³⁰ Jacob then named the place Peniel,^[a] “For I have seen God face to face,” he said, “yet my life has been spared.”^(A)

Moses and the Burning Bush

3 Meanwhile, Moses was shepherding the flock of his father-in-law Jethro,^[a] the priest of Midian. He led the flock to the far side of the wilderness and came to Horeb,^[b] the mountain of God.^{(A) 2} Then the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire within a bush.^(B) As Moses looked, he saw that the bush was on fire but was not consumed. ³ So Moses thought, “I must go over and look at this remarkable sight. Why isn’t the bush burning up?”

⁴ When the Lord saw that he had gone over to look, God called out to him from the bush, “Moses, Moses!”

“Here I am,” he answered.

⁵ “Do not come closer,” he said. “Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.”^{(C) 6} Then he continued, “I am the God of your father,^[c] the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.”^(D) Moses hid his face because he was afraid to look at God.

⁹ Then Moses went up with Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of Israel’s elders, ¹⁰ and they saw^(A) the God of Israel. Beneath his feet was something like a pavement made of lapis lazuli, as clear as the sky itself.^(B)

Commander of the Lord’s Army

¹³ When Joshua was near Jericho, he looked up and saw a man standing in front of him with a drawn sword in his hand.^(A) Joshua approached him and asked, “Are you for us or for our enemies?”

¹⁴ “Neither,” he replied. “I have now come as commander of the Lord’s army.”^(B)

Then Joshua bowed with his face to the ground in homage^(C) and asked him, “What does my lord want to say to his servant?”

¹⁵ The commander of the Lord’s army said to Joshua, “Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy.”^(D) And Joshua did that.

¹⁹ Then Micaiah said, “Therefore, hear the word of the Lord: I saw the Lord sitting on his throne,^(A) and the whole heavenly army^(B) was standing by him at his right hand and at his left hand.