Exodus 32–34

Chapter 32

¹And when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain, the people collected together to Aaron, and said to him, Up, make us a god, who will go before us; for this Moses, the man that has brought us up out of the land of Egypt, —we do not know what is become of him! ²And Aaron said to them, Break off the golden rings that are in the ears of your wives, of your sons, and of your daughters, and bring them to me. ³Then all the people broke off the golden rings that were in their ears, and brought them to Aaron. ⁴And he took them out of their hand, and fashioned it with a chisel and made of it a molten calf: and they said, This is thy god, Israel, who has brought thee up out of the land of Egypt! ⁵And Aaron saw it, and built an altar before it; and Aaron made a proclamation, and said, To-morrow is a feast to Jehovah! ⁶And they rose up early on the morrow, and offered up burnt-offerings, and brought peace-offerings; and the people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to sport.

⁷Then Jehovah said to Moses, Away, go down! for thy people, which thou hast brought out of the land of Egypt, is acting corruptly. ⁸They have turned aside quickly out of the way that I commanded them: they have made themselves a molten calf, and have bowed down to it, and have sacrificed thereunto, and said, This is thy god, Israel, who has brought thee up out of the land of Egypt! ⁹And Jehovah said to Moses, I see this people, and behold, it is a stiff-necked people. ¹⁰And now let me alone, that my anger may burn against them, and I may consume them; and I will make of thee a great nation. ¹¹And Moses besought Jehovah his God, and said, Why, Jehovah, doth thy wrath burn against thy people, which thou hast brought forth out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a strong hand? ¹²Why should the Egyptians speak, and say, For misfortune he has brought them out, to slay them on the mountains, and to annihilate them from the face of the earth? Turn from the heat of thine anger, and repent of this evil against thy people! ¹³Remember Abraham, Isaac and Israel, thy servants, to whom thou sworest by thyself, and saidst to them, I will multiply your seed as the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have spoken of will I give to your seed, and they shall possess it for ever! ¹⁴And Jehovah repented of the evil that he had said he would do to his people.

¹⁵And Moses turned and went down from the mountain, with the two tables of the testimony in his hand—tables written on both their sides: on this side and on that were they written. ¹⁶And the tables were God’s work, and the writing was God’s writing, engraven on the tables. ¹⁷And Joshua heard the noise of the people as they shouted, and said to Moses, There is a shout of war in the camp. ¹⁸And he said, It is not the sound of a shout of victory, neither is it the sound of a shout of defeat: it is the noise of alternate singing I hear. ¹⁹And it came to pass, when he came near the camp, and saw the calf and the dancing, that Moses’ anger burned, and he cast the tables out of his hands, and shattered them beneath the mountain. ²⁰And he took the calf that they had made, and burned it with fire, and ground it to powder, and strewed it on the water, and made the children of Israel drink it.

²¹And Moses said to Aaron, What has this people done to thee, that thou hast brought so great a sin on them? ²²And Aaron said, Let not the anger of my lord burn! thou knowest the people, that they are set on mischief. ²³And they said to me, Make us a god, who will go before us; for this Moses, the man that has brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what is become of him! ²⁴And I said to them, Who has gold? They broke it off, and gave it me, and I cast it into the fire, and there came out this calf. ²⁵And Moses saw the people how they were stripped; for Aaron had stripped them to their shame before their adversaries. ²⁶And Moses stood in the gate of the camp, and said, He that is for Jehovah, let him come to me. And all the sons of Levi gathered to him. ²⁷And he said to them, Thus saith Jehovah, the God of Israel: Put every man his sword upon his hip; go and return from gate to gate through the camp, and slay every man his brother, and every man his friend, and every man his neighbour. ²⁸And the sons of Levi did according to the word of Moses; and there fell of the people that day about three thousand men. ²⁹And Moses said, Consecrate yourselves to-day to Jehovah, yea, every man with his son, and with his brother, and bring on yourselves a blessing to-day.

³⁰And it came to pass the next day, that Moses said to the people, Ye have sinned a great sin. And now I will go up to Jehovah: perhaps I shall make atonement for your sin. ³¹And Moses returned to Jehovah, and said, Alas, this people has sinned a great sin, and they have made themselves a god of gold! ³²And now, if thou wilt forgive their sin…but if not, blot me, I pray thee, out of thy book that thou hast written. ³³And Jehovah said to Moses, Whoever hath sinned against me, him will I blot out of my book. ³⁴And now go, lead the people whither I have told thee: behold, my Angel shall go before thee; but in the day of my visiting I will visit their sin upon them. ³⁵And Jehovah smote the people, because they made the calf, which Aaron had made.

Chapter 33

¹And Jehovah said to Moses, Depart, go up hence, thou and the people that thou hast brought up out of the land of Egypt, into the land that I swore unto Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, saying, Unto thy seed will I give it, ²(and I will send an angel before thee, and dispossess the Canaanite, the Amorite, and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite,) ³into a land flowing with milk and honey; for I will not go up in the midst of thee, for thou art a stiff-necked people, —lest I consume thee on the way. ⁴And when the people heard this evil word, they mourned; and no man put on his ornaments. ⁵Now Jehovah had said to Moses, Say unto the children of Israel, Ye are a stiff-necked people: in one moment I will come up into the midst of thee and will consume thee. And now put off thine ornaments from thee, and I will know what I will do unto thee. ⁶And the children of Israel stripped themselves of their ornaments at mount Horeb.

⁷And Moses took the tent, and pitched it outside the camp, far from the camp, and called it the Tent of meeting. And it came to pass that every one who sought Jehovah went out to the tent of meeting which was outside the camp. ⁸And it came to pass, when Moses went out to the tent, all the people rose up, and stood every man at the entrance of his tent, and they looked after Moses until he entered into the tent. ⁹And it came to pass when Moses entered into the tent, the pillar of cloud descended, and stood at the entrance of the tent, and Jehovah talked with Moses. ¹⁰And all the people saw the pillar of cloud standing at the entrance of the tent; and all the people rose and worshipped, every man at the entrance of his tent. ¹¹And Jehovah spoke with Moses face to face, as a man speaks with his friend. And he returned to the camp; but his attendant, Joshua the son of Nun, a young man, departed not from within the tent.

¹²And Moses said to Jehovah, Behold, thou sayest unto me, Bring up this people; but thou dost not let me know whom thou wilt send with me; and thou hast said, I know thee by name, and thou hast also found grace in mine eyes. ¹³And now, if indeed I have found grace in thine eyes, make me now to know thy way, that I may know thee, that I may find grace in thine eyes; and consider that this nation is thy people! ¹⁴And he said, My presence shall go, and I will give thee rest. ¹⁵And he said to him, If thy presence do not go, bring us not up hence. ¹⁶And how shall it be known then that I have found grace in thine eyes—I and thy people? Is it not by thy going with us? so shall we be distinguished, I and thy people, from every people that is on the face of the earth. ¹⁷And Jehovah said to Moses, I will do this thing also that thou hast said; for thou hast found grace in mine eyes, and I know thee by name. ¹⁸And he said, Let me, I pray thee, see thy glory. ¹⁹And he said, I will make all my goodness pass before thy face, and I will proclaim the name of Jehovah before thee; and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and I will shew mercy on whom I will shew mercy. ²⁰And he said, Thou canst not see my face; for Man shall not see me, and live. ²¹And Jehovah said, Behold, there is a place by me: there shalt thou stand on the rock. ²²And it shall come to pass, when my glory passeth by, that I will put thee in a cleft of the rock, and will cover thee with my hand, until I have passed by. ²³And I will take away my hand, and thou shalt see me from behind; but my face shall not be seen.

Chapter 34

¹And Jehovah said to Moses, Hew for thyself two tables of stone like the first; and I will write upon the tables the words that were upon the first tables, which thou hast broken. ²And be ready for the morning, and go up in the morning to mount Sinai, and stand there before me on the top of the mountain. ³And let no man go up with thee, neither shall any man be seen on all the mountain; neither shall sheep and oxen feed in front of that mountain. ⁴And he hewed two tables of stone like the first; and Moses rose up early in the morning and went up to mount Sinai, as Jehovah had commanded him, and took in his hand the two tables of stone.

⁵And Jehovah came down in the cloud, and stood beside him there, and proclaimed the name of Jehovah. ⁶And Jehovah passed by before his face, and proclaimed, Jehovah, Jehovah •God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abundant in goodness and truth, ⁷keeping mercy unto thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but by no means clearing the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the…