Exodus 3–12

Now Moses kept the flock of Jethro his father in law, the priest of Midian: and he led the flock ^ato the backside of the desert, and came to ^bthe mountain of God, even to Horeb. ²And ^cthe angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of ^da bush: and he looked, and behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed. ³And Moses said, I will now turn aside, and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt. ⁴And when the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, God called unto him out of the midst of the bush, and said, Moses, Moses. And he said, Here am I. ⁵And he said, Draw not nigh hither: ^eput off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground. ⁶Moreover he said, ^fI am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. And Moses hid his face; for ^ghe was afraid to look upon God. ⁷And the Lord said, ^hI have surely seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt, and have heard their ⁱcry by reason of their taskmasters; for I know their sorrows; ⁸and ^kI am come down to ^ldeliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land ^munto a good land and a large, unto a land ⁿflowing with milk and honey; unto the place of ^othe Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites. ⁹Now therefore, behold, ^pthe cry of the children of Israel is come unto me: and I have also seen the oppression wherewith the Egyptians oppress them. ¹⁰Come now therefore, and I will send thee unto Pharaoh, that thou mayest bring forth my people the children of Israel out of Egypt. ¹¹And Moses said unto God, ^qWho am I, that I should go unto Pharaoh, and that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt? ¹²And he said, ^rCertainly I will be with thee; and this shall be a token unto thee, that I have sent thee: When thou hast brought forth the people out of Egypt, ^sye shall serve God upon this mountain. ¹³And Moses said unto God, Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, What is his name? what shall I say unto them? ¹⁴And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, ^tI AM hath sent me unto you. ¹⁵And God said moreover unto Moses, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, ^uThe Lord God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath sent me unto you: this is ^xmy name for ever, and this is my memorial unto all generations. ¹⁶Go, and ^ygather the elders of Israel together, and say unto them, The Lord God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, appeared unto me, saying, I ^zhave surely visited you, and seen that which is done to you in Egypt: ¹⁷and I have said, ^aI will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt unto the land of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, unto a land flowing with milk and honey. ¹⁸And ^bthey shall hearken to thy voice: and ^cthou shalt come, thou and the elders of Israel, unto the king of Egypt, and you shall say unto him, The Lord God of the Hebrews hath ^dmet with us: and now let us go, we beseech thee, three days’ journey into the wilderness, that we may sacrifice to the Lord our God. ¹⁹And I am sure that the king of Egypt ^ewill not let you go, no, not by a mighty hand. ²⁰And I will ^fstretch out my hand, and smite Egypt with all my wonders which I will do in the midst thereof: and ^gafter that he will let you go. ²¹And ^hI will give this people favour in the sight of the Egyptians: and it shall come to pass, that, when ye go, ye shall not go empty: ²²but every woman ⁱshall borrow of her neighbour, and of her that sojourneth in her house, jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and raiment: and ye shall put them upon your sons, and upon your daughters; and ^kye shall spoil the Egyptians.

IV.And Moses answered and said, But behold, they will not believe me, nor hearken unto my voice: for they will say, The Lord hath not appeared unto thee. ²And the Lord said unto him, What is that in thine hand? And he said, ^aA rod. ³And he said, Cast it on the ground. And he cast it on the ground, and it became a serpent; and Moses fled from before it. ⁴And the Lord said unto Moses, Put forth thine hand, and take it by the tail. And he put forth his hand, and caught it, and it became a rod in his hand: ⁵that they may ^bbelieve that ^cthe Lord God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath appeared unto thee. ⁶And the Lord said furthermore unto him, Put now thine hand into thy bosom. And he put his hand into his bosom: and when he took it out, behold, his hand was leprous ^das snow. ⁷And he said, Put thine hand into thy bosom again. And he put his hand into his bosom again; and plucked it out of his bosom, and behold, ^eit was turned again as his other flesh. ⁸And it shall come to pass, if they will not believe thee, neither hearken to the voice of the first sign, that they will believe the voice of the latter sign. ⁹And it shall come to pass, if they will not believe also these two signs, neither hearken unto thy voice, that thou shalt take of the water of the river, and pour it upon the dry land: and ^fthe water which thou takest out of the river shall become blood upon the dry land. ¹⁰And Moses said unto the Lord, O my Lord, I am not eloquent, neither heretofore, nor since thou hast spoken unto thy servant: but ^gI am slow of speech, and of a slow tongue. ¹¹And the Lord said unto him, Who hath made man’s mouth? or who maketh the dumb, or deaf, or the seeing, or the blind? have not I the Lord? ¹²Now therefore go, and I will be ^hwith thy mouth, and teach thee what thou shalt say. ¹³And he said, O my Lord, send, I pray thee, by the hand ⁱof him whom thou wilt send. ¹⁴And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Moses, and he said, Is not Aaron the Levite thy brother? I know that he can speak well. And also, behold, he cometh forth to meet thee: and when he seeth thee, he will be glad in his heart. ¹⁵And ^kthou shalt speak unto him, and ^lput words in his mouth: and I will be with thy mouth, and with his mouth, and will teach you what ye shall do. ¹⁶And he shall be thy spokesman unto the people: and he shall be, even he shall be to thee instead of a mouth, and ^mthou shalt be to him instead of God. ¹⁷And thou shalt take ⁿthis rod in thine hand, wherewith thou shalt do signs. ¹⁸And Moses went and returned to Jethro his father in law, and said unto him, Let me go, I pray thee, and return unto my brethren which are in Egypt, and see whether they be yet alive. And Jethro said to Moses, Go in peace. ¹⁹And the Lord said unto Moses in Midian, Go, return into Egypt: for ^oall the men are dead which sought thy life. ²⁰And Moses took his wife and his sons, and set them upon an ass, and he returned to the land of Egypt: and Moses took ^pthe rod of God in his hand. ²¹And the Lord said unto Moses, When thou goest to return into Egypt, see that thou do all those ^qwonders before Pharaoh, which I have put in thine hand: but ^rI will harden his heart, that he shall not let the people go. ²²And thou shalt say unto Pharaoh, Thus saith the Lord, ^sIsrael is my son, ^teven my firstborn: ²³and I say unto thee, Let my son go, that he may serve me: and if thou refuse to let him go, behold, ^uI will slay thy son, even thy firstborn.

²⁴And it came to pass by the way ^xin the inn, that the Lord ^ymet him, and sought to kill him. ²⁵Then Zipporah took a sharp stone, and cut off the foreskin of her son, and cast it at his feet, and said, Surely a bloody husband art thou to me. ²⁶So he ^zlet him go: then she said, A bloody husband thou art, because of the circumcision. ²⁷And the Lord said to Aaron, Go into the wilderness ^ato meet Moses. And he went, and met him in ^bthe mount of God, and kissed him. ²⁸And Moses ^ctold Aaron all the words of the Lord who had sent him, and all the ^dsigns which he had commanded him. ²⁹And Moses and Aaron ^ewent and gathered together all the elders of the children of Israel: ^30fand Aaron spake all the words which the Lord had spoken unto Moses, and did the signs in the sight of the people. ³¹And the people ^gbelieved: and when they heard that the Lord had ^hvisited the children of Israel, and that he ⁱhad looked upon their affliction, then ^kthey bowed their heads and worshipped.

V.And afterward Moses and Aaron went in, and told Pharaoh, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Let my people go, that they may hold ^aa feast unto me in the wilderness. ²And Pharaoh said, ^bWho is the Lord, that I should obey his voice to let Israel go? I know not the Lord, neither will I let Israel go. ³And they said, ^cThe God of the Hebrews hath met with us: let us go, we pray thee, three days’ journey into the desert, and sacrifice unto the Lord our God; lest ^dhe fall upon us with pestilence, or with the sword. ⁴And the king of Egypt said unto them, Wherefore do ye, Moses and Aaron, let the people from their works? get you unto your ^eburdens. ⁵And Pharaoh said, Behold, the people of the land now are many, and you make them rest from their ^eburdens. ⁶And Pharaoh commanded the same day the ^ftaskmasters of the people, and ^gtheir officers, saying, ⁷Ye shall no more give the people straw to make brick, as ^hheretofore: let them go and gather straw for themselves. ⁸And the tale of the bricks, which they did make ^hheretofore, you shall lay upon them; you shall not diminish ought thereof: for they be idle; therefore they cry, saying, Let us go and sacrifice to our God. ⁹Let there more work be laid upon the men, that they may labour therein; and let them not regard vain words. ¹⁰And the taskmasters of the people went out, and their officers, and they spake to the people, saying, Thus saith Pharaoh, I will not give you straw. …