Exodus 19
New Catholic Bible
The Covenant at Mount Sinai
The Covenant and the Ten Commandments[a]
Chapter 19
God Proposes His Covenant.[b] 1 Three months to the day after the children of Israel left the land of Egypt, they arrived in the Sinai Desert. 2 They left the camp at Rephidim and arrived in the Desert of Sinai. There Israel camped in front of the mountain.
3 Moses climbed up to meet God, and the Lord called out to him from the mountain, saying, “You will say this to the house of Jacob and announce it to the children of Israel: 4 ‘You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians and how I lifted you up on eagles’ wings and brought you here to me. 5 Now, if you will obey my voice and keep my covenant, you will be my own possession from among all the peoples, for the entire earth is mine. 6 You will be a kingdom of priests and a holy nation for me.’ These are the words you will speak to Israel.”[c]
7 Moses went and summoned the elders of the people and told them what the Lord had commanded him. 8 All the people answered together and said, “We will do what the Lord has said.” Then Moses returned to the Lord and told him what the people had said.
9 The Lord said to Moses, “Behold, I am about to approach you in a thick cloud so that the people will hear when I speak to you and always believe in you.”
The Lord Descends on Sinai.10 The Lord said to Moses, “Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow. Have them wash their clothes 11 and have them ready for the third day, for on the third day the Lord will come down upon Mount Sinai to visit all the people.
12 “You shall establish a boundary around it, saying, ‘Take heed not to climb up the mountain or even touch its base. Whoever touches the mountain will be put to death.’
13 “No hand must touch that person, however, for he must be stoned or shot with an arrow. Whether it be a human or an animal, he is not to live. They can come up the mountain only when you blow the trumpet.”
14 Moses went down the mountain to the people. He consecrated the people and had them wash their clothes. 15 Then he said to the people, “Be ready in three days’ time. Abstain from sexual relations.”
16 The Great Theophany. On the third day, as morning dawned, there was thunder, lightning, a dense cloud on the mountain, and the sound of loud trumpets. All the people in the camp were filled with fear.
17 Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God. They stood on foot at the base of the mountain.
18 Mount Sinai was wrapped in smoke, for the Lord had descended upon it in fire and the smoke rose up like the smoke of a furnace. The entire mountain trembled. 19 The sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder. Moses spoke and God responded with the sound of a trumpet.
20 The Lord thus descended upon Mount Sinai, on the mountain peak, and he called out to Moses upon the mountain peak. Moses went up the mountain.
21 The Lord said to Moses, “Go down and warn the people not to break through to gaze upon the Lord; otherwise many will die.
22 “Let the priests consecrate themselves before they approach the Lord. Otherwise the Lord will burst forth upon them.”
23 Moses said to the Lord, “The people cannot climb up Mount Sinai, for you yourself have warned us saying, ‘Establish a boundary around the mountain and declare it to be holy.’ ”
24 The Lord told him, “Go, descend, then come back up with Aaron. But the priests and the people are not to break through to climb up to the Lord. Otherwise, he will burst forth against them.”
25 Moses went down and spoke to the people.
Footnotes
- Exodus 19:1 The entire past of Israel converges on the event at Sinai. The call of Abraham and the deliverance from the Egyptian yoke show God’s intention to his people. The time has come for that people to respond to the divine preferences. The Covenant is not a contract between equals, in which offer and response are on the same level; rather, the initiative is entirely the Lord’s. Israel does, however, have an obligation to agree to the “salvation” offered to it and to express a desire to commit itself to fidelity to the law of the Lord. The text of the Covenant will be Israel’s religious and social constitution.
- Exodus 19:1 The Hebrews have reached the southern part of the Sinai peninsula; it is the imposing countryside dominated by this summit that serves as a backdrop for their meeting with God. In submitting themselves to the Lord, they will become a consecrated people. Thus, the People of God is truly born of the Sinaitic Covenant.
- Exodus 19:6 A people taken from among the nations and consecrated to God (Isa 61:6; 1 Pet 2:5-9; Rev 1:6)
