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

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. 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.”

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.”

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. Then he sent some of the young Israelite men to present burnt offerings and to sacrifice bulls as peace offerings to the Lord. Moses drained half the blood from these animals into basins. The other half he splattered against the altar.

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.”

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.”

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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