Exodus 24
New American Standard Bible
People Affirm Their Covenant with God
24 Then He said to Moses, “(A)Come up to the Lord, you and Aaron, (B)Nadab and Abihu, and (C)seventy of the elders of Israel, and you shall worship at a distance. 2 Moses alone, however, shall approach the Lord, but they shall not approach, nor shall the people come up with him.”
3 Then Moses came and reported to the people all the words of the Lord and all the [a]ordinances; and all the people answered with one voice and said, “(D)All the words which the Lord has spoken we will do!” 4 And (E)Moses wrote down all the words of the Lord. Then he got up early in the morning, and built an (F)altar [b]at the foot of the mountain with twelve memorial stones for the twelve tribes of Israel. 5 And he sent young men of the sons of Israel, (G)and they offered burnt offerings and sacrificed bulls as peace offerings to the Lord. 6 (H)Moses took half of the blood and put it in basins, and the other half of the blood he sprinkled on the altar. 7 Then he took (I)the Book of the Covenant and read it [c]as the people listened; and they said, “(J)All that the Lord has spoken we will do, and we will be obedient!” 8 So (K)Moses took the blood and sprinkled it on the people, and said, “Behold (L)the blood of the covenant, which the Lord has [d]made with you [e]in accordance with all these words.”
9 Then Moses went up [f]with Aaron, (M)Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel, 10 and (N)they saw the God of Israel; and under His feet [g](O)there appeared to be a pavement of sapphire, [h]as clear as the sky itself. 11 Yet He did not reach out with His hand against the nobles of the sons of Israel; and (P)they saw God, and they ate and drank.
12 Now the Lord said to Moses, “Come up to Me on the mountain and [i]stay there, and (Q)I will give you the stone tablets [j]with the Law and the [k]commandments which I have written for their instruction.” 13 So Moses got up [l]along with (R)Joshua his [m]servant, and Moses went up to (S)the mountain of God. 14 But to the elders he said, “(T)Wait here for us until we return to you. And behold, (U)Aaron and Hur are with you; whoever [n]has a legal matter, have him approach them.” 15 Then Moses went up to the mountain, and (V)the cloud covered the mountain. 16 (W)The glory of the Lord [o]settled on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it for six days; and on the seventh day He (X)called to Moses from the midst of the cloud. 17 (Y)And to the eyes of the sons of Israel, the appearance of the glory of the Lord was like a (Z)consuming fire on the mountain top. 18 Then Moses entered the midst of the cloud [p]as he went up to the mountain; and Moses was on the mountain for (AA)forty days and forty nights.
Footnotes
- Exodus 24:3 Or judgments
- Exodus 24:4 Lit beneath
- Exodus 24:7 Lit in the ears of the people;
- Exodus 24:8 Lit cut
- Exodus 24:8 Lit on all
- Exodus 24:9 Lit and
- Exodus 24:10 Lit like a pavement
- Exodus 24:10 Lit and as
- Exodus 24:12 Lit be
- Exodus 24:12 Lit and
- Exodus 24:12 Lit commandment
- Exodus 24:13 Lit and
- Exodus 24:13 Or minister
- Exodus 24:14 Lit is a master of matters
- Exodus 24:16 Lit dwelt
- Exodus 24:18 Lit and
Exodus 24
Easy-to-Read Version
God and Israel Make Their Agreement
24 The Lord told Moses, “You, Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, and the 70 elders of Israel must come up the mountain and worship me from a distance. 2 Then only Moses will come close to the Lord. The other men must not come close, and the rest of the people must not even come up the mountain.”
3 Moses told the people all the rules and commands from the Lord. Then all the people said, “We will obey all the commands that the Lord has spoken.”
4 So Moses wrote down all the commands of the Lord. The next morning he got up and built an altar near the bottom of the mountain. And he set up twelve stones—one for each of the twelve tribes of Israel. 5 Then Moses sent young men of Israel to offer sacrifices. These men offered bulls to the Lord as burnt offerings and fellowship offerings.
6 Moses saved the blood from these animals. He put half of the blood in bowls, and he poured the other half of the blood on the altar.[a]
7 Moses read the scroll with the special agreement written on it. He read the agreement so that all the people could hear him. And the people said, “We have heard the laws that the Lord has given us. And we agree to obey them.”
8 Then Moses held the bowls full of the blood from the sacrifices. He threw that blood on the people. He said, “This blood shows that the Lord has made a special agreement with you. The laws God gave you explain the agreement.”
9 Then Moses, Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, and the 70 elders of Israel went up the mountain. 10 On the mountain, these men saw the God of Israel. He was standing on something that looked like blue sapphires, as clear as the sky! 11 All the leaders of Israel saw God, but God did not destroy them.[b] They all ate and drank together.
Moses Goes to Get God’s Law
12 The Lord said to Moses, “Come to me on the mountain. I have written my teachings and laws on two stone tablets. These teachings and laws are for the people. I will give these stone tablets to you.”
13 So Moses and his helper, Joshua, went up the mountain of God. 14 Moses said to the elders, “Wait here for us until we come back to you. While I am gone, Aaron and Hur will rule over you. Go to them if anyone has a problem.”
Moses Meets With God
15 Then Moses went up the mountain, and the cloud covered the mountain. 16 The Glory of the Lord came down on Mount Sinai. The cloud covered the mountain for six days. On the seventh day, the Lord spoke to Moses from the cloud. 17 The Israelites could see the Glory of the Lord. It was like a fire burning on top of the mountain.
18 Then Moses went higher up the mountain into the cloud. He was on the mountain for 40 days and 40 nights.
Footnotes
- Exodus 24:6 The blood was used to seal the agreement between God and the people. It was poured on the altar to show that God shared in the agreement.
- Exodus 24:11 saw God … destroy them In other places, the Bible says that people cannot see God. But God wanted these leaders to know what he was like, so he allowed them to see him in some special way.
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