“Compassionate and gracious”
The LORD, the LORD God, is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in loving devotion and faithfulness. (Exodus 34:6 BSB)
What it sounds like today
A general statement that God is kind and patient.
The cultural key
This is God's own self-portrait, spoken as He passes before Moses, and it became the nearest thing Israel had to a creed about God's character; later writers quote it again and again (Psalms, Joel, Jonah, Nehemiah). The heart of it is chesed, the loyal, covenant-keeping love that will not let go, paired with 'faithfulness.' Its timing is everything: these words come right after the golden calf, so the definitive statement of who God is arrives as an act of mercy toward a people who had just betrayed Him.
Recovered meaning
When God describes Himself, He leads with compassion, patience, and unfailing covenant love. That this self-revelation follows the golden calf is the point: God defines His character precisely at the moment His people least deserve it.