Exodus 3

1Moses was shepherding the flock of Jethro, his father-in-law, the priest of Midian. He drove the flock beyond the wilderness and arrived at Horeb, the mountain of God.

2There the angel of Yahweh appeared to him in a flame of fire from the middle of a bush. Moses looked, and he saw the bush blazing with fire, yet the bush was not burning away.

3Moses said, “I will turn aside now and see this amazing sight, and find out why the bush is not burning up.”

4Yahweh saw that he had turned aside to look, and God called out to him from the middle of the bush, “Moses! Moses!” “Here I am,” he answered.

5He said, “Do not come any closer. Take your sandals off your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.”

6He said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” Then Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.

7Yahweh said, “I have clearly seen the misery of my people who are in Egypt. I have heard their cry because of their slave drivers, for I know their suffering.

8I have come down to rescue them from the power of the Egyptians and to lead them up from that land into a fine, wide land, a land flowing with milk and honey, the region of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites.

9Now look, the outcry of the Israelites has come to me, and I have also seen the oppression the Egyptians are inflicting on them.

10Come now, I will send you to Pharaoh, and you are to bring my people, the Israelites, out of Egypt.”

11Moses replied to God, “Who am I to go to Pharaoh and to bring the Israelites out of Egypt?”

12God answered, “I will certainly be with you, and here is the sign for you that I am the one who sent you: after you bring the people out of Egypt, all of you will worship God at this mountain.”

13Moses said to God, “Suppose I come to the Israelites and tell them, ‘The God of your ancestors has sent me to you,’ and they say to me, ‘What is his name?’ How am I to answer them?”

14God said to Moses, “I am who I am.” Then he said, “This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I Am has sent me to you.’”

15God also said to Moses, “This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘Yahweh, the God of your ancestors, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.’ This is my name for all time, and by this I am to be remembered generation after generation.

16Go, bring together the elders of Israel and tell them, ‘Yahweh, the God of your ancestors, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, has appeared to me and said, “I have indeed paid close attention to you and to what is being done to you in Egypt.

17So I have declared that I will lead you up out of your misery in 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.”’

18They will pay attention to what you say. Then you and the elders of Israel must go to the king of Egypt and tell him, ‘Yahweh, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us. Now please allow us to travel three days into the wilderness to offer sacrifices to Yahweh our God.’

19Yet I know that the king of Egypt will not permit you to go except under the force of a mighty hand.

20So I will stretch out my hand and strike Egypt with every one of the wonders I will perform in its midst. After that he will send you away.

21I will cause the Egyptians to look kindly on this people, and so when you depart, you will not leave with empty hands.

22Each woman must request from her neighbor and from the woman staying in her house objects of silver and gold, and clothing, and you will dress your sons and daughters in them. In this way you will plunder the Egyptians.”