Exodus 19:21

he said to him: “Descend, and call the people to witness, lest they might be willing to transgress the limits, so as to see the Lord, and a very great multitude of them might perish.

Catholic Public Domain Version

In The King James Version

And the LORD said unto Moses, Go down, charge the people, lest they break through unto the LORD to gaze, and many of them perish.

In Context

20And the Lord descended over Mount Sinai, to the very top of the mountain, and he called Moses to its summit. And when he had ascended there,

22Likewise, the priests who approach toward the Lord, let them be sanctified, lest he strike them down.”

Read all of Exodus 19

Cross References

Exodus 3:5And he said: “Lest you should approach here, remove the shoes from your feet. For the place on which you stand is holy ground.”

Exodus 33:20And again he said: “You are not able to see my face. For man shall not see me and live.”

Numbers 4:18“Do not be willing to lose the people of Kohath from the midst of the Levites.

Numbers 4:20Let no others, out of curiosity, see the things that are in the Sanctuary before they are wrapped, otherwise they shall die.”

Ecclesiastes 5:1You should not speak anything rashly, nor should your heart be hasty to present a word before God. For God is in heaven, and you are on earth. For this reason, let your words be few.

Matthew Henry on Exodus 19:17-25

The Divine Presence on Mount Sinai. ( b. c. 1491.) 16 And it came to pass on the third day in the morning, that there were thunders and lightnings, and a thick cloud upon the mount, and the voice of the trumpet exceeding loud; so that all the people that was in the camp trembled. 17 And Moses brought forth the people out of the camp to meet with God; and they stood at the nether part of the mount. 18 And Mount Sinai was altogether on a smoke, because the Lord descended upon it in fire: and the smoke thereof… Read the whole commentary →

This Verse In Other Editions

Study Exodus 19:21