CHAPTER 32
Now when the people
saw
that
Moses
was delayed
in coming down
from
the mountain,
they
gathered
around
Aaron
and said,
“Come,
make
us
gods
who
will go
before us.
As for
this
Moses
who
brought us up
out of the land
of Egypt,
we do not
know
what
has happened to him!"
So Aaron
told
them,
“Take off
the gold
earrings
that
are on
your wives
and sons
and daughters,
and bring
them to me.”
He took the gold
from their hands,
and
with an engraving tool
he fashioned
it
into a molten
calf.
And they said,
“O Israel,
these
are your gods,
who
brought you up
out of the land
of Egypt!”
When Aaron
saw this,
he built
an altar
before the calf
and proclaimed:
“Tomorrow
shall be a feast
to the LORD.”
So the next day
they arose,
offered
burnt offerings,
and presented
peace offerings.
And the people
sat down
to eat
and drink,
and got up
to indulge in revelry.
Then the LORD
said
to
Moses,
“Go down at once!
For
your people,
whom
you brought up
out of the land
of Egypt,
have corrupted themselves.
How quickly they have
turned aside
from
the way
I commanded them.
They have made
for themselves
a molten
calf
and have bowed down to it,
sacrificed to it,
and said,
‘O Israel,
this
is your God,
who
brought you up
out of the land
of Egypt.’”
Now
leave Me
alone,
so that My anger
may burn
against them
and consume them.
Then I will make
you
into a great
nation.”
But Moses
entreated
the LORD
his God,
saying,
“O LORD,
why
does Your anger
burn
against Your people,
whom
You brought
out of the land
of Egypt
with great
power
and a mighty
hand?
Why
should the Egyptians declare,
‘He brought them out
with evil intent,
to kill
them in the mountains
and wipe
them from
the face
of the earth’?
Turn
from Your fierce
anger
and relent
from doing
harm
to Your people.
Remember
Your servants
Abraham,
Isaac,
and Israel,
to whom
You swore
by Your very self
when You declared,
‘I will make your descendants
as numerous
as the stars
in the sky,
and I will give
your descendants
all
this
land
that
I have promised,
and it shall be their inheritance
forever.'"
Then Moses
turned
and went down
the mountain
with the two
tablets
of the Testimony
in his hands.
They
were inscribed
on
both
sides,
front
and back.
The tablets
were the work
of God,
and the writing
was the writing
of God,
engraved
on
the tablets.
When Joshua
heard
the sound
of the people
shouting,
he said
to
Moses,
“The sound
of war
is in the camp.”
But Moses replied:
“It is neither
the cry
of victory
nor
the cry
of defeat;
I
hear
the sound
of singing!”
As
Moses approached
the camp
and saw
the calf
and the dancing,
he
burned
with anger
and threw
the tablets
out of
his hands,
smashing
them at the base of
the mountain.
Then he took
the calf
they had made,
burned it
in the fire,
ground it
to
powder,
and scattered the powder
over
the face
of the water.
Then he forced
the Israelites
to drink
it.
“What
did this
people
do
to you,”
Moses
asked
Aaron,
“that
you have led
them into
so great
a sin?”
“Do not
be enraged,
my lord,”
Aaron
replied.
“You
yourself know
that the people
are intent on evil.
They told
me,
‘Make
us
gods
who
will go
before us.
As for
this
Moses
who
brought us up
out of the land
of Egypt,
we do not
know
what
has happened
to him!’
So I said
to them,
‘Whoever
has gold,
let him take it off,’
and they gave it
to me.
And when I cast it
into the fire,
out came
this
calf!”
Moses
saw
that the people
were out of control,
for
Aaron
had let them run wild
and become a laughingstock
to their enemies.
So Moses
stood
at the entrance
of the camp
and said,
“Whoever
is for the LORD,
come to me.”
And all
the Levites
gathered
around him.
He told
them,
“This is what
the LORD,
the God
of Israel,
says:
‘Each of you men
is to fasten
his sword
to
his side,
go back and forth
through the camp
from gate
to gate,
and slay
his brother,
his friend,
and his neighbor.’”
Afterward, Moses
said,
“Today
you have been ordained
for service
to the LORD,
since
each man
went against his son
and his brother;
so He has bestowed
a blessing
on you
this day.”
The next day
Moses
said
to
the people,
“You
have committed
a great
sin.
Now
I will go up
to
the LORD;
perhaps
I can make atonement
for
your sin.”
So Moses
returned
to
the LORD
and said,
“Oh,
what a great
sin
these
people
have committed;
they have made
gods
of gold
for themselves.
Yet now,
if
You would only forgive
their sin...
But if
not,
please
blot me
out of the book
that
You have written.”
Now
go,
lead
the people
to
the place I told
you.
Behold,
My angel
shall go
before you.
But on the day
I settle accounts,
I will punish them
for their sin.”
And the LORD
sent a plague
on the people
because of
what
they had done
with the calf
that
Aaron
had made.