The Burning Bush

3 Now Moses was pasturing the flock of his father-in-law ^(A)Jethro, the priest of Midian; and he led the flock to the ^[a]west side of the wilderness and came to ^(B)Horeb, the ^(C)mountain of God. ² Then ^(D)the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a blazing fire from the midst of ^[b]a ^(E)bush; and he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, yet the bush was not being consumed. ³ So Moses said, “^(F)I must turn aside and see this ^[c]marvelous sight, why the bush is not burning up!” ⁴ When the Lord saw that he turned aside to look, ^(G)God called to him from the midst of the bush and said, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.” ⁵ Then He said, “Do not come near here; ^(H)remove your sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.” ⁶ And He said, “^(I)I am the God of your father—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” ^(J)Then Moses hid his face, for he was ^(K)afraid to look at God.

⁷ And the Lord said, “I have certainly ^(L)seen the oppression of My people who are in Egypt, and have heard their outcry because of their taskmasters, for I am aware of their sufferings. ⁸ So I have come down ^(M)to rescue them from the ^[d]power of the Egyptians, and to bring them up from that land to a ^(N)good and spacious land, to a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of ^(O)the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite. ⁹ And now, behold, ^(P)the cry of the sons of Israel has come to Me; furthermore, I have seen the oppression with which the Egyptians are oppressing them.

The Mission of Moses

¹⁰ And now come, and I will send you to Pharaoh, ^(Q)so that you may bring My people, the sons of Israel, out of Egypt.” ¹¹ But Moses said to God, “^(R)Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should bring the sons of Israel out of Egypt?” ¹² And He said, “Assuredly ^(S)I will be with you, and this shall be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: ^(T)when you have brought the people out of Egypt, ^(U)you shall ^[e]worship God at this mountain.”

¹³ Then Moses said to God, “Behold, I am going to the sons of Israel, and I will say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you.’ Now they may say to me, ‘What is His name?’ What shall I say to them?” ¹⁴ And God said to Moses, “^[f](V)I AM WHO ^[g]I AM”; and He said, “This is what you shall say to the sons of Israel: ‘^[h]I AM has sent me to you.’” ¹⁵ God furthermore said to Moses, “This is what you shall say to the sons of Israel: ‘^(W)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 the ^[i](X)name for ^[j]all generations to use to call upon Me.