And he said to him introduces Moses’ reply to Yahweh. If thy presence will not go with me is literally “If there is not your face going.” The words with me are not in the Hebrew, so Revised Standard Version has supplied them, following King James Version and American Standard Version. But Good News Translation, Contemporary English Version, and New International Version have “with us,” on the basis of the rest of the sentence. This interpretation agrees with Moses’ insistence that all the people be included in the promise. Do not carry us up from here is literally “do not you [singular] cause us to go up from here.” This simply means “don’t make us leave this place” (Good News Translation). The request will need to be softened in some languages; for example, “please do not make us leave this place.”

Quoted with permission from Osborn, Noel D. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on Exodus. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1999. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .