1And when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain, then the people gathered themselves to Aaron, and they said to him, "Up! Make us gods which shall go before us, for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him." 2And Aaron said to them, "Break off the golden earrings which are in the ears of your wives, of your sons, and of your daughters, and bring them to me." 3And all the people broke off the golden earrings which were in their ears, and brought them to Aaron. 4And he took them from their hand, and fashioned it with an engraving tool, and made a molten calf. And they said, "These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt." 5And when Aaron saw the calf, he built an altar before it. And Aaron made a proclamation and said, "Tomorrow is a feast to the LORD." 6And they rose up early on the next morning, 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 to Moses, "Go! Get you down, for your people, whom you brought 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 worshiped it, and have sacrificed to it, and said, 'These are your gods, O Israel, who have brought you up out of the land of Egypt. ' " 9And the LORD said to Moses, "I have seen this people, and behold, it is a stiffnecked people. 10And now leave Me alone, so that My wrath may burn hot against them and that I may consume them. And I will make of you a great nation."

11And Moses prayed to the LORD his God, and said, "LORD, why does Your wrath burn hot against Your people whom You have brought forth out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand? 12Why should the Egyptians speak and say, 'He brought them out with an evil intent, to kill them in the mountains and to consume them from the face of the earth'? Turn from Your fierce wrath, and repent of this evil against Your people. 13Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, Your servants, to whom You swore by Your own self, and said to them, 'I will multiply your seed as the stars of the heavens, and all this land that I have spoken of will I give to your seed, and they shall inherit it forever. ' " 14And the LORD repented of the evil which He spoke of doing to His people.

15And Moses turned, and went down from the mountain, and the two tablets of the testimony were in his hand: the tablets were written on both their sides; on the one side and on the other. 16And the tablets were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God. It was engraved upon the tablets. 17And Joshua heard the voice of the people in their shouting. And he said to Moses, "A sound of war in the camp!"

18And he said, "It is not a sound of a cry of victory, nor a sound of the cry of defeat. I am hearing the sound of singing."

19And it came to pass, as soon as he came near to the camp and saw the calf and dancing, then Moses' anger burned hot, and he threw the tablets out of his hands, and broke them at the bottom of the mountain. 20And he took the calf which they had made and burned it in the fire, and pulverized it to powder, and scattered it upon the water, and made the children of Israel drink of it.

21And Moses said to Aaron, "What did this people do to you that you have brought so great a sin upon them?" 22And Aaron said, "Let not the anger of my lord burn hot. You know the people, that they are set on mischief, 23For they said to me, 'Make us gods who shall go before us; as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him. ' 24And I said to them, 'Whoever has any gold, let them break it off. ' And they gave it to me, and I threw 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 to their shame among their enemies), 26Then Moses stood in the gate of the camp and said, "Who is on the LORD'S side? Come to me." And all the sons of Levi gathered themselves to him. 27And he said to them, "Thus says the LORD God of Israel, 'Each man put his sword by his side, and go in and out from gate to gate throughout the camp, and kill each one his brother, and each one his companion, and each one his neighbor. ' " 28And the sons 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 today to the LORD--even though it has been at the cost of a son or a brother--in order that He may give you a blessing today."

30And it came to pass on the next day, Moses said to the people, "You have sinned a great sin. And now I will go up to the LORD. Perhaps I shall make an atonement for your sin." 31And Moses returned to the LORD, and said, "Oh, these people have sinned a great sin, and have made themselves gods of gold! 32And now if You would only forgive their sin! And if not, I pray You, blot me out of Your book which You have written." 33And the LORD said to Moses, "Whoever has sinned against Me, I will blot him out of My book. 34And now go, lead the people to the place of which I have spoken to you. Behold, My angel shall go before you. And in the day of My visitation I will visit their sin upon them." 35And the LORD plagued the people because they made the calf, which Aaron made.