When the people saw that Moses had not come down from the mountain, the people gathered around Aaron and told him, “We don’t know what happened to Moses, so make us a god to lead us.” Aaron told them to bring all their gold earrings and melted and poured them into a mold to make a gold bull-calf. The people of Israel said, “This is our god, who brought us out of Egypt!” Then Aaron looked at it, he built an altar before it and announced, “Tomorrow, there will be a festival to honor the Lord.” The next morning, they brought animals to burn sacrifices and to eat as fellowship offerings. The people lively celebrated this feast. The Lord said to Moses, “Go, get down, because your people, whom you have led out of Egypt, have sinned and rejected Me. I know how stubborn these people are. Now don’t try to stop Me. I am angry with them and are going to destroy them. Then I will make you and your descendants into a great nation.”
Moses pleaded with the Lord and asked, “Why should you be so angry with your people? Change your mind and don’t bring this disaster on them. And remember Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, to whom you said about multiplying their descendants like the stars in the sky and giving land as their possession forever.” The Lord turned away from the disaster he had threatened. Moses went back down the mountain, carrying the two written stone tablets with the commandments. Moses said to Joshua, “The sound in the camp doesn’t sound like a shout of victory or a cry of defeat; it's the sound of singing.” When Moses came to the camp, he looked at the bull-calf and the dancing people. He became furious by throwing down the tablets and breaking them near the foot of the mountain. He also took the bull-calf, melted it, ground it into powder, and mixed it with water to make the people of Israel drink it. He said to Aaron, “What did these people do to you that you have made them commit such a terrible sin?” Aaron answered, “Do not be angry with me. You know how determined these people are to do evil.”
Moses stood at the gate of the camp and shouted, “Everyone who is on the Lord’s side, come over here!” So all the Levites gathered around him. He said to them, “The Lord God of Israel commands every one of you to kill your brothers, friends and neighbors.” Levi’s sons obeyed. Moses said to the Levites, “Today you have declared yourselves as priests in the service of the Lord by killing your sons and brothers, so He has given you His blessing.” On the next day, Moses said to the people, “You have committed a terrible sin. But now I will again go up the mountain to the Lord; perhaps I can obtain forgiveness for your sin.” Moses said to the Lord, “Please forgive their sin, but if you won’t, then remove my name from the book in which you have written the names of your people.” The Lord answered Moses, “I will remove the names from My book who have sinned against Me. Go lead the people to the place that I have told you about. Remember that My angel will guide you, but the time is coming when I will punish these people for their sin.” The Lord sent a disease on the people because of the golden bull-calf that Aaron had made.