Exodus 32:19–30

¹⁹As Moses approached the camp and saw the calf and the dancing, he burned with anger and threw the tablets out of his hands, shattering them at the base of the mountain. ²⁰Then he took the calf they had made, burned it in the fire, ground it to powder, and scattered the powder over the face of the water. Then he forced the Israelites to drink it.

²¹“What did this people do to you,” Moses asked Aaron, “that you have led them into so great a sin?”

²²“Do not be enraged, my lord,” Aaron replied. “You yourself know that the people are intent on evil. ²³They told me, ‘Make us gods who will go before us. As for this Moses who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has happened to him!’

²⁴So I said to them, ‘Whoever has gold, let him take it off,’ and they gave it to me. And when I threw it into the fire, out came this calf!”

²⁵Moses saw that the people were out of control, for Aaron had let them run wild and become a laughingstock^c to their enemies. ²⁶So Moses stood at the entrance to the camp and said, “Whoever is for the LORD, come to me.”

And all the Levites gathered around him.

²⁷He told them, “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘Each of you men is to fasten his sword to his side, go back and forth through the camp from gate to gate, and slay his brother, his friend, and his neighbor.’”

²⁸The Levites did as Moses commanded, and that day about three thousand of the people fell dead.

²⁹Afterward, Moses said, “Today you have been ordained^d for service to the LORD, since each man went against his son and his brother; so the LORD has bestowed a blessing on you this day.”

³⁰The next day Moses said to the people, “You have committed a great sin. Now I will go up to the LORD; perhaps I can make atonement for your sin.”