Exodus 32:19-35

19Then Moses arrived at the camp. He saw the gold calf. He saw that the people were dancing. He became very angry. He threw the two flat stones that he was carrying onto the ground. He broke them into pieces there at the bottom of the mountain.

20Then he took the image of the calf that they had made. He burned it in the fire. He beat it into powder. He mixed the powder with the people's water. Then he commanded the Israelites to drink it.

21Moses said to Aaron, ‘Why did you agree to do this? What did the people do to you? You have made them guilty of a great sin.’

22Aaron answered, ‘My lord, please do not be so angry with me. You know how quickly these people decide to do wicked things.

23They said to me, “Make us some gods that will lead us. This man Moses brought us here out of Egypt. But now we do not know what has happened to him.”

24So I said to them, “Everyone who has any gold rings must remove them.” So they gave the gold to me. I threw it into the fire. Then this image of a calf came out of the fire!’

25Moses saw that the people were running about everywhere. Aaron had not been able to control them. If their enemies could see them, they would see how foolish they were.

26So Moses stood at the edge of the camp. He said, ‘Everyone who decides to serve the Lord must come here to me.’ Then all the Levites went to stand near Moses.

27Then Moses said to the Levites, ‘The Lord, Israel's God, says this: Each one of you must take his sword in his hand. You must go everywhere in the camp, from this side to the other side. You must kill everyone, even your brothers, your friends and your neighbours.’

28The Levites obeyed Moses' command. About 3,000 Israelites died on that day.

29Then Moses said to the Levites, ‘You have shown today that you want to serve the Lord. You have become his special servants because you have obeyed him. You have agreed to kill even your own sons and brothers. God has blessed you because of this.’

30On the next day, Moses said to the people, ‘You have done a great sin. But now I will go back up the mountain. I will speak to the Lord. Perhaps I can do something so that the Lord will forgive your sin.’

31So Moses returned to the Lord. He said to the Lord, ‘Please listen to me. These people have done a very great sin. They have made a gold idol to worship as their god.

32But now I ask you to forgive them for their sin. But if you will not do that, then please remove my name from your book.’

33The Lord answered Moses, ‘I will only remove the names of the people who have turned against me.

34Now go! Lead the Israelites to the place that I have told you about. My angel will go in front of you. But on the day for punishment, I will certainly punish them for their sin.’

35The Lord did send a bad disease to punish the people. He punished them because they had caused Aaron to make an image of a calf.