Exodus 24
English Standard Version
The Covenant Confirmed
24 Then he said to Moses, “Come up to the Lord, you and Aaron, (A)Nadab, and Abihu, and (B)seventy of the elders of Israel, and worship from afar. 2 Moses (C)alone shall come near to the Lord, but the others shall not come near, and the people shall not come up with him.”
3 Moses came and told the people all the words of the Lord and (D)all the rules.[a] And all the people answered with one voice and said, (E)“All the words that the Lord has spoken we will do.” 4 And (F)Moses wrote down all the words of the Lord. He rose early in the morning and built an altar at the foot of the mountain, and twelve (G)pillars, according to the twelve tribes of Israel. 5 And he sent young men of the people of Israel, who offered burnt offerings and sacrificed peace offerings of oxen to the Lord. 6 And (H)Moses took half of the blood and put it in basins, and half of the blood he threw against the altar. 7 Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read it in the hearing of the people. And they said, (I)“All that the Lord has spoken we will do, and we will be obedient.” 8 (J)And Moses took the blood and threw it on the people and said, “Behold the blood of the covenant that the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words.”
9 Then Moses and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and (K)seventy of the elders of Israel (L)went up, 10 and they (M)saw the God of Israel. There was under his feet as it were a pavement of (N)sapphire stone, like the very heaven for clearness. 11 And he did not lay his hand on the chief men of the people of Israel; they beheld God, and (O)ate and drank.
12 The Lord said to Moses, (P)“Come up to me on the mountain and wait there, that I may give you the (Q)tablets of stone, with the law and the commandment, which I have written for their instruction.” 13 So Moses rose with his assistant (R)Joshua, and Moses went up (S)into the mountain of God. 14 And he said to the elders, “Wait here for us until we return to you. And behold, Aaron and (T)Hur are with you. Whoever has a dispute, let him go to them.”
15 Then Moses went up on the mountain, and (U)the cloud covered the mountain. 16 (V)The glory of the Lord dwelt on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it six days. And on the seventh day he called to Moses out of the midst of the cloud. 17 Now the appearance of the glory of the Lord was like a (W)devouring fire on the top of the mountain in the sight of the people of Israel. 18 Moses entered the cloud and went up on the mountain. And Moses (X)was on the mountain forty days and forty nights.
Footnotes
- Exodus 24:3 Or all the just decrees
Exodus 24
Expanded Bible
God Makes a Covenant with Israel
24 The Lord told Moses, “You, Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel must come up to me and ·worship [bow down to] me from a distance. 2 Then Moses alone must come near me; the others must not come near. The rest of the people must not come up the mountain with Moses.”
3 Moses ·told [L went and recounted to] the people all the Lord’s words and ·laws for living [regulations; judgments]. Then all of the people answered out loud together, “We will do all the things the Lord has said.” 4 So Moses wrote down all the words of the Lord. And he got up early the next morning and built an altar near the bottom of the mountain. He set up twelve ·stones [L pillars], one ·stone [pillar] for each of the twelve tribes of Israel. 5 Then Moses sent ·young Israelite men [L youth of the sons/T children of Israel] to offer whole burnt offerings and to sacrifice young bulls as ·fellowship [or peace; Lev. 3] offerings to the Lord. 6 Moses put half of the blood of these animals in ·bowls [basins], and he ·sprinkled [or dashed] the other half of the blood on the altar. 7 Then he took the Book of the ·Agreement [Covenant; Treaty C referring to the laws found in 20:2–23:19] and read it so the people could hear him. And they said, “We will do everything that the Lord has said; we will obey.”
8 Then Moses took ·the blood from the bowls [L the blood] and ·sprinkled [dashed] it on the people, saying, “This is the blood ·that begins [L of] the ·Agreement [Covenant; Treaty], the ·Agreement [Covenant; Treaty] which the Lord ·has made [L cut] with you ·about [or in accord with] all these words.”
9 Moses, Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel went up the mountain 10 and saw the God of Israel. Under his feet was a ·surface [pavement] that looked as if it were paved with blue sapphire stones, and it was as clear as the ·sky [heavens]! 11 These ·leaders of the Israelites [L eminent men of the sons/T children of Israel] saw God, but ·God did not destroy them [L he did not send out his hand]. Then they ate and drank together [C meals often sealed covenant/treaty agreements].
God Promises Moses the Stone Tablets
12 The Lord said to Moses, “Come up the mountain to me. Wait there, and I will give you two stone tablets [C perhaps two copies of the Ten Commandments]. On these are the ·teachings [laws; instructions] and the commands I have written to instruct the people.”
13 So Moses and his ·helper [assistant] Joshua ·set out [L got up], and Moses went up to ·Sinai, the mountain of God [L the mountain of God]. 14 Moses said to the elders, “Wait here for us until we come back to you. Aaron and Hur are with you, and anyone who ·has a disagreement with others [has many words/a dispute; L is a master of words] can take it to them.”
Moses Meets with God
15 When Moses went up on the mountain, the cloud [C representing God’s presence] covered it. 16 The glory of the Lord [C representing his manifest presence] ·came down [L settled] on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it for six days. On the seventh day the Lord called to Moses from inside the cloud. 17 To the ·Israelites [L sons/T children of Israel] the glory of the Lord looked like a fire burning on top of the mountain. 18 Then Moses went into the cloud and went higher up the mountain. He was on the mountain for forty days and forty nights.
Exodus 24
New King James Version
Israel Affirms the Covenant
24 Now He said to Moses, “Come up to the Lord, you and Aaron, (A)Nadab and Abihu, (B)and seventy of the elders of Israel, and worship from afar. 2 And Moses alone shall come near the Lord, but they shall not come near; nor shall the people go up with him.”
3 So Moses came and told the people all the words of the Lord and all the [a]judgments. And all the people answered with one voice and said, (C)“All the words which the Lord has said we will do.” 4 And Moses (D)wrote all the words of the Lord. And he rose early in the morning, and built an altar at the foot of the mountain, and twelve (E)pillars according to the twelve tribes of Israel. 5 Then he sent young men of the children of Israel, who offered (F)burnt offerings and sacrificed peace offerings of oxen to the Lord. 6 And Moses (G)took half the blood and put it in basins, and half the blood he sprinkled on the altar. 7 Then he (H)took the Book of the Covenant and read in the hearing of the people. And they said, “All that the Lord has said we will do, and be obedient.” 8 And Moses took the blood, sprinkled it on the people, and said, “This is (I)the blood of the covenant which the Lord has made with you according to all these words.”
On the Mountain with God
9 Then Moses went up, also Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel, 10 and they (J)saw the God of Israel. And there was under His feet as it were a paved work of (K)sapphire stone, and it was like the (L)very[b] heavens in its clarity. 11 But on the nobles of the children of Israel He (M)did not [c]lay His hand. So (N)they saw God, and they (O)ate and drank.
12 Then the Lord said to Moses, (P)“Come up to Me on the mountain and be there; and I will give you (Q)tablets of stone, and the law and commandments which I have written, that you may teach them.”
13 So Moses arose with (R)his assistant Joshua, and Moses went up to the mountain of God. 14 And he said to the elders, “Wait here for us until we come back to you. Indeed, Aaron and (S)Hur are with you. If any man has a difficulty, let him go to them.” 15 Then Moses went up into the mountain, and (T)a cloud covered the mountain.
16 Now (U)the glory of the Lord rested on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it six days. And on the seventh day He called to Moses out of the midst of the cloud. 17 The sight of the glory of the Lord was like (V)a consuming fire on the top of the mountain in the eyes of the children of Israel. 18 So Moses went into the midst of the cloud and went up into the mountain. And (W)Moses was on the mountain forty days and forty nights.
Footnotes
- Exodus 24:3 ordinances
- Exodus 24:10 Lit. substance of heaven
- Exodus 24:11 stretch out His
The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. ESV Text Edition: 2025.
The Expanded Bible, Copyright © 2011 Thomas Nelson Inc. All rights reserved.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
