God said, “Go out and stand in front of the Lord on the mountain.” As the Lord was passing by, a fierce wind tore mountains and shattered rocks ahead of the Lord. But the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind came an earthquake. But the Lord wasn’t in the earthquake.
When the people saw that Moses delayed coming down from the mountain, they gathered around Aaron. They said to him, “We don’t know what has happened to this Moses, who led us out of Egypt. Make gods who will lead us.”
Moses replied, “As soon as I’m out of the city, I’ll spread out my hands to the Lord in prayer. The thunder will stop, and there will be no more hail. This is how you will know that the earth belongs to the Lord.
As soon as he left Pharaoh and went out of the city, Moses spread out his hands to the Lord in prayer. The thunder and the hail stopped, and no more rain came pouring down on the ground.
But you stay here with me. I will give you all the commands, laws, and rules that you must teach them to obey in the land which I’m giving them to possess.”
Once again I threw myself down in front of the Lord. I went without food and water for 40 days and 40 nights because of the sin you committed. You did what the Lord considered evil and made him furious.
When I went up on the mountain to get the stone tablets, the tablets of the promise that the Lord made to you, I stayed on the mountain 40 days and 40 nights without food or water.