Exodus 3:1-14
Holman Christian Standard Bible
Moses and the Burning Bush
3 Meanwhile, Moses was shepherding the flock of his father-in-law Jethro,[a] the priest of Midian. He led the flock to the far side of the wilderness and came to Horeb,[b] the mountain of God.(A) 2 Then the Angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire within a bush.(B) As Moses looked, he saw that the bush was on fire but was not consumed. 3 So Moses thought: I must go over and look at this remarkable sight. Why isn’t the bush burning up?
4 When the Lord saw that he had gone over to look, God called out to him from the bush, “Moses, Moses!”
“Here I am,” he answered.
5 “Do not come closer,” He said. “Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.”(C) 6 Then He continued, “I am the God of your father,[c] the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.”(D) Moses hid his face because he was afraid to look at God.
7 Then the Lord said, “I have observed the misery of My people in Egypt, and have heard them crying out(E) because of their oppressors, and I know about their sufferings. 8 I have come down to rescue them from the power of the Egyptians and to bring them from that land to a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey(F)—the territory of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites.(G) 9 The Israelites’ cry for help has come to Me, and I have also seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing(H) them. 10 Therefore, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh so that you may lead My people, the Israelites, out of Egypt.”
11 But Moses asked God, “Who am I(I) that I should go to Pharaoh and that I should bring the Israelites out of Egypt?”
12 He answered, “I will certainly be with you,(J) and this will be the sign to you that I have sent you: when you bring the people out of Egypt, you will all worship[d] God at this mountain.”
13 Then Moses asked God, “If 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?’ what should I tell them?”
14 God replied to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.[e](K) This is what you are to say to the Israelites: I AM has sent me to you.”
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Exodus 3:1 Moses’ father-in-law’s first name was Jethro; Ex 2:18.
- Exodus 3:1 = Desolation; another name for Mount Sinai; Dt 4:10,15; 18:16; Mal 4:4
- Exodus 3:6 Sam, some LXX mss read fathers; Ac 7:32
- Exodus 3:12 Or serve
- Exodus 3:14 Or I AM BECAUSE I AM, or I WILL BE WHO I WILL BE
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