Exodus 32:19-31
New American Standard Bible
Chapter 32
19And it came about, as soon as Moses approached the camp, that he saw the calf and the people dancing; and Moses’ anger burned, and he threw the tablets from his hands and shattered them to pieces at the foot of the mountain. 20Then he took the calf which they had made and completely burned it with fire, and ground it to powder, and scattered it over the surface of the water and made the sons of Israel drink it.
21Then Moses said to Aaron, 'What did this people do to you, that you have brought such a great sin upon them?'
22And Aaron said, 'Do not let the anger of my lord burn; you know the people yourself, that they are prone to evil.
23For they said to me, ‘Make a god for us who will go before us; for this Moses, the man who brought us up from the land of Egypt—we do not know what happened to him.’
24So I said to them, ‘Whoever has any gold, let them tear it off.’ Then they gave it to me, and I threw it into the fire, and out came this calf.'
25Now when Moses saw that the people were out of control—for Aaron had let them get out of control to the point of being an object of ridicule among their enemies—
26Moses then stood at the gate of the camp, and said, 'Whoever is for the Lord, come to me!' And all the sons of Levi gathered together to him.
27And he said to them, 'This is what the Lord, the God of Israel says: ‘Every man of you put his sword on his thigh, and go back and forth from gate to gate in the camp, and kill every man his brother, and every man his friend, and every man his neighbor.’?'
28So the sons of Levi did as Moses instructed, and about three thousand men of the people fell that day.
29Then Moses said, 'Dedicate yourselves today to the Lord—for every man has been against his son and against his brother—in order that He may bestow a blessing upon you today.'
30And on the next day Moses said to the people, 'You yourselves have committed a great sin; and now I am going up to the Lord; perhaps I can make atonement for your sin.'
31Then Moses returned to the Lord and said, 'Oh, this people has committed a great sin, and they have made a god of gold for themselves!
King James Version
Chapter 32
19And 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. 20And 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.
21And Moses said unto Aaron, What did this people unto thee, that thou hast brought so great a sin upon them?
22And Aaron said, Let not the anger of my lord wax hot: thou knowest the people, that they are set on mischief.
23For 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.
24And 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.
25And when Moses saw that the people were naked; (for Aaron had made them naked unto their shame among their enemies:)
26Then 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.
27And 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.
Christian Standard Bible
Chapter 32
19As he approached the camp and saw the calf and the dancing, Moses became enraged and threw the tablets out of his hands, smashing them at the base of the mountain. 20He took the calf they had made, burned it up, and ground it to powder. He scattered the powder over the surface of the water and forced the Israelites to drink the water.
22"Don’t be enraged, my lord," Aaron replied. "You yourself know that the people are intent on evil.
23They said to me, ‘Make gods for us who will go before us because this Moses, the man who brought us up from the land of Egypt—we don’t know what has happened to him!’
24So I said to them, ‘Whoever has gold, take it off,’ and they gave it to me. When I threw it into the fire, out came this calf!"
25Moses saw that the people were out of control, for Aaron had let them get out of control, making them a laughingstock to their enemies.
26And Moses stood at the camp’s entrance and said, "Whoever is for the Lord, come to me." And all the Levites gathered around him.
27He told them, "This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says, ‘Every man fasten his sword to his side; go back and forth through the camp from entrance to entrance, and each of you kill his brother, his friend, and his neighbor.’"
28The Levites did as Moses commanded, and about three thousand men fell dead that day among the people.
29Afterward Moses said, "Today you have been dedicated to the Lord, since each man went against his son and his brother. Therefore you have brought a blessing on yourselves today."
New Living Translation
Chapter 32
19When they came near the camp, Moses saw the calf and the dancing, and he burned with anger. He threw the stone tablets to the ground, smashing them at the foot of the mountain. 20He took the calf they had made and burned it. Then he ground it into powder, threw it into the water, and forced the people to drink it.
22Don’t get so upset, my lord,' Aaron replied. 'You yourself know how evil these people are.
23They said to me, ‘Make us gods who will lead us. We don’t know what happened to this fellow Moses, who brought us here from the land of Egypt.’
24So I told them, ‘Whoever has gold jewelry, take it off.’ When they brought it to me, I simply threw it into the fire — and out came this calf!'
25Moses saw that Aaron had let the people get completely out of control, much to the amusement of their enemies.
26So he stood at the entrance to the camp and shouted, 'All of you who are on the Lord’s side, come here and join me.' And all the Levites gathered around him.
English Standard Version
Chapter 32
19And as soon as he came near the camp and saw the calf and the dancing, Moses ' anger burned hot, and he threw the tablets out of his hands and broke them at the foot of the mountain. 20He took the calf that they had made and burned it with fire and ground it to powder and scattered it on the water and made the people of Israel drink it.
21And Moses said to Aaron, "What did this people do to you that you have brought such a great sin upon them?"
22And Aaron said, "Let not the anger of my lord burn hot. You know the people, that they are set on evil.
23For they said to me, ‘Make us gods who shall go before us. As for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.’
24So I said to them, ‘Let any who have gold take it off.’ So they gave it to me, and I threw it into the fire, and out came this calf."
25And when Moses saw that the people had broken loose (for Aaron had let them break loose, to the derision of their enemies),
26then Moses stood in the gate of the camp and said, "Who is on the Lord 's side? Come to me." And all the sons of Levi gathered around him.
27And he said to them, "Thus says the Lord God of Israel, ‘Put your sword on your side each of you, and go to and fro from gate to gate throughout the camp, and each of you kill his brother and his companion and his neighbor.’"
28And the sons of Levi did according to the word of Moses. And that day about three thousand men of the people fell.
29And Moses said, "Today you have been ordained for the service of the Lord, each one at the cost of his son and of his brother, so that he might bestow a blessing upon you this day."
New International Version
Chapter 32
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.
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."
New King James Version
Chapter 32
19So it was, as soon as he came near the camp, that he saw the calf and the dancing. So Moses’ anger became hot, and he cast the tablets out of his hands and broke them at the foot of the mountain. 20Then he took the calf which they had made, burned it in the fire, and ground it to powder; and he scattered it on the water and made the children of Israel drink it. 21And Moses said to Aaron, “What did this people do to you that you have brought so great a sin upon them?”
22So Aaron said, “Do not let the anger of my lord become hot. You know the people, that they are set on evil.
23For they said to me, ‘Make us gods that shall go before us; as for this Moses, the man who brought us out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.’
24And I said to them, ‘Whoever has any gold, let them break it off.’ So they gave it to me, and I cast it into the fire, and this calf came out.”
25Now when Moses saw that the people were unrestrained (for Aaron had not restrained them, to their shame among their enemies),
26then Moses stood in the entrance of the camp, and said, “Whoever is on the Lord’s side— come to me!” And all the sons of Levi gathered themselves together to him.
27And he said to them, “Thus says the Lord God of Israel: ‘Let every man put his sword on his side, and go in and out from entrance to entrance throughout the camp, and let every man kill his brother, every man his companion, and every man his neighbor.’ ”
28So the sons of Levi did according to the word of Moses. And about three thousand men of the people fell that day.
29Then Moses said, “Consecrate yourselves today to the Lord, that He may bestow on you a blessing this day, for every man has opposed his son and his brother.”
30Now it came to pass on the next day that Moses said to the people, “You have committed a great sin. So now I will go up to the Lord; perhaps I can make atonement for your sin.”
31Then Moses returned to the Lord and said, “Oh, these people have committed a great sin, and have made for themselves a god of gold!
