Exodus 1

The People of Israel Suffer

1-5 t 1-5 When Jacob went to Egypt, his son Joseph was already there. So Jacob took his eleven other sons and their families. They were: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, Benjamin, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, and Asher. Altogether, Jacob had seventy children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildrent who went with him.
6 After Joseph, his brothers, and everyone else in that generation had died,

7 t7 the people of Israel became so numerous that the whole region of Goshen was full of them.
8 t Many years later a new king came to power. He did not know what Joseph had done for Egypt,9 and he told the Egyptians: There are too many of those Israelites in our country, and they are becoming more powerful than we are.

10 t10 If we don’t outsmart them, their families will keep growing larger. And if our country goes to war, they could easily fight on the side of our enemies and escape from Egypt.
11 The Egyptians put slave bosses in charge of the people of Israel and tried to wear them down with hard work. Those bosses forced them to build the cities of Pithom and Rameses,t where the kingt could store his supplies.12 But even though the Israelites were mistreated, their families grew larger, and they took over more land. Because of this, the Egyptians hated them worse than before13 and made them work so hard

14 that their lives were miserable. The Egyptians were cruel to the people of Israel and forced them to make bricks and to mix mortar and to work in the fields.
15 Finally, the king called in Shiphrah and Puah, the two women who helped the Hebrewt mothers when they gave birth.

16 He told them, “If a Hebrew woman gives birth to a girl, let the child live. If the baby is a boy, kill him!”
17 But the two women were faithful to God and did not kill the boys, even though the king had told them to.

18 The king called them in again and asked, “Why are you letting those baby boys live?”
19 They answered, “Hebrew women have their babies much quicker than Egyptian women. By the time we arrive, their babies are already born.”20-21 God was good to the two women because they truly respected him, and he blessed them with children of their own. The Hebrews kept increasing

22 t22 until finally, the king gave a command to everyone in the nation, “As soon as a Hebrew boy is born, throw him into the Nile River! But you can let the girls live.”

Exodus 2

Moses is Born

1 A man from the Levi tribe married a woman from the same tribe,2 t2 and she later had a baby boy. He was a beautiful child, and she kept him inside for three months.3 But when she could no longer keep him hidden, she made a basket out of reeds and covered it with tar. She put him in the basket and placed it in the tall grass along the edge of the Nile River.

4 The baby’s older sistert stood off at a distance to see what would happen to him.
5 About that time one of the king’st daughters came down to take a bath in the river, while her servant women walked along the river bank. She saw the basket in the tall grass and sent one of the young women to pull it out of the water.

6 When the king’s daughter opened the basket, she saw the baby and felt sorry for him because he was crying. She said, “This must be one of the Hebrew babies.”

7 At once the baby’s older sister came up and asked, “Do you want me to get a Hebrew woman to take care of the baby for you?”
8 “Yes,” the king’s daughter answered. So the girl brought the baby’s mother,9 and the king’s daughter told her, “Take care of this child, and I will pay you.” The baby’s mother carried him home and took care of him.10 t10 And when he was old enough, she took him to the king’s daughter, who adopted him. She named him Mosest because she said, “I pulled him out of the water.”

Moses Escapes from Egypt

11 t After Moses had grown up, he went out to where his own people were hard at work, and he saw an Egyptian beating one of them.

12 Moses looked around to see if anyone was watching, then he killed the Egyptian and hid his body in the sand.

13 When Moses went out the next day, he saw two Hebrews fighting. So he went to the man who had started the fight and asked, “Why are you beating up one of your own people?”
14 The man answered, “Who put you in charge of us and made you our judge? Are you planning to kill me, just as you killed that Egyptian?” This frightened Moses because he was sure that people must have found out what had happened.15 t15 When the kingt heard what Moses had done, the king wanted to kill him. But Moses escaped and went to the land of Midian. One day, Moses was sitting there by a well,16 when the seven daughters of Jethro, the priest of Midian,t came up to water their father’s sheep and goats.17 Some shepherds tried to chase them away, but Moses came to their rescue and watered their animals.

18 When Jethro’s daughters returned home, their father asked, “Why have you come back so early today?”

19 They answered, “An Egyptian rescued us from the shepherds, and he even watered our sheep and goats.”

20 “Where is he?” Jethro asked. “Why did you leave him out there? Invite him to eat with us.”
21 Moses agreed to stay on with Jethro, who later let his daughter Zipporah marry Moses.

22 And when she had a son, Moses said, “I will name him Gershom,t since I am a foreigner in this country.”
23 After the death of the king of Egypt, the Israelites still complained because they were forced to be slaves. They cried out for help,24 t24 and God heard their loud cries. He did not forget the promise he had made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob,

25 and because he knew what was happening to his people, he felt sorry for them.

Exodus 3

God Speaks to Moses

1 One day, Moses was taking care of the sheep and goats of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian, and Moses decided to lead them across the desert to Sinai,t the holy mountain.2 t2 There an angel of the Lord appeared to him from a burning bush. Moses saw that the bush was on fire, but it was not burning up.

3 “This is strange!” he said to himself. “I’ll go over and see why the bush isn’t burning up.”

4 When the Lord saw Moses coming near the bush, he called him by name, and Moses answered, “Here I am.”
5 God replied, “Don’t come any closer. Take off your sandals—the ground where you are standing is holy.

6 I am the God who was worshiped by your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.” Moses was afraid to look at God, and so he hid his face.

7 The Lord said: I have seen how my people are suffering as slaves in Egypt, and I have heard them beg for my help because of the way they are being mistreated. I feel sorry for them,8 and I have come down to rescue them from the Egyptians. I will bring my people out of Egypt into a country where there is good land, rich with milk and honey. I will give them the land where the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites now live.9 My people have begged for my help, and I have seen how cruel the Egyptians are to them.

10 Now go to the king! I am sending you to lead my people out of his country.

11 But Moses said, “Who am I to go to the king and lead your people out of Egypt?”

12 God replied, “I will be with you. And you will know that I am the one who sent you, when you worship me on this mountain after you have led my people out of Egypt.” t

13 t Moses answered, “I will tell the people of Israel that the God their ancestors worshiped has sent me to them. But what should I say, if they ask me your name?”

14-15 t14-15 God said to Moses: I am the eternal God. So tell them that the Lord,t whose name is “I Am,” has sent you. This is my name forever, and it is the name that people must use from now on.
16 Call together the leaders of Israel and tell them that the God who was worshiped by Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob has appeared to you. Tell them I have seen how terribly they are being treated in Egypt,

17 and I promise to lead them out of their troubles. I will give them a land rich with milk and honey, where the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites now live.
18 The leaders of Israel will listen to you. Then you must take them to the king of Egypt and say, “The Lord God of the Hebrews has appeared to us. Let us walk three days into the desert, where we can offer a sacrifice to him.”19 But I know that the king of Egypt won’t let you go unless something forces him to.

20 So I will use my mighty power to perform all kinds of miracles and strike down the Egyptians. Then the king will send you away.
21 t After I punish the Egyptians, they will be so afraid of you that they will give you anything you want. You are my people, and I will let you take many things with you when you leave the land of Egypt.

22 Every Israelite woman will go to her Egyptian neighbors or to any Egyptian woman living in her house. She will ask them for gold and silver jewelry and for their finest clothes. The Egyptians will give them to you, and you will put these fine things on your sons and daughters. You will carry all this away when you leave Egypt.