Chapter 24
The People of God Ratify the Covenant.[a] 1 He said to Moses, “Come up to the Lord, you and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel, and worship from afar. 2 Moses alone shall approach the Lord, but the others shall not draw near and the people shall not go up with him.”
3 Moses went to tell the people all the words of the Lord and all the ordinances. All the people answered together and said, “We will keep all the commands that the Lord has given.”
4 Moses wrote down all the words of the Lord. Then he rose early in the morning and built an altar at the foot of the mountain with twelve pillars for the twelve tribes of Israel. 5 He sent some of the young men of Israel to offer burnt offerings and to sacrifice young bulls as peace offerings to the Lord.
6 Moses took half of the blood and placed it in bowls and the other half of the blood he poured out on the altar. 7 He then took the book of the covenant and read it in the presence of the people. They said, “All that the Lord has commanded, we will do and obey.”
8 Moses took the blood and sprinkled it on the people saying, “Behold, the blood of the covenant that the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words.”
9 Then Moses went up with Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, and the seventy elders of Israel. 10 They saw the God of Israel. Under his feet was a pavement that looked as if it were made from sapphires, shining like the very heavens. 11 He did not stretch out his hand against the nobles of the sons of Israel; they saw God and yet they continued to eat and drink.
Moses on the Mountain: The Regulation of Worship[b]
12 Moses Ascends the Mountain of God. The Lord said to Moses, “Climb up to me on the mountain and remain there. I will give you stone tablets with the laws and commandments that I have written for their instruction.”
13 Then Moses went up with Joshua, his assistant, and they climbed the mountain of God. 14 He told the elders, “Remain here to wait for us until we return to you. Aaron and Hur are here with you. Whoever has any concern can bring it to them.”
15 Moses then climbed up the mountain, and clouds covered the mountain.
16 The glory of the Lord[c] settled upon Mount Sinai, and clouds covered it for seven days. On the seventh day he called to Moses from out of the cloud.
17 The glory of the Lord appeared to the children of Israel to be a consuming fire on the mountaintop. 18 Moses entered into the midst of the cloud and climbed up the mountain. He remained on the mountain for forty days and forty nights.
Footnotes
- Exodus 24:1 The ritual used in sealing the agreement shows the understanding of the contracting parties: God, who is represented by the altar, and the people share the same blood, which is a symbol of life. A clear prefiguration of the new and definitive covenant that will be sealed with the blood of Jesus (Mt 26:28).
- Exodus 24:12 The leader of the chosen people receives the favor of a lengthy and intimate meeting with the Lord. The tradition deriving from the priestly caste links to this episode an extensive set of ordinances (vv. 24:12—31:18) having to do with the sanctuary and the objects used in worship. This tradition uses recollections of ancient religious practices of the wilderness period and adapts them, in the conviction that the God of the covenant is present in the midst of his people in a particular way that must be respected because he has willed it. The tradition therefore projects on to the tent in the wilderness the later organization of the Jerusalem temple and the liturgy celebrated there. At the same time, it expresses the hope of an ideal future in which the holy people will devote themselves unreservedly to praising their Lord (see Ezek 40–48).
- Exodus 24:16 In the Priestly tradition the glory of the Lord (see Ex 16:10) is the manifestation of the divine presence. See 33:18, where a great theophany is described.