17. For you know that later when he wanted to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no opportunity for repentance, although he sought the blessing with tears.
18. For you have not come to something that can be touched, to a burning fire and darkness and gloom and a whirlwind
19. and the blast of a trumpet and a voice uttering words such that those who heard begged to hear no more.
20. For they could not bear what was commanded: “If even an animal touches the mountain, it must be stoned.”
21. In fact, the scene was so terrifying that Moses said, “I shudder with fear.”
22. But you have come to Mount Zion, the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to myriads of angels, to the assembly
23. and congregation of the firstborn, who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous, who have been made perfect,
24. and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks of something better than Abel’s does.
25. Take care not to refuse the one who is speaking! For if they did not escape when they refused the one who warned them on earth, how much less shall we, if we reject the one who warns from heaven?
26. Then his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, “I will once more shake not only the earth but heaven too.”