Home Master Index
←Prev   Exodus 2 as rendered by/in  Next→ 


2:1  There was a certain man from the tribe of Levi who took a daughter of the tribe of Levi as his wife.
2:2  The woman conceived and bore a son. She saw that he was handsome and she hid him for three months.
2:3  But, not being able to hide him any longer, she took a basket made of papyrus, caulked it with bitumen and pitch, and placed the baby in it and lay it among the reeds growing on the riverbank of the Nile.
2:4  The baby’s sister hid herself so that she could watch what would happen from a distance.
2:5  Pharaoh’s daughter went down to the Nile to bathe while her attendants walked along the riverbank. They saw the basket among the reeds and sent a slave to fetch it.
2:6  They opened it and saw the baby. It was a small baby boy who was crying. They had compassion on it and said, “This is a Hebrew baby.”
2:7  The sister of the baby said to Pharaoh’s daughter, “Shall I go to call a wet nurse from among the Hebrew women to feed the child for you?”
2:8  “Go,” said Pharaoh’s daughter. The girl went and called the baby’s mother.
2:9  Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Take this baby with you and feed it for me. I will pay you.” The woman took the baby and fed it.
2:10  When the baby was grown, she brought it to Pharaoh’s daughter. He became a son to her and she named him Moses, saying, “I have saved him from the water.”
2:11  One day Moses, having grown up, went out to his brethren and saw how they were oppressed. He noticed an Egyptian strike a Hebrew, one of his brethren.
2:12  Looking around, he did not see anyone, so he struck and killed the Egyptian and buried him in the sand.
2:13  The next day he went out again and, seeing two Hebrews fighting, said to the one who was in the wrong, “Why did you hit your brother?”
2:14  He answered, “Who has made you head and judge over us? Are you thinking of killing me like you killed the Egyptian?” Moses was afraid and thought, “Certainly this thing is known.”
2:15  Pharaoh heard about it and sought to put Moses to death. Moses fled from Pharaoh and traveled to the land of Midian where he sat down by a well.
2:16  A priest of Midian had seven daughters. They came to draw water to fill the trough and give water to their father’s flocks.
2:17  But some shepherds arrived and chased them away. Moses got up and defended them and gave their animals something to drink.
2:18  They returned to their father Reuel who said to them, “Why are you back so soon today?”
2:19  They answered, “An Egyptian delivered us out of the hands of the shepherds. He drew water for us and gave water to the flock to drink.”
2:20  He said to his daughters, “Where is he? Why did you leave him there? Invite him to eat with us.”
2:21  Moses agreed to live with that man, who gave him his daughter Zipporah as a wife.
2:22  She bore him a son and he named his son Gershom for he said, “I am a stranger in a strange land.”
2:23  And it came to pass that the king of Egypt died. The Israelites groaned because of their slavery, and they cried out. The cry of their bondage rose up to God.
2:24  God heard their cry and remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob.
2:25  God took note of the children of Israel and acknowledged their need.