The Daily Audio Bible
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The People Make a Gold Calf
32 The people saw that a long time had passed. And Moses had not come down from the mountain. So they gathered around Aaron. They said to him, “Moses led us out of Egypt. But we don’t know what has happened to him. So 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. Bring them to me.” 3 So all the people took their gold earrings and brought them to Aaron. 4 Aaron took the gold from the people. Then he melted it and made a statue of a calf. He finished it with a tool. Then the people said, “Israel! These are your gods who brought you out of the land of Egypt!”
5 Aaron saw all this, and he built an altar before the calf. Then he made an announcement. He said, “Tomorrow there will be a special feast to honor the Lord.” 6 The people got up early the next morning. They offered whole burnt offerings and fellowship offerings. First the people sat down to eat and drink. Then they got up and had wild parties.
7 And the Lord said to Moses, “Go down from this mountain. Your people, the people you brought out of the land of Egypt, have done a terrible sin. 8 They have quickly turned away from the things I commanded them to do. They have made for themselves a calf of melted gold. They have worshiped that calf and offered sacrifices to it. The people have said, ‘Israel, these are your gods who brought you out of Egypt.’”
9 The Lord said to Moses, “I have seen these people. I know that they are very stubborn people. 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. Moses said, “Lord, don’t let your anger destroy your people. You brought these people 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. But he planned to kill them in the mountains and destroy them from the earth.’ So stop being angry. Don’t destroy your people. 13 Remember the men who served you—Abraham, Isaac and Israel. You promised with an oath to them. You 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. It will be theirs forever.’” 14 So the Lord changed his mind. He did not destroy the people as he had said he might.
15 Then Moses went down the mountain. 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 stones. And God himself had written the commands on the stones.
17 Then Joshua heard the noise of the people shouting. He said to Moses, “It sounds like war down in the camp.”
18 Moses answered:
“It is not an army’s shout of victory.
It is not an army’s 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. He became very angry. He threw down the stone tablets which he was carrying. He broke them at the bottom of the mountain. 20 Then he took the calf that the people had made. He melted it in the fire. And he ground the gold until it became powder. He threw the powder into the water. And he forced the Israelites to drink that water.
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. So make us gods who will lead us.’ 24 So I told the people, ‘Take off your gold jewelry.’ So 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. He saw that Aaron had let them get out of control. Their enemies would laugh at them. 26 So Moses stood at the entrance to the camp. He 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. That day about 3,000 of the people of Israel 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. Then you will belong to God again.” 31 So Moses went back to the Lord and said, “How terrible it is! These people have sinned horribly. They have made for themselves gods from gold. 32 Now, forgive them of this sin. If you will not, then erase my name. Erase it 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. 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. He did this because of what they did with the calf Aaron had made.
33 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. 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 the land where much food grows. But I will not go with you. This is because I might destroy you on the way. You are such a stubborn people.”
4 The people heard this bad news, and they became very sad. 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. Then I will decide what to do with you.’” 6 So the people of Israel took off their jewelry at Mount Sinai.
The Meeting Tent
7 Moses used to take a tent and set it up a long way outside the camp. Moses called it the “Meeting Tent.” A person might want to ask the Lord about something. Then he would go to the Meeting Tent outside the camp. 8 Anytime Moses went out to the Tent, all the people would rise. They stood at the entrances of their tents and watched Moses until he entered the Meeting Tent. 9 When Moses went into the Tent, the pillar of cloud would always come down. It would stay at the entrance of the Tent while the Lord spoke with Moses. 10 The people saw the pillar of cloud at the entrance of the Tent. Then 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. I am pleased with you.’ 13 If I have truly pleased you, show me your plans. Then 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 your people. These people and I would be no different from any other people on earth.”
17 Then the Lord said to Moses, “I will do what you ask. This is because I know you very well, and I am pleased with you.”
Moses and God’s Greatness
18 Then Moses said, “Now, please show me your greatness.”
19 The Lord answered, “I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you. I will announce my name, the Lord, so you can hear it. I will show kindness to anyone I want to show kindness. I will show mercy to anyone I want to show mercy. 20 But you cannot see my face. No one can see me and stay alive.
21 “There is a place near me where you may stand on a rock. 22 My greatness will pass that place. I will put you in a large crack in that rock. And I will 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.”
Peter Says He Doesn’t Know Jesus
69 At that time, Peter was sitting in the courtyard. A servant girl came to him and said, “You were with Jesus, that man from Galilee.”
70 But Peter said that he was never with Jesus. He said this to all the people there. Peter said, “I don’t know what you are talking about.”
71 Then he left the courtyard. At the gate, another girl saw him. She said to the people there, “This man was with Jesus of Nazareth.”
72 Again, Peter said that he was never with Jesus. Peter said, “I swear that I don’t know this man Jesus!”
73 A short time later, some people standing there went to Peter. They said, “We know you are one of those men who followed Jesus. We know this because of the way you talk.”
74 Then Peter began to curse. He said, “May a curse fall on me if I’m not telling the truth. I don’t know the man.” After Peter said this, a rooster crowed. 75 Then he remembered what Jesus had told him: “Before the rooster crows, you will say three times that you don’t know me.” Then Peter went outside and cried painfully.
Jesus Is Taken to Pilate
27 Early the next morning, all the leading priests and elders of the people decided to kill Jesus. 2 They tied him, led him away, and turned him over to Pilate, the governor.
Judas Kills Himself
3 Judas saw that they had decided to kill Jesus. Judas was the one who gave Jesus to his enemies. When Judas saw what happened, he was very sorry for what he had done. So he took the 30 silver coins back to the priests and the leaders. 4 Judas said, “I sinned. I gave you an innocent man to be killed.”
The leaders answered, “What is that to us? That’s your problem, not ours.”
5 So Judas threw the money into the Temple. Then he went off and hanged himself.
6 The leading priests picked up the silver coins in the Temple. They said, “Our law does not allow us to keep this money with the Temple money. This money has paid for a man’s death.” 7 So they decided to use the coins to buy a field called Potter’s Field. This field would be a place to bury strangers who died while visiting Jerusalem. 8 That is why that field is still called the Field of Blood. 9 So the thing came true that Jeremiah the prophet had said: “They took 30 silver coins. That is how little the Israelites thought he was worth. 10 They used those 30 silver coins to buy Potter’s Field, as the Lord commanded me.”[a]
Pilate Questions Jesus
11 Jesus stood before Pilate the governor. Pilate asked him, “Are you the King of the Jews?”
Jesus answered, “Yes, I am.”
12 When the leading priests and the elders accused Jesus, he said nothing.
13 So Pilate said to Jesus, “Don’t you hear these people accusing you of all these things?”
14 But Jesus said nothing in answer to Pilate. Pilate was very surprised at this.
Praise God Who Creates and Saves
33 Sing to the Lord, you who do what is right.
Honest people should praise him.
2 Praise the Lord on the harp.
Make music for him on the ten-stringed lyre.
3 Sing a new song to him.
Play well and joyfully.
4 God’s word is true.
Everything he does is right.
5 He loves what is right and fair.
The Lord’s love fills the earth.
6 The sky was made at the Lord’s command.
By the breath from his mouth, he made all the stars.
7 He gathered the water in the sea into a heap.
He made the great ocean stay in its place.
8 All the earth should worship the Lord.
The whole world should fear him.
9 He spoke, and it happened.
He commanded, and it appeared.
10 The Lord upsets the plans of nations.
He ruins all their plans.
11 But the Lord’s plans will stand forever.
His ideas will last from now on.
33 Listen to my teaching, and you will be wise.
Do not ignore it.
34 Those who listen to me are happy.
They stand watching at my door every day.
They are at my open doorway, wanting to be with me.
35 Whoever finds me finds life.
And the Lord will be pleased with him.
36 Whoever does not find me hurts himself.
Those who hate me love death.”
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.