The Covenant Confirmed

24 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Come up to the Lord, you and Aaron,(A) Nadab and Abihu,(B) and seventy of the elders(C) of Israel. You are to worship at a distance, but Moses alone is to approach(D) the Lord; the others must not come near. And the people may not come up with him.”

When Moses went and told the people all the Lord’s words and laws,(E) they responded with one voice, “Everything the Lord has said we will do.”(F) Moses then wrote(G) down everything the Lord had said.

He got up early the next morning and built an altar(H) at the foot of the mountain and set up twelve stone pillars(I) representing the twelve tribes of Israel. Then he sent young Israelite men, and they offered burnt offerings(J) and sacrificed young bulls as fellowship offerings(K) to the Lord. Moses(L) took half of the blood(M) and put it in bowls, and the other half he splashed(N) against the altar. Then he took the Book of the Covenant(O) and read it to the people. They responded, “We will do everything the Lord has said; we will obey.”(P)

Moses then took the blood, sprinkled it on the people(Q) and said, “This is the blood of the covenant(R) that the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words.”

Moses and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and the seventy elders(S) of Israel went up 10 and saw(T) the God of Israel. Under his feet was something like a pavement made of lapis lazuli,(U) as bright blue as the sky.(V) 11 But God did not raise his hand against these leaders of the Israelites; they saw(W) God, and they ate and drank.(X)

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The Blood of the Covenant

24 Then he said to Moses, “Come up to the Lord, you and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel, and worship at a distance.(A) Moses alone shall come near the Lord, but the others shall not come near, and the people shall not come up with him.”

Moses went and told the people all the words of the Lord and all the ordinances, and all the people answered with one voice and said, “All the words that the Lord has spoken we will do.”(B) And Moses wrote down all the words of the Lord. He rose early in the morning, built an altar at the foot of the mountain, and set up twelve pillars, corresponding to the twelve tribes of Israel.(C) He sent young men of the Israelites, who offered burnt offerings and sacrificed oxen as offerings of well-being to the Lord. Moses took half of the blood and put it in basins, and half of the blood he dashed against the altar.(D) Then he took the book of the covenant and read it in the hearing of the people, and they said, “All that the Lord has spoken we will do, and we will be obedient.”(E) Moses took the blood and dashed it on the people, and said, “Here is the blood of the covenant that the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words.”(F)

On the Mountain with God

Then Moses and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel went up,(G) 10 and they saw the God of Israel. Under his feet there was something like a pavement of sapphire stone, like the very heaven for clearness.(H) 11 God[a] did not lay his hand on the chief men of the Israelites; they beheld God, and they ate and drank.

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Footnotes

  1. 24.11 Heb He