^32:31So Moses returned to the Lord and said, “Alas, this people has committed a very serious sin,⁶⁸ and they have made for themselves gods of gold. ^32:32But now, if you will forgive their sin …,⁶⁹ but if not, wipe me out⁷⁰ from your book that you have written.”⁷¹^32:33The Lord said to Moses, “Whoever has sinned against me—that person I will wipe out of my book.

Read in Logos

Exodus 32:33: But the Lord said to Moses, “Whoever has sinned against me, I will blot out of my book.

Footnotes

68 As before, the cognate accusative is used; it would literally be “this people has sinned a great sin.”
69 The apodosis is not expressed; it would be understood as “good.” It is not stated because of the intensity of the expression (the figure is aposiopesis, a sudden silence). It is also possible to take this first clause as a desire and not a conditional clause, rendering it “Oh that you would forgive!”
70 The word “wipe” is a figure of speech indicating “remove me” (meaning he wants to die). The translation “blot” is traditional, but not very satisfactory, since it does not convey complete removal.
71 The book that is referred to here should not be interpreted as the NT “book of life” which is portrayed (figuratively) as a register of all the names of the saints who are redeemed and will inherit eternal life. Here it refers to the names of those who are living and serving in this life, whose names, it was imagined, were on the roster in the heavenly courts as belonging to the chosen. Moses would rather die than live if these people are not forgiven (S. R. Driver, Exodus, ).

In other versions

ESVEnglish Standard Version

So Moses returned to the Lord and said, “Alas, this people has sinned a great sin. They have made for themselves gods of gold. But now, if you will forgive their sin—but if not, please blot me out of your book that you have written.” But the Lord said to Moses, “Whoever has sinned against me, I will blot out of my book.

NIVNew International Version (2011)

So Moses went back to the Lord and said, “Oh, what a great sin these people have committed! They have made themselves gods of gold. But now, please forgive their sin—but if not, then blot me out of the book you have written.”

The Lord replied to Moses, “Whoever has sinned against me I will blot out of my book.

CSBChristian Standard Bible

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

The Lord replied to Moses, “Whoever has sinned against me I will erase from my book.

NLTNew Living Translation

So Moses returned to the Lord and said, “Oh, what a terrible sin these people have committed. They have made gods of gold for themselves. But now, if you will only forgive their sin—but if not, erase my name from the record you have written!”

But the Lord replied to Moses, “No, I will erase the name of everyone who has sinned against me.

LEBThe Lexham English Bible

And Moses returned to Yahweh, and he said, “Alas, this people has sinned a great sin and made for themselves gods of gold. And now if you will forgive their sin—and if not, please blot me from your scroll that you have written.” And Yahweh said to Moses, “Whoever has sinned against me I will blot him from my scroll.

KJV 1900King James Version

And Moses returned unto the Lord, and said, Oh, this people have sinned a great sin, and have made them gods of gold. Yet now, if thou wilt forgive their sin—; and if not, blot me, I pray thee, out of thy book which thou hast written. And the Lord said unto Moses, Whosoever hath sinned against me, him will I blot out of my book.

Public Domain