Exodus 24:1-11
New Living Translation
Israel Accepts the Lord’s Covenant
24 Then the Lord instructed Moses: “Come up here to me, and bring along Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, and seventy of Israel’s elders. All of you must worship from a distance. 2 Only Moses is allowed to come near to the Lord. The others must not come near, and none of the other people are allowed to climb up the mountain with him.”
3 Then Moses went down to the people and repeated all the instructions and regulations the Lord had given him. All the people answered with one voice, “We will do everything the Lord has commanded.”
4 Then Moses carefully wrote down all the Lord’s instructions. Early the next morning Moses got up and built an altar at the foot of the mountain. He also set up twelve pillars, one for each of the twelve tribes of Israel. 5 Then he sent some of the young Israelite men to present burnt offerings and to sacrifice bulls as peace offerings to the Lord. 6 Moses drained half the blood from these animals into basins. The other half he splattered against the altar.
7 Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read it aloud to the people. Again they all responded, “We will do everything the Lord has commanded. We will obey.”
8 Then Moses took the blood from the basins and splattered it over the people, declaring, “Look, this blood confirms the covenant the Lord has made with you in giving you these instructions.”
9 Then Moses, Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, and the seventy elders of Israel climbed up the mountain. 10 There they saw the God of Israel. Under his feet there seemed to be a surface of brilliant blue lapis lazuli, as clear as the sky itself. 11 And though these nobles of Israel gazed upon God, he did not destroy them. In fact, they ate a covenant meal, eating and drinking in his presence!
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Exodus 24:1-11
International Standard Version
The Covenant is Sealed with Blood
24 The Lord[a] told Moses, “Come up to the Lord, you and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and 70 of the elders of Israel, and worship[b] at a distance. 2 Only Moses is to approach the Lord, but the others[c] are not to approach; the people are not to come up with him.”
3 Then Moses came and reported all the words of the Lord and all the statutes to the people, and they all[d] answered with one voice, “We will do everything that the Lord has decreed.”
4 So Moses wrote down all the words of the Lord. He got up early in the morning and built an altar with twelve pillars for the twelve tribes of Israel at the base of the mountain. 5 He sent young Israeli men to offer up burnt offerings and sacrifice bulls as peace offerings to the Lord. 6 Moses took half the blood and put it in bowls, while he sprinkled the other half[e] on the altar. 7 He took the Book of the Covenant and read it to[f] the people. They said, “We will put into practice and obey everything that the Lord has decreed.”
8 Moses took the blood, sprinkled it on the people, and said, “This is the blood of the covenant that the Lord made with you based on all these words.”
9 Then Moses and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and 70 of the elders of Israel went up 10 and saw the God of Israel. Under his feet was something like a pavement made of sapphire, as clear as the sky. 11 Because[g] God[h] did not punish[i] the Israeli leaders, they looked at God, yet lived[j] to eat and drink.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Exodus 24:1 Lit. He
- Exodus 24:1 Or bow down in worship
- Exodus 24:2 Lit. but they
- Exodus 24:3 Lit. all the people
- Exodus 24:6 Lit. half of the blood
- Exodus 24:7 Lit. in the ears of
- Exodus 24:11 Lit. But
- Exodus 24:11 Lit. He
- Exodus 24:11 Lit. not send forth his hand against
- Exodus 24:11 The Heb. lacks lived
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