Exodus 3:1-15

Moses’ father-in-law was named Jethro. Jethro was a priest of Midian. Moses took care of Jethro’s sheep. One day Moses led the sheep to the west side of the desert. He went to a mountain called Horeb, the mountain of God. On that mountain, Moses saw the angel of the LORD in a burning bush. Moses saw a bush that was burning without being destroyed. So he decided to go closer to the bush and see how a bush could continue burning without being burned up. The LORD saw Moses was coming to look at the bush. So he called to him from the bush. He said, “Moses, Moses!” Moses said, “Yes, Lord.” Then God said, “Don’t come any closer. Take off your sandals. You are standing on holy ground. I am the God of your ancestors. I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” Moses covered his face because he was afraid to look at God. Then the LORD said, “I have seen the troubles my people have suffered in Egypt, and I have heard their cries when the Egyptians hurt them. I know about their pain. Now I will go down and save my people from the Egyptians. I will take them from that land and lead them to a good land where they can be free from these troubles. It is a land filled with many good things. Many different people live in that land: the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites. I have heard the cries of the Israelites, and I have seen the way the Egyptians have made life hard for them. So now I am sending you to Pharaoh. Go! Lead my people, the Israelites, out of Egypt.” But Moses said to God, “I am not a great man! How can I be the one to go to Pharaoh and lead the Israelites out of Egypt?” God said, “You can do it because I will be with you. This will be the proof that I am sending you: After you lead the people out of Egypt, you will come and worship me on this mountain.” Then Moses said to God, “But if I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your ancestors sent me,’ then the people will ask, ‘What is his name?’ What should I tell them?” Then God said to Moses, “Tell them, ‘I AM WHO I AM.’ When you go to the Israelites, tell them, ‘I AM’ sent me to you.” And God said, “Tell the Israelites that you were sent by YAHWEH, the God of your ancestors—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob. This will always be my name. It is how I want the people to remember me from now on.