3Moses was taking care of the flock of his father-in-law Jethro. Jethro was the priest of Midian. Moses led the flock to the western side of the desert. He came to Horeb. It was the mountain of God.

²There the angel of the Lord appeared to him from inside a burning bush. Moses saw that the bush was on fire. But it didn’t burn up. ³So Moses thought, “I’ll go over and see this strange sight. Why doesn’t the bush burn up?”

⁴The Lord saw that Moses had gone over to look. So God spoke to him from inside the bush. He called out, “Moses! Moses!”

“Here I am,” Moses said.

⁵“Do not come any closer,” God said. “Take off your sandals. The place you are standing on is holy ground.” ⁶He continued, “I am the God of your father. I am the God of Abraham. I am the God of Isaac. And I am the God of Jacob.”

When Moses heard that, he turned his face away. He was afraid to look at God.

⁷The Lord said, “I have seen my people suffer in Egypt. I have heard them cry out because of their slave drivers. I am concerned about their suffering.

⁸“So I have come down to save them from the Egyptians. I will bring them up out of that land. I will bring them into a good land. It has a lot of room. It is a land that has plenty of milk and honey. It is the home of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites.

⁹“And now Israel’s cry for help has reached me. I have seen the way the Egyptians are beating them down. ¹⁰So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh. I want you to bring the Israelites out of Egypt. They are my people.”

Read in Logos

Exodus 3:4–5: When the LORD saw that he turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.” Then he said, “Do not come near; take your sandals off your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.”