Bible Strands
Deuteronomy 18:16
This is what you asked of the LORD your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly, when you said, “Let us not hear the voice of the LORD our God or see this great fire anymore, so that we will not die!”
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Moses addresses Israel, recounting their petition at Horeb during the assembly when they feared God's voice and the consuming fire.
The words — שָאַלְתָּ (sha'alta) means "you asked," and כֹּל (kol) translates as "all" or "according to," framing the collective nature of their request to Yahweh.
The thread — This account parallels Exodus 20:19 and Deuteronomy 5:23, where the people refuse direct divine contact to avoid death, and Deuteronomy 18:17 records God's affirmative response to their plea.
Why it lands — It demands recognition of human finitude before divine holiness and establishes the theological basis for prophetic mediation.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
According to all that thou desiredst of the Lord thy God in Horeb in the day of the assembly, saying, Let me not hear again the voice of the Lord my God, neither let me see this great fire any more, that I die not.
Cross-references
- Exodus 20:19 “Speak to us yourself and we will listen,” they said to Moses. “But do not let God speak to us, or we will die.”
- Deuteronomy 9:10 Then the LORD gave me the two stone tablets, inscribed by the finger of God with the exact words that the LORD spoke to you out of the fire on the mountain on the day of the assembly.
- Deuteronomy 5:23 And when you heard the voice out of the darkness while the mountain was blazing with fire, all the heads of your tribes and your elders approached me,
- Hebrews 12:19 to a trumpet blast or to a voice that made its hearers beg that no further word be spoken.