Moses and the Burning Bush

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) 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. So Moses thought, “I must go over and look at this remarkable sight. Why isn’t the bush burning up?”

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.

“Do not come closer,” he said. “Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.”(C) 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.

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Footnotes

  1. 3:1 Moses’s father-in-law’s first name was Jethro; Ex 2:18.
  2. 3:1 = Desolation; another name for Mount Sinai; Dt 4:10,15; 18:16; Mal 4:4
  3. 3:6 Sam, some LXX mss read fathers; Ac 7:32

God Calls Moses

Meanwhile, Moses continued tending the sheep that belonged to his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian. He led the sheep to the western[a] desert and came to Horeb,[b] God’s mountain, where[c] the angel of the Lord appeared to him in flaming fire from the center of a bush. As Moses[d] continued to watch, amazingly the bush kept on burning, but was not consumed. Then Moses told himself,[e] “I’ll go over and see this remarkable[f] sight. Why isn’t the bush burning up?”

When the Lord saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from the center of the bush, “Moses! Moses!”

He said, “Here I am.”

“Do not come any closer,” God[g] said. “Remove your sandals from your feet, because the place where you are standing is holy ground.” Then he said, “I am the God of your ancestors, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” At this, Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God.

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Footnotes

  1. Exodus 3:1 Or the back part of the
  2. Exodus 3:1 I.e. Mt. Sinai, and so throughout the book
  3. Exodus 3:1 The Heb. lacks where
  4. Exodus 3:2 Lit. He
  5. Exodus 3:3 The Heb. lacks to himself
  6. Exodus 3:3 Or great
  7. Exodus 3:5 Lit. he