Exodus 1-4

Amplified Bible, Classic Edition

1 These are the names of the sons of Israel who came into Egypt with Jacob, each with his household:

² Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah,

³ Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin,

⁴ Dan and Naphtali, Gad and Asher.

⁵ All the offspring of Jacob were seventy persons; Joseph was already in Egypt.

⁶ Then Joseph died, and all his brothers and all that generation.

⁷ But the descendants of Israel were fruitful and increased abundantly; they multiplied and grew exceedingly strong, and the land was full of them.

⁸ Now a new king arose over Egypt who did not know Joseph.

⁹ He said to his people, Behold, the Israelites are too many and too mighty for us [and they ^[a]outnumber us both in people and in strength].

¹⁰ Come, let us deal shrewdly with them, lest they multiply more and, should war befall us, they join our enemies, fight against us, and escape out of the land.

¹¹ So they set over [the Israelites] taskmasters to afflict and oppress them with [increased] burdens. And [the Israelites] built Pithom and Rameses as store cities for Pharaoh.

¹² But the more [the Egyptians] oppressed them, the more they multiplied and expanded, so that [the Egyptians] were vexed and alarmed because of the Israelites.

¹³ And the Egyptians reduced the Israelites to severe slavery.

¹⁴ They made their lives bitter with hard service in mortar, brick, and all kinds of work in the field. All their service was with harshness and severity.

¹⁵ Then the king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, of whom one was named Shiprah and the other Puah,

¹⁶ When you act as midwives to the Hebrew women and see them on the birthstool, if it is a son, you shall kill him; but if it is a daughter, she shall live.

¹⁷ But the midwives feared God and did not do as the king of Egypt commanded, but let the male babies live.

¹⁸ So the king of Egypt called for the midwives and said to them, Why have you done this thing and allowed the male children to live?

¹⁹ The midwives answered Pharaoh, Because the Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women; they are vigorous and quickly delivered; their babies are born before the midwife comes to them.

²⁰ So God dealt well with the midwives and the people multiplied and became very strong.

²¹ And because the midwives revered and feared God, He made them households [of their own].

²² Then Pharaoh charged all his people, saying, Every son born [to the Hebrews] you shall cast into the river [Nile], but every daughter you shall allow to live.

2 Now [Amram] a man of the house of Levi [the priestly tribe] went and took as his wife [Jochebed] a daughter of Levi.^(A)

² And the woman became pregnant and bore a son; and when she saw that he was [exceedingly] beautiful, she hid him three months.^(B)

³ And when she could no longer hide him, she took for him an ark or basket made of bulrushes or papyrus [making it watertight by] daubing it with bitumen and pitch. Then she put the child in it and laid it among the rushes by the brink of the river [Nile].

⁴ And his sister [Miriam] stood some distance away to ^[b]learn what would be done to him.

⁵ Now the daughter of Pharaoh came down to bathe at the river, and her maidens walked along the bank; she saw the ark among the rushes and sent her maid to fetch it.

⁶ When she opened it, she saw the child; and behold, the baby cried. And she took 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 nurse of the Hebrew women to nurse the child for you?

⁸ Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, Go. And the girl went and called the child’s mother.

⁹ Then Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, Take this child away and nurse it for me, and I will give you your wages. So the woman took the child and nursed it.

¹⁰ And the child grew, and she brought him to Pharaoh’s daughter and he became her son. And she called him Moses, for she said, Because I drew him out of the water.

¹¹ One day, after Moses was grown, it happened that he went out to his brethren and looked at their burdens; and he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of [Moses’] brethren.

¹² He looked this way and that way, and when he saw no one, he killed the Egyptian and hid him in the sand.

¹³ He went out the second day and saw two Hebrew men quarreling and fighting; and he said to the unjust aggressor, Why are you striking your comrade?

¹⁴ And the man said, Who made you a prince and a judge over us? Do you intend to kill me as you killed the Egyptian? Then Moses was afraid and thought, Surely this thing is known.

¹⁵ When Pharaoh heard of it, he sought to slay Moses. But Moses fled from Pharaoh’s presence and ^[c]took refuge in the land of Midian, where he sat down by a well.

¹⁶ Now the priest of Midian had seven daughters, and 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 helped them and watered their flock.

¹⁸ And when they came to Reuel [Jethro] their father, he said, How is it that you have come so soon today?

¹⁹ They said, An Egyptian delivered us from the shepherds; also he drew water for us and watered the flock.

²⁰ He said to his daughters, Where is he? Why have you left the man? Call him, that he may eat bread.

²¹ And Moses was content to dwell with the man; and he gave Moses Zipporah his daughter.

²² And she bore a son, and he called his name Gershom [expulsion, or a stranger there]; for he said, I have been a stranger and a sojourner in a foreign land.

²³ However, after a long time [nearly forty years] the king of Egypt died; and the Israelites were sighing and groaning because of the bondage. They kept crying, and their cry because of slavery ascended to God.

²⁴ And God heard their sighing and groaning and [earnestly] remembered His covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob.

²⁵ God saw the Israelites and took knowledge of them and concerned Himself about them [knowing all, understanding, remembering all].^(C)

3 Now Moses kept the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian; and he led the flock to the back or west side of the wilderness and came to Horeb or Sinai, the mountain of God.

² The ^[d]Angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush; and he looked, and behold, the bush burned with fire, yet was not consumed.

³ And Moses said, I will now turn aside and see this great sight, why the bush is not burned.

⁴ And when the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, God called to him out of the midst of the bush and said, Moses, Moses! And he said, Here am I.

⁵ God said, Do not come near; put your shoes off your feet, for the place on which you stand is holy ground.

⁶ Also He said, I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.

⁷ And the Lord said, I have surely seen the affliction of My people who are in Egypt, and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters and oppressors; for I know their sorrows and sufferings and trials.

⁸ And I have come down to deliver them out of the hand and power of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land to a land good and large, a land flowing with milk and honey [a land of plenty]—to the place of the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite.

⁹ Now behold, the cry of the Israelites has come to Me, and I have also seen how the Egyptians oppress them.

¹⁰ Come now therefore, and I will send you to Pharaoh, that you may bring forth My people, the Israelites, out of Egypt.

¹¹ And Moses said to God, ^[e]Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?

¹² God said, I will surely be with you; and this shall be the sign to you that I have sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain [Horeb, or Sinai].

¹³ And Moses said to God, Behold, when I come to the Israelites and say to them, The God of your fathers has sent me to you, and they say to me, What is His name? What shall I say to them?

¹⁴ And God said to Moses, I Am Who I Am and What I Am, and I Will Be What I Will Be; and He said, You shall say this to the Israelites: I Am has sent me to you!

¹⁵ God said also to Moses, This shall you say to the Israelites: The Lord, the God of your fathers, of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, has sent me to you! This is My ^[f]name forever, and by this name I am to be remembered to all generations.

¹⁶ Go, gather the elders of Israel together [the mature teachers and tribal leaders], and say to them, The Lord God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, appeared to me, saying, I have surely visited you and seen that which is done to you in Egypt;

¹⁷ And I have declared that I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt to the land of the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite, to a land flowing with milk and honey.

¹⁸ And [the elders] shall believe and obey your voice; and you shall go, you and the elders of Israel, to the king of Egypt and you shall say to him, The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us; and now let us go, we beseech you, three days’ journey into the wilderness, that we may sacrifice to the Lord our God.

¹⁹ And I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go [unless forced to do so], no, not by a mighty hand.

²⁰ So I will stretch out My hand and smite Egypt with all My wonders which I will do in it; and after that he will let you go.

²¹ And I will give this people favor and respect in the sight of the Egyptians; and it shall be that when you go, you shall not go empty-handed.

²² But every woman shall [insistently] solicit of her neighbor and of her that may be residing at her house jewels and articles of silver and gold, and garments, which you shall put on your sons and daughters; and you shall strip the Egyptians [of belongings due to you].

4 And Moses answered, ^[g]But behold, they will not believe me or listen to and obey my voice; for they will say, The Lord has not appeared to you.

² And the Lord said to him, What is that in your hand? And he said, A rod.

³ And He said, Cast it on the ground. And he did so and it became a serpent [the symbol of royal and divine power worn on the crown of the Pharaohs]; and Moses fled from before it.

⁴ And the Lord said to Moses, Put forth your hand and take it by the tail. And he stretched out his hand and caught it, and it became a rod in his hand,

⁵ [This you shall do, said the Lord] that the elders may believe that the Lord, the God of their fathers, of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, has indeed appeared to you.

⁶ The Lord said also to him, Put your hand into your bosom. He put his hand into his bosom, and when he took it out, behold, his hand was leprous, as white as snow.

⁷ [God] said, Put your hand into your bosom again. So he put his hand back into his bosom, and when he took it out, behold, it was restored as the rest of his flesh.

⁸ [Then God said] If they will not believe you or heed the voice or the testimony of the first sign, they may believe the voice or the witness of the second sign.

⁹ But if they will also not believe these two signs or heed your voice, you shall take some water of the river [Nile] and pour it upon the dry land; and the water which you take out of the river [Nile] shall become blood on the dry land.

¹⁰ And Moses said to the Lord, O Lord, I am not eloquent or a man of words, neither before nor since You have spoken to Your servant; for I am slow of speech and have a heavy and awkward tongue.

¹¹ And the Lord said to him, Who has made man’s mouth? Or who makes the dumb, or the deaf, or the seeing, or the blind? Is it not I, the Lord?

¹² Now therefore go, and I will be with your mouth and will teach you what you shall say.

¹³ And he said, Oh, my Lord, I pray You, send by the hand of [some other] whom You will [send].

¹⁴ Then the anger of the Lord blazed against Moses; He said, Is there not Aaron your brother, the Levite? I know he can speak well. Also, he is coming out to meet you, and when he sees you, he will be overjoyed.

¹⁵ You must speak to him and put the words in his mouth; and I will be with your mouth and with his mouth and will teach you what you shall do.

¹⁶ He shall speak for you to the people, acting as a mouthpiece for you, and you shall be as God to him.

¹⁷ And you shall take this rod in your hand with which you shall work the signs [that prove I sent you].

¹⁸ And Moses went away and, returning to Jethro his father-in-law, said to him, Let me go back, I pray you, to my relatives in Egypt to see whether they are still alive. And Jethro said to Moses, Go in peace.

¹⁹ The Lord said to Moses in Midian, Go back to Egypt; for all the men who were seeking your life [for killing the Egyptian] are dead.^(D)

²⁰ And Moses took his wife and his sons and set them on donkeys, and he returned to the land of Egypt; and Moses took the rod of God in his hand.

²¹ And the Lord said to Moses, When you return into Egypt, see that you do before Pharaoh all those miracles and wonders which I have put in your hand; but I will make him stubborn and harden his heart, so that he will not let the people go.

²² And you shall say to Pharaoh, Thus says the Lord, Israel is My son, even My firstborn.

²³ And I say to you, Let My son go, that he may serve Me; and if you refuse to let him go, behold, I will slay your son, your firstborn.

²⁴ Along the way at a [resting-] place, the Lord met [Moses] and sought to kill him [made him acutely and almost fatally ill].

²⁵ [Now apparently he had ^[h]failed to circumcise one of his sons, his wife being opposed to it; but seeing his life in such danger] Zipporah took a flint knife and cut off the foreskin of her son and cast it to touch [Moses’] feet, and said, Surely a husband of blood you are to me!

²⁶ When He let [Moses] alone [to recover], Zipporah said, A husband of blood are you because of the circumcision.

²⁷ The Lord said to Aaron, Go into the wilderness to meet Moses. And he went, and met him in the mountain of God [Horeb, or Sinai] and kissed him.

²⁸ Moses told Aaron all the words of the Lord with which He had sent him, and all the signs with which He had charged him.

²⁹ Moses and Aaron went and gathered together [in Egypt] all the elders of the Israelites.

³⁰ Aaron spoke all the words which the Lord had spoken to Moses, and did the signs in the sight of the people.

³¹ And the people believed; and when they heard that the Lord had visited the Israelites, and that He had looked [in compassion] upon their affliction, they bowed their heads and worshiped.