Exodus 32

The Golden Calf

1 Now when the people saw that Moses adelayed to come down from the mountain, the people assembled around Aaron and said to him, “Come, bmake us
Or gods
a god who will go before us; for dthis Moses, the man who brought us up from the land of Egypt--we do not know what happened to him.”
2Aaron said to them, “ eTear off the gold rings which are in the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me.” 3So all the people tore off the gold rings which were in their ears and brought them to Aaron. 4Then he took the gold from their
Lit hand
hands, and fashioned it with an engraving tool and made it into a gcast metal calf; and they said, “
Or These are your gods
This is your god, Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt.”
5Now when Aaron saw this, he built an altar in front of it; and Aaron made a proclamation and said, “Tomorrow shall be a feast to the Lord.” 6So the next day they got up early and ioffered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings; and jthe people sat down to eat and to drink, and got up kto engage in lewd behavior.

7 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, “Go
Lit go down
down at once, for your people, whom myou brought up from the land of Egypt, have nbehaved corruptly.
8They have quickly turned aside from the way which I commanded them. oThey have made for themselves a cast metal calf, and have worshiped it and phave sacrificed to it and said, ‘
Or These are your gods
,
rThis is your god, Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt!’”
9 sThen the Lord said to Moses, “I have seen this people, and behold, they are
Or a stiff-necked
,
uan obstinate people.
10So now vleave Me alone, that My anger may burn against them and that I may destroy them; and wI will make of you a great nation.”

Moses’ Plea

11 Then xMoses pleaded with the Lord his God, and said, “Lord, why does Your anger burn against Your people whom You have brought out from the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand? 12Why should ythe Egyptians talk, saying, ‘With evil motives He brought them out, to kill them on the mountains and to destroy them from the face of the earth’? Turn from Your burning anger and relent of doing harm to Your people. 13Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, Your servants to whom You zswore by Yourself, and said to them, ‘I will aamultiply your
Lit seed
descendants as the stars of the heavens, and acall this land of which I have spoken I will give to your
Lit seed
descendants, and they shall inherit it forever.’”
14 aeSo the Lord relented of the harm which He said He would do to His people.

15 afThen Moses turned and went down from the mountain with the two tablets of the testimony in his hand, agtablets which were written on both
Lit their sides
sides; they were written on one side and the other.
16The tablets were God’s work, and the writing was God’s writing engraved on the tablets. 17Now when Joshua heard the sound of the people
Lit in its shouting
as they shouted, he said to Moses, “There is a sound of war in the camp.”
18But he said,

“It is not the sound of the cry of victory,
Nor is it the sound of the cry of defeat;
But I hear the sound of singing.”

Moses’ Anger

19 And it came about, as soon as
Lit he
Moses approached the camp, that akhe saw the calf and the people dancing; and Moses’ anger burned, and alhe threw the tablets from his hands and shattered them to pieces
Lit beneath
at the foot of the mountain.
20Then anhe took the calf which they had made and completely burned it with fire, and ground it to powder, and scattered it over the surface of the water and made the sons of Israel drink it.

21 Then Moses said to Aaron, “What did this people do to you, that you have brought such a great sin upon them?” 22And Aaron said, “Do not let the anger of my lord burn; you know the people yourself, aothat they are
Lit in evil
prone to evil.
23For aqthey said to me, ‘Make
Or gods
a god for us who will go before us; for this Moses, the man who brought us up from the land of Egypt--we do not know what happened to him.’
24So I said to them, ‘Whoever has any gold, let them tear it off.’ Then they gave it to me, and asI threw it into the fire, and out came this calf.”

25 Now when Moses saw that the people were
Lit let loose
out of control--for Aaron had aulet them
Lit go loose
get out of control to the point of being an object of ridicule among
Lit those who rise against them
their enemies--
26Moses then stood at the gate of the camp, and said, “Whoever is for the Lord, come to me!” And all the sons of Levi gathered together to him. 27And he said to them, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel says: ‘Every man of you put his sword on his thigh, and go back and forth from gate to gate in the camp, and kill every man his brother, and every man his friend, and every man his
Or kin
neighbor.’”
28So aythe sons of Levi did
Lit according to Moses’ word
as Moses instructed, and about three thousand men of the people fell that day.
29Then Moses said, “
Lit Fill your hand
Dedicate yourselves today to the Lord--for every man has been against his son and against his brother--in order that He may bestow a blessing upon you today.”

30 And on the next day Moses said to the people, “ bbYou yourselves have
Lit sinned
committed a great sin; and now I am going up to the Lord; perhaps I can bdmake atonement for your sin.”
31Then Moses returned to the Lord and said, “Oh, this people has
Lit sinned
committed a great sin, and they have made a bfgod of gold for themselves!
32But now, if You will forgive their sin, very well; but if not, please wipe me out from Your bgbook which You have written!” 33However, the Lord said to Moses, “Whoever has sinned against Me, bhI will wipe him out of My book. 34But go now, lead the people biwhere I told you. Behold, bjMy angel shall go before you; nevertheless bkon the day when I
Lit visit
punish, bmI will
Lit visit their sin upon them
punish them for their sin.”
35 boThen the Lord struck the people with a plague, because of bpwhat they did with the calf which Aaron had made.

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