Exod 32
1
And when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mount, the people
gathered themselves together to Aaron, and said to him, Up, make us gods, which shall
go before us; for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of
Egypt, we know not what is become of him.
2
And Aaron said to them, Break off the golden rings, which are in the ears of your
wives, of your sons, and of your daughters, and bring them to me.
3
And all the people brake off the golden rings which were in their ears, and brought
them to Aaron.
4
And he received it 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 [this], he built an altar before it; and Aaron made proclamation,
and said, To-morrow shall be a feast to YHWH.
6
And they rose up early on the morrow, and offered burnt-offerings, and brought peace-offerings;
and the people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to play.
7
And YHWH spoke to Moses, Go, get you down; for your people, that you brought up 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 have sacrificed to it, and said, These
are your gods, O Israel, which brought you up out of the land of Egypt.
9
And YHWH said to Moses, I have seen this people, and, behold, it is a stiff-necked
people:
10
now therefore let me alone, that my anger may wax hot against them, and that I may
consume them: and I will make of you a great nation.
11
And Moses besought YHWH his God, and said, YHWH, why does your anger wax hot against
your people, that you have brought forth out of the land of Egypt with great power
and with a mighty hand?
12
Wherefore should the Egyptians speak, saying, For evil did he bring them forth, to
slay them in the mountains, and to consume them from the face of the earth? Turn from
your fierce anger, and repent of this evil against your people.
13
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 heaven, and all
this land that I have spoken of will I give to your seed, and they shall inherit it
for ever.
14
And YHWH repented of the evil which he said he would do to his people.
15
And Moses turned, and went down from the mount, with the two tables of the testimony
in his hand; tables that were written on both their sides; on the one side and on
the other were they written.
16
And the tables were the work of God, and 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
And he said, It is not the voice of them that shout for mastery, neither is it the
voice of them that cry for being overcome; but the noise of them that sing do I hear.
19
And it came to pass, as soon as he came nigh to the camp, that he saw the calf and
the dancing: and Moses` anger waxed hot, and he cast the tables out of his hands,
and brake them beneath the mount.
20
And he took the calf which they had made, and burnt it with fire, and ground it to
powder, and strewed it upon the water, and made the children of Israel drink of it.
21
And Moses said to Aaron, What did this people to you, that you have brought a great
sin upon them?
22
And Aaron said, Let not the anger of my lord wax 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; for as for this Moses,
the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we know not what is become of
him.
24
And I said to them, Whoever has any gold, let them break it off: so they gave it me;
and I cast it into the fire, and there came out this calf.
25
And when Moses saw that the people were broken loose, (for Aaron had let them loose
for a derision among their enemies,)
26
then Moses stood in the gate of the camp, and said, Whoso is on YHWH`s side, [let
him come] to me. And all the sons of Levi gathered themselves together to him.
27
And he said to them, Thus says YHWH, the God of Israel, Put you every man his sword
upon his thigh, and go to and fro 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 three thousand men.
29
And Moses said, Consecrate yourselves to-day to YHWH, yea, every man against his son,
and against his brother; that he may bestow upon you a blessing this day.
30
And it came to pass on the morrow, that Moses said to the people, You have sinned
a great sin: and now I will go up to YHWH; peradventure I shall make atonement for
your sin.
31
And Moses returned to YHWH, and said, Oh, this people have sinned a great sin, and
have made them 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
And YHWH said to Moses, Whoever has sinned against me, him will I blot out of my book.
34
And now go, lead the people to [the place] of which I have spoken to you: behold,
mine angel shall go before you; nevertheless in the day when I visit, I will visit
their sin upon them.
35
And YHWH smote the people, because they made the calf, which Aaron made.