Exodus, 24
Moses writeth his law; and after offering sacrifices, sprinkleth the blood of the testament upon the people: then goeth up the mountain which God covereth with a fiery cloud.
[1] And he said to Moses: Come up to the Lord, thou, and Aaron, Nadab and Abiu, and seventy of the ancients of Israel, and you shall adore afar off. •
[2] And Moses alone shall come up to the Lord, but they shall not come nigh; neither shall the people come up with him.
[3] So Moses came and told the people all the words of the Lord, and all the judgments: and all the people answered with one voice: We will do all the words of the Lord, which he hath spoken.
[4] And Moses wrote all the words of the Lord: and rising in the morning, he built an altar at the foot of the mount, and twelve titles 1 according to the twelve tribes of Israel. •
Titles: That is, pillars.
[5] And he sent young men of the children of Israel, and they offered holocausts 1, and sacrificed pacific victims of calves to the Lord. •
Holocausts: Whole burnt offerings, in which the whole sacrifice was consumed with fire upon the altar.
[6] Then Moses took half of the blood, and put it into bowls; and the rest he poured upon the altar.
[7] And taking the book of the covenant, he read it in the hearing of the people: and they said: All things that the Lord hath spoken, we will do, we will be obedient.
[8] And he took the blood and sprinkled it upon the people, and he said: This is the blood of the covenant, which the Lord hath made with you concerning all these words. •
[9] Then Moses and Aaron, Nadab and Abiu, and seventy of the ancients of Israel went up:
[10] And they saw the God of Israel: and under his feet as it were a work of sapphire stone, and as the heaven, when clear. •
[11] Neither did he lay his hand upon those of the children of Israel, that retired afar off, and they saw God, and they did eat and drink. •
[12] And the Lord said to Moses: Come up to me into the mount, and be there; and I will give thee tables of stone, and the law, and the commandments which I have written; that thou mayest teach them.
[13] Moses rose up, and his minister Josue: and Moses going up into the mount of God,
[14] Said to the ancients: Wait ye here till we return to you. You have Aaron and Hur with you: if any question shall arise, you shall refer it to them. •
[15] And when Moses was gone up, a cloud covered the mount.
[16] And the glory of the Lord dwelt upon Sinai, covering it with a cloud six days: and the seventh day he called him out of the midst of the cloud. •
[17] And the sight of the glory of the Lord, was like a burning fire upon the top of the mount, in the eyes of the children of Israel.
[18] And Moses entering into the midst of the cloud, went up into the mountain: And he was there forty days and forty nights. •