The Golden Calf
1 When the people saw that Moses delayed in coming down from the mountain, they gathered together to Aaron and said to him, “Come, make us gods which shall go before us, for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.”
2 Aaron said to them, “Take off the golden rings that are on the ears of your wives, your sons and your daughters, and bring them to me.”
3 All the people took off the golden rings which were on their ears and brought them to Aaron. 4 He received what they handed him, fashioned it with an engraving tool, and made it into a molten calf. Then they said, “These are your gods, Israel, which brought you up out of the land of Egypt.”
5 When Aaron saw this, he built an altar before it, and Aaron made a proclamation and said, “Tomorrow shall be a feast to the Lord.”
6 They rose early the next day and offered burnt offerings and brought peace offerings, and the people sat down to eat and to drink and rose up to play.
7 The Lord spoke to Moses, “Go, get down there, for your people, who you brought up out of the land of Egypt have corrupted themselves! 8 They have turned away quickly from the way which I commanded them. They have made for themselves a molten calf and have worshiped it and have sacrificed to it and said, ‘These are your gods, Israel, which brought you up out of the land of Egypt.’ ”
Moses Intercedes for the Israelites
9 The Lord said to Moses, “I have seen these people and they are a stiff-necked people. 10 Now therefore leave me alone, that my wrath may burn hot against them and that I may destroy them, and I will make of you a great nation.”
11 Moses begged the Lord his God and said, “Lord, why does your wrath burn hot against your people that you have brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand?
12 Why should the Egyptians talk, saying, ‘He brought them out with malicious intent, to kill them in the mountains and to destroy them from the face of the earth?’ Turn from your fierce wrath and turn away from this destruction of your people.
13 Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your servants, to whom you swore by your own self and said to them, ‘I will multiply your offspring like the stars of the sky and all this land that I have spoken of I will give to your offspring, and they shall inherit it forever.’ ”
14 So the Lord turned away from the destruction which he said he would do to his people.
Moses Descends with the Tablets
15 Moses turned and went down from the mountain, with the two tablets of the covenant in his hand, tablets that were written on both sides, front and back. 16 The tablets were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, engraved on the tablets.
17 When Joshua heard the noise of the people as they shouted, he said to Moses, “There is the sound of war in the camp.”
18 He said, “It is not the sound of those who shout for victory.
It is not the sound of those who cry from being overcome,
but it is the sound of singing that I hear.”
19 As soon as he came near to the camp, he saw the calf and the dancing. Then Moses’ anger grew hot, and he threw the tablets out of his hands and broke them at the foot of the mountain. 20 He took the calf which they had made and burned it with fire, ground it to powder, and scattered it on the water and made the Israelites drink it.
21 Moses said to Aaron, “What did these people do to you, that you have brought a great sin on them?”
22 Aaron said, “Don’t let the anger of my lord grow hot. You know the people, that they are prone to evil. 23 For they said to me, ‘Make us gods, which shall go before us. As for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we don’t know what has become of him.’
24 I said to them, ‘Whoever has any gold, let them take it off.’ So they gave it to me, and I threw it into the fire and out came this calf.”
25 When Moses saw that the people were out of control (for Aaron had let them get out of control, to their shame before their adversaries), 26 then Moses stood in the gate of the camp and said, “Whoever is on the Lord’s side, come to me!” All the Levites gathered together to him.
27 He said to them, “The Lord, God of Israel, says, ‘Each of you, put your sword on your thigh and go back and forth from gate to gate throughout the camp, and each of you kill your brother, your companion, and your neighbor.’ ”
28 The Levites did according to the word of Moses, and among the people, about 3,000 men fell that day.
29 Moses said, “Today you have consecrated yourselves to the Lord, for each of you turned on his son and on his brother so that the Lord may bestow a blessing upon you today.”
Moses Intercedes for Israel
30 The next day, Moses said to the people, “You have committed a great sin. Now I will go up to the Lord. Perhaps I shall make atonement for your sin.”
31 Moses returned to the Lord and said, “Oh, these people have committed a great sin and have made themselves gods of gold. 32 Yet now, if you will, forgive their sin—and if not, please blot me out of your book which you have written.”
33 The Lord said to Moses, “Whoever has sinned against me, I will blot him out of my book. 34 Now go, lead the people to the place of which I have spoken to you. My angel shall go before you. Nevertheless, on the day when I punish, I will punish them for their sin.”
35 The Lord struck the people because of what they did with the calf which Aaron made.