Exodus 32:15–29

¹⁵And Moses turned, and went down from the mount, with the two tables of the testimony in his hand; tables that were written on both their sides; on the one side and on the other were they written. ¹⁶And the tables were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, graven upon the tables. ¹⁷And when Joshua heard the noise of the people as they shouted, he said unto Moses, There is a noise of war in the camp. ¹⁸And he said, It is not the voice of them that shout for mastery, neither is it the voice of them that cry for being overcome; but the noise of them that sing do I hear. ¹⁹And it came to pass, as soon as he came nigh unto the camp, that he saw the calf and the dancing: and Moses’ anger waxed hot, and he cast the tables out of his hands, and brake them beneath the mount. ²⁰And he took the calf which they had made, and burnt it with fire, and ground it to powder, and strewed it upon the water, and made the children of Israel drink of it.

²¹And Moses said unto Aaron, What did this people unto thee, that thou hast brought a great sin upon them? ²²And Aaron said, Let not the anger of my lord wax hot: thou knowest the people, that they are set on evil. ²³For they said unto me, Make us gods, which shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we know not what is become of him. ²⁴And I said unto them, Whosoever hath any gold, let them break it off: so they gave it me; and I cast it into the fire, and there came out this calf.

²⁵And when Moses saw that the people were broken loose, (for Aaron had let them loose for a derision among their enemies,) ²⁶then Moses stood in the gate of the camp, and said, Whoso is on Jehovah’s side, let him come unto me. And all the sons of Levi gathered themselves together unto him. ²⁷And he said unto them, Thus saith Jehovah, the God of Israel, Put ye every man his sword upon his thigh, and go to and fro from gate to gate throughout the camp, and slay every man his brother, and every man his companion, and every man his neighbor. ²⁸And the sons of Levi did according to the word of Moses: and there fell of the people that day about three thousand men. ²⁹And Moses said, Consecrate yourselves to-day to Jehovah, yea, every man against his son, and against his brother; that he may bestow upon you a blessing this day.