| Chapter
32 |
1 | And
when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down out of the mount, the
people gathered themselves together unto Aaron, and said unto him, Up, make us
gods, which shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man that brought us
up out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him. |
2 | And Aaron said unto them, Break off the
golden earrings, which are in the ears of your wives, of your sons, and of your
daughters, and bring them unto me. |
3 | And all the people brake off the golden earrings which were in
their ears, and brought them unto Aaron. |
4 | And he received them at their hand, and fashioned it with
a graving tool, after he had made it a molten calf: and they said, These be thy
gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt. |
5 | And when Aaron saw it, he built an
altar before it; and Aaron made proclamation, and said, To morrow is a feast to
the LORD. |
6 | And they rose
up early on the morrow, and offered burnt offerings, and brought peace
offerings; and the people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to
play. |
7 | And the LORD said
unto Moses, Go, get thee down; for thy people, which thou broughtest out of the
land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves: |
8 | They have turned aside quickly out of the way which I
commanded them: they have made them a molten calf, and have worshipped it, and
have sacrificed thereunto, and said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which have
brought thee up out of the land of Egypt. |
9 | And the LORD said unto Moses, I have seen this people,
and, behold, it is a stiffnecked people: |
10 | Now therefore let me alone, that my wrath may wax hot
against them, and that I may consume them: and I will make of thee a great
nation. |
11 | And Moses
besought the LORD his God, and said, LORD, why doth thy wrath wax hot against
thy people, which thou hast brought forth out of the land of Egypt with great
power, and with a mighty hand? |
12
| Wherefore should the Egyptians speak, and say, For mischief did he
bring them out, to slay them in the mountains, and to consume them from the
face of the earth? Turn from thy fierce wrath, and repent of this evil against
thy people. |
13 | Remember
Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, thy servants, to whom thou swarest by thine own
self, and saidst unto them, I will multiply your seed as the stars of heaven,
and all this land that I have spoken of will I give unto your seed, and they
shall inherit it for ever. |
14
| And the LORD repented of the evil which he thought to do unto his
people. |
15 | And Moses
turned, and went down from the mount, and the two tables of the testimony were
in his hand: the tables were written on both their sides; on the one side and
on the other were they written. |
16 | And the tables were the work of God, and the writing was the
writing of God, graven upon the tables. |
17 | And when Joshua heard the noise of the people as they
shouted, he said unto Moses, There is a noise of war in the camp. |
18 | And he said, It is not the voice
of them that shout for mastery, neither is it the voice of them that cry for
being overcome: but the noise of them that sing do I hear. |
19 | And it came to pass, as soon as he
came nigh unto the camp, that he saw the calf, and the dancing: and Moses'
anger waxed hot, and he cast the tables out of his hands, and brake them
beneath the mount. |
20 |
And he took the calf which they had made, and burnt it in the fire, and ground
it to powder, and strewed it upon the water, and made the children of Israel
drink of it. |
21 | And
Moses said unto Aaron, What did this people unto thee, that thou hast brought
so great a sin upon them? |
22 |
And Aaron said, Let not the anger of my lord wax hot: thou knowest the
people, that they are set on mischief. |
23 | For they said unto me, Make us gods, which shall go
before us: for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of
Egypt, we wot not what is become of him. |
24 | And I said unto them, Whosoever hath any gold, let them
break it off. So they gave it me: then I cast it into the fire, and there came
out this calf. |
25 | And
when Moses saw that the people were naked; (for Aaron had made them naked unto
their shame among their enemies:) |
26 | Then Moses stood in the gate of the camp, and said, Who is on
the LORD's side? let him come unto me. And all the sons of Levi gathered
themselves together unto him. |
27
| And he said unto them, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Put every
man his sword by his side, and go in and out from gate to gate throughout the
camp, and slay every man his brother, and every man his companion, and every
man his neighbor. |
28 | And
the children of Levi did according to the word of Moses: and there fell of the
people that day about three thousand men. |
29 | For Moses had said, Consecrate yourselves today to the
LORD, even every man upon his son, and upon his brother; that he may bestow
upon you a blessing this day. |
30
| And it came to pass on the morrow, that Moses said unto the people, Ye
have sinned a great sin: and now I will go up unto the LORD; peradventure I
shall make an atonement for your sin. |
31 | And Moses returned unto the LORD, and said, Oh, this
people have sinned a great sin, and have made them gods of gold. |
32 | Yet now, if thou wilt forgive
their sin--; and if not, blot me, I pray thee, out of thy book which thou hast
written. |
33 | And the LORD
said unto Moses, Whosoever hath sinned against me, him will I blot out of my
book. |
34 | Therefore now
go, lead the people unto the place of which I have spoken unto thee: behold,
mine Angel shall go before thee: nevertheless in the day when I visit I will
visit their sin upon them. |
35
| And the LORD plagued the people, because they made the calf, which
Aaron made. |