¹⁸ Moses^[a] said, “Please show me your glory.” ¹⁹ And he said, “I will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you the name, ‘The Lord,’^[b] and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy.^{(A) 20} But,” he said, “you cannot see my face, for no one shall see me and live.”^{(B) 21} And the Lord continued, “See, there is a place by me where you shall stand on the rock, ²² and 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; ²³ then I will take away my hand, and you shall see my back, but my face shall not be seen.”^(C)

Moses Makes New Tablets

34 The Lord said to Moses, “Cut two tablets of stone like the former ones, and I will write on the tablets the words that were on the former tablets, which you broke.^{(A) 2} Be ready in the morning and come up in the morning to Mount Sinai and present yourself there to me on the top of the mountain.^{(B) 3} No one shall come up with you, and do not let anyone be seen throughout all the mountain, and do not let flocks or herds graze in front of that mountain.”^{(C) 4} So Moses cut two tablets of stone like the former ones, and he rose early in the morning and went up on Mount Sinai, as the Lord had commanded him, and took in his hand the two tablets of stone. ⁵ The Lord descended in the cloud and stood with him there and proclaimed the name, “The Lord.”^{[a](D) 6} The Lord passed before him and proclaimed,

⁸ And Moses quickly bowed down to the ground and worshiped.^{(G) 9} He said, “If now I have found favor in your sight, my Lord, I pray, let my Lord go with us. Although this is a stiff-necked people, pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us for your inheritance.”^(H)

The Covenant Renewed

¹⁰ He said, “I hereby make a covenant. Before all your people I will perform marvels, such as have not been done^[c] in all the earth or in any nation, and all the people among whom you live shall see the work of the Lord, for it is an awesome thing that I will do with you.^(I)

The Shining Face of Moses

²⁹ Moses came down from Mount Sinai. As he came down from the mountain with the two tablets of the covenant in his hand, Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone because he had been talking with God.^{(A) 30} When Aaron and all the Israelites saw Moses, the skin of his face was shining, and they were afraid to come near him. ³¹ But Moses called to them, and Aaron and all the leaders of the congregation returned to him, and Moses spoke with them. ³² Afterward all the Israelites came near, and he gave them in commandment all that the Lord had spoken with him on Mount Sinai.^{(B) 33} When Moses had finished speaking with them, he put a veil on his face,^{(C) 34} but whenever Moses went in before the Lord to speak with him, he would take the veil off until he came out, and when he came out and told the Israelites what he had been commanded,^{(D) 35} the Israelites would see the face of Moses, that the skin of his face was shining, and Moses would put the veil on his face again until he went in to speak with him.