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.”
When the people saw that Moses delayed in coming down the mountain, they gathered around Aaron and said to him, “Come, make us an idol that will go before us. As for this Moses, the man 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, “Break off the rings of gold which [are] in the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring [them] to me”;
So Aaron said to them, “Take off the golden rings that are on your wives' ears, and the ears of 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,
All the people took off the golden rings that were on their ears 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 received the gold from them, fashioned it in a mold, and made it into a molded calf. Then the people said, “Israel, this is your god who brought you up out of 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 this, he built an altar before the calf and made a proclamation; he said, “Tomorrow will be a festival in Yahweh's honor.”
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.
The people arose early the next day and offered burnt offerings and brought fellowship offerings. Then they sat down to eat and to drink, and then got up to carouse in wild celebration.
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 spoke to Moses, “Go quickly, for your people, whom you brought up out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves.
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 left the way that I commanded them. They have molded for themselves a calf and have worshiped it and sacrificed to it. They have said, 'Israel, this is your god who brought you up out of the land of 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, “I have seen this people. Look, they are a stiff-necked people.
10 and now, leave Me alone, and My anger burns against them, and I consume them, and I make you become a great nation.”
Now then, do not try to stop me. My anger will burn hot against them, so I will destroy them. Then I will make a great nation from you.”
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 tried to calm down Yahweh his God. He said, “Yahweh, why does your anger burn against your people, whom you have brought out of the land of Egypt with great power 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.
Why should the Egyptians say, 'He led them out with evil intent, to kill them in the mountains and to destroy them from the face of the earth?' Turn from your burning anger and relent from this punishment on 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”;
Call to mind Abraham and Isaac and Israel, your servants, to whom you swore by your own self and said to them, 'I will make your descendants as many as the stars in the heavens, and I will give to your descendants all this land of which I have spoken. They will inherit it forever.'”
14 and YHWH relents from the evil which He has spoken of doing to His people.
Then Yahweh relented from the punishment that he had said he would inflict on 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];
Then Moses turned around and went down the mountain, carrying the two tablets of the covenant decrees in his hand. The tablets were written on both their sides, on both the front and the back.
16 and the tablets are the work of God, and the writing is the writing of God, engraved on the tablets.
The tablets were God's own work, and the writing was God's own writing, 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!”
When Joshua heard the noise of the people as they shouted, he said to Moses, “There is the noise of combat 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 Moses said, “It is not the sound of a victor, and not the sound of defeated people, but the sound of singing that I hear.”
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;
When Moses approached the camp, he saw the calf and the people dancing. He became very angry. He threw the tablets out of his hands and broke them at the bottom 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.
He took the calf that the people had made, burned it, ground it to powder, and poured it into the water. Then he made the people of Israel 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 Moses said to Aaron, “What did this people do to you, that you have brought such a great sin on them?”
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 said, “Do not let your anger burn hot, my master. You know these people, how they are set on doing 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 us a god who will go before us. As for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has happened to 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.”
So I said to them, 'Whoever has any gold, let him take it off.' They gave me the gold and I threw it into the fire, and out came this calf.”
25 And Moses sees the people, that it [is] unbridled, for Aaron has made it unbridled for contempt among its withstanders,
Moses saw that the people were running wild (for Aaron had let them get out of control, causing their enemies to mock them).
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;
Then Moses stood at the entrance to the camp and said, “Whoever is on Yahweh's side, come to me.” All the Levites gathered around 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.”
He said to them, “Yahweh, the God of Israel, says this: 'Let each man fasten his sword on his side and go back and forth from entrance to entrance throughout the camp, and kill his brother, his companion, and his 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,
The Levites did what Moses ordered. That day about three thousand of the people died.
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 said to the Levites, “You have been placed into Yahweh's service today, for each of you has taken action against his son and his brother, so Yahweh might give you a blessing today.”
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 said to the people, “You have committed a very great sin. Now I will go up to Yahweh. Perhaps I can make atonement for your sin.”
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;
Moses returned to Yahweh and said, “Oh, these people have committed a great sin and made themselves an idol of gold.
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, please forgive their sin; but if you do not, blot me out of the book that you have written.”
33 And YHWH says to Moses, “Whoever has sinned against Me—I blot him out of My scroll;
Yahweh said to Moses, “Whoever has sinned against me, that person I will blot out of 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.”
So now go, lead the people to the place of which I have spoken to you. See, my angel will go before you. But on the day that I punish them, I will punish them for their sin.”
35 And YHWH plagues the people because they made the calf which Aaron made.
Yahweh sent a plague on the people because they had made the calf, the one that Aaron made.
