Chapter 3
1
And Moses was shepherding the sheep of Jethro his father-in-law, priest of Midian, and he drove the flock to the far side of the wilderness, and he came to the mountain of God, Horeb.
2
And the angel of the LORD appeared to him in a flame of fire from the midst of the bush. And he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, and the bush was not consumed.
3
And Moses said, "I will turn aside now and see this great sight, why the bush does not burn up."
4
And the LORD saw that he had turned aside to see. And God called to him from the midst of the bush and said, "Moses, Moses!" And he said, "Here I am."
5
And he said, "Do not draw near; remove your sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy ground."
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.
7
And the LORD said, "I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt, and I have heard their outcry because of their oppressors, for I know their pains."
8
And I will descend to deliver them from the hand of Egypt and to bring them up from the land to a land good and broad, to a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanite and the Hittite and the Amorite and the Perizzite and the Hivite and the Jebusite.
9
And now behold, the cry of the sons of Israel has come to me, and I have also seen the oppression with which the Egyptians are oppressing them.
10
Come now, and I will send you to Pharaoh to bring my people, the sons of Israel, out of Egypt.
11
Moses said to God, "Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the sons of Israel out of Egypt?"
12
He said, "For I will be with you, and this will be the sign for you: when you bring the people out of Egypt, you will all serve God on this mountain."
13
And Moses said to God, "Look, when I come to the sons 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?"
14
And God said to Moses, "I am who I am." And he said, "Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, 'I AM has sent me to you.'"
15
And God said further to Moses, "In this way you shall say to the sons of Israel: '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, and this is my memorial to generation after generation.'"
16
Go and gather the elders of Israel together, and say to them, "The LORD, the God of your fathers, has appeared to me, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, saying, 'I have surely visited you and seen what has been done to you in Egypt.'"
17
And he said, "I will bring you up from the land of Egypt to the land of the Canaanite and the Hittite and the Amorite and the Perizzite and the Hivite and the Jebusite, to a land flowing with milk and honey."
18
And they will listen to your voice, and you and the elders of Israel will come to the king of Egypt, and you will say to him, "The LORD, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us. And now, please let us go a three-day journey into the wilderness, and let us sacrifice to the LORD our God."
19
And I know that the king of Egypt will not give you leave to go, not by a strong hand.
20
And I will stretch out my hand and strike Egypt with all my wonders that I will do in its midst, and after that he will let you go.
21
And I will give this people favor in the eyes of Egypt, and it will be that when you go, you will not go empty-handed.
22
Every woman will ask her neighbor and any woman staying in her house for articles of silver and articles of gold and for clothing, and you will put them on your sons and on your daughters, and you will plunder Egypt.