Exodus 33
The full text of Exodus 33 in the Trinity Bible Version — clear modern English, translated from the original Hebrew. Free to read.
1 Then the LORD said to Moses, "Leave this place, you and the people you brought up out of Egypt, and go up to the land I promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, saying, 'I will give it to your descendants.'
2 I will send an angel before you and drive out the Canaanites, Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites.
3 Go up to the land flowing with milk and honey. But I will not go with you, because you are a stiff-necked people and I might destroy you on the way."
4 When the people heard these distressing words, they began to mourn and no one put on any ornaments.
5 For the LORD had said to Moses, "Tell the Israelites, 'You are a stiff-necked people. If I were to go with you even for a moment, I might destroy you. Now take off your ornaments and I will decide what to do with you.'"
6 So the Israelites stripped off their ornaments at Mount Horeb.
7 Now Moses used to take a tent and pitch it outside the camp some distance away, calling it the tent of meeting. Anyone inquiring of the LORD would go to the tent of meeting outside the camp.
8 And whenever Moses went out to the tent, all the people rose and stood at the entrances to their tents, watching Moses until he entered the tent.
9 As Moses went into the tent, the pillar of cloud would come down and stay at the entrance, while the LORD spoke with Moses.
10 Whenever the people saw the pillar of cloud standing at the entrance to the tent, they all stood and worshiped, each at the entrance to their tent.
11 The LORD would speak with Moses face to face, as one speaks with a friend. Then Moses would return to the camp, but his young aide Joshua son of Nun did not leave the tent.
12 Moses said to the LORD, "You have been telling me, 'Lead these people,' but you have not let me know whom you will send with me. You have said, 'I know you by name and you have found favor with me.'
13 If you are pleased with me, teach me your ways so I may know you and continue to find favor with you. Remember that this nation is your people."
14 The LORD replied, "My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest."
15 Then Moses said to him, "If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here.
16 How will anyone know that you are pleased with me and with your people unless you go with us? What else will distinguish me and your people from all the other people on the face of the earth?"
17 And the LORD said to Moses, "I will do the very thing you have asked, because I am pleased with you and I know you by name."
18 Then Moses said, "Now show me your glory."
19 And the LORD said, "I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the LORD, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion."
20 But," he said, "you cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live."
21 Then the LORD said, "There is a place near me where you may stand on a rock.
22 When my glory passes by, I will put you in a cleft in the rock and cover you with my hand until I have passed by.
23 Then I will remove my hand and you will see my back; but my face must not be seen."
Translation notes (6)
- Exodus 33:11a 'Face to face' (panim 'el panim) translates the Hebrew idiom for direct, intimate speech. This phrase creates a deliberate tension with verse 20, where the LORD tells Moses, 'you cannot see my face.' The Bible text presents both statements without reconciling them, and that tension is preserved here rather than being harmonized (for example, by interpreting one as 'openly' and the other as 'my full glory').
- Exodus 33:14a 'My Presence' translates the Hebrew word panay, which literally means 'my face.' This same word is translated as 'face' in verses 11, 20, and 23, and this connection is intentional. The phrase 'will go with you' adds the implied recipient of the action; the Hebrew text is concise, stating 'my face will go and I will give you rest.'
- Exodus 33:15a 'Your Presence' again translates the Hebrew word paneykha, meaning 'your face,' continuing the important word from verse 14.
- Exodus 33:19a 'I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy' translates a Hebrew idiom that expresses God's free, unconditioned divine choice, similar to the self-determining construction 'I am who I am' in 3:14. This statement asserts God's sovereign freedom to show mercy and is left open rather than being limited by any system of conditions.
- Exodus 33:20a 'You cannot see my face' creates a deliberate tension with verse 11, where the LORD speaks with Moses 'face to face.' The Bible text places these two statements side by side without reconciling them; this tension is preserved here and is not resolved by softening the meaning of either verse.
- Exodus 33:23a 'My back' ('achoray) and 'my face' (panay) continue the chapter's recurring theme, or 'motif,' of 'face.' The description of God with human characteristics, called anthropomorphism (a divine 'back' that may be seen, but a 'face' that may not), is preserved rather than being made more abstract, and it remains in tension with verse 11.
About this translation
The Trinity Bible Version (TBV) is a new translation of the Bible prepared by Trinity Bible AI — rendered from the original Hebrew and faithful to the earliest and most reliable manuscripts. Finished in 2026, it is the most modern English Bible translation you can read today, and it is available only through Trinity Bible. All 66 books, including Exodus, are free to read on this site.
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