⁸ Now a new ^(A)king arose over Egypt, who did not know Joseph. ⁹ And ^(B)he said to his people, “Behold, the people of the sons of Israel are ^[a]too many and too mighty for us. ¹⁰ Come, let us ^(C)deal ^[b]shrewdly with them, otherwise they will multiply, and ^[c]in the event of war, they will also join those who hate us, and fight against us and ^[d]depart from the land.” ¹¹ So they appointed ^(D)taskmasters over them to oppress them with ^[e](E)hard labor. And they built for Pharaoh ^(F)storage cities, Pithom and ^(G)Raamses. ¹² But the more they oppressed them, ^(H)the more they multiplied and the more they ^[f]spread out, so that they dreaded the sons of Israel. ¹³ The Egyptians ^[g]used violence to compel the sons of Israel ^(I)to labor; ¹⁴ and they made ^(J)their lives bitter with hard labor in mortar and bricks and at all kinds of labor in the field, all their labors which they violently had them perform as slaves.

¹⁵ Then the king of Egypt spoke to the Hebrew midwives, one of whom ^[h]was named Shiphrah, and the other ^[i]was named Puah; ¹⁶ and he said, “When you are helping the Hebrew women to give birth and see them upon the birthstool, ^(K)if it is a son, then you shall put him to death; but if it is a daughter, then she shall live.” ¹⁷ But the midwives ^[j](L)feared God, and ^(M)did not do as the king of Egypt had ^[k]commanded them, but let the boys live. ¹⁸ So the king of Egypt called for the midwives and said to them, “Why have you done this thing, and let the boys live?” ¹⁹ The midwives said to Pharaoh, “Because the Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women; for they are vigorous and give birth before the midwife ^[l]can get to them.” ²⁰ So ^(N)God was good to the midwives, and ^(O)the people multiplied, and became very ^[m]mighty. ²¹ And because the midwives ^[n](P)feared God, He ^[o](Q)established ^[p]households for them. ²² Then Pharaoh commanded all his people, saying, “^(R)Every son who is born, ^[q]you are to throw into ^(S)the Nile, but every daughter, you are to keep alive.”

The Birth of Moses

2 Now a man from ^(A)the house of Levi went and ^[a]married a daughter of Levi. ² And the woman conceived and gave birth to a son; and when she saw ^[b]that he was ^[c](B)beautiful, she hid him for three months. ³ But when she could no longer hide him, she got him a ^(C)papyrus ^[d]basket and covered it with tar and pitch. Then she put the child in it and set it among the ^(D)reeds by the bank of the Nile. ^4 (E)And his sister stood at a distance to ^[e]find out what would ^[f]happen to him.

⁵ Now the daughter of Pharaoh came down ^(F)to bathe at the Nile, with her female attendants walking alongside the Nile; and she saw the ^[g]basket among the reeds and sent her slave woman, and she brought it to her. ⁶ When she opened it, she ^[h]saw the child, and behold, the 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 a woman for you who is nursing from the Hebrew women, so that she may nurse the child for you?” ⁸ Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Go ahead.” So the 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 ^(G)he became her son. And she named him ^[i]Moses, and said, “Because I drew him out of the water.”