Moses and the Burning Bush
1Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the far side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. 2There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up. 3So Moses thought, “I will go over and see this strange sight—why the bush does not burn up.”
4When the Lord saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, “Moses! Moses!”
And Moses said, “Here I am.”
5“Do not come any closer,” God said. “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.” 6Then he said, “I am the God of your father,3:6 Masoretic Text; Samaritan Pentateuch (see Acts 7:32) fathers the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.” At this, Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God.
7The Lord said, “I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering. 8So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey—the home of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. 9And now the cry of the Israelites has reached me, and I have seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing them. 10So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt.”
11But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?”
12And God said, “I will be with you. And this will be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you3:12 The Hebrew is plural. will worship God on this mountain.”
13Moses said to God, “Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ Then what shall I tell them?”
14God said to Moses, “I am who I am.3:14 Or I will be what I will be This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I am has sent me to you.’ ”
15God also said to Moses, “Say to the Israelites, ‘The Lord,3:15 The Hebrew for Lord sounds like and may be related to the Hebrew for I am in verse 14. the God of your fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob—has sent me to you.’
“This is my name forever,
the name you shall call me
from generation to generation.
16“Go, assemble the elders of Israel and say to them, ‘The Lord, the God of your fathers—the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob—appeared to me and said: I have watched over you and have seen what has been done to you in Egypt. 17And I have promised to bring you up out of your misery in Egypt into the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites—a land flowing with milk and honey.’
18“The elders of Israel will listen to you. Then you and the elders are to go to the king of Egypt and say to him, ‘The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us. Let us take a three-day journey into the wilderness to offer sacrifices to the Lord our God.’ 19But I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go unless a mighty hand compels him. 20So I will stretch out my hand and strike the Egyptians with all the wonders that I will perform among them. After that, he will let you go.
21“And I will make the Egyptians favorably disposed toward this people, so that when you leave you will not go empty-handed. 22Every woman is to ask her neighbor and any woman living in her house for articles of silver and gold and for clothing, which you will put on your sons and daughters. And so you will plunder the Egyptians.”
上帝呼召摩西
1摩西为岳父米甸祭司叶特罗放羊。一天他领着羊群穿越旷野，来到上帝的山——何烈山。 2忽然有耶和华的天使在荆棘的火焰中向他显现。摩西看见荆棘虽然在燃烧，却没有被烧毁。 3摩西想：“我要过去看这个奇异的景象，荆棘为什么没有被烧掉呢？” 4耶和华上帝见他要上前观看，就从荆棘丛中呼唤他说：“摩西！摩西！”摩西说：“我在这里。” 5上帝说：“别再靠近，脱下你脚上的鞋，因为你所站的地方是圣地。” 6又说：“我是你祖先的上帝，是亚伯拉罕的上帝，以撒的上帝，雅各的上帝。”摩西害怕看上帝，就把脸蒙起来。 7耶和华说：“我已经看见我子民在埃及所受的苦难，听见了他们因监工的压迫而发出的呼求。我知道他们的痛苦。 8我下来是要从埃及人手中救他们，带他们离开那里，到一个辽阔肥沃的奶蜜之乡，就是现在迦南人、赫人、亚摩利人、比利洗人、希未人和耶布斯人居住的地方。 9现在，以色列人的呼求传到我耳中，我也看到了埃及人怎样压迫他们。 10现在去吧，我要派你到法老那里，带我的以色列子民出埃及。” 11但摩西对上帝说：“我是谁啊？怎么能去见法老，带以色列人出埃及呢？” 12上帝说：“我必与你同在，你带百姓出埃及后，你们必在这座山上事奉我——这将是我派你去的证据。” 13摩西问上帝：“假如我到以色列人那里，对他们说，‘你们祖先的上帝派我来你们这里。’他们如果问我，‘祂叫什么名字？’我该怎样回答他们呢？” 14上帝对摩西说：“我是自有永有者。你要这样回答以色列人，‘那位自有永有者派我到你们这里。’” 15上帝又对摩西说：“你要告诉以色列人是我派遣你到他们那里，我是他们祖先的上帝耶和华，是亚伯拉罕的上帝，以撒的上帝，雅各的上帝。耶和华是我的名字，直到永远，世世代代的人都要这样称呼我。 16你去招聚以色列的长老，对他们说，‘你们祖先的上帝耶和华，就是亚伯拉罕、以撒、雅各的上帝向我显现，说祂关切你们，知道你们在埃及的遭遇。 17祂应许要带领你们脱离在埃及所受的苦难，到迦南人、赫人、亚摩利人、比利洗人，希未人和耶布斯人住的地方，那里是奶蜜之乡。’ 18以色列的长老们必定听从你的话，你就跟他们一起去见埃及王，对他说，‘希伯来人的上帝耶和华向我们显现。现在请你容许我们走三天的路程，到旷野去，向我们的上帝耶和华献祭。’ 19我也知道除非我用大能的手向他施压，不然埃及王不会让你们离开。 20因此，我必伸手行各种神迹攻击埃及，之后他必让你们离开。 21我必使埃及人恩待你们，好叫你们不致空手离开埃及。 22你们的妇女只管向埃及邻居及住在邻居家的妇女索取金器、银器和衣服，给自己的儿女穿戴，你们必这样夺取埃及人的财物。”
