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Exodus 33-34
Common English Bible
Exodus 33-34
Common English Bible
The Lord: “I can’t go”
33 The Lord said to Moses, “Go and leave this place, you and the people whom you brought up out of the land of Egypt. Go to the land I promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob when I said, ‘I’ll give it to your descendants.’ 2 I’ll send a messenger before you. I’ll drive out the Canaanites, the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. 3 Go to this land full of milk and honey. But I won’t go up with you because I would end up destroying you along the way since you are a stubborn people.”
4 When the people heard the bad news, they were sorry. No one put on any jewelry, 5 because the Lord had said to Moses, “Tell the Israelites, ‘You are a stubborn people. If I were to go up with you even for a single moment, I would destroy you. So now take off your jewelry, while I figure out what to do with you.’” 6 So after leaving Mount Horeb the Israelites rid themselves of their jewelry.
Speaking with the Lord at the meeting tent
7 Moses took the tent and pitched it outside the camp, far away from the camp. He called it the meeting tent. Everyone who wanted advice from the Lord would go out to the meeting tent outside the camp. 8 Whenever Moses went out to the tent, all the people would rise and stand at the entrance to their tents and watch Moses until he had gone into the tent. 9 When Moses entered the tent, the column of cloud would come down and stand at the tent’s entrance while the Lord talked with Moses. 10 When all the people saw the column of cloud standing at the tent’s entrance, they would all rise and then bow down at the entrances to their tents. 11 In this way the Lord used to speak to Moses face-to-face, like two people talking to each other. Then Moses would come back to the camp. But his young assistant Joshua, Nun’s son, wouldn’t leave the tent.
Moses pleads with God
12 Moses said to the Lord, “Look, you’ve been telling me, ‘Lead these people forward.’ But you haven’t told me whom you will send with me. Yet you’ve assured me, ‘I know you by name and think highly of you.’ 13 Now if you do think highly of me, show me your ways so that I may know you and so that you may really approve of me. Remember too that this nation is your people.”
14 The Lord replied, “I’ll go myself, and I’ll help you.”
15 Moses replied, “If you won’t go yourself, don’t make us leave here. 16 Because how will anyone know that we have your special approval, both I and your people, unless you go with us? Only that distinguishes us, me and your people, from every other people on the earth.”
17 The Lord said to Moses, “I’ll do exactly what you’ve asked because you have my special approval, and I know you by name.”
18 Moses said, “Please show me your glorious presence.”
19 The Lord said, “I’ll make all my goodness pass in front of you, and I’ll proclaim before you the name, ‘The Lord.’ I will be kind to whomever I wish to be kind, and I will have compassion to whomever I wish to be compassionate. 20 But,” the Lord said, “you can’t see my face because no one can see me and live.” 21 The Lord said, “Here is a place near me where you will stand beside the rock. 22 As my glorious presence passes by, I’ll set you in a gap in the rock, and I’ll cover you with my hand until I’ve passed by. 23 Then I’ll take away my hand, and you will see my back, but my face won’t be visible.”
A deeper revealing of God’s character
34 The Lord said to Moses, “Cut two stone tablets like the first ones. I’ll write on these tablets the words that were on the first tablets, which you broke into pieces. 2 Get ready in the morning and come up to Mount Sinai. Stand there on top of the mountain in front of me. 3 No one else can come up with you. Don’t allow anyone even to be seen anywhere on the mountain. Don’t even let sheep and cattle graze in front of the mountain.” 4 So Moses cut two stone tablets like the first ones. He got up early in the morning and climbed up Mount Sinai, just as the Lord had commanded him. He carried the two stone tablets in his hands. 5 The Lord came down in the cloud and stood there with him, and proclaimed the name, “The Lord.” 6 The Lord passed in front of him and proclaimed:
“The Lord! The Lord!
a God who is compassionate and merciful,
very patient,
full of great loyalty and faithfulness,
7 showing great loyalty to a thousand generations,
forgiving every kind of sin and rebellion,
yet by no means clearing the guilty,
punishing for their parents’ sins
their children and their grandchildren,
as well as the third and the fourth generation.”
8 At once Moses bowed to the ground and worshipped. 9 He said, “If you approve of me, my Lord, please go along with us.[a] Although these are stubborn people, forgive our guilt and our sin and take us as your own possession.”
Renewing the broken covenant
10 The Lord said: I now make a covenant. In front of all your people, I’ll perform dramatic displays of power that have never been done before anywhere on earth or in any nation. All the people who are around you will see what the Lord does, because I will do an awesome thing with you.
11 Be sure to obey what I command you today. I’m about to drive out before you the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. 12 Be careful that you don’t make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land to which you are going, or it will become a dangerous trap for you. 13 You must tear down their altars, smash their sacred stone pillars, and cut down their sacred poles. 14 You must not bow down to another god, because the Lord is passionate: the Lord’s name means “a passionate God.” 15 Don’t make a covenant with those who live in the land. When they prostitute themselves with their gods and sacrifice to their gods, they may invite you and you may end up eating some of the sacrifice. 16 Then you might go and choose their daughters as wives for your sons. And their daughters who prostitute themselves with their gods might lead your sons to prostitute themselves with their gods.
17 Don’t make metal gods for yourself.
18 Observe the Festival of Unleavened Bread. You should eat unleavened bread for seven days, as I commanded you, at the set time in the month of Abib,[b] because it was in the month of Abib that you came out of Egypt.
19 Every first offspring is mine. That includes all your male livestock, the oldest offspring of cows and sheep. 20 But a donkey’s oldest offspring you may ransom with a sheep. Or if you don’t ransom it, you must break its neck. You should ransom all of your oldest sons.
No one should appear before me empty-handed.
21 You should do your work for six days, but on the seventh day you should rest. Even during plowing or harvesttime you should rest. 22 You should observe the Festival of Weeks, for the early produce of the wheat harvest, and the Gathering Festival at the end of the year. 23 All your males should appear three times a year before the Lord God, Israel’s God. 24 I will drive out nations before you and extend your borders. No one will desire and try to take your land if you go up and appear before the Lord your God three times a year.
25 Don’t slaughter the blood of my sacrifice with anything leavened. The sacrifice of the Passover Festival shouldn’t be left over until the morning.
26 Bring the best of the early produce of your farmland to the Lord your God’s temple.
Don’t boil a young goat in its mother’s milk.
27 The Lord said to Moses: “Write down these words because by these words I hereby make a covenant with you and with Israel.” 28 Moses was there with the Lord forty days and forty nights. He didn’t eat any bread or drink any water. He wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant, the ten words.
Moses’ brightly shining face
29 Moses came down from Mount Sinai. As he came down from the mountain with the two covenant tablets in his hand, Moses didn’t realize that the skin of his face shone brightly because he had been talking with God. 30 When Aaron and all the Israelites saw the skin of Moses’ face shining brightly, they were afraid to come near him. 31 But Moses called them closer. So Aaron and all the leaders of the community came back to him, and Moses spoke with them. 32 After that, all the Israelites came near as well, and Moses commanded them everything that the Lord had spoken with him on Mount Sinai. 33 When Moses finished speaking with them, he put a veil over his face. 34 Whenever Moses went into the Lord’s presence to speak with him, Moses would take the veil off until he came out again. When Moses came out and told the Israelites what he had been commanded, 35 the Israelites would see that the skin of Moses’ face was shining brightly. So Moses would put the veil on his face again until the next time he went in to speak with the Lord.
Footnotes
- Exodus 34:9 LXX; MT adds my Lord.
- Exodus 34:18 March–April, named Nisan after the exile
Exodus 33-34
New International Version
Exodus 33-34
New International Version
33 Then 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(A) to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, saying, ‘I will give it to your descendants.’(B) 2 I will send an angel(C) before you and drive out the Canaanites, Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites.(D) 3 Go up to the land flowing with milk and honey.(E) But I will not go with you, because you are a stiff-necked(F) people and I might destroy(G) you on the way.”
4 When the people heard these distressing words, they began to mourn(H) and no one put on any ornaments. 5 For the Lord had said to Moses, “Tell the Israelites, ‘You are a stiff-necked people.(I) If I were to go with you even for a moment, I might destroy(J) you. Now take off your ornaments and I will decide what to do with you.’” 6 So the Israelites stripped off their ornaments at Mount Horeb.(K)
The Tent of Meeting
7 Now Moses used to take a tent and pitch it outside the camp some distance away, calling it the “tent of meeting.”(L) Anyone inquiring(M) of the Lord would go to the tent of meeting outside the camp. 8 And whenever Moses went out to the tent, all the people rose and stood at the entrances to their tents,(N) watching Moses until he entered the tent. 9 As Moses went into the tent, the pillar of cloud(O) would come down and stay at the entrance, while the Lord spoke(P) with Moses. 10 Whenever the people saw the pillar of cloud standing at the entrance to the tent, they all stood and worshiped, each at the entrance to their tent.(Q) 11 The Lord would speak to Moses face to face,(R) as one speaks to a friend. Then Moses would return to the camp, but his young aide Joshua(S) son of Nun did not leave the tent.
Moses and the Glory of the Lord
12 Moses said to the Lord, “You have been telling me, ‘Lead these people,’(T) but you have not let me know whom you will send with me. You have said, ‘I know you by name(U) and you have found favor(V) with me.’ 13 If you are pleased with me, teach me your ways(W) so I may know you and continue to find favor with you. Remember that this nation is your people.”(X)
14 The Lord replied, “My Presence(Y) will go with you, and I will give you rest.”(Z)
15 Then Moses said to him, “If your Presence(AA) does not go with us, do not send us up from here. 16 How will anyone know that you are pleased with me and with your people unless you go with us?(AB) What else will distinguish me and your people from all the other people on the face of the earth?”(AC)
17 And the Lord said to Moses, “I will do the very thing you have asked,(AD) because I am pleased with you and I know you by name.”(AE)
18 Then Moses said, “Now show me your glory.”(AF)
19 And the Lord said, “I will cause all my goodness to pass(AG) in front of you, and I will proclaim my name,(AH) 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.(AI) 20 But,” he said, “you cannot see my face, for no one may see(AJ) me and live.”
21 Then the Lord said, “There is a place near me where you may stand on a rock. 22 When my glory passes by, I will put you in a cleft in the rock(AK) and cover you with my hand(AL) until I have passed by. 23 Then I will remove my hand and you will see my back; but my face must not be seen.”
The New Stone Tablets
34 The Lord said to Moses, “Chisel out two stone tablets like the first ones,(AM) and I will write on them the words that were on the first tablets,(AN) which you broke.(AO) 2 Be ready in the morning, and then come up on Mount Sinai.(AP) Present yourself to me there on top of the mountain. 3 No one is to come with you or be seen anywhere on the mountain;(AQ) not even the flocks and herds may graze in front of the mountain.”
4 So Moses chiseled(AR) out two stone tablets like the first ones and went up Mount Sinai early in the morning, as the Lord had commanded him; and he carried the two stone tablets in his hands.(AS) 5 Then the Lord came down in the cloud(AT) and stood there with him and proclaimed his name, the Lord.(AU) 6 And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, “The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate(AV) and gracious God, slow to anger,(AW) abounding in love(AX) and faithfulness,(AY) 7 maintaining love to thousands,(AZ) and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin.(BA) Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished;(BB) he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation.”(BC)
8 Moses bowed to the ground at once and worshiped. 9 “Lord,” he said, “if I have found favor(BD) in your eyes, then let the Lord go with us.(BE) Although this is a stiff-necked(BF) people, forgive our wickedness and our sin,(BG) and take us as your inheritance.”(BH)
10 Then the Lord said: “I am making a covenant(BI) with you. Before all your people I will do wonders(BJ) never before done in any nation in all the world.(BK) The people you live among will see how awesome is the work that I, the Lord, will do for you. 11 Obey what I command(BL) you today. I will drive out before you the Amorites, Canaanites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites.(BM) 12 Be careful not to make a treaty(BN) with those who live in the land where you are going, or they will be a snare(BO) among you. 13 Break down their altars, smash their sacred stones and cut down their Asherah poles.[a](BP) 14 Do not worship any other god,(BQ) for the Lord, whose name(BR) is Jealous, is a jealous God.(BS)
15 “Be careful not to make a treaty(BT) with those who live in the land; for when they prostitute(BU) themselves to their gods and sacrifice to them, they will invite you and you will eat their sacrifices.(BV) 16 And when you choose some of their daughters as wives(BW) for your sons and those daughters prostitute themselves to their gods,(BX) they will lead your sons to do the same.
17 “Do not make any idols.(BY)
18 “Celebrate the Festival of Unleavened Bread.(BZ) For seven days eat bread made without yeast,(CA) as I commanded you. Do this at the appointed time in the month of Aviv,(CB) for in that month you came out of Egypt.
19 “The first offspring(CC) of every womb belongs to me, including all the firstborn males of your livestock, whether from herd or flock. 20 Redeem the firstborn donkey with a lamb, but if you do not redeem it, break its neck.(CD) Redeem all your firstborn sons.(CE)
“No one is to appear before me empty-handed.(CF)
21 “Six days you shall labor, but on the seventh day you shall rest;(CG) even during the plowing season and harvest(CH) you must rest.
22 “Celebrate the Festival of Weeks with the firstfruits(CI) of the wheat harvest, and the Festival of Ingathering(CJ) at the turn of the year.[b] 23 Three times(CK) a year all your men are to appear before the Sovereign Lord, the God of Israel. 24 I will drive out nations(CL) before you and enlarge your territory,(CM) and no one will covet your land when you go up three times each year to appear before the Lord your God.
25 “Do not offer the blood of a sacrifice to me along with anything containing yeast,(CN) and do not let any of the sacrifice from the Passover Festival remain until morning.(CO)
26 “Bring the best of the firstfruits(CP) of your soil to the house of the Lord your God.
“Do not cook a young goat in its mother’s milk.”(CQ)
27 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Write(CR) down these words, for in accordance with these words I have made a covenant(CS) with you and with Israel.” 28 Moses was there with the Lord forty days and forty nights(CT) without eating bread or drinking water.(CU) And he wrote on the tablets(CV) the words of the covenant—the Ten Commandments.(CW)
The Radiant Face of Moses
29 When Moses came down from Mount Sinai(CX) with the two tablets of the covenant law in his hands,(CY) he was not aware that his face was radiant(CZ) because he had spoken with the Lord. 30 When Aaron and all the Israelites saw Moses, his face was radiant, and they were afraid to come near him. 31 But Moses called to them; so Aaron and all the leaders of the community(DA) came back to him, and he spoke to them. 32 Afterward all the Israelites came near him, and he gave them all the commands(DB) the Lord had given him on Mount Sinai.
33 When Moses finished speaking to them, he put a veil(DC) over his face. 34 But whenever he entered the Lord’s presence to speak with him, he removed the veil until he came out. And when he came out and told the Israelites what he had been commanded, 35 they saw that his face was radiant.(DD) Then Moses would put the veil back over his face until he went in to speak with the Lord.
Footnotes
- Exodus 34:13 That is, wooden symbols of the goddess Asherah
- Exodus 34:22 That is, in the autumn
Common English Bible (CEB)
Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible
New International Version (NIV) 
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NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.