Study Desk

God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Avraham, Yitz'chak and Ya‘akov.

God saw the people of Isra'el, and God acknowledged them.

(iv) Now Moshe was tending the sheep of Yitro his father-in-law, the priest of Midyan. Leading the flock to the far side of the desert, he came to the mountain of God, to Horev.

When Adonai saw that he had gone over to see, God called to him from the middle of the bush, "Moshe! Moshe!" He answered, "Here I am."

I am the God of your father," he continued, "the God of Avraham, the God of Yitz'chak and the God of Ya‘akov." Moshe covered his face, because he was afraid to look at God.

Moshe said to God, "Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh and lead the people of Isra'el out of Egypt?"

He replied, "I will surely be with you. Your sign that I have sent you will be that when you have led the people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain."

Moshe said to God, "Look, when I appear before the people of Isra'el and say to them, ‘The God of your ancestors has sent me to you'; and they ask me, ‘What is his name?' what am I to tell them?"

God said to Moshe, "Ehyeh Asher Ehyeh [I am/will be what I am/will be]," and added, "Here is what to say to the people of Isra'el: ‘Ehyeh [I Am or I Will Be] has sent me to you.'"

God said further to Moshe, "Say this to the people of Isra'el: ‘Yud-Heh-Vav-Heh [ Adonai ], the God of your fathers, the God of Avraham, the God of Yitz'chak and the God of Ya‘akov, has sent me to you.' This is my name forever; this is how I am to be remembered generation after generation.

(v) Go, gather the leaders of Isra'el together, and say to them, ‘ Adonai , the God of your fathers, the God of Avraham, Yitz'chak and Ya‘akov, has appeared to me and said, "I have been paying close attention to you and have seen what is being done to you in Egypt;

They will heed what you say. Then you will come, you and the leaders of Isra'el, before the king of Egypt; and you will tell him, ‘ Adonai , the God of the Hebrews, has met with us. Now, please, let us go three days' journey into the desert; so that we can sacrifice to Adonai our God.'

"This is so that they will believe that Adonai , the God of their fathers, the God of Avraham, the God of Yitz'chak and the God of Ya‘akov, has appeared to you!"

Then God said, "Now put your hand back in your coat." He put his hand back in his coat; and when he took it out, it was as healthy as the rest of his body.

Thus he will be your spokesman to the people, in effect; for you, he will be a mouth; and for him, you will be like God.

But then, God let Moshe be. She added, "A bloody bridegroom because of the circumcision!"

Adonai said to Aharon, "Go into the desert to meet Moshe." He went, met him at the mountain of God and kissed him.

(vii) After that, Moshe and Aharon came and said to Pharaoh, "Here is what Adonai , the God of Isra'el, says: ‘Let my people go, so that they can celebrate a festival in the desert to honor me.'"

They said, "The God of the Hebrews has met with us. Please let us go three days' journey into the desert, so that we can sacrifice to Adonai our God. Otherwise, he may strike us with a plague or with the sword."

But you will require them to produce the same quantity of bricks as before, don't reduce it, because they're lazing around. This is why they're crying, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to our God.'