I will take you as my people, and I will be your God. You will know that I am the Lord your God, who brought you out from the forced labour of the Egyptians.
But if the Lord brings about something unprecedented, and the ground opens its mouth and swallows them along with all that belongs to them so that they go down alive into Sheol, then you will know that these men have despised the Lord.’
But Moses sought the favour of the Lord his God: ‘Lord, why does your anger burn against your people you brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and a strong hand?
When the people saw that Moses delayed in coming down from the mountain, they gathered round Aaron and said to him, ‘Come, make gods for us who will go before us because this Moses, the man who brought us up from the land of Egypt #– #we don’t know what has happened to him! ’
Moses continued, ‘The Lord will give you meat to eat this evening and all the bread you want in the morning, for he has heard the complaints that you are raising against him. Who are we? Your complaints are not against us but against the Lord.’
The Israelites said to them, ‘If only we had died by the Lord’s hand in the land of Egypt, when we sat by pots of meat and ate all the bread we wanted. Instead, you brought us into this wilderness to make this whole assembly die of hunger! ’
‘Therefore tell the Israelites: I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from the forced labour of the Egyptians and rescue you from slavery to them. I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and great acts of judgement.