Exodus 32
1 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.
And when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain, the people combined against Aaron, and said to him, Arise and make us gods who shall go before us; for this Moses, the man who brought us forth out of the land of Egypt—we do not know what is become of him.
2 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.
And Aaron says to them, Take off the golden ear-rings which are in the ears of your wives and daughters, and bring them to me.
3 And all the people took the gold rings from their ears and gave them to Aaron.
And all the people took off the golden ear-rings that were in their ears, and brought them to Aaron.
4 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.
And he received them at their hands, and formed them with a graving tool; and he made them a molten calf, and said, These [are] your gods, O Israel, which have brought you up out of the land of Egypt.
5 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.
And Aaron having seen it built an altar before it, and Aaron made proclamation saying, To-morrow [is] a feast of the Lord.
6 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.
And having risen early on the morrow, he offered whole burnt offerings, and offered a peace-offering; and the people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play.
7 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;
And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, Go quickly, descend hence, for your people whom you brought out of the land of Egypt have transgressed;
8 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.
they have quickly gone out of the way which you commanded; they have made for themselves a calf, and worshipped it, and sacrificed to it, and said,
9 And the Lord said to Moses, I have been watching this people, and I see that they are a stiff-necked people.
These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.
10 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.
And now let me alone, and I will be very angry with them and consume them, and I will make you a great nation.
11 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?
And Moses prayed before the Lord God, and said, Therefore, O Lord, are you very angry with your people, whom you brought out of the land of Egypt with great strength, and with your high arm?
12 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.
[Take heed] lest at any time the Egyptians speak, saying, With evil intent he brought them out to kill them in the mountains, and to consume them from off the earth; cease from your wrathful anger, and be merciful to the sin of your people,
13 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.
remembering Abraam and Isaac and Jacob your servants, to whom you have sworn by yourself, and have spoken to them, saying, I will greatly multiply your seed as the stars of heaven for multitude, and all this land which you spoke of to give to them, so that they shall possess it for ever.
14 So the Lord let himself be turned from his purpose of sending punishment on his people.
And the Lord was prevailed upon to preserve his people.
15 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.
And Moses turned and went down from the mountain, and the two tables of testimony were in his hands, tables of stone written on both their sides: they were written within and without.
16 The stones were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, cut on the stones.
And the tables were the work of God, and the writing the writing of God written on the tables.
17 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.
And Joshua having heard the voice of the people crying, says to Moses, There is a noise of war in the camp.
18 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.
And [Moses] says, It is not the voice of them that begin the battle, nor the voice of them that begin [the cry] of defeat, but the voice of them that begin [the banquet] of wine do I hear.
19 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.
And when he drew near to the camp, he sees the calf and the dances; and Moses being very angry cast the two tables out of his hands, and broke them to pieces under the mountain.
20 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.
And having taken the calf which they made, he consumed it with fire, and ground it very small, and scattered it on the water, and made the children of Israel to drink it.
21 And Moses said to Aaron, What did the people do to you that you let this great sin come on them?
And Moses said to Aaron, What has this people done to you, that you have brought upon them a great sin?
22 And Aaron said, Let not my lord be angry; you have seen how the purposes of this people are evil.
And Aaron said to Moses, Be not angry, [my] lord, for you know the impetuosity of this people.
23 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.
For they say to me, Make us gods, which shall go before us; for as for this man Moses, who brought us out of Egypt, we do not know what is become of him.
24 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.
And I said to them, If any one has golden ornaments, take them off; and they gave them me, and I cast them into the fire, and there came out this calf.
25 And Moses saw that the people were out of control, for Aaron had let them loose to their shame before their haters:
And when Moses saw that the people was scattered, —for Aaron [had] scattered them [so as to be] a rejoicing to their enemies, —
26 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.
then stood Moses at the gate of the camp, and said, Who is on the Lord's side? let him come to me. Then all the sons of Levi came to him.
27 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.
And he says to them, Thus says the Lord God of Israel, Put every one his sword on his thigh, and go through and return from gate to gate through the camp, and kill every one his brother, and every one his neighbor, and every one him that is nearest to him.
28 And the sons of Levi did as Moses said; and about three thousand of the people were put to death that day.
And the sons of Levi did as Moses spoke to them, and there fell of the people in that day to the [number of] three thousand men.
29 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.
And Moses said to them, You have filled your hands this day to the Lord each one on his son or on his brother, so that blessing should be given to you.
30 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.
And it came to pass after the morrow [had begun], that Moses said to the people, You have sinned a great sin; and now I will go up to God, that I may make atonement for your sin.
31 Then Moses went back to the Lord and said, This people has done a great sin, making themselves a god of gold;
And Moses returned to the Lord and said, I pray, O Lord, this people has sinned a great sin, and they have made for themselves golden gods.
32 But now, if you will give them forgiveness — but if not, let my name be taken out of your book.
And now if you will forgive their sin, forgive [it]; and if not, blot me out of your book, which you have written.
33 And the Lord said to Moses, Whoever has done evil against me will be taken out of my book.
And the Lord said to Moses, If any one has sinned against me, I will blot them out of my book.
34 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.
And now go, descend, and lead this people into the place of which I spoke to you: behold, my angel shall go before your face; and in the day when I shall visit I will bring upon them their sin.
35 And the Lord sent punishment on the people because they gave worship to the ox which Aaron made.
And the Lord struck the people for the making the calf, which Aaron made.
