39. “But our ancestors refused to listen to Moses. They rejected him and wanted to return to Egypt.
40. They told Aaron, ‘Make us some gods who can lead us, for we don’t know what has become of this Moses, who brought us out of Egypt.’
41. So they made an idol shaped like a calf, and they sacrificed to it and celebrated over this thing they had made.
42. Then God turned away from them and abandoned them to serve the stars of heaven as their gods! In the book of the prophets it is written,‘Was it to me you were bringing sacrifices and offeringsduring those forty years in the wilderness, Israel?
43. No, you carried your pagan gods—the shrine of Molech,the star of your god Rephan,and the images you made to worship them.So I will send you into exileas far away as Babylon.’
44. “Our ancestors carried the Tabernacle with them through the wilderness. It was constructed according to the plan God had shown to Moses.
45. Years later, when Joshua led our ancestors in battle against the nations that God drove out of this land, the Tabernacle was taken with them into their new territory. And it stayed there until the time of King David.
46. “David found favor with God and asked for the privilege of building a permanent Temple for the God of Jacob.
47. But it was Solomon who actually built it.