Exodus 24
Holman Christian Standard Bible
The Covenant Ceremony
24 Then He said to Moses, “Go up to the Lord, you and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and 70 of Israel’s elders,(A) and bow in worship at a distance. 2 Moses alone is to approach the Lord, but the others are not to approach, and the people are not to go up with him.”
3 Moses came and told the people all the commands of the Lord and all the ordinances. Then all the people responded with a single voice, “We will do everything that the Lord has commanded.”(B) 4 And Moses wrote(C) down all the words of the Lord. He rose early the next morning and set up an altar and 12 pillars for the 12 tribes of Israel at the base of the mountain. 5 Then he sent out young Israelite men, and they offered burnt offerings and sacrificed bulls as fellowship offerings to the Lord. 6 Moses took half the blood and set it in basins; the other half of the blood he sprinkled on the altar. 7 He then took the covenant scroll and read it aloud to the people. They responded, “We will do and obey everything that the Lord has commanded.”
8 Moses took the blood, sprinkled it on the people, and said, “This is the blood of the covenant that the Lord has made with you concerning all these words.”(D)
9 Then Moses went up with Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and 70 of Israel’s elders, 10 and they saw(E) the God of Israel. Beneath His feet was something like a pavement made of sapphire[a] stone, as clear as the sky itself.(F) 11 God did not harm[b] the Israelite nobles; they saw(G) Him, and they ate and drank.
12 The Lord said to Moses, “Come up to Me on the mountain and stay there so that I may give you the stone tablets(H) with the law and commandments I have written for their instruction.”
13 So Moses arose with his assistant Joshua and went up the mountain of God.(I) 14 He told the elders, “Wait here for us until we return to you. Aaron and Hur are here with you. Whoever has a dispute should go to them.” 15 When Moses went up the mountain, the cloud(J) covered it. 16 The glory of the Lord settled on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it for six days. On the seventh day He called to Moses from the cloud.(K) 17 The appearance of the Lord’s glory to the Israelites was like a consuming fire(L) on the mountaintop. 18 Moses entered the cloud as he went up the mountain, and he remained on the mountain 40 days and 40 nights.(M)
Footnotes
- Exodus 24:10 Or lapis lazuli
- Exodus 24:11 Lit not stretch out His hand against
Exodus 24
Modern English Version
The Covenant Confirmed
24 Then He said to Moses, “Come up to the Lord, you, and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel, and you shall worship from a distance. 2 Moses alone shall come near the Lord, but they shall not come near, nor may the people go up with him.”
3 Moses came and told 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 said we will do.” 4 Moses wrote all the words of the Lord, and rose up early in the morning, and built an altar at the foot of the mountain with twelve pillars for the twelve tribes of Israel. 5 He sent young Israelite men who offered burnt offerings and sacrificed peace offerings of young bulls to the Lord. 6 Moses took half of the blood and put it in basins, and half of the blood he sprinkled on the altar. 7 He 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 we will be obedient.”
8 So Moses took the blood, and sprinkled it on the people, and said, “This is the blood of the covenant, which the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words.”
Moses on Mount Sinai
9 Then Moses went up with Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel, 10 and they saw the God of Israel, and under His feet there was something like a paved work of sapphire stone as clear as the sky itself. 11 He did not lay His hand upon the nobles of the children of Israel. Also they saw God, and they ate and they drank.
12 The Lord said to Moses, “Come up to Me to the mountain and stay there, and I will give you the stone tablets with law and the commandments which I have written, so that you may teach them.”
13 Moses rose up with Joshua his attendant, and Moses went up to the mountain of God. 14 He said to the elders, “Wait for us in this place until we return to you. Aaron and Hur are with you. Whoever has any matters of dispute let him come to them.”
15 Moses went up to the mountain, and the cloud covered the mountain. 16 The glory of the Lord rested on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it for six days. And on the seventh day He called to Moses from the midst of the cloud. 17 Now the appearance of the glory of the Lord was like a consuming fire on the top of the mountain to the eyes of the children of Israel. 18 Moses went into the midst of the cloud and went up to the mountain. And Moses was on the mountain for forty days and forty nights.
Copyright © 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2009 by Holman Bible Publishers, Nashville Tennessee. All rights reserved.
The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.