Exodus 24:6–18

⁶Moses took half the blood of the animals and put it in bowls; and the other half he threw against the altar. ⁷Then he took the book of the covenant, in which the Lord’s commands were written, and read it aloud to the people. They said, “We will obey the Lord and do everything that he has commanded.”

^8*Then Moses took the blood in the bowls and threw it on the people. He said, “This is the blood that seals the covenant which the Lord made with you when he gave all these commands.”

⁹Moses, Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, and 70 of the leaders of Israel went up the mountain ¹⁰and they saw the God of Israel. Beneath his feet was what looked like a pavement of sapphire, as blue as the sky. ¹¹God did not harm these leading men of Israel; they saw God, and then they ate and drank together.

Moses on Mount Sinai

¹²The Lord said to Moses, “Come up the mountain to me, and while you are here, I will give you two stone tablets which contain all the laws that I have written for the instruction of the people.” ¹³Moses and his helper Joshua got ready, and Moses began^y to go up the holy mountain. ¹⁴Moses said to the leaders, “Wait here in the camp for us until we come back. Aaron and Hur are here with you; and so whoever has a dispute to settle can go to them.”

¹⁵Moses went up Mount Sinai, and a cloud covered it. ^16–17The dazzling light of the Lord’s presence came down on the mountain. To the Israelites the light looked like a fire burning on top of the mountain. The cloud covered the mountain for six days, and on the seventh day the Lord called to Moses from the cloud. ^18*Moses went on up the mountain into the cloud. There he stayed for 40 days and nights.