Exodus 32

God's Anger Revealed Exodus 32:7–10

⁷Verse 7. Yahweh spoke to Moses, “Go, get down; for your people, who you brought up out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves! ⁸Verse 8. They have turned away quickly out of the way which I commanded them. They have made themselves a molten calf, and have worshiped it, and have sacrificed to it, and said, ‘These are your gods, Israel, which brought you up out of the land of Egypt.’” ⁹Verse 9. Yahweh said to Moses, “I have seen these people, and behold, they are a stiff-necked people. ¹⁰Verse 10. Now therefore leave me alone, that my wrath may burn hot against them, and that I may consume them; and I will make of you a great nation.”

Moses Intercedes for Israel Exodus 32:11–14

¹¹Verse 11. Moses begged Yahweh his God, and said, “Yahweh, why does your wrath burn hot against your people, that you have brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand? ¹²Verse 12. Why should the Egyptians speak, saying, ‘He brought them out for evil, to kill them in the mountains, and to consume them from the surface of the earth?’ Turn from your fierce wrath, and repent of this evil against your people. ¹³Verse 13. Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your servants, to whom you swore by your own self, and said to them, ‘I will multiply your offspring as the stars of the sky, and all this land that I have spoken of I will give to your offspring, and they shall inherit it forever.’”

¹⁴Verse 14. Yahweh repented of the evil which he said he would do to his people.

Moses Confronts the People Exodus 32:15–19

¹⁵Verse 15. Moses turned, and went down from the mountain, with the two tablets of the testimony in his hand; tablets that were written on both their sides; on the one side and on the other they were written. ¹⁶Verse 16. The tablets were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, engraved on the tablets. ¹⁷Verse 17. When Joshua heard the noise of the people as they shouted, he said to Moses, “There is the noise of war in the camp.” ¹⁸Verse 18. He said, “It isn’t the voice of those who shout for victory. It is not the voice of those who cry for being overcome; but the noise of those who sing that I hear.”

¹⁹Verse 19. As soon as he came near to the camp, he saw the calf and the dancing. Then Moses’ anger grew hot, and he threw the tablets out of his hands, and broke them beneath the mountain.

Aaron's Defense Exodus 32:20–24

²⁰Verse 20. He took the calf which they had made, and burned it with fire, ground it to powder, and scattered it on the water, and made the children of Israel drink it. ²¹Verse 21. Moses said to Aaron, “What did these people do to you, that you have brought a great sin on them?” ²²Verse 22. Aaron said, “Don’t let the anger of my lord grow hot. You know the people, that they are set on evil. ²³Verse 23. For they said to me, ‘Make us gods, which shall go before us. As for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we don’t know what has become of him.’

²⁴Verse 24. I said to them, ‘Whoever has any gold, let them take it off:’ so they gave it to me; and I threw it into the fire, and out came this calf.”

Consequences of Idolatry Exodus 32:25–29

²⁵Verse 25. When Moses saw that the people had broken loose, (for Aaron had let them loose for a derision among their enemies), ²⁶Verse 26. then Moses stood in the gate of the camp, and said, “Whoever is on Yahweh’s side, come to me!” All the sons of Levi gathered themselves together to him. ²⁷Verse 27. He said to them, “Yahweh says, the God of Israel, ‘Every man put his sword on his thigh, and go back and forth from gate to gate throughout the camp, and every man kill his brother, and every man his companion, and every man his neighbor.’” ²⁸Verse 28. The sons of Levi did according to the word of Moses: and there fell of the people that day about three thousand men.

²⁹Verse 29. Moses said, “Consecrate yourselves today to Yahweh, yes, every man against his son, and against his brother; that he may give you a blessing today.”

Moses Appeals Again to God Exodus 32:30–35

³⁰Verse 30. On the next day, Moses said to the people, “You have sinned a great sin. Now I will go up to Yahweh. Perhaps I shall make atonement for your sin.” ³¹Verse 31. Moses returned to Yahweh, and said, “Oh, this people have sinned a great sin, and have made themselves gods of gold. ³²Verse 32. Yet now, if you will, forgive their sin—and if not, please blot me out of your book which you have written.” ³³Verse 33. Yahweh said to Moses, “Whoever has sinned against me, him will I blot out of my book. ³⁴Verse 34. Now go, lead the people to the place of which I have spoken to you. Behold, my angel shall go before you. Nevertheless in the day when I punish, I will punish them for their sin.”

³⁵Verse 35. Yahweh struck the people, because they made the calf, which Aaron made.