Chapter 32

The young cow that Aaron made out of gold

v1 Moses was on the mountain for a very long time. So the *Israelites went to Aaron. They said: Get up! Make some gods for us who will lead us. This man, Moses, brought us up out of Egypt. But we do not know where he is now. We do not know what has happened to him. v2 Then Aaron answered them: Take the gold rings from the ears of your wives, your sons and your daughters. Then bring the rings to me. v3 So all the *Israelites removed the rings from their ears and they brought them to Aaron. v4 Aaron took the rings and he made a false god from the gold. He used a tool to make the false god in the shape of a young cow. Then the *Israelites said: This is your god, *Israel. He brought you up out of Egypt! v5 When Aaron saw this, he built an *altar in front of the young cow. He shouted: Tomorrow, there will be a party to the *Lord. v6 So, on the next day, the *Israelites got up early. They offered gifts of dead animals on the *altar and they brought other gifts also. After this they sat down and they ate a meal. They drank and then they played bad games together. v7 Then the *Lord said to Moses: Go down the mountain. The *Israelites that you brought out of Egypt have become bad people. v8 They have turned away from my *commandments already. They have made for themselves a false god in the shape of a young cow. They have bent their heads to it. They have brought gifts of dead animals to it. They have said: These are your gods, *Israel, who have brought you out of Egypt. v9 Then the *Lord said to Moses: I have seen these people. They are *proud and they do not obey me. v10 Now leave me, so that I can be very angry with them. I will kill them and I will make you into a great *nation. v11 But Moses asked the *Lord his God to listen to him. Moses said: *Lord, please do not be so angry with your own family! You brought them out of Egypt with strong and powerful authority. v12 The *Egyptians will say: God led the *Israelites out of Egypt so that he could kill them. He wanted to kill them in the mountains. He wanted to destroy them completely. Please stop being angry. Please be sorry for your own people and do not kill them. v13 Remember your servants, Abraham, Isaac and *Israel. Remember the promise that you made to them. You said: I will give you as many children and grandchildren as there are stars in the sky. I have promised to give this whole country to them. And it will be their country for all time. v14 Then the *Lord was sorry for the people that he had chosen. He did not kill them as he had decided to. v15 Moses turned and he went down the mountain. He carried the two flat stones of the *Testimony in his hands. God had written on both sides of the stones. v16 This was Gods own work. He himself had written the words on the stones. v17 The *Israelites were shouting and Joshua heard the noise. He said to Moses: I can hear the sound of war in the *camp! v18 But Moses answered: It is not the sound of soldiers who are beating their enemies. It is not the sound of soldiers who run away from their enemies. It is the sound of singers that I can hear. v19 Then Moses came near to the *camp. He saw the young cow and the *Israelites who were dancing. He became very angry. He threw the two stones on to the ground. He broke them into pieces where he stood. v20 Then he took the young cow that they had made. He burned it in the fire. He made it into powder and he poured it into the water. Then he *commanded the *Israelites to drink that water.

v21 Moses said to Aaron: You should not have caused these people to do such a bad *sin. What did they do to you? v22 Aaron answered: Do not be angry, my *lord. You know how quickly these people do bad things. v23 They said to me: Make us some gods that will lead us. This man called Moses brought us out of Egypt. But now we do not know what has happened to him. v24 So I said to them: If anyone has any gold rings, he must remove them. Then they gave the gold to me. I threw it into the fire and this young cow came out of the fire! v25 All the *Israelites were running about. And Moses saw that they were doing bad things in the *camp. Aaron had let them do bad things. They would have felt ashamed if their enemies had seen them. v26 So Moses stood at the edge of the *camp. He said: Everyone who loves the *Lord must come to me. Then all the *Levites went to Moses. v27 Then Moses said to the *Levites: This is the message from the *Lord, the God of *Israel. Every man must take his *sword in his hand. You must go from one end of the *camp to the other. And each man must kill his brother and his friend and his *neighbour. v28 The *Levites obeyed the *command of Moses and about three thousand *Israelites died on that day. v29 Then Moses said to the *Levites: The *Lord has made you his special people today. He has *blessed you today because you have *punished your own sons and brothers. v30 On the next day, Moses said to the *Israelites: You have done a very bad thing. But now I will go up to the *Lord. Perhaps I can pay the price for your *sin. v31 So Moses returned to the *Lord. He said to the *Lord: These people have done a very bad thing. They have made gods out of gold for themselves! v32 But now, please *forgive them! And if you cannot *forgive them, then take my name out of your book. v33 The *Lord answered Moses: I will take out of my book the name of everyone who has *sinned against me. v34 Now go! Lead the *Israelites to the place that I have spoken about. My *angel will go in front of you. But on the right day I will *punish them for their *sin. v35 And the *Lord *punished the *Israelites with a bad illness because of what they had done. They had done bad things with the young cow that Aaron had made.