Exodus 32

32 ¹ When the people saw Moses delayed coming down the mountain, they gathered around Aaron and said to him, "Get up, make us gods to go before us. This Moses, the man who brought us up from the land of Egypt—we don't know what's happened to him."

² Aaron told them, "Take off the gold earrings on the ears of your wives, sons, and daughters, and bring them to me."

³ All the people removed the gold rings from their ears and brought them to Aaron. ⁴ He took the gold from their hands, shaped it with an engraving tool, and cast it into a calf. Then they said, "These are your gods, Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt!"

⁵ Seeing this, Aaron built an altar before it and announced, "Tomorrow is a festival to our Father." ^a a v5 Aaron tries to wrap the calf in our Father's name, calling a festival to him — but blending idolatry with true worship is itself the sin this chapter exposes.

⁶ They rose early next day, offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings. The people sat to eat and drink, then got up to revel.

⁷ Then our Father said to Moses, "Go down, because your people, whom you brought up from the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves." ⁸ They have quickly turned from the way I commanded them, made themselves a cast calf, bowed to it, sacrificed to it, and said, 'Israel, these are your gods who brought you up from the land of Egypt.'

⁹ Our Father said to Moses, "I have seen this people, and they are a stubborn people. ¹⁰ Now leave me alone, that my anger may burn against them and I may consume them, and I will make you a great nation.

¹¹ Moses pleaded with our Father: "Why, our Father, does your anger burn against your people, whom you brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and a mighty hand? ¹² Why should the Egyptians say, 'He brought them out with evil intent, to kill them in the mountains and wipe them from the earth's face'? Turn from your burning anger; relent from this disaster against your people. ¹³ Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your servants, to whom you swore by yourself and told them: 'I will multiply your offspring like the stars of heaven, and I will give your offspring all this land I have promised, and they will inherit it forever.'

¹⁴ So our Father relented from the disaster he had spoken of bringing on his people.

¹⁵ Moses turned and went down from the mountain, the two tablets of the testimony in his hand, tablets written on both sides, front and back. ¹⁶ The tablets were the work of our Father; the writing was the writing of our Father, engraved on the tablets.

¹⁷ When Joshua heard the sound of the people shouting, he told Moses, "That's the sound of war in the camp."

¹⁸ Moses replied, "Not the sound of victory's shout, nor the sound of defeat's cry — I hear the sound of singing." ¹⁹ As Moses neared the camp and saw the calf and the dancing, his anger flared; he threw the tablets from his hands, shattering them at the base of the mountain. ²⁰ He took the calf they made, burned it in fire, ground it to powder, scattered it on the water, and made the Israelites drink it.

²¹ Moses said to Aaron, "What did this people do to you, that you brought such great sin on them?"

²² Aaron said, "Don't be angry, my lord; you know the people are inclined to evil." ²³ They said to me, 'Make us gods to go ahead of us. This Moses, the man who brought us out of the land of Egypt—we can't say what became of him.' ²⁴ I told them, 'Whoever has gold, strip it off.' They gave it to me; I threw it into the fire, and out came this calf.

²⁵ Moses saw that the people ran wild, for Aaron had let them run wild, to their enemies' mockery. ²⁶ Moses stood at the camp gate and said, "Whoever is for our Father, come to me!" All the Levites gathered around him.

²⁷ He said to them, 'This is what our Father says: Strap your sword to your side, each of you. Go back and forth through the camp, gate to gate, and kill your brother, your friend, your neighbor.' ²⁸ The Levites did as Moses commanded, and that day about three thousand of the people fell. ²⁹ Moses said, "Today you set yourselves apart for our Father, each at the cost of his son and brother, so he might bless you today."

³⁰ The next day Moses told the people, "You have sinned greatly. Now I will go up to our Father—perhaps I can atone for your sin."

³¹ Moses returned to our Father and said, "Oh, this people has sinned greatly, making themselves gods of gold. ³² Now, if you'll forgive their sin—if not, blot me, please, out of the book you wrote. ^b b v32 God's 'book' is his record of those who belong to him — Moses is offering his own place in it to spare the people.

³³ But our Father told Moses, "I will blot out of my book whoever has sinned against me." ³⁴ Go, lead the people where I told you; my angel will go before you. But on the day I settle accounts, I will charge them with their sin.

³⁵ Then our Father struck the people with plague because of what they did with the calf that Aaron made.