Bible Compass
Log inGet started
Back to the chapter

Exodus 20:19

Moses
Fear

17 You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his manservant or maidservant, or his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”

18 When all the people witnessed the thunder and lightning, the sounding of the ram’s horn, and the mountain enveloped in smoke, they trembled and stood at a distance.

“Speak to us yourself and we will listen,” they said to Moses. “But do not let God speak to us, or we will die.”

20 “Do not be afraid,” Moses replied. “For God has come to test you, so that the fear of Him may be before you, to keep you from sinning.”

21 And the people stood at a distance as Moses approached the thick darkness where God was.

Read the whole chapter

Here the Bible tells a story about someone else. Ask yourself what it can say to us today. Do read the surrounding verses too, because the context often says more than a single verse.

Compare

BSB
“Speak to us yourself and we will listen,” they said to Moses. “But do not let God speak to us, or we will die.”
KJV
And they said unto Moses, Speak thou with us, and we will hear: but let not God speak with us, lest we die.
WEB
They said to Moses, “Speak with us yourself, and we will listen; but don’t let God speak with us, lest we die.”
ASV
And they said unto Moses, Speak thou with us, and we will hear; but let not God speak with us, lest we die.
DARBY
and said to Moses, Speak thou with us, and we will hear; but let not God speak with us, lest we die.
BLB
And they said to Moses, “You speak with us, and we will listen; and let not God speak with us, lest we die.”
ÅB
Og de sa til Moses: Tal du til oss, så vil vi høre; men la ikke Gud tale med oss, så vi ikke dør!
OTB
Og de sa til Moses: "Tal til oss selv, så vil vi lytte; men la ikke Gud tale til oss, ellers vil vi dø."
B1930
Og de sa til Moses: Tal du med oss, så vil vi høre; men la ikke Gud tale med oss, forat vi ikke skal dø!

Study notes (Tyndale)

Original text and word study

Cross references

  • Deuteronomy 18:16

    This is what you asked of the LORD your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly, when you said, “Let us not hear the voice of the LORD our God or see this great fire anymore, so that we will not die!”

    Read in context

  • Acts 7:38

    He was in the assembly in the wilderness with the angel who spoke to him on Mount Sinai, and with our fathers. And he received living words to pass on to us.

    Read in context

  • Deuteronomy 5:23–27

    And when you heard the voice out of the darkness while the mountain was blazing with fire, all the heads of your tribes and your elders approached me,

    Read in context

  • Exodus 33:20

    But He added, “You cannot see My face, for no one can see Me and live.”

    Read in context

  • Galatians 3:19

    Why then was the law given? It was added because of transgressions, until the arrival of the seed to whom the promise referred. It was administered through angels by a mediator.

    Read in context

  • Deuteronomy 5:5

    At that time I was standing between the LORD and you to declare to you the word of the LORD, because you were afraid of the fire and would not go up the mountain. And He said:

    Read in context

  • Genesis 32:30

    So Jacob named the place Peniel, saying, “Indeed, I have seen God face to face, and yet my life was spared.”

    Read in context

  • Hebrews 12:19

    to a trumpet blast or to a voice that made its hearers beg that no further word be spoken.

    Read in context