Exodus 32

The Golden Calf

1When the people saw that Moses delayed in coming down from the mountain, the people gathered around Aaron and said to him, “Rise, make gods for us who will go before us, for this Moses, the man who brought us up from the land of Egypt—we do not know what has happened to him.” 2Aaron said to them, “Tear off the gold rings that are in the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me.” 3So all the people tore off the gold rings that were in their ears and brought them to Aaron. 4He took the gold from their hand, fashioned it with a tool, and made it into a cast calf. Then they said, “These are your gods, Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt!” 5When Aaron saw this, he built an altar before it. Aaron proclaimed and said, “Tomorrow shall be a festival to the LORD.” 6They rose early the next day and offered burnt offerings and brought offerings of well-being. The people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to revel.

The LORD Tells Moses to Go Down

7Then the LORD spoke to Moses, “Go, get down, for your people whom you brought up from the land of Egypt have corrupted themselves. 8They have quickly turned aside from the way that I commanded them. They have made for themselves a cast calf, bowed down to it, sacrificed to it, and said, ‘These are your gods, Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt!’” 9The LORD said to Moses, “I have seen this people, and look, it is a stiff-necked people. 10Now therefore leave me alone, so that my anger may burn against them and I may consume them. Then I will make a great nation from you.”

Moses Intercedes for Israel

11But Moses pleaded before the LORD his God and said, “Why, O LORD, should your anger burn against your people whom you brought out from the land of Egypt with great power and a strong hand? 12Why should the Egyptians say, ‘For evil he brought them out, to kill them in the mountains and consume them from the face of the ground’? Turn from your burning anger and relent concerning this disaster against your people. 13Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your servants, to whom you swore by yourself and said to them, ‘I will multiply your offspring like the stars of the heavens, and all this land that I have spoken of I will give to your offspring, and they will inherit it forever.’” 14Then the LORD relented concerning the disaster that he had spoken of doing to his people.

Moses Breaks the Tablets

15Moses turned and went down from the mountain with the two tablets of the testimony in his hand, tablets written on both sides; on this side and on that side they were written. 16The tablets were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, engraved on the tablets. 17Joshua heard the sound of the people as they shouted, and he said to Moses, “There is a sound of battle in the camp.” 18But Moses said:

“It is not the sound of a shout of victory,
and not the sound of a cry of defeat;
the sound of singing
I hear.” 19As soon as he came near the camp and saw the calf and the dancing, Moses’ anger burned. He threw the tablets from his hands and shattered them at the foot of the mountain. 20He took the calf they had made, burned it with fire, ground it until it was fine, scattered it upon the water, and made the children of Israel drink it.

Moses Confronts Aaron

21Moses said to Aaron, “What did this people do to you, that you brought such great sin upon them?” 22Aaron said, “Do not let the anger of my lord burn. You yourself know the people, that they are set on evil. 23They said to me, ‘Make gods for us who will go before us, for this Moses, the man who brought us up from the land of Egypt—we do not know what has happened to him.’ 24So I said to them, ‘Whoever has gold, tear it off.’ They gave it to me, and I threw it into the fire, and out came this calf.”

The Levites Rally to Moses

25Moses saw that the people had broken loose, for Aaron had let them break loose, to become a derision among their enemies. 26Then Moses stood in the gate of the camp and said, “Whoever is for the LORD, come to me!” And all the sons of Levi gathered to him. 27He said to them, “Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: Each man put his sword on his thigh. Pass back and forth from gate to gate throughout the camp, and each kill his brother, his companion, and his neighbor.” 28The sons of Levi did according to the word of Moses, and about three thousand men from the people fell that day. 29Moses said, “Fill your hands today for the LORD, for each was against his son and against his brother, so that he may give you a blessing today.”

Moses Returns to Intercede

30The next day Moses said to the people, “You have sinned a great sin. And now I will go up to the LORD; perhaps I can make atonement for your sin.” 31Moses returned to the LORD and said, “Please! This people has sinned a great sin and made gods of gold for themselves. 32And now, if you will forgive their sin—but if not, please wipe me out from your book that you have written.” 33The LORD said to Moses, “Whoever has sinned against me, I will wipe out from my book. 34And now go, lead the people to the place of which I spoke to you. Look, my messenger will go before you. But on the day I attend, I will attend to them for their sin.” 35Then the LORD struck the people because they had made the calf, the one Aaron had made.