Exodus 2:21-3:8

English Standard Version

²¹ And Moses was content to dwell with the man, and he gave Moses his daughter ^(A)Zipporah. ²² She gave birth to a son, and he called his name ^(B)Gershom, for he said, “I have been a ^(C)sojourner^[a] in a foreign land.”

God Hears Israel's Groaning

^23 (D)During those many days the king of Egypt died, and the people of Israel ^(E)groaned because of their slavery and cried out for help. ^(F)Their cry for rescue from slavery came up to God. ²⁴ And ^(G)God heard their groaning, and God ^(H)remembered his covenant with ^(I)Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. ²⁵ God ^(J)saw the people of Israel—and God ^(K)knew.

The Burning Bush

3 Now Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro, the priest of Midian, and he led his flock to the west side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the ^(L)mountain of God. ^2 (M)And ^(N)the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush. He looked, and behold, the bush was burning, yet it was not consumed. ³ And Moses said, “I will turn aside to see this great sight, why the bush is not burned.” ⁴ When the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, ^(O)God called to him ^(P)out of the bush, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.” ⁵ Then he said, “Do not come near; ^(Q)take your sandals off your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.” ⁶ And he said, ^(R)“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 ^(S)he was afraid to look at God.

⁷ Then the Lord said, ^(T)“I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their cry because of their ^(U)taskmasters. I know their sufferings, ⁸ and ^(V)I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians and ^(W)to bring them up out of that land to a ^(X)good and broad land, a land ^(Y)flowing with milk and honey, to the place of ^(Z)the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites.