Moses writes his law; and after offering sacrifices, sprinkles the blood of the testament upon the people: then goes up the mountain which God covers with a fiery cloud.

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.¹

1. 24:4Titles: That is, pillars.(Challoner)

⁵ And he sent youths from the sons of Israel, and they offered holocausts, and they immolated calves as peace-offerings to the Lord.¹

1. 24:5Holocausts: Whole burnt offerings, in which the whole sacrifice was consumed with fire upon the altar.(Challoner)

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.¹

1. 24:18The expression ‘forty days and forty nights’ is not an approximate length of time. Whenever the reference is to ‘days and nights,’ the length of time is being presented as an exact length of time. The interpretation may be figurative, but the grammatical meaning is an exact length of time.(Conte)