Exodus 32
32
The Gold Calf
1When the people saw that Moses delayed coming down from the mountain, they gathered around Aaron. They said to him, “We don’t know what has happened to this Moses, who led us out of Egypt. Make gods who will lead us.”
2Aaron said to them, “Have your wives, sons, and daughters take off the gold earrings they are wearing, and bring them to me.”
3So all the people took off their gold earrings and handed them to Aaron. 4After he had worked on the gold with a tool, he made it into a statue of a calf.
Then they said, “Israel, here are your gods who brought you out of Egypt.”
5When Aaron saw this, he built an altar in front of it and announced, “Tomorrow there will be a festival in the Lord’s honor.”
6Early the next day the people sacrificed burnt offerings and brought fellowship offerings. Afterward, they sat down to a feast, which turned into an orgy.
7The Lord said to Moses, “Go back down there. Your people whom you brought out of Egypt have ruined ⌞everything⌟. 8They’ve already turned from the way I commanded them to live. They’ve made a statue of a calf for themselves. They’ve bowed down to it and offered sacrifices to it. They’ve said, ‘Israel, here are your gods who brought you out of Egypt.’ ”
9The Lord added, “I’ve seen these people, and they are impossible to deal with. 10Now leave me alone. I’m so angry with them I am going to destroy them. Then I’ll make you into a great nation.”
11But Moses pleaded with the Lord his God. “Lord,” he said, “why are you so angry with your people whom you brought out of Egypt using your great power and mighty hand? 12Don’t let the Egyptians say, ‘He was planning all along to kill them in the mountains and wipe them off the face of the earth. That’s why he brought them out ⌞of our land⌟.’ Don’t be so angry. Reconsider your decision to bring this disaster on your people. 13Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac, and Israel. You took an oath, swearing on yourself. You told them, ‘I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky. I will give to your descendants all the land I spoke of. It will be their permanent possession.’ ”
14So the Lord reconsidered his threat to destroy his people.
15Moses turned and went down the mountain carrying the two tablets with God’s words. They were written on both sides, front and back. 16The tablets were the work of God, and the writing was God’s writing inscribed on the tablets.
17Then Joshua heard the noise of the people shouting. He said to Moses, “It’s the sound of war in the camp!”
18Moses replied,
“It’s not the sound of winners shouting.
It’s not the sound of losers crying.
It’s the sound of a wild celebration that I hear.”
19When he came near the camp, he saw the calf and the dancing. In a burst of anger Moses threw down the tablets and smashed them at the foot of the mountain. 20Then he took the calf they had made, burned it, ground it into powder, scattered it on the water, and made the Israelites drink it.
21Moses asked Aaron, “What did these people do to you that you encouraged them to commit such a serious sin?”
22“Don’t be angry, sir,” Aaron answered. “You know that these people are evil. 23They said to me, ‘We don’t know what’s happened to this Moses who brought us out of Egypt. Make gods for us. They will lead us.’ 24So I told them to take off any gold they were wearing. They gave it to me. I threw it into the fire, and out came this calf!”
25Aaron had let the people get out of control, and they became an object of ridicule to their enemies. When Moses saw this, 26he stood at the entrance to the camp and said, “If you’re on the Lord’s side, come over here to me!” Then all the Levites gathered around him.
27He said to them, “This is what the Lord God of Israel says: Each of you put on your sword. Go back and forth from one end of the camp to the other, and kill your relatives, friends, and neighbors.”
28The Levites did what Moses told them, and that day about 3,000 people died.
29Moses said, “Today you are ordained as the Lord’s priests. God gave you a blessing today because each of you fought with your own sons and brothers.”#32:29 Or “God gave you a blessing today at the cost of your own sons and brothers.”
Moses Begs the LORD to Spare the People
30The next day Moses said to the people, “You have committed a serious sin. Now I will go up the mountain to the Lord. Maybe I will be able to make a payment for your sin and make peace with the Lord for your sin.”
31So Moses went back to the Lord and said, “These people have committed such a serious sin! They made gods out of gold for themselves. 32But will you forgive their sin? If not, please wipe me out of the book you have written.”
33The Lord answered Moses, “I will wipe out of my book whoever sins against me. 34Now, go! Lead the people to the place I told you about. My Messenger will go ahead of you. But when I punish, I will punish them for their sin.”
35So the Lord killed people because they had Aaron make the calf.
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GOD'S WORD® Translation ©1995, 2003, 2013, 2014, 2019, 2020 by God's Word to the Nations Mission Society. All rights reserved.
Exodus 32
32
The People Make an Idol To Worship
(Deuteronomy 9.6-29)
1 #
Ac 7.40. After 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.”
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, 4#1 K 12.28; Ac 7.41. then he melted them and made an idol in the shape of a young bull.
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 honor of the Lord.” 6#1 Co 10.7. The 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.
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.
11 #
Nu 14.13-19. Moses tried to get the Lord God to change his mind:
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!
13 #
Gn 22.16,17; Gn 17.8. Remember the solemn promise you made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. You promised that someday they would have as many descendants as there are stars in the sky and that you would give them land.
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 of his laws with his own hand, using 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. It sounds more like a wild party!”
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 neighbors.”
28The men of the Levi tribe followed his orders, and that day they killed about 3,000 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. 32#Ps 69.28; Rev 3.5. But 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.
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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© 2006 American Bible Society. All rights reserved.