Exodus 3
1Now Moses was keeping 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 the mountain of God, to Horeb.
2And the angel of Yahweh appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush. And he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire but the bush was not consumed.
3And Moses said, “I will turn aside now and see this great sight—why the bush is not burning up.”
4And when Yahweh saw that he turned aside to see, God called to him out of the midst of the bush and said, “Moses! Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.”
5Then he said, “Do not come near here. Take your sandals off your feet, for the place you are standing on is holy ground.”
6Then he said, “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 he was afraid to look at God.
7Then Yahweh said, “I have seen, yes, seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters. Indeed, I know their suffering.
8I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of 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.
9And now, behold, the cry of the children of Israel has come to me, and I have also seen the oppression with which the Egyptians are oppressing them.
10So now go. I am sending you to Pharaoh. Bring out my people, the children of Israel, from Egypt!”
11But 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?”
12And he said, “Surely I will be with you. And this will be the sign for you that it is I who have sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you all will serve God on this mountain.”
13Then Moses said to God, “Behold, if I go to the children 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 should I say to them?”
14And God said to Moses, “I Will Be Who I Will Be.” And he said, “You are to tell the children of Israel this: ‘I Will Be has sent me to you.’”
15God also said to Moses, “Say this to the children 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 how I am to be remembered for generation after generation.
16“Go and gather the elders of Israel together and tell them, ‘Yahweh, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, has appeared to me, saying, “I have visited, yes, visited you and seen what is being done to you in Egypt,
17and I have 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.”’
18They will listen to your voice. Then you are to go, you and the elders of Israel, to the king of Egypt and say to him, ‘Yahweh, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us. So now let us go three days’ journey into the wilderness so that we may sacrifice to Yahweh our God.’
19“But I know that the king of Egypt will not give you permission to go, unless he is compelled by a strong hand.
20So I will reach out my hand and strike Egypt with all my wonders, which I will do in its midst, and after that he will send you away.
21And I will give this people favor in the eyes of the Egyptians, so that when you go, you will not go empty-handed,
22but every woman is to ask her neighbor and any woman who is staying in her house for articles of silver, articles of gold, and clothing. And you are to put them on your sons and on your daughters, and you will plunder Egypt.”