¹⁵ So I turned and went down from the mountain while it was ablaze with fire. And the two tablets of the covenant were in my hands.^(A)

¹⁸ Mount Sinai was covered with smoke,^(A) because the Lord descended on it in fire.^(B) The smoke billowed up from it like smoke from a furnace,^(C) and the whole mountain^[a] trembled^(D) violently.

²³ When you heard the voice out of the darkness, while the mountain was ablaze with fire, all the leaders of your tribes and your elders^(A) came to me.

¹¹ You came near and stood at the foot of the mountain^(A) while it blazed with fire^(B) to the very heavens, with black clouds and deep darkness.^(C)

The Mountain of Fear and the Mountain of Joy

¹⁸ You have not come to a mountain that can be touched and that is burning with fire; to darkness, gloom and storm;^(A)

¹⁴ Then the Lord relented^(A) and did not bring on his people the disaster he had threatened.

¹⁵ Moses turned and went down the mountain with the two tablets of the covenant law^(B) in his hands.^(C) They were inscribed^(D) on both sides, front and back. ¹⁶ The tablets were the work of God; the writing was the writing of God, engraved on the tablets.^(E)

¹⁷ When Joshua^(F) heard the noise of the people shouting, he said to Moses, “There is the sound of war in the camp.”

¹⁸ Moses replied:

¹⁹ When Moses approached the camp and saw the calf^(G) and the dancing,^(H) his anger burned^(I) and he threw the tablets out of his hands, breaking them to pieces^(J) at the foot of the mountain. ²⁰ And he took the calf the people had made and burned^(K) it in the fire; then he ground it to powder,^(L) scattered it on the water^(M) and made the Israelites drink it.

²¹ He said to Aaron, “What did these people do to you, that you led them into such great sin?”

²² “Do not be angry,^(N) my lord,” Aaron answered. “You know how prone these people are to evil.^{(O) 23} They said to me, ‘Make us gods who will go before us. As for this fellow Moses who brought us up out of Egypt, we don’t know what has happened to him.’^{(P) 24} So I told them, ‘Whoever has any gold jewelry, take it off.’ Then they gave me the gold, and I threw it into the fire, and out came this calf!”^(Q)

²⁵ Moses saw that the people were running wild and that Aaron had let them get out of control and so become a laughingstock^(R) to their enemies. ²⁶ So he stood at the entrance to the camp and said, “Whoever is for the Lord, come to me.” And all the Levites rallied to him.

²⁷ Then he said to them, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘Each man strap a sword to his side. Go back and forth through the camp from one end to the other, each killing his brother and friend and neighbor.’”^{(S) 28} The Levites did as Moses commanded, and that day about three thousand of the people died. ²⁹ Then Moses said, “You have been set apart to the Lord today, for you were against your own sons and brothers, and he has blessed you this day.”

³⁰ The next day Moses said to the people, “You have committed a great sin.^(T) But now I will go up to the Lord; perhaps I can make atonement^(U) for your sin.”

³¹ So Moses went back to the Lord and said, “Oh, what a great sin these people have committed!^(V) They have made themselves gods of gold.^{(W) 32} But now, please forgive their sin^(X)—but if not, then blot me^(Y) out of the book^(Z) you have written.”

³³ The Lord replied to Moses, “Whoever has sinned against me I will blot out^(AA) of my book. ³⁴ Now go, lead^(AB) the people to the place^(AC) I spoke of, and my angel^(AD) will go before you. However, when the time comes for me to punish,^(AE) I will punish them for their sin.”

³⁵ And the Lord struck the people with a plague because of what they did with the calf^(AF) Aaron had made.

²³ When Moses stretched out his staff toward the sky, the Lord sent thunder^(A) and hail,^(B) and lightning flashed down to the ground. So the Lord rained hail on the land of Egypt;