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 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, “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 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 break off the rings of gold which [are] in their ears, and bring [them] to Aaron,
All the people took off the golden rings which were in 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 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 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 it; and Aaron made a proclamation, and said, “Tomorrow shall be a feast to 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.
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 YHWH says to Moses, “Go, descend, for your people whom you have brought up out of the land of Egypt have done corruptly,
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 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 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 And YHWH says to Moses, “I have seen this people, and behold, it [is] a stiff-necked people;
Yahweh said to Moses, “I have seen these people, and behold, 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 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 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?
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 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 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 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 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 YHWH relents from the evil which He has spoken of doing to His people.
So Yahweh turned away from the evil which he said he would do to 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];
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 tablets are the work of God, and the writing is the writing of God, engraved on the tablets.
The tablets were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, 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 war 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.”
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 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 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 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 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 says to Aaron, “What has this people done to you, that you have brought in a great sin on it?”
Moses said to Aaron, “What did these people do to you, that you have brought 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, “Don’t let the anger of my lord grow hot. You know the people, that they are set on 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;
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 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.”
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 Moses sees the people, that it [is] unbridled, for Aaron has made it unbridled for contempt among its withstanders,
When Moses saw that the people were out of control, (for Aaron had let them lose control, causing derision 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;
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 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, ‘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 do according to the word of Moses, and there falls of the people on that day about 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 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, “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 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.”
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 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, this people have sinned a great sin, and have made themselves gods 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.”
Yet now, if you will, forgive their sin—and if not, please blot me out of your book which 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, I will blot him 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.”
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 YHWH plagues the people because they made the calf which Aaron made.
Yahweh struck the people, because of what they did with the calf, which Aaron made.
