Videns autem populus quod moram faceret descendendi de monte Moyses, congregatus adversus Aaron, dixit: Surge, fac nobis deos, qui nos præcedant: Moysi enim huic viro, qui nos eduxit de terra Ægypti, ignoramus quid acciderit.

Meanwhile, finding that Moses’ return from the mountain was so long delayed, the people remonstrated with Aaron. Bestir thyself, they said; fashion us gods, to be our leaders. We had a man to lead us, this Moses, when we came away from Egypt; but there is no saying what has become of him.

And the people seeing that Moses delayed to come down from the mount, gathering together against Aaron, said: Arise, make us gods, that may go before us: for as to this Moses, the man that brought us out of the land of Egypt, we know not what has befallen him.

Dixitque ad eos Aaron: Tollite inaures aureas de uxorum, filiorumque et filiarum vestrarum auribus, et afferte ad me.

Take out the gold ear-rings, said Aaron, that your wives and sons and daughters wear, and bring them to me.

And Aaron said to them: Take the golden earrings from the ears of your wives, and your sons and daughters, and bring them to me.

Fecitque populus quæ jusserat, deferens inaures ad Aaron.

The people, then, brought him their ear-rings as he had bidden them,

And the people did what he had commanded, bringing the earrings to Aaron.

Quas cum ille accepisset, formavit opere fusorio, et fecit ex eis vitulum conflatilem: dixeruntque: Hi sunt dii tui Israël, qui te eduxerunt de terra Ægypti.

and he melted down what they had given him and cast them into the figure of a calf. And all cried out, Here are thy gods, Israel, the gods that rescued thee from the land of Egypt.

And when he had received them, he fashioned them by founders’ work, and made of them a molten calf. And they said: These are thy gods, O Israel, that have brought thee out of the land of Egypt.

Quod cum vidisset Aaron, ædificavit altare coram eo, et præconis voce clamavit dicens: Cras solemnitas Domini est.

Aaron, finding them so minded, built an altar in front of it, and bade the crier give out that there would be a solemn feast next day in the Lord’s honour.

And when Aaron saw this, he built an altar before it, and made proclamation by a crier’s voice, saying: To morrow is the solemnity of the Lord.

Surgentesque mane, obtulerunt holocausta, et hostias pacificas, et sedit populus manducare, et bibere, et surrexerunt ludere.

So when they awoke on the morrow, they offered burnt-sacrifice and welcome-offerings; and with that, the people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to take their pleasure.

And rising in the morning, they offered holocausts, and peace victims, and the people sat down to eat, and drink, and they rose up to play.

Locutus est autem Dominus ad Moysen, dicens: Vade, descende: peccavit populus tuus, quem eduxisti de terra Ægypti.

And now the Lord said to Moses, Away, down with thee; they have fallen into sin, this people thou didst bring out of Egypt with thee.

And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: Go, get thee down: thy people, which thou hast brought out of the land of Egypt, hath sinned.

Recesserunt cito de via, quam ostendisti eis: feceruntque sibi vitulum conflatilem, et adoraverunt, atque immolantes ei hostias, dixerunt: Isti sunt dii tui Israël, qui te eduxerunt de terra Ægypti.

They have been swift to leave the way thou didst mark out for them, by making a molten calf and falling down to worship it; brought victims to it, and cried out, Here are thy gods, Israel, the gods that rescued thee from the land of Egypt.

They have quickly strayed from the way which thou didst shew them: and they have made to themselves a molten calf, and have adored it, and sacrificing victims to it, have said: These are thy gods, O Israel, that have brought thee out of the land of Egypt.

Rursumque ait Dominus ad Moysen: Cerno quod populus iste duræ cervicis sit:

And the Lord said to Moses, I know them now for a stiff-necked race;

And again the Lord said to Moses: See that this people is stiffnecked:

dimitte me, ut irascatur furor meus contra eos, et deleam eos, faciamque te in gentem magnam.

spare me thy importunacy, let me vent my anger and destroy them; I will make thy posterity into a great nation instead.

Let me alone, that my wrath may be kindled against them, and that I may destroy them, and I will make of thee a great nation.

Moyses autem orabat Dominum Deum suum, dicens: Cur, Domine, irascitur furor tuus contra populum tuum, quem eduxisti de terra Ægypti, in fortitudine magna, et in manu robusta?

But Moses would still plead with the Lord his God; What, Lord, said he, wilt thou vent thy anger on thy people, the people thou didst rescue from Egypt so imperiously, with so strong a hand?

But Moses besought the Lord his God, saying: Why, O Lord, is thy indignation enkindled against thy people, whom thou hast brought out of the land of Egypt, with great power, and with a mighty hand?

Ne quæso dicant Ægyptii: Callide eduxit eos, ut interficeret in montibus, et deleret e terra: quiescat ira tua, et esto placabilis super nequitia populi tui.

Wilt thou let the Egyptians say it was but a treacherous deliverance; that thou hadst marked them out for death, here in the mountains, and no trace left of them on earth? Oh let the storm of thy anger pass; pardon thy people’s guilt!

Let not the Egyptians say, I beseech thee: He craftily brought them out, that he might kill them in the mountains, and destroy them from the earth: let thy anger cease, and be appeased upon the wickedness of thy people.

Recordare Abraham, Isaac, et Israël servorum tuorum, quibus jurasti per temetipsum, dicens: Multiplicabo semen vestrum sicut stellas cæli; et universam terram hanc, de qua locutus sum, dabo semini vestro, et possidebitis eam semper.

Remember thy servants Abraham, Isaac and Israel, and the oath thou didst swear by thy own name: I will make your posterity countless as the stars in heaven, and give them all this land of which I spoke to you, to be their everlasting home.

Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, thy servants, to whom thou sworest by thy own self, saying: I will multiply your seed as the stars of heaven: and this whole land that I have spoken of, I will give to your seed, and you shall possess it for ever.

Placatusque est Dominus ne faceret malum quod locutus fuerat adversus populum suum.

So the Lord relented, and spared his people the punishment he had threatened.

And the Lord was appeased from doing the evil which he had spoken against his people.

Et reversus est Moyses de monte, portans duas tabulas testimonii in manu sua, scriptas ex utraque parte,

With that, Moses came down from the mountain, carrying in his hand the two tablets of the law, with writing on either side,

And Moses returned from the mount, carrying the two tables of the testimony in his hand, written on both sides,

et factas opere Dei: scriptura quoque Dei erat sculpta in tabulis.

God’s workmanship; a divine hand had traced the characters they bore.

And made by the work of God: the writing also of God was graven in the tables.

Audiens autem Josue tumultum populi vociferantis, dixit ad Moysen: Ululatus pugnæ auditur in castris.

And now, as the noise of shouting reached him, Josue said to Moses, I hear the cry of battle in the camp.

And Josue hearing the noise of the people shouting, said to Moses: The noise of battle is heard in the camp.

Qui respondit: Non est clamor adhortantium ad pugnam, neque vociferatio compellentium ad fugam: sed vocem cantantium ego audio.

No, said he, this is no sound of triumph or of rout; it is the sound of singing that I hear.

But he answered: It is not the cry of men encouraging to fight, nor the shout of men compelling to flee: but I hear the voice of singers.

Cumque appropinquasset ad castra, vidit vitulum, et choros: iratusque valde, projecit de manu tabulas, et confregit eas ad radicem montis:

Then they drew nearer the camp, and he saw the calf standing there, and the dancing. And so angry was he that he threw down the tablets he held, and broke them against the spurs of the mountain;

And when he came nigh to the camp, he saw the calf, and the dances: and being very angry, he threw the tables out of his hand, and broke them at the foot of the mount:

arripiensque vitulum quem fecerant, combussit, et contrivit usque ad pulverem, quem sparsit in aquam, et dedit ex eo potum filiis Israël.

then he took the calf they had made and threw it on the fire, and beat it into dust; this dust he sprinkled over water, which he made the Israelites drink.

And laying hold of the calf which they had made, he burnt it, and beat it to powder, which he strowed into water, and gave thereof to the children of Israel to drink.

Dixitque ad Aaron: Quid tibi fecit hic populus, ut induceres super eum peccatum maximum?

And he asked Aaron, What harm has this people done thee, that thou hast involved them in such guilt?

And he said to Aaron: What has this people done to thee, that thou shouldst bring upon them a most heinous sin?

Cui ille respondit: Ne indignetur dominus meus: tu enim nosti populum istum, quod pronus sit ad malum:

Do not be angry with me, my lord, said he; thou knowest how the whole bent of this people is towards wrong-doing,

And he answered him: Let not my lord be offended: for thou knowest this people, that they are prone to evil.

dixerunt mihi: Fac nobis deos, qui nos præcedant: huic enim Moysi, qui nos eduxit de terra Ægypti, nescimus quid acciderit.

and it was they who said to me, Fashion us gods to be our leaders. We had a man to lead us, this Moses, when we came away from Egypt, but there is no saying now what has become of him.

They said to me: Make us gods, that may go before us: for as to this Moses, who brought us forth out of the land of Egypt, we know not what is befallen him.

Quibus ego dixi: Quis vestrum habet aurum? Tulerunt, et dederunt mihi: et projeci illud in ignem, egressusque est hic vitulus.

So I asked them, Which of you has any gold in his possession? And they brought what they had, and gave it to me; I cast it into the fire, and this calf was the issue of it.

And I said to them: Which of you hath any gold? and they took and brought it to me: and I cast it into the fire, and this calf came out.

Videns ergo Moyses populum quod esset nudatus (spoliaverat enim eum Aaron propter ignominiam sordis, et inter hostes nudum constituerat),

Moses saw, too, that the people went all unarmed; Aaron had let them strip, in their shameless debauchery, so that they were defenceless against attack.

And when Moses saw that the people were naked, (for Aaron had stripped them by occasion of the shame of the filth, and had set them naked among their enemies,)

et stans in porta castrorum, ait: Si quis est Domini, jungatur mihi. Congregatique sunt ad eum omnes filii Levi:

So he stood there at the gate of the camp, and said, Rally to my side, all that will take the Lord’s part. Then the whole tribe of Levi gathered round them,

Then standing in the gate of the camp, he said: If any man be on the Lord’s side let him join with me. And all the sons of Levi gathered themselves together unto him:

quibus ait: Hæc dicit Dominus Deus Israël: Ponat vir gladium super femur suum: ite, et redite de porta usque ad portam per medium castrorum, et occidat unusquisque fratrem, et amicum, et proximum suum.

and he said, A message to you from the Lord God of Israel. Gird on your swords, and pass to and fro through the middle of the camp, from gate to gate, killing your own brothers, your own friends, your own neighbours.

And he said to them: Thus saith the Lord God of Israel: Put every man his sword upon his thigh: go, and return from gate to gate through the midst of the camp, and let every man kill his brother, and friend, and neighbour.

Feceruntque filii Levi juxta sermonem Moysi, cecideruntque in die illa quasi viginti tria millia hominum.

So the sons of Levi did as Moses bade them, and that day some twenty-three thousand men fell slain.

And the sons of Levi did according to the words of Moses, and there were slain that day about three and twenty thousand men.

Et ait Moyses: Consecrastis manus vestras hodie Domino, unusquisque in filio, et in fratre suo, ut detur vobis benedictio.

To-day, said Moses, at war with your own flesh and blood, you have dedicated your hands to the Lord’s service, and earned his blessing.

And Moses said: You have consecrated your hands this day to the Lord, every man in his son and in his brother, that a blessing may be given to you.

Facto autem altero die, locutus est Moyses ad populum: Peccastis peccatum maximum: ascendam ad Dominum, si quomodo quivero eum deprecari pro scelere vestro.

When the morrow came, Moses told the people, You have sinned heinously; I will go up into the Lord’s presence, and see if I can make amends for your guilt.

And when the next day was come, Moses spoke to the people: You have sinned a very great sin: I will go up to the Lord, if by any means I may be able to entreat him for your crime.

Reversusque ad Dominum, ait: Obsecro, peccavit populus iste peccatum maximum, feceruntque sibi deos aureos: aut dimitte eis hanc noxam,

And so, having recourse to the Lord again, he prayed thus: Thy people have sinned heinously, in making themselves gods of gold. I entreat thee, pardon this offence of theirs;

And returning to the Lord, he said: I beseech thee: this people hath sinned a heinous sin, and they have made to themselves gods of gold: either forgive them this trespass,

aut si non facis, dele me de libro tuo quem scripsisti.

or else blot out my name too from the record thou hast written.

Or if thou do not, strike me out of the book that thou hast written.

Cui respondit Dominus: Qui peccaverit mihi, delebo eum de libro meo:

Whoever sins against me, the Lord answered, shall be blotted out from my record.

And the Lord answered him: He that hath sinned against me, him will I strike out of my book:

tu autem vade, et duc populum istum quo locutus sum tibi: angelus meus præcedet te. Ego autem in die ultionis visitabo et hoc peccatum eorum.

But do thou march on, and lead this people into the land I told thee of, and my angel shall still go before thee. But when the time comes for vengeance, this sin of theirs shall not be forgotten.

But go thou, and lead this people whither I have told thee: my angel shall go before thee. And I in the day of revenge will visit this sin also of theirs.

Percussit ergo Dominus populum pro reatu vituli, quem fecerat Aaron.

The Lord, then, made the people suffer for their wickedness in the matter of the calf Aaron made for them.

The Lord therefore struck the people for the guilt on occasion of the calf which Aaron had made.