Study Desk

The midwives said to Pharaoh, "Because the Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women—for the Hebrew women are vigorous; they give birth before the midwife gets to them!"

And because the midwives feared God, he made households for them.

The woman became pregnant and gave birth to a son. When she saw that he was a healthy child, she hid him for three months.

But when she was no longer able to hide him, she took a papyrus basket for him and sealed it with bitumen and pitch. She put the child in it and set it among the reeds along the edge of the Nile.

opened it, and saw the child—a boy, crying!—and she felt compassion for him and said, "This is one of the Hebrews' children."

Then his sister said to Pharaoh's daughter, "Shall I go and get a nursing woman for you from the Hebrews, so that she may nurse the child for you?"

Pharaoh's daughter said to her, "Take this child and nurse him for me, and I will pay your wages." So the woman took the child and nursed him.

They said, "An Egyptian man rescued us from the shepherds, and he actually drew water for us and watered the flock!"

When she bore a son, Moses named him Gershom, for he said, "I have become a resident foreigner in a foreign land."

God said, "Do not approach any closer! Take your sandals off your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy ground."

The Lord said, "I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt. I have heard their cry because of their taskmasters, for I know their sorrows.

Every woman will ask her neighbor and the one who happens to be staying in her house for items of silver and gold and for clothing. You will put these articles on your sons and daughters—thus you will plunder Egypt!"

Then Moses said to the Lord , "O my Lord, I am not an eloquent man, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant, for I am slow of speech and slow of tongue."

"So you are to speak to him and put the words in his mouth. And as for me, I will be with your mouth and with his mouth, and I will teach you both what you must do.

He will speak for you to the people, and it will be as if he were your mouth and as if you were his God.

Now on the way, at a place where they stopped for the night, the Lord met Moses and sought to kill him.

"You must no longer give straw to the people for making bricks as before. Let them go and collect straw for themselves.

But you must require of them the same quota of bricks that they were making before. Do not reduce it, for they are slackers. That is why they are crying, ‘Let us go sacrifice to our God.'

Make the work harder for the men so they will keep at it and pay no attention to lying words!"

You go get straw for yourselves wherever you can find it, because there will be no reduction at all in your workload.'"