The Golden Calf

Exodus 32

1 Now when the people saw that Moses a delayed coming down from the mountain, the people b gathered together to Aaron, and said to him, c "Come, make us 1 gods that shall d go before us; for as for this Moses, the man who e brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him." 2 And Aaron said to them, "Break off the f golden earrings which are in the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me." 3 So all the people broke off the golden earrings which were in their ears, and brought them to Aaron. 4 g And he received the gold from their hand, and he fashioned it with an engraving tool, and made a molded calf. Then they said, "This is your god, O Israel, that h brought you out of the land of Egypt!" 5 So when Aaron saw it, he built an altar before it. And Aaron made a i proclamation and said, "Tomorrow is a feast to the LORD." 6 Then they rose early on the next day, offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings; and the people j sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play.

7 And the LORD said to Moses, k "Go, get down! For your people whom you brought out of the land of Egypt l have corrupted themselves. 8 "They have turned aside quickly out of the way which m I commanded them. They have made themselves a molded calf, and worshiped it and sacrificed to it, and said, n 'This is your god, O Israel, that brought you out of the land of Egypt!' " 9 And the LORD said to Moses, o "I have seen this people, and indeed it is a 2 stiff-necked people! 10 "Now therefore, p let Me alone, that q My wrath may burn hot against them and I may 3 consume them. And r I will make of you a great nation."

11 s Then Moses pleaded with 4 the LORD his God, and said: "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 t "Why should the Egyptians speak, and say, 'He brought them out to harm them, to kill them in the mountains, and to consume them from the face of the earth'? Turn from Your fierce wrath, and u relent from this harm to Your people. 13 "Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, Your servants, to whom You v swore by Your own self, and said to them, w 'I will multiply your descendants as the stars of heaven; and all this land that I have spoken of I give to your descendants, and they shall inherit it forever.' " 5 14 So the LORD x relented from the harm which He said He would do to His people.

15 And y Moses turned and went down from the mountain, and the two tablets of the Testimony were in his hand. The tablets were written on both sides; on the one side and on the other they were written. 16 Now the z tablets were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God engraved on the tablets. 17 And when Joshua heard the noise of the people as they shouted, he said to Moses, "There is a noise of war in the camp." 18 But he said:
"It is not the noise of the shout of victory,
Nor the noise of the cry of defeat,
But the sound of singing I hear." 19 So it was, as soon as he came near the camp, that a 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. 20 b Then 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.

21 And Moses said to Aaron, c "What did this people do to you that you have brought so great a sin upon them?" 22 So Aaron said, "Do not let the anger of my lord become hot. d You know the people, that they are set on evil. 23 "For 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.' 24 "And 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."

25 Now when Moses saw that the people were e unrestrained (for Aaron f had not restrained them, to their shame among their enemies), 26 then 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. 27 And 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 g let every man kill his brother, every man his companion, and every man his neighbor.' " 28 So the sons of Levi did according to the word of Moses. And about three thousand men of the people fell that day. 29 h Then Moses said, 6 "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."

30 Now it came to pass on the next day that Moses said to the people, i "You have committed a great sin. So now I will go up to the LORD; j perhaps I can k make atonement for your sin." 31 Then Moses l returned to the LORD and said, "Oh, these people have committed a great sin, and have m made for themselves a god of gold! 32 "Yet now, if You will forgive their sin - but if not, I pray, n blot me o out of Your book which You have written." 33 And the LORD said to Moses, p "Whoever has sinned against Me, I will q blot him out of My book. 34 "Now therefore, go, lead the people to the place of which I have r spoken to you. s Behold, My Angel shall go before you. Nevertheless, t in the day when I u visit for punishment, I will visit punishment upon them for their sin."

35 So the LORD plagued the people because of v what they did with the calf which Aaron made.

  1. Cross References
    Exodus 24:18
    So Moses went into the midst of the cloud and went up into the mountain. And Moses was on the mountain forty days and forty nights.
    Deuteronomy 9:9 - 12
    When I went up into the mountain to receive the tablets of stone, the tablets of the covenant which the LORD made with you, then I stayed on the mountain forty days and forty nights. I neither ate bread nor drank water.
  2. Cross References
    Exodus 17:1 - 3
    Then all the congregation of the children of Israel set out on their journey from the Wilderness of Sin, according to the commandment of the LORD, and camped in Rephidim; but there was no water for the people to drink.
  3. Cross References
    Acts 7:40
    "saying to Aaron, 'Make us gods to go before us; as for this Moses who brought us out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.'
  4. Cross References
    Exodus 13:21
    And the LORD went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so as to go by day and night.
  5. Cross References
    Exodus 32:8
    "They have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them. They have made themselves a molded calf, and worshiped it and sacrificed to it, and said, 'This is your god, O Israel, that brought you out of the land of Egypt!'"
  6. Cross References
    Exodus 11:2
    "Speak now in the hearing of the people, and let every man ask from his neighbor and every woman from her neighbor, articles of silver and articles of gold."
    Exodus 35:22
    They came, both men and women, as many as had a willing heart, and brought earrings and nose rings, rings and necklaces, all jewelry of gold, that is, every man who made an offering of gold to the LORD.
    Judges 8:24 - 27
    Then Gideon said to them, "I would like to make a request of you, that each of you would give me the earrings from his plunder." For they had golden earrings, because they were Ishmaelites.
  7. Cross References
    Exodus 20:3
    You shall have no other gods before Me.
    Exodus 20:4
    You shall not make for yourself a carved image ...
    Exodus 20:23
    You shall not make anything to be with Me - god...
    Deuteronomy 9:16
    And I looked, and behold, you had sinned agains...
    Judges 17:3
    So when he had returned the eleven hundred shek...
    Judges 17:4
    Thus he returned the silver to his mother. Then...
    1 Kings 12:28
    Therefore the king asked advice, made two calve...
    Nehemiah 9:18
    Even when they made a molded calf for themselve...
    Psalms 106:19
    They made a calf in Horeb, And worshiped the mo...
    Acts 7:41
    And they made a calf in those days, offered sac...
  8. Cross References
    Exodus 29:45
    I will dwell among the children of Israel and will be their God.
    Exodus 29:46
    And they shall know that I am the LORD their God, who brought them up out of the land of Egypt, that I may dwell among them. I am the LORD their God.
  9. Cross References
    Leviticus 23:2
    Speak to the children of Israel, and say to the...
    Leviticus 23:4
    These are the feasts of the LORD, holy convocat...
    Leviticus 23:21
    And you shall proclaim on the same day that it ...
    Leviticus 23:37
    These are the feasts of the LORD which you shal...
    2 Kings 10:20
    And Jehu said, "Proclaim a solemn assembly for ...
    2 Chronicles 30:5
    So they resolved to make a proclamation through...
  10. Cross References
    Exodus 32:17 - 19
    And when Joshua heard the noise of the people as they shouted, he said to Moses, " There is a noise of war in the camp.
    Numbers 25:2
    They invited the people to the sacrifices of their gods, and the people ate and bowed down to their gods.
    1 Corinthians 10:7
    And do not become idolaters as were some of them. As it is written, "The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play.
  11. Cross References
    Deuteronomy 9:8 - 21
    Also in Horeb you provoked the LORD to wrath, so that the LORD was angry enough with you to have destroyed you.
    Daniel 9:14
    Therefore the LORD has kept the disaster in mind, and brought it upon us; for the LORD our God is righteous in all the works which He does, though we have not obeyed His voice.
  12. Cross References
    Genesis 6:11
    The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence.
    Genesis 6:12
    So God looked upon the earth, and indeed it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth.
  13. Cross References
    Exodus 20:3
    You shall have no other gods before Me.
    Exodus 20:4
    You shall not make for yourself a carved image - any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.
    Exodus 20:23
    You shall not make anything to be with Me - gods of silver or gods of gold you shall not make for yourselves.
    Deuteronomy 32:17
    They sacrificed to demons, not to God, To gods they did not know, To new gods, new arrivals That your fathers did not fear.
  14. Cross References
    1 Kings 12:28
    Therefore the king asked advice, made two calves of gold, and said to the people, "It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem. Here are your gods, O Israel, which brought you up from the land of Egypt!
  15. Cross References
    Exodus 33:3
    " Go up to a land flowing with milk and honey; ...
    Exodus 33:5
    For the LORD had said to Moses, "Say to the chi...
    Exodus 34:9
    Then he said, "If now I have found grace in You...
    Deuteronomy 9:6
    Therefore understand that the LORD your God is ...
    2 Chronicles 30:8
    Now do not be stiff-necked, as your fathers wer...
    Isaiah 48:4
    Because I knew that you were obstinate, And you...
    Acts 7:51
    You stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and...
  16. 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.'
    Deuteronomy 9:19
    For I was afraid of the anger and hot displeasure with which the LORD was angry with you, to destroy you. But the LORD listened to me at that time also.
  17. Cross References
    Exodus 22:24
    And My wrath will become hot, and I will kill you with the sword; your wives shall be widows, and your children fatherless.
  18. 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."
  19. Cross References
    Deuteronomy 9:18
    And I fell down before the LORD, as at the first, forty days and forty nights; I neither ate bread nor drank water, because of all your sin which you committed in doing wickedly in the sight of the LORD, to provoke Him to anger.
    Deuteronomy 9:26 - 29
    Therefore I prayed to the LORD, and said: 'O Lord GOD, do not destroy Your people and Your inheritance whom You have redeemed through Your greatness, whom You have brought out of Egypt with a mighty hand.
  20. Cross References
    Numbers 14:13 - 19
    And Moses said to the LORD: "Then the Egyptians will hear it, for by Your might You brought these people up from among them.
    Deuteronomy 9:28
    'lest the land from which You brought us should say, "Because the LORD was not able to bring them to the land which He promised them, and because He hated them, He has brought them out to kill them in the wilderness."
    Joshua 7:9
    "For the Canaanites and all the inhabitants of the land will hear it, and surround us, and cut off our name from the earth. Then what will You do for Your great name?"
  21. Cross References
    Exodus 32:14
    So the LORD relented from the harm which He said He would do to His people.
  22. Cross References
    Genesis 22:16 - 18
    And said: "By Myself I have sworn, says the LORD, because you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only son -
    Hebrews 6:13
    For when God made a promise to Abraham, because He could swear by no one greater, He swore by Himself.
  23. Cross References
    Genesis 12:7
    Then the LORD appeared to Abram and said, "To y...
    Genesis 13:15
    For all the land which you see I give to you an...
    Genesis 15:7
    Then He said to him, "I am the LORD, who brough...
    Genesis 15:18
    On the same day the LORD made a covenant with A...
    Genesis 22:17
    Blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I wi...
    Genesis 26:4
    And I will make your descendants multiply as th...
    Genesis 35:11
    Also God said to him: "I am God Almighty. Be fr...
    Genesis 35:12
    "The land which I gave Abraham and Isaac I give...
    Exodus 13:5
    And it shall be, when the LORD brings you into ...
    Exodus 13:11
    And it shall be, when the LORD brings you into ...
    Exodus 33:1
    Then the LORD said to Moses, "Depart and go up ...
  24. Cross References
    2 Samuel 24:16
    And when the angel stretched out His hand over Jerusalem to destroy it, the LORD relented from the destruction, and said to the angel who was destroying the people, "It is enough; now restrain your hand." And the angel of the LORD was by the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.
  25. Cross References
    Deuteronomy 9:15
    So I turned and came down from the mountain, and the mountain burned with fire; and the two tablets of the covenant were in my two hands.
  26. Cross References
    Exodus 31:18
    And when He had made an end of speaking with him on Mount Sinai, He gave Moses two tablets of the Testimony, tablets of stone, written with the finger of God.
  27. Cross References
    Deuteronomy 9:16
    And I looked, and behold, you had sinned against the LORD your God - had made for yourselves a molded calf! You had turned aside quickly from the way which the LORD had commanded you.
    Deuteronomy 9:17
    Then I took the two tablets and threw them out of my two hands and broke them before your eyes.
  28. Cross References
    Numbers 5:17
    The priest shall take holy water in an earthen vessel, and take some of the dust that is on the floor of the tabernacle and put it into the water.
    Numbers 5:24
    And he shall make the woman drink the bitter water that brings a curse, and the water that brings the curse shall enter her to become bitter.
    Deuteronomy 9:21
    Then I took your sin, the calf which you had made, and burned it with fire and crushed it and ground it very small, until it was as fine as dust; and I threw its dust into the brook that descended from the mountain.
  29. Cross References
    Genesis 26:10
    And Abimelech said, "What is this you have done to us? One of the people might soon have lain with your wife, and you would have brought guilt on us.
  30. Cross References
    Exodus 14:11
    Then they said to Moses, "Because there were no graves in Egypt, have you taken us away to die in the wilderness? Why have you so dealt with us, to bring us up out of Egypt?
    Deuteronomy 9:24
    You have been rebellious against the LORD from the day that I knew you.
  31. Cross References
    Exodus 33:4
    And when the people heard this bad news, they mourned, and no one put on his ornaments.
    Exodus 33:5
    For the LORD had said to Moses, "Say to the children of Israel, 'You are a stiff-necked people. I could come up into your midst in one moment and consume you. Now therefore, take off your ornaments, that I may know what to do to you.
  32. Cross References
    2 Chronicles 28:19
    For the LORD brought Judah low because of Ahaz king of Israel, for he had encouraged moral decline in Judah and had been continually unfaithful to the LORD.
  33. Cross References
    Numbers 25:5 - 13
    So Moses said to the judges of Israel, "Every one of you kill his men who were joined to Baal of Peor.
  34. Cross References
    Exodus 28:41
    So you shall put them on Aaron your brother and on his sons with him. You shall anoint them, consecrate them, and sanctify them, that they may minister to Me as priests.
    1 Samuel 15:18
    "Now the LORD sent you on a mission, and said, 'Go, and utterly destroy the sinners, the Amalekites, and fight against them until they are consumed.'
    1 Samuel 15:22
    So Samuel said: "Has the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, As in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, And to heed than the fat of rams.
    Proverbs 21:3
    To do righteousness and justice Is more acceptable to the LORD than sacrifice.
    Zechariah 13:3
    It shall come to pass that if anyone still prophesies, then his father and mother who begot him will say to him, 'You shall not live, because you have spoken lies in the name of the LORD.' And his father and mother who begot him shall thrust him through when he prophesies.
  35. Cross References
    1 Samuel 12:20
    Then Samuel said to the people, "Do not fear. You have done all this wickedness; yet do not turn aside from following the LORD, but serve the LORD with all your heart.
    1 Samuel 12:23
    Moreover, as for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the LORD in ceasing to pray for you; but I will teach you the good and the right way.
  36. Cross References
    2 Samuel 16:12
    "It may be that the LORD will look on my affliction, and that the LORD will repay me with good for his cursing this day."
  37. Cross References
    Numbers 25:13
    'and it shall be to him and his descendants after him a covenant of an everlasting priesthood, because he was zealous for his God, and made atonement for the children of Israel.'"
  38. Cross References
    Deuteronomy 9:18
    And I fell down before the LORD, as at the first, forty days and forty nights; I neither ate bread nor drank water, because of all your sin which you committed in doing wickedly in the sight of the LORD, to provoke Him to anger.
  39. Cross References
    Exodus 20:23
    You shall not make anything to be with Me - gods of silver or gods of gold you shall not make for yourselves.
  40. Cross References
    Psalms 69:28
    Let them be blotted out of the book of the living, And not be written with the righteous.
    Isaiah 4:3
    And it shall come to pass that he who is left in Zion and remains in Jerusalem will be called holy - everyone who is recorded among the living in Jerusalem.
    Malachi 3:16
    Then those who feared the LORD spoke to one another, And the LORD listened and heard them; So a book of remembrance was written before Him For those who fear the LORD And who meditate on His name.
    Romans 9:3
    For I could wish that I myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my countrymen according to the flesh.
  41. Cross References
    Daniel 12:1
    At that time Michael shall stand up, The great prince who stands watch over the sons of your people; And there shall be a time of trouble, Such as never was since there was a nation, Even to that time. And at that time your people shall be delivered, Every one who is found written in the book.
    Philippians 4:3
    And I urge you also, true companion, help these women who labored with me in the gospel, with Clement also, and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the Book of Life.
    Revelation 3:5
    He who overcomes shall be clothed in white garments, and I will not blot out his name from the Book of Life; but I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels.
    Revelation 21:27
    But there shall by no means enter it anything that defiles, or causes an abomination or a lie, but only those who are written in the Lamb's Book of Life.
  42. Cross References
    Leviticus 23:30
    And any person who does any work on that same day, that person I will destroy from among his people.
    Ezekiel 18:4
    Behold, all souls are Mine; The soul of the father As well as the soul of the son is Mine; The soul who sins shall die.
    Ezekiel 33:2
    Son of man, speak to the children of your people, and say to them: 'When I bring the sword upon a land, and the people of the land take a man from their territory and make him their watchman.
    Ezekiel 33:14
    Again, when I say to the wicked, 'You shall surely die,' if he turns from his sin and does what is lawful and right.
    Ezekiel 33:15
    If the wicked restores the pledge, gives back what he has stolen, and walks in the statutes of life without committing iniquity, he shall surely live; he shall not die.
  43. Cross References
    Exodus 17:14
    Then the LORD said to Moses, "Write this for a memorial in the book and recount it in the hearing of Joshua, that I will utterly blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven.
    Deuteronomy 29:20
    The LORD would not spare him; for then the anger of the LORD and His jealousy would burn against that man, and every curse that is written in this book would settle on him, and the LORD would blot out his name from under heaven.
    Psalms 9:5
    You have rebuked the nations, You have destroyed the wicked; You have blotted out their name forever and ever.
    Revelation 3:5
    He who overcomes shall be clothed in white garments, and I will not blot out his name from the Book of Life; but I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels.
    Revelation 21:27
    But there shall by no means enter it anything that defiles, or causes an abomination or a lie, but only those who are written in the Lamb's Book of Life.
  44. Cross References
    Exodus 3:17
    "and I have said I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt to the land of the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Amorites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites, to a land flowing with milk and honey."'
  45. Cross References
    Exodus 23:20
    Behold, I send an Angel before you to keep you in the way and to bring you into the place which I have prepared.
    Joshua 5:14
    So He said, "No, but as Commander of the army of the LORD I have now come." And Joshua fell on his face to the earth and worshiped, and said to Him, "What does my Lord say to His servant?
  46. Cross References
    Deuteronomy 32:35
    Vengeance is Mine, and recompense; Their foot shall slip in due time; For the day of their calamity is at hand, And the things to come hasten upon them.
    Romans 2:5
    But in accordance with your hardness and your impenitent heart you are treasuring up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God.
    Romans 2:6
    Who "will render to each one according to his deeds":
  47. Cross References
    Psalms 89:32
    Then I will punish their transgression with the rod, And their iniquity with stripes.
  48. Cross References
    Nehemiah 9:18
    Even when they made a molded calf for themselves, And said, 'This is your god That brought you up out of Egypt,' And worked great provocations.
New King James Version (NKJV) Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.
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