ioned it with a graving tool, after he had made it a molten calf and they said: "These be thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt."

And when Aaron saw it, he built an altar before it; and Aaron made proclamation, and said:-"To-morrow is a feast to the Lord." And they rose up early on the morrow, and offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings; and the people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to play.

And the Lord said unto Moses:-"Go, get thee down; for thy people, which thou broughtest out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves: they have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them: they have made them a molten calf, and have worshipped it, and have sacrificed thereunto, and said, These be my gods, O Israel, which have brought thee up out of the land of Egypt." And the Lord said unto Moses:-"I have seen this people, and, behold, it is a stiffnecked3 people: now therefore let Me alone, that My wrath may wax hot against them, and that I may consume them; and I will make of thee a great nation."

And Moses besought the Lord his God, and said:"Lord, why doth Thy wrath wax hot against Thy people, which Thou hast brought forth out of the land of Egypt with great power, and with a mighty hand? Wherefore should the Egyptians speak and say, For mischief did He bring them out, to slay them in the

3. Note the force of this epithet.

mountains, and to consume them from the face of the earth? Turn from Thy fierce wrath, and repent of this evil against Thy people. Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, Thy servants, to whom Thou swarest by Thine own self, and saidst unto them, I will multiply your seed as the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have spoken of will I give unto your seed, and they shall inherit it for ever."

And the Lord repented of the evil which He thought to do unto His people.

And Moses turned, and went down from the mount, and the two tables of the testimony were in his hand: the tables were written on both their sides; on the one side and on the other were they written. And the tables were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, graven upon the tables. And when Joshua heard the noise of the people as they shouted, he said unto Moses :-"There is a noise of war in the camp." And he said: "It is not the voice of them that shout for mastery, neither is it the voice of them that cry for being overcome: but the noise of them that sing do I hear."

And it came to pass, as soon as he came nigh unto the camp, that he saw the calf, and the dancing: and Moses' anger waxed hot, and he cast the tables out of his hands, and brake them beneath the mount. And he took the calf which they had made, and burnt it in

4. The two tables or tablets of stone inscribed with the commandments of the law.

5. Study Note 16, Outline Study.

the fire, and ground it to powder, and strawed it upon the water, and made the children of Israel drink of it. And Moses said unto Aaron:-"What did this people unto thee, that thou hast brought so great a sin upon them ?"

And Aaron said: "Let not the anger of my lord wax hot thou knowest the people, that they are set on mischief. For they said unto me, Make us gods, which shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him. And I said unto them, Whosoever hath any gold, let them break it off. So they gave it me; then I cast it into the fire, and there came out this calf."

And when Moses saw that the people were naked; (for Aaron had made them naked unto their shame among their enemies:) then Moses stood in the gate of the camp, and said:-"Who is on the Lord's side? let him come unto me." And all the sons of Levi' gathered themselves together unto him. And he said unto them:-"Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Put every man his sword by his side, and go in and out from gate to gate throughout the camp, and slay every man his brother, and every man his companion, and every man his neighbor."

And the children of Israel did according to the word of Moses: and there fell of the people that day about three thousand men. For Moses had said:

6. What is the modern spelling of this word?

7. Moses' own house or title.

"Consecrate yourselves to-day to the Lord, even every man upon his son, and upon his brother; that He may bestow upon you a blessing this day."

And it came to pass on the morrow, that Moses said unto the people:-"Ye have sinned a great sin: and now will I go up unto the Lord; peradventure I shall make an atonement for your sin."

And Moses returned unto the Lord, and said:"Oh, this people have sinned a great sin, and have made them gods 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 unto Moses:-"Whosoever hath sinned against Me, him will I blot out of My book. Therefore 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 visit I will visit their sin upon them." And the Lord plagued the people, because they made the calf, which Aaron' made.

8. Explain.

9. Study Note 14, Outline Study.

XIII

THE DEATH OF MOSES

(Deuteronomy xxxiv)

Introductory Note.-It is related in the Book of Numbers that Moses was denied the privilege of leading the host across Jordan, as a punishment for his lack of confidence in the Lord who was guiding the children of Israel through the wilderness.

And Moses went up from the plains of Moab' unto the mountain of Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, that is over against Jericho. And the Lord shewed him all the land of Gilead,* unto Dan, and all Naphtali, and the land of Ephraim, and Manasseh, and all the land of Judah unto the utmost sea, and the south, and the plain of the valley of Jericho, the city of palm trees, unto Zoar.

And the Lord said unto him:-"This is the land which I sware unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, saying, I will give it unto thy seed: I have caused thee to see it with thine eyes, but thou shalt not go over thither."

1. The region east of the lower Jordan and the Dead Sea. 2. The highest summit of the mountains of Moab overlooking the Jordan valley on the east. The greater part of the future abode of Israel lay within 100 miles of this summit.

3. See Narrative xiv. Foot-note 4.

Canaan, east of the Jordan.

4.

6.

Central Canaan. By "Utmost Sea" is meant the Mediterranean-the sea beyond all.