¹But when people saw that Moses had delayed in coming down from the mountain, the people assembled to Aaron and said to him, “Get up and make us gods which will go before us. For as for this man Moses – who brought us up out of the land of Egypt – we do not know what has become of him.” ²Then Aaron said to them, “Break off the golden earrings which are on the ears of your wives, your sons and your daughters, and bring them to me.” ³So all the people broke off the golden rings which were on their ears, and they brought them to Aaron. ⁴And he took them from their hands, and he fashioned them with an engraving tool, and he had them make them into a cast calf, and they said, “These are your gods, O Israel, which brought you up out of the land of Egypt.” ⁵And Aaron saw it, and he built an altar in front of it, and Aaron called out and said, “Tomorrow is a festival to the Lord.” ⁶Then they got up early on the next day and made burnt offerings and presented peace-offerings, and the people sat to eat and to drink, and they arose to make sport. ⁷And the Lord said to Moses, “Go, go down, for your people whom you brought up out of the land of Egypt have acted perversely. ⁸They have quickly departed from the way which I commanded them. They have made themselves a cast calf and have worshipped it and sacrificed to it, and they have said, ‘These are your gods, O Israel, which brought you up out of the land of Egypt.’ ” ⁹Then the Lord said to Moses, “I have seen this people, and the conclusion is that it is a stiff-necked people. ¹⁰So now, leave me, and my anger will be kindled against them, and I will consume them, but I will make you a great people.” ¹¹But Moses pleaded with the Lord his God and said, “Why, O Lord, should your anger be kindled against your people whom you brought up out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a strong hand? ¹²Why should the Egyptians speak and say, ‘He brought them out malevolently, to kill them in the mountains and to obliterate them from the face of the earth’? Relent from the fury of your anger and forbear about the evil to your people. ¹³Remember Abraham, Isaac and Israel your servants to whom you swore by yourself and said to them, ‘I will increase your seed like the stars of the sky, and I will give to your seed all this land of which I have spoken, and they will inherit it age-abidingly.’ ” ¹⁴At this the Lord forbore about the evil which he had said he would do to his people. ¹⁵Then Moses turned and went down from the mountain with the two tablets of the testimony in his hand – the tablets inscribed on both sides – on each side they were inscribed. ¹⁶And the tablets were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, engraved on the tablets. ¹⁷Meanwhile Joshua heard the sound of the people as they shouted, and he said to Moses, “There is the sound of war in the camp.” ¹⁸And he said,

“It is not the sound of shouting in bravery,

And it is not the sound of shouting in defeat;

I hear the sound of singing.”

¹⁹Then it came to pass as he was approaching the camp that he saw the calf and dancing, and Moses' anger was kindled, and he threw the tablets out of his hands, and he broke them below the mountain. ²⁰And he took the calf which they had made and burnt it in fire, and he ground it to fine dust, and he sprinkled it on the surface of the water, and he gave it to the sons of Israel to drink. ²¹And Moses said to Aaron, “What did this people do to you? For you have brought a great sin on them.” ²²And Aaron said, “Do not let your anger be kindled, my lord. You know the people, how they walk in wickedness. ²³And they said to me, ‘Make us gods who will go before us, for as for this man Moses – who brought us up out of the land of Egypt – we don't know what has become of him.’ ²⁴And I said to them, ‘Whoever has got gold, let them break it off.’ And they gave it to me, and I threw it in the fire, and this calf came out.” ²⁵And Moses saw the people, how they were unrestrained, for Aaron had left them to their devices, to the detriment caused by those of them who rose up. ²⁶Then Moses stood at the camp gate and said, “Whoever is for the Lord, come to me.” And all the sons of Levi gathered round him. ²⁷And he said to them, “This is what the Lord God of Israel says: ‘Let every man put his sword to his thigh, and pass through and come back, from gate to gate in the camp, and let every man kill his brother, and let every man kill his neighbour, and let every man kill his kin.’ ” ²⁸Then the sons of Levi acted according to Moses' word, and on that day about three thousand men of the people fell. ²⁹Then Moses said, “Consecrate yourselves today to the Lord, for a man is against his son and against his brother, so that he gives you a blessing today.” ³⁰And it came to pass on the next day that Moses said to the people, “You have committed a great sin, so now I will go up to the Lord – perhaps I can atone for your sin.” ³¹So Moses returned to the Lord and said, “Please, this people has committed a great sin, and they have made themselves gods of gold. ³²And now, if you will forgive their sin ... ; but if not, please blot me out of your book which you have written.” ³³Then the Lord said to Moses, “It is he who sins against me whom I will blot out of my book. ³⁴And now, go, lead the people to where I have told you. Behold, my angel will go before you, and on the day of my visitation, I will visit their sin on them.” ³⁵And the Lord struck the people because they had made the calf which Aaron had let be made.

Reference(s) in Chapter 32: v.1 ↔ Acts 7:40 ● v.6 ↔ 1 Corinthians 10:7 ● v.13 ↔ Hebrews 11:12 ● v.32 ↔ Philippians 4:3, Revelation 3:5, Revelation 13:8, Revelation 17:8, Revelation 20:12, Revelation 20:15, Revelation 21:27.