Exodus 3

1 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).

Now Moses was looking after the flock of Jethro, his father-in-law, the priest of Midian: and he took the flock to the back of the waste land and came to Horeb, the mountain of God.

2 [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.

And the angel of the Lord was seen by him in a flame of fire coming out of a thorn-tree: and he saw that the tree was on fire, but it was not burned up.

3 Moses/I thought, “I will go closer and try to see this strange sight! Why is the bush not burning up?”

And Moses said, I will go and see this strange thing, why the tree is not burned up,

4 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.”

And when the Lord saw him turning to one side to see, God said his name out of the tree, crying, Moses, Moses. And he said, Here am I.

5 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].”

And he said, Do not come near: take off your shoes from your feet, for the place where you are is holy.

6 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.

And he said, I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. And Moses kept his face covered for fear of looking on God.

7 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.

And God said, Truly, I have seen the grief of my people in Egypt, and their cry because of their cruel masters has come to my ears; for I have knowledge of their sorrows;

8 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].

And I have come down to take them out of the hands of the Egyptians, guiding them out of that land into a good land and wide, into a land flowing with milk and honey; into the place of the Canaanite and the Hittite and the Amorite and the Perizzite and the Hivite and the Jebusite.

9 Truly I have now heard my Israeli people crying [PRS]. I have seen how the Egyptians oppress them.

For now, truly, the cry of the children of Israel has come to me, and I have seen the cruel behaviour of the Egyptians to them.

10 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.”

Come, then, and I will send you to Pharaoh, so that you may take my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.

11 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]

And Moses said to God, Who am I to go to Pharaoh and take the children of Israel out of Egypt?

12 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].”

And he said, Truly I will be with you; and this will be the sign to you that I have sent you: when you have taken the children of Israel out of Egypt, you will give worship to God on this mountain.

13 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?”

And Moses said to God, When I come to the children 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 am I to say to them?

14 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.”

And God said to him, I AM WHAT I AM: and he said, Say to the children of Israel, I AM has sent me to you.

15 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.

And God went on to say to Moses, Say to the children of Israel, The Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, has sent me to you: this is my name for ever, and this is my sign to all generations.

16 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.

Go and get together the chiefs of the children of Israel, and say to them, The Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, has been seen by me, and has said, Truly I have taken up your cause, because of what is done to you in Egypt;

17 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].”’

And I have said, I will take you up out of the sorrows of Egypt into the land of the Canaanite and the Hittite and the Amorite and the Perizzite and the Hivite and the Jebusite, into a land flowing with milk and honey.

18 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.’

And they will give ear to your voice: and you, with the chiefs of Israel, will go to Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, and say to him, The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, has come to us: let us then go three days' journey into the waste land to make an offering to the Lord our God.

19 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].

And I am certain that the king of Egypt will not let you go without being forced.

20 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.

But I will put out my hand and overcome Egypt with all the wonders which I will do among them: and after that he will let you go.

21 [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).

And I will give this people grace in the eyes of the Egyptians, so that when you go out you will go out with your hands full.

22 [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.”

For every woman will get from her neighbour and from the woman living in her house, ornaments of silver and gold, and clothing; and you will put them on your sons and your daughters; you will take the best of their goods from the Egyptians.