The Bible in Basic English BBE
Good News Translation GNT
1 And he said to Moses, Come up to the Lord, you and Aaron, and Nadab and Abihu and seventy of the chiefs of Israel; and give me worship from a distance.
1
The Lord said to Moses, "Come up the mountain to me, you and Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, and seventy of the leaders of Israel; and while you are still some distance away, bow down in worship.
2 And Moses only may come near to the Lord; but the others are not to come near, and the people may not come up with them.
2
You alone, and none of the others, are to come near me. The people are not even to come up the mountain."
3 Then Moses came and put before the people all the words of the Lord and his laws: and all the people, answering with one voice, said, Whatever the Lord has said we will do.
3
Moses went and told the people all the Lord's commands and all the ordinances, and all the people answered together, "We will do everything that the Lord has said."
4 Then Moses put down in writing all the words of the Lord, and he got up early in the morning and made an altar at the foot of the mountain, with twelve pillars for the twelve tribes of Israel.
4
Moses wrote down all the Lord's commands. Early the next morning he built an altar at the foot of the mountain and set up twelve stones, one for each of the twelve tribes of Israel.
5 And he sent some of the young men of the children of Israel to make burned offerings and peace-offerings of oxen to the Lord.
5
Then he sent young men, and they burned sacrifices to the Lord and sacrificed some cattle as fellowship offerings.
6 And Moses took half the blood and put it in basins; draining out half of the blood over the altar.
6
Moses took half of the blood of the animals and put it in bowls; and the other half he threw against the altar.
7 And he took the book of the agreement, reading it in the hearing of the people: and they said, Everything which the Lord has said we will do, and we will keep his laws.
7
Then he took the book of the covenant, in which the Lord's commands were written, and read it aloud to the people. They said, "We will obey the Lord and do everything that he has commanded."
8 Then Moses took the blood and let it come on the people, and said, This blood is the sign of the agreement which the Lord has made with you in these words.
8
Then Moses took the blood in the bowls and threw it on the people. He said, "This is the blood that seals the covenant which the Lord made with you when he gave all these commands."
9 Then Moses and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the chiefs of Israel went up:
9
Moses, Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, and seventy of the leaders of Israel went up the mountain
10 And they saw the God of Israel; and under his feet there was, as it seemed, a jewelled floor, clear as the heavens.
10
and they saw the God of Israel. Beneath his feet was what looked like a pavement of sapphire, as blue as the sky.
11 And he put not his hand on the chiefs of the children of Israel: they saw God, and took food and drink.
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God did not harm these leading men of Israel; they saw God, and then they ate and drank together.
12 And the Lord said to Moses, Come up to me on the mountain, and take your place there: and I will give you the stones on which I have put in writing the law and the orders, so that you may give the people knowledge of them.
12
The Lord said to Moses, "Come up the mountain to me, and while you are here, I will give you two stone tablets which contain all the laws that I have written for the instruction of the people."
13 Then Moses and Joshua his servant got up; and Moses went up into the mountain of God.
13
Moses and his helper Joshua got ready, and Moses began to go up the holy mountain.
14 And he said to the chiefs, Keep your places here till we come back to you: Aaron and Hur are with you; if anyone has any cause let him go to them.
14
Moses said to the leaders, "Wait here in the camp for us until we come back. Aaron and Hur are here with you; and so whoever has a dispute to settle can go to them."
15 And Moses went up into the mountain, and it was covered by the cloud.
15
Moses went up Mount Sinai, and a cloud covered it.
16 And the glory of the Lord was resting on Mount Sinai, and the cloud was over it for six days; and on the seventh day he said Moses' name out of the cloud.
16
The dazzling light of the Lord's presence came down on the mountain. To the Israelites the light looked like a fire burning on top of the mountain. The cloud covered the mountain for six days, and on the seventh day the Lord called to Moses from the cloud.
17 And the glory of the Lord was like a flame on the top of the mountain before the eyes of the children of Israel.
18 And Moses went up the mountain, into the cloud, and was there for forty days and forty nights.
18
Moses went on up the mountain into the cloud. There he stayed for forty days and nights.
The Bible in Basic English is in the public domain.
Scripture taken from the Good News Translation - Second Edition, Copyright 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.