Genesis 49:14 - Exodus 4:23

English Standard Version

Jacob's Death and Burial

²⁸ All these are the twelve tribes of Israel. This is what their father said to them as he blessed them, blessing each with the blessing suitable to him. ²⁹ Then he commanded them and said to them, “I am to be ^(X)gathered to my people; ^(Y)bury me with my fathers ^(Z)in the cave that is in the field of Ephron the Hittite, ³⁰ in the cave that is in the field at Machpelah, to the east of Mamre, in the land of Canaan, ^(AA)which Abraham bought with the field from Ephron the Hittite to possess as a burying place. ^31 (AB)There they buried Abraham and Sarah his wife. There ^(AC)they buried Isaac and Rebekah his wife, and there I buried Leah— ³² the field and the cave that is in it were bought from the Hittites.” ³³ When Jacob finished commanding his sons, he drew up his feet into the bed and breathed his last and ^(AD)was gathered to his people.

50 Then Joseph ^(AE)fell on his father's face and wept over him and kissed him. ² And Joseph commanded his servants the physicians to ^(AF)embalm his father. So the physicians embalmed Israel. ³ Forty days were required for it, for that is how many are required for embalming. And the Egyptians ^(AG)wept for him seventy days.

⁴ And when the days of weeping for him were past, Joseph spoke to the household of Pharaoh, saying, ^(AH)“If now I have found favor in your eyes, please speak in the ears of Pharaoh, saying, ⁵ ‘My father made me swear, saying, “I am about to die: in my tomb ^(AI)that I hewed out for myself in the land of Canaan, there shall you bury me.” Now therefore, let me please go up and bury my father. Then I will return.’” ⁶ And Pharaoh answered, “Go up, and bury your father, as he made you swear.” ⁷ So Joseph went up to bury his father. With him went up all the servants of Pharaoh, the elders of his household, and all the elders of the land of Egypt, ⁸ as well as all the household of Joseph, his brothers, and his father's household. Only their children, their flocks, and their herds were left ^(AJ)in the land of Goshen. ⁹ And there went up with him both chariots and horsemen. It was a very great company. ¹⁰ When they came to the threshing floor of Atad, which is beyond the Jordan, ^(AK)they lamented there with a very great and grievous lamentation, and he ^(AL)made a mourning for his father seven days. ¹¹ When the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites, saw the mourning on the threshing floor of Atad, they said, “This is a grievous mourning by the Egyptians.” Therefore the place was named Abel-mizraim;^[i] it is beyond the Jordan. ¹² Thus his sons did for him as he had commanded them, ¹³ for ^(AM)his sons carried him to the land of Canaan and buried him in the cave of the field at Machpelah, to the east of Mamre, which Abraham ^(AN)bought with the field from Ephron the Hittite to possess as a burying place. ¹⁴ After he had buried his father, Joseph returned to Egypt with his brothers and all who had gone up with him to bury his father.

God's Good Purposes

¹⁵ When Joseph's brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, “It may be that Joseph will hate us and pay us back for all the evil that we did to him.” ¹⁶ So they sent a message to Joseph, saying, “Your father gave this command before he died: ¹⁷ ‘Say to Joseph, “Please forgive the transgression of your brothers and their sin, because they did evil to you.”’ And now, please forgive the transgression of the servants of ^(AO)the God of your father.” Joseph wept when they spoke to him. ¹⁸ His brothers also came and ^(AP)fell down before him and said, “Behold, we are your servants.” ¹⁹ But Joseph said to them, “Do not fear, for ^(AQ)am I in the place of God? ²⁰ As for you, you meant evil against me, but ^(AR)God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people^[j] should be kept alive, as they are today. ²¹ So do not fear; ^(AS)I will provide for you and your little ones.” Thus he comforted them and spoke kindly to them.

The Death of Joseph

²² So Joseph remained in Egypt, he and his father's house. Joseph lived 110 years. ²³ And Joseph saw Ephraim's children ^(AT)of the third generation. The ^(AU)children also of Machir the son of Manasseh were ^(AV)counted as Joseph's own.^{[k] 24} And Joseph said to his brothers, “I am about to die, but ^(AW)God will visit you and bring you up out of this land to the land ^(AX)that he swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.” ²⁵ Then ^(AY)Joseph made the sons of Israel swear, saying, “God will surely visit you, and you shall carry up my bones from here.” ²⁶ So Joseph died, being 110 years old. They ^(AZ)embalmed him, and he was put in a coffin in Egypt.

Israel Increases Greatly in Egypt

1 ^(BA)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 ^(BB)seventy persons; Joseph was already in Egypt. ⁶ Then ^(BC)Joseph died, and all his brothers and all that generation. ^7 (BD)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, ^(BE)who did not know Joseph. ⁹ And he said to his people, “Behold, ^(BF)the people of Israel are too many and too mighty for us. ^10 (BG)Come, ^(BH)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 ^(BI)to afflict them with heavy ^(BJ)burdens. They built for Pharaoh ^(BK)store cities, Pithom and ^(BL)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 ^(BM)work as slaves ¹⁴ and ^(BN)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 ^(BO)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 (BP)So God dealt well with the midwives. And the people multiplied and grew very strong. ²¹ And because the midwives feared God, ^(BQ)he gave them families. ²² Then Pharaoh commanded all his people, ^(BR)“Every son that is born to the Hebrews^[l] you shall cast into ^(BS)the Nile, but you shall let every daughter live.”

The Birth of Moses

2 Now a ^(BT)man from the house of Levi went and took as his wife a Levite woman. ² The woman conceived and bore a son, and ^(BU)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^[m] and daubed it with bitumen and pitch. She put the child in it and placed it among the ^(BV)reeds by the river bank. ⁴ And ^(BW)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 ^(BX)her son. She named him Moses, “Because,” she said, “I ^(BY)drew him out of the water.”^[n]

Moses Flees to Midian

¹¹ One day, ^(BZ)when Moses had grown up, he went out to his people and looked on their ^(CA)burdens, and he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his people.^{[o] 12} He looked this way and that, and seeing no one, he ^(CB)struck down the Egyptian and hid him in the sand. ¹³ When ^(CC)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, ^(CD)“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 ^(CE)Moses fled from Pharaoh and stayed in the land of Midian. And he sat down by ^(CF)a well.

¹⁶ Now the ^(CG)priest of Midian had seven daughters, and ^(CH)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 ^(CI)watered their flock. ¹⁸ When they came home to their father ^(CJ)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 ^(CK)watered the flock.” ²⁰ He said to his daughters, “Then where is he? Why have you left the man? Call him, that he may ^(CL)eat bread.” ²¹ And Moses was content to dwell with the man, and he gave Moses his daughter ^(CM)Zipporah. ²² She gave birth to a son, and he called his name ^(CN)Gershom, for he said, “I have been a ^(CO)sojourner^[p] in a foreign land.”

God Hears Israel's Groaning

^23 (CP)During those many days the king of Egypt died, and the people of Israel ^(CQ)groaned because of their slavery and cried out for help. ^(CR)Their cry for rescue from slavery came up to God. ²⁴ And ^(CS)God heard their groaning, and God ^(CT)remembered his covenant with ^(CU)Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. ²⁵ God ^(CV)saw the people of Israel—and God ^(CW)knew.

The Burning Bush

3 Now Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro, the priest of Midian, and he led his flock to the west side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the ^(CX)mountain of God. ^2 (CY)And ^(CZ)the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush. He looked, and behold, the bush was burning, yet it was not consumed. ³ And Moses said, “I will turn aside to see this great sight, why the bush is not burned.” ⁴ When the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, ^(DA)God called to him ^(DB)out of the bush, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.” ⁵ Then he said, “Do not come near; ^(DC)take your sandals off your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.” ⁶ And he said, ^(DD)“I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” And Moses hid his face, for ^(DE)he was afraid to look at God.

⁷ Then the Lord said, ^(DF)“I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their cry because of their ^(DG)taskmasters. I know their sufferings, ⁸ and ^(DH)I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians and ^(DI)to bring them up out of that land to a ^(DJ)good and broad land, a land ^(DK)flowing with milk and honey, to the place of ^(DL)the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. ⁹ And now, behold, ^(DM)the cry of the people of Israel has come to me, and I have also seen the ^(DN)oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them. ^10 (DO)Come, I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.” ¹¹ But Moses said to God, ^(DP)“Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?” ¹² He said, ^(DQ)“But I will be with you, and this shall be the sign for you, that I have sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, ^(DR)you shall serve God on this mountain.”

¹³ Then Moses said to God, “If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what shall I say to them?” ¹⁴ God said to Moses, “I am who I am.”^[q] And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel: ^(DS)‘I am has sent me to you.’” ¹⁵ God also said to Moses, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘The Lord,^[r] the ^(DT)God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.’ This is ^(DU)my name forever, and thus I am to be remembered throughout all generations. ¹⁶ Go and ^(DV)gather the elders of Israel together and say to them, ‘The Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, has appeared to me, saying, ^(DW)“I have observed you and what has been done to you in Egypt, ¹⁷ and I promise that ^(DX)I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt to the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, a land ^(DY)flowing with milk and honey.”’ ¹⁸ And ^(DZ)they will listen to your voice, and you and the elders of Israel ^(EA)shall go to the king of Egypt and say to him, ‘The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, has ^(EB)met with us; and now, please let us go a three days' journey into the wilderness, that we may sacrifice to the Lord our God.’ ¹⁹ But I know that the king of Egypt ^(EC)will not let you go unless compelled ^(ED)by a mighty hand.^{[s] 20} So ^(EE)I will stretch out my hand and strike Egypt with ^(EF)all the wonders that I will do in it; ^(EG)after that he will let you go. ²¹ And ^(EH)I will give this people favor in the sight of the Egyptians; and when you go, you shall not go empty, ²² but each woman shall ask of her neighbor, and any woman who lives in her house, for ^(EI)silver and gold jewelry, and for clothing. You shall put them on your sons and on your daughters. So ^(EJ)you shall plunder the Egyptians.”

Moses Given Powerful Signs

4 Then Moses answered, “But behold, they will not believe me or listen to my voice, for they will say, ‘The Lord did not appear to you.’” ² The Lord said to him, “What is that in your hand?” He said, ^(EK)“A staff.” ³ And he said, “Throw it on the ground.” So he threw it on the ground, and it became a serpent, and Moses ran from it. ⁴ But the Lord said to Moses, “Put out your hand and catch it by the tail”—so he put out his hand and caught it, and it became a staff in his hand— ⁵ “that they may ^(EL)believe that the Lord, ^(EM)the God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has appeared to you.” ⁶ Again, the Lord said to him, “Put your hand inside your cloak.”^[t] And he put his hand inside his cloak, and when he took it out, behold, his hand was ^(EN)leprous^[u] like snow. ⁷ Then God said, “Put your hand back inside your cloak.” So he put his hand back inside his cloak, and when he took it out, behold, ^(EO)it was restored like the rest of his flesh. ⁸ “If they will not believe you,” God said, “or listen to the first sign, they may believe the latter sign. ⁹ If they will not believe even these two signs or listen to your voice, you shall take some water from the Nile and pour it on the dry ground, and the water that you shall take from the Nile ^(EP)will become blood on the dry ground.”

¹⁰ But Moses said to the Lord, “Oh, my Lord, I am not eloquent, either in the past or since you have spoken to your servant, but ^(EQ)I am slow of speech and of tongue.” ¹¹ Then the Lord said to him, “Who has made man's mouth? Who makes him mute, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? Is it not I, the Lord? ¹² Now therefore go, and ^(ER)I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall speak.” ¹³ But he said, “Oh, my Lord, please send someone else.” ¹⁴ Then the anger of the Lord was kindled against Moses and he said, “Is there not Aaron, your brother, the Levite? I know that he can speak well. Behold, ^(ES)he is coming out to meet you, and when he sees you, he will be glad in his heart. ^15 (ET)You shall speak to him and ^(EU)put the words in his mouth, and ^(EV)I will be with your mouth and with his mouth and will teach you both what to do. ^16 (EW)He shall speak for you to the people, and he shall be your mouth, and ^(EX)you shall be as God to him. ¹⁷ And take in your hand ^(EY)this staff, with which you shall do the signs.”

Moses Returns to Egypt

¹⁸ Moses went back to ^(EZ)Jethro his father-in-law and said to him, “Please let me go back to my brothers in Egypt to see whether they are still alive.” And Jethro said to Moses, “Go in peace.” ¹⁹ And the Lord said to Moses in Midian, “Go back to Egypt, for ^(FA)all the men who were seeking your life are dead.” ²⁰ So Moses took ^(FB)his wife and his sons and had them ride on a donkey, and went back to the land of Egypt. And Moses took ^(FC)the staff of God in his hand.

²¹ And the Lord said to Moses, “When you go back to Egypt, see that you do before Pharaoh all the ^(FD)miracles that I have put in your power. But ^(FE)I will harden his heart, so that he will not let the people go. ²² Then you shall say to Pharaoh, ‘Thus says the Lord, ^(FF)Israel is my ^(FG)firstborn son, ²³ and I say to you, “Let my son go that he may serve me.” If you refuse to let him go, behold, I ^(FH)will kill your firstborn son.’”