²⁵ Now when Moses saw that the people were ^[a]out of control—for Aaron had ^(A)let them ^[b]get out of control to the point of being an object of ridicule among ^[c]their enemies— ²⁶ Moses then stood at the gate of the camp, and said, “Whoever is for the Lord, come to me!” And all the sons of Levi gathered together to him. ²⁷ And he said to them, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel says: ‘Every man of you put his sword on his thigh, and go back and forth from gate to gate in the camp, and kill every man his brother, and every man his friend, and every man his ^[d]neighbor.’” ²⁸ So ^(B)the sons of Levi did ^[e]as Moses instructed, and about three thousand men of the people fell that day. ²⁹ Then Moses said, “^[f]Dedicate yourselves today to the Lord—for every man has been against his son and against his brother—in order that He may bestow a blessing upon you today.”

³⁰ And on the next day Moses said to the people, “^(C)You yourselves have ^[g]committed a great sin; and now I am going up to the Lord; perhaps I can ^(D)make atonement for your sin.” ³¹ Then Moses returned to the Lord and said, “Oh, this people has ^[h]committed a great sin, and they have made a ^(E)god of gold for themselves! ³² But now, if You will forgive their sin, very well; but if not, please wipe me out from Your ^(F)book which You have written!” ³³ However, the Lord said to Moses, “Whoever has sinned against Me, ^(G)I will wipe him out of My book. ³⁴ But go now, lead the people ^(H)where I told you. Behold, ^(I)My angel shall go before you; nevertheless ^(J)on the day when I ^[i]punish, ^(K)I will ^[j]punish them for their sin.” ^35 (L)Then the Lord struck the people with a plague, because of ^(M)what they did with the calf which Aaron had made.