¶ And when the people saw that Moses delayed¹ to come down out of the mount, the people gathered themselves together unto Aaron, and said unto him, Up², make³ us gods, which shall⁴ go before us; for as for this Moses, the man⁵ that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we wot⁶ not what is become of him.

⁷And Aaron said unto them, Break off the golden earrings, which are in the ears of your wives, of your sons, and of your daughters, and bring them unto me.

⁸And all the people brake off the golden earrings which were in their ears, and brought them unto Aaron.

And he received them at their hand, and fashioned⁹ it with a graving¹⁰ tool, after he had made it a molten calf¹¹: and they said, These¹² be thy gods, O Israel, which brought¹³ thee up out of the land of Egypt.

And when Aaron¹⁴ saw it, he built an altar before it; and Aaron made proclamation¹⁵, and said, To morrow is a feast¹⁶ to the LORD.

And they rose up early on the morrow, and offered¹⁷ burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings; and the people sat down¹⁸ to eat and to drink, and rose up to play.

¶ And the LORD said unto Moses, Go¹⁹, get thee down; for thy people²⁰, which thou broughtest out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted²¹ themselves:

They have turned²² aside quickly out of the way which I²³ commanded them: they have made them a molten calf, and have worshipped it, and have sacrificed thereunto, and said, These be²⁴ thy gods, O Israel, which have brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.

And the LORD said unto Moses, I have seen²⁵ this people, and, behold, it is a stiffnecked²⁶ people:

¶ Now therefore let me alone²⁷, that my wrath²⁸ may wax hot against them, and that I may consume them: and I will²⁹ make of thee a great nation.

And Moses besought³⁰ the LORD his God³¹, and said, LORD, why doth thy wrath wax hot against thy people, which thou³² hast brought forth out of the land of Egypt with great power, and with a mighty hand?

Wherefore should³³ the Egyptians speak, and say, For mischief did he bring them out, to slay them in the mountains, and to consume them from the face of the earth? Turn from³⁴ thy fierce wrath, and repent³⁵ of this evil against thy people.

Remember³⁶ Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, thy servants, to whom³⁷ thou swarest by thine own self, and saidst unto them, I will multiply³⁸ your seed as the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have spoken of will I give unto your seed, and they shall inherit it for ever.

³⁹And the LORD repented of the evil which he thought to do unto his people.

¶ And Moses turned⁴⁰, and went down from the mount, and the two tables of the testimony⁴¹ were in his hand: the tables were written⁴² on both their sides; on the one side and on the other were they written.

⁴³And the tables were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, graven upon the tables.

And when Joshua⁴⁴ heard the noise of the people as they shouted⁴⁵, he said unto Moses, There is a noise⁴⁶ of war in the camp.

And he said, It is not the voice of them that shout for mastery, neither is it the voice of them that cry for being overcome⁴⁷: but the noise of them that sing do I hear.

And it came to pass, as soon as he came nigh unto the camp, that he saw⁴⁸ the calf, and the dancing⁴⁹: and Moses' anger⁵⁰ waxed hot, and he cast the tables out of his hands, and brake them⁵¹ beneath the mount.

¶ And he took the calf⁵² which they had made, and burnt it in the fire, and ground it to powder, and strawed it upon the water, and made the⁵³ children of Israel drink of it.

¶⁵⁴And Moses said unto Aaron, What did this people unto thee, that thou hast brought so great a sin upon them?

And Aaron said, Let not the anger of my lord wax hot: thou knowest⁵⁵ the people, that they are⁵⁶ set on mischief.

⁵⁷For 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 wot not what is become of him.

And I said unto them, Whosoever hath any gold, let them break it off. So they⁵⁸ gave it me: then I cast it into the fire, and there came out this calf.

And when Moses saw that the people were naked⁵⁹; (for Aaron⁶⁰ had made them naked unto their shame⁶¹ among their enemies⁶²:)

Then Moses stood in the gate of the camp, and said, Who is on⁶³ the LORD'S side? let him come unto me. And all the sons of Levi gathered themselves together unto him.

And 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 slay every man⁶⁴ his brother, and every man his companion, and every man his neighbour.

And the children⁶⁵ of Levi did according to the word of Moses: and there fell⁶⁶ of the people that day about three thousand men.

⁶⁷For Moses⁶⁸ had said, Consecrate⁶⁹ 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.

¶ And it came to pass on the morrow, that Moses said unto the people, Ye have⁷⁰ sinned a great sin: and now I will go up unto the LORD; peradventure⁷¹ I shall make an atonement⁷² for your sin.

And Moses returned⁷³ unto the LORD, and said, Oh, this people have sinned⁷⁴ a great sin, and have made⁷⁵ them gods of gold.

Yet now, if thou⁷⁶ wilt forgive their sin--; and if not, blot me,⁷⁷ I pray thee, out of thy book which thou hast written.

And the LORD said unto Moses, Whosoever hath sinned⁷⁸ against me, him will I blot out of my book⁷⁹.

Therefore now go, lead the people unto the place of which I have spoken unto thee: behold, mine Angel⁸⁰ shall go before thee: nevertheless in the day⁸¹ when I visit I will visit their sin upon them.

⁸²And the LORD plagued the people, because they made the calf, which Aaron made.