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Yahweh Cuts His Covenant with Israel

24 Then He said to Moses, “(A)Come up to Yahweh, you and Aaron, (B)Nadab and Abihu and (C)seventy of the elders of Israel, and you all shall worship at a distance. Moses alone, however, shall come near to Yahweh, but they shall not come near, and the people shall not come up with him.”

Then Moses came and recounted to the people all the words of Yahweh and all the judgments; and all the people answered with one voice and said, “(D)All the words which Yahweh has spoken we will do!” (E)And Moses wrote down all the words of Yahweh. Then he arose early in the morning and built an (F)altar [a]at the foot of the mountain with twelve pillars for the twelve tribes of Israel. And he sent young men of the sons of Israel, (G)and they offered burnt offerings and sacrificed young bulls as peace offerings to Yahweh. (H)And Moses took half of the blood and put it in basins, and the other half of the blood he [b]sprinkled on the altar. Then he took (I)the book of the covenant and read it in the hearing of the people; and they said, “(J)All that Yahweh has spoken we will do, and we will be obedient!” So (K)Moses took the blood and [c]sprinkled it on the people and said, “Behold (L)the blood of the covenant, which Yahweh has cut with you [d]in accordance with all these words.”

Then Moses went up [e]with Aaron, (M)Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel, 10 and (N)they saw the God of Israel; and under His feet [f](O)there appeared to be a pavement of sapphire, [g]as clear as the sky itself. 11 Yet He did not stretch out His hand against the nobles of the sons of Israel; and (P)they beheld God, and they ate and drank.

12 Now Yahweh said to Moses, “Come up to Me on the mountain and [h]remain there, and (Q)I will give you the stone tablets [i]with the [j]law and the commandment which I have written for their instruction.” 13 So Moses arose [k]with (R)Joshua his [l]attendant, and Moses went up to (S)the mountain of God. 14 But to the elders he said, “(T)Remain here for us until we return to you. And behold, (U)Aaron and Hur are with you; whoever [m]has a legal matter, let him approach them.” 15 Then Moses went up to the mountain, and (V)the cloud covered the mountain. 16 (W)And the glory of Yahweh dwelt on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it for six days; and on the seventh day He (X)called to Moses from the midst of the cloud. 17 (Y)And the appearance of the glory of Yahweh was like a (Z)consuming fire on the mountain top, in the eyes of the sons of Israel. 18 Then Moses entered the midst of the cloud [n]as he went up to the mountain; and Moses was on the mountain (AA)forty days and forty nights.

Footnotes

  1. Exodus 24:4 Lit under
  2. Exodus 24:6 Lit threw, splashed
  3. Exodus 24:8 Lit threw, splashed
  4. Exodus 24:8 Lit on all
  5. Exodus 24:9 Lit and
  6. Exodus 24:10 Lit like a pavement
  7. Exodus 24:10 Lit and as
  8. Exodus 24:12 Lit be
  9. Exodus 24:12 Lit and
  10. Exodus 24:12 Or instruction, cf. 24:12b
  11. Exodus 24:13 Lit and
  12. Exodus 24:13 Or minister
  13. Exodus 24:14 Lit is a master of matters
  14. Exodus 24:18 Lit and

The Covenant Is Ratified

24 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Come up to the Lord, you and Aaron, along with Nadab and Abihu and seventy of the elders of Israel, and worship me from a distance. Only Moses is allowed to come near the Lord, but the others are not to come near, and the people are not to go up with him.”

Moses came and reported to the people all the words of the Lord and all the ordinances. Then all the people answered with one voice and said, “All the words which the Lord has spoken we will do.” Moses wrote down all the words of the Lord.

He got up early in the morning and built an altar at the foot of the mountain. He set up twelve memorial stones for the twelve tribes of Israel. He sent young Israelite men, who offered whole burnt offerings and sacrificed fellowship offerings of cattle to the Lord. Moses took half of the blood and put it in bowls, and he splashed half of the blood on the altar. He took the Book of the Covenant and read it out loud to the people and they said, “All that the Lord has spoken we will do. We will obey.”

Moses took the blood and splashed it on the people. He said, “Look, here is the blood of the covenant, which the Lord made with you by means of all these words.”

Then Moses, Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel went up. 10 They saw the God of Israel. Under his feet they saw what looked like a pavement of sapphire[a] as clear as the sky. 11 The Lord did not lay his hand on the dignitaries of the people of Israel. They gazed at God, and they ate and drank.

12 The Lord said to Moses, “Come up to me on the mountain. Wait there, and I will give you the stone tablets with the law and the commands that I have written, so that you can teach them.”

13 Moses set out with his assistant Joshua and went up onto the mountain of God. 14 He said to the elders, “Wait here for us, until we come back to you. Look, here are Aaron and Hur. They will be with you. Whoever is involved in a dispute can go to them.”

15 Moses went up onto the mountain, and the cloud covered the mountain. 16 The Glory of the Lord settled on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered the mountain for six days. On the seventh day the Lord called to Moses out of the middle of the cloud. 17 The appearance of the Glory of the Lord looked like a devouring fire on the top of the mountain in the sight of the people of Israel. 18 Moses entered into the middle of the cloud and climbed up the mountain. Moses was on the mountain forty days and forty nights.

Footnotes

  1. Exodus 24:10 Or lapis lazuli. The Hebrew word is sappir (sapphire), but the stones used by Israel do not necessarily correspond to the present-day gems with the same name.