¹When the people saw that Moses delayed coming down from the mountain , the people gathered themselves together to Aaron, and said to him , “Come , make us gods, which shall go before us ; for as for this Moses , the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt , we don’t know what has become of him .”

²Aaron said to them , “Take off the golden rings , which are in the ears of your wives, of your sons , and of your daughters , and bring them to me .”

³All the people took off the golden rings which were in their ears, and brought them to Aaron.

⁴He received what they handed him , fashioned it with an engraving tool , and made it a moulded calf . Then they said, “These are your gods, Israel , which brought you up out of the land of Egypt .”

⁵When Aaron saw this , he built an altar before it ; and Aaron made a proclamation , and said , “Tomorrow shall be a feast to the LORD .”

⁶They rose up early on the next day , and offered burnt offerings , and brought peace offerings ; and the people sat down to eat and to drink , and rose up to play .

⁷The LORD spoke to Moses , “Go , get down ; for your people , whom you brought up out of the land of Egypt , have corrupted themselves !

⁸They have turned away quickly out of the way which I commanded them . They have made themselves a moulded calf , and have worshipped it , and have sacrificed to it , and said, ‘These are your gods, Israel , which brought you up out of the land of Egypt .’”

⁹The LORD said to Moses , “I have seen these people , and behold , they are a stiff-necked people .

¹⁰Now therefore leave me alone , that my wrath may burn hot against them , and that I may consume them ; and I will make of you a great nation .”

¹¹Moses begged the LORD his God , and said , “LORD , why does your wrath burn hot against your people , that you have brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand ?

¹²Why should the Egyptians talk, saying, ‘He brought them out for evil , to kill them in the mountains , and to consume them from the surface of the earth’? Turn from your fierce wrath , and turn away from 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 offspring as the stars of the sky , and all this land that I have spoken of I will give to your offspring , and they shall inherit it forever .’”[#32:13 or, seed]

¹⁴So the LORD turned away from the evil which he said he would do to his people .

¹⁵Moses turned , and went down from the mountain , with the two tablets of the covenant in his hand ; tablets that were written on both their sides . They were written on one side and on the other .

¹⁶The tablets were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, engraved on the tablets .

¹⁷When Joshua heard the noise of the people as they shouted , he said to Moses , “There is the noise of war in the camp .”

¹⁸He said , “It isn’t the voice of those who shout for victory. It is not the voice of those who cry for being overcome ; but the noise of those who sing that I hear .”

¹⁹As soon as he came near to the camp , he saw the calf and the dancing . Then Moses ’ anger grew hot , and he threw the tablets out of his hands , and broke them beneath the mountain .

²⁰He took the calf which they had made , and burnt it with fire, ground it to powder , and scattered it on the water , and made the children of Israel drink it .

²¹Moses said to Aaron, “What did these people do to you , that you have brought a great sin on them ?”

²²Aaron said, “Don’t let the anger of my lord grow hot . You know the people , that they are set on evil .

²³For they said to me , ‘Make us gods, which shall go before us . As for this Moses , the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt , we don’t know what has become of him .’

²⁴I said to them , ‘Whoever has any gold , let them take it off .’ So they gave it to me ; and I threw it into the fire, and out came this calf .”

²⁵When Moses saw that the people were out of control , (for Aaron had let them lose control , causing derision amongst their enemies ),

²⁶then Moses stood in the gate of the camp , and said, “Whoever is on the LORD ’s side, come to me !”

All the sons of Levi gathered themselves together to him .

²⁷He said to them , “The LORD , the God of Israel , says , ‘Every man put his sword on his thigh , and go back and forth from gate to gate throughout the camp , and every man kill his brother , and every man his companion , and every man his neighbour .’”

²⁸The sons of Levi did according to the word of Moses . About three thousand men fell of the people that day .

²⁹Moses said, “Consecrate yourselves today to the LORD , for every man was against his son and against his brother, that he may give you a blessing today .”

³⁰On the next day , Moses said to the people , “You have sinned a great sin . Now I will go up to the LORD . Perhaps I shall make atonement for your sin .”

³¹Moses returned to the LORD , and said, “Oh, this people have sinned a great sin , and have made themselves gods of gold .

³²Yet now , if you will , forgive their sin —and if not , please blot me out of your book which you have written .”

³³The LORD said to Moses , “Whoever has sinned against me , I will blot him out of my book .

³⁴Now go , lead the people to the place of which I have spoken to you . Behold , my angel shall go before you . Nevertheless , in the day when I punish , I will punish them for their sin .”

³⁵The LORD struck the people , because of what they did with the calf , which Aaron made .