Smoke covered Mount Sinai, because the Lord came down on it in fire. The smoke rose up from it like smoke from a furnace. The whole mountain trembled and shook.
The Lord spoke to Moses. He said, “I am going to come to you in a thick cloud. The people will hear me speaking with you. They will always put their trust in you.” Then Moses told the Lord what the people had said.
The Lord said, “I will make all my goodness pass in front of you. And I will announce my name, the Lord, in front of you. I will have mercy on whom I have mercy. And I will show love to those I love.
I will come down and speak with you there. I will take some of the power of the Spirit that is on you. And I will put it on them. They will share the responsibility of these people with you. Then you will not have to carry it alone.
Then the Lord came down in the cloud. He spoke with Moses. He took some of the power of the Spirit that was on Moses. And he put it on the 70 elders. When the Spirit came on them, they prophesied. But they didn’t do it again.
Then the Lord came down in a pillar of cloud. He stood at the entrance to the tent. And he told Aaron and Miriam to come to him. The two of them stepped forward.