Now Moses, tending the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian, drove the flock into the wilderness, and came to Horeb, the mountain of God.
An angel of the LORD appeared to him in a blazing fire out of a bush. He gazed, and there was a bush all aflame, yet the bush was not consumed.
Moses said, “I must turn aside to look at this marvelous sight; why doesn’t the bush burn up?”
When the LORD saw that he had turned aside to look, God called to him out of the bush: “Moses! Moses!” He answered, “Here I am.”
And [God] said, “Do not come closer! Remove your sandals from your feet, for the place on which you stand is holy ground!”
“I am,” He said, “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.
And the LORD continued, “I have marked well the plight of My people in Egypt and have heeded their outcry because of their taskmasters; yes, I am mindful of their sufferings.
I have come down to rescue them from the Egyptians and to bring them out of that land to a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey, the region of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites.
Now the cry of the Israelites has reached Me; moreover, I have seen how the Egyptians oppress them.
Come, therefore, I will send you to Pharaoh, and you shall free My people, the Israelites, from Egypt.”
COME, THEREFORE, AND I WILL SEND YOU TO PHARAOH — And if you ask “What will this accomplish?” YOU SHALL FREE MY PEOPLE — your words will prove effective and you will bring them forth from there.
But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and free the Israelites from Egypt?”
WHO AM I? — Of what importance am I that I should speak with monarchs?
AND FREE THE ISRAELITES — and even if I am of sufficient importance (to try to speak with Pharaoh), how has Israel merited that a miracle should be performed for them so that I can bring them out of Egypt?
מי אנכי כי אלך וגו'. פי' אפי' בשליחות שאינה הפך רצונו כי איני חשוב לדבר לפני מלך ומאמצעות כן לא יאמן בשליחותו ויסתכן שהאדם בעל בחירה ורצון....
WHO AM I? Moses meant that even if he wanted to accept such a mission he was not qualified to speak up in front of a king. Seeing that he lacked that self-confidence his mission was unlikely to succeed....
WHO AM I - I'm not worthy even to to bring him gifts and offerings. How could I be worthy to enter his royal court when I'm just a foreigner?
And [God] said, “I will be with you; that shall be your sign that it was I who sent you. And when you have freed the people from Egypt, you shall worship God at this mountain.”
But Moses spoke up and said, “What if they do not believe me and do not listen to me, but say: The LORD did not appear to you?”
[God gives Moses wonders to perform to convince the Israelites]
But Moses said to the LORD, “Please, O Lord, I have never been a man of words, either in times past or now that You have spoken to Your servant; I am slow of speech and slow of tongue.”
And the LORD said to him, “Who gives man speech? Who makes him dumb or deaf, seeing or blind? Is it not I, the LORD?
Now go, and I will be with you as you speak and will instruct you what to say.”
But he said, “Please, Lord, send someone else.”
The LORD became angry with Moses, and He said, “There is your brother Aaron the Levite. He, I know, speaks readily. Even now he is setting out to meet you, and he will be happy to see you.
You shall speak to him and put the words in his mouth—I will be with you and with him as you speak, and tell both of you what to do—
In the year that King Uzziah died, I beheld the Lord seated on a high and lofty throne; and the skirts of God’s robe filled the temple.
And one would call to the other,
“Holy, holy, holy!
GOD of Hosts—
Whose presence fills all the earth!”
וקרא זה אל זה. נוטלין רשות זה מזה שלא יקדים האחד ויתחיל... אלא אם כן פתחו כולם כאחד....
And one called to the other They would take permission from one another so that one would not start before the others, so they all started at the same time....
I cried,
“Woe is me; I am lost!
For I am a man of impure lips
And I live among a people
Of impure lips;
Yet my own eyes have beheld
The Sovereign GOD of Hosts.”
“Now that this has touched your lips,
Your guilt shall depart
And your sin be purged away.”
ויגע על פי וגו'. וסר עונך מזה ליסרך לכפר עונך שחירפת את ישראל וגדול כחו שהמלאך ירא לקחתה כ"א במלקחים והגיעה על שפתי הנביא ולא הוזק....
And he caused it to touch my mouth... “...and your iniquity shall be removed” ...The angel was afraid to take it without tongs, yet he caused it to touch the prophet’s lip, and he was not injured....
Then I heard the voice of God saying, “Whom shall I send? Who will go for us?” And I said, “Here am I; send me.”
Before you were born, I consecrated you;
I appointed you a prophet concerning the nations.
I replied:
Ah, my Sovereign GOD !
I don’t know how to speak,
For I am just a kid.
for I am just a kid - I am not worthy to reprove them. Moses reproved them shortly before his death, when he was already esteemed in their eyes through the many miracles that he had performed for them. He had taken them out of Egypt, split the Reed Sea for them, brought down the manna, caused the quails to fly, given them the Torah, brought up the well. I come to reprove them at the beginning of my mission.
Do not say, “I am still a boy,”
But go wherever I send you
And speak whatever I command you.
Have no fear of them,
For I am with you to deliver you
—declares GOD.
GOD reached out and touched my mouth, and GOD said to me: Herewith I put My words into your mouth.
So you, gird up your loins,
Arise and speak to them
All that I command you.
Do not break down before them,
Lest I break you before them.
They will attack you,
But they shall not overcome you;
For I am with you—declares GOD —to save you.