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3 Moses went up the mountain to God, and the Lord called to him from the mountain and said, “This is what you are to say to the house of Jacob, and explain to the Israelites: 4 ‘You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to Myself. 5 Now if you will obey Me completely and keep My covenant, you will be My treasured possession among all the peoples. Although all the earth is Mine, 6 you will be for Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation’. These are the words that you are to speak to the Israelites.”
7 So Moses went back and summoned the elders of the people, and he set before them all the words the Lord had commanded him to speak. 8 The people all responded together, “We will do everythingthe Lord has said.” So Moses brought back the words of the people to the Lord.
9 The Lord said to Moses, “I am going to come to you in a dense cloud, so that the people will hear when I speak with you and will always trust you afterward.” Then Moses told the Lord what the people had said.
10 The Lord said to Moses, “Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow. Have them wash their clothes 11 and be ready by the third day, for on that day the Lord will come down on Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people. 12 Place limits for the people around the mountain and say: ‘Be careful that you do not go up on the mountain or touch the base of it. Anyone who touches the mountain shall surely be put to death. 13 No hand may be laid on him; instead he must be stoned or shot with arrows. Whether man or animal, he shall not be permitted to live’. Only when the ram’s horn sounds a long blast may they go up on the mountain.”
14 So Moses went down from the mountain to the people and consecrated them, and they washed their clothes. 15 Then he said to the people, “Be prepared by the third day. Abstain from sexual relations with women.”
16 On the morning of the third day there was thunder and lightning, with a thick cloud on the mountain, and a very loud trumpet blast, so that all the people in the camp trembled. 17 Then Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet with God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain. 18 Mount Sinai was covered with smoke, because the Lord came down in fire. The smoke billowed up from it like the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mountain shook violently. 19 As the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder, Moses spoke and God answered him in the thunder.
20 The Lord came down on Mount Sinai at the top of the mountain. Then the Lord called Moses to the top of the mountain, and he went up. 21 The Lord said to Moses, “Go down and warn the people so that they do not force their way through to see the Lord and many of them perish. 22 Even the priests who come near the Lord must consecrate themselves, or the Lord will break out against them.”
23 Moses said to the Lord, “The people cannot come up Mount Sinai, for You Yourself warned us, ‘Place limits around the mountain and consider it holy’.”
24 Then the Lord said to him, “Go down and come back with Aaron. But the priests and the people must not force their way through to come up to the Lord, or He will break out against them.”
25 So Moses went down to the people and told them.