Exodus 19:12–22

¹²You shall set bounds for the people all around, saying, ‘Take heed to yourselves that you do not go up to the mountain or touch its base. ^sWhoever touches the mountain shall surely be put to death. ¹³Not a hand shall touch him, but he shall surely be stoned or shot with an arrow; whether man or beast, he shall not live.’ When the trumpet sounds long, they shall come near the mountain.”

¹⁴So Moses went down from the mountain to the people and sanctified the people, and they washed their clothes. ¹⁵And he said to the people, “Be ready for the third day; ^tdo not come near your wives.”

¹⁶Then it came to pass on the third day, in the morning, that there were ^uthunderings and lightnings, and a thick cloud on the mountain; and the sound of the trumpet was very loud, so that all the people who were in the camp ^vtrembled. ¹⁷And ^wMoses brought the people out of the camp to meet with God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain. ¹⁸Now ^xMount Sinai was completely in smoke, because the Lord descended upon ^yit in fire. ^zIts smoke ascended like the smoke of a furnace, and ³the ^awhole mountain quaked greatly. ¹⁹And when the blast of the trumpet sounded long and became louder and louder, ^bMoses spoke, and ^cGod answered him by voice. ²⁰Then the Lord came down upon Mount Sinai, on the top of the mountain. And the Lord called Moses to the top of the mountain, and Moses went up.

²¹And the Lord said to Moses, “Go down and warn the people, lest they break through ^dto gaze at the Lord, and many of them perish. ²²Also let the ^epriests who come near the Lord ^fconsecrate themselves, lest the Lord ^gbreak out against them.”