Exodus 3:1-6, 9-12
1Now Moses was pasturing the sheep of his father-in-law Jethro, a priest of Midian. And when he had driven the flock into the interior of the desert, he came to the mountain of God, Horeb. 2And the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire from the midst of a bush. And he saw that the bush was burning and was not burnt. 3Therefore, Moses said, “I will go and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt.” 4Then the Lord, discerning that he proceeded on to see it, called to him from the midst of the bush, and he said, “Moses, Moses.” And he responded, “Here I am.” 5And he said: “Lest you should approach here, remove the shoes from your feet. For the place on which you stand is holy ground.” 6And he said, “I am the God of your father: the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” Moses hid his face, for he dared not look directly at God. 7And the Lord said to him: “I have seen the affliction of my people in Egypt, and I have heard their outcry because of the harshness of those who are over the works. 8And knowing their sorrow, I have descended in order to free them from the hands of the Egyptians, and to lead them from that land into a good and spacious land, into a land which flows with milk and honey, to the places of the Canaanite, and Hittite, and Amorite, and Perizzite, and Hivite, and Jebusite. 9And so, the outcry of the sons of Israel has come to me. And I have seen their affliction, with which they are oppressed by the Egyptians. 10But come, and I will send you to Pharaoh, so that you may lead my people, the sons of Israel, out of Egypt.” 11And Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and that I should lead the sons of Israel out of Egypt?” 12And he said to him: “I will be with you. And you will have this as a sign that I have sent you: When you will have brought my people out of Egypt, you will offer sacrifice to God upon this mountain.”