Exodus 32
1 [(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!”
And when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mount, the people gathered themselves together unto Aaron, and said unto him: 'Up, make us a god who shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we know not what is become of him.'
2 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.”
And Aaron said unto them: 'Break off the golden rings, which are in the ears of your wives, of your sons, and of your daughters, and bring them unto me.'
3 So the people did that. They took off all their gold earrings and brought them to Aaron.
And all the people broke off the golden rings which were in their ears, and brought them unto Aaron.
4 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!”
And he received it at their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool, and made it a molten calf; and they said: 'This is thy god, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.'
5 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!”
And when Aaron saw this, he built an altar before it; and Aaron made proclamation, and said: 'To-morrow shall be a feast to the LORD.'
6 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.
And they rose up early on the morrow, and offered burnt-offerings, and brought peace-offerings; and the people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to make merry.
7 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)!
And the LORD spoke unto Moses: 'Go, get thee down; for thy people, that thou broughtest up out of the land of Egypt, have dealt corruptly;
8 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!’”
they have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them; they have made them a molten calf, and have worshipped it, and have sacrificed unto it, and said: This is thy god, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.'
9 Then Yahweh said to Moses/me, “I have seen that these people are very stubborn.
And the LORD said unto Moses: 'I have seen this people, and, behold, it is a stiffnecked people.
10 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.”
Now therefore let Me alone, that My wrath may wax hot against them, and that I may consume them; and I will make of thee a great nation.'
11 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]!
And Moses besought the LORD his God, and said: 'LORD, why doth Thy wrath wax hot against Thy people, that Thou hast brought forth out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand?
12 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]
Wherefore should the Egyptians speak, saying: For evil did He bring them forth, to slay them in the mountains, and to consume them from the face of the earth? Turn from Thy fierce wrath, and repent of this evil against Thy people.
13 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.’”
Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, Thy servants, to whom Thou didst swear by Thine own self, and saidst unto them: I will multiply your seed as the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have spoken of will I give unto your seed, and they shall inherit it for ever.'
14 So Yahweh changed his mind. He did not do to his people the terrible thing that he said he would do.
And the LORD repented of the evil which He said He would do unto His people.
15 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.
And Moses turned, and went down from the mount, with the two tables of the testimony in his hand; tables that were written on both their sides; on the one side and on the other were they written.
16 God [himself] had made the slabs, and he was the one who had engraved the commandments on them.
And the tables were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, graven upon the tables.
17 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!”
And when Joshua heard the noise of the people as they shouted, he said unto Moses: 'There is a noise of war in the camp.'
18 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!”
And he said: 'It is not the voice of them that shout for mastery, neither is it the voice of them that cry for being overcome, but the noise of them that sing do I hear.'
19 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.
And it came to pass, as soon as he came nigh unto the camp, that he saw the calf and the dancing; and Moses' anger waxed hot, and he cast the tables out of his hands, and broke them beneath the mount.
20 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.
And he took the calf which they had made, and burnt it with fire, and ground it to powder, and strewed it upon the water, and made the children of Israel drink of it.
21 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?”
And Moses said unto Aaron: 'What did this people unto thee, that thou hast brought a great sin upon them?'
22 Aaron replied, “Please do not be angry with me, sir. You know that these people are very determined to do evil things.
And Aaron said: 'Let not the anger of my lord wax hot; thou knowest the people, that they are set on evil.
23 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!’
So they said unto me: Make us a god, which shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we know not what is become of him.
24 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!”
And I said unto them: Whosoever hath any gold, let them break it off; so they gave it me; and I cast it into the fire, and there came out this calf.'
25 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.
And when Moses saw that the people were broken loose — for Aaron had let them loose for a derision among their enemies —
26 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.
then Moses stood in the gate of the camp, and said: 'Whoso is on the LORD'S side, let him come unto me.' And all the sons of Levi gathered themselves together unto him.
27 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.”
And he said unto them: 'Thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel: Put ye every man his sword upon his thigh, and go to and fro from gate to gate throughout the camp, and slay every man his brother, and every man his companion, and every man his neighbour.'
28 The descendants of Levi did what Moses/I told them to do, and they killed 3,000 men on that day.
And the sons of Levi did according to the word of Moses; and there fell of the people that day about three thousand men.
29 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.”
And Moses said: 'Consecrate yourselves to-day to the LORD, for every man hath been against his son and against his brother; that He may also bestow upon you a blessing this day.'
30 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].”
And it came to pass on the morrow, that Moses said unto the people: 'Ye have sinned a great sin; and now I will go up unto the LORD, peradventure I shall make atonement for your sin.'
31 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.
And Moses returned unto the LORD, and said: 'Oh, this people have sinned a great sin, and have made them a god of gold.
32 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].”
Yet now, if Thou wilt forgive their sin —; and if not, blot me, I pray Thee, out of Thy book which Thou hast written.'
33 But Yahweh said to Moses/me, “It is [only] those who have sinned against me whose names I will erase from that book.
And the LORD said unto Moses: 'Whosoever hath sinned against Me, him will I blot out of My book.
34 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.”
And now go, lead the people unto the place of which I have spoken unto thee; behold, Mine angel shall go before thee; nevertheless in the day when I visit, I will visit their sin upon them.'
35 [Later] Yahweh caused a plague to strike the people because they had told Aaron to make the gold [statue of a] young bull.
And the LORD smote the people, because they made the calf, which Aaron made.
