The Golden Calf

32 When the people saw that Moses was so long in coming down from the mountain,^(A) they gathered around Aaron and said, “Come, make us gods^[a] who will go before^(B) us. As for this fellow Moses who brought us up out of Egypt, we don’t know what has happened to him.”^(C)

² Aaron answered them, “Take off the gold earrings^(D) that your wives, your sons and your daughters are wearing, and bring them to me.” ³ So all the people took off their earrings and brought them to Aaron. ⁴ He took what they handed him and made it into an idol^(E) cast in the shape of a calf,^(F) fashioning it with a tool. Then they said, “These are your gods,^[b](G) Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.”^(H)

⁵ When Aaron saw this, he built an altar in front of the calf and announced, “Tomorrow there will be a festival^(I) to the Lord.”

¹⁹ When Moses approached the camp and saw the calf^(A) and the dancing,^(B) his anger burned^(C) and he threw the tablets out of his hands, breaking them to pieces^(D) at the foot of the mountain. ²⁰ And he took the calf the people had made and burned^(E) it in the fire; then he ground it to powder,^(F) scattered it on the water^(G) and made the Israelites drink it.

²¹ He said to Aaron, “What did these people do to you, that you led them into such great sin?”

²² “Do not be angry,^(H) my lord,” Aaron answered. “You know how prone these people are to evil.^{(I) 23} They 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.’^{(J) 24} So 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!”^(K)

²⁵ Moses saw that the people were running wild and that Aaron had let them get out of control and so become a laughingstock^(L) to their enemies. ²⁶ So 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.