Moses at the Burning Bush^(A)

3 Now Moses was tending the flock of ^(B)Jethro his father-in-law, ^(C)the priest of Midian. And he led the flock to the back of the desert, and came to ^(D)Horeb, ^(E)the mountain of God. ² And ^(F)the Angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire from the midst of a bush. So he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, but the bush was not consumed. ³ Then Moses said, “I will now turn aside and see this ^(G)great sight, why the bush does not burn.”

⁴ So when the Lord saw that he turned aside to look, God called ^(H)to him from the midst of the bush and said, “Moses, Moses!”

And he said, “Here I am.”

⁵ Then He said, “Do not draw near this place. ^(I)Take your sandals off your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground.” ⁶ Moreover He said, ^(J)“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 ^(K)he was afraid to look upon God.

¹⁶ Then it came to pass on the third day, in the morning, that there were ^(A)thunderings and lightnings, and a thick cloud on the mountain; and the sound of the trumpet was very loud, so that all the people who were in the camp ^(B)trembled. ¹⁷ And ^(C)Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet with God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain. ¹⁸ Now ^(D)Mount Sinai was completely in smoke, because the Lord descended upon ^(E)it in fire. ^(F)Its smoke ascended like the smoke of a furnace, and ^[a]the ^(G)whole mountain quaked greatly. ¹⁹ And when the blast of the trumpet sounded long and became louder and louder, ^(H)Moses spoke, and ^(I)God answered him by voice. ²⁰ Then the Lord came down upon Mount Sinai, on the top of the mountain. And the Lord called Moses to the top of the mountain, and Moses went up.

²¹ And the Lord said to Moses, “Go down and warn the people, lest they break through ^(J)to gaze at the Lord, and many of them perish. ²² Also let the ^(K)priests who come near the Lord ^(L)consecrate themselves, lest the Lord ^(M)break out against them.”

²³ But Moses said to the Lord, “The people cannot come up to Mount Sinai; for You warned us, saying, ^(N)‘Set bounds around the mountain and consecrate it.’ ”