Exodus 33:3
New International Version
Go up to the land flowing with milk and honey. But I will not go with you, because you are a stiff-necked people and I might destroy you on the way.”

New Living Translation
Go up to this land that flows with milk and honey. But I will not travel among you, for you are a stubborn and rebellious people. If I did, I would surely destroy you along the way.”

English Standard Version
Go up to a land flowing with milk and honey; but I will not go up among you, lest I consume you on the way, for you are a stiff-necked people.”

Berean Standard Bible
Go up to a land flowing with milk and honey. But I will not go with you, because you are a stiff-necked people; otherwise, I might destroy you on the way.”

King James Bible
Unto 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.

New King James Version
Go up to a land flowing with milk and honey; for I will not go up in your midst, lest I consume you on the way, for you are a stiff-necked people.”

New American Standard Bible
Go up to a land flowing with milk and honey; for I will not go up in your midst, because you are an obstinate people, and I might destroy you on the way.”

NASB 1995
“Go up to a land flowing with milk and honey; for I will not go up in your midst, because you are an obstinate people, and I might destroy you on the way.”

NASB 1977
Go up to a land flowing with milk and honey; for I will not go up in your midst, because you are an obstinate people, lest I destroy you on the way.”

Legacy Standard Bible
Go up to a land flowing with milk and honey; for I will not go up in your midst because you are a stiff-necked people, lest I consume you on the way.”

Amplified Bible
Go up to a land [of abundance] flowing with milk and honey; for I will not go up in your midst, because you are a stiff-necked (stubborn, rebellious) people, and I might destroy you on the way.”

Christian Standard Bible
Go up to a land flowing with milk and honey. But I will not go up with you because you are a stiff-necked people; otherwise, I might destroy you on the way.”

Holman Christian Standard Bible
Go up to a land flowing with milk and honey. But I will not go with you because you are a stiff-necked people; otherwise, I might destroy you on the way.”

American Standard Version
unto 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.

English Revised Version
unto 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.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
Go to that land flowing with milk and honey. But I will not be with you, because you are impossible to deal with, and I would destroy you on the way."

Good News Translation
You are going to a rich and fertile land. But I will not go with you myself, because you are a stubborn people, and I might destroy you on the way."

International Standard Version
Go up to a land flowing with milk and honey, but I won't go up among you, because you are an obstinate people, and otherwise I might consume you along the way."

Majority Standard Bible
Go up to a land flowing with milk and honey. But I will not go with you, because you are a stiff-necked people; otherwise, I might destroy you on the way.”

NET Bible
Go up to a land flowing with milk and honey. But I will not go up among you, for you are a stiff-necked people, and I might destroy you on the way."

New Heart English Bible
to a land flowing with milk and honey: for I will not go up in the midst of you, for you are a stiff-necked people, lest I consume you in the way."

Webster's Bible Translation
To a land flowing with milk and honey: for I will not go up in the midst of thee; for thou art a stiff-necked people: lest I consume thee in the way.

World English Bible
Go to a land flowing with milk and honey; but I will not go up among you, for you are a stiff-necked people, lest I consume you on the way.”
Literal Translations
Literal Standard Version
[Go up] to a land flowing with milk and honey, for I do not go up in your midst, for you [are] a stiff-necked people—lest I consume you in the way.”

Young's Literal Translation
unto a land flowing with milk and honey, for I do not go up in thy midst, for thou art a stiff-necked people -- lest I consume thee in the way.'

Smith's Literal Translation
To a land flowing with milk and honey: for I will not go up in the midst of thee; for thou art a people of a hard neck; lest I shall consume thee in the way.
Catholic Translations
Douay-Rheims Bible
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.

Catholic Public Domain Version
and so that you may enter into a land flowing with milk and honey. For I will not go up with you, since you are a stiff-necked people, lest perhaps I may destroy you on the way.”

New American Bible
to a land flowing with milk and honey. But I myself will not go up in your company, because you are a stiff-necked people; otherwise I might consume you on the way.

New Revised Standard Version
Go up to a land flowing with milk and honey; but I will not go up among you, or I would consume you on the way, for you are a stiff-necked people.”
Translations from Aramaic
Lamsa Bible
Go to a land flowing with milk and honey; for I will not go up among you; for you are a stiff-necked people; lest I consume you on the way.

Peshitta Holy Bible Translated
And I shall send before you the Messenger and he shall destroy the Canaanites and the Amorites and the Khithites and the Perizites and the Khivites and the Yebusites.
OT Translations
JPS Tanakh 1917
unto 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.'

Brenton Septuagint Translation
And I will bring thee into a land flowing with milk and honey; for I will not go up with thee, because thou art a stiff-necked people, lest I consume thee by the way.

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
The Command to Leave Sinai
2And I will send an angel before you, and I will drive out the Canaanites, Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites. 3Go up to a land flowing with milk and honey. But I will not go with you, because you are a stiff-necked people; otherwise, I might destroy you on the way.” 4When the people heard these bad tidings, they went into mourning, and no one put on any of his jewelry.…

Cross References
Numbers 14:43-45
For there the Amalekites and Canaanites will face you, and you will fall by the sword. Because you have turned away from the LORD, He will not be with you.” / But they dared to go up to the ridge of the hill country, though neither Moses nor the ark of the covenant of the LORD moved from the camp. / Then the Amalekites and Canaanites who lived in that part of the hill country came down, attacked them, and routed them all the way to Hormah.

Deuteronomy 31:16-18
And the LORD said to Moses, “You will soon rest with your fathers, and these people will rise up and prostitute themselves with the foreign gods of the land they are entering. They will forsake Me and break the covenant I have made with them. / On that day My anger will burn against them, and I will abandon them and hide My face from them, so that they will be consumed, and many troubles and afflictions will befall them. On that day they will say, ‘Have not these disasters come upon us because our God is no longer with us?’ / And on that day I will surely hide My face because of all the evil they have done by turning to other gods.

Judges 2:1-3
Now the angel of the LORD went up from Gilgal to Bochim and said, “I brought you up out of Egypt and led you into the land that I had promised to your fathers, and I said, ‘I will never break My covenant with you, / and you are not to make a covenant with the people of this land, but you shall tear down their altars.’ Yet you have not obeyed My voice. What is this you have done? / So now I tell you that I will not drive out these people before you; they will be thorns in your sides, and their gods will be a snare to you.”

Isaiah 63:9-10
In all their distress, He too was afflicted, and the Angel of His Presence saved them. In His love and compassion He redeemed them; He lifted them up and carried them all the days of old. / But they rebelled and grieved His Holy Spirit. So He turned and became their enemy, and He Himself fought against them.

Jeremiah 7:12-15
But go now to the place in Shiloh where I first made a dwelling for My Name, and see what I did to it because of the wickedness of My people Israel. / And now, because you have done all these things, declares the LORD, and because I have spoken to you again and again but you would not listen, and I have called to you but you would not answer, / therefore what I did to Shiloh I will now do to the house that bears My Name, the house in which you trust, the place that I gave to you and your fathers. ...

Ezekiel 10:18-19
Then the glory of the LORD moved away from the threshold of the temple and stood above the cherubim. / As I watched, the cherubim lifted their wings and rose up from the ground, with the wheels beside them as they went. And they stopped at the entrance of the east gate of the house of the LORD, with the glory of the God of Israel above them.

Hosea 9:12
Even if they raise their children, I will bereave them of each one. Yes, woe be to them when I turn away from them!

2 Kings 17:18-20
So the LORD was very angry with Israel, and He removed them from His presence. Only the tribe of Judah remained, / and even Judah did not keep the commandments of the LORD their God, but lived according to the customs Israel had introduced. / So the LORD rejected all the descendants of Israel. He afflicted them and delivered them into the hands of plunderers, until He had banished them from His presence.

Psalm 78:59-61
On hearing it, God was furious and rejected Israel completely. / He abandoned the tabernacle of Shiloh, the tent He had pitched among men. / He delivered His strength to captivity, and His splendor to the hand of the adversary.

Lamentations 2:7
The Lord has rejected His altar; He has abandoned His sanctuary; He has delivered the walls of her palaces into the hand of the enemy. They have raised a shout in the house of the LORD as on the day of an appointed feast.

Matthew 23:37-39
O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those sent to her, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were unwilling! / Look, your house is left to you desolate. / For I tell you that you will not see Me again until you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.’”

Luke 13:34-35
O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those sent to her, how often I have longed to gather your children together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were unwilling! / Look, your house is left to you desolate. And I tell you that you will not see Me again until you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.’”

Acts 7:42-43
But God turned away from them and gave them over to the worship of the host of heaven, as it is written in the book of the prophets: ‘Did you bring Me sacrifices and offerings forty years in the wilderness, O house of Israel? / You have taken along the tabernacle of Molech and the star of your god Rephan, the idols you made to worship. Therefore I will send you into exile beyond Babylon.’

Romans 1:24-28
Therefore God gave them over in the desires of their hearts to impurity for the dishonoring of their bodies with one another. / They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is forever worthy of praise! Amen. / For this reason God gave them over to dishonorable passions. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones. ...

1 Corinthians 10:5-11
Nevertheless, God was not pleased with most of them, for they were struck down in the wilderness. / These things took place as examples to keep us from craving evil things as they did. / Do not be idolaters, as some of them were. As it is written: “The people sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in revelry.” ...


Treasury of Scripture

To a land flowing with milk and honey: for I will not go up in the middle of you; for you are a stiff necked people: lest I consume you in the way.

a land

Exodus 3:8
And I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land unto a good land and a large, unto a land flowing with milk and honey; unto the place of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites.

Exodus 13:5
And it shall be when the LORD shall bring thee into the land of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, which he sware unto thy fathers to give thee, a land flowing with milk and honey, that thou shalt keep this service in this month.

Leviticus 20:24
But I have said unto you, Ye shall inherit their land, and I will give it unto you to possess it, a land that floweth with milk and honey: I am the LORD your God, which have separated you from other people.

for I

Exodus 33:15-17
And he said unto him, If thy presence go not with me, carry us not up hence…

Exodus 32:10,14
Now therefore let me alone, that my wrath may wax hot against them, and that I may consume them: and I will make of thee a great nation…

Numbers 14:12
I will smite them with the pestilence, and disinherit them, and will make of thee a greater nation and mightier than they.

stick-necked

Exodus 32:9
And the LORD said unto Moses, I have seen this people, and, behold, it is a stiffnecked people:

Exodus 34:9
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.

Deuteronomy 9:6-13
Understand therefore, that the LORD thy God giveth thee not this good land to possess it for thy righteousness; for thou art a stiffnecked people…

lest I

Exodus 23:21
Beware of him, and obey his voice, provoke him not; for he will not pardon your transgressions: for my name is in him.

Exodus 32:10
Now therefore let me alone, that my wrath may wax hot against them, and that I may consume them: and I will make of thee a great nation.

Numbers 16:21,45
Separate yourselves from among this congregation, that I may consume them in a moment…

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Consume Destroy Destruction Fear Flowing Honey Midst Milk Obstinate Stiffnecked Stiff-Necked Way
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Consume Destroy Destruction Fear Flowing Honey Midst Milk Obstinate Stiffnecked Stiff-Necked Way
Exodus 33
1. The Lord refuses to go as he had promised with the people
4. The people mourn there
7. The tabernacle is removed out of the camp
9. The Lord talks familiarly with Moses
12. Moses prevails with God, and desires to see his glory














Go up to a land
This phrase signifies a divine directive for the Israelites to proceed towards the Promised Land, Canaan. The Hebrew root for "go up" is "עָלָה" (alah), which often implies an ascent or a journey towards something greater or higher. This reflects not only a physical journey but also a spiritual ascent towards fulfilling God's promises. Historically, this command follows the Israelites' exodus from Egypt, marking a pivotal moment in their journey as a nation chosen by God.

flowing with milk and honey
This description of the Promised Land emphasizes its abundance and fertility. The phrase "flowing with milk and honey" is a metaphorical expression indicating prosperity and divine blessing. In ancient Near Eastern culture, milk and honey were symbols of richness and sustenance. The land's fertility is a testament to God's provision and faithfulness to His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

But I will not go with you
Here, God expresses His decision not to accompany the Israelites due to their recent idolatry with the golden calf. This statement underscores the gravity of sin and its consequences on the relationship between God and His people. The absence of God's presence is a severe consequence, highlighting the importance of obedience and faithfulness to His commandments.

because you are a stiff-necked people
The term "stiff-necked" is a metaphor derived from the Hebrew "קְשֵׁה־עֹרֶף" (qesheh-oref), which describes stubbornness and resistance to guidance, akin to an ox that refuses to be directed by its yoke. This characterization of the Israelites serves as a warning against pride and disobedience, reminding believers of the need for humility and submission to God's will.

lest I destroy you on the way
This phrase reveals God's righteous judgment and the potential consequences of continued rebellion. The Hebrew root "שָׁמַד" (shamad) for "destroy" conveys a complete and utter destruction, emphasizing the seriousness of sin. It serves as a sobering reminder of God's holiness and the need for repentance and alignment with His divine purposes.

(3) A land flowing with milk and honey.--See Note on Exodus 3:8.

Lest I consume thee.--Comp. Exodus 32:10; Leviticus 10:2; Ps. 88:21, 31, &c. "God is a consuming fire" (Hebrews 12:29). His near presence, if it does not cleanse and purify, scorches and withers. The conduct of Israel in the wilderness was such as continually to provoke Him to destroy them; and but for His amazing compassion and forbearance, the result here glanced at would assuredly have followed.

Verse 3. - Unto a land. Ver. 2 is parenthetic, and ver. 3 coheres with ver. 1 - "Go up hence, thou and the people, unto the land which I sware unto Abraham - unto a land flowing," etc. On the milk and honey of Canaan, see the comment upon Exodus 3:8. For I will not go up in the midst of thee. At length there was an end of ambiguity - God's purpose was made plain - the people had shown themselves unfit for his near presence, and he would withdraw himself. So it would be best even for them; since, if they were about to show- themselves as perverse in the future as they had in the past, his near presence could only lead to their entire destruction. Some day they would so provoke him, that he would consume them in the way.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
Go up to
אֶל־ (’el-)
Preposition
Strong's 413: Near, with, among, to

a land
אֶ֛רֶץ (’e·reṣ)
Noun - feminine singular
Strong's 776: Earth, land

flowing
זָבַ֥ת (zā·ḇaṯ)
Verb - Qal - Participle - feminine singular construct
Strong's 2100: To flow freely, to have a, flux, to waste away, to overflow

with milk
חָלָ֖ב (ḥā·lāḇ)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 2461: Milk

and honey.
וּדְבָ֑שׁ (ū·ḏə·ḇāš)
Conjunctive waw | Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 1706: Honey, syrup

But
כִּי֩ (kî)
Conjunction
Strong's 3588: A relative conjunction

I will not
לֹ֨א (lō)
Adverb - Negative particle
Strong's 3808: Not, no

go
אֶֽעֱלֶ֜ה (’e·‘ĕ·leh)
Verb - Qal - Imperfect - first person common singular
Strong's 5927: To ascend, in, actively

with you,
בְּקִרְבְּךָ֗ (bə·qir·bə·ḵā)
Preposition-b | Noun - masculine singular construct | second person masculine singular
Strong's 7130: The nearest part, the center

because
כִּ֤י (kî)
Conjunction
Strong's 3588: A relative conjunction

you
אַ֔תָּה (’at·tāh)
Pronoun - second person masculine singular
Strong's 859: Thou and thee, ye and you

are a stiff-necked
קְשֵׁה־ (qə·šêh-)
Adjective - masculine singular construct
Strong's 7186: Hard, severe

people;
עַם־ (‘am-)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 5971: A people, a tribe, troops, attendants, a flock

otherwise,
פֶּן־ (pen-)
Conjunction
Strong's 6435: Removal, lest

I might destroy
אֲכֶלְךָ֖ (’ă·ḵel·ḵā)
Verb - Piel - Imperfect - first person common singular | second person masculine singular
Strong's 3615: To be complete, at an end, finished, accomplished, or spent

you on the way.”
בַּדָּֽרֶךְ׃ (bad·dā·reḵ)
Preposition-b, Article | Noun - common singular
Strong's 1870: A road, a course of life, mode of action


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OT Law: Exodus 33:3 To a land flowing with milk (Exo. Ex)
Exodus 33:2
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