The Burning Bush

3 Now Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro, the priest of Midian, and he led his flock to the west side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the ^(A)mountain of God. ^2 (B)And ^(C)the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush. He looked, and behold, the bush was burning, yet it was not consumed. ³ And Moses said, “I will turn aside to see this great sight, why the bush is not burned.” ⁴ When the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, ^(D)God called to him ^(E)out of the bush, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.” ⁵ Then he said, “Do not come near; ^(F)take your sandals off your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.” ⁶ And he said, ^(G)“I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” And Moses hid his face, for ^(H)he was afraid to look at God.

⁷ Then the Lord said, ^(I)“I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their cry because of their ^(J)taskmasters. I know their sufferings, ⁸ and ^(K)I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians and ^(L)to bring them up out of that land to a ^(M)good and broad land, a land ^(N)flowing with milk and honey, to the place of ^(O)the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. ⁹ And now, behold, ^(P)the cry of the people of Israel has come to me, and I have also seen the ^(Q)oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them. ^10 (R)Come, I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.” ¹¹ But Moses said to God, ^(S)“Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?” ¹² He said, ^(T)“But I will be with you, and this shall be the sign for you, that I have sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, ^(U)you shall serve God on this mountain.”

¹³ Then Moses said to God, “If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you’, and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what shall I say to them?” ¹⁴ God said to Moses, “I am who I am.”^[a] And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel, ^(V)‘I am has sent me to you.’” ¹⁵ God also said to Moses, “Say this to the people of Israel, ‘The Lord,^[b] the ^(W)God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.’ This is ^(X)my name for ever, and thus I am to be remembered throughout all generations.

Marks of the True Christian

^9 (A)Let love be genuine. ^(B)Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good.