Exodus 32
32
The Golden Calf
1And when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down out of the mount, the people gathered themselves together unto Aaron, and said unto him, Up, make us gods, which shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him. 2And Aaron said unto them, Break off the golden earrings, which are in the ears of your wives, of your sons, and of your daughters, and bring them unto me. 3And all the people brake off the golden earrings which were in their ears, and brought them unto Aaron. 4And he received them at their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool, after he had made it a molten calf: and they said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt. 5And when Aaron saw it, he built an altar before it; and Aaron made proclamation, and said, To morrow is a feast to the LORD. 6And 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 play.
7And the LORD said unto Moses, Go, get thee down; for thy people, which thou broughtest out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves: 8they 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 thereunto, and said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which have brought thee up out of the land of Egypt. 9And the LORD said unto Moses, I have seen this people, and, behold, it is a stiffnecked people: 10now 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. 11And Moses besought the LORD his God, and said, LORD, why doth thy wrath wax hot against thy people, which thou hast brought forth out of the land of Egypt with great power, and with a mighty hand? 12Wherefore should the Egyptians speak, and say, For mischief did he bring them out, 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. 13Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, thy servants, to whom thou swarest 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. 14And the LORD repented of the evil which he thought to do unto his people.
15And Moses turned, and went down from the mount, and the two tables of the testimony were in his hand: the tables were written on both their sides; on the one side and on the other were they written. 16And the tables were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, graven upon the tables. 17And when Joshua heard the noise of the people as they shouted, he said unto Moses, There is a noise of war in the camp. 18And 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.
19And 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 brake them beneath the mount. 20And he took the calf which they had made, and burnt it in the fire, and ground it to powder, and strawed it upon the water, and made the children of Israel drink of it. 21And Moses said unto Aaron, What did this people unto thee, that thou hast brought so great a sin upon them? 22And Aaron said, Let not the anger of my lord wax hot: thou knowest the people, that they are set on mischief. 23For they said unto me, Make us gods, which shall go before us: for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him. 24And I said unto them, Whosoever hath any gold, let them break it off. So they gave it me: then I cast it into the fire, and there came out this calf.
25And when Moses saw that the people were naked; (for Aaron had made them naked unto their shame among their enemies:) 26then Moses stood in the gate of the camp, and said, Who is on the LORD's side? let him come unto me. And all the sons of Levi gathered themselves together unto him. 27And he said unto them, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Put every man his sword by his side, and go in and out from gate to gate throughout the camp, and slay every man his brother, and every man his companion, and every man his neighbour. 28And the children of Levi did according to the word of Moses: and there fell of the people that day about three thousand men. 29For Moses had said, Consecrate yourselves to day to the LORD, even every man upon his son, and upon his brother; that he may bestow upon you a blessing this day.
Repentance
30And 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 an atonement for your sin. 31And Moses returned unto the LORD, and said, Oh, this people have sinned a great sin, and have made them gods of gold. 32Yet now, if thou wilt forgive their sin–; and if not, blot me, I pray thee, out of thy book which thou hast written. 33And the LORD said unto Moses, Whosoever hath sinned against me, him will I blot out of my book. 34Therefore 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. 35And the LORD plagued the people, because they made the calf, which Aaron made.
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Exodus 32: KJV
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Rights in the Authorized (King James) Version in the United Kingdom are vested in the Crown. Published by permission of the Crown’s patentee, Cambridge University Press.
Learn More About King James VersionExodus 32
32
The Golden Calf
1Now when the people saw that Moses delayed coming down from the mountain, # Ex 24:18 the people gathered themselves together around Aaron and said to him, “Come, make us gods which 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 become of him.” # Ac 7:40
2Aaron said to them, “Break off the gold earrings that are in the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me.” # Ex 12:35–36; Jdg 8:24–27 3So all the people broke off the gold earrings that were in their ears and brought them to Aaron. 4He received them from their hand, and fashioned it # Ge 2:7 with an engraving tool, and made it into a molded calf. Then they said, “This is your god, O Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt.” # Dt 9:16; 1Ki 12:28; Ne 9:18
5When Aaron saw it, he built an altar before it. And Aaron made a proclamation and said, “Tomorrow will be a feast to the Lord.” # Lev 23:2; 1Ki 12:32; 2Ki 10:20 6So they rose up early on the next day, and offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings. And the people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to play. # Nu 25:2; 1Co 10:7
7The Lord spoke to Moses, “Go, and get down, for your people, whom you brought out of the land of Egypt, # Ex 32:11 have corrupted themselves. # Dt 9:12 8They have quickly turned aside from the way which I commanded them. They have made for themselves a molded calf, and have worshipped it, and have sacrificed to it, and said, ‘This is your god, O Israel, which has brought you up from the land of Egypt.’ ” # Ex 20:3–4, 23
9Then the Lord said to Moses, “I have seen this people, and behold, it is a stiff-necked people. # Ex 33:3, 5 10Now therefore let Me alone, so that My wrath may burn against them and I may destroy them. # Dt 9:14, 19 And I will make of you a great nation.” # Nu 14:12
11But Moses sought the favor of the Lord his God, and said, “Lord, why does Your wrath burn against Your people, whom You have brought forth from the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand? # Dt 9:18–20, 26–29 12Why should the Egyptians speak, saying, ‘With evil intent He brought them out, to kill them in the mountains and to destroy them from the face of the earth’? # Nu 14:13–16; Dt 9:28 Turn from Your fierce wrath and relent of this harm against Your people. 13Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, Your servants, to whom You swore by Yourself, # Ge 22:16 and said to them, ‘I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heavens, and all this land that I have spoken of will I give to your descendants, and they will inherit it forever.’ ” # Ge 12:7 14Then the Lord relented # 2Sa 24:16; Ps 106:45 of the harm which He said He would do to His people.
15Moses turned and went down from the mountain with the two tablets of testimony in his hand. # Dt 9:15 The tablets were written on both their sides. They were written on one side and on the other. 16The tablets were God’s work, and the writing was God’s writing, # Ex 31:18 engraved on the tablets.
17When Joshua heard the noise of the people 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 those who shout for victory,
nor is it the sound of those who cry because of being overcome,
but I hear the sound of singing.”
19As soon as he came near the camp, he saw the calf and the dancing, and Moses’ anger burned, so he threw the tablets from his hands and shattered them at the bottom of the mountain. # Dt 9:16–17 20Then he took the calf which they had made and burned it in the fire, ground it to powder, and scattered it on the water, and made the Israelites drink it. # Dt 9:21
21Moses said to Aaron, “What did this people do to you, that you have brought so great a sin upon them?” # Ge 20:9
22Aaron said, “Do not let the anger of my lord burn. You know that the people are set on evil. # Dt 9:24 23For they said to me, ‘Make 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 has become of him.’ # Ex 32:1–4 24I said to them, ‘Whoever has any gold, let them break it off.’ So they gave it to me, and then I threw it into the fire, and this calf came out.” # Ex 32:4
25Now when Moses saw the people were in a frenzy, for Aaron had let them get completely out of control, causing derision from their enemies, 26then Moses stood in the gate of the camp and said, “Whoever is on the Lord’s side, come to me.” And all the Levites gathered themselves together around him.
27He said to them, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘Every man fasten his sword on his side, and go back and forth from gate to gate throughout the camp, and let every man kill his brother, and every man his friend, and every man his neighbor.’ ” # Nu 25:5 28The Levites did according to the word of Moses, and about three thousand men of the people died that day. 29For Moses had said, “Consecrate yourselves today to the Lord, that He may bestow a blessing on you this day, for every man opposes his son and his brother.” # Nu 25:11–13
30On the next day Moses said to the people, “You have committed a great sin, # 1Sa 12:20 and now I will go up to the Lord. Perhaps I can make atonement for your sin.” # Nu 25:13
31Then Moses returned to the Lord and said, “Oh, this people has committed a great sin and have made a god of gold for themselves. # Ex 20:23 32Yet now, if You will, forgive their sin, but if not, I pray, blot me out of Your book which You have written.” # Ps 69:28; Da 12:1; Ro 9:3
33Then the Lord said to Moses, “Whoever has sinned against Me, I will blot him out of My book. # Eze 18:4 34But go now, lead the people to the place of which I have spoken to you. Behold, My angel will go before you. # Ex 23:20 Nevertheless in the day when I punish, I will indeed punish them for their sin.” # Dt 32:35
35And the Lord plagued the people because they had made the calf, the one that Aaron made.
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The Holy Bible, Modern English Version
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