9. Moses, I have seen how stubborn these people are,
10. and I'm angry enough to destroy them, so don't try to stop me. But I will make your descendants into a great nation.
11. Moses tried to get the Lord God to change his mind:Our Lord, you used your mighty power to bring these people out of Egypt. Now don't become angry and destroy them.
12. If you do, the Egyptians will say that you brought your people out here into the mountains just to get rid of them. Please don't be angry with your people. Don't destroy them!
13. Remember the solemn promise you made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. You promised that some day they would have as many descendants as there are stars in the sky and that you would give them land.
14. So even though the Lord had threatened to destroy the people, he changed his mind and let them live.
15-16. Moses went back down the mountain with the two flat stones on which God had written all his laws with his own hand, and he had used both sides of the stones.
17. When Joshua heard the noisy shouts of the people, he said to Moses, “A battle must be going on down in the camp.”
18. But Moses replied, “It doesn't sound like they are shouting because they have won or lost a battle. They are singing wildly!”
19. As Moses got closer to the camp, he saw the idol, and he also saw the people dancing around. This made him so angry that he threw down the stones and broke them to pieces at the foot of the mountain.
20. He melted the idol the people had made, and he ground it into powder. He scattered it in their water and made them drink it.
21. Moses asked Aaron, “What did these people do to harm you? Why did you make them sin in this terrible way?”
22. Aaron answered:Don't be angry with me. You know as well as I do that they are determined to do evil.
23. They even told me, “That man Moses led us out of Egypt, but now we don't know what has happened to him. Make us a god to lead us.”
24. Then I asked them to bring me their gold earrings. They took them off and gave them to me. I threw the gold into a fire, and out came this bull.