Exodus 2
1 (There was a man who/My father) was descended from [Jacob’s son] Levi. He married a woman who was [also] descended from Levi.
And there went a man of the house of Levi, and took to wife a daughter of Levi.
2 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].
And the woman conceived, and bare a son: and when she saw him that he was a goodly child, she hid him three months.
3 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].
And when she could not longer hide him, she took for him an ark of bulrushes, and daubed it with slime and with pitch; and she put the child therein, and laid it in the flags by the river’s brink.
4 His/My older sister was standing not far away, [watching to see] what would happen to him/me.
And his sister stood afar off, to know what would be done to him.
5 [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.
And the daughter of Pharaoh came down to bathe at the river; and her maidens walked along by the river-side; and she saw the ark among the flags, and sent her handmaid to fetch it.
6 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.”
And she opened it, and saw the child: and, behold, the babe wept. And she had compassion on him, and said, This is one of the Hebrews’ children.
7 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?”
Then said his sister to Pharaoh’s daughter, Shall I go and call thee a nurse of the Hebrew women, that she may nurse the child for thee?
8 The king’s daughter said to her, “[Yes], go [and find one].” So the girl went and summoned (the baby’s/my) mother.
And Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, Go. And the maiden went and called the child’s mother.
9 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.
And Pharaoh’s daughter said unto her, Take this child away, and nurse it for me, and I will give thee thy wages. And the woman took the child, and nursed it.
10 ([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.”
And the child grew, and she brought him unto Pharaoh’s daughter, and he became her son. And she called his name Moses, and said, Because I drew him out of the water.
11 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.
And it came to pass in those days, when Moses was grown up, that he went out unto his brethren, and looked on their burdens: and he saw an Egyptian smiting a Hebrew, one of his brethren.
12 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.
And he looked this way and that way, and when he saw that there was no man, he smote the Egyptian, and hid him in the sand.
13 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].”
And he went out the second day, and, behold, two men of the Hebrews were striving together: and he said to him that did the wrong, Wherefore smitest thou thy fellow?
14 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].”
And he said, Who made thee a prince and a judge over us? thinkest thou to kill me, as thou killedst the Egyptian? And Moses feared, and said, Surely the thing is known.
15 [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.
Now when Pharaoh heard this thing, he sought to slay Moses. But Moses fled from the face of Pharaoh, and dwelt in the land of Midian: and he sat down by a well.
16 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].
Now the priest of Midian had seven daughters: and they came and drew water, and filled the troughs to water their father’s flock.
17 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.
And the shepherds came and drove them away; but Moses stood up and helped them, and watered their flock.
18 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?”
And when they came to Reuel their father, he said, How is it that ye are come so soon to-day?
19 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].”
And they said, An Egyptian delivered us out of the hand of the shepherds, and moreover he drew water for us, and watered the flock.
20 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]!”
And he said unto his daughters, And where is he? why is it that ye have left the man? call him, that he may eat bread.
21 [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].
And Moses was content to dwell with the man: and he gave Moses Zipporah his daughter.
22 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.”
And she bare a son, and he called his name Gershom; for he said, I have been a sojourner in a foreign land.
23 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].
And it came to pass in the course of those many days, that the king of Egypt died: and the children of Israel sighed by reason of the bondage, and they cried, and their cry came up unto God by reason of the bondage.
24 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].
And God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob.
25 God saw how the Israeli people were [being badly treated], and he was concerned about them.
And God saw the children of Israel, and God took knowledge [of them].
