Mount Sinai

¹Now Moses was keeping the flock of Jethro, his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the back of the wilderness, and came to God’s mountain, to Horeb. ²The LORD’s angel appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the middle of a bush. He looked, and behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed. ³Moses said, “I will go now, and see this great sight, why the bush is not burned.” ⁴When the LORD saw that he came over to see, God called to him out of the middle of the bush, and said, “Moses! Moses!” He said, “Here I am.” ⁵He said, “Don’t come close. Take off your sandals, for the place you are standing on is holy ground.” ⁶Moreover he said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” Moses hid his face because he was afraid to look at God.

¹God spoke all these words, saying, ²“I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. ³“You shall have no other gods before me. ⁴“You shall not make for yourselves an idol, nor any image of anything that is in the heavens above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: ⁵you shall not bow yourself down to them, nor serve them, for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and on the fourth generation of those who hate me, ⁶and showing loving kindness to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments. ⁷“You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God, for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who misuses his name. ⁸“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. ⁹You shall labor six days, and do all your work, ¹⁰but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. You shall not do any work in it, you, nor your son, nor your daughter, your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your livestock, nor your stranger who is within your gates; ¹¹for in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day; therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day, and made it holy. ¹²“Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land which the LORD your God gives you. ¹³“You shall not murder. ¹⁴“You shall not commit adultery. ¹⁵“You shall not steal. ¹⁶“You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor. ¹⁷“You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor’s.”

¹²The LORD said to Moses, “Come up to me on the mountain, and stay here, and I will give you the stone tablets with the law and the commands that I have written, that you may teach them.” ¹³Moses rose up with Joshua, his servant, and Moses went up onto God’s Mountain. ¹⁴He said to the elders, “Wait here for us, until we come again to you. Behold, Aaron and Hur are with you. Whoever is involved in a dispute can go to them.” ¹⁵Moses went up on the mountain, and the cloud covered the mountain. ¹⁶The LORD’s glory settled on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it six days. The seventh day he called to Moses out of the middle of the cloud. ¹⁷The appearance of the LORD’s glory was like devouring fire on the top of the mountain in the eyes of the children of Israel. ¹⁸Moses entered into the middle of the cloud, and went up on the mountain; and Moses was on the mountain forty days and forty nights.

⁸He arose, and ate and drank, and went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to Horeb, God’s Mountain. ⁹He came to a cave there, and camped there; and behold, the LORD’s word came to him, and he said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” ¹⁰He said, “I have been very jealous for the LORD, the God of Armies; for the children of Israel have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword. I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away.” ¹¹He said, “Go out and stand on the mountain before the LORD.” Behold, the LORD passed by, and a great and strong wind tore the mountains and broke in pieces the rocks before the LORD; but the LORD was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake; but the LORD was not in the earthquake. ¹²After the earthquake a fire passed; but the LORD was not in the fire. After the fire, there was a still small voice. ¹³When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his mantle, went out, and stood in the entrance of the cave. Behold, a voice came to him, and said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”