Exodus 19
New Catholic Bible
The Covenant at Mount Sinai
The Covenant and the Ten Commandments[a]
Chapter 19
God Proposes His Covenant.[b] 1 Three months to the day after the children of Israel left the land of Egypt, they arrived in the Sinai Desert. 2 They left the camp at Rephidim and arrived in the Desert of Sinai. There Israel camped in front of the mountain.
3 Moses climbed up to meet God, and the Lord called out to him from the mountain, saying, “You will say this to the house of Jacob and announce it to the children of Israel: 4 ‘You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians and how I lifted you up on eagles’ wings and brought you here to me. 5 Now, if you will obey my voice and keep my covenant, you will be my own possession from among all the peoples, for the entire earth is mine. 6 You will be a kingdom of priests and a holy nation for me.’ These are the words you will speak to Israel.”[c]
7 Moses went and summoned the elders of the people and told them what the Lord had commanded him. 8 All the people answered together and said, “We will do what the Lord has said.” Then Moses returned to the Lord and told him what the people had said.
9 The Lord said to Moses, “Behold, I am about to approach you in a thick cloud so that the people will hear when I speak to you and always believe in you.”
The Lord Descends on Sinai.10 The Lord said to Moses, “Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow. Have them wash their clothes 11 and have them ready for the third day, for on the third day the Lord will come down upon Mount Sinai to visit all the people.
12 “You shall establish a boundary around it, saying, ‘Take heed not to climb up the mountain or even touch its base. Whoever touches the mountain will be put to death.’
13 “No hand must touch that person, however, for he must be stoned or shot with an arrow. Whether it be a human or an animal, he is not to live. They can come up the mountain only when you blow the trumpet.”
14 Moses went down the mountain to the people. He consecrated the people and had them wash their clothes. 15 Then he said to the people, “Be ready in three days’ time. Abstain from sexual relations.”
16 The Great Theophany. On the third day, as morning dawned, there was thunder, lightning, a dense cloud on the mountain, and the sound of loud trumpets. All the people in the camp were filled with fear.
17 Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God. They stood on foot at the base of the mountain.
18 Mount Sinai was wrapped in smoke, for the Lord had descended upon it in fire and the smoke rose up like the smoke of a furnace. The entire mountain trembled. 19 The sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder. Moses spoke and God responded with the sound of a trumpet.
20 The Lord thus descended upon Mount Sinai, on the mountain peak, and he called out to Moses upon the mountain peak. Moses went up the mountain.
21 The Lord said to Moses, “Go down and warn the people not to break through to gaze upon the Lord; otherwise many will die.
22 “Let the priests consecrate themselves before they approach the Lord. Otherwise the Lord will burst forth upon them.”
23 Moses said to the Lord, “The people cannot climb up Mount Sinai, for you yourself have warned us saying, ‘Establish a boundary around the mountain and declare it to be holy.’ ”
24 The Lord told him, “Go, descend, then come back up with Aaron. But the priests and the people are not to break through to climb up to the Lord. Otherwise, he will burst forth against them.”
25 Moses went down and spoke to the people.
Footnotes
- Exodus 19:1 The entire past of Israel converges on the event at Sinai. The call of Abraham and the deliverance from the Egyptian yoke show God’s intention to his people. The time has come for that people to respond to the divine preferences. The Covenant is not a contract between equals, in which offer and response are on the same level; rather, the initiative is entirely the Lord’s. Israel does, however, have an obligation to agree to the “salvation” offered to it and to express a desire to commit itself to fidelity to the law of the Lord. The text of the Covenant will be Israel’s religious and social constitution.
- Exodus 19:1 The Hebrews have reached the southern part of the Sinai peninsula; it is the imposing countryside dominated by this summit that serves as a backdrop for their meeting with God. In submitting themselves to the Lord, they will become a consecrated people. Thus, the People of God is truly born of the Sinaitic Covenant.
- Exodus 19:6 A people taken from among the nations and consecrated to God (Isa 61:6; 1 Pet 2:5-9; Rev 1:6)
Exodus 19
King James Version
19 In the third month, when the children of Israel were gone forth out of the land of Egypt, the same day came they into the wilderness of Sinai.
2 For they were departed from Rephidim, and were come to the desert of Sinai, and had pitched in the wilderness; and there Israel camped before the mount.
3 And Moses went up unto God, and the Lord called unto him out of the mountain, saying, Thus shalt thou say to the house of Jacob, and tell the children of Israel;
4 Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles' wings, and brought you unto myself.
5 Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine:
6 And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel.
7 And Moses came and called for the elders of the people, and laid before their faces all these words which the Lord commanded him.
8 And all the people answered together, and said, All that the Lord hath spoken we will do. And Moses returned the words of the people unto the Lord.
9 And the Lord said unto Moses, Lo, I come unto thee in a thick cloud, that the people may hear when I speak with thee, and believe thee for ever. And Moses told the words of the people unto the Lord.
10 And the Lord said unto Moses, Go unto the people, and sanctify them to day and to morrow, and let them wash their clothes,
11 And be ready against the third day: for the third day the Lord will come down in the sight of all the people upon mount Sinai.
12 And thou shalt set bounds unto the people round about, saying, Take heed to yourselves, that ye go not up into the mount, or touch the border of it: whosoever toucheth the mount shall be surely put to death:
13 There shall not an hand touch it, but he shall surely be stoned, or shot through; whether it be beast or man, it shall not live: when the trumpet soundeth long, they shall come up to the mount.
14 And Moses went down from the mount unto the people, and sanctified the people; and they washed their clothes.
15 And he said unto the people, Be ready against the third day: come not at your wives.
16 And it came to pass on the third day in the morning, that there were thunders and lightnings, and a thick cloud upon the mount, and the voice of the trumpet exceeding loud; so that all the people that was in the camp trembled.
17 And Moses brought forth the people out of the camp to meet with God; and they stood at the nether part of the mount.
18 And mount Sinai was altogether on a smoke, because the Lord descended upon it in fire: and the smoke thereof ascended as the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mount quaked greatly.
19 And when the voice of the trumpet sounded long, and waxed louder and louder, Moses spake, and God answered him by a voice.
20 And the Lord came down upon mount Sinai, on the top of the mount: and the Lord called Moses up to the top of the mount; and Moses went up.
21 And the Lord said unto Moses, Go down, charge the people, lest they break through unto the Lord to gaze, and many of them perish.
22 And let the priests also, which come near to the Lord, sanctify themselves, lest the Lord break forth upon them.
23 And Moses said unto the Lord, The people cannot come up to mount Sinai: for thou chargedst us, saying, Set bounds about the mount, and sanctify it.
24 And the Lord said unto him, Away, get thee down, and thou shalt come up, thou, and Aaron with thee: but let not the priests and the people break through to come up unto the Lord, lest he break forth upon them.
25 So Moses went down unto the people, and spake unto them.
