Now therefore is simply “and now.” I pray thee translates a small particle showing respect and marking a humble request. It is sometimes translated as “please.” (See 4.13, 18 in Good News Translation.) If I have found favor in thy sight, literally “if I found favor in your eyes,” repeats what is quoted in verse 12. Contemporary English Version shortens this to “If this is true,” meaning “If I have found favor,” and Good News Translation has “Now if you are.”
Show me now thy ways is literally “you [singular] cause me to know, please, your ways.” The same particle for I pray thee is here rendered as now. The meaning of thy ways is usually understood as referring in general to the manner in which God deals with his people. (See, for example, Psa 103.7.) But Good News Translation limits it to the immediate situation, “tell me your plans” (so also Contemporary English Version). This refers back to Yahweh’s statement in verse 5, indicating that he still had to decide what to do with these people. Similarly Translator’s Old Testament has “reveal your plans to me.” Translators are advised to follow this interpretation. So the first part of this verse may be expressed as “If this is true, please tell me what you plan to do.”
That I may know thee, literally “and I will know you,” seems to refer to Yahweh’s statement that he knows Moses. Of course Moses already knows Yahweh’s name, but he now asks for a more intimate knowledge of him, especially in regard to his intentions for his people. New Jerusalem Bible has “so that I understand you.” And find favor in thy sight, literally “in order that I will find favor in your eyes,” repeats the same expression. The intended meaning here is “so that I may … continue to please you” (Good News Translation). Durham has “in order that I may keep on finding favor in your estimation.”
Consider too that this nation is thy people is literally “And you see that your people [are] this nation.” Consider (“See!”) is in the imperative mood, but it is a request, not a command. Good News Translation and New International Version have “Remember.” Moses here appeals to Yahweh’s earlier reference to the Israelites as Yahweh’s people, not only Moses’ people (see 32.7). So Good News Translation has “Remember also that you have chosen this nation to be your own,” and Contemporary English Version has “And don’t forget that you have chosen….”
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 .