A modern English translation drawn directly from the original Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek texts. Translated word-for-word where possible, by a committee with scholarly oversight.
Uses the same source texts as the ESV, NASB, and most academic Bibles, including the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia and the Nestle-Aland critical edition.
Exodus 33
Exodus 33 is the thirty-third chapter of the book of Exodus and the chapter of the presence question. The 23-verse chapter follows the golden calf with the LORD's hardest word and the longest exchange Moses ever has with him: the LORD says he will not go with the people lest he destroy them, and Moses refuses to move from Sinai without him. The chapter closes with the cleft of the rock, the closest sight of the glory of the LORD any man is granted.
The chapter opens with the LORD telling Moses to leave Sinai with the people and to go up to the land promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He will send an angel before them and will drive out the Canaanites, Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites. They will go up to a land flowing with milk and honey. But he himself will not go with them, because they are a stiff-necked people; were he to go with them for a single moment, he would destroy them on the way.
When the people hear this hard word they mourn, and no one puts on his ornaments. The LORD has them strip themselves of their jewelry from Mount Horeb onward.
Moses then takes the tent and pitches it at a distance outside the camp and calls it the Tent of Meeting. Anyone seeking the LORD goes to it. When Moses enters, the pillar of cloud comes down and stands at the entrance, and the LORD speaks with Moses. All the people stand at the entrances of their own tents and worship as they watch. "The LORD would speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend." Joshua, Moses's young assistant, does not leave the tent.
Moses then turns to the LORD with the longest plea of his life. He asks the LORD to let him know who will be sent with him; the LORD has said he knows Moses by name. He asks the LORD to let him know his ways, that he might know him and find favor. He asks the LORD to remember that this nation is his people.
The LORD answers: "My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest."
Moses presses: "If Your Presence does not go with us, do not lead us up from here." For how can it be known that he and the people have found favor in the LORD's sight unless the LORD goes with them? How else will they be distinguished from every other people on earth? The LORD answers, "I will do this very thing you have asked, for you have found favor in My sight, and I know you by name."
Moses then asks for more. "Please show me Your glory." The LORD answers, "I will cause all My goodness to pass before you, and I will proclaim My name, the LORD, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion." But, he says, "You cannot see My face, for no one can see Me and live."
The chapter closes with the cleft of the rock. There is a place near the LORD where Moses is to stand on a rock. When the LORD's glory passes by, he will put Moses in a cleft of the rock and cover him with his hand until he has passed by. Then he will take his hand away, and Moses will see his back; but his face must not be seen.
Verse 1. Then the LORD said to Moses, “Leave this place, you and the people you brought up out of the land of Egypt, and go to the land that I promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob when I said, ‘I will give it to your descendants.’
Verse 2. And I will send an angel before you, and I will drive out the Canaanites, Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites.
Verse 3. Go up to a land flowing with milk and honey. But I will not go with you, because you are a stiff-necked people; otherwise, I might destroy you on the way.”
Verse 4. When the people heard this bad news, they went into mourning, and no one put on any of his jewelry.
Verse 5. For the LORD had said to Moses, “Tell the Israelites, ‘You are a stiff-necked people. If I should go with you for a single moment, I would destroy you. Now take off your jewelry, and I will decide what to do with you.’”
Verse 6. So the Israelites stripped themselves of their jewelry from Mount Horeb onward.
Verse 7. Now Moses used to take the tent and pitch it at a distance outside the camp. He called it the Tent of Meeting, and anyone inquiring of the LORD would go to the Tent of Meeting outside the camp.
Verse 8. Then, whenever Moses went out to the tent, all the people would stand at the entrances to their own tents and watch Moses until he entered the tent.
Verse 9. As Moses entered the tent, the pillar of cloud would come down and remain at the entrance, and the LORD would speak with Moses.
Verse 10. When all the people saw the pillar of cloud standing at the entrance to the tent, they would stand up and worship, each one at the entrance to his own tent.
Verse 11. Thus the LORD would speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend. Then Moses would return to the camp, but his young assistant Joshua son of Nun would not leave the tent.
Verse 12. Then Moses said to the LORD, “Look, You have been telling me, ‘Lead this people up,’ but You have not let me know whom You will send with me. Yet You have said, ‘I know you by name, and you have found favor in My sight.’
Verse 13. Now if indeed I have found favor in Your sight, please let me know Your ways, that I may know You and find favor in Your sight. Remember that this nation is Your people.”
Verse 14. And the LORD answered, “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.”
Verse 15. “If Your Presence does not go with us,” Moses replied, “do not lead us up from here.
Verse 16. For how then can it be known that Your people and I have found favor in Your sight, unless You go with us? How else will we be distinguished from all the other people on the face of the earth?”
Verse 17. So the LORD said to Moses, “I will do this very thing you have asked, for you have found favor in My sight, and I know you by name.”
Verse 18. Then Moses said, “Please show me Your glory.”
Verse 19. “I will cause all My goodness to pass before you,” the LORD replied, “and I will proclaim My name—the LORD—in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.”
Verse 20. But He added, “You cannot see My face, for no one can see Me and live.”
Verse 21. The LORD continued, “There is a place near Me where you are to stand upon a rock,
Verse 22. and when My glory passes by, I will put you in a cleft of the rock and cover you with My hand until I have passed by.
Verse 23. Then I will take My hand away, and you will see My back; but My face must not be seen.”
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