Exodus 33
33
The Tent Outside the Camp
1The Lord spoke to Moses: “Go up from here, you and the people you brought up from the land of Egypt, to the land I promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, saying: I will give it to your offspring. # 33:1 Gn 12:7; Ex 32:7 2I will send an angel ahead of you and will drive out the Canaanites, Amorites, Hethites, Perizzites, # 33:2 Sam, LXX add Girgashites Hivites, and Jebusites. # 33:2 Ex 32:34; Jos 24:11 3Go up to a land flowing with milk and honey. But I will not go up with you because you are a stiff-necked people; otherwise, I might destroy you on the way.” # 33:3 Ex 3:8; 32:9; Nm 16:21,45 4When the people heard this bad news, they mourned and didn’t put on their jewelry. # 33:4 Nm 14:39; Ezk 24:17,23
5For the Lord said to Moses, “Tell the Israelites: You are a stiff-necked people. If I went up with you for a single moment, I would destroy you. Now take off your jewelry, and I will decide what to do with you.” 6So the Israelites remained stripped of their jewelry from Mount Horeb onward.
7Now Moses took a tent and pitched it outside the camp, at a distance from the camp; he called it the tent of meeting. Anyone who wanted to consult the Lord would go to the tent of meeting that was outside the camp. # 33:7 Ex 29:42–43; Dt 4:29 8Whenever Moses went out to the tent, all the people would stand up, each one at the door of his tent, and they would watch Moses until he entered the tent. 9When Moses entered the tent, the pillar of cloud would come down and remain at the entrance to the tent, and the Lord would speak with Moses. # 33:9 Ex 13:21; 31:18; Ps 99:7 10As all the people saw the pillar of cloud remaining at the entrance to the tent, they would stand up, then bow in worship, each one at the door of his tent. 11The Lord would speak with Moses face to face, just as a man speaks with his friend, then Moses would return to the camp. His assistant, the young man Joshua son of Nun, would not leave the inside of the tent. # 33:11 Ex 24:13; Nm 12:8; Dt 34:10
The Lord’s Glory
12Moses said to the Lord, “Look, you have told me, ‘Lead this people up,’ but you have not let me know whom you will send with me. You said, ‘I know you by name, # 33:12 Ex 32:34; Jn 10:14–15; 2Tm 2:19 and you have also found favor with me.’ 13Now if I have indeed found favor with you, please teach me your ways, # 33:13 Ps 25:4; 86:11; 119:33 and I will know you, so that I may find favor with you. Now consider that this nation is your people.” # 33:13 Ex 34:9; Dt 9:26,29
14And he replied, “My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.” # 33:14 Jos 21:44; 22:4; Is 63:9
15“If your presence does not go,” Moses responded to him, “don’t make us go up from here. 16How will it be known that I and your people have found favor with you unless you go with us? I and your people will be distinguished by this from all the other people on the face of the earth.” # 33:16 Ex 34:10; Nm 14:14
17The Lord answered Moses, “I will do this very thing you have asked, for you have found favor with me, and I know you by name.”
18Then Moses said, “Please, let me see your glory.” # 33:18 Ex 33:20; 1Tm 6:16
19He said, “I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim the name ‘the Lord’ before you. I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.” # 33:19 Rm 9:15 20But he added, “You cannot see my face, for humans cannot see # 33:20 Gn 32:30; Is 6:5 me and live.” 21The Lord said, “Here is a place near me. You are to stand on the rock, 22and when my glory passes by, I will put you in the crevice of the rock and cover you with my hand until I have passed by. # 33:22 Ps 91:1,4; Is 2:21 23Then I will take my hand away, and you will see my back, but my face will not be seen.”
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Exodus 33: CSB
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© 2017 Holman Bible Publishers
Exodus 33
33
The Lord makes promises, renews his agreement, and gives more laws to Israel
The LORD tells Israel to leave Mount Sinai
1The LORD said to Moses:#Gn 12.7; Gn 26.3; Gn 28.13.
You led the people of Israel out of Egypt. Now get ready to lead them to the land I promised their ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. 2-3It is a land rich with milk and honey, and I will send an angel to force out those people who live there—the Canaanites, the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. I would go with my people, but they are so rebellious that I would destroy them before they get there.
4-5Even before the LORD said these harsh things, he had told Moses, “These people really are rebellious, and I would kill them at once, if I went with them. But tell them to take off their jewellery, then I'll decide what to do with them.” So the people started mourning, 6and after leaving Mount Sinai,#33.6 Mount Sinai: The Hebrew text has “Mount Horeb”, another name for Sinai. they stopped wearing jewellery.
The LORD is with his people
7Moses used to set up a tent far from camp. He called it the “meeting tent”, and whoever needed some message from the LORD would go there. 8Each time Moses went out to the tent, everyone would stand at the entrance to their own tents and watch him enter. 9-11Then they would bow down because a thick cloud would come down in front of the tent, and the LORD would speak to Moses face to face, just like a friend. Afterwards, Moses would return to camp, but his young assistant Joshua#33.9-11 Joshua: Hebrew “Joshua son of Nun”. would stay at the tent.
The LORD promises to be with his people
12Moses said to the LORD, “I know that you have told me to lead these people to the land you promised them. But you have not told me who my assistant will be. You have said that you are my friend and that you are pleased with me. 13If this is true, let me know what your plans are, then I can obey and continue to please you. And don't forget that you have chosen this nation to be your own.”
14The LORD said, “I will go with you and give you peace.”
15Then Moses replied, “If you aren't going with us, please don't make us leave this place. 16But if you do go with us, everyone will know that you are pleased with your people and with me. That way, we will be different from the rest of the people on earth.”
17So the LORD told him, “I will do what you have asked, because I am your friend and I am pleased with you.”
18Then Moses said, “I pray that you will let me see you in all your glory.”
19The LORD answered:#Ro 9.15.
All right. I am the LORD, and I show mercy and kindness to anyone I choose. I will let you see my glory and hear my holy name, 20but I won't let you see my face, because anyone who sees my face will die. 21There is a rock not far from me. Stand beside it, 22and before I pass by in all my shining glory, I will put you in a large crack in the rock. I will cover your eyes with my hand until I have passed by. 23Then I will take my hand away, and you will see my back. You will not see my face.
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© British and Foreign Bible Society 2012