< Exodus 2 >

1 And there was a certain man of the tribe of Levi, who took as wife one of the daughters of Levi.
Now a man of the house of Levi married a daughter of Levi,
2 And she conceived, and bore a male child; and having seen that he was fair, they hid him three months.
and she conceived and gave birth to a son. When she saw that he was a beautiful child, she hid him for three months.
3 And when they could no longer hide him, his mother took for him an ark, and besmeared it with bitumen, and cast the child into it, and put it in the ooze by the river.
But when she could no longer hide him, she got him a papyrus basket and coated it with tar and pitch. Then she placed the child in the basket and set it among the reeds along the bank of the Nile.
4 And his sister was watching from a distance, to learn what would happen to him.
And his sister stood at a distance to see what would happen to him.
5 And the daughter of Pharao came down to the river to bathe; and her maids walked by the river's side, and having seen the ark in the ooze, she sent her maid, and took it up.
Soon the daughter of Pharaoh went down to bathe in the Nile, and her attendants were walking along the riverbank. And when she saw the basket among the reeds, she sent her maidservant to retrieve it.
6 And having opened it, she sees the babe weeping in the ark: and the daughter of Pharao had compassion on it, and said, This [is one] of the Hebrew's children.
When she opened it, she saw the child, and behold, the little boy was crying. So she had compassion on him and said, “This is one of the Hebrew children.”
7 And his sister said to the daughter of Pharao, Will you that I call to you a nurse of the Hebrews, and shall she suckle the child for you?
Then his sister said to Pharaoh’s daughter, “Shall I go and call one of the Hebrew women to nurse the child for you?”
8 And the daughter of Pharao said, Go: and the young woman went, and called the mother of the child.
“Go ahead,” Pharaoh’s daughter told her. And the girl went and called the boy’s mother.
9 And the daughter of Pharao said to her, Take care of this child, and suckled it for me, and I will give you the wages; and the woman took the child, and suckled it.
Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Take this child and nurse him for me, and I will pay your wages.” So the woman took the boy and nursed him.
10 And when the boy was grown, she brought him to the daughter of Pharao, and he became her son; and she called his name, Moses, saying, I took him out of the water.
When the child had grown older, she brought him to Pharaoh’s daughter, and he became her son. She named him Moses and explained, “I drew him out of the water.”
11 And it came to pass in that length of time, that Moses having grown, went out to his brethren the sons of Israel: and having noticed their distress, he sees an Egyptian striking a certain Hebrew of his brethren the children of Israel.
One day, after Moses had grown up, he went out to his own people and observed their hard labor. He saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his own people.
12 And having looked round this way and that way, he sees no one; and he struck the Egyptian, and hid him in the sand.
After looking this way and that and seeing no one, he struck down the Egyptian and hid his body in the sand.
13 And having gone out the second day he sees two Hebrew men fighting; and he says to the injurer, Therefore smite you your neighbour?
The next day Moses went out and saw two Hebrews fighting. He asked the one in the wrong, “Why are you attacking your companion?”
14 And he said, Who made you a ruler and a judge over us? will you kill me as you yesterday killed the Egyptian? Then Moses was alarmed, and said, If [it be] thus, this matter has become known.
But the man replied, “Who made you ruler and judge over us? Are you planning to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?” Then Moses was afraid and thought, “This thing I have done has surely become known.”
15 And Pharao heard this matter, and sought to kill Moses; and Moses departed from the presence of Pharao, and lived in the land of Madiam; and having come into the land of Madiam, he sat on the well.
When Pharaoh heard about this matter, he sought to kill Moses. But Moses fled from Pharaoh and settled in the land of Midian, where he sat down beside a well.
16 And the priest of Madiam had seven daughters, feeding the flock of their father Jothor; and they came and drew water until they filled their pitchers, to water the flock of their father Jothor.
Now the priest of Midian had seven daughters, and they came to draw water and fill the troughs to water their father’s flock.
17 And the shepherds came, and were driving them away; and Moses rose up and rescued them, and drew water for them, and watered their sheep.
And when some shepherds came along and drove them away, Moses rose up to help them and watered their flock.
18 And they came to Raguel their father; and he said to them, Why have you come so quickly today?
When the daughters returned to their father Reuel, he asked them, “Why have you returned so early today?”
19 And they said, An Egyptian delivered us from the shepherds, and drew water for us and watered our sheep.
“An Egyptian rescued us from the shepherds,” they replied. “He even drew water for us and watered the flock.”
20 And he said to his daughters, And where is he? and why have you left the man? call him therefore, that he may eat bread.
“So where is he?” their father asked. “Why did you leave the man behind? Invite him to have something to eat.”
21 And Moses was established with the man, and he gave Sepphora his daughter to Moses to wife.
Moses agreed to stay with the man, and he gave his daughter Zipporah to Moses in marriage.
22 And the woman conceived and bore a son, and Moses called his name Gersam, saying, I am a sojourner in a strange land.
And she gave birth to a son, and Moses named him Gershom, saying, “I have become a foreigner in a foreign land.”
23 And in those days after a length of time, the king of Egypt died; and the children of Israel groaned because of their tasks, and cried, and their cry because of their tasks went up to God.
After a long time, the king of Egypt died. The Israelites groaned and cried out under their burden of slavery, and their cry for deliverance from bondage ascended to God.
24 And God heard their groanings, and God remembered his covenant made with Abraam and Isaac and Jacob.
So God heard their groaning, and He remembered His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
25 And God looked upon the children of Israel, and was made known to them.
God saw the Israelites and took notice.

< Exodus 2 >