Exodus 32
32
The Gold Calf
1When the people saw that Moses delayed in coming down from the mountain, they gathered around Aaron and said to him, “Come, make gods # 32:1 Or make a god, also in v. 23 for us who will go before us because this Moses, the man who brought us up from the land of Egypt — we don’t know what has happened to him! ” # 32:1 Ex 13:21; 24:18; Dt 9:9; Ac 7:40
2Aaron replied to them, “Take off the gold rings # 32:2 Ex 35:22; Jdg 8:24–27 that are on the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters and bring them to me.” 3So all the people took off the gold rings that were on their ears and brought them to Aaron. 4He took the gold from them, fashioned it with an engraving tool, and made it into an image of a calf.
Then they said, “Israel, these are your gods, # 32:4 Or “Israel, this is your god or “Israel, this is your God, also in v. 8 who brought you up from the land of Egypt! ” # 32:4 Dt 9:16; Jdg 17:3–4; 1Kg 12:28; Neh 9:18; Ps 106:19; Ac 7:41
5When Aaron saw this, he built an altar in front of it and made an announcement: “There will be a festival # 32:5 Lv 23:2,37; 2Kg 10:20 to the Lord tomorrow.” 6Early the next morning they arose, offered burnt offerings, and presented fellowship offerings. The people sat down to eat and drink, and got up to party. # 32:6 Nm 25:2; 1Co 10:7
7The Lord spoke to Moses: “Go down at once! For your people you brought up from the land of Egypt have acted corruptly. # 32:7 Gn 6:11–12; Dt 9:12 8They have quickly turned from the way I commanded them; they have made for themselves an image of a calf. They have bowed down to it, sacrificed to it, and said, ‘Israel, these are your gods, who brought you up from the land of Egypt.’ ” # 32:8 Ex 20:3–4,23; 34:15; Dt 32:17; 1Kg 12:28 9The Lord also said to Moses, “I have seen this people, and they are indeed a stiff-necked # 32:9 Ex 33:3,5; 34:9; 2Ch 30:8; Is 48:4; Ac 7:51 people. 10Now leave me alone, so that my anger can burn against them and I can destroy them. Then I will make you into a great nation.” # 32:10 Ex 22:24; Nm 14:12; Dt 9:14
11But Moses sought the favor of the Lord his God: “Lord, why does your anger burn against your people you brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and a strong hand? 12Why should the Egyptians say, ‘He brought them out with an evil intent to kill them in the mountains and eliminate them from the face of the earth’? Turn from your fierce anger and relent concerning this disaster planned for your people. # 32:11–12 Nm 14:13–16; Dt 9:18,26–29 13Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac, and Israel — you swore to them by yourself # 32:13 Gn 22:16–18; Heb 6:13 and declared, ‘I will make your offspring as numerous as the stars of the sky and will give your offspring all this land that I have promised, and they will inherit it forever.’ ” # 32:13 Gn 12:7; 13:15; 15:7,18; 26:4; 35:11–12 14So the Lord relented # 32:14 2Sm 24:16; Ps 106:45 concerning the disaster he had said he would bring on his people.
15Then Moses turned and went down the mountain with the two tablets of the testimony in his hands. They were inscribed on both sides — inscribed front and back. 16The tablets were the work of God, and the writing was God’s writing, engraved on the tablets. # 32:15–16 Ex 31:18; Dt 9:15
17When Joshua heard the sound of the people as they shouted, he said to Moses, “There is a sound of war in the camp.”
18But Moses replied,
It’s not the sound of a victory cry
and not the sound of a cry of defeat;
I hear the sound of singing!
19As he approached the camp and saw the calf and the dancing, Moses became enraged and threw the tablets out of his hands, smashing them at the base of the mountain. 20He took the calf they had made, burned it up, and ground it to powder. He scattered the powder over the surface of the water and forced the Israelites to drink the water.
21Then Moses asked Aaron, “What did these people do to you that you have led them into such a grave sin? ”
22“Don’t be enraged, my lord,” Aaron replied. “You yourself know that the people are intent on evil. # 32:19–22 Gn 20:9; 26:10; Ex 14:11; Dt 9:16–17,21 23They said to me, ‘Make gods for us who will go before us because this Moses, the man who brought us up from the land of Egypt — we don’t know what has happened to him! ’ 24So I said to them, ‘Whoever has gold, take it off,’ and they gave it to me. When I threw it into the fire, out came this calf! ”
25Moses saw that the people were out of control, for Aaron had let them get out of control, making them a laughingstock to their enemies. # 32:25 Hb obscure 26And Moses stood at the camp’s entrance and said, “Whoever is for the Lord, come to me.” And all the Levites gathered around him. 27He told them, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says, ‘Every man fasten his sword to his side; go back and forth through the camp from entrance to entrance, and each of you kill his brother, his friend, and his neighbor.’ ” # 32:27 Nm 25:5; Dt 33:9 28The Levites did as Moses commanded, and about three thousand men fell dead that day among the people. 29Afterward Moses said, “Today you have been dedicated # 32:29 Text emended; MT reads “Today dedicate yourselves; LXX, Vg read “Today you have dedicated yourselves to the Lord, since each man went against his son and his brother. Therefore you have brought a blessing on yourselves today.” # 32:29 Nm 25:11–13; Zch 13:3
30The following day Moses said to the people, “You have committed a grave sin. Now I will go up to the Lord; perhaps I will be able to atone for your sin.” # 32:30 1Sm 12:20; 2Sm 16:12
31So Moses returned to the Lord and said, “Oh, these people have committed a grave sin; they have made a god of gold for themselves. # 32:31 Ex 20:23; Dt 9:18 32Now if you would only forgive their sin. But if not, please erase me from the book you have written.” # 32:32 Ps 69:28; Dn 12:1; Rm 9:3; Php 4:3; Rv 3:5; 21:27
33The Lord replied to Moses, “Whoever has sinned against me I will erase from my book. # 32:33 Dt 29:20; Ps 9:5 34Now go, lead the people to the place I told you about; see, my angel will go before you. But on the day I settle accounts, I will hold them accountable for their sin.” # 32:34 Dt 32:35; Rm 2:5–6 35And the Lord inflicted a plague on the people for what they did with the calf Aaron had made.
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© 2017 Holman Bible Publishers
Exodus 32
32
The people make an idol
The people make an idol to worship
(Deuteronomy 9.6-29)
1After the people saw that Moses had been on the mountain for a long time, they went to Aaron and said, “Make us an image of a god who will lead and protect us. Moses brought us out of Egypt, but nobody knows what has happened to him.”#Ac 7.40.
2Aaron told them, “Bring me the gold earrings that your wives and sons and daughters are wearing.” 3Everybody took off their earrings and brought them to Aaron, 4then he melted them and made an idol in the shape of a young bull.#1 K 12.28; Ac 7.41.
All the people said to one another, “This is the god who brought us out of Egypt!”
5When Aaron saw what was happening, he built an altar in front of the idol and said, “Tomorrow we will celebrate in honour of the LORD.” 6The people got up early the next morning and killed some animals to be used for sacrifices and others to be eaten. Then everyone ate and drank so much that they began to carry on like wild people.#1 Co 10.7.
7The LORD said to Moses:
Hurry back down! Those people you led out of Egypt are acting like fools. 8They have already stopped obeying me and have made themselves an idol in the shape of a young bull. They have bowed down to it, offered sacrifices, and said that it is the god who brought them out of Egypt. 9Moses, I have seen how stubborn these people are, 10and I'm angry enough to destroy them, so don't try to stop me. But I will make your descendants into a great nation.
11Moses tried to get the LORD God to change his mind:#Nu 14.13-19.
Our LORD, you used your mighty power to bring these people out of Egypt. Now don't become angry and destroy them. 12If you do, the Egyptians will say that you brought your people out here into the mountains just to get rid of them. Please don't be angry with your people. Don't destroy them!
13Remember the solemn promise you made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. You promised that some day they would have as many descendants as there are stars in the sky and that you would give them land.#Gn 22.16,17; Gn 17.8.
14So even though the LORD had threatened to destroy the people, he changed his mind and let them live.
15-16Moses went back down the mountain with the two flat stones on which God had written all his laws with his own hand, and he had used both sides of the stones.
17When Joshua heard the noisy shouts of the people, he said to Moses, “A battle must be going on down in the camp.”
18But Moses replied, “It doesn't sound like they are shouting because they have won or lost a battle. They are singing wildly!”
19As Moses got closer to the camp, he saw the idol, and he also saw the people dancing around. This made him so angry that he threw down the stones and broke them to pieces at the foot of the mountain. 20He melted the idol the people had made, and he ground it into powder. He scattered it in their water and made them drink it. 21Moses asked Aaron, “What did these people do to harm you? Why did you make them sin in this terrible way?”
22Aaron answered:
Don't be angry with me. You know as well as I do that they are determined to do evil. 23They even told me, “That man Moses led us out of Egypt, but now we don't know what has happened to him. Make us a god to lead us.” 24Then I asked them to bring me their gold earrings. They took them off and gave them to me. I threw the gold into a fire, and out came this bull.
25Moses knew that the people were out of control and that it was Aaron's fault. And now they had made fools of themselves in front of their enemies. 26So Moses stood at the gate of the camp and shouted, “Everyone who is on the LORD's side come over here!”
Then the men of the Levi tribe gathered around Moses, 27and he said to them, “The LORD God of Israel commands you to strap on your swords and go through the camp, killing your relatives, your friends, and your neighbours.”
28The men of the Levi tribe followed his orders, and that day they killed about three thousand men. 29Moses said to them, “You obeyed the LORD and did what was right, and so you will serve as his priests for the people of Israel. It was hard for you to kill your own sons and brothers, but the LORD has blessed you and made you his priests today.”
30The next day Moses told the people, “This is a terrible thing you have done. But I will go back to the LORD to see if I can do something to keep this sin from being held against you.”
31Moses returned to the LORD and said, “The people have committed a terrible sin. They have made a gold idol to be their god. 32But I beg you to forgive them. If you don't, please wipe my name out of your book.”#32.32 your book: The people of Israel believed that the LORD kept a record of the names of his people, and anyone whose name was removed from that book no longer belonged to the LORD.#Ps 69.28; Rev 3.5.
33The LORD replied, “I will wipe out of my book the name of everyone who has sinned against me. 34Now take my people to the place I told you about, and my angel will lead you. But when the time comes, I will punish them for this sin.”
35So the LORD punished the people of Israel with a terrible disease for talking Aaron into making the gold idol.
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© British and Foreign Bible Society 2012