Beginning
Israel Multiplies in Egypt
1 Now these are the (A)names of the sons of Israel who came to Egypt with Jacob; they came each one [a]with his household: 2 Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah; 3 Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin; 4 Dan and Naphtali, Gad and Asher. 5 And all the [b]persons who came from the loins of Jacob were (B)seventy [c]in number, but Joseph was already in Egypt. 6 (C)Then Joseph died, and all his brothers and all that generation. 7 But the sons of Israel (D)were fruitful and [d]increased and multiplied and became exceedingly [e]mighty, so that the land was filled with them.
8 And a new (E)king arose over Egypt, who did not know Joseph. 9 (F)And he said to his people, “Behold, the people of the sons of Israel are [f]more and mightier than we. 10 Come, let us (G)deal wisely with them, lest they multiply and it be [g]in the event of war, that they also join themselves to those who hate us and fight against us and (H)go up from the land.” 11 So they appointed (I)taskmasters over them to afflict them with [h](J)hard labors. And they built for Pharaoh (K)storage cities, Pithom and (L)Raamses. 12 But the more they afflicted them, (M)the more they multiplied and the more they [i]spread out, so that they were in dread of the sons of Israel. 13 So the Egyptians brutally compelled the sons of Israel (N)to slave labor; 14 and they made (O)their lives bitter with [j]hard slave labor in mortar and bricks and in all kinds of slave labor in the field, all their slave labor which they brutally [k]compelled them to do.
15 Then the king of Egypt spoke to the Hebrew midwives, one of whom [l]was named Shiphrah and the other [m]was named Puah; 16 and he said, “When you are helping the Hebrew women to give birth and see them upon the birthstool, (P)if it is a son, then you shall put him to death; but if it is a daughter, then she shall live.” 17 But the midwives [n](Q)feared God and (R)did not do as the king of Egypt had spoken to them, but let the boys live. 18 So the king of Egypt called for the midwives and said to them, “Why have you done this thing, and let the boys live?” 19 Then the midwives said to Pharaoh, “Because the Hebrew women are not as the Egyptian women; for they are vigorous and give birth before the midwife can come to them.” 20 So (S)God was good to the midwives, and (T)the people multiplied and became very [o]mighty. 21 Now it happened that because the midwives [p](U)feared God, He (V)made [q]households for them. 22 And Pharaoh commanded all his people, saying, “(W)Every son who is born [r]you are to cast into (X)the Nile, and every daughter you are to keep alive.”
The Birth of Moses
2 And a man from (Y)the house of Levi went and took a daughter of Levi as a wife. 2 And the woman conceived and bore a son; and she saw [s]that he was [t](Z)beautiful, so she hid him for three months. 3 But she could not hide him any longer. So she took for him [u]an (AA)ark of papyrus reeds and covered it over with tar and pitch. Then she put the child into it and put it among the (AB)reeds by the bank of the Nile. 4 (AC)And his sister stood at a distance to know what would be done to him.
5 And the daughter of Pharaoh came down (AD)to bathe at the Nile, with her young women walking alongside the Nile; and she saw the [v]ark among the reeds and sent her maidservant, and she took it to her. 6 Then she opened it and [w]saw the child. And behold, the [x]boy was crying. And she had 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 [y]a nurse for you from the Hebrew women that she may nurse the child for you?” 8 And Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Go.” So the [z]girl went and called the child’s mother. 9 Then Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Take this child away and nurse him for me, and I will give you your wages.” So the woman took the child and nursed him. 10 And the child grew, and she brought him to Pharaoh’s daughter, and (AE)he became her son. And she named him [aa]Moses and said, “Because I [ab]drew him out of the water.”
Moses Flees to Midian
11 Now it happened in those days, (AF)that Moses had grown up. And he went out to his brothers and looked on their [ac](AG)hard labors. And (AH)he saw an Egyptian striking a Hebrew, one of his brothers. 12 So he turned this way and that, and he saw that there was no one around. So he (AI)struck down the Egyptian and hid him in the sand. 13 Then he went out (AJ)the next day, and behold, two Hebrews were struggling with each other; and he said to the [ad]wicked one, “Why are you striking your companion?” 14 But he said, “(AK)Who made you a [ae]ruler or a judge over us? Are you [af]intending to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?” Then Moses was afraid and said, “Surely the matter has become known.” 15 And Pharaoh heard of this matter, so he sought to kill Moses. But (AL)Moses fled from the presence of Pharaoh and settled in the land of Midian, and he [ag]sat down (AM)by a well. 16 Now (AN)the priest of Midian had seven daughters; and (AO)they came and drew water and filled the troughs to give water to their father’s flock to drink. 17 Then the shepherds came and drove them away, but (AP)Moses rose up and saved them and gave water to their flock to drink. 18 Then they came to (AQ)Reuel their father, and he said, “Why have you come back so soon today?” 19 So they said, “An Egyptian delivered us from the hand of the shepherds, and he actually even drew the water for us and gave water to the flock to drink.” 20 And he said to his daughters, “Where is he then? Why is it that you have left the man behind? Call him so that he may eat bread.” 21 (AR)And Moses was willing to settle down with the man, and he gave his daughter (AS)Zipporah to Moses. 22 Then she gave birth to (AT)a son, and he named him [ah]Gershom, for he said, “I have been (AU)a [ai]sojourner in a foreign land.”
God Hears Israel’s Groaning
23 Now it happened in the course of those many days that the king of Egypt died. And the sons of Israel (AV)sighed because of the slavery, and they cried out; and (AW)their cry for help because of their slavery rose up to God. 24 So (AX)God heard their groaning; and God remembered (AY)His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. 25 (AZ)And God saw the sons of Israel, and God knew them.
God Calls Moses at the Burning Bush
3 Now Moses was pasturing the flock of (BA)Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian; and he led the flock to the [aj]west side of the wilderness and came to (BB)Horeb, the (BC)mountain of God. 2 (BD)And the angel of [ak]Yahweh appeared to him in a blazing fire from the midst of the (BE)bush; and he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, yet the bush was not consumed. 3 So Moses said, “[al](BF)I must turn aside now and see this [am]marvelous sight. Why is the bush not burned up?” 4 And Yahweh saw that he turned aside to look, so (BG)God called to him from the midst of the bush and said, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.” 5 Then He said, “Do not come near here. (BH)Remove your sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.” 6 He said also, “(BI)I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” (BJ)Then Moses hid his face, for he was (BK)afraid to look at God.
7 And Yahweh said, “I have surely (BL)seen the affliction of My people who are in Egypt, and I have heard their cry because of their taskmasters, for I know their sufferings. 8 So I have come down (BM)to deliver them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up from that land to a (BN)good and spacious land, to a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of (BO)the Canaanite and the Hittite and the Amorite and the Perizzite and the Hivite and the Jebusite. 9 So now, behold, (BP)the cry of the sons of Israel has come to Me; and I have also seen the oppression with which the Egyptians are oppressing them. 10 So now, come and I will send you to Pharaoh, (BQ)and so you shall bring My people, the sons of Israel, out of Egypt.” 11 But Moses said to God, “(BR)Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should bring the sons of Israel out of Egypt?” 12 And He said, “Certainly (BS)I will be with you, and this shall be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: (BT)when you have brought the people out of Egypt, (BU)you shall [an]serve God at this mountain.”
13 Then Moses said to God, “Behold, I am about to come to the sons of Israel, and I will say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you.’ And they will say to me, ‘What is His name?’ What shall I say to them?” 14 And God said to Moses, “[ao](BV)I AM WHO [ap]I AM”; and He said, “Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, ‘[aq]I AM has sent me to you.’” 15 And God furthermore said to Moses, “Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, ‘(BW)Yahweh, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.’ This is My name forever, and this is My (BX)memorial-name from generation to generation. 16 Go and (BY)gather the elders of Israel together and say to them, ‘(BZ)Yahweh, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, has appeared to me, saying, “[ar](CA)I indeed care about you and what has been done to you in Egypt. 17 So (CB)I said, I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt to the land of (CC)the Canaanite and the Hittite and the Amorite and the Perizzite and the Hivite and the Jebusite, to a land (CD)flowing with milk and honey.”’ 18 (CE)And they will listen to your voice; and (CF)you with the elders of Israel will come to the king of Egypt, and you all will say to him, ‘Yahweh, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us. So now, please, let us go a (CG)three days’ journey into the wilderness, that we may sacrifice to Yahweh our God.’ 19 But I know that the king of Egypt (CH)will not give you permission to go, (CI)except by a strong hand. 20 So I will stretch out (CJ)My hand and strike Egypt with all My (CK)wondrous deeds which I shall do in the midst of it; and (CL)after that he will let you go. 21 And I will give this people (CM)favor in the sight of the Egyptians; and it shall be that when you go, you will not go empty. 22 But every woman (CN)shall ask of her neighbor and of the woman who lives in her house, for articles of silver and articles of gold, and clothing; and you will put them on your sons and daughters. Thus you will (CO)plunder the Egyptians.”
Legacy Standard Bible Copyright ©2021 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved. Managed in partnership with Three Sixteen Publishing Inc. LSBible.org For Permission to Quote Information visit https://www.LSBible.org.