God Calls Moses at the Burning Bush

1Now Moses was pasturing the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian; and he led the flock to the [†]west side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. 2And the angel of [†]Yahweh appeared to him in a blazing fire from the midst of the bush; and he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, yet the bush was not consumed. 3So Moses said, “[†]I must turn aside now and see this [†]marvelous sight. Why is the bush not burned up?” 4And Yahweh saw that he turned aside to look, so God called to him from the midst of the bush and said, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.” 5Then He said, “Do not come near here. Remove your sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.” 6He said also, “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.

7And Yahweh said, “I have surely seen the affliction of My people who are in Egypt, and I have heard their cry because of their taskmasters, for I know their sufferings. 8So I have come down to deliver them from the hand 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 and the Hittite and the Amorite and the Perizzite and the Hivite and the Jebusite. 9So now, behold, the cry of the sons of Israel has come to Me; and I have also seen the oppression with which the Egyptians are oppressing them. 10So now, come and I will send you to Pharaoh, and so you shall bring My people, the sons of Israel, out of Egypt.” 11But 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?” 12And He said, “Certainly 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 [†]serve God at this mountain.”

13Then Moses said to God, “Behold, I am about to come to the sons of Israel, and I will say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you.’ And they will say to me, ‘What is His name?’ What shall I say to them?” 14And God said to Moses, “[†]I AM WHO [†]I AM”; and He said, “Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, ‘[†]I AM has sent me to you.’” 15And God furthermore said to Moses, “Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, ‘Yahweh, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.’ This is My name forever, and this is My memorial-name from generation to generation. 16Go and gather the elders of Israel together and say to them, ‘Yahweh, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, has appeared to me, saying, “[†]I indeed care about you and what has been done to you in Egypt. 17So I said, I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt to the land of the Canaanite and the Hittite and the Amorite and the Perizzite and the Hivite and the Jebusite, to a land flowing with milk and honey.”’ 18And they will listen to your voice; and you with the elders of Israel will come to the king of Egypt, and you all will say to him, ‘Yahweh, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us. So now, please, let us go a three days’ journey into the wilderness, that we may sacrifice to Yahweh our God.’ 19But I know that the king of Egypt will not give you permission to go, except by a strong hand. 20So I will stretch out My hand and strike Egypt with all My wondrous deeds which I shall do in the midst of it; and after that he will let you go. 21And I will give this people favor in the sight of the Egyptians; and it shall be that when you go, you will not go empty. 22But every woman shall ask of her neighbor and of the woman who lives in her house, for articles of silver and articles of gold, and clothing; and you will put them on your sons and daughters. Thus you will plunder the Egyptians.”