3:1 Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the far side of the desert and came to Horeb, the mountain of God.
3:2 There the angel of the LORD appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up.
3:3 So Moses thought, “I will go over and see this strange sight–why the bush does not burn up.”
3:4 When the LORD saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, “Moses! Moses!” And Moses said, “Here I am.”
3:5 “Do not come any closer,” God said. “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.”
3:6 Then he said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.” At this, Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God.
3:7 The LORD said, “I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering.
3:8 So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey–the home of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites.
3:9 And now the cry of the Israelites has reached me, and I have seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing them.
3:10 So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt.”
3:11 But Moses said to God, “Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?”
3:12 And God said, “I will be with you. And this will be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain.”
3:13 Moses 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?’ Then what shall I tell them?”
3:14 God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I AM has sent me to you.’”
3:15 God also said to Moses, “Say to the Israelites, ‘The LORD, 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, the name by which I am to be remembered from generation to generation.
3:16 “Go, assemble the elders of Israel and say to them, ‘The LORD, the God of your fathers–the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob–appeared to me and said: I have watched over you and have seen what has been done to you in Egypt.
3:17 And I have promised to bring you up out of your misery in Egypt into the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites–a land flowing with milk and honey.’
3:18 “The elders of Israel will listen 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, has met with us. Let us take a three-day journey into the desert to offer sacrifices to the LORD our God.’
3:19 But I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go unless a mighty hand compels him.
3:20 So I will stretch out my hand and strike the Egyptians with all the wonders that I will perform among them. After that, he will let you go.
3:21 “And I will make the Egyptians favorably disposed toward this people, so that when you leave you will not go empty-handed.
3:22 Every woman is to ask her neighbor and any woman living in her house for articles of silver and gold and for clothing, which you will put on your sons and daughters. And so you will plunder the Egyptians.”
3:1 Now Moses was shepherding 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 the mountain of God, to Horeb.
3:2 And the Angel of Jehovah appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a thornbush. And when he looked, there was the thornbush, burning with fire; but the thornbush was not consumed.
3:3 And Moses said, I must turn aside now and see this great sight, why the thornbush does not burn up.
3:4 And when Jehovah saw that he had turned aside to look, God called to him out of the midst of the thornbush and said, Moses, Moses. And he said, Here I am.
3:5 And He said, Do not come near here. Remove your sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.
3:6 And He said, I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.
3:7 And Jehovah 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.
3:8 And I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land to a good and spacious land, to a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Amorites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites.
3:9 And now the cry of the children of Israel has come to Me, and I have also seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them.
3:10 So come now, and I will send you to Pharaoh, that you may bring My people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.
3:11 But Moses said to God, Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and that I should bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?
3:12 And He said, Surely I will be with you, and this shall be the sign for you that I have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will serve God upon this mountain.
3:13 Then Moses said to God, If I come to the children of Israel and say to them, The God of your fathers has sent me to you, and they say to me, What is His name? what shall I say to them?
3:14 And God said to Moses, I AM WHO I AM. And He said, Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, I AM has sent me to you.
3:15 And God also said to Moses, Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, Jehovah, 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 from generation to generation.
3:16 Go, and gather the elders of Israel together, and say to them, Jehovah, 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 being done to you in Egypt.
3:17 And I say, I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt to the land of the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Amorites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites, to a land flowing with milk and honey.
3:18 And they will listen to your voice. And you shall come, you and the elders of Israel, to the king of Egypt, and you shall say to him, Jehovah, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us; and now let us go a three days journey into the wilderness that we may sacrifice to Jehovah our God.
3:19 But I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go unless compelled by a mighty hand.
3:20 So I will stretch out My hand and strike Egypt with all My wonders which I will perform in the midst of it, and after that he will let you go.
3:21 And I will give this people favor in the sight of the Egyptians, so that when you go, you will not go empty-handed.
3:22 But every woman will ask of her neighbor and of any woman living in her house for articles of silver and articles of gold and clothing, and you will put them on your sons and on your daughters, and thus plunder the Egyptians.