Exodus 20:18-21

Contemporary English Version

The People Are Afraid

(Deuteronomy 5.23-33)

^18 (A) The people trembled with fear when they heard the thunder and the trumpet and saw the lightning and the smoke coming from the mountain. They stood a long way off ¹⁹ and said to Moses, “If you speak to us, we will listen. But don't let God speak to us, or we will die!”

²⁰ “Don't be afraid!” Moses replied. “God has come only to test you, so that by obeying him you won't sin.” ²¹ But when Moses went near the thick cloud where God was, the people stayed a long way off.