Exodus 32
32
1 WHEN THE people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain, [they] gathered together to Aaron, and said to him, Up, make us gods to go before us; as for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.
2 So Aaron replied, Take the gold rings from the ears of your wives, your sons, and daughters, and bring them to me.
3 So all the people took the gold rings from their ears and brought them to Aaron.
4 And he received the gold at their hand and fashioned it with a graving tool and made it a molten calf; and they said, These are your gods, O Israel, which brought you up out of the land of Egypt!
5 And when Aaron saw the molten calf, he built an altar before it; and Aaron made proclamation, and said, Tomorrow shall be a feast to the Lord.
6 And they rose up early the next day and offered burnt offerings and brought peace offerings; and the people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play.
7 The Lord said to Moses, Go down, for your people, whom you brought out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves;
8 They have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them; they have made them a molten calf and have worshiped it and sacrificed to it, and said, These are your gods, O Israel, that brought you up out of the land of Egypt!
9 And the Lord said to Moses, I have seen this people, and behold, it is a stiff-necked people;
10 Now therefore let Me alone, that My wrath may burn hot against them and that I may destroy them; but I will make of you a great nation.
11 But Moses besought the Lord his God, and said, Lord, why does Your wrath blaze hot against Your people, whom You have brought forth out of the land of Egypt with great power and a mighty hand?
12 Why should the Egyptians say, For evil He brought them forth, to slay them in the mountains and consume them from the face of the earth? Turn from Your fierce wrath, and change Your mind concerning this evil against Your people.
13 [Earnestly] remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, Your servants, to whom You swore by Your own self and said to them, I will multiply your seed as the stars of the heavens, and all this land that I have spoken of will I give to your seed, and they shall inherit it forever.
14 Then the Lord turned from the evil which He had thought to do to His people.
15 And Moses turned and went down from the mountain with the two tables of the Testimony in his hand, tables or tablets that were written on both sides.
16 The tables were the work of God; the writing was the writing of God, graven upon the tables.
17 And when Joshua heard the noise of the people as they shouted, he said to Moses, There is a noise of war in the camp.
18 But Moses said, It is not the sound of shouting for victory, neither is it the sound of the cry of the defeated, but the sound of singing that I hear.
19 And as soon as he came near to the camp he saw the calf and the dancing. And Moses' anger blazed hot and he cast the tables out of his hands and broke them at the foot of the mountain.
20 And he took the calf they had made and burned it in the fire, and ground it to powder and scattered it on the water and made the Israelites drink it.
21 And Moses said to Aaron, What did this people do to you, that you have brought so great a sin upon them?
22 And Aaron said, Let not the anger of my lord blaze hot; you know the people, that they are set on evil.
23 For they said to me, Make us gods which shall go before us; as for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.
24 I said to them, Those who have any gold, let them take it off. So they gave it to me; then I cast it into the fire, and there came out this calf.
25 And when Moses saw that the people were unruly and unrestrained (for Aaron had let them get out of control, so that they were a derision and object of shame among their enemies),
26 Then Moses stood in the gate of the camp, and said, Whoever is on the Lord's side, let him come to me. And all the Levites [the priestly tribe] gathered together to him.
27 And he said to them, Thus says the Lord God of Israel, Every man put his sword on his side and go in and out from gate to gate throughout the camp and slay every man his brother, and every man his companion, and every man his neighbor.
28 And the sons of Levi did according to the word of Moses; and there fell of the people that day about 3000 men.
29 And Moses said [to the Levites, By your obedience to God's command] you have consecrated yourselves today [as priests] to the Lord, each man [at the cost of being] against his own son and his own brother, that the Lord may restore and bestow His blessing upon you this day.
30 The next day Moses said to the people, You have sinned a great sin. And now I will go up to the Lord; perhaps I can make atonement for your sin.
31 So Moses returned to the Lord, and said, Oh, these people have sinned a great sin and have made themselves gods of gold!
32 Yet now, if You will forgive their sin–and if not, blot me, I pray You, out of Your book which You have written!
33 But the Lord said to Moses, Whoever has sinned against Me, I will blot him [not you] out of My book. [Dan. 12:1; Phil. 4:3; Rev. 3:5.]
34 But now go, lead the people to the place of which I have told you. Behold, My Angel shall go before you. Nevertheless, in the day when I punish I will visit their sin upon them! [Exod. 23:20; 33:2, 3.]
35 And the Lord sent a plague upon the people because they made the calf which Aaron fashioned for them.
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Exodus 32: AMPC
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Exodus 32
32
The Gold Calf
1When the people saw that Moses delayed in coming down from the mountain, they gathered around Aaron and said to him, “Come, make us a god # Or us gods who will go before us because this Moses, the man who brought us up from the land of Egypt — we don’t know what has happened to him! ” # Ex 13:21; 24:18; Dt 9:9; Ac 7:40
2Then Aaron replied to them, “Take off the gold rings # Ex 35:22; Jdg 8:24-27 that are on the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters and bring them to me.” 3So all the people took off the gold rings that were on their ears and brought them to Aaron. 4He took the gold from their hands, fashioned it with an engraving tool, and made it into an image of a calf.
Then they said, “Israel, this is your God, # Or Israel, this is your god, or Israel, these are your gods who brought you up from the land of Egypt! ” # Dt 9:16; Jdg 17:3-4; 1Kg 12:28; Neh 9:18; Ps 106:19; Ac 7:41
5When Aaron saw this, he built an altar before it; then he made an announcement: “There will be a festival # Lv 23:2,37; 2Kg 10:20 to the Lord tomorrow.” 6Early the next morning they arose, offered burnt offerings, and presented fellowship offerings. The people sat down to eat and drink, then got up to play. # Nm 25:2; 1Co 10:7
7The Lord spoke to Moses: “Go down at once! For your people you brought up from the land of Egypt have acted corruptly. # Gn 6:11-12; Dt 9:12 8They have quickly turned from the way I commanded them; they have made for themselves an image of a calf. They have bowed down to it, sacrificed to it, and said, ‘Israel, this is your God, # Or Israel, this is your god, or Israel, these are your gods who brought you up from the land of Egypt.’ ” # Ex 20:3-4,23; 34:15; Dt 32:17; 1Kg 12:28 9The Lord also said to Moses: “I have seen this people, and they are indeed a stiff-necked # Ex 33:3,5; 34:9; 2Ch 30:8; Is 48:4; Ac 7:51 people. 10Now leave Me alone, so that My anger can burn against them and I can destroy them. Then I will make you into a great nation.” # Ex 22:24; Nm 14:12; Dt 9:14
11But Moses interceded with the Lord his God: “Lord, why does Your anger burn against Your people You brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and a strong hand? 12Why should the Egyptians say, ‘He brought them out with an evil intent to kill them in the mountains and wipe them off the face of the earth’? Turn from Your great anger and relent concerning this disaster planned for Your people. # Nm 14:13-16; Dt 9:18,26-29 13Remember Your servants Abraham, Isaac, and Israel — You swore to them by Your very self # Gn 22:16-18; Heb 6:13 and declared, ‘I will make your offspring as numerous as the stars of the sky and will give your offspring all this land that I have promised, and they will inherit it forever.’ ” # Gn 12:7; 13:15; 15:7,18; 26:4; 35:11-12 14So the Lord relented # 2Sm 24:16; Ps 106:45 concerning the disaster He said He would bring on His people.
15Then Moses turned and went down the mountain with the two tablets of the testimony in his hands. They were inscribed on both sides — inscribed front and back. 16The tablets were the work of God, and the writing was God’s writing, engraved on the tablets. # Ex 31:18; Dt 9:15
17When Joshua heard the sound of the people as they shouted, he said to Moses, “There is a sound of war in the camp.”
18But Moses replied:
It’s not the sound of a victory cry
and not the sound of a cry of defeat;
I hear the sound of singing!
19As he approached the camp and saw the calf and the dancing, Moses became enraged and threw the tablets out of his hands, smashing them at the base of the mountain. 20Then he took the calf they had made, burned it up, and ground it to powder. He scattered the powder over the surface of the water and forced the Israelites to drink the water.
21Then Moses asked Aaron, “What did these people do to you that you have led them into such a grave sin? ”
22“Don’t be enraged, my lord,” Aaron replied. “You yourself know that the people are intent on evil. # Gn 20:9; 26:10; Ex 14:11; Dt 9:16-17,21 23They said to me, ‘Make us a god # Or us gods who will go before us because this Moses, the man who brought us up from the land of Egypt — we don’t know what has happened to him! ’ 24So I said to them, ‘Whoever has gold, take it off,’ and they gave it to me. When I threw it into the fire, out came this calf! ”
25Moses saw that the people were out of control, for Aaron had let them get out of control, resulting in weakness before their enemies. # Hb obscure; or resulting in derision 26And Moses stood at the camp’s entrance and said, “Whoever is for the Lord, come to me.” And all the Levites gathered around him. 27He told them, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says, ‘Every man fasten his sword to his side; go back and forth through the camp from entrance to entrance, and each of you kill his brother, his friend, and his neighbor.’ ” # Nm 25:5; Dt 33:9 28The Levites did as Moses commanded, and about 3,000 men fell dead that day among the people. 29Afterward Moses said, “Today you have been dedicated # Text emended; MT reads Today dedicate yourselves ; LXX, Vg read Today you have dedicated yourselves to the Lord, since each man went against his son and his brother. Therefore you have brought a blessing on yourselves today.” # Nm 25:11-13; Zch 13:3
30The following day Moses said to the people, “You have committed a grave sin. Now I will go up to the Lord; perhaps I will be able to atone for your sin.” # 1Sm 12:20; 2Sm 16:12
31So Moses returned to the Lord and said, “Oh, these people have committed a grave sin; they have made a god of gold for themselves. # Ex 20:23; Dt 9:18 32Now if You would only forgive their sin. But if not, please erase me from the book You have written.” # Ps 69:28; Dn 12:1; Rm 9:3; Php 4:3; Rv 3:5; 21:27
33The Lord replied to Moses: “I will erase whoever has sinned against Me from My book. # Dt 29:20; Ps 9:5 34Now go, lead the people to the place I told you about; see, My angel will go before you. But on the day I settle accounts, I will hold them accountable for their sin.” # Dt 32:35; Rm 2:5-6 35And the Lord inflicted a plague on the people for what they did with the calf Aaron had made.
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