Exodus 1:8-2:10
The Voice
God has done what He promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob: He has made Israel’s children fertile, productive, and strong. Over time Jacob’s 70 children have become a nation within a nation, and the Egyptians are taking notice. History teaches the Pharaohs and the ruling classes to be wary of outsiders. So now that the Israelites are swarming all over the land like flies, and they are not fully assimilating into Egyptian life and culture, the Pharaoh thinks they pose a clear and present danger. So the Egyptian king decides that strong measures are necessary. The welcome that Joseph and his family once enjoyed turns into outright hostility.
8 One day, a new king came to power and ruled over Egypt, but this king had no knowledge of Joseph.
Pharaoh (to some of his advisors): 9 Look! There are more Israelites than ever before, and they are growing more powerful than we are. 10 We need to be careful in our dealings with them. Otherwise, they may grow even greater in number, and in a time of war join forces with our enemies, fight against us, and then leave the land.
11 So the Egyptian authorities enslaved the Israelites and appointed cruel slave drivers over them to oppress them with hard, back-breaking labor. They forced them to build the storage cities of Pithom and Raamses for Pharaoh.
12 But the harder the slave drivers pushed the Israelites, the more rapidly they had children and spread throughout the land. Because of this, the Egyptians grew to detest the Israelites even more 13 and violently forced them to work until they were sore and tired—far beyond exhaustion. 14 The Egyptians made life bitter for all those Israelites forced to mix mortar, make bricks, and do all types of grueling work in the fields. They tormented their Israelite slaves until all the work was done.
15 Pharaoh, Egypt’s king, called for some of the Hebrew midwives. Their names were Shiphrah and Puah.
Pharaoh: 16 Listen closely. Whenever you are looking after a Hebrew woman who is in labor and ready to deliver, if she gives birth to a son, then kill the baby. If it is a daughter, then allow her to live.
17 But the midwives respected God more than they feared Pharaoh, so they did not carry out the Egyptian king’s command. Instead, they let all the boys live. 18 When Egypt’s king heard this news, he sent for the midwives.
Pharaoh: Why have you disobeyed my orders and allowed the boys to live?
Midwives: 19 Because unlike Egyptian women, Hebrew women are hearty and energetic, and they give birth before the midwife arrives to help.
20 God was good to the midwives, and under their care the Israelite women had many more children. Despite Pharaoh’s orders, the people of Israel became stronger and more powerful. 21 Because the midwives respected God, He blessed them with families of their own. 22 In response to the rapid growth in the Hebrew population, Pharaoh issued a command to his people.
Pharaoh: Every boy who is born to the Hebrews must be thrown into the Nile, and every girl is to be left alive.
Pharaoh wants the boys dead because he knows they may grow up to fight against him, but he wants the girls to live. He is sure he can find a use for them.
2 One day a man and woman—both from the tribe of Levi—married. 2 She became pregnant and gave birth to a son. When she saw that her son was healthy and beautiful, she feared for his safety; so she kept him hidden from view for three whole months.
3 When she could no longer keep him hidden away, she took a basket made of reeds, sealed it with tar and pitch, and placed her baby boy in it. Then she wedged the basket among the reeds along the edge of the Nile River.
The Hebrew word for the “basket” that Moses’ mother prepared is the word used in Genesis 6:14 for the “ark” that preserves Noah and his family from a watery judgment.
4 All the while, the child’s sister watched from a distance to see what might happen to her baby brother.
5 Later on Pharaoh’s daughter came down to bathe in the river while her young attendants walked along the bank nearby. Pharaoh’s daughter noticed the basket wedged among the reeds and wondered what it might contain. So she instructed her maid to bring it to her. 6 When Pharaoh’s daughter opened the basket, she found the baby boy. He was crying, and her heart melted with compassion.
Pharaoh’s Daughter: This is a Hebrew child.
Child’s Sister (coming out of her hiding place): 7 Would you like me to find a Hebrew woman to nurse the child for you?
Pharaoh’s Daughter: 8 All right. Go find a nurse.
So the baby’s sister went and fetched his mother. The boy’s mother approached Pharaoh’s daughter.
Pharaoh’s Daughter (to the nurse): 9 Here! Take this child and nurse him for me, and I will pay you for your services.
So the woman took the child—who was secretly her own son—and nursed him just as Pharaoh’s daughter had instructed.
This child is destined for greatness. Powerful people want him dead; instead, Providence intervenes.
10 The boy grew, and when the time was right, the woman brought him to Pharaoh’s daughter, and she adopted him as her own. She named him Moses because, as she explained, “I took him out of the water.”
The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
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