1 And the LORD said to Moses, Depart [and] go up hence, thou and the people which thou hast conducted from the land of Egypt, to the land which I swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, saying, to thy seed will I give it: 2 And I will send an angel before thee; and I will drive out the Canaanite, the Amorite, and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite: 3 To a land flowing with milk and honey: for I will not go up in the midst of thee; for thou [art] a stiff-necked people: lest I consume thee in the way. 4 And when the people heard these evil tidings, they mourned: and no man put on him his ornaments. 5 For the LORD had said to Moses, Say to the children of Israel, Ye [are] a stiff-necked people: I will come up into the midst of thee in a moment, and consume thee: therefore now put off thy ornaments from thee, that I may know what to do to thee. 6 And the children of Israel stripped themselves of their ornaments, by the mount Horeb. 7 And Moses took the tabernacle, and pitched it without the camp far from the camp, and called it the Tabernacle of the congregation. And it came to pass, [that] every one who sought the LORD, went out to the tabernacle of the congregation, which [was] without the camp. 8 And it came to pass when Moses went out to the tabernacle, [that] all the people rose, and stood every man at his tent-door, and looked after Moses, until he had gone into the tabernacle. 9 And it came to pass, as Moses entered into the tabernacle, the cloudy pillar descended, and stood [at] the door of the tabernacle, and [the LORD] talked with Moses. 10 And all the people saw the cloudy pillar stand [at] the tabernacle door: and all the people rose and worshiped, every man [in] his tent-door. 11 And the LORD spoke to Moses face to face, as a man speaketh to his friend. And he turned again into the camp; but his servant Joshua the son of Nun, a young man, departed not out of the tabernacle. 12 And Moses said to the LORD, See, thou sayest to me, Bring up this people: and thou hast not let me know whom thou wilt send with me. Yet thou hast said, I know thee by name, and thou hast also found grace in my sight. 13 Now therefore, I pray thee, if I have found grace in thy sight, show me now thy way, that I may know thee, that I may find grace in thy sight: and consider that this nation [is] thy people. 14 And he said, My presence shall attend [thee] , and I will give thee rest. 15 And he said to him, If thy presence shall not attend me, conduct us not hence. 16 For wherein shall it be known here that I and thy people have found grace in thy sight? [Is it] not in that thou goest with us? So shall we be separated, I and thy people, from all the people that [are] upon the face of the earth. 17 And the LORD said to Moses, I will do this thing also that thou hast spoken: for thou hast found grace in my sight, and I know thee by name. 18 And he said, I beseech thee, show me thy glory. 19 And he said, I will make all my goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the LORD before thee; and will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy. 20 And he said, Thou canst not see my face: for there shall no man see me, and live. 21 And the LORD said, Behold, [there is] a place by me, and thou shalt stand upon a rock: 22 And it shall come to pass, while my glory passeth by, that I will put thee in a cleft of the rock: and will cover thee with my hand while I pass by: 23 And I will take away my hand, and thou shalt see my back parts: but my face shall not be seen.
Exodus · Noah Webster's Bible (1833)
Exodus 33 Noah Webster's Bible (1833)
Audio: World English Bible (WEB), read by Winfred W. Henson · About the recordings
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)