The Birth of Moses

2 And a man from ^(A)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 ^[a]that he was ^[b](B)beautiful, so she hid him for three months. ³ But she could not hide him any longer. So she took for him ^[c]an ^(C)ark of papyrus reeds and covered it over with tar and pitch. Then she put the child into it and put it among the ^(D)reeds by the bank of the Nile. ^4 (E)And his sister stood at a distance to know what would be done to him.

⁵ And the daughter of Pharaoh came down ^(F)to bathe at the Nile, with her young women walking alongside the Nile; and she saw the ^[d]ark among the reeds and sent her maidservant, and she took it to her. ⁶ Then she opened it and ^[e]saw the child. And behold, the ^[f]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 ^[g]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 ^[h]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 ^[j]drew him out of the water.”

Moses Flees to Midian

¹¹ Now it happened in those days, ^(H)that Moses had grown up. And he went out to his brothers and looked on their ^[k](I)hard labors. And ^(J)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 ^(K)struck down the Egyptian and hid him in the sand. ¹³ Then he went out ^(L)the next day, and behold, two Hebrews were struggling with each other; and he said to the ^[l]wicked one, “Why are you striking your companion?” ¹⁴ But he said, “^(M)Who made you a ^[m]ruler or a judge over us? Are you ^[n]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 ^(N)Moses fled from the presence of Pharaoh and settled in the land of Midian, and he ^[o]sat down ^(O)by a well. ¹⁶ Now ^(P)the priest of Midian had seven daughters; and ^(Q)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 ^(R)Moses rose up and saved them and gave water to their flock to drink. ¹⁸ Then they came to ^(S)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 (T)And Moses was willing to settle down with the man, and he gave his daughter ^(U)Zipporah to Moses. ²² Then she gave birth to ^(V)a son, and he named him ^[p]Gershom, for he said, “I have been ^(W)a ^[q]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 ^(X)sighed because of the slavery, and they cried out; and ^(Y)their cry for help because of their slavery rose up to God. ²⁴ So ^(Z)God heard their groaning; and God remembered ^(AA)His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. ^25 (AB)And God saw the sons of Israel, and God knew them.