Today our passages are Exodus 32:1–33:23; Matthew 26:69–27:14; Psalm 33:1-11; and Proverbs 8:33-36. The readings are the Contemporary English Version. If you find these readings helpful, please consider sending an offering directly to Cove Presbyterian Church, 3404 Main Street, Weirton, West Virginia or through PayPal by using the link below.
Exodus 32-33:23 (Contemporary English Version)
Exodus 32
The People Make an Idol To Worship
(Deuteronomy 9.6-29)
1After 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." 2Aaron told them, " Bring me the gold earrings that your wives and sons and daughters are wearing." 3Everybody took off their earrings and brought them to Aaron, 4then he melted them and made an idol in the shape of a young bull.All the people said to one another, " This is the god who brought us out of Egypt!"
5When Aaron saw what was happening, he built an altar in front of the idol and said, " Tomorrow we will celebrate in honor of the LORD." 6The 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.
7The LORD said to Moses:
Hurry back down! Those people you led out of Egypt are acting like fools. 8They 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. 9Moses, I have seen how stubborn these people are, 10and I'm angry enough to destroy them, so don't try to stop me. But I will make your descendants into a great nation.
11Moses tried to get the LORD God to change his mind:
Our LORD, you used your mighty power to bring these people out of Egypt. Now don't become angry and destroy them. 12If you do, the Egyptians will say that you brought your people out here into the mountains just to get rid of them. Please don't be angry with your people. Don't destroy them!
13Remember the solemn promise you made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. You promised that someday they would have as many descendants as there are stars in the sky and that you would give them land.
14So even though the LORD had threatened to destroy the people, he changed his mind and let them live.
15-16Moses went back down the mountain with the two flat stones on which God had written all of his laws with his own hand, and he had used both sides of the stones.
17When Joshua heard the noisy shouts of the people, he said to Moses, " A battle must be going on down in the camp."
18But Moses replied, " It doesn't sound like they are shouting because they have won or lost a battle. They are singing wildly!"
19As Moses got closer to the camp, he saw the idol, and he also saw the people dancing around. This made him so angry that he threw down the stones and broke them to pieces at the foot of the mountain. 20He melted the idol the people had made, and he ground it into powder. He scattered it in their water and made them drink it. 21Moses asked Aaron, " What did these people do to harm you? Why did you make them sin in this terrible way?"
22Aaron answered:
Don't be angry with me. You know as well as I do that they are determined to do evil. 23They even told me, " That man Moses led us out of Egypt, but now we don't know what has happened to him. Make us a god to lead us." 24Then I asked them to bring me their gold earrings. They took them off and gave them to me. I threw the gold into a fire, and out came this bull.
25Moses knew that the people were out of control and that it was Aaron's fault. And now they had made fools of themselves in front of their enemies. 26So Moses stood at the gate of the camp and shouted, " Everyone who is on the LORD's side come over here!"
Then the men of the Levi tribe gathered around Moses, 27and he said to them, " The LORD God of Israel commands you to strap on your swords and go through the camp, killing your relatives, your friends, and your neighbors."
28The men of the Levi tribe followed his orders, and that day they killed about three thousand men. 29Moses said to them, " You obeyed the LORD and did what was right, and so you will serve as his priests for the people of Israel. It was hard for you to kill your own sons and brothers, but the LORD has blessed you and made you his priests today."
30The next day Moses told the people, " This is a terrible thing you have done. But I will go back to the LORD to see if I can do something to keep this sin from being held against you."
31Moses returned to the LORD and said, " The people have committed a terrible sin. They have made a gold idol to be their god. 32But I beg you to forgive them. If you don't, please wipe my name out of your book." [a] 33The LORD replied, " I will wipe out of my book the name of everyone who has sinned against me. 34Now take my people to the place I told you about, and my angel will lead you. But when the time comes, I will punish them for this sin."
35So the LORD punished the people of Israel with a terrible disease for talking Aaron into making the gold idol.
Exodus 33
The LORD Tells Israel To Leave Mount Sinai
1The LORD said to Moses: You led the people of Israel out of Egypt. Now get ready to lead them to the land I promised their ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. 2-3It is a land rich with milk and honey, and I will send an angel to force out those people who live there--the Canaanites, the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. I would go with my people, but they are so rebellious that I would destroy them before they get there.4-5Even before the LORD said these harsh things, he had told Moses, " These people really are rebellious, and I would kill them at once, if I went with them. But tell them to take off their fancy jewelry, then I'll decide what to do with them." So the people started mourning, 6and after leaving Mount Sinai, [b] they stopped wearing fancy jewelry.
The LORD Is with His People
7Moses used to set up a tent far from camp. He called it the " meeting tent," and whoever needed some message from the LORD would go there. 8Each time Moses went out to the tent, everyone would stand at the entrance to their own tents and watch him enter. 9-11Then they would bow down because a thick cloud would come down in front of the tent, and the LORD would speak to Moses face to face, just like a friend. Afterwards, Moses would return to camp, but his young assistant Joshua [c] would stay at the tent.The LORD Promises To Be with His People
12Moses said to the LORD, " I know that you have told me to lead these people to the land you promised them. But you have not told me who my assistant will be. You have said that you are my friend and that you are pleased with me. 13If this is true, let me know what your plans are, then I can obey and continue to please you. And don't forget that you have chosen this nation to be your own." 14The LORD said, " I will go with you and give you peace."15Then Moses replied, " If you aren't going with us, please don't make us leave this place. 16But if you do go with us, everyone will know that you are pleased with your people and with me. That way, we will be different from the rest of the people on earth."
17So the LORD told him, " I will do what you have asked, because I am your friend and I am pleased with you."
18Then Moses said, " I pray that you will let me see you in all of your glory."
19The LORD answered:
All right. I am the LORD, and I show mercy and kindness to anyone I choose. I will let you see my glory and hear my holy name, 20but I won't let you see my face, because anyone who sees my face will die. 21There is a rock not far from me. Stand beside it, 22and before I pass by in all of my shining glory, I will put you in a large crack in the rock. I will cover your eyes with my hand until I have passed by. 23Then I will take my hand away, and you will see my back. You will not see my face.
Footnotes:
- Exodus 32:32 your book: The people of Israel believed that the LORD kept a record of the names of his people, and anyone whose name was removed from that book no longer belonged to the LORD.
- Exodus 33:6 Mount Sinai: The Hebrew text has " Mount Horeb," another name for Sinai.
- Exodus 33:9 Joshua: Hebrew " Joshua son of Nun."
Matthew 26:69-27:14 (Contemporary English Version)
Peter Says He Doesn't Know Jesus
(Mark 14.66-72; Luke 22.56-62; John 18.15-18,25-27)
69While Peter was sitting out in the courtyard, a servant girl came up to him and said, "You were with Jesus from Galilee." 70But in front of everyone Peter said, "That isn't so! I don't know what you are talking about!"71When Peter had gone out to the gate, another servant girl saw him and said to some people there, "This man was with Jesus from Nazareth."
72Again Peter denied it, and this time he swore, "I don't even know that man!"
73A little while later some people standing there walked over to Peter and said, "We know that you are one of them. We can tell it because you talk like someone from Galilee."
74Peter began to curse and swear, "I don't know that man!"
Right then a rooster crowed, 75and Peter remembered that Jesus had said, "Before a rooster crows, you will say three times that you don't know me." Then Peter went out and cried hard.
Matthew 27
Jesus Is Taken to Pilate
(Mark 15.1; Luke 23.1,2; John 18.28-32)
1Early the next morning all the chief priests and the nation's leaders met and decided that Jesus should be put to death. 2They tied him up and led him away to Pilate the governor.The Death of Judas
(Acts 1.18,19)
3Judas had betrayed Jesus, but when he learned that Jesus had been sentenced to death, he was sorry for what he had done. He returned the thirty silver coins to the chief priests and leaders 4and said, "I have sinned by betraying a man who has never done anything wrong." "So what? That's your problem," they replied. 5Judas threw the money into the temple and then went out and hanged himself.6The chief priests picked up the money and said, "This money was paid to have a man killed. We can't put it in the temple treasury." 7Then they had a meeting and decided to buy a field that belonged to someone who made clay pots. They wanted to use it as a graveyard for foreigners. 8That's why people still call that place "Field of Blood." 9So the words of the prophet Jeremiah came true,
"They took
the thirty silver coins,
the price of a person
among the people of Israel.
10They paid it
for a potter's field, [a] as the Lord
had commanded me."
Pilate Questions Jesus
(Mark 15.2-5; Luke 23.3-5; John 18.33-38)
11Jesus was brought before Pilate the governor, who asked him, "Are you the king of the Jews?" "Those are your words!" Jesus answered. 12And when the chief priests and leaders brought their charges against him, he did not say a thing.13Pilate asked him, "Don't you hear what crimes they say you have done?" 14But Jesus did not say anything, and the governor was greatly amazed.
Footnotes:
- Matthew 27:10 a potter's field: Perhaps a field owned by someone who made clay pots. But it may have been a field where potters came to get clay or to make pots or to throw away their broken pieces of pottery.
Psalm 33:1-11 (Contemporary English Version)
Psalm 33
Sing Praises to the LORD
1You are the LORD's people. Obey him and celebrate!He deserves your praise.
2Praise the LORD with harps!
Use harps with ten strings
to make music for him.
3Sing a new song. Shout!
Play beautiful music.
4The LORD is truthful;
he can be trusted.
5He loves justice and fairness,
and he is kind to everyone
everywhere on earth.
6The LORD made the heavens
and everything in them
by his word.
7He scooped up the ocean
and stored the water.
8Everyone in this world
should worship
and honor
the LORD!
9As soon as he spoke
the world was created;
at his command,
the earth was formed.
10The LORD destroys the plans
and spoils the schemes
of the nations.
11But what the LORD has planned
will stand forever.
His thoughts never change.
Proverbs 8:33-36 (Contemporary English Version)
33Listen carefully
to my instructions,
and you will be wise.
34Come to my home each day
and listen to me.
You will find happiness.
35By finding me, you find life,
and the LORD will be pleased
with you.
36But if you don't find me,
you hurt only yourself,
and if you hate me,
you are in love with death.
to my instructions,
and you will be wise.
34Come to my home each day
and listen to me.
You will find happiness.
35By finding me, you find life,
and the LORD will be pleased
with you.
36But if you don't find me,
you hurt only yourself,
and if you hate me,
you are in love with death.
Verse of the Day
“Love is patient, love is kind, it isn’t jealous, it doesn’t brag, it isn’t arrogant, it isn’t rude, it doesn’t seek its own advantage, it isn’t irritable, it doesn’t keep a record of complaints,” - 1 Corinthians 13: 4-5
Today's passage is from the Contemporary English Version.
Thought for the DayAmerican inventor and businessman, Thomas A. Edison wrote, “The three great essentials to achieve anything worth while are: Hard work, Stick-to-itiveness, and Common sense.”
A Joke for TodayThe stockbroker received notice from the IRS that he was being audited.
He showed up at the appointed time and place with all his financial records, then sat for what seemed like hours as the accountant pored over them.
Finally the IRS agent looked up and commented, "You must have been a tremendous fan of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle."
"Why would you say that?" wondered the broker.
"Because you've made more brilliant deductions on your last three returns than Sherlock Holmes made in his entire career."
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