14. So the Lord relented concerning the disaster He said He would bring on His people.
15. Then Moses turned and went down the mountain with the two tablets of the testimony in his hands. They were inscribed on both sides — inscribed front and back.
16. The tablets were the work of God, and the writing was God’s writing, engraved on the tablets.
17. When Joshua heard the sound of the people as they shouted, he said to Moses, “There is a sound of war in the camp.”
18. But Moses replied:It’s not the sound of a victory cryand not the sound of a cry of defeat;I hear the sound of singing!
19. As he approached the camp and saw the calf and the dancing, Moses became enraged and threw the tablets out of his hands, smashing them at the base of the mountain.
20. Then he took the calf they had made, burned it up, and ground it to powder. He scattered the powder over the surface of the water and forced the Israelites to drink the water.
21. Then Moses asked Aaron, “What did these people do to you that you have led them into such a grave sin? ”