17. Joshua heard the noise of the people shouting. So he said to Moses, "It sounds like war in the camp."
18. Moses replied, "It's not the sound of winning. It's not the sound of losing. It's the sound of singing that I hear."
19. As Moses approached the camp, he saw the calf. He also saw the people dancing. So he burned with anger. He threw the tablets out of his hands. They broke into pieces at the foot of the mountain.
20. He took the calf the people had made. He burned it in the fire. Then he ground it into powder. He scattered it on the water. And he made the people of Israel drink it.
21. He said to Aaron, "What did these people do to you? How did they make you lead them into such terrible sin?"
22. "Please don't be angry," Aaron answered. "You know how these people like to do what is evil.
23. They said to me, 'Make us a god that will lead us. This fellow Moses brought us up out of Egypt. But we don't know what has happened to him.'
24. "So I told them, 'Anyone who has any gold jewelry, take it off.' They gave me the gold. I threw it into the fire. And out came this calf!"
25. Moses saw that the people were running wild. Aaron had let them get out of control. The people had become a joke to their enemies.
26. Moses stood at the entrance to the camp. He said, "Anyone who is on the Lord's side, come to me." All of the Levites joined him.
27. Then he spoke to them. He said, "The Lord, the God of Israel, says, 'Each man must put on his sword. Then he must go back and forth through the camp from one end to the other. Each man must kill his brother, friend and neighbor.' "