Exodus 33:14
ESV
And he said, "My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest."
NIV
The Lord replied, "My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest."
NASB
And He said, 'My presence shall go with you, and I will give you rest.'
CSB
And he replied, "My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest."
NLT
The Lord replied, 'I will personally go with you, Moses, and I will give you rest — everything will be fine for you.'
KJV
And he said, My presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest.
NKJV
And He said, “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.”
What does Exodus 33:14 mean?
This is an encouraging answer. God had withdrawn His presence from Israel, in some way (Exodus 33:1–3). That was a response to Israelite idolatry (Exodus 32:1–7). Moses meets with the Lord in a tent outside the Israelites camp (Exodus 33:7–11). There, Moses expresses his concerns. He is unsure as to how God will fulfill His promises if He is not with the people of Israel (Exodus 33:12–13). The literal words of God's response are not as broad as Moses might have hoped.The Lord indicates that His presence "will go." The Hebrew of this phrase includes just that verb, with no target. "With you" is implied, but not part of the wording itself. God also makes a promise of rest, but the Hebrew word for "you" here is singular. That might hint that God is promising to go with Moses, and that He will give rest to Moses. This may be why Moses continues to ask for reassurance (Exodus 33:15–16). However, the singular "you" in Hebrew is also used to refer to the entire nation of Israel (Exodus 33:3), so the sentence could be speaking of the people at large. In any case, the rest of the conversation makes it clear that God is speaking of the nation.
The "rest" mentioned here is straightforward. God is promising an end to struggle and efforts. At times, Israel experienced this kind of rest (Deuteronomy 3:20; Joshua 21:44). If the nation follows God's will, they will see those benefits.
