Exodus 32
32
1And the people seeing that Moses delayed to come down from the mount, gathering together against Aaron, said: Arise, make us gods, that may go before us; for as to this Moses, the man that brought us out of the land of Egypt, we know not what has befallen him.
2And Aaron said to them: Take the golden earrings from the ears of your wives, and your sons and daughters, and bring them to me.
3And the people did what he had commanded, bringing the earrings to Aaron.
4And when he had received them, he fashioned them by founders' work, and made of them a molten calf. And they said: These are thy gods, O Israel, that have brought thee out of the land of Egypt.
5And when Aaron saw this, he built an altar before it, and made proclamation by a crier's voice, saying: Tomorrow is the solemnity of the Lord.
6And rising in the morning, they offered holocausts, and peace-victims: and the people sat down to eat, and drink, and they rose up to play.
7And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: Go, get thee down: thy people, which thou hast brought out of the land of Egypt, hath sinned.
8They have quickly strayed from the way which thou didst shew them: and they have made to themselves a molten calf, and have adored it, and sacrificing victims to it, have said: These are thy gods, O Israel, that have brought thee out of the land of Egypt.
9And again the Lord said to Moses: See that this people is stiffnecked.
10Let me alone, that my wrath may be enkindled against them, and that I may destroy them: and I will make of thee a great nation.
11But Moses besought the Lord his God, saying: Why, O Lord, is thy indignation kindled against thy people, whom thou hast brought out of the land of Egypt, with great power, and with a mighty hand?
12Let not the Egyptians say, I beseech thee: He craftily brought them out, that he might kill them in the mountains, and destroy them from the earth. Let thy anger cease, and be appeased upon the wickedness of thy people.
13Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, thy servants, to whom thou sworest by thy own self, saying: I will multiply your seed as the stars of heaven; and this whole land that I have spoken of I will give to you seed; and you shall possess it for ever.
14And the Lord was appeased from doing the evil which he had spoken against his people.
15And Moses returned from the mount, carrying the two tables of the testimony in his hand, written on both sides,
16And made by the work of God. The writing also of God was graven in the tables.
17And Josue hearing the noise of the people shouting said to Moses: The noise of battle is heard in the camp.
18But he answered: It is not the cry of men encouraging to fight, nor the shout of men compelling to flee. But I hear the voice of singers.
19And when he came nigh to the camp, he saw the calf, and the dances: and being very angry, he threw the tables out of his hand, and broke them at the foot of the mount.
20And laying hold of the calf which they had made, he burnt it, and beat it to powder, which he strowed into water, and gave thereof to the children of Israel to drink.
21And he said to Aaron: What has this people done to thee, that thou shouldst bring upon them a most heinous sin?
22And he answered him: Let not my lord be offended: for thou knowest this people, that they are prone to evil.
23They said to me: Make us gods, that may go before us; for as to this Moses, who brought us forth out of the land of Egypt, we know not what is befallen him.
24And I said to them: Which of you hath any gold? And they took and brought it to me: and I cast it into the fire, and this calf came out.
25And when Moses saw that the people were naked, (for Aaron had stripped them by occasion of the shame of the filth, and had set them naked among their enemies,)
26Then standing in the gate of the camp, he said: If any man be on the Lord's side let him join with me. And all the sons of Levi gathered themselves together unto him.
27And he said to them: Thus saith the Lord God of Israel: Put every man his sword upon his thigh. Go, and return from gate to gate through the midst of the camp, and let every man kill his brother, and friend, and neighbour.
28And the sons of Levi did according to the words of Moses: and there were slain that day about three and twenty thousand men.
29And Moses said: You have consecrated your hands this day to the Lord: every man in his son and in his brother, that a blessing may be given to you.
30And when the next day was come, Moses spoke to the people: You have sinned a very great sin. I will go up to the Lord, if by any means I may be able to entreat him for your crime.
31And returning to the Lord, he said: I beseech thee: this people hath sinned a heinous sin, and they have made to themselves gods of gold. Either forgive them this trespass,
32Or if thou do not, strike me out of the book that thou hast written.
33And the Lord answered him: He that hath sinned against me, him will I strike out of my book:
34But go thou, and lead this people whither I have told thee. My angel shall go before thee. And I in the day of revenge will visit this sin also of theirs.
35The Lord therefore struck the people for the guilt on occasion of the calf which Aaron had made.
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Exodus 32: DRC1752
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An historical text maintained by the British and Foreign Bible Society.
Exodus 32
32
“Make Gods for Us”
1When the people realized that Moses was taking forever in coming down off the mountain, they rallied around Aaron and said, “Do something. Make gods for us who will lead us. That Moses, the man who got us out of Egypt—who knows what’s happened to him?”
2-4So Aaron told them, “Take off the gold rings from the ears of your wives and sons and daughters and bring them to me.” They all did it; they removed the gold rings from their ears and brought them to Aaron. He took the gold from their hands and cast it in the form of a calf, shaping it with an engraving tool.
The people responded with enthusiasm: “These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up from Egypt!”
5Aaron, taking in the situation, built an altar before the calf.
Aaron then announced, “Tomorrow is a feast day to God!”
6Early the next morning, the people got up and offered Whole-Burnt-Offerings and brought Peace-Offerings. The people sat down to eat and drink and then began to party. It turned into a wild party!
7-8 God spoke to Moses, “Go! Get down there! Your people whom you brought up from the land of Egypt have fallen to pieces. In no time at all they’ve turned away from the way I commanded them: They made a molten calf and worshiped it. They’ve sacrificed to it and said, ‘These are the gods, O Israel, that brought you up from the land of Egypt!’”
9-10 God said to Moses, “I look at this people—oh! what a stubborn, hard-headed people! Let me alone now, give my anger free reign to burst into flames and incinerate them. But I’ll make a great nation out of you.”
11-13Moses tried to calm his God down. He said, “Why, God, would you lose your temper with your people? Why, you brought them out of Egypt in a tremendous demonstration of power and strength. Why let the Egyptians say, ‘He had it in for them—he brought them out so he could kill them in the mountains, wipe them right off the face of the Earth.’ Stop your anger. Think twice about bringing evil against your people! Think of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your servants to whom you gave your word, telling them ‘I will give you many children, as many as the stars in the sky, and I’ll give this land to your children as their land forever.’”
14And God did think twice. He decided not to do the evil he had threatened against his people.
15-16Moses turned around and came down from the mountain, carrying the two tablets of The Testimony. The tablets were written on both sides, front and back. God made the tablets and God wrote the tablets—engraved them.
17When Joshua heard the sound of the people shouting noisily, he said to Moses, “That’s the sound of war in the camp!”
18But Moses said,
Those aren’t songs of victory,
And those aren’t songs of defeat,
I hear songs of people throwing a party.
19-20And that’s what it was. When Moses came near to the camp and saw the calf and the people dancing, his anger flared. He threw down the tablets and smashed them to pieces at the foot of the mountain. He took the calf that they had made, melted it down with fire, pulverized it to powder, then scattered it on the water and made the Israelites drink it.
21Moses said to Aaron, “What on Earth did these people ever do to you that you involved them in this huge sin?”
22-23Aaron said, “Master, don’t be angry. You know this people and how set on evil they are. They said to me, ‘Make us gods who will lead us. This Moses, the man who brought us out of Egypt, we don’t know what’s happened to him.’
24“So I said, ‘Who has gold?’ And they took off their jewelry and gave it to me. I threw it in the fire and out came this calf.”
25-26Moses saw that the people were simply running wild—Aaron had let them run wild, disgracing themselves before their enemies. He took up a position at the entrance to the camp and said, “Whoever is on God’s side, join me!” All the Levites stepped up.
27He then told them, “God’s orders, the God of Israel: ‘Strap on your swords and go to work. Crisscross the camp from one end to the other: Kill brother, friend, neighbor.’”
28The Levites carried out Moses’ orders. Three thousand of the people were killed that day.
29Moses said, “You confirmed your ordination today—and at great cost, even killing your sons and brothers! And God has blessed you.”
30The next day Moses addressed the people: “You have sinned an enormous sin! But I am going to go up to God; maybe I’ll be able to clear you of your sin.”
31-32Moses went back to God and said, “This is terrible. This people has sinned—it’s an enormous sin! They made gods of gold for themselves. And now, if you will only forgive their sin. . . . But if not, erase me out of the book you’ve written.”
33-34 God said to Moses, “I’ll only erase from my book those who sin against me. For right now, you go and lead the people to where I told you. Look, my Angel is going ahead of you. On the day, though, when I settle accounts, their sins will certainly be part of the settlement.”
35 God sent a plague on the people because of the calf they and Aaron had made.
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THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson. All rights reserved. Used by permission of NavPress. Represented by Tyndale House Publishers.