Old Testament Lesson

Exod. 3:1-12 (NRSV)

Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian; he led his
flock beyond the wilderness, and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. 2There the angel
of the LORD appeared to him in a flame of fire out of a bush; he looked, and the bush was
blazing, yet it was not consumed. 3Then Moses said, 'I must turn aside and look at this
great sight, and see why the bush is not burned up.' 4When the LORD saw that he had turned
aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, 'Moses, Moses!' And he said, 'Here I am.'
5Then he said, 'Come no closer! Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place on which
you are standing is holy ground.' 6He said further, 'I am the God of your 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 at God.

7 Then the LORD said, 'I have observed the misery of my people who are in Egypt; I have
heard their cry on account of their taskmasters. Indeed, I know their sufferings, 8and I have
come down to deliver them from the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land to a
good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey, to the country of the Canaanites,
the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. 9The cry of the
Israelites has now come to me; I have also seen how the Egyptians oppress them. 10So come, I
will send you to Pharaoh to bring my people, the Israelites, out of Egypt.'

11 But Moses said to God, 'Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh, and bring the Israelites out
of Egypt?' 12He said, 'I will be with you; and this shall be the sign for you that it is I who sent
you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall worship God on this
mountain.'

The Word of the Lord.

Thanks be to God.