Chapter 32
1 When the people became aware of Moses' delay in
coming down from the mountain, they gathered around Aaron and said to him,
"Come, make us a god who will be our leader; as for the man Moses who
brought us out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has happened to
him." 2 Aaron replied, "Have your
wives and sons and daughters take off the golden earrings they are wearing, and
bring them to me." 3 So all the people took
off their earrings and brought them to Aaron, 4 who
accepted their offering, and fashioning this gold with a graving tool, made a
molten calf. Then they cried out, "This is your God, O Israel, who brought
you out of the land of Egypt." 5
On seeing this, Aaron built an altar before the calf and proclaimed,
"Tomorrow is a feast of the LORD."
6 Early the next day the people offered holocausts and
brought peace offerings. Then they sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to
revel.
7 With that, the LORD said to Moses, "Go down at
once to your people, whom you brought out of the land of Egypt, for they have
become depraved. 8 They have soon turned aside
from the way I pointed out to them, making for themselves a molten calf and
worshiping it, sacrificing to it and crying out, 'This is your God, O Israel,
who brought you out of the land of Egypt!' 9 I
see how stiff-necked this people is," continued the LORD to Moses. 10 "Let me alone, then, that my wrath may blaze
up against them to consume them. Then I will make of you a great nation."
11 But Moses implored the LORD, his God, saying,
"Why, O LORD, should your wrath blaze up against your own people, whom you
brought out of the land of Egypt with such great power and with so strong a
hand? 12 Why should the Egyptians say, 'With
evil intent he brought them out, that he might kill them in the mountains and
exterminate them from the face of the earth'? Let your blazing wrath die down;
relent in punishing your people. 13 Remember
your servants Abraham, Isaac and Israel, and how you swore to them by your own
self, saying, 'I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the
sky; and all this land that I promised, I will give your descendants as their
perpetual heritage.'" 14 So the LORD
relented in the punishment he had threatened to inflict on his people.
15 Moses then turned and came down the mountain with
the two tablets of the commandments in his hands, tablets that were written on
both sides, front and back; 16 tablets that were
made by God, having inscriptions on them that were engraved by God himself.
17 Now, when Joshua heard the noise of the people
shouting, he said to Moses, "That sounds like a battle in the camp." 18 But Moses answered,
"It does not sound like cries of victory,
nor does it sound like cries of defeat;
the sounds that I hear are cries of revelry."
19 As he drew near the camp, he saw the calf and the
dancing. With that, Moses' wrath flared up, so that he threw the tablets down
and broke them on the base of the mountain. 20 Taking
the calf they had made, he fused it in the fire and then ground it down to
powder, which he scattered on the water and made the Israelites drink. 21 Moses asked Aaron, "What did this people ever
do to you that you should lead them into so grave a sin?" Aaron replied,
"Let not my lord be angry. 22 You know well
enough how prone the people are to evil. 23 They
said to me, 'Make us a god to be our leader; as for the man Moses who brought
us out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has happened to him.' 24 So I told them, 'Let anyone who has gold jewelry
take it off.' They gave it to me, and I threw it into the fire, and this calf
came out."
25 When Moses realized that, to the scornful joy of
their foes, Aaron had let the people run wild, 26
he stood at the gate of the camp and cried, "Whoever is for the LORD, let
him come to me!" All the Levites then rallied to him, 27 and he told them, "Thus says the LORD, the God
of Israel: Put your sword on your hip, every one of you! Now go up and down the
camp, from gate to gate, and slay your own kinsmen, your friends and
neighbors!" 28 The Levites carried out the
command of Moses, and that day there fell about three thousand of the people. 29 Then Moses said, "Today you have been
dedicated to the LORD, for you were against your own sons and kinsmen, to bring
a blessing upon yourselves this day."
30 On the next day Moses said to the people, "You
have committed a grave sin. I will go up to the LORD, then; perhaps I may be
able to make atonement for your sin." 31 So
Moses went back to the LORD and said, "Ah, this people has indeed
committed a grave sin in making a god of gold for themselves! 32 If you would only forgive their sin! If you will
not, then strike me out of the book that you have written." 33 The LORD answered, "Him only who has sinned
against me will I strike out of my book. 34 Now,
go and lead the people whither I have told you. My angel will go before you.
When it is time for me to punish, I will punish them for their sin." 35 Thus the LORD smote the people for having had Aaron
make the calf for them.
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