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.”
Mose Na Kichaka Kinachowaka Moto
13:1 Kut 2:16, 18; 17:6; 19:1-11; 33:6; 4:27; 18:5; 24:133:1 Kum 1:2-6; 4:10, 11-15; 5:2; 1Fal 19:8; Amu 1:16; Mal 4:4Basi Mose alikuwa anachunga mifugo ya Yethro mkwewe, kuhani wa Midiani. Mose akapeleka mifugo mbali nyuma ya jangwa, naye akafika Horebu, mlima wa Mungu. 23:2 Mwa 16:7; Kut 2:2-6; 19:18; 4:5; Kum 5:19; 29:1; 1Fal 19:12; Kum 33:16; Mk 12:26; Lk 20:37; Mdo 7:30Huko malaika wa Bwana akamtokea Mose katika mwali wa moto kutoka kichakani. Mose akaona kwamba ingawa kile kichaka kilikuwa kinawaka moto, kilikuwa hakiteketei. 3Ndipo Mose akawaza, “Nitageuka sasa nione kitu hiki cha ajabu, nami nione ni kwa nini kichaka hiki hakiteketei.”
43:4 Kut 19:3; 4:5; Mwa 31:11; 1Sam 3:4; Isa 6:8Bwana alipoona kuwa amegeuka ili aone, Mungu akamwita kutoka ndani ya kile kichaka, “Mose! Mose!”
Naye Mose akajibu, “Mimi hapa.”
53:5 Yer 30:21; Mwa 28:17; Mdo 7:33Mungu akamwambia, “Usikaribie zaidi. Vua viatu vyako, kwa maana mahali unaposimama ni patakatifu.” 63:6 Mwa 24:12; Kut 5:4; 24:11; 33:20; Mt 22:32; Mk 12:26; Lk 20:37; Mdo 3:13; 7:32; 1Fal 19:13; Amu 13:22; Ay 13:11; 23:16; 30:15; Isa 6:5Kisha akamwambia, “Mimi ni Mungu wa baba yako, Mungu wa Abrahamu, Mungu wa Isaki, na Mungu wa Yakobo.” Mose aliposikia hayo, akafunika uso wake kwa sababu aliogopa kumtazama Mungu.
73:7 1Sam 1:11; 9:16; Mwa 16:11; Neh 9:9; Za 106:44; Kut 2:25; Mdo 7:34Bwana akamwambia, “Hakika nimeona mateso ya watu wangu katika Misri. Nimesikia kilio chao kwa sababu ya wasimamizi wao, nami naguswa na mateso yao. 83:8 Mwa 11:5; 12:7; 15:14; Mdo 7:34; Kut 13:5; 33:3; Law 20:24; Hes 13:27; Kum 1:25; 6:3; 8:7-9; 11:9; 26:9; 27:3; Yos 5:6; 11:3; Yer 11:5; 32:22; Eze 20:6; Amu 3:3Basi nimeshuka niwaokoe kutoka mkono wa Wamisri, niwatoe na kuwapandisha kutoka nchi hiyo, niwapeleke katika nchi nzuri na kubwa, nchi itiririkayo maziwa na asali, nchi ya Wakanaani, Wahiti, Waamori, Waperizi, Wahivi na Wayebusi. 93:9 Kut 1:14; Hes 10:9Sasa kilio cha Waisraeli kimenifikia, nami nimeona jinsi Wamisri wanavyowatesa. 103:10 Kut 4:12; 6:13, 26; 12:41, 51; 20:2; Yos 24:5; Mdo 7:34; 1Sam 12:6, 8; Za 105:26; Kum 4:20; 1Fal 8:16; Mik 6:4Basi, sasa nenda. Ninakutuma kwa Farao ili kuwatoa watu wangu Waisraeli kutoka Misri.”
113:11 Kut 4:10; 6:12, 30; Yer 1:6; Amu 6:15; 1Sam 9:21; 15:17; 18:18; 2Sam 7:18; 2Nya 2:6; Isa 6:5Lakini Mose akamwambia Mungu, “Mimi ni nani hata niende kwa Farao kuwatoa Waisraeli nchini Misri?”
123:12 Mwa 26:3; Kut 14:22; Rum 8:31; Hes 26:10; Yos 2:12; Amu 6:17; Za 86:17; Isa 7:14; 8:18; 20:3; Yer 44:29; Mdo 7:7Naye Mungu akasema, “Mimi nitakuwa pamoja nawe. Hii itakuwa ishara kwako kwamba ni Mimi nimekutuma: Hapo utakapokuwa umewatoa watu Misri, mtamwabudu Mungu katika mlima huu.”
133:13 Mwa 32:29Mose akamwambia Mungu, “Ikiwa nitawaendea Waisraeli na kuwaambia, ‘Mungu wa baba zenu amenituma kwenu,’ nao wakiniuliza, ‘Jina lake ni nani?’ Nitawaambia nini?”
143:14 Kut 6:2-3; Yn 8:58; Ebr 13:8; Ufu 1:8; 4:8Mungu akamwambia Mose, “Mimi niko ambaye niko. Hivyo ndivyo utakavyowaambia Waisraeli: ‘Mimi niko amenituma kwenu.’ ”
153:15 Mwa 31:42; 24:12; Dan 2:23; Kut 6:3, 7; 15:3; 23:21; 34:5-7; Law 24:11; Kum 28:58; Za 30:4; 83:18; 96:2; 97:12; 135:13; 145:21; 45:17; 72:17; 102:12; Isa 42:8; Yer 16:21; 32:2; Hos 12:5Vilevile Mungu akamwambia Mose, “Waambie Waisraeli, ‘Bwana, Mungu wa baba zenu, Mungu wa Abrahamu, Mungu wa Isaki, na Mungu wa Yakobo amenituma kwenu.’ Hili ndilo Jina langu milele, Jina ambalo mtanikumbuka kwalo kutoka kizazi hadi kizazi.
163:16 Kut 4:29, 31; 17:5; Law 4:15; Hes 16:25; 11:16; Kum 5:23; 19:12; Amu 8:14; Rut 4:2; Mit 31:23; Eze 8:11; Mwa 24:12; 2Fal 19:16; 2Nya 6:20; Za 33:18; 66:7“Nenda, ukawakusanye wazee wa Israeli, uwaambie, ‘Bwana, Mungu wa baba zenu, Mungu wa Abrahamu, Isaki na Yakobo, alinitokea akaniambia: Nimewatazama, nami nimeona mliyofanyiwa katika Misri. 173:17 Mwa 15:16; 46:4; Kut 6:6Nami nimeahidi kuwapandisha kutoka mateso yenu katika nchi ya Misri, niwapeleke nchi ya Wakanaani, Wahiti, Waamori, Waperizi, Wahivi na Wayebusi, nchi itiririkayo maziwa na asali.’
183:18 Kut 4:1, 8; 31:6; 6:12, 30; 4:23; 5:1-3; 6:11; 7:16; 9:13; 8:20, 27; 10:9, 26; Mwa 14:13; 30:26; Hes 23:4, 16“Wazee wa Israeli watakusikiliza. Kisha wewe na wazee mtakwenda kwa mfalme wa Misri na kumwambia, ‘Bwana, Mungu wa Waebrania ametutokea. Turuhusu twende safari ya siku tatu huko jangwani kutoa dhabihu kwa Bwana Mungu wetu.’ 193:19 Kut 4:21; 6:6; 7:3; 10:1; 11:9; Kum 4:34; 2Nya 6:32Lakini nafahamu kwamba mfalme wa Misri hatawaruhusu kwenda, mpaka mkono wenye nguvu umlazimishe. 203:20 Kut 6:16; 7:4-5; 9:15; 13:3-9, 14-16; 11:1; 12:31-33; 4:21; 15:11; Kum 4:34; 5:15; 7:8; 26:8; 3:24; 6:22; 2Fal 17:36; 2Nya 6:32; Za 118:15-16; 136:12; 71:19; 72:18; 77:14; 78:43; 86:10; 105:27; 106:22; Isa 41:10; 63:12; Yer 21:5; 51:25; 30:20; Mik 7:15; Mdo 7:36; Dan 9:15; Hes 14:11; Neh 9:10Kwa hiyo nitaunyoosha mkono wangu na kuwapiga Wamisri kwa maajabu yote nitakayofanya miongoni mwao. Baada ya hayo, atawaruhusu mwondoke.
213:21 Mwa 39:21; Kut 11:2; 2Nya 30:9; Neh 1:11; Za 105:37; 106:46; Yer 42:12“Nami nitawapa hawa watu upendeleo mbele ya Wamisri, kwa hiyo mtakapoondoka nchini hamtaondoka mikono mitupu. 223:22 Ay 27:16-17; Kut 11:2; 12:35; Ezr 1:4-6; 7:16; Mwa 15:14; Eze 39:10; 29:10; Za 105:37Kila mwanamke Mwisraeli atamwomba jirani yake Mmisri na mwanamke yeyote anayeishi nyumbani kwake ampe vyombo vya fedha, dhahabu na nguo, ambavyo mtawavika wana wenu na binti zenu. Hivyo mtawateka nyara Wamisri.”
