Passage Resources Hebrew/Greek Your Content
Previous Next
Add parallel Print Page Options
Close LSB

Exodus 32
Legacy Standard Bible

The Golden Calf

32 Then the people saw that Moses (A)delayed to come down from the mountain. So the people assembled about Aaron and said to him, “Arise, (B)make us [a]gods who will go before us; as for (C)this Moses, the man who brought us up from the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.” 2 And 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 Then all the people tore off the gold rings which were in their ears and brought them to Aaron. 4 And he took this from their hand and fashioned it with a graving tool and made it into a (E)molten calf; and they said, “[b]These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt.” 5 And Aaron looked and built an altar before it; and Aaron made a proclamation and said, “Tomorrow shall be a feast to Yahweh.” 6 So the next day they rose early and (F)offered burnt offerings and brought peace offerings; and (G)the people sat down to eat and to drink and rose up (H)to play.

7 Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, “Go! Go down at once, for your people, whom (I)you brought up from the land of Egypt, have (J)corrupted themselves. 8 They have quickly turned aside from the way which I commanded them. (K)They have made for themselves a molten calf and have worshiped it and (L)have sacrificed to it and said, ‘[c](M)These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt!’” 9 (N)And Yahweh said to Moses, “I have seen this people, and behold, they are (O)a stiff-necked people. 10 Now then (P)let Me alone, that My anger may burn against them and that I may consume them; and (Q)I will make you a great nation.”

11 Then (R)Moses entreated [d]the favor of Yahweh his God and said, “O Yahweh, why does Your anger burn against Your people whom You have brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a strong hand? 12 Why should (S)the Egyptians speak, saying, ‘With evil intent He brought them out to kill them in the mountains and to consume them from the face of the earth’? Turn from Your burning anger and relent concerning doing harm to Your people. 13 Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, Your servants to whom You (T)swore by Yourself, and You said to them, ‘I will (U)multiply your seed as the stars of the heavens, and (V)all this land of which I have spoken I will give to your seed, and they shall inherit it forever.’” 14 (W)So Yahweh relented concerning the harm which He said He would do to His people.

15 (X)Then Moses turned and went down from the mountain. And the two tablets of the testimony were in his hand, (Y)tablets which were written on both [e]sides; they were written on one side and the other. 16 Now the tablets were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God engraved on the tablets. 17 Then Joshua heard the sound of the people [f]as they shouted. And 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 triumph,
Nor is it the sound of the cry of defeat;
But the sound of singing I hear.”

19 Now it happened, as soon as [g]Moses came near the camp, that (Z)he saw the calf and the dancing; and Moses’ anger burned, and (AA)he threw the tablets from his hands and shattered them [h]at the foot of the mountain. 20 (AB)Then he took the calf which they had made and 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 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 [i]prone to evil. 23 Indeed (AD)they said to me, ‘Make [j]gods 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 has become of him.’ 24 And I said to them, ‘Whoever has any gold, let them tear it off.’ So they gave it to me, and (AE)I threw it into the fire, and out came this calf.”

25 Now Moses saw that the people were [k]out of control—for Aaron had (AF)let them [l]get out of control to be a derision among [m]their enemies— 26 so Moses stood in the gate of the camp and said, “Whoever is for Yahweh, come to me!” And all the sons of Levi gathered together to him. 27 And he said to them, “Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel, ‘Every man among you put his sword upon 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 [n]neighbor.’” 28 So (AG)the sons of Levi did according to the word of Moses, and about three thousand men of the people fell that day. 29 Then Moses said, “[o]Be ordained today to Yahweh—for every man has been against his son and against his brother—in order that He may bestow a blessing upon you today.”

30 Now it happened on the next day, that Moses said to the people, “(AH)You yourselves have [p]committed a great sin; but now I am going up to Yahweh, perhaps I can (AI)make atonement for your sin.” 31 Then Moses returned to Yahweh and said, “Alas, this people has [q]committed a great sin, and they have made [r](AJ)gods of gold for themselves. 32 But now, if You will forgive their sin—but if not, please blot me out from Your (AK)book which You have written!” 33 And Yahweh said to Moses, “Whoever has sinned against Me, (AL)I will blot him out of My book. 34 But now go, guide the people (AM)where I told you. Behold, (AN)My angel shall go before you; nevertheless (AO)in the day when I [s]punish, (AP)I will [t]punish them for their sin.” 35 (AQ)Then Yahweh smote the people because of (AR)what they did with the calf which Aaron had made.

Footnotes

  1. Exodus 32:1 Or a god
  2. Exodus 32:4 Or This is your god
  3. Exodus 32:8 Or This is your god
  4. Exodus 32:11 Lit the face of Yahweh
  5. Exodus 32:15 Lit their sides
  6. Exodus 32:17 Lit in its shouting
  7. Exodus 32:19 Lit he
  8. Exodus 32:19 Lit beneath
  9. Exodus 32:22 Lit in evil
  10. Exodus 32:23 Or a god
  11. Exodus 32:25 Lit let loose
  12. Exodus 32:25 Lit go loose
  13. Exodus 32:25 Lit those who rise against them
  14. Exodus 32:27 Or kin
  15. Exodus 32:29 Lit Fill your hand
  16. Exodus 32:30 Lit sinned
  17. Exodus 32:31 Lit sinned
  18. Exodus 32:31 Or a god
  19. Exodus 32:34 Lit visit
  20. Exodus 32:34 Lit visit their sin upon them
Close ISV

Exodus 32
International Standard Version

Aaron Makes the Golden Calf

32 When the people saw that Moses took a long time to come down the mountain, they gathered around Aaron and told him, “Come here and make us a god[a] who will go before us, because, as for this fellow Moses who led us out of the land of Egypt, we don’t know what has become of him.”

2 Aaron told them, “Tear off the gold rings which are in the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters and bring them to me.”

3 All the people tore off the gold rings that were in their ears and brought them to him. 4 He took them from them[b] and, using a tool, fashioned them into a molten calf.[c] The people[d] said, “This, Israel, is your god who brought you out of the land of Egypt.”

5 When Aaron saw this, he built an altar in front of it, and then he proclaimed, “Tomorrow is to be a festival to the Lord.” 6 They got up early the next day and offered burnt offerings and brought peace offerings. Then the people sat down to eat and drink, and then they got up to play.[e]

Moses Intercedes for Israel

7 The Lord told Moses, “Go down immediately,[f] because your people whom you led out of Egypt have behaved corruptly. 8 They have been quick to turn aside from the way I commanded them, and they have made for themselves a molten calf. They have bowed down to it in worship, they have offered sacrifices to it, and they have said, ‘This, Israel, is your god who brought you out of the land of Egypt.’”

9 Then the Lord told Moses, “I’ve seen these people and indeed they’re obstinate.[g] 10 Now let me alone so that my anger may burn against them and that I may consume them, but I’ll make a great nation of you.”

11 But Moses implored the Lord his God: “Lord, why are you angry with your people whom you brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and a show of force?[h] 12 Why should the Egyptians say, ‘He brought them out with an evil intention to kill them in the mountains and to destroy them from the face of the earth’? Turn from your anger and change your mind about the calamity against your people. 13 Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your servants to whom you swore by yourself as you told them, ‘I’ll increase the number of your descendants like the stars of the heavens, I’ll give your descendants all of this land about which I have spoken, and they are to possess[i] it forever.’”

14 So the Lord changed his mind about the calamity he had said he would bring on his people.

Moses Destroys the Golden Calf and the Tablets of the Law

15 Then Moses turned and went down the mountain with the two Tablets of the Testimony in his hand, tablets which were written on both sides. They were written on one side and the other. 16 The tablets were the work of God and the writing was God’s writing, inscribed on the tablets. 17 When Joshua heard the sound of the people as they shouted, he told Moses, “The sound of war is coming from[j] the camp.”

18 Moses[k] said,

“It is not the sound of a victory shout,
    and it’s not the sound of a shout of defeat,
        but it’s the sound of singing that I hear.”

19 As Moses approached the camp and saw the calf and the dancing, he became angry. He threw the tablets from his hands and shattered them at the base of the mountain. 20 He took the calf that they had made, burned it with fire, and ground it into powder. He scattered it on the water and made the Israelis drink it. 21 Then Moses asked Aaron, “What did this people do to you that you brought such great sin upon them?”

22 Aaron said, “Sir,[l] don’t be angry. You know the people—that they’re intent on evil. 23 They told me, ‘Make a god for us who will go before us because, as for this fellow Moses who brought us out of the land of Egypt, we don’t know what has become of him.’ 24 So I told them, ‘Whoever has gold ornaments, tear them off.’ When they gave it to me, I threw it into the fire, and out came this calf.”

The Descendants of Levi Punish the Guilty Israelis

25 When Moses saw that the people were out of control—since Aaron had let them get out of control, something that incited ridicule from their enemies[m]— 26 he stood in the gate of the camp and called out: “Whoever is for the Lord come over[n] to me,” and all the sons of Levi gathered around him. 27 He told them, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says, ‘Every man put his sword on his thigh, and go back and forth from gate to gate in the camp, and each of you kill his brother and friend and neighbor.’”

28 The descendants of Levi did just as Moses told them,[o] and about 3,000 people died that day. 29 Moses said, “You have been ordained[p] to serve the Lord[q] today, and you have brought a blessing on yourselves today because every man opposed his son or brother.”[r]

Moses Again Intercedes for the People

30 The next day Moses told the people, “You committed a great sin, and now I’ll go up to the Lord, and perhaps I can make atonement for your sin.”

31 Moses returned to the Lord and said, “Please, Lord, this people committed a great sin by making a god of gold for themselves. 32 Now, if you will, forgive their sin—but if not, blot me out of your book which you have written.”

33 The Lord told Moses, “Whoever sins against me, I’ll blot him out of my book. 34 Now, go, and lead the people where I told you, and now my angel will go before you, but on the day when I do punish, I’ll punish them for their sin.” 35 Then the Lord sent a plague on the people because they made the calf (the one Aaron made).

Footnotes

  1. Exodus 32:1 Or gods; and so throughout the chapter
  2. Exodus 32:4 Lit. from their hand
  3. Exodus 32:4 I.e. an image made by pouring hot, liquid metal into a mold
  4. Exodus 32:4 Lit. They
  5. Exodus 32:6 I.e. to engage in sexual immorality
  6. Exodus 32:7 Lit. Go, go down
  7. Exodus 32:9 Lit. stiff-necked
  8. Exodus 32:11 Lit. a mighty hand
  9. Exodus 32:13 Or inherit
  10. Exodus 32:17 Lit. is in
  11. Exodus 32:18 Lit. He
  12. Exodus 32:22 Lit. My lord
  13. Exodus 32:25 Lit. for ridicule among their enemies
  14. Exodus 32:26 The Heb. lacks come over
  15. Exodus 32:28 Lit. according to the word of Moses
  16. Exodus 32:29 Or Consecrate yourselves
  17. Exodus 32:29 Lit. ordained for the Lord
  18. Exodus 32:29 Or today at the cost of his son or brother
Next
Exodus 31
Exodus 33
Next
dropdown
Legacy Standard Bible (LSB)

Legacy Standard Bible Copyright ©2021 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved. Managed in partnership with Three Sixteen Publishing Inc. LSBible.org For Permission to Quote Information visit https://www.LSBible.org.

International Standard Version (ISV)

Copyright © 1995-2014 by ISV Foundation. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED INTERNATIONALLY. Used by permission of Davidson Press, LLC.

ISV Bible