Moyses autem pascebat oves Jethro soceri sui sacerdotis Madian: cumque minasset gregem ad interiora deserti, venit ad montem Dei Horeb.

Now Moses fed the sheep of Jethro his father in law, the priest of Madian: and he drove the flock to the inner parts of the desert, and came to the mountain of God, Horeb.

Moses, in the meanwhile, had married the daughter of Jethro, priest of Madian, and was doing shepherd’s work for him. Deep into the desert he led his flock, till he reached God’s own mountain of Horeb.

Apparuitque ei Dominus in flamma ignis de medio rubi: et videbat quod rubus arderet, et non combureretur.

And the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush: and he saw that the bush was on fire and was not burnt.

And here the Lord revealed himself through a flame that rose up from the midst of a bush; it seemed that the bush was alight, yet did not burn.

Dixit ergo Moyses: Vadam, et videbo visionem hanc magnam, quare non comburatur rubus.

And Moses said: I will go and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt.

Here is a great sight, said Moses, I must go up and see more of it, a bush that does not waste by burning.

Cernens autem Dominus quod pergeret ad videndum, vocavit eum de medio rubi, et ait: Moyses, Moyses. Qui respondit: Adsum.

And when the Lord saw that he went forward to see, he called to him out of the midst of the bush, and said: Moses, Moses. And he answered: Here I am.

But now, as he saw him coming up to look closer, the Lord called to him from the midst of the bush, Moses Moses; and when he answered, I am here, at thy command,

At ille: Ne appropies, inquit, huc: solve calceamentum de pedibus tuis: locus enim, in quo stas, terra sancta est.

And he said: Come not nigh hither, put off the shoes from thy feet: for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground.

he was told, Do not come nearer; rather take the shoes from thy feet, thou art standing on holy ground.

Et ait: Ego sum Deus patris tui, Deus Abraham, Deus Isaac et Deus Jacob. Abscondit Moyses faciem suam: non enim audebat aspicere contra Deum.

And he said: I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. Moses hid his face: for he durst not look at God.

Then he said, I am the God thy father worshipped, the God of Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob. And Moses hid his face; he dared not look on the open sight of God.

Cui ait Dominus: Vidi afflictionem populi mei in Ægypto, et clamorem ejus audivi propter duritiam eorum qui præsunt operibus:

And the Lord said to him: I have seen the affliction of my people in Egypt, and I have heard their cry because of the rigour of them that are over the works:

I have not been blind, the Lord told him, to the oppression which my people endures in Egypt, I have listened to their complaints about the cruelty of the men who are in charge of their work.

et sciens dolorem ejus, descendi ut liberem eum de manibus Ægyptiorum, et educam de terra illa in terram bonam, et spatiosam, in terram quæ fluit lacte et melle, ad loca Chananæi et Hethæi, et Amorrhæi, et Pherezæi, et Hevæi, et Jebusæi.

And knowing their sorrow, I am come down to deliver them out of the hands of the Egyptians, and to bring them out of that land into a good and spacious land, into a land that floweth with milk and honey, to the places of the Chanaanite, and Hethite, and Amorrhite, and Pherezite, and Hevite, and Jebusite.

I know what their sufferings are, and I have come down to rescue them from the power of the Egyptians; to take them away into a fruitful land and large, a land that is all milk and honey, where the Chanaanites dwell, and the Hethites, and the Amorrhites, and the Pherezites, and the Hevites, and the Jebusites.

Clamor ergo filiorum Israël venit ad me: vidique afflictionem eorum, qua ab Ægyptiis opprimuntur.

For the cry of the children of Israel is come unto me: and I have seen their affliction, wherewith they are oppressed by the Egyptians.

Yes, the cry of Israel’s race has reached my ears, I have watched how their Egyptian oppressors ill-treat them.

Sed veni, et mittam te ad Pharaonem, ut educas populum meum, filios Israël, de Ægypto.

But come, and I will send thee to Pharao, that thou mayst bring forth my people, the children of Israel out of Egypt.

Up, I have an errand for thee at Pharao’s court; thou art to lead my people, the sons of Israel, away out of Egypt.

Dixitque Moyses ad Deum: Quis sum ego ut vadam ad Pharaonem, et educam filios Israël de Ægypto?

And Moses said to God: Who am I that I should go to Pharao, and should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt?

At this, Moses said to God, Ah, who am I, that thou shouldst send me to Pharao? Who am I that I should lead the sons of Israel out of Egypt?

Qui dixit ei: Ego ero tecum: et hoc habebis signum, quod miserim te: cum eduxeris populum meum de Ægypto, immolabis Deo super montem istum.

And he said to him: I will be with thee: and this thou shalt have for a sign, that I have sent thee: When thou shalt have brought my people out of Egypt, thou shalt offer sacrifice to God upon this mountain.

I will be with thee, God said to him. And here is a sign for thee, that thy mission comes from me; when thou hast brought my people out of Egypt, thou wilt find thyself offering sacrifice to God on this mountain.

Ait Moyses ad Deum: Ecce ego vadam ad filios Israël, et dicam eis: Deus patrum vestrorum misit me ad vos. Si dixerint mihi: Quod est nomen ejus? quid dicam eis?

Moses said to God: Lo, I shall go to the children of Israel, and say to them: The God of your fathers hath sent me to you. If they should say to me: What is his name? what shall I say to them?

But Moses still pleaded with God: How if I appear before the Israelites with the message that the God of their fathers has sent me to them, and they ask me, What is his name? What answer shall I make?

Dixit Deus ad Moysen: Ego sum qui sum. Ait: Sic dices filiis Israël: Qui est, misit me ad vos.

God said to Moses: I AM WHO AM. He said: Thus shalt thou say to the children of Israel: HE WHO IS, hath sent me to you.

And God said to Moses, I am the God who IS; thou shalt tell the Israelites, THE GOD WHO IS has sent me to you.

Dixitque iterum Deus ad Moysen: Hæc dices filiis Israël: Dominus Deus patrum vestrorum, Deus Abraham, Deus Isaac et Deus Jacob, misit me ad vos: hoc nomen mihi est in æternum, et hoc memoriale meum in generationem et generationem.

And God said again to Moses: Thus shalt thou say to the children of Israel: The Lord God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath sent me to you: This is my name for ever, and this is my memorial unto all generations.

And he charged Moses again, That is what thou shalt tell the sons of Israel, that he who bears this name, the God of their fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob has sent thee to them, and this is the name he will be known by for ever; it shall stand recorded, age after age.

Vade, et congrega seniores Israël, et dices ad eos: Dominus Deus patrum vestrorum apparuit mihi, Deus Abraham, Deus Isaac et Deus Jacob, dicens: Visitans visitavi vos: et vidi omnia quæ acciderunt vobis in Ægypto.

Go, gather together the ancients of Israel, and thou shalt say to them: The Lord God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath appeared to me, saying: Visiting I have visited you: and I have seen all that hath befallen you in Egypt.

Go then, and summon the elders of Israel to meet thee. Tell them that the Lord, the God of their fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob has appeared to thee, with this message: Day after day I have watched, and seen all that has befallen you in Egypt.

Et dixi ut educam vos de afflictione Ægypti in terram Chananæi, et Hethæi, et Amorrhæi, et Pherezæi, et Hevæi, et Jebusæi, ad terram fluentem lacte et melle.

And I have said the word to bring you forth out of the affliction of Egypt, into the land of the Chanaanite, the Hethite, and the Amorrhite, and Pherezite, and Hevite, and Jebusite, to a land that floweth with milk and honey.

And now I mean to take you away from Egypt, where it goes so hard with you, into the land of the Chanaanites, the Hethites, the Amorrhites, the Pherezites, the Hevites, and the Jebusites; a land that is all milk and honey.

Et audient vocem tuam: ingredierisque tu, et seniores Israël, ad regem Ægypti, et dices ad eum: Dominus Deus Hebræorum vocavit nos: ibimus viam trium dierum in solitudinem, ut immolemus Domino Deo nostro.

And they shall hear thy voice: and thou shalt go in, thou and the ancients of Israel, to the king of Egypt, and thou shalt say to him: The Lord God of the Hebrews hath called us: we will go three days’ journey into the wilderness, to sacrifice unto the Lord our God.

The elders of Israel will give thee a good hearing; and with them thou shalt make thy way into the king of Egypt’s presence. The Lord God of the Hebrews, thou shalt tell him, has summoned us to go out three days’ march into the desert, and there we must offer sacrifice to the Lord our God.

Sed ego scio quod non dimittet vos rex Ægypti ut eatis nisi per manum validam.

But I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go, but by a mighty hand.

I know well enough that the king of Egypt will not let you go, except under strong compulsion;

Extendam enim manum meam, et percutiam Ægyptum in cunctis mirabilibus meis, quæ facturus sum in medio eorum: post hæc dimittet vos.

For I will stretch forth my hand, and will strike Egypt with all my wonders which I will do in the midst of them: after these he will let you go.

I must needs exert my power, and smite the Egyptians with all the portents I mean to do among them, before he will give you leave.

Daboque gratiam populo huic coram Ægyptiis: et cum egrediemini, non exibitis vacui:

And I will give favour to this people, in the sight of the Egyptians: and when you go forth, you shall not depart empty:

And I will let you have your way with the Egyptians; when you go you shall not go empty-handed.

sed postulabit mulier a vicina sua et ab hospita sua, vasa argentea et aurea, ac vestes: ponetisque eas super filios et filias vestras, et spoliabitis Ægyptum.

But every woman shall ask of her neighbour, and of her that is in her house, vessels of silver and of gold, and raiment: and you shall put them on your sons and daughters, and shall spoil Egypt.

Each woman shall claim from her neighbour, or from some woman that lodges with her, gold and silver trinkets, and clothes to dress your sons and daughters in; such toll you shall take of the Egyptians.