Exodus 32:15-35
Then Moses turned and went down from the mountain, carrying the two
tablets of the covenant in his hands, tablets that were written on both
sides, written on the front and on the back. The tablets were the work of
God, and the writing was the writing of God, engraved upon the tablets.
When Joshua heard the noise of the people as they shouted, he said to
Moses, "There is a noise of war in the camp." But he said,
"It is not the sound made by victors,
or the sound made by losers;
it is the sound of revelers that I hear."
As soon as he came near the camp and saw the calf and the dancing, Moses'
anger burned hot, and he threw the tablets from his hands and broke them
at the foot of the mountain. He took the calf that they had made, burned
it with fire, ground it to powder, scattered it on the water, and made the
Israelites drink it. Moses said to Aaron, "What did this people do to you
that you have brought so great a sin upon them?" And Aaron said, "Do not
let the anger of my lord burn hot; you know the people, that they are bent
on evil. They said to me, 'Make us gods, who shall go before us; as for
this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not
know what has become of him.' So I said to them, 'Whoever has gold, take
it off '; so they gave it to me, and I threw it into the fire, and out
came this calf!" When Moses saw that the people were running wild (for
Aaron had let them run wild, to the derision of their enemies), then Moses
stood in the gate of the camp, and said, "Who is on the LORD's side? Come
to me!" And all the sons of Levi gathered around him. He said to them,
"Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, 'Put your sword on your side, each
of you! Go back and forth from gate to gate throughout the camp, and each
of you kill your brother, your friend, and your neighbor.'" The sons of
Levi did as Moses commanded, and about three thousand of the people fell
on that day. Moses said, "Today you have ordained yourselves for the
service of the LORD, each one at the cost of a son or a brother, and so
have brought a blessing on yourselves this day." On the next day Moses
said to the people, "You have sinned a great sin. But now I will go up to
the LORD; perhaps I can make atonement for your sin." So Moses returned
to the LORD and said, "Alas, this people has sinned a great sin; they have
made for themselves gods of gold. But now, if you will only forgive their
sin — but if not, blot me out of the book that you have written." But the
LORD said to Moses, "Whoever has sinned against me I will blot out of my
book. But now go, lead the people to the place about which I have spoken
to you; see, my angel shall go in front of you. Nevertheless, when the
day comes for punishment, I will punish them for their sin."
