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32 And when HaAm saw that Moshe delayed to come down from HaHar, HaAm gathered themselves together unto Aharon, and said unto him, Up, make us elohim (g-ds), which shall go before us; for as for this Moshe, the ish that brought us up out of Eretz Mitzrayim, we know not what is become of him.

And Aharon said unto them, Take off the rings of zahav in the ears of your nashim, of your banim, and of your banot, and bring them unto me.

And kol HaAm removed the rings of zahav which were in their ears, and brought them unto Aharon.

And he received them at their yad, and fashioned it with a cheret, after he had made it an Egel Masekhah (Molten Calf); and they said, These be thy elohim, O Yisroel, which brought thee up out of Eretz Mitzrayim.

And when Aharon saw it, he built a Mizbe’ach before it; and Aharon made proclamation, and said, Tomorrow is a chag (feast) to Hashem.

And they rose up early the next day, and offered olot, and brought shelamim; and HaAm sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up letzachek (to revel).

And Hashem said unto Moshe, Go, get thee down; for thy people, which thou broughtest out of Eretz Mitzrayim, have corrupted themselves;

They have turned aside quickly from HaDerech which I commanded them; they have made them an Egel Masekhah, and have bowed down to it, and have sacrificed thereunto, and said, These be thy elohim, O Yisroel, which have brought thee up out of the Eretz Mitzrayim.

And Hashem said unto Moshe, I have seen this people, and, hinei, it is an Am Kesheh Oref (stiffnecked, obstinate people);

10 Now therefore let Me alone, that My wrath may burn hot against them, and that I may consume them; I will make of thee a Goy Gadol.

11 And Moshe besought Hashem Elohav, and said, Hashem, why doth Thy wrath burn hot against Thy people, which Thou hast brought forth out of Eretz Mitzrayim with ko’ach gadol, and with a yad chazakah?

12 Why should the Egyptians speak, and say, For ra’ah (evil intent) did He bring them out, to slay them in the mountains, and to consume them from the face of ha’adamah? Turn from Thy fierce wrath, and relent of the ra’ah against Thy people.

13 Remember Avraham, Yitzchak, and Yisroel, Thy avadim, to whom Thou swore by Thine own Self, and saidst unto them, I will multiply your zera as the kokhavim of Shomayim, and kol haaretz hazot that I have spoken of will I give unto your zera, and they shall inherit it l’olam.

14 And Hashem relented of the ra’ah which He thought to do unto His people.

15 And Moshe turned, and went down from HaHar, and the two Luchot HaEdut were in his yad; the Luchot were written on both their sides; on the one side and on the other were they written.

16 And the Luchot were the ma’aseh Elohim, the writing was the Mikhtav Elohim, engraved upon the Luchot.

17 And when Yehoshua heard the kol HaAm as they shouted, he said unto Moshe, There is a noise of milchamah in the machaneh.

18 And he said, It is not the voice of them that shout for gevurah, neither is it the voice of them that cry of chalushah; but the noise of them that sing that I hear.

19 And it came to pass, as soon as he came nigh unto the machaneh, that he saw the Egel, and the mecholot (dancing); and the anger of Moshe burned hot, and he threw the Luchot out of his hands, and broke them at the foot of HaHar.

20 And he took the Egel which they had made, and burned it in the eish, and ground it to powder, and scattered it upon the mayim, and made the Bnei Yisroel drink of it.

21 And Moshe said unto Aharon, What did this people unto thee, that thou hast brought so chata’ah gedolah upon them?

22 And Aharon said, Let not the anger of adoni burn hot; thou knowest HaAm, that they are prone to rah (evil).

23 For they said unto me, Make for us elohim, which shall go before us; for as for this Moshe, the ish that brought us up out of Eretz Mitzrayim, we know not what is become of him.

24 And I said unto them, Whosoever hath any zahav, let them remove it. So they gave it me; then I cast it into the eish, and there came out this Egel.

25 And when Moshe saw that HaAm were exposed; (for Aharon had exposed them to derision among their enemies;)

26 Then Moshe stood in the sha’ar of the machaneh, and said, Who is on Hashem’s side? Let him rally unto me. And all the Bnei Levi gathered themselves together unto him.

27 And he said unto them, Thus saith Hashem Elohei Yisroel, Put every man his cherev by his side, and go in and out from sha’ar to sha’ar throughout the machaneh, and slay every man his brother, and every man his companion, and every man his neighbor.

28 And the Bnei Levi did according to the word of Moshe; and there fell of HaAm that day about three thousand men.

29 For Moshe had said, Consecrate yourselves today to Hashem, even every man against his ben, and against his brother; that He may bestow upon you a brocha this day.

30 And it came to pass on the next day, that Moshe said unto HaAm, Ye have sinned a chata’ah gedolah; and now I will go up unto Hashem; perhaps I can make kapporah for your chattat.

31 And Moshe returned unto Hashem, and said, Oh, this people have sinned a chata’ah gedolah, and have made for themselves elohei zahav.

32 Yet now, if Thou wilt forgive their chattat but if not, blot me, now, out of Thy Sefer which Thou hast written.

33 And Hashem said unto Moshe, Whosoever hath sinned against Me, him will I blot out of My Sefer.

34 Therefore now go, lead HaAm unto the place of which I have spoken unto thee; hinei, Malachi shall go before thee; nevertheless in the yom when I visit I will visit their sin upon them.

35 And Hashem plagued HaAm, because they made the Egel, which Aharon made.

The Golden Calf

32 When the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain, the people gathered around Aaron and said to him, “Come, make gods for us, who shall 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.”(A) Aaron said to them, “Take off the gold rings that are on the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters and bring them to me.”(B) So all the people took off the gold rings from their ears and brought them to Aaron. He took these from them, formed them in a mold,[a] and cast an image of a calf, and they said, “These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!”(C) When Aaron saw this, he built an altar before it, and Aaron made a proclamation and said, “Tomorrow shall be a festival to the Lord.” They rose early the next day and offered burnt offerings and brought sacrifices of well-being, and the people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to revel.(D)

The Lord said to Moses, “Go down at once! Your people, whom you brought up out of the land of Egypt, have acted perversely;(E) they have been quick to turn aside from the way that I commanded them; they have cast for themselves an image of a calf and have worshiped it and sacrificed to it and said, ‘These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!’ ”(F) The Lord said to Moses, “I have seen this people, how stiff-necked they are.(G) 10 Now let me alone so that my wrath may burn hot against them and I may consume them, and of you I will make a great nation.”(H)

11 But Moses implored the Lord his God and said, “O Lord, why does your wrath burn hot against your people, whom you brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand?(I) 12 Why should the Egyptians say, ‘It was with evil intent that he brought them out to kill them in the mountains and to consume them from the face of the earth’? Turn from your fierce wrath; change your mind and do not bring disaster on your people.(J) 13 Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your servants, how you swore to them by your own self, saying to them, ‘I will multiply your descendants like the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have promised I will give to your descendants, and they shall inherit it forever.’ ”(K) 14 And the Lord changed his mind about the disaster that he planned to bring on his people.(L)

15 Then Moses turned and went down from the mountain, carrying the two tablets of the covenant in his hands, tablets that were written on both sides, written on the front and on the back.(M) 16 The tablets were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, engraved upon the tablets.(N) 17 When Joshua heard the noise of the people as they shouted, he said to Moses, “There is a noise of war in the camp.” 18 But he said,

“It is not the sound made by victors
or the sound made by losers;
it is the sound of singing that I hear.”

19 As soon as he came near the camp and saw the calf and the dancing, Moses’s anger burned hot, and he threw the tablets from his hands and broke them at the foot of the mountain.(O) 20 He took the calf that they had made, burned it with fire, ground it to powder, scattered it on the water, and made the Israelites drink it.(P)

21 Moses said to Aaron, “What did this people do to you that you have brought so great a sin upon them?”(Q) 22 And Aaron said, “Do not let the anger of my lord burn hot; you know the people, that they are wicked.(R) 23 They said to me, ‘Make gods for us, who shall 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.’(S) 24 So I said to them, ‘Whoever has gold, take it off’; so they gave it to me, and I threw it into the fire, and out came this calf!”(T)

25 When Moses saw that the people were out of control (for Aaron had lost control of them, prompting derision among their enemies), 26 then Moses stood in the gate of the camp and said, “Who is on the Lord’s side? Come to me!” And all the sons of Levi gathered around him. 27 He said to them, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Put your sword on your side, each of you! Go back and forth from gate to gate throughout the camp, and each of you kill your brother, your friend, and your neighbor.”(U) 28 The sons of Levi did as Moses commanded, and about three thousand of the people fell on that day. 29 Moses said, “Today you have been ordained for the service of the Lord, each one at the cost of a son or a brother, and so have brought a blessing on yourselves this day.”

30 On the next day Moses said to the people, “You have sinned a great sin. But now I will go up to the Lord; perhaps I can make atonement for your sin.”(V) 31 So Moses returned to the Lord and said, “Alas, this people has sinned a great sin; they have made for themselves gods of gold.(W) 32 But now, if you will only forgive their sin—but if not, please blot me out of the book that you have written.”(X) 33 But the Lord said to Moses, “Whoever has sinned against me I will blot out of my book.(Y) 34 But now go, lead the people to the place about which I have spoken to you; see, my angel shall go in front of you. Nevertheless, when the day for punishment comes, I will punish them for their sin.”(Z)

35 Then the Lord sent a plague on the people, because they made the calf—the one that Aaron had made.(AA)

Footnotes

  1. 32.4 Or fashioned it with an engraving tool; meaning of Heb uncertain