< Exodus 3 >

1 And Moses has been feeding the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, priest of Midian, and he leads the flock behind the wilderness, and comes to the mountain of God, to Horeb;
Moses/I was taking care of the sheep that belonged to his/my father-in-law Jethro, the priest of the Midian [people]. He/I led the flock across the desert and came to Horeb, [the mountain that was later called Sinai], the (mountain that [had been dedicated to] God/taboo mountain).
2 and the Messenger of YHWH appears to him in a flame of fire, out of the midst of the bush, and he sees, and behold, the bush is burning with fire, and the bush is not consumed.
[One day] Yahweh (appeared/revealed himself) to him/me, [looking like] an angel. The angel appeared in a flame of fire in the middle of a bush [that was burning]. Moses/I looked at it, and he/I was surprised that the bush was burning, but it was not burning up.
3 And Moses says, “Now I turn aside and see this great appearance. Why is the bush not burned?”
Moses/I thought, “I will go closer and try to see this strange sight! Why is the bush not burning up?”
4 And YHWH sees that he has turned aside to see, and God calls to him out of the midst of the bush and says, “Moses! Moses!” And he says, “Here I [am].”
When Yahweh saw that he/I had come closer, he called to Moses/me from the middle of the bush, saying, “Moses! Moses!” He/I replied, “[Yes], here I am.”
5 And He says, “Do not come near here. Cast your shoes from off your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.”
Yahweh said, “Do not come closer! [Because I am God], the ground on which you are standing is holy/taboo. So take off your sandals [to show respect to me].”
6 He also says, “I [am] the God of your father, God of Abraham, God of Isaac, and God of Jacob”; and Moses hides his face, for he is afraid to look toward God.
Then he said, “I am God, whom your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob [worshiped].” So Moses/I covered his/my face, because he/I was afraid [that God would kill him/me] if he/I looked at him.
7 And YHWH says, “I have certainly seen the affliction of My people who [are] in Egypt, and I have heard their cry because of its exactors, for I have known its pains;
Then Yahweh said, “I have seen how cruelly [they are treating] my people in Egypt. I have heard them (wailing/crying out) [for help] because of what the slave-drivers [are forcing them to do]. I know how my people are suffering.
8 and I go down to deliver it out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to cause it to go up out of the land to a land good and broad, to a land flowing with milk and honey—to the place of the Canaanite, and the Hittite, and the Amorite, and the Perizzite, and the Hivite, and the Jebusite.
So I have come down [from heaven] to rescue them from the Egyptians [SYN]. I have come to bring them up from that land [to the highlands in Canaan]. I will bring them to a land that is good/fertile and that has plenty of space. It will be very good for raising livestock and growing crops [MTY]. It is the land where the descendants of Canaan, Heth, Amor, Periz, Hiv, and Jebus [live].
9 And now, behold, the cry of the sons of Israel has come to Me, and I have also seen the oppression with which the Egyptians are oppressing them,
Truly I have now heard my Israeli people crying [PRS]. I have seen how the Egyptians oppress them.
10 and now, come, and I send you to Pharaoh; and bring out My people, the sons of Israel, from Egypt.”
So you go [back] to Egypt. I am sending you to the king, in order that [he may permit] you to bring my people, the Israeli people, out of Egypt.”
11 And Moses says to God, “Who [am] I, that I go to Pharaoh, and that I bring out the sons of Israel from Egypt?”
But Moses/I replied, “I am not a well-known person [RHQ]! (I cannot go to the king and [ask him to permit me] to bring the Israeli people out of Egypt!/How can I go to the king and [ask him to allow me to] bring the Israeli people out of Egypt?)” [RHQ]
12 And He says, “Because I am with you, and this [is] the sign to you that I have sent you: in your bringing out the people from Egypt—you serve God on this mountain.”
God replied, “I will be with you. And when you bring [my] people out of Egypt, all of you will worship me [right] here on this mountain. That will prove that I am the one who sent you [to them].”
13 And Moses says to God, “Behold, I am coming to the sons of Israel, and have said to them, The God of your fathers has sent me to you, and they have said to me, What [is] His Name? What do I say to them?”
Moses/I said to God, “If I go to the Israeli people and say to them, ‘God, the one your ancestors [worshiped], has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’, what shall I say to them?”
14 And God says to Moses, “I AM THAT WHICH I AM.” He also says, “Thus you say to the sons of Israel: I AM has sent me to you.”
God replied, “I AM who I AM.” And he said, “Tell the Israeli people that the one who is [named] ‘I AM’ has sent me to you.”
15 And God says again to Moses, “Thus you say to the sons of Israel: YHWH, God of your fathers, God of Abraham, God of Isaac, and God of Jacob, has sent me to you; this [is] My Name for all time, and this [is] My memorial, to generation [and] generation.
God also said to Moses/me, “Say this to the Israeli people: ‘Yahweh God, the one your ancestors [worshiped], the one that Abraham and Isaac and Jacob [worshiped], has sent me to you.’ This name, [Yahweh], will be my name forever. That is the name that [people in] all future generations [must use when they talk about/to] me.
16 Go, and you have gathered the elderly of Israel, and have said to them: YHWH, God of your fathers, has appeared to me, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, saying, I have certainly inspected you, and that which is done to you in Egypt;
Go [to Egypt] and gather together the elders/leaders of the Israeli people, and say to them, ‘Yahweh God, the one your ancestors [worshiped], the one Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob [worshiped], appeared to me. He said to him/me, “I have been watching closely what the Egyptian people have done to you.
17 and I say [that] I 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.
I promise that I will rescue you from being oppressed in Egypt, and [I will take you] to the land where the descendants of Canaan, Heth, Amor, Periz, Hiv, and Jebus [live]. It is a land good for raising livestock and growing crops [MTY].”’
18 And they have listened to your voice, and you have entered, you and [the] elderly of Israel, to the king of Egypt, and you have said to him: YHWH, God of the Hebrews, has met with us; and now, please let us go a journey of three days into the wilderness, and we sacrifice to our God YHWH.
My people will do what you say. Then you and their leaders must go to the king of Egypt, and you must say to him, ‘Yahweh, who is God, the one we Hebrews [worship], has revealed himself to us. So now we ask you to allow us to travel for three days to [a place in] the desert, in order that there we may offer sacrifices to Yahweh, our God.’
19 And I have known that the king of Egypt does not permit you to go, unless by a strong hand,
But I know that the king of Egypt will allow you to go only if he realizes I am [more] powerful [MTY] [than he is].
20 and I have put forth My hand, and have struck Egypt with all My wonders, which I do in its midst—and afterward he sends you away.
So I will use my power [MTY] to strike/punish [the people of] Egypt [MTY] by performing many miracles there. Then he will allow you to leave.
21 And I have given the grace of this people in the eyes of the Egyptians, and it has come to pass, when you go, you do not go empty;
[When that happens], I will cause the people of Egypt to respect you. [The result will be that] when you leave Egypt, (you will not go empty-handed/they will give you many [valuable] things to take with you).
22 and [every] woman has asked from her neighbor, and from her who is sojourning in her house, [for] vessels of silver, and vessels of gold, and garments, and you have put [them] on your sons and on your daughters, and have spoiled the Egyptians.”
[At that time], each [Israeli] woman will ask her [Egyptian] neighbors and each [Egyptian] woman who is living in her (OR, her neighbor’s) house to [give her] some silver and gold jewelry and some [nice] clothes. [Each Egyptian woman will give them some], and you will put them on your sons and daughters [to take with you]. In that way you will (take away/confiscate) the wealth of the Egyptian people.”

< Exodus 3 >