The Golden Calf
1 And the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain, and the people gathered opposite Aaron, and they said to him, "Come, make for us gods who will go before us, because 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] on the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring [it] to me."
3
And all the people took off the rings of gold that [were] on their ears and brought [it] to Aaron.
4
And he took from their hand, and he shaped it with a tool, and he made it a cast-image bull calf, and they said, "These are your gods, Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt."
5
And Aaron saw, and he built an altar before it, and Aaron called, and he said, "A feast for Yahweh tomorrow."
6
And they started early the next day, and they offered burnt offerings, and they presented fellowship offerings, and the people sat to eat and drink, and they rose up to revel.
7
And Yahweh spoke to Moses, "Go, go down because your people behave corruptly, whom you brought up from the land of Egypt.
8
They have turned aside quickly from the way that I commanded them; they have made for themselves a cast-image bull calf, and they bowed to it, and they sacrificed to it, and they said, 'These are your gods, Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt.'"
9
And Yahweh said to Moses, "I have seen this people, and, indeed, they [are] a stiff-necked people.
10
And now leave me [alone] so that {my anger may blaze} against them, and let me destroy them, and I will make you into a great nation."
11
And Moses {implored Yahweh} his God, and he said, "Why, Yahweh, should {your anger blaze} against your people whom you brought up from the land of Egypt with great power and with a strong hand?
12
Why should [the] Egyptians {say}, 'With evil [intent] he brought them out to kill them in the mountains and wipe them from the face of the earth'? Turn from {your fierce anger} and relent concerning the disaster for your people.
13
Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your servants, to whom you swore by yourself, and you told them, 'I will multiply your offspring like the stars of the heavens, and all this land that I promised I will give to your offspring, and they will inherit [it] forever.'"
14
And Yahweh relented concerning the disaster that he had {threatened} 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 their two sides; {on the front and on the back} they were written.
16
And the tablets, they [were] the work of God; and the writing, it [was] the writing of God engraved on the tablets.
17
And Joshua heard the sound of the people in their shouting, and he said to Moses, "A sound of war [is] in the camp."
18
But he said, "There is not a sound of shouting of victory, and there is not a sound of shouting of defeat. I hear a sound of singing."
19
{And} as he came near to the camp, he saw the bull calf and dancing, and {Moses became angry}, and he threw the tablets from his hand, and he broke them under the mountain.
20
And he took the bull calf that they had made, and he burned [it] with the fire, and he crushed [it] until it became fine, and he scattered [it] on the surface of the water, and he made the {Israelites} drink.
21
And Moses said to Aaron, "What did this people do to you that you brought on them [such] a great sin?"
22
And Aaron said, "{Let not my lord become angry}. You yourself know the people, that {they are intent on evil}.
23
And they said to me, 'Make for us gods who will go before us, because this Moses, the man who brought us up from the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.'
24
And I said to them, 'Whoever [has] gold, take [it] off.' And they gave [it] to me, and I threw it in the fire, and out came this bull calf."
25
And Moses saw the people, that they [were] running wild because Aaron had allowed them to run wild, for a laughingstock among {their enemies}.
26
And Moses stood at the entrance of the camp, and he said, "Whoever [is] for Yahweh, to me." And all the sons of Levi were gathered to him.
27
And he said to them, "Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel, 'Put each his sword on his side. Go {back and forth} from gate to gate in the camp, and kill, each his brother and each his friend and each his close relative.'"
28
And the sons of Levi did according to the word of Moses, and from the people on that day about three thousand persons fell.
29
And Moses said, "{You are ordained} today for Yahweh, because each [has been] against his son and against his brother and so bringing on you today a blessing."