Exodus 32
32
Israel Worships a Golden Calf
1The people saw that Moses took a long time to come down from the mountain. So they gathered around Aaron. They said to him, “Come. Make us a god that will lead us. This fellow Moses brought us up out of Egypt. But we don’t know what has happened to him.”
2Aaron answered them, “Take the gold earrings off your wives, your sons and your daughters. Bring the earrings to me.” 3So all the people took off their earrings. They brought them to Aaron. 4He took what they gave him and made it into a metal statue of a god. It looked like a calf. Aaron shaped it with a tool. Then the people said, “Israel, here is your god who brought you up out of Egypt.”
5When Aaron saw what they were doing, he built an altar in front of the calf. He said, “Tomorrow will be a feast day to honor the Lord.” 6So the next day the people got up early. They sacrificed burnt offerings and brought friendship offerings. They sat down to eat and drink. Then they got up to dance wildly in front of their god.
7The Lord spoke to Moses. He said, “Go down. Your people you brought up out of Egypt have become very sinful. 8They have quickly turned away from what I commanded them. They have made themselves a metal statue of a god in the shape of a calf. They have bowed down and sacrificed to it. And they have said, ‘Israel, here is your god who brought you up out of Egypt.’
9“I have seen these people,” the Lord said to Moses. “They are stubborn. 10Now leave me alone. I will destroy them because of my great anger. Then I will make you into a great nation.”
11But Moses asked the Lord his God to have mercy on the people. “Lord,” he said, “why should you destroy your people in anger? You used your great power and mighty hand to bring them out of Egypt. 12Why should the Egyptians say, ‘He brought them out to hurt them. He wanted to kill them in the mountains. He wanted to wipe them off the face of the earth’? Turn away from your great anger. Please take pity on your people. Don’t destroy them! 13Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac and Israel. You made a promise to them in your own name. You said, ‘I will make your children after you as many as the stars in the sky. I will give them all this land I promised them. It will belong to them forever.’ ” 14Then the Lord took pity on his people. He didn’t destroy them as he had said he would.
15Moses turned and went down the mountain. He had the two tablets of the covenant law in his hands. Words were written on both sides of the tablets, front and back. 16The tablets were the work of God. The words had been written by God. They had been carved on the tablets.
17Joshua heard the noise of the people shouting. So he said to Moses, “It sounds like war in the camp.”
18Moses replied,
“It’s not the sound of winning.
It’s not the sound of losing.
It’s the sound of singing that I hear.”
19As Moses approached the camp, he saw the calf. He also saw the people dancing. So he was very angry. He threw the tablets out of his hands. They broke into pieces at the foot of the mountain. 20He took the calf the people had made. He burned it in the fire. Then he ground it into powder. He scattered it on the water. And he made the Israelites drink it.
21He said to Aaron, “What did these people do to you? How did they make you lead them into such terrible sin?”
22“Please don’t be angry,” Aaron answered. “You know how these people like to do what is evil. 23They said to me, ‘Make us a god that will lead us. This fellow Moses brought us up out of Egypt. But we don’t know what has happened to him.’ 24So I told them, ‘Anyone who has any gold jewelry, take it off.’ They gave me the gold. I threw it into the fire. And out came this calf!”
25Moses saw that the people were running wild. Aaron had let them get out of control. The people had become a joke to their enemies. 26Moses stood at the entrance to the camp. He said, “Anyone on the Lord’s side, come to me.” All the Levites joined him.
27Then he spoke to them. He said, “The Lord, the God of Israel, says, ‘Each man must put on his sword. Then he must go back and forth through the camp from one end to the other. Each man must kill his brother and friend and neighbor.’ ” 28The Levites did as Moses commanded. About 3,000 of the people died that day. 29Then Moses said to the Levites, “You have been set apart for the Lord today. You fought against your own sons and brothers. And he has blessed you this day.”
30The next day Moses said to the people, “You have committed a terrible sin. But now I will go up to the Lord. Maybe if I pray to him, he will forgive your sin.”
31So Moses went back to the Lord. He said, “These people have committed a terrible sin. They have made a god out of gold for themselves. 32Now please forgive their sin. But if you won’t, then erase my name out of the book you have written.”
33The Lord replied to Moses. The Lord said, “I will erase out of my book only the names of those who have sinned against me. 34Now go. Lead the people to the place I spoke about. My angel will go ahead of you. But when the time comes for me to punish, I will punish them for their sin.”
35The Lord struck the people with a plague. That’s because of what they did with the calf Aaron had made.
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Exodus 32: NIrV
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Exodus 32
32
Worshipping the gold bull calf
1The people saw that Moses was taking a long time to come down from the mountain. They gathered around Aaron and said to him, “Come on! Make us gods#32.1 Or a god who can lead us. As for this man Moses who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we don’t have a clue what has happened to him.”
2Aaron said to them, “All right, take out the gold rings from the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me.” 3So all the people took out the gold rings from their ears and brought them to Aaron. 4He collected them and tied them up in a cloth.#32.4 Or formed them into a mold or engraved them with a stylus Then he made a metal image of a bull calf, and the people declared, “These are your gods, Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!”
5When Aaron saw this, he built an altar in front of the calf. Then Aaron announced, “Tomorrow will be a festival to the LORD!” 6They got up early the next day and offered up entirely burned offerings and brought well-being sacrifices. The people sat down to eat and drink and then got up to celebrate.
7The LORD spoke to Moses: “Hurry up and go down! Your people, whom you brought up out of the land of Egypt, are ruining everything! 8They’ve already abandoned the path that I commanded. They have made a metal bull calf for themselves. They’ve bowed down to it and offered sacrifices to it and declared, ‘These are your gods, Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!’” 9The LORD said to Moses, “I’ve been watching these people, and I’ve seen how stubborn they are. 10Now leave me alone! Let my fury burn and devour them. Then I’ll make a great nation out of you.”
11But Moses pleaded with the LORD his God, “LORD, why does your fury burn against your own people, whom you brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and amazing force? 12Why should the Egyptians say, ‘He had an evil plan to take the people out and kill them in the mountains and so wipe them off the earth’? Calm down your fierce anger. Change your mind about doing terrible things to your own people. 13Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your servants, whom you yourself promised, ‘I’ll make your descendants as many as the stars in the sky. And I’ve promised to give your descendants this whole land to possess for all time.’” 14Then the LORD changed his mind about the terrible things he said he would do to his people.
15Moses then turned around and came down the mountain. He carried the two covenant tablets in his hands. The tablets were written on both sides, front and back. 16The tablets were God’s own work. What was written there was God’s own writing inscribed on the tablets. 17When Joshua heard the noise of the people as they shouted, he said to Moses, “It sounds like war in the camp.”
18But Moses said,
“It isn’t the sound of a victory song.
It isn’t the sound of a song of defeat.
The sound of party songs is what I hear.”
19When he got near the camp and saw the bull calf and the dancing, Moses was furious. He hurled the tablets down and shattered them in pieces at the foot of the mountain. 20He took the calf that they had made and burned it in a fire. Then he ground it down to crushed powder, scattered it on the water, and made the Israelites drink it.
21Moses said to Aaron, “What did these people do to you that you led them to commit such a terrible sin?”
22Aaron replied, “Don’t get angry with me, sir. You know yourself that these people are out of control.#32.22 Sam; MT evil 23They said to me, ‘Make us gods who can lead us. As for this man Moses who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we don’t have a clue what has happened to him.’ 24So I said to them, ‘Whoever has gold, take it off!’ So they gave it to me, I threw it into the fire, and out came this bull calf!”
25Moses saw that the people were out of control because Aaron had let them get out of control, making them an easy target for their enemies. 26So Moses stood at the camp’s gate and said, “Whoever is on the LORD’s side, come to me!” All the Levites gathered around him. 27Moses said to them, “This is what the LORD, Israel’s God, says: Each of you, strap on your sword! Go back and forth from one end of the camp to the other. Each of you, kill your brother, your friend, and your neighbor!” 28The Levites did as Moses commanded. About three thousand people were killed that day. 29Moses said, “Today you’ve been ordained to the LORD, each one of you at the cost of a son or a brother. Today you’ve gained a special blessing for yourselves.”
30The next day Moses said to the people, “You’ve committed a terrible sin. So now I will go up to the LORD. Maybe I can arrange reconciliation on account of your sin.” 31So Moses went back to the LORD and said, “Oh, what a terrible sin these people have committed! They made for themselves gods#32.31 Or a god of gold. 32But now, please forgive their sin! And if not, then wipe me out of your scroll that you’ve written.”
33But the LORD said to Moses, “The ones I’ll wipe out of my scroll are those who sinned against me. 34Now go and lead the people to the place I described to you. My messenger here will go in front of you. When the day of reckoning comes, I’ll count their sin against them.” 35Then the LORD sent a plague on the people because of what they did with the bull calf that Aaron made.
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