The Bible

Exodus Chapter 3

¹Now Moses was keeping the flock of Jethro, his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the back of the wilderness, and came to God's mountain, to Horeb. ²Yahweh's angel appeared to him in a flame of fire from the middle of a bush. He looked, and saw that the bush burned with fire but the bush was not consumed. ³Moses said, "I will go now and see this great sight, why the bush is not burned."

⁴When Yahweh saw that he came over to see, God called to him from the middle of the bush, and said, "Moses! Moses!" He said, "Here I am."

⁵He said, "Don't come close. Take your sandals off your feet, for the place you are standing on is holy ground." ⁶Furthermore he said, "I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob." Moses hid his face because he was afraid to look at God.

⁷Yahweh said, "I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt, and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters, for I know their sorrows. ⁸I have come down to deliver them from the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up from that land to a good and large land, to a land flowing with milk and honey; to the place of the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite. ⁹Now, behold, the cry of the children of Israel has come to me. Furthermore I have seen the oppression with which the Egyptians are oppressing them. ¹⁰Come now therefore, and I will send you to Pharaoh, that you may take my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt."

¹¹Moses said to God, "Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should take the children of Israel out of Egypt?"

¹²He said, "Certainly I will be with you. This will be the token to you, that I have sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will serve God on this mountain."

¹³Moses said to God, "Behold, when I come to the children of Israel, and tell them, 'The God of your fathers has sent me to you,' and they ask me, 'What is his name?' What should I tell them?"

¹⁴God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM," and he said, "Tell the children of Israel this: 'I AM has sent me to you.'" ¹⁵Furthermore God said to Moses, "Tell the children of Israel this, 'Yahweh, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.' This is my name forever, and this is my memorial to all generations. ¹⁶Go and gather the elders of Israel together, and tell them, 'Yahweh, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, has appeared to me, saying, "I have surely visited you, and seen what is done to you in Egypt. ¹⁷I have said, I will take you up out of the affliction of Egypt to the land of the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite, to a land flowing with milk and honey."' ¹⁸They will listen to your voice. You will come with the elders of Israel to the king of Egypt, and tell him, 'Yahweh, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us. Now please let us go three days' journey into the wilderness, so we can sacrifice to Yahweh, our God.' ¹⁹I know that the king of Egypt won't give you permission to go, no, not by a mighty hand. ²⁰I will put out my hand and strike Egypt with all my wonders which I will do among them, and after that he will let you go. ²¹I will give this people favor in the sight of the Egyptians, and when you go, you won't go empty-handed. ²²But every woman will ask her neighbor, and she who visits her house, for jewels of silver, jewels of gold, and clothing. Put them on your sons, and on your daughters; plunder the Egyptians."