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.
Ŋutsu aɖe si nye Levitɔ la ɖe nyɔnu aɖe si hã nye Levitɔ.
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].
Nyɔnu la fɔ fu, eye wòdzi ŋutsuvi. Esi nyɔnu la kpɔ be ye viŋutsu la dze ɖeka ŋutɔ la, eɣlae ɖe aƒe me ɣleti etɔ̃.
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].
Ke esi wòkpɔ be yemagate ŋu aɣlae wòadidi wu nenema o la, etsɔ aƒla lɔ̃ kusi, eye wòsi aŋɔ ɖe eme ale be tsi mate ŋu age ɖe eme o. Ekɔ ɖevi la mlɔ kusi la me, eye wòtsɔe ɣla ɖe aƒla siwo le Nil tɔsisi la to la me.
4 His/My older sister was standing not far away, [watching to see] what would happen to him/me.
Ena vidzĩ la nɔvinyɔnu nɔ adzɔge vie ale be wòakpɔ nu si ava dzɔ ɖe ɖevi la dzi.
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.
Nu si va dzɔe nye be Fia Farao ƒe vinyɔnu, va tsi le ge le Nil tɔsisi la me. Esi eya kple eƒe dɔlanyɔnuwo nɔ zɔzɔm le tɔsisi la to la, ekpɔ kusi la le aƒlawo me. Edɔ eƒe dɔlanyɔnuawo dometɔ ɖeka ɖa be wòakɔe vɛ.
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.”
Eʋu kusi la, eye wòkpɔ vidzĩ la le eme! Ɖevi la nɔ avi fam, nu sia wɔ dɔ ɖe fiavinyɔnu la dzi, eye wògblɔ be, “Ɖevi sia nye Hebri ŋutsuviawo dometɔ ɖeka.”
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?”
Vidzĩ la nɔvinyɔnu te ɖe fiavinyɔnu la ŋu, eye wòbiae be, “Mayi ɖayɔ Hebri nyɔnuawo dometɔ ɖeka wòanyi ɖevi sia na wòa?”
8 The king’s daughter said to her, “[Yes], go [and find one].” So the girl went and summoned (the baby’s/my) mother.
Fiavinyɔnu la ɖo eŋu be, “Ɛ̃, yi!” Ale nyɔnuvi la ƒu du yi aƒe me, eye wòyɔ vidzĩa dadaa vɛ!
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.
Fiavinyɔnu la gblɔ na vidzĩa dadaa be, “Kɔ vidzĩ sia yi aƒe me, na noe nam, eye maxe fe si adze ŋuwò la na wò!” Ale vidzĩ la dada kɔe yi aƒe me, eye wòkpɔ edzi nyuie.
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.”
Esi ɖevi la tsi la, dadaa kɔe yi na Farao ƒe vinyɔnu la, eye wòzu Via ŋutsuvi. Ena ŋkɔe be Mose, si gɔmee nye “Tɔ mee woɖee tsoe,” elabena egblɔ be tsi mee yeɖee tsoe.
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.
Esi Mose tsi, eye wòzu ɖekakpui la, eɖi tsa gbe ɖeka be yeakpɔ ye nɔvi Hebritɔwo ɖa. Ekpɔ fuwɔame kple teteɖeanyi si te wonɔ. Ekpɔ Egiptetɔ aɖe wòƒo nɔvia Hebritɔ aɖe ƒu anyi.
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.
Mose tsa ŋku mlamlamla be yeaka ɖe edzi be ame aɖeke menɔ ye kpɔm o. Ewu Egiptetɔ la, eye wòɖii ɖe ke me.
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].”
Ke esi ŋu ke la, Mose gaɖi tsa be yeaɖakpɔ ye nɔvi Hebritɔwo ɖa. Ekpɔ Hebritɔ eve wonɔ kɔ dam, eye wòbia ame si di ge la be, “Nu kae nye esi wɔm nèle, hele wò ŋutɔ nɔviwò Hebritɔ ƒom ale?”
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].”
Ŋutsu sia biae be, “Ame kae ɖo wò fia kple ʋɔnudrɔ̃la ɖe mía nu? Ɖe nèle didim be yeawu nye hã abe ale si nèwu Egiptetɔ ma etsɔ enea?” Vɔvɔ̃ ɖo Mose, elabena ebu xaa be, “Ɖewohĩ nu si mewɔ la le nyanya me na amewo.”
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.
Farao se nya la, eye wòɖe gbe be woalée, awui. Ke Mose si le Farao nu yi ɖe Midianyigba dzi, eye wònɔ anyi ɖe vudo aɖe to.
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].
Ɖetugbi adre, ame siwo nye Midian nunɔla ƒe vinyɔnuwo la va be yewoaku tsi ana yewo fofo ƒe alẽha.
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.
Ke alẽkplɔla aɖewo va nya wo. Ale Mose tsi tsitre va xɔ na wo, eye wòna tsi woƒe alẽhawo.
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?”
Esi ɖetugbiawo trɔ yi aƒe me la, wo fofo, Reuel bia wo be, “Nu kae na miekpɔ tsi na alẽwo egbe ya kaba nenema?”
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].”
Woɖo eŋu nɛ be, “Egiptetɔ aɖee xɔ mí le alẽkplɔla mawo ƒe asi me, eye wòku tsi na míaƒe alẽhawo.”
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]!”
Wo fofo gblɔ na wo be, “Nu ka ta miegblẽe ɖe afi ma ɖo? Miyi miakplɔe vɛ wòaɖu nu kpli mí.”
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].
Mose xɔ Reuel ƒe kpekpe la, eye wòlɔ̃ be yeanɔ egbɔ. Reuel tsɔ via si woyɔna be Zipora la nɛ wòɖe.
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.”
Wodzi ŋutsuvi ɖeka si wona ŋkɔe be Gersom si gɔmee nye “Amedzro,” elabena Mose gblɔ be, “Amedzroe menye le dzronyigba dzi.”
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].
Le ƒe aɖewo megbe la, Egipte fia la ku. Israelviwo nɔ konyi fam henɔ hũu ɖem le woƒe kɔkutiwo te le woƒe kluvinyenye ta, eye wonɔ avi fam vevie le Mawu ŋkume. Woƒe avifafa ɖo Mawu gbɔ le dziƒo.
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].
Mawu se woƒe konyifafa, eye wòɖo ŋku eƒe ŋugbedodo na Abraham, Isak kple Yakob dzi.
25 God saw how the Israeli people were [being badly treated], and he was concerned about them.
Ale Mawu kpɔ Israelviwo ƒe nublanui, eye wòtsɔ ɖe le eme na wo.
