Exodus 19:12–22

¹²“You shall set bounds for the people all around, saying, ‘¹Beware that you do not go up on the mountain or touch the border of it; ^awhoever touches the mountain shall surely be put to death.

¹³‘No hand shall touch him, but ^ahe shall surely be stoned or ¹shot through; whether beast or man, he shall not live.’ When the ram’s horn sounds a long blast, they shall come up to ^bthe mountain.”

¹⁴So Moses went down from the mountain to the people and consecrated the people, and they washed their garments.

¹⁵He said to the people, “Be ready for the third day; do not go near a woman.”

^16aSo it came about on the third day, when it was morning, that there were ¹thunder and lightning flashes and a thick cloud upon the mountain and a very loud trumpet sound, so that all the people who were in the camp trembled.

¹⁷And Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God, and they stood at the ¹foot of the mountain.

The Lord Visits Sinai

^18aNow Mount Sinai was all in smoke because the Lord descended upon it ^bin fire; and its smoke ascended like ^cthe smoke of a furnace, and ^dthe whole mountain ¹quaked violently.

¹⁹When the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder, Moses spoke and ^aGod answered him with ¹thunder.

^20aThe Lord came down on Mount Sinai, to the top of the mountain; and the Lord called Moses to the top of the mountain, and Moses went up.

²¹Then the Lord spoke to Moses, “Go down, ¹warn the people, so that ^athey do not break through to the Lord to gaze, and many of them ²perish.

²²“Also let the ^apriests who come near to the Lord consecrate themselves, or else the Lord will break out against them.”