One Year Pray for the Persecuted Bible - Flipbook - Page 101
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19 “An Egyptian rescued us from the shepherds,” they answered. “And then he drew
water for us and watered our flocks.”
20 “Then where is he?” their father asked.
“Why did you leave him there? Invite him to
come and eat with us.”
21
Moses accepted the invitation, and he
settled there with him. In time, Reuel gave
Moses his daughter Zipporah to be his wife.
22 Later she gave birth to a son, and M
oses
named him Gershom,* for he explained, “I
have been a foreigner in a foreign land.”
23 Years passed, and the king of Egypt died.
But the Israelites continued to groan under
their burden of slavery. They cried out for
help, and their cry rose up to God. 24 God heard
their groaning, and he remembered his cov
enant promise to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
25 He looked down on the people of Israel and
knew it was time to act.*
3:1 One
day M
oses was tending the flock of his
father-in-law, Jethro,* the priest of Midian. He
led the flock far into the wilderness and came
to Sinai,* the mountain of God. 2 There the
angel of the Lord appeared to him in a blazing
fire from the middle of a bush. M
oses stared
in amazement. Though the bush was engulfed
in flames, it didn’t burn up. 3 “This is amazing,”
Moses said to himself. “Why isn’t that bush
burning up? I must go see it.”
4 When the Lord saw
Moses coming to
take a closer look, God called to him from the
middle of the bush, “Moses! M
oses!”
“Here I am!” Moses replied.
5 “Do not come any closer,” the Lord warned.
“Take off your sandals, for you are standing on
holy ground. 6 I am the God of your father*—
the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and
the God of Jacob.” When M
oses heard this, he
covered his face because he was afraid to look
at God.
7 Then the Lord told him, “I have certainly
seen the oppression of my people in Egypt. I
have heard their cries of distress because of
their harsh slave drivers. Yes, I am aware of
their suffering. 8 So I have come down to rescue them from the power of the Egyptians
and lead them out of Egypt into their own
fertile and spacious land. It is a land flowing with milk and honey—the land where
the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites,
Hivites, and Jebusites now live. 9 Look! The cry
of the people of Israel has reached me, and I
have seen how harshly the Egyptians abuse
them. 10 Now go, for I am sending you to Pha
raoh. You must lead my people Israel out of
Egypt.”
January 26
11 But Moses protested to God, “Who am I to
appear before Pharaoh? Who am I to lead the
people of Israel out of Egypt?”
12 God answered, “I will be with you. And
this is your sign that I am the one who has
sent you: When you have brought the people
out of Egypt, you will worship God at this very
mountain.”
13 But Moses protested, “If I go to the people
of Israel and tell them, ‘The God of your ancestors has sent me to you,’ they will ask me,
‘What is his name?’ Then what should I tell
them?”
14 God replied to M
oses, “I Am Who I Am.*
Say this to the people of Israel: I Am has sent
me to you.” 15 God also said to Moses, “Say this
to the people of Israel: Yahweh,* the God of
your a ncestors—the God of Abraham, the
God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob—has sent
me to you.
This is my eternal name,
my name to remember for all
generations.
16 “Now go and call together all the elders
of Israel. Tell them, ‘Yahweh, the God of your
ancestors—the God of Abraham, Isaac, and
Jacob—has appeared to me. He told me, “I
have been watching closely, and I see how the
Egyptians are treating you. 17 I have promised
to rescue you from your oppression in Egypt.
I will lead you to a land flowing with milk
and honey—the land where the Canaanites,
Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and
Jebusites now live.”’
18 “The elders of Israel will accept your message. Then you and the elders must go to the
king of Egypt and tell him, ‘The Lord, the God
of the Hebrews, has met with us. So please let
us take a three-day journey into the wilderness to offer sacrifices to the Lord, our God.’
19 “But I know that the king of Egypt will not
let you go unless a mighty hand forces him.*
20 So I will raise my hand and strike the Egyptians, performing all kinds of miracles among
them. Then at last he will let you go. 21 And I
will cause the Egyptians to look favorably on
you. They will give you gifts when you go so
you will not leave empty-handed. 22 Every Is
raelite woman will ask for articles of silver
and gold and fine clothing from her Egyptian neighbors and from the foreign women
in their houses. You will dress your sons and
daughters with these, stripping the Egyptians
of their wealth.”
2:22 Gershom sounds like a Hebrew term that means “a
foreigner there.” 2:25 Or and acknowledged his obligation
3:1a Moses’ father-in-law went by two names,
to help them.
Jethro and Reuel. 3:1b Hebrew Horeb, another name for Sinai.
