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. Moses alone, however, shall approach the Lord, but they shall not approach, nor shall the people come up with him.”

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!” 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. 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. (H)Moses took half of the blood and put it in basins, and the other half of the blood he sprinkled on the altar. 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!” 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.”

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.

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Footnotes

  1. Exodus 24:3 Or judgments
  2. Exodus 24:4 Lit beneath
  3. Exodus 24:7 Lit in the ears of the people;
  4. Exodus 24:8 Lit cut
  5. Exodus 24:8 Lit on all
  6. Exodus 24:9 Lit and
  7. Exodus 24:10 Lit like a pavement
  8. Exodus 24:10 Lit and as

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. Only Moses is to approach the Lord, but the others[c] are not to approach; the people are not to come up with him.”

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.”

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. He sent young Israeli men to offer up burnt offerings and sacrifice bulls as peace offerings to the Lord. Moses took half the blood and put it in bowls, while he sprinkled the other half[e] on the altar. 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.”

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.”

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.

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Footnotes

  1. Exodus 24:1 Lit. He
  2. Exodus 24:1 Or bow down in worship
  3. Exodus 24:2 Lit. but they
  4. Exodus 24:3 Lit. all the people
  5. Exodus 24:6 Lit. half of the blood
  6. Exodus 24:7 Lit. in the ears of
  7. Exodus 24:11 Lit. But
  8. Exodus 24:11 Lit. He
  9. Exodus 24:11 Lit. not send forth his hand against
  10. Exodus 24:11 The Heb. lacks lived