Exodus 32:30–33:6

³⁰On the next day Moses said to the people, “^aYou yourselves have ¹committed a great sin; and now I am going up to the Lord, perhaps I can ^bmake atonement for your sin.”

³¹Then Moses returned to the Lord, and said, “Alas, this people has ¹committed a great sin, and they have made ²a ^agod of gold for themselves.

³²“But now, if You will, forgive their sin—and if not, please blot me out from Your ^abook which You have written!”

³³The Lord said to Moses, “Whoever has sinned against Me, ^aI will blot him out of My book.

³⁴“But go now, lead the people ^awhere I told you. Behold, ^bMy angel shall go before you; nevertheless ^cin the day when I ¹punish, ^dI will ²punish them for their sin.”

^35aThen the Lord smote the people, because of ^bwhat they did with the calf which Aaron had made.

Chapter 33

The Journey Resumed

¹Then the Lord spoke to Moses, “Depart, go up from here, you and the people whom you have brought up from the land of Egypt, to the land of which ^aI swore to Abraham, ^bIsaac, and ^cJacob, saying, ‘^dTo your ¹descendants I will give it.’

²“I will send ^aan angel before you and ^bI will drive out the Canaanite, the Amorite, the Hittite, the Perizzite, the Hivite and the Jebusite.

³“Go up to a land ^aflowing with milk and honey; for I will not go up in your midst, because you are ^1ban obstinate people, and ^cI might destroy you on the way.”

⁴When the people heard this ¹sad word, ^athey went into mourning, and none of them put on his ornaments.

⁵For the Lord had said to Moses, “Say to the sons of Israel, ‘You are ^1aan obstinate people; should I go up in your midst for one moment, I would destroy you. Now therefore, put off your ornaments from you, that I may know what I shall do with you.’ ”

⁶So the sons of Israel stripped themselves of their ornaments, from Mount Horeb onward.