Targum Pseudo-Jonathan on Exodus Reader

And the Lord said to Mosheh, Take to thee spices, balsam, and onycha, and galbanum, choice spices, and pure frankincense, weight for weight shall it be.

And beat, and make it small, and of it some shalt thou put before the testimony in the tabernacle of ordinance, where I will appoint My Word to be with thee. Most sacred shall it be to you.

And, behold, I have appointed with him Ahaliab bar Achisamah, of the tribe of Dan; and in the heart of every one wise hearted I have added the Spirit of wisdom, that they may perform all whatever I have commanded thee.

Also, speak thou with the sons of Israel, saying, Ye shall keep the day of My Sabbaths indeed; for it is a sign between My Word and you, that you may know that I am the Lord who sanctify you.

Ye shall keep the Sabbath, because it is holy to you; whosoever profaneth it, dying he shall die; whoso doeth work therein, that man shall be destroyed from his people.

Six days ye shall do work; but the seventh day is Sabbath, the holy Sabbath before the Lord. Whoso doeth work upon the Sabbath, dying he shall die, by the casting of stones.

The sons of Israel shall therefore keep the Sabbath, to perform the delightful exercises of the Sabbath; (it is) for your generations an everlasting statute;

between My Word and the sons of Israel it is a sign for ever. For in six days the Lord created and perfected the heavens and the earth; and in the seventh day He rested and refreshed.

And He gave to Mosheh, when He had finished to speak with him in Mount Sinai, the two tablets of the testimony, tablets of sapphire-stone from the throne of glory, weighing forty sein, inscribed by the finger of the Lord.

And their wives denied themselves to give their ornaments to their husbands; and all the people at once delivered up the golden rings which were in their ears, and brought them to Aharon.

And he took them from their hands, and bound them in a wrapper, and wrought it with a tool, having made a molten calf; and he said, These, Israel, are thy gods, which brought thee forth from the land of Mizraim.

For Aharon had seen Hur slain before him, and was afraid; and he builded an altar before him, and Aharon cried with doleful voice, and said, Let there be a feast before the Lord tomorrow, of the sacrifice of the slain of these adversaries who have denied their Lord, and have changed the glory of the Shekinah of the Lord for this calf.

And on the day following, they arose, and sacrificed burnt-offerings; and the people sat around to eat and to drink, and rose up to disport themselves with strange service.

And the Lord said to Mosheh, Descend from the greatness of thine honour; for I have not given thee greatness except on account of Israel. But now thy people, whom thou didst bring up from the land of Mizraim, have corrupted their works;

quickly have they declined from the way which I taught them in Sinai, (that) ye shall not make yourselves image, or figure, or any similitude; for now have they made to them a molten calf, and have worshipped it, and sacrificed to it, and proclaimed before it, These are thy gods, Israel, which brought thee up from the land of Mizraim.

And now, cease from thy prayer, and cry not for them before Me; for I will let My anger burn like strong fire against them, and consume them, and I will make thee a great people.

And Mosheh was shaken with fear, and began to pray before the Lord his God; and he said, Wherefore should Thy wrath, O Lord, prevail against Thy people whom Thou didst bring up from the land of Mizraim, with great power and with a mighty hand.

Why should the Mizraee who are remaining say, It was for evil that He led them out, to kill them among the mountains of Tabor and Hermon, and Sirion and Sinai, and to destroy them from the face of the earth? Turn from Thy strong anger, and let there be relenting before Thee over the evil that Thou hast threatened to do unto Thy people.

Remember Abraham, and Izhak, and Israel, Thy servants, to whom Thou didst swear in Thy Word and didst say to them, I will multiply your children as the stars of the heavens, and all this land of which I have told you will I give to your sons, and they shall inherit for ever.

But he said, It is not the voice of the strong, who are victorious in battle, nor the voice of the weak, who are overcome by their adversaries in the fight; but the voice of them who serve with strange service, and who make merriment before it, that I hear.

And it was when Mosheh came near the camp, and saw the calf, and the instruments of music in the hands of the wicked, who were dancing and bowing before it, and Satana among them dancing and leaping before the people, the wrath of Mosheh was suddenly kindled, and he cast the tables from his hands, and brake them at the foot of the mountain;- the holy writing that was on them, however, flew, and was carried away into the air of the heavens;- and he cried, and said, Woe upon the people who heard at Sinai from the mouth of the Holy One, Thou shalt not make to thyself an image, or figure, or any likeness,- and yet, at the end of forty days, make a useless molten calf!

And he took the calf which they had made, and burned it in fire, and bruised it into powder, and cast (it) upon the face of the water of the stream, and made the sons of Israel drink; and whoever had given thereto any trinket of gold, the sign of it came forth upon his nostrils.

And Aharon said, Let not my lord's anger be strong: thou knowest the people, that they are the children of the Just; but evil concupiscence hath made them to err:

and they said to me, Make us gods that may go before us; for this Mosheh, the man who brought us up from the land of Mizraim, is consumed in the mountain, by the flaming fire from before the Lord, and we know not what hath been done to him in his end.

And I said to them, Whoever hath gold, let him deliver and give it to me; and I cast it into the fire, and Satana entered into it, and there came out of it the similitude of this calf!

And Mosheh saw that the people were naked; for they had been stripped by the hand of Aharon of the holy crown which was upon their head, inscribed and beautified with the great and glorious Name; and that their evil report would go forth among the nations of the earth, and they would get to them an evil name unto their generations.

And Mosheh stood in the sanhedrin gate of the camp, and said, Who feareth the Lord, let him come to me. And there gathered to him all the sons of Levi.

And he said to them, Thus hath said the Lord, the God of Israel, Whosoever hath sacrificed to the idols of the Gentiles, let him be slain with the sword. And now, go, pass through from the gate of the sanhedrin to the gate of the house of judgment, in the camp, and with prayer before the Lord that He will forgive you this sin, take vengeance upon the wicked workers of strange worship and slay, even a man his brother, and a man his companion, and a man his neighbour.

And the sons of Levi did according to the word of Mosheh; and of the people who had the mark in their nostrils there fell that day by the slaughter of the sword about the number of three thousand men.

And Mosheh said, Offer your oblation for the shedding of the blood that is upon your hands, and make atonement for yourselves before the Lord, because you have smitten a man his son or his brother, and that you may bring a blessing upon you this day.

And it came to pass on the day following, that Mosheh said to the people, You have sinned a great sin; but now I will go up and will pray before the Lord, if haply I may obtain forgiveness of your sin.

And Mosheh returned, and prayed before the Lord, and said, I supplicate of Thee, Thou Lord of all the world, before whom the darkness is as the light! Now have this people sinned a great sin, and have made to them gods of gold;

but now, if Thou wilt forgive their sin, forgive; but if not, blot me, I pray, from the book of the just, in the midst of which Thou hast written my name.

But now, go lead the people to the place of which I have told thee; behold, My angel shall proceed before thee; but in the day of My visitation I will visit upon them their sin.

to the land producing milk and honey. For the Shekinah of My Glory cannot go up among you, nor My Majesty dwell in the habitation of their camp, because thou art a hard-necked people, lest I destroy you in the way.

And the people heard this evil word, and mourned; and no man put on his accustomed ornaments, which had been given them at Mount Sinai, and on which was inscribed and set forth the great and holy Name.

And the Lord said to Mosheh, Speak to the sons of Israel, Ye are a hard-necked people: were the glory of My Shekinah to go up with you, in one little hour I should destroy you. And now put thy accustomed ornaments from thee, that it may be manifest before Me what I may do to thee.

And the sons of Israel were deprived of their usual adornments, on which was written and set forth the great Name; and which had been given them, a gift from Mount Horeb. And Mosheh took and hid them in his tabernacle of instruction.

But the tabernacle he took away from thence, and spread it without the camp, and removed it from the camp of the people to the distance of two thousand cubits; and it was called the Tabernacle of the House of Instruction: and it was that when any one turned by repentance with a true heart before the Lord, he went forth to the Tabernacle of the House of Instruction that was without the camp, to confess and pray for the pardon of his sins; and praying he was forgiven.

And it was when Mosheh passed forth from the camp to go to the tabernacle that all the wicked people arose, and stood, every man at the door of his tent, and looked with the evil eye after Mosheh, when he entered the tabernacle.