Exodus 2

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.