Exodus 32
Expanded Bible
The People Make a Gold Calf
32 The people saw that ·a long time had passed and Moses had not [L Moses delayed to] come down from the mountain. So they ·gathered [assembled] ·around [or against] Aaron and said, “[L This man] Moses ·led [brought] us out of Egypt, but we don’t know what has happened to him. Make us ·gods [or a god; or an image of God] who will ·lead [L go before] us.”
2 Aaron said to ·the people [L them], “·Take [Pull] off the gold earrings that your wives, sons, and daughters are wearing, and bring them to me.” 3 So all the people ·took [pulled off] their gold earrings and brought them to Aaron. 4 He took ·the gold [L it] from ·the people [L their hands] and formed it ·with a tool [or in a mold] and made a ·statue [image] of a calf. Then the people said, “Israel, ·these are your gods [or this is your God; C either an idol to a false god or an inappropriate image for a false worship of the true God] who brought you out of the land of Egypt [1 Kin. 12:28]!”
5 When Aaron saw all this, he built an altar before the calf and announced, “Tomorrow there will be a ·special feast to honor [festival for] the Lord.” 6 The people got up early the next morning and offered whole burnt offerings [Lev. 1] and ·fellowship [or peace] offerings [Lev. 3]. They sat down to eat and drink, and then they ·got up and sinned sexually [got up and amused themselves; T rose up to play; C a euphemism].
7 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go down from this mountain, because your people, the people you brought out of the land of Egypt, have ·ruined themselves [acted in a debauched/perverse manner]. 8 They have quickly turned away from the ·things [path; way] I commanded them to do. They have made for themselves a calf ·covered with gold [L image], and they have worshiped it and offered sacrifices to it. They have said, ‘Israel, ·these are your gods [or this is the God; 32:4] who brought you out of Egypt.’”
9 The Lord said to Moses, “I have seen these people, and I know that they are ·very stubborn [L a stiff-necked people]. 10 So now do not stop me. I am so angry with them that I am going to ·destroy [L consume] them. Then I will make ·you and your descendants [L you] a great nation [C echoing the promise to Abraham; Gen. 12:1–3].”
11 But Moses ·begged [tried to appease] the Lord his God and said, “Lord, ·don’t let your anger destroy [L why does your anger burn against…?] your people, whom you brought out of Egypt with your great power and ·strength [L a mighty hand]. 12 ·Don’t let [L Why should…?] the people of Egypt say, ‘The Lord brought the Israelites out of Egypt for an evil purpose. He planned to kill them in the mountains and ·destroy [L wipe] them from the earth.’ So ·stop being angry [change your mind; relent], and don’t ·destroy [L bring harm on] your people. 13 Remember ·the men who served you [L your servants]—Abraham, Isaac, and Israel. You promised with an oath to them and said, ‘I will make your ·descendants [seed] as many as the stars in the sky [Gen. 15:5; 22:17; 26:4]. I will give your descendants all this land that I have promised them, and ·it will be theirs [L they will inherit it] forever [Gen. 12:1–3].’” 14 So the Lord ·changed his mind [relented] and did not ·destroy [L bring harm on] the people as he had said he might.
15 Then Moses went down the mountain, and in his hands he had the two stone tablets with the ·Agreement [Covenant; Testimony; Treaty] on them. The ·commands [L tablets] were written on both sides of each stone, front and back. 16 God himself had made the tablets, and God himself had ·written the commands on [L engraved] the tablets.
17 When Joshua heard the sound of the people shouting, he said to Moses, “It sounds like war down in the camp.”
18 Moses answered:
“It is not a shout of victory;
it is not a cry of defeat.
It is the sound of singing that I hear.”
19 When Moses came close to the camp, he saw the gold calf and the dancing, and he became very angry. He threw down the stone tablets that he was carrying and broke them at the bottom of the mountain [C signifying the broken covenant]. 20 Then he took the calf that they had made and melted it in the fire. He ground it into powder. Then he ·threw [scattered] the powder into the water and forced the Israelites to drink it [C paralleling an ancient Near Eastern ritual for destroying a statue of a god].
21 Moses said to Aaron, “What did these people do to you? Why did you ·cause them to do [L bring on them] such a terrible sin?”
22 Aaron answered, “Don’t be angry, ·master [sir]. You know that these people are always ready to do wrong. 23 They said to me, ‘[L This man] Moses ·led [brought] us out of Egypt, but we don’t know what has happened to him. Make us ·gods [or a god; or an image of God] who will ·lead [L go before] us.’ 24 So I told them. ‘·Take off your gold jewelry [L Whoever has gold, pull it off].’ When they gave it to me, I threw it into the fire and out ·came [popped] this calf!”
25 Moses saw that the people were ·acting wildly [out of control]. Aaron had let them ·get out of control [act wildly] and become ·fools [the object of slander] in front of their enemies. 26 So Moses stood at the ·entrance [L gate] to the camp and said, “·Let anyone who wants to follow [L Whoever is for] the Lord come to me.” And all the ·people from the family of [L sons of] Levi gathered around Moses.
27 Then Moses said to them, “The Lord, the God of Israel, says this: ‘Every man must put on his sword and go through the camp from ·one end to the other [L gate to gate]. Each man must kill his brother, his friend, and his neighbor.’” 28 The ·people from the family [L sons] of Levi obeyed Moses, and that day about three thousand of the Israelites died. 29 Then Moses said, “Today you have been ·given for service [ordained; C to the priesthood] to the Lord. You were willing to kill your own sons and brothers, and God has blessed you for this.”
30 The next day Moses told the people, “You have ·done [L sinned] a terrible sin. But now I will go up to the Lord. Maybe I can ·do something so your sins will be removed [make atonement for your sin].” 31 So Moses went back to the Lord and said, “How terribly these people have sinned! They have made for themselves ·gods [or a god; 32:4] from gold. 32 Now, please forgive them of this sin. If you will not, then ·erase [blot out] my name from the book in which you have written the names of your people.”
33 But the Lord told Moses, “I will ·erase [blot out] from my book the names of the people who sin against me. 34 So now, go. Lead the people where I have told you, and my ·angel [messenger] will ·lead [L go in front of] you. When the time comes to punish, I will punish them for their sin.”
35 So the Lord ·caused terrible things to happen to [sent a plague on] the people because of what they did with the calf Aaron had made.
Exodus 32
New American Standard Bible
The Golden Calf
32 Now when the people saw that Moses (A)delayed to come down from the mountain, the people assembled around Aaron and said to him, “Come, (B)make us [a]a god who will go before us; for (C)this Moses, the man who brought us up from the land of Egypt—we do not know what happened to him.” 2 Aaron said to them, “(D)Tear off the gold rings which are in the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me.” 3 So all the people tore off the gold rings which were in their ears and brought them to Aaron. 4 Then he took the gold from their [b]hands, and fashioned it with an engraving tool and made it into a (E)cast metal calf; and they said, “[c]This is your god, Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt.” 5 Now when Aaron saw this, he built an altar in front of it; and Aaron made a proclamation and said, “Tomorrow shall be a feast to the Lord.” 6 So the next day they got up early and (F)offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings; and (G)the people sat down to eat and to drink, and got up (H)to engage in lewd behavior.
7 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, “Go [d]down at once, for your people, whom (I)you brought up from the land of Egypt, have (J)behaved corruptly. 8 They have quickly turned aside from the way which I commanded them. (K)They have made for themselves a cast metal calf, and have worshiped it and (L)have sacrificed to it and said, ‘[e](M)This is your god, Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt!’” 9 (N)Then the Lord said to Moses, “I have seen this people, and behold, they are [f](O)an obstinate people. 10 So now (P)leave Me alone, that My anger may burn against them and that I may destroy them; and (Q)I will make of you a great nation.”
Moses’ Plea
11 Then (R)Moses pleaded with the Lord his God, and said, “Lord, why does Your anger burn against Your people whom You have brought out from the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand? 12 Why should (S)the Egyptians talk, saying, ‘With evil motives He brought them out, to kill them on the mountains and to destroy them from the face of the earth’? Turn from Your burning anger and relent of doing harm to Your people. 13 Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, Your servants to whom You (T)swore by Yourself, and said to them, ‘I will (U)multiply your [g]descendants as the stars of the heavens, and (V)all this land of which I have spoken I will give to your [h]descendants, and they shall inherit it forever.’” 14 (W)So the Lord relented of the harm which He said He would do to His people.
15 (X)Then Moses turned and went down from the mountain with the two tablets of the testimony in his hand, (Y)tablets which were written on both [i]sides; they were written on one side and the other. 16 The tablets were God’s work, and the writing was God’s writing engraved on the tablets. 17 Now when Joshua heard the sound of the people [j]as they shouted, he said to Moses, “There is a sound of war in the camp.” 18 But he said,
“It is not the sound of the cry of victory,
Nor is it the sound of the cry of defeat;
But I hear the sound of singing.”
Moses’ Anger
19 And it came about, as soon as [k]Moses approached the camp, that (Z)he saw the calf and the people dancing; and Moses’ anger burned, and (AA)he threw the tablets from his hands and shattered them to pieces [l]at the foot of the mountain. 20 Then (AB)he took the calf which they had made and completely burned it with fire, and ground it to powder, and scattered it over the surface of the water and made the sons of Israel drink it.
21 Then Moses said to Aaron, “What did this people do to you, that you have brought such a great sin upon them?” 22 And Aaron said, “Do not let the anger of my lord burn; you know the people yourself, (AC)that they are [m]prone to evil. 23 For (AD)they said to me, ‘Make [n]a god for us who will go before us; for this Moses, the man who brought us up from the land of Egypt—we do not know what happened to him.’ 24 So I said to them, ‘Whoever has any gold, let them tear it off.’ Then they gave it to me, and (AE)I threw it into the fire, and out came this calf.”
25 Now when Moses saw that the people were [o]out of control—for Aaron had (AF)let them [p]get out of control to the point of being an object of ridicule among [q]their enemies— 26 Moses then stood at the gate of the camp, and said, “Whoever is for the Lord, come to me!” And all the sons of Levi gathered together to him. 27 And he said to them, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel says: ‘Every man of you put his sword on his thigh, and go back and forth from gate to gate in the camp, and kill every man his brother, and every man his friend, and every man his [r]neighbor.’” 28 So (AG)the sons of Levi did [s]as Moses instructed, and about three thousand men of the people fell that day. 29 Then Moses said, “[t]Dedicate yourselves today to the Lord—for every man has been against his son and against his brother—in order that He may bestow a blessing upon you today.”
30 And on the next day Moses said to the people, “(AH)You yourselves have [u]committed a great sin; and now I am going up to the Lord; perhaps I can (AI)make atonement for your sin.” 31 Then Moses returned to the Lord and said, “Oh, this people has [v]committed a great sin, and they have made a (AJ)god of gold for themselves! 32 But now, if You will forgive their sin, very well; but if not, please wipe me out from Your (AK)book which You have written!” 33 However, the Lord said to Moses, “Whoever has sinned against Me, (AL)I will wipe him out of My book. 34 But go now, lead the people (AM)where I told you. Behold, (AN)My angel shall go before you; nevertheless (AO)on the day when I [w]punish, (AP)I will [x]punish them for their sin.” 35 (AQ)Then the Lord struck the people with a plague, because of (AR)what they did with the calf which Aaron had made.
Footnotes
- Exodus 32:1 Or gods
- Exodus 32:4 Lit hand
- Exodus 32:4 Or These are your gods
- Exodus 32:7 Lit go down
- Exodus 32:8 Or These are your gods
- Exodus 32:9 Or a stiff-necked
- Exodus 32:13 Lit seed
- Exodus 32:13 Lit seed
- Exodus 32:15 Lit their sides
- Exodus 32:17 Lit in its shouting
- Exodus 32:19 Lit he
- Exodus 32:19 Lit beneath
- Exodus 32:22 Lit in evil
- Exodus 32:23 Or gods
- Exodus 32:25 Lit let loose
- Exodus 32:25 Lit go loose
- Exodus 32:25 Lit those who rise against them
- Exodus 32:27 Or kin
- Exodus 32:28 Lit according to Moses’ word
- Exodus 32:29 Lit Fill your hand
- Exodus 32:30 Lit sinned
- Exodus 32:31 Lit sinned
- Exodus 32:34 Lit visit
- Exodus 32:34 Lit visit their sin upon them
The Expanded Bible, Copyright © 2011 Thomas Nelson Inc. All rights reserved.
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.
