Exodus 32
1 And the people see that Moses is delaying to come down from the mountain, and the people assemble against Aaron, and say to him, “Rise, make gods for us, who go before us, for this Moses—the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt—we have not known what has happened to him.”
Then the people, seeing that Moses made a delay in descending from the mountain, gathered together against Aaron, and said: “Rise up, make us gods, who may go before us. But as for this man Moses, who led us away from the land of Egypt, we do not know what has befallen him.”
2 And Aaron says to them, “Break off the rings of gold which [are] in the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring [them] to me”;
And Aaron said to them, “Take the golden earrings from the ears of your wives, and your sons and daughters, and bring them to me.”
3 and all the people break off the rings of gold which [are] in their ears, and bring [them] to Aaron,
And the people did what he had commanded, carrying the earrings to Aaron.
4 and he receives [it] from their hand, and fashions it with an engraving tool, and makes it [into] a molten calf, and they say, “These [are] your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!”
And when he had received them, he formed these by the work of a casting furnace, and he made from these a molten calf. And they said: “These are your gods, O Israel, who led you away from the land of Egypt.”
5 And Aaron sees, and builds an altar before it, and Aaron calls, and says, “A festival to YHWH—tomorrow”;
And when Aaron had seen it, he built an altar before it, and he cried out with a voice of proclamation, saying, “Tomorrow is the solemnity of the Lord.”
6 and they rise early on the next day, and cause burnt-offerings to ascend, and bring peace-offerings near; and the people sit down to eat and to drink, and rise up to play.
And rising up in the morning, they offered holocausts, and peace victims, and the people sat down to eat and to drink, and they rose up to play.
7 And YHWH says to Moses, “Go, descend, for your people whom you have brought up out of the land of Egypt have done corruptly,
Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: “Go, descend. Your people, whom you led away from the land of Egypt, have sinned.
8 they have quickly turned aside from the way that I have commanded them; they have made a molten calf for themselves, and bow themselves to it, and sacrifice to it, and say, These [are] your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!”
They have quickly withdrawn from the way which you revealed to them. And they have made for themselves a molten calf, and they have worshiped it. And immolating victims to it, they have said: ‘These are your gods, O Israel, who led you away from the land of Egypt.’”
9 And YHWH says to Moses, “I have seen this people, and behold, it [is] a stiff-necked people;
And again, the Lord said to Moses: “I discern that this people is stiff-necked.
10 and now, leave Me alone, and My anger burns against them, and I consume them, and I make you become a great nation.”
Release me, so that my fury may be enraged against them, and I may destroy them, and then I will make of you a great nation.”
11 And Moses appeases the face of his God YHWH and says, “Why, O YHWH, does Your anger burn against Your people, whom You have brought forth out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a strong hand?
Then Moses prayed to the Lord his God, saying: “Why, O Lord, is your fury enraged against your people, whom you led away from the land of Egypt, with great strength and with a mighty hand?
12 Why do the Egyptians speak, saying, He brought them out in calamity to slay them among mountains, and to consume them from off the face of the ground? Turn back from the heat of Your anger, and relent from this calamity against Your people.
I beg you, let not the Egyptians say, ‘He cleverly led them away, so that he could put them to death in the mountains and destroy them from the earth.’ Let your anger be quieted and appeased concerning the wickedness of your people.
13 Be mindful of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Israel, Your servants, to whom You have sworn by Yourself, and to whom You speak: I multiply your seed as stars of the heavens, and all this land, as I have said, I give to your seed, and they have inherited [it] for all time”;
Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your servants, to whom you swore by your very self, saying: ‘I will multiply your offspring like the stars of heaven. And this entire land, about which I have spoken, I will give to your offspring. And you shall possess it forever.’”
14 and YHWH relents from the evil which He has spoken of doing to His people.
And the Lord was appeased from doing the evil which he had spoken against his people.
15 And Moses turns, and goes down from the mountain, and the two tablets of the Testimony [are] in his hand, tablets written on both their sides; they [are] written on this [side] and on that [side];
And Moses returned from the mountain, carrying the two tablets of the testimony in his hand, written on both sides,
16 and the tablets are the work of God, and the writing is the writing of God, engraved on the tablets.
and accomplished by the work of God. Also, the writing of God was engraved on the tablets.
17 And Joshua hears the voice of the people in their shouting and says to Moses, “A noise of battle in the camp!”
Then Joshua, hearing the tumult of the people shouting, said to Moses: “The outcry of battle is heard in the camp.”
18 And he says, “It is not the voice of the crying of might, nor is it the voice of the crying of weakness—I am hearing a voice of singing.”
But he responded: “It is not the clamor of men being exhorted to battle, nor the shout of men being compelled to flee. But I hear the voice of singing.”
19 And it comes to pass, when he has drawn near to the camp, that he sees the calf, and the dancing, and the anger of Moses burns, and he casts the tablets out of his hands, and breaks them below the mountain;
And when he had approached to the camp, he saw the calf and the dances. And being very angry, he threw down the tablets from his hand, and he broke them at the base of the mountain.
20 and he takes the calf which they have made, and burns [it] with fire, and grinds [it] until [it is] small, and scatters [it] on the face of the waters, and causes the sons of Israel to drink.
And seizing the calf, which they had made, he burnt it and crushed it, even to dust, which he scattered into water. And he gave from it to the sons of Israel to drink.
21 And Moses says to Aaron, “What has this people done to you, that you have brought in a great sin on it?”
And he said to Aaron, “What has this people done to you, so that you would bring upon them the greatest sin?”
22 And Aaron says, “Do not let the anger of my lord burn; you have known the people, that it [is beset] with evil;
And he answered him: “Let not my lord be indignant. For you know this people, that they are prone to evil.
23 and they say to me, Make gods for us, who go before us, for this Moses—the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt—we have not known what has happened to him;
They said to me: ‘Make gods for us, who may go before us. For this Moses, who led us away from the land of Egypt, we do not know what has befallen him.’
24 and I say to them, Whoever has gold, let them break [it] off, and they give [it] to me, and I cast it into the fire, and this calf comes out.”
And I said to them, ‘Which of you has gold?’ And they took it and gave it to me. And I threw it into the fire, and this calf came out.”
25 And Moses sees the people, that it [is] unbridled, for Aaron has made it unbridled for contempt among its withstanders,
Therefore, Moses, seeing that the people were naked (for Aaron had stripped them because of the disgrace of their sordidness, and he had set them naked among their enemies),
26 and Moses stands in the gate of the camp and says, “Who [is] for YHWH? [Come] to me!” And all the sons of Levi are gathered to him;
and standing at the gate of the camp, said: “If anyone is for the Lord, let him join with me.” And all the sons of Levi gathered themselves together to him.
27 and he says to them, “Thus said YHWH, God of Israel: Each put his sword by his thigh, pass over and turn back from gate to gate through the camp, and each slay his brother, and each his friend, and each his relation.”
And he said to them: “Thus says the Lord God of Israel: Let a man place his sword at his thigh. Go forth, and then return, from gate to gate, through the midst of the camp, and let each one kill his brother, and friend, and neighbor.”
28 And the sons of Levi do according to the word of Moses, and there falls of the people on that day about three thousand men,
And the sons of Levi did according to the words of Moses, and there fell on that day about twenty-three thousand men.
29 and Moses says, “Consecrate your hand to YHWH today, for a man [is] against his son, and against his brother, so as to bring a blessing on you today.”
And Moses said: “On this day, you have consecrated your hands to the Lord, each one in his son and in his brother, so that a blessing may be given to you.”
30 And it comes to pass, on the next day, that Moses says to the people, “You have sinned a great sin, and now I go up to YHWH, perhaps I can atone for your sin.”
Then, when the next day arrived, Moses spoke to the people: “You have sinned the greatest sin. I will ascend to the Lord. Perhaps, in some way, I might be able to entreat him for your wickedness.”
31 And Moses turns back to YHWH and says, “Ah, now this people has sinned a great sin, that they make a god of gold for themselves;
And returning to the Lord, he said: “I beg you, this people has sinned the greatest sin, and they have made for themselves gods of gold. Either release them from this offense,
32 and now, if You take away their sin—and if not—please blot me out of Your scroll which You have written.”
or, if you do not, then delete me from the book that you have written.”
33 And YHWH says to Moses, “Whoever has sinned against Me—I blot him out of My scroll;
And the Lord answered him: “Whoever has sinned against me, him I will delete from my book.
34 and now, go, lead the people wherever I have spoken to you of; behold, My Messenger goes before you, and in the day of my charging—then I have charged their sin on them.”
But as for you, go and lead this people where I have told you. My angel will go before you. Then, on the day of retribution, I will also visit this sin of theirs.”
35 And YHWH plagues the people because they made the calf which Aaron made.
Therefore, the Lord struck the people for the guilt of the calf, which Aaron had made.
