Exodus 2

The Birth of Moses

1Now a man from the house of Levi went and married a daughter of Levi.

2The woman conceived and bore a son; and when she saw that he was beautiful, she hid him for three months.

3But when she could hide him no longer, she got him a wicker basket and covered it over with tar and pitch. Then she put the child into it and set it among the reeds by the bank of the Nile.

4His sister stood at a distance to find out what would happen to him.

5The daughter of Pharaoh came down to bathe at the Nile, with her maidens walking alongside the Nile; and she saw the basket among the reeds and sent her maid, and she brought it to her.

6When she opened it, she saw the child, and behold, the boy was crying. And she had pity 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?”

8Pharaoh's daughter said to her, “Go ahead.” So the girl 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.

10The child grew, and she brought him to Pharaoh's daughter and he became her son. And she named him Moses, and said, “Because I drew him out of the water.”

11Now it came about in those days, when Moses had grown up, that he went out to his brethren and looked on their hard labors; and he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his brethren.

12So he looked this way and that, and when he saw there was no one around, he struck down the Egyptian and hid him in the sand.

13He went out the next day, and behold, two Hebrews were fighting with each other; and he said to the offender, “Why are you striking your companion?”

14But he said, “Who made you a prince or a judge over us? Are you intending to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?” Then Moses was afraid and said, “Surely the matter has become known.”

Moses Escapes to Midian

15When Pharaoh heard of this matter, he tried to kill Moses. But Moses fled from the presence of Pharaoh and settled in the land of Midian, and he sat down by a well.

16Now the priest of Midian had seven daughters; and they came to draw water and filled the troughs to water their father's flock.

17Then the shepherds came and drove them away, but Moses stood up and helped them and watered their flock.

18When they came to Reuel their father, he said, “Why have you come back so soon today?”

19So they said, “An Egyptian delivered us from the hand of the shepherds, and what is more, he even drew the water for us and watered the flock.”

20He said to his daughters, “Where is he then? Why is it that you have left the man behind? Invite him to have something to eat.”

21Moses was willing to dwell with the man, and he gave his daughter Zipporah to Moses.

22Then she gave birth to a son, and he named him Gershom, for he said, “I have been a sojourner in a foreign land.”

23Now it came about in the course of those many days that the king of Egypt died. And the sons of Israel sighed because of the bondage, and they cried out; and their cry for help because of their bondage rose up to God.

24So God heard their groaning; and God remembered His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

25God saw the sons of Israel, and God took notice of them.