Exodus 32
1 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.
Now when the people saw that Moses was delayed in coming down from the mountain, they gathered around Aaron and said, “Come, make us gods who will go before us. As for this Moses who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has happened to him!”
2 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.
So Aaron told them, “Take off the gold earrings that are on your wives and sons and daughters, and bring them to me.”
3 And all the people took off the golden ear-rings that were in their ears, and brought them to Aaron.
Then all the people took off their gold earrings and brought them to Aaron.
4 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.
He took the gold from their hands, and with an engraving tool he fashioned it into a molten calf. And they said, “These, O Israel, are your gods, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!”
5 And Aaron having seen it built an altar before it, and Aaron made proclamation saying, To-morrow [is] a feast of the Lord.
When Aaron saw this, he built an altar before the calf and proclaimed: “Tomorrow shall be a feast to the LORD.”
6 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.
So the next day they arose, offered burnt offerings, and presented peace offerings. And the people sat down to eat and drink, and got up to indulge in revelry.
7 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;
Then the LORD said to Moses, “Go down at once, for your people, whom you brought up out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves.
8 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,
How quickly they have turned aside from the way that I commanded them! They have made for themselves a molten calf and have bowed down to it. They have sacrificed to it and said, ‘These, O Israel, are your gods, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.’”
9 These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.
The LORD also said to Moses, “I have seen this people, and they are indeed a stiff-necked people.
10 And now let me alone, and I will be very angry with them and consume them, and I will make you a great nation.
Now leave Me alone, so that My anger may burn against them and consume them. Then I will make you into a great nation.”
11 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?
But Moses sought the favor of the LORD his God, saying, “O LORD, why does Your anger burn against Your people, whom You brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and a mighty hand?
12 [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,
Why should the Egyptians declare, ‘He brought them out with evil intent, to kill them in the mountains and wipe them from the face of the earth’? Turn from Your fierce anger and relent from doing harm to Your people.
13 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.
Remember Your servants Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, to whom You swore by Your very self when You declared, ‘I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky, and I will give your descendants all this land that I have promised, and it shall be their inheritance forever.’”
14 And the Lord was prevailed upon to preserve his people.
So the LORD relented from the calamity He had threatened to bring on His people.
15 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.
Then Moses turned and went down the mountain with the two tablets of the Testimony in his hands. They were inscribed on both sides, front and back.
16 And the tables were the work of God, and the writing the writing of God written on the tables.
The tablets were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, engraved on the tablets.
17 And Joshua having heard the voice of the people crying, says to Moses, There is a noise of war in the camp.
When Joshua heard the sound of the people shouting, he said to Moses, “The sound of war is in the camp.”
18 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.
But Moses replied: “It is neither the cry of victory nor the cry of defeat; I hear the sound of singing!”
19 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.
As Moses approached the camp and saw the calf and the dancing, he burned with anger and threw the tablets out of his hands, shattering them at the base of the mountain.
20 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.
Then he took the calf they had made, burned it in the fire, ground it to powder, and scattered the powder over the face of the water. Then he forced the Israelites to drink it.
21 And Moses said to Aaron, What has this people done to you, that you have brought upon them a great sin?
“What did this people do to you,” Moses asked Aaron, “that you have led them into so great a sin?”
22 And Aaron said to Moses, Be not angry, [my] lord, for you know the impetuosity of this people.
“Do not be enraged, my lord,” Aaron replied. “You yourself know that the people are intent on evil.
23 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.
They told me, ‘Make us gods who will go before us. As for this Moses who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has happened to him!’
24 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.
So I said to them, ‘Whoever has gold, let him take it off,’ and they gave it to me. And when I threw it into the fire, out came this calf!”
25 And when Moses saw that the people was scattered, —for Aaron [had] scattered them [so as to be] a rejoicing to their enemies, —
Moses saw that the people were out of control, for Aaron had let them run wild and become a laughingstock to their enemies.
26 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.
So Moses stood at the entrance to the camp and said, “Whoever is for the LORD, come to me.” And all the Levites gathered around him.
27 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 neighbour, and every one him that is nearest to him.
He told them, “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘Each of you men is to fasten his sword to his side, go back and forth through the camp from gate to gate, and slay his brother, his friend, and his neighbor.’”
28 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.
The Levites did as Moses commanded, and that day about three thousand of the people fell dead.
29 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.
Afterward, Moses said, “Today you have been ordained for service to the LORD, since each man went against his son and his brother; so the LORD has bestowed a blessing on you this day.”
30 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.
The next day Moses said to the people, “You have committed a great sin. Now I will go up to the LORD; perhaps I can make atonement for your sin.”
31 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.
So Moses returned to the LORD and said, “Oh, what a great sin these people have committed! They have made gods of gold for themselves.
32 And now if you will forgive their sin, forgive [it]; and if not, blot me out of your book, which you have written.
Yet now, if You would only forgive their sin.... But if not, please blot me out of the book that You have written.”
33 And the Lord said to Moses, If any one has sinned against me, I will blot them out of my book.
The LORD replied to Moses, “Whoever has sinned against Me, I will blot out of My book.
34 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.
Now go, lead the people to the place I described. Behold, My angel shall go before you. But on the day I settle accounts, I will punish them for their sin.”
35 And the Lord struck the people for the making the calf, which Aaron made.
And the LORD sent a plague on the people because of what they had done with the calf that Aaron had made.
