1 A nd the people see that Moses is delaying to come down from the mount, and the people assemble against Aaron, and say unto him, `Rise, make for us gods who go before us, for this Moses -- the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt -- we have not known what hath happened to him.'

When the people saw that Moses was staying a long time before coming down from the mountain, they gathered around Aaron, and said, “Come, make a god for us who will go in front of us. For we do not know what has become of Moses, the man who brought us out of the land of Egypt.”

2 A nd Aaron saith unto them, `Break off the rings of gold which in the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring in unto me;'

Aaron said to them, “Take the objects of gold from the ears of your wives, your sons and your daughters, and bring them to me.”

3 a nd all the people themselves break off the rings of gold which in their ears, and bring in unto Aaron,

So all the people took the gold objects from their ears and brought them to Aaron.

4 a nd he receiveth from their hand, and doth fashion it with a graving tool, and doth make it a molten calf, and they say, `These thy gods, O Israel, who brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.'

He took the gold from their hands, worked on it with a sharp tool, and by melting it, made it into a calf. Then they said, “This is your god, O Israel, who brought you out of the land of Egypt.”

5 A nd Aaron seeth, and buildeth an altar before it, and Aaron calleth, and saith, `A festival to Jehovah -- to-morrow;'

When Aaron saw this, he built an altar in front of it. Aaron said to all the people, “Tomorrow will be a special supper to the Lord.”

6 a nd they rise early on the morrow, and cause burnt-offerings to ascend, and bring nigh peace-offerings; and the people sit down to eat and to drink, and rise up to play.

So the next day they got up early and gave burnt gifts and peace gifts. The people sat down to eat and drink, and got up to play.

7 A nd Jehovah saith unto Moses, `Go, descend, for thy people whom thou hast brought up out of the land of Egypt hath done corruptly,

Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go down. For your people, whom you brought out of the land of Egypt, have turned to sin.

8 t hey have turned aside hastily from the way that I have commanded them; they have made for themselves a molten calf, and bow themselves to it, and sacrifice to it, and say, These thy gods, O Israel, who brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.'

They have been quick to turn aside from the way I have told them. They have melted gold and made a calf for themselves. They have worshiped it, have given gifts to it, and have said, ‘This is your god, O Israel, who brought you out of the land of Egypt!’”

9 A nd Jehovah saith unto Moses, `I have seen this people, and lo, it a stiff-necked people;

The Lord said to Moses, “I have seen this people, and see, they are a strong-willed people.

10 a nd now, let Me alone, and My anger doth burn against them, and I consume them, and I make thee become a great nation.'

Now let Me alone, so My anger may be against them and I may destroy them. But I will make you into a great nation.”

11 A nd Moses appeaseth the face of Jehovah his God, and saith, `Why, O Jehovah, doth Thine anger burn against Thy people, whom Thou hast brought forth out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a strong hand?

Then Moses begged the Lord his God, saying, “O Lord, why are you very angry against Your people whom You brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and a strong hand?

12 w hy do the Egyptians speak, saying, For evil He brought them out to slay them among mountains, and to consume them from off the face of the ground? turn back from the heat of Thine anger, and repent of the evil against Thy people.

Why should the Egyptians say, ‘He brought them out to kill them in the mountains and destroy them from the earth’? Turn from Your anger and change Your mind about destroying Your people.

13 ` Be mindful of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Israel, Thy servants, to whom Thou hast sworn by Thyself, and unto whom Thou speakest: I multiply your seed as stars of the heavens, and all this land, as I have said, I give to your seed, and they have inherited to the age;'

Remember Abraham, Isaac and Israel, who were your servants. You promised them by Yourself, saying, ‘I will make your children become as many as the stars of the heavens. And I will give all this land I have spoken about to your children. It will be theirs forever.’”

14 a nd Jehovah repenteth of the evil which He hath spoken of doing to His people.

So the Lord changed His mind about the things He said He would do to His people.

15 A nd Moses turneth, and goeth down from the mount, and the two tables of the testimony in his hand, tables written on both their sides, on this and on that they written;

Then Moses turned and went down from the mountain with the two stone writings of the Law in his hand. The stones were written on both sides, on one side and the other.

16 a nd the tables are the work of God, and the writing is the writing of God, graven on the tables.

The stone writings were God’s work. The writing was God’s writing cut into the stones.

17 A nd Joshua heareth the voice of the people in their shouting, and saith unto Moses, `A noise of battle in the camp!'

When Joshua heard the sound of the people as they made noise, he said to Moses, “There is a sound of war at the tents.”

18 a nd he saith, `It is not the voice of the crying of might, nor is it the voice of the crying of weakness -- a voice of singing I am hearing.'

But Moses said, “It is not the sound of winning, or the sound of losing. It is the sound of singing I hear.”

19 A nd it cometh to pass, when he hath drawn near unto the camp, that he seeth the calf, and the dancing, and the anger of Moses burneth, and he casteth out of his hands the tables, and breaketh them under the mount;

As soon as Moses came near the tents, he saw the calf and the dancing. Moses became very angry. He threw the stone writings from his hands and broke them at the base of the mountain.

20 a nd he taketh the calf which they have made, and burneth with fire, and grindeth until small, and scattereth on the face of the waters, and causeth the sons of Israel to drink.

And he took the calf they had made and burned it with fire, ground it to dust, spread it over the top of the water, and made the people of Israel drink it.

21 A nd Moses saith unto Aaron, `What hath this people done to thee, that thou hast brought in upon it a great sin?'

Then Moses said to Aaron, “What did this people do to you to make you bring such great sin upon them?”

22 a nd Aaron saith, `Let not the anger of my lord burn; thou -- thou hast known the people that it in evil;

Aaron said, “Do not let my lord be angry. You know the people yourself and how sinful they are.

23 a nd they say to me, Make for us gods, who go before us, for this Moses -- the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt -- we have not known what hath happened to him;

They said to me, ‘Make a god for us who will go in front of us. For we do not know what has become of Moses, the man who brought us out of the land of Egypt.’

24 a nd I say to them, Whoso hath gold, let them break off, and they give to me, and I cast it into the fire, and this calf cometh out.'

And I said to them, ‘Whoever has any gold, let them take it off.’ So they gave it to me. I threw it into the fire and out came this calf.”

25 A nd Moses seeth the people that it unbridled, for Aaron hath made it unbridled for contempt among its withstanders,

Moses saw that Aaron had let the people go wild and become a shame to those who hated them.

26 a nd Moses standeth in the gate of the camp, and saith, `Who for Jehovah? -- unto me!' and all the sons of Levi are gathered unto him;

So Moses stood in the gate of the place where they had set up their tents and said, “Whoever is for the Lord, come to me!” And all the sons of Levi came together around him.

27 a nd he saith to them, `Thus said Jehovah, God of Israel, Put each his sword by his thigh, pass over and turn back from gate to gate through the camp, and slay each his brother, and each his friend, and each his relation.'

He said to them, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘Every man put his sword on his thigh. And go from one end of the tents to the other, and each one kill his brother, his friend, and his neighbor.’”

28 A nd the sons of Levi do according to the word of Moses, and there fall of the people on that day about three thousand men,

So the sons of Levi did as Moses said. About 3, 000 men fell that day.

29 a nd Moses saith, `Consecrate your hand to-day to Jehovah, for a man against his son, and against his brother, so as to bring on you to-day a blessing.'

Then Moses said, “Today you have set yourselves apart for the Lord. For each man has been against his son and against his brother, so the Lord may bring good to you today.”

30 A nd it cometh to pass, on the morrow, that Moses saith unto the people, `Ye -- ye have sinned a great sin, and now I go up unto Jehovah, if so be I atone for your sin.'

The next day Moses said to the people, “You have sinned. Now I am going up to the Lord. It might be that I can have your sin forgiven.”

31 A nd Moses turneth back unto Jehovah, and saith, `Oh this people hath sinned a great sin, that they make to themselves a god of gold;

Then Moses returned to the Lord and said, “O, this people have sinned. They have made a god of gold for themselves.

32 a nd now, if Thou takest away their sin -- and if not -- blot me, I pray thee, out of Thy book which Thou hast written.'

But now, if You will, forgive their sin. If not, then take my name out of Your book which You have written.”

33 A nd Jehovah saith unto Moses, `Whoso hath sinned against Me -- I blot him out of My book;

The Lord said to Moses, “I will put out of My book whoever has sinned against Me.

34 a nd now, go, lead the people whithersoever I have spoken to thee of; lo, My messenger goeth before thee, and in the day of my charging -- then I have charged upon them their sin.'

But go now. Lead the people where I told you. See, My angel will go before you. But in the day when I punish, I will punish them for their sin.”

35 A nd Jehovah plagueth the people, because they made the calf which Aaron made.

Then the Lord sent trouble upon the people, because of what they did with the calf Aaron had made.