Exodus 32
1 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.”
And when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain, the people combined against Aaron, and said to him, Arise and make us gods who shall go before us; for this Moses, the man who brought us forth out of the land of Egypt—we do not know what is become of him.
2 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.”
And Aaron says to them, Take off the golden ear-rings which are in the ears of your wives and daughters, and bring them to me.
3 All the people took off the golden rings that were on their ears and brought them to Aaron.
And all the people took off the golden ear-rings that were in their ears, and brought them to Aaron.
4 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.”
And he received them at their hands, and formed them with a graving tool; and he made them a molten calf, and said, These [are] your gods, O Israel, which have brought you up out of the land of Egypt.
5 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.”
And Aaron having seen it built an altar before it, and Aaron made proclamation saying, To-morrow [is] a feast of the Lord.
6 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.
And having risen early on the morrow, he offered whole burnt offerings, and offered a peace-offering; and the people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play.
7 Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, “Go quickly, for your people, whom you brought up out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves.
And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, Go quickly, descend hence, for your people whom you brought out of the land of Egypt have transgressed;
8 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.'”
they have quickly gone out of the way which you commanded; they have made for themselves a calf, and worshipped it, and sacrificed to it, and said,
9 Then Yahweh said to Moses, “I have seen this people. Look, they are a stiff-necked people.
These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.
10 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.”
And now let me alone, and I will be very angry with them and consume them, and I will make you a great nation.
11 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?
And Moses prayed before the Lord God, and said, Therefore, O Lord, are you very angry with your people, whom you brought out of the land of Egypt with great strength, and with your high arm?
12 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.
[Take heed] lest at any time the Egyptians speak, saying, With evil intent he brought them out to kill them in the mountains, and to consume them from off the earth; cease from your wrathful anger, and be merciful to the sin of your people,
13 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.'”
remembering Abraam and Isaac and Jacob your servants, to whom you have sworn by yourself, and have spoken to them, saying, I will greatly multiply your seed as the stars of heaven for multitude, and all this land which you spoke of to give to them, so that they shall possess it for ever.
14 Then Yahweh relented from the punishment that he had said he would inflict on his people.
And the Lord was prevailed upon to preserve his people.
15 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.
And Moses turned and went down from the mountain, and the two tables of testimony were in his hands, tables of stone written on both their sides: they were written within and without.
16 The tablets were God's own work, and the writing was God's own writing, engraved on the tablets.
And the tables were the work of God, and the writing the writing of God written on the tables.
17 When Joshua heard the noise of the people as they shouted, he said to Moses, “There is the noise of combat in the camp.”
And Joshua having heard the voice of the people crying, says to Moses, There is a noise of war in the camp.
18 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.”
And [Moses] says, It is not the voice of them that begin the battle, nor the voice of them that begin [the cry] of defeat, but the voice of them that begin [the banquet] of wine do I hear.
19 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.
And when he drew near to the camp, he sees the calf and the dances; and Moses being very angry cast the two tables out of his hands, and broke them to pieces under the mountain.
20 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.
And having taken the calf which they made, he consumed it with fire, and ground it very small, and scattered it on the water, and made the children of Israel to drink it.
21 Then Moses said to Aaron, “What did this people do to you, that you have brought such a great sin on them?”
And Moses said to Aaron, What has this people done to you, that you have brought upon them a great sin?
22 Aaron said, “Do not let your anger burn hot, my master. You know these people, how they are set on doing evil.
And Aaron said to Moses, Be not angry, [my] lord, for you know the impetuosity of this people.
23 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.'
For they say to me, Make us gods, which shall go before us; for as for this man Moses, who brought us out of Egypt, we do not know what is become of him.
24 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.”
And I said to them, If any one has golden ornaments, take them off; and they gave them me, and I cast them into the fire, and there came out this calf.
25 Moses saw that the people were running wild (for Aaron had let them get out of control, causing their enemies to mock them).
And when Moses saw that the people was scattered, —for Aaron [had] scattered them [so as to be] a rejoicing to their enemies, —
26 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.
then stood Moses at the gate of the camp, and said, Who is on the Lord's side? let him come to me. Then all the sons of Levi came to him.
27 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.'”
And he says to them, Thus says the Lord God of Israel, Put every one his sword on his thigh, and go through and return from gate to gate through the camp, and kill every one his brother, and every one his neighbour, and every one him that is nearest to him.
28 The Levites did what Moses ordered. That day about three thousand of the people died.
And the sons of Levi did as Moses spoke to them, and there fell of the people in that day to the [number of] three thousand men.
29 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.”
And Moses said to them, You have filled your hands this day to the Lord each one on his son or on his brother, so that blessing should be given to you.
30 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.”
And it came to pass after the morrow [had begun], that Moses said to the people, You have sinned a great sin; and now I will go up to God, that I may make atonement for your sin.
31 Moses returned to Yahweh and said, “Oh, these people have committed a great sin and made themselves an idol of gold.
And Moses returned to the Lord and said, I pray, O Lord, this people has sinned a great sin, and they have made for themselves golden gods.
32 But now, please forgive their sin; but if you do not, blot me out of the book that you have written.”
And now if you will forgive their sin, forgive [it]; and if not, blot me out of your book, which you have written.
33 Yahweh said to Moses, “Whoever has sinned against me, that person I will blot out of my book.
And the Lord said to Moses, If any one has sinned against me, I will blot them out of my book.
34 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.”
And now go, descend, and lead this people into the place of which I spoke to you: behold, my angel shall go before your face; and in the day when I shall visit I will bring upon them their sin.
35 Yahweh sent a plague on the people because they had made the calf, the one that Aaron made.
And the Lord struck the people for the making the calf, which Aaron made.
