Exodus 32
New Living Translation
The Gold Calf
32 When 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.”
2 So Aaron said, “Take the gold rings from the ears of your wives and sons and daughters, and bring them to me.”
3 All the people took the gold rings from their ears and brought them to Aaron. 4 Then 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!”
5 Aaron 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!”
6 The 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.
7 The Lord told Moses, “Quick! Go down the mountain! Your people whom you brought from the land of Egypt have corrupted themselves. 8 How 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.’”
9 Then the Lord said, “I have seen how stubborn and rebellious these people are. 10 Now 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.”
11 But 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? 12 Why 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! 13 Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.[a] 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.’”
14 So the Lord changed his mind about the terrible disaster he had threatened to bring on his people.
15 Then Moses turned and went down the mountain. He held in his hands the two stone tablets inscribed with the terms of the covenant.[b] They were inscribed on both sides, front and back. 16 These tablets were God’s work; the words on them were written by God himself.
17 When Joshua heard the boisterous noise of the people shouting below them, he exclaimed to Moses, “It sounds like war in the camp!”
18 But Moses replied, “No, it’s not a shout of victory nor the wailing of defeat. I hear the sound of a celebration.”
19 When 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. 20 He 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.
21 Finally, 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. 23 They 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.’ 24 So 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!”
25 Moses saw that Aaron had let the people get completely out of control, much to the amusement of their enemies.[c] 26 So 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.
27 Moses 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.” 28 The Levites obeyed Moses’ command, and about 3,000 people died that day.
29 Then Moses told the Levites, “Today you have ordained yourselves[d] 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
30 The 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[e] for your sin.”
31 So Moses returned to the Lord and said, “Oh, what a terrible sin these people have committed. They have made gods of gold for themselves. 32 But now, if you will only forgive their sin—but if not, erase my name from the record you have written!”
33 But the Lord replied to Moses, “No, I will erase the name of everyone who has sinned against me. 34 Now 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.”
35 Then the Lord sent a great plague upon the people because they had worshiped the calf Aaron had made.
Footnotes
- 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.
- 32:15 Hebrew the two tablets of the Testimony; see note on 25:16.
- 32:25 Or out of control, and they mocked anyone who opposed them. The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain.
- 32:29 As in Greek and Latin versions; Hebrew reads Today ordain yourselves.
- 32:30 Or to make atonement.
出埃及 32
Chinese Contemporary Bible (Simplified)
金牛犊
32 百姓见摩西迟迟没有下山，就聚集到亚伦那里，对他说：“领我们离开埃及的那个摩西不知怎样了，你给我们造神像来带领我们吧。” 2 亚伦对他们说：“你们去摘下妻子、儿女的金耳环，拿来给我。” 3 百姓就都摘下金耳环交给亚伦。 4 亚伦用这些金耳环铸造了一头牛犊。他们说：“以色列人啊，这就是把你们带出埃及的神明。” 5 亚伦见状，便在牛犊前面筑了一座坛，然后宣告说：“明天是耶和华定的节期。” 6 第二天清晨，百姓都上前来献燔祭和平安祭，献完祭后就坐下吃喝，起来狂欢。
7 耶和华对摩西说：“你快下山吧，你的百姓，就是你从埃及领出来的那些人已经败坏了。 8 他们这么快就偏离了我吩咐他们走的道路，为自己造了一头牛犊来叩拜献祭，说，‘以色列人啊，这就是把你们带出埃及的神明。’” 9 耶和华又说：“我看到了，这些百姓真是顽固不化。 10 你不要阻止我，我要向他们发烈怒，毁灭他们。我要使你的后代成为大国。”
11 摩西恳求他的上帝耶和华说：“耶和华啊，你为什么要向你的子民发烈怒呢？这些子民是你亲自用神迹和大能从埃及领出来的。 12 难道你要让埃及人议论说你领他们出来是出于恶意，是为了在山野之间杀掉他们，从地上灭绝他们吗？求你息怒，施怜悯，不要降祸给你的子民。 13 求你顾念你的仆人亚伯拉罕、以撒和以色列，你曾凭自己向他们起誓说，‘我必使你们的后代像天上的星星那么多。我应许给你们后代的这整片土地，我必赐给他们作永远的产业。’” 14 耶和华听了摩西的话，就心生怜悯，不把所说的灾祸降在百姓身上。
15 摩西转身下山，手里拿着两块石版，石版的正反两面都有字。 16 石版是上帝做的，字是上帝刻的。 17 约书亚听见山下百姓嘈杂的喊叫声，便对摩西说：“营地里有打仗的声音。” 18 摩西对他说：“这不是打胜仗的声音，也不是打败仗的声音，而是狂欢的声音。” 19 摩西走近营地的时候，看见牛犊，又看见百姓在跳舞，心中大怒，便把手上的两块石版摔碎在山脚下， 20 又把他们铸造的牛犊熔化掉，磨成粉末撒在水面上，叫以色列百姓喝。 21 摩西对亚伦说：“这些百姓对你做了什么？你竟使他们陷入大罪中！” 22 亚伦回答说：“求我主不要动怒，你知道这些人专门作恶。 23 他们对我说，‘为我们造神明来带领我们吧，因为领我们离开埃及的那个摩西不知怎样了。’ 24 于是，我吩咐他们摘下金耳环给我，我把这些金耳环丢进火里，这头牛犊就出来了。”
25 摩西见百姓放肆，亚伦纵容他们，使他们成为敌人的笑柄， 26 便站在营门口对会众说：“凡跟从耶和华的，都站到我这边来。”所有的利未人都聚集到摩西身边。 27 摩西对他们说：“以色列的上帝耶和华这样说，‘你们各人带着刀，从这个门到那个门，走遍整个营，不论遇见的是兄弟、伙伴还是邻居，只管杀他们。’” 28 利未人便照摩西的话去做。那一天，约有三千人被杀。 29 摩西对利未人说：“今天你们已经把自己奉献给耶和华了，因为你们大义灭亲，祂必赐福给你们。”
30 第二天，摩西对百姓说：“你们犯了大罪，我现在要到耶和华那里，也许可以为你们求得赦免。” 31 摩西回到耶和华那里，说：“唉，百姓犯了大罪，用金子为自己造了神像。 32 恳求你赦免他们的罪，不然请你从你的册子上抹掉我的名字吧。” 33 耶和华对摩西说：“谁得罪我，我就从我的册子上抹掉谁的名字。 34 你现在回去带领这些百姓，往我指示你的地方去，我的天使必在你前面引路。只是到我惩罚的日子，我必因他们的罪惩罚他们。”
35 耶和华击杀百姓，是因为他们曾与亚伦一起造牛犊。
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