He had the golden calf dragged into the fire on the altar before it and melted it down. Then he had it ground down to powder and cast it on the water and made the people drink of it.

Then Moses turned his anger on his older brother Aaron, "What did the people do to you that made you bring such a great sin upon them?"

Aaron replied, "Don't let your anger focus on me, you know how these people are, they are set on doing mischief. They told me to make them gods to go before them for they didn't know what had become of you. Well, I told them to give me all their earrings and they did. I threw the ear rings into the fire and out came the golden calf." Of course Aaron was trying to justify himself and minimize his responsibility.

Aaron, because he didn't have as much faith and confidence in God as Moses did, had given in to some of the more forward of the people and had allowed them to run wild and naked before the golden calf and many others joined in too. Not only had they broken God's commandments but they had made themselves a laughingstock before their enemies.

But Moses was mighty in faith and stood at the entrance of the camp and shouted, "Whoever is on the Lord's side, come here and join me!" And all the Levites came. And Moses told them, "This is what the Lord God of Israel commands you, 'Get your swords and go back and forth from one end of the camp to the other and kill all ringleaders, even if they are your neighbors, your friends, or your brothers!'"

And the Levites did as Moses commanded and killed about 3000 people that day. When they had finished Moses told them, "You have been sanctified, set apart to be special to God, this day because you were willing to punish those who were against God, even if they were your neighbors, friends and even brothers."

The next day Moses stood before all the people and said to them, "You have committed great sin against God, but I will go back up to God and perhaps I can persuade Him to forgive you."

So Moses went back up the mountain and said to God, "What a great sin these people have sinned against You, making for themselves gods out of gold! Please forgive their sins; but if not, then blot my name out of the book of life You have written."

But God said, "Those who sin against Me will I blot out of My book. And when the proper time comes I will punish these people." And He sent a great plague upon the people because they had worshipped the golden calf Aaron had made.

God also told Moses, "Lead these people you brought out of Egypt to the land that I promised to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; for I promised them I would give the land to their descendants - it is a land flowing with milk and honey. Tell them I will send an angel before them to drive out the Canaanites, Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites, but I will not go with them, for they are a stiff-necked people and if I were to go with them even for a moment I might destroy them. Tell them to strip off all of their jewels and ornament while I decide what to do with them."

When the people heard that God would not go with them they took off their jewels and ornaments and mourned.

Moses had a tent, that he called the "Tent of meeting with God," pitched some distance outside of the camp where people would go if they wished to inquire of God. Whenever Moses went there, all the people stood up at the entrances to their tents and watched until Moses went in. For the pillar of cloud would come down and stand at the door of the tent while God spoke with Moses. God spoke to Moses face to face as a man speaks to his friend. After speaking with God, Moses would return to camp, though Joshua the son of Nun, his aid, would usually stay at the tent.

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