Out of Egypt · c. 1446 BC
Chapter 8
The Mountain of God
‘You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings, and brought you to myself.
For parents
God warns that any person or animal that touches the mountain must be put to death with stones or arrows (Exodus 19:12–13); it is a warning, and no one is killed. Moses tells the people not to sleep with a woman while they get ready (19:15), and one commandment forbids adultery (20:14); both are said softly.
In the third month after they left the land of , the came into the wilderness of . They had set out from , and they camped there in the wilderness, in front of the mountain.
It was God’s mountain, where had seen the burning bush. “When you have brought the people out of Egypt,” God had told him there, “you will serve God on this mountain.”
Moses went up to God, and the called to him out of the mountain. “Here is what you are to say to ’s family, to the Israelites: ‘You saw what I did to the Egyptians. You saw how I carried you on eagles’ wings, and how I brought you to me.
“‘Now, if you truly do what I say and keep my , then you will be my own possession from among all the peoples, because the whole earth is mine. You will be a kingdom of for me, and a nation.’ Speak these words to the Israelites.”
Moses came and sent for the of the people, and he told them all these words the Lord had commanded him.
All the people answered together, “We will do everything the Lord has said!” Moses took the people’s answer back to the Lord.
The Lord said to Moses, “Look, I am about to come to you in a thick cloud, so the people can hear me speak with you, and will always believe you.” Then Moses repeated the people’s words to the Lord.
The Lord said to Moses, “Go to the people. Today and tomorrow, set them apart as holy, and have them wash their clothes. They must be ready for the third day. On the third day, with all the people watching, the Lord will come down on Mount Sinai.
“Mark out a boundary for the people all around the mountain, and say to them, ‘Be careful that you don’t go up onto the mountain or touch its edge. Whoever touches the mountain must be put to death. No one is to touch that person. He must be killed with stones or shot with arrows. Whether it is an animal or a person, it must not live.’ When the trumpet gives a long blast, they will come up to the mountain.”
Moses went down from the mountain to the people and set them apart as holy, and they washed their clothes.
“Be ready by the third day,” he told the people. “Don’t sleep with a woman.”
On the third day, as morning came, there was thunder and lightning, and a thick cloud lay on the mountain. A trumpet sounded, very loud, and all the people in the camp trembled.
Moses led the people out of the camp to meet God, and they stood at the bottom of the mountain.
All of Mount Sinai smoked, because the Lord came down onto it in fire. Smoke rose from it like the smoke of a furnace, and the mountain shook hard all over.
When the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder, Moses spoke, and God’s voice answered him.
The Lord came down on Mount Sinai, to the top of the mountain. He called Moses up to the top of the mountain, and Moses went up.
The Lord said to Moses, “Go down. Warn the people not to break through to stare at the Lord, or many of them will die. The priests, too, who come near to the Lord, must set themselves apart as holy, or the Lord will burst out against them.”
Moses said to the Lord, “The people can’t come up to Mount Sinai. You warned us: ‘Mark out a boundary around the mountain, and make it holy.’”
The Lord said to him, “Go down! You are to bring up with you. But don’t let the priests and the people break through to come up to the Lord. If they do, he will burst out against them.”
So Moses went down to the people and told them.
Then God said all of this: “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, where you were slaves.
“You shall have no other gods before me.
“You shall not make an for yourselves, or an image of anything in the sky above, or on the earth beneath, or in the water under the earth. Don’t bow down to them or serve them, because I, the Lord your God, am a . I bring the sin of the fathers on the children, on the third and on the fourth generation of those who hate me, and I show loving kindness to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.
“You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God. He will count anyone who misuses his name as guilty.
“Remember the day, to keep it holy. For six days you are to work and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath for the Lord your God. Don’t do any work on it: not you, or your son or your daughter, or your servants, men or women, or your animals, or any foreigner who lives in your towns. This is because in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them, and he rested on the seventh day. So the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.
“Honor your father and your mother, so you will live for many years in the land the Lord your God gives you.
“You shall not murder.
“You shall not commit .
“You shall not steal.
“You shall not lie as a witness against your neighbor.
“You shall not your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, his servants, men or women, his ox, his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor’s.”
All the people saw and heard the thunder and the lightning, the trumpet blowing, and the mountain smoking. When they saw it, they trembled, and they stayed at a distance.
They said to Moses, “You speak with us yourself, and we will listen. But don’t let God speak with us, or we will die.”
“Don’t be afraid,” Moses told the people. “God has come to test you. He has come so that the will stay with you, and you won’t sin.”
The people stayed far back, and Moses went near the thick darkness where God was.
The Lord said to Moses, “Tell this to the Israelites: ‘You have seen with your own eyes that I talked with you from heaven. You must never make gods of silver or gods of gold for yourselves, to put beside me.
“‘Make an of earth for me. your and your on it, your sheep and your cattle. In every place where I put my name, I will come to you and bless you.
“‘If you build an altar of stone for me, don’t use cut stones, because if you use your tool on it, you have spoiled it.
“‘And don’t go up steps to my altar, so that your body isn’t uncovered there.’”