19 The people made a golden calf at Mount Horeb. They worshiped a statue!
20 They traded their glorious God for a statue of a grass-eating bull!
21 They forgot all about God, the one who saved them, the one who did the miracles in Egypt.
22 He did amazing things there in Ham’s country! He did awesome things at the Red Sea!
23 God wanted to destroy those people, but Moses, the leader he chose, stood in the way. God was very angry, but Moses begged him to stop, so God did not destroy the people.
24 But then they refused to go into the wonderful land of Canaan. They did not believe that God would help them defeat the people there.
25 Our ancestors complained in their tents and refused to obey the Lord.