¹⁹ and said to Moses, “You speak to us, and we will listen, but do not let God speak to us, lest we die.”^(A)

¹⁶ This is what you requested of the Lord your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly when you said, ‘Let me not hear again the voice of the Lord my God or see this great fire any more, lest I die.’^(A)

³⁸ He is the one who was in the congregation in the wilderness with the angel who spoke to him at Mount Sinai and with our ancestors, and he received living oracles to give to us.^(A)

The Purpose of the Law

¹⁹ Why then the law? It was added because of transgressions, until the offspring^[a] would come to whom the promise had been made, and it was ordained through angels by a mediator.^(A)

²³ When you heard the voice out of the darkness, while the mountain was burning with fire, you approached me, all the heads of your tribes and your elders, ²⁴ and you said, ‘Look, the Lord our God has shown us his glory and greatness, and we have heard his voice out of the fire. We have seen this day that God may speak to someone and the person may still live.^{(A) 25} But now why should we die? For this great fire will consume us; if we hear the voice of the Lord our God any longer, we shall die.^{(B) 26} For who is there of all flesh that has heard the voice of the living God speaking out of the fire, as we have, and lived?^{(C) 27} Go near, you yourself, and hear all that the Lord our God will say. Then tell us everything that the Lord our God tells you, and we will listen and do it.’

²⁰ But,” he said, “you cannot see my face, for no one shall see me and live.”^(A)

⁵ (At that time I was standing between the Lord and you to declare to you the word of the Lord, for you were afraid because of the fire and did not go up the mountain.) And he said:^(A)

³⁰ So Jacob called the place Peniel,^[a] saying, “For I have seen God face to face, yet my life is preserved.”^(A)

¹⁹ and the sound of a trumpet, and a voice whose words made the hearers beg that not another word be spoken to them.^(A)