Exodus 32:30–33:6

³⁰The following day Moses said to the people, “You have committed a grave sin. Now I will go up to the Lord; perhaps I will be able to atone for your sin.”^j

³¹So Moses returned to the Lord and said, “Oh, these people have committed a grave sin; they have made a god of gold for themselves.^{k 32}Now if you would only forgive their sin. But if not, please erase me from the book you have written.”^l

³³The Lord replied to Moses, “Whoever has sinned against me I will erase from my book.^{m 34}Now go, lead the people to the place I told you about; see, my angel will go before you. But on the day I settle accounts, I will hold them accountable for their sin.”^{n 35}And the Lord inflicted a plague on the people for what they did with the calf Aaron had made.

THE TENT OUTSIDE THE CAMP

33The Lord spoke to Moses: “Go up from here, you and the people you brought up from the land of Egypt, to the land I promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, saying: I will give it to your offspring.^{o 2}I will send an angel ahead of you and will drive out the Canaanites, Amorites, Hethites, Perizzites,^C Hivites, and Jebusites.^{p 3}Go up to a land flowing with milk and honey. But I will not go up with you because you are a stiff-necked people; otherwise, I might destroy you on the way.”^{q 4}When the people heard this bad news, they mourned and didn’t put on their jewelry.^a

⁵For the Lord said to Moses, “Tell the Israelites: You are a stiff-necked people. If I went up with you for a single moment, I would destroy you. Now take off your jewelry, and I will decide what to do with you.” ⁶So the Israelites remained stripped of their jewelry from Mount Horeb onward.