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.
When the people saw that Moses delayed coming down from the mountain, the people gathered themselves together to Aaron, and said to him, “Come, make us gods, which shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we don’t know what has become of 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.
Aaron said to them, “Take off the golden rings, which are in the ears of your wives, of your sons, and of your 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.
All the people took off the golden rings which were in their ears, 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 received what they handed him, fashioned it with an engraving tool, and made it a molded calf. Then they said, “These are your gods, Israel, which 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 it; and Aaron made a proclamation, and said, “Tomorrow shall be a feast to Yahweh.”
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.
They rose up early on the next day, and offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings; and the people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to play.
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;
Yahweh spoke to Moses, “Go, get down; 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,
They have turned away quickly out of the way which I commanded them. They have made themselves a molded calf, and have worshiped it, and have sacrificed to it, and said, ‘These are your gods, Israel, which 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.
Yahweh said to Moses, “I have seen these people, and behold, they are 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 therefore leave me alone, that my wrath may burn hot against them, and that I may consume them; and I will make of you 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?
Moses begged Yahweh his God, and said, “Yahweh, why does your wrath burn hot against your people, that you have brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and with 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 talk, saying, ‘He brought them out for evil, to kill them in the mountains, and to consume them from the surface of the earth’? Turn from your fierce wrath, and turn away from this evil against 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 Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your servants, to whom you swore by your own self, and said to them, ‘I will multiply your offspring as the stars of the sky, and all this land that I have spoken of I will give to your offspring, and they shall inherit it forever.’”
14 And the Lord was prevailed upon to preserve his people.
So Yahweh turned away from the evil which he said he would do to 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.
Moses turned, and went down from the mountain, with the two tablets of the covenant in his hand; tablets that were written on both their sides. They were written on one side and on the other.
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 noise of the people as they shouted, he said to Moses, “There is the noise of war 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.
He said, “It isn’t the voice of those who shout for victory. It is not the voice of those who cry for being overcome; but the noise of those who sing that I hear.”
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 soon as he came near to the camp, he saw the calf and the dancing. Then Moses’ anger grew hot, and he threw the tablets out of his hands, and broke them beneath 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.
He took the calf which they had made, and burned it with fire, ground it to powder, and scattered it on the water, and made the children of Israel drink it.
21 And Moses said to Aaron, What has this people done to you, that you have brought upon them a great sin?
Moses said to Aaron, “What did these people do to you, that you have brought a great sin on them?”
22 And Aaron said to Moses, Be not angry, [my] lord, for you know the impetuosity of this people.
Aaron said, “Don’t let the anger of my lord grow hot. You know the people, that they are set 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.
For they said to me, ‘Make us gods, which shall go before us. As for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we don’t know what has become of 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.
I said to them, ‘Whoever has any gold, let them take it off.’ So they gave it to me; and I threw it into the fire, and 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, —
When Moses saw that the people were out of control, (for Aaron had let them lose control, causing derision among 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.
then Moses stood in the gate of the camp, and said, “Whoever is on Yahweh’s side, come to me!” All the sons of Levi gathered themselves together to 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 neighbor, and every one him that is nearest to him.
He said to them, “Yahweh, the God of Israel, says, ‘Every man put his sword on his thigh, and go back and forth from gate to gate throughout the camp, and every man kill his brother, and every man his companion, and every man 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 sons of Levi did according to the word of Moses. About three thousand men fell of the people that day.
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.
Moses said, “Consecrate yourselves today to Yahweh, for every man was against his son and against his brother, that he may give you a blessing today.”
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.
On the next day, Moses said to the people, “You have sinned a great sin. Now I will go up to Yahweh. Perhaps I shall 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.
Moses returned to Yahweh, and said, “Oh, this people have sinned a great sin, and have made themselves gods of gold.
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 will, forgive their sin—and if not, please blot me out of your book which 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.
Yahweh said to Moses, “Whoever has sinned against me, I will blot him 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 of which I have spoken to you. Behold, my angel shall go before you. Nevertheless, in the day when I punish, I will punish them for their sin.”
35 And the Lord struck the people for the making the calf, which Aaron made.
Yahweh struck the people, because of what they did with the calf, which Aaron made.
