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 mount, the people assembled themselves together around Aaron, and they said unto him, Up, make us gods, that shall go before us; for of this man Moses, who hath brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we know not 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 said unto them, Take out the golden earrings, which are in the ears of your wives, of your sons, and of your daughters, and bring them unto me.
3 And all the people took the gold rings from their ears and gave them to Aaron.
And all the people took out the golden earrings, which were in their ears, and brought them unto 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 took them from their hand, and fashioned it in a mould, and he made of it a molten calf; and they said, These are thy gods, O Israel, that have brought thee 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 when Aaron saw this, he built an altar before it; and Aaron called out, and said, A feast unto the Lord is tomorrow.
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 they rose up early on the morrow, and offered burnt-offerings, and brought near peace-offerings; and the people sat down to eat and to 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 unto Moses, Go, get thee down; for thy people, which thou hast brought up out of the land of Egypt, hath become corrupt:
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 turned aside quickly from the way which I have commanded them; they have made themselves a molten calf: and they have bowed themselves to it, and have sacrificed unto it, and have said, These are thy gods, O Israel, that have brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.
9 And the Lord said to Moses, I have been watching this people, and I see that they are a stiff-necked people.
And the Lord said unto Moses, I have seen this people, and, behold, it is a stiffnecked people.
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 my wrath shall wax hot against them, and I will make an end of them; and I will make of thee 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?
Thereupon Moses besought the Lord his God, and said, Why, O Lord, shall thy wrath wax hot against thy people, that thou hast brought forth out of the land of Egypt, with great power and with a mighty hand?
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.
Wherefore should the Egyptians say thus, For mischief did he bring them out, to slay them in the mountains, and to destroy them from the face of the earth? Turn from thy fierce wrath, and repent thee of the evil decreed against thy 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.
Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, thy servants, to whom thou didst swear by thy own self, and speak unto them, I will multiply your seed as the stars of heaven; and all this land that I have spoken of will I give unto your seed, and they shall inherit it for ever.
14 So the Lord let himself be turned from his purpose of sending punishment on his people.
And the Lord bethought himself of the evil which he had spoken to do unto 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 about, and went down from the mount with the two tables of the testimony in his hand: tables inscribed on both their sides; on the one side and on the other were they inscribed.
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 was the writing of God, engraved upon 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 heard the noise of the people in its shouting, and he said unto 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 he said, It is not the voice of a shout for mastery, neither is it the voice of a cry for defeat; the noise of singing 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 it came to pass, when he came nigh unto the camp, and he saw the calf, and the dancing: that the anger of Moses waxed hot, and he cast from his hands the tables, and broke them at the foot of the mount.
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 he took the calf which they had made, and burnt it in fire, and ground it to a powder, and he strewed it upon the water, and made the children of Israel drink of 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 unto Aaron, What hath this people done unto thee, that thou hast brought upon it so great a 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, Let not the anger of my Lord wax hot: thou knowest the people, that it is bent on mischief.
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.
And they said unto me, Make us gods that shall go before us; for of this man Moses, who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we know not what hath 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 unto them, Who hath any gold? They took it off themselves and gave it to me, and I cast it 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 Moses saw the people that it had become unruly; for Aaron had made it unruly for a disgrace among their opponents.
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.
Moses then placed himself in the gate of the camp, and said, Whoever is on the Lord's side, let him come unto me! and there assembled themselves unto him all the sons of Levi.
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 said unto them, Thus hath said the Eternal, the God of Israel, Put ye every man his sword by his side, and go ye hither and thither, from gate to gate in the camp, and slay ye every man his brother, and every man his companion, and every man his relative.
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 children of Levi did according to the word of Moses: and there fell of the people on that day about 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, Consecrate yourselves today to the Lord, yea even every man on his son, and on his brother; and to bestow upon you this day a blessing.
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 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 may obtain an 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 unto the Lord, and said, Oh, this people hath sinned a great sin, and they have made themselves gods of gold.
32 But now, if you will give them forgiveness — but if not, let my name be taken out of your book.
Yet now, if thou wilt forgive their sin—; but if not, blot me out, I pray thee, from thy book which thou hast 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 unto Moses, Whosoever hath sinned against me, him will I blot out from 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, lead the people unto the place of which I have spoken unto thee; behold, my angel shall go before thee; but on the day when I visit I will visit their sin upon them.
35 And the Lord sent punishment on the people because they gave worship to the ox which Aaron made.
And the Lord sent a plague among the people, because that they had made the calf which Aaron made.
