Exodus 3

Moses was shepherding the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian. He led the flock to the far side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. The angel of the LORD appeared to him in a flame of fire from the midst of a bush. He looked, and the bush was burning with fire, but the bush was not consumed. Moses said, “I will turn aside and look at this great sight to see why the bush is not burned up.” When the LORD saw that he turned aside to look, God called to him from the midst of the bush, “Moses, Moses!” He said, “Here I am.” He said, “Do not come near here. Take your sandals off your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.” 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, for he was afraid to look at God. The LORD said, “I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt, and I have heard their cry because of their taskmasters. I know their sufferings. I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up from that land to a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites. Now the cry of the Israelites has come to me, and I have also seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them. Now go, and I will send you to Pharaoh, so that you may bring my people, the Israelites, out of Egypt.” Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?” He said, “I will certainly be with you. This will be the sign to you that I have sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain.” Moses said to God, “If I come 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?’ what shall I say to them?” God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” He said, “This is what you shall say to the Israelites: ‘I AM has sent me to you.’” God said further to Moses, “This is what you shall 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, and this is my memorial throughout all generations. Go and gather the elders of Israel and say to them, ‘The LORD, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, has appeared to me, saying, “I have surely visited you and seen what is being done to you in Egypt. I have said that I will bring you up from the affliction of Egypt to the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, to a land flowing with milk and honey.”’ They will listen to your voice. 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. Now, please let us go a three-day journey into the wilderness, so that we may sacrifice to the LORD our God.’ But I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go, not even by a strong hand. I will stretch out my hand and strike Egypt with all my wonders that I will do in its midst. After that he will let you go. I will give this people favor in the eyes of the Egyptians, so that when you go, you will not go empty-handed. Each woman shall ask her neighbor and the woman living in her house for articles of silver and gold and for clothing. You shall put them on your sons and daughters, and you shall plunder the Egyptians.”

Rights and attribution