Exodus 24:6–18

⁶Moses^l took half of the blood^m and put it in bowls, and the other half he splashedⁿ against the altar. ⁷Then he took the Book of the Covenant^o and read it to the people. They responded, “We will do everything the Lord has said; we will obey.”^p

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

⁹Moses and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and the seventy elders^s of Israel went up ¹⁰and saw^t 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 saw^w God, and they ate and drank.^x

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

¹³Then Moses set out with Joshua^z his aide, and Moses went up on the mountain^a of God. ¹⁴He said to the elders, “Wait here for us until we come back to you. Aaron and Hur^b are with you, and anyone involved in a dispute^c can go to them.”

¹⁵When Moses went up on the mountain, the cloud^d covered it, ¹⁶and the glory^e 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 fire^h on top of the mountain. ¹⁸Then Moses entered the cloud as he went on up the mountain. And he stayed on the mountain fortyⁱ days and forty nights.^j