¹⁶ “Go and gather the elders of Israel and tell them this: ‘The Lord, the God of your ·ancestors [fathers] Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, has appeared to me. He said, I ·care about you, and I have seen [have paid attention to you and to] what has happened to you in Egypt. ¹⁷ I ·promised [^Lsaid] I would take you out of your ·troubles [affliction; or humiliation] in Egypt. I will lead you to the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites—a ·fertile land [^Lland flowing with milk and honey; 3:8].’

¹⁸ “The elders will listen to you. And then you and the elders of Israel will go to the king of Egypt and tell him, ‘The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, ·appeared to [^Lmet with] us. Let us travel three days into the ·desert [wilderness] to offer sacrifices to the Lord our God.’