Study Desk

but let the land rest during the seventh year. The poor are to eat what they want from your fields, vineyards, and olive trees during that year, and when they have all they want from your fields, leave the rest for wild animals.

I will terrify those nations and make your enemies so confused that they will run from you.

Don't let them stay in your land. They will trap you into sinning against me and worshiping their gods.

The Lord said to Moses, "Come up to me on this mountain. Bring along Aaron, as well as his two sons Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of Israel's leaders. They must worship me at a distance,

Moses gave the Lord 's instructions to the people, and they promised, "We will do everything the Lord has commanded!"

Even though these leaders of Israel saw God, he did not punish them. So they ate and drank.

Moses had told the leaders, "Wait here until we come back. Aaron and Hur will be with you, and they can settle any arguments while we are away."

I will meet you there between the two creatures and tell you what my people must do and what they must not do.

and they must be made according to the pattern I showed you on the mountain.

The Lord said to Moses: Furnish the sacred tent with curtains made from ten pieces of the finest linen. They must be woven with blue, purple, and red wool and embroidered with figures of winged creatures.

The Lord said to Moses: Send for your brother Aaron and his sons Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. They are the ones I have chosen from Israel to serve as my priests.

Since Aaron's sons are priests, they should also look dignified. So make robes, sashes, and special caps for them.

Whenever they enter the sacred tent or serve at the altar or enter the holy place, they must wear these shorts, or else they will be guilty and die. This same rule applies to any of their descendants who serve as priests.

and caps and their sashes, then ordain them, because they and their descendants will always be priests.

Then take some of the blood from the altar, mix it with the oil used for ordination, and sprinkle it on Aaron and his clothes, and also on his sons and their clothes. This will show that they and their clothes have been dedicated to me.

and put this bread, together with the meat, into the hands of Aaron and his sons. Then they will lift it all up to show that it is dedicated to me.

At their ordination, a ceremony of forgiveness was performed for them with this sacred food, and only they have the right to eat it.

After the people saw that Moses had been on the mountain for a long time, they went to Aaron and said, "Make us an image of a god who will lead and protect us. Moses brought us out of Egypt, but nobody knows what has happened to him."

The people got up early the next morning and killed some animals to be used for sacrifices and others to be eaten. Then everyone ate and drank so much that they began to carry on like wild people.

They have already stopped obeying me and have made themselves an idol in the shape of a young bull. They have bowed down to it, offered sacrifices, and said that it is the god who brought them out of Egypt.