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.”
[(Moses/I) stayed on top of the mountain a long time]. When the people realized that he/I was not returning quickly, they gathered near Aaron and said to him, “We do not know what has happened to that man Moses who brought us here out of Egypt. So quickly, make us ([an idol/a statue of a god]) who will lead us!”
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”;
Aaron replied to them, “All right, [I will do that, but] tell your wives and your sons and your daughters to take off all their gold earrings 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,
So the people did that. They took off all their gold earrings and brought them 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!”
He took all those gold earrings and melted them in a fire. He [poured the gold into a mold and] made a statue that looked like a young bull. The people saw it and said, “This is the god of us Israeli people! This is the one who brought us up 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”;
When Aaron saw [what was happening], he built an altar in front of the [statue of the] young bull. Then he announced, “Tomorrow we will have a festival to honor Yahweh!”
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.
So the people got up early the next morning and brought animals to kill and burn as sacrifices on the altar. They also brought sacrifices to maintain fellowship with Yahweh. Then they sat down to eat and drink [wine]. Then they got up and started dancing in a very immoral way.
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 Yahweh said to Moses/me, “Go back down from the mountain, because your people, the ones that you brought up here from Egypt, have [already] (become very depraved/wicked)!
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 already (left the road that I showed them/stopped obeying me)! They have made [a statue of] a young bull from melted gold. They have worshiped it and offered sacrifices to it. And they are saying, ‘This is the god of us Israeli people! This is the one who brought us up from Egypt!’”
9 And YHWH says to Moses, “I have seen this people, and behold, it [is] a stiff-necked people;
Then Yahweh said to Moses/me, “I have seen that these people are very stubborn.
10 and now, leave Me alone, and My anger burns against them, and I consume them, and I make you become a great nation.”
I am very angry with them, and so I am going to get rid of them. Do not try to stop me! Then I will cause you and your descendants to become 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?
But Moses/I pleaded with his/my God, Yahweh, and said, “Yahweh, (you should not be very angry with your people!/why are you so angry with your people [RHQ]?) These are the people whom you rescued from Egypt with very great power [MTY, DOU]!
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.
Do not [do anything that would] allow the people of Egypt to say, ‘Their god led them out from our country, but [he did that] only [because he wanted] to kill them in the mountains and get rid of them completely [RHQ]!’ Stop being so angry! (Change your mind/Do not do what you have told me that you will do)! Do not do to your people this terrible thing [that you have just said that you will do]
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”;
Think about your servants Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. You solemnly promised them, ‘I will enable you to have as many descendants as there are stars in the sky.’ You said to them, ‘I will give to your descendants all the land that I am promising to give them. It will be their land forever.’”
14 and YHWH relents from the evil which He has spoken of doing to His people.
So Yahweh changed his mind. He did not do to his people the terrible thing that he said he would do.
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];
Moses/I turned away from God and went down the mountain, carrying in his hands the two stone slabs on which Yahweh had engraved his commandments. He had written on both sides of the slabs.
16 and the tablets are the work of God, and the writing is the writing of God, engraved on the tablets.
God [himself] had made the slabs, and he was the one who had engraved the commandments on them.
17 And Joshua hears the voice of the people in their shouting and says to Moses, “A noise of battle in the camp!”
Joshua heard the very loud noise of the people shouting. So when he and I got near the camp, Joshua said, “There is a noise in the camp that sounds like [the noise of] a battle!”
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 Moses/I replied, [“No], that is not the shouting that people do when they have won a victory or when they have been defeated [in a battle] What I hear is the sound of [loud] 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;
As soon as Moses/I came close to the camp and saw the statue of the young bull and saw the people dancing, he/I became extremely angry. He/I threw the stone tablets that he/I was carrying down onto the ground, there 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.
Then he/I took the statue of the young bull that they had made and melted it in the fire. [When it cooled], he/I ground it into [fine] powder. Then he/I mixed the powder with water and forced the Israeli people to drink it.
21 And Moses says to Aaron, “What has this people done to you, that you have brought in a great sin on it?”
Then he/I said to Aaron, “What did these people do to you, with the result that you have made them commit such a terrible 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;
Aaron replied, “Please do not be angry with me, sir. You know that these people are very determined to do evil things.
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, ‘As for that man Moses, the one who brought us up here from the land of Egypt, we do not know what has happened to him. So make for us an idol that will lead us!’
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.”
So I said to them, ‘Everyone who is wearing [gold earrings] should take them off.’ So they [took them off and] gave them to me. I threw them into the fire, and out came this statue of a young bull!”
25 And Moses sees the people, that it [is] unbridled, for Aaron has made it unbridled for contempt among its withstanders,
Moses/I saw that Aaron had allowed the people to become completely out of control and to do things that would make their enemies think the Israeli people were foolish.
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;
So he/I stood at the entrance to the camp and shouted, “Everyone who is loyal to Yahweh should come [closer] to me!” So the descendants of Levi gathered around him/me.
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.”
Then he/I said to them, “Yahweh, the God of us Israeli people, commands that every one of you should fasten your sword to your side, and then go through the camp from this entrance to the other one, and kill some of your relatives and your companions and your neighbors.”
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,
The descendants of Levi did what Moses/I told them to do, and they killed 3,000 men on that day.
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.”
Moses/I said to the descendants of Levi, “Today you have dedicated yourselves to serving Yahweh by (killing/not sparing) [even] your own sons and brothers, and as a result Yahweh will bless 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.”
The next day, Moses/I said to the people, “You have committed a terrible sin. But I will now climb up the mountain again to talk with Yahweh. Perhaps I can [persuade him] to forgive you for sinning [like this].”
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;
So Moses/I went back up the mountain and said to Yahweh, “I am sorry to admit that these people have committed a terrible sin. They have made for themselves a gold idol and have worshiped it.
32 and now, if You take away their sin—and if not—please blot me out of Your scroll which You have written.”
But now I ask you to please forgive them for having sinned. If you will not forgive them, then erase my name from the book in which you have written [the names of your people].”
33 And YHWH says to Moses, “Whoever has sinned against Me—I blot him out of My scroll;
But Yahweh said to Moses/me, “It is [only] those who have sinned against me whose names I will erase from that 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.”
Now you go back down and lead the [Israeli] people to the place that I told you about. Keep in mind that my angel will go in front of you. But, at the time that I determine, I will punish them for their sin.”
35 And YHWH plagues the people because they made the calf which Aaron made.
[Later] Yahweh caused a plague to strike the people because they had told Aaron to make the gold [statue of a] young bull.
