Shemot 32
Orthodox Jewish Bible
32 And when HaAm saw that Moshe delayed to come down from HaHar, HaAm gathered themselves together unto Aharon, and said unto him, Up, make us elohim (g-ds), which shall go before us; for as for this Moshe, the ish that brought us up out of Eretz Mitzrayim, we know not what is become of him.
2 And Aharon said unto them, Take off the rings of zahav in the ears of your nashim, of your banim, and of your banot, and bring them unto me.
3 And kol HaAm removed the rings of zahav which were in their ears, and brought them unto Aharon.
4 And he received them at their yad, and fashioned it with a cheret, after he had made it an Egel Masekhah (Molten Calf); and they said, These be thy elohim, O Yisroel, which brought thee up out of Eretz Mitzrayim.
5 And when Aharon saw it, he built a Mizbe’ach before it; and Aharon made proclamation, and said, Tomorrow is a chag (feast) to Hashem.
6 And they rose up early the next day, and offered olot, and brought shelamim; and HaAm sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up letzachek (to revel).
7 And Hashem said unto Moshe, Go, get thee down; for thy people, which thou broughtest out of Eretz Mitzrayim, have corrupted themselves;
8 They have turned aside quickly from HaDerech which I commanded them; they have made them an Egel Masekhah, and have bowed down to it, and have sacrificed thereunto, and said, These be thy elohim, O Yisroel, which have brought thee up out of the Eretz Mitzrayim.
9 And Hashem said unto Moshe, I have seen this people, and, hinei, it is an Am Kesheh Oref (stiffnecked, obstinate people);
10 Now therefore let Me alone, that My wrath may burn hot against them, and that I may consume them; I will make of thee a Goy Gadol.
11 And Moshe besought Hashem Elohav, and said, Hashem, why doth Thy wrath burn hot against Thy people, which Thou hast brought forth out of Eretz Mitzrayim with ko’ach gadol, and with a yad chazakah?
12 Why should the Egyptians speak, and say, For ra’ah (evil intent) did He bring them out, to slay them in the mountains, and to consume them from the face of ha’adamah? Turn from Thy fierce wrath, and relent of the ra’ah against Thy people.
13 Remember Avraham, Yitzchak, and Yisroel, Thy avadim, to whom Thou swore by Thine own Self, and saidst unto them, I will multiply your zera as the kokhavim of Shomayim, and kol haaretz hazot that I have spoken of will I give unto your zera, and they shall inherit it l’olam.
14 And Hashem relented of the ra’ah which He thought to do unto His people.
15 And Moshe turned, and went down from HaHar, and the two Luchot HaEdut were in his yad; the Luchot were written on both their sides; on the one side and on the other were they written.
16 And the Luchot were the ma’aseh Elohim, the writing was the Mikhtav Elohim, engraved upon the Luchot.
17 And when Yehoshua heard the kol HaAm as they shouted, he said unto Moshe, There is a noise of milchamah in the machaneh.
18 And he said, It is not the voice of them that shout for gevurah, neither is it the voice of them that cry of chalushah; but the noise of them that sing that I hear.
19 And it came to pass, as soon as he came nigh unto the machaneh, that he saw the Egel, and the mecholot (dancing); and the anger of Moshe burned hot, and he threw the Luchot out of his hands, and broke them at the foot of HaHar.
20 And he took the Egel which they had made, and burned it in the eish, and ground it to powder, and scattered it upon the mayim, and made the Bnei Yisroel drink of it.
21 And Moshe said unto Aharon, What did this people unto thee, that thou hast brought so chata’ah gedolah upon them?
22 And Aharon said, Let not the anger of adoni burn hot; thou knowest HaAm, that they are prone to rah (evil).
23 For they said unto me, Make for us elohim, which shall go before us; for as for this Moshe, the ish that brought us up out of Eretz Mitzrayim, we know not what is become of him.
24 And I said unto them, Whosoever hath any zahav, let them remove it. So they gave it me; then I cast it into the eish, and there came out this Egel.
25 And when Moshe saw that HaAm were exposed; (for Aharon had exposed them to derision among their enemies;)
26 Then Moshe stood in the sha’ar of the machaneh, and said, Who is on Hashem’s side? Let him rally unto me. And all the Bnei Levi gathered themselves together unto him.
27 And he said unto them, Thus saith Hashem Elohei Yisroel, Put every man his cherev by his side, and go in and out from sha’ar to sha’ar throughout the machaneh, and slay every man his brother, and every man his companion, and every man his neighbor.
28 And the Bnei Levi did according to the word of Moshe; and there fell of HaAm that day about three thousand men.
29 For Moshe had said, Consecrate yourselves today to Hashem, even every man against his ben, and against his brother; that He may bestow upon you a brocha this day.
30 And it came to pass on the next day, that Moshe said unto HaAm, Ye have sinned a chata’ah gedolah; and now I will go up unto Hashem; perhaps I can make kapporah for your chattat.
31 And Moshe returned unto Hashem, and said, Oh, this people have sinned a chata’ah gedolah, and have made for themselves elohei zahav.
32 Yet now, if Thou wilt forgive their chattat but if not, blot me, now, out of Thy Sefer which Thou hast written.
33 And Hashem said unto Moshe, Whosoever hath sinned against Me, him will I blot out of My Sefer.
34 Therefore now go, lead HaAm unto the place of which I have spoken unto thee; hinei, Malachi shall go before thee; nevertheless in the yom when I visit I will visit their sin upon them.
35 And Hashem plagued HaAm, because they made the Egel, which Aharon made.
Exodus 32
Lexham English Bible
The Golden Calf
32 And 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.”
2 And 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.” 3 And all the people took off the rings of gold that were on their ears and brought it to Aaron. 4 And 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.”
5 And Aaron saw, and he built an altar before it, and Aaron called, and he said, “A feast for Yahweh tomorrow.” 6 And 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.
7 And Yahweh spoke to Moses, “Go, go down because your people behave corruptly, whom you brought up from the land of Egypt. 8 They 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.’”
9 And Yahweh said to Moses, “I have seen this people, and, indeed, they are a stiff-necked people. 10 And 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.”
11 And 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? 12 Why 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. 13 Remember 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.’”
14 And Yahweh relented concerning the disaster that he had threatened[h] to do to his people. 15 And 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 back[i] they were written. 16 And the tablets, they were the work of God; and the writing, it was the writing of God engraved on the tablets.
17 And Joshua heard the sound of the people in their shouting, and he said to Moses, “A sound of war is in the camp.”
18 But 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.”
19 And[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. 20 And 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.
21 And Moses said to Aaron, “What did this people do to you that you brought on them such a great sin?” 22 And 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.’ 24 And 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.”
25 And 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. 27 And 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.’” 28 And 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.”
30 And[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.”
31 And Moses returned to Yahweh, and he said, “Alas, this people has sinned a great sin and made for themselves gods of gold. 32 And now if you will forgive their sin—and if not, please blot me from your scroll that you have written.” 33 And Yahweh said to Moses, “Whoever has sinned against me I will blot him from my scroll. 34 And 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.” 35 And Yahweh afflicted the people because they had made the bull calf that Aaron had made.
Footnotes
- Exodus 32:1 Or “arise” or “get up”
- Exodus 32:10 Literally “my nose may become hot”
- Exodus 32:11 Literally “implored the face of Yahweh”
- Exodus 32:11 Literally “your nose become hot”
- Exodus 32:12 Literally “say, saying”
- Exodus 32:12 Or “ground”
- Exodus 32:12 Literally “the heat of your nose”
- Exodus 32:14 Literally “spoken”
- Exodus 32:15 Literally “from this and from this”
- Exodus 32:19 Literally “and it was”
- Exodus 32:19 Literally “the nose of Moses became hot”
- Exodus 32:20 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
- Exodus 32:22 Literally “let not the nose of my lord become hot”
- Exodus 32:22 Literally “they in evil”
- Exodus 32:25 Or “out of control,” “running loose”
- Exodus 32:25 Or “to be out of control,” “to run loose”
- Exodus 32:25 Literally “those arising against them”
- Exodus 32:27 Literally “through and come back”
- Exodus 32:28 Literally “three thousands of man”
- Exodus 32:29 Literally “your hands are filled”
- Exodus 32:30 Literally “and it was”
Copyright © 2002, 2003, 2008, 2010, 2011 by Artists for Israel International
2012 by Logos Bible Software. Lexham is a registered trademark of Logos Bible Software