Exodus 2–4

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 I say? For they may say, ‘^bThe Lord has not appeared to you.’ ”

²The Lord said to him, “What is that in your hand?” And he said, “^aA staff.”

³Then He said, “Throw it on the ground.” So he threw it on the ground, and ^ait became a serpent; and Moses fled from it.

⁴But the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand and grasp it by its tail”—so he stretched out his hand and caught it, and it became a staff in his ¹hand—

⁵“that ^athey may believe that ^bthe Lord, the God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has appeared to you.”

⁶The Lord furthermore said to him, “Now put your hand into your bosom.” So he put his hand into his bosom, and when he took it out, behold, his hand was ^aleprous like snow.

⁷Then He said, “Put your hand into your bosom again.” So he put his hand into his bosom again, and when he took it out of his bosom, behold, ^ait was restored like the rest of his flesh.

⁸“If they will not believe you or ¹heed the ²witness of the first sign, they may believe the witness of the last sign.

⁹“But if they will not believe even these two signs or heed what you say, then you shall take some water from the Nile and pour it on the dry ground; and the water which you take from the Nile ^awill become blood on the dry ground.”

¹⁰Then Moses said to the Lord, “Please, Lord, ^aI have never been ¹eloquent, neither ²recently nor in time past, nor since You have spoken to Your servant; for I am ³slow of speech and slow of tongue.”

¹¹The Lord said to him, “Who has made man’s mouth? Or ^awho makes him mute or deaf, or seeing or blind? Is it not I, the Lord?

¹²“Now then go, and ^aI, even I, will be with your mouth, and ^bteach you what you are to say.”

¹³But he said, “Please, Lord, now ¹send the message by whomever You will.”

Aaron to Be Moses’ Mouthpiece

¹⁴Then the anger of the Lord burned against Moses, and He said, “Is there not your brother Aaron the Levite? I know that ¹he speaks fluently. And moreover, behold, ^ahe is coming out to meet you; when he sees you, he will be glad in his heart.

¹⁵“You are to speak to him and ^aput the words in his mouth; and I, even I, will be with your mouth and his mouth, and I will teach you what you are to do.

¹⁶“Moreover, ^ahe shall speak for you to the people; and he will be as a mouth for you and you will be as God to him.

¹⁷“You shall take in your hand ^athis staff, ^bwith which you shall perform the signs.”

¹⁸Then Moses departed and returned to ¹Jethro ^ahis father-in-law and said…