Exodus 32
32
1 Then the people, seeing that Moses made a delay in descending from the mountain, gathered together against Aaron, and said: "Rise up, make us gods, who may go before us. But as for this man Moses, who led us away from the land of Egypt, we do not know what has befallen him."
2 And Aaron said to them, "Take the golden earrings from the ears of your wives, and your sons and daughters, and bring them to me."
3 And the people did what he had commanded, carrying the earrings to Aaron.
4 And when he had received them, he formed these by the work of a casting furnace, and he made from these a molten calf. And they said: "These are your gods, O Israel, who led you away from the land of Egypt."
5 And when Aaron had seen it, he built an altar before it, and he cried out with a voice of proclamation, saying, "Tomorrow is the solemnity of the Lord."
6 And rising up in the morning, they offered holocausts, and peace victims, and the people sat down to eat and to drink, and they rose up to play.
7 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: "Go, descend. Your people, whom you led away from the land of Egypt, have sinned.
8 They have quickly withdrawn from the way which you revealed to them. And they have made for themselves a molten calf, and they have worshiped it. And immolating victims to it, they have said: 'These are your gods, O Israel, who led you away from the land of Egypt.' "
9 And again, the Lord said to Moses: "I discern that this people is stiff-necked.
10 Release me, so that my fury may be enraged against them, and I may destroy them, and then I will make of you a great nation."
11 Then Moses prayed to the Lord his God, saying: "Why, O Lord, is your fury enraged against your people, whom you led away from the land of Egypt, with great strength and with a mighty hand?
12 I beg you, let not the Egyptians say, 'He cleverly led them away, so that he could put them to death in the mountains and destroy them from the earth.' Let your anger be quieted and appeased concerning the wickedness of your people.
13 Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your servants, to whom you swore by your very self, saying: 'I will multiply your offspring like the stars of heaven. And this entire land, about which I have spoken, I will give to your offspring. And you shall possess it forever.' "
14 And the Lord was appeased from doing the evil which he had spoken against his people.
15 And Moses returned from the mountain, carrying the two tablets of the testimony in his hand, written on both sides,
16 and accomplished by the work of God. Also, the writing of God was engraved on the tablets.
17 Then Joshua, hearing the tumult of the people shouting, said to Moses: "The outcry of battle is heard in the camp."
18 But he responded: "It is not the clamor of men being exhorted to battle, nor the shout of men being compelled to flee. But I hear the voice of singing."
19 And when he had approached to the camp, he saw the calf and the dances. And being very angry, he threw down the tablets from his hand, and he broke them at the base of the mountain.
20 And seizing the calf, which they had made, he burnt it and crushed it, even to dust, which he scattered into water. And he gave from it to the sons of Israel to drink.
21 And he said to Aaron, "What has this people done to you, so that you would bring upon them the greatest sin?"
22 And he answered him: "Let not my lord be indignant. For you know this people, that they are prone to evil.
23 They said to me: 'Make gods for us, who may go before us. For this Moses, who led us away from the land of Egypt, we do not know what has befallen him.'
24 And I said to them, 'Which of you has gold?' And they took it and gave it to me. And I threw it into the fire, and this calf came out."
25 Therefore, Moses, seeing that the people were naked (for Aaron had stripped them because of the disgrace of their sordidness, and he had set them naked among their enemies),
26 and standing at the gate of the camp, said: "If anyone is for the Lord, let him join with me." And all the sons of Levi gathered themselves together to him.
27 And he said to them: "Thus says the Lord God of Israel: Let a man place his sword at his thigh. Go forth, and then return, from gate to gate, through the midst of the camp, and let each one kill his brother, and friend, and neighbor."
28 And the sons of Levi did according to the words of Moses, and there fell on that day about twenty-three thousand men.
29 And Moses said: "On this day, you have consecrated your hands to the Lord, each one in his son and in his brother, so that a blessing may be given to you."
30 Then, when the next day arrived, Moses spoke to the people: "You have sinned the greatest sin. I will ascend to the Lord. Perhaps, in some way, I might be able to entreat him for your wickedness."
31 And returning to the Lord, he said: "I beg you, this people has sinned the greatest sin, and they have made for themselves gods of gold. Either release them from this offense,
32 or, if you do not, then delete me from the book that you have written."
33 And the Lord answered him: "Whoever has sinned against me, him I will delete from my book.
34 But as for you, go and lead this people where I have told you. My angel will go before you. Then, on the day of retribution, I will also visit this sin of theirs."
35 Therefore, the Lord struck the people for the guilt of the calf, which Aaron had made.
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Exodus 32
32
The People Make a Gold Calf
1The people saw that a long time had passed. And Moses had not come down from the mountain. So they gathered around Aaron. They said to him, “Moses led us out of Egypt. But we don’t know what has happened to him. So make us gods who will lead us.”
2Aaron said to the people, “Take off the gold earrings that your wives, sons and daughters are wearing. Bring them to me.” 3So all the people took their gold earrings and brought them to Aaron. 4Aaron took the gold from the people. Then he melted it and made a statue of a calf. He finished it with a tool. Then the people said, “Israel! These are your gods who brought you out of the land of Egypt!”
5Aaron saw all this, and he built an altar before the calf. Then he made an announcement. He said, “Tomorrow there will be a special feast to honor the Lord.” 6The people got up early the next morning. They offered whole burnt offerings and fellowship offerings. First the people sat down to eat and drink. Then they got up and had wild parties.
7And the Lord said to Moses, “Go down from this mountain. Your people, the people you brought out of the land of Egypt, have done a terrible sin. 8They have quickly turned away from the things I commanded them to do. They have made for themselves a calf of melted gold. They have worshiped that calf and offered sacrifices to it. The people have said, ‘Israel, these are your gods who brought you out of Egypt.’”
9The Lord said to Moses, “I have seen these people. I know that they are very stubborn people. 10So now do not stop me. I am so angry with them that I am going to destroy them. Then I will make you and your descendants a great nation.”
11But Moses begged the Lord his God. Moses said, “Lord, don’t let your anger destroy your people. You brought these people out of Egypt with your great power and strength. 12Don’t let the people of Egypt say, ‘The Lord brought the Israelites out of Egypt. But he planned to kill them in the mountains and destroy them from the earth.’ So stop being angry. Don’t destroy your people. 13Remember the men who served you—Abraham, Isaac and Israel. You promised with an oath to them. You said, ‘I will make your descendants as many as the stars in the sky. I will give your descendants all this land that I have promised them. It will be theirs forever.’” 14So the Lord changed his mind. He did not destroy the people as he had said he might.
15Then Moses went down the mountain. In his hands he had the two stone tablets with the agreement on them. The commands were written on both sides of each stone, front and back. 16God himself had made the stones. And God himself had written the commands on the stones.
17Then Joshua heard the noise of the people shouting. He said to Moses, “It sounds like war down in the camp.”
18Moses answered:
“It is not an army’s shout of victory.
It is not an army’s cry of defeat.
It is the sound of singing that I hear.”
19When Moses came close to the camp, he saw the gold calf and the dancing. He became very angry. He threw down the stone tablets which he was carrying. He broke them at the bottom of the mountain. 20Then he took the calf that the people had made. He melted it in the fire. And he ground the gold until it became powder. He threw the powder into the water. And he forced the Israelites to drink that water.
21Moses said to Aaron, “What did these people do to you? Why did you cause them to do such a terrible sin?”
22Aaron answered, “Don’t be angry, master. You know that these people are always ready to do wrong. 23The people said to me, ‘Moses led us out of Egypt. But we don’t know what has happened to him. So make us gods who will lead us.’ 24So I told the people, ‘Take off your gold jewelry.’ So they gave me the gold. I threw it into the fire and out came this calf!”
25Moses saw that the people were acting wildly. He saw that Aaron had let them get out of control. Their enemies would laugh at them. 26So Moses stood at the entrance to the camp. He said, “Let anyone who wants to follow the Lord come to me.” And all the people from the family of Levi gathered around Moses.
27Then Moses said to them, “The Lord, the God of Israel, says this: ‘Every man must put on his sword and go through the camp from one end to the other. Each man must kill his brother, his friend and his neighbor.’” 28The people from the family of Levi obeyed Moses. That day about 3,000 of the people of Israel died. 29Then Moses said, “Today you have been given for service to the Lord. You were willing to kill your own sons and brothers. And God has blessed you for this.”
30The next day Moses told the people, “You have done a terrible sin. But now I will go up to the Lord. Maybe I can do something so your sins will be removed. Then you will belong to God again.” 31So Moses went back to the Lord and said, “How terrible it is! These people have sinned horribly. They have made for themselves gods from gold. 32Now, forgive them of this sin. If you will not, then erase my name. Erase it from the book in which you have written the names of your people.”
33But the Lord told Moses, “I will erase from my book the names of the people who sin against me. 34So now, go. Lead the people where I have told you. My angel will lead you. When the time comes to punish, I will punish them for their sin.”
35So the Lord caused terrible things to happen to the people. He did this because of what they did with the calf Aaron had made.
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