Exodus 32:15–29

¹⁵And ^xMoses turned, and went down from the mount, and the two tables of the Testimony were in his hand: the tables were written on both their sides; on the one side and on the other were they written. ¹⁶And the ^ytables were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, graven upon the tables. ¹⁷And when ^zJoshua 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 ^ashout for mastery, neither is it the voice of them that ^acry for being overcome: but the noise of them that ^asing do I hear. ¹⁹And it came to pass, as soon as he came nigh unto the camp, that ^bhe 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 in the fire, and ground it to powder, and strawed it upon the water, and made the children of Israel drink of it. ²¹And Moses said unto Aaron, ^cWhat did this people unto thee, that thou hast brought so great a sin upon them? ²²And Aaron said, Let not the anger of my lord wax hot: ^dthou knowest the people, that they are set on mischief. ²³For they said unto me, ^eMake 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 wot not what is become of him. ²⁴And I said unto them, ^fWhosoever hath any gold, let them break it off. So they gave it me: then I cast it into the fire, and there came out this calf. ²⁵And when Moses saw that the people were naked; (for Aaron ^ghad made them naked unto their shame amongst their enemies:) ²⁶then Moses stood in the gate of the camp, and said, Who is on the Lord’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 the Lord God of Israel, Put every man his sword by his side, and go in and out from gate to gate throughout the camp, and ^hslay every man his brother, and every man his companion, and every man his neighbour. ²⁸And the children of Levi did according to the word of Moses: and there fell of the people that day about three thousand men. ²⁹ⁱFor Moses had said, Consecrate yourselves to day to the Lord, even every man upon his son, and upon his brother; that he may bestow upon you a blessing this day.