Exodus 32

The People Make a Gold Calf

1 The people saw that a long time had passed and Moses had not come down from the mountain. So they gathered around Aaron and said, “Moses led us out of Egypt, but we don’t know what has happened to him. Make us gods who will lead us.”

2 
Aaron said to the people, “Take off the gold earrings that your wives, sons, and daughters are wearing, and bring them to me.”3 So all the people took their gold earrings and brought them to Aaron.4 He took the gold from the people and formed it with a tool and made a statue of a calf. Then the people said, “Israel, these are your gods who brought you out of the land of Egypt!”

5 
When Aaron saw all this, he built an altar before the calf and announced, “Tomorrow there will be a special feast to honor the Lord.”6 The people got up early the next morning and offered whole burnt offerings and fellowship offerings. They sat down to eat and drink, and then they got up and sinned sexually.

7 
Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go down from this mountain, because your people, the people you brought out of the land of Egypt, have ruined themselves.8 They have quickly turned away from the things I commanded them to do. They have made for themselves a calf covered with gold, and they have worshiped it and offered sacrifices to it. They have said, ‘Israel, these are your gods who brought you out of Egypt.’ ”

9 
The Lord said to Moses, “I have seen these people, and I know that they are very stubborn.10 So now do not stop me. I am so angry with them that I am going to destroy them. Then I will make you and your descendants a great nation.”11 But Moses begged the Lord his God and said, “Lord, don’t let your anger destroy your people, whom you brought out of Egypt with your great power and strength.12 Don’t let the people of Egypt say, ‘The Lord brought the Israelites out of Egypt for an evil purpose. He planned to kill them in the mountains and destroy them from the earth.’ So stop being angry, and don’t destroy your people.13 Remember the men who served you—Abraham, Isaac, and Israel. You promised with an oath to them and said, ‘I will make your descendants as many as the stars in the sky. I will give your descendants all this land that I have promised them, and it will be theirs forever.’ ”14 So the Lord changed his mind and did not destroy the people as he had said he might.15 Then Moses went down the mountain, and in his hands he had the two stone tablets with the Agreement on them. The commands were written on both sides of each stone, front and back.16 God himself had made the tablets, and God himself had written the commands on the tablets.17 When Joshua heard the sound of the people shouting, he said to Moses, “It sounds like war down in the camp.”18 Moses answered:“It is not a shout of victory;it is not a cry of defeat.It is the sound of singing that I hear.”19 When Moses came close to the camp, he saw the gold calf and the dancing, and he became very angry. He threw down the stone tablets that he was carrying and broke them at the bottom of the mountain.20 Then he took the calf that the people had made and melted it in the fire. He ground it into powder. Then he threw the powder into the water and forced the Israelites to drink it.

21 
Moses said to Aaron, “What did these people do to you? Why did you cause them to do such a terrible sin?”

22 
Aaron answered, “Don’t be angry, master. You know that these people are always ready to do wrong.23 The people said to me, ‘Moses led us out of Egypt, but we don’t know what has happened to him. Make us gods who will lead us.’24 So I told the people, ‘Take off your gold jewelry.’ When they gave me the gold, I threw it into the fire and out came this calf!”

25 
Moses saw that the people were acting wildly. Aaron had let them get out of control and become fools in front of their enemies.26 So Moses stood at the entrance to the camp and said, “Let anyone who wants to follow the Lord come to me.” And all the people from the family of Levi gathered around Moses.

27 
Then Moses said to them, “The Lord, the God of Israel, says this: ‘Every man must put on his sword and go through the camp from one end to the other. Each man must kill his brother, his friend, and his neighbor.’ ”28 The people from the family of Levi obeyed Moses, and that day about three thousand of the Israelites died.29 Then Moses said, “Today you have been given for service to the Lord. You were willing to kill your own sons and brothers, and God has blessed you for this.”

30 
The next day Moses told the people, “You have done a terrible sin. But now I will go up to the Lord. Maybe I can do something so your sins will be removed.”31 So Moses went back to the Lord and said, “How terribly these people have sinned! They have made for themselves gods from gold.32 Now, please forgive them of this sin. If you will not, then erase my name from the book in which you have written the names of your people.”

33 
But the Lord told Moses, “I will erase from my book the names of the people who sin against me.34 So now, go. Lead the people where I have told you, and my angel will lead you. When the time comes to punish, I will punish them for their sin.”

35 
So the Lord caused terrible things to happen to the people because of what they did with the calf Aaron had made.

Exodus 33

1 Then the Lord said to Moses, “You and the people you brought out of Egypt must leave this place. Go to the land that I promised with an oath to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob when I said, ‘I will give that land to your descendants.’2 I will send an angel to lead you, and I will force these people out of the land: the Canaanites, Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites.3 Go up to a fertile land. But I will not go with you, because I might destroy you on the way, since you are such a stubborn people.”

4 
When the people heard this bad news, they became very sad, and none of them put on jewelry.5 This was because the Lord had said to Moses, “Tell the Israelites, ‘You are a stubborn people. If I were to go with you even for a moment, I would destroy you. So take off all your jewelry, and I will decide what to do with you.’ ”6 So the people of Israel took off their jewelry at Mount Sinai.

The Meeting Tent

7 

Moses used to take a tent and set it up a long way outside the camp; he called it the “Meeting Tent.” Anyone who wanted to ask the Lord about something would go to the Meeting Tent outside the camp.8 Whenever Moses went out to the Tent, all the people would rise and stand at the entrances of their tents, watching him until he entered the Meeting Tent.9 When Moses went into the Tent, the pillar of cloud would always come down and stay at the entrance of the Tent while the Lord spoke with Moses.10 Whenever the people saw the pillar of cloud at the entrance of the Tent, they stood and worshiped, each person at the entrance of his own tent.11 The Lord spoke to Moses face to face as a man speaks with his friend. Then Moses would return to the camp, but Moses’ young helper, Joshua son of Nun, did not leave the Tent.12 Moses said to the Lord, “You have told me to lead these people, but you did not say whom you would send with me. You have said to me, ‘I know you very well, and I am pleased with you.’13 If I have truly pleased you, show me your plans so that I may know you and continue to please you. Remember that this nation is your people.”14 The Lord answered, “I myself will go with you, and I will give you victory.”15 Then Moses said to him, “If you yourself don’t go with us, then don’t send us away from this place.16 If you don’t go with us, no one will know that you are pleased with me and with your people. These people and I will be no different from any other people on earth.”17 Then the Lord said to Moses, “I will do what you ask, because I know you very well, and I am pleased with you.”

Moses Sees God’s Glory

18 Then Moses said, “Now, please show me your glory.”19 The Lord answered, “I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will announce my name, the Lord, so you can hear it. I will show kindness to anyone to whom I want to show kindness, and I will show mercy to anyone to whom I want to show mercy.20 But you cannot see my face, because no one can see me and live.

21 
“There is a place near me where you may stand on a rock.22 When my glory passes that place, I will put you in a large crack in the rock and cover you with my hand until I have passed by.23 Then I will take away my hand, and you will see my back. But my face must not be seen.”

Exodus 34

Moses Gets New Stone Tablets

1 The Lord said to Moses, “Cut two more stone tablets like the first two, and I will write the same words on them that were on the first two stones which you broke.2 Be ready tomorrow morning, and then come up on Mount Sinai. Stand before me there on the top of the mountain.3 No one may come with you or even be seen any place on the mountain. Not even the flocks or herds may eat grass near that mountain.”

4 
So Moses cut two stone tablets like the first ones. Then early the next morning he went up Mount Sinai, just as the Lord had commanded him, carrying the two stone tablets with him.5 Then the Lord came down in the cloud and stood there with Moses, and the Lord called out his name: the Lord.

6 
The Lord passed in front of Moses and said, “I am the Lord. The Lord is a God who shows mercy, who is kind, who doesn’t become angry quickly, who has great love and faithfulness7 and is kind to thousands of people. The Lord forgives people for evil, for sin, and for turning against him, but he does not forget to punish guilty people. He will punish not only the guilty people, but also their children, their grandchildren, their great-grandchildren, and their great-great-grandchildren.”

8 
Then Moses quickly bowed to the ground and worshiped.9 He said, “Lord, if you are pleased with me, please go with us. I know that these are stubborn people, but forgive our evil and our sin. Take us as your own people.”10 Then the Lord said, “I am making this agreement with you. I will do miracles in front of all your people—things that have never before been done for any other nation on earth—and the people with you will see my work. I, the Lord, will do wonderful things for you.11 Obey the things I command you today, and I will force out the Amorites, Canaanites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites ahead of you.12 Be careful that you don’t make an agreement with the people who live in the land where you are going, because it will bring you trouble.13 Destroy their altars, break their stone pillars, and cut down their Asherah idols.14 Don’t worship any other god, because I, the Lord, the Jealous One, am a jealous God.15 “Be careful that you don’t make an agreement with the people who live in that land. When they worship their gods, they will invite you to join them. Then you will eat their sacrifices.16 If you choose some of their daughters as wives for your sons and those daughters worship gods, they will lead your sons to do the same thing.17 “Do not make gods of melted metal.18 “Celebrate the Feast of Unleavened Bread. For seven days you must eat bread made without yeast as I commanded you. Do this during the month I have chosen, the month of Abib, because in that month you came out of Egypt.19 “The firstborn of every mother belongs to me, including every firstborn male animal that is born in your flocks and herds.

20 You may buy back a donkey by paying for it with a lamb, but if you don’t want to buy back a donkey, you must break its neck. You must buy back all your firstborn sons.
“No one is to come before me without a gift.

21 
“You must work for six days, but on the seventh day you must rest—even during the planting season and the harvest season.

22 
“Celebrate the Feast of Weeks when you gather the first grain of the wheat harvest. And celebrate the Feast of Shelters in the fall.

23 
“Three times each year all your males must come before the Lord God, the God of Israel.24 I will force out nations ahead of you and expand the borders of your land. You will go before the Lord your God three times each year, and at that time no one will try to take your land from you.

25 
“Do not offer the blood of a sacrifice to me with anything containing yeast, and do not leave any of the sacrifice of the Feast of Passover until the next morning.

26 
“Bring the best first crops that you harvest from your ground to the Tent of the Lord your God.
“You must not cook a young goat in its mother’s milk.”

27 
Then the Lord said to Moses, “Write down these words, because with these words I have made an agreement with you and Israel.”

28 
Moses stayed there with the Lord forty days and forty nights, and during that time he did not eat food or drink water. And Moses wrote the words of the Agreement—the Ten Commandments—on the stone tablets.

The Face of Moses Shines

29 

Then Moses came down from Mount Sinai, carrying the two stone tablets of the Agreement in his hands. But he did not know that his face was shining because he had talked with the Lord.30 When Aaron and all the people of Israel saw that Moses’ face was shining, they were afraid to go near him.31 But Moses called to them, so Aaron and all the leaders of the people returned to Moses, and he talked with them.32 After that, all the people of Israel came near him, and he gave them all the commands that the Lord had given him on Mount Sinai.

33 
When Moses finished speaking to the people, he put a covering over his face.34 Anytime Moses went before the Lord to speak with him, Moses took off the covering until he came out. Then Moses would come out and tell the Israelites what the Lord had commanded.35 They would see that Moses’ face was shining. So he would cover his face again until the next time he went in to speak with the Lord.