1 He also said to Moses: “Ascend to the Lord, you and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy elders out of Israel, and adore from a distance. 2 And only Moses will ascend to the Lord, and these shall not approach. Neither shall the people ascend with him.” 3 Therefore, Moses went and explained to the people all the words of the Lord, as well as the judgments. And all the people responded with one voice: “We will do all the words of the Lord, which he has spoken.” 4 Then Moses wrote all the words of the Lord. And rising up in the morning, he built an altar at the base of the mountain, with twelve titles according to the twelve tribes of Israel. 5 And he sent youths from the sons of Israel, and they offered holocausts, and they immolated calves as peace-offerings to the Lord. 6 And so Moses took one half part of the blood, and he put it into bowls. Then the remaining part he poured over the altar. 7 And taking up the book of the covenant, he read it in the hearing of the people, who said: “All that the Lord has spoken, we will do, and we will be obedient.” 8 In truth, taking up the blood, he sprinkled it on the people, and he said, “This is the blood of the covenant, which the Lord has formed with you concerning all these words.” 9 And Moses and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel ascended. 10 And they saw the God of Israel. And under his feet was something like a work of sapphire stone, or like the sky, when it is serene. 11 Neither did he lay his hand upon those of the sons of Israel who were at a distance. And they saw God, and they ate and drank. 12 Then the Lord said to Moses: “Ascend to me on the mountain, and be there. And I will give to you tablets of stone, and the law and the commandments that I have written. So may you teach them.” 13 Moses rose up, with Joshua his minister. And Moses, ascending on the mountain of God, 14 said to the elders: “Wait here, until we return to you. You have Aaron and Hur with you. If any question arises, you shall refer it to them.” 15 And when Moses had ascended, a cloud covered the mountain. 16 And the glory of the Lord dwelt upon Sinai, covering it with a cloud for six days. And on the seventh day, he called to him from the middle of the mist. 17 Now the appearance of the glory of the Lord was like a burning fire over the summit of the mountain in the sight of the sons of Israel. 18 And Moses, entering into the midst of the cloud, ascended the mountain. And he was there for forty days and forty nights.
Exodus · Catholic Public Domain Version
Exodus 24 Catholic Public Domain Version
Audio: World English Bible (WEB), read by Winfred W. Henson · About the recordings
Notes on this text (3)
- Esther and Daniel are the Vulgate books (Esther 1–16 with the Greek additions as chapters 10:4–16; Daniel 1–14 with the Song of the Three, Susanna and Bel). Baruch 6 is the Letter of Jeremiah.
- The translator's footnotes, cross-references, chapter summaries and book introductions in the CrossWire module are not shown.
- No imprimatur; single translator.
People & places in this chapter
From this site's family tree and Bible maps, only where those guides cite this chapter.
People
Aaron
Moses' brother and spokesman, Israel's first high priest.
Cited in the guide: Exodus 4–40; Leviticus 8–10
Hur
The man who with Aaron held up Moses' hands during the battle with Amalek at Rephidim, and who was left with Aaron to settle disputes while Moses went up the mountain. Exodus 31:2…
Cited in the guide: Exodus 17:10; Exodus 17:12; Exodus 24:14
Moses
Drawn from the Nile, he led Israel out of Egypt and received God's Law.
Cited in the guide: Exodus 2–Deuteronomy 34
Cross references (18)
Related passages for each verse, from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge as collected and ranked by readers at OpenBible.info.
- 1 Numbers 11:16; Exodus 6:23; Leviticus 10:1–2; Exodus 28:1; Exodus 19:24
- 2 Hebrews 10:21–22; Exodus 24:18; Exodus 24:15; Exodus 24:13; Jeremiah 30:21
- 3 Exodus 19:8; Exodus 24:7; Joshua 24:22; Deuteronomy 5:1; Deuteronomy 6:1
- 4 Genesis 28:18; Deuteronomy 31:9; Revelation 21:14; Galatians 2:9; Luke 22:30
- 5 Exodus 18:12; Leviticus 7:11–21; Exodus 19:22; Leviticus 1:1–17; Leviticus 3:1–17
- 6 1 Peter 1:19; Exodus 24:8; Hebrews 9:18; Leviticus 4:6; Hebrews 12:24
- 7 Deuteronomy 31:11–13; Hebrews 9:18–23; Exodus 24:3–4; 1 Thessalonians 5:27; Colossians 4:16
- 8 Hebrews 10:4–5; Exodus 24:6; Ezekiel 36:25; Matthew 26:28; Hebrews 13:20
- 9 Exodus 24:1
- 10 John 1:18; Ezekiel 10:1; Exodus 33:23; Genesis 32:30; Exodus 33:20
- 11 Exodus 18:12; Luke 15:23–24; Genesis 31:54; Genesis 16:13; Deuteronomy 12:7
- 12 Deuteronomy 5:22; Exodus 31:18; Exodus 32:15–16; Hebrews 9:4; 2 Corinthians 3:3
- 13 Exodus 33:11; Numbers 11:28; Exodus 17:9–14; Exodus 3:1; Exodus 32:17
- 14 Exodus 17:12; Exodus 17:10; Genesis 22:5; Exodus 18:25–26; 1 Samuel 13:8–13
- 15 Exodus 19:9; Matthew 17:5; Exodus 19:16; 2 Chronicles 6:1
- 16 Exodus 16:10; Numbers 16:42; Ezekiel 1:28; Leviticus 9:23; Numbers 14:10
- 17 Hebrews 12:29; Deuteronomy 4:24; Exodus 3:2; Hebrews 12:18; Deuteronomy 4:36
- 18 Deuteronomy 9:9; Deuteronomy 10:10; Exodus 34:28; Deuteronomy 9:18; Deuteronomy 9:25
Cross references: OpenBible.info (CC BY), drawn mainly from the public-domain Treasury of Scripture Knowledge. · Sources & licences
What the Fathers said
Passages from the Church Fathers that expound or quote this chapter, verbatim from the public-domain Schaff edition (19th-century English translations).
How these were chosen
“Commentary” is the opening of a homily or exposition on this chapter (John Chrysostom’s homilies, Augustine’s tractates, sermons and expositions of the Psalms). “Quotes” are sentences where the edition’s own footnotes identify a quotation of a verse here, kept only when the wording matches the verse. Only works whose authorship is not in doubt are used. Psalms follow the Hebrew/English numbering (Augustine numbers them as the Septuagint does: his Psalm 50 is Psalm 51 here).
For they declare that the twelve sons of Jacob, from whom also sprung twelve tribes,-- the breastplate of the high priest, which bore twelve precious stones and twelve little bells, --the twelve stones which were placed by Moses at the foot of the mountain, --the same number which was placed by Joshua in the river, and again, on the other …
A candid mind, if I may so speak, cannot but be anxious, for example, to ascertain what is meant by the fact that Moses and Elijah, and our Lord Himself, all fasted for forty days. And except by knowledge of and reflection upon the number, the difficulty of explaining the figure involved in this action cannot be got over.
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 2 (1887)
Moses, of a truth, was the first to abide fasting with God for forty days and again for another forty, and thus doubtless to afflict himself with hunger on the Sabbaths although the law forbade self-affliction on the Sabbath.
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 2, vol. 9 (1899)