The Golden Calf
Exodus 32:15–24 · World English Bible
Exodus 32:15Moses turned, and went down from the mountain, with the two tablets of the covenant in his hand; tablets that were written on both their sides. They were written on one side and on the other.
Exodus 32:16The tablets were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, engraved on the tablets.
Exodus 32:17When Joshua heard the noise of the people as they shouted, he said to Moses,
There is the noise of war in the camp.
Exodus 32:18He said,
It isn’t the voice of those who shout for victory. It is not the voice of those who cry for being overcome; but the noise of those who sing that I hear.
Exodus 32:19As soon as he came near to the camp, he saw the calf and the dancing. Then Moses’ anger grew hot, and he threw the tablets out of his hands, and broke them beneath the mountain.
Exodus 32:20He took the calf which they had made, and burned it with fire, ground it to powder, and scattered it on the water, and made the children of Israel drink it.
Exodus 32:21Moses said to Aaron,
What did these people do to you, that you have brought a great sin on them?
Exodus 32:22Aaron said,
Don’t let the anger of my lord grow hot. You know the people, that they are set on evil.
Exodus 32:23For they said to me, ‘Make us gods, which shall go before us. As for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we don’t know what has become of him.’
Exodus 32:24I said to them, ‘Whoever has any gold, let them take it off.’ So they gave it to me; and I threw it into the fire, and out came this calf.”