1 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: “Go forth, ascend from this place, you and your people, whom you led away from the land of Egypt, into the land that I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, saying: To your offspring, I will give it. 2 And I will send an Angel to precede you, so that I may cast out the Canaanite, and the Amorite, and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, and the Hivite, and the Jebusite, 3 and so that you may enter into a land flowing with milk and honey. For I will not go up with you, since you are a stiff-necked people, lest perhaps I may destroy you on the way.” 4 And upon hearing this very bad news, the people mourned; and no one put on his finery according to custom. 5 And the Lord said to Moses: “Say to the sons of Israel: You are a stiff-necked people. I should at once go up into your midst and destroy you. Now immediately put aside your ornaments, so that I may know what to do to you.” 6 Therefore, the sons of Israel put aside their ornaments before Mount Horeb. 7 Also, Moses took the tabernacle and pitched it beyond the camp at a distance, and he called its name: ‘Tabernacle of the Covenant.’ And all the people, who had any kind of question, went out to the Tabernacle of the Covenant, beyond the camp. 8 And when Moses went out to the tabernacle, all the people rose up, and each one stood at the door of his pavilion, and they beheld the back of Moses until he entered the tent. 9 And when he had gone into the Tabernacle of the Covenant, the pillar of cloud descended and stood at the door, and he spoke with Moses. 10 And all discerned that the pillar of cloud stood at the door of the Tabernacle. And they stood and worshipped at the doors of their tents. 11 But the Lord spoke to Moses face to face, just as a man is used to speaking to his friend. And when he returned to the camp, his minister Joshua, the son of Nun, a young man, did not withdraw from the Tabernacle. 12 Then Moses said to the Lord: “You instruct me to lead this people away, and you do not reveal to me whom you will send with me, particularly since you have said: ‘I know you by name, and you have found favor before me.’ 13 If, therefore, I have found favor in your sight, show your face to me, so that I may know you and may find grace before your eyes. Look favorably on your people, this nation.” 14 And the Lord said, “My face will precede you, and I will give you rest.” 15 And Moses said: “If you will not yourself precede us, then do not lead us away from this place. 16 For how will we be able to know, I and your people, that we have found grace in your sight, unless you walk with us, so that we may be glorified out of all the people who live upon the earth?” 17 Then the Lord said to Moses: “This word also, which you have spoken, I will do. For you have found grace before me, and I have known you by name.” 18 And he said, “Show me your glory.” 19 He responded: “I will show you all that is good, and I will call out with the name of the Lord before you. And I will take pity on whomever I will, and I will be lenient to whomever it will please me.” 20 And again he said: “You are not able to see my face. For man shall not see me and live.” 21 And again, he said: “Behold, there is a place with me, and you shall stand upon the rock. 22 And when my glory will cross over, I will set you in a cleft of the rock, and I will protect you with my right hand, until I pass by. 23 And I will take away my hand, and you shall see my back. But my face you are not able to see.”
Exodus · Catholic Public Domain Version
Exodus 33 Catholic Public Domain Version
Audio: World English Bible (WEB), read by Winfred W. Henson · About the recordings
Notes on this text (3)
- Esther and Daniel are the Vulgate books (Esther 1–16 with the Greek additions as chapters 10:4–16; Daniel 1–14 with the Song of the Three, Susanna and Bel). Baruch 6 is the Letter of Jeremiah.
- The translator's footnotes, cross-references, chapter summaries and book introductions in the CrossWire module are not shown.
- No imprimatur; single translator.
People & places in this chapter
From this site's family tree and Bible maps, only where those guides cite this chapter.
People
Joshua
The Ephraimite son of Nun, originally named Hoshea, who led Israel against Amalek at Rephidim, served as Moses' attendant, was one of the two faithful spies, and was commissioned…
Cited in the guide: Exodus 17:9; Exodus 33:11; Numbers 13:16
Moses
Drawn from the Nile, he led Israel out of Egypt and received God's Law.
Cited in the guide: Exodus 2–Deuteronomy 34
Nun
The father of Joshua, whom Moses named from among the tribe of Ephraim; 1 Chronicles 7:26-27 places him in Ephraim's line after Elishama.
Cited in the guide: Exodus 33:11; Numbers 13:8; Numbers 13:16
Cross references (23)
Related passages for each verse, from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge as collected and ranked by readers at OpenBible.info.
- 1 Genesis 12:7; Exodus 32:13; Genesis 22:16–18; Genesis 26:3; Exodus 32:7
- 2 Joshua 24:11; Exodus 32:34; Exodus 3:8; Exodus 23:20; Exodus 23:27–31
- 3 Exodus 32:9–10; Exodus 3:8; Acts 7:51; Deuteronomy 9:6–13; Exodus 33:15–17
- 4 Numbers 14:39; Leviticus 10:6; Numbers 14:1; Ezekiel 24:17; Ezekiel 24:23
- 5 Deuteronomy 8:2; Exodus 33:3–4; Numbers 16:21; Numbers 16:45–46; Psalm 139:23
- 6 Exodus 33:4; Exodus 32:3; Jeremiah 2:19
- 7 Isaiah 55:6–7; Proverbs 15:29; Exodus 29:42–43; Isaiah 59:2; Deuteronomy 4:29
- 8 Numbers 16:27
- 9 Psalm 99:7; Genesis 18:33; Exodus 31:18; Ezekiel 3:22; Exodus 25:22
- 10 Exodus 4:31; 1 Kings 8:22; Luke 18:13; 1 Kings 8:14
- 11 Numbers 12:8; Deuteronomy 34:10; Exodus 24:13; Exodus 33:9; John 15:14–15
- 12 Exodus 33:17; John 10:14–15; 2 Timothy 2:19; Exodus 32:34; Jeremiah 1:5
- 13 Psalm 119:33; Psalm 25:4; Psalm 27:11; Psalm 86:11; Deuteronomy 9:26
- 14 Matthew 11:28; Joshua 1:5; Joshua 21:44; Isaiah 63:9; Hebrews 4:8–9
- 15 Exodus 34:9; Psalm 4:6; Exodus 33:3
- 16 Deuteronomy 4:7; Numbers 14:14; 1 Kings 8:53; Matthew 1:23; Exodus 34:10
- 17 Isaiah 65:24; 1 John 5:14–15; Exodus 33:12; Genesis 19:21; Genesis 6:8
- 18 Revelation 21:23; Titus 2:13; Exodus 33:20; 1 Timothy 6:16; 2 Corinthians 4:6
- 19 Romans 9:15–18; Ephesians 1:6–8; Jeremiah 31:14; Jeremiah 31:12; Isaiah 7:14
- 20 Genesis 32:30; John 1:18; 1 Timothy 6:16; Isaiah 6:5; Judges 13:22
- 21 Zechariah 3:7; Deuteronomy 5:31; Isaiah 56:5; Joshua 20:4; Luke 15:1
- 22 Psalm 91:1; Isaiah 2:21; Psalm 91:4; 1 Corinthians 10:4; Psalm 18:2
- 23 John 1:18; Exodus 33:20; 1 Corinthians 13:12; 1 Timothy 6:16; Job 11:7
Cross references: OpenBible.info (CC BY), drawn mainly from the public-domain Treasury of Scripture Knowledge. · Sources & licences
What the Fathers said
Passages from the Church Fathers that expound or quote this chapter, verbatim from the public-domain Schaff edition (19th-century English translations).
How these were chosen
“Commentary” is the opening of a homily or exposition on this chapter (John Chrysostom’s homilies, Augustine’s tractates, sermons and expositions of the Psalms). “Quotes” are sentences where the edition’s own footnotes identify a quotation of a verse here, kept only when the wording matches the verse. Only works whose authorship is not in doubt are used. Psalms follow the Hebrew/English numbering (Augustine numbers them as the Septuagint does: his Psalm 50 is Psalm 51 here).
But when My splendour shall pass by, then thou shalt see My back parts, but My face thou shalt not see: for no man sees My face, and shall live." Two facts are thus signified: that it is impossible for man to see God; and that, through the wisdom of God, man shall see Him in the last times, in …
For, though Moses conversed with God, yet he said, "If I have found grace in Thy sight, show me Thyself, that I may see and know Thee." And as it was fit that the law, which was given, not to one man or a few enlightened men, but to the whole of a populous nation, should be accompanied by awe-inspiring …
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 2 (1887)
Now if the sight of the likeness of the glory brought fear and distress upon the prophets, any one who should attempt to behold God Himself would to a certainty lose his life, according to the saying, No man shall see My face and live.
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 2, vol. 7 (1894)
Accordingly we find the Psalmist, even in reference to God, saying "Be Thou to me a champion God and a strong place to save me" and concerning the Spirit "behold there is place by me, and stand upon a rock." Plainly meaning the place or contemplation in the Spirit wherein, after Moses had entered thither, he was able to see …
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 2, vol. 8 (1895)
For thou hast it plainly stated in the law: "And Moses spake with the Lord face to face, as a friend with his friend." Following the same scripture, thou findest Moses saying: "If I have found grace in Thy sight, show me Thyself plainly, that I may see Thee." And it is little that he said this: he received the …
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 7 (1888)