Exodus 3:2-4:17
Expanded Bible
2 There the ·angel [messenger] of the Lord appeared to him in flames of fire coming out of a bush. Moses saw that the bush was on fire, but it was not ·burning up [consumed]. 3 So Moses said, “I will ·go closer to [L turn aside to see] this ·strange [or marvelous; great] thing. ·How can a bush continue burning without burning up [Why does not the bush burn]?”
4 When the Lord saw Moses was ·coming [L turning aside] to look at it, God called to him from the bush, “Moses, Moses!”
And Moses said, “Here I am.”
5 Then God said, “Do not come any closer. Take off your sandals [L from your feet], because the place where you are standing is holy ground. 6 I am the God of your ·ancestors [fathers; L father]—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” Moses ·covered [hid] his face because he was afraid to look at God.
7 The Lord said, “I have seen the ·troubles [affliction; or humiliation] my people have suffered in Egypt, and I have heard their cries ·when the Egyptian slavemasters hurt them [L before their foremen/taskmasters]. I ·am concerned about [L know] their pain, 8 and I have come down to ·save [rescue; deliver] them from the Egyptians. I will bring them out of that land and lead them to a good land with lots of room—a ·fertile land [L land flowing with milk and honey; C an image of abundant fertility]. It is the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites. 9 I have heard the cries of the people of Israel, and I have seen the way the Egyptians have ·made life hard for [oppressed] them. 10 So now I am sending you to ·the king of Egypt [L Pharaoh]. Go! Bring my people, the Israelites, out of Egypt!”
11 But Moses said to God, “·I am not a great man! How can I go to the king [L Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh] and ·lead [bring] the Israelites out of Egypt?”
12 God said, “I will be with you. This will be the ·proof [sign] that I am sending you: After you lead the people out of Egypt, all of you will ·worship me [L serve God] on this mountain.”
13 Moses said to God, “When I go to the Israelites, I will say to them, ‘The God of your ancestors sent me to you.’ What if the people say, ‘What is his name [C names signified a person’s essence, character, or reputation]?’ What should I tell them?”
14 Then God said to Moses, “I Am Who I Am” [C These Hebrew words are related to the name Yahweh, usually translated “Lord,” and suggest that God eternally lives and is always with his people]. When you go to the people of Israel, tell them, ‘I Am sent me to you.’”
15 God ·also [or again] said to Moses, “This is what you should tell the people: ‘The Lord is the God of your ·ancestors [fathers]—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. He sent me to you.’ This will always be my name, ·by which people from now on will know me [L this is my title for all generations].
16 “Go and gather the elders of Israel and tell them this: ‘The Lord, the God of your ·ancestors [fathers] Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, has appeared to me. He said, I ·care about you, and I have seen [have paid attention to you and to] what has happened to you in Egypt. 17 I ·promised [L said] I would take you out of your ·troubles [affliction; or humiliation] in Egypt. I will lead you to the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites—a ·fertile land [L land flowing with milk and honey; 3:8].’
18 “The elders will listen to you. And then you and the elders of Israel will go to the king of Egypt and tell him, ‘The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, ·appeared to [L met with] us. Let us travel three days into the ·desert [wilderness] to offer sacrifices to the Lord our God.’
19 “But I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go. Only ·a great power will force him to let you go [L by a strong hand], 20 so I will ·use my great power against Egypt [L stretch forth my hand]. I will strike Egypt with all the ·miracles [wonders] that will happen in that land. After I do that, he will let you go. 21 I will cause the Egyptians to ·think well of [be favorable toward] the Israelites. So when you leave, ·they will give gifts to your people [L you will not leave emptyhanded; 12:35–36]. 22 Each woman should ask her Egyptian neighbor and any Egyptian woman living in her house for gifts—silver, gold, and clothing. You should put those gifts on your ·children [L sons and daughters] when you leave Egypt. In this way you will ·take with you the riches of [plunder] the Egyptians.”
Proof for Moses
4 Then Moses answered, “What if ·the people of Israel [L they] do not ·believe [trust] me or listen to ·me [L my voice]? What if they say, ‘The Lord did not appear to you’?”
2 The Lord said to him, “What is that in your hand?”
Moses answered, “It is my ·walking stick [staff; C representing the presence of God].”
3 The Lord said, “Throw it on the ground.”
So Moses threw it on the ground, and it became a ·snake [serpent]. Moses ·ran [fled] from the ·snake [serpent], 4 but the Lord said to him, “·Reach out [L Send out your hand] and ·grab [grasp; catch] the ·snake [serpent] by its tail.” When ·Moses [L he] ·reached out [L sent out his hand] and ·took hold of [snatched] ·the snake [L it], it again became a ·stick [staff] in his hand. 5 The Lord said, “This is so that the ·Israelites [L they] will ·believe [trust] that the Lord appeared to you. I am the God of their ·ancestors [fathers], the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.”
6 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Put your hand inside your ·coat [cloak; L bosom].” So Moses put his hand inside his ·coat [cloak; L bosom]. When he took it out, it was ·white [L like snow] with ·a skin disease [T leprosy; C the word is used for a variety of skin diseases].
7 Then he said, “Now put your hand inside your ·coat [cloak; L bosom] again.” So Moses put his hand inside his ·coat [cloak; L bosom] again. When he took it out [L of his coat/cloak/bosom], ·his hand was healthy again, like the rest of his skin [L it was restored like his flesh].
8 Then the Lord said, “If the people do not ·believe [trust] you or ·pay attention to [listen to the evidence of] the first ·miracle [sign], they may ·believe [trust] you when you show them this second ·miracle [sign]. 9 After these two ·miracles [signs], if they still do not ·believe [trust] or listen to ·you [L your voice], take some water from the Nile River and pour it on the dry ground. The water will become blood ·when it touches [L on] the ground.”
10 But Moses said to the Lord, “Please, Lord, I have never been a ·skilled speaker [L man of words]. Even now, after talking to you, I cannot speak well. I ·speak slowly and can’t find the best words [L have a heavy/slow mouth and a heavy/slow tongue].”
11 Then the Lord said to him, “Who made a person’s mouth? And who makes someone deaf or ·not able to speak [mute]? Or who gives a person sight or blindness? It is I, the Lord. 12 Now go! I will ·help you speak [L be with your mouth], and I will teach you what to say.”
13 But Moses said, “Please, Lord, send someone ·else [L you want to send].”
14 The Lord became angry with Moses and said, “[L Do I not know that…?] Your brother Aaron, from the family of Levi, is a ·skilled [fluent; smooth] speaker. He is already coming to meet you, and ·he will be happy [L his heart will rejoice] when he sees you. 15 You will speak to Aaron and ·tell him what to say [L place your words in his mouth]. I will ·help both of you to speak [L be with your mouth and with his mouth] and will teach you what to do. 16 Aaron will speak to the people for you. ·You will tell him what God says, and he will speak for you [L He will be your mouth and you will be like God to him]. 17 Take your ·walking stick [staff; 4:2] ·with you [L in your hand], and use it to do the ·miracles [signs].”
Exodus 3:2-4:17
King James Version
2 And the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush: and he looked, and, behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed.
3 And Moses said, I will now turn aside, and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt.
4 And when the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, God called unto him out of the midst of the bush, and said, Moses, Moses. And he said, Here am I.
5 And he said, Draw not nigh hither: put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground.
6 Moreover he said, I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. And Moses hid his face; for he was afraid to look upon God.
7 And the Lord said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters; for I know their sorrows;
8 And I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land unto a good land and a large, unto a land flowing with milk and honey; unto the place of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites.
9 Now therefore, behold, the cry of the children of Israel is come unto me: and I have also seen the oppression wherewith the Egyptians oppress them.
10 Come now therefore, and I will send thee unto Pharaoh, that thou mayest bring forth my people the children of Israel out of Egypt.
11 And Moses said unto God, Who am I, that I should go unto Pharaoh, and that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt?
12 And he said, Certainly I will be with thee; and this shall be a token unto thee, that I have sent thee: When thou hast brought forth the people out of Egypt, ye shall serve God upon this mountain.
13 And Moses said unto God, Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, What is his name? what shall I say unto them?
14 And God said unto Moses, I Am That I Am: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I Am hath sent me unto you.
15 And God said moreover unto Moses, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, the Lord God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath sent me unto you: this is my name for ever, and this is my memorial unto all generations.
16 Go, and gather the elders of Israel together, and say unto them, The Lord God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, appeared unto me, saying, I have surely visited you, and seen that which is done to you in Egypt:
17 And I have said, I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt unto the land of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, unto a land flowing with milk and honey.
18 And they shall hearken to thy voice: and thou shalt come, thou and the elders of Israel, unto the king of Egypt, and ye shall say unto him, The Lord God of the Hebrews hath met with us: and now let us go, we beseech thee, three days' journey into the wilderness, that we may sacrifice to the Lord our God.
19 And I am sure that the king of Egypt will not let you go, no, not by a mighty hand.
20 And I will stretch out my hand, and smite Egypt with all my wonders which I will do in the midst thereof: and after that he will let you go.
21 And I will give this people favour in the sight of the Egyptians: and it shall come to pass, that, when ye go, ye shall not go empty.
22 But every woman shall borrow of her neighbour, and of her that sojourneth in her house, jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and raiment: and ye shall put them upon your sons, and upon your daughters; and ye shall spoil the Egyptians.
4 And Moses answered and said, But, behold, they will not believe me, nor hearken unto my voice: for they will say, The Lord hath not appeared unto thee.
2 And the Lord said unto him, What is that in thine hand? And he said, A rod.
3 And he said, Cast it on the ground. And he cast it on the ground, and it became a serpent; and Moses fled from before it.
4 And the Lord said unto Moses, Put forth thine hand, and take it by the tail. And he put forth his hand, and caught it, and it became a rod in his hand:
5 That they may believe that the Lord God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath appeared unto thee.
6 And the Lord said furthermore unto him, Put now thine hand into thy bosom. And he put his hand into his bosom: and when he took it out, behold, his hand was leprous as snow.
7 And he said, Put thine hand into thy bosom again. And he put his hand into his bosom again; and plucked it out of his bosom, and, behold, it was turned again as his other flesh.
8 And it shall come to pass, if they will not believe thee, neither hearken to the voice of the first sign, that they will believe the voice of the latter sign.
9 And it shall come to pass, if they will not believe also these two signs, neither hearken unto thy voice, that thou shalt take of the water of the river, and pour it upon the dry land: and the water which thou takest out of the river shall become blood upon the dry land.
10 And Moses said unto the Lord, O my Lord, I am not eloquent, neither heretofore, nor since thou hast spoken unto thy servant: but I am slow of speech, and of a slow tongue.
11 And the Lord said unto him, Who hath made man's mouth? or who maketh the dumb, or deaf, or the seeing, or the blind? have not I the Lord?
12 Now therefore go, and I will be with thy mouth, and teach thee what thou shalt say.
13 And he said, O my Lord, send, I pray thee, by the hand of him whom thou wilt send.
14 And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Moses, and he said, Is not Aaron the Levite thy brother? I know that he can speak well. And also, behold, he cometh forth to meet thee: and when he seeth thee, he will be glad in his heart.
15 And thou shalt speak unto him, and put words in his mouth: and I will be with thy mouth, and with his mouth, and will teach you what ye shall do.
16 And he shall be thy spokesman unto the people: and he shall be, even he shall be to thee instead of a mouth, and thou shalt be to him instead of God.
17 And thou shalt take this rod in thine hand, wherewith thou shalt do signs.
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