Exodus 32

English Standard Version

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.” ²So 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.” ³So 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!” ⁵When Aaron saw this, he built an altar before it. And Aaron ^(G)made a proclamation and said, “Tomorrow shall be a feast to the Lord.” ⁶And they rose up early the next day and offered burnt offerings and brought peace offerings. And ^(H)the people sat down to eat and drink and rose up ^(I)to play.

⁷And the Lord said to Moses, ^(J)“Go down, for your people, whom you brought up out of the land of Egypt, have ^(K)corrupted themselves. ⁸They have turned aside quickly out of the way that ^(L)I commanded them. They have made for themselves a golden 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!’” ⁹And the Lord said to Moses, “I have seen this people, and behold, ^(M)it is a stiff-necked people. ¹⁰Now therefore ^(N)let me alone, that ^(O)my wrath may burn hot against them and ^(P)I may consume them, in order that ^(Q)I may make a great nation of you.”

¹¹But ^(R)Moses implored the Lord his God and said, “O 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^(S)Why should the Egyptians say, ‘With evil intent did he bring them out, to kill them in the mountains and to consume them from the face of the earth’? Turn from your burning anger and ^(T)relent from this disaster against your people. ¹³Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your servants, to whom you ^(U)swore by your own self, and said to them, ^(V)‘I will multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have promised I will give to your offspring, and they shall inherit it forever.’” ¹⁴And the Lord ^(W)relented from the disaster that he had spoken of bringing on his people.

¹⁵Then ^(X)Moses turned and went down from the mountain with the ^(Y)two tablets of the testimony in his hand, tablets that were written on both sides; on the front and on the back they were written. ¹⁶^(Z)The tablets were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, engraved on the tablets. ¹⁷When ^(AA)Joshua heard the noise of the people as they shouted, he said to Moses, “There is a noise of war in the camp.” ¹⁸But he said, “It is not the sound of ^(AB)shouting for victory, or the sound of the cry of defeat, but the sound of singing that I hear.” ¹⁹And as soon as he came near the camp and ^(AC)saw the calf and the dancing, Moses' anger burned hot, and he threw the tablets out of his hands and broke them at the foot of the mountain. ²⁰He took the calf that they had made and burned it with fire and ground it to powder and scattered it on the water and made the people of Israel drink it.

²¹And Moses said to Aaron, ^(AD)“What did this people do to you that you have brought such a great sin upon them?” ²²And Aaron said, “Let not the anger of my lord burn hot. ^(AE)You know the people, that they are set on evil. ²³For ^(AF)they said to me, ‘Make us gods 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.’ ²⁴So ^(AG)I said to them, ‘Let any who have gold take it off.’ So they gave it to me, and I threw it into the fire, and out came this calf.”

²⁵And when Moses saw that the people had broken loose (for Aaron had let them break loose, ^(AH)to the derision of their enemies), ²⁶then 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. ²⁷And he said to them, “Thus says the Lord God of Israel, ‘Put your sword on your side each of you, and go to and fro from gate to gate throughout the camp, and each of you ^(AI)kill his brother and his companion and his neighbor.’” ²⁸And the sons of Levi did according to the word of Moses. And that day about three thousand men of the people fell. ²⁹And Moses said, “Today you have been ^(AJ)ordained for the service of the Lord, each one at the cost of his son and of his brother, so that he might bestow a blessing upon you this day.”

³⁰The next day Moses said to the people, ^(AK)“You have sinned a great sin. And now I will go up to the Lord; ^(AL)perhaps I can make atonement for your sin.” ³¹So Moses returned to the Lord and said, “Alas, ^(AM)this people has sinned a great sin. They have ^(AN)made for themselves gods of gold. ³²But now, if ^(AO)you will forgive their sin—but if not, please ^(AP)blot me out of ^(AQ)your book that you have written.” ³³But the Lord said to Moses, ^(AR)“Whoever has sinned against me, I will blot out of my book. ³⁴^(AS)But now go, lead the people to the place about which I have spoken to you; ^(AT)behold, my angel shall go before you. Nevertheless, in the day when I visit, I will visit their sin upon them.”

³⁵Then the Lord sent a plague on the people, because they made the calf, the one that Aaron made.

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Footnotes

Exodus 32:4 Hebrew cast metal; also verse 8

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.”

²Aaron 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.”

³All the people tore off the gold rings that were in their ears and brought them to him. ⁴He 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.”

⁵When Aaron saw this, he built an altar in front of it, and then he proclaimed, “Tomorrow is to be a festival to the Lord.” ⁶They 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

⁷The Lord told Moses, “Go down immediately,^[f] because your people whom you led out of Egypt have behaved corruptly. ⁸They 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.’”

⁹Then the Lord told Moses, “I’ve seen these people and indeed they’re obstinate.^[g] ¹⁰Now 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.”

¹¹But 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] ¹²Why 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. ¹³Remember 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.’”

¹⁴So 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

¹⁵Then 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. ¹⁶The tablets were the work of God and the writing was God’s writing, inscribed on the tablets. ¹⁷When Joshua heard the sound of the people as they shouted, he told Moses, “The sound of war is coming from^[j] the camp.”

¹⁸Moses^[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.”

¹⁹As 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. ²⁰He 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. ²¹Then Moses asked Aaron, “What did this people do to you that you brought such great sin upon them?”

²²Aaron said, “Sir,^[l] don’t be angry. You know the people—that they’re intent on evil. ²³They 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.’ ²⁴So 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

²⁵When 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]— ²⁶he 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. ²⁷He 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.’”

²⁸The descendants of Levi did just as Moses told them,^[o] and about 3,000 people died that day. ²⁹Moses 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

³⁰The 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.”

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

³³The Lord told Moses, “Whoever sins against me, I’ll blot him out of my book. ³⁴Now, 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.” ³⁵Then the Lord sent a plague on the people because they made the calf (the one Aaron made).

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