Bible Gateway passage: Exodus 3:1-15 - New International Version (2024)

Moses and the Burning Bush

3Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro^(A) his father-in-law, the priest of Midian,^(B) and he led the flock to the far side of the wilderness and came to Horeb,^(C) the mountain^(D) of God. ²There the angel of the Lord^(E) appeared to him in flames of fire^(F) from within a bush.^(G) 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^(H) to him from within the bush,^(I) “Moses! Moses!”

And Moses said, “Here I am.”^(J)

⁵“Do not come any closer,”^(K) God said. “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.”^{(L) 6}Then he said, “I am the God of your father,^[a] the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.”^(M) At this, Moses hid^(N) his face, because he was afraid to look at God.^(O)

⁷The Lord said, “I have indeed seen^(P) the misery^(Q) of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned^(R) about their suffering.^{(S) 8}So I have come down^(T) to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land,^(U) a land flowing with milk and honey^(V)—the home of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites^(W) and Jebusites.^{(X) 9}And now the cry of the Israelites has reached me, and I have seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing^(Y) them. ¹⁰So now, go. I am sending^(Z) you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt.”^(AA)

¹¹But Moses said to God, “Who am I^(AB) that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?”

¹²And God said, “I will be with you.^(AC) And this will be the sign^(AD) to you that it is I who have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you^[b] will worship God on this mountain.^(AE)”

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?’^(AF) Then what shall I tell them?”

¹⁴God said to Moses, “I am who I am.^[c] This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I am^(AG) has sent me to you.’”

¹⁵God also said to Moses, “Say to the Israelites, ‘The Lord,^[d] the God of your fathers^(AH)—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob^(AI)—has sent me to you.’

“This is my name^(AJ) forever,
the name you shall call me
from generation to generation.^(AK)

Footnotes

1. Exodus 3:6 Masoretic Text; Samaritan Pentateuch (see Acts 7:32) fathers
2. Exodus 3:12 The Hebrew is plural.
3. Exodus 3:14 Or I will be what I will be
4. Exodus 3:15 The Hebrew for Lord sounds like and may be related to the Hebrew for I am in verse 14.

Cross references

1. Exodus 3:1 : S Ex 2:18; Jdg 1:16
2. Exodus 3:1 : S Ex 2:16
3. Exodus 3:1 : ver 12; Ex 17:6; 19:1-11, 5; 33:6; Dt 1:2, 6; 4:10; 5:2; 29:1; 1Ki 19:8; Mal 4:4
4. Exodus 3:1 : Ex 4:27; 18:5; 24:13; Dt 4:11, 15
5. Exodus 3:2 : S Ge 16:7; S Ex 12:23; S Ac 5:19
6. Exodus 3:2 : Ex 19:18; 1Ki 19:12
7. Exodus 3:2 : ver 4; Ex 2:2-6; Dt 33:16; Mk 12:26; Lk 20:37; Ac 7:30
8. Exodus 3:4 : Ex 19:3; Lev 1:1
9. Exodus 3:4 : Ex 4:5
10. Exodus 3:4 : Ge 31:11; 1Sa 3:4; Isa 6:8
11. Exodus 3:5 : Jer 30:21
12. Exodus 3:5 : S Ge 28:17; Ac 7:33*
13. Exodus 3:6 : S Ge 24:12; S Ex 4:5; Mt 22:32*; Mk 12:26*; Lk 20:37*; Ac 3:13; 7:32*
14. Exodus 3:6 : 1Ki 19:13
15. Exodus 3:6 : Ex 24:11; 33:20; Jdg 13:22; Job 13:11; 23:16; 30:15; Isa 6:5
16. Exodus 3:7 : 1Sa 9:16
17. Exodus 3:7 : ver 16; S Ge 16:11; 1Sa 1:11; Ne 9:9; Ps 106:44
18. Exodus 3:7 : S Ex 2:25; Ac 7:34*
19. Exodus 3:7 : S Ex 1:10
20. Exodus 3:8 : S Ge 11:5; Ac 7:34*
21. Exodus 3:8 : S Ge 12:7; S 15:14
22. Exodus 3:8 : ver 17; Ex 13:5; 33:3; Lev 20:24; Nu 13:27; Dt 1:25; 6:3; 8:7-9; 11:9; 26:9; 27:3; Jos 5:6; Jer 11:5; 32:22; Eze 20:6
23. Exodus 3:8 : Jos 11:3; Jdg 3:3; 2Sa 24:7
24. Exodus 3:8 : S Ge 15:18-21; Ezr 9:1
25. Exodus 3:9 : S Ex 1:14; S Nu 10:9
26. Exodus 3:10 : Ex 4:12; Jos 24:5; 1Sa 12:8; Ps 105:26; Ac 7:34*
27. Exodus 3:10 : Ex 6:13, 26; 12:41, 51; 20:2; Dt 4:20; 1Sa 12:6; 1Ki 8:16; Mic 6:4
28. Exodus 3:11 : Ex 4:10; 6:12, 30; Jdg 6:15; 1Sa 9:21; 15:17; 18:18; 2Sa 7:18; 2Ch 2:6; Isa 6:5; Jer 1:6
29. Exodus 3:12 : S Ge 26:3; S Ex 14:22; Ro 8:31
30. Exodus 3:12 : Nu 26:10; Jos 2:12; Jdg 6:17; Ps 86:17; Isa 7:14; 8:18; 20:3; Jer 44:29
31. Exodus 3:12 : S ver 1; Ac 7:7
32. Exodus 3:13 : S Ge 32:29
33. Exodus 3:14 : Ex 6:2-3; Jn 8:58; Heb 13:8; Rev 1:8; 4:8
34. Exodus 3:15 : Ge 31:42; Da 2:23
35. Exodus 3:15 : S Ge 24:12
36. Exodus 3:15 : Ex 6:3, 7; 15:3; 23:21; 34:5-7; Lev 24:11; Dt 28:58; Ps 30:4; 83:18; 96:2; 97:12; 135:13; 145:21; Isa 42:8; Jer 16:21; 33:2; Hos 12:5
37. Exodus 3:15 : Ps 45:17; 72:17; 102:12