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.
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.”
- BSB “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.”
- 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; and the people whom he hath chosen for his own inheritance.
- Deut 32:9For the LORD’s portion is his people; Jacob is the lot of his inheritance.
- Ps 94:14For the LORD will not cast off his people, neither will he forsake his inheritance.
- Ps 135:4For the LORD hath chosen Jacob unto himself, and Israel for his peculiar treasure.
- Jer 10:16The portion of Jacob is not like them: for he is the former of all things; and Israel is the rod of his inheritance: The LORD of hosts is his name.
- Ps 28:9Save thy people, and bless thine inheritance: feed them also, and lift them up for ever.
- Exod 33:13–17Now therefore, I pray thee, if I have found grace in thy sight, shew me now thy way, that I may know thee, that I may find grace in thy sight: and consider that this nation is thy people.
- Exod 32:9And the LORD said unto Moses, I have seen this people, and, behold, it is a stiffnecked people:
- Zech 2:12And the LORD shall inherit Judah his portion in the holy land, and shall choose Jerusalem again.
- Exod 19:5Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine:
- Ps 78:62He gave his people over also unto the sword; and was wroth with his inheritance.
- Matt 28:20Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.
- Isa 48:4Because I knew that thou art obstinate, and thy neck is an iron sinew, and thy brow brass;
- Ps 25:11For thy name’s sake, O LORD, pardon mine iniquity; for it is great.
- Num 14:19Pardon, I beseech thee, the iniquity of this people according unto the greatness of thy mercy, and as thou hast forgiven this people, from Egypt even until now.
- Exod 33:3–5Unto a land flowing with milk and honey: for I will not go up in the midst of thee; for thou art a stiffnecked people: lest I consume thee in 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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