Exodus 2:11–25

Moses Tries to Help

¹¹Moses grew and became a man. One day he visited his people and saw that they were forced to work very hard. He saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew man, one of Moses’ own people. ¹²Moses looked all around and saw that no one was watching, so he killed the Egyptian and hid his body in the sand.

¹³The next day Moses returned and saw two Hebrew men fighting each other. He said to the one that was in the wrong, “Why are you hitting one of your own people?”

¹⁴The man answered, “Who made you our ruler and judge? Are you going to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?”

Moses was afraid and thought, “Now everyone knows what I did.”

¹⁵When the king heard what Moses had done, he tried to kill him. But Moses ran away from the king and went to live in the land of Midian. There he sat down near a well.

Moses in Midian

¹⁶There was a priest in Midian who had seven daughters. His daughters went to that well to get water to fill the water troughs for their father’s flock. ¹⁷Some shepherds came and chased the girls away, but Moses defended the girls and watered their flock.

¹⁸When they went back to their father Reuel, ⁿ he asked them, “Why have you come home early today?”

¹⁹The girls answered, “The shepherds chased us away, but an Egyptian defended us. He got water for us and watered our flock.”

²⁰He asked his daughters, “Where is this man? Why did you leave him? Invite him to eat with us.”

²¹Moses agreed to stay with Jethro, and he gave his daughter Zipporah to Moses to be his wife. ²²Zipporah gave birth to a son. Moses named him Gershom, ⁿ because Moses was a stranger in a land that was not his own.

²³After a long time, the king of Egypt died. The people of Israel groaned, because they were forced to work very hard. When they cried for help, God heard them. ²⁴God heard their cries, and he remembered the agreement he had made with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. ²⁵He saw the troubles of the people of Israel, and he was concerned about them.