The Golden Calf
(Deuteronomy 9:7–29; Acts 7:39–43)

1Now when the people saw that Moses (drawn out) was delayed in coming down from the mountain, they gathered around Aaron (light bringer) and said, “Come, make us gods who will go before us. As for this Moses who brought us up out of the land of Egypt (land of bondage), we do not know what has happened to him <Act 7:40>!”a

2So Aaron (light bringer) told them, “Take off the gold earrings that are on your⁺ wives and sons and daughters, and bring them to me.”

3Then all the people took off their gold earrings and brought them to Aaron (light bringer). 4He took the gold from their hands, and with an engraving tool he fashioned it into a molten calf. And they said, “These, O Israel (he wrestles with God), are your gods, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt (land of bondage)!”

5When Aaron (light bringer) saw this, he built an altar before the calf and proclaimed: “Tomorrow shall be a feast to the LORD {YHWH}.”

6So the next day they arose, offered burnt offerings, and presented peace offerings. And the people sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in revelry (to play).b

7Then the LORD {YHWH} said to Moses (drawn out), “Go down at once, for your people, whom you brought up out of the land of Egypt (land of bondage), have corrupted themselves. 8How quickly they have turned aside from the way that I commanded them! They have made for themselves a molten calf and have bowed down to it. They have sacrificed to it and said, ‘These, O Israel (he wrestles with God), are your gods, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt (land of bondage).’”

9The LORD {YHWH} also said to Moses (drawn out), “I have seen this people, and they are indeed a stiff-necked people. 10Now leave Me alone, so that My anger may burn against them and consume them. Then I will make you into a great nation.”

11But Moses (drawn out) sought the favor of the LORD his God {YHWH Elohaw}, saying, “O LORD, why does Your anger burn against Your people, whom You brought out of the land of Egypt (land of bondage) with great power and a mighty hand? 12Why should the Egyptians declare, (double straits) ‘He brought them out with evil intent, to kill them in the mountains and wipe them from the face of the earth’? Turn from Your fierce anger and relent from doing harm to Your people. 13Remember Your servants Abraham (father of many), Isaac (he laughs), and Israel (he wrestles with God), to whom You swore by Your very self when You declared, ‘I will make your⁺ descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky, and I will give your⁺ descendants all this land that I have promised, and it shall be their inheritance forever.’”

14So the LORD {YHWH} relented from the calamity He had threatened to bring on His people.

15Then Moses (drawn out) turned and went down the mountain with the two tablets of the Testimony in his hands. They were inscribed on both sides, front and back. 16The tablets were the work of God {Elohim}, and the writing was the writing of God, engraved on the tablets.

17When Joshua (YHWH saves) heard the sound of the people shouting, he said to Moses (drawn out), “The sound of war is in the camp.”

18But Moses replied:

“It is neither the cry of victory nor the cry of defeat;

I hear the sound of singing!”

19As Moses approached the camp and saw the calf and the dancing, he (drawn out) burned with anger and threw the tablets out of his hands, shattering them at the base of the mountain. 20Then he took the calf they had made, burned it in the fire, ground it to powder, and scattered the powder over the face of the water. Then he forced the Israelites (God prevails) to drink it.

21“What did this people do to you,” Moses (drawn out) asked Aaron (light bringer), “that you have led them into so great a sin?”

22“Do not be enraged, my lord,” Aaron (light bringer) replied. “You yourself know that the people are intent on evil. 23They told me, ‘Make us gods who will go before us. As for this Moses (drawn out) who brought us up out of the land of Egypt (land of bondage), we do not know what has happened to him!’

24So I said to them, ‘Whoever has gold, let him take it off,’ and they gave it to me. And when I threw it into the fire, out came this calf!”

25Moses (drawn out) saw that the people were out of control, for Aaron (light bringer) had let them run wild and become a laughingstock (and become an object of derision)c to their enemies. 26So Moses (drawn out) stood at the entrance to the camp and said, “Whoever is for the LORD {YHWH}, come to me.”

And all the Levites (joined to) gathered around him.

27He told them, “This is what the LORD, the God {YHWH Elohe} of Israel (he wrestles with God), says: ‘Each of you men is to fasten his sword to his side, go back and forth through the camp from gate to gate, and slay his brother, his friend, and his neighbor.’”

28The Levites (joined to) did as Moses (drawn out) commanded, and that day about three thousand of the people fell dead.

29Afterward, Moses (drawn out) said, “Today you⁺ have been ordained (have ordained yourselves)d for service to the LORD {YHWH}, since each man went against his son and his brother; so the LORD has bestowed a blessing on you⁺ this day.”

30The next day Moses (drawn out) said to the people, “You⁺ have committed a great sin. Now I will go up to the LORD {YHWH}; perhaps I can make atonement for your⁺ sin.”

31So Moses (drawn out) returned to the LORD {YHWH} and said, “Oh, what a great sin these people have committed! They have made gods of gold for themselves. 32Yet now, if You would only forgive their sin.... But if not, please blot me out of the book that You have written.”

33The LORD {YHWH} replied to Moses (drawn out), “Whoever has sinned against Me, I will blot out of My book. 34Now go, lead the people to the place I described. Behold, My angel shall go before you. But on the day I settle accounts, I will punish them for their sin.”

35And the LORD {YHWH} sent a plague on the people because of what they had done with the calf that Aaron (light bringer) had made.