The Birth of Moses

2 Now a man of the tribe of Levi^(A) married a Levite woman,^{(B) 2} and she became pregnant and gave birth to a son. When she saw that he was a fine^(C) child, she hid him for three months.^{(D) 3} But when she could hide him no longer, she got a papyrus^(E) basket^[a] for him and coated it with tar and pitch.^(F) Then she placed the child in it and put it among the reeds^(G) along the bank of the Nile. ⁴ His sister^(H) stood at a distance to see what would happen to him.

⁵ Then Pharaoh’s daughter went down to the Nile to bathe, and her attendants were walking along the riverbank.^(I) She saw the basket among the reeds and sent her female slave to get it. ⁶ She opened it and saw the baby. He was crying, and she felt sorry for him. “This is one of the Hebrew babies,” she said.

⁷ Then his sister asked Pharaoh’s daughter, “Shall I go and get one of the Hebrew women to nurse the baby for you?”

⁸ “Yes, go,” she answered. So the girl went and got the baby’s mother. ⁹ Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Take this baby and nurse him for me, and I will pay you.” So the woman took the baby and nursed him. ¹⁰ When the child grew older, she took him to Pharaoh’s daughter and he became her son. She named^(J) him Moses,^[b] saying, “I drew^(K) him out of the water.”

The Exodus

³¹ During the night Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and said, “Up! Leave my people, you and the Israelites! Go, worship^(A) the Lord as you have requested. ³² Take your flocks and herds,^(B) as you have said, and go. And also bless^(C) me.”

³³ The Egyptians urged the people to hurry^(D) and leave^(E) the country. “For otherwise,” they said, “we will all die!”^{(F) 34} So the people took their dough before the yeast was added, and carried it on their shoulders in kneading troughs^(G) wrapped in clothing. ³⁵ The Israelites did as Moses instructed and asked the Egyptians for articles of silver and gold^(H) and for clothing.^{(I) 36} The Lord had made the Egyptians favorably disposed^(J) toward the people, and they gave them what they asked for; so they plundered^(K) the Egyptians.

³⁷ The Israelites journeyed from Rameses^(L) to Sukkoth.^(M) There were about six hundred thousand men^(N) on foot, besides women and children. ³⁸ Many other people^(O) went up with them, and also large droves of livestock, both flocks and herds. ³⁹ With the dough the Israelites had brought from Egypt, they baked loaves of unleavened bread. The dough was without yeast because they had been driven out^(P) of Egypt and did not have time to prepare food for themselves.

⁴⁰ Now the length of time the Israelite people lived in Egypt^[a] was 430 years.^{(Q) 41} At the end of the 430 years, to the very day, all the Lord’s divisions^(R) left Egypt.^{(S) 42} Because the Lord kept vigil that night to bring them out of Egypt, on this night all the Israelites are to keep vigil to honor the Lord for the generations to come.^(T)

Passover Restrictions

⁴³ The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “These are the regulations for the Passover meal:^(U)

“No foreigner^(V) may eat it. ⁴⁴ Any slave you have bought may eat it after you have circumcised^(W) him, ⁴⁵ but a temporary resident or a hired worker^(X) may not eat it.

⁴⁶ “It must be eaten inside the house; take none of the meat outside the house. Do not break any of the bones.^{(Y) 47} The whole community of Israel must celebrate it.

⁴⁸ “A foreigner residing among you who wants to celebrate the Lord’s Passover must have all the males in his household circumcised; then he may take part like one born in the land.^(Z) No uncircumcised^(AA) male may eat it. ⁴⁹ The same law applies both to the native-born and to the foreigner^(AB) residing among you.”

⁵⁰ All the Israelites did just what the Lord had commanded^(AC) Moses and Aaron. ⁵¹ And on that very day the Lord brought the Israelites out of Egypt^(AD) by their divisions.^(AE)