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Exodus 1-2
New American Bible (Revised Edition)

I. Introduction: The Oppression of the Israelites in Egypt

Chapter 1

Jacob’s Descendants in Egypt. 1 These are the names of the sons of Israel[a] who, accompanied by their households, entered into Egypt with Jacob: 2 [b]Reuben, Simeon, Levi and Judah; 3 Issachar, Zebulun and Benjamin; 4 Dan and Naphtali; Gad and Asher. 5 The total number of Jacob’s direct descendants[c] was seventy.(A) Joseph was already in Egypt.

6 Now Joseph and all his brothers and that whole generation died.(B) 7 But the Israelites were fruitful and prolific. They multiplied and became so very numerous that the land was filled with them.[d]

The Oppression. 8 (C)Then a new king, who knew nothing of Joseph,[e] rose to power in Egypt. 9 He said to his people, “See! The Israelite people have multiplied and become more numerous than we are! 10 Come, let us deal shrewdly with them to stop their increase;[f] otherwise, in time of war they too may join our enemies to fight against us, and so leave the land.”

11 Accordingly, they set supervisors over the Israelites to oppress them with forced labor.(D) Thus they had to build for Pharaoh[g] the garrison cities of Pithom and Raamses. 12 Yet the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and spread, so that the Egyptians began to loathe the Israelites. 13 So the Egyptians reduced the Israelites to cruel slavery, 14 making life bitter for them with hard labor, at mortar[h] and brick and all kinds of field work—cruelly oppressed in all their labor.

Command to the Midwives. 15 The king of Egypt told the Hebrew midwives, one of whom was called Shiphrah and the other Puah, 16 “When you act as midwives for the Hebrew women, look on the birthstool:[i] if it is a boy, kill him; but if it is a girl, she may live.” 17 The midwives, however, feared God; they did not do as the king of Egypt had ordered them, but let the boys live. 18 So the king of Egypt summoned the midwives and asked them, “Why have you done this, allowing the boys to live?” 19 The midwives answered Pharaoh, “The Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women. They are robust and give birth before the midwife arrives.” 20 Therefore God dealt well with the midwives; and the people multiplied and grew very numerous. 21 And because the midwives feared God, God built up families for them. 22 Pharaoh then commanded all his people, “Throw into the Nile every boy that is born,(E) but you may let all the girls live.”

Chapter 2

Birth and Adoption of Moses. 1 Now a man[j] of the house of Levi married a Levite woman,(F) 2 and the woman conceived and bore a son. Seeing what a fine child he was, she hid him for three months.(G) 3 But when she could no longer hide him, she took a papyrus basket,[k] daubed it with bitumen and pitch, and putting the child in it, placed it among the reeds on the bank of the Nile. 4 His sister stationed herself at a distance to find out what would happen to him.

5 Then Pharaoh’s daughter came down to bathe at the Nile, while her attendants walked along the bank of the Nile. Noticing the basket among the reeds, she sent her handmaid to fetch it. 6 On opening it, she looked, and there was a baby boy crying! She was moved with pity for him and said, “It is one of the Hebrews’ children.” 7 Then his sister asked Pharaoh’s daughter, “Shall I go and summon a Hebrew woman to nurse the child for you?” 8 Pharaoh’s daughter answered her, “Go.” So the young woman went and called the child’s own mother. 9 Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Take this child and nurse him for me, and I will pay your wages.”[l] So the woman took the child and nursed him. 10 When the child grew,[m] she brought him to Pharaoh’s daughter, and he became her son.(H) She named him Moses; for she said, “I drew him out of the water.”

Moses’ Flight to Midian. 11 (I)On one occasion, after Moses had grown up,[n] when he had gone out to his kinsmen and witnessed their forced labor, he saw an Egyptian striking a Hebrew, one of his own kinsmen. 12 Looking about and seeing no one, he struck down the Egyptian and hid him in the sand. 13 The next day he went out again, and now two Hebrews were fighting! So he asked the culprit, “Why are you striking your companion?” 14 But he replied, “Who has appointed you ruler and judge over us? Are you thinking of killing me as you killed the Egyptian?” Then Moses became afraid and thought, “The affair must certainly be known.” 15 When Pharaoh heard of the affair, he sought to kill Moses. But Moses fled from Pharaoh and went to the land of Midian.[o](J) There he sat down by a well.

16 Now the priest of Midian had seven daughters, and they came to draw water and fill the troughs to water their father’s flock. 17 But shepherds came and drove them away. So Moses rose up in their defense and watered their flock. 18 When they returned to their father Reuel,[p] he said to them, “How is it you have returned so soon today?” 19 They answered, “An Egyptian[q] delivered us from the shepherds. He even drew water for us and watered the flock!” 20 “Where is he?” he asked his daughters. “Why did you leave the man there? Invite him to have something to eat.” 21 Moses agreed to stay with him, and the man gave Moses his daughter Zipporah in marriage. 22 She conceived and bore a son, whom he named Gershom;[r] for he said, “I am a stranger residing in a foreign land.”(K)

II. The Call and Commission of Moses

The Burning Bush. 23 A long time passed, during which the king of Egypt died. The Israelites groaned under their bondage and cried out, and from their bondage their cry for help went up to God.(L) 24 God heard their moaning and God was mindful of his covenant(M) with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. 25 God saw the Israelites, and God knew….[s]

Footnotes

  1. 1:1 Sons of Israel: here literally the first-generation sons of Jacob/Israel. Cf. v. 5. However, beginning with v. 7 the same Hebrew phrase refers to Jacob’s more remote descendants; hence, from there on, it is ordinarily rendered “the Israelites.” Households: the family in its fullest sense, including wives, children and servants.
  2. 1:2 Jacob’s sons are listed here according to their respective mothers. Cf. Gn 29:31; 30:20; 35:16–26.
  3. 1:5 Direct descendants: lit., “persons coming from Jacob’s loins”; hence, wives of Jacob’s sons and servants are not included. Cf. Gn 46:26. Seventy: Gn 46:26, along with the Septuagint for the verse, agrees on a total of sixty-six coming down to Egypt with Jacob, but in v. 27 the Hebrew text adds the two sons born to Joseph in Egypt and presupposes Jacob himself and Joseph for a total of seventy; the Septuagint adds “nine sons” born to Joseph to get a total of seventy-five. This is the figure the Septuagint and 4QExa have here in Ex 1:5.
  4. 1:7 Fruitful…multiplied…the land was filled with them: the language used here to indicate the fecundity of the Israelite population echoes the divine blessing bestowed upon humanity at creation (Gn 1:28) and after the flood (Gn 9:1) as well as suggesting fulfillment of the promises to the ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (Gn 12:2; 13:16; 15:5; 28:14; passim).
  5. 1:8 Who knew nothing of Joseph: the nuance intended by the Hebrew verb “know” here goes beyond precise determination. The idea may be not simply that a new king came to power who had not heard of Joseph but that this king ignored the services that Joseph had rendered to Egypt, repudiating the special relationship that existed between Joseph and his predecessor on the throne.
  6. 1:10 Increase: Pharaoh’s actions thereby immediately pit him against God’s will for the Israelites to multiply; see note on v. 7 above.
  7. 1:11 Pharaoh: not a personal name, but a title common to all the kings of Egypt.
  8. 1:14 Mortar: either the wet clay with which the bricks were made, as in Na 3:14, or the cement used between the bricks in building, as in Gn 11:3.
  9. 1:16 Birthstool: apparently a pair of stones on which the mother is seated for childbirth opposite the midwife. The Hebrew word elsewhere is used to refer to the stones of a potter’s wheel.
  10. 2:1 Now a man: the chapter begins abruptly, without names for the man or woman (in contrast to the midwives of 1:15), who in 6:20 are identified as Amram and Jochebed.
  11. 2:3 Basket: the same Hebrew word is used in Gn 6:14 and throughout the flood narrative for Noah’s ark, but nowhere else in the Bible. Here, however, the “ark” or “chest” was made of papyrus stalks. Presumably the allusion to Genesis is intentional. Just as Noah and his family were preserved safe from the threatening waters of the flood in the ark he built, so now Moses is preserved from the threatening waters of the Nile in the ark prepared by his mother. Among the reeds: the Hebrew noun for “reed” is overwhelmingly used in the phrase “Reed Sea,” traditionally translated “Red Sea.”
  12. 2:9 And I will pay your wages: the idea that the child’s mother will be paid for nursing her child—and by Pharaoh’s own daughter—heightens the narrative’s irony.
  13. 2:10 When the child grew: while v. 9 implies that the boy’s mother cared for him as long as he needed to be nursed (presumably, between two and four years), the same verb appears in v. 11 to describe the attainment of adulthood. And he became her son: Pharaoh’s daughter adopts Moses, thus adding to the irony of the account. The king of Egypt had ordered the killing of all the sons of the Hebrews, and one now becomes the son of his own daughter! Moses: in Hebrew, mosheh. There is a play on words here: Hebrew mosheh echoes meshithihu (“I drew him out”). However, the name Moses actually has nothing to do with that Hebrew verb, but is probably derived from Egyptian “beloved” or “has been born,” preserved in such Pharaonic names as Thutmoses (meaning approximately “Beloved of the god Thoth” or “The god Thoth is born, has given birth to [the child]”). The original meaning of Moses’ name was no longer remembered (if it was Egyptian, it may have contained an Egyptian divine element as well, perhaps the name of the Nile god Hapi), and a secondary explanation was derived from this story (or gave rise to it, if the drawing from the water of the Nile was intended to foreshadow the Israelites’ escape from Egypt through the Red Sea).
  14. 2:11 After Moses had grown up: cf. 7:7, where Moses is said to be eighty years old at the time of his mission to Pharaoh. Striking: probably in the sense of “flogging”; in v. 12, however, the same verb is used in the sense of “killing.”
  15. 2:15 Land of Midian: the territory under the control of a confederation made up, according to Nm 31:8, of five Midianite tribes. According to Gn 25:1–2, Midian was a son of Abraham by Keturah. In view of the extreme hostility in later periods between Israel and Midian (cf. Nm 31; Jgs 6–8), the relationship is striking, as is the account here in Exodus of good relations between Moses and no less than a Midianite priest.
  16. 2:18 Reuel: also called Jethro. Cf. 3:1; 4:18; 18:1.
  17. 2:19 An Egyptian: Moses was probably wearing Egyptian dress, or spoke Egyptian to Reuel’s daughters.
  18. 2:22 Gershom: the name is explained unscientifically as if it came from the Hebrew word ger, “sojourner, resident alien,” and the Hebrew word sham, “there.” Stranger residing: Hebrew ger, one who seeks and finds shelter and a home away from his or her own people or land.
  19. 2:25 God knew: in response to the people’s cry, God, mindful of the covenant, looks on their plight and acknowledges firsthand the depth of their suffering (see 3:7). In vv. 23–25, traditionally attributed to the Priestly writer, God is mentioned five times, in contrast to the rest of chaps. 1–2, where God is rarely mentioned. These verses serve as a fitting transition to Moses’ call in chap. 3.
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Exodus 1-2
New International Version

The Israelites Oppressed

1 These are the names of the sons of Israel(A) who went to Egypt with Jacob, each with his family: 2 Reuben, Simeon, Levi and Judah; 3 Issachar, Zebulun and Benjamin; 4 Dan and Naphtali; Gad and Asher.(B) 5 The descendants of Jacob numbered seventy[a] in all;(C) Joseph was already in Egypt.

6 Now Joseph and all his brothers and all that generation died,(D) 7 but the Israelites were exceedingly fruitful; they multiplied greatly, increased in numbers(E) and became so numerous that the land was filled with them.

8 Then a new king, to whom Joseph meant nothing, came to power in Egypt.(F) 9 “Look,” he said to his people, “the Israelites have become far too numerous(G) for us.(H) 10 Come, we must deal shrewdly(I) with them or they will become even more numerous and, if war breaks out, will join our enemies, fight against us and leave the country.”(J)

11 So they put slave masters(K) over them to oppress them with forced labor,(L) and they built Pithom and Rameses(M) as store cities(N) for Pharaoh. 12 But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and spread; so the Egyptians came to dread the Israelites 13 and worked them ruthlessly.(O) 14 They made their lives bitter with harsh labor(P) in brick(Q) and mortar and with all kinds of work in the fields; in all their harsh labor the Egyptians worked them ruthlessly.(R)

15 The king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives,(S) whose names were Shiphrah and Puah, 16 “When you are helping the Hebrew women during childbirth on the delivery stool, if you see that the baby is a boy, kill him; but if it is a girl, let her live.”(T) 17 The midwives, however, feared(U) God and did not do what the king of Egypt had told them to do;(V) they let the boys live. 18 Then the king of Egypt summoned the midwives and asked them, “Why have you done this? Why have you let the boys live?”

19 The midwives answered Pharaoh, “Hebrew women are not like Egyptian women; they are vigorous and give birth before the midwives arrive.”(W)

20 So God was kind to the midwives(X) and the people increased and became even more numerous. 21 And because the midwives feared(Y) God, he gave them families(Z) of their own.

22 Then Pharaoh gave this order to all his people: “Every Hebrew boy that is born you must throw into the Nile,(AA) but let every girl live.”(AB)

The Birth of Moses

2 Now a man of the tribe of Levi(AC) married a Levite woman,(AD) 2 and she became pregnant and gave birth to a son. When she saw that he was a fine(AE) child, she hid him for three months.(AF) 3 But when she could hide him no longer, she got a papyrus(AG) basket[b] for him and coated it with tar and pitch.(AH) Then she placed the child in it and put it among the reeds(AI) along the bank of the Nile. 4 His sister(AJ) stood at a distance to see what would happen to him.

5 Then Pharaoh’s daughter went down to the Nile to bathe, and her attendants were walking along the riverbank.(AK) She saw the basket among the reeds and sent her female slave to get it. 6 She opened it and saw the baby. He was crying, and she felt sorry for him. “This is one of the Hebrew babies,” she said.

7 Then his sister asked Pharaoh’s daughter, “Shall I go and get one of the Hebrew women to nurse the baby for you?”

8 “Yes, go,” she answered. So the girl went and got the baby’s mother. 9 Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Take this baby and nurse him for me, and I will pay you.” So the woman took the baby and nursed him. 10 When the child grew older, she took him to Pharaoh’s daughter and he became her son. She named(AL) him Moses,[c] saying, “I drew(AM) him out of the water.”

Moses Flees to Midian

11 One day, after Moses had grown up, he went out to where his own people(AN) were and watched them at their hard labor.(AO) He saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his own people. 12 Looking this way and that and seeing no one, he killed the Egyptian and hid him in the sand. 13 The next day he went out and saw two Hebrews fighting. He asked the one in the wrong, “Why are you hitting your fellow Hebrew?”(AP)

14 The man said, “Who made you ruler and judge over us?(AQ) Are you thinking of killing me as you killed the Egyptian?” Then Moses was afraid and thought, “What I did must have become known.”

15 When Pharaoh heard of this, he tried to kill(AR) Moses, but Moses fled(AS) from Pharaoh and went to live in Midian,(AT) where he sat down by a well. 16 Now a priest of Midian(AU) had seven daughters, and they came to draw water(AV) and fill the troughs(AW) to water their father’s flock. 17 Some shepherds came along and drove them away, but Moses got up and came to their rescue(AX) and watered their flock.(AY)

18 When the girls returned to Reuel(AZ) their father, he asked them, “Why have you returned so early today?”

19 They answered, “An Egyptian rescued us from the shepherds. He even drew water for us and watered the flock.”

20 “And where is he?” Reuel asked his daughters. “Why did you leave him? Invite him to have something to eat.”(BA)

21 Moses agreed to stay with the man, who gave his daughter Zipporah(BB) to Moses in marriage. 22 Zipporah gave birth to a son, and Moses named him Gershom,[d](BC) saying, “I have become a foreigner(BD) in a foreign land.”

23 During that long period,(BE) the king of Egypt died.(BF) The Israelites groaned in their slavery(BG) and cried out, and their cry(BH) for help because of their slavery went up to God. 24 God heard their groaning and he remembered(BI) his covenant(BJ) with Abraham, with Isaac and with Jacob. 25 So God looked on the Israelites and was concerned(BK) about them.

Footnotes

  1. Exodus 1:5 Masoretic Text (see also Gen. 46:27); Dead Sea Scrolls and Septuagint (see also Acts 7:14 and note at Gen. 46:27) seventy-five
  2. Exodus 2:3 The Hebrew can also mean ark, as in Gen. 6:14.
  3. Exodus 2:10 Moses sounds like the Hebrew for draw out.
  4. Exodus 2:22 Gershom sounds like the Hebrew for a foreigner there.
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Exodus 1-2
New King James Version

Israel’s Suffering in Egypt

1 Now (A)these are the names of the children of Israel who came to Egypt; each man and his household came with Jacob: 2 Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah; 3 Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin; 4 Dan, Naphtali, Gad, and Asher. 5 All those [a]who were descendants of Jacob were (B)seventy[b] persons (for Joseph was in Egypt already). 6 And (C)Joseph died, all his brothers, and all that generation. 7 (D)But the children of Israel were fruitful and increased abundantly, multiplied and [c]grew exceedingly mighty; and the land was filled with them.

8 Now there arose a new king over Egypt, (E)who did not know Joseph. 9 And he said to his people, “Look, the people of the children of Israel are more and (F)mightier than we; 10 (G)come, let us (H)deal shrewdly with them, lest they multiply, and it happen, in the event of war, that they also join our enemies and fight against us, and so go up out of the land.” 11 Therefore they set taskmasters over them (I)to afflict them with their (J)burdens. And they built for Pharaoh (K)supply cities, Pithom (L)and Raamses. 12 But the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and grew. And they were in dread of the children of Israel. 13 So the Egyptians made the children of Israel (M)serve with [d]rigor. 14 And they (N)made their lives bitter with hard bondage—(O)in mortar, in brick, and in all manner of service in the field. All their service in which they made them serve was with rigor.

15 Then the king of Egypt spoke to the (P)Hebrew midwives, of whom the name of one was Shiphrah and the name of the other Puah; 16 and he said, “When you do the duties of a midwife for the Hebrew women, and see them on the birthstools, if it is a (Q)son, then you shall kill him; but if it is a daughter, then she shall live.” 17 But the midwives (R)feared God, and did not do (S)as the king of Egypt commanded them, but saved the male children alive. 18 So the king of Egypt called for the midwives and said to them, “Why have you done this thing, and saved the male children alive?”

19 And (T)the midwives said to Pharaoh, “Because the Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women; for they [e]are lively and give birth before the midwives come to them.”

20 (U)Therefore God dealt well with the midwives, and the people multiplied and [f]grew very mighty. 21 And so it was, because the midwives feared God, (V)that He [g]provided households for them.

22 So Pharaoh commanded all his people, saying, (W)“Every son who is [h]born you shall cast into the river, and every daughter you shall save alive.”

Moses Is Born(X)

2 And (Y)a man of the house of Levi went and took as wife a daughter of Levi. 2 So the woman conceived and bore a son. And (Z)when she saw that he was a beautiful child, she hid him three months. 3 But when she could no longer hide him, she took an ark of (AA)bulrushes for him, daubed it with (AB)asphalt and (AC)pitch, put the child in it, and laid it in the reeds (AD)by the river’s bank. 4 (AE)And his sister stood afar off, to know what would be done to him.

5 Then the (AF)daughter of Pharaoh came down to bathe at the river. And her maidens walked along the riverside; and when she saw the ark among the reeds, she sent her maid to get it. 6 And when she opened it, she saw the child, and behold, the baby wept. So she had compassion on him, and said, “This is one of the Hebrews’ children.”

7 Then his sister said to Pharaoh’s daughter, “Shall I go and call a nurse for you from the Hebrew women, that she may nurse the child for you?”

8 And Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Go.” So the maiden went and called the child’s mother. 9 Then Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Take this child away and nurse him for me, and I will give you your wages.” So the woman took the child and nursed him. 10 And the child grew, and she brought him to Pharaoh’s daughter, and he became (AG)her son. So she called his name [i]Moses, saying, “Because I drew him out of the water.”

Moses Flees to Midian(AH)

11 Now it came to pass in those days, (AI)when Moses was grown, that he went out to his brethren and looked at their burdens. And he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his brethren. 12 So he looked this way and that way, and when he saw no one, he (AJ)killed the Egyptian and hid him in the sand. 13 And (AK)when he went out the second day, behold, two Hebrew men (AL)were fighting, and he said to the one who did the wrong, “Why are you striking your companion?”

14 Then he said, (AM)“Who made you a prince and a judge over us? Do you intend to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?”

So Moses (AN)feared and said, “Surely this thing is known!” 15 When Pharaoh heard of this matter, he sought to kill Moses. But (AO)Moses fled from [j]the face of Pharaoh and dwelt in the land of (AP)Midian; and he sat down by (AQ)a well.

16 (AR)Now the priest of Midian had seven daughters. (AS)And they came and drew water, and they filled the (AT)troughs to water their father’s flock. 17 Then the (AU)shepherds came and (AV)drove them away; but Moses stood up and helped them, and (AW)watered their flock.

18 When they came to (AX)Reuel[k] their father, (AY)he said, “How is it that you have come so soon today?”

19 And they said, “An Egyptian delivered us from the hand of the shepherds, and he also drew enough water for us and watered the flock.”

20 So he said to his daughters, “And where is he? Why is it that you have left the man? Call him, that he may (AZ)eat bread.”

21 Then Moses was content to live with the man, and he gave (BA)Zipporah his daughter to Moses. 22 And she bore him a son. He called his name (BB)Gershom,[l] for he said, “I have been (BC)a [m]stranger in a foreign land.”

23 Now it happened (BD)in the process of time that the king of Egypt died. Then the children of Israel (BE)groaned because of the bondage, and they cried out; and (BF)their cry came up to God because of the bondage. 24 So God (BG)heard their groaning, and God (BH)remembered His (BI)covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. 25 And God (BJ)looked upon the children of Israel, and God (BK)acknowledged them.

Footnotes

  1. Exodus 1:5 Lit. who came from the loins of
  2. Exodus 1:5 DSS, LXX seventy-five; cf. Acts 7:14
  3. Exodus 1:7 became very numerous
  4. Exodus 1:13 harshness
  5. Exodus 1:19 have vigor of life, bear quickly, easily
  6. Exodus 1:20 became very numerous
  7. Exodus 1:21 gave them families
  8. Exodus 1:22 Sam., LXX, Tg. add to the Hebrews
  9. Exodus 2:10 Heb. Mosheh, lit. Drawn Out
  10. Exodus 2:15 the presence of Pharaoh
  11. Exodus 2:18 Jethro, Ex. 3:1
  12. Exodus 2:22 Lit. Stranger There
  13. Exodus 2:22 sojourner, temporary resident
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Exodus 1-2
English Standard Version

Israel Increases Greatly in Egypt

1 (A)These are the names of the sons of Israel who came to Egypt with Jacob, each with his household: 2 Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah, 3 Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin, 4 Dan and Naphtali, Gad and Asher. 5 All the descendants of Jacob were (B)seventy persons; Joseph was already in Egypt. 6 Then (C)Joseph died, and all his brothers and all that generation. 7 (D)But the people of Israel were fruitful and increased greatly; they multiplied and grew exceedingly strong, so that the land was filled with them.

Pharaoh Oppresses Israel

8 Now there arose a new king over Egypt, (E)who did not know Joseph. 9 And he said to his people, “Behold, (F)the people of Israel are too many and too mighty for us. 10 (G)Come, (H)let us deal shrewdly with them, lest they multiply, and, if war breaks out, they join our enemies and fight against us and escape from the land.” 11 Therefore they set taskmasters over them (I)to afflict them with heavy (J)burdens. They built for Pharaoh (K)store cities, Pithom and (L)Raamses. 12 But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and the more they spread abroad. And the Egyptians were in dread of the people of Israel. 13 So they ruthlessly made the people of Israel (M)work as slaves 14 and (N)made their lives bitter with hard service, in mortar and brick, and in all kinds of work in the field. In all their work they ruthlessly made them work as slaves.

15 Then the king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, one of whom was named Shiphrah and the other Puah, 16 “When you serve as midwife to the Hebrew women and see them on the birthstool, if it is a son, you shall kill him, but if it is a daughter, she shall live.” 17 But the midwives (O)feared God and did not do as the king of Egypt commanded them, but let the male children live. 18 So the king of Egypt called the midwives and said to them, “Why have you done this, and let the male children live?” 19 The midwives said to Pharaoh, “Because the Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women, for they are vigorous and give birth before the midwife comes to them.” 20 (P)So God dealt well with the midwives. And the people multiplied and grew very strong. 21 And because the midwives feared God, (Q)he gave them families. 22 Then Pharaoh commanded all his people, (R)“Every son that is born to the Hebrews[a] you shall cast into (S)the Nile, but you shall let every daughter live.”

The Birth of Moses

2 Now a (T)man from the house of Levi went and took as his wife a Levite woman. 2 The woman conceived and bore a son, and (U)when she saw that he was a fine child, she hid him three months. 3 When she could hide him no longer, she took for him a basket made of bulrushes[b] and daubed it with bitumen and pitch. She put the child in it and placed it among the (V)reeds by the river bank. 4 And (W)his sister stood at a distance to know what would be done to him. 5 Now the daughter of Pharaoh came down to bathe at the river, while her young women walked beside the river. She saw the basket among the reeds and sent her servant woman, and she took it. 6 When she opened it, she saw the child, and behold, the baby was crying. She took pity on him and said, “This is one of the Hebrews' children.” 7 Then his sister said to Pharaoh's daughter, “Shall I go and call you a nurse from the Hebrew women to nurse the child for you?” 8 And Pharaoh's daughter said to her, “Go.” So the girl went and called the child's mother. 9 And Pharaoh's daughter said to her, “Take this child away and nurse him for me, and I will give you your wages.” So the woman took the child and nursed him. 10 When the child grew older, she brought him to Pharaoh's daughter, and he became (X)her son. She named him Moses, “Because,” she said, “I (Y)drew him out of the water.”[c]

Moses Flees to Midian

11 One day, (Z)when Moses had grown up, he went out to his people and looked on their (AA)burdens, and he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his people.[d] 12 He looked this way and that, and seeing no one, he (AB)struck down the Egyptian and hid him in the sand. 13 When (AC)he went out the next day, behold, two Hebrews were struggling together. And he said to the man in the wrong, “Why do you strike your companion?” 14 He answered, (AD)“Who made you a prince and a judge over us? Do you mean to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?” Then Moses was afraid, and thought, “Surely the thing is known.” 15 When Pharaoh heard of it, he sought to kill Moses. But (AE)Moses fled from Pharaoh and stayed in the land of Midian. And he sat down by (AF)a well.

16 Now the (AG)priest of Midian had seven daughters, and (AH)they came and drew water and filled the troughs to water their father's flock. 17 The shepherds came and drove them away, but Moses stood up and saved them, and (AI)watered their flock. 18 When they came home to their father (AJ)Reuel, he said, “How is it that you have come home so soon today?” 19 They said, “An Egyptian delivered us out of the hand of the shepherds and even drew water for us and (AK)watered the flock.” 20 He said to his daughters, “Then where is he? Why have you left the man? Call him, that he may (AL)eat bread.” 21 And Moses was content to dwell with the man, and he gave Moses his daughter (AM)Zipporah. 22 She gave birth to a son, and he called his name (AN)Gershom, for he said, “I have been a (AO)sojourner[e] in a foreign land.”

God Hears Israel's Groaning

23 (AP)During those many days the king of Egypt died, and the people of Israel (AQ)groaned because of their slavery and cried out for help. (AR)Their cry for rescue from slavery came up to God. 24 And (AS)God heard their groaning, and God (AT)remembered his covenant with (AU)Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. 25 God (AV)saw the people of Israel—and God (AW)knew.

Footnotes

  1. Exodus 1:22 Samaritan, Septuagint, Targum; Hebrew lacks to the Hebrews
  2. Exodus 2:3 Hebrew papyrus reeds
  3. Exodus 2:10 Moses sounds like the Hebrew for draw out
  4. Exodus 2:11 Hebrew brothers
  5. Exodus 2:22 Gershom sounds like the Hebrew for sojourner
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Genesis 50
Exodus 3
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