Exodus 3

1Now Moses was shepherding the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian. He led the flock to the far side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. 2There the angel of Yahweh appeared to him in a flame of fire from within a bush. Moses looked, and there was the bush, blazing with fire, yet it was not consumed. 3Moses said, “I must go over and see this remarkable sight — why the bush does not burn up.” 4When Yahweh saw that he had turned aside to look, God called to him out of the bush, “Moses, Moses!” “Here I am,” he said. 5“Do not come any closer,” God said. “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing 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.

I Am Who I Am

7Yahweh said, “I have surely seen the misery of my people in Egypt, and I have heard their cry because of their slave-drivers — I know their sufferings well. 8So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of Egypt and to bring them up out of that land, into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey — the home of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. 9And now the cry of the Israelites has reached me, and I have also seen how the Egyptians are oppressing them. 10So come now, I will send you to Pharaoh, to bring my people, the Israelites, out of Egypt.” 11But Moses said to God, “Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?” 12He answered, “I will be with you. And this will be the sign to you that I have sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain.” 13Moses said to God, “Suppose I go to the Israelites 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 tell them?” 14God said to Moses, “I Am Who I Am.” And he said, “Tell the Israelites this: ‘I Am has sent me to you.’” 15God said further to Moses, “Tell the Israelites this: ‘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 title for every generation. 16Go and gather the elders of Israel and tell them: ‘Yahweh, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, has appeared to me, and said: I have watched over you closely, and I have seen what is being done to you in Egypt. 17And I have promised to bring you up out of the misery of Egypt, to the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, to a land flowing with milk and honey.’ 18They will listen to your voice, and you, together with the elders of Israel, will go to the king of Egypt and say to him, ‘Yahweh, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us. Now let us go a three days’ journey into the wilderness to sacrifice to Yahweh our God.’ 19But I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go — not even under a mighty hand. 20So I will stretch out my hand and strike Egypt with all my wonders, which I will do in her midst — and after that he will let you go. 21And I will give this people such favor in the eyes of the Egyptians that when you go, you will not go empty-handed. 22Every woman will ask her neighbor and the woman living in her house for silver and gold jewelry, and for clothing, and you will put them on your sons and daughters. So you will plunder the Egyptians.”