23. “When Moses was about forty years old, he thought it would be good to visit his own people, the people of Israel.
24. Moses saw an Egyptian mistreating one of his people, so he defended the Israelite and punished the Egyptian by killing him.
25. Moses thought his own people would understand that God was using him to save them, but they did not.
26. The next day when Moses saw two men of Israel fighting, he tried to make peace between them. He said, ‘Men, you are brothers. Why are you hurting each other?’
27. The man who was hurting the other pushed Moses away and said, ‘Who made you our ruler and judge?
28. Are you going to kill me as you killed the Egyptian yesterday?’
29. When Moses heard him say this, he left Egypt and went to live in the land of Midian where he was a stranger. While Moses lived in Midian, he had two sons.
30. “Forty years later an angel appeared to Moses in the flames of a burning bush as he was in the desert near Mount Sinai.
31. When Moses saw this, he was amazed and went near to look closer. Moses heard the Lord’s voice say,
32. ‘I am the God of your ancestors, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.’ Moses began to shake with fear and was afraid to look.
33. The Lord said to him, ‘Take off your sandals, because you are standing on holy ground.