And 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 unto the Lord;
peradventure I shall make atonement for your sin."
And Moses returned unto the Lord, and said, "Oh, this people have sinned
a great sin, and have made them gods of gold. Yet now, if thou wilt
forgive their sin--; and if not, blot me, I pray thee, out of thy book
which thou hast written."
And the Lord said unto Moses, "Whosoever hath sinned against me, him
will I blot out of my book. And now go, lead the people unto the place
of which I have spoken unto thee: behold, mine angel shall go before
thee: nevertheless in the day when I visit, I will visit their sin upon
them."
And the Lord smote the people, because they made the calf, which Aaron
made.
[The people were forgiven, but again and again they rebelled. Moses
prayed for them, but the Lord said they must wander in the wilderness
forty years. At last Moses led them to the plains of Moab and to the
river Jordan, where he made his farewell speech.]
=Sec.42. The Last Days of Moses= (Deut. 31:1-3, 6-8; 34)