Tanakh & Talmud. Various Authors

the art of the perfumer; it shall be a holy anointing oil. ²⁶And thou shalt anoint therewith the tent of meeting, and the ark of the testimony, ²⁷and the table and all the vessels thereof, and the candlestick and the vessels thereof, and the altar of incense, ²⁸and the altar of burnt-offering with all the vessels thereof, and the laver and the base thereof. ²⁹And thou shalt sanctify them, that they may be most holy; whatsoever toucheth them shall be holy. ³⁰And thou shalt anoint Aaron and his sons, and sanctify them, that they may minister unto Me in the priest's office. ³¹And thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel, saying: This shall be a holy anointing oil unto Me throughout your generations. ³²Upon the flesh of man shall it not be poured, neither shall ye make any like it, according to the composition thereof; it is holy, and it shall be holy unto you. ³³Whosoever compoundeth any like it, or whosoever putteth any of it upon a stranger, he shall be cut off from his people.'

      ³⁴And the Lord said unto Moses: 'Take unto thee sweet spices, stacte, and onycha, and galbanum; sweet spices with pure frankincense; of each shall there be a like weight. ³⁵And thou shalt make of it incense, a perfume after the art of the perfumer, seasoned with salt, pure and holy. ³⁶And thou shalt beat some of it very small, and put of it before the testimony in the tent of meeting, where I will meet with thee; it shall be unto you most holy. ³⁷And the incense which thou shalt make, according to the composition thereof ye shall not make for yourselves; it shall be unto thee holy for the Lord. ³⁸Whosoever shall make like unto that, to smell thereof, he shall be cut off from his people.'

      31And the Lord spoke unto Moses, saying: ²'See, I have called by name Bezalel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah; ³and I have filled him with the spirit of God, in wisdom, and in understanding, and in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship, ⁴to devise skilful works, to work in gold, and in silver, and in brass, ⁵and in cutting of stones for setting, and in carving of wood, to work in all manner of workmanship. ⁶And I, behold, I have appointed with him Oholiab, the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan; and in the hearts of all that are wise-hearted I have put wisdom, that they may make all that I have commanded thee: ⁷the tent of meeting, and the ark of the testimony, and the ark-cover that is thereupon, and all the furniture of the Tent; ⁸and the table and its vessels, and the pure candlestick with all its vessels, and the altar of incense; ⁹and the altar of burnt-offering with all its vessels, and the laver and its base; ¹⁰and the plaited garments, and the holy garments for Aaron the priest, and the garments of his sons, to minister in the priest's office; ¹¹and the anointing oil, and the incense of sweet spices for the holy place; according to all that I have commanded thee shall they do.'

      ¹²And the Lord spoke unto Moses, saying: ¹³'Speak thou also unto the children of Israel, saying: Verily ye shall keep My sabbaths, for it is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations, that ye may know that I am the Lord who sanctify you. ¹⁴Ye shall keep the sabbath therefore, for it is holy unto you; every one that profaneth it shall surely be put to death; for whosoever doeth any work therein, that soul shall be cut off from among his people. ¹⁵Six days shall work be done; but on the seventh day is a sabbath of solemn rest, holy to the Lord; whosoever doeth any work in the sabbath day, he shall surely be put to death. ¹⁶Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the sabbath, to observe the sabbath throughout their generations, for a perpetual covenant. ¹⁷It is a sign between Me and the children of Israel for ever; for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day He ceased from work and rested.'

      ¹⁸And He gave unto Moses, when He had made an end of speaking with him upon mount Sinai, the two tables of the testimony, tables of stone, written with the finger of God.

      32And when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mount, the people gathered themselves together unto Aaron, and said unto him: 'Up, make us a god who shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we know not what is become of him.' ²And Aaron said unto them: 'Break off the golden rings, which are in the ears of your wives, of your sons, and of your daughters, and bring them unto me.' ³And all the people broke off the golden rings which were in their ears, and brought them unto Aaron. ⁴And he received it at their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool, and made it a molten calf; and they said: 'This is thy god, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.' ⁵And when Aaron saw this, he built an altar before it; and Aaron made proclamation, and said: 'To-morrow shall be a feast to the Lord.' ⁶And 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 make merry.

      ⁷And the Lord spoke unto Moses: 'Go, get thee down; for thy people, that thou broughtest up out of the land of Egypt, have dealt corruptly; ⁸they 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 unto it, and said: This is thy god, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.' ⁹And the Lord said unto Moses: 'I have seen this people, and, behold, it is a stiffnecked people. ¹⁰Now 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.' ¹¹And Moses besought the Lord his God, and said: 'Lord, why doth Thy wrath wax hot against Thy people, that Thou hast brought forth out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand? ¹²Wherefore should the Egyptians speak, saying: For evil did He bring them forth, to slay them in the mountains, and to consume them from the face of the earth? Turn from Thy fierce wrath, and repent of this evil against Thy people. ¹³Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, Thy servants, to whom Thou didst swear 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.' ¹⁴And the Lord repented of the evil which He said He would do unto His people.

      ¹⁵And Moses turned, and went down from the mount, with the two tables of the testimony in his hand; tables that were written on both their sides; on the one side and on the other were they written. ¹⁶And the tables were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, graven upon the tables. ¹⁷And when Joshua heard the noise of the people as they shouted, he said unto Moses: 'There is a noise of war in the camp.' ¹⁸And 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.' ¹⁹And 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 broke them beneath the mount. ²⁰And he took the calf which they had made, and burnt it with fire, and ground it to powder, and strewed it upon the water, and made the children of Israel drink of it. ²¹And Moses said unto Aaron: 'What did this people unto thee, that thou hast brought a great sin upon them?' ²²And Aaron said: 'Let not the anger of my lord wax hot; thou knowest the people, that they are set on evil. ²³So they said unto me: Make us a god, which shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we know not what is become of him. ²⁴And I said unto them: Whosoever hath any gold, let them break it off; so they gave it me; and I cast it into the fire, and there came out this calf.' ²⁵And when Moses saw that the people were broken loose—for Aaron had let them loose for a derision among their enemies— ²⁶then Moses stood in the gate of the camp, and said: 'Whoso is on the Lord's side, let him come unto me.' And all the sons of Levi gathered themselves together unto him. ²⁷And he said unto them: 'Thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel: Put ye every man his sword upon his thigh, and go to and fro from gate to gate throughout the camp, and slay every man his brother, and every man his companion, and every man his neighbour.' ²⁸And the sons of Levi did according to the word of Moses; and there fell of the people that day about three thousand men. ²⁹And Moses said: 'Consecrate yourselves to-day to the Lord, for every man hath been against his son and against his brother; that He may also bestow upon you a blessing this day.' ³⁰And it came to pass on the morrow, that Moses said unto the people: 'Ye have sinned a great sin; and now I will go up