¹ And when the people saw that Moses was a long time coming down from the mountain, they all came to Aaron and said to him, Come, make us a god to go before us: as for this Moses, who took us up out of the land of Egypt, we have no idea what has become of him.

² Then Aaron said to them, Take off the gold rings which are in the ears of your wives and your sons and your daughters, and give them to me.

³ And all the people took the gold rings from their ears and gave them to Aaron.

⁴ And he took the gold from them and, hammering it with an instrument, he made it into the metal image of a young ox: and they said, This is your god, O Israel, who took you out of the land of Egypt.

⁵ And when Aaron saw this, he made an altar before it, and made a public statement, saying, Tomorrow there will be a feast to the Lord.

⁶ So early on the day after they got up and made burned offerings and peace-offerings; and took their seats at the feast, and then gave themselves to pleasure.

⁷ And the Lord said to Moses, Go down quickly; for your people, whom you took out of the land of Egypt, are turned to evil ways;

⁸ Even now they are turned away from the rule I gave them, and have made themselves a metal ox and given worship to it and offerings, saying, This is your god, O Israel, who took you up out of the land of Egypt.

⁹ And the Lord said to Moses, I have been watching this people, and I see that they are a stiff-necked people.

¹⁰ Now do not get in my way, for my wrath is burning against them; I will send destruction on them, but of you I will make a great nation.

¹¹ But Moses made prayer to God, saying, Lord, why is your wrath burning against your people whom you took out of the land of Egypt, with great power and with the strength of your hand?

¹² Why let the Egyptians say, He took them out to an evil fate, to put them to death on the mountains, cutting them off from the earth? Let your wrath be turned away from them, and send not this evil on your people.

¹³ Have in mind Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your servants, to whom you gave your oath, saying, I will make your seed like the stars of heaven in number, and all this land will I give to your seed, as I said, to be their heritage for ever.

¹⁴ So the Lord let himself be turned from his purpose of sending punishment on his people.

¹⁵ Then Moses came down the mountain with the two stones of the law in his hand; the stones had writing on their two sides, on the front and on the back.

¹⁶ The stones were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, cut on the stones.

¹⁷ Now when the noise and the voices of the people came to the ears of Joshua, he said to Moses, There is a noise of war in the tents.

¹⁸ And Moses said, It is not the voice of men who are overcoming in the fight, or the cry of those who have been overcome; it is the sound of songs which comes to my ear.

¹⁹ And when he came near the tents he saw the image of the ox, and the people dancing; and in his wrath Moses let the stones go from his hands, and they were broken at the foot of the mountain.

²⁰ And he took the ox which they had made, burning it in the fire and crushing it to powder, and he put it in the water and made the children of Israel take a drink of it.

²¹ And Moses said to Aaron, What did the people do to you that you let this great sin come on them?

²² And Aaron said, Let not my lord be angry; you have seen how the purposes of this people are evil.

²³ For they said to me, Make us a god to go before us: as for this Moses, who took us up out of the land of Egypt, we have no idea what has come to him.

²⁴ Then I said to them, Whoever has any gold, let him take it off; so they gave it to me, and I put it in the fire, and this image of an ox came out.

²⁵ And Moses saw that the people were out of control, for Aaron had let them loose to their shame before their haters:

²⁶ Then Moses took his place at the way into the tents, and said, Whoever is on the Lord's side, let him come to me. And all the sons of Levi came together to him.

²⁷ And he said to them, This is the word of the Lord, the God of Israel: Let every man take his sword at his side, and go from one end of the tents to the other, putting to death his brother and his friend and his neighbour.

²⁸ And the sons of Levi did as Moses said; and about three thousand of the people were put to death that day.

²⁹ And Moses said, You have made yourselves priests to the Lord this day; for every one of you has made the offering of his son and his brother; the blessing of the Lord is on you this day.

³⁰ And on the day after, Moses said to the people, Great has been your sin: but I will go up to the Lord, and see if I may get forgiveness for your sin.

³¹ Then Moses went back to the Lord and said, This people has done a great sin, making themselves a god of gold;

³² But now, if you will give them forgiveness--but if not, let my name be taken out of your book.

³³ And the Lord said to Moses, Whoever has done evil against me will be taken out of my book.

³⁴ But now, go, take the people into that place of which I have given you word; see, my angel will go before you: but when the time of my judging has come, I will send punishment on them for their sin.

³⁵ And the Lord sent punishment on the people because they gave worship to the ox which Aaron made.

¹ When the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain, the people gathered themselves together to Aaron, and said to him, "Come, make us gods, which shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we don't know what has become of him."

² Aaron said to them, "Take off the golden rings, which are in the ears of your wives, of your sons, and of your daughters, and bring them to me."

³ All the people took off the golden rings which were in their ears, and brought them to Aaron.

⁴ He received what they handed him, and fashioned it with an engraving tool, and made it a molten calf; and they said, "These are your gods, Israel, which brought you up out of the land of Egypt."

⁵ When Aaron saw this, he built an altar before it; and Aaron made a proclamation, and said, "Tomorrow shall be a feast to Yahweh."

⁶ They rose up early on the next day, and offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings; and the people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to play.

⁷ Yahweh spoke to Moses, "Go, get down; for your people, who you brought up out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves!

⁸ They have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them. They have made themselves a molten calf, and have worshiped it, and have sacrificed to it, and said, 'These are your gods, Israel, which brought you up out of the land of Egypt.'"

⁹ Yahweh said to Moses, "I have seen these people, and behold, they are a stiff-necked people.

¹⁰ Now therefore leave me alone, that my wrath may burn hot against them, and that I may consume them; and I will make of you a great nation."

¹¹ Moses begged Yahweh his God, and said, "Yahweh, why does your wrath burn hot against your people, that you have brought forth out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand?

¹² Why should the Egyptians speak, saying, 'He brought them forth for evil, to kill them in the mountains, and to consume them from the surface of the earth?' Turn from your fierce wrath, and repent of this evil against your people.

¹³ Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your servants, to whom you swore by your own self, and said to them, 'I will multiply your seed as the stars of the sky, and all this land that I have spoken of I will give to your seed, and they shall inherit it forever.'"

¹⁴ Yahweh repented of the evil which he said he would do to his people.

¹⁵ Moses turned, and went down from the mountain, with the two tablets of the testimony in his hand; tablets that were written on both their sides; on the one side and on the other they were written.

¹⁶ The tablets were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, engraved on the tables.

¹⁷ When Joshua heard the noise of the people as they shouted, he said to Moses, "There is the noise of war in the camp."

¹⁸ He said, "It isn't the voice of those who shout for victory, neither is it the voice of those who cry for being overcome; but the noise of those who sing that I hear."

¹⁹ It happened, as soon as he came near to the camp, that he saw the calf and the dancing: and Moses' anger grew hot, and he threw the tablets out of his hands, and broke them beneath the mountain.

²⁰ He took the calf which they had made, and burnt it with fire, ground it to powder, and scattered it on the water, and made the children of Israel drink of it.

²¹ Moses said to Aaron, "What did these people do to you, that you have brought a great sin on them?"

²² Aaron said, "Don't let the anger of my lord grow hot. You know the people, that they are set on evil.

²³ For they said to me, 'Make us gods, which shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we don't know what has become of him.'

²⁴ I said to them, 'Whoever has any gold, let them take it off:' so they gave it to me; and I threw it into the fire, and out came this calf."

²⁵ When Moses saw that the people had broken loose, (for Aaron had let them loose for a derision among their enemies),

²⁶ then Moses stood in the gate of the camp, and said, "Whoever is on Yahweh's side, come to me!" All the sons of Levi gathered themselves together to him.

²⁷ He said to them, "Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel, 'Every man put his sword on his thigh, and go back and forth from gate to gate throughout the camp, and every man kill his brother, and every man his companion, and every man his neighbor.'"

²⁸ The sons of Levi did according to the word of Moses: and there fell of the people that day about three thousand men.

²⁹ Moses said, "Consecrate yourselves today to Yahweh, yes, every man against his son, and against his brother; that he may bestow on you a blessing this day."

³⁰ It happened on the next day, that Moses said to the people, "You have sinned a great sin. Now I will go up to Yahweh. Perhaps I shall make atonement for your sin."

³¹ Moses returned to Yahweh, and said, "Oh, this people have sinned a great sin, and have made themselves gods of gold.

³² Yet now, if you will, forgive their sin--and if not, please blot me out of your book which you have written."

³³ Yahweh said to Moses, "Whoever has sinned against me, him will I blot out of my book.

³⁴ Now go, lead the people to the place of which I have spoken to you. Behold, my angel shall go before you. Nevertheless in the day when I punish, I will punish them for their sin."

³⁵ Yahweh struck the people, because they made the calf, which Aaron made.