Old/New Testament
Jacob’s Family in Egypt
1 When Jacob, also called Israel, went to Egypt, he took his sons. And each son took his own family with him. These are the names of the sons of Israel: 2 Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, 3 Issachar, Zebulun, Benjamin, 4 Dan, Naphtali, Gad and Asher. 5 There was a total of 70 people who were descendants of Jacob. Jacob’s son Joseph was already in Egypt.
6 By some time later, Joseph and his brothers had died, along with all the people who had lived at that same time. 7 But the people of Israel had many children, and their number grew greatly. They became very strong, and the country of Egypt was filled with them.
Trouble for the People of Israel
8 Then a new king began to rule Egypt. He did not know who Joseph was. 9 This king said to his people, “Look! The people of Israel are too many! And they are too strong for us to handle! 10 We must make plans against them. If we don’t, the number of their people will grow even more. Then if there is a war, they might join our enemies. Then they could fight us and escape from the country!”
11 So the Egyptians made life hard for the people of Israel. They put slave masters over the Israelites. The slave masters forced the Israelites to build the cities Pithom and Rameses for the king. These cities were supply centers in which the Egyptians stored things. 12 The Egyptians forced the Israelites to work even harder. But this made the Israelites grow in number and spread more. So the Egyptians became more afraid of them. 13 They forced the Israelites to work even harder. 14 The Egyptians made life hard for the Israelites. They forced the Israelites to work very hard making bricks and mortar. They also forced them to do all kinds of hard work in the fields. The Egyptians were not merciful to them in all their hard work.
15 There were two Hebrew nurses named Shiphrah and Puah. These nurses helped the Israelite women give birth to their babies. The king of Egypt said to the nurses, 16 “When you are helping the Hebrew women give birth to their babies, watch! If the baby is a girl, let the baby live. But if it is a boy, kill it!” 17 But the nurses feared God. So they did not do as the king told them. They let all the boy babies live. 18 Then the king of Egypt sent for the nurses. He said, “Why did you do this? Why did you let the boys live?”
19 The nurses said to him, “The Hebrew women are much stronger than the Egyptian women. They give birth to their babies before we can get there.” 20 God was good to the nurses. And the Hebrew people continued to grow in number. So they became even stronger. 21 Because the nurses feared God, he gave them families of their own.
22 So the king commanded all his people: “Every time a boy is born to the Hebrews, you must throw him into the Nile River. But let all the girl babies live.”
Baby Moses
2 There was a man from the family of Levi. He married a woman who was also from the family of Levi. 2 She became pregnant and gave birth to a son. She saw how wonderful the baby was, and she hid him for three months. 3 But after three months, she was not able to hide the baby any longer. So she got a basket made of reeds and covered it with tar so that it would float. She put the baby in the basket. Then she put the basket among the tall grass at the edge of the Nile River. 4 The baby’s sister stood a short distance away. She wanted to see what would happen to him.
5 Then the daughter of the king of Egypt came to the river. She was going to take a bath. Her servant girls were walking beside the river. She saw the basket in the tall grass. So she sent her slave girl to get it. 6 The king’s daughter opened the basket and saw the baby boy. He was crying, and she felt sorry for him. She said, “This is one of the Hebrew babies.”
7 Then the baby’s sister asked the king’s daughter, “Would you like me to find a Hebrew woman to nurse the baby for you?”
8 The king’s daughter said, “Yes, please.” So the girl went and got the baby’s own mother.
9 The king’s daughter said to the woman, “Take this baby and nurse him for me. I will pay you.” So the woman took her baby and nursed him. 10 After the child had grown older, the woman took him to the king’s daughter. She adopted the baby as her own son. The king’s daughter named him Moses,[a] because she had pulled him out of the water.
Moses Helps His People
11 Moses grew and became a man. One day he visited his people, the Hebrews. He saw that they were forced to work very hard. He saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew man, one of Moses’ own people. 12 Moses looked all around and saw that no one was watching. So he killed the Egyptian and hid his body in the sand.
13 The next day Moses returned and saw two Hebrew men fighting each other. He saw that one man was in the wrong. Moses said to that man, “Why are you hitting one of your own people?”
14 The man answered, “Who made you our ruler and judge? Are you going to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?”
Then Moses was afraid. He thought, “Now everyone knows what I did.”
15 When the king heard about what Moses had done, he tried to kill Moses. But Moses ran away from the king and went to live in the land of Midian. There he sat down near a well.
Moses in Midian
16 There was a priest in Midian who had seven daughters. His daughters went to that well to get water for their father’s sheep. They were trying to fill the water troughs for their father’s sheep. 17 But some shepherds came and chased the girls away. Then Moses defended the girls and watered their sheep.
18 Then they went back to their father, Reuel, also called Jethro. He asked them, “Why have you come home early today?”
19 The girls answered, “The shepherds chased us away. But an Egyptian defended us. He got water for us and watered our sheep.”
20 He asked his daughters, “Where is this man? Why did you leave him? Invite him to eat with us.”
21 Moses agreed to stay with Jethro. And he gave his daughter Zipporah to Moses to be his wife. 22 Zipporah gave birth to a son, and Moses named him Gershom.[b] Moses named him this because Moses was a stranger in a land that was not his own.
23 After a long time, the king of Egypt died. The people of Israel groaned because they were forced to work very hard. They cried for help. And God heard them. 24 God heard their cries, and he remembered the agreement he had made with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. 25 God saw the troubles of the people of Israel, and he was concerned about them.
The Burning Bush
3 One day Moses was taking care of Jethro’s sheep. Jethro was the priest of Midian and also Moses’ father-in-law. Moses led the sheep to the west side of the desert. He came to Sinai, the mountain of God. 2 There the angel of the Lord appeared to Moses in flames of fire coming out of a bush. Moses saw that the bush was on fire, but it was not burning up. 3 So Moses said, “I will go closer to this strange thing. How can a bush continue burning without burning up?”
4 The Lord saw Moses was coming to look at the bush. So God called to him from the bush, “Moses, Moses!”
And Moses said, “Here I am.”
5 Then God said, “Do not come any closer. Take off your sandals. You are standing on holy ground. 6 I am the God of your ancestors. I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.” Moses covered his face because he was afraid to look at God.
7 The Lord said, “I have seen the troubles my people have suffered in Egypt. And I have heard their cries when the Egyptian slave masters hurt them. I am concerned about their pain. 8 I have come down to save them from the Egyptians. I will bring them out of that land. I will lead them to a good land with lots of room. This is a land where much food grows. This is the land of these people: the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. 9 I have heard the cries of the people of Israel. I have seen the way the Egyptians have made life hard for them. 10 So now I am sending you to the king of Egypt. Go! Bring my people, the Israelites, out of Egypt!”
11 But Moses said to God, “I am not a great man! Why should I be the one to go to the king and lead the Israelites out of Egypt?”
12 God said, “I will be with you. This will be the proof that I am sending you: You will lead the people out of Egypt. Then all of you will worship me on this mountain.”
13 Moses said to God, “When I go to the Israelites, I will say to them, ‘The God of your ancestors sent me to you.’ What if the people say, ‘What is his name?’ What should I tell them?”
14 Then God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.[c] When you go to the people of Israel, tell them, ‘I AM sent me to you.’”
15 God also said to Moses, “This is what you should tell the people: ‘The Lord is the God of your ancestors. He is the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. And he sent me to you.’ This will always be my name. That is how people from now on will know me.
16 “Go and gather the elders and tell them this: ‘The Lord, the God of your ancestors, has appeared to me. The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob spoke to me. He says: I care about you, and I have seen what has happened to you in Egypt. 17 I have decided that I will take you away from the troubles you are suffering in Egypt. I will lead you to the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. This land grows much food.’
18 “The elders will listen to you. And then you and the elders of Israel will go to the king of Egypt. You will tell him, ‘The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, appeared to us. Let us travel three days into the desert. There we must offer sacrifices to the Lord our God.’
19 “But I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go. Only a great power will force him to let you go. 20 So I will use my great power against Egypt. I will make miracles happen in that land. After I do this, he will let you go. 21 And I will cause the Egyptian people to think well of the people of Israel. So when you leave, they will give gifts to your people. 22 Each Hebrew woman will ask her Egyptian neighbor and any Egyptian woman living in her house for gifts. Ask for silver, gold and clothing. You will put those gifts on your children when you leave Egypt. In this way you will take with you the riches of the Egyptians.”
How John the Baptist Was Killed
14 At that time Herod, the ruler of Galilee, heard the reports about Jesus. 2 So Herod said to his servants, “Jesus is really John the Baptist. He has risen from death. That is why he is able to do these miracles.”
3 Sometime before this, Herod had arrested John, tied him up, and put him into prison. Herod did this because of Herodias. Herodias was the wife of Philip, Herod’s brother. 4 Herod arrested John because he told Herod: “It is not right for you to have Herodias.” 5 Herod wanted to kill John, but he was afraid of the people. They believed that John was a prophet.
6 On Herod’s birthday, the daughter of Herodias danced for Herod and his guests. Herod was very pleased with her, 7 so he promised he would give her anything she wanted. 8 Herodias told her daughter what to ask for. So she said to Herod, “Give me the head of John the Baptist here on a platter.” 9 King Herod was very sad. But he had promised to give her anything she wanted, and the people eating with him had heard his promise. So Herod ordered that what she asked for be done. 10 He sent men to the prison to cut off John’s head. 11 And the men brought John’s head on a platter and gave it to the girl. She took it to her mother, Herodias. 12 John’s followers came and got his body and buried it. Then they went and told Jesus what happened.
More Than 5,000 People Fed
13 When Jesus heard what happened to John, Jesus left in a boat. He went to a lonely place by himself. But when the crowds heard about it, they followed him on foot from the towns. 14 When Jesus arrived, he saw a large crowd. He felt sorry for them and healed those who were sick.
15 Late that afternoon, his followers came to Jesus and said, “No one lives in this place. And it is already late. Send the people away so they can go to the towns and buy food for themselves.”
16 Jesus answered, “They don’t need to go away. You give them some food to eat.”
17 The followers answered, “But we have only five loaves of bread and two fish.”
18 Jesus said, “Bring the bread and the fish to me.” 19 Then he told the people to sit down on the grass. He took the five loaves of bread and the two fish. Then he looked to heaven and thanked God for the food. Jesus divided the loaves of bread. He gave them to his followers, and they gave the bread to the people. 20 All the people ate and were satisfied. After they finished eating, the followers filled 12 baskets with the pieces of food that were not eaten. 21 There were about 5,000 men there who ate, as well as women and children.
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.