Exodus

Describes how Moses leads the Israelites out of Egypt and slavery, and how they receive laws from God.

Chapter 32

1 And 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.

*When the people saw Moses took a long time to come down from the mountain, they all went to Aaron and asked him to make gods to lead them. They weren't sure what happened to Moses, the man who led them out of Egypt.

2 And 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.

*Aaron asked them to take off the gold earrings from their wives, children, and themselves, and give them to him.

3 And all the people brake off the golden earrings which were in their ears, and brought them unto Aaron.

*Everyone took off their gold earrings and gave them to Aaron.

4 And 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.

*He took the object they gave him, shaped it using a chisel, and turned it into a calf statue after melting it. Then, they told him, "These are your gods, Israel. They led you out of Egypt."

5 And when Aaron saw it, he built an altar before it; and Aaron made proclamation, and said, To morrow is a feast to the LORD.

*When Aaron saw it, he created an altar for it and announced that the next day would be a celebration for God.

6 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 play.

*On the next day, they got up early and made sacrifices. They also brought offerings for peace. The people then sat down to eat and drink, and afterwards, they stood up to have fun and play.

7 And the LORD said unto Moses, Go, get thee down; for thy people, which thou broughtest out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves:

*And God told Moses, "Go back down, because your people, whom you led from Egypt, have done wrong things.

8 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 thereunto, and said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which have brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.

*They left my path quickly and created a metal bull to worship. They offered sacrifices to it and said, "These are your gods, Israel, who saved you from Egypt."

9 And the LORD said unto Moses, I have seen this people, and, behold, it is a stiffnecked people:

*And God told Moses, "I have watched these people, and I see that they are stubborn."

10 Now 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.

*Now then, leave me be so I can get really angry at them, and then destroy them. Afterward, I'll turn you into a big, powerful nation.

11 And 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?

*Moses asked the Lord kindly, "Lord, why are you so angry with your people whom you saved from Egypt using great strength and power?"

12 Wherefore 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.

*Why would the Egyptians talk like this, saying he brought harm by taking them out to kill them in the mountains and erase them from the earth? Calm down your anger and change your mind about hurting your people.

13 Remember 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.

*Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, who were your servants. You promised them that their descendants would be numerous like the stars in the sky. You also said you would give the land you spoke about to their descendants, and they would have it forever.

14 And the LORD repented of the evil which he thought to do unto his people.

*And God changed his mind about the bad thing he planned to do to his people.

15 And 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.

*Moses faced downhill from the mountain, holding two stone tablets with important words on them. These tablets had writing on all sides, front and back.

16 And the tables were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, graven upon the tables.

*And the tables were made by God, with writing on them, and God himself wrote the words on the tables.

17 And when Joshua heard the noise of the people as they shouted, he said unto Moses, There is a noise of war in the camp.

*When Joshua heard the people shouting loudly, he told Moses, "It sounds like there's fighting happening in the camp."

18 And 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.

*He said, "It's not the voices of those who shout they won or those who cry they lost. Instead, I hear the noise of those who are singing."

19 And 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.

*One day, when Moses got close to the camp, he saw a calf being worshipped and people dancing. This made Moses very angry. He threw the stone tablets out of his hands and broke them into pieces at the base of the mountain.

20 And 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.

*He took the idol they made, burned it, turned it into ashes, and mixed it with water, making the Israelites drink it.

21 And Moses said unto Aaron, What did this people unto thee, that thou hast brought so great a sin upon them?

*Moses asked Aaron, "Why did these people do something to you that led to such a big sin for them?"

22 And Aaron said, Let not the anger of my lord wax hot: thou knowest the people, that they are set on mischief.

*Aaron said, "Don't let your anger grow strong, because you know how the people are, and they like to cause trouble."

23 For 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.

*They asked me to create gods to lead them, because they didn't know what happened to the man who took them from Egypt, Moses.

24 And 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.

*I asked them for any gold they had, and they handed it over. I threw it into the fire, and a calf appeared from the flames.

25 And when Moses saw that the people were naked; (for Aaron had made them naked unto their shame among their enemies:)

*When Moses noticed that the people were without clothes, because Aaron had caused them to be exposed and ashamed in front of their enemies.

26 Then 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.

*Then Moses positioned himself at the camp entrance and asked, "Who supports the LORD?" Anyone who agreed came to him. All the descendants of Levi gathered and joined him.

27 And 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.

*He told them, "The Lord God of Israel says this: Each person should put their sword by their side and move around the camp, going through gates, killing their brothers, friends, and neighbors."

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

*The Levites followed Moses' instructions, and on that day, around 3,000 men from the crowd died.

29 For Moses had said, Consecrate yourselves today to the LORD, even every man upon his son, and upon his brother; that he may bestow upon you a blessing this day.

*Moses told everyone to set aside time for the Lord, including sons and brothers, so that He could give them a blessing that day.

30 And 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.

*The next day, Moses told the people they had committed a serious wrong. He would go to God to see if he could forgive their mistake.

31 And Moses returned unto the LORD, and said, Oh, this people have sinned a great sin, and have made them gods of gold.

*Moses went back to God and said, "These people have done a really bad thing. They made golden idols as gods."

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

*Now, if you forgive their wrongdoing--; but if not, please remove me from your book that you have written.

33 And the LORD said unto Moses, Whosoever hath sinned against me, him will I blot out of my book.

*And God told Moses, "Anyone who has done wrong to me, I will remove their name from my list."

34 Therefore 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.

*So, go now and guide the people to the place I told you about. My angel will be with you. But when I punish, I will punish their sins on them.

35 And the LORD plagued the people, because they made the calf, which Aaron made.

*And God punished the people, as they created the cow that Aaron made.

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