And the LORD repented of the evil which he thought to do unto his people.
Parallel translations
- WEB Yahweh repented of the evil which he said he would do to his people.
- BSB So the LORD relented from the calamity He had threatened to bring on His people.
- NKJV So the Lord relented from the harm which He said He would do to His people.
- NASB So the Lord relented of the harm which He said He would do to His people.
- NLT So the Lord changed his mind about the terrible disaster he had threatened to bring on his people.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
God relents from the destruction He had threatened. It reveals the power of intercessory prayer and God's mercy.
Overview
In response to Moses' plea, God 'repents' of the disaster, sparing the nation. This does not mean God changed His mind out of ignorance, but that He governs His world in genuine response to the prayers He ordains. Faithful readers see here both God's mercy and the dignity He gives to intercession, fulfilled supremely in the prayers of Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 10
- Jonah 3:10And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil, that he had said that he would do unto them; and he did it not.
- Ps 106:45And he remembered for them his covenant, and repented according to the multitude of his mercies.
- Jer 26:13Therefore now amend your ways and your doings, and obey the voice of the LORD your God; and the LORD will repent him of the evil that he hath pronounced against you.
- 1 Chr 21:15And God sent an angel unto Jerusalem to destroy it: and as he was destroying, the LORD beheld, and he repented him of the evil, and said to the angel that destroyed, It is enough, stay now thine hand. And the angel of the LORD stood by the threshingfloor of Ornan the Jebusite.
- Jer 18:8If that nation, against whom I have pronounced, turn from their evil, I will repent of the evil that I thought to do unto them.
- 2 Sam 24:16And when the angel stretched out his hand upon Jerusalem to destroy it, the LORD repented him of the evil, and said to the angel that destroyed the people, It is enough: stay now thine hand. And the angel of the LORD was by the threshingplace of Araunah the Jebusite.
- Jonah 4:2And he prayed unto the LORD, and said, I pray thee, O LORD, was not this my saying, when I was yet in my country? Therefore I fled before unto Tarshish: for I knew that thou art a gracious God, and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repentest thee of the evil.
- Jer 26:19Did Hezekiah king of Judah and all Judah put him at all to death? did he not fear the LORD, and besought the LORD, and the LORD repented him of the evil which he had pronounced against them? Thus might we procure great evil against our souls.
- Joel 2:13And rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto the LORD your God: for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repenteth him of the evil.
- Deut 32:26I said, I would scatter them into corners, I would make the remembrance of them to cease from among men:
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
The Passover lamb whose blood turns away death, the exodus through the sea, the manna, the rock, and the tabernacle where God dwells with his people all foreshadow Jesus — our Passover, our redemption, the bread from heaven, and God-with-us in the flesh.
How Exodus 32:14 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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