1 When the people saw that Moses delayed in coming down from the mountain, they gathered around Aaron and said to him, “Come, make us a god who will go before us because this Moses, the man who brought us up from the land of Egypt — we don’t know what has happened to him! ”
2 Then Aaron replied to them, “Take off the gold rings that are on the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters and bring them to me.”
3 So all the people took off the gold rings that were on their ears and brought them to Aaron.
4 He took the gold from their hands, fashioned it with an engraving tool, and made it into an image of a calf.Then they said, “Israel, this is your God, who brought you up from the land of Egypt! ”
5 When Aaron saw this, he built an altar before it; then he made an announcement: “There will be a festival to the Lord tomorrow.”