| 1 And 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. 2 And 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. 3 And all the people brake off the golden rings which were in
their ears, and brought them unto Aaron. 4 And 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. 5 And when Aaron saw this, he built an altar before
it; and Aaron made proclamation, and said, To-morrow shall be a feast to
Jehovah. 6 And 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.
7 And Jehovah spake unto Moses, Go, get thee down; for thy people, that
thou broughtest up out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves:
8 they 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. 9 And Jehovah said unto Moses, I have
seen this people, and, behold, it is a stiffnecked people: 10 now
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. 11 And 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? 12 Wherefore 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. 13 Remember
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. 14 And Jehovah repented of the evil which he
said he would do unto his people.
15 And 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. 16 And the tables were
the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, graven upon the
tables. 17 And when Joshua heard the noise of the people as they shouted,
he said unto Moses, There is a noise of war in the camp. 18 And 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. 19 And 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. 20 And 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.
21 And Moses said unto Aaron, What did this people unto thee, that thou
hast brought a great sin upon them? 22 And Aaron said, Let not the anger
of my lord wax hot: thou knowest the people, that they are set on
evil. 23 For 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. 24 And 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.
25 And when Moses saw that the people were broken loose, (for Aaron had
let them loose for a derision among their enemies,) 26 then 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. 27 And 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. 28 And the sons of Levi did
according to the word of Moses: and there fell of the people that day about
three thousand men. 29 And 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.
30 And 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. 31 And Moses returned unto Jehovah, and
said, Oh, this people have sinned a great sin, and have made them gods of
gold. 32 Yet now, if thou wilt forgive their sin-; and if not, blot me, I
pray thee, out of thy book which thou hast written. 33 And Jehovah said
unto Moses, Whosoever hath sinned against me, him will I blot out of my book.
34 And 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. 35 And Jehovah
smote the people, because they made the calf, which Aaron made.
Genesis - Public
Domain
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