Previous Chapter Full Page Full Page Next Chapter

Exodus 33 :: New Living Translation (NLT)

Exo 33:1

Exo 33:1The LORD said to Moses, “Get going, you and the people you brought up from the land of Egypt. Go up to the land I swore to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. I told them, ‘I will give this land to your descendants.’

Exo 33:2

Exo 33:2And I will send an angel before you to drive out the Canaanites, Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites.

Exo 33:3

Exo 33:3Go up to this land that flows with milk and honey. But I will not travel among you, for you are a stubborn and rebellious people. If I did, I would surely destroy you along the way.”

Exo 33:4

Exo 33:4When the people heard these stern words, they went into mourning and stopped wearing their jewelry and fine clothes.

Exo 33:5

Exo 33:5For the LORD had told Moses to tell them, “You are a stubborn and rebellious people. If I were to travel with you for even a moment, I would destroy you. Remove your jewelry and fine clothes while I decide what to do with you.”

Exo 33:6

Exo 33:6So from the time they left Mount Sinai,[fn] the Israelites wore no more jewelry or fine clothes.

Exo 33:7

Exo 33:7It was Moses’ practice to take the Tent of Meeting[fn] and set it up some distance from the camp. Everyone who wanted to make a request of the LORD would go to the Tent of Meeting outside the camp.

Exo 33:8

Exo 33:8Whenever Moses went out to the Tent of Meeting, all the people would get up and stand in the entrances of their own tents. They would all watch Moses until he disappeared inside.

Exo 33:9

Exo 33:9As he went into the tent, the pillar of cloud would come down and hover at its entrance while the LORD spoke with Moses.

Exo 33:10

Exo 33:10When the people saw the cloud standing at the entrance of the tent, they would stand and bow down in front of their own tents.

Exo 33:11

Exo 33:11Inside the Tent of Meeting, the LORD would speak to Moses face to face, as one speaks to a friend. Afterward Moses would return to the camp, but the young man who assisted him, Joshua son of Nun, would remain behind in the Tent of Meeting.
Moses Sees the LORD’s Glory

Exo 33:12

Exo 33:12One day Moses said to the LORD, “You have been telling me, ‘Take these people up to the Promised Land.’ But you haven’t told me whom you will send with me. You have told me, ‘I know you by name, and I look favorably on you.’

Exo 33:13

Exo 33:13If it is true that you look favorably on me, let me know your ways so I may understand you more fully and continue to enjoy your favor. And remember that this nation is your very own people.”

Exo 33:14

Exo 33:14The LORD replied, “I will personally go with you, Moses, and I will give you rest—everything will be fine for you.”

Exo 33:15

Exo 33:15Then Moses said, “If you don’t personally go with us, don’t make us leave this place.

Exo 33:16

Exo 33:16How will anyone know that you look favorably on me—on me and on your people—if you don’t go with us? For your presence among us sets your people and me apart from all other people on the earth.”

Exo 33:17

Exo 33:17The LORD replied to Moses, “I will indeed do what you have asked, for I look favorably on you, and I know you by name.”

Exo 33:18

Exo 33:18Moses responded, “Then show me your glorious presence.”

Exo 33:19

Exo 33:19The LORD replied, “I will make all my goodness pass before you, and I will call out my name, Yahweh,[fn] before you. For I will show mercy to anyone I choose, and I will show compassion to anyone I choose.

Exo 33:20

Exo 33:20But you may not look directly at my face, for no one may see me and live.”

Exo 33:21

Exo 33:21The LORD continued, “Look, stand near me on this rock.

Exo 33:22

Exo 33:22As my glorious presence passes by, I will hide you in the crevice of the rock and cover you with my hand until I have passed by.

Exo 33:23

Exo 33:23Then I will remove my hand and let you see me from behind. But my face will not be seen.”
See the NLT Preface (Especially for Parenthesis, Brackets, & Asterisks).
NLT Footnotes
Hebrew Horeb, another name for Sinai.
This “Tent of Meeting” is different from the Tabernacle described in chapters 26 and 36.
Yahweh is a transliteration of the proper name YHWH that is sometimes rendered “Jehovah”; in this translation it is usually rendered “the LORD” (note the use of small capitals).
Translation Copyright Logo

Holy Bible, New Living Translation copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Full copyright information is provided here. Visit the New Living Translation website.

For more information on this translation, see the NLT Preface.

Translations available: King James Version, New King James Version, New Living Translation, New International Version, English Standard Version, Christian Standard Bible, New American Standard Bible 2020, New American Standard Bible 1995, Legacy Standard Bible 2021, New English Translation, Revised Standard Version, American Standard Version, Young's Literal Translation, Darby Translation, Webster's Bible, Hebrew Names Version, Reina-Valera 1960, Latin Vulgate, Westminster Leningrad Codex, Septuagint, Morphological Greek New Testament, and Textus Receptus.