⁷ For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land^(A)—a land with brooks, streams, and deep springs gushing out into the valleys and hills;^{(B) 8} a land with wheat and barley,^(C) vines^(D) and fig trees,^(E) pomegranates, olive oil and honey;^{(F) 9} a land where bread^(G) will not be scarce and you will lack nothing;^(H) a land where the rocks are iron and you can dig copper out of the hills.^(I)

¹⁰ When you have eaten and are satisfied,^(J) praise the Lord your God for the good land he has given you. ¹¹ Be careful that you do not forget^(K) the Lord your God, failing to observe his commands, his laws and his decrees that I am giving you this day. ¹² Otherwise, when you eat and are satisfied, when you build fine houses and settle down,^{(L) 13} and when your herds and flocks grow large and your silver and gold increase and all you have is multiplied, ¹⁴ then your heart will become proud and you will forget^(M) the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. ¹⁵ He led you through the vast and dreadful wilderness,^(N) that thirsty and waterless land, with its venomous snakes^(O) and scorpions. He brought you water out of hard rock.^{(P) 16} He gave you manna^(Q) to eat in the wilderness, something your ancestors had never known,^(R) to humble and test^(S) you so that in the end it might go well with you. ¹⁷ You may say to yourself,^(T) “My power and the strength of my hands^(U) have produced this wealth for me.” ¹⁸ But remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth,^(V) and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your ancestors, as it is today.

¹⁹ If you ever forget the Lord your God and follow other gods^(W) and worship and bow down to them, I testify against you today that you will surely be destroyed.^{(X) 20} Like the nations^(Y) the Lord destroyed before you, so you will be destroyed for not obeying the Lord your God.^(Z)

The Golden Calf

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

² Aaron answered them, “Take off the gold earrings^(D) 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^(E) cast in the shape of a calf,^(F) fashioning it with a tool. Then they said, “These are your gods,^[b](G) Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.”^(H)

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

⁷ Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go down, because your people, whom you brought up out of Egypt,^(M) have become corrupt.^{(N) 8} They have been quick to turn away^(O) from what I commanded them and have made themselves an idol^(P) cast in the shape of a calf.^(Q) They have bowed down to it and sacrificed^(R) to it and have said, ‘These are your gods, Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.’^(S)

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

¹¹ But Moses sought the favor^(X) 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?^{(Y) 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’?^(Z) Turn from your fierce anger; relent and do not bring disaster^(AA) on your people. ¹³ Remember^(AB) your servants Abraham, Isaac and Israel, to whom you swore by your own self:^(AC) ‘I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars^(AD) in the sky and I will give your descendants all this land^(AE) I promised them, and it will be their inheritance forever.’” ¹⁴ Then the Lord relented^(AF) and did not bring on his people the disaster he had threatened.