Praise to the Lord for His Faithfulness to Israel.

Praise for Jerusalem’s Restoration and Prosperity.

The Journey Resumed

33 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, “Depart, go up from here, you and the people whom you have brought up from the land of Egypt, to the land of which ^(A)I swore to Abraham, ^(B)Isaac, and ^(C)Jacob, saying, ‘^(D)To your ^[a]descendants I will give it.’ ² And I will send ^(E)an angel before you and ^(F)I will drive out the Canaanite, the Amorite, the Hittite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite. ³ Go up to a land ^(G)flowing with milk and honey; for I will not go up in your midst, because you are ^[b](H)an obstinate people, and ^(I)I might destroy you on the way.”

⁴ When the people heard this ^[c]sad word, ^(J)they went into mourning, and none of them put on his jewelry. ⁵ For the Lord had said to Moses, “Say to the sons of Israel, ‘You are ^[d](K)an obstinate people; if I ^[e]were to go up in your midst for just one moment, I would destroy you. So now, take off your ^[f]jewelry that I may know what I shall do to you.’” ⁶ So the sons of Israel stripped themselves of their jewelry, from Mount Horeb onward.

⁷ Now Moses used to take ^(L)the tent and pitch it outside the camp, a good distance from the camp, and he called it the tent of meeting. And ^(M)everyone who sought the Lord would go out to the tent of meeting which was outside the camp. ⁸ And it came about, whenever Moses went out to the tent, that all the people would arise and stand, each at the entrance of his tent, and gaze after Moses until he entered the tent. ⁹ Whenever Moses entered the tent, ^(N)the pillar of cloud would descend and stand at the entrance of the tent; ^(O)and ^[g]the Lord would speak with Moses. ¹⁰ When all the people saw the pillar of cloud standing at the entrance of the tent, all the people would stand and worship, each at the entrance of his tent. ¹¹ So ^(P)the Lord used to speak to Moses face to face, just as a man speaks to his friend. When ^[h]Moses returned to the camp, ^(Q)his servant Joshua, the son of Nun, a young man, would not depart from the tent.

Moses Intercedes

¹² Then Moses said to the Lord, “See, You say to me, ‘^(R)Bring up this people!’ But You Yourself have not let me know ^(S)whom You will send with me. ^(T)Moreover, You have said, ‘I have known you by name, and you have also found favor in My sight.’ ¹³ Now then, if I have found favor in Your sight in any way, please ^(U)let me know Your ways so that I may know You, in order that I may find favor in Your sight. ^(V)Consider too, that this nation is Your people.” ¹⁴ And He said, “^(W)My presence shall go with you, and ^(X)I will give you rest.” ¹⁵ Then he said to Him, “^(Y)If Your presence does not go with us, do not lead us up from here. ¹⁶ For how then can it be known that I have found favor in Your sight, I and Your people? Is it not by Your going with us, so that ^(Z)we, I and Your people, may be distinguished from all the other people who are on the face of the ^[i]earth?”

¹⁷ The Lord said to Moses, “I will also do this thing of which you have spoken; ^(AA)for you have found favor in My sight and I have known you by name.” ^18 (AB)Then Moses said, “Please, show me Your glory!” ¹⁹ And He said, “^(AC)I Myself will make all My goodness pass before you, and will proclaim the name of the Lord before you; and ^(AD)I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show compassion to whom I will show compassion.” ²⁰ He further said, “You cannot see My face, ^(AE)for mankind shall not see Me and live!” ²¹ Then the Lord said, “Behold, there is a place ^[j]by Me, and ^(AF)you shall stand there on the rock; ²² and it will come about, while My glory is passing by, that I will put you in the cleft of the rock and ^(AG)cover you with My hand until I have passed by. ²³ Then I will take My hand away and you shall see My back, but ^(AH)My face shall not be seen.”

Paul’s Ministry

2 For you yourselves know, brothers and sisters, that our ^[a](A)reception among you ^(B)was not in vain, ² but after we had already suffered and been ^(C)treated abusively in ^(D)Philippi, as you know, we had the boldness in our God ^(E)to speak to you the ^(F)gospel of God ^[b]amid much ^[c](G)opposition. ³ For our ^(H)exhortation does not come from ^(I)error or ^(J)impurity or ^[d]by way of ^(K)deceit; ^4 (L)but just as we have been approved by God to be ^(M)entrusted with the gospel, so we speak, ^(N)not intending to please people, but to please God, who ^[e](O)examines our hearts. ⁵ For we never came ^[f]with flattering speech, as you know, nor with ^(P)a pretext ^[g]for greed—^(Q)God is our witness— ⁶ nor did we ^(R)seek honor from people, either from you or from others, though ^[h]we could have ^[i]asserted our authority as ^(S)apostles of Christ. ⁷ But we ^[j]proved to be ^[k](T)gentle ^[l]among you. ^(U)As a nursing mother ^[m]tenderly cares for her own children, ⁸ in the same way we had a fond affection for you and were delighted to ^(V)share with you not only the ^(W)gospel of God, but also our own ^[n]lives, because you had become ^[o]very dear to us.

⁹ For you recall, brothers and sisters, our ^(X)labor and hardship: it was by ^(Y)working night and day so as not to be a ^(Z)burden to any of you, that we proclaimed to you the ^(AA)gospel of God. ¹⁰ You are witnesses, and so is ^(AB)God, of ^(AC)how devoutly and rightly and blamelessly we ^[p]behaved toward you ^[q]believers; ¹¹ just as you know how we were ^(AD)exhorting and encouraging and ^(AE)imploring each one of you as ^(AF)a father would his own children, ¹² so that you would ^(AG)walk in a manner worthy of the God who ^(AH)calls you into His own kingdom and ^(AI)glory.

¹⁷ “Do not presume that I came to abolish the ^(A)Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish, but to fulfill. ¹⁸ For truly I say to you, ^(B)until heaven and earth pass away, not ^[a]the smallest letter or stroke of a letter shall pass from the Law, until all is accomplished! ¹⁹ Therefore, whoever nullifies one of the least of these commandments, and teaches ^[b]others to do the same, shall be called least ^(C)in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever ^[c]keeps and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

²⁰ “For I say to you that unless your ^(D)righteousness far surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.