MOSES PUNISHES IDOLATERS AND PRAYS FOR THE PEOPLE

Moses punishes idolaters and prays for the people. He said to them, “Thus says the LORD God of Israel, ‘Every man strap his sword on his thigh and go back and forth from gate to gate throughout the camp, and every man kill his brother, and every man his friend, and every man his neighbor [all who continue pagan worship].'” Then the next day Moses said to the people, “You have committed a great sin. Now I will go up to the LORD; perhaps I can make atonement for your sin.”

AARON’S GOLDEN CALF OFFENDS THE LORD

Aaron’s golden calf offends the lord. The LORD said to Moses, “I have seen this people, and behold, they are a stiff-necked (stubborn, rebellious) people. Now therefore, let Me alone and do not interfere, so that My anger may burn against them and that I may destroy them; and I will make of you (your descendants) a great nation.”

THE ANOINTING OIL AND INCENSE

“Take for yourself the best spices: five hundred shekels of liquid myrrh, half as much–two hundred and fifty–of sweet-scented cinnamon, and two hundred and fifty of fragrant cane, and five hundred shekels of cinnamon blossom according to the sanctuary shekel, and a hin of olive oil. You shall make of these a holy anointing oil, a perfume mixture, the work of a perfumer; it shall be a sacred anointing