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Exodus 18

Amplified Bible, 2015 (AMP)

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¹ and you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation [set apart for My purpose].' These are the words that you shall speak to the Israelites."

² So Moses called for the elders of the people, and told them all these words which the LORD commanded him.

³ All the people answered together and said, "We will do everything that the LORD has spoken." And Moses reported the words of the people to the LORD.

⁴ The LORD said to Moses, "Behold, I will come to you in a thick cloud, so that the people may hear when I speak with you and may believe and trust in you forever." Then Moses repeated the words of the people to the LORD.

⁵ The LORD also said to Moses, "Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow [that is, prepare them for My sacred purpose], and have them wash their clothes

⁶ and be ready by the third day, because on the third day the LORD will come down on Mount Sinai [in the cloud] in the sight of all the people.

⁷ You shall set barriers for the people all around [the mountain], saying, 'Beware that you do not go up on the mountain or touch its border; whoever touches the mountain must be put to death.

⁸ No hand shall touch him [that is, no one shall try to save the guilty party], but the offender must be stoned or shot through [with arrows]; whether man or animal [that touches the mountain], he shall not live.' When the ram's horn sounds a long blast, they shall come up to the mountain."

⁹ So Moses went down from the mountain to the people and sanctified them [for God's sacred purpose], and they washed their clothes.

¹⁰ He said to the people, "Be prepared for the third day; do not[1] be intimate with a woman."

¹¹ So it happened on the third day, when it was morning, that there were thunder and flashes of lightning, and a thick cloud was on the mountain, and a very loud blast was sounded on a ram's horn, so that all the people who were in the camp trembled.

¹² Then Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God, and they stood and presented themselves at the foot of the mountain.

¹³ Mount Sinai was wrapped in smoke because the LORD descended upon it in fire; its smoke ascended like the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mountain quaked violently.

¹⁴ And it happened, as the blast of the ram's horn grew louder and louder, Moses spoke and God answered him with [a voice of] thunder.

¹⁵ The LORD came down on Mount Sinai, to the top of the mountain; and the LORD called Moses to the top of the mountain, and he went up.

¹⁶ Then the LORD spoke to Moses, "Go down, warn the people, so that they do not break through [the barriers around the mountain] to the LORD to see [Me], and many of them perish [as a result].

¹⁷ Also have the priests who approach the LORD consecrate (sanctify, set apart) themselves [for My sacred purpose], or else the LORD will break forth [in judgment] against them [and destroy them]."

¹⁸ Moses said to the LORD, "The people cannot come up to Mount Sinai, because You warned us, saying, 'Set barriers around the mountain and consecrate it.'"

¹⁹ Then the LORD said to him, "Go down and come up again, you and Aaron with you; but do not let the priests and the people break through [the barriers] to come up to the LORD, or He will break forth [in judgment] against them [and destroy them]."

²⁰ So Moses went down to the people and told them [again about God's warning].

²¹ Then God spoke all these words:

²² "I am the LORD your God, who has brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.

²³ "You shall have no other gods before Me.

²⁴ "You shall not make for yourself any idol, or any likeness (form, manifestation) of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth [as an object to worship].

²⁵ You shall not worship them nor serve them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous (impassioned) God [[1] demanding what is rightfully and uniquely mine], visiting (avenging) the iniquity (sin, guilt) of the fathers on the children [that is, calling the children to account for the sins of their fathers], to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me,

²⁶ but showing graciousness and steadfast lovingkindness to thousands [of generations] of those who love Me and keep My commandments.

²⁷ "You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain [that is, irreverently, in false affirmations or in ways that impugn the character of God]; for the LORD will not hold guiltless nor leave unpunished the one who[2] takes His name in vain [disregarding its reverence and its power].

#	AMP
1	and you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation [set apart for My purpose].' These are the words that you shall speak to the Israelites."
2	So Moses called for the elders of the people, and told them all these words which the LORD commanded him.
3	All the people answered together and said, "We will do everything that the LORD has spoken." And Moses reported the words of the people to the LORD.
4	The LORD said to Moses, "Behold, I will come to you in a thick cloud, so that the people may hear when I speak with you and may believe and trust in you forever." Then Moses repeated the words of the people to the LORD.
5	The LORD also said to Moses, "Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow [that is, prepare them for My sacred purpose], and have them wash their clothes
6	and be ready by the third day, because on the third day the LORD will come down on Mount Sinai [in the cloud] in the sight of all the people.
7	You shall set barriers for the people all around [the mountain], saying, 'Beware that you do not go up on the mountain or touch its border; whoever touches the mountain must be put to death.
8	No hand shall touch him [that is, no one shall try to save the guilty party], but the offender must be stoned or shot through [with arrows]; whether man or animal [that touches the mountain], he shall not live.' When the ram's horn sounds a long blast, they shall come up to the mountain."
9	So Moses went down from the mountain to the people and sanctified them [for God's sacred purpose], and they washed their clothes.
10	He said to the people, "Be prepared for the third day; do not[1] be intimate with a woman."
11	So it happened on the third day, when it was morning, that there were thunder and flashes of lightning, and a thick cloud was on the mountain, and a very loud blast was sounded on a ram's horn, so that all the people who were in the camp trembled.
12	Then Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God, and they stood and presented themselves at the foot of the mountain.
13	Mount Sinai was wrapped in smoke because the LORD descended upon it in fire; its smoke ascended like the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mountain quaked violently.
14	And it happened, as the blast of the ram's horn grew louder and louder, Moses spoke and God answered him with [a voice of] thunder.
15	The LORD came down on Mount Sinai, to the top of the mountain; and the LORD called Moses to the top of the mountain, and he went up.
16	Then the LORD spoke to Moses, "Go down, warn the people, so that they do not break through [the barriers around the mountain] to the LORD to see [Me], and many of them perish [as a result].
17	Also have the priests who approach the LORD consecrate (sanctify, set apart) themselves [for My sacred purpose], or else the LORD will break forth [in judgment] against them [and destroy them]."
18	Moses said to the LORD, "The people cannot come up to Mount Sinai, because You warned us, saying, 'Set barriers around the mountain and consecrate it.'"
19	Then the LORD said to him, "Go down and come up again, you and Aaron with you; but do not let the priests and the people break through [the barriers] to come up to the LORD, or He will break forth [in judgment] against them [and destroy them]."
20	So Moses went down to the people and told them [again about God's warning].
21	Then God spoke all these words:
22	"I am the LORD your God, who has brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.
23	"You shall have no other gods before Me.
24	"You shall not make for yourself any idol, or any likeness (form, manifestation) of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth [as an object to worship].
25	You shall not worship them nor serve them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous (impassioned) God [[1] demanding what is rightfully and uniquely mine], visiting (avenging) the iniquity (sin, guilt) of the fathers on the children [that is, calling the children to account for the sins of their fathers], to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me,
26	but showing graciousness and steadfast lovingkindness to thousands [of generations] of those who love Me and keep My commandments.
27	"You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain [that is, irreverently, in false affirmations or in ways that impugn the character of God]; for the LORD will not hold guiltless nor leave unpunished the one who[2] takes His name in vain [disregarding its reverence and its power].

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Exodus 18

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