¹ And Jehovah spoke to^▵ Moses, Go, go·​·up from hence, thou^◦ and the people which thou hast made to come·​·up out of the land of Egypt, to^▵ the land which I promised to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, saying, To thy seed will I give it;

² and I will send before thee an angel; and I will drive·​·out the Canaanite, the Amorite, and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite;

³ to^▵ a land flowing with milk and honey; for I will not go·​·up in the midst^◦ of thee; for a stiff necked^◦ people art thou^◦; lest I should consume· thee ·all in the way.

⁴ And the people heard this evil word, and they mourned; and they put not any man^◦ his decoration upon him.

⁵ And Jehovah said to^▵ Moses, Say to^▵ the sons of Israel, You^◦ are a stiff necked^◦ people; I will come·​·up into the midst^◦ of thee in one moment, and will consume· thee ·all; and now bring·​·down thine decorations from on thee, and I shall know what I will do to thee.

⁶ And the sons of Israel stripped themselves of their decoration, by Mount Horeb^*.

⁷ And Moses took the tent, and stretched it for himself outside the camp, to be·​·far·​·away from the camp; and he called it the tent of the congregation^◦. And it was, that everyone seeking Jehovah went·​·out to^▵ the tent of the congregation^◦ that was outside the camp.

⁸ And it was, as Moses went·​·out to^▵ the tent, all the people rose·​·up, and each·​·man^◦ stood·​·up at the entrance of his tent, and looked behind Moses, until he came·​·into the tent.

⁹ And it was, as Moses came·​·into the tent, the pillar of cloud went·​·down, and stood at the entrance of the tent, and spoke with Moses.

¹⁰ And all the people saw the pillar of cloud standing at the entrance of the tent; and all the people rose·​·up and bowed· themselves ·down, each·​·man^◦ at the entrance of his tent.

¹¹ And Jehovah spoke to^▵ Moses face to^▵ face, as^◦ a man^◦ speaks to his companion. And he returned to the camp; and his minister Joshua the son of Nun, a lad, departed not from the midst of the tent.

¹² And Moses said to Jehovah, See, Thou sayest to me, Make this people come up; and Thou hast· not ·made·​·known to me whom Thou wilt send with me. And Thou hast said, I know thee by name, and thou hast· also ·found grace in My eyes.

¹³ And now, I pray^◦, if I have found grace in Thine eyes, make·​·known to me, I pray^◦, Thy way, that I may know Thee, because I have found grace in Thine eyes; and see that this nation is Thy people.

¹⁴ And He said, My faces shall go, and I will give thee rest.

¹⁵ And he said to Him, If Thy faces go not, do not make us go up from hence.

¹⁶ And in what shall it then^◦ become·​·known that I have·​·found grace in Thine eyes, I and Thy people? is it not in Thy going with us? And we shall be set·​·apart, I^◦ and Thy people, above all the people that are on the faces of the ground.

¹⁷ And Jehovah said to Moses, I will do this word also that thou hast spoken; because thou hast·​·found grace in My eyes, and I know thee by name.

¹⁸ And he said, Make me see, I pray^◦, Thy glory.

¹⁹ And He said, I will make all My goodness to pass upon thy faces, and will proclaim in the name of Jehovah before thee; and I will be·​·gracious to whom I am·​·gracious, and I will have·​·compassion with^◦ whom I have·​·compassion.

²⁰ And He said, Thou art· not ·able to see My faces; for man shall not see Me and live.

²¹ And Jehovah said, Behold, a place with^◦ Me, and thou shalt stand·​·up on the rock;

²² and it shall be when My glory passes·​·by, that I will set thee in a cleft of the rock, and will shelter with My palm over thee, until I have passed·​·by.

²³ And I will remove the palm of My hand, and thou shalt see My back; and My faces shall not be seen.

¹ Yahweh appeared to him by the oaks of Mamre, as he sat in the tent door in the heat of the day.

² He lifted up his eyes and looked, and saw that three men stood opposite him. When he saw them, he ran to meet them from the tent door, and bowed himself to the earth,

³ and said, "My lord, if now I have found favor in your sight, please don't go away from your servant.

⁴ Now let a little water be fetched, wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree.

⁵ I will get a morsel of bread so you can refresh your heart. After that you may go your way, now that you have come to your servant." They said, "Very well, do as you have said."

⁶ Abraham hurried into the tent to Sarah, and said, "Quickly prepare three measures of fine meal, knead it, and make cakes."

⁷ Abraham ran to the herd, and fetched a tender and good calf, and gave it to the servant. He hurried to dress it.

⁸ He took butter, milk, and the calf which he had dressed, and set it before them. He stood by them under the tree, and they ate.

⁹ They asked him, "Where is Sarah, your wife?" He said, "See, in the tent."

¹⁰ He said, "I will certainly return to you when the season comes round. Behold, Sarah your wife will have a son." Sarah heard in the tent door, which was behind him.

¹¹ Now Abraham and Sarah were old, well advanced in age. Sarah had passed the age of childbearing.

¹² Sarah laughed within herself, saying, "After I have grown old will I have pleasure, my lord being old also?"

¹³ Yahweh said to Abraham, "Why did Sarah laugh, saying, 'Will I really bear a child, yet I am old?'

¹⁴ Is anything too hard for Yahweh? At the set time I will return to you, when the season comes round, and Sarah will have a son."

¹⁵ Then Sarah denied, saying, "I didn't laugh," for she was afraid. He said, "No, but you did laugh."

¹⁶ The men rose up from there, and looked toward Sodom. Abraham went with them to see them on their way.

¹⁷ Yahweh said, "Will I hide from Abraham what I do,

¹⁸ since Abraham has surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth will be blessed in him?

¹⁹ For I have known him, to the end that he may command his children and his household after him, that they may keep the way of Yahweh, to do righteousness and justice; to the end that Yahweh may bring on Abraham that which he has spoken of him."

²⁰ Yahweh said, "Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grievous,

²¹ I will go down now, and see whether their deeds are as bad as the reports which have come to me. If not, I will know."

²² The men turned from there, and went toward Sodom, but Abraham stood yet before Yahweh.

²³ Abraham drew near, and said, "Will you consume the righteous with the wicked?

²⁴ What if there are fifty righteous within the city? Will you consume and not spare the place for the fifty righteous who are in it?

²⁵ Be it far from you to do things like that, to kill the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous should be like the wicked. May that be far from you. Shouldn't the Judge of all the earth do right?"

²⁶ Yahweh said, "If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare all the place for their sake."

²⁷ Abraham answered, "See now, I have taken it on myself to speak to the Lord, who am but dust and ashes.

²⁸ What if there will lack five of the fifty righteous? Will you destroy all the city for lack of five?" He said, "I will not destroy it, if I find forty-five there."

²⁹ He spoke to him yet again, and said, "What if there are forty found there?" He said, "I will not do it for the forty's sake."

³⁰ He said, "Oh don't let the Lord be angry, and I will speak. What if there are thirty found there?" He said, "I will not do it, if I find thirty there."

³¹ He said, "See now, I have taken it on myself to speak to the Lord. What if there are twenty found there?" He said, "I will not destroy it for the twenty's sake."

³² He said, "Oh don't let the Lord be angry, and I will speak just once more. What if ten are found there?" He said, "I will not destroy it for the ten's sake."

³³ Yahweh went his way, as soon as he had finished communing with Abraham, and Abraham returned to his place.