9. The Lord said to Moses, “I have seen these people. I know that they are very stubborn people.
10. So now do not stop me. I am so angry with them that I am going to destroy them. Then I will make you and your descendants a great nation.”
11. But Moses begged the Lord his God. Moses said, “Lord, don’t let your anger destroy your people. You brought these people out of Egypt with your great power and strength.
12. Don’t let the people of Egypt say, ‘The Lord brought the Israelites out of Egypt. But he planned to kill them in the mountains and destroy them from the earth.’ So stop being angry. Don’t destroy your people.
13. Remember the men who served you—Abraham, Isaac and Israel. You promised with an oath to them. You said, ‘I will make your descendants as many as the stars in the sky. I will give your descendants all this land that I have promised them. It will be theirs forever.’”
14. So the Lord changed his mind. He did not destroy the people as he had said he might.
15. Then Moses went down the mountain. In his hands he had the two stone tablets with the agreement on them. The commands were written on both sides of each stone, front and back.
16. God himself had made the stones. And God himself had written the commands on the stones.
17. Then Joshua heard the noise of the people shouting. He said to Moses, “It sounds like war down in the camp.”
18. Moses answered:“It is not an army’s shout of victory.It is not an army’s cry of defeat.It is the sound of singing that I hear.”
19. When Moses came close to the camp, he saw the gold calf and the dancing. He became very angry. He threw down the stone tablets which he was carrying. He broke them at the bottom of the mountain.
20. Then he took the calf that the people had made. He melted it in the fire. And he ground the gold until it became powder. He threw the powder into the water. And he forced the Israelites to drink that water.
21. Moses said to Aaron, “What did these people do to you? Why did you cause them to do such a terrible sin?”
22. Aaron answered, “Don’t be angry, master. You know that these people are always ready to do wrong.
23. The people said to me, ‘Moses led us out of Egypt. But we don’t know what has happened to him. So make us gods who will lead us.’
24. So I told the people, ‘Take off your gold jewelry.’ So they gave me the gold. I threw it into the fire and out came this calf!”
25. Moses saw that the people were acting wildly. He saw that Aaron had let them get out of control. Their enemies would laugh at them.
26. So Moses stood at the entrance to the camp. He said, “Let anyone who wants to follow the Lord come to me.” And all the people from the family of Levi gathered around Moses.