King James Version

1 And the people saw that Moses was delayed in coming down from the mountain, and the people gathered against Aaron and said to him, "Come, make for us gods that shall go before us, for this Moses, the man who brought us up from the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him." 2 And Aaron said to them, "Take off the rings of gold that are in your wives' ears, your sons' ears, and your daughters' ears, and bring them to me." 3 And all the people took off the gold rings that were in their ears and brought them to Aaron. 4 And he took from their hand and fashioned it with a graving tool and made a molded calf. And they said, "These are your gods, O Israel, which brought you up from the land of Egypt." 5 And Aaron saw and built an altar before Him, and Aaron called and said, "A feast to the Lord tomorrow." 6 And they rose early the next morning and offered burnt offerings and presented peace offerings, and the people sat down to eat and drink, and they got up to play. 7 And the LORD spoke to Moses, "Go down, for your people whom you brought up from the land of Egypt have corrupted themselves." 8 They quickly turned aside from the way that I commanded them; they made for themselves a molten calf and worshiped it, and they sacrificed to it, and said, "These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up from 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 And now leave me alone, and I will be angry with them and consume them, and I will make you a great nation. 11 And Moses pleaded before the LORD his God, and he said, "Why, O LORD, should Your anger burn against Your people whom You brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and a mighty hand?" 12 Why will Egypt say, "He brought them out to kill them in the mountains and to annihilate them from the face of the earth"? Turn from your fierce anger and relent concerning the evil against your people. 13 Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your servants, to whom you swore by yourself, and speak to them: I will multiply your descendants like the stars of heaven and all this land that I have said I will give to your descendants, and they will inherit it forever. 14 And the Lord repented of the evil which He had spoken to do to His people. 15 And Moses turned and went down from the mountain, and the two tablets of the testimony were in his hand; tablets written on both their sides; they were written on this side and on that side. 16 And the tablets are the work of God, and the writing is the writing of God, it is engraved on the tablets. 17 And Joshua heard the voice of the people in the noise, and he said to Moses, "There is a sound of war in the camp." 18 And he said, "There is no sound of the cry of the strong, and there is no sound of the cry of the weak; the sound of the cry, I hear." 19 And it was when he approached the camp, he saw the calf and the dances, and Moses burned with anger, and he threw from his hands the tablets and broke them at the foot of the mountain. 20 And he took the calf that they had made and burned it in the fire and ground it to powder and scattered it on the water and made the children of Israel drink it. 21 And Moses said to Aaron, "What has this people done to you that you have brought such a great sin upon me?" 22 And Aaron said, "Do not let the anger of my lord burn hot; you know the people, that they are set on evil." 23 And they said to me, "Make us gods that will go before us, for this Moses, the man who brought us up from the land of Egypt, we do not know what has happened to him." 24 And I said to them, "Whoever has gold, take it off." And they gave it to me, and I threw it into the fire, and out came this calf. 25 And Moses saw the people that they were unrestrained, for Aaron had let them get out of control to their shame. 26 And Moses stood at the entrance of the camp and said, "Whoever is for the Lord, come to me." And all the sons of Levi gathered to him. 27 And he said to them, "Thus says the LORD, God of Israel: Each of you put his sword on his thigh; go back and forth from gate to gate within the camp and kill each his brother and each his companion and each his neighbor." 28 And the sons of Levi did according to the word of Moses, and there fell from the people that day three thousand men. 29 And Moses said, "Fill your hands today to the Lord, for each man has brought his son and his brother, and to give upon you today a blessing." 30 And it came to pass the next day, and Moses said to the people, "You have sinned a great sin, and now I will go up to the Lord; perhaps I can atone for your sin." 31 And Moses returned to the Lord and said, “Oh, this people has sinned a great sin, and they have made for themselves a god of gold.” 32 And now, if You will forgive their sin, well and good; but if not, please wipe me out of Your book that You have written. 33 And the LORD said to Moses, "Whoever has sinned against Me, I will blot him out of My book." 34 And now go lead the people to where I have spoken to you; behold, my angel will go before you, and on the day of my visitation, I will visit upon them their sin. 35 And the LORD struck the people because they had made the calf that Aaron made.