Moses stayed with God for forty days and nights. Meanwhile, the people grew restless and asked Aaron to make them a visible god. Aaron melted their gold earrings and formed a golden calf. The people worshiped it, sacrificed, and partied.

God told Moses the people had corrupted themselves and He planned to destroy them and make Moses’ descendants a great nation. Moses pleaded, reminding God of His promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. God relented.

Moses came down, saw the calf and dancing, and shattered the stone tablets in anger. He destroyed the calf, ground it to powder, mixed it in water, and made the people drink it. Aaron explained he was pressured by the people. Moses called for those loyal to God; the Levites stood with him. God commanded them to punish the others, and three thousand died. Moses then told the people they had sinned greatly and went back up the mountain to seek atonement for them.