13 And Moses said unto God, Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, What is his name? what shall I say unto them?

14 And God said unto Moses, I Am That I Am: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I Am hath sent me unto you.

15 And God said moreover unto Moses, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, the Lord God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath sent me unto you: this is my name for ever, and this is my memorial unto all generations.

16 Go, and gather the elders of Israel together, and say unto them, The Lord God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, appeared unto me, saying, I have surely visited you, and seen that which is done to you in Egypt:

17 And I have said, I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt unto the land of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, unto a land flowing with milk and honey.

18 And they shall hearken to thy voice: and thou shalt come, thou and the elders of Israel, unto the king of Egypt, and ye shall say unto him, The Lord God of the Hebrews hath met with us: and now let us go, we beseech thee, three days' journey into the wilderness, that we may sacrifice to the Lord our God.

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13 Moses said to God, “Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’(A) Then what shall I tell them?”

14 God said to Moses, “I am who I am.[a] This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I am(B) has sent me to you.’”

15 God also said to Moses, “Say to the Israelites, ‘The Lord,[b] the God of your fathers(C)—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob(D)—has sent me to you.’

“This is my name(E) forever,
    the name you shall call me
    from generation to generation.(F)

16 “Go, assemble the elders(G) of Israel and say to them, ‘The Lord, the God of your fathers—the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob(H)—appeared to me and said: I have watched over you and have seen(I) what has been done to you in Egypt. 17 And I have promised to bring you up out of your misery in Egypt(J) into the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites—a land flowing with milk and honey.’(K)

18 “The elders of Israel will listen(L) to you. Then you and the elders are to go to the king of Egypt and say to him, ‘The Lord, the God of the Hebrews,(M) has met(N) with us. Let us take a three-day journey(O) into the wilderness to offer sacrifices(P) to the Lord our God.’

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Footnotes

  1. Exodus 3:14 Or I will be what I will be
  2. Exodus 3:15 The Hebrew for Lord sounds like and may be related to the Hebrew for I am in verse 14.