| King James Bible | New International Version |
| 1And when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down out of the mount, the people gathered themselves together unto Aaron, and said unto him, Up, make us gods, which shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him. | 1When the people saw that Moses was so long in coming down from the mountain, they gathered around Aaron and said, "Come, 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." |
| 2And Aaron said unto them, Break off the golden earrings, which are in the ears of your wives, of your sons, and of your daughters, and bring them unto me. | 2Aaron answered them, "Take off the gold earrings that your wives, your sons and your daughters are wearing, and bring them to me." |
| 3And all the people brake off the golden earrings which were in their ears, and brought them unto Aaron. | 3So all the people took off their earrings and brought them to Aaron. |
| 4And he received them at their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool, after he had made it a molten calf: and they said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt. | 4He took what they handed him and made it into an idol cast in the shape of a calf, fashioning it with a tool. Then they said, "These are your gods, Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt." |
| 5And when Aaron saw it, he built an altar before it; and Aaron made proclamation, and said, To morrow is a feast to the LORD. | 5When Aaron saw this, he built an altar in front of the calf and announced, "Tomorrow there will be a festival to the LORD." |
| 6And they rose up early on the morrow, and offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings; and the people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to play. | 6So the next day the people rose early and sacrificed burnt offerings and presented fellowship offerings. Afterward they sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in revelry. |
| 7And the LORD said unto Moses, Go, get thee down; for thy people, which thou broughtest out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves: | 7Then the LORD said to Moses, "Go down, because your people, whom you brought up out of Egypt, have become corrupt. |
| 8They have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them: they have made them a molten calf, and have worshipped it, and have sacrificed thereunto, and said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which have brought thee up out of the land of Egypt. | 8They have been quick to turn away from what I commanded them and have made themselves an idol cast in the shape of a calf. They have bowed down to it and sacrificed to it and have said, 'These are your gods, Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.' |
| 9And the LORD said unto Moses, I have seen this people, and, behold, it is a stiffnecked people: | 9"I have seen these people," the LORD said to Moses, "and they are a stiff-necked people. |
| 10Now therefore let me alone, that my wrath may wax hot against them, and that I may consume them: and I will make of thee a great nation. | 10Now leave me alone so that my anger may burn against them and that I may destroy them. Then I will make you into a great nation." |
| 11And Moses besought the LORD his God, and said, LORD, why doth thy wrath wax hot against thy people, which thou hast brought forth out of the land of Egypt with great power, and with a mighty hand? | 11But Moses sought the favor of the LORD his God. "LORD," he said, "why should your anger burn against your people, whom you brought out of Egypt with great power and a mighty hand? |
| 12Wherefore should the Egyptians speak, and say, For mischief did he bring them out, to slay them in the mountains, and to consume them from the face of the earth? Turn from thy fierce wrath, and repent of this evil against thy people. | 12Why should the Egyptians say, 'It was with evil intent that he brought them out, to kill them in the mountains and to wipe them off the face of the earth'? Turn from your fierce anger; relent and do not bring disaster on your people. |
| 13Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, thy servants, to whom thou swarest by thine own self, and saidst unto them, I will multiply your seed as the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have spoken of will I give unto your seed, and they shall inherit it for ever. | 13Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac and Israel, to whom you swore by your own self: 'I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and I will give your descendants all this land I promised them, and it will be their inheritance forever.'" |
| 14And the LORD repented of the evil which he thought to do unto his people. | 14Then the LORD relented and did not bring on his people the disaster he had threatened. |
| 15And Moses turned, and went down from the mount, and the two tables of the testimony were in his hand: the tables were written on both their sides; on the one side and on the other were they written. | 15Moses turned and went down the mountain with the two tablets of the covenant law in his hands. They were inscribed on both sides, front and back. |
| 16And the tables were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, graven upon the tables. | 16The tablets were the work of God; the writing was the writing of God, engraved on the tablets. |
| 17And when Joshua heard the noise of the people as they shouted, he said unto Moses, There is a noise of war in the camp. | 17When Joshua heard the noise of the people shouting, he said to Moses, "There is the sound of war in the camp." |
| 18And he said, It is not the voice of them that shout for mastery, neither is it the voice of them that cry for being overcome: but the noise of them that sing do I hear. | 18Moses replied: "It is not the sound of victory, it is not the sound of defeat; it is the sound of singing that I hear." |
| 19And it came to pass, as soon as he came nigh unto the camp, that he saw the calf, and the dancing: and Moses' anger waxed hot, and he cast the tables out of his hands, and brake them beneath the mount. | 19When Moses approached the camp and saw the calf and the dancing, his anger burned and he threw the tablets out of his hands, breaking them to pieces at the foot of the mountain. |
| 20And he took the calf which they had made, and burnt it in the fire, and ground it to powder, and strawed it upon the water, and made the children of Israel drink of it. | 20And he took the calf the people had made and burned it in the fire; then he ground it to powder, scattered it on the water and made the Israelites drink it. |
| 21And Moses said unto Aaron, What did this people unto thee, that thou hast brought so great a sin upon them? | 21He said to Aaron, "What did these people do to you, that you led them into such great sin?" |
| 22And Aaron said, Let not the anger of my lord wax hot: thou knowest the people, that they are set on mischief. | 22"Do not be angry, my lord," Aaron answered. "You know how prone these people are to evil. |
| 23For they said unto me, Make us gods, which shall go before us: for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him. | 23They 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.' |
| 24And I said unto them, Whosoever hath any gold, let them break it off. So they gave it me: then I cast it into the fire, and there came out this calf. | 24So 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!" |
| 25And when Moses saw that the people were naked; (for Aaron had made them naked unto their shame among their enemies:) | 25Moses saw that the people were running wild and that Aaron had let them get out of control and so become a laughingstock to their enemies. |
| 26Then Moses stood in the gate of the camp, and said, Who is on the LORD'S side? let him come unto me. And all the sons of Levi gathered themselves together unto him. | 26So 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. |
| 27And he said unto them, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Put every man his sword by his side, and go in and out from gate to gate throughout the camp, and slay every man his brother, and every man his companion, and every man his neighbour. | 27Then he said to them, "This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: 'Each man strap a sword to his side. Go back and forth through the camp from one end to the other, each killing his brother and friend and neighbor.'" |
| 28And the children of Levi did according to the word of Moses: and there fell of the people that day about three thousand men. | 28The Levites did as Moses commanded, and that day about three thousand of the people died. |
| 29For Moses had said, Consecrate yourselves to day to the LORD, even every man upon his son, and upon his brother; that he may bestow upon you a blessing this day. | 29Then Moses said, "You have been set apart to the LORD today, for you were against your own sons and brothers, and he has blessed you this day." |
| 30And it came to pass on the morrow, that Moses said unto the people, Ye have sinned a great sin: and now I will go up unto the LORD; peradventure I shall make an atonement for your sin. | 30The next day Moses said to the people, "You have committed a great sin. But now I will go up to the LORD; perhaps I can make atonement for your sin." |
| 31And Moses returned unto the LORD, and said, Oh, this people have sinned a great sin, and have made them gods of gold. | 31So Moses went back to the LORD and said, "Oh, what a great sin these people have committed! They have made themselves gods of gold. |
| 32Yet now, if thou wilt forgive their sin?; and if not, blot me, I pray thee, out of thy book which thou hast written. | 32But now, please forgive their sin--but if not, then blot me out of the book you have written." |
| 33And the LORD said unto Moses, Whosoever hath sinned against me, him will I blot out of my book. | 33The LORD replied to Moses, "Whoever has sinned against me I will blot out of my book. |
| 34Therefore now go, lead the people unto the place of which I have spoken unto thee: behold, mine Angel shall go before thee: nevertheless in the day when I visit I will visit their sin upon them. | 34Now go, lead the people to the place I spoke of, and my angel will go before you. However, when the time comes for me to punish, I will punish them for their sin." |
| 35And the LORD plagued the people, because they made the calf, which Aaron made. | 35And the LORD struck the people with a plague because of what they did with the calf Aaron had made. |
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