Reading 1.
The mission of Moses
Yahweh then said, 'I have indeed seen the misery of
my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying for help on
account of their taskmasters. Yes, I am well aware of their
sufferings. And I have come down to rescue them from the
clutches of the Egyptians and bring them up out of that
country, to a country rich and broad, to a country flowing
with milk and honey, to the home of the Canaanites, the
Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites and the
Jebusites. Yes indeed, the Israelites' cry for help has
reached me, and I have also seen the cruel way in which
the Egyptians are oppressing them. So now I am sending
you to Pharaoh, for you to bring my people the Israelites
out of Egypt.'
Moses said to God, 'Who am I to go to Pharaoh and
bring the Israelites out of Egypt?' 'I shall be with you,'
God said, 'and this is the sign by which you will know
that I was the one who sent you. After you have led the
people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain.'
The divine name revealed
Moses then said to God, 'Look, if I go to the Israelites and
say to them, "The God of your ancestors has sent me to you,"
and they say to me, "What is his name?" what am I
to tell them?' God said to Moses, "I AM THAT I AM.' And
he said, 'This is what you are to say to the Israelites,
"I AM has sent me to you."'
