And the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain, and the people gathered opposite Aaron, and they said to him, "Come, make for us gods who will go before us, because this Moses, the man who brought us up from the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him."

And Aaron said to them, "Take off the rings of gold that are on the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring it to me." And all the people took off the rings of gold that were on their ears and brought it to Aaron. And he took from their hand, and he shaped it with a tool, and he made it a cast-image bull calf, and they said, "These are your gods, Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt."

And Aaron saw, and he built an altar before it, and Aaron called, and he said, "A feast for Yahweh tomorrow." And they started early the next day, and they offered burnt offerings, and they presented fellowship offerings, and the people sat to eat and drink, and they rose up to revel.

And Yahweh spoke to Moses, "Go, go down because your people behave corruptly, whom you brought up from the land of Egypt. They have turned aside quickly from the way that I commanded them; they have made for themselves a cast-image bull calf, and they bowed to it, and they sacrificed to it, and they said, ‘These are your gods, Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt.’"

And Yahweh said to Moses, "I have seen this people, and, indeed, they are a stiff-necked people. And now leave me alone so that my anger may blaze against them, and let me destroy them, and I will make you into a great nation."

And Moses implored Yahweh his God, and he said, "Why, Yahweh, should your anger blaze against your people whom you brought up from the land of Egypt with great power and with a strong hand? Why should the Egyptians say, ‘With evil intent he brought them out to kill them in the mountains and wipe them from the face of the earth’? Turn from your fierce anger and relent concerning the disaster for your people. Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your servants, to whom you swore by yourself, and you told them, ‘I will multiply your offspring like the stars of the heavens, and all this land that I promised I will give to your offspring, and they will inherit it forever.’"

And Yahweh relented concerning the disaster that he had threatened to do to his people. And Moses turned and went down from the mountain, and the two tablets of the testimony were in his hand, tablets written on their two sides; on the front and on the back they were written. And the tablets, they were the work of God; and the writing, it was the writing of God engraved on the tablets.

And Joshua heard the sound of the people in their shouting, and he said to Moses, "A sound of war is in the camp."

But he said, "There is not a sound of shouting of victory, and there is not a sound of shouting of defeat. I hear a sound of singing."

And as he came near to the camp, he saw the bull calf and dancing, and Moses became angry, and he threw the tablets from his hand, and he broke them under the mountain. And he took the bull calf that they had made, and he burned it with the fire, and he crushed it until it became fine, and he scattered it on the surface of the water, and he made the Israelites drink.

And Moses said to Aaron, "What did this people do to you that you brought on them such a great sin?" And Aaron said, "Let not my lord become angry. You yourself know the people, that they are intent on evil. And they said to me, ‘Make for us gods who will go before us, because this Moses, the man who brought us up from the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.’ And I said to them, ‘Whoever has gold, take it off.’ And they gave it to me, and I threw it in the fire, and out came this bull calf."

And Moses saw the people, that they were running wild because Aaron had allowed them to run wild, for a laughingstock among their enemies. And Moses stood at the entrance of the camp, and he said, "Whoever is for Yahweh, to me." And all the sons of Levi were gathered to him. And he said to them, "Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel, ‘Put each his sword on his side. Go back and forth from gate to gate in the camp, and kill, each his brother and each his friend and each his close relative.’" And the sons of Levi did according to the word of Moses, and from the people on that day about three thousand persons fell. And Moses said, "You are ordained today for Yahweh, because each has been against his son and against his brother and so bringing on you today a blessing."

And the next day Moses said to the people, "You have sinned a great sin. And now I will go up to Yahweh. Perhaps I can make atonement for your sin."

And Moses returned to Yahweh, and he said, "Alas, this people has sinned a great sin and made for themselves gods of gold. And now if you will forgive their sin—and if not, please blot me from your scroll that you have written." And Yahweh said to Moses, "Whoever has sinned against me I will blot him from my scroll. And now go, lead the people to where I spoke to you. Look, my angel will go before you, and on the day when I punish I will punish them for their sin." And Yahweh afflicted the people because they had made the bull calf that Aaron had made.

And Yahweh spoke to Moses, "Go, go up from here, you and the people whom you have brought up from the land of Egypt, to the land that I swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, saying, ‘I will give it to your offspring.’ And I will send an angel before you, and I will drive out the Canaanites, the Amorites, and the Hittites and the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, Go to a land flowing with milk and honey, but I will not go up among you, because you are a stiff-necked people, lest I destroy you on the way." And the people heard this troubling word, and they mourned, and they each did not put their ornaments on themselves.

And Yahweh said to Moses, "Say to the Israelites, ‘You are a stiff-necked people; if one moment I were to go up among you, I would destroy you. And now take down your ornaments from on you, and I will decide what I will do to you." And the Israelites stripped themselves of their ornaments from Mount Horeb onward.

And Moses took the tent and pitched it outside the camp far from the camp, and he called it the tent of assembly, and all seeking Yahweh would go out to the tent of assembly, which was outside the camp. And at the going out of Moses to the tent, all the people would rise and stand, each at the opening of his tent, and gaze after Moses until his entering the tent. And at the entering of Moses into the tent the column of cloud would descend and stand at the opening of the tent, and he would speak with Moses. And all the people would see the column of cloud standing at the opening of the tent, and all the people would rise and bow in worship, each at the opening of his tent. And Yahweh would speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his neighbor. And he would return to the camp, and his assistant Joshua the son of Nun, a young man, did not leave the middle of the tent.

And Moses said to Yahweh, "See, you are saying to me, ‘Take this people up.’ But you have not let me know whom you will send with me, and you yourself have said, ‘I know you by name, and you also have found favor in my eyes.’ And now if I have found favor in your eyes, make known to me, please, your way, and so I may know you so that I can find favor in your eyes. And see that this nation is your people." And he said, "My presence will go, and I will give you rest." And he said to him, "If your presence is not going, do not bring us up from here. And by what will it be known then that I have found favor in your eyes, I and your people? Is it not by your going with us? And so we will be distinguished, I and your people, from all the people who are on the face of the ground."

And Yahweh said to Moses, "Also I will do this thing that you have spoken, because you have found favor in my eyes and I have known you by name."

And he said, "Please show me your glory."

And he said, "I myself will cause all my goodness to pass over before you, and I will proclaim the name of Yahweh before you, and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and I will show compassion to whom I will show compassion." But he said, "You are not able to see my face, because a human will not see me and live." And Yahweh said, "There is a place with me, and you will stand on the rock. And when my glory passes over, I will put you in the rock’s crevice, and I will cover you with my hand until I pass over. And I will remove my hand, and you will see my back, but my face will not be visible."

And Yahweh said to Moses, "Cut for yourself two stone tablets like the first ones, and I will write on the tablets the words that were on the first tablets, which you broke. And be ready for the morning, and go up in the morning to Mount Sinai and present yourself to me there on the top of the mountain. And no one will go up with you, and neither let anyone be seen on all the mountain, nor let the sheep and goats and the cattle graze opposite that mountain."

And Moses cut two stone tablets like the first ones, and he started early in the morning, and he went up to Mount Sinai, as Yahweh had commanded him, and he took in his hand the two stone tablets. And Yahweh descended in the cloud, and he stood with him there, and he proclaimed the name of Yahweh. And Yahweh passed over before him, and he proclaimed, "Yahweh, Yahweh, God, who is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding with loyal love and faithfulness, keeping loyal love to the thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and he does not leave utterly unpunished, punishing the guilt of fathers on sons and on sons of sons on third and fourth generations."

And Moses hurried and knelt down to the earth and worshiped. And he said, "Please, if I have found favor in your eyes, Lord, let my Lord, please, go among us—indeed it is a stiff-necked people—and forgive our iniquity and our sin and take us as your possession."

And he said, "Look, I am about to make a covenant. In front of all your people I will do wonders that have not been created on all the earth and among all the nations, and all the people among whom you are will see Yahweh’s work, because what I am about to do with you will be awesome.

"Keep for yourself what I myself have commanded you today. Look, I am about to drive from before you the Amorites and the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites. Be careful for yourself, lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land to which you are going, lest it be a snare among you. Rather, you will tear down their altars, and you will break their stone pillars, and you will cut off their Asherah poles. For you will not bow in worship to another god, for ‘Yahweh Is Jealous’ is his name, he is a jealous God, lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, and they prostitute themselves after their gods, and they sacrifice to their gods, and they invite you, and you eat their sacrifice, and you take from their daughters for your sons, and their daughters prostitute themselves after their gods, and they cause your sons to prostitute themselves after their gods. You will not make gods of cast metal for yourself.

"You will keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Seven days you will eat unleavened bread, which I commanded you, at the appointed time of the month of Abib, for in the month of Abib you came out from Egypt. Every first offspring of a womb is for me—all of your male livestock, the first offspring of cattle and small livestock. But the first offspring of a donkey you will redeem with small livestock, and if you will not redeem it, you will break its neck. Every firstborn of your sons you will redeem, and you will not appear before me empty-handed. Six days you will work, and on the seventh day you will rest; in the time of plowing and in the time of harvest you will rest. And you yourself will observe the Feast of Weeks—the firstfruits of the wheat harvest—and the Feast of Harvest Gathering at the turn of the year. Three times in the year all your males will appear before the Lord, Yahweh, the God of Israel, because I will evict nations before you, and I will enlarge your territory, and no one will covet your land when you go up to appear before Yahweh your God three times in the year.

"You will not slaughter the blood of my sacrifice on food with yeast, and the sacrifice of the Feast of the Passover will not stay overnight to the morning. The beginning of the firstfruits of your land you will bring to the house of Yahweh your God. You will not boil a young goat in its mother’s milk."

And Yahweh said to Moses, "Write for yourself these words, because according to these words I have made a covenant with you and with Israel."

And he was there with Yahweh forty days and forty nights. He ate no food and drank no water. And he wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant, the ten words. And when Moses came down from Mount Sinai, the two tablets of the testimony were in the hand of Moses at his coming down from the mountain; and Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone because of his speaking with him. And Aaron and all the Israelites saw Moses, and, to their amazement, the skin of his face shone, and they were afraid of coming near to him. And Moses called to them, and Aaron and all the leaders of the community returned to him, and Moses spoke to them. And afterward all the Israelites came near, and he commanded them all that Yahweh had spoken with him on Mount Sinai. And Moses finished speaking with them, and he put a veil on his face. And when Moses came before Yahweh to speak with him, he would remove the veil until he went out, and he would go out and would speak to the Israelites what he had been commanded. And the Israelites would see the face of Moses, that the skin of the face of Moses shone, and Moses would put back the veil on his face until his coming to speak with him.

Finally, my brothers, rejoice in the Lord. To write the same things to you is not troublesome to me, but is a safeguard for you. Beware of the dogs, beware of the evil workers, beware of the mutilation. For we are the circumcision, the ones who worship by the Spirit of God and boast in Christ Jesus and do not put confidence in the flesh, although I could have confidence even in the flesh.

If anyone else thinks to put confidence in the flesh, I can do so more: circumcised on the eighth day, from the nation of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew born from Hebrews, according to the law a Pharisee, according to zeal persecuting the church, according to the righteousness in the law being blameless. But whatever things were gain to me, these things I have considered loss because of Christ. More than that, I even consider all things to be loss because of the surpassing greatness of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for the sake of whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and consider them dung, in order that I may gain Christ and may be found in him, not having my righteousness which is from the law, but which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God on the basis of faith, so that I may know him and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings, being conformed to his death, if somehow I may attain to the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already received this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on if indeed I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ. Brothers, I do not consider myself to have laid hold of it. But I do one thing, forgetting the things behind and straining toward the things ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

Therefore as many as are perfect, let us hold this opinion, and if you think anything differently, God will reveal this also to you. Only to what we have attained, to the same hold on. Become fellow imitators of me, brothers, and observe those who walk in this way, just as you have us as an example. For many live, of whom I spoke about to you many times, but now speak about even weeping, as the enemies of the cross of Christ, whose end is destruction, whose God is the stomach, and whose glory is in their shame, the ones who think on earthly things. For our commonwealth exists in heaven, from which also we eagerly await a savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our humble body to be conformed to his glorious body, in accordance with the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.