Exo 32 | NASB2020 | STEP | Now when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain , the people assembled around Aaron and said to him, “ Come , make us a god 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.”

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.” 2 Aaron 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.” 3 So all the people tore off the gold rings which were in their ears and brought them to Aaron. 4 Then 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.” 5 Now 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.” 6 So 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. 8 They 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. 10 So 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? 12 Why 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. 13 Remember 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. 16 The tablets were God’s work, and the writing was God’s writing engraved on the tablets. 17 Now 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.” 18 But 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. 20 Then ^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?” 22 And 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. 23 For ^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.’ 24 So 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-- 26 Moses 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. 27 And 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.’” 28 So ^aythe sons of Levi did ^{▼▼Lit according to Moses’ word}as Moses instructed, and about three thousand men of the people fell that day. 29 Then 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.” 31 Then 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! 32 But now, if You will forgive their sin, very well; but if not, please wipe me out from Your ^bgbook which You have written!” 33 However, the Lord said to Moses, “Whoever has sinned against Me, ^bhI will wipe him out of My book. 34 But 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.