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
The Gold Calf
1Now when the people saw that Moses #Ex. 24:18; Deut. 9:9–12delayed coming down from the mountain, the people #Ex. 17:1–3gathered together to Aaron, and said to him, #Acts 7:40“Come, make us gods that shall #Ex. 13:21go before us; for as for this Moses, the man who #Ex. 32:8brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.”
2And Aaron said to them, “Break off the #Ex. 11:2; 35:22; Judg. 8:24–27golden earrings which are in the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me.” 3So all the people broke off the golden earrings which were in their ears, and brought them to Aaron. 4#Ex. 20:3, 4, 23; Deut. 9:16; Judg. 17:3, 4; 1 Kin. 12:28; Neh. 9:18; Ps. 106:19; Acts 7:41And he received the gold from their hand, and he fashioned it with an engraving tool, and made a molded calf.
Then they said, “This is your god, O Israel, that #Ex. 29:45, 46brought you out of the land of Egypt!”
5So when Aaron saw it, he built an altar before it. And Aaron made a #Lev. 23:2, 4, 21, 37; 2 Kin. 10:20; 2 Chr. 30:5proclamation and said, “Tomorrow is a feast to the Lord.” 6Then they rose early on the next day, offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings; and the people #Ex. 32:17–19; Num. 25:2; 1 Cor. 10:7sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play.
7And the Lord said to Moses, #Deut. 9:8–21; Dan. 9:14“Go, get down! For your people whom you brought out of the land of Egypt #Gen. 6:11, 12have corrupted themselves. 8They have turned aside quickly out of the way which #Ex. 20:3, 4, 23; Deut. 32:17I commanded them. They have made themselves a molded calf, and worshiped it and sacrificed to it, and said, #1 Kin. 12:28‘This is your god, O Israel, that brought you out of the land of Egypt!’ ” 9And the Lord said to Moses, #Ex. 33:3, 5; 34:9; Deut. 9:6; 2 Chr. 30:8; Is. 48:4; (Acts 7:51)“I have seen this people, and indeed it is a stiff-necked people! 10Now therefore, #Deut. 9:14, 19let Me alone, that #Ex. 22:24My wrath may burn hot against them and I may consume them. And #Num. 14:12I will make of you a great nation.”
11#Deut. 9:18, 26–29Then Moses pleaded with the Lord his God, and said: “Lord, why does Your wrath burn hot against Your people whom You have brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand? 12#Num. 14:13–19; Deut. 9:28; Josh. 7:9Why should the Egyptians speak, and say, ‘He brought them out to harm them, to kill them in the mountains, and to consume them from the face of the earth’? Turn from Your fierce wrath, and #Ex. 32:14relent from this harm to Your people. 13Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, Your servants, to whom You #Gen. 22:16–18; (Heb. 6:13)swore by Your own self, and said to them, #Gen. 12:7; 13:15; 15:7, 18; 22:17; 26:4; 35:11, 12; Ex. 13:5, 11; 33:1‘I will multiply your descendants as the stars of heaven; and all this land that I have spoken of I give to your descendants, and they shall inherit it forever.’ ” 14So the Lord #2 Sam. 24:16relented from the harm which He said He would do to His people.
15And #Deut. 9:15Moses turned and went down from the mountain, and the two tablets of the Testimony were in his hand. The tablets were written on both sides; on the one side and on the other they were written. 16Now the #Ex. 31:18tablets were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God engraved on the tablets.
17And when Joshua heard the noise of the people as they shouted, he said to Moses, “There is a noise of war in the camp.”
18But he said:
“It is not the noise of the shout of victory,
Nor the noise of the cry of defeat,
But the sound of singing I hear.”
19So it was, as soon as he came near the camp, that #Deut. 9:16, 17he saw the calf and the dancing. So Moses’ anger became hot, and he cast the tablets out of his hands and broke them at the foot of the mountain. 20#Num. 5:17, 24; Deut. 9:21Then he took the calf which they had made, burned it in the fire, and ground it to powder; and he scattered it on the water and made the children of Israel drink it. 21And Moses said to Aaron, #Gen. 26:10“What did this people do to you that you have brought so great a sin upon them?”
22So Aaron said, “Do not let the anger of my lord become hot. #Ex. 14:11; Deut. 9:24You know the people, that they are set on evil. 23For they said to me, ‘Make us gods that shall go before us; as for this Moses, the man who brought us out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.’ 24And I said to them, ‘Whoever has any gold, let them break it off.’ So they gave it to me, and I cast it into the fire, and this calf came out.”
25Now when Moses saw that the people were #Ex. 33:4, 5unrestrained (for Aaron #2 Chr. 28:19had not restrained them, to their shame among their enemies), 26then Moses stood in the entrance of the camp, and said, “Whoever is on the Lord’s side—come to me!” And all the sons of Levi gathered themselves together to him. 27And he said to them, “Thus says the Lord God of Israel: ‘Let every man put his sword on his side, and go in and out from entrance to entrance throughout the camp, and #Num. 25:5–13let every man kill his brother, every man his companion, and every man his neighbor.’ ” 28So the sons of Levi did according to the word of Moses. And about three thousand men of the people fell that day. 29#Ex. 28:41; 1 Sam. 15:18, 22; Prov. 21:3; Zech. 13:3Then Moses said, “Consecrate yourselves today to the Lord, that He may bestow on you a blessing this day, for every man has opposed his son and his brother.”
30Now it came to pass on the next day that Moses said to the people, #1 Sam. 12:20, 23“You have committed a great sin. So now I will go up to the Lord; #2 Sam. 16:12perhaps I can #Num. 25:13make atonement for your sin.” 31Then Moses #Deut. 9:18returned to the Lord and said, “Oh, these people have committed a great sin, and have #Ex. 20:23made for themselves a god of gold! 32Yet now, if You will forgive their sin—but if not, I pray, #Ps. 69:28; Is. 4:3; Mal. 3:16; Rom. 9:3blot me #Dan. 12:1; Phil. 4:3; Rev. 3:5; 21:27out of Your book which You have written.”
33And the Lord said to Moses, #Lev. 23:30; (Ezek. 18:4; 33:2, 14, 15)“Whoever has sinned against Me, I will #Ex. 17:14; Deut. 29:20; Ps. 9:5; Rev. 3:5; 21:27blot him out of My book. 34Now therefore, go, lead the people to the place of which I have #Ex. 3:17spoken to you. #Ex. 23:20; Josh. 5:14Behold, My Angel shall go before you. Nevertheless, #Deut. 32:35; Rom. 2:5, 6in the day when I visit for punishment, I will #Ps. 89:32visit punishment upon them for their sin.”
35So the Lord plagued the people because of #Neh. 9:18what they did with the calf which Aaron made.
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The Holy Bible, New King James Version, Copyright © 1982 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.