9. I went up on the mountain to receive the stone tablets. The tablets were the agreement the Lord had made with you. I stayed on the mountain for 40 days and 40 nights. I did not eat bread or drink water.
10. The Lord gave me two stone tablets. God had written on them with his own finger. On them were all the commands of the Lord. He gave them to you on the mountain out of the fire. This was on the day you were gathered there.
11. Then the 40 days and 40 nights were over. And the Lord gave me the two stone tablets. Those tablets had the agreement on them.
12. Then the Lord told me, “Get up. Go down quickly from here. The people you brought out from Egypt are ruining themselves. They have quickly turned away from what I commanded. They have made an idol for themselves.”
13. The Lord said to me, “I have watched these people. They are very stubborn!
14. Get away. I will destroy them. I will make the whole world forget who they are. Then I will make another nation from you. It will be bigger and stronger than they are.”
15. So I turned and came down the mountain. The mountain was burning with fire. And the two stone tablets with the agreement were in my hands.
16. When I looked, I saw you had sinned against the Lord your God. You had made an idol in the shape of a calf. You had quickly turned away from what the Lord had told you to do.
17. So I took the two stone tablets and threw them down. I broke them into pieces right in front of you.
18. Then I again bowed facedown on the ground before the Lord. I did this for 40 days and 40 nights. I did not eat bread or drink water. You had sinned by doing what the Lord said was evil. You made him angry.
19. I was afraid of the Lord’s anger and rage. He was angry enough with you to destroy you. But the Lord listened to me again.