Moses

Then, when the child had grown some, she brought him to Pharaoh's daughter; and she began to raise him as her son. She called him Moshe [pull out], explaining, "Because I pulled him out of the water."

One day, when Moshe was a grown man, he went out to visit his kinsmen; and he watched them struggling at forced labor. He saw an Egyptian strike a Hebrew, one of his kinsmen.

He retorted, "Who appointed you ruler and judge over us? Do you intend to kill me the way you killed the Egyptian?" Moshe became frightened. "Clearly," he thought, "the matter has become known."

When Pharaoh heard of it, he tried to have Moshe put to death. But Moshe fled from Pharaoh to live in the land of Midyan. One day, as he was sitting by a well,

when the shepherds came and tried to drive them away. But Moshe got up and defended them; then he watered their sheep.

Moshe was glad to stay on with the man, and he gave Moshe his daughter Tzipporah in marriage.

Now Moshe was tending the sheep of Yitro his father-in-law, the priest of Midyan. Leading the flock to the far side of the desert, he came to the mountain of God, to Horev.

Moshe said, "I'm going to go over and see this amazing sight and find out why the bush isn't being burned up."

When ADONAI saw that he had gone over to see, God called to him from the middle of the bush, "Moshe! Moshe!" He answered, "Here I am."

I am the God of your father," he continued, "the God of Avraham, the God of Yitz'chak and the God of Ya'akov." Moshe covered his face, because he was afraid to look at God.

Moshe said to God, "Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh and lead the people of Isra'el out of Egypt?"

Moshe said to God, "Look, when I appear before the people of Isra'el and say to them, 'The God of your ancestors has sent me to you'; and they ask me, 'What is his name?' what am I to tell them?"

God said to Moshe, "Ehyeh Asher Ehyeh [I am/will be what I am/will be]," and added, "Here is what to say to the people of Isra'el: 'Ehyeh [I Am or I Will Be] has sent me to you.'"

God said further to Moshe, "Say this to the people of Isra'el: 'Yud-Heh-Vav-Heh [ADONAI], the God of your fathers, the God of Avraham, the God of Yitz'chak and the God of Ya'akov, has sent me to you.'This is my name forever; this is how I am to be remembered generation after generation.

Moshe replied, "But I'm certain they won't believe me, and they won't listen to what I say, because they'll say, 'ADONAI did not appear to you.'"

He said, "Throw it on the ground!" and he threw it on the ground. It turned into a snake, and Moshe recoiled from it.

Then ADONAI said to Moshe, "Put your hand out and take it by the tail." He reached out with his hand and took hold of it, and it became a staff in his hand.

Moshe said to ADONAI, "Oh, Adonai, I'm a terrible speaker. I always have been, and I'm no better now, even after you've spoken to your servant! My words come slowly, my tongue moves slowly."

At this, ADONAI's anger blazed up against Moshe; he said, "Don't you have a brother, Aharon the Levi? I know that he's a good speaker. In fact, here he is now, coming out to meet you; and he'll be happy to see you.

Moshe left, returned to Yitro his father-in-law and said to him, "I beg you to let me go and return to my kinsmen in Egypt, to see if they are still alive." Yitro said to Moshe, "Go in peace."

ADONAI said to Moshe in Midyan, "Go on back to Egypt, because all the men who wanted to kill you are dead."

So Moshe took his wife and sons, put them on a donkey, and started out for Egypt. Moshe took God's staff in his hand.

ADONAI said to Moshe, "When you get back to Egypt, make sure that you do before Pharaoh every one of the wonders I have enabled you to do. Nevertheless, I am going to make him hardhearted, and he will refuse to let the people go.

ADONAI said to Aharon, "Go into the desert to meet Moshe." He went, met him at the mountain of God and kissed him.

Moshe told him everything ADONAI had said in sending him, including all the signs he had ordered him to perform.