¹⁴ So Moses went down from the mountain to the people. He consecrated the people, and they washed their clothes. ¹⁵ And he said to the people, “Prepare for the third day; do not go near a woman.”

¹⁶ On the morning of the third day there was thunder and lightning, as well as a thick cloud on the mountain and a blast of a trumpet so loud that all the people who were in the camp trembled.^{(A) 17} Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God. They took their stand at the foot of the mountain. ¹⁸ Now all of Mount Sinai was wrapped in smoke, because the Lord had descended upon it in fire; the smoke went up like the smoke of a kiln, while the whole mountain shook violently.^{(B) 19} As the blast of the trumpet grew louder and louder, Moses would speak and God would answer him in thunder.^(C)