8
The people were unanimous in their response: "Everything God says, we will do." Moses took the people's answer back to God.
9
God said to Moses, "Get ready. I'm about to come to you in a thick cloud so that the people can listen in and trust you completely when I speak with you." Again Moses reported the people's answer to God.
10
God said to Moses, "Go to the people. For the next two days get these people ready to meet the Holy God. Have them scrub their clothes
11
so that on the third day they'll be fully prepared, because on the third day God will come down on Mount Sinai and make his presence known to all the people.
12
Post boundaries for the people all around, telling them, 'Warning! Don't climb the mountain. Don't even touch its edge. Whoever touches the mountain dies - a certain death.
13
And no one is to touch that person, he's to be stoned. That's right - stoned. Or shot with arrows, shot to death. Animal or man, whichever - put to death.' "A long blast from the horn will signal that it's safe to climb the mountain."
14
Moses went down the mountain to the people and prepared them for the holy meeting. They gave their clothes a good scrubbing.
15
Then he addressed the people: "Be ready in three days. Don't sleep with a woman."
16
On the third day at daybreak, there were loud claps of thunder, flashes of lightning, a thick cloud covering the mountain, and an ear-piercing trumpet blast. Everyone in the camp shuddered in fear.
17
Moses led the people out of the camp to meet God. They stood at attention at the base of the mountain.
18
Mount Sinai was all smoke because God had come down on it as fire. Smoke poured from it like smoke from a furnace. The whole mountain shuddered in huge spasms.