Now it came about in those days, when Moses had grown up, that he went out to his fellow Hebrews and looked at their hard labors; and he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his fellow Hebrews.

So he looked this way and that, and when he saw that there was no one around, he struck and killed the Egyptian, and hid his body in the sand.

Now he went out the next day, and behold, two Hebrews were fighting with each other; and he said to the offender, “Why are you striking your companion?”

But he said, “Who made you a ruler and a judge over us? Do you intend to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?” Then Moses was afraid and said, “Surely the matter has become known!”

Moses Escapes to Midian

When Pharaoh heard about this matter, he tried to kill Moses. But Moses fled from the presence of Pharaoh and settled in the land of Midian, and he sat down by a well.

Now the priest of Midian had seven daughters; and they came to draw water and filled the troughs to water their father’s flock.

Then the shepherds came and drove them away, but Moses stood up and helped them and watered their flock.

When they came to their father Reuel, he said, “Why have you come back so soon today?”

They said, “An Egyptian saved us from the shepherds, and what is more, he even drew water for us and watered the flock.”

So he said to his daughters, “Where is he then? Why is it that you have left the man behind? Invite him to have something to eat.”

Then she gave birth to a son, and he named him Gershom, for he said, “I have been a stranger in a foreign land.”

Now it came about in the course of those many days that the king of Egypt died. And the sons of Israel groaned because of the bondage, and they cried out; and their cry for help because of their bondage ascended to God.

So God heard their groaning; and God remembered His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

And God saw the sons of Israel, and God took notice of them.

The Burning Bush

Now Moses was pasturing the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian; and he led the flock to the west side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God.

So Moses said, “I must turn aside and see this marvelous sight, why the bush is not burning up!”

When the Lord saw that he turned aside to look, God called to him from the midst of the bush and said, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.”

Then He said, “Do not come near here; remove your sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.”

And He said, “I am the God of your father—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” Then Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.

And the Lord said, “I have certainly seen the oppression of My people who are in Egypt, and have heard their outcry because of their taskmasters, for I am aware of their sufferings.

So I have come down to rescue them from the power of the Egyptians, and to bring them up from that land to a good and spacious land, to a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite.

And now, behold, the cry of the sons of Israel has come to Me; furthermore, I have seen the oppression with which the Egyptians are oppressing them.

The Mission of Moses

And now come, and I will send you to Pharaoh, so that you may bring My people, the sons of Israel, out of Egypt.”

But Moses said to God, “Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should bring the sons of Israel out of Egypt?”

And He said, “Assuredly I will be with you, and this shall be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall worship God at this mountain.”