Study Desk

God looked upon the Israelites, and God took notice of them.

Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian; he led his flock beyond the wilderness, and came to Horeb, the mountain of God.

When the Lord saw that he had turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, "Moses, Moses!" And he said, "Here I am."

He said further, "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 he was afraid to look at God.

But Moses said to God, "Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh, and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?"

He said, "I will be with you; and this shall be the sign for you that it is I who sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall worship God on this mountain."

But Moses said to God, "If I come to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your ancestors has sent me to you,' and they ask me, ‘What is his name?' what shall I say to them?"

God said to Moses, "I am who I am ." He said further, "Thus you shall say to the Israelites, ‘I am has sent me to you.'"

God also said to Moses, "Thus you shall say to the Israelites, ‘The Lord , the God of your ancestors, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you': This is my name forever, and this my title for all generations.

Go and assemble the elders of Israel, and say to them, ‘The Lord , the God of your ancestors, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, has appeared to me, saying: I have given heed to you and to what has been done to you in Egypt.

They will listen to your voice; and you and the elders of Israel shall go to the king of Egypt and say to him, ‘The Lord , the God of the Hebrews, has met with us; let us now go a three days' journey into the wilderness, so that we may sacrifice to the Lord our God.'

"so that they may believe that the Lord , the God of their ancestors, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has appeared to you."

Then God said, "Put your hand back into your cloak"—so he put his hand back into his cloak, and when he took it out, it was restored like the rest of his body—

He indeed shall speak for you to the people; he shall serve as a mouth for you, and you shall serve as God for him.

So Moses took his wife and his sons, put them on a donkey, and went back to the land of Egypt; and Moses carried the staff of God in his hand.

The Lord said to Aaron, "Go into the wilderness to meet Moses." So he went; and he met him at the mountain of God and kissed him.

Afterward Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and said, "Thus says the Lord , the God of Israel, ‘Let my people go, so that they may celebrate a festival to me in the wilderness.'"

Then they said, "The God of the Hebrews has revealed himself to us; let us go a three days' journey into the wilderness to sacrifice to the Lord our God, or he will fall upon us with pestilence or sword."

But you shall require of them the same quantity of bricks as they have made previously; do not diminish it, for they are lazy; that is why they cry, ‘Let us go and offer sacrifice to our God.'

God also spoke to Moses and said to him: "I am the Lord .