The Burning Bush

3 Now Moses was keeping the flock of Jethro (Reuel) his father-in-law, the priest of Midian; and he led his flock to the west side of the wilderness and came to Horeb (Sinai), the mountain of God. ² The ^[a]Angel of the Lord appeared to him in a blazing flame of fire from the midst of a bush; and he looked, and behold, the bush was on fire, yet it was not consumed. ³ So Moses said, “I must turn away [from the flock] and see this great sight—why the bush is not burned up.” ⁴ When the Lord saw that he turned away [from the flock] to look, God called to him from the midst of the bush and said, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.” ⁵ Then God said, “Do not come near; take your sandals off your feet [out of respect], because the place on which you are standing is holy ground.” ⁶ Then 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, because he was afraid to look at God.

⁷ The Lord said, “I have in fact seen the affliction (suffering, desolation) of My people who are in Egypt, and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters (oppressors); for I know their pain and suffering. ⁸ So I have come down to rescue them from the hand (power) of the Egyptians, and to bring them up from that land to a land [that is] good and spacious, to a land ^[b]flowing with milk and honey [a land of plenty]—to the place of the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite. ⁹ Now, behold, the cry of the children of Israel has come to Me; and I have also seen how the Egyptians oppress them.

The Mission of Moses

¹⁰ Therefore, come now, and I will send you to Pharaoh, and then bring My people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.” ¹¹ But Moses said to God, “Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?” ¹² And God 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 and worship God at this mountain.”

¹³ Then Moses said to God, “Behold, when I come to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers (ancestors) has sent me to you,’ and they say to me, ‘What is His name?’ What shall I say to them?” ¹⁴ God said to Moses, “^[c]I Am Who I Am”; and He said, “You shall say this to the Israelites, ‘I Am has sent me to you.’” ¹⁵ Then God also said to Moses, “This is what you shall say to the Israelites, ‘The Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob (Israel), has sent me to you.’ This is My ^[d]Name forever, and this is My memorial [name] to all generations. ¹⁶ Go, gather the elders (tribal leaders) of Israel together, and say to them, ‘The Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, appeared to me, saying, “I am indeed concerned about you and what has been done to you in Egypt. ¹⁷ So I said I will bring you up out of the suffering and oppression of Egypt to the land of the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite, to a land ^[e]flowing with milk and honey.”’ ¹⁸ The elders [of the tribes] will listen and pay attention to what you say; and you, with the elders of Israel, shall go to the king of Egypt and you shall say to him, ‘The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us; so now, please, [we ask and plead with you,] let us go on a three days’ journey into the wilderness, so that we may sacrifice to the Lord our God.’ ¹⁹ But I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go unless [he is forced] by a strong hand. ²⁰ So I will reach out My hand and strike Egypt with all My wonders which I shall do in the midst of it; and after that he will let you go. ²¹ And I will grant this people favor and respect in the sight of the Egyptians; therefore, it shall be that when you go, you will not go empty-handed. ²² But every woman shall [insistently] ask her neighbor and any woman who ^[f]lives in her house, for articles of silver and articles of gold, and clothing; and you shall put them on your sons and daughters. In this way you are to plunder the Egyptians [leaving bondage with great possessions that are rightfully yours].”^(A)

Moses Given Powers

4 Then Moses answered [the Lord] and said, “What if they will not believe me or take seriously what I say? For they may say, ‘The Lord has not appeared to you.’” ² And the Lord said to him, “What is that in your hand?” And he said, “A staff.” ³ Then He said, “Throw it on the ground.” So Moses threw it on the ground, and it became a [living] serpent [like the royal symbol on the crown of Pharaoh]; and Moses ran from it. ⁴ But the Lord said to Moses, “Reach out your hand and grasp it by the tail.” So he reached out his hand and caught it, and it became a staff in his hand— ⁵ [“You shall do this,” said the Lord,] “so that the elders may believe that the Lord, the God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has [most certainly] appeared to you.”

⁶ The Lord also said to him, “Put your hand into your robe [where it covers your chest].” So he put his hand into his robe, and when he took it out, his hand was ^[g]leprous, as white as snow. ⁷ Then God said, “Put your hand into your robe again.” So he put his hand back into his robe, and when he took it out, it was restored [and was] like the rest of his body. ⁸ “If they will not believe you or pay attention to the evidence of the first sign, they may believe the evidence of the second sign. ⁹ But if they will not believe these two signs or pay attention to what you say, you are to take some water from the Nile and pour it on the dry ground; and the water which you take out of the river will turn into blood on the dry ground.”

¹⁰ Then Moses said to the Lord, “Please, Lord, I am not a man of words (eloquent, fluent), neither before nor since You have spoken to Your servant; for I am ^[h]slow of speech and tongue.” ¹¹ The Lord said to him, “Who has made man’s mouth? Or who makes the mute or the deaf, or the seeing or the blind? Is it not I, the Lord? ¹² Now then go, and I, even I, will be with your mouth, and will teach you what you shall say.” ¹³ But he said, “Please my Lord, send the message [of rescue to Israel] by [someone else,] whomever else You will [choose].”

Aaron to Speak for Moses

¹⁴ Then the anger of the Lord was kindled and burned against Moses; He said, “Is there not your brother, Aaron the Levite? I know that he speaks fluently. Also, he is coming out to meet you, and when he sees you, he will be overjoyed. ¹⁵ You must speak to him and put the words in his mouth; I, even I, will be with your mouth and with his mouth, and I will teach you what you are to do. ¹⁶ Moreover, he shall speak for you to the people; he will act as a mouthpiece for you, and you will be as God to him [telling him what I say to you]. ¹⁷ You shall take in your hand this staff, with which you shall perform the signs [the miracles which prove I sent you].”

¹⁸ Then Moses went away and returned to Jethro his father-in-law, and said to him, “Please, let me go back so that I may return to my ^[i]relatives in Egypt, and see if they are still alive.” And Jethro said to Moses, “Go in peace.” ¹⁹ Then the Lord said to Moses in Midian, “Go back to Egypt, for all the men who were seeking your life [for killing the Egyptian] are dead.”^{(B) 20} So Moses took his wife [Zipporah] and his sons [Gershom and Eliezer] and seated them on donkeys, and returned to the land of Egypt. Moses also took the staff of God in his hand.

²¹ The Lord said to Moses, “When you return to Egypt, see that you perform before Pharaoh all the wonders (miracles) which I have put in your hand, but I will harden his heart and make him stubborn so that he will not let the people go. ²² Then you shall say to Pharaoh, ‘Thus says the Lord, “Israel is My son, My firstborn. ²³ So I say to you, ‘Let My son go so that he may serve Me’; and if you refuse to let him go, behold, I will kill your son, your firstborn.”’”

²⁴ Now it happened at the lodging place, that the Lord met Moses and sought to kill him [making him deathly ill because he had not circumcised one of his sons].^{(C) 25 [j]}Then Zipporah took a flint knife and cut off the foreskin of her son and threw it at Moses’ feet, and said, “Indeed you are a husband of blood to me!” ²⁶ So He let Moses alone [to recover]. At that time Zipporah said, “You are a husband of blood”—because of the circumcision.

²⁷ The Lord said to Aaron, “Go into the wilderness to meet Moses.” So he went and met him at the mountain of God (Sinai) and kissed him. ²⁸ Moses told Aaron all the words of the Lord with which He had sent him, and all the signs that He had commanded him to do. ²⁹ Then Moses and Aaron went [into Egypt] and assembled all the elders of the Israelites; ³⁰ and Aaron said all the words which the Lord had spoken to Moses. Then Moses performed the signs [given to him by God] before the people. ³¹ So the people believed; and when they heard that the Lord was concerned about the Israelites and that He had looked [with compassion] on their suffering, then they bowed their heads and worshiped [the Lord].