26. So he stood at the gate of the camp and shouted, “Everyone who is on the Lord's side come over here!” So all the Levites gathered round him,
27. and he said to them, “The Lord God of Israel commands every one of you to put on his sword and go through the camp from this gate to the other and kill his brothers, his friends, and his neighbours.”
28. The Levites obeyed, and killed about 3,000 men that day.
29. Moses said to the Levites, “Today you have consecrated yourselves as priests in the service of the Lord by killing your sons and brothers, so the Lord has given you his blessing.”
30. The next day Moses said to the people, “You have committed a terrible sin. But now I will again go up the mountain to the Lord; perhaps I can obtain forgiveness for your sin.”
31. Moses then returned to the Lord and said, “These people have committed a terrible sin. They have made a god out of gold and worshipped it.
32. Please forgive their sin; but if you won't, then remove my name from the book in which you have written the names of your people.”
33. The Lord answered, “It is those who have sinned against me whose names I will remove from my book.