Exodus 24

God Calls Moses Up the Mountain

1 The Lord told Moses, ‘Come up here to Me, bring Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, and seventy of Israel’s elders. You all can worship from a distance.’

2 ‘Only you, Moses, can come all the way up. The others must stay back, and the people cannot come up at all.’

Israel Agrees to Follow God’s Laws

3 Moses went and told the people everything the Lord said, all His laws. The people responded together, ‘We got you! We will do everything the Lord said.’

4 Moses wrote everything down. Early the next morning, he built an altar at the bottom of the mountain and set up twelve pillars, one for each tribe of Israel.

5 Then he sent young men to offer burnt sacrifices and peace offerings to the Lord, using bulls.

6 Moses took half the blood from the offerings and put it in bowls. The other half, he splashed on the altar.

7 Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read it to the people. They said, ‘We got you! We will do everything the Lord said, and we will obey!’

8 Moses took the blood and sprinkled it on the people, saying, ‘This is the blood of the covenant the Lord made with you all based on these words.’

Moses, Aaron, and the Elders See God

9 Moses, Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, and the seventy elders went up the mountain.

10 They saw the God of Israel! Under His feet was something like a pavement made of sapphire, clear blue like the sky.

11 But God did not strike them down. They saw Him and even ate and drank in His presence.

Moses Goes Up to Get the Tablets

12 The Lord told Moses, ‘Come up to Me on the mountain. I will give you stone tablets with the law and commands I wrote, so you can teach the people.’

13 So Moses and his assistant Joshua got up and started climbing the mountain of God.

14 Moses told the elders, ‘You all stay here until we get back. Aaron and Hur are with you, if anybody got a problem, go to them.’

God’s Glory Covers Mount Sinai

15 Moses went up the mountain, and a cloud covered it.

16 The Lord’s glory settled on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it for six days. On the seventh day, God called Moses from inside the cloud.

17 To the Israelites watching from below, the Lord’s glory looked like a raging fire on top of the mountain.

18 Moses disappeared into the cloud as he climbed higher. He stayed on the mountain with God for 40 days and 40 nights.