Exodus 32

1And when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mount, the people gathered themselves together unto Aaron, and said unto him, Up, make us gods, which shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we know not what is become of him.

1When the people saw that Moses was taking a long time to come down from the mountain, they gathered around Aaron and said to him, 'Come on, make us gods who will lead us. As for this Moses, the man who brought us out of Egypt, we don’t know what has happened to him.'

2And Aaron said unto them, Break off the golden rings, which are in the ears of your wives, of your sons, and of your daughters, and bring them unto me.

2Aaron told them, 'Take off the gold rings from the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me.'

3And all the people brake off the golden rings which were in their ears, and brought them unto Aaron.

3So all the people took off the gold rings from their ears and brought them to Aaron.

4And he received it at their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool, and made it a molten calf: and they said, These are thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.

4He took the gold from them, shaped it with a tool, and made it into a statue of a calf. Then the people said, 'These are your gods, Israel, who brought you out of the land of Egypt.'

5And when Aaron saw this, he built an altar before it; and Aaron made proclamation, and said, To-morrow shall be a feast to Jehovah.

5When Aaron saw this, he built an altar in front of the calf and announced, 'Tomorrow there will be a festival to the LORD.'

6And they rose up early on the morrow, and offered burnt-offerings, and brought peace-offerings; and the people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to play.

6The people got up early the next day, offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings. Then they sat down to eat and drink, and got up to indulge in wild partying.

7And Jehovah spake unto Moses, Go, get thee down; for thy people, that thou broughtest up out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves:

7The LORD said to Moses, 'Go down at once, because your people, whom you brought out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves.'

8they have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them: they have made them a molten calf, and have worshipped it, and have sacrificed unto it, and said, These are thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.

8'They have quickly turned away from the way I commanded them. They have made a metal calf for themselves, worshiped it, sacrificed to it, and said, "These are your gods, Israel, who brought you out of the land of Egypt."'

9And Jehovah said unto Moses, I have seen this people, and, behold, it is a stiffnecked people:

9The LORD continued, 'I have seen these people, and they are very stubborn.'

10now therefore let me alone, that my wrath may wax hot against them, and that I may consume them: and I will make of thee a great nation.

10'Now leave me alone so that my anger may burn against them and I may destroy them. Then I will make you into a great nation.'

11And Moses besought Jehovah his God, and said, Jehovah, why doth thy wrath wax hot against thy people, that thou hast brought forth out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand?

11But Moses begged the LORD his God, saying, 'LORD, why should your anger burn against your people, whom you brought out of Egypt with great power and a mighty hand?'

12Wherefore should the Egyptians speak, saying, For evil did he bring them forth, to slay them in the mountains, and to consume them from the face of the earth? Turn from thy fierce wrath, and repent of this evil against thy people.

12'Why should the Egyptians say, "He brought them out with evil intent, to kill them in the mountains and wipe them off the face of the earth"? Turn from your fierce anger and change your mind about bringing this disaster on your people.'

13Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, thy servants, to whom thou swarest by thine own self, and saidst unto them, I will multiply your seed as the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have spoken of will I give unto your seed, and they shall inherit it for ever.

13'Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac, and Israel. You swore to them by yourself, "I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and I will give your descendants all this land I promised them, and it will be theirs forever."'

14And Jehovah repented of the evil which he said he would do unto his people.

14So the LORD changed his mind and did not bring the disaster on his people that he had threatened.

15And Moses turned, and went down from the mount, with the two tables of the testimony in his hand; tables that were written on both their sides; on the one side and on the other were they written.

15Moses turned and went down the mountain with the two tablets of the Covenant in his hands. They were inscribed on both sides, front and back.

16And the tables were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, graven upon the tables.

16The tablets were the work of God; the writing was the writing of God, engraved on the tablets.

17And when Joshua heard the noise of the people as they shouted, he said unto Moses, There is a noise of war in the camp.

17When Joshua heard the noise of the people shouting, he said to Moses, 'It sounds like war in the camp!'

18And he said, It is not the voice of them that shout for mastery, neither is it the voice of them that cry for being overcome; but the noise of them that sing do I hear.

18Moses replied, 'It is not the sound of a victory shout, nor the sound of a cry from defeat; it is the sound of singing that I hear.'

19And it came to pass, as soon as he came nigh unto the camp, that he saw the calf and the dancing: and Moses’ anger waxed hot, and he cast the tables out of his hands, and brake them beneath the mount.

19As Moses got near the camp and saw the calf and the dancing, his anger burned hot. He threw the tablets out of his hands, breaking them into pieces at the foot of the mountain.

20And he took the calf which they had made, and burnt it with fire, and ground it to powder, and strewed it upon the water, and made the children of Israel drink of it.

20He took the calf they had made and burned it in the fire; then he ground it into powder, scattered it on the water, and made the Israelites drink it.

21And Moses said unto Aaron, What did this people unto thee, that thou hast brought a great sin upon them?

21Moses said to Aaron, 'What did these people do to you that you led them into such a huge sin?'

22And Aaron said, Let not the anger of my lord wax hot: thou knowest the people, that they are set on evil.

22'Do not be angry, my lord,' Aaron answered. 'You know how these people are prone to evil.'

23For they said unto me, Make us gods, which shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we know not what is become of him.

23'They said to me, "Make us gods who will lead us. As for this Moses, the man who brought us out of Egypt, we don’t know what happened to him."'

24And I said unto them, Whosoever hath any gold, let them break it off: so they gave it me; and I cast it into the fire, and there came out this calf.

24'So I told them, "Whoever has any gold, take it off." They gave it to me, I threw it into the fire, and out came this calf!'

25And when Moses saw that the people were broken loose, (for Aaron had let them loose for a derision among their enemies,)

25Moses saw that the people were out of control, for Aaron had let them get so wild that they were a laughingstock to their enemies.

26then Moses stood in the gate of the camp, and said, Whoso is on Jehovah’s side, let him come unto me. And all the sons of Levi gathered themselves together unto him.

26So Moses stood at the entrance to the camp and said, 'Whoever is on the LORD’s side, come to me!' And all the Levites gathered around him.

27And he said unto them, Thus saith Jehovah, the God of Israel, Put ye every man his sword upon his thigh, and go to and fro from gate to gate throughout the camp, and slay every man his brother, and every man his companion, and every man his neighbor.

27He told them, 'This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: "Every man strap on his sword. Go back and forth through the camp from one end to the other, and each of you kill your brother, your friend, and your neighbor."'

28And the sons of Levi did according to the word of Moses: and there fell of the people that day about three thousand men.

28The Levites did as Moses commanded, and about three thousand people died that day.

29And Moses said, Consecrate yourselves to-day to Jehovah, yea, every man against his son, and against his brother; that he may bestow upon you a blessing this day.

29Then Moses said, 'Today you have dedicated yourselves to the LORD, since you were even against your own sons and brothers. He has blessed you today.'

30And it came to pass on the morrow, that Moses said unto the people, Ye have sinned a great sin: and now I will go up unto Jehovah; peradventure I shall make atonement for your sin.

30The next day Moses said to the people, 'You have committed a terrible sin. But now I will go up to the LORD; perhaps I can make amends for your sin.'

31And Moses returned unto Jehovah, and said, Oh, this people have sinned a great sin, and have made them gods of gold.

31So Moses went back to the LORD and said, 'Oh, what a great sin these people have committed! They have made gods of gold for themselves.'

32Yet now, if thou wilt forgive their sin—; and if not, blot me, I pray thee, out of thy book which thou hast written.

32'But now, please forgive their sin—and if not, then blot me out of the book you have written.'

33And Jehovah said unto Moses, Whosoever hath sinned against me, him will I blot out of my book.

33The LORD replied to Moses, 'Whoever has sinned against me is the one I will blot out of my book.'

34And now go, lead the people unto the place of which I have spoken unto thee: behold, mine angel shall go before thee; nevertheless in the day when I visit, I will visit their sin upon them.

34'Now go, lead the people to the place I told you about, and my angel will go before you. However, when the time comes for me to punish, I will punish them for their sin.'

35And Jehovah smote the people, because they made the calf, which Aaron made.

35And the LORD sent a plague on the people because of what they did with the calf Aaron had made.