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 ¹⁹ and said to Moses, ^(B)“You speak to us, and we will listen; but do not let God speak to us, lest we die.” ^20 (C)Moses said to the people, “Do not fear, for God has come to ^(D)test you, that the fear of him may be before you, that you may not sin.” ²¹ The people stood far off, while Moses drew near to the ^(E)thick darkness where God was.

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? ²⁷ Go near and hear all that the Lord our God will say, and ^(I)speak to us all that the Lord our God will speak to you, and we will hear and do it.’

²⁸ “And the Lord heard your words, when you spoke to me. And the Lord said to me, ‘I have heard the words of this people, which they have spoken to you. ^(J)They are right in all that they have spoken. ^29 (K)Oh that they had such a heart as this always, to fear me and to keep all my commandments, ^(L)that it might go well with them and with their descendants^[a] forever! ³⁰ Go and say to them, “Return to your tents.” ³¹ But you, stand here by me, and ^(M)I will tell you the whole commandment and the statutes and the rules that you shall teach them, that they may do them in the land that I am giving them to possess.’ ³² You shall be careful therefore to do as the Lord your God has commanded you. ^(N)You shall not turn aside to the right hand or to the left. ^33 (O)You shall walk in all the way that the Lord your God has commanded you, that you may live, and ^(P)that it may go well with you, and that you may live long in the land that you shall possess.

A New Prophet like Moses

^15 (A)“The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers—it is to him you shall listen— ¹⁶ just as you desired of the Lord your God at Horeb ^(B)on the day of the assembly, when you said, ^(C)‘Let me not hear again the voice of the Lord my God or see this great fire any more, lest I die.’ ¹⁷ And the Lord said to me, ^(D)‘They are right in what they have spoken. ^18 (E)I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers. ^(F)And I will put my words in his mouth, and ^(G)he shall speak to them all that I command him. ^19 (H)And whoever will ^(I)not listen to my words that he shall speak in my name, I myself will require it of him. ^20 (J)But the prophet who presumes to speak a word in my name that I have not commanded him to speak, or^[a] who speaks in the name of other gods, that same prophet shall die.’ ²¹ And if you say in your heart, ‘How may we know the word that the Lord has not spoken?’— ^22 (K)when a prophet speaks in the name of the Lord, if the word does not come to pass or come true, that is a word that the Lord has not spoken; ^(L)the prophet has spoken it presumptuously. You need not be afraid of him.

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 ¹⁹ and ^(B)the sound of a trumpet and a voice whose words ^(C)made the hearers beg that no further messages be spoken to them. ²⁰ For they could not endure the order that was given, ^(D)“If even a beast touches the mountain, it shall be stoned.” ²¹ Indeed, ^(E)so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, “I tremble with fear.” ²² But you have come to ^(F)Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, ^(G)the heavenly Jerusalem, and to ^(H)innumerable angels in festal gathering, ²³ and to ^(I)the assembly^[a] of the firstborn who are ^(J)enrolled in heaven, and to ^(K)God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, ²⁴ and to Jesus, ^(L)the mediator of a new covenant, and to ^(M)the sprinkled blood ^(N)that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.

²⁵ See that you do not refuse him who is speaking. For ^(O)if they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, much less will we escape if we reject him who warns from heaven. ²⁶ At that time ^(P)his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, ^(Q)“Yet once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.” ²⁷ This phrase, “Yet once more,” indicates ^(R)the removal of things that are shaken—that is, things that have been made—in order that the things that cannot be shaken may remain. ²⁸ Therefore let us be grateful for receiving ^(S)a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus ^(T)let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, ²⁹ for our ^(U)God is a consuming fire.