Bible / Exodus
Exodus 33
Douay-Rheims Bible, Challoner revision (1749–1752), the traditional Catholic English Bible, translated from the Latin Vulgate. If you read a modern Bible, this is the same Scripture in older English; some names are spelled differently (Cesarea for Caesarea, Apocalypse for Revelation). About this translation
1 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: Go, get thee up from this place, thou and thy people which thou hast brought out of the land of Egypt, into the land concerning which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, saying: To thy seed I will give it:
2 And I will send an angel before thee, that I may cast out the Chanaanite, and the Amorrhite, and the Hethite, and the Pherezite, and the Hevite, and the Jebusite,
3 That thou mayst enter into the land that floweth with milk and honey. For I will not go up with thee, because thou art a stiffnecked people; lest I destroy thee in the way.
4 And the people hearing these very bad tidings, mourned: and no man put on his ornaments according to custom.
5 And the Lord said to Moses: Say to the children of Israel: Thou art a stiffnecked people, once I shall come up in the midst of thee, and shall destroy thee. Now presently lay aside thy ornaments, that I may know what to do to thee.
6 So the children of Israel laid aside their ornaments by Mount Horeb.
7 Moses also taking the tabernacle, pitched it without the camp afar off, and called the name thereof, The tabernacle of the covenant. And all the people, that had any question, went forth to the tabernacle of the covenant, without the camp.
8 And when Moses went forth to the tabernacle, all the people rose up, and every one stood in the door of his pavilion, and they beheld the back of Moses, till he went into the tabernacle.
9 And when he was gone into the tabernacle of the covenant, the pillar of the cloud came down, and stood at the door, and he spoke with Moses.
10 And all saw that the pillar of the cloud stood at the door of the tabernacle. And they stood and worshipped at the doors of their tent.
11 And the Lord spoke to Moses face to face, as a man is wont to speak to his friend. And when he returned into the camp, his servant Josue, the son of Nun, a young man, departed not from the tabernacle.
12 And Moses said to the Lord: Thou commandest me to lead forth this people; and thou dost not let me know whom thou wilt send with me, especially whereas thou hast said: I know thee by name, and thou hast found favour in my sight.
13 If therefore I have found favour in thy sight, shew me thy face, that I may know thee, and may find grace before thy eyes: look upon thy people this nation.
14 And the Lord said: My face shall go before thee, and I will give thee rest.
15 And Moses said: If thou thyself dost not go before, bring us not out of this place.
16 For how shall we be able to know, I and thy people, that we have found grace in thy sight, unless thou walk with us, that we may be glorified by all people that dwell upon the earth?
17 And the Lord said to Moses: This word also, which thou hast spoken, will I do; for thou hast found grace before me, and thee I have known by name.
18 And he said: Shew me thy glory.
19 He answered: I will shew thee all good, and I will proclaim in the name of the Lord before thee: and I will have mercy on whom I will, and I will be merciful to whom it shall please me.
20 And again he said: Thou canst not see my face: for man shall not see me, and live.
21 And again he said: Behold there is a place with me, and thou shalt stand upon the rock.
22 And when my glory shall pass, I will set thee in a hole of the rock, and protect thee with my right hand till I pass:
23 And I will take away my hand, and thou shalt see my back parts: but my face thou canst not see.
This chapter in the Catechism and the early Church
Where the Catechism of the Catholic Church cites these verses (from its footnotes on vatican.va), and where the earliest Church Fathers quote them (Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1, public domain). Short quotes only; follow the links for the full text. The Catechism uses modern verse numbers, so these are listed by chapter.
- Exodus 33:1 in modern Bibles
Read the Fathers
“land which the Lord swore [to give] to Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and inherit ye it, a land flowing with milk and honey.”
Quoted in The Letter of Barnabas, Unknown author (early 2nd century), Chapter VI. Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1
- Exodus 33:2 in modern Bibles
Read the Fathers
“Wherefore also He says to Moses in Exodus: "I will send forth My angel before thee; for I will not go up with thee, because thou art a stiff-necked people.”
Quoted in Against Heresies, Book IV, St. Irenaeus of Lyons (c. AD 180), Chapter XV. Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1
- Exodus 33:3 in modern Bibles
Read the Fathers
“The Lord says, "Behold, I will make the last like the first." In reference to this, then, the prophet proclaimed, "Enter ye into the land flowing with milk and honey, and have dominion over it.”
Quoted in The Letter of Barnabas, Unknown author (early 2nd century), Chapter VI. Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1
“Wherefore also He says to Moses in Exodus: "I will send forth My angel before thee; for I will not go up with thee, because thou art a stiff-necked people.”
Quoted in Against Heresies, Book IV, St. Irenaeus of Lyons (c. AD 180), Chapter XV. Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1
- Exodus 33:9 in modern BiblesCCC 697
Read the Catechism
- CCC 697 “Cloud and light. These two images occur together in the manifestations of the Holy Spirit. In the theophanies of the Old Testament,…”
- Exodus 33:10 in modern BiblesCCC 697
Read the Catechism
- CCC 697 “Cloud and light. These two images occur together in the manifestations of the Holy Spirit. In the theophanies of the Old Testament,…”
- Exodus 33:18 in modern BiblesCCC 210
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- CCC 210 “After Israel's sin, when the people had turned away from God to worship the golden calf, God hears Moses' prayer of intercession…”
- Exodus 33:20 in modern BiblesCCC 2583
Read the Catechism and Fathers
- CCC 2583 “After Elijah had learned mercy during his retreat at the Wadi Cherith, he teaches the widow of Zarephath to believe in the…”
“The prophets, then, indicated beforehand that God should be seen by men; as the Lord also says, "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God." But in respect to His greatness, and His wonderful glory, "no man shall see God and live,”
Quoted in Against Heresies, Book IV, St. Irenaeus of Lyons (c. AD 180), Chapter XX. Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1
“But when My splendour shall pass by, then thou shalt see My back parts, but My face thou shalt not see: for no man sees My face, and shall live.”
Quoted in Against Heresies, Book IV, St. Irenaeus of Lyons (c. AD 180), Chapter XX. Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1
“But when John could not endure the sight (for he says, "I fell at his feet as dead;" that what was written might come to pass: "No man sees God, and shall live”
Quoted in Against Heresies, Book IV, St. Irenaeus of Lyons (c. AD 180), Chapter XX. Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1
- Exodus 33:21 in modern BiblesCCC 2583
Read the Catechism and Fathers
- CCC 2583 “After Elijah had learned mercy during his retreat at the Wadi Cherith, he teaches the widow of Zarephath to believe in the…”
“But when My splendour shall pass by, then thou shalt see My back parts, but My face thou shalt not see: for no man sees My face, and shall live.”
Quoted in Against Heresies, Book IV, St. Irenaeus of Lyons (c. AD 180), Chapter XX. Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1
- Exodus 33:22 in modern BiblesCCC 2583
Read the Catechism and Fathers
- CCC 2583 “After Elijah had learned mercy during his retreat at the Wadi Cherith, he teaches the widow of Zarephath to believe in the…”
“But when My splendour shall pass by, then thou shalt see My back parts, but My face thou shalt not see: for no man sees My face, and shall live.”
Quoted in Against Heresies, Book IV, St. Irenaeus of Lyons (c. AD 180), Chapter XX. Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1
- Exodus 33:23 in modern BiblesCCC 2583
Read the Catechism
- CCC 2583 “After Elijah had learned mercy during his retreat at the Wadi Cherith, he teaches the widow of Zarephath to believe in the…”
A modern English Catholic translation will be added once its publisher grants permission.