1 Now when the people saw that Moses delayed coming down from the mountain, the people gathered together to Aaron, and said to him, Arise, make us gods that shall go before us; for 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.
2 And Aaron said to them, Break off the golden earrings which are in the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me.
3 So all the people broke off the golden earrings which were in their ears, and brought them to Aaron.
4 And he took up the gold from their hand, and he fashioned it with an engraving tool after he had made a molten calf. And they said, This is your god, O Israel, that brought you up out of the land of Egypt!
5 And when Aaron saw it, he built an altar before it. And Aaron made a proclamation and said, Tomorrow is a feast unto Jehovah.
6 And they arose early the next day, offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings; and the people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play.
7 And Jehovah said to Moses, Go! Get down! For your people whom you brought up out of the land of Egypt have corrupted themselves.
8 They have quickly turned aside from the way which I commanded them. They have made themselves a molten calf, and bowed down to it and sacrificed to it, and said, This is your god, O Israel, that brought you up out of the land of Egypt!
9 And Jehovah said to Moses, I have seen this people, and behold it is a stiff-necked people!
10 Now therefore, let Me alone, that My wrath may burn against them, that I may consume them. And I will make of you a great nation.
11 And Moses entreated the face of Jehovah his God, and said: Jehovah, why does Your wrath burn against Your people whom You have brought up out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand?
12 Why should the Egyptians speak, and say, He brought them out to harm them, to kill them in the mountains, and to consume them from the face of the earth? Turn away from Your burning wrath, and have compassion regarding this evil to 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 heavens; and all this land that I have spoken of I give to your seed, and they shall always possess it.
14 And Jehovah was moved to compassion from the evil which He had spoken to do unto His people.
15 And Moses turned and went down from the mountain, and the two tablets of the Testimony were in his hand. The tablets were written on both sides; on the one side and on the other they were written.
16 And the tablets were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, engraved on the tablets.
17 And when Joshua heard the sound of the people of their shouting, he said to Moses, It is a sound of war in the camp.
18 And he said: It is not the sound of the shout of victory, nor the sound of the cry of defeat, but the sound of singing I am hearing.
19 And it came to pass, as soon as he came near the camp, and saw the calf and the dancing, that Moses anger was kindled, and he cast the tablets out of his hands and broke them at the base of the mountain.
20 And he took the calf which they had made, burned it with fire, and ground it fine, and scattered it on the water and made the children of Israel drink it.
21 And Moses said to Aaron, What did this people do to you that you have brought so great a sin upon them?
22 And Aaron said, Do not let the anger of my lord be kindled. You know the people, that they are set on evil.
23 For they said to me, Make us gods that 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.
24 And I said to them, Whoever has any gold, let them break it off. So they gave it to me, and I cast it into the fire, and this calf came out.
25 And when Moses saw that the people were lacking restraint (for Aaron had let them loose, to the derision of their enemies),
26 that Moses stood in the gate of the camp, and said, Whoever is for Jehovah, come to me. And all the sons of Levi gathered together to him.
27 And he said to them, Thus says Jehovah the God of Israel: Let every man put his sword on his side, and go and return from gate to gate throughout the camp, and let every man kill his brother, every man his companion, and every man his neighbor.
28 And the sons of Levi did according to the word of Moses. And about three thousand men of the people fell that day.
29 And Moses said, Fulfill your hand today unto Jehovah, that He may bestow upon you a blessing this day, for every man has been against his son and his brother.
30 And it came to pass on the next day that Moses said to the people, You have sinned a great sin. And now I will go up to Jehovah; perhaps I can make atonement for your sin.
31 And Moses returned to Jehovah and said, Oh, these people have sinned a great sin, and have made for themselves a god of gold!
32 Yet now, if You will, take away their sin; and if not, I pray, blot me out of Your book which You have written.
33 And Jehovah said to Moses, Whoever has sinned against Me, I will blot him out of My book.
34 Now therefore, 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 visit, I will punish them for their sin.
35 And Jehovah plagued the people because they had made the calf which Aaron had made.