Exodus 32 · Parashat Ki Tisa

And when the people saw that Moshe delayed to come down from the mountain, the people gathered themselves together to Aharon, and said to him, Up, make us gods, which shall go before us; for as for this man Moshe, who brought us up out of the land of Miżrayim, we know not what is become of him.

And Aharon said to them, Break off the golden earrings, which are in the ears of your wives, of your sons, and of your daughters, and bring them to me.

And all the people broke off the golden earrings which were in their ears, and brought them to Aharon.

And he received the gold at their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool and made it a molten calf: and they said, These are thy gods, O Yisra᾽el, which brought thee up out of the land of Miżrayim.

And when Aharon saw it, he built an altar before it; and Aharon made proclamation, and said, Tomorrow is a feast to the Lord.

And 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 disport themselves.

And the Lord said to Moshe, Go, get thee down; for thy people, which thou broughtest up out of the land of Miżrayim, have become corrupt:

they 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 to it, and said, These are thy gods, O Yisra᾽el, which have brought thee up out of the land of Miżrayim.

And the Lord said to Moshe, I have seen this people, and, behold, it is a stiffnecked people:

now therefore let me alone, that my wrath may burn against them, and that I may consume them: and I will make of thee a great nation.

And Moshe besought the Lord his God, and said, Lord, why does thy wrath burn against thy people, whom thou hast brought forth out of the land of Miżrayim with great power, and with a mighty hand?

Wherefore should Miżrayim speak, and say, In an evil hour 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 anger, and relent of this evil against thy people.

Remember Avraham, Yiżĥaq, and Yisra᾽el, thy servants, to whom thou didst swear by thy own self, and didst say to them, I will multiply your seed as the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have spoken of will I give to your seed, and they shall inherit it for ever.

And the Lord relented of the evil which he thought to do to his people.

And Moshe turned, and went down from the mountain, and the two tablets of the Testimony were in his hand: tablets written on both their sides; on the one side and on the other were they written.

And the tablets were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, engraved upon the tablets.

And when Yehoshua heard the noise of the people as they shouted, he said to Moshe, There is a noise of war in the camp.

But he said, It is not the voice of those who shout for mastery, neither is it the voice of those who cry for being overcome: but the noise of those who sing do I hear.

And it came to pass, as soon as he came near to the camp, that he saw the calf, and the dancing: and Moshe’s anger burned, and he threw the tablets out of his hands, and broke them at the foot of the mountain.

And he took the calf which they had made, and burnt it in the fire, and ground it to powder, and scattered it upon the water, and made the children of Yisra᾽el drink of it.

And Moshe said to Aharon, What has this people done to thee, that thou hast brought so great a sin upon them?

And Aharon said, Let not the anger of my lord burn: thou knowst the people, that they are bent on mischief.

For they said to me, Make us gods, which shall go before us: for as for this Moshe, the man that brought us up out of the land of Miżrayim, we know not what is become of him.

And I said to them, Who has any gold? They broke it off and gave it me: then I threw it into the fire, and there came out this calf.

And when Moshe saw that the people were in disorder; (for Aharon had made them disorderly to the scandal of their enemies:)

then Moshe stood in the gate of the camp, and said, Who is on the Lord’s side? let him come to me. And all the sons of Levi gathered themselves together to him.

And he said to them, Thus says the Lord God of Yisra᾽el, Put every man his sword by his side, and go to and fro from gate to gate throughout the camp, and slay every man his brother, and every man his companion, and every man his neighbour.

And the children of Levi did according to the word of Moshe: and there fell of the people that day about three thousand men.

For Moshe said, Consecrate yourselves today to the Lord, even every man against his son, and against his brother; that he may bestow upon you a blessing this day.

And it came to pass on the morrow, that Moshe said to the people, You have sinned a great sin: and now I will go up to the Lord; perhaps I shall make atonement for your sin.

And Moshe returned to the Lord, and said, Oh, this people has sinned a great sin, and they have made them gods of gold.

Yet now, if thou wilt forgive their sin – ; and if not, blot me, I pray thee, out of thy book which thou hast written.

And the Lord said to Moshe, Whoever has sinned against me, him will I blot out of my book.

Therefore now go, lead the people to the place of which I have spoken to thee: behold, my angel shall go before thee: nevertheless in the day when I punish, I will punish their sin upon them.

And the Lord plagued the people, because they made the calf, which Aharon had made.