Moses and the Burning Bush

3 Now Moses was taking care of the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, the religious leader of Midian. He led the flock to the west side of the desert, and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. ² There the Angel of the Lord showed Himself to Moses in a burning fire from inside a bush. Moses looked and saw that the bush was burning with fire, but it was not being burned up. ³ So Moses said, “I must step aside and see this great thing, why the bush is not being burned up.”

⁴ The Lord saw him step aside to look. And God called to him from inside the bush, saying, “Moses, Moses!” Moses answered, “Here I am.” ⁵ God said, “Do not come near. Take your shoes off your feet. For the place where you are standing is holy ground.” ⁶ He said also, “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. ⁷ The Lord said, “I have seen the suffering of My people in Egypt. I have heard their cry because of the men who make them work. I know how they suffer. ⁸ So I have come down to save them from the power of the Egyptians. I will bring them out of that land to a good big land, to a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite, the Perizzite, the Hivite and the Jebusite. ⁹ Now the cry of the people of Israel has come to Me. I have seen what power the Egyptians use to make it hard for them. ¹⁰ Now come, and I will send you to Pharaoh so that you may bring My people, the sons of Israel, out of Egypt.”

¹¹ But Moses said to God, “Who am I to go to Pharaoh and bring the people of Israel out of Egypt?” ¹² God said, “But I will be with you. And this will be something special for you to see to know that I have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God at this mountain.”

¹³ Then Moses said to God, “See, I am going to the people of Israel, and I will say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you.’ Now they might say to me, ‘What is His name?’ What should I say to them?” ¹⁴ And God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” And He said, “Say to the Israelites, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’” ¹⁵ Again He said, “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. By this name I am to be remembered by all people for all time. ¹⁶ Go and gather together the leaders of Israel. Say to them, ‘The Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, has shown Himself to me. And He said, “I have visited you and have seen what has been done to you in Egypt. ¹⁷ I promise to bring you out of the suffering of Egypt to the land of the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite, to a land flowing with milk and honey.’” ¹⁸ They will listen to what you say. Then you and the leaders of Israel will go to the king of Egypt and say to him, ‘The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us. So now we ask you to let us travel three days to the desert to give gifts on an altar in worship to the Lord our God.’ ¹⁹ But I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go, except by a powerful hand. ²⁰ So I will put out My hand and trouble Egypt with all the powerful works I will do there. After that he will let you go. ²¹ And I will give these people favor in the eyes of the Egyptians. When you go, you will not go empty handed. ²² But each woman will get from her neighbor and the woman who lives in her house, things made of silver and gold, and clothes that you will put on your sons and daughters. You will take the best of things from the Egyptians.”