Exodus 1–2

Israel’s Suffering in Egypt

1Now ^athese are the names of the children of Israel who came to Egypt; each man and his household came with Jacob: ²Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah; ³Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin; ⁴Dan, Naphtali, Gad, and Asher. ⁵All those ¹who were descendants of Jacob were ^bseventy ²persons (for Joseph was in Egypt already). ⁶And ^cJoseph died, all his brothers, and all that generation. ^7dBut the children of Israel were fruitful and increased abundantly, multiplied and ³grew exceedingly mighty; and the land was filled with them.

⁸Now there arose a new king over Egypt, ^ewho did not know Joseph. ⁹And he said to his people, “Look, the people of the children of Israel are more and ^fmightier than we; ^10gcome, let us ^hdeal shrewdly with them, lest they multiply, and it happen, in the event of war, that they also join our enemies and fight against us, and so go up out of the land.” ¹¹Therefore they set taskmasters over them ⁱto afflict them with their ^jburdens. And they built for Pharaoh ^ksupply cities, Pithom ^land Raamses. ¹²But the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and grew. And they were in dread of the children of Israel. ¹³So the Egyptians made the children of Israel ^mserve with ⁴rigor. ¹⁴And they ⁿmade their lives bitter with hard bondage—^oin mortar, in brick, and in all manner of service in the field. All their service in which they made them serve was with rigor.

¹⁵Then the king of Egypt spoke to the ^pHebrew midwives, of whom the name of one was Shiphrah and the name of the other Puah; ¹⁶and he said, “When you do the duties of a midwife for the Hebrew women, and see them on the birthstools, if it is a ^qson, then you shall kill him; but if it is a daughter, then she shall live.” ¹⁷But the midwives ^rfeared God, and did not do ^sas the king of Egypt commanded them, but saved the male children alive. ¹⁸So the king of Egypt called for the midwives and said to them, “Why have you done this thing, and saved the male children alive?”

¹⁹And ^tthe midwives said to Pharaoh, “Because the Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women; for they ⁵are lively and give birth before the midwives come to them.”

^20uTherefore God dealt well with the midwives, and the people multiplied and ⁶grew very mighty. ²¹And so it was, because the midwives feared God, ^vthat He ⁷provided households for them.

²²So Pharaoh commanded all his people, saying, ^w“Every son who is ⁸born you shall cast into the river, and every daughter you shall save alive.”

Moses is Born

2And ^aa man of the house of Levi went and took as wife a daughter of Levi. ²So the woman conceived and bore a son. And ^bwhen she saw that he was a beautiful child, she hid him three months. ³But when she could no longer hide him, she took an ark of ^cbulrushes for him, daubed it with ^dasphalt and ^epitch, put the child in it, and laid it in the reeds ^fby the river’s bank. ^4gAnd his sister stood afar off, to know what would be done to him.

⁵Then the ^hdaughter of Pharaoh came down to bathe at the river. And her maidens walked along the riverside; and when she saw the ark among the reeds, she sent her maid to get it. ⁶And when she opened it, she saw the child, and behold, the baby wept. So she had compassion on him, and said, “This is one of the Hebrews’ children.”

⁷Then his sister said to Pharaoh’s daughter, “Shall I go and call a nurse for you from the Hebrew women, that she may nurse the child for you?”

⁸And Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Go.” So the maiden 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. ¹⁰And the child grew, and she brought him to Pharaoh’s daughter, and he became ⁱher son. So she called his name ¹Moses, saying, “Because I drew him out of the water.”

Moses Flees to Midian

¹¹Now it came to pass in those days, ^jwhen Moses was grown, that he went out to his brethren and looked at their burdens. And he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his brethren. ¹²So he looked this way and that way, and when he saw no one, he ^kkilled the Egyptian and hid him in the sand. ¹³And ^lwhen he went out the second day, behold, two Hebrew men ^mwere fighting, and he said to the one who did the wrong, “Why are you striking your companion?”

¹⁴Then he said, ⁿ“Who made you a prince and a judge over us? Do you intend to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?”

So Moses ^ofeared and said, “Surely this thing is known!” ¹⁵When Pharaoh heard of this matter, he sought to kill Moses. But ^pMoses fled from ²the face of Pharaoh and dwelt in the land of ^qMidian; and he sat down by ^ra well.

^16sNow the priest of Midian had seven daughters. ^tAnd they came and drew water, and they filled the ^utroughs to water their father’s flock. ¹⁷Then the ^vshepherds came and ^wdrove them away; but Moses stood up and helped them, and ^xwatered their flock.

¹⁸When they came to ^yReuel ³their father, ^zhe said, “How is it that you have come so soon today?”

¹⁹And they said, “An Egyptian delivered us from the hand of the shepherds, and he also drew enough water for us and watered the flock.”

²⁰So he said to his daughters, “And where is he? Why is it that you have left the man? Call him, that he may ^aeat bread.”

²¹Then Moses was content to live with the man, and he gave ^bZipporah his daughter to Moses. ²²And she bore him a son. He called his name ^cGershom, ⁴for he said, “I have been ^da ⁵stranger in a foreign land.”

²³Now it happened ^ein the process of time that the king of Egypt died. Then the children of Israel ^fgroaned because of the bondage, and they cried out; and ^gtheir cry came up to God because of the bondage. ²⁴So God ^hheard their groaning, and God ⁱremembered His ^jcovenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. ²⁵And God ^klooked upon the children of Israel, and God ^lacknowledged them.