Exodus 32–34

Israel Worships a Golden Calf

32The people saw that Moses took a long time to come down from the mountain. So they gathered around Aaron. They said to him, “Come. Make us a god that will lead us. This fellow Moses brought us up out of Egypt. But we don’t know what has happened to him.”

²Aaron answered them, “Take the gold earrings off your wives, your sons and your daughters. Bring the earrings to me.”

³So all of the people took off their earrings. They brought them to Aaron. ⁴He took what they gave him and made it into a metal statue of a god. It looked like a calf. He shaped it with a tool.

Then the people said, “Israel, here is your god who brought you up out of Egypt.”

⁵When Aaron saw it, he built an altar in front of the calf. He said, “Tomorrow will be a feast day in the Lord’s honor.”

⁶So the next day the people got up early. They sacrificed burnt offerings and brought friendship offerings. They sat down to eat and drink. Then they got up to dance wildly in front of their god.

⁷The Lord spoke to Moses. He said, “Go down. Your people you brought up out of Egypt have become very sinful. ⁸They have quickly turned away from what I commanded them. They have made themselves a statue of a god that looks like a calf. They have bowed down and sacrificed to it. And they have said, ‘Israel, here is your god who brought you up out of Egypt.’

⁹“I have seen those people,” the Lord said to Moses. “They are stubborn. ¹⁰Now leave me alone. My anger will burn against them. I will destroy them. Then I will make you into a great nation.”

¹¹But Moses asked the Lord his God to show favor to the people. “Lord,” he said, “why should your anger burn against your people? You used your great power and mighty hand to bring them out of Egypt. ¹²Why should the Egyptians say, ‘He brought them out to hurt them. He wanted to kill them in the mountains. He wanted to wipe them off the face of the earth’? Turn away from your burning anger. Please take pity on your people. Don’t destroy them!

¹³“Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac and Israel. You made a promise. You took an oath in your name. You said, ‘I will make your children after you as many as the stars in the sky. I will give them all of this land I promised them. It will belong to them forever.’ ”

¹⁴Then the Lord took pity on his people. He didn’t destroy them as he had said he would.

¹⁵Moses turned and went down the mountain. He had the two tablets of the covenant in his hands. Words were written on both sides of the tablets, front and back. ¹⁶The tablets were the work of God. The words had been written by God. They had been carved on the tablets.

¹⁷Joshua heard the noise of the people shouting. So he said to Moses, “It sounds like war in the camp.”

¹⁸Moses replied,

“It’s not the sound of winning.

It’s not the sound of losing.

It’s the sound of singing that I hear.”

¹⁹As Moses approached the camp, he saw the calf. He also saw the people dancing. So he burned with anger. He threw the tablets out of his hands. They broke into pieces at the foot of the mountain.

²⁰He took the calf the people had made. He burned it in the fire. Then he ground it into powder. He scattered it on the water. And he made the people of Israel drink it.

²¹He said to Aaron, “What did these people do to you? How did they make you lead them into such terrible sin?”

²²“Please don’t be angry,” Aaron answered. “You know how these people like to do what is evil. ²³They said to me, ‘Make us a god that will lead us. This fellow Moses brought us up out of Egypt. But we don’t know what has happened to him.’

²⁴“So I told them, ‘Anyone who has any gold jewelry, take it off.’ They gave me the gold. I threw it into the fire. And out came this calf!”

²⁵Moses saw that the people were running wild. Aaron had let them get out of control. The people had become a joke to their enemies.

²⁶Moses stood at the entrance to the camp. He said, “Anyone who is on the Lord’s side, come to me.” All of the Levites joined him.

²⁷Then he spoke to them. He said, “The Lord, the God of Israel, says, ‘Each man must put on his sword. Then he must go back and forth through the camp from one end to the other. Each man must kill his brother, friend and neighbor.’ ” ²⁸The Levites did as Moses commanded. About 3,000 of the people died that day. ²⁹Then Moses said to the Levites, “You have been set apart for the Lord today. You stood against your own sons and brothers. And he has blessed you this day.”

³⁰The next day Moses said to the people, “You have committed a terrible sin. But now I will go up to the Lord. Maybe if I pray to him, he will forgive your sin.”

³¹So Moses went back to the Lord. He said, “These people have committed a terrible sin. They have made a god out of gold for themselves. ³²Now please forgive their sin. But if you won’t, then erase my name from the scroll you have written.”

³³The Lord replied to Moses, “I will erase from my scroll only the names of those who have sinned against me. ³⁴Now go. Lead the people to the place I spoke about. My angel will go ahead of you. But when the time comes for me to punish, I will punish them for their sin.”

³⁵The Lord struck the people with a plague. That’s because of what they did with the calf Aaron had made.

33Then the Lord spoke to Moses. He said, “Leave this place. You and the people you brought up out of Egypt must leave it. Go up to the land I promised with an oath to give to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. I said to them, ‘I will give it to your children after you.’ ²I will send an angel ahead of you. I will drive out the Canaanites, Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites.

³“Go up to the land that has plenty of milk and honey. But I will not go with you. You are stubborn. I might destroy you on the way.”

⁴When the people heard those painful words, they became sad and began to sob. No one put on any jewelry.

⁵The Lord had said to Moses, “Tell the people of Israel, ‘You are stubborn. If I went with you even for a moment, I might destroy you. Now take off your jewelry. Then I will decide what to do with you.’ ” ⁶So the people took off their jewelry at Mount Horeb.

The Tent of Meeting

⁷Moses used to take a tent and set it up far outside the camp. He called it the “tent of meeting.” Anyone who wanted to ask the Lord a question would go to the tent of meeting that was outside the camp. ⁸When Moses would go out to the tent, all of the people would get up and stand at the entrances to their tents. They would watch Moses until he entered the tent.

⁹As Moses would go into the tent, the pillar of cloud would come down. It would stay at the entrance while the Lord spoke with Moses. ¹⁰The people would see the pillar of cloud standing at the entrance to the tent. Then all of them would stand and worship at the entrances to their tents.

¹¹The Lord would speak to Moses face to face. It was like a man speaking to his friend. Then Moses would return to the camp.

But Joshua, his young helper, didn’t leave the tent. Joshua was the son of Nun.

The Lord Shows Moses His Glory

¹²Moses said to the Lord, “You have been telling me, ‘Lead these people.’ But you haven’t let me know whom you will send with me. You have said, ‘I know your name. I know all about you. And I am pleased with you.’ ¹³If you are pleased with me, teach me more about yourself. Then I can know you. And I can continue to please you. Remember that this nation is your people.”

¹⁴The Lord replied, “I will go with you. And I will give you rest.”

¹⁵Then Moses said to him, “If you don’t go with us, don’t send us up from here. ¹⁶How will anyone know that you are pleased with me and your people? You must go with us. How else will we be different from all of the other people on the face of the earth?”

¹⁷The Lord said to Moses, “I will do exactly what you have asked. I am pleased with you. And I know your name. I know all about you.”

¹⁸Then Moses said, “Now show me your glory.”

¹⁹The Lord said, “I will make all of my goodness pass in front of you. And I will announce my name, The Lord, in front of you. I will have mercy on whom I have mercy. And I will show love to those I love. ²⁰But you can’t see my face,” he said. “No one can see me and stay alive.”

²¹The Lord continued, “There is a place near me where you can stand on a rock. ²²When my glory passes by, I will put you in an opening in the rock. I will cover you with my hand until I have passed by. ²³Then I will remove my hand. You will see my back. But my face must not be seen.”

The New Stone Tablets

34The Lord said to Moses, “Cut out two stone tablets that are just like the first ones. I will write on them the words that were on the first tablets, which you broke.

²“Be ready in the morning. Then come up on Mount Sinai. Meet with me there on top of the mountain. ³No one must come with you. No one must be seen anywhere on the mountain. Not even the flocks and herds must be allowed to eat grass in front of the mountain.”

⁴So Moses carved out two stone tablets that were just like the first ones. Early in the morning he went up Mount Sinai. He carried the two tablets in his hands. He did as the Lord had commanded him to do.

⁵Then the Lord came down in the cloud. He stood there with Moses and announced his name, The Lord.

⁶As he passed in front of Moses, he called out. He said, “I am the Lord, the Lord. I am a God who is tender and kind. I am gracious. I am slow to get angry. I am faithful and full of love. ⁷I continue to show my love to thousands of people. I forgive those who do evil. I forgive those who refuse to obey. And I forgive those who sin. But I do not let guilty people go without punishing them. I punish the children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren for the sin of their parents.”

⁸Moses bowed down to the ground at once and worshiped. ⁹“Lord,” he said, “if you are pleased with me, then go with us. Even though these people are stubborn, forgive the evil things we have done. Forgive our sin. And accept us as your people.”

¹⁰Then the Lord said, “I am making a covenant with you. I…