Israel Affirms the Covenant

24 Now He said to Moses, “Come up to the Lord, you and Aaron, aNadab and Abihu, band seventy of the elders of Israel, and worship from afar. 2 And Moses alone shall come near the Lord, but they shall not come near; nor shall the people go up with him.”

3 So Moses came and told the people all the words of the Lord and all the 1judgments. And all the people answered with one voice and said, c“All the words which the Lord has said we will do.” 4 And Moses dwrote all the words of the Lord. And he rose early in the morning, and built an altar at the foot of the mountain, and twelve epillars according to the twelve tribes of Israel. 5 Then he sent young men of the children of Israel, who offered fburnt offerings and sacrificed peace offerings of oxen to the Lord. 6 And Moses gtook half the blood and put it in basins, and half the blood he sprinkled on the altar. 7 Then he htook the Book of the Covenant and read in the hearing of the people. And they said, “All that the Lord has said we will do, and be obedient.” 8 And Moses took the blood, sprinkled it on the people, and said, “This is ithe blood of the covenant which the Lord has made with you according to all these words.”

On the Mountain with God

9 Then Moses went up, also Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel, 10 and they jsaw the God of Israel. And there was under His feet as it were a paved work of ksapphire stone, and it was like the lvery 2heavens in its clarity. 11 But on the nobles of the children of Israel He mdid not 3lay His hand. So nthey saw God, and they oate and drank.

12 Then the Lord said to Moses, p“Come up to Me on the mountain and be there; and I will give you qtablets of stone, and the law and commandments which I have written, that you may teach them.”

13 So Moses arose with rhis assistant Joshua, and Moses went up to the mountain of God. 14 And he said to the elders, “Wait here for us until we come back to you. Indeed, Aaron and sHur are with you. If any man has a difficulty, let him go to them.” 15 Then Moses went up into the mountain, and ta cloud covered the mountain.

16 Now uthe glory of the Lord rested on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it six days. And on the seventh day He called to Moses out of the midst of the cloud. 17 The sight of the glory of the Lord was like va consuming fire on the top of the mountain in the eyes of the children of Israel. 18 So Moses went into the midst of the cloud and went up into the mountain. And wMoses was on the mountain forty days and forty nights.