Lord, he said: I beseech thee: this people hath sinned a heinous sin, and they have made to themselves gods of gold: either forgive them this trespass,

32:32. Or if thou do not, strike me out of the book that thou hast written.

32:33. And the Lord answered him: He that hath sinned against me, him will I strike out of my book:

32:34. But go thou, and lead this people whither I have told thee: my angel shall go before thee. And I in the day of revenge will visit this sin also of theirs.

32:35. The Lord therefore struck the people for the guilt, on occasion of the calf which Aaron had made.

Exodus Chapter 33

The people mourn for their sin. Moses pitcheth the tabernacle without the camp. He converseth familiarly with God. Desireth to see his glory.

33:1. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: Go, get thee up from this place, thou and thy people which thou hast brought out of the land of Egypt, into the land concerning which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, saying: To thy seed I will give it:

33:2. And I will send an angel before thee, that I may cast out the Chanaanite, and the Amorrhite, and the Hethite, and the Pherezite, and the Hevite, and the Jebusite,

33:3. That thou mayst enter into the land that floweth with milk and honey. For I will not go up with thee, because thou art a stiffnecked people; lest I destroy thee in the way.

33:4. And the people hearing these very bad tidings, mourned: and no man put on his ornaments according to custom.

33:5. And the Lord said to Moses: Say to the children of Israel: Thou art a stiffnecked people, once I shall come up in the midst of thee, and shall destroy thee. Now presently lay aside thy ornaments, that I may know what to do to thee.

33:6. So the children of Israel laid aside their ornaments by Mount Horeb.

33:7. Moses also taking the tabernacle, pitched it without the camp afar off, and called the name thereof, The tabernacle of the covenant. And all the people, that had any question, went forth to the tabernacle of the covenant, without the camp.

33:8. And when Moses went forth to the tabernacle, all the people rose up, and every one stood in the door of his pavilion, and they beheld the back of Moses, till he went into the tabernacle.

33:9. And when he was gone into the tabernacle of the covenant, the pillar of the cloud came down, and stood at the door, and he spoke with Moses.

33:10. And all saw that the pillar of the cloud stood at the door of the tabernacle. And they stood and worshipped at the doors of their tent.

33:11. And the Lord spoke to Moses face to face, as a man is wont to speak to his friend. And when he returned into the camp, his servant Josue, the son of Nun, a young man, departed not from the tabernacle.

Face to face... That is, in a most familiar manner. Though as we learn from this very chapter, Moses could not see the face of the Lord.

33:12. And Moses said to the Lord: Thou commandest me to lead forth this people; and thou dost not let me know whom thou wilt send with me, especially whereas thou hast said: I know thee by name, and thou hast found favour in my sight.

I know thee by name... In the language of the scriptures, God is said to know such as he approves and loves: and to know by name, those whom he favours in a most singular manner, as he did his servant Moses.

33:13. If therefore I have found favour in thy sight, shew me thy face, that I may know thee, and may find grace before thy eyes: look upon thy people this nation.

33:14. And the Lord said: My face shall go before thee, and I will give thee rest.

33:15. And Moses said: If thou thyself dost not go before, bring us not out of this place.

33:16. For how shall we be able to know, I and thy people, that we have found grace in thy sight, unless thou walk with us, that we may be glorified by all people that dwell upon the earth?

33:17. And the Lord said to Moses: This word also, which thou hast spoken, will I do; for thou hast found grace before me, and thee I have known by name.

33:18. And he said: Shew me thy glory.

33:19. He answered: I will shew thee all good, and I will proclaim in the name of the Lord before thee: and I will have mercy on whom I will, and I will be merciful to whom it shall please me.

33:20. And again he said: Thou canst not see my face: for man shall not see me, and live.

33:21. And again he said: Behold there is a place with me, and thou shalt stand upon the rock.

33:22. And when my glory shall pass, I will set thee in a hole of the rock, and protect thee with my righthand till I pass:

33:23. And I will take away my hand, and thou shalt see my back parts: but my face thou canst not see.

See my back parts... The Lord by his angel, usually spoke to Moses in the pillar of the cloud; so that he could not see the glory of him that spoke familiarly with him. In the vision here mentioned he was allowed to see something of him, in an assumed corporeal form: not in the face, the rays of which were too bright for mortal eye to bear, but to view him as it were behind, when his face was turned from him.

Exodus Chapter 34

The tables are renewed: all society with the Chanaanites is forbid: some precepts concerning the firstborn, the sabbath, and other feasts: after forty days' fast, Moses returneth to the people with the commandments, and his face appearing horned with rays of light, he covereth it, whensoever he speaketh to the people.

34:1. And after this he said: Hew thee two tables of stone like unto the former, and I will write upon them the words, which were in the tables, which thou brokest.

34:2. Be ready in the morning, that thou mayst forthwith go up into Mount Sinai, and thou shalt stand with me upon the top of the mount.

34:3. Let no man go up with thee, and let not any man be seen throughout all the mount; neither let the oxen nor the sheep feed over against it.

34:4. Then he cut out two tables of stone, such as had been before; and rising very early he went up into the Mount Sinai, as the Lord had commanded him, carrying with him the tables.

34:5. And when the Lord was come down in a cloud, Moses stood with him, calling upon the name of the Lord.

34:6. And when he passed before him, he said: O the Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, patient and of much compassion, and true,

34:7. Who keepest mercy unto thousands: who takest away iniquity, and wickedness, and sin, and no man of himself is innocent before thee. Who renderest the iniquity of the fathers to the children, and to the grandchildren unto the third and fourth generation.

34:8. And Moses making haste, bowed down prostrate unto the earth, and adoring,

34:9. Said: If I have found grace in thy sight, O Lord, I beseech thee that thou wilt go with us, (for it is a stiffnecked people) and take away our iniquities and sin, and possess us.

34:10. The Lord answered: I will make a covenant in the sight of all, I will do signs such as were never seen upon the earth, nor in any nations; that this people, in the midst of whom thou art, may see the terrible work of the Lord which I will do.

34:11. Observe all things which this day I command thee: I myself will drive out before thy face the Amorrhite, and the Chanaanite, and the Hethite, and the Pherezite, and the Hevite, and the Jebusite.

34:12. Beware thou never join in friendship with the inhabitants of that land, which may be thy ruin:

34:13. But destroy their altars, break their statues and cut down their groves:

34:14. Adore not any strange god. The Lord his name is jealous, he is a jealous God.

34:15. Make no covenant with the men of those countries; lest, when they have committed fornication with their gods, and have adored their idols, some one call thee to eat of the things sacrificed.

34:16. Neither shalt thou take of their daughters a wife for thy son, lest after they themselves have committed fornication, they make thy sons also to commit fornication with their gods.

34:17. Thou shalt not make to thyself any molten gods.

34:18: Thou shalt keep the feast of the unleavened bread. Seven days shalt thou eat unleavened bread, as I commanded thee in the time of the month of the new corn: for in the month of the spring time thou camest out from Egypt.

34:19. All of the male kind that openeth the womb, shall be mine. Of all beasts; both of oxen and of sheep, it shall be mine.

34:20. The firstling of an ass thou shalt redeem with a sheep: but if thou wilt not give a price for it, it shall be slain. The firstborn of thy sons thou shalt redeem: neither shalt thou appear before me empty.

34:21. Six days shalt thou work, the seventh day thou shalt cease to plough and to reap.

34:22. Thou shalt keep the feast of weeks with the firstfruits of the corn of thy wheat harvest, and the feast when the time of the year returneth that all things are laid in.

34:23. Three times in the year all thy males shall appear in the sight of the almighty Lord the God of Israel.

34:24. For when I shall have taken away the nations from thy face, and shall have enlarged thy borders, no man shall lie in wait against thy land when thou shalt go up, and appear in the sight of the Lord thy God thrice in a year.

34:25. Thou shalt not offer the blood of my sacrifice upon leaven; neither shall there remain in the morning any thing of the victim of the solemnity of the Phase.

34:26. The first of the fruits of thy ground thou shalt offer in the house of the Lord thy God. Thou shalt not boil a kid in the milk of his dam.

34:27. And the Lord said to Moses: Write thee these words, by which I have made a covenant both with thee and with Israel.

34:28. And he was there with the Lord forty days and forty nights: he neither ate bread nor drank water, and he wrote upon the tables the ten words of the covenant.

34:29. And when Moses came down from the Mount Sinai, he held the two tables of the testimony, and he knew not that his face was horned from the conversation of the Lord.

Horned... That is, shining, and sending forth rays of light like horns.

34:30. And Aaron and the children of Israel seeing the face of Moses horned, were afraid to come near.

34:31. And being called by him, they returned, both Aaron and the rulers of the congregation. And after that he spoke to them,

34:32. And all the children of Israel came to him: and he gave them in commandment all that he had heard of the Lord on Mount Sinai.

34:33. And having done speaking, he put a veil upon his face.

34:34. But when he went in to the Lord, and spoke with him, he took it away until he came forth, and then he spoke to the children of Israel all things that had been commanded him.

34:35. And they saw that the face of Moses when he came out was horned, but he covered his face again, if at any time he spoke to them.

Exodus Chapter 35

The sabbath. Offerings for making the tabernacle. Beseleel and Ooliab are called to the work.

35:1. And all the multitude of the children of Israel being gathered together, he said to them: These are the things which the Lord hath commanded to be done:

35:2. Six days you shall do work; the seventh day shall be holy unto you, the sabbath and the rest of the Lord: he that shall do any work on it, shall be put to death.

35:3. You shall kindle no fire in any of your habitations on the sabbath day.

35:4. And Moses said to all the assembly of the children of Israel: This is the word the Lord hath commanded, saying:

35:5. Set aside with you firstfruits to the Lord. Let every one that is willing and hath a ready heart, offer them to the Lord: gold, and silver, and brass,

35:6. Violet and purple, and scarlet twice dyed, and fine linen, goats' hair,

35:7. And rams' skins dyed red, and violet coloured skins, setim wood,

35:8. And oil to maintain lights, and to make ointment, and most sweet incense,

35:9. Onyx stones, and precious stones, for the adorning of the ephod and the rational.

35:10. Whosoever of you is wise, let him come, and make that which the Lord hath commanded:

35:11. To wit, the tabernacle, and the roof thereof, and the cover, the rings, and the board-work with the bars, the pillars and the sockets:

35:12. The ark and the staves, the propitiatory, and the veil that is drawn before it:

35:13. The table with the bars and the vessels, and the loaves of proposition:

35:14. The candlestick to bear up the lights, the vessels thereof and the lamps, and the oil for the nourishing of fires:

35:15. The altar of incense, and the bars, and the oil of unction, and the incense of spices: the hanging at the door of the tabernacle:

35:16. The altar of holocaust, and its grate of brass, with the bars and vessels thereof: the laver and its foot:

35:17. The curtains of the court, with the pillars and the sockets, the hanging in the doors of the entry.

35:18. The pins of the tabernacle, and of the court, with their little cords:

35:19. The vestments that are to be used in the ministry of the sanctuary, the vesture of Aaron the high priest, and of his sons, to do the office of priesthood to me.

35:20. And all the multitude of the children of Israel going out from the presence of Moses,

35:21. Offered firstfruits to the Lord with a most ready and devout mind, to make the work of the tabernacle of the testimony. Whatever was necessary to the service and to the holy vestments,

35:22. Both men and women gave bracelets and earrings, rings and tablets: every vessel of gold was set aside to be offered to the Lord.

35:23. If any man had violet, and purple, and scarlet twice dyed, fine linen and goats' hair, ramskins dyed red, and violet coloured skins,

35:24. Metal of silver and brass, they offered it to the Lord, and setim wood for divers uses.

35:25. The skilful women also gave such things as they had spun, violet, purple, and scarlet, and fine linen,

35:26. And goats' hair, giving all of their own accord.

35:27. But the princes offered onyx stones, and precious stones, for the ephod and the rational,

35:28. And spices and oil for the lights, and for the preparing of ointment, and to make the incense of most sweet savour.

35:29. All, both men and women, with devout mind offered gifts, that the works might be done which the Lord had commanded by the hand of Moses. All the children of Israel dedicated voluntary offerings to the Lord.

35:30. And Moses said to the children of Israel: Behold, the Lord hath called by name Beseleel, the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Juda,

35:31. And hath filled him with the spirit of God, with wisdom and understanding, and knowledge, and all learning,

35:32. To devise and to work in gold and silver and brass,

35:33. And in engraving stones, and in carpenters' work. Whatsoever can be devised artificially,

35:34. He hath given in his heart: Ooliab also, the son of Achisamech, of the tribe of Dan:

35:35. Both of them hath he instructed with wisdom, to do carpenters' work, and tapestry, and embroidery in blue and purple, and scarlet twice dyed, and fine linen, and to weave all things, and to invent all new things.

Exodus Chapter 36

The offerings are delivered to the workmen, the curtains, coverings, boards, bars, veil, pillars, and hanging are made.

36:1. Beseleel therefore, and Ooliab, and every wise man, to whom the Lord gave wisdom and understanding, to know how to work artificially, made the things that are necessary for the uses of the sanctuary, and which the Lord commanded.

36:2. And when Moses had called them, and every skilful man, to whom the Lord had given wisdom, and such as of their own accord had offered themselves to the making of the work,

36:3. He delivered all the offerings of the children of Israel unto them. And while they were earnest about the work, the people daily in the morning offered their vows.

36:4. Whereupon the workmen being constrained to come,

36:5. Said to Moses: The people offereth more than is necessary.

36:6. Moses therefore commanded proclamation to be made by the crier's voice: Let neither man nor woman offer any more for the work of the sanctuary. And so they ceased from offering gifts,

36:7. Because the things that were offered did suffice, and were too much.

36:8. And all the men that were wise of heart, to accomplish the work of the tabernacle, made ten curtains of twisted fine linen, and violet, and purple, and scarlet twice dyed, with varied work, and the art of embroidering:

36:9. The length of one curtain was twenty-eight cubits, and the breadth four: all the curtains were of the same size.

36:10. And he joined five curtains, one to another, and the other five he coupled one to another.

36:11. He made also loops of violet in the edge of one curtain on both sides, and in the edge of the other curtain in like manner,

36:12. That the loops might meet one against another, and might be joined each with the other.

36:13. Whereupon also he cast fifty rings of gold, that might catch the loops of the curtains, and they might be made one tabernacle.

36:14. He made also eleven curtains of goats' hair, to cover the roof of the tabernacle:

36:15. One curtain was thirty cubits long, and four cubits broad: all the curtains were of one measure.

36:16. Five of which he joined apart, and the other six apart.

36:17. And he made fifty loops in the edge of one curtain, and fifty in the edge of another curtain, that they might be joined one to another.

36:18. And fifty buckles of brass wherewith the roof might be knit together, that of all the curtains there might be made one covering.

36:19. He made also a cover for the tabernacle of rams' skins dyed red; and another cover over that of violet skins.

36:20. He made also the boards of the tabernacle of setim wood standing.

36:21. The length of one board was ten cubits; and the breadth was one cubit and a half.

36:22. There were two mortises throughout every board, that one might be joined to the other. And in this manner he made for all the boards of the tabernacle.

36:23. Of which twenty were at the south side southward,

36:24. With forty sockets of silver, two sockets were put under one board on the two sides of the corners, where the mortises of the sides end in the corners.

36:25. At that side also of the tabernacle, that looketh towards the north, he made twenty boards,

36:26. With forty sockets of silver, two sockets for every board.

36:27. But against the west, to wit, at that side of the tabernacle, which looketh to the sea, he made six boards,

36:28. And two others at each corner of the tabernacle behind:

36:29. Which were also joined from beneath unto the top, and went together into one joint. Thus he did on both sides at the corners:

36:30. So there were in all eight boards, and they had sixteen sockets of silver, to wit, two sockets under every board.

36:31. He made also bars of setim wood, five to hold together the boards of one side of the tabernacle,

36:32. And five others to join together the boards of the other side; and besides these, five other bars at the west side of the tabernacle towards the sea.

36:33. He made also another bar, that might come by the midst of the boards from corner to corner.