The Golden Calf

1 The people saw that Moses was taking a long time to come down from the mountain. They gathered around Aaron and told him, “Get up! Make us gods to go before us, because we do not know what has finally happened to this man Moses, who brought us out of the land of Egypt.” 2 Aaron told them, “Remove the gold rings from the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me.” 3 All the people removed the gold rings ⟨that were⟩ in their ears and brought them to Aaron. 4 He received them from their hands and cast them into a mold. He made it into a cast-metal calf and said, “These are your gods, Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt!” 5 Aaron saw Hur the prophet before it and was afraid. He built an altar before it. Aaron made a proclamation: “A festival before the Lord tomorrow!” 6 They rose early the next day, arranged burnt offerings, and brought sacrifices of holy things. The people sat down to eat and drink, then rose to engage in obscene revelry in foreign worship.⁠a

Moses Prays for the People

7 The Lord spoke to Moses: “Go down, because your people, whom you redeemed and brought out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves. 8 They quickly turned aside from the way I commanded them. They made themselves a cast-metal calf, bowed down to it, sacrificed to it, and said, ‘These are your gods, Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt!’” 9 The Lord told Moses, “This people is revealed before me. They are a people who find it hard to accept instruction. 10 Now stop seeking mercy for them before me, so that my anger may burn against them and I may destroy them. I can make ⟨you a people⟩ greater and stronger than they are.” 11 Moses prayed before the Lord his God: “Why, Lord, does your anger burn against your people, whom you redeemed and brought out of the land of Egypt, with your great power and your outstretched arm? 12 Why should the Egyptians say, ‘Their departure was for their harm, to kill them in the mountains and wipe them from the face of the earth’? Turn, please, from your fierce anger. Let there be regret before you for the harm you intended to bring on your people. 13 In your mercy remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your servants, to whom you swore by the name of your Memra and said, ‘I will make your sons as numerous as the stars of the heavens. All this land I promised, I will give to your sons, and they will possess it forever.’” 14 There was regret before the Lord for the harm he had intended to bring on the people.

Moses Breaks the Tablets

15 Moses turned and went down from the mountain with the two tablets in his hand, tablets written on both sides, written on this side and on that side. 16 The tablets were the work of the Might from before the Lord, and the writing was clearly written from before the Lord, engraved on the tablets. 17 Joshua heard the people’s noise as they ran back and forth and told Moses, “The sound of battle lines in the camp!” 18 He said, “I do not hear the sound of men victorious in battle, nor do I hear the sound of the weak defeated in battle. I hear the sound of people singing praise in foreign worship; I hear the sound of people singing praise.” 19 When he approached the camp and saw the calf and the dancing, Moses’ anger burned. He threw the tablets from his hands and broke them at the foot of the mountain. 20 He took the calf they had made, burned it in the fire, ground it to powder, scattered it over the water, and made the sons of Israel drink it. 21 Moses asked Aaron, “What has this people done to you to make you bring such great sins on them?” 22 Aaron told Moses, “Do not let my master’s anger burn. You know that the people are evil. 23 They told me, ‘Make us gods to go before us, because we do not know what has finally happened to this Moses, who brought us out of the land of Egypt.’ 24 He told them, ‘Whoever has gold, remove it and give it to me.’ I threw it into the fire, and this calf came out.” 25 Moses saw that the people were stripped, because they had removed the gold crown from their heads, on which the Distinguished Name was engraved. Because they had not listened to Aaron’s words, they earned themselves a bad name for all generations.

The Levites Gather Around Moses

26 Moses stood at the entrance to the camp and said, “Whoever fears before the Lord, come to me!” The whole tribe of Levi gathered to him. 27 He told them, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘Each of you must put his sword on his thigh. Go back and forth from entrance to entrance in the camp. Each man must kill his brother, his companion, and his neighbor.’” 28 The sons of Levi did as Moses said. About three thousand men fell from the people that day. 29 Moses said, “Complete the offering of your hands today before the Lord, because each of you has struck his son and his brother, so that he may give you a blessing today.”

Moses Seeks Forgiveness for Israel

30 The next day Moses told the people, “You have committed great sins. Now I will go up to seek mercy before the Lord; ⟨perhaps I can atone for your sins⟩.” 31 ⟨Moses returned before the Lord⟩ and said, “Please, this people has committed great sins and made themselves gods of gold. 32 Now, if only you would forgive and remit their sins! But if not, erase me from the book of your Law that you have written.” 33 The Lord told Moses, “Whoever has sinned before me, I will erase him from the book of my Law. 34 Now go, lead the people to the place I told you. My angel will go before you. On the day I remember them, I will remember their sins against them.” 35 The Lord struck the people because they made the calf Aaron had made.