The Lord Visits Sinai

^18 (A)Now Mount Sinai was all in smoke because the Lord descended upon it ^(B)in fire; and its smoke ascended like ^(C)the smoke of a furnace, and ^(D)the entire mountain ^[a]quaked violently. ¹⁹ When the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder, Moses spoke, and ^(E)God answered him with ^[b]thunder. ²⁰ Then ^(F)the Lord came down on Mount Sinai, to the top of the mountain; and the Lord called Moses to the top of the mountain, and Moses went up. ²¹ Then the Lord spoke to Moses: “Go down, ^[c]warn the people, so that ^(G)they do not break through to the Lord to stare, and many of them ^[d]perish. ²² Also have the ^(H)priests who approach the Lord consecrate themselves, or else the Lord will break out against them.” ²³ And Moses said to the Lord, “The people cannot come up to Mount Sinai, for You ^[e]warned us, saying, ‘^(I)Set boundaries around the mountain and consecrate it.’” ²⁴ Then the Lord said to him, “^[f]Go down and come up again, ^(J)you and Aaron with you; but do not let the ^(K)priests and the people break through to come up to the Lord, or He will break out against them.” ²⁵ So Moses went down to the people and told them.

Conception and Birth of Jesus

¹⁸ Now the birth of Jesus the ^[a]Messiah was as follows: when His ^(A)mother Mary had been ^[b]betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was ^(B)found to be pregnant by the Holy Spirit. ¹⁹ And her husband Joseph, since he was a righteous man and did not want to disgrace her, planned to ^[c](C)send her away secretly. ²⁰ But when he had thought this over, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “^(D)Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife; for ^[d]the Child who has been conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. ²¹ She will give birth to a Son; and ^(E)you shall name Him Jesus, for ^[e]He ^(F)will save His people from their sins.” ²² Now all this ^[f]took place so that what was ^(G)spoken by the Lord through ^[g]the prophet would be fulfilled: ²³ “^(H)Behold, the virgin will ^[h](I)conceive and give birth to a Son, and they shall name Him ^[i]Immanuel,” which translated means, “^(J)God with us.” ²⁴ And Joseph awoke from his sleep and did as the angel of the Lord commanded him, and took Mary as his wife, ^25 [j]but kept her a virgin until she ^(K)gave birth to a Son; and ^(L)he named Him Jesus.

The Throne and Worship of the Creator

⁵ Out from the throne *came ^(A)flashes of lightning and sounds and peals of thunder. And there were ^(B)seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are ^[a](C)the seven spirits of God; ⁶ and before the throne there was something like a ^(D)sea of glass, like crystal; and in the ^[b]center and ^(E)around the throne, ^(F)four living creatures ^(G)full of eyes in front and behind.

The Word Made Flesh

¹⁴ And ^(A)the Word ^(B)became flesh, and ^(C)dwelt among us; and ^(D)we saw His glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of ^(E)grace and ^(F)truth.

God’s Final Word in His Son

1 God, after He ^(A)spoke long ago to the fathers in ^(B)the prophets in many portions and ^(C)in many ways, ^2 [a](D)in these last days ^(E)has spoken to us ^[b]in His ^(F)Son, whom He appointed ^(G)heir of all things, ^(H)through whom He also made the ^[c](I)world. ^3 [d]And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact ^(J)representation of His nature, and ^[e](K)upholds all things by ^[f]the word of His power. When He had made ^(L)purification of sins, He ^(M)sat down at the right hand of the ^(N)Majesty on high,

²⁵ Therefore He is also able to ^(A)save ^[a]forever those who ^(B)come to God through Him, since He always lives to ^(C)make intercession for them.

²⁶ For it was fitting for us to have such a ^(D)high priest, ^(E)holy, ^(F)innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners, and ^(G)exalted above the heavens; ²⁷ who has no daily need, like those high priests, to ^(H)offer up sacrifices, ^(I)first for His own sins and then for the sins of the people, because He did this ^(J)once for all time when He ^(K)offered up Himself.