The Golden Calf

32 When the people saw that Moses ^(A)delayed to come down from the mountain, the people gathered themselves together to Aaron and said to him, ^(B)“Up, make us gods who shall ^(C)go before us. As for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.” ² So Aaron said to them, “Take off the ^(D)rings of gold that are in the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me.” ³ So all the people took off the rings of gold that were in their ears and brought them to Aaron. ^4 (E)And he received the gold from their hand and fashioned it with a graving tool and made a golden^[a] calf. And they said, ^(F)“These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!”

The Command to Leave Sinai

33 The Lord said to Moses, “Depart; go up from here, you ^(A)and the people whom you have brought up out of the land of Egypt, to the land of which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, saying, ‘To ^(B)your offspring I will give it.’ ² I will send an ^(C)angel before you, ^(D)and I will drive out the Canaanites, the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. ^3 (E)Go up to a land flowing with milk and honey; ^(F)but I will not go up among you, ^(G)lest I consume you on the way, for you are a ^(H)stiff-necked people.”

⁴ When the people heard this disastrous word, they ^(I)mourned, and ^(J)no one put on his ornaments. ⁵ For the Lord had said to Moses, “Say to the people of Israel, ‘You are a ^(K)stiff-necked people; if for a single moment I should go up among you, I would ^(L)consume you. So now ^(M)take off your ornaments, that I may know what to do with you.’” ⁶ Therefore the people of Israel stripped themselves of their ornaments, from Mount Horeb onward.

⁹ When Moses entered the tent, the ^(A)pillar of cloud would descend and stand at the entrance of the tent, and the Lord^[a] would speak with Moses. ¹⁰ And when all the people saw the pillar of cloud standing at the entrance of the tent, all the people would rise up and worship, each at his tent door. ¹¹ Thus ^(B)the Lord used to speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend. When Moses turned again into the camp, his ^(C)assistant Joshua the son of Nun, a young man, would not depart from the tent.

Moses' Intercession

¹² Moses said to the Lord, “See, ^(D)you say to me, ‘Bring up this people,’ but you have not let me know whom you will send with me. Yet you have said, ^(E)‘I know you by name, and you have also found favor in my sight.’ ¹³ Now therefore, if I have found favor in your sight, please ^(F)show me now your ways, that I may know you in order to find favor in your sight. Consider too that this nation is ^(G)your people.” ¹⁴ And he said, ^(H)“My presence will go with you, and ^(I)I will give you rest.” ¹⁵ And he said to him, ^(J)“If your presence will not go with me, do not bring us up from here. ¹⁶ For how shall it be known that I have found favor in your sight, I and your people? ^(K)Is it not in your going with us, ^(L)so that we are distinct, I and your people, from every other people on the face of the earth?”

¹⁷ And the Lord said to Moses, “This very thing that you have spoken I will do, ^(M)for you have found favor in my sight, and I know you by name.” ¹⁸ Moses said, “Please ^(N)show me your glory.”

²³ Then I will take away my hand, and you shall see my back, but my face shall ^(A)not be seen.”

Moses Makes New Tablets

34 The Lord said to Moses, ^(A)“Cut for yourself two tablets of stone like the first, ^(B)and I will write on the tablets the words that were on the first tablets, ^(C)which you broke.