Exodus 32–34

32ND CHAPTER

The Gold Calf

¹When the people saw that Moses delayed coming down from the mountain, they gathered around Aaron. They said to him, “We don’t know what has happened to this Moses, who led us out of Egypt. Make gods who will lead us.” 

²Aaron said to them, “Have your wives, sons, and daughters take off the gold earrings they are wearing, and bring them to me.” 

³So all the people took off their gold earrings and handed them to Aaron. ⁴After he had worked on the gold with a tool,he made it into a statue of a calf. 

Then they said, “Israel, here are your gods who brought you out of Egypt.” 

⁵When Aaron saw this, he built an altar in front of it and announced, “Tomorrow there will be a festival in the Lord’s honor.” 

⁶Early the next day the people sacrificed burnt offerings and brought fellowship offerings. Afterward, they sat down to a feast, which turned into an orgy. 

⁷The Lord said to Moses, “Go back down there. Your people whom you brought out of Egypt have ruined ⸤everything⸥. ⁸They’ve already turned from the way I commanded them to live. They’ve made a statue of a calf for themselves. They’ve bowed down to it and offered sacrifices to it. They’ve said, ‘Israel, here are your gods who brought you out of Egypt.’ ” 

⁹The Lord added, “I’ve seen these people, and they are impossible to deal with. ¹⁰Now leave me alone. I’m so angry with them I am going to destroy them. Then I’ll make you into a great nation.” 

¹¹But Moses pleaded with the Lord his God. “Lord,” he said, “why are you so angry with your people whom you brought out of Egypt using your great power and mighty hand? ¹²Don’t let the Egyptians say, ‘He was planning all along to kill them in the mountains and wipe them off the face of the earth. That’s why he brought them out ⸤of our land⸥.’ Don’t be so angry. Reconsider your decision to bring this disaster on your people. ¹³Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac, and Israel. You took an oath, swearing on yourself. You told them, ‘I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky. I will give to your descendants all the land I spoke of. It will be their permanent possession.’ ” 

¹⁴So the Lord reconsidered his threat to destroy his people. 

¹⁵Moses turned and went down the mountain carrying the two tablets with God’s words. They were written on both sides, front and back. ¹⁶The tablets were the work of God, and the writing was God’s writing inscribed on the tablets. 

¹⁷Then Joshua heard the noise of the people shouting. He said to Moses, “It’s the sound of war in the camp!” 

¹⁸Moses replied, 

“It’s not the sound of winners shouting. 

It’s not the sound of losers crying. 

It’s the sound of a wild celebrationthat I hear.” 

¹⁹When he came near the camp, he saw the calf and the dancing. In a burst of anger Moses threw down the tablets and smashed them at the foot of the mountain. ²⁰Then he took the calf they had made, burned it, ground it into powder, scattered it on the water, and made the Israelites drink it. 

²¹Moses asked Aaron, “What did these people do to you that you encouraged them to commit such a serious sin?” 

²²“Don’t be angry, sir,” Aaron answered. “You know that these people are evil. ²³They said to me, ‘We don’t know what’s happened to this Moses who brought us out of Egypt. Make gods for us. They will lead us.’ ²⁴So I told them to take off any gold they were wearing. They gave it to me. I threw it into the fire, and out came this calf!” 

²⁵Aaron had let the people get out of control, and they became an object of ridicule to their enemies. When Moses saw this, ²⁶he stood at the entrance to the camp and said, “If you’re on the Lord’s side, come over here to me!” Then all the Levites gathered around him. 

²⁷He said to them, “This is what the Lord God of Israel says: Each of you put on your sword. Go back and forth from one end of the camp to the other, and kill your relatives, friends, and neighbors.” 

²⁸The Levites did what Moses told them, and that day about 3,000 people died. 

²⁹Moses said, “Today you are ordained as the Lord’s priests. God gave you a blessing today because each of you fought with your own sons and brothers.”^c

Moses Begs the Lord to Spare the People

³⁰The next day Moses said to the people, “You have committed a serious sin. Now I will go up the mountain to the Lord. Maybe I will be able to make a payment for your sin and make peace with the Lord for your sin.” 

³¹So Moses went back to the Lord and said, “These people have committed such a serious sin! They made gods out of gold for themselves. ³²But will you forgive their sin? If not, please wipe me out of the book you have written.” 

³³The Lord answered Moses, “I will wipe out of my book whoever sins against me. ³⁴Now, go! Lead the people to the place I told you about. My Messenger will go ahead of you. But when I punish, I will punish them for their sin.” 

³⁵So the Lord killed people because they had Aaron make the calf. 

33RD CHAPTER

The Lord Assures Moses That He Will Have Mercy on Israel

¹Then the Lord said to Moses, “You and the people you brought out of Egypt must leave this place. Go to the land I promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob with an oath, saying, ‘I will give it to your descendants.’ ²I will send a Messenger ahead of you, and I will force out the Canaanites, Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites. ³Go to that land flowing with milk and honey. But I will not be with you, because you are impossible to deal with, and I would destroy you on the way.” 

⁴When the people heard this bad news, they acted as if someone had died. No one wore any jewelry. ⁵The Lord had said to Moses, “Tell the Israelites, ‘You are impossible to deal with. If I were with you, I might destroy you at any time. Now take off your jewelry, and I’ll decide what to do with you.’ ” ⁶After they left Mount Horeb, the Israelites no longer wore their jewelry. 

⁷Now, Moses used to take a tent and set it up far outside the camp. He called it the tent of meeting. Anyone who was seeking the Lord’s will used to go outside the camp to the tent of meeting. ⁸Whenever Moses went out to the tent, all the people would rise and stand at the entrances to their tents and watch Moses until he went in. ⁹As soon as Moses went into the tent, the column of smoke would come down and stay at the entrance to the tent while the Lord spoke with Moses. ¹⁰When all the people saw the column of smoke standing at the entrance to the tent, they would all bow with their faces touching the ground at the entrance to their own tents. ¹¹The Lord would speak to Moses personally, as a man speaks to his friend. Then Moses would come back to the camp, but his assistant, Joshua, son of Nun, stayed inside the tent. 

¹²Moses said to the Lord, “You’ve been telling me to lead these people, but you haven’t let me know whom you’re sending with me. You’ve also said, ‘I know you by name, and I’m pleased with you.’ ¹³If you really are pleased with me, show me your ways so that I can know you and so that you will continue to be pleased with me. Remember: This nation is your people.” 

¹⁴The Lord answered, “My presence will go ⸤with you,⸥ and I will give you peace.” 

¹⁵Then Moses said to him, “If your presence is not going ⸤with us⸥, don’t make us leave this place. ¹⁶How will anyone ever know you’re pleased with your people and me unless you go with us? Then we will be different from all other people on the face of the earth.” 

¹⁷The Lord answered Moses, “I will do what you have asked, because I am pleased with you, and I know you by name.” 

¹⁸Then Moses said, “Please let me see your glory.” 

¹⁹The Lord said, “I will let all my goodness pass in front of you, and there I will call out my name ‘the Lord.’ I will be kind to anyone I want to. I will be merciful to anyone I want to. ²⁰But you can’t see my face, because no one may see me and live.” 

²¹Then the Lord said, “Look, there’s a place near me. Stand by this rocky cliff. ²²When my glory passes by, I will put you in a crevice in the cliff and cover you with my hand until I have passed by. ²³Then I will take my hand away, and you’ll see my back, but my face must not be seen.” 

34TH CHAPTER

The Lord Meets with Moses on the Mountain

¹The Lord said to Moses, “Cut two ⸤more⸥ stone tablets like the first ones, and I will write on them the words that were on the first tablets which you smashed. ²Be ready in the morning. Then come up on Mount Sinai, and stand in my presence on the top of the mountain. ³No one may come with you or even be seen anywhere on the mountain. Even the flocks and herds may not graze in front of this mountain.” 

⁴So Moses cut two ⸤more⸥ stone tablets like the first ones. Early the next morning he went up on Mount Sinai, as the Lord had commanded him, carrying the two stone tablets. 

⁵The Lord came down in a cloud and stood there with him and called out his name “the Lord.” 

⁶Then he passed in front of Moses, calling out, “The Lord, the Lord, a compassionate and merciful God, patient, always faithful and ready to forgive. ⁷He continues to show his love to thousands of generations, forgiving wrongdoing, disobedience, and sin. He never lets the guilty go unpunished, punishing children and grandchildren for their parents’ sins to the third and fourth generation.” 

⁸Immediately, Moses knelt, bowing with his face touching the ground. ⁹Then he said, “Lord, please go with us! Even though we are impossible to deal with, forgive our sin and the wrong we have done, and accept us as your own people.” 

The Lord Makes His Promise with Israel Again

¹⁰The Lord said, “I’m making my promise^aagain. In front of all your people I will perform miracles that have never been done in any other nation in all the world. All the people around you will see how awesome these miracles are that I will perform for you. ¹¹Do everything that I command today. Then I will force the Amorites, Canaanites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites out of your way. ¹²Be careful not to make a treaty with those…