ExodusChapter 33

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¹Then the LORD said to Moses, "Leave this place. Go with the people you brought up out of the land of Egypt. Go to the land I promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. I said to them, 'I will give it to your descendants.' ²I will send an angel ahead of you. I will drive out the Canaanites, Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites. ³Go up to a land flowing with milk and honey. But I will not go with you, because you are a stubborn people. If I did, I might destroy you on the way." ⁴The people heard this bad news, and they began to mourn. No one put on any jewelry. ⁵For the LORD had said to Moses, "Tell the Israelites, 'You are a stubborn people. If I went with you for even one moment, I would destroy you. Now take off your jewelry. Then I will decide what to do with you.'" ⁶So from Mount Horeb on, the Israelites took off their jewelry and did not wear it. ⁷Moses used to take the tent and set it up far outside the camp. He called it the Tent of Meeting. Anyone who wanted to ask the LORD something would go out to the Tent of Meeting outside the camp. ⁸Whenever Moses went out to the tent, all the people would stand up. They stood at the doorways of their own tents. They watched Moses until he went into the tent. ⁹As Moses went into the tent, the pillar of cloud would come down. It would stay at the doorway. And the LORD would speak with Moses. ¹⁰All the people would see the pillar of cloud standing at the doorway of the tent. Then they would stand and worship, each one at the doorway of his own tent. ¹¹So the LORD would speak to Moses face to face, the way a man speaks to his friend. Then Moses would go back to the camp. But his young helper, Joshua son of Nun, would not leave the tent. ¹²Moses said to the LORD, "Look, you keep telling me, 'Lead these people up.' But you haven't told me who you will send with me. Yet you have said, 'I know you by name. I am pleased with you.' ¹³If you really are pleased with me, please teach me your ways. Then I may know you and keep pleasing you. And remember that this nation is your people." ¹⁴The LORD answered, "My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest." ¹⁵Moses said, "If your Presence doesn't go with us, don't send us up from here. ¹⁶How else will anyone know that you are pleased with me and with your people? Only if you go with us! How else will we be set apart from all the other people on the face of the earth?" ¹⁷So the LORD said to Moses, "I will do the very thing you have asked. For I am pleased with you, and I know you by name." ¹⁸Then Moses said, "Please show me your glory." ¹⁹The LORD answered, "I will make all my goodness pass in front of you. I will call out my name, the LORD, in front of you. I will have mercy on whom I have mercy. And I will have compassion on whom I have compassion." ²⁰But he added, "You can't see my face. For no one can see me and live." ²¹The LORD went on, "There is a place near me where you can stand on a rock. ²²When my glory passes by, I will put you in a crack in the rock. I will cover you with my hand until I have passed by. ²³Then I will take my hand away, and you will see my back. But my face must not be seen."