Exodus 31–32; Psalm 40; Luke 4

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Exodus 31–32

Oholiab and Bezalel

The Lord said to Moses, See, I have called by name xBezalel the son of Uri, son of yHur, of the tribe of Judah, and I have zfilled him with the Spirit of God, with ability and intelligence, with knowledge and all craftsmanship, to devise artistic designs, to work in gold, silver, and bronze, in cutting stones for setting, and in carving wood, to work in every craft. And behold, I have appointed with him aOholiab, the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan. And I have given to all able men bability, that they may make all that I have commanded you: cthe tent of meeting, and dthe ark of the testimony, and ethe mercy seat that is on it, and all the furnishings of the tent, fthe table and its utensils, and gthe pure lampstand with all its utensils, and hthe altar of incense, and ithe altar of burnt offering with all its utensils, and jthe basin and its stand, 10 and kthe finely worked garments,1 the holy garments for Aaron the priest and the garments of his sons, for their service as priests, 11 and lthe anointing oil and the fragrant mincense for the Holy Place. According to all that I have commanded you, they shall do.

The Sabbath

12 And the Lord said to Moses, 13 You are to speak to the people of Israel and say, Above all you shall keep my Sabbaths, for this is a sign between me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I, the Lord, sanctify you. 14 You shall keep the Sabbath, because it is holy for you. Everyone who profanes it shall be put to death. nWhoever does any work on it, that soul shall be cut off from among his people. 15 oSix days shall work be done, but pthe seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, holy to the Lord. nWhoever does any work on the Sabbath day shall be put to death. 16 Therefore the people of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, observing the Sabbath throughout their generations, as a covenant forever. 17 qIt is a sign forever between me and the people of Israel that rin six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and son the seventh day he rested and was refreshed.

18 And he gave to Moses, when he had finished speaking with him on Mount Sinai, the ttwo tablets of the testimony, tablets of stone, written with uthe finger of God.

The Golden Calf

When the people saw that Moses vdelayed to come down from the mountain, the people gathered themselves together to Aaron and said to him, wUp, make us gods who shall xgo before us. As for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him. So Aaron said to them, Take off the yrings of gold that are in the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me. So all the people took off the rings of gold that were in their ears and brought them to Aaron. zAnd he received the gold from their hand and fashioned it with a graving tool and made a golden2 calf. And they said, aThese are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt! When Aaron saw this, he built an altar before it. And Aaron bmade a proclamation and said, Tomorrow shall be a feast to the Lord. And they rose up early the next day and offered burnt offerings and brought peace offerings. And cthe people sat down to eat and drink and rose up dto play.

And the Lord said to Moses, eGo down, for your people, whom you brought up out of the land of Egypt, have fcorrupted themselves. They have turned aside quickly out of the way that gI commanded them. They have made for themselves a golden calf and have worshiped it and sacrificed to it and said, These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt! And the Lord said to Moses, I have seen this people, and behold, hit is a stiff-necked people. 10 Now therefore ilet me alone, that jmy wrath may burn hot against them and kI may consume them, in order that lI may make a great nation of you.

11 But mMoses implored the Lord his God and said, O Lord, why does your wrath burn hot against your people, whom you have brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand? 12 nWhy should the Egyptians say, With evil intent did he bring them out, to kill them in the mountains and to consume them from the face of the earth? Turn from your burning anger and orelent from this disaster against your people. 13 Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your servants, to whom you pswore by your own self, and said to them, qI will multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have promised I will give to your offspring, and they shall inherit it forever. 14 And the Lord rrelented from the disaster that he had spoken of bringing on his people.

15 Then sMoses turned and went down from the mountain with the ttwo tablets of the testimony in his hand, tablets that were written on both sides; on the front and on the back they were written. 16 uThe tablets were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, engraved on the tablets. 17 When vJoshua heard the noise of the people as they shouted, he said to Moses, There is a noise of war in the camp. 18 But he said, It is not the sound of wshouting for victory, or the sound of the cry of defeat, but the sound of singing that I hear. 19 And as soon as he came near the camp and xsaw the calf and the dancing, Moses’ anger burned hot, and he threw the tablets out of his hands and broke them at the foot of the mountain. 20 He took the calf that they had made and burned it with fire and ground it to powder and scattered it on the water and made the people of Israel drink it.

21 And Moses said to Aaron, yWhat did this people do to you that you have brought such a great sin upon them? 22 And Aaron said, Let not the anger of my lord burn hot. zYou know the people, that they are set on evil. 23 For athey said to me, Make us gods who shall go before us. As for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him. 24 So bI said to them, Let any who have gold take it off. So they gave it to me, and I threw it into the fire, and out came this calf.

25 And when Moses saw that the people had broken loose (for Aaron had let them break loose, cto the derision of their enemies), 26 then Moses stood in the gate of the camp and said, Who is on the Lord’s side? Come to me. And all the sons of Levi gathered around him. 27 And he said to them, Thus says the Lord God of Israel, Put your sword on your side each of you, and go to and fro from gate to gate throughout the camp, and each of you dkill his brother and his companion and his neighbor. 28 And the sons of Levi did according to the word of Moses. And that day about three thousand men of the people fell. 29 And Moses said, Today you have been eordained for the service of the Lord, each one at the cost of his son and of his brother, so that he might bestow a blessing upon you this day.

30 The next day Moses said to the people, fYou have sinned a great sin. And now I will go up to the Lord; gperhaps I can make atonement for your sin. 31 So Moses returned to the Lord and said, Alas, fthis people has sinned a great sin. They have hmade for themselves gods of gold. 32 But now, if iyou will forgive their sinbut if not, please jblot me out of kyour book that you have written. 33 But the Lord said to Moses, lWhoever has sinned against me, I will blot out of my book. 34 mBut now go, lead the people to the place about which I have spoken to you; nbehold, my angel shall go before you. Nevertheless, in the day when I visit, I will visit their sin upon them.

35 Then the Lord sent a plague on the people, because they made the calf, the one that Aaron made.


Psalm 40

My Help and My Deliverer

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.

I uwaited patiently for the Lord;

he inclined to me and vheard my cry.

He drew me up from wthe pit of destruction,

out of xthe miry bog,

and yset my feet upon a rock,

zmaking my steps secure.

He put aa new song in my mouth,

a song of praise to our God.

Many will bsee and fear,

and put their trust in the Lord.

Blessed is the man who cmakes

the Lord his trust,

who does not turn to the proud,

to those who dgo astray after a lie!

You have multiplied, O Lord my God,

your ewondrous deeds and your fthoughts toward us;

none can compare with you!

I will proclaim and tell of them,

yet they are gmore than can be told.

hIn sacrifice and offering you have not delighted,

but you have given me an open iear.1

Burnt offering and sin offering

you have not required.

Then I said, Behold, I have come;

in the scroll of the book it is written jof me:

kI delight to do your will, O my God;

your law is lwithin my heart.

I have told the glad news of deliverance2

in mthe great congregation;

behold, I have not nrestrained my lips,

oas you know, O Lord.

10  I have not hidden your deliverance within my heart;

I have spoken of your faithfulness and your salvation;

I have not concealed your steadfast love and your faithfulness

from the great congregation.

11  As for you, O Lord, you will not restrain

your mercy from me;

your psteadfast love and your faithfulness will

ever preserve me!

12  For evils have qencompassed me

beyond number;

my riniquities have overtaken me,

and I cannot ssee;

they are tmore than the hairs of my head;

my heart ufails me.

13  vBe pleased, O Lord, to wdeliver me!

O Lord, xmake haste to help me!

14  yLet those be put to shame and disappointed altogether

who seek to snatch away my life;

let those be zturned back and brought to dishonor

who delight in my hurt!

15  Let those be appalled because of their shame

who asay to me, Aha, Aha!

16  But may all who seek you

rejoice and be glad in you;

may those who love your salvation

bsay continually, Great is the Lord!

17  As for me, I am cpoor and needy,

but dthe Lord takes thought for me.

You are my help and my deliverer;

do not delay, O my God!


Luke 4

The Temptation of Jesus

sAnd Jesus, tfull of the Holy Spirit, ureturned from the Jordan and was led vby the Spirit in the wilderness for wforty days, xbeing tempted by the devil. wAnd he ate nothing during those days. And when they were ended, yhe was hungry. The devil said to him, If you are zthe Son of God, command athis stone to become bread. And Jesus answered him, bIt is written, cMan shall not live by bread alone. dAnd the devil took him up and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time, and said to him, To you eI will give all this authority and their glory, efor it has been delivered to me, and I give it to whom I will. If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours. And Jesus answered him, fIt is written,

gYou shall worship the Lord your God,

and hhim only shall you serve.

iAnd he took him to Jerusalem and set him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him, If you are jthe Son of God, throw yourself down from here, 10 for it is written,

kHe will command his angels concerning you,

to guard you,

11 and

kOn their hands they will bear you up,

lest you strike your foot against a stone.

12 And Jesus answered him, It is said, lYou shall not mput the Lord your God to the test. 13 And when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from him nuntil an opportune time.

Jesus Begins His Ministry

14 oAnd Jesus returned pin the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and qa report about him went out through all the surrounding country. 15 And rhe taught in their synagogues, being glorified by all.

Jesus Rejected at Nazareth

16 sAnd he came to tNazareth, where he had been brought up. And uas was his custom, vhe went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and he stood up wto read. 17 And xthe scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written,

18  yThe Spirit of the Lord zis upon me,

because he has anointed me

to aproclaim good news to the poor.

bHe has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives

and crecovering of sight to the blind,

dto set at liberty those who are oppressed,

19  eto proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.

20 And he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and fsat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were gfixed on him. 21 And he began to say to them, Today hthis Scripture ihas been fulfilled in your hearing. 22 And all spoke well of him and marveled at jthe gracious words that were coming from his mouth. And they said, kIs not this lJoseph’s son? 23 And he said to them, Doubtless you will quote to me this proverb, mPhysician, heal yourself. What we have heard you did nat Capernaum, do here in your hometown as well. 24 And he said, Truly, I say to you, ono prophet is acceptable in his hometown. 25 But in truth, I tell you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when pthe heavens were shut up three years and six months, and a great famine came over all the land, 26 and Elijah was sent to none of them qbut only to Zarephath, in the land of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow. 27 And rthere were many lepers1 in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, and none of them was cleansed, sbut only Naaman the Syrian. 28 When they heard these things, all in the synagogue were filled with wrath. 29 And they rose up and tdrove him out of the town and brought him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, so that they could throw him down the cliff. 30 But upassing through their midst, he went away.

Jesus Heals a Man with an Unclean Demon

31 vAnd he wwent down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee. And xhe was teaching them yon the Sabbath, 32 and zthey were astonished at his teaching, zfor his word possessed authority. 33 And xin the synagogue there was a man who had the spirit of an unclean demon, and he cried out with a loud voice, 34 Ha!2 aWhat have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? bI know who you arecthe Holy One of God. 35 But Jesus drebuked him, saying, Be silent and come out of him! And when the demon had thrown him down in their midst, he came out of him, having done him no harm. 36 And ethey were all amazed and said to one another, What is this word? eFor with authority and power he commands the unclean spirits, and they come out! 37 And freports about him went out into every place in the surrounding region.

Jesus Heals Many

38 gAnd he arose and left the synagogue and entered Simon’s house. Now hSimon’s mother-in-law was ill with a high fever, and they appealed to him on her behalf. 39 And he stood over her and irebuked the fever, and it left her, and immediately she rose and began to serve them.

40 Now when the sun was setting, all those who had any who were sick with various diseases brought them to him, and jhe laid his hands on every one of them and healed them. 41 kAnd demons also came out of many, lcrying, You are mthe Son of God! But he rebuked them and kwould not allow them to speak, because they knew that he was nthe Christ.

Jesus Preaches in Synagogues

42 oAnd when it was day, he departed and went pinto a desolate place. And qthe people sought him and came to him, and would have kept him from leaving them, 43 but he said to them, rI must spreach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns as well; for I was sent for this purpose. 44 And he was preaching tin the synagogues of Judea.3