The Gold Calf

32 When the people saw that Moses was staying a long time before coming down from the mountain, they gathered around Aaron, and said, “Come, make a god for us who will go in front of us. For we do not know what has become of Moses, the man who brought us out of the land of Egypt.” ² Aaron said to them, “Take the objects of gold from the ears of your wives, your sons and your daughters, and bring them to me.” ³ So all the people took the gold objects from their ears and brought them to Aaron. ⁴ He took the gold from their hands, worked on it with a sharp tool, and by melting it, made it into a calf. Then they said, “This is your god, O Israel, who brought you out of the land of Egypt.” ⁵ When Aaron saw this, he built an altar in front of it. Aaron said to all the people, “Tomorrow will be a special supper to the Lord.” ⁶ So the next day they got up early and gave burnt gifts and peace gifts. The people sat down to eat and drink, and got up to play.

⁷ Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go down. For your people, whom you brought out of the land of Egypt, have turned to sin. ⁸ They have been quick to turn aside from the way I have told them. They have melted gold and made a calf for themselves. They have worshiped it, have given gifts to it, and have said, ‘This is your god, O Israel, who brought you out of the land of Egypt!’” ⁹ The Lord said to Moses, “I have seen this people, and see, they are a strong-willed people. ¹⁰ Now let Me alone, so My anger may be against them and I may destroy them. But I will make you into a great nation.”

¹¹ Then Moses begged the Lord his God, saying, “O Lord, why are you very angry against Your people whom You brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and a strong hand? ¹² Why should the Egyptians say, ‘He brought them out to kill them in the mountains and destroy them from the earth’? Turn from Your anger and change Your mind about destroying Your people. ¹³ Remember Abraham, Isaac and Israel, who were your servants. You promised them by Yourself, saying, ‘I will make your children become as many as the stars of the heavens. And I will give all this land I have spoken about to your children. It will be theirs forever.’” ¹⁴ So the Lord changed His mind about the things He said He would do to His people.

¹⁵ Then Moses turned and went down from the mountain with the two stone writings of the Law in his hand. The stones were written on both sides, on one side and the other. ¹⁶ The stone writings were God’s work. The writing was God’s writing cut into the stones. ¹⁷ When Joshua heard the sound of the people as they made noise, he said to Moses, “There is a sound of war at the tents.” ¹⁸ But Moses said, “It is not the sound of winning, or the sound of losing. It is the sound of singing I hear.” ¹⁹ As soon as Moses came near the tents, he saw the calf and the dancing. Moses became very angry. He threw the stone writings from his hands and broke them at the base of the mountain. ²⁰ And he took the calf they had made and burned it with fire, ground it to dust, spread it over the top of the water, and made the people of Israel drink it.

²¹ Then Moses said to Aaron, “What did this people do to you to make you bring such great sin upon them?” ²² Aaron said, “Do not let my lord be angry. You know the people yourself and how sinful they are.

²³ They said to me, ‘Make a god for us who will go in front of us. For we do not know what has become of Moses, the man who brought us out of the land of Egypt.’ ²⁴ And I said to them, ‘Whoever has any gold, let them take it off.’ So they gave it to me. I threw it into the fire and out came this calf.”

²⁵ Moses saw that Aaron had let the people go wild and become a shame to those who hated them. ²⁶ So Moses stood in the gate of the place where they had set up their tents and said, “Whoever is for the Lord, come to me!” And all the sons of Levi came together around him. ²⁷ He said to them, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘Every man put his sword on his thigh. And go from one end of the tents to the other, and each one kill his brother, his friend, and his neighbor.’” ²⁸ So the sons of Levi did as Moses said. About 3,000 men fell that day. ²⁹ Then Moses said, “Today you have set yourselves apart for the Lord. For each man has been against his son and against his brother, so the Lord may bring good to you today.”

³⁰ The next day Moses said to the people, “You have sinned. Now I am going up to the Lord. It might be that I can have your sin forgiven.” ³¹ Then Moses returned to the Lord and said, “O, this people have sinned. They have made a god of gold for themselves. ³² But now, if You will, forgive their sin. If not, then take my name out of Your book which You have written.” ³³ The Lord said to Moses, “I will put out of My book whoever has sinned against Me. ³⁴ But go now. Lead the people where I told you. See, My angel will go before you. But in the day when I punish, I will punish them for their sin.” ³⁵ Then the Lord sent trouble upon the people, because of what they did with the calf Aaron had made.

Israel Leaves Mount Sinai

33 The Lord said to Moses, “Go away from this place, you and the people you have brought out of the land of Egypt. Go to the land that I promised to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, saying, ‘I will give it to your children.’ ² I will send an angel before you. And I will drive out the Canaanite, the Amorite, the Hittite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite. ³ Go up to a land flowing with milk and honey. But I will not go with you, because you are a strong-willed people and I might destroy you on the way.” ⁴ When the people heard this bad news, they were filled with sorrow. None of them wore his objects of gold or silver. ⁵ For the Lord had said to Moses, “Say to the people of Israel, ‘You are a strong-willed people. If I go with you even for just a little time, I would destroy you. So take off your objects of gold and silver that I may know what to do with you.’” ⁶ So the people of Israel took off all their objects of gold and silver at Mount Horeb.

Moses Meets with the Lord

⁷ Now Moses used to take the tent and set it up far away from the other tents. He called it the meeting tent. Anyone who wanted to meet with the Lord would go away from the other tents to the meeting tent. ⁸ When Moses went out to the tent, all the people would get up and stand at the doors of their tents. And they would watch Moses until he went into the meeting tent. ⁹ Whenever Moses went into the meeting tent, the cloud would come down and stand at the door of the tent. And the Lord would speak with Moses. ¹⁰ When all the people saw the cloud standing at the door of the meeting tent, they would stand up and worship, each at his tent door. ¹¹ The Lord spoke to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend. When Moses returned to the other tents, his servant Joshua, the son of Nun, a young man, would not leave the meeting tent.

God’s Promise to Be with His People

¹² Moses said to the Lord, “See, You say to me, ‘Lead this people!’ But You have not let me know whom You will send with me. Yet You said, ‘I have known you by name. You have found favor in My eyes.’ ¹³ So I pray to You, if I have found favor in Your eyes, let me know Your ways. Then I may know You and find favor in Your eyes. And keep in mind that this nation is Your people.” ¹⁴ The Lord said, “I Myself will go with you. I will give you rest.” ¹⁵ Then Moses said to Him, “If You Yourself do not go with us, do not have us leave this place. ¹⁶ For how will it be known that I and Your people have found favor in Your eyes, unless You go with us? Then I and Your people will be different from all the other people on the earth.”

¹⁷ The Lord said to Moses, “I will do what you have said. For you have found favor in My eyes, and I have known you by name.” ¹⁸ Moses said, “I pray to You, show me Your shining-greatness!” ¹⁹ And God said, “I will have My goodness pass in front of you. I will make the name of the Lord known in front of you. I will have loving-kindness and loving-pity for anyone I want to.” ²⁰ But He said, “You cannot see My face. For no man can see Me and live!” ²¹ Then the Lord said, “See, there is a place beside Me. You stand there on the rock. ²² While My shining-greatness is passing by, I will put you in the large crack of the rock. And I will cover you with My hand until I have passed by. ²³ Then I will take My hand away and you will see My back. But My face will not be seen.”

Moses Makes New Pieces of Stone

34 The Lord said to Moses, “Cut two pieces of stone like the first ones. And I will write on the stones the words that were on the first stones which you broke. ² So be ready in the morning. Come up in the morning to Mount Sinai. And stand before Me on the top of the mountain. ³ No one is to come up with you. Do not let anyone be seen on the whole mountain. Even the sheep and the cattle may not eat in front of the mountain.” ⁴ So Moses cut two pieces of stone like the first ones. Then he got up early in the morning and went up on Mount Sinai, as the Lord told him. And he took the two pieces of stone in his hand. ⁵ The Lord came down in the cloud and stood there with Moses as he called upon the name of the Lord. ⁶ Then the Lord passed by in front of him, saying, “The Lord, the Lord God, with loving-pity and loving-favor, slow to anger, filled with loving-kindness and truth, ⁷ keeping loving-kindness for thousands, forgiving wrong-doing and sin. But He will not let the guilty go without being punished. He brings the sin of fathers down upon the children, even the great-grandchildren.” ⁸ Moses was quick to put his face to the ground and worship. ⁹ And Moses said, “O Lord, if I have found favor in Your eyes, I pray, let the Lord go with us, even if the people are strong-willed. Forgive our wrong-doing and our sin. And take us for Your own.”

The Agreement Made Alive Again

¹⁰ Then God said, “See, I am going to make an agreement. I will do powerful works in front of all your people which have never been done on earth among any nation. All the people with whom you live will see the work of the Lord. For what I am going to do with you will fill people with fear. ¹¹ Be sure to do what I am telling you this day. See, I am going to drive out of your way the Amorite, the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite. ¹² Take care to make no agreement with the people of the land where you are going. It would be a trap to you. ¹³ Instead you are to tear down their altars, break their objects of worship, and cut down their false gods. ¹⁴ For you must not worship any other god. For the Lord, Whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God. ¹⁵ So do not make an agreement with the people of the land. Or when they follow their desire with their gods and give gifts to their gods, they would ask you to eat of their gift used in worship. ¹⁶ And you would marry your sons to their daughters who follow their gods. And they would lead your sons to follow their gods also. ¹⁷ Do not make any gods for yourself.

¹⁸ “Keep the special supper of bread without yeast. Eat bread without yeast for seven days as I told you, at the time set aside for it in the month of Abib. For you came out of Egypt in the month of Abib. ¹⁹ Every first-born belongs to Me, and all your male animals, the first-born from cattle and sheep. ²⁰ But the life of a first-born donkey should be paid for with the blood of a lamb. If you do not pay for its life, you should break its neck. Pay for the life of all your first-born sons with the blood of a lamb. No one is to come before Me without a gift.

²¹ “Work six days, but rest on the seventh day. Rest even during plowing time and gathering time. ²² Have the special supper of weeks at the first gathering of grain. Have the special supper of gathering time at the end of the year. ²³ Three times a year all your males are to come before the Lord God, the God of Israel. ²⁴ For I will drive nations out of your way and give you more land. No man will desire to have your land when you go to show yourselves before the Lord your God.

²⁵ “Do not give the blood of My gift together with bread made with yeast. Do not leave any of the gift of the special supper of the Passover until morning. ²⁶ Bring the first of the first-fruits of your ground into the house of the Lord your God. Do not boil the meat of a young goat in its mother’s milk.”

²⁷ The Lord said to Moses, “Write these words. For by these words I have made an agreement with you and with Israel.” ²⁸ Moses was there with the Lord forty days and forty nights. He did not eat bread or drink water. And he wrote on the stones the words of the agreement, the Ten Great Laws.

Moses Goes Down from Mount Sinai

²⁹ Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two stone writings in his hand. He did not know that the skin of his face was shining because of his speaking with the Lord. ³⁰ When Aaron and all the people of Israel saw Moses, they saw that the skin of his face was shining. They were afraid to come near him. ³¹ But Moses called to them, and Aaron and all the leaders of the people returned to him. And Moses spoke to them. ³² After this all the people of Israel came near. Moses told them to do all the Lord had said to him on Mount Sinai. ³³ When Moses had finished speaking with them, he covered his face with a piece of cloth. ³⁴ But whenever Moses went before the Lord to speak with Him, he would take off the face covering until he came out. Then he would tell the people of Israel what the Lord had said for them to do. ³⁵ The people of Israel saw that the skin of Moses’ face shone. So Moses would put the covering over his face again until he went in to speak with the Lord.