Exodus 3:1-12 ▼

1 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 desert and came to Horeb, God's mountain, where

2 the angel of the LORD appeared to him in flaming fire from the center of a bush. As Moses continued to watch, amazingly the bush kept on burning, but was not consumed.

3 Then Moses told himself, |I'll go over and see this remarkable sight. Why isn't the bush burning up?|

4 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.|

5 |Do not come any closer,| God said. |Remove your sandals from your feet, because the place where you are standing is holy ground.|

6 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.

7 The LORD said, |I have certainly seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt, and I have heard their cry caused by their slave masters. I really do understand their pain,

8 so I have come down to deliver them from their domination by the Egyptians and to bring them out of that land to a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey, to the territory of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites.

9 Now, listen carefully! The cry of the Israelis has come to my attention about how severely the Egyptians have been oppressing them.

10 So go! I am sending you to Pharaoh. Bring my people the Israelis out of Egypt.|

11 But Moses told God, |Who am I? How can I go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelis out of Egypt?|

12 Then God said, |I certainly will be with you. And this will be the sign for you that it is I who sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, all of you will serve God on this mountain.|