Exodus 3

1 Moyses autem pascebat oves Iethro soceri sui sacerdotis Madian: cumque minasset gregem ad interiora deserti, venit ad montem Dei 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 Apparuitque ei Dominus in flamma ignis de medio rubi: et videbat quod rubus ardebat, et non combureretur.

[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 Dixit ergo Moyses: Vadam, et videbo visionem hanc magnam, quare non comburatur rubus.

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

4 Cernens autem Dominus quod pergeret ad videndum, vocavit eum de medio rubi, et ait: Moyses, Moyses. Qui respondit: Adsum.

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 At ille: Ne appropies, inquit, huc: solve calceamentum de pedibus tuis: locus enim, in quo stas, terra sancta est.

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 Et ait: Ego sum Deus patris tui, Deus Abraham, Deus Isaac, et Deus Iacob. Abscondit Moyses faciem suam: non enim audebat aspicere contra Deum.

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 Cui ait Dominus: Vidi afflictionem populi mei in Aegypto, et clamorem eius audivi propter duritiam eorum qui praesunt operibus:

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 et sciens dolorem eius, descendi ut liberem eum de manibus Aegyptiorum, et educam de terra illa in terram bonam, et spatiosam, in terram quae fluit lacte et melle, ad loca Chananaei, et Hethaei, et Amorrhaei, et Pherezaei, et Hevaei, et Iebusaei.

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 Clamor ergo filiorum Israel venit ad me: vidique afflictionem eorum, qua ab Aegyptiis opprimuntur.

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

10 Sed veni, et mittam te ad Pharaonem, ut educas populum meum, filios Israel de Aegypto.

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 Dixitque Moyses ad Deum: Quis sum ego ut vadam ad Pharaonem, et educam filios Israel de Aegypto?

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 Qui dixit ei: Ego ero tecum: et hoc habebis signum, quod miserim te: Cum eduxeris populum meum de Aegypto, immolabis Deo super montem istum.

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 Ait Moyses ad Deum: Ecce ego vadam ad filios Israel, et dicam eis: Deus patrum vestrorum misit me ad vos. Si dixerint mihi: Quod est nomen eius? quid dicam eis?

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 Dixit Dominus ad Moysen: EGO SUM QUI SUM. Ait: Sic dices filiis Israel: QUI EST, misit me ad vos.

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 Dixitque iterum Deus ad Moysen: Haec dices filiis Israel: Dominus Deus patrum vestrorum, Deus Abraham, Deus Isaac, et Deus Iacob misit me ad vos: hoc nomen mihi est in aeternum, et hoc memoriale meum in generatione et generationem.

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 Vade, et congrega seniores Israel, et dices ad eos: Dominus Deus patrum vestrorum apparuit mihi, Deus Abraham, Deus Isaac, et Deus Iacob, dicens: Visitans visitavi vos, et vidi omnia quae acciderunt vobis in Aegypto:

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 Et dixi ut educam vos de afflictione Aegypti in terram Chananaei et Hethaei et Amorrhaei et Pherezaei et Hevaei et Iebusaei, ad terram fluentem lacte et melle.

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 Et audient vocem tuam: ingredierisque tu, et seniores Israel ad regem Aegypti, et dices ad eum: Dominus Deus Hebraeorum vocavit nos: ibimus viam trium dierum in solitudinem, ut immolemus Domino Deo nostro.

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 Sed ego scio quod non dimittet vos rex Aegypti ut eatis nisi per manum validam.

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 Extendamque manum meam, et percutiam Aegyptum in cunctis mirabilibus meis, quae facturus sum in medio eorum: post haec dimittet vos.

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 Daboque gratiam populo huic coram Aegyptiis: et cum egrediemini, non exibitis vacui:

[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 sed postulabit mulier a vicina sua, et ab hospita sua, vasa argentea et aurea, ac vestes: ponetisque eas super filios et filias vestras, et spoliabitis Aegyptum.

[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.”