Mount Sinai was covered with smoke. Smoke rose off the mountain like smoke from a furnace. This happened because the Lord came down to the mountain in fire. Also, the whole mountain began to shake.
You came near and stood at the bottom of the mountain. The mountain burned with fire that reached up to the sky. There were thick black clouds and darkness.
“You heard the voice from the darkness while the mountain was burning with fire. Then all the elders [32] and the other leaders of your family groups came to me.
You have come to a new place. It is not a place like the mountain that the people of Israel {\cf2\super [161]} came to. You have not come to a mountain that can be touched and that is burning with fire. You have not come to a place with darkness, sadness, and storms.