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
The Voice
32 When the people realized Moses was taking a long time to return from his trek up the mountain, they got together and approached Aaron.
People: We have no idea what happened to this fellow Moses who brought us out of the land of Egypt.[a] He left you in charge, so get up and make us gods who will lead us from here.
Aaron: 2 I want you to bring me the gold earrings your wives, sons, and daughters are wearing.
3 So everyone took out their gold earrings and handed them over to Aaron. 4 He collected the gold they brought and used a tool to fashion an idol in the shape of a calf. When the people saw the calf Aaron made, they were elated.
People (seeing the calf): Israel, these are your gods—the ones who led you out of the land of Egypt.
5 When Aaron saw how the people responded, he built an altar in front of the golden calf.
Aaron: We are going to have a feast to the Eternal tomorrow.
6 Everyone woke up before dawn the next day and presented burnt offerings and peace offerings on the altar. When the food was ready, they sat down to eat and drink and then rose up to dance and play.[b]
7 Meanwhile, on the mountain, the Eternal One spoke to Moses.
This is truly a dark moment for Israel. Moses left Aaron and Hur in charge 40 days ago, and both men are beginning to feel the strain. The people are stuck in the desert, and they are growing increasingly impatient without Moses and direction from God. So the people begin to question, and eventually they demand a physical representation of God like the ones their neighbors have. Aaron complies. With Moses and God occupied, the people begin breaking the Ten Directives, one after another: worshiping other gods, making idols, invoking God’s name for their own selfish purposes, and committing other indecent acts. The people of God fall quickly, and they fall hard. For a brief period, their very survival is in doubt.
Eternal One: Go back down the mountain immediately, because your people whom you led out of Egypt have corrupted themselves. 8 They have quickly abandoned the way of life I require of them. They have fashioned a calf out of gold, bowed down to it, and offered it sacrifices. They are even crediting My work to that detestable idol, saying, “Israel, these are your gods—the ones who brought you out of the land of Egypt!”
9 I know these people, and they are unbelievably stubborn. 10 Leave Me alone so that My anger can flare up and destroy them. Then I will start over and continue My plans without them and make a great nation out of you.
Moses (begging): 11 Eternal One, why are You so angry? Why does Your anger flare up against the people You led out of Egypt with so much power and a strong hand? 12 Do You really want the Egyptians to say: “You deceived them and led them into the mountains in order to kill them and to wipe their memory from the earth”? I beg you to curb Your anger, and change your mind. Don’t harm Your people. 13 Remember the sacred promise You made to Your servants Abraham, Isaac, and Israel. You swore, “I will make your descendants as many as the stars in the sky, and I will give them all of this land as I promised. It will be their everlasting inheritance.”
14 So the Eternal relented and decided not to destroy the people as He had threatened to do.
15 Moses left God’s presence and went back down the mountain. In his hands, he carried the two stone tablets of witness, inscribed on both sides, front and back. 16 The tablets were God’s handiwork, and the writing on the tablets was written by God Himself.
17 As they neared the camp, Joshua heard all the commotion and the people shouting.
Joshua (to Moses): It sounds like a battle going on down at the camp.
Moses: 18 It is not the sound of victory, and it’s not the sound of defeat, but I do hear singing and celebration.
19 As soon as Moses arrived at the camp, he saw the calf and the revelry around it. His anger flared, and he hurled down the stone tablets and they shattered at the foot of the mountain. 20 He took down the calf they had made and burned it. He ground it down to a powder, scattered it over the water, and then he forced the Israelites to drink it.
Moses (to Aaron): 21 How could you lead these people into such a heinous sin? What did they do to you?
Aaron: 22 Control your anger, my master. You know these people. You know how evil they can be. 23 They told me, “We have no idea what happened to this fellow Moses who brought us out of the land of Egypt. He left you in charge, so get up and make us some gods to lead us from here.” 24 So I told them, “If you are wearing any gold, take it off.” So they gave me all their gold and I just tossed it into the fire, and out came this calf!
25 When Moses saw that the people had lost all control because Aaron had let them get that way, and he realized their wild behavior had become a mockery in the sight of their enemies, 26 he stood at the camp’s entrance and shouted to them.
Moses: If you are on the side of the Eternal One, stand over here with me!
All of the Levites gathered around him.
Moses (to the Levites): 27 This is the message of the Eternal One, Israel’s True God: “Every one of you strap on your sword and move throughout the entire camp. Kill your brother, friend, and neighbor.”
28 The Levites did exactly as Moses told them to do, and about 3,000 men were killed that day.
Moses (to the Levites): 29 Dedicate your lives to the Eternal today—for every one of you has moved against sons and brothers. Because of your devotion to God, you have earned His blessing today.
30 On the very next day, Moses addressed the people.
Moses: You are guilty of a great sin. Now I am going back to the Eternal One, and I hope to make atonement for your wickedness.
31 Moses then went back up the mountain to the Eternal.
Moses: These people are guilty of a great sin against You. They fashioned gods out of gold for themselves. 32 If You will only forgive their sin, but if You do not, then erase me from the book You have written.
Eternal One: 33 I will erase from My book the name of everyone who has sinned against Me. 34 It’s time to go and leave this mountain. Lead the people to the place I told you. Look, My messenger will guide you there. When the time comes, I will punish them for what they have done.
35 Then the Eternal One sent a plague on all the people because they had bowed down and sacrificed to the calf Aaron had made.
Footnotes
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The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.