and the LORD said to him, "Go down and warn the people not to cross the boundary to come and look at me; if they do, many of them will die.

Moses said to the LORD, "The people cannot come up, because you commanded us to consider the mountain sacred and to mark a boundary around it."

You have never been here before, so they will show you the way to go. But do not get near the Covenant Box; stay about half a mile behind it."

He said to Moses, "Get out of my sight! Don't let me ever see you again! On the day I do, you will die!"

Do not make any treaties with the people of the country into which you are going, because this could be a fatal trap for you.

He told me to give you the following instructions 'You are about to go through the hill country of Edom, the territory of your distant relatives, the descendants of Esau. They will be afraid of you,

Be on your guard! Make certain that you do not forget, as long as you live, what you have seen with your own eyes. Tell your children and your grandchildren

because they could not bear the order which said, "If even an animal touches the mountain, it must be stoned to death."

The sight was so terrifying that Moses said, "I am trembling and afraid!"