So tell the Israelites that I say to them, 'I am the LORD; I will rescue you and set you free from your slavery to the Egyptians. I will raise my mighty arm to bring terrible punishment upon them, and I will save you.

I will make you my own people, and I will be your God. You will know that I am the LORD your God when I set you free from slavery in Egypt.

"You saw what I, the LORD, did to the Egyptians and how I carried you as an eagle carries her young on her wings, and brought you here to me.

a people dedicated to me alone, and you will serve me as priests."

Because he loved your ancestors, he chose you, and by his great power he himself brought you out of Egypt.

Do this because you belong to the LORD your God. From all the peoples on earth he chose you to be his own special people.

You belong to the LORD your God; he has chosen you to be his own people from among all the peoples who live on earth.

Happy is the nation whose God is the LORD; happy are the people he has chosen for his own!

"But you, Israel my servant, you are the people that I have chosen, the descendants of Abraham, my friend.

I brought you from the ends of the earth; I called you from its farthest corners and said to you, 'You are my servant.' I did not reject you, but chose you.

"People of Israel, you are my witnesses; I chose you to be my servant, so that you would know me and believe in me and understand that I am the only God. Besides me there is no other god; there never was and never will be.

The LORD says, "Listen now, Israel, my servant, my chosen people, the descendants of Jacob.

I am the LORD who created you; from the time you were born, I have helped you. Do not be afraid; you are my servant, my chosen people whom I love.

"Have you noticed how people are saying that I have rejected Israel and Judah, the two families that I chose? And so they look with contempt on my people and no longer consider them a nation.

But the Lord has reduced the number of those days; if he had not, nobody would survive. For the sake of his chosen people, however, he has reduced those days.

So I made a vow in the desert that I would not take them to the land I had given them, a rich and fertile land, the finest land of all.

So I made another vow in the desert. I vowed that I would scatter them all over the world.

I solemnly promised your ancestors that I would give them possession of this land; now divide it equally among you.

Abram answered, "I solemnly swear before the LORD, the Most High God, Maker of heaven and earth,

As surely as I am the living God, I raise my hand and I vow

Then the angel that I saw standing on the sea and on the land raised his right hand to heaven

So then, as surely as I, the Sovereign LORD, am the living God, I will pay you back for your anger, your jealousy, and your hate toward my people. They will know that I am punishing you for what you did to them.

and so I have come down to rescue them from the Egyptians and to bring them out of Egypt to a spacious land, one which is rich and fertile and in which the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites now live.

They believed, and when they heard that the LORD had come to them and had seen how they were being treated cruelly, they bowed down and worshiped.

Has any god ever dared to go and take a people from another nation and make them his own, as the LORD your God did for you in Egypt? Before your very eyes he used his great power and strength; he brought plagues and war, worked miracles and wonders, and caused terrifying things to happen.

Remember today what you have learned about the LORD through your experiences with him. It was you, not your children, who had these experiences. You saw the LORD's greatness, his power, his might,

You saw how the LORD completely wiped out the Egyptian army, along with their horses and chariots, by drowning them in the Red Sea when they were pursuing you.

You recall what he did to Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab of the tribe of Reuben. In the sight of everyone the earth opened up and swallowed them, along with their families, their tents, and all their servants and animals.

He revealed his plans to Moses and let the people of Israel see his mighty deeds.

I am the God of your ancestors, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob." So Moses covered his face, because he was afraid to look at God.

Go and gather the leaders of Israel together and tell them that I, the LORD, the God of their ancestors, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, appeared to you. Tell them that I have come to them and have seen what the Egyptians are doing to them.

"I am the LORD your God who brought you out of Egypt, where you were slaves.

"Worship no god but me.