While Joseph Smith made changes to Exo 32, mainly changing the texts that speak of God “repenting” to the Israelites repenting, Joseph maintained the themes of God being propitiated as a result of Moses’ intercession a d his changing his mind and resolve to destroy the Israelites en toto. JST: Exo 32:1, 12, 14, 23, 35 reads as follows:
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 know not what is become of him. . . . 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. Thy people will repent of this evil; therefore come
thou not out against them. . . . And the Lord said unto Moses, If they will
repent of the evil which they have done, I will spare them, and turn away my
fierce wrath; but, behold, thou shalt execute judgment upon all that will not
repent of this evil this day. Therefore, see thou do this thing that I have
commanded thee, or I will execute all that which I had thought to do unto my
people. . . . 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
know not what is become of him. . . . And the Lord plagued the people, because
they worshipped the calf, which Aaron made.
In Old Testament Manuscript 2,
page 69, we read the following:
XXXII, Chapter
1st
Verse (“Know”) <note> which <Should> [in]<be> in the
place of “wot” in all places Thy people will repent of this evil
therefore come <thou> not out against them And the
lord turned from his firce wrath and Aaron and all the people repented
of the evil which they had thought to do unto Mosses and the Lord came not out
against them to cut them off
23 (Know
signifies wot in all places)
12
Verse thy <people> will repent of
this evil therefore come thou not out against them
4th
and the Lord said unto Mos[s]<e>s,
if they will repent of the evil which they have done, I will spare them, and
turn away my fierce wrath; but, behold[,]<,> thou shalt execute judgment
[a]<u>pon all that will not repent of this evil this day. Therefore,
<see> thou do this thing that I have com-manded thee, or I will exicute
all that which I had thought to do unto my people,
35
"worshiped
