Exodus 1:1–2:25

The People of Israel Are Slaves in Egypt

1 Here are the names of Israel’s children who went to Egypt with Jacob. Each one went with his family.

2Jacob’s sons were Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, 3Issachar, Zebulun, Benjamin, 4Dan, Naphtali, Gad and Asher. 5The total number of Jacob’s children and grandchildren was 70. Joseph was already in Egypt.

6Joseph and all of his brothers died. So did all of their children.

7The people of Israel had many children. They greatly increased their numbers. There were so many of them that they filled the land.

8Then a new king came to power in Egypt. He didn’t know anything about Joseph.

9“Look,” he said to his people. “The Israelites are far too many for us. 10Come. We must deal with them carefully. If we don’t, they will increase their numbers even more. Then if war breaks out, they’ll join our enemies. They’ll fight against us and leave the country.”

11So the Egyptians put slave drivers over the people of Israel. The slave drivers beat them down and made them work hard. The Israelites built the cities of Pithom and Rameses so Pharaoh could store things there.

12But the more the slave drivers beat them down, the more the Israelites increased their numbers and spread out. So the Egyptians became afraid of them. 13They made them work hard. They didn’t show them any pity. 14They made them suffer with hard labor. They forced them to work with bricks and mud. And they made them do all kinds of work in the fields. The Egyptians didn’t show them any pity at all. They made them work very hard.

15There were two Hebrew women named Shiphrah and Puah. They helped other women who were having babies. The king of Egypt spoke to them. He said, 16“You are the ones who help the other Hebrew women. Watch them when they get into a sitting position to have their babies. Kill the boys. Let the girls live.”

17But Shiphrah and Puah had respect for God. They didn’t do what the king of Egypt had told them to do. They let the boys live.

18Then the king of Egypt sent for the women. He asked them, “Why have you done this? Why have you let the boys live?”

19The women answered Pharaoh, “Hebrew women are not like the women of Egypt. They are strong. They have their babies before we get there.”

20So God was kind to Shiphrah and Puah. And the people of Israel increased their numbers more and more. 21Shiphrah and Puah had respect for God. So he gave them families of their own.

22Then Pharaoh gave an order to all of his people. He said, “You must throw every baby boy into the Nile River. But let every baby girl live.”

Moses Is Born

2 A man and a woman from the tribe of Levi got married. 2She became pregnant and had a son by him. She saw that her baby was a fine child. So she hid him for three months.

3After that, she couldn’t hide him any longer. So she got a basket that was made out of the stems of tall grass. She coated it with tar. Then she placed the child in it. She put the basket in the tall grass that grew along the bank of the Nile River. 4The child’s sister wasn’t very far away. She wanted to see what would happen to him.

5Pharaoh’s daughter went down to the Nile River to take a bath. Her attendants were walking along the bank of the river. She saw the basket in the tall grass. So she sent her female slave to get it.

6When she opened it, she saw the baby. He was crying. She felt sorry for him. “This is one of the Hebrew babies,” she said.

7Then his sister spoke to Pharaoh’s daughter. She asked, “Do you want me to go and get one of the Hebrew women? She could nurse the baby for you.”

8“Yes. Go,” she answered. So the girl went and got the baby’s mother.

9Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Take this baby. Nurse him for me. I’ll pay you.” So the woman took the baby and nursed him.

10When the child grew older, she took him to Pharaoh’s daughter. And he became her son. She named him Moses. She said, “I pulled him out of the water.”

Moses Escapes to Midian

11Moses grew up. One day, he went out to where his own people were. He watched them while they were hard at work. He saw an Egyptian hitting a Hebrew man. The man was one of Moses’ own people. 12Moses looked around and didn’t see anyone. So he killed the Egyptian. Then he hid his body in the sand.

13The next day Moses went out again. He saw two Hebrew men fighting. He asked the one who had started the fight a question. He said, “Why are you hitting another Hebrew man?”

14The man said, “Who made you ruler and judge over us? Are you thinking about killing me as you killed the Egyptian?”

Then Moses became afraid. He thought, “People must have heard about what I did.”

15When Pharaoh heard about what had happened, he tried to kill Moses. But Moses escaped from Pharaoh and went to live in Midian. There he sat down by a well.

16A priest of Midian had seven daughters. They came to fill the stone tubs with water. They wanted to give water to their father’s flock. 17Some shepherds came along and drove the women away. But Moses got up and helped them. Then he gave water to their flock.

18The young women returned to their father Reuel. He asked them, “Why have you returned so early today?”

19They answered, “An Egyptian saved us from the shepherds. He even got water for us and gave it to the flock.”

20“Where is he?” he asked his daughters. “Why did you leave him? Invite him to have something to eat.”

21Moses agreed to stay with the man. And the man gave his daughter Zipporah to Moses to be his wife. 22Zipporah had a son by him. Moses named him Gershom. Moses said, “I’m an outsider in a strange land.”

23After a long time, the king of Egypt died. The people of Israel groaned because they were slaves. They also cried out to God. Their cry for help went up to him. 24God heard their groans. He remembered his covenant with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. 25So God looked on the Israelites with favor. He was concerned about them.