²³ After a long time the king of Egypt died. The Israelites groaned under their slavery and cried out. Their cry for help rose up to God from their slavery.^{(A) 24} God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.^{(B) 25} God looked upon the Israelites, and God took notice of them.^(C)

Moses at the Burning Bush

3 Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian; he led his flock beyond the wilderness and came to Mount Horeb,^[a] the mountain of God.^{(D) 2} There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of a bush; he looked, and the bush was blazing, yet it was not consumed.^{(E) 3} Then Moses said, “I must turn aside and look at this great sight and see why the bush is not burned up.”^{(F) 4} When the Lord saw that he had turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.” ⁵ Then he said, “Come no closer! Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.”^{(G) 6} He said further, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.^(H)

⁷ Then the Lord said, “I have observed the misery of my people who are in Egypt; I have heard their cry on account of their taskmasters. Indeed, I know their sufferings,^{(I) 8} and I have come down to deliver them from the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land to a good and spacious land, to a land flowing with milk and honey, to the country of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites.^{(J) 9} The cry of the Israelites has now come to me; I have also seen how the Egyptians oppress them.^{(K) 10} Now go, I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people, the Israelites, out of Egypt.”^{(L) 11} But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?” ¹² He said, “I will be with you, and this shall be the sign for you that it is I who sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain.”^(M)

The Divine Name Revealed

¹³ But Moses said to God, “If I come to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your ancestors has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what shall I say to them?” ¹⁴ God said to Moses, “I am who I am.”^[b] He said further, “Thus you shall say to the Israelites, ‘I am has sent me to you.’ ”^{(N) 15} God also said to Moses, “Thus you shall say to the Israelites, ‘The Lord,^[c] the God of your ancestors, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you’:

¹⁶ “Go and assemble the elders of Israel and say to them, ‘The Lord, the God of your ancestors, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, has appeared to me, saying: I have given heed to you and to what has been done to you in Egypt. ¹⁷ I declare that I will bring you up out of the misery of Egypt, to the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, a land flowing with milk and honey.’^{(P) 18} They will listen to your voice, and you and the elders of Israel shall go to the king of Egypt and say to him, ‘The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us; let us now go a three days’ journey into the wilderness, so that we may sacrifice to the Lord our God.’^{(Q) 19} I know, however, that the king of Egypt will not let you go except by a mighty hand.^{(R) 20} So I will stretch out my hand and strike Egypt with all my wonders that I will perform in it; after that he will let you go.^(S)

A Third Time Jesus Foretells His Death and Resurrection

³² They were on the road, going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was walking ahead of them; they were amazed, and those who followed were afraid. He took the twelve aside again and began to tell them what was to happen to him, ³³ saying, “Look, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be handed over to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will condemn him to death; then they will hand him over to the gentiles;^{(A) 34} they will mock him and spit upon him and flog him and kill him, and after three days he will rise again.”^(B)

The Request of James and John

³⁵ James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came forward to him and said to him, “Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.” ³⁶ And he said to them, “What is it you want me to do for you?” ³⁷ And they said to him, “Appoint us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory.”^{(C) 38} But Jesus said to them, “You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink or be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?”^{(D) 39} They replied, “We are able.” Then Jesus said to them, “The cup that I drink you will drink, and with the baptism with which I am baptized you will be baptized,^{(E) 40} but to sit at my right hand or at my left is not mine to appoint, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared.”

⁴¹ When the ten heard this, they began to be angry with James and John. ⁴² So Jesus called them and said to them, “You know that among the gentiles those whom they recognize as their rulers lord it over them, and their great ones are tyrants over them. ⁴³ But it is not so among you; instead, whoever wishes to become great among you must be your servant,^{(F) 44} and whoever wishes to be first among you must be slave of all. ⁴⁵ For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve and to give his life a ransom for many.”^(G)