²³ Now it came about in the course of those many days that the king of Egypt died. And the sons of Israel ^(A)groaned because of the bondage, and they cried out; and ^(B)their cry for help because of their bondage ascended to God. ²⁴ So ^(C)God heard their groaning; and God remembered ^(D)His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. ²⁵ And ^(E)God saw the sons of Israel, and God ^[a]took notice of them.

The Burning Bush

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

⁷ And the Lord said, “I have certainly ^(Q)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 ^(R)to rescue them from the ^[e]power of the Egyptians, and to bring them up from that land to a ^(S)good and spacious land, to a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of ^(T)the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite. ⁹ And now, behold, ^(U)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, ^(V)so that you may bring My people, the sons of Israel, out of Egypt.” ¹¹ But Moses said to God, “^(W)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 ^(X)I will be with you, and this shall be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: ^(Y)when you have brought the people out of Egypt, ^(Z)you shall ^[f]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, “^[g](AA)I AM WHO ^[h]I AM”; and He said, “This is what you shall say to the sons of Israel: ‘^[i]I AM has sent me to you.’” ¹⁵ God furthermore said to Moses, “This is what you shall say to the sons of Israel: ‘^(AB)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 ^[j](AC)name for ^[k]all generations to use to call upon Me. ¹⁶ Go and ^(AD)gather the elders of Israel together and say to them, ‘^(AE)The Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob has appeared to me, saying, “^[l](AF)I am indeed concerned about you and what has been done to you in Egypt. ¹⁷ So ^(AG)I said, I will bring you up out of the oppression of Egypt to the land of ^(AH)the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite, to a land ^(AI)flowing with milk and honey.”’ ¹⁸ Then ^(AJ)they will ^[m]pay attention to what you say; and ^(AK)you with the elders of Israel will come to the king of Egypt, and you will say to him, ‘The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us. So now, please let us go a ^(AL)three days’ journey into the wilderness, so that we may sacrifice to the Lord our God.’ ¹⁹ But I know that the king of Egypt ^(AM)will not permit you to go, ^(AN)except ^[n]under compulsion. ²⁰ So I will reach out with ^(AO)My hand and strike Egypt with all My ^(AP)miracles which I shall do in the midst of it; and ^(AQ)after that he will let you go.

Jesus’ Sufferings Foretold

^32 (A)Now they were on the road going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was walking on ahead of them; and they ^(B)were amazed, and those who followed were fearful. And again He took the twelve aside and began to tell them what was going to happen to Him, ³³ saying, “Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and ^(C)the Son of Man will be ^[a]handed over to the chief priests and the scribes; and they will condemn Him to death and will ^[b]hand Him over to the Gentiles. ³⁴ And they will mock Him and ^(D)spit on Him, and flog Him and kill Him; and three days later He will rise from the dead.”

^35 [c](E)James and John, the two sons of Zebedee, *came up to ^[d]Jesus, saying to Him, “Teacher, we want You to do for us whatever we ask of You.” ³⁶ And He said to them, “What do you want Me to do for you?” ³⁷ They said to Him, “^[e]Grant that we ^(F)may sit, one on Your right and one on Your left, in Your glory.” ³⁸ But Jesus said to them, “You do not know what you are asking. Are you able ^(G)to drink the cup that I drink, or ^(H)to be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?” ³⁹ They said to Him, “We are able.” And Jesus said to them, “The cup that I drink ^(I)you shall drink; and you shall be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized. ⁴⁰ But to sit on My right or on My left is not Mine to give; ^(J)but it is for those for whom it has been prepared.”

^41 (K)Hearing this, the other ten began to feel indignant with ^[f]James and John. ⁴² Calling them to Himself, Jesus *said to them, “You know that those who are recognized as rulers of the Gentiles domineer over them; and their ^[g]people in high position exercise authority over them. ⁴³ But it is not this way among you; ^(L)rather, whoever wants to become ^[h]prominent among you shall be your servant; ⁴⁴ and whoever wants to be first among you shall be slave of all. ⁴⁵ For even the Son of Man ^(M)did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His ^[i]life as a ransom for many.”