Exodus 2:11–25

Moses Escapes to Midian

^11*When Moses had grown up, he went out to visit his people, the Hebrews, and he saw how they were forced to do hard labour. He even saw an Egyptian kill a Hebrew, one of Moses’ own people. ^12*Moses looked all round, and when he saw that no one was watching, he killed the Egyptian and hid his body in the sand. ^13*The next day he went back and saw two Hebrew men fighting. He said to the one who was in the wrong, “Why are you beating up a fellow-Hebrew?”

^14*The man answered, “Who made you our ruler and judge? Are you going to kill me just as you killed that Egyptian?” Then Moses was afraid and said to himself, “People have found out what I have done.” ^15–16*When the king heard about what had happened, he tried to have Moses killed, but Moses fled and went to live in the land of Midian.

One day, when Moses was sitting by a well, seven daughters of Jethro, the priest of Midian, came to draw water and fill the troughs for their father’s sheep and goats. ¹⁷But some shepherds drove Jethro’s daughters away. Then Moses went to their rescue and watered their animals for them. ¹⁸When they returned to their father, he asked, “Why have you come back so early today?”

¹⁹“An Egyptian rescued us from the shepherds,” they answered, “and he even drew water for us and watered our animals.”

²⁰“Where is he?” he asked his daughters. “Why did you leave the man out there? Go and invite him to eat with us.”

²¹So Moses agreed to live there, and Jethro gave him his daughter Zipporah in marriage, ²²who bore him a son. Moses said to himself, “I am a foreigner in this land, and so I name him Gershom.”^d

²³Years later the king of Egypt died, but the Israelites were still groaning under their slavery and cried out for help. Their cry went up to God, ^24*who heard their groaning and remembered his covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. ²⁵He saw the slavery of the Israelites and was concerned for them.^e