32 Meanwhile, the people had noticed that Mosheh (Moses) had been up on the mountain for a long time, so they gathered themselves around Aharon (Aaron) and told him, “Come on. Make some gods for us that can go ahead of us, because we don’t know what’s happened to that Mosheh—the man[fn] who brought us out of Mitsrayim (Egypt).”[ref]

2 Aharon replied, “Go and get the gold earrings off your wives and your sons and daughters, and bring them to me.” 3 So the people took off all their gold earrings and brought them to Aharon, 4 and he took them and smelted and crafted the gold into the form of a young bull. Then the people said, “These are your gods,[fn] Yisrael (Israel), who brought you out of Mitsrayim.”[ref]

5 When Aharon saw that, he built an altar in front of the bull and announced, “Tomorrow will be a festival to honour Yahweh.” 6 So they got up early the next day and offered burnt offerings and brought peace offerings. Then the people sat down to eat and drink, then stood up to make merry.[ref]

7 Then Yahweh told Mosheh, “Go on down because your people that you brought out of Mitsrayim have gone bad—8 they’ve quickly deviated from what I instructed them. They’ve made a metal bull for themselves and have bowed down to it and sacrificed to it and they’ve said, ‘Yisrael, these are your gods that brought you out of Mitsrayim.’ ” 9 Then Yahweh said to Mosheh, “I’ve seen this people, and look, they’re so stubborn. 10 So leave me alone now and let my anger rage against them. I will destroy them and make you into a great nation.” 11 But Mosheh pleaded with his god Yahweh and asked, “Yahweh, why are you angry at your people that you have brought out of Mitsrayim with your incredible power and actions?[ref] 12 If you did that, the Mitsrim (Egyptians) would say, ‘Ha, he brought them out with evil plans to kill them in the mountains and to destroy them from off the earth.’ Turn from your anger and repent from any idea of doing evil to your people. 13 Remember Avraham and Yitshak (Isaac) and Yisrael—your servants that you swore to them yourself and told them, ‘I will cause your descendants to increase like the stars in the sky, and I will give your descendants all this land which I told you about, and they will inherit it forever.’ ”[ref] 14 So Yahweh repented from the evil that he’d said he’d do to his people.

15 Then Mosheh turned and went down the mountain carrying the two tablets with the transcript. The tablets were engraved on both sides—front and back. 16 They were God’s work—it was his writing and he had inscribed it on the tablets. 17 As they descended, Yehoshua (Joshua) heard the sounds of people shouting and said to Mosheh, “It sounds like a war going on down there in the camp!” 18 But Mosheh responded, “It’s not a victory march, and it’s not moans of defeat—it’s singing that I can hear!” 19 Then as they approached the camp, they saw the bull and the dancing, and Mosheh got very angry and threw the tablets down at the bottom of the mountain and they shattered. 20 He took the bull they had made and burnt it in the fire, then he ground it down until it was powder and sprinkled it on top of pots of water and made the Israelis drink it.

21 Then Mosheh demanded from Aharon (Aaron), “What did these people do to you to make you bring such a terrible sin on them?” 22 Aharon responded, “Don’t be angry with me, my master. You know the people—they’re intent on evil. 23 They insisted, saying, ‘Make a god for us to lead us. As for that Mosheh—the man that brought us out of Mitsrayim (Egypt)—we don’t know what’s happened to him.’ 24 So I told them, ‘Anyone who has gold jewellery, take it off yourself,’ and they gave it to me and I threw it into the fire, and this bull came out.”

25 Mosheh saw that the people were out of control because Aharon had let them go wild, and now they were subject to mockery from any group that stood up against them. 26 Then Mosheh stood at the camp entrance and asked, “Anyone who’s for Yahweh, come to me.” And all the men from the clan of Levi gathered around him. 27 Then he told them, “This is what Yahweh, the god of Yisrael (Israel), says: ‘Each man must strap his sword on his side. Pass through and return from gate to gate in the camp and kill the unfaithful men—even if it’s your brother, or friend, or neighbour.’ ” 28 The Levite men did what Mosheh ordered and they killed about three thousand Israeli men that day. 29 Then Mosheh told them, “Consecrate yourselves to Yahweh today, because any man who stood against his son or his brother today has placed a blessing on himself.”

30 The next day, Mosheh told the people, “You all have committed a terrible sin, but now I will go up to Yahweh—perhaps I can atone for your sin.” 31 So Mosheh returned to Yahweh and said, “Please, these people have committed a terrible sin and made gods for themselves out of gold. 32 But now, maybe you’ll forgive their sin, but if not, please blot me out of your book that you’ve written.”[ref] 33 But Yahweh said to Mosheh, “It’s anyone who sinned against me that I’ll blot out of my book. 34 So go now and lead the people to where I’ve spoken to you. See, my angel will go ahead of you, but on the day that I settle accounts, then I’ll punish them for their sin.”

35 Then Yahweh sent deadly diseases onto the people because they had got Aharon (Aaron) to make the gold bull.

7 Never forget how you provoked your god Yahweh to get angry in the wilderness—you’ve been rebellious towards him the whole time from when you left Mitsrayim (Egypt) until your arrival here. 8 Even at Horev you made Yahweh angry, in fact he was angry enough to destroy you. 9 When I went up the mountain to receive the stone tablets containing Yahweh’s agreement with you, I stayed up on the mountain for forty days and nights without eating or drinking.[ref] 10 Then Yahweh gave me the two stone tablets that had been written by God’s finger. They had the words spoken to you by Yahweh out from the fire on the mountain on the day of that assembly. 11 Then finally at the end of those forty days and nights, Yahweh gave me those two stone tablets with the agreement written on them.

12 Then he told me, ‘Now hurry and go down quickly from here, because your people who you brought out from Mitsrayim, have become corrupted. They didn’t take at all long to turn away from following my instructions—they’ve already made a metal idol for themselves.’

13 Additionally, Yahweh said to me, ‘I’ve noticed that this group of people is very stubborn. 14 Move away and I’ll destroy them so they’ll never be remembered again, and I’ll make your descendants into a more powerful and more prestigious nation than they ever were.’

15 So I turned and headed back down the mountain that was still burning with fire, carrying the two tablets with the agreement written on them. 16 Then I looked, and wow, you certainly had disobeyed your god Yahweh. You’d cast a metal calf. You’d turned so quickly from the instructions that Yahweh had given you. 17 I grabbed those two stone tablets and threw them to the ground—shattering them right in front of your eyes. 18 Then I lay on the ground in front of Yahweh for forty days and nights without eating or drinking because of how you’d disobeyed Yahweh—doing evil things that provoked him into being angry. 19 Yes, I was afraid that in his terrible anger, Yahweh might destroy you,[ref] but he listened to me at that time. 20 Yahweh was angry enough to want to destroy Aharon (Aaron), but I also interceded for him at that time. 21 I took that symbol of your disobedience—that calf idol that you all had made—and threw it into the fire, then I crushed it and ground it into dust, and threw the dust into the mountain stream.

22 ⇔You all also provoked Yahweh to get angry at Tav’erah,[ref] at Masah,[ref] and at Kivrot-Hata’avah.[ref] 23 Also when Yahweh sent you all from Kadesh-Barnea,[ref] saying, ‘Go in and take possession of the land that I’ve given to you,’[ref] but you rebelled against your god Yahweh’s words, and you didn’t believe him and didn’t do what he said.[ref] 24 You’ve all been rebellious against Yahweh since the day I knew you back in Mitsrayim (Egypt).

25 So I lay on the ground in Yahweh’s presence for forty days and nights, because he said he’d destroy you all, 26 and I prayed, ‘My master Yahweh, these people belong to you. Don’t destroy them—they are people who you rescued and brought out of Mitsrayim by using your strength and power. 27 Don’t forget what you promised your servants Avraham, Yitshak (Isaac), and Ya’akov (Jacob). Overlook the stubbornness, wickedness, and disobedience of these people 28 so that the people of Mitsrayim where we were brought out from don’t say that you weren’t able to bring them to the land that you’d promised to give to them. They’ll say that you took them into the desert to kill them there because you hated them. 29 But they are your people and your inheritance, who you brought out of Mitsrayim using your strength and power.’