The Burning Bush

3 One day Moses was taking care of Jethro’s flock. (Jethro was the priest of Midian and also Moses’ father-in-law.) When Moses led the flock to the west side of the desert, he came to Sinai, the mountain of God. ² There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in flames of fire coming out of a bush. Moses saw that the bush was on fire, but it was not burning up. ³ So he said, “I will go closer to this strange thing. How can a bush continue burning without burning up?”

⁴ When the Lord saw Moses was coming to look at the bush, God called to him from the bush, “Moses, Moses!”

And Moses said, “Here I am.”

⁵ Then God said, “Do not come any closer. Take off your sandals, because you are standing on holy ground. ⁶ I am the God of your ancestors—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” Moses covered his face because he was afraid to look at God.

⁷ The Lord said, “I have seen the troubles my people have suffered in Egypt, and I have heard their cries when the Egyptian slave masters hurt them. I am concerned about their pain, ⁸ and I have come down to save them from the Egyptians. I will bring them out of that land and lead them to a good land with lots of room—a fertile land. It is the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites. ⁹ I have heard the cries of the people of Israel, and I have seen the way the Egyptians have made life hard for them. ¹⁰ So now I am sending you to the king of Egypt. Go! Bring my people, the Israelites, out of Egypt!”

¹¹ But Moses said to God, “I am not a great man! How can I go to the king and lead the Israelites out of Egypt?”

¹² God said, “I will be with you. This will be the proof that I am sending you: After you lead the people out of Egypt, all of you will worship me on this mountain.”

¹³ Moses said to God, “When I go to the Israelites, I will say to them, ‘The God of your ancestors sent me to you.’ What if the people say, ‘What is his name?’ What should I tell them?”

¹⁴ Then God said to Moses, “I am who I am.^[a] When you go to the people of Israel, tell them, ‘I am sent me to you.’”

God Repeats His Call to Moses

²⁸ The Lord spoke to Moses in the land of Egypt ²⁹ and said, “I am the Lord. Tell the king of Egypt everything I tell you.”

³⁰ But Moses answered, “I am not a good speaker. The king will not listen to me.”

7 The Lord said to Moses, “I have made you like God to the king of Egypt, and your brother Aaron will be like a prophet for you. ² Tell Aaron your brother everything that I command you, and let him tell the king of Egypt to let the Israelites leave his country. ³ But I will make the king stubborn. I will do many miracles in Egypt, ⁴ but he will still refuse to listen. So then I will punish Egypt terribly, and I will lead my divisions, my people the Israelites, out of that land. ⁵ I will punish Egypt with my power, and I will bring the Israelites out of that land. Then they will know I am the Lord.”

⁶ Moses and Aaron did just as the Lord had commanded them. ⁷ Moses was eighty years old and Aaron was eighty-three when they spoke to the king.