Exodus 2
1 And there goes a man of the house of Levi, and he takes the daughter of Levi,
(There was a man who/My father) was descended from [Jacob’s son] Levi. He married a woman who was [also] descended from Levi.
2 and the woman conceives, and bears a son, and she sees him, that he [is] beautiful, and she hides him [for] three months,
She became pregnant and gave birth to (a baby boy/me). When she saw that he/I was a good-looking baby, she hid him/me for three months, [because she was not willing to do what the king commanded].
3 and she has not been able to hide him anymore, and she takes an ark of rushes for him, and covers it with bitumen and with pitch, and puts the boy in it, and puts [it] in the weeds by the edge of the River;
When she was unable to (hide him/me/keep it a secret) any longer, she got a basket made from tall reeds. She covered the basket with tar ([to make it waterproof/so water could not get in]). Then she put him/me in the basket and put the basket in [the water] in the middle of the tall grass at the edge of the Nile [River].
4 and his sister stations herself far off, to know what is done to him.
His/My older sister was standing not far away, [watching to see] what would happen to him/me.
5 And a daughter of Pharaoh comes down to bathe at the River, and her girls are walking by the side of the River, and she sees the ark in the midst of the weeds, and sends her handmaid, and she takes it,
[Soon] the king’s daughter went down to the river to bathe. Her female servants were walking along the riverbank. She saw the basket amid the tall grass [in the river]. So she sent [one of] her servants to get it.
6 and opens, and sees him—the boy, and behold, a child weeping! And she has pity on him and says, “This is [one] of the Hebrews’ children.”
When [the servant brought the basket to her], she opened it, and was surprised to see (a baby that was/me), crying. She felt sorry for him/me, and said, “This [must] be one of the Hebrews’ babies.”
7 And his sister says to the daughter of Pharaoh, “Do I go? When I have called a suckling woman of the Hebrews for you, then she suckles the boy for you”;
Then (the baby’s/my) [older] sister [approached] the king’s daughter and said, “Do you want me to go and find someone from among the Hebrew women who will [be able to] nurse the baby for you?”
8 and the daughter of Pharaoh says to her, “Go”; and the virgin goes, and calls the mother of the boy,
The king’s daughter said to her, “[Yes], go [and find one].” So the girl went and summoned (the baby’s/my) mother.
9 and the daughter of Pharaoh says to her, “Take this boy away, and suckle him for me, and I give your hire”; and the woman takes the boy, and suckles him.
The king’s daughter said to her, “[Please] take this baby and nurse him for me. I will pay you [for doing that].” So (the woman/my mother) took him/me and nursed him/me.
10 And the boy grows, and she brings him to the daughter of Pharaoh, and he is to her for a son, and she calls his name Moses, and says, “Because I have drawn him from the water.”
([A few years later]/when (the child/I) grew [older]), she brought him/me to the king’s daughter. She adopted him/me [as though I was] her own son. She named him/me Moses, [which sounds like the Hebrew words ‘pull out’], because she said “I pulled him out of the water.”
11 And it comes to pass, in those days, that Moses is grown, and he goes out to his brothers, and looks on their burdens, and sees a man, an Egyptian, striking a man, a Hebrew, [one] of his brothers,
One day, after Moses/I had grown up, he/I went out [of the palace area] to see his/my people, [the Hebrews]. He/I saw how they were being [forced to work] very hard. He/I [also] saw an Egyptian [man] beating one of his/my Hebrew people.
12 and he turns here and there, and sees that there is no man, and strikes the Egyptian, and hides him in the sand.
He/I looked around [to see if anyone was watching]. Seeing no one, he/I killed the Egyptian man and buried his [body] in the sand.
13 And he goes out on the second day, and behold, two men, Hebrews, are striving, and he says to the wrongdoer, “Why do you strike your neighbor?”
The next day he/I returned [to the same place]. He/I was surprised to see two Hebrew men who were fighting [each other]. He/I said to the man who started the fight, “Why are you (you should not be) striking your fellow [Hebrew].”
14 And he says, “Who set you for a head and judge over us? Are you saying [it] to slay me as you have slain the Egyptian?” And Moses fears and says, “Surely the thing has been known.”
The man replied, “(Who made you our ruler and judge?/No one made you our ruler and judge!) [RHQ] [You have no right to interfere with us] Are you going to kill me just like you killed that Egyptian man [yesterday]?” Then Moses/I was afraid, [because] he/I thought, “[Since that man knows what I did], surely [other people] know, [too].”
15 And Pharaoh hears of this thing, and seeks to slay Moses, and Moses flees from the face of Pharaoh, and dwells in the land of Midian, and dwells by the well.
[And that was correct]. The king heard about what he/I had done [to that Egyptian. So he ordered his soldiers to] execute/kill Moses/me. But he/I fled from the king [and left Egypt. He/I traveled east to] the Midian [region] and started to live there.
16 And to a priest of Midian [are] seven daughters, and they come and draw, and fill the troughs to water the flock of their father,
The man who was the (priest/one who offered the people’s gifts to God) for the Midian people, [whose name was Jethro], had seven daughters. [One day] as Moses/I sat down beside a well, those girls came [to the well] and got water, and filled the troughs in order to give water to their father’s flock [of sheep].
17 and the shepherds come and drive them away, and Moses arises, and saves them, and waters their flock.
Some (shepherds/men who took care of other sheep) came and started to chase away the girls. But Moses/I helped/rescued the girls, and got water for their sheep.
18 And they come to their father Reuel, and he says, “Why have you hurried to come in today?”
When the girls returned to their father [Jethro], [whose other name is] Reuel, he asked them, “How is it that you were able to [give water to the sheep and] come home so quickly today?”
19 And they say, “A man, an Egyptian, has delivered us out of the hand of the shepherds, and has also diligently drawn for us, and waters the flock”;
They replied, “A man from Egypt kept [MTY] other shepherds from sending us away. He also got water for us [from the well] and gave water to the flock [of sheep].”
20 and he says to his daughters, “And where [is] he? Why [is] this [that] you left the man? Call for him, and he eats bread.”
He said to his daughters, “Where is he? (Why did you leave him [out there]?/You should not leave him [out there]!) [RHQ] Invite him [in], so he can have something to eat [MTY]!”
21 And Moses is willing to dwell with the man, and he gives his daughter Zipporah to Moses,
[So they did], and Moses/I [accepted and ate with them]. And Moses/I decided to live there. Later Jethro gave him/me his daughter Zipporah [to be his/my wife].
22 and she bears a son, and he calls his name Gershom, for he said, “I have been a sojourner in a strange land.”
Later she gave birth to a son, and Moses/I named him Gershom, [which sounds like the Hebrew words that mean ‘foreigner’], because he/I said, “I am living as a foreigner in [this] land.”
23 And it comes to pass during these many days, that the king of Egypt dies, and the sons of Israel sigh because of the service, and cry, and their cry goes up to God, because of the service;
Many years later the king of Egypt died. The Israeli people [in Egypt] were still groaning because of the [hard work they had to do as] slaves. They called out for [someone to] help them, and God heard them call out [PRS].
24 and God hears their groaning, and God remembers His covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob;
He heard them groaning. And he (thought about/did not forget) that he had solemnly promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob [to bless their descendants].
25 and God sees the sons of Israel, and God knows.
God saw how the Israeli people were [being badly treated], and he was concerned about them.
