Exodus 3

The Burning Bush

1 Now Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro, the priest of Midian, and he led his flock to the west side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the *ch. 4:27;18:5;24:13;Num. 10:33;1 Kgs. 19:8mountain of God. 2 *For ver. 2-10, see Acts 7:30-35And *Isa. 63:9the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush. He looked, and behold, the bush was burning, yet it was not consumed. 3 And Moses said, "I will turn aside to see this great sight, why the bush is not burned." 4 When the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, *ch. 19:3God called to him *Deut. 33:16out of the bush, "Moses, Moses!" And he said, "Here I am." 5 Then he said, "Do not come near; *Josh. 5:15;[ch. 19:12;Eccles. 5:1]take your sandals off your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground." 6 And he said, *ch. 4:5;Gen. 28:13;1 Kgs. 18:36;Cited Matt. 22:32;Mark 12:26;[Luke 20:37] "I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob." And Moses hid his face, for *[1 Kgs. 19:13;Isa. 6:1,2,5]he was afraid to look at God.

7 Then the Lord said, *ch. 2:23-25;Neh. 9:9;Ps. 106:44"I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their cry because of their *ch. 5:13,14taskmasters. I know their sufferings, 8 and *Gen. 11:5,7;18:21I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians and *ch. 6:6;12:51;[Gen. 50:24] to bring them up out of that land to a *Deut. 1:25;8:7,8,9good and broad land, a land *ch. 13:5;33:3;Lev. 20:24;Num. 13:27;Deut. 26:9,15;Jer. 11:5;32:22;Ezek. 20:6flowing with milk and honey, to the place of *Gen. 15:18-21the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. 9 And now, behold, *ch. 2:23the cry of the people of Israel has come to me, and I have also seen the *ch. 1:11-14,22oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them. 10 *[Ps. 105:26;Mic. 6:4]Come, I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt." 11 But Moses said to God, *ch. 6:12;[1 Sam. 18:18;Isa. 6:5,8;Jer. 1:6]"Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?" 12 He said, *ch. 4:12,15;Deut. 31:8,23;Josh. 1:5"But I will be with you, and this shall be the sign for you, that I have sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, *See ch. 19you shall serve God on this mountain."

13 Then Moses said to God, "If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what shall I say to them?" 14 God said to Moses, "I am who I am."*3:14 Or I am what I am, or I will be what I will be And he said, "Say this to the people of Israel: *ch. 6:3;Ps. 68:4;John 8:58;Heb. 13:8;Rev. 1:4;4:8‘I am has sent me to you.’" 15 God also said to Moses, "Say this to the people of Israel: ‘The Lord,*3:15 The word Lord, when spelled with capital letters, stands for the divine name, YHWH, which is here connected with the verb hayah, "to be" in verse 14 the *ver. 6God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.’ This is *Hos. 12:5;[Ps. 135:13]my name forever, and thus I am to be remembered throughout all generations. 16 Go and *ch. 4:29gather the elders of Israel together and say to them, ‘The Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, has appeared to me, saying, *ch. 4:31;Gen. 50:24;[Luke 1:68]"I have observed you and what has been done to you in Egypt, 17 and I promise that *ver. 8I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt to the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, a land *ver. 8flowing with milk and honey."’ 18 And *ch. 4:31they will listen to your voice, and you and the elders of Israel *ch. 5:1shall go to the king of Egypt and say to him, ‘The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, has *Num. 23:3,4,15,16met with us; and now, please let us go a three days’ journey into the wilderness, that we may sacrifice to the Lord our God.’ 19 But I know that the king of Egypt *ch. 5:2;7:4will not let you go unless compelled *ch. 6:1;13:3by a mighty hand.*3:19 Septuagint, Vulgate; Hebrew go, not by a mighty hand20 So *Deut. 6:22;Neh. 9:10;Jer. 32:20;Acts 7:36;See ch. 7–12I will stretch out my hand and strike Egypt with *ch. 4:21all the wonders that I will do in it; *ch. 12:31after that he will let you go. 21 And *ch. 11:2,3;12:35,36;[Gen. 15:14]I will give this people favor in the sight of the Egyptians; and when you go, you shall not go empty, 22 but each woman shall ask of her neighbor, and any woman who lives in her house, for *[ch. 33:6] silver and gold jewelry, and for clothing. You shall put them on your sons and on your daughters. So *[Ezek. 39:10]you shall plunder the Egyptians."