The Golden Calf
1When the people saw that Moses was so long in coming down from the mountain, they gathered around Aaron and said, “Come, make us gods32:1 Or a god; also in verses 23 and 31 who will go before us. As for this fellow Moses who brought us up out of Egypt, we don’t know what has happened to him.”
2Aaron answered them, “Take off the gold earrings that your wives, your sons and your daughters are wearing, and bring them to me.” 3So all the people took off their earrings and brought them to Aaron. 4He took what they handed him and made it into an idol cast in the shape of a calf, fashioning it with a tool. Then they said, “These are your gods,32:4 Or This is your god; also in verse 8 Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.”
5When Aaron saw this, he built an altar in front of the calf and announced, “Tomorrow there will be a festival to the Lord.” 6So the next day the people rose early and sacrificed burnt offerings and presented fellowship offerings. Afterward they sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in revelry.
7Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go down, because your people, whom you brought up out of Egypt, have become corrupt. 8They have been quick to turn away from what I commanded them and have made themselves an idol cast in the shape of a calf. They have bowed down to it and sacrificed to it and have said, ‘These are your gods, Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.’
9“I have seen these people,” the Lord said to Moses, “and they are a stiff-necked people. 10Now leave me alone so that my anger may burn against them and that I may destroy them. Then I will make you into a great nation.”
11But Moses sought the favor of the Lord his God. “Lord,” he said, “why should your anger burn against your people, whom you brought out of Egypt with great power and a mighty hand? 12Why should the Egyptians say, ‘It was with evil intent that he brought them out, to kill them in the mountains and to wipe them off the face of the earth’? Turn from your fierce anger; relent and do not bring disaster on your people. 13Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac and Israel, to whom you swore by your own self: ‘I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and I will give your descendants all this land I promised them, and it will be their inheritance forever.’ ” 14Then the Lord relented and did not bring on his people the disaster he had threatened.
15Moses turned and went down the mountain with the two tablets of the covenant law in his hands. They were inscribed on both sides, front and back. 16The tablets were the work of God; the writing was the writing of God, engraved on the tablets.
17When Joshua heard the noise of the people shouting, he said to Moses, “There is the sound of war in the camp.”
18Moses replied:
“It is not the sound of victory,
it is not the sound of defeat;
it is the sound of singing that I hear.”
19When Moses approached the camp and saw the calf and the dancing, his anger burned and he threw the tablets out of his hands, breaking them to pieces at the foot of the mountain. 20And he took the calf the people had made and burned it in the fire; then he ground it to powder, scattered it on the water and made the Israelites drink it.
21He said to Aaron, “What did these people do to you, that you led them into such great sin?”
22“Do not be angry, my lord,” Aaron answered. “You know how prone these people are to evil. 23They said to me, ‘Make us gods who will go before us. As for this fellow Moses who brought us up out of Egypt, we don’t know what has happened to him.’ 24So I told them, ‘Whoever has any gold jewelry, take it off.’ Then they gave me the gold, and I threw it into the fire, and out came this calf!”
25Moses saw that the people were running wild and that Aaron had let them get out of control and so become a laughingstock to their enemies. 26So he stood at the entrance to the camp and said, “Whoever is for the Lord, come to me.” And all the Levites rallied to him.
27Then he said to them, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘Each man strap a sword to his side. Go back and forth through the camp from one end to the other, each killing his brother and friend and neighbor.’ ” 28The Levites did as Moses commanded, and that day about three thousand of the people died. 29Then Moses said, “You have been set apart to the Lord today, for you were against your own sons and brothers, and he has blessed you this day.”
30The next day Moses said to the people, “You have committed a great sin. But now I will go up to the Lord; perhaps I can make atonement for your sin.”
31So Moses went back to the Lord and said, “Oh, what a great sin these people have committed! They have made themselves gods of gold. 32But now, please forgive their sin—but if not, then blot me out of the book you have written.”
33The Lord replied to Moses, “Whoever has sinned against me I will blot out of my book. 34Now go, lead the people to the place I spoke of, and my angel will go before you. However, when the time comes for me to punish, I will punish them for their sin.”
35And the Lord struck the people with a plague because of what they did with the calf Aaron had made.
Za Fano la Mwana Wangʼombe Wagolide
1Anthu ataona kuti Mose akuchedwa kutsika mʼphiri, anasonkhana kwa Aaroni ndipo anati, “Bwera utipangire milungu imene idzititsogolera. Kunena za Mose amene anatitulutsa mʼdziko la Igupto, sitikudziwa chimene chamuchitikira.”
2Aaroni anawayankha kuti, “Vulani ndolo zagolide zimene avala akazi anu, ana anu aamuna ndi aakazi ndipo muzibweretse kwa ine.” 3Kotero anthu onse anavula ndolo zagolide ndi kubwera nazo kwa Aaroni. 4Choncho Aaroni analandira golideyo ndipo anamuwumba ndi chikombole ndi kupanga fano la mwana wangʼombe. Kenaka anthu aja anati, “Inu Aisraeli, nayu mulungu wanu amene anakutulutsani mʼdziko la Igupto.”
5Aaroni ataona izi, anamanga guwa lansembe patsogolo pa mwana wangʼombeyo ndipo analengeza kuti, “Mawa kudzakhala chikondwerero cha Yehova.” 6Kotero tsiku linalo anthu anadzuka mmamawa ndithu ndi kupereka nsembe zopsereza ndi nsembe zachiyanjano. Atatha kupereka nsembezo, anthuwo anakhala pansi nayamba kudya ndi kumwa. Kenaka anayimirira nayamba kuvina mwachilendo.
7Pamenepo Yehova anati kwa Mose, “Tsika msanga, chifukwa anthu ako amene unawatulutsa mʼdziko la Igupto aja adziyipitsa kwambiri. 8Iwo apatuka mwamsanga kuleka kutsatira zimene ndinawalamula. Ndiye adzipangira fano la mwana wangʼombe. Aligwadira ndi kuliperekera nsembe nʼkumati, ‘Inu Aisraeli, nayu mulungu wanu amene anakutulutsani mʼdziko la Igupto.’ ”
9Yehova anati kwa Mose, “Ine ndikuwadziwa anthu amenewa. Iwowa ndi ankhutukumve. 10Chifukwa chake undileke kuti mkwiyo wanga uyake pa iwo ndi kuwawononga. Ndipo Ine ndidzakusandutsa kuti ukhale mtundu waukulu.”
11Koma Mose anapempha chifundo cha Mulungu wake ndipo anati, “Chonde Yehova, chifukwa chiyani mwakwiyira anthu awa amene munawatulutsa mʼdziko la Igupto ndi mphamvu yanu yayikulu ndi dzanja lanu lamphamvu. 12Kodi mukufuna kuti Aigupto azinena kuti, ‘Munali ndi cholinga choyipa chofuna kuwaphera ku mapiri kuno ndi kuwawonongeratu pa dziko lapansi pamene munkawatulutsa ku Igupto kuja?’ Ayi, chonde mkwiyo wanu woyaka ngati motowu ubwezeni ndipo sinthani maganizo ofunira zoyipa anthu anu. 13Kumbukirani atumiki anu, Abrahamu, Isake, Israeli ndi zija munawalonjeza polumbira pa dzina lanu kuti, ‘Ine ndidzachulukitsa zidzukulu zanu ndipo zidzakhala zambiri ngati nyenyezi zakumwamba. Zidzukulu zanuzo ndidzazipatsa dziko lonseli limene ndinalonjeza. Dziko limeneli lidzakhala lawo nthawi zonse.’ ” 14Choncho Yehova analeka ndipo sanawachitire choyipa anthu ake monga anaopsezera.
15Mose anatembenuka ndi kutsika phiri miyala iwiri ya pangano ili mʼmanja mwake. Miyalayi inalembedwa mbali zonse, kutsogolo ndi kumbuyo komwe. 16Miyalayi anayikonza ndi Mulungu. Malembawo analemba ndi Mulungu mozokota pa miyalapo.
17Pamene Yoswa anamva phokoso la anthu anati kwa Mose, “Ku msasa kuli phokoso la nkhondo.”
18Mose anayankha kuti,
“Phokoso limeneli sindikulimva
ngati phokoso la opambana nkhondo,
kapena kulira kwa ongonjetsedwa pa nkhondo. Koma ndikulimva ngati phokoso la anthu amene akuyimba.”
19Mose atayandikira msasa ndi kuona mwana wangʼombe ndiponso kuvina, anakwiya kwambiri ndipo anaponya pansi miyala imene inali mʼmanja mwake, ndi kuyiphwanya pa tsinde la phiri. 20Ndipo iye anatenga mwana wangʼombe amene anthu anapanga uja ndi kumuwotcha pa moto ndi kumuperapera ndikukhala ngati fumbi. Kenaka anawaza fumbilo mʼmadzi ndi kuwamwetsa Aisraeli madziwo.
21Tsono Mose anafunsa Aaroni kuti, “Kodi anthu awa anakuchita chiyani kuti uwachimwitse koopsa chotere?”
22Aaroni anayankha kuti, “Musakwiye mbuye wanga. Inu mukudziwa kuti anthu awa ndi ovuta. 23Iwo anati kwa ine, ‘Bwera utipangire milungu imene idzititsogolera. Kunena za Mose amene anatitulutsa ife mʼdziko la Igupto, sitikudziwa chimene chamuchitikira.’ 24Choncho ine ndinawawuza kuti, ‘Aliyense amene ali ndi zokometsera zagolide azivule.’ Choncho iwo anandipatsa golide, ndipo ndinamuponya pa moto ndi kupanga fano la mwana wangʼombeyu.”
25Mose anaona kuti anthuwo anali osokonezekadi chifukwa Aaroni anawalekerera mpaka kusanduka anthu osekedwa pakati pa adani awo. 26Choncho iye anayima pa chipata cholowera mu msasa ndipo anati, “Aliyense amene ali mbali ya Yehova abwere kwa ine.” Ndipo Alevi onse anapita mbali yake.
27Ndipo iye anawawuza kuti, “Izi ndi zimene Yehova Mulungu wa Israeli akunena, ‘Pitani ku misasa konse, mulowe ku zipata zonse ndipo aliyense akaphe mʼbale wake, kapena mnzake kapena mnansi wake.’ ” 28Alevi anachita zomwe Mose analamula, ndipo tsiku limenelo panafa anthu pafupifupi 3,000. 29Kenaka Mose anati, “Lero mwadzipatula nokha kukhala ansembe otumikira Yehova. Mwachita izi popeza aliyense wa inu wapha mwana wake kapena mʼbale wake. Tsono lero Yehova wakudalitsani.”
30Mmawa mwake Mose anati kwa anthu onse, “Inu mwachita tchimo lalikulu. Koma tsopano ine ndipita ku phiri kwa Yehova mwina ndikatha kukupepeserani chifukwa cha tchimo lanu.”
31Kotero Mose anabwereranso kwa Yehova ndipo anati, “Aa! Anthu awa achita tchimo lalikulu! Iwo adzipangira milungu yagolide. 32Koma tsopano, chonde akhululukireni tchimo lawo. Ngati simutero, ndiye mundifute ine mʼbuku limene mwalemba.”
33Yehova anamuyankha Mose kuti, “Ndidzafuta mʼbuku aliyense amene wandichimwira. 34Tsopano pita ukawatsogolere anthu kumalo kumene ine ndinanena, ndipo mngelo wanga adzakutsogolerani. Komabe, nthawi yanga ikadzafika kuti ndiwalange, ndidzawalanga chifukwa cha tchimo lawo.”
35Ndipo Yehova anawakantha anthuwo ndi mliri chifukwa anawumiriza Aaroni kuti awapangire fano la mwana wangʼombe.
