1 Now Moses kept the flock of Jethro his father in law, the priest of Midian: and he led the flock to the backside of the desert, and came to the mountain of God, even to Horeb.
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1 Now Moses kept the flock of Jethro his father in law, the priest of Midian: and he led the flock to the backside of the desert, and came to the mountain of God, even to Horeb.
One day, when Moses was watching the sheep of Jethro [1], his father-in-law, he came to God's mountain, Horeb.
2 And the angel of the LORD appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush: and he looked, and, behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed.
And the angel of God appeared to him in a burning bush. [2]
3 And Moses said, I will now turn aside, and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt.
Moses said (to himself),
I'm going to see why the bush isn't burning up.
4 And when the LORD saw that he turned aside to see, God called unto him out of the midst of the bush, and said, Moses, Moses. And he said, Here am I.
God saw that Moses was walking over to see the burning bush, so he called out from the bush, saying,
Moses, Moses.
5 And he said, Draw not nigh hither: put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground.
Take your shoes off, because you're standing on holy ground.
6 Moreover he said, I am the God of thy 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 upon God.
I'm your father's God, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
Moses was afraid to look at God, so he hid his face.
7 And the LORD said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters; for I know their sorrows;
I have seen the affliction of my people in Egypt and I have heard their cry.
8 And I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land unto a good land and a large, unto a land flowing with milk and honey; unto the place of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites.
9 Now therefore, behold, the cry of the children of Israel is come unto me: and I have also seen the oppression wherewith the Egyptians oppress them.
I have come down to deliver them from the Egyptians, and bring them to a land flowing with milk and honey, which is now occupied by other people.
10 Come now therefore, and I will send thee unto Pharaoh, that thou mayest bring forth my people the children of Israel out of Egypt.
So I'm going to send you to Pharaoh, so that you can lead my people out of Egypt.
11 And Moses said unto God, Who am I, that I should go unto Pharaoh, and that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt?
Who am I to talk to Pharaoh and lead the Israelites out of Egypt?
12 And he said, Certainly I will be with thee; and this shall be a token unto thee, that I have sent thee: When thou hast brought forth the people out of Egypt, ye shall serve God upon this mountain.
I'll be with you. Here's a token for you -- when you bring the people out of Egypt, you'll serve me on this mountain.
13 And Moses said unto God, Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, What is his name? what shall I say unto them?
When the Israelites ask me what your name is, what should I tell them?
14 And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.
15 And God said moreover unto Moses, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, the LORD God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath sent me unto you: this is my name for ever, and this is my memorial unto all generations.
God said,
I AM THAT I AM. [3]Say to the Israelites,
I AM has sent me to you.This is my name forever.
16 Go, and gather the elders of Israel together, and say unto them, The LORD God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, appeared unto me, saying, I have surely visited you, and seen that which is done to you in Egypt:
17 And I have said, I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt unto the land of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, unto a land flowing with milk and honey.
Go and say this to the elders of Israel,God appeared to me and said,I have visited you and have seen what was done to you in Egypt.I will bring you out of Egypt and into a land flowing with milk and honey.
18 And they shall hearken to thy voice: and thou shalt come, thou and the elders of Israel, unto the king of Egypt, and ye shall say unto him, The LORD God of the Hebrews hath met with us: and now let us go, we beseech thee, three days' journey into the wilderness, that we may sacrifice to the LORD our God.
They will listen to you, and you will go to the king of Egypt and say to him,
The God of the Hebrews met with us.Now let us go into the wilderness for three days to offer sacrifice to our God.
19 And I am sure that the king of Egypt will not let you go, no, not by a mighty hand.
I am sure the king of Egypt will not let you go.
20 And I will stretch out my hand, and smite Egypt with all my wonders which I will do in the midst thereof: and after that he will let you go.
So I will stretch out my hand and smite Egypt with all my wonders.Then he'll let you go.
21 And I will give this people favour in the sight of the Egyptians: and it shall come to pass, that, when ye go, ye shall not go empty.
22 But every woman shall borrow of her neighbour, and of her that sojourneth in her house, jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and raiment: and ye shall put them upon your sons, and upon your daughters; and ye shall spoil the Egyptians.
And when you leave Egypt, you won't go away empty.
Every Hebrew woman will steal from her Egyptian neighbor - jewels, silver, gold, and clothing. [4]
You'll put all that stuff on your sons and daughters.
God tells the Hebrew women to break the eighth commandment. (Or the seventh if you're Catholic.)
The Hebrew women are instructed to steal from the Egyptians as they go. Given the nature of this particular book, the men are considered the fighters of the two sexes. Are we to presume that the women are using covert operations to sneak around and lift things out from under the Egyptians' noses? ...or are they fighting their way to the loot? It's not clear from this particular chapter. Certainly, "jewels of silver...and gold, and raiment" would be difficult to acquire if all that's happening is a move out of Egypt.