Exodus 32:1–9

The Golden Calf

¹Then the people saw that Moses ^adelayed to come down from the mountain. So the people assembled about Aaron and said to him, “Arise, ^bmake us ¹gods who will go before us; as for ^cthis 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, “^aTear off the gold rings which are in the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me.”

³Then all the people tore off the gold rings which were in their ears and brought them to Aaron.

⁴And he took this from their hand and fashioned it with a graving tool and made it into a ^amolten calf; and they said, “¹These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt.”

⁵And Aaron looked and built an altar before it; and Aaron made a proclamation and said, “Tomorrow shall be a feast to Yahweh.”

⁶So the next day they rose early and ^aoffered burnt offerings and brought peace offerings; and ^bthe people sat down to eat and to drink and rose up ^cto play.

⁷Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, “Go! Go down at once, for your people, whom ^ayou brought up from the land of Egypt, have ^bcorrupted themselves.

⁸“They have quickly turned aside from the way which I commanded them. ^aThey have made for themselves a molten calf and have worshiped it and ^bhave sacrificed to it and said, ‘^1cThese are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt!’”

^9aAnd Yahweh said to Moses, “I have seen this people, and behold, they are ^ba stiff-necked people.