Now Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro, the
priest of Midian, and he led his flock to the west side of the
wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. And the angel of
the LORD appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a
bush. He looked, and behold, the bush was burning, yet it was not
consumed. And Moses said, “I will turn aside to see this great
sight, why the bush is not burned.” When the LORD saw that he
turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, “Moses,
Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.” Then he said, “Do not come near;
take your sandals off your feet, for the place on which you are
standing is holy ground.” 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.
Then the LORD said, “I have surely seen the affliction of my
people who are in Egypt and have heard their cry because of their
taskmasters. I know their sufferings, 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 broad land, a land flowing with milk
and honey, to the place of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the
Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. And now,
behold, the cry of the people of Israel has come to me, and I have
also seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them.
Come, I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring my people, the
children of Israel, out of Egypt.” But Moses said to God, “Who am I
that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the children of Israel out of
Egypt?” He said, “But 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 shall serve God on this mountain.”
Then Moses said to God, “If I come to the people of Israel and
say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they
ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what shall I say to them?” God said to
Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” And he said, “Say this to the people of
Israel: ‘I AM has sent me to you.’” God also said to Moses, “Say
this to the people 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 thus I am to be
remembered throughout all generations. Go and gather the elders of
Israel together and say to them, ‘The LORD, the God of your
fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, has appeared
to me, saying, “I have observed you and what has been done to you
in Egypt, and I promise that I will bring you up out of the
affliction of Egypt to the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites,
the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, a
land flowing with milk and honey.”’ And they will listen to your
voice, and you and the elders of Israel shall go to the king of
Egypt and say to him, ‘The LORD, the God of the Hebrews, has met
with us; and now, please let us go a three days' journey into the
wilderness, that we may sacrifice to the LORD our God.’ But I know
that the king of Egypt will not let you go unless compelled by a
mighty hand. So I will stretch out my hand and strike Egypt with
all the wonders that I will do in it; after that he will let you
go. And I will give this people favor in the sight of the
Egyptians; and when you go, you shall not go empty, but each woman
shall ask of her neighbor, and any woman who lives in her house,
for silver and gold jewelry, and for clothing. You shall put them
on your sons and on your daughters. So you shall plunder the
Egyptians.”
