6. You will be to me a kingdom of priests, a holy nation. That is what you must tell the Israelites.
7. So Moses went and summoned the elders of the people. When he set before them all that the Lord had ordered him to tell them,
8. all the people answered together, “Everything the Lord has said, we will do.” Then Moses brought back to the Lord the response of the people.
9. The Lord said to Moses: I am coming to you now in a dense cloud, so that when the people hear me speaking with you, they will also remain faithful to you.When Moses, then, had reported the response of the people to the Lord,
10. the Lord said to Moses: Go to the people and have them sanctify themselves today and tomorrow. Have them wash their garments
11. and be ready for the third day; for on the third day the Lord will come down on Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people.
12. Set limits for the people all around, saying: Take care not to go up the mountain, or even to touch its edge. All who touch the mountain must be put to death.
13. No hand shall touch them, but they must be stoned to death or killed with arrows. Whether human being or beast, they must not be allowed to live. Only when the ram’s horn sounds may they go up on the mountain.
14. Then Moses came down from the mountain to the people and had them sanctify themselves, and they washed their garments.
15. He said to the people, “Be ready for the third day. Do not approach a woman.”
16. On the morning of the third day there were peals of thunder and lightning, and a heavy cloud over the mountain, and a very loud blast of the shofar, so that all the people in the camp trembled.