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 eldersc of Israel. You are to worship at a distance, 2 but Moses alone is to approachd the Lord; the others must not come near. And the people may not come up with him.”

3 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 4 Moses then wroteg down everything the Lord had said.

He got up early the next morning and built an altarh at the foot of the mountain and set up twelve stone pillarsi representing the twelve tribes of Israel. 5 Then he sent young Israelite men, and they offered burnt offeringsj and sacrificed young bulls as fellowship offeringsk to the Lord. 6 Mosesl took half of the bloodm and put it in bowls, and the other half he splashedn against the altar. 7 Then he took the Book of the Covenanto and read it to the people. They responded, “We will do everything the Lord has said; we will obey.”p

8 Moses then took the blood, sprinkled it on the peopleq and said, “This is the blood of the covenantr that the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words.”

9 Moses and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and the seventy elderss of Israel went up 10 and sawt 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 saww God, and they ate and drank.x

12 The Lord said to Moses, “Come up to me on the mountain and stay here, and I will give you the tablets of stoney with the law and commandments I have written for their instruction.”

13 Then Moses set out with Joshuaz his aide, and Moses went up on the mountaina of God. 14 He said to the elders, “Wait here for us until we come back to you. Aaron and Hurb are with you, and anyone involved in a disputec can go to them.”

15 When Moses went up on the mountain, the cloudd covered it, 16 and the glorye of the Lord settled on Mount Sinai.f For six days the cloud covered the mountain, and on the seventh day the Lord called to Moses from within the cloud.g 17 To the Israelites the glory of the Lord looked like a consuming fireh on top of the mountain. 18 Then Moses entered the cloud as he went on up the mountain. And he stayed on the mountain fortyi days and forty nights.j