Exodus 32
1 And when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mount, the people gathered themselves together to Aaron, and said to him, Up, make gods for us, which shall go before us. For as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we know not what has become of him.
And when the people saw that Moses was a long time coming down from the mountain, they all came to Aaron and said to him, Come, make us a god to go before us: as for this Moses, who took us up out of the land of Egypt, we have no idea what has become of him.
2 And Aaron said to them, Break off the golden rings, which are in the ears of your wives, of your sons, and of your daughters, and bring them to me.
Then Aaron said to them, Take off the gold rings which are in the ears of your wives and your sons and your daughters, and give them to me.
3 And all the people broke off the golden rings which were in their ears, and brought them to Aaron.
And all the people took the gold rings from their ears and gave them to Aaron.
4 And he received it at their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool, and made it a molten calf. And they said, These are thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.
And he took the gold from them and, hammering it with an instrument, he made it into the metal image of a young ox: and they said, This is your god, O Israel, who took you out of the land of Egypt.
5 And when Aaron saw this, he built an altar before it. And Aaron made proclamation, and said, Tomorrow shall be a feast to Jehovah.
And when Aaron saw this, he made an altar before it, and made a public statement, saying, Tomorrow there will be a feast to the Lord.
6 And they rose up early on the morrow, and offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings. And the people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to revel.
So early on the day after they got up and made burned offerings and peace-offerings; and took their seats at the feast, and then gave themselves to pleasure.
7 And Jehovah spoke to Moses, Go, get thee down. For thy people, that thou brought up out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves.
And the Lord said to Moses, Go down quickly; for your people, whom you took out of the land of Egypt, are turned to evil ways;
8 They have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them. They have made for them a molten calf, and have worshiped it, and have sacrificed to it, and said, These are thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.
Even now they are turned away from the rule I gave them, and have made themselves a metal ox and given worship to it and offerings, saying, This is your god, O Israel, who took you up out of the land of Egypt.
9 And Jehovah said to Moses, I have seen this people, and, behold, it is a stiff-necked people.
And the Lord said to Moses, I have been watching this people, and I see that they are a stiff-necked people.
10 Now therefore let me alone, that my wrath may grow hot against them, and that I may consume them. And I will make of thee a great nation.
Now do not get in my way, for my wrath is burning against them; I will send destruction on them, but of you I will make a great nation.
11 And Moses besought Jehovah his God, and said, Jehovah, why does thy wrath grow hot against thy people, whom thou have brought forth out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand?
But Moses made prayer to God, saying, Lord, why is your wrath burning against your people whom you took out of the land of Egypt, with great power and with the strength of your hand?
12 Why should the Egyptians speak, saying, He brought them forth for evil, to kill them on the mountains, and to consume them from the face of the earth? Turn from thy fierce wrath, and relent of this evil against thy people.
Why let the Egyptians say, He took them out to an evil fate, to put them to death on the mountains, cutting them off from the earth? Let your wrath be turned away from them, and send not this evil on your people.
13 Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, thy servants, to whom thou swore by thine own self, and said to them, I will multiply your seed as the stars of heaven. And all this land that I have spoken of I will give to your seed, and they shall inherit it forever.
Have in mind Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your servants, to whom you gave your oath, saying, I will make your seed like the stars of heaven in number, and all this land will I give to your seed, as I said, to be their heritage for ever.
14 And Jehovah relented of the evil which he said he would do to his people.
So the Lord let himself be turned from his purpose of sending punishment on his people.
15 And Moses turned, and went down from the mount, with the two tablets of the testimony in his hand, tablets that were written on both their sides; on the one side and on the other were they written.
Then Moses came down the mountain with the two stones of the law in his hand; the stones had writing on their two sides, on the front and on the back.
16 And the tablets were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, engraved upon the tablets.
The stones were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, cut on the stones.
17 And when Joshua heard the noise of the people as they shouted, he said to Moses, There is a noise of war in the camp.
Now when the noise and the voices of the people came to the ears of Joshua, he said to Moses, There is a noise of war in the tents.
18 And he said, It is not the voice of those who shout for mastery, neither is it the voice of those who cry for being overcome, but the noise of those who sing do I hear.
And Moses said, It is not the voice of men who are overcoming in the fight, or the cry of those who have been overcome; it is the sound of songs which comes to my ear.
19 And it came to pass, as soon as he came near to the camp, that he saw the calf and the dancing. And Moses' anger grew hot, and he cast the tablets out of his hands, and broke them beneath the mount.
And when he came near the tents he saw the image of the ox, and the people dancing; and in his wrath Moses let the stones go from his hands, and they were broken at the foot of the mountain.
20 And he took the calf which they had made, and burnt it with fire, and ground it to powder, and scattered it upon the water, and made the sons of Israel drink of it.
And he took the ox which they had made, burning it in the fire and crushing it to powder, and he put it in the water and made the children of Israel take a drink of it.
21 And Moses said to Aaron, What did this people do to thee, that thou have brought a great sin upon them?
And Moses said to Aaron, What did the people do to you that you let this great sin come on them?
22 And Aaron said, Let not the anger of my lord grow hot. Thou know the people, that they are set on evil.
And Aaron said, Let not my lord be angry; you have seen how the purposes of this people are evil.
23 For they said to me, Make gods for us, which shall go before us. For as for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we know not what has become of him.
For they said to me, Make us a god to go before us: as for this Moses, who took us up out of the land of Egypt, we have no idea what has come to him.
24 And I said to them, Whoever has any gold, let them break it off. So they gave it to me, and I cast it into the fire, and there came out this calf.
Then I said to them, Whoever has any gold, let him take it off; so they gave it to me, and I put it in the fire, and this image of an ox came out.
25 And when Moses saw that the people were broken loose, (for Aaron had let them loose for a derision among their enemies, )
And Moses saw that the people were out of control, for Aaron had let them loose to their shame before their haters:
26 then Moses stood in the gate of the camp, and said, Whoever is on Jehovah's side, come to me. And all the sons of Levi gathered themselves together to him.
Then Moses took his place at the way into the tents, and said, Whoever is on the Lord's side, let him come to me. And all the sons of Levi came together to him.
27 And he said to them, Thus says Jehovah, the God of Israel, Put ye every man his sword upon his thigh, and go to and fro from gate to gate throughout the camp, and slay every man his brother, and every man his companion, and every man his neighbor.
And he said to them, This is the word of the Lord, the God of Israel: Let every man take his sword at his side, and go from one end of the tents to the other, putting to death his brother and his friend and his neighbour.
28 And the sons of Levi did according to the word of Moses. And there fell of the people that day about three thousand men.
And the sons of Levi did as Moses said; and about three thousand of the people were put to death that day.
29 And Moses said, Consecrate yourselves today to Jehovah, yea, every man against his son, and against his brother, that he may bestow upon you a blessing this day.
And Moses said, You have made yourselves priests to the Lord this day; for every one of you has made the offering of his son and his brother; the blessing of the Lord is on you this day.
30 And it came to pass on the morrow, that Moses said to the people, Ye have sinned a great sin. And now I will go up to Jehovah, perhaps I shall make atonement for your sin.
And on the day after, Moses said to the people, Great has been your sin: but I will go up to the Lord, and see if I may get forgiveness for your sin.
31 And Moses returned to Jehovah, and said, Oh, this people have sinned a great sin, and have made gods of gold for them.
Then Moses went back to the Lord and said, This people has done a great sin, making themselves a god of gold;
32 Yet now, if thou will forgive their sin-, and if not, blot me, I pray thee, out of thy book which thou have written.
But now, if you will give them forgiveness — but if not, let my name be taken out of your book.
33 And Jehovah said to Moses, Whoever has sinned against me, him will I blot out of my book.
And the Lord said to Moses, Whoever has done evil against me will be taken out of my book.
34 And now go, lead the people to the place of which I have spoken to thee. Behold, my agent shall go before thee. Nevertheless in the day when I visit, I will visit their sin upon them.
But now, go, take the people into that place of which I have given you word; see, my angel will go before you: but when the time of my judging has come, I will send punishment on them for their sin.
35 And Jehovah smote the people, because they made the calf, which Aaron made.
And the Lord sent punishment on the people because they gave worship to the ox which Aaron made.
