Exodus 32
32
The Golden Calf
1And the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain, and the people gathered opposite Aaron, and they said to him, “Come,#Or “arise” or “get up” make for us gods who will go before us, because this Moses, the man who brought us up from the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.”
2And Aaron said to them, “Take off the rings of gold that are on the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring it to me.” 3And all the people took off the rings of gold that were on their ears and brought it to Aaron. 4And he took from their hand, and he shaped it with a tool, and he made it a cast-image bull calf, and they said, “These are your gods, Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt.”
5And Aaron saw, and he built an altar before it, and Aaron called, and he said, “A feast for Yahweh tomorrow.” 6And they started early the next day, and they offered burnt offerings, and they presented fellowship offerings, and the people sat to eat and drink, and they rose up to revel.
7And Yahweh spoke to Moses, “Go, go down because your people behave corruptly, whom you brought up from the land of Egypt. 8They have turned aside quickly from the way that I commanded them; they have made for themselves a cast-image bull calf, and they bowed to it, and they sacrificed to it, and they said, ‘These are your gods, Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt.’ ”
9And Yahweh said to Moses, “I have seen this people, and, indeed, they are a stiff-necked people. 10And now leave me alone so that my anger may blaze#Literally “my nose may become hot” against them, and let me destroy them, and I will make you into a great nation.”
11And Moses implored Yahweh#Literally “implored the face of Yahweh” his God, and he said, “Why, Yahweh, should your anger blaze#Literally “your nose become hot” against your people whom you brought up from the land of Egypt with great power and with a strong hand? 12Why should the Egyptians say#Literally “say, saying”, ‘With evil intent he brought them out to kill them in the mountains and wipe them from the face of the earth’?#Or “ground” Turn from your fierce anger#Literally “the heat of your nose” and relent concerning the disaster for your people. 13Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your servants, to whom you swore by yourself, and you told them, ‘I will multiply your offspring like the stars of the heavens, and all this land that I promised I will give to your offspring, and they will inherit it forever.’ ”
14And Yahweh relented concerning the disaster that he had threatened#Literally “spoken” to do to his people. 15And Moses turned and went down from the mountain, and the two tablets of the testimony were in his hand, tablets written on their two sides; on the front and on the back#Literally “from this and from this” they were written. 16And the tablets, they were the work of God; and the writing, it was the writing of God engraved on the tablets.
17And Joshua heard the sound of the people in their shouting, and he said to Moses, “A sound of war is in the camp.”
18But he said, “There is not a sound of shouting of victory, and there is not a sound of shouting of defeat. I hear a sound of singing.”
19And#Literally “and it was” as he came near to the camp, he saw the bull calf and dancing, and Moses became angry,#Literally “the nose of Moses became hot” and he threw the tablets from his hand, and he broke them under the mountain. 20And he took the bull calf that they had made, and he burned it with the fire, and he crushed it until it became fine, and he scattered it on the surface of the water, and he made the Israelites#Literally “sons/children of Israel” drink.
21And Moses said to Aaron, “What did this people do to you that you brought on them such a great sin?” 22And Aaron said, “Let not my lord become angry.#Literally “let not the nose of my lord become hot” You yourself know the people, that they are intent on evil.#Literally “they in evil” 23And they said to me, ‘Make for us gods who will go before us, because this Moses, the man who brought us up from the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.’ 24And I said to them, ‘Whoever has gold, take it off.’ And they gave it to me, and I threw it in the fire, and out came this bull calf.”
25And Moses saw the people, that they were running wild#Or “out of control,” “running loose” because Aaron had allowed them to run wild,#Or “to be out of control,” “to run loose” for a laughingstock among their enemies.#Literally “those arising against them” 26And Moses stood at the entrance of the camp, and he said, “Whoever is for Yahweh, to me.” And all the sons of Levi were gathered to him. 27And he said to them, “Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel, ‘Put each his sword on his side. Go back and forth#Literally “through and come back” from gate to gate in the camp, and kill, each his brother and each his friend and each his close relative.’ ” 28And the sons of Levi did according to the word of Moses, and from the people on that day about three thousand persons fell.#Literally “three thousands of man” 29And Moses said, “You are ordained#Literally “your hands are filled” today for Yahweh, because each has been against his son and against his brother and so bringing on you today a blessing.”
30And#Literally “and it was” the next day Moses said to the people, “You have sinned a great sin. And now I will go up to Yahweh. Perhaps I can make atonement for your sin.”
31And Moses returned to Yahweh, and he said, “Alas, this people has sinned a great sin and made for themselves gods of gold. 32And now if you will forgive their sin—and if not, please blot me from your scroll that you have written.” 33And Yahweh said to Moses, “Whoever has sinned against me I will blot him from my scroll. 34And now go, lead the people to where I spoke to you. Look, my angel will go before you, and on the day when I punish I will punish them for their sin.” 35And Yahweh afflicted the people because they had made the bull calf that Aaron had made.
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Exodus 32: LEB
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Exodus 32
32
The Gold Calf
1When the people saw how long it was taking Moses to come back down the mountain, they gathered around Aaron. “Come on,” they said, “make us some gods who can lead us. We don’t know what happened to this fellow Moses, who brought us here from the land of Egypt.”
2So Aaron said, “Take the gold rings from the ears of your wives and sons and daughters, and bring them to me.”
3All the people took the gold rings from their ears and brought them to Aaron. 4Then Aaron took the gold, melted it down, and molded it into the shape of a calf. When the people saw it, they exclaimed, “O Israel, these are the gods who brought you out of the land of Egypt!”
5Aaron saw how excited the people were, so he built an altar in front of the calf. Then he announced, “Tomorrow will be a festival to the Lord!”
6The people got up early the next morning to sacrifice burnt offerings and peace offerings. After this, they celebrated with feasting and drinking, and they indulged in pagan revelry.
7The Lord told Moses, “Quick! Go down the mountain! Your people whom you brought from the land of Egypt have corrupted themselves. 8How quickly they have turned away from the way I commanded them to live! They have melted down gold and made a calf, and they have bowed down and sacrificed to it. They are saying, ‘These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you out of the land of Egypt.’”
9Then the Lord said, “I have seen how stubborn and rebellious these people are. 10Now leave me alone so my fierce anger can blaze against them, and I will destroy them. Then I will make you, Moses, into a great nation.”
11But Moses tried to pacify the Lord his God. “O Lord!” he said. “Why are you so angry with your own people whom you brought from the land of Egypt with such great power and such a strong hand? 12Why let the Egyptians say, ‘Their God rescued them with the evil intention of slaughtering them in the mountains and wiping them from the face of the earth’? Turn away from your fierce anger. Change your mind about this terrible disaster you have threatened against your people! 13Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.#32:13 Hebrew Israel. The names “Jacob” and “Israel” are often interchanged throughout the Old Testament, referring sometimes to the individual patriarch and sometimes to the nation. You bound yourself with an oath to them, saying, ‘I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars of heaven. And I will give them all of this land that I have promised to your descendants, and they will possess it forever.’”
14So the Lord changed his mind about the terrible disaster he had threatened to bring on his people.
15Then Moses turned and went down the mountain. He held in his hands the two stone tablets inscribed with the terms of the covenant.#32:15 Hebrew the two tablets of the Testimony; see note on 25:16. They were inscribed on both sides, front and back. 16These tablets were God’s work; the words on them were written by God himself.
17When Joshua heard the boisterous noise of the people shouting below them, he exclaimed to Moses, “It sounds like war in the camp!”
18But Moses replied, “No, it’s not a shout of victory nor the wailing of defeat. I hear the sound of a celebration.”
19When they came near the camp, Moses saw the calf and the dancing, and he burned with anger. He threw the stone tablets to the ground, smashing them at the foot of the mountain. 20He took the calf they had made and burned it. Then he ground it into powder, threw it into the water, and forced the people to drink it.
21Finally, he turned to Aaron and demanded, “What did these people do to you to make you bring such terrible sin upon them?”
22“Don’t get so upset, my lord,” Aaron replied. “You yourself know how evil these people are. 23They said to me, ‘Make us gods who will lead us. We don’t know what happened to this fellow Moses, who brought us here from the land of Egypt.’ 24So I told them, ‘Whoever has gold jewelry, take it off.’ When they brought it to me, I simply threw it into the fire—and out came this calf!”
25Moses saw that Aaron had let the people get completely out of control, much to the amusement of their enemies.#32:25 Or out of control, and they mocked anyone who opposed them. The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain. 26So he stood at the entrance to the camp and shouted, “All of you who are on the Lord’s side, come here and join me.” And all the Levites gathered around him.
27Moses told them, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: Each of you, take your swords and go back and forth from one end of the camp to the other. Kill everyone—even your brothers, friends, and neighbors.” 28The Levites obeyed Moses’ command, and about 3,000 people died that day.
29Then Moses told the Levites, “Today you have ordained yourselves#32:29 As in Greek and Latin versions; Hebrew reads Today ordain yourselves. for the service of the Lord, for you obeyed him even though it meant killing your own sons and brothers. Today you have earned a blessing.”
Moses Intercedes for Israel
30The next day Moses said to the people, “You have committed a terrible sin, but I will go back up to the Lord on the mountain. Perhaps I will be able to obtain forgiveness#32:30 Or to make atonement. for your sin.”
31So Moses returned to the Lord and said, “Oh, what a terrible sin these people have committed. They have made gods of gold for themselves. 32But now, if you will only forgive their sin—but if not, erase my name from the record you have written!”
33But the Lord replied to Moses, “No, I will erase the name of everyone who has sinned against me. 34Now go, lead the people to the place I told you about. Look! My angel will lead the way before you. And when I come to call the people to account, I will certainly hold them responsible for their sins.”
35Then the Lord sent a great plague upon the people because they had worshiped the calf Aaron had made.
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