The mountain trembles

16And it happened on the third day, when morning came, that there were thunders and lightnings, and a heavy cloud on the mountain, and the sound of a trumpet, very loud; and all the people who were in the camp trembled.

17Then Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God, and they took their stand at the foot of the mountain.

18Mount Sinai was all in smoke because Yahweh had descended on it in fire, and its smoke went up like the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mountain trembled greatly.

19And the sound of the trumpet kept growing stronger and stronger; Moses would speak, and God would answer him with a voice.

20And Yahweh came down on Mount Sinai, to the top of the mountain. Then Yahweh called Moses to the top of the mountain, and Moses went up.

21And Yahweh said to Moses, “Go down; warn the people, lest they break through to Yahweh to look, and many of them fall.”

22And even the priests who come near to Yahweh must consecrate themselves, lest Yahweh break out against them.

23And Moses said to Yahweh, “The people cannot go up to Mount Sinai, because you yourself warned us, saying, ‘Set bounds around the mountain and consecrate it.’”

24And Yahweh said to him, “Go down, and come up—you and Aaron with you. But the priests and the people must not break through to come up to Yahweh, lest he break out against them.”

25So Moses went down to the people and spoke to them.