24. One day he saw an Egyptian ill-treating one of them. So he rescued the man and killed the Egyptian.
25. Moses thought the rest of his people would realize that God was going to use him to set them free. But they didn't understand.
26. The next day Moses saw two of his own people fighting, and he tried to make them stop. He said, “Men, you are both Israelites. Why are you so cruel to each other?”
27. But the man who had started the fight pushed Moses aside and asked, “Who made you our ruler and judge?
28. Are you going to kill me, just as you killed that Egyptian yesterday?”
29. When Moses heard this, he ran away to live in the country of Midian. His two sons were born there.
30. Forty years later, an angel appeared to Moses from a burning bush in the desert near Mount Sinai.
31. Moses was surprised by what he saw. He went closer to get a better look, and the Lord said,
32. “I am the God who was worshipped by your ancestors, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.” Moses started shaking all over and didn't dare to look at the bush.
33. The Lord said to him, “Take off your sandals. The place where you are standing is holy.
34. With my own eyes I have seen the suffering of my people in Egypt. I have heard their groans and have come down to rescue them. Now I am sending you back to Egypt.”
35. This was the same Moses that the people rejected by saying, “Who made you our leader and judge?” God's angel had spoken to Moses from the bush. And God had even sent the angel to help Moses rescue the people and be their leader.