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8 They have quickly withdrawn from the way which you revealed to them.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
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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