¹⁶ On the morning of the third day there was thunder and lightning, as well as a thick cloud on the mountain and a blast of a trumpet so loud that all the people who were in the camp trembled.^{(A) 17} Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God. They took their stand at the foot of the mountain. ¹⁸ Now all of Mount Sinai was wrapped in smoke, because the Lord had descended upon it in fire; the smoke went up like the smoke of a kiln, while the whole mountain shook violently.^{(B) 19} As the blast of the trumpet grew louder and louder, Moses would speak and God would answer him in thunder.^{(C) 20} When the Lord descended upon Mount Sinai, to the top of the mountain, the Lord summoned Moses to the top of the mountain, and Moses went up. ²¹ Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go down and warn the people not to break through to see the Lord; otherwise many of them will perish.^{(D) 22} Even the priests who approach the Lord must consecrate themselves, or the Lord will break out against them.”^{(E) 23} Moses said to the Lord, “The people are not permitted to come up to Mount Sinai, for you yourself warned us, saying, ‘Set limits around the mountain and keep it holy.’ ”^{(F) 24} The Lord said to him, “Go down, then come back up and bring Aaron with you, but do not let either the priests or the people break through to come up to the Lord; otherwise he will break out against them.” ²⁵ So Moses went down to the people and told them.

The Supremacy of Christ

¹⁵ He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation,^{(A) 16} for in^[a] him all things in heaven and on earth were created, things visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or powers—all things have been created through him and for him. ¹⁷ He himself is before all things, and in^[b] him all things hold together. ¹⁸ He is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he might come to have first place in everything.^{(B) 19} For in him all the fullness of God^[c] was pleased to dwell, ²⁰ and through him God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of his cross.^(C)

²¹ And you who were once estranged and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, ²² he has now reconciled^[d] in his fleshly body^[e] through death, so as to present you holy and blameless and irreproachable before him,^{(D) 23} provided that you continue securely established and steadfast in the faith, without shifting from the hope promised by the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed to every creature^[f] under heaven. I, Paul, became a minister of this gospel.^(E)

The Baptism of Jesus

¹³ Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan, to be baptized by him.^{(A) 14} John would have prevented him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” ¹⁵ But Jesus answered him, “Let it be so now, for it is proper for us in this way to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he consented. ¹⁶ And when Jesus had been baptized, just as he came up from the water, suddenly the heavens were opened to him and he saw God’s Spirit descending like a dove and alighting on him.^{(B) 17} And a voice from the heavens said, “This is my Son, the Beloved,^[a] with whom I am well pleased.”^(C)