Exodus 32:21-28

21Finally, he turned to Aaron and demanded, “What did these people do to you to make you bring such terrible sin upon them?”

22“Don’t get so upset, my lord,” Aaron replied. “You yourself know how evil these people are.

23They said to me, ‘Make us gods who will lead us. We don’t know what happened to this fellow Moses, who brought us here from the land of Egypt.’

24So I told them, ‘Whoever has gold jewelry, take it off.’ When they brought it to me, I simply threw it into the fire—and out came this calf!”

25Moses saw that Aaron had let the people get completely out of control, much to the amusement of their enemies.

26So he stood at the entrance to the camp and shouted, “All of you who are on the Lord’s side, come here and join me.” And all the Levites gathered around him.

27Moses told them, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: Each of you, take your swords and go back and forth from one end of the camp to the other. Kill everyone—even your brothers, friends, and neighbors.”

28The Levites obeyed Moses’ command, and about 3,000 people died that day.