שמות 2
| וילך איש מבית לוי ויקח את בת לוי׃ | 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.
| ותהר האשה ותלד בן ותרא אתו כי טוב הוא ותצפנהו שלשה ירחים׃ | 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].
| ולא יכלה עוד הצפינו ותקח לו תבת גמא ותחמרה בחמר ובזפת ותשם בה את הילד ותשם בסוף על שפת היאר׃ | 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].
| ותתצב אחתו מרחק לדעה מה יעשה לו׃ | 4 |
His/My older sister was standing not far away, [watching to see] what would happen to him/me.
| ותרד בת פרעה לרחץ על היאר ונערתיה הלכת על יד היאר ותרא את התבה בתוך הסוף ותשלח את אמתה ותקחה׃ | 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.
| ותפתח ותראהו את הילד והנה נער בכה ותחמל עליו ותאמר מילדי העברים זה׃ | 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.”
| ותאמר אחתו אל בת פרעה האלך וקראתי לך אשה מינקת מן העברית ותינק לך את הילד׃ | 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?”
| ותאמר לה בת פרעה לכי ותלך העלמה ותקרא את אם הילד׃ | 8 |
The king’s daughter said to her, “[Yes], go [and find one].” So the girl went and summoned (the baby’s/my) mother.
| ותאמר לה בת פרעה היליכי את הילד הזה והינקהו לי ואני אתן את שכרך ותקח האשה הילד ותניקהו׃ | 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.
| ויגדל הילד ותבאהו לבת פרעה ויהי לה לבן ותקרא שמו משה ותאמר כי מן המים משיתהו׃ | 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.”
| ויהי בימים ההם ויגדל משה ויצא אל אחיו וירא בסבלתם וירא איש מצרי מכה איש עברי מאחיו׃ | 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.
| ויפן כה וכה וירא כי אין איש ויך את המצרי ויטמנהו בחול׃ | 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.
| ויצא ביום השני והנה שני אנשים עברים נצים ויאמר לרשע למה תכה רעך׃ | 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].”
| ויאמר מי שמך לאיש שר ושפט עלינו הלהרגני אתה אמר כאשר הרגת את המצרי ויירא משה ויאמר אכן נודע הדבר׃ | 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].”
| וישמע פרעה את הדבר הזה ויבקש להרג את משה ויברח משה מפני פרעה וישב בארץ מדין וישב על הבאר׃ | 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.
| ולכהן מדין שבע בנות ותבאנה ותדלנה ותמלאנה את הרהטים להשקות צאן אביהן׃ | 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].
| ויבאו הרעים ויגרשום ויקם משה ויושען וישק את צאנם׃ | 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.
| ותבאנה אל רעואל אביהן ויאמר מדוע מהרתן בא היום׃ | 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?”
| ותאמרן איש מצרי הצילנו מיד הרעים וגם דלה דלה לנו וישק את הצאן׃ | 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].”
| ויאמר אל בנתיו ואיו למה זה עזבתן את האיש קראן לו ויאכל לחם׃ | 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]!”
| ויואל משה לשבת את האיש ויתן את צפרה בתו למשה׃ | 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].
| ותלד בן ויקרא את שמו גרשם כי אמר גר הייתי בארץ נכריה׃ | 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.”
| ויהי בימים הרבים ההם וימת מלך מצרים ויאנחו בני ישראל מן העבדה ויזעקו ותעל שועתם אל האלהים מן העבדה׃ | 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].
| וישמע אלהים את נאקתם ויזכר אלהים את בריתו את אברהם את יצחק ואת יעקב׃ | 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].
| וירא אלהים את בני ישראל וידע אלהים׃ | 25 |
God saw how the Israeli people were [being badly treated], and he was concerned about them.
