⁷The Lord said to Moses, “Go back down there. Your people whom you brought out of Egypt have ruined ⸤everything⸥. ⁸They’ve already turned from the way I commanded them to live. They’ve made a statue of a calf for themselves. They’ve bowed down to it and offered sacrifices to it. They’ve said, ‘Israel, here are your gods who brought you out of Egypt.’ ”

⁹The Lord added, “I’ve seen these people, and they are impossible to deal with. ¹⁰Now leave me alone. I’m so angry with them I am going to destroy them. Then I’ll make you into a great nation.”

¹¹But Moses pleaded with the Lord his God. “Lord,” he said, “why are you so angry with your people whom you brought out of Egypt using your great power and mighty hand? ¹²Don’t let the Egyptians say, ‘He was planning all along to kill them in the mountains and wipe them off the face of the earth. That’s why he brought them out ⸤of our land⸥.’ Don’t be so angry. Reconsider your decision to bring this disaster on your people. ¹³Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac, and Israel. You took an oath, swearing on yourself. You told them, ‘I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky. I will give to your descendants all the land I spoke of. It will be their permanent possession.’ ”

¹⁴So the Lord reconsidered his threat to destroy his people.

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