²³ And ^(A)as soon as you heard the voice out of the midst of the darkness, while the mountain was burning with fire, you came near to me, all the heads of your tribes, and your elders.

¹⁸ Now when all the people saw ^(A)the thunder and the flashes of lightning and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking, the people were afraid^[a] and trembled, and they stood far off ¹⁹ and said to Moses, ^(B)“You speak to us, and we will listen; but do not let God speak to us, lest we die.”

A Kingdom That Cannot Be Shaken

¹⁸ For you have not come to ^(A)what may be touched, a blazing fire and darkness and gloom and a tempest ¹⁹ and ^(B)the sound of a trumpet and a voice whose words ^(C)made the hearers beg that no further messages be spoken to them. ²⁰ For they could not endure the order that was given, ^(D)“If even a beast touches the mountain, it shall be stoned.” ²¹ Indeed, ^(E)so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, “I tremble with fear.”