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Exodus 32

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ENGLISH NWT-e — New World Translation

ENGLISH NIV — New International Version®

SPANISH NWT-s — New World Translation

^ Exodus 32

Exodus 32

Éxodo 32

(1-35) ¹Meanwhile the people got to see that Moses was taking a long time about coming down from the mountain. So the people congregated themselves about Aaron and said to him: “Get up, make for us a god who will go ahead of us, because as regards this Moses, the man who led us up out of the land of Egypt, we certainly do not know what has happened to him.” ²At this Aaron said to them: “Tear off the gold earrings that are in the ears of YOUR wives, of YOUR sons and of YOUR daughters and bring them to me.” ³And all the people began tearing off the gold earrings that were in their ears and bringing them to Aaron. ⁴Then he took [the gold] from their hands, and he formed it with a graving tool and proceeded to make it into a molten statue of a calf. And they began to say: “This is your God, O Israel, who led you up out of the land of Egypt.”

⁵When Aaron got to see this, he went to building an altar before it. Finally Aaron called out and said: “There is a festival to Jehovah tomorrow.” ⁶So on the next day they were early in rising, and they began offering up burnt offerings and presenting communion sacrifices. After that the people sat down to eat and drink. Then they got up to have a good time.

⁷Jehovah now said to Moses: “Go, descend, because your people whom you led up out of the land of Egypt have acted ruinously. ⁸They have turned aside in a hurry from the way I have commanded them to go. They have made a molten statue of a calf for themselves and keep bowing down to it and sacrificing to it and saying, ‘This is your God, O Israel, who led you up out of the land of Egypt.’” ⁹And Jehovah went on to say to Moses: “I have looked at this people and here it is a stiff-necked people. ¹⁰So now let me be, that my anger may blaze against them and I may exterminate them, and let me make you into a great nation.”

¹¹And Moses proceeded to soften the face of Jehovah his God and to say: “Why, O Jehovah, should your anger blaze against your people whom you brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a strong hand? ¹²Why should the Egyptians say, ‘With evil intent he brought them out in order to kill them among the mountains and to exterminate them from the surface of the ground’? Turn from your burning anger and feel regret over the evil against your people. ¹³Remember Abraham, Isaac and Israel your servants, to whom you swore by yourself, in that you said to them, ‘I shall multiply YOUR seed like the stars of the heavens, and all this land that I have designated I shall give to YOUR seed, that they may indeed take possession of it to time indefinite.’”

¹⁴And Jehovah began to feel regret over the evil that he had spoken of doing to his people.

¹⁵After that Moses turned and went down from the mountain with the two tablets of the Testimony in his hand, tablets written upon on both their sides. On this side and on that they were written upon. ¹⁶And the tablets were the workmanship of God, and the writing was the writing of God engraved upon the tablets. ¹⁷And Joshua began to hear the noise of the people because of their shouting, and he proceeded to say to Moses: “There is a noise of battle in the camp.” ¹⁸But he said:

“It is not the sound of the singing over mighty performance,
And it is not the sound of the singing of defeat;
It is the sound of other singing that I am hearing.”

¹⁹So it came about that as soon as he got near the camp and could see the calf and the dances, Moses’ anger began to blaze, and he at once threw the tablets from his hands and shattered them at the foot of the mountain. ²⁰Then he took the calf that they had made and he burnt it with fire and crushed it till it was fine, after which he scattered it upon the surface of the waters and made the sons of Israel drink it. ²¹After that Moses said to Aaron: “What did this people do to you that you have brought a great sin upon it?” ²²To this Aaron said: “Do not let the anger of my lord blaze. You yourself well know the people, that they are evil-inclined. ²³So they said to me, ‘Make for us a god who will go ahead of us, because as regards this Moses, the man who led us up out of the land of Egypt, we certainly do not know what has happened to him.’ ²⁴Hence I said to them, ‘Who have any gold? They must tear it off themselves that they may give it to me.’ And I proceeded to throw it into the fire and this calf came on out.”

²⁵And Moses got to see that the people went unrestrained, because Aaron had let them go unrestrained for a disgrace among their opposers. ²⁶Then Moses took his stand in the gate of the camp and said: “Who is on Jehovah’s side? To me!” And all the sons of Levi began gathering themselves to him. ²⁷He now said to them: “This is what Jehovah the God of Israel has said, ‘Put each one of YOU his sword on his side. Pass through and return from gate to gate in the camp and kill each one his brother and each one his fellow and each one his intimate acquaintance.’” ²⁸And the sons of Levi proceeded to do as Moses had said, so that there fell of the people on that day about three thousand men. ²⁹And Moses went on to say: “Fill YOUR hand today with power for Jehovah, because each one of YOU is against his own son and his own brother, and that he may confer a blessing upon YOU today.”

³⁰And it came about on the very next day that Moses proceeded to say to the people: “YOU—YOU have sinned with a great sin, and now I shall go up to Jehovah. Perhaps I can make amends for YOUR sin.” ³¹So Moses returned to Jehovah and said: “Ah, but this people has sinned with a great sin, in that they made a god of gold for themselves! ³²But now if you will pardon their sin,—and if not, wipe me out, please, from your book that you have written.” ³³However, Jehovah said to Moses: “Whoever has sinned against me, I shall wipe him out of my book. ³⁴And now, come, lead the people to where I have spoken to you of. Look! My angel will go ahead of you, and on the day of my bringing punishment I shall certainly bring punishment upon them for their sin.” ³⁵And Jehovah began plaguing the people because they had made the calf, which Aaron had made.

(1-35) 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.” ²Aaron answered them, “Take off the gold earrings that your wives, your sons and your daughters are wearing, and bring them to me.” ³So all the people took off their earrings and brought them to Aaron. 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.” ⁵When Aaron saw this, he built an altar in front of the calf and announced, “Tomorrow there will be a festival to the LORD.” 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. ⁷Then the LORD said to Moses, “Go down, because your people, whom you brought up out of Egypt, have become corrupt. 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.’ ⁹“I have seen these people,” the LORD said to Moses, “and they are a stiff-necked people. 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.” 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? 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 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.’” ¹⁴Then the LORD relented and did not bring on his people the disaster he had threatened. 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. ¹⁶The tablets were the work of God; the writing was the writing of God, engraved on the tablets. ¹⁷When Joshua heard the noise of the people shouting, he said to Moses, “There is the sound of war in the camp.” ¹⁸Moses replied: 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 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. ²¹He said to Aaron, “What did these people do to you, that you led them into such great sin?” ²²“Do not be angry, my lord,” Aaron answered. “You know how prone these people are to evil. 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.’ 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!” 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. 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. 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.’” ²⁸The Levites did as Moses commanded, and that day about three thousand of the people died. 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.” 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.” 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. ³²But now, please forgive their sin—but if not, then blot me out of the book you have written.” ³³The LORD replied to Moses, “Whoever has sinned against me I will blot out of my book. 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 struck the people with a plague because of what they did with the calf Aaron had made.

(1-35) ¹Entretanto, el pueblo llegó a ver que Moisés tardaba mucho en bajar de la montaña. De modo que el pueblo se congregó en torno a Aarón, y le dijeron: “Levántate, haznos un dios que vaya delante de nosotros, porque en cuanto a este Moisés, el hombre que nos hizo subir de la tierra de Egipto, ciertamente no sabemos qué le habrá pasado”. ²Ante esto, Aarón les dijo: “Arranquen los aretes de oro que están en las orejas de sus esposas, de sus hijos y de sus hijas, y tráiganmelos”. ³Y todo el pueblo se puso a arrancar los aretes de oro que estaban en sus orejas y a llevárselos a Aarón. ⁴Entonces él tomó [el oro] de manos de ellos, y lo formó con un buril y procedió a hacer de él una estatua fundida de un becerro. Y empezaron a decir: “Este es tu Dios, oh Israel, que te hizo subir de la tierra de Egipto”.

⁵Cuando Aarón llegó a ver esto, se puso a edificar un altar delante de él. Por fin clamó Aarón y dijo: “Mañana hay fiesta a Jehová”. ⁶De modo que al día siguiente se levantaron temprano, y empezaron a ofrecer ofrendas quemadas y a presentar sacrificios de comunión. Después de eso se sentó el pueblo a comer y beber. Entonces se levantaron para divertirse.

⁷Jehová ahora dijo a Moisés: “Ve, desciende, porque tu pueblo que hiciste subir de la tierra de Egipto ha actuado ruinosamente. ⁸Se han desviado apresuradamente del camino en que les he mandado ir. Se han hecho una estatua fundida de un becerro y siguen inclinándose ante ella y haciéndole sacrificios y diciendo: ‘Este es tu Dios, oh Israel, que te hizo subir de la tierra de Egipto’”. ⁹Y Jehová siguió diciendo a Moisés: “He mirado a este pueblo, y he aquí que es un pueblo de dura cerviz. ¹⁰Así que ahora déjame, para que se encienda mi cólera contra ellos y los extermine, y déjame hacer de ti una nación grande”.

¹¹Y Moisés procedió a ablandar el rostro de Jehová su Dios y a decir: “¿Por qué, oh Jehová, debe encenderse tu cólera contra tu pueblo, a quien sacaste de la tierra de Egipto con gran poder y con mano fuerte? ¹²¿Por qué deben decir los egipcios: ‘Con mala intención los sacó, para matarlos entre las montañas y para exterminarlos de la superficie del suelo’? Vuélvete de tu cólera ardiente y siente pesar respecto al mal contra tu pueblo. ¹³Acuérdate de Abrahán, de Isaac y de Israel tus siervos, a quienes juraste por ti mismo, por cuanto les dijiste: ‘Multiplicaré su descendencia como las estrellas de los cielos, y toda esta tierra que he designado la daré a su descendencia, para que verdaderamente tomen posesión de ella hasta tiempo indefinido’”.

¹⁴Y Jehová empezó a sentir pesar respecto al mal de que había hablado que haría a su pueblo.

¹⁵Después de eso, Moisés se volvió y bajó de la montaña con las dos tablas del Testimonio en la mano, tablas sobre las cuales estaba escrito por ambos lados. Por este lado y por el otro estaban escritas. ¹⁶Y las tablas eran la obra de Dios, y la escritura era la escritura de Dios grabada sobre las tablas. ¹⁷Y Josué empezó a oír el ruido del pueblo a causa de su gritería, y procedió a decir a Moisés: “Hay ruido de batalla en el campamento”. ¹⁸Pero él dijo:
“No es el sonido del canto por poderosa hazaña,
y no es el sonido del canto de derrota;
es el sonido de otro canto el que estoy oyendo”.

¹⁹Aconteció, pues, que tan pronto como Moisés se acercó al campamento y pudo ver el becerro y las danzas, empezó a encenderse su cólera, y al instante arrojó de sus manos las tablas y las hizo añicos al pie de la montaña. ²⁰Entonces tomó el becerro que habían hecho y lo quemó con fuego y lo trituró hasta que quedó fino, después de lo cual lo esparció sobre la superficie de las aguas, e hizo que lo bebieran los hijos de Israel. ²¹Después de eso Moisés dijo a Aarón: “¿Qué te hizo este pueblo para que hayas traído sobre él un pecado grande?”. ²²A lo cual dijo Aarón: “No se encienda la cólera de mi señor. Tú mismo conoces bien al pueblo, que está inclinado al mal. ²³Así es que me dijeron: ‘Haznos un dios que vaya delante de nosotros, porque en cuanto a este Moisés, el hombre que nos hizo subir de la tierra de Egipto, ciertamente no sabemos qué le habrá pasado’. ²⁴Por lo tanto les dije: ‘¿Quiénes tienen oro? Tienen que arrancárselo para que me lo den’. Y procedí a arrojarlo al fuego y salió este becerro”.

²⁵Y llegó a ver Moisés que el pueblo andaba desenfrenado, porque Aarón los había dejado desenfrenarse para ignominia entre sus opositores. ²⁶Entonces Moisés tomó su puesto en la puerta del campamento y dijo: “¿Quién está de parte de Jehová? ¡A mí!”. Y todos los hijos de Leví empezaron a reunirse en torno a él. ²⁷Ahora les dijo: “Esto es lo que ha dicho Jehová el Dios de Israel: ‘Ponga cada uno de ustedes su espada sobre el costado. Pasen y vuelvan de una puerta a otra puerta en el campamento y mate cada uno a su hermano y cada uno a su prójimo y cada uno a su conocido íntimo’”. ²⁸Y los hijos de Leví procedieron a hacer como había dicho Moisés, de modo que en aquel día cayeron del pueblo unos tres mil hombres. ²⁹Y Moisés pasó a decir: “Llenen hoy su mano de poder para Jehová, porque cada uno de ustedes está contra su propio hijo y contra su propio hermano, y para que él les otorgue una bendición hoy”.

³⁰Y aconteció al mismo día siguiente que Moisés procedió a decir al pueblo: “Ustedes... ustedes han pecado con un gran pecado, y ahora yo subiré a Jehová. Quizás pueda hacer enmienda por el pecado de ustedes”. ³¹De modo que Moisés se volvió a Jehová y dijo: “¡Ah, pero este pueblo ha pecado con un gran pecado, por cuanto se hicieron un dios de oro! ³²Pero ahora si perdonas su pecado..., y si no, bórrame, por favor, de tu libro que has escrito”. ³³Sin embargo, Jehová dijo a Moisés: “Al que haya pecado contra mí, lo borraré de mi libro. ³⁴Y ahora, ven, conduce al pueblo al lugar del que te he hablado. ¡Mira! Mi ángel irá delante de ti, y en el día de traer yo castigo ciertamente traeré castigo sobre ellos por su pecado”. ³⁵Y empezó Jehová a plagar al pueblo porque habían hecho el becerro, que Aarón había hecho.