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.
金牛犊
1百姓见摩西迟迟没有下山，就聚集到亚伦那里，对他说：“带我们出埃及的那个摩西不知怎样了，你给我们造神像来带领我们吧。” 2亚伦对他们说：“你们去摘下妻子、儿女的金耳环，拿来给我。” 3百姓就都摘下金耳环交给亚伦。 4亚伦接过这些金耳环，用它们铸造了一头牛犊。他们说：“以色列人啊，这就是带你们出埃及的神明。” 5亚伦见状便在牛犊前面筑了一座坛，然后宣告说：“明天是耶和华定的节期。” 6第二天清晨，百姓都上前来献燔祭和平安祭，献完祭后就坐下吃喝，起来狂欢。
7耶和华对摩西说：“你下山吧，你的百姓，就是你从埃及领出来的那些人已经败坏了。 8他们这么快就偏离了我吩咐他们走的道路，为自己造了一头牛犊来叩拜献祭，说，‘以色列人啊，这就是带你们出埃及的神明。’” 9耶和华又说：“我看到了，这些百姓真是顽固不化。 10你不要阻止我，我要向他们发烈怒，毁灭他们。我要使你成为大国。”
11摩西恳求他的上帝耶和华说：“耶和华啊，你为什么要向你的子民发烈怒呢？这些子民是你亲自用神迹和大能从埃及领出来的。 12难道你要让埃及人议论说你领他们出来是出于恶意，是为了在山野之间杀掉他们，从地上灭绝他们吗？求你息怒，施怜悯，不要降祸给你的子民。 13求你顾念你的仆人亚伯拉罕、以撒和以色列，你曾凭自己向他们起誓说，‘我必使你们的后代像天上的星星那么多。我应许给你们后代的这整片土地，我必赐给他们作永远的产业。’” 14耶和华听了摩西的话，就施怜悯，不把所说的灾祸降在百姓身上。
15摩西转身下山，手里拿着两块约版，约版的正反两面都有字。 16石版是上帝做的，字是上帝刻的。 17约书亚听见山下百姓嘈杂的喊叫声，便对摩西说：“营地里有打仗的声音。” 18摩西对他说：“这不是打胜仗的声音，也不是打败仗的声音，而是歌唱的声音。” 19摩西走近营地的时候，看见牛犊，又看见百姓在跳舞，心中大怒，便把手上的两块石版摔碎在山脚下， 20又焚烧他们铸造的牛犊，把它磨成粉末撒在水面上，叫以色列百姓喝。 21摩西对亚伦说：“这些百姓对你做了什么？你竟使他们陷入大罪中！” 22亚伦回答说：“求我主不要动怒，你知道这些人专门作恶。 23他们对我说，‘为我们造神明来带领我们吧，因为带我们出埃及的那个摩西不知怎样了。’ 24于是，我吩咐他们摘下金耳环给我，我把这些金耳环扔进火里，这头牛犊就出来了。”
25摩西见百姓放肆，亚伦纵容他们，使他们成为敌人的笑柄， 26便站在营门口对会众说：“凡跟从耶和华的，都站到我这边来。”所有的利未人都聚集到摩西身边。 27摩西对他们说：“以色列的上帝耶和华这样说，‘你们各人带着刀，从这个门到那个门，走遍整个营，不论遇见的是兄弟、伙伴还是邻居，只管杀他们。’” 28利未人便照摩西的话去做。那一天，约有三千人被杀。 29摩西对利未人说：“今天你们已经把自己奉献给耶和华了，因为你们大义灭亲，祂今天必赐福给你们。”
30第二天，摩西对百姓说：“你们犯了大罪，我现在要到耶和华那里，也许可以为你们赎罪。” 31摩西回到耶和华那里，说：“唉，百姓犯了大罪，用金子为自己造了神像。 32恳求你赦免他们的罪，不然请你从你的册子上抹掉我的名字吧。” 33耶和华对摩西说：“谁得罪我，我就从我的册子上抹掉谁的名字。 34你现在回去带领这些百姓，往我指示你的地方去，我的天使必在你前面引路。只是到我惩罚的日子，我必因他们的罪惩罚他们。”
35耶和华击杀百姓，是因为他们曾与亚伦一起造牛犊。
