Exodus 32
1 And when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mount, the people assembled themselves together around Aaron, and they said unto him, Up, make us gods, that shall go before us; for of this man Moses, who hath brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we know not what is become of him.
When the people saw that Moses delayed in coming down the mountain, they gathered around Aaron and said to him, “Come, make us an idol that 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 happened to him.”
2 And Aaron said unto them, Take out the golden earrings, which are in the ears of your wives, of your sons, and of your daughters, and bring them unto me.
So Aaron said to them, “Take off the golden rings that are on your wives' ears, and the ears of your sons and daughters, and bring them to me.”
3 And all the people took out the golden earrings, which were in their ears, and brought them unto Aaron.
All the people took off the golden rings that were on their ears and brought them to Aaron.
4 And he took them from their hand, and fashioned it in a mould, and he made of it a molten calf; and they said, These are thy gods, O Israel, that have brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.
He received the gold from them, fashioned it in a mold, and made it into a molded calf. Then the people said, “Israel, this is your god who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.”
5 And when Aaron saw this, he built an altar before it; and Aaron called out, and said, A feast unto the Lord is tomorrow.
When Aaron saw this, he built an altar before the calf and made a proclamation; he said, “Tomorrow will be a festival in Yahweh's honor.”
6 And they rose up early on the morrow, and offered burnt-offerings, and brought near peace-offerings; and the people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to play.
The people arose early the next day and offered burnt offerings and brought fellowship offerings. Then they sat down to eat and to drink, and then got up to carouse in wild celebration.
7 And the Lord spoke unto Moses, Go, get thee down; for thy people, which thou hast brought up out of the land of Egypt, hath become corrupt:
Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, “Go quickly, for your people, whom you brought up out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves.
8 They have turned aside quickly from the way which I have commanded them; they have made themselves a molten calf: and they have bowed themselves to it, and have sacrificed unto it, and have said, These are thy gods, O Israel, that have brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.
They have quickly left the way that I commanded them. They have molded for themselves a calf and have worshiped it and sacrificed to it. They have said, 'Israel, this is your god who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.'”
9 And the Lord said unto Moses, I have seen this people, and, behold, it is a stiffnecked people.
Then Yahweh said to Moses, “I have seen this people. Look, they are a stiff-necked people.
10 And now let me alone, and my wrath shall wax hot against them, and I will make an end of them; and I will make of thee a great nation.
Now then, do not try to stop me. My anger will burn hot against them, so I will destroy them. Then I will make a great nation from you.”
11 Thereupon Moses besought the Lord his God, and said, Why, O Lord, shall thy wrath wax hot against thy people, that thou hast brought forth out of the land of Egypt, with great power and with a mighty hand?
But Moses tried to calm down Yahweh his God. He said, “Yahweh, why does your anger burn against your people, whom you have brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand?
12 Wherefore should the Egyptians say thus, For mischief did he bring them out, to slay them in the mountains, and to destroy them from the face of the earth? Turn from thy fierce wrath, and repent thee of the evil decreed against thy people.
Why should the Egyptians say, 'He led them out with evil intent, to kill them in the mountains and to destroy them from the face of the earth?' Turn from your burning anger and relent from this punishment on your people.
13 Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, thy servants, to whom thou didst swear by thy own self, and speak unto them, I will multiply your seed as the stars of heaven; and all this land that I have spoken of will I give unto your seed, and they shall inherit it for ever.
Call to mind Abraham and Isaac and Israel, your servants, to whom you swore by your own self and said to them, 'I will make your descendants as many as the stars in the heavens, and I will give to your descendants all this land of which I have spoken. They will inherit it forever.'”
14 And the Lord bethought himself of the evil which he had spoken to do unto his people.
Then Yahweh relented from the punishment that he had said he would inflict on his people.
15 And Moses turned about, and went down from the mount with the two tables of the testimony in his hand: tables inscribed on both their sides; on the one side and on the other were they inscribed.
Then Moses turned around and went down the mountain, carrying the two tablets of the covenant decrees in his hand. The tablets were written on both their sides, on both the front and the back.
16 And the tables were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, engraved upon the tables.
The tablets were God's own work, and the writing was God's own writing, engraved on the tablets.
17 And Joshua heard the noise of the people in its shouting, and he said unto Moses, There is a noise of war in the camp.
When Joshua heard the noise of the people as they shouted, he said to Moses, “There is the noise of combat in the camp.”
18 And he said, It is not the voice of a shout for mastery, neither is it the voice of a cry for defeat; the noise of singing do I hear.
But Moses said, “It is not the sound of a victor, and not the sound of defeated people, but the sound of singing that I hear.”
19 And it came to pass, when he came nigh unto the camp, and he saw the calf, and the dancing: that the anger of Moses waxed hot, and he cast from his hands the tables, and broke them at the foot of the mount.
When Moses approached the camp, he saw the calf and the people dancing. He became very angry. He threw the tablets out of his hands and broke them at the bottom of the mountain.
20 And he took the calf which they had made, and burnt it in fire, and ground it to a powder, and he strewed it upon the water, and made the children of Israel drink of it.
He took the calf that the people had made, burned it, ground it to powder, and poured it into the water. Then he made the people of Israel drink it.
21 And Moses said unto Aaron, What hath this people done unto thee, that thou hast brought upon it so great a sin?
Then Moses said to Aaron, “What did this people do to you, that you have brought such a great sin on them?”
22 And Aaron said, Let not the anger of my Lord wax hot: thou knowest the people, that it is bent on mischief.
Aaron said, “Do not let your anger burn hot, my master. You know these people, how they are set on doing evil.
23 And they said unto me, Make us gods that shall go before us; for of this man Moses, who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we know not what hath become of him.
They said to me, 'Make us a god who 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 happened to him.'
24 And I said unto them, Who hath any gold? They took it off themselves and gave it to me, and I cast it into the fire, and there came out this calf.
So I said to them, 'Whoever has any gold, let him take it off.' They gave me the gold and I threw it into the fire, and out came this calf.”
25 And Moses saw the people that it had become unruly; for Aaron had made it unruly for a disgrace among their opponents.
Moses saw that the people were running wild (for Aaron had let them get out of control, causing their enemies to mock them).
26 Moses then placed himself in the gate of the camp, and said, Whoever is on the Lord's side, let him come unto me! and there assembled themselves unto him all the sons of Levi.
Then Moses stood at the entrance to the camp and said, “Whoever is on Yahweh's side, come to me.” All the Levites gathered around him.
27 And he said unto them, Thus hath said the Eternal, the God of Israel, Put ye every man his sword by his side, and go ye hither and thither, from gate to gate in the camp, and slay ye every man his brother, and every man his companion, and every man his relative.
He said to them, “Yahweh, the God of Israel, says this: 'Let each man fasten his sword on his side and go back and forth from entrance to entrance throughout the camp, and kill his brother, his companion, and his neighbor.'”
28 And the children of Levi did according to the word of Moses: and there fell of the people on that day about three thousand men.
The Levites did what Moses ordered. That day about three thousand of the people died.
29 And Moses said, Consecrate yourselves today to the Lord, yea even every man on his son, and on his brother; and to bestow upon you this day a blessing.
Moses said to the Levites, “You have been placed into Yahweh's service today, for each of you has taken action against his son and his brother, so Yahweh might give you a blessing today.”
30 And it came to pass on the morrow, that Moses said unto the people, Ye have sinned a great sin: and now I will go up unto the Lord; peradventure I may obtain an atonement for your sin.
The next day Moses said to the people, “You have committed a very great sin. Now I will go up to Yahweh. Perhaps I can make atonement for your sin.”
31 And Moses returned unto the Lord, and said, Oh, this people hath sinned a great sin, and they have made themselves gods of gold.
Moses returned to Yahweh and said, “Oh, these people have committed a great sin and made themselves an idol of gold.
32 Yet now, if thou wilt forgive their sin—; but if not, blot me out, I pray thee, from thy book which thou hast written.
But now, please forgive their sin; but if you do not, blot me out of the book that you have written.”
33 And the Lord said unto Moses, Whosoever hath sinned against me, him will I blot out from my book.
Yahweh said to Moses, “Whoever has sinned against me, that person I will blot out of my book.
34 And now go, lead the people unto the place of which I have spoken unto thee; behold, my angel shall go before thee; but on the day when I visit I will visit their sin upon them.
So now go, lead the people to the place of which I have spoken to you. See, my angel will go before you. But on the day that I punish them, I will punish them for their sin.”
35 And the Lord sent a plague among the people, because that they had made the calf which Aaron made.
Yahweh sent a plague on the people because they had made the calf, the one that Aaron made.
