There the angel of the Lord(A) appeared to him in flames of fire(B) from within a bush.(C) Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up. So Moses thought, “I will go over and see this strange sight—why the bush does not burn up.”

When the Lord saw that he had gone over to look, God called(D) to him from within the bush,(E) “Moses! Moses!”

And Moses said, “Here I am.”(F)

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

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

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

12 And God said, “I will be with you.(Y) And this will be the sign(Z) 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.(AA)

13 Moses 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?’(AB) Then what shall I tell them?”

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

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

“This is my name(AF) forever,
    the name you shall call me
    from generation to generation.(AG)

16 “Go, assemble the elders(AH) of Israel and say to them, ‘The Lord, the God of your fathers—the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob(AI)—appeared to me and said: I have watched over you and have seen(AJ) what has been done to you in Egypt. 17 And I have promised to bring you up out of your misery in Egypt(AK) into the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites—a land flowing with milk and honey.’(AL)

18 “The elders of Israel will listen(AM) 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,(AN) has met(AO) with us. Let us take a three-day journey(AP) into the wilderness to offer sacrifices(AQ) to the Lord our God.’ 19 But I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go unless a mighty hand(AR) compels him. 20 So I will stretch out my hand(AS) and strike the Egyptians with all the wonders(AT) that I will perform among them. After that, he will let you go.(AU)

21 “And I will make the Egyptians favorably disposed(AV) toward this people, so that when you leave you will not go empty-handed.(AW) 22 Every woman is to ask her neighbor and any woman living in her house for articles of silver(AX) and gold(AY) and for clothing, which you will put on your sons and daughters. And so you will plunder(AZ) the Egyptians.”(BA)

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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.

And the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush: and he looked, and, behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed.

And Moses said, I will now turn aside, and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt.

And when the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, God called unto him out of the midst of the bush, and said, Moses, Moses. And he said, Here am I.

And he said, Draw not nigh hither: put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground.

Moreover 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 upon God.

And the Lord said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters; for I know their sorrows;

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 land and a large, 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.

Now therefore, behold, the cry of the children of Israel is come unto me: and I have also seen the oppression wherewith the Egyptians oppress them.

10 Come now therefore, 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 unto 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, Certainly I will be with thee; and this shall be a token unto 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 unto 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 to me, What is his name? what shall I say unto them?

14 And God said unto 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 unto Moses, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, the Lord 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, The Lord God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, appeared unto me, saying, I have surely visited you, and seen that which is done to 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, The Lord God of the Hebrews hath met with us: and now let us go, we beseech thee, three days' journey into the wilderness, that we may sacrifice to the Lord our God.

19 And I am sure that the king of Egypt will not let you go, no, not by a mighty 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 sight of the Egyptians: and it shall come to pass, that, when ye go, ye shall not go empty.

22 But every woman shall borrow of her neighbour, and of her that sojourneth in her house, jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and raiment: and ye shall put them upon your sons, and upon your daughters; and ye shall spoil the Egyptians.

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32 Listen,(A) you heavens,(B) and I will speak;
    hear, you earth, the words of my mouth.(C)
Let my teaching fall like rain(D)
    and my words descend like dew,(E)
like showers(F) on new grass,
    like abundant rain on tender plants.

I will proclaim(G) the name of the Lord.(H)
    Oh, praise the greatness(I) of our God!
He is the Rock,(J) his works are perfect,(K)
    and all his ways are just.
A faithful God(L) who does no wrong,
    upright(M) and just is he.(N)

They are corrupt and not his children;
    to their shame they are a warped and crooked generation.(O)
Is this the way you repay(P) the Lord,
    you foolish(Q) and unwise people?(R)
Is he not your Father,(S) your Creator,[a]
    who made you and formed you?(T)

Remember the days of old;(U)
    consider the generations long past.(V)
Ask your father and he will tell you,
    your elders, and they will explain to you.(W)
When the Most High(X) gave the nations their inheritance,
    when he divided all mankind,(Y)
he set up boundaries(Z) for the peoples
    according to the number of the sons of Israel.[b](AA)
For the Lord’s portion(AB) is his people,
    Jacob his allotted inheritance.(AC)

10 In a desert(AD) land he found him,
    in a barren and howling waste.(AE)
He shielded(AF) him and cared for him;
    he guarded him as the apple of his eye,(AG)
11 like an eagle that stirs up its nest
    and hovers over its young,(AH)
that spreads its wings to catch them
    and carries them aloft.(AI)
12 The Lord alone led(AJ) him;(AK)
    no foreign god was with him.(AL)

13 He made him ride on the heights(AM) of the land
    and fed him with the fruit of the fields.
He nourished him with honey from the rock,(AN)
    and with oil(AO) from the flinty crag,
14 with curds and milk from herd and flock
    and with fattened lambs and goats,
with choice rams of Bashan(AP)
    and the finest kernels of wheat.(AQ)
You drank the foaming blood of the grape.(AR)

15 Jeshurun[c](AS) grew fat(AT) and kicked;
    filled with food, they became heavy and sleek.
They abandoned(AU) the God who made them
    and rejected the Rock(AV) their Savior.
16 They made him jealous(AW) with their foreign gods
    and angered(AX) him with their detestable idols.
17 They sacrificed(AY) to false gods,(AZ) which are not God—
    gods they had not known,(BA)
    gods that recently appeared,(BB)
    gods your ancestors did not fear.
18 You deserted the Rock, who fathered you;
    you forgot(BC) the God who gave you birth.

19 The Lord saw this and rejected them(BD)
    because he was angered by his sons and daughters.(BE)
20 “I will hide my face(BF) from them,” he said,
    “and see what their end will be;
for they are a perverse generation,(BG)
    children who are unfaithful.(BH)
21 They made me jealous(BI) by what is no god
    and angered me with their worthless idols.(BJ)
I will make them envious by those who are not a people;
    I will make them angry by a nation that has no understanding.(BK)
22 For a fire will be kindled by my wrath,(BL)
    one that burns down to the realm of the dead below.(BM)
It will devour(BN) the earth and its harvests(BO)
    and set afire the foundations of the mountains.(BP)

23 “I will heap calamities(BQ) on them
    and spend my arrows(BR) against them.
24 I will send wasting famine(BS) against them,
    consuming pestilence(BT) and deadly plague;(BU)
I will send against them the fangs of wild beasts,(BV)
    the venom of vipers(BW) that glide in the dust.(BX)
25 In the street the sword will make them childless;
    in their homes terror(BY) will reign.(BZ)
The young men and young women will perish,
    the infants and those with gray hair.(CA)
26 I said I would scatter(CB) them
    and erase their name from human memory,(CC)
27 but I dreaded the taunt of the enemy,
    lest the adversary misunderstand(CD)
and say, ‘Our hand has triumphed;
    the Lord has not done all this.’”(CE)

28 They are a nation without sense,
    there is no discernment(CF) in them.
29 If only they were wise and would understand this(CG)
    and discern what their end will be!(CH)
30 How could one man chase a thousand,
    or two put ten thousand to flight,(CI)
unless their Rock had sold them,(CJ)
    unless the Lord had given them up?(CK)
31 For their rock is not like our Rock,(CL)
    as even our enemies concede.(CM)
32 Their vine comes from the vine of Sodom(CN)
    and from the fields of Gomorrah.
Their grapes are filled with poison,(CO)
    and their clusters with bitterness.(CP)
33 Their wine is the venom of serpents,
    the deadly poison of cobras.(CQ)

34 “Have I not kept this in reserve
    and sealed it in my vaults?(CR)
35 It is mine to avenge;(CS) I will repay.(CT)
    In due time their foot will slip;(CU)
their day of disaster is near
    and their doom rushes upon them.(CV)

36 The Lord will vindicate his people(CW)
    and relent(CX) concerning his servants(CY)
when he sees their strength is gone
    and no one is left, slave(CZ) or free.[d]
37 He will say: “Now where are their gods,
    the rock they took refuge in,(DA)
38 the gods who ate the fat of their sacrifices
    and drank the wine of their drink offerings?(DB)
Let them rise up to help you!
    Let them give you shelter!

39 “See now that I myself am he!(DC)
    There is no god besides me.(DD)
I put to death(DE) and I bring to life,(DF)
    I have wounded and I will heal,(DG)
    and no one can deliver out of my hand.(DH)
40 I lift my hand(DI) to heaven and solemnly swear:
    As surely as I live forever,(DJ)
41 when I sharpen my flashing sword(DK)
    and my hand grasps it in judgment,
I will take vengeance(DL) on my adversaries
    and repay those who hate me.(DM)
42 I will make my arrows drunk with blood,(DN)
    while my sword devours flesh:(DO)
the blood of the slain and the captives,
    the heads of the enemy leaders.”

43 Rejoice,(DP) you nations, with his people,[e][f]
    for he will avenge the blood of his servants;(DQ)
he will take vengeance on his enemies(DR)
    and make atonement for his land and people.(DS)

44 Moses came with Joshua[g](DT) son of Nun and spoke all the words of this song in the hearing of the people. 45 When Moses finished reciting all these words to all Israel, 46 he said to them, “Take to heart all the words I have solemnly declared to you this day,(DU) so that you may command(DV) your children to obey carefully all the words of this law. 47 They are not just idle words for you—they are your life.(DW) By them you will live long(DX) in the land you are crossing the Jordan to possess.”

Moses to Die on Mount Nebo

48 On that same day the Lord told Moses,(DY) 49 “Go up into the Abarim(DZ) Range to Mount Nebo(EA) in Moab, across from Jericho,(EB) and view Canaan,(EC) the land I am giving the Israelites as their own possession. 50 There on the mountain that you have climbed you will die(ED) and be gathered to your people, just as your brother Aaron died(EE) on Mount Hor(EF) and was gathered to his people. 51 This is because both of you broke faith with me in the presence of the Israelites at the waters of Meribah Kadesh(EG) in the Desert of Zin(EH) and because you did not uphold my holiness among the Israelites.(EI) 52 Therefore, you will see the land only from a distance;(EJ) you will not enter(EK) the land I am giving to the people of Israel.”

Footnotes

  1. Deuteronomy 32:6 Or Father, who bought you
  2. Deuteronomy 32:8 Masoretic Text; Dead Sea Scrolls (see also Septuagint) sons of God
  3. Deuteronomy 32:15 Jeshurun means the upright one, that is, Israel.
  4. Deuteronomy 32:36 Or and they are without a ruler or leader
  5. Deuteronomy 32:43 Or Make his people rejoice, you nations
  6. Deuteronomy 32:43 Masoretic Text; Dead Sea Scrolls (see also Septuagint) people, / and let all the angels worship him, /
  7. Deuteronomy 32:44 Hebrew Hoshea, a variant of Joshua

32 Give ear, O ye heavens, and I will speak; and hear, O earth, the words of my mouth.

My doctrine shall drop as the rain, my speech shall distil as the dew, as the small rain upon the tender herb, and as the showers upon the grass:

Because I will publish the name of the Lord: ascribe ye greatness unto our God.

He is the Rock, his work is perfect: for all his ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he.

They have corrupted themselves, their spot is not the spot of his children: they are a perverse and crooked generation.

Do ye thus requite the Lord, O foolish people and unwise? is not he thy father that hath bought thee? hath he not made thee, and established thee?

Remember the days of old, consider the years of many generations: ask thy father, and he will shew thee; thy elders, and they will tell thee.

When the Most High divided to the nations their inheritance, when he separated the sons of Adam, he set the bounds of the people according to the number of the children of Israel.

For the Lord's portion is his people; Jacob is the lot of his inheritance.

10 He found him in a desert land, and in the waste howling wilderness; he led him about, he instructed him, he kept him as the apple of his eye.

11 As an eagle stirreth up her nest, fluttereth over her young, spreadeth abroad her wings, taketh them, beareth them on her wings:

12 So the Lord alone did lead him, and there was no strange god with him.

13 He made him ride on the high places of the earth, that he might eat the increase of the fields; and he made him to suck honey out of the rock, and oil out of the flinty rock;

14 Butter of kine, and milk of sheep, with fat of lambs, and rams of the breed of Bashan, and goats, with the fat of kidneys of wheat; and thou didst drink the pure blood of the grape.

15 But Jeshurun waxed fat, and kicked: thou art waxen fat, thou art grown thick, thou art covered with fatness; then he forsook God which made him, and lightly esteemed the Rock of his salvation.

16 They provoked him to jealousy with strange gods, with abominations provoked they him to anger.

17 They sacrificed unto devils, not to God; to gods whom they knew not, to new gods that came newly up, whom your fathers feared not.

18 Of the Rock that begat thee thou art unmindful, and hast forgotten God that formed thee.

19 And when the Lord saw it, he abhorred them, because of the provoking of his sons, and of his daughters.

20 And he said, I will hide my face from them, I will see what their end shall be: for they are a very froward generation, children in whom is no faith.

21 They have moved me to jealousy with that which is not God; they have provoked me to anger with their vanities: and I will move them to jealousy with those which are not a people; I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation.

22 For a fire is kindled in mine anger, and shall burn unto the lowest hell, and shall consume the earth with her increase, and set on fire the foundations of the mountains.

23 I will heap mischiefs upon them; I will spend mine arrows upon them.

24 They shall be burnt with hunger, and devoured with burning heat, and with bitter destruction: I will also send the teeth of beasts upon them, with the poison of serpents of the dust.

25 The sword without, and terror within, shall destroy both the young man and the virgin, the suckling also with the man of gray hairs.

26 I said, I would scatter them into corners, I would make the remembrance of them to cease from among men:

27 Were it not that I feared the wrath of the enemy, lest their adversaries should behave themselves strangely, and lest they should say, Our hand is high, and the Lord hath not done all this.

28 For they are a nation void of counsel, neither is there any understanding in them.

29 O that they were wise, that they understood this, that they would consider their latter end!

30 How should one chase a thousand, and two put ten thousand to flight, except their Rock had sold them, and the Lord had shut them up?

31 For their rock is not as our Rock, even our enemies themselves being judges.

32 For their vine is of the vine of Sodom, and of the fields of Gomorrah: their grapes are grapes of gall, their clusters are bitter:

33 Their wine is the poison of dragons, and the cruel venom of asps.

34 Is not this laid up in store with me, and sealed up among my treasures?

35 To me belongeth vengeance and recompence; their foot shall slide in due time: for the day of their calamity is at hand, and the things that shall come upon them make haste.

36 For the Lord shall judge his people, and repent himself for his servants, when he seeth that their power is gone, and there is none shut up, or left.

37 And he shall say, Where are their gods, their rock in whom they trusted,

38 Which did eat the fat of their sacrifices, and drank the wine of their drink offerings? let them rise up and help you, and be your protection.

39 See now that I, even I, am he, and there is no god with me: I kill, and I make alive; I wound, and I heal: neither is there any that can deliver out of my hand.

40 For I lift up my hand to heaven, and say, I live for ever.

41 If I whet my glittering sword, and mine hand take hold on judgment; I will render vengeance to mine enemies, and will reward them that hate me.

42 I will make mine arrows drunk with blood, and my sword shall devour flesh; and that with the blood of the slain and of the captives, from the beginning of revenges upon the enemy.

43 Rejoice, O ye nations, with his people: for he will avenge the blood of his servants, and will render vengeance to his adversaries, and will be merciful unto his land, and to his people.

44 And Moses came and spake all the words of this song in the ears of the people, he, and Hoshea the son of Nun.

45 And Moses made an end of speaking all these words to all Israel:

46 And he said unto them, Set your hearts unto all the words which I testify among you this day, which ye shall command your children to observe to do, all the words of this law.

47 For it is not a vain thing for you; because it is your life: and through this thing ye shall prolong your days in the land, whither ye go over Jordan to possess it.

48 And the Lord spake unto Moses that selfsame day, saying,

49 Get thee up into this mountain Abarim, unto mount Nebo, which is in the land of Moab, that is over against Jericho; and behold the land of Canaan, which I give unto the children of Israel for a possession:

50 And die in the mount whither thou goest up, and be gathered unto thy people; as Aaron thy brother died in mount Hor, and was gathered unto his people:

51 Because ye trespassed against me among the children of Israel at the waters of MeribahKadesh, in the wilderness of Zin; because ye sanctified me not in the midst of the children of Israel.

52 Yet thou shalt see the land before thee; but thou shalt not go thither unto the land which I give the children of Israel.