Exodus 32
32
1And the people see that Moses is delaying to come down from the mount, and the people assemble against Aaron, and say unto him, ‘Rise, make for us gods who go before us, for this Moses — the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt — we have not known what hath happened to him.’
2And Aaron saith unto them, ‘Break off the rings of gold which [are] in the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring in unto me;’
3and all the people themselves break off the rings of gold which [are] in their ears, and bring in unto Aaron,
4and he receiveth from their hand, and doth fashion it with a graving tool, and doth make it a molten calf, and they say, ‘These thy gods, O Israel, who brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.’
5And Aaron seeth, and buildeth an altar before it, and Aaron calleth, and saith, ‘A festival to Jehovah — to-morrow;’
6and they rise early on the morrow, and cause burnt-offerings to ascend, and bring nigh peace-offerings; and the people sit down to eat and to drink, and rise up to play.
7And Jehovah saith unto Moses, ‘Go, descend, for thy people whom thou hast brought up out of the land of Egypt hath done corruptly,
8they have turned aside hastily from the way that I have commanded them; they have made for themselves a molten calf, and bow themselves to it, and sacrifice to it, and say, These thy gods, O Israel, who brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.’
9And Jehovah saith unto Moses, ‘I have seen this people, and lo, it [is] a stiff-necked people;
10and now, let Me alone, and My anger doth burn against them, and I consume them, and I make thee become a great nation.’
11And Moses appeaseth the face of Jehovah his God, and saith, ‘Why, O Jehovah, doth Thine anger burn against Thy people, whom Thou hast brought forth out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a strong hand?
12why do the Egyptians speak, saying, For evil He brought them out to slay them among mountains, and to consume them from off the face of the ground? turn back from the heat of Thine anger, and repent of the evil against Thy people.
13‘Be mindful of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Israel, Thy servants, to whom Thou hast sworn by Thyself, and unto whom Thou speakest: I multiply your seed as stars of the heavens, and all this land, as I have said, I give to your seed, and they have inherited to the age;’
14and Jehovah repenteth of the evil which He hath spoken of doing to His people.
15And Moses turneth, and goeth down from the mount, and the two tables of the testimony [are] in his hand, tables written on both their sides, on this and on that [are] they written;
16and the tables are the work of God, and the writing is the writing of God, graven on the tables.
17And Joshua heareth the voice of the people in their shouting, and saith unto Moses, ‘A noise of battle in the camp!’
18and he saith, ‘It is not the voice of the crying of might, nor is it the voice of the crying of weakness — a voice of singing I am hearing.’
19And it cometh to pass, when he hath drawn near unto the camp, that he seeth the calf, and the dancing, and the anger of Moses burneth, and he casteth out of his hands the tables, and breaketh them under the mount;
20and he taketh the calf which they have made, and burneth [it] with fire, and grindeth until [it is] small, and scattereth on the face of the waters, and causeth the sons of Israel to drink.
21And Moses saith unto Aaron, ‘What hath this people done to thee, that thou hast brought in upon it a great sin?’
22and Aaron saith, ‘Let not the anger of my lord burn; thou — thou hast known the people that it [is] in evil;
23and they say to me, Make for us gods, who go before us, for this Moses — the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt — we have not known what hath happened to him;
24and I say to them, Whoso hath gold, let them break [it] off, and they give to me, and I cast it into the fire, and this calf cometh out.’
25And Moses seeth the people that it [is] unbridled, for Aaron hath made it unbridled for contempt among its withstanders,
26and Moses standeth in the gate of the camp, and saith, ‘Who [is] for Jehovah? — unto me!’ and all the sons of Levi are gathered unto him;
27and he saith to them, ‘Thus said Jehovah, God of Israel, Put each his sword by his thigh, pass over and turn back from gate to gate through the camp, and slay each his brother, and each his friend, and each his relation.’
28And the sons of Levi do according to the word of Moses, and there fall of the people on that day about three thousand men,
29and Moses saith, ‘Consecrate your hand to-day to Jehovah, for a man [is] against his son, and against his brother, so as to bring on you to-day a blessing.’
30And it cometh to pass, on the morrow, that Moses saith unto the people, ‘Ye — ye have sinned a great sin, and now I go up unto Jehovah, if so be I atone for your sin.’
31And Moses turneth back unto Jehovah, and saith, ‘Oh this people hath sinned a great sin, that they make to themselves a god of gold;
32and now, if Thou takest away their sin — and if not — blot me, I pray thee, out of Thy book which Thou hast written.’
33And Jehovah saith unto Moses, ‘Whoso hath sinned against Me — I blot him out of My book;
34and now, go, lead the people whithersoever I have spoken to thee of; lo, My messenger goeth before thee, and in the day of my charging — then I have charged upon them their sin.’
35And Jehovah plagueth the people, because they made the calf which Aaron made.
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Exodus 32: YLT98
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Exodus 32
32
The Golden Calf
1#Ex 24:18; Ac 7:40Now when the people saw that Moses delayed coming down from the mountain, the people gathered themselves together around Aaron and said to him, “Come, make us gods which will 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#Ex 12:35–36; Jdg 8:24–27Aaron said to them, “Break off the gold earrings that are in the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me.” 3So all the people broke off the gold earrings that were in their ears and brought them to Aaron. 4#Dt 9:16; Ne 9:18He received them from their hand, and fashioned it with an engraving tool, and made it into a molded calf. Then they said, “This is your god, O Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt.”
5#2Ki 10:20; Lev 23:2When Aaron saw it, he built an altar before it. And Aaron made a proclamation and said, “Tomorrow will be a feast to the Lord.” 6#1Co 10:7; Nu 25:2So they rose up early on the next day, and offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings. And the people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to play.
7#Dt 9:12; Ex 32:11The Lord spoke to Moses, “Go, and get down, for your people, whom you brought out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves. 8#Ex 20:3–4; 20:23They have quickly turned aside from the way which I commanded them. They have made for themselves a molded calf, and have worshipped it, and have sacrificed to it, and said, ‘This is your god, O Israel, which has brought you up from the land of Egypt.’ ”
9#Ex 33:3; 33:5Then the Lord said to Moses, “I have seen this people, and certainly, it is a stiff-necked people. 10#Dt 9:14; Nu 14:12; Dt 9:19Now therefore let Me alone, so that My wrath may burn against them and I may destroy them. And I will make of you a great nation.”
11#Dt 9:18–20; 9:26–29But Moses sought the favor of the Lord his God, and said, “Lord, why does Your wrath burn against Your people, whom You have brought forth from the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand? 12#Nu 14:13–16; Dt 9:28Why should the Egyptians speak, saying, ‘With evil intent He brought them out, to kill them in the mountains and to destroy them from the face of the earth’? Turn from Your fierce wrath and relent of this harm against Your people. 13#Ge 12:7; 22:16Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, Your servants, to whom You swore by Yourself, and said to them, ‘I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heavens, and all this land that I have spoken of will I give to your descendants, and they will inherit it forever.’ ” 14#Ps 106:45; 2Sa 24:16Then the Lord relented of the harm which He said He would do to His people.
15#Dt 9:15Moses turned and went down from the mountain with the two tablets of testimony in his hand. The tablets were written on both their sides. They were written on one side and on the other. 16#Ex 31:18The tablets were God’s work, and the writing was God’s writing, engraved on the tablets.
17#Ex 17:9; 24:13When Joshua heard the noise of the people as they shouted, he said to Moses, “There is a sound of war in the camp.”
18But he said:
“It is not the sound of those who shout for victory,
nor is it the sound of those who cry because of being overcome,
but I hear the sound of singing.”
19#Dt 9:16–17As soon as he came near the camp, he saw the calf and the dancing, and Moses’ anger burned, so he threw the tablets from his hands and shattered them at the bottom of the mountain. 20#Dt 9:21Then he took the calf which they had made and burned it in the fire, ground it to powder, and scattered it on the water, and made the children of Israel drink it.
21#Ge 20:9Moses said to Aaron, “What did this people do to you, that you have brought so great a sin upon them?”
22#Dt 9:24; Ex 14:11Aaron said, “Do not let the anger of my lord burn. You know that the people are set on evil. 23#Ex 32:1–4For they said to me, ‘Make a god for us which will go before us, for this Moses, the man that brought us up from the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.’ 24#Ex 32:4I said to them, ‘Whoever has any gold, let them break it off.’ So they gave it to me, and then I threw it into the fire, and this calf came out.’ ”
25Now when Moses saw the people were in a frenzy, for Aaron had let them get completely out of control, causing derision from their enemies, 26then Moses stood in the gate of the camp and said, “Whoever is on the Lord’s side, come to me.” And all the Levites gathered themselves together around him.
27#Nu 25:5He said to them, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘Every man fasten his sword on his side, and go back and forth from gate to gate throughout the camp, and let every man kill his brother, and every man his friend, and every man his neighbor.’ ” 28#Dt 33:9The Levites did according to the word of Moses, and about three thousand men of the people died that day. 29#Nu 25:11–13; Zec 13:3For Moses had said, “Consecrate yourselves today to the Lord, that He may bestow a blessing on you this day, for every man opposes his son and his brother.”
30#1Sa 12:20; Nu 25:13On the next day Moses said to the people, “You have committed a great sin, and now I will go up to the Lord. Perhaps I can make atonement for your sin.”
31#Ex 20:23; 32:30Then Moses returned to the Lord and said, “Oh, this people has committed a great sin and have made a god of gold for themselves. 32#Ps 69:28; Da 12:1Yet now, if You will, forgive their sin, but if not, I pray, blot me out of Your book which You have written.”
33#Eze 18:4Then the Lord said to Moses, “Whoever has sinned against Me, I will blot him out of My book. 34#Ex 23:20; Dt 32:35So go now, lead the people to the place of which I have spoken to you. Indeed, My angel will go before you. Nevertheless in the day when I punish, I will indeed punish them for their sin.”
35And the Lord plagued the people because they had made the calf, the one that Aaron made.
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