1. Then the Lord said to Moses, “You and the people you brought out of Egypt must leave this place. Go to the land that I promised with an oath to give to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. I said, ‘I will give that land to your descendants.’
2. I will send an angel to lead you. And I will force these people out of the land: the Canaanites, Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites.
3. Go up to the land where much food grows. But I will not go with you. This is because I might destroy you on the way. You are such a stubborn people.”
4. The people heard this bad news, and they became very sad. None of them put on jewelry.
5. This was because the Lord had said to Moses, “Tell the Israelites, ‘You are a stubborn people. If I were to go with you even for a moment, I would destroy you. So take off all your jewelry. Then I will decide what to do with you.’”
6. So the people of Israel took off their jewelry at Mount Sinai.
7. Moses used to take a tent and set it up a long way outside the camp. Moses called it the “Meeting Tent.” A person might want to ask the Lord about something. Then he would go to the Meeting Tent outside the camp.
8. Anytime Moses went out to the Tent, all the people would rise. They stood at the entrances of their tents and watched Moses until he entered the Meeting Tent.