1. And יהוה said to Mosheh, “Come, go up from here, you and the people whom you have brought out of the land of Mitsrayim, to the land of which I swore to Aḇraham, to Yitsḥaq, and to Ya‛aqoḇ, saying, ‘To your seed I give it.’
2. “And I shall send My Messenger before you, and I shall drive out the Kena‛anite and the Amorite and the Ḥittite and the Perizzite and the Ḥiwwite and the Yeḇusite,
3. to a land flowing with milk and honey. For I do not go up in your midst because you are a stiff-necked people, lest I consume you on the way.”
4. And when the people heard this evil word, they mourned, and no one put on his ornaments.
5. And יהוה said to Mosheh, “Say to the children of Yisra’ĕl, ‘You are a stiff-necked people. Should I go up in your midst for one moment I shall consume you. And now, take off your ornaments, and I shall know what to do to you.’ ”
6. So the children of Yisra’ĕl took off their ornaments at Mount Ḥorĕḇ.
7. And Mosheh took his tent and pitched it outside the camp, far from the camp, and called it the Tent of Meeting. And it came to be that everyone who sought יהוה went out to the Tent of Meeting which was outside the camp.
8. And it came to be, whenever Mosheh went out to the Tent, that all the people rose, and each man stood at his tent door and watched Mosheh until he entered the Tent.
9. And it came to be, when Mosheh entered the Tent, that the column of cloud descended and stood at the door of the Tent, and He spoke with Mosheh.
10. And all the people saw the column of cloud standing at the Tent door, and all the people rose and bowed themselves, each one at the door of his tent.
11. Thus יהוה spoke to Mosheh face to face, as a man speaks to his friend. And he would return to the camp, but his servant Yehoshua son of Nun, a young man, did not leave the Tent.
12. And Mosheh said to יהוה, “See, You are saying to me, ‘Bring up this people.’ But You have not made known to me whom You would send with me, though You have said, ‘I know you by name, and you have also found favour in My eyes.’
13. “And now, please, if I have found favour in Your eyes, please show me Your way, and let me know You, so that I find favour in Your eyes. And consider that this nation is Your people.”
14. And He said, “My Presence does go, and I shall give you rest.”
15. And he said to Him, “If Your Presence is not going, do not lead us up from here.