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).

Moses was a shepherd, looking after the flock of Jethro, his father-in-law, the Midianite priest. He led the flock far into the wilderness until he came to God's mountain, Mount Horeb.

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.

There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire from inside a bush. Moses looked carefully and saw that though the bush was on fire, it wasn't being burned up.

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

“Let me go over and take a look,” Moses said to himself. “It's very odd to see a bush that's not burning 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.”

When the Lord saw that Moses was coming to take a look, God called to him from inside the bush, “Moses! Moses!” “I'm here,” Moses replied.

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].”

“Don't come any closer!” God told him. “Take off your sandals because you're standing on holy ground.”

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.

Then he said, “I am the God of your father, 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.

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.

“I'm completely aware of the misery of my people in Egypt,” the Lord told him. “I have heard them crying out because of their taskmasters. I know how much they're suffering.

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].

That's why I have come down to rescue them from Egyptian oppression and to take them up from that country to a productive, wide-open land—a land flowing with milk and honey—where currently the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites are living.

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

Listen! The cries of the Israelites have reached me, and I have seen how badly the Egyptians are mistreating 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.”

Now you must leave, because I'm sending you to Pharaoh to lead my people 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]

But Moses said to God, “Why me? I'm a nobody! I couldn't go to Pharaoh and lead the Israelites 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].”

“I'll be with you,” the Lord replied, “and this will be the sign that it is really me who is sending you: when you have led the people out of Egypt, you will worship God at this very 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?”

Then Moses said to God, “Look! If I were to go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ —then what should I tell 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.”

God replied to Moses, “‘I Am’ is who I am. Tell the Israelites this: ‘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.

Then God said to Moses, “Tell the Israelites, ‘The Lord, 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, the name you are to call me for all generations to come.’

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 call all the elders of Israel to meet with you. Tell them, ‘The Lord, the God of your fathers, has appeared to me—the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He said, “I have paid close attention to what's been happening 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].”’

I have decided to take you away from the misery you're having in Egypt and bring you to the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, 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.’

“The elders of Israel will accept what you say. Then you must go with them to the king of Egypt and tell him, ‘The Lord, the God of the Hebrews has revealed himself to us. So please let us go three days journey into the desert so we can offer sacrifices to the Lord our God there.’

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].

But I know that the king of Egypt won't let you go unless he's forced to do so by a power stronger than him.

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.

So I will use my power to inflict on Egypt all the terrifying things that I'm about to do to them. After that he'll 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).

I will make the Egyptians treat you well as a people, so when you go you won't leave empty-handed.

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.”

Every woman will ask her neighbor as well as any woman living in her house for silver and gold jewelry and clothing, and put them on your sons and daughters. In this way you will take the wealth of the Egyptians with you.”