The Burning Bush

1 Now Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro, the priest of Midian, and he led his flock to the west side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the ^wmountain of God. 2 ^xAnd ^ythe angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush. He looked, and behold, the bush was burning, yet it was not consumed. 3 And Moses said, “I will turn aside to see this great sight, why the bush is not burned.” 4 When the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, ^zGod called to him ^aout of the bush, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.” 5 Then he said, “Do not come near; ^btake your sandals off your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.” 6 And he said, ^c“I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” And Moses hid his face, for ^dhe was afraid to look at God.

7 Then the Lord said, ^e“I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their cry because of their ^ftaskmasters. I know their sufferings, 8 and ^gI have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians and ^hto bring them up out of that land to a ⁱgood and broad land, a land ^jflowing with milk and honey, to the place of ^kthe Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. 9 And now, behold, ^lthe cry of the people of Israel has come to me, and I have also seen the ^moppression with which the Egyptians oppress them. 10 ⁿCome, I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.” 11 But Moses said to God, ^o“Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?” 12 He said, ^p“But I will be with you, and this shall be the sign for you, that I have sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, ^qyou shall serve God on this mountain.”

13 Then Moses said to God, “If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what shall I say to them?” 14 God said to Moses, “I am who I am.”¹ And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel: ^r‘I am has sent me to you.’” 15 God also said to Moses, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘The Lord,² the ^sGod of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.’ This is ^tmy name forever, and thus I am to be remembered throughout all generations.

Praise the Name of the Lord

Greeting

1 ^aPaul, Silvanus, and Timothy,

To the church of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ:

2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Thanksgiving

3 ^bWe ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers,¹ as is right, because your faith is growing abundantly, and the love of every one of you for one another is increasing. 4 Therefore ^cwe ourselves boast about you ^din the churches of God for your steadfastness and faith ^ein all your persecutions and in the afflictions that you are enduring.

The Judgment at Christ’s Coming

5 This is ^fevidence of the righteous judgment of God, that you may be ^gconsidered worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you are also suffering— 6 since indeed God considers it ^hjust ⁱto repay with affliction those who afflict you, 7 and to grant ^jrelief to you who are afflicted as well as to us, when ^kthe Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven ^lwith his mighty angels 8 ^min flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those ⁿwho do not know God and on those who ^odo not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. 9 They will suffer the punishment of ^peternal destruction, ^qaway from² the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might, 10 ^rwhen he comes on ^sthat day ^tto be glorified in his saints, and to be marveled at among all who have believed, because our ^utestimony to you ^vwas believed. 11 To this end we ^walways pray for you, that our God may ^xmake you worthy of his calling and may fulfill every resolve for good and every ^ywork of faith by his power, 12 so that the name of our Lord Jesus ^zmay be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Sadducees Ask About the Resurrection

27 There came to him ^wsome Sadducees, ^xthose who deny that there is a resurrection, 28 and they asked him a question, saying, “Teacher, Moses wrote for us ^ythat if a man’s brother dies, having a wife but no children, the man¹ must take the widow and raise up offspring for his brother. 29 Now there were seven brothers. The first took a wife, and died without children. 30 And the second 31 and the third took her, and likewise all seven left no children and died. 32 Afterward the woman also died. 33 In the resurrection, therefore, whose wife will the woman be? For the seven had her as wife.”

34 And Jesus said to them, ^z“The sons of this age ^amarry and ^aare given in marriage, 35 but those who are ^bconsidered worthy to attain to ^cthat age and to the resurrection from the dead ^dneither marry ^dnor are given in marriage, 36 for ^ethey cannot die anymore, because they are ^fequal to angels and ^gare ^hsons of God, being ⁱsons² of the resurrection. 37 But that the dead are raised, ^jeven Moses showed, in ^kthe passage about the bush, where he calls ^lthe Lord the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. 38 Now he is not God of the dead, but of the living, for all ^mlive to him.” 39 Then some of the scribes ⁿanswered, “Teacher, you have spoken well.” 40 For ^othey no longer dared to ask him any question.