30 The next day Moses said to the people, ^f“You have sinned a great sin. And now I will go up to the Lord; ^gperhaps I can make atonement for your sin.” 31 So Moses returned to the Lord and said, “Alas, ^fthis people has sinned a great sin. They have ^hmade for themselves gods of gold. 32 But now, if ⁱyou will forgive their sin—but if not, please ^jblot me out of ^kyour book that you have written.” 33 But the Lord said to Moses, ^l“Whoever has sinned against me, I will blot out of my book. 34 ^mBut now go, lead the people to the place about which I have spoken to you; ⁿbehold, my angel shall go before you. Nevertheless, in the day when I visit, I will visit their sin upon them.”

35 Then the Lord sent a plague on the people, because they made the calf, the one that Aaron made.

The Command to Leave Sinai

1 The Lord said to Moses, “Depart; go up from here, you ^oand the people whom you have brought up out of the land of Egypt, to the land of which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, saying, ‘To ^pyour offspring I will give it.’ 2 I will send an ^qangel before you, ^rand I will drive out the Canaanites, the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. 3 ^sGo up to a land flowing with milk and honey; ^tbut I will not go up among you, ^ulest I consume you on the way, for you are a ^vstiff-necked people.”

4 When the people heard this disastrous word, they ^wmourned, and ^xno one put on his ornaments. 5 For the Lord had said to Moses, “Say to the people of Israel, ‘You are a ^vstiff-necked people; if for a single moment I should go up among you, I would ^yconsume you. So now ^xtake off your ornaments, that I may know what to do with you.’” 6 Therefore the people of Israel stripped themselves of their ornaments, from Mount Horeb onward.

Moses’ Intercession

12 Moses said to the Lord, “See, ^fyou say to me, ‘Bring up this people,’ but you have not let me know whom you will send with me. Yet you have said, ^g‘I know you by name, and you have also found favor in my sight.’ 13 Now therefore, if I have found favor in your sight, please ^hshow me now your ways, that I may know you in order to find favor in your sight. Consider too that this nation is ⁱyour people.” 14 And he said, ^j“My presence will go with you, and ^kI will give you rest.” 15 And he said to him, ^l“If your presence will not go with me, do not bring us up from here. 16 For how shall it be known that I have found favor in your sight, I and your people? ^mIs it not in your going with us, ⁿso that we are distinct, I and your people, from every other people on the face of the earth?”

17 And the Lord said to Moses, “This very thing that you have spoken I will do, ^ofor you have found favor in my sight, and I know you by name.” 18 Moses said, “Please ^pshow me your glory.” 19 And he said, ^q“I will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you my name ‘The Lord.’ And ^rI will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy. 20 But,” he said, “you cannot see my face, for ^sman shall not see me and live.” 21 And the Lord said, “Behold, there is a place by me where you shall stand on the rock, 22 and while my glory passes by I will put you in a ^tcleft of the rock, and I will ^ucover you with my hand until I have passed by. 23 Then I will take away my hand, and you shall see my back, but my face shall ^vnot be seen.”