Exodus 1–15

Chapter 1

Israel Multiplies in Egypt

¹Now these are the ^anames of the sons of Israel who came to Egypt with Jacob; they came each one ¹with his household:

²Reuben, Simeon, Levi and Judah;

³Issachar, Zebulun and Benjamin;

⁴Dan and Naphtali, Gad and Asher.

⁵All the ¹persons who came from the loins of Jacob were ^aseventy ²in number, but Joseph was already in Egypt.

^6aJoseph died, and all his brothers and all that generation.

⁷But the sons of Israel ^awere fruitful and ¹increased greatly, and multiplied, and became exceedingly ²mighty, so that the land was filled with them.

⁸Now a new ^aking arose over Egypt, who did not know Joseph.

^9aHe said to his people, “Behold, the people of the sons of Israel are ¹more and mightier than we.

¹⁰“Come, let us ^adeal wisely with them, or else they will multiply and ¹in the event of war, they will also join themselves to those who hate us, and fight against us and ²depart from the land.”

¹¹So they appointed ^ataskmasters over them to afflict them with ^1bhard labor. And they built for Pharaoh ^cstorage cities, Pithom and ^dRaamses.

¹²But the more they afflicted them, ^athe more they multiplied and the more they ¹spread out, so that they were in dread of the sons of Israel.

¹³The Egyptians compelled the sons of Israel ^ato labor rigorously;

¹⁴and they made ^atheir lives bitter with hard labor in mortar and bricks and at all kinds of labor in the field, all their labors which they rigorously ¹imposed on them.

¹⁵Then the king of Egypt spoke to the Hebrew midwives, one of whom ¹was named Shiphrah and the other was named Puah;

¹⁶and he said, “When you are helping the Hebrew women to give birth and see them upon the birthstool, ^aif it is a son, then you shall put him to death; but if it is a daughter, then she shall live.”

¹⁷But the midwives ^1afeared God, and ^bdid not do as the king of Egypt had ²commanded them, but let the boys live.

¹⁸So the king of Egypt called for the midwives and said to them, “Why have you done this thing, and let the boys live?”

¹⁹The midwives said to Pharaoh, “Because the Hebrew women are not as the Egyptian women; for they are vigorous and give birth before the midwife ¹can get to them.”

²⁰So ^aGod was good to the midwives, and ^bthe people multiplied, and became very ¹mighty.

²¹Because the midwives ^1afeared God, He ^2bestablished ³households for them.

²²Then Pharaoh commanded all his people, saying, “^aEvery son who is born ¹you are to cast into ^bthe Nile, and every daughter you are to keep alive.”

Chapter 2

The Birth of Moses

¹Now a man from ^athe house of Levi went and ¹married a daughter of Levi.

²The woman conceived and bore a son; and when she saw ¹that he was ^2abeautiful, she hid him for three months.

³But when she could hide him no longer, she got him a ^1awicker ²basket and covered it over with tar and pitch. Then she put the child into it and set it among the ^breeds by the bank of the Nile.

^4aHis sister stood at a distance to ¹find out what would ²happen to him.

⁵The daughter of Pharaoh came down ^ato bathe at the Nile, with her maidens walking alongside the Nile; and she saw the ¹basket among the reeds and sent her maid, and she brought it to her.

⁶When she opened it, she ¹saw the child, and behold, the ²boy was crying. And she had 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 ¹a nurse for you from the Hebrew women that she may nurse the child for you?”

⁸Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Go ahead.” So the girl went and called the child’s mother.

⁹Then 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.

¹⁰The child grew, and she brought him to Pharaoh’s daughter and ^ahe became her son. And she named him ¹Moses, and said, “Because I ²drew him out of the water.”

¹¹Now it came about in those days, ^awhen Moses had grown up, that he went out to his brethren and looked on their ^1bhard labors; and ^che saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his brethren.

¹²So he ¹looked this way and that, and when he saw there was no one around, he ^astruck down the Egyptian and hid him in the sand.

¹³He went out ^athe next day, and behold, two Hebrews were ¹fighting with each other; and he said to the ²offender, “Why are you striking your companion?”

¹⁴But he said, “^aWho made you a ¹prince or a judge over us? Are you ²intending to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?” Then Moses was afraid and said, “Surely the matter has become known.”

Moses Escapes to Midian

¹⁵When Pharaoh heard of this matter, he tried to kill Moses. But ^aMoses fled from the presence of Pharaoh and ¹settled in the land of Midian, and he sat down ^bby a well.

¹⁶Now ^athe priest of Midian had seven daughters; and ^bthey came to draw water and filled the troughs to water their father’s flock.

¹⁷Then the shepherds came and drove them away, but ^aMoses stood up and helped them and watered their flock.

¹⁸When they came to ^aReuel their father, he said, “Why have you come back so soon today?”

¹⁹So they said, “An Egyptian delivered us from the hand of the shepherds, and what is more, he even drew the water for us and watered the flock.”

²⁰He said to his daughters, “Where is he then? Why is it that you have left the man behind? Invite him ¹to have something to eat.”

^21aMoses was willing to dwell with the man, and he gave his daughter ^bZipporah to Moses.

²²Then she gave birth to ^aa son, and he named him ¹Gershom, for he said, “I have been ^ba ²sojourner in a foreign land.”

²³Now it came about in the course of those many days that the king of Egypt died. And the sons of Israel ^asighed because of the bondage, and they cried out; and ^btheir cry for help because of their bondage rose up to God.

²⁴So ^aGod heard their groaning; and God remembered ^bHis covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

^25aGod saw the sons of Israel, and God ¹took notice of them.

Chapter 3

The Burning Bush

¹Now Moses was pasturing the flock of ^aJethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian; and he led the flock to the ¹west side of the wilderness and came to ^bHoreb, the ^cmountain of God.

^2aThe angel of the Lord appeared to him in a blazing fire from the midst of ¹a ^bbush; and he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, yet the bush was not consumed.

³So Moses said, “^1aI must turn aside now and see this ²marvelous sight, why the bush is not burned up.”

⁴When the Lord saw that he turned aside to look, ^aGod called to him from the midst of the bush and said, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.”

⁵Then He said, “Do not come near here; ^aremove your sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.”

⁶He said also, “^aI am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” ^bThen Moses hid his face, for he was ^cafraid to look at God.

⁷The Lord said, “I have surely ^aseen the affliction of My people who are in Egypt, and have given heed to their cry because of their taskmasters, for I am aware of their sufferings.

⁸“So I have come down ^ato deliver them from the ¹power of the Egyptians, and to bring them up from that land to a ^bgood and spacious land, to a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of ^cthe Canaanite and the Hittite and the Amorite and the Perizzite and the Hivite and the Jebusite.

⁹“Now, behold, ^athe cry of the sons of Israel has come to Me; furthermore, I have seen the oppression with which the Egyptians are oppressing them.

The Mission of Moses

¹⁰“Therefore, come now, and I will send you to Pharaoh, ^aso that you may bring My people, the sons of Israel, out of Egypt.”

¹¹But Moses said to God, “^aWho am I, that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should bring the sons of Israel out of Egypt?”

¹²And He said, “Certainly ^aI will be with you, and this shall be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: ^bwhen you have brought the people out of Egypt, ^cyou shall ¹worship God at this mountain.”

¹³Then Moses said to God, “Behold, I am going to the sons of Israel, and I will say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you.’ Now they may say to me, ‘What is His name?’ What shall I say to them?”

¹⁴God said to Moses, “^1aI AM WHO I AM”; and He said, “Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’ ”

¹⁵God, furthermore, said to Moses, “Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, ‘^aThe Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.’ This is My name forever, and this is My ^bmemorial-name ¹to all generations.

¹⁶“Go and ^agather the elders of Israel together and say to them, ‘^bThe Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, has appeared to me, saying, “^1cI am indeed concerned about you and what has been done to you in Egypt.

¹⁷“So ^aI said, I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt to the land of ^bthe Canaanite and the Hittite and the Amorite and the Perizzite and the Hivite and the Jebusite, to a land ^cflowing with milk and honey.” ’

¹⁸“^aThey will ¹pay heed to what you say; and ^byou with the elders of Israel will come to the king of Egypt and you will say to him, ‘The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us. So now, please, let us go a ^cthree days’ journey into the wilderness, that we may sacrifice to the Lord our God.’

¹⁹“But I know that the king of Egypt ^awill not permit you to go, ^bexcept ¹under compulsion.

²⁰“So I will stretch out ^aMy hand and strike Egypt with all My ^bmiracles which I shall do in the midst of it; and ^cafter that he will let you go.

²¹“I will grant this people ^afavor in the sight of the Egyptians; and it shall be that when you go, you will not go empty-handed.

²²“But every woman ^ashall ask of her neighbor and the woman who lives in her house, articles of silver and articles of gold, and clothing; and you will put them on your sons and daughters. Thus you will ^bplunder the Egyptians.”

Chapter 4

Moses Given Powers

¹Then Moses said, “What if they will not believe me or ^alisten ¹to what…