¹⁸ When the Lord finished speaking to Moses on Mount Sinai,^(A) he gave him the two tablets of the covenant law, the tablets of stone^(B) inscribed by the finger of God.^(C)

The Golden Calf

32 When the people saw that Moses was so long in coming down from the mountain,^(D) they gathered around Aaron and said, “Come, make us gods^[a] who will go before^(E) us. As for this fellow Moses who brought us up out of Egypt, we don’t know what has happened to him.”^(F)

² Aaron answered them, “Take off the gold earrings^(G) that your wives, your sons and your daughters are wearing, and bring them to me.” ³ So all the people took off their earrings and brought them to Aaron. ⁴ He took what they handed him and made it into an idol^(H) cast in the shape of a calf,^(I) fashioning it with a tool. Then they said, “These are your gods,^[b](J) Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.”^(K)

⁵ When Aaron saw this, he built an altar in front of the calf and announced, “Tomorrow there will be a festival^(L) to the Lord.” ⁶ So the next day the people rose early and sacrificed burnt offerings and presented fellowship offerings.^(M) Afterward they sat down to eat and drink^(N) and got up to indulge in revelry.^(O)

⁷ Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go down, because your people, whom you brought up out of Egypt,^(P) have become corrupt.^{(Q) 8} They have been quick to turn away^(R) from what I commanded them and have made themselves an idol^(S) cast in the shape of a calf.^(T) They have bowed down to it and sacrificed^(U) to it and have said, ‘These are your gods, Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.’^(V)

⁹ “I have seen these people,” the Lord said to Moses, “and they are a stiff-necked^(W) people. ¹⁰ Now leave me alone^(X) so that my anger may burn against them and that I may destroy^(Y) them. Then I will make you into a great nation.”^(Z)

¹¹ But Moses sought the favor^(AA) of the Lord his God. “Lord,” he said, “why should your anger burn against your people, whom you brought out of Egypt with great power and a mighty hand?^{(AB) 12} Why should the Egyptians say, ‘It was with evil intent that he brought them out, to kill them in the mountains and to wipe them off the face of the earth’?^(AC) Turn from your fierce anger; relent and do not bring disaster^(AD) on your people. ¹³ Remember^(AE) your servants Abraham, Isaac and Israel, to whom you swore by your own self:^(AF) ‘I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars^(AG) in the sky and I will give your descendants all this land^(AH) I promised them, and it will be their inheritance forever.’” ¹⁴ Then the Lord relented^(AI) and did not bring on his people the disaster he had threatened.

¹⁵ Moses turned and went down the mountain with the two tablets of the covenant law^(AJ) in his hands.^(AK) They were inscribed^(AL) on both sides, front and back. ¹⁶ The tablets were the work of God; the writing was the writing of God, engraved on the tablets.^(AM)

¹⁷ When Joshua^(AN) heard the noise of the people shouting, he said to Moses, “There is the sound of war in the camp.”

¹⁸ Moses replied:

¹⁹ When Moses approached the camp and saw the calf^(AO) and the dancing,^(AP) his anger burned^(AQ) and he threw the tablets out of his hands, breaking them to pieces^(AR) at the foot of the mountain. ²⁰ And he took the calf the people had made and burned^(AS) it in the fire; then he ground it to powder,^(AT) scattered it on the water^(AU) and made the Israelites drink it.

²¹ He said to Aaron, “What did these people do to you, that you led them into such great sin?”

²² “Do not be angry,^(AV) my lord,” Aaron answered. “You know how prone these people are to evil.^{(AW) 23} They said to me, ‘Make us gods who will go before us. As for this fellow Moses who brought us up out of Egypt, we don’t know what has happened to him.’^{(AX) 24} So I told them, ‘Whoever has any gold jewelry, take it off.’ Then they gave me the gold, and I threw it into the fire, and out came this calf!”^(AY)

²⁵ Moses saw that the people were running wild and that Aaron had let them get out of control and so become a laughingstock^(AZ) to their enemies. ²⁶ So he stood at the entrance to the camp and said, “Whoever is for the Lord, come to me.” And all the Levites rallied to him.

²⁷ Then he said to them, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘Each man strap a sword to his side. Go back and forth through the camp from one end to the other, each killing his brother and friend and neighbor.’”^{(BA) 28} The Levites did as Moses commanded, and that day about three thousand of the people died. ²⁹ Then Moses said, “You have been set apart to the Lord today, for you were against your own sons and brothers, and he has blessed you this day.”

³⁰ The next day Moses said to the people, “You have committed a great sin.^(BB) But now I will go up to the Lord; perhaps I can make atonement^(BC) for your sin.”

³¹ So Moses went back to the Lord and said, “Oh, what a great sin these people have committed!^(BD) They have made themselves gods of gold.^{(BE) 32} But now, please forgive their sin^(BF)—but if not, then blot me^(BG) out of the book^(BH) you have written.”

³³ The Lord replied to Moses, “Whoever has sinned against me I will blot out^(BI) of my book. ³⁴ Now go, lead^(BJ) the people to the place^(BK) I spoke of, and my angel^(BL) will go before you. However, when the time comes for me to punish,^(BM) I will punish them for their sin.”

³⁵ And the Lord struck the people with a plague because of what they did with the calf^(BN) Aaron had made.

The Golden Calf

⁷ Remember this and never forget how you aroused the anger^(A) of the Lord your God in the wilderness. From the day you left Egypt until you arrived here, you have been rebellious^(B) against the Lord.^{(C) 8} At Horeb you aroused the Lord’s wrath^(D) so that he was angry enough to destroy you.^{(E) 9} When I went up on the mountain to receive the tablets of stone, the tablets of the covenant^(F) that the Lord had made with you, I stayed on the mountain forty days^(G) and forty nights; I ate no bread and drank no water.^{(H) 10} The Lord gave me two stone tablets inscribed by the finger of God.^(I) On them were all the commandments the Lord proclaimed to you on the mountain out of the fire, on the day of the assembly.^(J)

¹¹ At the end of the forty days and forty nights,^(K) the Lord gave me the two stone tablets,^(L) the tablets of the covenant. ¹² Then the Lord told me, “Go down from here at once, because your people whom you brought out of Egypt have become corrupt.^(M) They have turned away quickly^(N) from what I commanded them and have made an idol for themselves.”

¹³ And the Lord said to me, “I have seen this people^(O), and they are a stiff-necked people indeed! ¹⁴ Let me alone,^(P) so that I may destroy them and blot out^(Q) their name from under heaven.^(R) And I will make you into a nation stronger and more numerous than they.”

¹⁵ So I turned and went down from the mountain while it was ablaze with fire. And the two tablets of the covenant were in my hands.^{(S) 16} When I looked, I saw that you had sinned against the Lord your God; you had made for yourselves an idol cast in the shape of a calf.^(T) You had turned aside quickly from the way that the Lord had commanded you. ¹⁷ So I took the two tablets and threw them out of my hands, breaking them to pieces before your eyes.

¹⁸ Then once again I fell^(U) prostrate before the Lord for forty days and forty nights; I ate no bread and drank no water,^(V) because of all the sin you had committed,^(W) doing what was evil in the Lord’s sight and so arousing his anger. ¹⁹ I feared the anger and wrath of the Lord, for he was angry enough with you to destroy you.^(X) But again the Lord listened to me.^{(Y) 20} And the Lord was angry enough with Aaron to destroy him, but at that time I prayed for Aaron too. ²¹ Also I took that sinful thing of yours, the calf you had made, and burned it in the fire. Then I crushed it and ground it to powder as fine as dust^(Z) and threw the dust into a stream that flowed down the mountain.^(AA)

²⁵ I lay prostrate before the Lord those forty days and forty nights^(A) because the Lord had said he would destroy you.^{(B) 26} I prayed to the Lord and said, “Sovereign Lord, do not destroy your people,^(C) your own inheritance^(D) that you redeemed^(E) by your great power and brought out of Egypt with a mighty hand.^{(F) 27} Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Overlook the stubbornness^(G) of this people, their wickedness and their sin. ²⁸ Otherwise, the country^(H) from which you brought us will say, ‘Because the Lord was not able to take them into the land he had promised them, and because he hated them,^(I) he brought them out to put them to death in the wilderness.’^{(J) 29} But they are your people,^(K) your inheritance^(L) that you brought out by your great power and your outstretched arm.^(M)”

33 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Leave this place, you and the people you brought up out of Egypt, and go up to the land I promised on oath^(A) to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, saying, ‘I will give it to your descendants.’^{(B) 2} I will send an angel^(C) before you and drive out the Canaanites, Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites.^{(D) 3} Go up to the land flowing with milk and honey.^(E) But I will not go with you, because you are a stiff-necked^(F) people and I might destroy^(G) you on the way.”

⁴ When the people heard these distressing words, they began to mourn^(H) and no one put on any ornaments. ⁵ For the Lord had said to Moses, “Tell the Israelites, ‘You are a stiff-necked people.^(I) If I were to go with you even for a moment, I might destroy^(J) you. Now take off your ornaments and I will decide what to do with you.’” ⁶ So the Israelites stripped off their ornaments at Mount Horeb.^(K)

Moses and the Glory of the Lord

¹² Moses said to the Lord, “You have been telling me, ‘Lead these people,’^(A) but you have not let me know whom you will send with me. You have said, ‘I know you by name^(B) and you have found favor^(C) with me.’ ¹³ If you are pleased with me, teach me your ways^(D) so I may know you and continue to find favor with you. Remember that this nation is your people.”^(E)

¹⁴ The Lord replied, “My Presence^(F) will go with you, and I will give you rest.”^(G)

¹⁵ Then Moses said to him, “If your Presence^(H) does not go with us, do not send us up from here. ¹⁶ How will anyone know that you are pleased with me and with your people unless you go with us?^(I) What else will distinguish me and your people from all the other people on the face of the earth?”^(J)

¹⁷ And the Lord said to Moses, “I will do the very thing you have asked,^(K) because I am pleased with you and I know you by name.”^(L)

¹⁸ Then Moses said, “Now show me your glory.”^(M)

¹⁹ And the Lord said, “I will cause all my goodness to pass^(N) in front of you, and I will proclaim my name,^(O) the Lord, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.^{(P) 20} But,” he said, “you cannot see my face, for no one may see^(Q) me and live.”

²¹ Then the Lord said, “There is a place near me where you may stand on a rock. ²² When my glory passes by, I will put you in a cleft in the rock^(R) and cover you with my hand^(S) until I have passed by. ²³ Then I will remove my hand and you will see my back; but my face must not be seen.”

The New Stone Tablets

34 The Lord said to Moses, “Chisel out two stone tablets like the first ones,^(A) and I will write on them the words that were on the first tablets,^(B) which you broke.^{(C) 2} Be ready in the morning, and then come up on Mount Sinai.^(D) Present yourself to me there on top of the mountain. ³ No one is to come with you or be seen anywhere on the mountain;^(E) not even the flocks and herds may graze in front of the mountain.”

⁴ So Moses chiseled^(F) out two stone tablets like the first ones and went up Mount Sinai early in the morning, as the Lord had commanded him; and he carried the two stone tablets in his hands.^{(G) 5} Then the Lord came down in the cloud^(H) and stood there with him and proclaimed his name, the Lord.^{(I) 6} And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, “The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate^(J) and gracious God, slow to anger,^(K) abounding in love^(L) and faithfulness,^{(M) 7} maintaining love to thousands,^(N) and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin.^(O) Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished;^(P) he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation.”^(Q)

⁸ Moses bowed to the ground at once and worshiped. ⁹ “Lord,” he said, “if I have found favor^(R) in your eyes, then let the Lord go with us.^(S) Although this is a stiff-necked^(T) people, forgive our wickedness and our sin,^(U) and take us as your inheritance.”^(V)

¹⁰ Then the Lord said: “I am making a covenant^(W) with you. Before all your people I will do wonders^(X) never before done in any nation in all the world.^(Y) The people you live among will see how awesome is the work that I, the Lord, will do for you.

Tablets Like the First Ones

10 At that time the Lord said to me, “Chisel out two stone tablets^(A) like the first ones and come up to me on the mountain. Also make a wooden ark.^{[a] 2} I will write on the tablets the words that were on the first tablets, which you broke. Then you are to put them in the ark.”^(B)

³ So I made the ark out of acacia wood^(C) and chiseled^(D) out two stone tablets like the first ones, and I went up on the mountain with the two tablets in my hands. ⁴ The Lord wrote on these tablets what he had written before, the Ten Commandments^(E) he had proclaimed^(F) to you on the mountain, out of the fire, on the day of the assembly.^(G) And the Lord gave them to me. ⁵ Then I came back down the mountain^(H) and put the tablets in the ark^(I) I had made,^(J) as the Lord commanded me, and they are there now.^(K)

¹⁰ Now I had stayed on the mountain forty days and forty nights, as I did the first time, and the Lord listened to me at this time also. It was not his will to destroy you.^{(A) 11} “Go,” the Lord said to me, “and lead the people on their way, so that they may enter and possess the land I swore to their ancestors to give them.”