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 strawed 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 neighbour.
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 to day 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.
