“O Lord,” he said, “if I have indeed found favor in Your sight, my Lord, please go with us. Although this is a stiff-necked people, forgive our iniquity and sin, and take us as Your inheritance.”
Parallel translations
- WEB He said, “If now I have found favor in your sight, Lord, please let the Lord go among us; although this is a stiff-necked people; pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us for your inheritance.”
- KJV And he said, If now I have found grace in thy sight, O LORD, let my LORD, I pray thee, go among us; for it is a stiffnecked people; and pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us for thine inheritance.
- NKJV Then he said, “If now I have found grace in Your sight, O Lord, let my Lord, I pray, go among us, even though we are a stiff-necked people; and pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us as Your inheritance.”
- NASB Then he said, “If in any way I have found favor in Your sight, Lord, please may the Lord go along in our midst, even though the people are so obstinate, and pardon our wrongdoing and our sin, and take us as Your own possession.”
- NLT And he said, “O Lord, if it is true that I have found favor with you, then please travel with us. Yes, this is a stubborn and rebellious people, but please forgive our iniquity and our sins. Claim us as your own special possession.”
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
Moses pleads for God to go with His stiff-necked people, pardon their sin, and take them as His inheritance. He intercedes on the basis of the grace just revealed.
Overview
Building on God's proclamation of mercy, Moses asks for the very things God has revealed Himself to give: presence, pardon, and possession. He freely admits the people's stubbornness, appealing only to grace. To ask God to take them as His 'inheritance' anticipates the wonder that God's people become His treasured possession in Christ (Ephesians 1:18).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 16
- Ps 33:12Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD, the people He has chosen as His inheritance!
- Deut 32:9But the LORD’s portion is His people, Jacob His allotted inheritance.
- Ps 94:14For the LORD will not forsake His people; He will never abandon His heritage.
- Ps 135:4For the LORD has chosen Jacob as His own, Israel as His treasured possession.
- Jer 10:16The Portion of Jacob is not like these, for He is the Maker of all things, and Israel is the tribe of His inheritance—the LORD of Hosts is His name.
- Ps 28:9Save Your people and bless Your inheritance; shepherd them and carry them forever.
- Exod 33:13–17Now if indeed I have found favor in Your sight, please let me know Your ways, that I may know You and find favor in Your sight. Remember that this nation is Your people.”
- Exod 32:9The LORD also said to Moses, “I have seen this people, and they are indeed a stiff-necked people.
- Zech 2:12And the LORD will take possession of Judah as His portion in the Holy Land, and He will once again choose Jerusalem.
- Exod 19:5Now if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, you will be My treasured possession out of all the nations—for the whole earth is Mine.
- Ps 78:62He surrendered His people to the sword because He was enraged by His heritage.
- Matt 28:20and teaching them to obey all that I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
- Isa 48:4For I knew that you are stubborn; your neck is iron and your forehead is bronze.
- Ps 25:11For the sake of Your name, O LORD, forgive my iniquity, for it is great.
- Num 14:19Pardon, I pray, the iniquity of this people, in keeping with the greatness of Your loving devotion, just as You have forgiven them ever since they left Egypt.”
- Exod 33:3–5Go 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.”
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 34:9 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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