Exodus 3:1-10

1Meanwhile, Moses was shepherding the flock of his father-in-law Jethro,1 the priest of Midian. He led the flock to the far side of the wilderness and came to Horeb,2 the mountain of God. 2There the angel3 of the LORD appeared to him in a blazing fire from within a bush. Moses saw the bush ablaze with fire, but it was not consumed. 3So Moses thought, “I must go over and see this marvelous sight. Why is the bush not burning up?”

4When the LORD saw that he had gone over to look, God called out to him from within the bush, “Moses, Moses!”

“Here I am,” he answered.

5“Do not come any closer,” God said. “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.”4 6Then He said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.”5

At this, Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.

7The LORD said, “I have indeed seen the affliction of My people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their oppressors, and I am aware of their sufferings. 8I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land to a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey—the home of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites.

9And now the cry of the Israelites has reached Me, and I have seen how severely the Egyptians are oppressing them. 10Therefore, go! I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring My people the Israelites out of Egypt.”6