Safety of Abiding in the Presence of God

¹⁰ And the taskmasters of the people and their officers went out and spoke to the people, saying, “Thus says Pharaoh: ‘I will not give you straw. ¹¹ Go, get yourselves straw where you can find it; yet none of your work will be reduced.’ ” ¹² So the people were scattered abroad throughout all the land of Egypt to gather stubble instead of straw. ¹³ And the taskmasters forced them to hurry, saying, “Fulfill your work, your daily quota, as when there was straw.” ¹⁴ Also the ^(A)officers of the children of Israel, whom Pharaoh’s taskmasters had set over them, were ^(B)beaten and were asked, “Why have you not fulfilled your task in making brick both yesterday and today, as before?”

¹⁵ Then the officers of the children of Israel came and cried out to Pharaoh, saying, “Why are you dealing thus with your servants? ¹⁶ There is no straw given to your servants, and they say to us, ‘Make brick!’ And indeed your servants are beaten, but the fault is in your own people.”

¹⁷ But he said, “You are idle! Idle! Therefore you say, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to the Lord.’ ¹⁸ Therefore go now and work; for no straw shall be given you, yet you shall deliver the quota of bricks.” ¹⁹ And the officers of the children of Israel saw that they were in trouble after it was said, “You shall not reduce any bricks from your daily quota.”

²⁰ Then, as they came out from Pharaoh, they met Moses and Aaron who stood there to meet them. ^21 (C)And they said to them, “Let the Lord look on you and judge, because you have made ^[a]us abhorrent in the sight of Pharaoh and in the sight of his servants, to put a sword in their hand to kill us.”

Israel’s Deliverance Assured^(D)

²² So Moses returned to the Lord and said, “Lord, why have You brought trouble on this people? Why is it You have sent me? ²³ For since I came to Pharaoh to speak in Your name, he has done evil to this people; neither have You delivered Your people at all.”

^30 (A)“And when forty years had passed, an Angel ^[a]of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire in a bush, in the wilderness of Mount Sinai. ³¹ When Moses saw it, he marveled at the sight; and as he drew near to observe, the voice of the Lord came to him, ³² saying, ^(B)‘I am the God of your fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’ And Moses trembled and dared not look. ^33 (C)‘Then the Lord said to him, “Take your sandals off your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground. ³⁴ I have surely ^(D)seen the oppression of My people who are in Egypt; I have heard their groaning and have come down to deliver them. And now come, I will ^(E)send you to Egypt.” ’