1And the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain, and the people gathered against Aaron, and said to him: "Arise, make for us gods who shall go before us; for this Moses, the man (ish) who brought us up from the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him."
2And Aaron said to them: "Break off the rings of gold which are in the ears of your wives (ishah), your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me."
3And all the people broke off the rings of gold which were in their ears, and brought them to Aaron.
4And he took it from their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool, and made it a molten calf; and they said: "These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt."
5And Aaron saw, and built an altar before it; and Aaron called out and said: "A feast (chag) to YHWH tomorrow."
6And they rose early on the next day, and offered up burnt offerings, and brought near peace offerings; and the people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to make merry.
7And YHWH spoke to Moses: "Go, get down, for your people, whom you brought up from the land of Egypt, have acted corruptly.
8They have turned aside quickly from the way which I commanded them (tzivvah); they have made for themselves a molten calf, and have bowed down to it, and have sacrificed to it, and have said: These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt."
9And YHWH said to Moses: "I have seen this people, and behold, it is a stiff-necked people.
10And now, leave me alone, that my anger may burn against them, and that I may consume them; and I will make of you a great nation."
11And Moses entreated the face of YHWH his God, and said: "Why, YHWH, does your anger burn against your people, whom you brought out from the land of Egypt with great power and with a strong hand?
12Why should the Egyptians speak, saying: For evil he brought them out, to slay them in the mountains, and to consume them from the face of the ground (adamah)? Turn from the heat of your anger, and relent of the evil against your people.
13Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your servants, to whom you swore by yourself, and spoke to them: I will multiply your seed as the stars of the heavens, and all this land that I have spoken of I will give to your seed, and they shall inherit it forever."
14And YHWH relented of the evil which he had spoken to do to his people.
15And Moses turned and went down from the mountain, with the two tablets of the testimony (edut) in his hand; tablets written on both their sides; on the one side and on the other they were written.
16And the tablets were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, engraved upon the tablets.
17And Joshua heard the voice of the people in its shouting, and said to Moses: "There is a voice of war in the camp."
18And he said: "It is not the voice of the crying of might, and it is not the voice of the crying of weakness; the voice of singing I hear."
19And it came to pass, as he drew near to the camp, that he saw the calf and the dances; and Moses' anger burned, and he cast the tablets from his hands, and broke them beneath the mountain.
20And he took the calf which they had made, and burned it in the fire, and ground it ad(עד) it was fine, and scattered it on the face of the water, and made the sons of Israel drink.
21And Moses said to Aaron: "What did this people do to you, that you have brought upon it a great sin?"
22And Aaron said: "Let not the anger of my lord burn; you know the people, that it is set on evil.
23And they said to me: Make for us gods who shall go before us; for this Moses, the man (ish) who brought us up from the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.
24And I said to them: Whoever has gold, break it off; and they gave it to me, and I cast it into the fire, and out came this calf."
25And Moses saw the people, that it was let loose, for Aaron had let them loose for derision among those who rose against them.
26then Moses stood in the gate of the camp, and said: "Whoever is for YHWH, to me!" And all the sons of Levi gathered to him.
27And he said to them: "Thus says YHWH, the God of Israel: Put each man (ish) his sword upon his thigh, pass over and return from gate to gate throughout the camp, and slay each man (ish) his brother, and each man (ish) his companion, and each man (ish) his neighbor."
28And the sons of Levi did according to the word of Moses; and there fell of the people on that day about three thousand men (ish).
29And Moses said: "Fill your hand today for YHWH, for each man (ish) was against his son and against his brother; and that he may bestow upon you today a blessing."
30And it came to pass on the next day, that Moses said to the people: "You have sinned a great sin; and now I will go up to YHWH, perhaps I may make atonement for your sin."
31And Moses returned to YHWH, and said: "Oh, this people has sinned a great sin, and has made for themselves gods of gold.
32And now, if you will forgive their sin—; but if not, blot me, I pray, out of your book which you have written."
33And YHWH said to Moses: "Whoever has sinned against me, him I will blot out of my book.
34And now go, lead the people to where I have spoken to you; behold, my angel shall go before you; but in the day of my visiting, I will visit upon them their sin."
35And YHWH struck the people, because they made the calf, which Aaron made.