Lexicon :: Strong's H5971 - ʿam

Yet on the seventh day some of the people went out to gather, but they did not find any.

So the people rested on the seventh day.

So the people complained to Moses, “Give us water to drink.”

“Why are you complaining to me? ” Moses replied to them. “Why are you testing the LORD? ”

But the people thirsted there for water and grumbled against Moses. They said, “Why did you ever bring us up from Egypt to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst? ”

Then Moses cried out to the LORD, “What should I do with these people? In a little while they will stone me! ”

The LORD answered Moses, “Go on ahead of the people and take some of the elders of Israel with you. Take the staff you struck the Nile with in your hand and go.

“I am going to stand there in front of you on the rock at Horeb; when you hit the rock, water will come out of it and the people will drink.” Moses did this in the sight of the elders of Israel.

So Joshua defeated Amalek and his army[fn] with the sword.

“Blessed be the LORD,” Jethro exclaimed, “who rescued you from the power of Egypt and from the power of Pharaoh. He has rescued the people from under the power of Egypt!

The next day Moses sat down to judge the people, and they stood around Moses from morning until evening.

When Moses’s father-in-law saw everything he was doing for them he asked, “What is this you’re doing for the people? Why are you alone sitting as judge, while all the people stand around you from morning until evening? ”

Moses replied to his father-in-law, “Because the people come to me to inquire of God.

“You will certainly wear out both yourself and these people who are with you, because the task is too heavy for you. You can’t do it alone.

“Now listen to me; I will give you some advice, and God be with you. You be the one to represent the people before God and bring their cases to him.

“But you should select from all the people able men, God-fearing, trustworthy, and hating dishonest profit. Place them over the people as commanders of thousands, hundreds, fifties, and tens.

“They should judge the people at all times. Then they can bring you every major case but judge every minor case themselves. In this way you will lighten your load,[fn] and they will bear it with you.

“If you do this, and God so directs you, you will be able to endure, and also all these people will be able to go home satisfied.”[fn]

So Moses chose able men from all Israel and made them leaders over the people as commanders of thousands, hundreds, fifties, and tens.

They judged the people at all times; they would bring the hard cases to Moses, but they would judge every minor case themselves.

After Moses came back, he summoned the elders of the people and set before them all these words that the LORD had commanded him.

Then all the people responded together, “We will do all that the LORD has spoken.” So Moses brought the people’s words back to the LORD.

The LORD said to Moses, “I am going to come to you in a dense cloud, so that the people will hear when I speak with you and will always believe you.” Moses reported the people’s words to the LORD,

and the LORD told Moses, “Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow. They must wash their clothes

“and be prepared by the third day, for on the third day the LORD will come down on Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people.

“Put boundaries for the people all around the mountain and say: Be careful that you don’t go up on the mountain or touch its base. Anyone who touches the mountain must be put to death.

Then Moses came down from the mountain to the people and consecrated them, and they washed their clothes.

He said to the people, “Be prepared by the third day. Do not have sexual relations with women.”

On the third day, when morning came, there was thunder and lightning, a thick cloud on the mountain, and a very loud blast from a ram’s horn, so that all the people in the camp shuddered.

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

The LORD directed Moses, “Go down and warn the people not to break through to see the LORD; otherwise many of them will die.

Moses responded to the LORD, “The people cannot come up Mount Sinai, since you warned us: Put a boundary around the mountain and consecrate it.”

And the LORD replied to him, “Go down and come back with Aaron. But the priests and the people must not break through to come up to the LORD, or he will break out in anger against them.”

So Moses went down to the people and told them.

Moses responded to the people, “Don’t be afraid, for God has come to test you, so that you will fear him and will not[fn] sin.”

And the people remained standing at a distance as Moses approached the total darkness where God was.

“You must not blaspheme God[fn] or curse a leader among your people.

“I will cause the people ahead of you to feel terror[fn] and will throw into confusion all the nations you come to. I will make all your enemies turn their backs to you in retreat.[fn]

Moses came and told the people all the commands of the LORD and all the ordinances. Then all the people responded with a single voice, “We will do everything that the LORD has commanded.”

He then took the covenant scroll and read it aloud to the people. They responded, “We will do and obey all that the LORD has commanded.”

Moses took the blood, splattered it on the people, and said, “This is the blood of the covenant that the LORD has made with you concerning all these words.”