Exodus 2:11–3:12

Moses Flees to Midian

11 One day, after Moses had grown up, he went out to where his own peoplen were and watched them at their hard labor.o He saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his own people. 12 Looking this way and that and seeing no one, he killed the Egyptian and hid him in the sand. 13 The next day he went out and saw two Hebrews fighting. He asked the one in the wrong, “Why are you hitting your fellow Hebrew?”p

14 The man said, “Who made you ruler and judge over us?q Are you thinking of killing me as you killed the Egyptian?” Then Moses was afraid and thought, “What I did must have become known.”

15 When Pharaoh heard of this, he tried to killr Moses, but Moses fleds from Pharaoh and went to live in Midian,t where he sat down by a well. 16 Now a priest of Midianu had seven daughters, and they came to draw waterv and fill the troughsw to water their father’s flock. 17 Some shepherds came along and drove them away, but Moses got up and came to their rescuex and watered their flock.y

18 When the girls returned to Reuelz their father, he asked them, “Why have you returned so early today?”

19 They answered, “An Egyptian rescued us from the shepherds. He even drew water for us and watered the flock.”

20 “And where is he?” Reuel asked his daughters. “Why did you leave him? Invite him to have something to eat.”a

21 Moses agreed to stay with the man, who gave his daughter Zipporahb to Moses in marriage. 22 Zipporah gave birth to a son, and Moses named him Gershom,c c saying, “I have become a foreignerd in a foreign land.”

23 During that long period,e the king of Egypt died.f The Israelites groaned in their slaveryg and cried out, and their cryh for help because of their slavery went up to God. 24 God heard their groaning and he rememberedi his covenantj with Abraham, with Isaac and with Jacob. 25 So God looked on the Israelites and was concernedk about them.

Moses and the Burning Bush

3 Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethrol his father-in-law, the priest of Midian,m and he led the flock to the far side of the wilderness and came to Horeb,n the mountaino of God. 2 There the angel of the Lordp appeared to him in flames of fireq from within a bush.r Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up. 3 So Moses thought, “I will go over and see this strange sight—why the bush does not burn up.”

4 When the Lord saw that he had gone over to look, God calleds to him from within the bush,t “Moses! Moses!”

And Moses said, “Here I am.”u

5 “Do not come any closer,”v God said. “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.”w 6 Then he said, “I am the God of your father,a the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.”x At this, Moses hidy his face, because he was afraid to look at God.z

7 The Lord said, “I have indeed seena the miseryb of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concernedc about their suffering.d 8 So I have come downe to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land,f a land flowing with milk and honeyg—the home of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivitesh and Jebusites.i 9 And now the cry of the Israelites has reached me, and I have seen the way the Egyptians are oppressingj them. 10 So now, go. I am sendingk you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt.”l

11 But Moses said to God, “Who am Im that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?”

12 And God said, “I will be with you.n And this will be the signo to you that it is I who have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, youb will worship God on this mountain.p”