1And the LORD said unto Moses, Depart, and go up hence, thou and the people which thou hast brought up out of the land of Egypt, unto the land which I sware unto Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, saying, Unto thy seed will I give it:
33:1-81And the LORD said unto Moses, Depart, and go up hence, thou and the people which thou hast brought up out of the land of Egypt, unto the land which I sware unto Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, saying, Unto thy seed will I give it:
Go with the people to the land that I swore I'd give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, saying,I'll give it to your seed.
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 Unto a land land flowing with milk and honey: for I will not go up in the midst of thee; for thou art a stiffnecked people: lest I consume thee in the way.
I'll send an angel before you to a land flowing with milk and honey.
And I'll drive out the current occupants of the land. [1]
But I won't go with you, because you are a stiffnecked people and I'd probably kill you all along the way.
4And when the people heard these evil tidings, they mourned: and no man did put on him his ornaments.
5For the LORD had said unto Moses, Say unto the children of Israel, Ye are a stiffnecked 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 unto thee.
When the people heard God's promise/threat, they mourned and took off their ornaments.
Because God had said to Moses,
Say to the people,You are a stiffnecked people. I'll come down in a moment and kill you all.
6And 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, afar off from the camp, and called it the Tabernacle of the congregation. And it came to pass, that every one which sought the LORD went out unto the tabernacle of the congregation, which was without the camp.
8 And it came to pass, when Moses went out unto the tabernacle, that all the people rose up, and stood every man at his tent door, and looked after Moses, until he was gone into the tabernacle.
When the people heard God's promise/threat, they stripped off their ornaments.
33:9-209 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.
As Moses entered the tabernacle, a cloudy pillar descended and God talked to Moses.
10 And all the people saw the cloudy pillar stand at the tabernacle door: and all the people rose up and worshipped, every man in his tent door.
When the people saw the cloudy pillar at the tabernacle door, they worshipped in their tent doors.
11And the LORD spake unto Moses face to face, as a man speaketh unto 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.
And God talked with Moses, as a man talks to his friend. [2]
12 And Moses said unto the LORD, See, thou sayest unto 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, shew 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.
Come with us to the land you promised to give us.
14 And he said, My presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest.
My presence will go with you, and I'll give you rest.
15 And he said unto him, If thy presence go not with me, carry us not up hence.
If your presence isn't with me, don't carry us there.
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.
We won't know if we've found grace in your sight unless you go with us. And we'll be separated from everyone else on earth.
17 And the LORD said unto 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.
Okay, I'll go with you, because you've found grace in my sight and I know your name.
18And he said, I beseech thee, shew me thy glory.
Show me your glory. [3]
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 shew mercy on whom I will shew mercy.
I will make my goodness pass in front of you, and I'll say my name.
I'll be gracious to whom I'll be gracious, and show mercy on whom I'll show mercy.
20 And he said, Thou canst not see my face: for there shall no man see me, and live.
But you can't see my face. Whoever sees my face will die. [4]
33:21-2321 And the LORD said, Behold, there is a place by me, and thou shalt stand upon a rock:
Behold, there's a place by me, and you will stand on a rock.
22 And it shall come to pass, while my glory passeth by, that I will put thee in a clift of the rock, and will cover thee with my hand while I pass by:
And when my glory passes by, I'll cover you with my hand.
23 And I will take away mine hand, and thou shalt see my back parts: but my face shall not be seen.
Then I'll take away my hand and you will see my back parts [5], but not my face.
God promises to cast out many nations including the Canaanites and the Jebusites. But he was unable to keep his promise.
"The word used in the Hebrew text and translated as "glory" is kabod -- but we are not often told that kabod also may be translated as "liver" and is sometimes used idiomatically to refer to the male reproductive organ." Jonathan Kirsch, The Harlot By the Side of the Road, p.8.
God shows his back parts to Moses (The Divine Mooning)
Although God is too shy to let Moses see his face, he does permit a peek at his "back parts."
