Exodus 3

Moses and the Burning Bush

3Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro^l 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 mountain^o of God. ²There the angel of the Lord^p appeared to him in flames of fire^q from within a bush.^r Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up. ³So Moses thought, “I will go over and see this strange sight—why the bush does not burn up.”

⁴When the Lord saw that he had gone over to look, God called^s 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 hid^y his face, because he was afraid to look at God.^z

⁷The Lord said, “I have indeed seen^a the misery^b of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned^c about their suffering.^{d 8}So I have come down^e 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 honey^g—the home of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites^h and Jebusites.^{i 9}And now the cry of the Israelites has reached me, and I have seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing^j them. ¹⁰So now, go. I am sending^k you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt.”^l

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

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

¹³Moses said to God, “Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’^q Then what shall I tell them?”

¹⁴God said to Moses, “I am who I am.^c This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I am^r has sent me to you.’ ”

¹⁵God also said to Moses, “Say to the Israelites, ‘The Lord,^d the God of your fathers^s—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob^t—has sent me to you.’

“This is my name^u forever,

the name you shall call me

from generation to generation.^v

¹⁶“Go, assemble the elders^w of Israel and say to them, ‘The Lord, the God of your fathers—the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob^x—appeared to me and said: I have watched over you and have seen^y what has been done to you in Egypt. ¹⁷And I have promised to bring you up out of your misery in Egypt^z into the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites—a land flowing with milk and honey.’^a

¹⁸“The elders of Israel will listen^b to you. Then you and the elders are to go to the king of Egypt and say to him, ‘The Lord, the God of the Hebrews,^c has met^d with us. Let us take a three-day journey^e into the wilderness to offer sacrifices^f to the Lord our God.’ ¹⁹But I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go unless a mighty hand^g compels him. ²⁰So I will stretch out my hand^h and strike the Egyptians with all the wondersⁱ that I will perform among them. After that, he will let you go.^j

²¹“And I will make the Egyptians favorably disposed^k toward this people, so that when you leave you will not go empty-handed.^{l 22}Every woman is to ask her neighbor and any woman living in her house for articles of silver^m and goldⁿ and for clothing, which you will put on your sons and daughters. And so you will plunder^o the Egyptians.”^p