¹⁸You have not come to a mountain that can be touched and that is burning with fire. You have not come to darkness, sadness, and storms. ¹⁹You have not come to the noise of a trumpet or to the sound of a voice like the one the people of Israel heard and begged not to hear another word. ²⁰They did not want to hear the command: “If anything, even an animal, touches the mountain, it must be put to death with stones.” ⁿ ²¹What they saw was so terrible that Moses said, “I am shaking with fear.” ⁿ

²²But you have come to Mount Zion, ⁿ to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem. You have come to thousands of angels gathered together with joy. ²³You have come to the meeting of God’s firstborn ⁿ children whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God, the judge of all people, and to the spirits of good people who have been made perfect. ²⁴You have come to Jesus, the One who brought the new agreement from God to his people, and you have come to the sprinkled blood ⁿ that has a better message than the blood of Abel. ⁿ

Read in Logos

Footnotes

n“If … stones.” Quotation from Exodus 19:12–13.
n“I … fear.” Quotation from Deuteronomy 9:19.
nMount Zion Another name for Jerusalem, here meaning the spiritual city of God’s people.
nfirstborn The first son born in a Jewish family was given the most important place in the family and received special blessings. All of God’s children are like that.
nsprinkled blood The blood of Jesus’ death.
nAbel The son of Adam and Eve, who was killed by his brother Cain (Genesis 4:8).