“The elders will listen to you. And then you and the elders will go to the Pharaoh. You will tell him, ‘YAHWEH is the God of the Hebrews. He came to us and told us to travel three days into the desert. There we must offer sacrifices to YAHWEH our God.’
God said, “You can do it because I will be with you. This will be the proof that I am sending you: After you lead the people out of Egypt, you will come and worship me on this mountain.”
After Moses and Aaron talked to the people, they went to Pharaoh and said, “The Lord, the God of Israel, says, ‘Let my people go into the desert so that they can have a festival to honor me.’”
Tell him this: ‘The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, sent me to you. He told me to tell you to let his people go worship him in the desert. Until now you have not listened to the Lord.
Then Aaron and Moses said, “The God of the Hebrews has talked with us. So we beg you to let us travel three days into the desert. There we will offer a sacrifice to the Lord our God. If we don’t do this, he might become angry and destroy us. He might make us die from sickness or war.”
The Lord said to Moses, “Get up in the morning and go to Pharaoh. He will go out to the river. Tell him that the Lord says, ‘Let my people go and worship me!
Then the Lord said to Joshua, “Hold your spear toward the city of Ai, because I will give you that city.” So Joshua held his spear toward the city of Ai.