Exodus 32
1 And the people see that Moses is delaying to come down from the mount, and the people assemble against Aaron, and say unto him, 'Rise, make for us gods who go before us, for this Moses — the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt — we have not known what hath 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 saith unto them, 'Break off the rings of gold which [are] in the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring in unto 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 themselves break off the rings of gold which [are] in their ears, and bring in unto Aaron,
All the people took off the golden rings that were on their ears and brought them to Aaron.
4 and he receiveth from their hand, and doth fashion it with a graving tool, and doth make it a molten calf, and they say, 'These thy gods, O Israel, who brought thee 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 seeth, and buildeth an altar before it, and Aaron calleth, and saith, 'A festival to Jehovah — to-morrow;'
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 morrow, and cause burnt-offerings to ascend, and bring nigh peace-offerings; 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 Jehovah saith unto Moses, 'Go, descend, for thy people whom thou hast brought up out of the land of Egypt hath 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 turned aside hastily from the way that I have commanded them; they have made for themselves a molten calf, and bow themselves to it, and sacrifice to it, and say, These thy gods, O Israel, who brought thee 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 Jehovah saith unto Moses, 'I have seen this people, and lo, 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, let Me alone, and My anger doth burn against them, and I consume them, and I make thee 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 appeaseth the face of Jehovah his God, and saith, 'Why, O Jehovah, doth Thine anger burn against Thy people, whom Thou hast 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, For evil He brought them out to slay them among mountains, and to consume them from off the face of the ground? turn back from the heat of Thine anger, and repent of the evil against Thy 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, Thy servants, to whom Thou hast sworn by Thyself, and unto whom Thou speakest: 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 to the age;'
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 Jehovah repenteth of the evil which He hath 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 turneth, and goeth down from the mount, and the two tables of the testimony [are] in his hand, tables written on both their sides, on this and on that [are] they written;
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 tables are the work of God, and the writing is the writing of God, graven on the tables.
The tablets were God's own work, and the writing was God's own writing, engraved on the tablets.
17 And Joshua heareth the voice of the people in their shouting, and saith unto 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 saith, 'It is not the voice of the crying of might, nor is it the voice of the crying of weakness — a voice of singing I am hearing.'
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 cometh to pass, when he hath drawn near unto the camp, that he seeth the calf, and the dancing, and the anger of Moses burneth, and he casteth out of his hands the tables, and breaketh them under the mount;
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 taketh the calf which they have made, and burneth [it] with fire, and grindeth until [it is] small, and scattereth on the face of the waters, and causeth 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 saith unto Aaron, 'What hath this people done to thee, that thou hast brought in upon it a great sin?'
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 saith, 'Let not the anger of my lord burn; thou — thou hast known the people that it [is] in 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 for us gods, who go before us, for this Moses — the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt — we have not known what hath 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, Whoso hath gold, let them break [it] off, and they give to me, and I cast it into the fire, and this calf cometh 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 seeth the people that it [is] unbridled, for Aaron hath 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 standeth in the gate of the camp, and saith, 'Who [is] for Jehovah? — unto me!' and all the sons of Levi are gathered unto 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 saith to them, 'Thus said Jehovah, God of Israel, Put each his sword by his thigh, pass over and turn back from gate to gate through the camp, and slay each 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 fall 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 saith, 'Consecrate your hand to-day to Jehovah, for a man [is] against his son, and against his brother, so as to bring on you to-day a blessing.'
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 cometh to pass, on the morrow, that Moses saith unto the people, 'Ye — ye have sinned a great sin, and now I go up unto Jehovah, if so be I 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 turneth back unto Jehovah, and saith, 'Oh this people hath sinned a great sin, that they make to themselves a god of gold;
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 Thou takest away their sin — and if not — blot me, I pray thee, out of Thy book which Thou hast written.'
But now, please forgive their sin; but if you do not, blot me out of the book that you have written.”
33 And Jehovah saith unto Moses, 'Whoso hath sinned against Me — I blot him out of My book;
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 whithersoever I have spoken to thee of; lo, My messenger goeth before thee, and in the day of my charging — then I have charged upon them their sin.'
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 Jehovah plagueth 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.
