Exodus 33:19
ESV
And he said, "I will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you my name ‘The Lord.’ And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy.
NIV
And the Lord said, "I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the Lord, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.
NASB
And He said, 'I Myself will make all My goodness pass before you, and will proclaim the name of the Lord before you; and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show compassion to whom I will show compassion.'
CSB
He said, "I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim the name ‘the Lord’ before you. I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion."
NLT
The Lord replied, 'I will make all my goodness pass before you, and I will call out my name, Yahweh, before you. For I will show mercy to anyone I choose, and I will show compassion to anyone I choose.
KJV
And he said, I will make all my goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the Lord before thee; and will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will shew mercy on whom I will shew mercy.
NKJV
Then He said, “I will make all My goodness pass before you, and I will proclaim the name of the Lord before you. I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.”
What does Exodus 33:19 mean?
This response is part of the Lord's answer to Moses' wish. After being reassured (Exodus 33:12–17), Moses has made a bold request. He has experienced God's presence in unique ways (Exodus 3:1–6; 24:18). Now he wants the Lord to show His "glory." Moses wants to see the Lord's unfiltered, unrestrained divinity. God has no intentions of granting that request; being in the pure presence of God would destroy a mortal man (Exodus 32:30).Still, the Lord will grant Moses a special display. He will cover Moses inside a mountainside crevice as the Lord passes by. Then Moses will be allowed to see a muted version of the Lord's glory, but not His unblocked face (Exodus 33:20–23). God makes good on this promise when the covenant is renewed (Exodus 34:5–7).
This verse also highlights that the Lord is "sovereign." This means that He has supreme authority; God has no obligations to His creation and His power is unchecked. God would be justified in condemning the entire human race (Romans 3:23, 26), or in arranging that the entire race be saved (2 Peter 3:9; 1 John 2:2). How and where He applies mercy is His choice alone (Romans 9:15–18).
