Exodus 1–2

Israel Increases Greatly in Egypt

1^aThese are the names of the sons of Israel who came to Egypt with Jacob, each with his household: ²Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah, ³Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin, ⁴Dan and Naphtali, Gad and Asher. ⁵All the descendants of Jacob were ^bseventy persons; Joseph was already in Egypt. ⁶Then ^cJoseph died, and all his brothers and all that generation. ^7dBut 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

⁸Now there arose a new king over Egypt, ^ewho did not know Joseph. ⁹And he said to his people, “Behold, ^fthe people of Israel are too many and too mighty for us. ^10gCome, ^hlet 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.” ¹¹Therefore they set taskmasters over them ⁱto afflict them with heavy ^jburdens. They built for Pharaoh ^kstore cities, Pithom and ^lRaamses. ¹²But 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. ¹³So they ruthlessly made the people of Israel ^mwork as slaves ¹⁴and ⁿmade 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.

¹⁵Then 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.” ¹⁷But the midwives ^ofeared God and did not do as the king of Egypt commanded them, but let the male children live. ¹⁸So the king of Egypt called the midwives and said to them, “Why have you done this, and let the male children live?” ¹⁹The 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.” ^20pSo God dealt well with the midwives. And the people multiplied and grew very strong. ²¹And because the midwives feared God, ^qhe gave them families. ²²Then Pharaoh commanded all his people, ^r“Every son that is born to the Hebrews¹ you shall cast into ^sthe Nile, but you shall let every daughter live.”

The Birth of Moses

2Now a ^tman from the house of Levi went and took as his wife a Levite woman. ²The woman conceived and bore a son, and ^uwhen she saw that he was a fine child, she hid him three months. ³When she could hide him no longer, she took for him a basket made of bulrushes¹ and daubed it with bitumen and pitch. She put the child in it and placed it among the ^vreeds by the river bank. ⁴And ^whis sister stood at a distance to know what would be done to him. ⁵Now 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. ⁶When 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.” ⁷Then 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?” ⁸And Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Go.” So the girl went and called the child’s mother. ⁹And 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. ¹⁰When the child grew older, she brought him to Pharaoh’s daughter, and he became ^xher son. She named him Moses, “Because,” she said, “I ^ydrew him out of the water.”²

Moses Flees to Midian

¹¹One day, ^zwhen Moses had grown up, he went out to his people and looked on their ^aburdens, and he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his people.^{3 12}He looked this way and that, and seeing no one, he ^bstruck down the Egyptian and hid him in the sand. ¹³When ^che 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?” ¹⁴He answered, ^d“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.” ¹⁵When Pharaoh heard of it, he sought to kill Moses. But ^eMoses fled from Pharaoh and stayed in the land of Midian. And he sat down by ^fa well.

¹⁶Now the ^gpriest of Midian had seven daughters, and ^hthey came and drew water and filled the troughs to water their father’s flock. ¹⁷The shepherds came and drove them away, but Moses stood up and saved them, and ⁱwatered their flock. ¹⁸When they came home to their father ^jReuel, he said, “How is it that you have come home so soon today?” ¹⁹They said, “An Egyptian delivered us out of the hand of the shepherds and even drew water for us and ⁱwatered the flock.” ²⁰He said to his daughters, “Then where is he? Why have you left the man? Call him, that he may ^keat bread.” ²¹And Moses was content to dwell with the man, and he gave Moses his daughter ^lZipporah. ²²She gave birth to a son, and he called his name ^mGershom, for he said, “I have been a ⁿsojourner⁴ in a foreign land.”

God Hears Israel’s Groaning

^23oDuring those many days the king of Egypt died, and the people of Israel ^pgroaned because of their slavery and cried out for help. ^qTheir cry for rescue from slavery came up to God. ²⁴And ^rGod heard their groaning, and God ^sremembered his covenant with ^tAbraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. ²⁵God ^usaw the people of Israel—and God ^vknew.