Study Desk

You are going in to take their land, but not because you are good and live right. You are going in, and the Lord your God is forcing those people out because of the evil way they lived. And the Lord wants to keep the promise he made to your ancestors, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

Then the Lord said to me, ‘Get up and quickly go down from here. The people you brought out of Egypt have ruined themselves. They stopped obeying my commands so quickly. They melted gold and made an idol for themselves.'

I took that terrible thing, the calf you made, and burned it in the fire. I broke it into small pieces. And I crushed the pieces until they were dust. Then I threw the dust into the river that came down from the mountain.

I prayed to the Lord . I said, ‘Lord God , don't destroy your people. They belong to you. You freed them and brought them out of Egypt with your great power and strength.

But they are your people, Lord. They belong to you. You brought them out of Egypt with your great power and strength.'

Then the Israelites went from Moserah to Gudgodah. And they went from Gudgodah to Jotbathah, a land of rivers.

At that time the Lord separated the tribe of Levi from the other tribes for his special work. They had the work of carrying the Lord 's Box of the Agreement. They also served as priests before the Lord . And they had the work of blessing people in the Lord 's name. They still do this special work today.

The Lord said to me, ‘Go and lead the people on their trip. They will go in and live in the land that I promised to give to their ancestors.'

You, not your children, saw what he did to the Egyptian army—to their horses and chariots. They were chasing you, but you saw him cover them with the water from the Red Sea. You saw how the Lord completely destroyed them.

"A prophet or someone who explains dreams might come to you and tell you that they will show you a sign or a miracle.

And the sign or miracle they told you about might come true. Then they might ask you to follow other gods (gods you don't know) and say to you, ‘Let's serve these gods!'

Also, you must kill that prophet or person who explains dreams, because they told you to turn against the Lord your God. And it was the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, where you were slaves. They tried to pull you away from the life he commanded you to live, so you must kill them to remove this evil from your people.

"Someone close to you might secretly persuade you to worship other gods. It might be your own brother, your son, your daughter, the wife you love, or your closest friend. They might say, ‘Let's go and serve other gods.' (These are gods that you and your ancestors never knew.

They are the gods of the people who live in the other lands around you, some near and some far away.)

No, you must kill them with stones. You be the first one to pick up stones and throw at them. Then everyone must throw stones to kill them, because they tried to pull you away from the Lord your God. And it was the Lord who brought you out of the land of Egypt, where you were slaves.

Then all the Israelites will hear about it and be afraid. And they will not do those evil things any more.

some troublemakers from your own nation are persuading the people of their city to do bad things. They might say to the people of their city, ‘Let's go and serve other gods.' (These gods would be gods that you never knew before.)

And you must not eat pigs. Their hooves are divided, but they don't chew the cud. So pigs are not a clean food for you. Don't eat any meat from pigs. Don't even touch a pig's dead body.

Keep this food for the Levites, because they don't have any land of their own. Also keep this food for the foreigners, orphans, and widows who live in your towns. This will provide enough for them to come and eat all they want. If you do this, the Lord your God will bless you in everything you do.

"Don't ever refuse to help someone simply because the seventh year, the year for canceling debts, is near. Don't let an evil thought like that enter your mind. You must never have bad thoughts about someone who needs help. You must not refuse to help them. If you don't help the poor, they might complain to the Lord , and he will judge you guilty of sin.