⁴ At the mountain the Lord spoke to you face to face from the heart of the fire.

¹⁰ There has never been another prophet in Israel like Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face.

³³ Has any nation ever heard the voice of God^[a] speaking from fire—as you did—and survived?

³⁶ He let you hear his voice from heaven so he could instruct you. He let you see his great fire here on earth so he could speak to you from it.

¹¹ Inside the Tent of Meeting, the Lord would speak to Moses face to face, as one speaks to a friend. Afterward Moses would return to the camp, but the young man who assisted him, Joshua son of Nun, would remain behind in the Tent of Meeting.

²⁴ They said, ‘Look, the Lord our God has shown us his glory and greatness, and we have heard his voice from the heart of the fire. Today we have seen that God can speak to us humans, and yet we live! ²⁵ But now, why should we risk death again? If the Lord our God speaks to us again, we will certainly die and be consumed by this awesome fire. ²⁶ Can any living thing hear the voice of the living God from the heart of the fire as we did and yet survive?

¹⁸ When the people heard the thunder and the loud blast of the ram’s horn, and when they saw the flashes of lightning and the smoke billowing from the mountain, they stood at a distance, trembling with fear.

¹⁹ And they said to Moses, “You speak to us, and we will listen. But don’t let God speak directly to us, or we will die!”

²⁰ “Don’t be afraid,” Moses answered them, “for God has come in this way to test you, and so that your fear of him will keep you from sinning!”

²¹ As the people stood in the distance, Moses approached the dark cloud where God was.

Proper Use of Altars

²² And the Lord said to Moses, “Say this to the people of Israel: You saw for yourselves that I spoke to you from heaven.

¹⁸ All of Mount Sinai was covered with smoke because the Lord had descended on it in the form of fire. The smoke billowed into the sky like smoke from a brick kiln, and the whole mountain shook violently. ¹⁹ As the blast of the ram’s horn grew louder and louder, Moses spoke, and God thundered his reply.

⁹ Then the Lord said to Moses, “I will come to you in a thick cloud, Moses, so the people themselves can hear me when I speak with you. Then they will always trust you.”

Moses told the Lord what the people had said.