The Bible in Basic English BBE
Good News Translation GNT
1 Now Moses was looking after the flock of Jethro, his father-in-law, the priest of Midian: and he took the flock to the back of the waste land and came to Horeb, the mountain of God.
1
One day while Moses was taking care of the sheep and goats of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian, he led the flock across the desert and came to Sinai, the holy mountain.
2 And the angel of the Lord was seen by him in a flame of fire coming out of a thorn-tree: and he saw that the tree was on fire, but it was not burned up.
2
There the angel of the Lord appeared to him as a flame coming from the middle of a bush. Moses saw that the bush was on fire but that it was not burning up.
3 And Moses said, I will go and see this strange thing, why the tree is not burned up,
3
"This is strange," he thought. "Why isn't the bush burning up? I will go closer and see."
4 And when the Lord saw him turning to one side to see, God said his name out of the tree, crying, Moses, Moses. And he said, Here am I.
4
When the Lord saw that Moses was coming closer, he called to him from the middle of the bush and said, "Moses! Moses!" He answered, "Yes, here I am."
5 And he said, Do not come near: take off your shoes from your feet, for the place where you are is holy.
5
God said, "Do not come any closer. Take off your sandals, because you are standing on holy ground.
6 And he said, I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. And Moses kept his face covered for fear of looking on God.
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I am the God of your ancestors, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob." So Moses covered his face, because he was afraid to look at God.
7 And God said, Truly, I have seen the grief of my people in Egypt, and their cry because of their cruel masters has come to my ears; for I have knowledge of their sorrows;
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Then the Lord said, "I have seen how cruelly my people are being treated in Egypt; I have heard them cry out to be rescued from their slave drivers. I know all about their sufferings,
8 And I have come down to take them out of the hands of the Egyptians, guiding them out of that land into a good land and wide, into a land flowing with milk and honey; into the place of the Canaanite and the Hittite and the Amorite and the Perizzite and the Hivite and the Jebusite.
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and so I have come down to rescue them from the Egyptians and to bring them out of Egypt to a spacious land, one which is rich and fertile and in which the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites now live.
9 For now, truly, the cry of the children of Israel has come to me, and I have seen the cruel behaviour of the Egyptians to them.
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I have indeed heard the cry of my people, and I see how the Egyptians are oppressing them.
10 Come, then, and I will send you to Pharaoh, so that you may take my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.
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Now I am sending you to the king of Egypt so that you can lead my people out of his country."
11 And Moses said to God, Who am I to go to Pharaoh and take the children of Israel out of Egypt?
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But Moses said to God, "I am nobody. How can I go to the king and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?"
12 And he said, Truly I will be with you; and this will be the sign to you that I have sent you: when you have taken the children of Israel out of Egypt, you will give worship to God on this mountain.
12
God answered, "I will be with you, and when you bring the people out of Egypt, you will worship me on this mountain. That will be the proof that I have sent you."
13 And Moses said to God, When I come to the children of Israel and say to them, The God of your fathers has sent me to you: and they say to me, What is his name? what am I to say to them?
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But Moses replied, "When I go to the Israelites and say to them, "The God of your ancestors sent me to you,' they will ask me, "What is his name?' So what can I tell them?"
14 And God said to him, I AM WHAT I AM: and he said, Say to the children of Israel, I AM has sent me to you.
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God said, "I am who I am. You must tell them: "The one who is called I AM has sent me to you.'
15 And God went on to say to Moses, Say to the children of Israel, The Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, has sent me to you: this is my name for ever, and this is my sign to all generations.
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Tell the Israelites that I, the Lord, the God of their ancestors, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, have sent you to them. This is my name forever; this is what all future generations are to call me.
16 Go and get together the chiefs of the children of Israel, and say to them, The Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, has been seen by me, and has said, Truly I have taken up your cause, because of what is done to you in Egypt;
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Go and gather the leaders of Israel together and tell them that I, the Lord, the God of their ancestors, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, appeared to you. Tell them that I have come to them and have seen what the Egyptians are doing to them.
17 And I have said, I will take you up out of the sorrows of Egypt into the land of the Canaanite and the Hittite and the Amorite and the Perizzite and the Hivite and the Jebusite, into a land flowing with milk and honey.
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I have decided that I will bring them out of Egypt, where they are being treated cruelly, and will take them to a rich and fertile land - the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites.
18 And they will give ear to your voice: and you, with the chiefs of Israel, will go to Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, and say to him, The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, has come to us: let us then go three days' journey into the waste land to make an offering to the Lord our God.
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"My people will listen to what you say to them. Then you must go with the leaders of Israel to the king of Egypt and say to him, "The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, has revealed himself to us. Now allow us to travel three days into the desert to offer sacrifices to the Lord, our God.'
19 And I am certain that the king of Egypt will not let you go without being forced.
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I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go unless he is forced to do so.
20 But I will put out my hand and overcome Egypt with all the wonders which I will do among them: and after that he will let you go.
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But I will use my power and will punish Egypt by doing terrifying things there. After that he will let you go.
21 And I will give this people grace in the eyes of the Egyptians, so that when you go out you will go out with your hands full.
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"I will make the Egyptians respect you so that when my people leave, they will not go empty-handed.
22 For every woman will get from her neighbour and from the woman living in her house, ornaments of silver and gold, and clothing; and you will put them on your sons and your daughters; you will take the best of their goods from the Egyptians.
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Every Israelite woman will go to her Egyptian neighbors and to any Egyptian woman living in her house and will ask for clothing and for gold and silver jewelry. The Israelites will put these things on their sons and daughters and carry away the wealth of the Egyptians."
The Bible in Basic English is in the public domain.
Scripture taken from the Good News Translation - Second Edition, Copyright 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.