THE GOLD CALF

32 When the people saw that Moses delayed in coming down from the mountain, they gathered around Aaron and said to him, “Come, make gods* for us who will go before us because this Moses, the man who brought us up from the land of Egypt—we don’t know what has happened to him!”j

2 Aaron replied to them, “Take off the gold ringsk that are on the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters and bring them to me.” 3 So all the people took off the gold rings that were on their ears and brought them to Aaron. 4 He took the gold from them, fashioned it with an engraving tool, and made it into an image of a calf.

Then they said, “Israel, these are your gods,* who brought you up from the land of Egypt!”l

5 When Aaron saw this, he built an altar in front of it and made an announcement: “There will be a festivalm to the Lord tomorrow.” 6 Early the next morning they arose, offered burnt offerings, and presented fellowship offerings. The people sat down to eat and drink, and got up to party.n