-
And when
the people saw that Moses delayed to come down
out of the mount, the people gathered themselves
together unto Aaron, and said unto him, Up, make
us gods, which shall go before us; for as for
this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the
land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him.
02 And Aaron said unto them, Break off the
golden earrings, which are in the ears of your
wives, of your sons, and of your daughters, and
bring them unto me.
03 And all the people brake off the golden
earrings which were in their ears, and brought
them unto Aaron.
04 And he received them at their hand, and
fashioned it with a graving tool, after he had
made it a molten calf: and they said, These be
thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of
the land of Egypt.
05 And when Aaron saw it, he built an altar
before it; and Aaron made proclamation, and said,
To morrow is a feast to the Lord.
06 And they rose up early on the morrow,
and offered burnt offerings, and brought peace
offerings; and the people sat down to eat and to
drink, and rose up to play.
07 And the Lord said unto Moses, Go, get
thee down; for thy people, which thou broughtest
out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted
themselves:
08 They have turned aside quickly out of
the way which I commanded them: they have made
them a molten calf, and have worshipped it, and
have sacrificed thereunto, and said, These be thy
gods, O Israel, which have brought thee up out of
the land of Egypt.
09 And the Lord said unto Moses, I have
seen this people, and, behold, it is a
stiffnecked people:
10 Now therefore let me alone, that my
wrath may wax hot against them, and that I may
consume them: and I will make of thee a great
nation.
11 And Moses besought the Lord his God, and
said, Lord, why doth thy wrath wax hot against
thy people, which thou hast brought forth out of
the land of Egypt with great power, and with a
mighty hand?
12 Wherefore should the Egyptians speak,
and say, For mischief did he bring them out, to
slay them in the mountains, and to consume them
from the face of the earth? Turn from thy fierce
wrath, and repent of this evil against thy
people.
13 Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, thy
servants, to whom thou swarest by thine own self,
and saidst unto them, I will multiply your seed
as the stars of heaven, and all this land that I
have spoken of will I give unto your seed, and
they shall inherit it for ever.
14 And the Lord repented of the evil which
he thought to do unto his people.
15 And Moses turned, and went down from the
mount, and the two tables of the testimony were
in his hand: the tables were written on both
their sides; on the one side and on the other
were they written.
16 And the tables were the work of God, and
the writing was the writing of God, graven upon
the tables.
17 And when Joshua heard the noise of the
people as they shouted, he said unto Moses, There
is a noise of war in the camp.
__________________________________ |
18 And he said, It is not the voice of them
that shout for mastery, neither is it the voice
of them that cry for being overcome: but the
noise of them that sing do I hear.
19 And it came to pass, as soon as he came
nigh unto the camp, that he saw the calf, and the
dancing: and Moses' anger waxed hot, and he cast
the tables out of his hands, and brake them
beneath the mount.
20 And he took the calf which they had
made, and burnt it in the fire, and ground it to
powder, and strawed it upon the water, and made
the children of Israel drink of it.
21 And Moses said unto Aaron, What did this
people unto thee, that thou hast brought so great
a sin upon them?
22 And Aaron said, Let not the anger of my
lord wax hot: thou knowest the people, that they
are set on mischief.
23 For they said unto me, Make us gods,
which shall go before us: for as for this Moses,
the man that brought us up out of the land of
Egypt, we wot not what is become of him.
24 And I said unto them, Whosoever hath any
gold, let them break it off. So they gave it me:
then I cast it into the fire, and there came out
this calf.
25 And when Moses saw that the people were
naked; (for Aaron had made them naked unto their
shame among their enemies:)
26 Then Moses stood in the gate of the
camp, and said, Who is on the Lord's side? let
him come unto me. And all the sons of Levi
gathered themselves together unto him.
27 And he said unto them, Thus saith the
Lord God of Israel, Put every man his sword by
his side, and go in and out from gate to gate
throughout the camp, and slay every man his
brother, and every man his companion, and every
man his neighbour.
28 And the children of Levi did according
to the word of Moses: and there fell of the
people that day about three thousand men.
29 For Moses had said, Consecrate
yourselves today to the Lord, even every man upon
his son, and upon his brother; that he may bestow
upon you a blessing this day.
30 And it came to pass on the morrow, that
Moses said unto the people, Ye have sinned a
great sin: and now I will go up unto the Lord;
peradventure I shall make an atonement for your
sin.
31 And Moses returned unto the Lord, and
said, Oh, this people have sinned a great sin,
and have made them gods of gold.
32 Yet now, if thou wilt forgive their
sin...; and if not, blot me, I pray thee, out of
thy book which thou hast written.
33 And the Lord said unto Moses, Whosoever
hath sinned against me, him will I blot out of my
book.
34 Therefore now go, lead the people unto
the place of which I have spoken unto thee:
behold, mine Angel shall go before thee:
nevertheless in the day when I visit I will visit
their sin upon them.
35 And the Lord plagued the people, because
they made the calf, which Aaron made.
__________________________________ |
