(Deuteronomy 1:1–8)
1
And YHWH speaks to Moses, “Go, ascend from this [place], you and the people, whom you have brought up out of the land of Egypt, to the land which I have sworn to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, saying, I give it to your seed.
2
And I have sent a Messenger before you, and have cast out the Canaanite, the Amorite, and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite.
3
[Go up] to a land flowing with milk and honey, for I do not go up in your midst, for you [are] a stiff-necked people—lest I consume you in the way.”
4
And the people hear this sad thing, and mourn; and none puts his ornaments on him.
5
And YHWH says to Moses, “Say to the sons of Israel: You [are] a stiff-necked people; [in] one moment I could come up into your midst and could have consumed you; and now, put down your ornaments from off you, and I know what I do to you”;
6
and the sons of Israel take off their ornaments at Mount Horeb.
The Tent of Meeting
7
And Moses takes the tent, and has stretched it out at the outside of the camp, far off from the camp, and has called it, “Tent of Meeting”; and it has come to pass, everyone seeking YHWH goes out to the Tent of Meeting, which [is] at the outside of the camp.
8
And it has come to pass, at the going out of Moses to the tent, all the people rise, and have stood, each at the opening of his tent, and have looked expectingly after Moses, until his going into the tent.
9
And it has come to pass, at the going in of Moses to the tent, the pillar of the cloud comes down, and has stood at the opening of the tent, and He has spoken with Moses;
10
and all the people have seen the pillar of the cloud standing at the opening of the tent, and all the people have risen and bowed themselves, each at the opening of his tent.
11
And YHWH has spoken to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend; and he has turned back to the camp, and his minister Joshua, son of Nun, a youth, does not depart out of the tent.
The Promise of God’s Presence
12
And Moses says to YHWH, “See, You are saying to me, Bring up this people, and You have not caused me to know whom You send with me; and You have said, I have known you by name, and you have also found grace in My eyes.
13
And now, if, please, I have found grace in Your eyes, please cause me to know Your way, and I know You, so that I find grace in Your eyes, and consider that this nation [is] Your people”;
14
and He says, “My presence goes, and I have given rest to you.”
15
And he says to Him, “If Your presence is not going—do not take us up from this [place];
16
and in what is it known now, that I have found grace in Your eyes—I and Your people—is it not in Your going with us? And we have been distinguished—I and Your people—from all the people who [are] on the face of the ground.”
17
And YHWH says to Moses, “Even this thing which you have spoken I do; for you have found grace in My eyes, and I know you by name.”
18
And he says, “Please show me Your glory”;
19
and He says, “I cause all My goodness to pass before your face, and have called concerning the Name of YHWH before you, and favored him whom I favor, and loved him whom I love.”
20
He also says, “You are unable to see My face, for man does not see Me and live”;
21
YHWH also says, “Behold, a place [is] by Me, and you have stood on the rock,
22
and it has come to pass, in the passing by of My glory, that I have set you in a cleft of the rock, and spread out My hands over you until My passing by,
23
and I have turned aside My hands, and you have seen My back parts, and My face is not seen.”
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