14 Do not try to stop me. I am going to destroy them. I will wipe them out from the earth. Then I will make you into a great nation. Your people will be stronger than they were. There will be more of you than there were of them."
15 So I turned and went down the mountain. It was blazing with fire. I was carrying the two tablets of the covenant.
16 When I looked, I saw that you had sinned against the Lord your God. You had made for yourselves a metal statue of a god. It looked like a calf. You had quickly turned away from the path the Lord had commanded you to follow.
17 So I threw the two tablets out of my hands. You watched them break into pieces.
18 Then once again I fell down flat in front of the Lord with my face toward the ground. I lay there for 40 days and 40 nights. I didn't eat any food or drink any water. You had committed a terrible sin. You had done an evil thing in the Lord's sight. You had made him angry.
19 I was afraid of the Lord's burning anger. He was so angry with you he wanted to destroy you. But the Lord listened to me again.
20 And he was so angry with Aaron he wanted to destroy him too. But at that time I prayed for Aaron.