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him there, and said: “Thus shalt thou say to the house of Jacob and tell the children of Israel: You have seen what I have done to the Egyptians and how I have carried you upon the wings of eagles and have taken you to Myself. If, therefore, you will hear My voice and keep My covenant^[1], you shall be My peculiar possession above all peoples, and you shall be to Me a priestly Kingdom and a holy Nation.”

Fig. 25. Mount Sinai with St. Catherine Convent in the foreground.

Moses went down from the mountain, and related to the people what God had said. They all cried out with one voice: “All that the Lord hath spoken we will do.” Then Moses went up again to the mountain, and the Lord told him that all the people should sanctify and purify^[2] themselves from all defilement that might render them unfit to appear in His presence, and to

1. My covenant. God renewed with all the people the covenant which He had made with their forefather Abraham (Chapter IX).
2. Purify. They were to purify themselves inwardly by penance, as well as outwardly by ablutions, because the Most Holy was going to manifest Himself to them.