Exodus 32:1-14

1And when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mount, the people gathered themselves together to Aaron, and said to him, Arise, make us gods, which shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man that brought us out of the land of Egypt, we know not what is 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 received them at their hand, and fashioned it with an engraving tool, after he had made it a molten calf: and they said, These are thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt. 5And when Aaron saw it, he built an altar before it; and Aaron made proclamation, and said, To morrow is a feast to the LORD. 6And they rose 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, go down; for thy people, which thou broughtest out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves : 8They have turned aside quickly from the way which I commanded them: they have made them a molten calf, and have worshipped it, and have sacrificed to it, and said, These are thy gods, O Israel, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt. 9And the LORD said to Moses, I have seen this people, and, behold, it is a stiffnecked people: 10Now therefore let me alone, that my wrath may burn against them, and that I may consume them: and I will make of thee a great nation. 11And Moses besought the LORD his God, and said, LORD, why doth thy wrath burn against thy people, which thou hast brought forth from the land of Egypt with great power, and with a mighty hand?1 12Why should the Egyptians speak, and say, For evil did he bring them out, to slay them in the mountains, and to consume them from the face of the earth? Turn from thy fierce wrath, and repent of this evil against thy people. 13Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, thy servants, to whom thou sworest by thine own self, and saidst to them, I will multiply your seed as the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have spoken of will I give to your seed, and they shall inherit it for ever. 14And the LORD repented of the evil which he thought to do to his people.