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.” ^w

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. ^x32Now if You would only forgive their sin. But if not, please erase me from the book You have written.” ^y

³³The Lord replied to Moses: “I will erase whoever has sinned against Me from My book. ^z34Now 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.” ^a35And 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, leave 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. ^b2I will send an angel ahead of you and will drive out the Canaanites, Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, ^cHivites, and Jebusites. ^d3Go up to a land flowing with milk and honey. But I will not go with you because you are a stiff-necked people; otherwise, I might destroy you on the way.” ^e4When the people heard this bad news, they mourned and didn’t put on their jewelry. ^f

⁵For the Lord said to Moses: “Tell the Israelites: You are a stiff-necked people. If I went 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.