¹⁰ Now leave me alone^(A) so that my anger may burn against them and that I may destroy^(B) them. Then I will make you into a great nation.”^(C)

¹⁴ Let me alone,^(A) so that I may destroy them and blot out^(B) their name from under heaven.^(C) And I will make you into a nation stronger and more numerous than they.”

¹² I will strike them down with a plague^(A) and destroy them, but I will make you into a nation^(B) greater and stronger than they.”^(C)

¹⁹ I feared the anger and wrath of the Lord, for he was angry enough with you to destroy you.^(A) But again the Lord listened to me.^(B)

⁴⁵ “Get away from this assembly so I can put an end^(A) to them at once.” And they fell facedown.

⁴⁶ Then Moses said to Aaron, “Take your censer^(B) and put incense in it, along with burning coals from the altar, and hurry to the assembly^(C) to make atonement^(D) for them. Wrath has come out from the Lord;^(E) the plague^(F) has started.” ⁴⁷ So Aaron did as Moses said, and ran into the midst of the assembly. The plague had already started among the people,^(G) but Aaron offered the incense and made atonement for them. ⁴⁸ He stood between the living and the dead, and the plague stopped.^(H)

²² But Moses and Aaron fell facedown^(A) and cried out, “O God, the God who gives breath to all living things,^(B) will you be angry with the entire assembly^(C) when only one man sins?”^(D)

¹⁹ In accordance with your great love, forgive^(A) the sin of these people,^(B) just as you have pardoned them from the time they left Egypt until now.”^(C)

²⁰ The Lord replied, “I have forgiven them,^(D) as you asked.

¹⁹ When Moses approached the camp and saw the calf^(A) and the dancing,^(B) his anger burned^(C) and he threw the tablets out of his hands, breaking them to pieces^(D) at the foot of the mountain.

¹¹ But Moses sought the favor^(A) of the Lord his God. “Lord,” he said, “why should your anger burn against your people, whom you brought out of Egypt with great power and a mighty hand?^(B)