15 Moses then turned around and came down the mountain. He carried the two covenant tablets in his hands. The tablets were written on both sides, front and back.
16 The tablets were God’s own work. What was written there was God’s own writing inscribed on the tablets.
17 When Joshua heard the noise of the people as they shouted, he said to Moses, "It sounds like war in the camp."
18 But Moses said,"It isn’t the sound of a victory song.It isn’t the sound of a song of defeat.The sound of party songs is what I hear."
19 When he got near the camp and saw the bull calf and the dancing, Moses was furious. He hurled the tablets down and shattered them in pieces at the foot of the mountain.
20 He took the calf that they had made and burned it in a fire. Then he ground it down to crushed powder, scattered it on the water, and made the Israelites drink it.
21 Moses said to Aaron, "What did these people do to you that you led them to commit such a terrible sin?"