Study Desk

Then God said to Moses, " I am who I am . When you go to the people of Israel, tell them, ‘ I am sent me to you.'"

God also said to Moses, "This is what you should tell the people: ‘The Lord is the God of your ancestors—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.

"Go and gather the elders and tell them this: ‘The Lord , the God of your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, has appeared to me. He said, I care about you, and I have seen what has happened to you in Egypt.

"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 us. Let us travel three days into the desert to offer sacrifices to the Lord our God.'

The Lord said, "This is so that the Israelites will believe that the Lord appeared to you. I am the God of their ancestors, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob."

Aaron will speak to the people for you. You will tell him what God says, and he will speak for you.

So Moses took his wife and his sons, put them on a donkey, and started back to Egypt. He took with him the walking stick of God.

Meanwhile the Lord said to Aaron, "Go out into the desert to meet Moses." When Aaron went, he met Moses at Sinai, the mountain of God, and kissed him.

After Moses and Aaron talked to the people, they went to the king of Egypt and said, "This is what the Lord , the God of Israel, says: ‘Let my people go so they may hold a feast for me in the desert.'"

Then Aaron and Moses said, "The God of the Hebrews has met with us. Now let us travel three days into the desert to offer sacrifices to the Lord our God. If we don't do this, he may kill us with a disease or in war."

But they must still make the same number of bricks as they did before. Do not accept fewer. They have become lazy, and that is why they are asking me, ‘Let us go to offer sacrifices to our God.'

Then God said to Moses, "I am the Lord .

I appeared to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob by the name God Almighty, but they did not know me by my 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, the One who saves you from the hard work the Egyptians force you to do.

The Lord said to Moses, "I have made you like God to the king of Egypt, and your brother Aaron will be like a prophet for you.

Tell him: The Lord , the God of the Hebrews, sent me to you. He said, ‘Let my people go worship me in the desert.' Until now you have not listened.

The king answered, "Tomorrow." Moses said, "What you want will happen. By this you will know that there is no one like the Lord our God.

So the magicians told the king that the power of God had done this. But the king was stubborn and refused to listen to them, just as the Lord had said.

The king called for Moses and Aaron and told them, "Offer sacrifices to your God here in this country."

But Moses said, "It wouldn't be right to do that, because the Egyptians hate the sacrifices we offer to the Lord our God. If they see us offering sacrifices they hate, they will throw stones at us and kill us.