Exodus 3:1–6:30
3 Now Moses was tending the flock of aJethro his father-in-law, bthe priest of Midian. And he led the flock to the back of the desert, and came to cHoreb, dthe mountain of God. 2 And ethe Angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire from the midst of a bush. So he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, but the bush was not consumed. 3 Then Moses said, “I will now turn aside and see this fgreat sight, why the bush does not burn.”
4 So when the Lord saw that he turned aside to look, God called gto him from the midst of the bush and said, “Moses, Moses!”
And he said, “Here I am.”
5 Then He said, “Do not draw near this place. hTake your sandals off your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground.” 6 Moreover He said, i“I am the God of your father—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” And Moses hid his face, for jhe was afraid to look upon God.
7 And the Lord said: k“I have surely seen the oppression of My people who are in Egypt, and have heard their cry lbecause of their taskmasters, mfor I know their 1sorrows. 8 So nI have come down to odeliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up from that land pto a good and large land, to a land qflowing with milk and honey, to the place of rthe Canaanites and the Hittites and the Amorites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites. 9 Now therefore, behold, sthe cry of the children of Israel has come to Me, and I have also seen the toppression with which the Egyptians oppress them. 10 uCome now, therefore, and I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring My people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.”
11 But Moses said to God, v“Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?”
12 So He said, w“I will certainly be with you. And this shall be a xsign to you that I have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain.”
13 Then Moses said to God, “Indeed, when I come to the children of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they say to me, ‘What is His name?’ what shall I say to them?”
14 And God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” And He said, “Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, y‘I AM has sent me to you.’ ” 15 Moreover God said to Moses, “Thus you shall say to the children of Israel: ‘The Lord God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you. This is zMy name forever, and this is My memorial to all generations.’ 16 Go and agather the elders of Israel together, and say to them, ‘The Lord God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, appeared to me, saying, b“I have surely visited you and seen what is done to you in Egypt; 17 and I have said cI will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt to the land of the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Amorites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites, to a land flowing with milk and honey.” ’ 18 Then dthey will heed your voice; and eyou shall come, you and the elders of Israel, to the king of Egypt; and you shall say to him, ‘The Lord God of the Hebrews has fmet with us; and now, please, let us go three days’ journey into the wilderness, that we may sacrifice to the Lord our God.’ 19 But I am sure that the king of Egypt gwill not let you go, no, not even by a mighty hand. 20 So I will hstretch out My hand and strike Egypt with iall My wonders which I will do in its midst; and jafter that he will let you go. 21 And kI will give this people favor in the sight of the Egyptians; and it shall be, when you go, that you shall not go empty-handed. 22 lBut every woman shall ask of her neighbor, namely, of her who dwells near her house, marticles of silver, articles of gold, and clothing; and you shall put them on your sons and on your daughters. So nyou shall plunder the Egyptians.”
4 Then Moses answered and said, “But suppose they will not believe me or listen to my voice; suppose they say, ‘The Lord has not appeared to you.’ ”
2 So the Lord said to him, “What is that in your hand?”
He said, “A rod.”
3 And He said, “Cast it on the ground.” So he cast it on the ground, and it became a serpent; and Moses fled from it. 4 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Reach out your hand and take it by the tail” (and he reached out his hand and caught it, and it became a rod in his hand), 5 “that they may abelieve that the bLord God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has appeared to you.”
6 Furthermore the Lord said to him, “Now put your hand in your bosom.” And he put his hand in his bosom, and when he took it out, behold, his hand was leprous, clike snow. 7 And He said, “Put your hand in your bosom again.” So he put his hand in his bosom again, and drew it out of his bosom, and behold, dit was restored like his other flesh. 8 “Then it will be, if they do not believe you, nor heed the message of the efirst sign, that they may believe the message of the latter sign. 9 And it shall be, if they do not believe even these two signs, or listen to your voice, that you shall take water from 1the river and pour it on the dry land. fThe water which you take from the river will become blood on the dry land.”
10 Then Moses said to the Lord, “O my Lord, I am not eloquent, neither before nor since You have spoken to Your servant; but gI am slow of speech and 2slow of tongue.”
11 So the Lord said to him, h“Who has made man’s mouth? Or who makes the mute, the deaf, the seeing, or the blind? Have not I, the Lord? 12 Now therefore, go, and I will be iwith your mouth and teach you what you shall say.”
13 But he said, “O my Lord, jplease send by the hand of whomever else You may send.”
14 So kthe anger of the Lord was kindled against Moses, and He said: “Is not Aaron the Levite your lbrother? I know that he can speak well. And look, mhe is also coming out to meet you. When he sees you, he will be glad in his heart. 15 Now nyou shall speak to him and oput the words in his mouth. And I will be with your mouth and with his mouth, and pI will teach you what you shall do. 16 So he shall be your spokesman to the people. And he himself shall be as a mouth for you, and qyou shall be to him as God. 17 And you shall take this rod in your hand, with which you shall do the signs.”
18 So Moses went and returned to rJethro his father-in-law, and said to him, “Please let me go and return to my brethren who are in Egypt, and see whether they are still alive.”
And Jethro said to Moses, s“Go in peace.”
19 Now the Lord said to Moses in tMidian, “Go, return to uEgypt; for vall the men who sought your life are dead.” 20 Then Moses wtook his wife and his sons and set them on a donkey, and he returned to the land of Egypt. And Moses took xthe rod of God in his hand.
21 And the Lord said to Moses, “When you go back to Egypt, see that you do all those ywonders before Pharaoh which I have put in your hand. But zI will harden his heart, so that he will not let the people go. 22 Then you shall asay to Pharaoh, ‘Thus says the Lord: b“Israel is My son, cMy firstborn. 23 So I say to you, let My son go that he may serve Me. But if you refuse to let him go, indeed dI will kill your son, your firstborn.” ’ ”
24 And it came to pass on the way, at the eencampment, that the Lord fmet him and sought to gkill him. 25 Then hZipporah took ia sharp stone and cut off the foreskin of her son and 3cast it at 4Moses’ feet, and said, “Surely you are a husband of blood to me!” 26 So He let him go. Then she said, “You are a 5husband of blood!”—because of the circumcision.
27 And the Lord said to Aaron, “Go into the wilderness jto meet Moses.” So he went and met him on kthe mountain of God, and kissed him. 28 So Moses ltold Aaron all the words of the Lord who had sent him, and all the msigns which He had commanded him. 29 Then Moses and Aaron nwent and gathered together all the elders of the children of Israel. 30 oAnd Aaron spoke all the words which the Lord had spoken to Moses. Then he did the signs in the sight of the people. 31 So the people pbelieved; and when they heard that the Lord had qvisited the children of Israel and that He rhad looked on their affliction, then sthey bowed their heads and worshiped.
5 Afterward Moses and Aaron went in and told Pharaoh, “Thus says the Lord God of Israel: ‘Let My people go, that they may 1hold aa feast to Me in the wilderness.’ ”
2 And Pharaoh said, b“Who is the Lord, that I should obey His voice to let Israel go? I do not know the Lord, cnor will I let Israel go.”
3 So they said, d“The God of the Hebrews has emet with us. Please, let us go three days’ journey into the desert and sacrifice to the Lord our God, lest He fall upon us with fpestilence or with the sword.”
4 Then the king of Egypt said to them, “Moses and Aaron, why do you take the people from their work? Get back to your glabor.” 5 And Pharaoh said, “Look, the people of the land are hmany now, and you make them rest from their labor!”
6 So the same day Pharaoh commanded the itaskmasters of the people and their officers, saying, 7 “You shall no longer give the people straw to make jbrick as before. Let them go and gather straw for themselves. 8 And you shall lay on them the quota of bricks which they made before. You shall not reduce it. For they are idle; therefore they cry out, saying, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to our God.’ 9 Let more work be laid on the men, that they may labor in it, and let them not regard false words.”
10 And the taskmasters of the people and their officers went out and spoke to the people, saying, “Thus says Pharaoh: ‘I will not give you straw. 11 Go, get yourselves straw where you can find it; yet none of your work will be reduced.’ ” 12 So the people were scattered abroad throughout all the land of Egypt to gather stubble instead of straw. 13 And the taskmasters forced them to hurry, …