Exodus 19:17

Bible in Basic English

And Moses made the people come out of their tents and take their places before God; and they came to the foot of the mountain,

Parallel Translations

Hebrew Names Version
Moshe led the people out of the camp to meet God; and they stood at the lower part of the mountain.

King James Version
And Moses brought forth the people out of the camp to meet with God; and they stood at the nether part of the mount.

Lexham English Bible
And Moses brought the people out from the camp to meet God, and they took their stand at the foot of the mountain.

New Century Version
Then Moses led the people out of the camp to meet God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain.

New English Translation
Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God, and they took their place at the foot of the mountain.

Amplified Bible
Then Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God, and they stood and presented themselves at the foot of the mountain.

New American Standard Bible
And Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain.

Geneva Bible (1587)
Then Moses brought the people out of the tents to meete with God, and they stoode in the nether part of the mount.

Legacy Standard Bible
And Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain.

Contemporary English Version
Moses led them out of the camp to meet God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain.

Complete Jewish Bible
Moshe brought the people out of the camp to meet God; they stood near the base of the mountain.

Darby Translation
And Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet with God; and they stood at the foot of the mountain.

Easy-to-Read Version
Then Moses led the people out of the camp to a place near the mountain to meet God.

English Standard Version
Then Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God, and they took their stand at the foot of the mountain.

George Lamsa Translation
Then Moses brought forth the people out of the camp to meet God; and they stood at the base of the mountain.

Good News Translation
Moses led them out of the camp to meet God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain.

Christian Standard Bible®
Then Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain.

Literal Translation
And Moses caused the people to go up from the camp to meet God. And they took their stand at the lower part of the mountain.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
And Moses brought the people out of the tentes to mete wt God, and they stode vnder the mount.

American Standard Version
And Moses brought forth the people out of the camp to meet God; and they stood at the nether part of the mount.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
And Moyses brought the people out of the tentes to meete with God, and thei stoode at the neather part of the hil.

JPS Old Testament (1917)
And Moses brought forth the people out of the camp to meet God; and they stood at the nether part of the mount.

King James Version (1611)
And Moses brought foorth the people out of the campe to meete with God, and they stood at the nether part of the mount.

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And Moses led the people forth out of the camp to meet God, and they stood by under the camp.

English Revised Version
And Moses brought forth the people out of the camp to meet God; and they stood at the nether part of the mount.

Berean Standard Bible
Then Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet with God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
And whanne Moises hadde led hem out in to the comyng of God, fro the place of castels, thei stoden at the rootis of the hil.

Young's Literal Translation
And Moses bringeth out the people to meet God from the camp, and they station themselves at the lower part of the mount,

Update Bible Version
And Moses brought forth the people out of the camp to meet God; and they stood at the nether part of the mount.

Webster's Bible Translation
And Moses brought forth the people out of the camp to meet with God; and they stood at the nether part of the mount.

World English Bible
Moses led the people out of the camp to meet God; and they stood at the lower part of the mountain.

New King James Version
And Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet with God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain.

New Living Translation
Moses led them out from the camp to meet with God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain.

New Life Bible
Then Moses brought the people from among the tents to meet God. They stood at the base of the mountain.

New Revised Standard
Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God. They took their stand at the foot of the mountain.

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
And Moses brought forth the people, to meet God out of the camp, - and they stationed themselves in the lower part of the mount,

Douay-Rheims Bible
And when Moses had brought them forth to meet God, from the place of the camp, they stood at the bottom of the mount.

Revised Standard Version
Then Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God; and they took their stand at the foot of the mountain.

THE MESSAGE
Moses led the people out of the camp to meet God. They stood at attention at the base of the mountain.

New American Standard Bible (1995)
And Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain.

Contextual Overview

¹⁶ And when morning came on the third day, there were thunders and flames and a thick cloud on the mountain, and a horn sounding very loud; and all the people in the tents were shaking with fear. ¹⁷ And Moses made the people come out of their tents and take their places before God; and they came to the foot of the mountain, ¹⁸ And all the mountain of Sinai was smoking, for the Lord had come down on it in fire: and the smoke of it went up like the smoke of a great burning; and all the mountain was shaking. ¹⁹ And when the sound of the horn became louder and louder, Moses' words were answered by the voice of God. ²⁰ Then the Lord came down on to Mount Sinai, to the top of the mountain, and the Lord sent for Moses to come up to the top of the mountain, and Moses went up. ²¹ And the Lord said to Moses, Go down and give the people orders to keep back, for fear that a great number of them, forcing their way through to see the Lord, may come to destruction. ²² And let the priests who come near to the Lord make themselves holy, for fear that the Lord may come on them suddenly. ²³ And Moses said to the Lord, The people will not be able to come up the mountain, for you gave us orders to put limits round the mountain, marking it out and making it holy. ²⁴ And the Lord said to him, Go down, and you and Aaron may come up; but let not the priests and the people make their way through to the Lord, or he will come on them suddenly. ²⁵ So Moses went down to the people and said this to them.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Deuteronomy 4:10, Deuteronomy 5:5

Reciprocal: Exodus 20:21 - the people Leviticus 9:5 - and all the congregation Deuteronomy 9:10 - all the words Deuteronomy 10:4 - in the day

Cross-References

Genesis 13:10
And Lot, lifting up his eyes and looking an the valley of Jordan, saw that it was well watered everywhere, before the Lord had sent destruction on Sodom and Gomorrah; it was like the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt, on the way to Zoar.

Genesis 18:22
And the men, turning from that place, went on to Sodom: but Abraham was still waiting before the Lord.

Genesis 19:13
For we are about to send destruction on this place, because a great outcry against them has come to the ears of the Lord; and the Lord has sent us to put an end to the town.

Genesis 19:14
And Lot went out and said to his sons-in-law, who were married to his daughters, Come, let us go out of this place, for the Lord is about to send destruction on the town. But his sons-in-law did not take him seriously.

Genesis 19:15
And when morning came, the angels did all in their power to make Lot go, saying, Get up quickly and take your wife and your two daughters who are here, and go, for fear that you come to destruction in the punishment of the town.

Genesis 19:16
But while he was waiting, the men took him and his wife and his daughters by the hand, for the Lord had mercy on them, and put them outside the town.

Genesis 19:18
And Lot said to them, Not so, O my Lord;

Genesis 19:22
Go there quickly, for I am not able to do anything till you have come there. For this reason, the town was named Zoar.

Genesis 19:26
But Lot's wife, looking back, became a pillar of salt.

Genesis 19:31
And the older daughter said to her sister, Our father is old, and there is no man to be a husband to us in the natural way:

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And Moses brought forth the people out of the camp,.... Which was before the mountain and near it, when the above tokens were given of the divine Presence on it; as they were thrown into a panic upon the sound of the trumpet, it was, perhaps, with some difficulty that they were brought out of the camp, or persuaded to quit it; and nothing short of the presence of Moses at the head of them, to go before them, and lead them to the foot of the mountain, could have prevailed upon them to have done it:

to meet with God; who came forth in such an awful and solemn manner, as their King and lawgiver, to deliver a body of laws to them, to be the rule of their future conduct:

and they stood at the nether part of the mount; at the bottom of it, where bounds were set, and a fence made, that they should proceed no further, and yet near enough to hear what God said to Moses and to them.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Out of the camp - The encampment must have extended far and wide over the plain in front of the mountain. From one entrance of the plain to the other there is space for the whole host of the Israelites.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Exodus 19:17. And Moses brought forth the people - to meet with God — For though they might not touch the mount till they had permission, yet when the trumpet sounded long, it appears they might come up to the nether part of the mount, (see Exodus 19:13, and Deuteronomy 4:11); and when the trumpet had ceased to sound, they might then go up unto the mountain, as to any other place.

It was absolutely necessary that God should give the people at large some particular evidence of his being and power, that they might be saved from idolatry, to which they were most deplorably prone; and that they might the more readily credit Moses, who was to be the constant mediator between God and them. God, therefore, in his indescribable majesty, descended on the mount; and, by the thick dark cloud, the violent thunders, the vivid lightnings, the long and loud blasts of the trumpet, the smoke encompassing the whole mountain, and the excessive earthquake, proclaimed his power, his glory, and his holiness; so that the people, however unfaithful and disobedient afterwards, never once doubted the Divine interference, or suspected Moses of any cheat or imposture. Indeed, so absolute and unequivocal were the proofs of supernatural agency, that it was impossible these appearances could be attributed to any cause but the unlimited power of the author of Nature.

It is worthy of remark that the people were informed three days before, Exodus 19:9-11, that such an appearance was to take place; and this answered two excellent purposes:

1. They had time to sanctify and prepare themselves for this solemn transaction; and,

2. Those who might be skeptical had sufficient opportunity to make use of every precaution to prevent and detect an imposture; so this previous warning strongly serves the cause of Divine revelation.

Their being at first prohibited from touching the mount on the most awful penalties, and secondly, being permitted to see manifestations of the Divine majesty, and hear the words of God, subserved the same great purposes. Their being prohibited in the first instance would naturally whet their curiosity, make them cautious of being deceived, and ultimately impress them with a due sense of God's justice and their own sinfulness; and their being permitted afterwards to go up to the mount, must have deepened the conviction that all was fair and real, that there could be no imposture in the case, and that though the justice and purity of God forbade them to draw nigh for a time, yet his mercy, which had prescribed the means of purification, had permitted an access to his presence. The directions given from Exodus 19:10-15 inclusive show, not only the holiness of God, but the purity he requires in his worshippers.

Besides, the whole scope and design of the chapter prove that no soul can possibly approach this holy and terrible Being but through a mediator; and this is the use made of this whole transaction by the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews, Hebrews 12:18-24.