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Exodus · World English Bible (Classic, with Deuterocanon)

Exodus 3 World English Bible (Classic, with Deuterocanon)

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  • Protestant
  • OT: Masoretic Hebrew
  • NT: Majority (Byzantine) text
  • All books (ecumenical)
  • Formal (word for word)
  • 2020
  • Public domain

Audio: World English Bible (WEB), read by Winfred W. Henson · About the recordings

Notes on this text (1)

1 Now Moses was keeping the flock of Jethro, his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the back of the wilderness, and came to God’s mountain, to Horeb. 2 Yahweh’s angel appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the middle of a bush. He looked, and behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed. 3 Moses said, “I will go now, and see this great sight, why the bush is not burned.” 4 When Yahweh saw that he came over to see, God called to him out of the middle of the bush, and said, “Moses! Moses!” He said, “Here I am.” 5 He said, “Don’t come close. Take off your sandals, for the place you are standing on is holy ground.” 6 Moreover he said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” Moses hid his face because he was afraid to look at God. 7 Yahweh said, “I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt, and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters, for I know their sorrows. 8 I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land to a good and large land, to a land flowing with milk and honey; to the place of the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite. 9 Now, behold, the cry of the children of Israel has come to me. Moreover I have seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them. 10 Come now therefore, and I will send you to Pharaoh, that you may bring my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.” 11 Moses said to God, “Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?” 12 He said, “Certainly I will be with you. This will be the token to you, that I have sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain.” 13 Moses said to God, “Behold, when I come to the children of Israel, and tell them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what should I tell them?” 14 God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM,” and he said, “You shall tell the children of Israel this: ‘I AM has sent me to you.’” 15 God said moreover to Moses, “You shall tell the children of Israel this, ‘Yahweh, 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, and this is my memorial to all generations. 16 Go and gather the elders of Israel together, and tell them, ‘Yahweh, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, has appeared to me, saying, “I have surely visited you, and seen that which is done to you in Egypt. 17 I have said, I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt to the land of the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite, to a land flowing with milk and honey.”’ 18 They will listen to your voice. You shall come, you and the elders of Israel, to the king of Egypt, and you shall tell him, ‘Yahweh, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us. Now please let us go three days’ journey into the wilderness, that we may sacrifice to Yahweh, our God.’ 19 I know that the king of Egypt won’t give you permission to go, no, not by a mighty hand. 20 I will reach out my hand and strike Egypt with all my wonders which I will do among them, and after that he will let you go. 21 I will give this people favor in the sight of the Egyptians, and it will happen that when you go, you shall not go empty-handed. 22 But every woman shall ask of her neighbor, and of her who visits her house, jewels of silver, jewels of gold, and clothing. You shall put them on your sons, and on your daughters. You shall plunder the Egyptians.”

People & places in this chapter

From this site's family tree and Bible maps, only where those guides cite this chapter.

People

  • Moses

    Deliverer and lawgiver

    Drawn from the Nile, he led Israel out of Egypt and received God's Law.

    Cited in the guide: Exodus 2–Deuteronomy 34

  • Jethro

    Priest of Midian; Moses' father-in-law

    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

    Today: Sinai Peninsula (traditional site)

    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 1 Kings 19:8; Psalm 78:70–72; Exodus 17:6; Numbers 10:29; Judges 4:11
  2. 2 Acts 7:30–35; Isaiah 43:2; Deuteronomy 33:16; Mark 12:26; Luke 20:37
  3. 3 Acts 7:31; Psalm 107:8; Job 37:14; Psalm 111:2–4
  4. 4 Deuteronomy 33:16; Genesis 22:11; Genesis 46:2; 1 Samuel 3:6; 1 Samuel 3:4
  5. 5 Joshua 5:15; Acts 7:33; Exodus 19:12; Ecclesiastes 5:1; Hebrews 12:20
  6. 6 Luke 20:37; Matthew 22:32; Exodus 4:5; Mark 12:26; Acts 7:32
  7. 7 Psalm 145:19; Psalm 106:44; Exodus 2:23–25; Psalm 34:6; Exodus 22:23
  8. 8 Genesis 50:24; Genesis 15:18–21; Exodus 3:17; Exodus 13:5; Deuteronomy 1:25
  9. 9 Proverbs 22:22–23; Exodus 2:23; Exodus 1:11; Exodus 1:13–14; Exodus 3:7
  10. 10 Micah 6:4; Isaiah 63:11–12; 1 Samuel 12:6; Psalm 105:26; Acts 7:34
  11. 11 1 Samuel 18:18; Exodus 6:12; 2 Corinthians 3:5; Jeremiah 1:6; 2 Corinthians 2:16
  12. 12 Joshua 1:5; Romans 8:31; Isaiah 41:10; Deuteronomy 31:23; Genesis 31:3
  13. 13 Proverbs 30:4; Isaiah 9:6; Matthew 1:21; Isaiah 7:14; Exodus 3:14
  14. 14 John 8:58; Hebrews 13:8; Revelation 1:8; Psalm 90:2; Isaiah 44:6
  15. 15 Genesis 17:7–8; Hebrews 13:8; Hosea 12:5; Malachi 3:6; Micah 4:5
  16. 16 Psalm 8:4; Exodus 4:31; Exodus 4:29; Genesis 50:24; Acts 15:14
  17. 17 Genesis 15:13–21; Exodus 3:8–9; Genesis 50:24; Exodus 2:23–25; Genesis 46:4
  18. 18 Exodus 9:1; Exodus 7:16; Exodus 10:24–26; Exodus 9:13; Numbers 23:15–16
  19. 19 Exodus 5:2; Exodus 6:1; Psalm 136:11–12; Exodus 7:1–14; Isaiah 63:12–13
  20. 20 Acts 7:36; Nehemiah 9:10; Deuteronomy 6:22; Exodus 9:15; Exodus 6:6
  21. 21 Exodus 12:36; Exodus 11:3; Psalm 105:37; Proverbs 16:7; Psalm 106:46
  22. 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).

  1. Quotes verse 3:6 Justin Martyr, First Apology (Chapters LXII–LXV)

    … 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 …

    Read in context · Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1 (1885)

  2. Quotes verse 3:14 Irenaeus of Lyons, Against Heresies (Book III, Chapter VI)

    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.

    Read in context · Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1 (1885)

  3. Quotes verse 3:14 Augustine of Hippo, The City of God (Book VIII, Chapters 9–11)

    … 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)

  4. Quotes verse 3:6 Cyril of Jerusalem, Catechetical Lectures (Lecture VII)

    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)

  5. Quotes verse 3:14 Gregory of Nazianzus, Theological Orations (The Fourth Theological Oration, Which is the Second Concerning the Son)

    … 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)