Exodus 2:1-10

Easy-to-Read Version

Baby Moses

2 There was a man from the family of Levi who decided to marry a woman from the tribe of Levi.^{[a] 2} She became pregnant and gave birth to a baby boy. The mother saw how beautiful the baby was and hid him for three months. ³ She hid him for as long as she could. After three months she made a basket and covered it with tar so that it would float. Then she put the baby in the basket and put the basket in the river in the tall grass. ⁴ The baby’s sister stayed and watched to see what would happen to the baby.

⁵ Just then, Pharaoh’s daughter went to the river to bathe. She saw the basket in the tall grass. Her servants were walking beside the river, so she told one of them to go get the basket. ⁶ The king’s daughter opened the basket and saw a baby boy. The baby was crying and she felt sorry for him. Then she noticed that it was one of the Hebrew^[b] babies.

⁷ The baby’s sister was still hiding. She stood and asked the king’s daughter, “Do you want me to go find a Hebrew woman who can nurse the baby and help you care for it?”

⁸ The king’s daughter said, “Yes, please.”

So the girl went and brought the baby’s own mother.

⁹ The king’s daughter said to the mother, “Take this baby and feed him for me. I’ll pay you to take care of him.”

So the woman took her baby and cared for him. ¹⁰ The baby grew, and after some time, the woman gave the baby to the king’s daughter. The king’s daughter accepted the baby as her own son. She named him Moses^[c] because she had pulled him from the water.