ExodusChapter 2
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1A man from the family of Levi married a woman who was also from Levi's family. 2She became pregnant and had a son. She saw that he was a beautiful baby. So she hid him for three months. 3But soon she couldn't hide him any longer. So she got a basket made of papyrus. She covered it with tar and pitch. Then she put the baby in the basket. She set it among the reeds at the edge of the Nile. 4The baby's sister stood a little way off. She watched to see what would happen to him. 5Soon Pharaoh's daughter came down to the Nile to bathe. Her servant girls walked along the riverbank. She saw the basket among the reeds. So she sent her servant girl to get it. 6She opened it and saw the baby. The little boy was crying! She felt sorry for him. She said, "This is one of the Hebrew babies." 7Then the baby's sister spoke to Pharaoh's daughter. "Should I go and get one of the Hebrew women to nurse the baby for you?" 8Pharaoh's daughter said, "Yes, go." So the girl went and got the baby's mother. 9Pharaoh's daughter said to her, "Take this baby and nurse him for me. I will pay you." So the woman took the baby and nursed him. 10When the child was older, she brought him to Pharaoh's daughter. He became her son. She named him Moses. She said, "I pulled him out of the water."a 11Moses grew up. One day he went out to see his own people. He watched them doing their hard work. He saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his own people. 12Moses looked this way and that way. He didn't see anyone. So he killed the Egyptian and hid his body in the sand. 13The next day Moses went out again. He saw two Hebrews fighting. He asked the one who was in the wrong, "Why are you hitting your fellow Hebrew?" 14The man answered, "Who made you our ruler and judge? Are you going to kill me like you killed the Egyptian?" Then Moses was afraid. He thought, "People must know what I did." 15Pharaoh heard about it, and he tried to kill Moses. But Moses ran away from Pharaoh. He went to live in the land of Midian. There he sat down by a well. 16The priest of Midian had seven daughters. They came to the well to get water. They filled the troughs to give water to their father's flock. 17Some shepherds came and chased them away. But Moses got up and helped the girls. He gave water to their flock. 18The girls went back to their father Reuel. He asked them, "Why are you home so early today?" 19They answered, "An Egyptian saved us from the shepherds. He even got water for us and gave it to the flock." 20Their father asked, "So where is he? Why did you leave the man there? Invite him to come and eat with us." 21Moses agreed to stay with the man. The man gave his daughter Zipporah to Moses to be his wife. 22She had a son. Moses named him Gershom. He said, "I have become a stranger in a foreign land."b 23A long time passed, and the king of Egypt died. The Israelites groaned under the heavy load of slavery. They cried out for help. Their cry to be set free went up to God. 24God heard their groaning. He remembered his covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. 25God saw the Israelites, and he took notice of them.