So Moses returned to the LORD and said, “Oh, what a great sin these people have committed! They have made gods of gold for themselves.
Parallel translations
- WEB Moses returned to Yahweh, and said, “Oh, this people have sinned a great sin, and have made themselves gods of gold.
- KJV And Moses returned unto the LORD, and said, Oh, this people have sinned a great sin, and have made them gods of gold.
- NKJV Then Moses returned to the Lord and said, “Oh, these people have committed a great sin, and have made for themselves a god of gold!
- NASB Then Moses returned to the Lord and said, “Oh, this people has committed a great sin, and they have made a god of gold for themselves!
- NLT So Moses returned to the Lord and said, “Oh, what a terrible sin these people have committed. They have made gods of gold for themselves.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Moses returns to God and frankly confesses Israel's great sin of idolatry. True intercession does not excuse sin but acknowledges it before God.
Overview
Moses does not minimize the offense but names it as a great sin against the Lord. Honest confession is the necessary ground on which mercy is sought. His intercession models how believers may bring even grievous sin before God, trusting in His mercy rather than denying guilt.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 11
- Exod 20:23You are not to make any gods alongside Me; you are not to make for yourselves gods of silver or gold.
- Dan 9:11All Israel has transgressed Your law and turned away, refusing to obey Your voice; so the oath and the curse written in the Law of Moses the servant of God has been poured out on us, because we have sinned against You.
- Dan 9:8O LORD, we are covered with shame—our kings, our leaders, and our fathers—because we have sinned against You.
- Exod 32:30The next day Moses said to the people, “You have committed a great sin. Now I will go up to the LORD; perhaps I can make atonement for your sin.”
- Ezra 9:15O LORD, God of Israel, You are righteous! For we remain this day as a remnant. Here we are before You in our guilt, though because of it no one can stand before You.”
- Exod 34:28So Moses was there with the LORD forty days and forty nights without eating bread or drinking water. He wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant—the Ten Commandments.
- Ezra 9:6–7and said: “O my God, I am ashamed and embarrassed to lift up my face to You, my God, because our iniquities are higher than our heads, and our guilt has reached the heavens.
- Dan 9:5we have sinned and done wrong. We have acted wickedly and rebelled. We have turned away from Your commandments and ordinances.
- Exod 20:4You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in the heavens above, on the earth below, or in the waters beneath.
- Neh 9:33You are just in all that has befallen us, because You have acted faithfully, while we have acted wickedly.
- Deut 9:18–19Then I fell down before the LORD for forty days and forty nights, as I had done the first time. I did not eat bread or drink water because of all the sin you had committed in doing what was evil in the sight of the LORD and provoking Him to anger.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
The Passover lamb whose blood turns away death, the exodus through the sea, the manna, the rock, and the tabernacle where God dwells with his people all foreshadow Jesus — our Passover, our redemption, the bread from heaven, and God-with-us in the flesh.
How Exodus 32:31 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.