Exodus 32–34

The Golden Calf

32And the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain, and the people gathered opposite Aaron, and they said to him, “Come,^a make for us gods who will go before us, because this Moses, the man who brought us up from the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.”

²And Aaron said to them, “Take off the rings of gold that are on the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring it to me.” ³And all the people took off the rings of gold that were on their ears and brought it to Aaron. ⁴And he took from their hand, and he shaped it with a tool, and he made it a cast-image bull calf, and they said, “These are your gods, Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt.”

⁵And Aaron saw, and he built an altar before it, and Aaron called, and he said, “A feast for Yahweh tomorrow.” ⁶And they started early the next day, and they offered burnt offerings, and they presented fellowship offerings, and the people sat to eat and drink, and they rose up to revel.

⁷And Yahweh spoke to Moses, “Go, go down because your people behave corruptly, whom you brought up from the land of Egypt. ⁸They have turned aside quickly from the way that I commanded them; they have made for themselves a cast-image bull calf, and they bowed to it, and they sacrificed to it, and they said, ‘These are your gods, Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt.’ ”

⁹And Yahweh said to Moses, “I have seen this people, and, indeed, they are a stiff-necked people. ¹⁰And now leave me alone so that my anger may blaze^b against them, and let me destroy them, and I will make you into a great nation.”

¹¹And Moses implored Yahweh^c his God, and he said, “Why, Yahweh, should your anger blaze^d against your people whom you brought up from the land of Egypt with great power and with a strong hand? ¹²Why should the Egyptians say^e, ‘With evil intent he brought them out to kill them in the mountains and wipe them from the face of the earth’?^f Turn from your fierce anger^g and relent concerning the disaster for your people. ¹³Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your servants, to whom you swore by yourself, and you told them, ‘I will multiply your offspring like the stars of the heavens, and all this land that I promised I will give to your offspring, and they will inherit it forever.’ ”

¹⁴And Yahweh relented concerning the disaster that he had threatened^h to do to his people. ¹⁵And Moses turned and went down from the mountain, and the two tablets of the testimony were in his hand, tablets written on their two sides; on the front and on the backⁱ they were written. ¹⁶And the tablets, they were the work of God; and the writing, it was the writing of God engraved on the tablets.

¹⁷And Joshua heard the sound of the people in their shouting, and he said to Moses, “A sound of war is in the camp.”

¹⁸But he said, “There is not a sound of shouting of victory, and there is not a sound of shouting of defeat. I hear a sound of singing.”

¹⁹And^j as he came near to the camp, he saw the bull calf and dancing, and Moses became angry,^k and he threw the tablets from his hand, and he broke them under the mountain. ²⁰And he took the bull calf that they had made, and he burned it with the fire, and he crushed it until it became fine, and he scattered it on the surface of the water, and he made the Israelites^l drink.

²¹And Moses said to Aaron, “What did this people do to you that you brought on them such a great sin?” ²²And Aaron said, “Let not my lord become angry.^m You yourself know the people, that they are intent on evil.^{n 23}And they said to me, ‘Make for us gods who will go before us, because this Moses, the man who brought us up from the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.’ ²⁴And I said to them, ‘Whoever has gold, take it off.’ And they gave it to me, and I threw it in the fire, and out came this bull calf.”

²⁵And Moses saw the people, that they were running wild^o because Aaron had allowed them to run wild,^p for a laughingstock among their enemies.^{q 26}And Moses stood at the entrance of the camp, and he said, “Whoever is for Yahweh, to me.” And all the sons of Levi were gathered to him. ²⁷And he said to them, “Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel, ‘Put each his sword on his side. Go back and forth^r from gate to gate in the camp, and kill, each his brother and each his friend and each his close relative.’ ” ²⁸And the sons of Levi did according to the word of Moses, and from the people on that day about three thousand persons fell.^{s 29}And Moses said, “You are ordained^t today for Yahweh, because each has been against his son and against his brother and so bringing on you today a blessing.”

³⁰And^u the next day Moses said to the people, “You have sinned a great sin. And now I will go up to Yahweh. Perhaps I can make atonement for your sin.”

³¹And Moses returned to Yahweh, and he said, “Alas, this people has sinned a great sin and made for themselves gods of gold. ³²And now if you will forgive their sin—and if not, please blot me from your scroll that you have written.” ³³And Yahweh said to Moses, “Whoever has sinned against me I will blot him from my scroll. ³⁴And now go, lead the people to where I spoke to you. Look, my angel will go before you, and on the day when I punish I will punish them for their sin.” ³⁵And Yahweh afflicted the people because they had made the bull calf that Aaron had made.

Command to Resume Travel

33And Yahweh spoke to Moses, “Go, go up from here, you and the people whom you have brought up from the land of Egypt, to the land that I swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, saying, ‘I will give it to your offspring.’ ²And I will send an angel before you, and I will drive out the Canaanites,^a the Amorites,^b and the Hittites^c and the Perizzites,^d the Hivites,^e and the Jebusites,^{f 3}Go to a land flowing with milk and honey, but I will not go up among you, because you are a stiff-necked people, lest I destroy you on the way.” ⁴And the people heard this troubling^g word, and they mourned, and they each did not put their ornaments on themselves.

⁵And Yahweh said to Moses, “Say to the Israelites,^h ‘You are a stiff-necked people; if one moment I were to go up among you, I would destroy you. And now take down your ornaments from on you, and I will decideⁱ what I will do to you.” ⁶And the Israelites^j stripped themselves of their ornaments from Mount Horeb onward.

The Tent outside the Camp

⁷And Moses took the tent and pitched it outside the camp far from the camp, and he called it the tent of assembly, and^k all seeking Yahweh would go out to the tent of assembly, which was outside the camp. ⁸And^l at the going out of Moses to the tent, all the people would rise and stand, each at the opening of his tent, and gaze after Moses until his entering the tent. ⁹And^m at the entering of Moses into the tent the column of cloud would descend and stand at the opening of the tent, and he would speak with Moses. ¹⁰And all the people would see the column of cloud standing at the opening of the tent, and all the people would rise and bow in worship, each at the opening of his tent. ¹¹And Yahweh would speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his neighbor. And he would return to the camp, and his assistant Joshua the son of Nun, a young man, did not leave the middle of the tent.

Presence and Glory

¹²And Moses said to Yahweh, “See, you are saying to me, ‘Take this people up.’ But you have not let me know whom you will send with me, and you yourself have said, ‘I know you by name, and you also have found favor in my eyes.’ ¹³And now if I have found favor in your eyes, make known to me, please, your way, and so I may know you so that I can find favor in your eyes. And see that this nation is your people.” ¹⁴And he said, “My presence will go, and I will give you rest.” ¹⁵And he said to him, “If your presence is not going, do not bring us up from here. ¹⁶And by what will it be known then that I have found favor in your eyes, I and your people? Is it not by your going with us? And so we will be distinguished, I and your people, from all the people who are on the face of the ground.”

¹⁷And Yahweh said to Moses, “Also I will do this thing that you have spoken, because you have found favor in my eyes and I have known you by name.”

¹⁸And he said, “Please show me your glory.”

¹⁹And he said, “I myself will cause all my goodness to pass over before you, and I will proclaim the name of Yahweh before you, and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and I will show compassion to whom I will show compassion.” ²⁰But he said, “You are not able to see my face, because a human will not see me and live.” ²¹And Yahweh said, “There is a place with me, and you will stand on the rock. ²²Andⁿ when my glory passes over, I will put you in the rock’s crevice, and I will cover you with my hand until I pass over. ²³And I will remove my hand, and you will see my back, but my face will not be visible.”

Yahweh’s Description of Himself

34And Yahweh said to Moses, “Cut for yourself two stone tablets like the first ones, and I will write on the tablets the words that were on the first tablets, which you broke. ²And be ready for the morning, and go up in the morning to Mount Sinai and present yourself to me there on the top of the mountain. ³And no one will go up with you, and neither let anyone be seen on all the mountain, nor let the sheep and goats and the cattle graze opposite^a that mountain.”

⁴And Moses cut two stone tablets like the first ones, and he started early in the morning, and he went up to Mount Sinai, as Yahweh had commanded him, and he took in his hand the two stone tablets. ⁵And Yahweh descended in the cloud, and he stood with him there, and he proclaimed the name of Yahweh. ⁶And Yahweh passed over before him, and he proclaimed, “Yahweh, Yahweh, God, who is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger,^b and abounding with^c loyal love and faithfulness, ⁷keeping loyal love…