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.

2And Aaron said unto them, Break off the golden earrings, which arein the ears of your wives, of your sons, and of your daughters, and bring them unto me.

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

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.

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.

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:

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.

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

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?

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.

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.

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

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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

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.

24And I said unto them, Whosoever hath any gold, let them break itoff. So they gave it me: then I cast it into the fire, and there came out this calf.

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

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.

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

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.

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.

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

33And the LORD said unto Moses, Whosoever hath sinned against me, him will I 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.

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

1And when the people saw that Moses delayed to come downe out of the mount, the people gathered themselues together vnto Aaron, and said vnto him, Up, make vs gods which shall goe before vs: for as for this Moses, the man that brought vs vp out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him.

2And Aaron saide vnto them, Breake off the golden earerings which are in the eares of your wiues, of your sonnes, and of your daughters, and bring them vnto me.

3And all the people brake off the golden earerings, which were in their eares, and brought them vnto Aaron.

4And hee receiued them at their hand, and fashioned it with a grauing toole, after hee had made it a molten calfe: and they said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee vp out of the land 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.

6And they rose vp early on the morrow, and offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings: and the people sate downe to eate and to drinke, and rose vp to play.

7 And the Lord said vnto Moses, Goe, get thee downe: for thy people which thou broughtest out of the land of Egypt, haue corrupted themselues.

8They haue turned aside quickly out of the way which I commaunded them: they haue made them a molten Calfe, and haue worshipped it, and haue sacrificed thereunto, and saide, These bee thy gods, O Israel, which haue brought thee vp out of the land of Egypt.

9And the Lord said vnto Moses, I haue seene this people, and behold, it is a stiffenecked people.

10Now therefore let me alone, that my wrath may waxe hot against them, and that I may consume them: and I will make of thee a great nation.

11And Moses besought the Lord his God, and said, Lord, why doeth thy wrath ware hot against thy people, which thou hast brought foorth out of the land of Egypt, with great power, and with a mighty hand?

12Wherefore should the Egyptians speake and say, For mischiefe did he bring them out, to slay them in the mountaines, & to consume them from the face of the earth? Turne from thy fierce wrath, and repent of this euill against thy people.

13Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel thy seruants, to whom thou swarest by thine owne selfe, and saidest vnto them, I will multiply your seed as the starres of heauen: and all this land that I haue spoken of, will I giue vnto your seed, and they shall inherit it for euer.

14And the Lord repented of the euill which he thought to doe vnto his people.

15 And Moses turned, and went downe 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.

16And the Tables were the worke of God; and the writing was the writing of God, grauen vpon the Tables.

17And when Ioshua heard the noise of the people as they shouted, hee said vnto Moses, There is a noise of warre in the campe.

18And he said, It is not the voyce of them that shout for mastery, neither is it the voyce of them that cry for being ouercome: but the noyse of them that sing doe I heare.

19 And it came to passe, assoone as he came nigh vnto the campe, that he saw the Calfe, and the dancing: and Moses anger waxed hot, and he cast the Tables out of his hands, and brake them beneath the mount.

20And he tooke the Calfe which they had made, and burnt it in the fire, and ground it to powder, and strawed it vpon the water, and made the children of Israel drinke of it.

21And Moses said vnto Aaron, What did this people vnto thee, that thou hast brought so great a sinne vpon them?

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

23For they said vnto me, Make vs gods which shall goe before vs: for as for this Moses, the man that brought vs vp out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him.

24And I said vnto them, Whosoeuer hath any gold, let them breake it off: So they gaue it mee: then I cast it into the fire, & there came out this Calfe.

25 And when Moses saw that the people were naked, (for Aaron had made them naked vnto their shame, amongst their enemies)

26Then Moses stood in the gate of the campe, and saide, Who is on the Lords side? let him come vnto mee. And all the sonnes of Leui gathered themselues together vnto him.

27And hee said vnto them, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Put euery man his sword by his side, and go in and out from gate to gate throughout the campe, and slay euery man his brother, and euery man his companion, and euery man his neighbour.

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

29For Moses had said, Consecrate your selues to day to the Lord, euen euery man vpon his sonne, and vpon his brother, that he may bestow vpon you a blessing this day.

30 And it came to passe on the morrow, that Moses said vnto the people, Ye haue sinned a great sinne: And now I will goe vp vnto the Lord; peraduenture I shall make an atonement for your sinne.

31And Moses returned vnto the Lord, and said, Oh, this people haue sinned a great sinne, and haue made them gods of gold.

32Yet now, if thou wilt forgiue their sinne; and if not, blot me, I pray thee, out of thy Booke, which thou hast written.

33And the Lord said vnto Moses, Whosoeuer hath sinned against me, him will I blot out of my Booke.

34Therefore now goe, leade the people vnto the place of which I haue spoken vnto thee: Behold, mine Angel shall goe before thee; Neuerthelesse in the day when I visit, I will visit their sinne vpon them.

35And the Lord plagued the people, because they made the Calfe, which Aaron made.

I == Ex 13:21 ; 24:18 ; Deut 9:9 ; Acts 7:40

II == Judg 8:24-27

IV == Ex 20:23 ; Deut 9:16 ; Judg 17:3-4 ; 1st Kings 12:28 ; Neh 9:18 ; Ps 106:19 ; Isa 46:6 ; Acts 7:41 ; Rom 1:23

V == Lev 23:2 , 4 , 21 , 37 ; 2nd Kings 10:20 ; 2nd Chr 30:5

VI == 1st Chr 10:7

VIII == Ex 20:3-4 , 23 ; Deut 9:16 ; 1st Kings 12:28

IX == Ex 33:3 , 5 ; 34:9 ; Deut 9:6 , 13 ; 31:27 ; 2nd Chr 30:8 ; Isa 48:4 ; Acts 7:51

X == Ex 22:24 ; num 14:12

XI == Eeut 9:18 , 26--29 ; Ps 74:1-2 ; 106:23

XII == Ex 32:14 ; Num 14:13 ; Deut 9:28 ; 32:27

XIII == Gen 12:7 ; 13:15 ; 15:7 , 18 ; 22:16 ; 26:4 ; 28:13 ; 35:11-12 ; Heb 6:13 ; 11:12

XIV == Deut 32:26 ; 2nd Sam 24:16 ; 1st Chr 21:15 ; Ps 106:45 ; Jer 18:8 ; 26:13 , 19 ; Joel 2:13 ; John 3:10 ; 4:2

XV == Deut 9:15

XX == Deut 9:21

XXI == Gen 20:9 ; 26:10

XXII == Ex 14:11 ; 15:24 ; 16:2 , 20 , 28 ; 17:2 , 4

XXIII == Acts 7:40

XXV == Ex 33:4-5 ; 2nd Chr 28:19

XXIX == Num 25:11-13 ; Deut 13:6-11 ; 33:9-10 ; 1st Sam 15:18 , 22 ; Pro 21:3 ; Zech 13:3 ; Matt 10:37

XXX == Num 25:13 ; 1st Sam 12:20 , 23 ; 2nd Sam 16:12 ; Amos 5:15 ; Luke 15:18

XXXI == Ex 20:23 ; Deut 9:18

XXXII == Lk 10:20 ; Rom 9:3

XXXIII == Lev 23:30 ; Ezek 18:4

XXXIV == Deut 32:35 ; Amos 3:14 ; Rom 2:5-6

XXXV == 2nd Sam 12:9 ; Acts 7:41

1 When the people became aware of Moses' delay in coming down from the mountain, they gathered around Aaron and said to him, "Come, make us a god who will be our leader; as for the man Moses who brought us out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has happened to him."

2 Aaron replied, "Have your wives and sons and daughters take off the golden earrings they are wearing, and bring them to me."

3 So all the people took off their earrings and brought them to Aaron,

4 who accepted their offering, and fashioning this gold with a graving tool, made a molten calf. Then they cried out, "This is your God, O Israel, who brought you out of the land of Egypt."

5 On seeing this, Aaron built an altar before the calf and proclaimed, "Tomorrow is a feast of the LORD."

6 Early the next day the people offered holocausts and brought peace offerings. Then they sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to revel.

7 With that, the LORD said to Moses, "Go down at once to your people, whom you brought out of the land of Egypt, for they have become depraved.

8 They have soon turned aside from the way I pointed out to them, making for themselves a molten calf and worshiping it, sacrificing to it and crying out, 'This is your God, O Israel, who brought you out of the land of Egypt!'

9 I see how stiff-necked this people is," continued the LORD to Moses.

10 "Let me alone, then, that my wrath may blaze up against them to consume them. Then I will make of you a great nation."

11 But Moses implored the LORD, his God, saying, "Why, O LORD, should your wrath blaze up against your own people, whom you brought out of the land of Egypt with such great power and with so strong a hand?

12 Why should the Egyptians say, 'With evil intent he brought them out, that he might kill them in the mountains and exterminate them from the face of the earth'? Let your blazing wrath die down; relent in punishing your people.

13 Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac and Israel, and how you swore to them by your own self, saying, 'I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky; and all this land that I promised, I will give your descendants as their perpetual heritage.'"

14 So the LORD relented in the punishment he had threatened to inflict on his people.

15 Moses then turned and came down the mountain with the two tablets of the commandments in his hands, tablets that were written on both sides, front and back;

16 tablets that were made by God, having inscriptions on them that were engraved by God himself.

17 Now, when Joshua heard the noise of the people shouting, he said to Moses, "That sounds like a battle in the camp."

18 But Moses answered, "It does not sound like cries of victory, nor does it sound like cries of defeat; the sounds that I hear are cries of revelry."

19 As he drew near the camp, he saw the calf and the dancing. With that, Moses' wrath flared up, so that he threw the tablets down and broke them on the base of the mountain.

20 Taking the calf they had made, he fused it in the fire and then ground it down to powder, which he scattered on the water and made the Israelites drink.

21 Moses asked Aaron, "What did this people ever do to you that you should lead them into so grave a sin?" Aaron replied, "Let not my lord be angry.

22 You know well enough how prone the people are to evil.

23 They said to me, 'Make us a god to be our leader; as for the man Moses who brought us out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has happened to him.'

24 So I told them, 'Let anyone who has gold jewelry take it off.' They gave it to me, and I threw it into the fire, and this calf came out."

25 When Moses realized that, to the scornful joy of their foes, Aaron had let the people run wild,

26 he stood at the gate of the camp and cried, "Whoever is for the LORD, let him come to me!" All the Levites then rallied to him,

27 and he told them, "Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: Put your sword on your hip, every one of you! Now go up and down the camp, from gate to gate, and slay your own kinsmen, your friends and neighbors!"

28 The Levites carried out the command of Moses, and that day there fell about three thousand of the people.

29 Then Moses said, "Today you have been dedicated to the LORD, for you were against your own sons and kinsmen, to bring a blessing upon yourselves this day."

30 On the next day Moses said to the people, "You have committed a grave sin. I will go up to the LORD, then; perhaps I may be able to make atonement for your sin."

31 So Moses went back to the LORD and said, "Ah, this people has indeed committed a grave sin in making a god of gold for themselves!

32 If you would only forgive their sin! If you will not, then strike me out of the book that you have written."

33 The LORD answered, "Him only who has sinned against me will I strike out of my book.

34 Now, go and lead the people whither I have told you. My angel will go before you. When it is time for me to punish, I will punish them for their sin."

35 Thus the LORD smote the people for having had Aaron make the calf for them.

v 1. Moses went up on the mount with Joshua, 24:13 and after six days, the Lord called Moses up farther, 24:16. Scholars disagree whether It was another 40 day before they came down,or 40 total, 32:17. Compare also Deut. 9:7-25, which seems to indicate each time was just forty days and forty nights. The people had not seen Moses for weeks,, and wanted a replica of gods to lead them. Compare them with the patience of Joshua, who was up there all this time without food and water also. Their angry mood in v 33. 

v 2-4. It is sad that Aaron, the one to be their high priest, cowardly gave in to their request. For more of his defense see my comments on v 24. He had a calf fashioned from their gold earrings, whether overlaying a wood frame or solid, which he called it the gods that had delivered them. The idea of a calf may have come from seeing the Egyptian bull god Apis. They could not have been so stupid as to think this gold image led them out of Egypt, but that they would worship the unseen God through a god they could see. The same is done in the churches which have graven images, but claim they are worshiping God through the image.
This altar has been found and surrounded by a ten foot chain link fence in Saudi Arabia. A like fence extends around the mountain. There is a hieroglyphic of the golden calf and many hieroglyphics of the cattle gods on the surrounding rocks. There are also over 40,000 hieroglyphics of different size sandals. This may have been to claim land which they mistakenly thought every place their feet trod would be theirs. Hundreds of Egyptian style arrow heads in the area would be what washed up on the shore after Egyptians drowned 

v 5,6. Aaron compounded the problem by setting aside the next day as a feast day allegedly to the Lord and offering sacrifices on an altar before the calf. The next day was like a heathen orgy, with the eating, drinking and naked, v 25, dancing.

v 7-10. The Lord calls them Moses’ people that he had led, then told Moses how the people had broken their covenant with Him and corrupted themselves. Then He suggested that He would kill them and make a great nation from Moses. This was not a real option, but a test of Moses’ reaction of whether to seek power for himself or intercede for the people.

v 11-14. Moses pleads with the Lord that the people are His people, and other nations will be watching what he does. He also reminds the Lord of His covenant with their forefathers. The Lord had not changed His mind, but Moses proved true in the test, as the Lord knew he would. This was for Moses’ benefit, not the Lord’s.

v 15-18. Some scholars say the tables of stone were not the large size usually pictured, but were from the shale in the area, and he carried them in both hands, Deut. 9” like a couple of books. As notes on 31:18 indicate, God did this engraving by simply speaking or even just thinking the action. Joshua had not heard what God told Moses, so he assumed the noise meant that Israel was being attacked. Being fore warned, Moses knew this was neither the sound of the victorious or the defeated, but a sound of raucous excitement.

v 19-21. When Moses saw this orgy of naked, v 25, dancing like the heathen did, he angrily threw down the tablets (which he carried in his two hands, Deut. 9:15) and broke them in front of the people, demonstrating that they had already broken their covenant with God. The fact that he burned the calf may infer that it was wood overlaid with gold, but more likely it was to cast it into ingots which could be pulverized. Powder of malleable metals can be ground so fine they will float on the water for hours. Moses surely enlisted helpers who got it to this fineness before he made the people to drink the product of their own wickedness. Perhaps Moses knew that gold of this concentration in water would cause severe diarrhea. (Perhaps they were reminded of this in Num. 5:24, when bitter water tested moral purity.) Then he confronts Aaron, who was in charge of them, “What...” (What do church, family, friends do to leaders to sway us from what we know we should do?)
The water was put in the brook that came out of the mount, Deut. 9:21. Mount Horeb and Sinai were in the same range, so this could be the stream from the rock in Horeb in 17:6.. 

v 22-24. Aaron begins his defense by reminding Moses of the attitude of the people, probably thinking of how they had turned violently against Moses several times. They would have been quite restless after waiting about six weeks with no word from Moses. Jewish tradition says Hur protested and they stoned him, so Aaron was too scared to protest. But Aaron’s excuse is ludicrous, that a calf automatically formed.

v 25-29. THE SHAME OF THE FIFTH: They had taken for their god an idol. It is the usual phrase of the scripture to call idols filth and abominations.

Some think that enemy spies were observing their activities, and NAKED: stripped of the grace of God after lost of their gold land their honour.

Though this was done in Canaanite culture, even they were shocked at Israel’s behavior. Moses did not try to accommodate the people like Aaron may have or like the Roman Catholics did in the early days by incorporating pagan religion with their Christian beliefs. When Moses called on those who were on the Lord’s side, only the Levites, his own tribe, came to him. A possible implication of these verses is that Levites had not participated in this orgy, or at least they quickly responded to Moses. He was Divinely inspired to order the executions, which no doubt started with the ring leaders and continued until some 3000 of the revelers were killed and the others probably fled. Moses words to the Levites indicated that by their zeal for the Lord, they had set themselves in the position of being the priestly tribe. See Phinehas’ similar zeal in Num 25:10-13.

v 30-32. Moses had already interceded with the Lord on the mount and had felt assured. Now, after seeing the terrible corruption, he is sure they will still come under severe wrath from God, and tells them he will try to make an atonement for their sin. He now goes up on the mountain again for forty days and nights as he did at the first, according to this same event, Deut. 9:7-21. v 33-35. Moses was willing to do for them what Christ did for us, but man could not make atonement for fellow man. Only Christ could do that, and God makes it clear that everyone is responsible for their own sin. The Lord is a good book keeper, and the book referred to in verses 32 and 33 is the same mentioned in Ps. 69:28, the book of the living. The wording there seems to indicate that every one who ever lived is written in this book, but the wicked will be blotted out, leaving only the names of the righteous.There is no indication if this plague caused greater loss of life immediately, but there was a terrible spiritual loss. The Lord’s immediate presence would not now be in the camp, but would send His angel to lead. See 33:2. We don’t know how many people died in this plague. He confesses their terrible sin to the Lord, and in magnanimous sincerity, pleads for the people that his own name be blotted out instead of theirs.