Exodus 32:11-32

11Then 1Moses pleaded with the Lord his God, and said, “Lord, why does Your anger burn against Your people whom You have brought out from the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand? 12Why should 2the Egyptians talk, saying, ‘With evil motives He brought them out, to kill them on the mountains and to destroy them from the face of the earth’? Turn from Your burning anger and relent of doing harm to Your people. 13Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, Your servants to whom You 3swore by Yourself, and said to them, ‘I will 4multiply your 5descendants as the stars of the heavens, and 6all this land of which I have spoken I will give to your 7descendants, and they shall inherit it forever.’” 148So the Lord relented of the harm which He said He would do to His people.

159Then Moses turned and went down from the mountain with the two tablets of the testimony in his hand, 10tablets which were written on both 11sides; they were written on one side and the other. 16The tablets were God’s work, and the writing was God’s writing engraved on the tablets. 17Now when Joshua heard the sound of the people 12as they shouted, he said to Moses, “There is a sound of war in the camp.” 18But he said, “It is not the sound of the cry of victory, Nor is it the sound of the cry of defeat; But I hear the sound of singing.” 19And it came about, as soon as 13Moses approached the camp, that 14he saw the calf and the people dancing; and Moses’ anger burned, and 15he threw the tablets from his hands and shattered them to pieces 16at the foot of the mountain. 20Then 17he took the calf which they had made and completely burned it with fire, and ground it to powder, and scattered it over the surface of the water and made the sons of Israel drink it.

21Then Moses said to Aaron, “What did this people do to you, that you have brought such a great sin upon them?” 22And Aaron said, “Do not let the anger of my lord burn; you know the people yourself, 18that they are 19prone to evil. 23For 20they said to me, ‘Make 21a god for us who will go before us; for this Moses, the man who brought us up from the land of Egypt--we do not know what happened to him.’ 24So I said to them, ‘Whoever has any gold, let them tear it off.’ Then they gave it to me, and 22I threw it into the fire, and out came this calf.”

25Now when Moses saw that the people were 23out of control--for Aaron had 24let them 25get out of control to the point of being an object of ridicule among 26their enemies-- 26Moses then stood at the gate of the camp, and said, “Whoever is for the Lord, come to me!” And all the sons of Levi gathered together to him. 27And he said to them, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel says: ‘Every man of you put his sword on his thigh, and go back and forth from gate to gate in the camp, and kill every man his brother, and every man his friend, and every man his 27neighbor.’” 28So 28the sons of Levi did 29as Moses instructed, and about three thousand men of the people fell that day. 29Then Moses said, “30Dedicate yourselves today to the Lord--for every man has been against his son and against his brother--in order that He may bestow a blessing upon you today.”

30And on the next day Moses said to the people, “31You yourselves have 32committed a great sin; and now I am going up to the Lord; perhaps I can 33make atonement for your sin.” 31Then Moses returned to the Lord and said, “Oh, this people has 34committed a great sin, and they have made a 35god of gold for themselves! 32But now, if You will forgive their sin, very well; but if not, please wipe me out from Your 36book which You have written!”