²⁹ At this retort ^(A)Moses fled and became an exile in the land of Midian, ^(B)where he became the father of two sons.

² Now Jethro, Moses' father-in-law, had taken Zipporah, Moses' wife, after he had sent her home, ³ along with her ^(A)two sons. The name of the one was Gershom (^(B)for he said, ^(C)“I have been a sojourner^[a] in a foreign land”), ⁴ and the name of the other, Eliezer^[b] (for he said, “The God of my father was my help, and delivered me from the sword of Pharaoh”).

¹⁹ And the Lord said to Moses in Midian, “Go back to Egypt, for ^(A)all the men who were seeking your life are dead.” ²⁰ So Moses took ^(B)his wife and his sons and had them ride on a donkey, and went back to the land of Egypt. And Moses took ^(C)the staff of God in his hand.

¹⁴ He answered, ^(A)“Who made you a prince and a judge over us? Do you mean to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?” Then Moses was afraid, and thought, “Surely the thing is known.” ¹⁵ When Pharaoh heard of it, he sought to kill Moses. But ^(B)Moses fled from Pharaoh and stayed in the land of Midian. And he sat down by ^(C)a well.

¹⁶ Now the ^(D)priest of Midian had seven daughters, and ^(E)they came and drew water and filled the troughs to water their father's flock. ¹⁷ The shepherds came and drove them away, but Moses stood up and saved them, and ^(F)watered their flock. ¹⁸ When they came home to their father ^(G)Reuel, he said, “How is it that you have come home so soon today?” ¹⁹ They said, “An Egyptian delivered us out of the hand of the shepherds and even drew water for us and ^(H)watered the flock.” ²⁰ He said to his daughters, “Then where is he? Why have you left the man? Call him, that he may ^(I)eat bread.” ²¹ And Moses was content to dwell with the man, and he gave Moses his daughter ^(J)Zipporah. ²² She gave birth to a son, and he called his name ^(K)Gershom, for he said, “I have been a ^(L)sojourner^[a] in a foreign land.”