15 So I turned and came down the mountain. The mountain was burning with fire. And the two stone tablets with the agreement were in my hands.
16 When I looked, I saw you had sinned against the Lord your God. You had made an idol in the shape of a calf. You had quickly turned away from what the Lord had told you to do.
17 So I took the two stone tablets and threw them down. I broke them into pieces right in front of you.
18 Then I again bowed facedown on the ground before the Lord. I did this for 40 days and 40 nights. I did not eat bread or drink water. You had sinned by doing what the Lord said was evil. You made him angry.
19 I was afraid of the Lord’s anger and rage. He was angry enough with you to destroy you. But the Lord listened to me again.
20 And the Lord was angry enough with Aaron to destroy him. But then I prayed for Aaron, too.
21 I took that sinful calf idol you had made. And I burned it in the fire. I crushed it into a powder like dust. And I threw the dust into a stream that flowed down the mountain.