The Gold Calf^(A)

32 Now when the people saw that Moses ^(B)delayed coming down from the mountain, the people ^(C)gathered together to Aaron, and said to him, ^(D)“Come, make us ^[a]gods that shall ^(E)go before us; for as for this Moses, the man who ^(F)brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.”

² And Aaron said to them, “Break off the ^(G)golden earrings which are in the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me.” ³ So all the people broke off the golden earrings which were in their ears, and brought them to Aaron. ^4 (H)And he received the gold from their hand, and he fashioned it with an engraving tool, and made a molded calf.

Then they said, “This is your god, O Israel, that ^(I)brought you out of the land of Egypt!”

⁵ So when Aaron saw it, he built an altar before it. And Aaron made a ^(J)proclamation and said, “Tomorrow is a feast to the Lord.” ⁶ Then they rose early on the next day, offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings; and the people ^(K)sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play.

⁷ And the Lord said to Moses, ^(L)“Go, get down! For your people whom you brought out of the land of Egypt ^(M)have corrupted themselves. ⁸ They have turned aside quickly out of the way which ^(N)I commanded them. They have made themselves a molded calf, and worshiped it and sacrificed to it, and said, ^(O)‘This is your god, O Israel, that brought you out of the land of Egypt!’ ” ⁹ And the Lord said to Moses, ^(P)“I have seen this people, and indeed it is a ^[b]stiff-necked people! ¹⁰ Now therefore, ^(Q)let Me alone, that ^(R)My wrath may burn hot against them and I may ^[c]consume them. And ^(S)I will make of you a great nation.”

^11 (T)Then Moses pleaded with ^[d]the Lord his God, and said: “Lord, why does Your wrath burn hot against Your people whom You have brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand? ^12 (U)Why should the Egyptians speak, and say, ‘He brought them out to harm them, to kill them in the mountains, and to consume them from the face of the earth’? Turn from Your fierce wrath, and ^(V)relent from this harm to Your people. ¹³ Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, Your servants, to whom You ^(W)swore by Your own self, and said to them, ^(X)‘I will multiply your descendants as the stars of heaven; and all this land that I have spoken of I give to your descendants, and they shall inherit it forever.’ ” ¹⁴ So the Lord ^(Y)relented from the harm which He said He would do to His people.

Complaints of the People

⁴¹ On the next day ^(A)all the congregation of the children of Israel complained against Moses and Aaron, saying, “You have killed the people of the Lord.” ⁴² Now it happened, when the congregation had gathered against Moses and Aaron, that they turned toward the tabernacle of meeting; and suddenly ^(B)the cloud covered it, and the glory of the Lord appeared. ⁴³ Then Moses and Aaron came before the tabernacle of meeting.

⁴⁴ And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ⁴⁵ “Get away from among this congregation, that I may consume them in a moment.”

And they fell on their faces.

⁴⁶ So Moses said to Aaron, “Take a censer and put fire in it from the altar, put incense on it, and take it quickly to the congregation and make ^[a]atonement for them; ^(C)for wrath has gone out from the Lord. The plague has begun.” ⁴⁷ Then Aaron took it as Moses commanded, and ran into the midst of the assembly; and already the plague had begun among the people. So he put in the incense and made atonement for the people. ⁴⁸ And he stood between the dead and the living; so ^(D)the plague was stopped. ⁴⁹ Now those who died in the plague were fourteen thousand seven hundred, besides those who died in the Korah incident. ⁵⁰ So Aaron returned to Moses at the door of the tabernacle of meeting, for the plague had stopped.