Exodus 32:1-14

The Golden Calf

1 When the people saw that Moses v delayed to come down from the mountain, the people gathered themselves together to Aaron and said to him, w "Up, make us gods who shall x 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." 2 So Aaron said to them, "Take off the y rings of gold that are in the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me." 3 So all the people took off the rings of gold that were in their ears and brought them to Aaron. 4 z And he received the gold from their hand and fashioned it with a graving tool and made a golden 1 calf. And they said, a "These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!" 5 When Aaron saw this, he built an altar before it. And Aaron b made proclamation and said, "Tomorrow shall be a feast to the Lord." 6 And they rose up early the next day and offered burnt offerings and brought peace offerings. And c the people sat down to eat and drink and rose up d to play.

7 And the Lord said to Moses, e "Go down, for your people, whom you brought up out of the land of Egypt, have f corrupted themselves. 8 They have turned aside quickly out of the way that g I commanded them. They have made for themselves a golden calf and have worshiped it and sacrificed to it and said, 'These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!'" 9 And the Lord said to Moses, "I have seen this people, and behold, h it is a stiff-necked people. 10 Now therefore i let me alone, that j my wrath may burn hot against them and k I may consume them, in order that l I may make a great nation of you."

11 But m Moses implored the Lord his God and said, "O Lord, why does your wrath burn hot against your people, whom you have brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand? 12 n Why should the Egyptians say, 'With evil intent did he bring them out, to kill them in the mountains and to consume them from the face of the earth'? Turn from your burning anger and o relent from this disaster against your people. 13 Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your servants, to whom you p swore by your own self, and said to them, q 'I will multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have promised I will give to your offspring, and they shall inherit it forever.'" 14 And the Lord r relented from the disaster that he had spoken of bringing on his people.

  1. Cross References
    Exodus 24:18
    Moses entered the cloud and went up on the mountain. And Moses was on the mountain forty days and forty nights.
    Deuteronomy 9:9
    When I went up the mountain to receive the tablets of stone, the tablets of the covenant that the Lord made with you, I remained on the mountain forty days and forty nights. I neither ate bread nor drank water.
  2. Cross References
    Exodus 32:23
    For 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.
    Acts 7:40
    Saying to Aaron, 'Make for us gods who will go before us. As for this Moses who led us out from the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.
  3. Cross References
    Exodus 13:21
    And the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead them along the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, that they might travel by day and by night.
  4. Cross References
    Exodus 12:35 - 36
    The people of Israel had also done as Moses told them, for they had asked the Egyptians for silver and gold jewelry and for clothing.
    Judges 8:24 - 27
    And Gideon said to them, "Let me make a request of you: every one of you give me the earrings from his spoil." (For they had golden earrings, because they were Ishmaelites.)
  5. Cross References
    Deuteronomy 9:16
    And I looked, and behold, you had sinned against the Lord your God. You had made yourselves a golden calf. You had turned aside quickly from the way that the Lord had commanded you.
    Nehemiah 9:18
    Even when they had made for themselves a golden calf and said, 'This is your God who brought you up out of Egypt,' and had committed great blasphemies.
    Psalms 106:19
    They made a calf in Horeb and worshiped a metal image.
    Acts 7:41
    And they made a calf in those days, and offered a sacrifice to the idol and were rejoicing in the works of their hands.
    Judges 17:3 - 4
    And he restored the 1,100 pieces of silver to his mother. And his mother said, "I dedicate the silver to the Lord from my hand for my son, to make a carved image and a metal image. Now therefore I will restore it to you.
  6. Cross References
    1 Kings 12:28
    So the king took counsel and made two calves of gold. And he said to the people, "You have gone up to Jerusalem long enough. Behold your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.
  7. Cross References
    2 Kings 10:20
    And Jehu ordered, "Sanctify a solemn assembly for Baal." So they proclaimed it.
  8. Cross References
    1 Corinthians 10:7
    Do not be idolaters as some of them were; as it is written, "The people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play.
  9. Cross References
    Genesis 26:8
    When he had been there a long time, Abimelech king of the Philistines looked out of a window and saw Isaac laughing with Rebekah his wife.
    Judges 21:21
    And watch. If the daughters of Shiloh come out to dance in the dances, then come out of the vineyards and snatch each man his wife from the daughters of Shiloh, and go to the land of Benjamin.
  10. Cross References
    Deuteronomy 9:12
    Then the Lord said to me, 'Arise, go down quickly from here, for your people whom you have brought from Egypt have acted corruptly. They have turned aside quickly out of the way that I commanded them; they have made themselves a metal image.
  11. Cross References
    Judges 2:19
    But whenever the judge died, they turned back and were more corrupt than their fathers, going after other gods, serving them and bowing down to them. They did not drop any of their practices or their stubborn ways.
    Hosea 9:9
    They have deeply corrupted themselves as in the days of Gibeah: he will remember their iniquity; he will punish their sins.
  12. Cross References
    Exodus 20:3 - 4
    You shall have no other gods before me.
    Exodus 20:23
    You shall not make gods of silver to be with me, nor shall you make for yourselves gods of gold.
    Deuteronomy 9:16
    And I looked, and behold, you had sinned against the Lord your God. You had made yourselves a golden calf. You had turned aside quickly from the way that the Lord had commanded you.
  13. Cross References
    Exodus 33:3
    Go up to a land flowing with milk and honey; bu...
    Exodus 33:5
    For the Lord had said to Moses, "Say to the peo...
    Exodus 34:9
    And he said, "If now I have found favor in your...
    Deuteronomy 9:6
    Know, therefore, that the Lord your God is not ...
    Deuteronomy 9:13
    Furthermore, the Lord said to me, 'I have seen ...
    Deuteronomy 31:27
    For I know how rebellious and stubborn you are....
    2 Chronicles 30:8
    Do not now be stiff-necked as your fathers were...
    Acts 7:51
    You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart...
    Isaiah 48:4
    Because I know that you are obstinate, and your...
  14. Cross References
    Deuteronomy 9:14
    Let me alone, that I may destroy them and blot out their name from under heaven. And I will make of you a nation mightier and greater than they.
  15. Cross References
    Exodus 22:24
    And my wrath will burn, and I will kill you with the sword, and your wives shall become widows and your children fatherless.
  16. Cross References
    Exodus 33:3
    Go up to a land flowing with milk and honey; but I will not go up among you, lest I consume you on the way, for you are a stiff-necked people.
  17. Cross References
    Numbers 14:12
    I will strike them with the pestilence and disinherit them, and I will make of you a nation greater and mightier than they.
  18. Cross References
    Deuteronomy 9:18
    Then I lay prostrate before the Lord as before, forty days and forty nights. I neither ate bread nor drank water, because of all the sin that you had committed, in doing what was evil in the sight of the Lord to provoke him to anger.
    Deuteronomy 9:26 - 29
    And I prayed to the Lord, 'O Lord God, do not destroy your people and your heritage, whom you have redeemed through your greatness, whom you have brought out of Egypt with a mighty hand.
    Psalms 106:23
    Therefore he said he would destroy them - had not Moses, his chosen one, stood in the breach before him, to turn away his wrath from destroying them.
    Psalms 74:1 - 2
    O God, why do you cast us off forever? Why does your anger smoke against the sheep of your pasture?
  19. Cross References
    Deuteronomy 32:27
    Had I not feared provocation by the enemy, lest their adversaries should misunderstand, lest they should say, "Our hand is triumphant, it was not the Lord who did all this."
    Numbers 14:13 - 16
    But Moses said to the Lord, "Then the Egyptians will hear of it, for you brought up this people in your might from among them.
  20. Cross References
    Exodus 32:14
    And the Lord relented from the disaster that he had spoken of bringing on his people.
  21. Cross References
    Genesis 22:16
    And said, "By myself I have sworn, declares the Lord, because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son.
    Hebrews 6:13
    For when God made a promise to Abraham, since he had no one greater by whom to swear, he swore by himself.
  22. Cross References
    Genesis 12:7
    Then the Lord appeared to Abram and said, "To y...
    Genesis 13:15
    For all the land that you see I will give to yo...
    Genesis 15:7
    And he said to him, "I am the Lord who brought ...
    Genesis 15:18
    On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram...
    Genesis 26:4
    I will multiply your offspring as the stars of ...
    Genesis 28:13
    And behold, the Lord stood above it and said, "...
    Genesis 35:11 - 12
    And God said to him, "I am God Almighty: be fru...
    Genesis 48:16
    The angel who has redeemed me from all evil, bl...
  23. Cross References
    Psalms 106:45
    For their sake he remembered his covenant, and ...
    1 Chronicles 21:15
    And God sent the angel to Jerusalem to destroy ...
    Jeremiah 18:8
    And if that nation, concerning which I have spo...
    Jeremiah 26:13
    Now therefore mend your ways and your deeds, an...
    Jeremiah 26:15
    Only know for certain that if you put me to dea...
    Jeremiah 26:19
    Did Hezekiah king of Judah and all Judah put hi...
    Amos 7:3
    The Lord relented concerning this: "It shall no...
    Amos 7:6
    The Lord relented concerning this: "This also s...
    Jonah 3:10
    When God saw what they did, how they turned fro...
    Jonah 4:2
    And he prayed to the Lord and said, "O Lord, is...
English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers.