In the third month of the departure of Israel out of the land of Egypt, on this day they came into the wilderness of Sinai:

Mense tertio egressionis Israël de terra Ægypti, in die hac venerunt in solitudinem Sinai.

The third new moon was rising since they left the land of Egypt, on the day when the Israelites reached the wilderness of Sinai.

For departing out of Raphidim, and coming to the desert of Sinai, they camped in the same place, and there Israel pitched their tents over against the mountain.

Nam profecti de Raphidim, et pervenientes usque in desertum Sinai, castrametati sunt in eodem loco, ibique Israël fixit tentoria e regione montis.

They set out from Raphidim, and marched all the way to the Sinai desert before they encamped, pitching their tents there in full view of the mountain.

And Moses went up to God: and the Lord called unto him from the mountain, and said: Thus shalt thou say to the house of Jacob, and tell the children of Israel:

Moyses autem ascendit ad Deum: vocavitque eum Dominus de monte, et ait: Hæc dices domui Jacob, et annuntiabis filiis Israël:

Here Moses went up to meet God, and the voice of God came to him from the mountain, A message to the race of Jacob; to Israel’s sons proclaim it:

You have seen what I have done to the Egyptians, how I have carried you upon the wings of eagles, and have taken you to myself.

Vos ipsi vidistis quæ fecerim Ægyptiis, quomodo portaverim vos super alas aquilarum, et assumpserim mihi.

You have seen for yourselves what I did to the Egyptians, how I carried you as if on eagle’s wings, and took you up into my care.

If therefore you will hear my voice, and keep my covenant, you shall be my peculiar possession above all people: for all the earth is mine.

Si ergo audieritis vocem meam, et custodieritis pactum meum, eritis mihi in peculium de cunctis populis: mea est enim omnis terra:

Listen, then, to my voice, and keep your covenant with me; and I, to whom all the earth belongs, will single you out among its peoples to be my own.

And you shall be to me a priestly kingdom, and a holy nation. These are the words thou shalt speak to the children of Israel.

et vos eritis mihi in regnum sacerdotale, et gens sancta. Hæc sunt verba quæ loqueris ad filios Israël.

You shall serve me as a royal priesthood, as a consecrated nation; tell the Israelites this.

Moses came, and calling together the elders of the people, he declared all the words which the Lord had commanded.

Venit Moyses: et convocatis majoribus natu populi, exposuit omnes sermones quos mandaverat Dominus.

So, when Moses came back, he summoned the elders of the people, and told them what message it was the Lord had entrusted to him;

And all the people answered together: All that the Lord hath spoken, we will do. And when Moses had related the people’s words to the Lord,

Responditque omnis populus simul: Cuncta quæ locutus est Dominus, faciemus. Cumque retulisset Moyses verba populi ad Dominum,

whereupon the whole people answered with one voice, We will do all the Lord has said. Moses went back to the Lord with this promise from the people,

The Lord said to him: Lo, now will I come to thee in the darkness of a cloud, that the people may hear me speaking to thee, and may believe thee for ever. And Moses told the words of the people to the Lord.

ait ei Dominus: Jam nunc veniam ad te in caligine nubis, ut audiat me populus loquentem ad te, et credat tibi in perpetuum. Nuntiavit ergo Moyses verba populi ad Dominum.

and the Lord said to him, The time has come now when I mean to visit thee, wrapped in a dark cloud, so that all the people may hear me talking with thee, and obey thee without question henceforward. And when Moses had told him of the people’s promise,

And he said to him: Go to the people, and sanctify them to day, and to morrow, and let them wash their garments.

Qui dixit ei: Vade ad populum, et sanctifica illos hodie, et cras, laventque vestimenta sua.

he said, Go back to the people, and spend to-day and to-morrow ridding them of defilement. Let them wash their clothes,

And let them be ready against the third day: for on the third day the Lord will come down in the sight of all the people upon mount Sinai.

Et sint parati in diem tertium: in die enim tertia descendet Dominus coram omni plebe super montem Sinai.

and hold themselves in readiness for the third day; two days from now, the Lord will come down on to mount Sinai in the presence of all the people.

And thou shalt appoint certain limits to the people round about, and thou shalt say to them: Take heed you go not up into the mount, and that ye touch not the borders thereof: every one that toucheth the mount dying he shall die.

Constituesque terminos populo per circuitum, et dices ad eos: Cavete ne ascendatis in montem, nec tangatis fines illius: omnis qui tetigerit montem, morte morietur.

Keep them within bounds along the whole circle of it, and bid them beware of going up on to the mountain, or touching even the fringes of it; if anyone touches the mountain, his life must pay for it.

No hands shall touch him, but he shall be stoned to death, or shall be shot through with arrows: whether it be beast, or man, he shall not live. When the trumpet shall begin to sound, then let them go up into the mount.

Manus non tanget eum, sed lapidibus opprimetur, aut confodietur jaculis: sive jumentum fuerit, sive homo, non vivet: cum cœperit clangere buccina, tunc ascendant in montem.

No hand must be laid on him, he must be stoned, or shot down with javelins; beast or man that touches the mountain is to die. All this, until they hear a blast on the ram’s horn; then let them go up on to the mountain.

And Moses came down from the mount to the people, and sanctified them. And when they had washed their garments,

Descenditque Moyses de monte ad populum, et sanctificavit eum. Cumque lavissent vestimenta sua,

So Moses went down again to the people, and rid them of defilement. First they must wash their clothes;

He said to them: Be ready against the third day, and come not near your wives.

ait ad eos: Estote parati in diem tertium, et ne appropinquetis uxoribus vestris.

then he bade them hold themselves in readiness for the third day, and have no commerce with their wives.

And now the third day was come, and the morning appeared: and behold thunders began to be heard, and lightning to flash, and a very thick cloud to cover the mount, and the noise of the trumpet sounded exceeding loud, and the people that was in the camp, feared.

Jamque advenerat tertius dies, et mane inclaruerat: et ecce cœperunt audiri tonitrua, ac micare fulgura, et nubes densissima operire montem, clangorque buccinæ vehementius perstrepebat: et timuit populus qui erat in castris.

And now the third day had come. Morning broke, and all at once thunder was heard, lightning shone out, and the mountain was covered with thick mist; loud rang the trumpet-blast, and the people in the camp were dismayed.

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

Cumque eduxisset eos Moyses in occursum Dei de loco castrorum, steterunt ad radices montis.

But Moses brought them out from the camp itself to meet the Lord, and they stood there close by the spurs of the mountain.

And all mount Sinai was on a smoke: because the Lord was come down upon it in fire, and the smoke arose from it as out of a furnace: and all the mount was terrible.

Totus autem mons Sinai fumabat, eo quod descendisset Dominus super eum in igne: et ascenderet fumus ex eo quasi de fornace, eratque omnis mons terribilis.

The whole of mount Sinai was by now wreathed in smoke, where the Lord had come down with fire about him, so that smoke went up as if from a furnace; it was a mountain full of terrors.

And the sound of the trumpet grew by degrees louder and louder, and was drawn out to a greater length: Moses spoke, and God answered him.

Et sonitus buccinæ paulatim crescebat in majus, et prolixius tendebatur: Moyses loquebatur, et Deus respondebat ei.

Louder yet grew the noise of the trumpet, longer its blast; and then Moses spoke to the Lord, and the Lord’s voice was heard in answer.

And the Lord came down upon mount Sinai, in the very top of the mount, and he called Moses unto the top thereof. And when he was gone up thither,

Descenditque Dominus super montem Sinai in ipso montis vertice, et vocavit Moysen in cacumen ejus. Quo cum ascendisset,

It was on the very top of mount Sinai that the Lord had come down, and now he called Moses up to the summit. When he had climbed up there

He said unto him: Go down, and charge the people: lest they should have a mind to pass the limits to see the Lord, and a very great multitude of them should perish.

dixit ad eum: Descende, et contestare populum: ne forte velit transcendere terminos ad videndum Dominum, et pereat ex eis plurima multitudo.

he was bidden go down again, and warn the people not to pass beyond their bounds in their eagerness to see the Lord; or it might be that a great multitude of them would incur death.

The priests also that come to the Lord, let them be sanctified, lest he strike them.

Sacerdotes quoque qui accedunt ad Dominum, sanctificentur, ne percutiat eos.

Even the priests who came into the Lord’s presence were to come sanctified, for fear he should smite them.

And Moses said to the Lord: The people cannot come up to mount Sinai: for thou didst charge, and command, saying: Set limits about the mount, and sanctify it.

Dixitque Moyses ad Dominum: Non poterit vulgus ascendere in montem Sinai: tu enim testificatus es, et jussisti, dicens: Pone terminos circa montem, et sanctifica illum.

But, Lord, said Moses, the common folk will be in no danger of climbing up on to Sinai; thou thyself hast warned them, and bidden us set bounds, to keep the mountain inviolable.

And the Lord said to him: Go, get thee down: and thou shalt come up, thou and Aaron with thee: but let not the priests and the people pass the limits, nor come up to the Lord, lest he kill them.

Cui ait Dominus: Vade, descende: ascendesque tu, et Aaron tecum: sacerdotes autem et populus ne transeant terminos, nec ascendant ad Dominum, ne forte interficiat illos.

Go down, the Lord said to him, and come back with Aaron alone; neither priests nor people are to go beyond their bounds, and come into the Lord’s presence, or he will slay them.

And Moses went down to the people and told them all.

Descenditque Moyses ad populum, et omnia narravit eis.

So Moses went back to the people, and told them all he was bidden.