Exodus 32:1-16 ▼

1 WHEN the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain, they gathered themselves together unto Aaron and said to him, Arise, make us gods that they may go before us; as for this man Moses who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.

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

3 So all the people removed the golden earrings which were in their ears, and brought them to Aaron.

4 And he received them, and drew a design, and made it a molten calf; and they said, This is your god, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.

5 And Aaron was afraid, and he built an altar before it; then Aaron made a proclamation, and said, Tomorrow is a feast to the LORD.

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 and to quarrel.

7 And the LORD said to Moses, Go down, get away from here; for your people whom you have brought out of the land of Egypt have corrupted themselves;

8 They have turned aside quickly from the way which I commanded them; they have made for themselves a molten calf, and have worshipped it, and have sacrificed to it, and said, This is your god, O Israel, who has brought you out of the land of Egypt.

9 And the LORD said to Moses, I have seen this people, and, behold it is a stiff-necked people;

10 Now therefore let me alone, that my wrath may be kindled against them and that I may destroy them; and I will make of you a great nation.

11 But Moses prayed before the LORD his God and said, Not so, O LORD, let not thy wrath kindle against thy people whom thou hast brought forth out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand.

12 Why should the Egyptians say, It was for their injury he did bring them out to slay them in the mountains and to consume them from the face of the earth? Rest from thy fierce anger and be reconciled concerning the evil deed of thy people.

13 Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, thy servants, to whom thou didst swear by thine own self and didst say to them, I will multiply your descendants as the stars in heaven, and all the land that I have spoken of I will give to thy descendants, and they shall inherit it for ever.

14 And the LORD was reconciled concerning the evil which he had purposed to do to his people.

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

16 The tablets were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, engraved upon the tablets.