1Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Leave this place, you and the people you brought up out of Egypt, and go up to the land I promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, saying, “I will give it to your descendants.”2I will send an angel before you and drive out the Canaanites, Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites.3Go up to the land flowing with milk and honey. But I will not go with you, because you are a stiff-necked people and I might destroy you on the way.’4When the people heard these distressing words, they began to mourn and no-one put on any ornaments.5For the Lord had said to Moses, ‘Tell the Israelites, “You are a stiff-necked people. If I were to go with you even for a moment, I might destroy you. Now take off your ornaments and I will decide what to do with you.” ’6So the Israelites stripped off their ornaments at Mount Horeb.
The tent of meeting
7Now Moses used to take a tent and pitch it outside the camp some distance away, calling it the ‘tent of meeting’. Anyone enquiring of the Lord would go to the tent of meeting outside the camp.8And whenever Moses went out to the tent, all the people rose and stood at the entrances to their tents, watching Moses until he entered the tent.9As Moses went into the tent, the pillar of cloud would come down and stay at the entrance, while the Lord spoke with Moses.10Whenever the people saw the pillar of cloud standing at the entrance to the tent, they all stood and worshipped, each at the entrance to their tent.11The Lord would speak to Moses face to face, as one speaks to a friend. Then Moses would return to the camp, but his young assistant Joshua son of Nun did not leave the tent.
Moses and the glory of the Lord
12Moses said to the Lord, ‘You have been telling me, “Lead these people,” but you have not let me know whom you will send with me. You have said, “I know you by name and you have found favour with me.”13If you are pleased with me, teach me your ways so I may know you and continue to find favour with you. Remember that this nation is your people.’14The Lord replied, ‘My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.’15Then Moses said to him, ‘If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here.16How will anyone know that you are pleased with me and with your people unless you go with us? What else will distinguish me and your people from all the other people on the face of the earth?’17And the Lord said to Moses, ‘I will do the very thing you have asked, because I am pleased with you and I know you by name.’18Then Moses said, ‘Now show me your glory.’19And the Lord said, ‘I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the Lord, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.20But,’ he said, ‘you cannot see my face, for no-one may see me and live.’21Then the Lord said, ‘There is a place near me where you may stand on a rock.22When my glory passes by, I will put you in a cleft in the rock and cover you with my hand until I have passed by.23Then I will remove my hand and you will see my back; but my face must not be seen.’
Exodus 33
English Standard Version
The Command to Leave Sinai
1The Lord said to Moses, “Depart; go up from here, you and the people whom you have brought up out of the land of Egypt, to the land of which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, saying, ‘To your offspring I will give it.’ (Ge 12:7; Ex 32:7; Ex 32:13)2I will send an angel before you, and I will drive out the Canaanites, the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. (Ex 13:5; Ex 14:19)3Go up to a land flowing with milk and honey; but I will not go up among you, lest I consume you on the way, for you are a stiff-necked people.” (Ex 3:8; Ex 32:9; Ex 32:10; Ex 33:15; Nu 16:21; Nu 16:45)4When the people heard this disastrous word, they mourned, and no one put on his ornaments. (Nu 14:39; Eze 24:17; Eze 24:23; Eze 26:16)5For the Lord had said to Moses, “Say to the people of Israel, ‘You are a stiff-necked people; if for a single moment I should go up among you, I would consume you. So now take off your ornaments, that I may know what to do with you.’” (Ex 32:12; Ex 33:3; Ex 33:4)6Therefore the people of Israel stripped themselves of their ornaments, from Mount Horeb onward.
The Tent of Meeting
7Now Moses used to take the tent and pitch it outside the camp, far off from the camp, and he called it the tent of meeting. And everyone who sought the Lord would go out to the tent of meeting, which was outside the camp. (Ex 29:42; De 4:29; 2Sa 21:1; 1Ch 16:10; Ps 40:16)8Whenever Moses went out to the tent, all the people would rise up, and each would stand at his tent door, and watch Moses until he had gone into the tent. (Nu 16:27)9When Moses entered the tent, the pillar of cloud would descend and stand at the entrance of the tent, and the Lord[1] would speak with Moses. (Ex 13:21)10And when all the people saw the pillar of cloud standing at the entrance of the tent, all the people would rise up and worship, each at his tent door.11Thus the Lord used to speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend. When Moses turned again into the camp, his assistant Joshua the son of Nun, a young man, would not depart from the tent. (Ge 32:30; Ex 17:9; Ex 24:13; Ex 32:17; Nu 12:8; De 34:10)
Moses’ Intercession
12Moses said to the Lord, “See, you say to me, ‘Bring up this people,’ 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 also found favor in my sight.’ (Ex 32:34; Ex 33:17)13Now therefore, if I have found favor in your sight, please show me now your ways, that I may know you in order to find favor in your sight. Consider too that this nation is your people.” (De 9:29; Ps 25:4; Ps 103:7; Joe 2:17)14And he said, “My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.” (Ex 40:34; De 3:20; Jos 1:5; Jos 21:44; Jos 22:4; Jos 23:1; Ps 95:11; Isa 63:9)15And he said to him, “If your presence will not go with me, do not bring us up from here. (Ex 33:1)16For how shall it be known that I have found favor in your sight, I and your people? Is it not in your going with us, so that we are distinct, I and your people, from every other people on the face of the earth?” (Ex 19:5; Nu 14:14; 1Ki 8:53)17And the Lord said to Moses, “This very thing that you have spoken I will do, for you have found favor in my sight, and I know you by name.” (Ex 33:12)18Moses said, “Please show me your glory.” (Ex 33:20; 1Ti 6:16)19And he said, “I will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you my name ‘The Lord.’ And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy. (Ex 34:5; Ps 31:19; Jer 31:14; Ro 9:15)20But,” he said, “you cannot see my face, for man shall not see me and live.” (Ge 32:30; Ex 24:10; De 5:24; Jud 6:22; Jud 13:22; Isa 6:5; Re 1:17)21And the Lord said, “Behold, there is a place by me where you shall stand on the rock,22and while my glory passes by I will put you in a cleft of the rock, and I will cover you with my hand until I have passed by. (Ps 91:1; Ps 91:4; Isa 2:21)23Then I will take away my hand, and you shall see my back, but my face shall not be seen.” (Ex 33:20; Joh 1:18; 1Ti 6:16; 1Jo 4:12)