Exodus 32:15–29

¹⁵Moses turned and went down the mountain carrying the two tablets with God’s words. They were written on both sides, front and back. ¹⁶The tablets were the work of God, and the writing was God’s writing inscribed on the tablets. 

¹⁷Then Joshua heard the noise of the people shouting. He said to Moses, “It’s the sound of war in the camp!” 

¹⁸Moses replied, 

“It’s not the sound of winners shouting. 

It’s not the sound of losers crying. 

It’s the sound of a wild celebrationthat I hear.” 

¹⁹When he came near the camp, he saw the calf and the dancing. In a burst of anger Moses threw down the tablets and smashed them at the foot of the mountain. ²⁰Then he took the calf they had made, burned it, ground it into powder, scattered it on the water, and made the Israelites drink it. 

²¹Moses asked Aaron, “What did these people do to you that you encouraged them to commit such a serious sin?” 

²²“Don’t be angry, sir,” Aaron answered. “You know that these people are evil. ²³They said to me, ‘We don’t know what’s happened to this Moses who brought us out of Egypt. Make gods for us. They will lead us.’ ²⁴So I told them to take off any gold they were wearing. They gave it to me. I threw it into the fire, and out came this calf!” 

²⁵Aaron had let the people get out of control, and they became an object of ridicule to their enemies. When Moses saw this, ²⁶he stood at the entrance to the camp and said, “If you’re on the Lord’s side, come over here to me!” Then all the Levites gathered around him. 

²⁷He said to them, “This is what the Lord God of Israel says: Each of you put on your sword. Go back and forth from one end of the camp to the other, and kill your relatives, friends, and neighbors.” 

²⁸The Levites did what Moses told them, and that day about 3,000 people died. 

²⁹Moses said, “Today you are ordained as the Lord’s priests. God gave you a blessing today because each of you fought with your own sons and brothers.”^c