17. When Joshua heard the noise of the people as they shouted, he said to Moses, "It sounds like war in the camp."
18. But Moses said,"It isn’t the sound of a victory song.It isn’t the sound of a song of defeat.The sound of party songs is what I hear."
19. When he got near the camp and saw the bull calf and the dancing, Moses was furious. He hurled the tablets down and shattered them in pieces at the foot of the mountain.
20. He took the calf that they had made and burned it in a fire. Then he ground it down to crushed powder, scattered it on the water, and made the Israelites drink it.
21. Moses said to Aaron, "What did these people do to you that you led them to commit such a terrible sin?"
22. Aaron replied, "Don’t get angry with me, sir. You know yourself that these people are out of control.
23. They said to me, ‘Make us gods who can lead us. As for this man Moses who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we don’t have a clue what has happened to him.’
24. So I said to them, ‘Whoever has gold, take it off!’ So they gave it to me, I threw it into the fire, and out came this bull calf!"
25. Moses saw that the people were out of control because Aaron had let them get out of control, making them an easy target for their enemies.
26. So Moses stood at the camp’s gate and said, "Whoever is on the Lord’s side, come to me!" All the Levites gathered around him.
27. Moses said to them, "This is what the Lord, Israel’s God, says: Each of you, strap on your sword! Go back and forth from one end of the camp to the other. Each of you, kill your brother, your friend, and your neighbor!"
28. The Levites did as Moses commanded. About three thousand people were killed that day.