Study Desk

But Moses said to God, "I am nobody. How can I go to the king and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?"

God answered, "I will be with you, and when you bring the people out of Egypt, you will worship me on this mountain. That will be the proof that I have sent you."

But Moses replied, "When I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your ancestors sent me to you,' they will ask me, ‘What is his name?' So what can I tell them?"

God said, "I am who I am. You must tell them: ‘The one who is called I Am has sent me to you.'

Tell the Israelites that I, the Lord , the God of their ancestors, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, have sent you to them. This is my name forever; this is what all future generations are to call me.

Go and gather the leaders of Israel together and tell them that I, the Lord , the God of their ancestors, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, appeared to you. Tell them that I have come to them and have seen what the Egyptians are doing to them.

"My people will listen to what you say to them. Then you must go with the leaders of Israel to the king of Egypt and say to him, ‘The Lord , the God of the Hebrews, has revealed himself to us. Now allow us to travel three days into the desert to offer sacrifices to the Lord , our God.'

The Lord said, "Do this to prove to the Israelites that the Lord , the God of their ancestors, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, has appeared to you."

He will be your spokesman and speak to the people for you. Then you will be like God, telling him what to say.

So Moses took his wife and his sons, put them on a donkey, and set out with them for Egypt, carrying the walking stick that God had told him to take.

Then Moses and Aaron went to the king of Egypt and said, "The Lord , the God of Israel, says, ‘Let my people go, so that they can hold a festival in the desert to honor me.'"

Moses and Aaron replied, "The God of the Hebrews has revealed himself to us. Allow us to travel three days into the desert to offer sacrifices to the Lord our God. If we don't do so, he will kill us with disease or by war."

But still require them to make the same number of bricks as before, not one brick less. They don't have enough work to do, and that is why they keep asking me to let them go and offer sacrifices to their God!

God spoke to Moses and said, "I am the Lord .

I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob as Almighty God, but I did not make myself known to them by my holy name, the Lord .

I will make you my own people, and I will be your God. You will know that I am the Lord your God when I set you free from slavery in Egypt.

The Lord said, "I am going to make you like God to the king, and your brother Aaron will speak to him as your prophet.

Then say to the king, ‘The Lord , the God of the Hebrews, sent me to tell you to let his people go, so that they can worship him in the desert. But until now you have not listened.

The king answered, "Pray for me tomorrow." Moses said, "I will do as you ask, and then you will know that there is no other god like the Lord , our God.

and the magicians said to the king, "God has done this!" But the king was stubborn and, just as the Lord had said, the king would not listen to Moses and Aaron.