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The Birth of Moses

¹ And a man from ^(C1)the house of Levi went and took a daughter of Levi as a wife.² And the woman conceived and bore a son; and she saw ^(F1)that he was ^(F2)(C1)beautiful, so she hid him for three months.³ But she could not hide him any longer. So she took for him ^(F1)an ^(C1)ark of papyrus reeds and covered it over with tar and pitch. Then she put the child into it and put it among the ^(C2)reeds by the bank of the Nile.^4 (C1)And his sister stood at a distance to know what would be done to him.

⁵ And the daughter of Pharaoh came down ^(C1)to bathe at the Nile, with her young women walking alongside the Nile; and she saw the ^(F1)ark among the reeds and sent her maidservant, and she took it to her.⁶ Then she opened it and ^(F1)saw the child. And behold, the ^(F2)boy was crying. And she had pity on him and said, "This is one of the Hebrews' children."⁷ Then his sister said to Pharaoh's daughter, "Shall I go and call ^(F1)a nurse for you from the Hebrew women that she may nurse the child for you?"⁸ And Pharaoh's daughter said to her, "Go." So the ^(F1)girl went and called the child's mother.⁹ Then 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.¹⁰ And the child grew, and she brought him to Pharaoh's daughter, and ^(C1)he became her son. And she named him ^(F1)Moses and said, "Because I ^(F2)drew him out of the water."

Moses Flees to Midian

¹¹ Now it happened in those days, ^(C1)that Moses had grown up. And he went out to his brothers and looked on their ^(F1)(C2)hard labors. And ^(C3)he saw an Egyptian striking a Hebrew, one of his brothers.¹² So he turned this way and that, and he saw that there was no one around. So he ^(C1)struck down the Egyptian and hid him in the sand.¹³ Then he went out ^(C1)the next day, and behold, two Hebrews were struggling with each other; and he said to the ^(F1)wicked one, "Why are you striking your companion?"¹⁴ But he said, "^(C1)Who made you a ^(F1)ruler or a judge over us? Are you ^(F2)intending to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?" Then Moses was afraid and said, "Surely the matter has become known."¹⁵ And Pharaoh heard of this matter, so he sought to kill Moses. But ^(C1)Moses fled from the presence of Pharaoh and settled in the land of Midian, and he ^(F1)sat down ^(C2)by a well.¹⁶ Now ^(C1)the priest of Midian had seven daughters; and ^(C2)they came and drew water and filled the troughs to give water to their father's flock to drink.¹⁷ Then the shepherds came and drove them away, but ^(C1)Moses rose up and saved them and gave water to their flock to drink.¹⁸ Then they came to ^(C1)Reuel their father, and he said, "Why have you come back so soon today?"¹⁹ So they said, "An Egyptian delivered us from the hand of the shepherds, and he actually even drew the water for us and gave water to the flock to drink."²⁰ And he said to his daughters, "Where is he then? Why is it that you have left the man behind? Call him so that he may eat bread."^21 (C1)And Moses was willing to settle down with the man, and he gave his daughter ^(C2)Zipporah to Moses.²² Then she gave birth to ^(C1)a son, and he named him ^(F1)Gershom, for he said, "I have been ^(C2)a ^(F2)sojourner in a foreign land."

God Hears Israel's Groaning

²³ Now it happened in the course of those many days that the king of Egypt died. And the sons of Israel ^(C1)sighed because of the slavery, and they cried out; and ^(C2)their cry for help because of their slavery rose up to God.²⁴ So ^(C1)God heard their groaning; and God remembered ^(C2)His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.^25 (C1)And God saw the sons of Israel, and God knew them.