^8 (A) Many years later a new king came to power. He did not know what Joseph had done for Egypt, ⁹ and he told the Egyptians:

There are too many of those Israelites in our country, and they are becoming more powerful than we are. ^10 (B) If we don't outsmart them, their families will keep growing larger. And if our country goes to war, they could easily fight on the side of our enemies and escape from Egypt.

¹¹ The Egyptians put slave bosses in charge of the people of Israel and tried to wear them down with hard work. Those bosses forced them to build the cities of Pithom and Rameses,^[a] where the king^[b] could store his supplies. ¹² But even though the Israelites were mistreated, their families grew larger, and they took over more land. Because of this, the Egyptians feared them worse than before ¹³ and made them work so hard ¹⁴ that their lives were miserable. The Egyptians were cruel to the people of Israel and forced them to make bricks and to mix mortar and to work in the fields.

God Speaks to Moses

3 One day, Moses was taking care of the sheep and goats of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian, and Moses decided to lead them across the desert to Sinai,^[a] the holy mountain. ^2 (A) There an angel of the Lord appeared to him from a burning bush. Moses saw that the bush was on fire, but it was not burning up. ³ “This is strange!” he said to himself. “I'll go over and see why the bush isn't burning up.”

⁴ When the Lord saw Moses coming near, he called him by name from the bush, and Moses answered, “Here I am.”

⁵ God replied, “Don't come any closer. Take off your sandals—the ground where you are standing is holy. ⁶ I am the God who was worshiped by your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.”

Moses was afraid to look at God, and so he hid his face.

⁷ The Lord said:

I have seen how my people are suffering as slaves in Egypt, and I have heard them beg for my help because of the way they are being mistreated. I feel sorry for them, ⁸ and I have come down to rescue them from the Egyptians.

I will bring my people out of Egypt into a country where there is a lot of good land, rich with milk and honey. I will give them the land where the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites now live. ⁹ My people have begged for my help, and I have seen how cruel the Egyptians are to them. ¹⁰ Now go to the king! I am sending you to lead my people out of his country.

¹¹ But Moses said, “Who am I to go to the king and lead your people out of Egypt?”

¹² God replied, “I will be with you. And you will know that I am the one who sent you, when you worship me on this mountain after you have led my people out of Egypt.”^[b]

^13 (B) Moses answered, “I will tell the people of Israel that the God their ancestors worshiped has sent me to them. But what should I say, if they ask me your name?”

^14-15 (C) God said to Moses:

I am the eternal God. So tell them that the Lord,^[c] whose name is “I Am,” has sent you. This is my name forever, and it is the name that people must use from now on.