I AM

Exodus 3

The Burning Bush

¹Now Moses was pasturing the flock of ^(A)Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian; and he led the flock to the west side of the wilderness and came to ^(B)Horeb, the ^(C)mountain of God.

^2(D)The angel of the LORD appeared to him in a blazing fire from the midst of a ^(E)bush; and he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, yet the bush was not consumed.

³So Moses said, "^(F)I must turn aside now and see this marvelous sight, why the bush is not burned up."

⁴When the LORD saw that he turned aside to look, ^(G)God called to him from the midst of the bush and said, "Moses, Moses!" And he said, "Here I am."

⁵Then He said, "Do not come near here; ^(H)remove your sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground."

⁶He said also, "^(I)I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob " ^(J)Then Moses hid his face, for he was ^(K)afraid to look at God.

⁷The LORD said, "I have surely ^(L)seen the affliction of My people who are in Egypt, and have given heed to their cry because of their taskmasters, for I am aware of their sufferings.

⁸"So I have come down ^(M)to deliver them from the power of the Egyptians, and to bring them up from that land to a ^(N)good and spacious land, to a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of ^(O)the Canaanite and the Hittite and the Amorite and the Perizzite and the Hivite and the Jebusite.

⁹"Now, behold, ^(P)the cry of the sons of Israel has come to Me; furthermore, I have seen the oppression with which the Egyptians are oppressing them.

The Mission of Moses

¹⁰"Therefore, come now, and I will send you to Pharaoh, ^(Q)so that you may bring My people, the sons of Israel, out of Egypt."

¹¹But Moses said to God, "^(R)Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should bring the sons of Israel out of Egypt?"

¹²And He said, "Certainly ^(S)I will be with you, and this shall be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: ^(T)when you have brought the people out of Egypt, ^(U)you shall worship God at this mountain."

¹³Then Moses said to God, "Behold, I am going to the sons of Israel, and I will say to them, 'The God of your fathers has sent me to you.' Now they may say to me, 'What is His name?' What shall I say to them?"

¹⁴God said to Moses, "^[a](V)I AM WHO I AM"; and He said, "Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, 'I AM has sent me to you.'"

¹⁵God, furthermore, said to Moses, "Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, '^(W)The LORD, 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 ^(X)memorial-name to all generations.