One day, while Moses was
watching the sheep of his father-in-law, he saw a bush that was all on fire but
which did not burn. Moses said: “I shall
go and see why the bush is not destroyed by the fire.”
The Lord Himself
appeared to Moses in the flame of fire.
He said: “I am the God of you fathers. I have seen how my people are
suffering in Egypt. I know how they are
made to suffer. I have heard their
prayer and I have come to free them from the Egyptians. I will take them into the Land of Promise.”
The Lord went on: “Go to
the ruler of Egypt and ask him to let you take my people, the children of
Israel out of Egypt.”
But Moses answered: “Who
am I? How can I do this?”
The Lord said: “I will
be with you. You will say to the children of Israel. “The Lord God of your fathers, the God of
Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob sent me to you, and they will
listen to your voice.”
Moses then told the Lord
that it was very hard for him to speak to other people. The Lord said: “Who made man’s mouth? Did I
not? Go, and I will tell you what to say.”
The Lord sent Aaron with
Moses, saying: “I will be in your mouth and in his mouth; and I will show you
what you must do.”
Moses and Aaron went to
the king of Egypt. They asked that their
people might go into the desert to offer sacrifices to the Lord. But the king said: “I do not know the Lord. And I will not let Israel go.”
The king of Egypt would
not let the Jews go. He sent Moses and
Aaron away and the Jews were made to work harder and harder. But again, the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:
“Go and speak once more to the king of Egypt.
Ask him to let the children of Israel go out of his land.
But the king would not
listen.
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