1 And Moses tended the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian. And he led the flock behind the wilderness, and came to the mountain of God — to Horeb. 2 And the Angel of Jehovah appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a thorn-bush: and he looked, and behold, the thorn-bush burned with fire, and the thorn-bush was not being consumed. 3 And Moses said, Let me now turn aside and see this great sight, why the thorn-bush is not burnt. 4 And Jehovah saw that he turned aside to see, and God called to him out of the midst of the thorn-bush and said, Moses, Moses! And he said, Here am I. 5 And he said, Draw not nigh hither: loose thy sandals from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground. 6 And he said, I am the God of thy 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. 7 And Jehovah said, I have seen assuredly the affliction of my people who are in Egypt, and their cry have I heard on account of their taskmasters; for I know their sorrows. 8 And I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land unto a good and spacious land, unto a land flowing with milk and honey, unto the place of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites. 9 And now behold, the cry of the children of Israel is come unto me; and I have also seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them. 10 And now come, and I will send thee unto Pharaoh, that thou mayest bring forth my people the children of Israel out of Egypt. 11 And Moses said to God, Who am I, that I should go unto Pharaoh, and that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt? 12 And he said, For I will be with thee; and this shall be the sign to thee that I have sent thee: when thou hast brought forth the people out of Egypt, ye shall serve God upon this mountain. 13 And Moses said to God, Behold, [when] I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say, What is his name? what shall I say unto them? 14 And God said to Moses, I AM THAT I AM. And he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel: I AM hath sent me unto you. 15 And God said moreover to Moses, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel: Jehovah, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath sent me unto you. This is my name for ever, and this is my memorial unto all generations. 16 Go and gather the elders of Israel together, and say unto them, Jehovah the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, hath appeared to me, saying, I have indeed visited you, and [seen] that which is done unto you in Egypt; 17 and I have said, I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt, unto the land of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, unto a land flowing with milk and honey. 18 And they shall hearken to thy voice. And thou shalt come, thou and the elders of Israel, unto the king of Egypt, and ye shall say unto him, Jehovah, the God of the Hebrews, hath met with us; and now, let us go, we pray thee, three days' journey into the wilderness, that we may sacrifice to Jehovah our God. 19 But I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go, no, not by a powerful hand. 20 And I will stretch out my hand and smite Egypt with all my wonders which I will do in the midst thereof; and after that he will let you go. 21 And I will give this people favour in the eyes of the Egyptians, and it shall come to pass, when ye go out, that ye shall not go out empty; 22 but every woman shall ask of her neighbour, and of her that is the inmate of her house, utensils of silver, and utensils of gold, and clothing; and ye shall put [them] on your sons and on your daughters, and shall spoil the Egyptians.
Exodus 3 Darby Translation
Audio: World English Bible (WEB), read by Winfred W. Henson · About the recordings
People & places in this chapter
From this site's family tree and Bible maps, only where those guides cite this chapter.
People
Moses
Drawn from the Nile, he led Israel out of Egypt and received God's Law.
Cited in the guide: Exodus 2–Deuteronomy 34
Jethro
The priest of Midian, also called Reuel, who gave his daughter Zipporah to Moses, brought her and her two sons to Moses at the mountain of God, and advised him to appoint capable…
Cited in the guide: Exodus 2:18; Exodus 3:1; Exodus 18:1
Places
Mount Sinai
The location is strongly debated — traditional Jebel Musa in the southern Sinai Peninsula is only one of several proposals (approximate location). It is where the Law was given.
Cited in the guide: Exodus 19:20; Exodus 3:1; Exodus 24:12
Cross references (22)
Related passages for each verse, from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge as collected and ranked by readers at OpenBible.info.
- 1 1 Kings 19:8; Psalm 78:70–72; Exodus 17:6; Numbers 10:29; Judges 4:11
- 2 Acts 7:30–35; Isaiah 43:2; Deuteronomy 33:16; Mark 12:26; Luke 20:37
- 3 Acts 7:31; Psalm 107:8; Job 37:14; Psalm 111:2–4
- 4 Deuteronomy 33:16; Genesis 22:11; Genesis 46:2; 1 Samuel 3:6; 1 Samuel 3:4
- 5 Joshua 5:15; Acts 7:33; Exodus 19:12; Ecclesiastes 5:1; Hebrews 12:20
- 6 Luke 20:37; Matthew 22:32; Exodus 4:5; Mark 12:26; Acts 7:32
- 7 Psalm 145:19; Psalm 106:44; Exodus 2:23–25; Psalm 34:6; Exodus 22:23
- 8 Genesis 50:24; Genesis 15:18–21; Exodus 3:17; Exodus 13:5; Deuteronomy 1:25
- 9 Proverbs 22:22–23; Exodus 2:23; Exodus 1:11; Exodus 1:13–14; Exodus 3:7
- 10 Micah 6:4; Isaiah 63:11–12; 1 Samuel 12:6; Psalm 105:26; Acts 7:34
- 11 1 Samuel 18:18; Exodus 6:12; 2 Corinthians 3:5; Jeremiah 1:6; 2 Corinthians 2:16
- 12 Joshua 1:5; Romans 8:31; Isaiah 41:10; Deuteronomy 31:23; Genesis 31:3
- 13 Proverbs 30:4; Isaiah 9:6; Matthew 1:21; Isaiah 7:14; Exodus 3:14
- 14 John 8:58; Hebrews 13:8; Revelation 1:8; Psalm 90:2; Isaiah 44:6
- 15 Genesis 17:7–8; Hebrews 13:8; Hosea 12:5; Malachi 3:6; Micah 4:5
- 16 Psalm 8:4; Exodus 4:31; Exodus 4:29; Genesis 50:24; Acts 15:14
- 17 Genesis 15:13–21; Exodus 3:8–9; Genesis 50:24; Exodus 2:23–25; Genesis 46:4
- 18 Exodus 9:1; Exodus 7:16; Exodus 10:24–26; Exodus 9:13; Numbers 23:15–16
- 19 Exodus 5:2; Exodus 6:1; Psalm 136:11–12; Exodus 7:1–14; Isaiah 63:12–13
- 20 Acts 7:36; Nehemiah 9:10; Deuteronomy 6:22; Exodus 9:15; Exodus 6:6
- 21 Exodus 12:36; Exodus 11:3; Psalm 105:37; Proverbs 16:7; Psalm 106:46
- 22 Ezekiel 39:10; Exodus 11:2; Psalm 105:37; Exodus 12:35–36; Genesis 15:14
Cross references: OpenBible.info (CC BY), drawn mainly from the public-domain Treasury of Scripture Knowledge. · Sources & licences
What the Fathers said
Passages from the Church Fathers that expound or quote this chapter, verbatim from the public-domain Schaff edition (19th-century English translations).
How these were chosen
“Commentary” is the opening of a homily or exposition on this chapter (John Chrysostom’s homilies, Augustine’s tractates, sermons and expositions of the Psalms). “Quotes” are sentences where the edition’s own footnotes identify a quotation of a verse here, kept only when the wording matches the verse. Only works whose authorship is not in doubt are used. Psalms follow the Hebrew/English numbering (Augustine numbers them as the Septuagint does: his Psalm 50 is Psalm 51 here).
… spake to Moses, in a flame of fire out of the bush, and said, I am that I am, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob, the God of thy fathers; go down into Egypt, and bring forth My people." And if you wish to learn what follows, you can do so from the same …
And thus shalt thou say to the children of Israel: He who is, hath sent me unto you;" and His Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who makes those that believe in His name the sons of God.
… what was the name of that God who was commanding him to go and deliver the Hebrew people out of Egypt, this answer was given: "I am who am; and thou shalt say to the children of Israel, He who is sent me unto you;" as though compared with Him that truly is, because He is unchangeable, those things which …
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 2 (1887)
We worship, therefore, as the Father of Christ, the Maker of heaven and earth, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; to whose honour the former temple also, over against us here, was built.
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 2, vol. 7 (1894)
… of His Essence; and of these especially He Who Is, not only because when He spake to Moses in the mount, and Moses asked what His Name was, this was what He called Himself, bidding him say to the people "I Am hath sent me," but also because we find that this Name is the more strictly appropriate.
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 2, vol. 7 (1894)