Exodus 32

And when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down out of 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 wot not what is become of him.

1Moses was taking a long time up on the mountain. The people came to Aaron, the brother of Moses. They said, "Get up and make us gods to walk ahead of us. Moses brought us out of Egypt, but we do not know where he is."

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

2Aaron said to them, "Take off the gold earrings your wives, your sons, and your daughters are wearing. Bring them to me."

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

3So all the people took off their gold earrings. They brought them to Aaron.

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

4Aaron took the gold from them. He melted it and shaped it with a tool into a young cow. The people said, "Israel, these are your gods! They brought you out of Egypt."

5And when Aaron saw it, he built an altar before it; and Aaron made proclamation, and said, To morrow is a feast to the LORD.

5Aaron saw this. So he built an altar in front of the calf. An altar is a stone table for giving gifts to God. Then Aaron told everyone, "Tomorrow we will have a feast for 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 next morning the people got up early. They gave burnt gifts and friendship gifts on the altar. Then they sat down to eat and drink. After that they got up and had a wild party.

NoteIn verse 6, "rose up to play" does not mean children playing games. It means a loud, wild party.

7And the LORD said unto Moses, Go, get thee down; for thy people, which thou broughtest out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves:

7The LORD said to Moses, "Go down the mountain now. Your people have done a very bad thing. These are the people you brought out of Egypt.

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 thereunto, and said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which have brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.

8"They have turned away from my rules very fast. They made a gold calf and bowed down to it. They gave gifts to it and said, 'Israel, these are your gods. They brought you out of Egypt.'"

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

9The LORD said to Moses, "I have watched these people. They are stubborn and will not listen.

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. My anger will burn against them, and I will destroy them. Then I will make you into a great nation."

11And Moses besought the LORD his God, and said, LORD, why doth thy wrath wax hot against thy people, which 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 to be kind. He said, "LORD, why are you so angry with your own people? You brought them out of Egypt with great power and a strong hand.

12Wherefore should the Egyptians speak, and say, For mischief did he bring them out, 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 led them out to hurt them'? They would say you killed them in the mountains and wiped them off the earth. Please stop being angry. Please do not bring this harm 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 Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, who served you. You made a promise on your own name. You said, 'I will give you so many children and grandchildren that they will be like the stars. I will give all this land to them forever.'"

14And the LORD repented of the evil which he thought to do unto his people.

14So the LORD did not send the harm he had said he would send on his people.

NoteIn verse 14, the old words say the LORD "repented of the evil." That does not mean God did something wrong. It means God decided not to send the trouble he had warned about.

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

15Moses turned and walked down the mountain. He carried the two stone tablets with God's words on them. Both sides of the stones had writing on them.

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

16God himself had made the stones. God himself had cut the writing into them.

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.

17Joshua heard the people shouting far below. He said to Moses, "That sounds like fighting down 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 said, "It is not the shout of winners. It is not the cry of people who lost. What I hear is singing."

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.

19Moses came close to the camp. He saw the calf and the dancing. He got very angry. He threw the stone tablets down and broke them at the foot of the mountain.

20And he took the calf which they had made, and burnt it in the fire, and ground it to powder, and strawed 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. He ground it into powder. He mixed the powder in water and made the people of Israel drink it.

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

21Moses said to Aaron, "What did these people do to you? You led them into such a big sin."

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

22Aaron said, "Please do not be angry with me, my lord. You know these people. They want to do wrong.

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 wot not what is become of him.

23"They said to me, 'Make us gods to walk ahead of us. Moses brought us out of Egypt, but we do not know where he is.'

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

24"So I said, 'Anyone with gold, take it off.' They gave the gold to me. I threw it in the fire, and out came this calf."

25And when Moses saw that the people were naked; (for Aaron had made them naked unto their shame among their enemies:)

25Moses saw that the people were wild and out of control. Aaron had let them act this way. Now their enemies would laugh at them.

NoteIn verse 25, "naked" does not mean the people had no clothes on. It means they were wild and no one was in charge of them.

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

26So Moses stood at the way into the camp. He called out, "Who is on the LORD's side? Come to me." All the men of the family of Levi came to him.

27And he said unto them, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Put every man his sword by his side, and go in and out from gate to gate throughout the camp, and slay every man his brother, and every man his companion, and every man his neighbour.

27He said to them, "The LORD, the God of Israel, says this. Put on your swords. Walk through the camp from one end to the other. Kill your brother, your friend, and your neighbor."

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

28The men of Levi did what Moses said. About three thousand people died that day.

29For Moses had said, Consecrate yourselves today to the LORD, even every man upon his son, and upon his brother; that he may bestow upon you a blessing this day.

29Moses said, "Today you have been set apart to serve the LORD. You obeyed even against your own sons and brothers. So the LORD will give you a blessing 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 the LORD; peradventure I shall make an atonement for your sin.

30The next day Moses said to the people, "You have done a very great wrong. Now I will go up to the LORD. Maybe I can get your sin forgiven."

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

31So Moses went back to the LORD. He said, "These people have done a very great wrong. They made gods out of gold.

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"Please forgive their sin. But if you will not, then erase my name from your book."

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

33The LORD said to Moses, "I will erase from my book the one who sinned against me.

34Therefore 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. My angel will walk ahead of you. But when the time comes to settle this, I will punish them for their sin."

35And the LORD plagued the people, because they made the calf, which Aaron made.

35The LORD sent a sickness on the people. It came because of the calf that Aaron made for them.