A Kingdom That Cannot Be Shaken

¹⁸ For you have not come to ^(A)what may be touched, a blazing fire and darkness and gloom and a tempest

¹¹ And ^(A)you came near and stood at the foot of the mountain, while ^(B)the mountain burned with fire to the heart of heaven, wrapped in darkness, cloud, and gloom.

¹⁷ Now the appearance of the glory of the Lord was like a ^(A)devouring fire on the top of the mountain in the sight of the people of Israel.

²² “These words the Lord spoke to all your assembly ^(A)at the mountain out of the midst of the fire, the cloud, and the thick darkness, with a loud voice; and he added no more. And ^(B)he wrote them on two tablets of stone and gave them to me. ²³ And ^(C)as soon as you heard the voice out of the midst of the darkness, while the mountain was burning with fire, you came near to me, all the heads of your tribes, and your elders. ²⁴ And you said, ‘Behold, the Lord our God has shown us his glory and ^(D)greatness, and ^(E)we have heard his voice out of the midst of the fire. This day we have seen God speak with man, and man ^(F)still live. ²⁵ Now therefore why should we die? For this great fire will consume us. ^(G)If we hear the voice of the Lord our God any more, we shall die. ^26 (H)For who is there of all flesh, that has heard the voice of the living God speaking out of the midst of fire as we have, and has still lived?

¹⁸ Now when all the people saw ^(A)the thunder and the flashes of lightning and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking, the people were afraid^[a] and trembled, and they stood far off

¹² And you shall set limits for the people all around, saying, ‘Take care not to go up into the mountain or touch the edge of it. ^(A)Whoever touches the mountain shall be put to death. ¹³ No hand shall touch him, but he shall be stoned or shot;^[a] whether beast or man, he shall not live.’ When ^(B)the trumpet sounds a long blast, they shall come up to the mountain.” ¹⁴ So Moses ^(C)went down from the mountain to the people and ^(D)consecrated the people; ^(E)and they washed their garments. ¹⁵ And he said to the people, “Be ready for the ^(F)third day; ^(G)do not go near a woman.”

¹⁶ On the morning of the ^(H)third day there were ^(I)thunders and lightnings and ^(J)a thick cloud on the mountain and a very loud ^(K)trumpet blast, so that all the people in the camp ^(L)trembled. ¹⁷ Then ^(M)Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God, and they took their stand at the foot of the mountain. ¹⁸ Now ^(N)Mount Sinai was wrapped in smoke because the Lord had descended on it in fire. The smoke of it went up like the smoke of a kiln, and ^(O)the whole mountain trembled greatly. ¹⁹ And as the ^(P)sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder, Moses spoke, and ^(Q)God answered him in thunder. ²⁰ 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 And the Lord said to Moses, “Go down and warn the people, lest they break through to the Lord ^(R)to look and many of them perish. ²² Also let the priests who come near to the Lord ^(S)consecrate themselves, lest the Lord ^(T)break out against them.”

⁷ for God gave us ^(A)a spirit not of fear but ^(B)of power and love and self-control.

⁹ For if there was glory in ^(A)the ministry of condemnation, ^(B)the ministry of righteousness must far exceed it in glory.

¹⁵ For ^(A)you did not receive ^(B)the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of ^(C)adoption as sons, by whom we cry, ^(D)“Abba! Father!”