Exodus 1–2

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.