13. The Lord said to me, "I have seen these people. They are so stubborn!
14. Do not try to stop me. I am going to destroy them. I will wipe them out from the earth. Then I will make you into a great nation. Your people will be stronger than they were. There will be more of you than there were of them."
15. So I turned and went down the mountain. It was blazing with fire. I was carrying the two tablets of the covenant.
16. When I looked, I saw that you had sinned against the Lord your God. You had made for yourselves a metal statue of a god. It looked like a calf. You had quickly turned away from the path the Lord had commanded you to follow.
17. So I threw the two tablets out of my hands. You watched them break into pieces.
18. Then once again I fell down flat in front of the Lord with my face toward the ground. I lay there for 40 days and 40 nights. I didn't eat any food or drink any water. You had committed a terrible sin. You had done an evil thing in the Lord's sight. You had made him angry.
19. I was afraid of the Lord's burning anger. He was so angry with you he wanted to destroy you. But the Lord listened to me again.