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Exodus 3

1Moses was tending the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian. He led the flock beyond the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. 2Yahweh's messenger appeared to him in a flame of fire from within a bush. He looked, and there was the bush burning with fire, but the bush was not being consumed. 3Moses said, “Let me turn aside and see this great sight—why the bush does not burn up.” 4When Yahweh saw that he had turned aside to see, God called to him from within the bush, “Moses, Moses!” He said, “Here I am.” 5He said, “Do not come nearer. Take your sandals off your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.” 6He said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God.

7Yahweh said, “I have indeed seen my people's affliction in Egypt, and I have heard their cry because of their taskmasters. I know their sufferings. 8I have come down to rescue them from Egypt's hand and bring them up from that land to a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites. 9Now look, the cry of the sons of Israel has reached me, and I have also seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them. 10Now go. I will send you to Pharaoh, and you will bring my people, the sons of Israel, out of Egypt.”

11Moses said to God, “Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the sons of Israel out of Egypt?” 12He said, “I will be with you, and this will be the sign for you that I have sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will serve God on this mountain.”

13Moses said to God, “Suppose I go to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they say to me, ‘What is his name?’ What shall I say to them?” 14God said to Moses, “I am who I am.” He said, “Say this to the sons of Israel: ‘I am has sent me to you.’” 15God said further to Moses, “Say this to the sons 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 from generation to generation.

16“Go and gather Israel's elders and say to them, ‘Yahweh, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, has appeared to me, saying: I have indeed attended to you and to what has been done to you in Egypt. 17I have said: I will bring you up from Egypt's affliction to the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, to a land flowing with milk and honey.’ 18They will listen to your voice. You and Israel's elders will go to the king of Egypt and say to him, ‘Yahweh, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us. Now please let us go a three-day journey into the wilderness and sacrifice to Yahweh our God.’ 19But I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go unless compelled by a strong hand. 20So I will stretch out my hand and strike Egypt with all my wonders that I will do in its midst; after that he will let you go. 21I will give this people favor in the Egyptians' eyes, so that when you go, you will not go empty-handed. 22Each woman will ask her neighbor and the woman staying in her house for articles of silver and gold and for clothing. You will put them on your sons and daughters, and you will plunder Egypt.”

Translation notes 5

3:2 — Yahweh's messenger. The word traditionally translated “angel” means a messenger. The narrative moves between the messenger, Yahweh, and God without explaining their relationship.

3:12, 14–15 — I am; Yahweh. “I am who I am” can also be translated “I will be who I will be.” The Hebrew verb is the same form as “I will be” in verse 12. The passage associates this expression with the divine name יהוה, represented here as Yahweh, without establishing every detail of the name's derivation or pronunciation. Many English Bibles represent the name as LORD; it differs from the title “Lord.”

3:16 — Attended to you. The Hebrew emphasizes that God has taken notice of his people to act for them. The traditional “visited you” expresses this attention, not simply arrival at a place.

3:19 — A strong hand. The received Hebrew ends “and not by a strong hand.” “Unless compelled” is an interpretive rendering agreeing with the ancient Greek; the Samaritan Hebrew text compared has a different form here. “Not even by a strong hand” is a serious alternative, possibly describing Pharaoh's determination to resist before God's decisive action in verse 20. No separate Hebrew word means “compelled.”

3:22 — Ask; plunder. The women ask for goods; the verb does not require borrowing with a promise of return. The final verb nevertheless describes the outcome as plundering Egypt.