Israel Comes to Egypt
1 These are the names of the sons of Israel (that is, Jacob) who came with him to Egypt with their families: 2 Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah; 3 Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin; 4 Dan and Naphtali; Gad and Asher. 5 Joseph was already in Egypt. The total number of Jacob’s descendants was 70.
6 Eventually, Joseph, all his brothers, and that entire generation died. 7 But the descendants of Israel had many children. They became so numerous and strong that the land was filled with them.
The Israelites Become Slaves
8 Then a new king, who knew nothing about Joseph, began to rule in Egypt. 9 He said to his people, “There are too many Israelites, and they are stronger than we are. 10 We have to outsmart them, or they’ll increase in number. Then, if war breaks out, they will join our enemies, fight against us, and leave the country.”
11 So the Egyptians put slave drivers in charge of them in order to oppress them through forced labor. They built Pithom and Rameses as supply cities for Pharaoh. 12 But the more the Israelites were oppressed, the more they increased in number and spread out. The Egyptians couldn’t stand them any longer. 13 So they forced the Israelites to work hard as slaves. 14 They made their lives bitter with back-breaking work in mortar and bricks and every kind of work in the fields. All the jobs the Egyptians gave them were brutally hard.
Pharaoh Tells the Midwives to Kill All Hebrew Baby Boys
15 Then the king of Egypt told the Hebrew midwives, whose names were Shiphrah and Puah, 16 “When you help the Hebrew women in childbirth, look at the child when you deliver it. If it’s a boy, kill it, but if it’s a girl, let it live.”
17 However, the midwives feared Elohim and didn’t obey the king of Egypt’s orders. They let the boys live. 18 So the king of Egypt called for the midwives. He asked them, “Why have you done this? Why have you let the boys live?”
19 The midwives answered Pharaoh, “Hebrew women are not like Egyptian women. They are so healthy that they have their babies before a midwife arrives.”
20 Elohim was good to the midwives. So the people increased in number and became very strong. 21 Because the midwives feared Elohim, he gave them families of their own.
22 Then Pharaoh commanded all his people to throw into the Nile every Hebrew boy that was born, but to let every girl live.
Pharaoh’s Daughter Adopts Moses
2 A man from Levi’s family married a Levite woman. 2 The woman became pregnant and had a son. She saw how beautiful he was and hid him for three months. 3 When she couldn’t hide him any longer, she took a basket made of papyrus plants and coated it with tar and pitch. She put the baby in it and set it among the papyrus plants near the bank of the Nile River. 4 The baby’s sister stood at a distance to see what would happen to him.
5 While Pharaoh’s daughter came to the Nile to take a bath, her servants walked along the bank of the river. She saw the basket among the papyrus plants and sent her slave girl to get it. 6 Pharaoh’s daughter opened the basket, looked at the baby, and saw it was a boy. He was crying, and she felt sorry for him. She said, “This is one of the Hebrew children.”
7 Then the baby’s sister asked Pharaoh’s daughter, “Should I go and get one of the Hebrew women to nurse the baby for you?”
8 She answered, “Yes!” So the girl brought the baby’s mother.
9 Pharaoh’s daughter said to the woman, “Take this child, nurse him for me, and I will pay you.”
She took the child and nursed him. 10 When the child was old enough, she brought him to Pharaoh’s daughter, and he became her son. Pharaoh’s daughter named him Moses [Pulled Out] and said, “I pulled him out of the water.”
Moses Commits Murder and Flees to Midian
11 In the course of time Moses grew up. Then he went to see his own people and watched them suffering under forced labor. He saw a Hebrew, one of his own people, being beaten by an Egyptian. 12 He looked all around, and when he didn’t see anyone, he beat the Egyptian to death and hid the body in the sand.
13 When Moses went there the next day, he saw two Hebrew men fighting. He asked the one who started the fight, “Why are you beating another Hebrew?”
14 The man asked, “Who made you our ruler and judge? Are you going to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?” Then Moses was afraid and thought that everyone knew what he had done.
15 When Pharaoh heard what Moses had done, he tried to have him killed. But Moses fled from Pharaoh and settled in the land of Midian.
Moses Marries Zipporah
One day, while Moses was sitting by a well, 16 seven daughters of the priest of Midian came. They drew water and filled the troughs to water their father’s sheep. 17 But some shepherds came and chased them away. So Moses got up, came to their defense, and then watered their sheep.
18 When they came back to their father Reuel, he asked them, “Why have you come home so early today?”
19 They answered, “An Egyptian rescued us from some shepherds. He even drew water for us and watered the sheep.”
20 Reuel asked his daughters, “Where is he? Why did you leave the man there? Go, invite him to supper.”
21 Moses decided to stay with the man. So Reuel gave his daughter Zipporah to Moses as his wife. 22 She gave birth to a son. Moses named him Gershom [Foreigner], because he said, “I was a foreigner living in another country.”
The Israelites Pray to God during Their Suffering
23 After a long time passed, the king of Egypt died. The Israelites still groaned because they were slaves. So they cried out, and their cries for help went up to Elohim. 24 Elohim heard their groaning, and Elohim remembered his promise to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. 25 Elohim saw the Israelites being oppressed and was concerned about them.
Moses at the Burning Bush
3 Moses was taking care of the sheep of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian. As he led the sheep to the far side of the desert, he came to Horeb, the mountain of Elohim.
2 The Messenger of Yahweh appeared to him there as flames of fire coming out of a bush. Moses looked, and although the bush was on fire, it was not burning up. 3 So he thought, “Why isn’t this bush burning up? I must go over there and see this strange sight.”
4 When Yahweh saw that Moses had come over to see it, Elohim called to him from the bush, “Moses, Moses!”
Moses answered, “Here I am!”
5 Elohim said, “Don’t come any closer! Take off your sandals because this place where you are standing is holy ground. 6 I am the Elohim of your ancestors, the Elohim of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.” Moses hid his face because he was afraid to look at Elohim.
7 Yahweh said, “I have seen the misery of my people in Egypt, and I have heard them crying out because of the slave drivers. I know how much they’re suffering. 8 I have come to rescue them from the power of the Egyptians and to bring them from that land to a good land with plenty of room for everyone. It is a land flowing with milk and honey where the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites live. 9 I have heard the cry of the people of Israel. I have seen how the Egyptians are oppressing them. 10 Now, go! I am sending you to Pharaoh so that you can bring my people Israel out of Egypt.”
11 But Moses said to Elohim, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the people of Israel out of Egypt?”
12 Elohim answered, “I will be with you. And this will be the proof that I sent you: When you bring the people out of Egypt, all of you will worship Elohim on this mountain.”
13 Then Moses replied to Elohim, “Suppose I go to the people of Israel and say to them, ‘The Elohim of your ancestors has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ What should I tell them?”
14 Elohim answered Moses, “Ehyeh Who Ehyeh. This is what you must say to the people of Israel: ‘Ehyeh has sent me to you.’”
15 Again Elohim said to Moses, “This is what you must say to the people of Israel: Yahweh Elohim of your ancestors, the Elohim of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, has sent me to you. This is my name forever. This is my title throughout every generation.
16 “Go, assemble the leaders of Israel. Say to them, ‘Yahweh Elohim of your ancestors, the Elohim of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, appeared to me. He said, “I have paid close attention to you and have seen what has been done to you in Egypt. 17 I promise I will take you away from your misery in Egypt to the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, a land flowing with milk and honey.”’
18 “The leaders of Israel will listen to you. Then you and the leaders must go to the king of Egypt and say to him, ‘Yahweh Elohim of the Hebrews has met with us. Please let us travel three days into the desert to offer sacrifices to Yahweh our Elohim.’ 19 I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go, even if he is forced to. 20 So I will use my power to strike Egypt. After all the miracles that I will do there, he will let you go. 21 I will make the Egyptians kind to the people of Israel so that, when you leave, you will not leave empty-handed.
22 “Every Hebrew woman should ask her Egyptian neighbor and any woman living in her home for silver and gold jewelry and for clothes. Put them on your sons and daughters. This way you will strip Egypt of its wealth.”
4 “They will never believe me or listen to me!” Moses protested. “They will say, ‘Yahweh didn’t appear to you.’”
2 Then Yahweh asked him, “What’s that in your hand?”
He answered, “A shepherd’s staff.”
3 Yahweh said, “Throw it on the ground.”
When Moses threw it on the ground, it became a snake, and he ran away from it.
4 Then Yahweh said to Moses, “Reach out and grab the snake by its tail.” He reached out and grabbed it, and it turned back into a staff as he held it. 5 The Lord explained, “This is to convince the people that Yahweh Elohim of their ancestors, the Elohim of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, appeared to you.”
6 Yahweh said to him, “Put your hand inside your shirt.” So Moses did this, and when he took his hand out, it had a skin disease. It looked as flaky as snow. 7 “Now put your hand back inside your shirt,” Yahweh said. Moses put it back, and when he took it out this time, it was healthy again like the rest of his body.
8 Then the Lord said, “If they won’t believe you or pay attention to the first miraculous sign, they may believe the second. 9 But if they won’t believe these two miraculous signs or listen to you, take some water from the Nile River and pour it on the ground. The water you take from the Nile will turn into blood on the ground.”
10 Moses said to Yahweh, “Please, Adonay, I’m not a good speaker. I’ve never been a good speaker, and I’m not now, even though you’ve spoken to me. I speak slowly, and I become tongue-tied easily.”
11 Yahweh asked him, “Who gave humans their mouths? Who makes humans unable to talk or hear? Who gives them sight or makes them blind? It is I, Yahweh! 12 Now go, and I will help you speak and will teach you what to say.”
13 But Moses said, “Please, Adonay, send someone else.”
14 Then Yahweh became angry with Moses and asked, “What about your brother Aaron the Levite? I know he can speak well. He’s already on his way to meet you, and he will be very glad to see you. 15 You will speak to him and tell him what to say. I will help both of you speak, and I will teach you both what to do. 16 Aaron will speak to the people for you. He will be your spokesman, and you will be like Elohim. 17 Take that shepherd’s staff with you, and use it to do the miraculous signs.”
Moses Returns to Egypt
18 Then Moses went back to his father-in-law Jethro. Moses said to him, “Please let me go back to my own people in Egypt. I would like to see if they’re still alive.”
Jethro said to Moses, “You may go.”
19 Now, Yahweh had said to Moses in Midian, “Go back to Egypt, because all the men who wanted to kill you are dead.”
20 So Moses took his wife and sons, put them on a donkey, and started out for Egypt. He also brought with him the staff Elohim had told him to take.
21 Yahweh said to Moses, “When you get back to Egypt, see that you show Pharaoh all the amazing things that I have given you the power to do. But I will make him stubborn so that he will not let the people go. 22 Then tell Pharaoh, ‘This is what Yahweh says: Israel is my firstborn son. 23 I told you to let my son go so that he may worship me. But you refused to let him go. So now I’m going to kill your firstborn son.’”
24 Along the way they stopped for the night. Yahweh met Moses and tried to kill him. 25 Then Zipporah took a flint knife, cut off her son’s foreskin, and touched Moses’ feet with it. She said, “You are a bridegroom of blood to me!” 26 So Yahweh let him alone. It was because of the circumcision that she said at that time, “You are a bridegroom of blood!”
Moses and Aaron Tell the People What the Lord Said
27 Meanwhile, Yahweh had told Aaron to meet Moses in the desert.
When Aaron met Moses at the mountain of Elohim, he kissed him. 28 Moses told Aaron everything Yahweh had sent him to say and all the miraculous signs Yahweh had commanded him to do.
29 Then Moses and Aaron went to Egypt and assembled all the leaders of the people of Israel. 30 Aaron told them everything Yahweh had said to Moses. He also did the miraculous signs for the people, 31 and the people believed them. When they heard that Yahweh was concerned about the people of Israel and that he had seen their misery, they knelt, bowing with their faces touching the ground.
Moses and Aaron Confront Pharaoh
5 Later Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and said, “This is what Yahweh Elohim of Israel says: Let my people go into the desert to celebrate a festival in my honor.”
2 Pharaoh asked, “Who is Yahweh? Why should I obey him and let Israel go? I don’t know Yahweh, and I won’t let Israel go.”
3 They replied, “The Elohim of the Hebrews has met with us. Please let us travel three days into the desert to offer sacrifices to Yahweh our Elohim. If we don’t go, he may kill us with a plague or a war.”
4 The king of Egypt said to them, “Moses and Aaron, why are you distracting the people from their work? Get back to work!” 5 Then Pharaoh added, “Look how many people there are in the land! Do you want them to quit working?”
Pharaoh Increases the Israelites’ Labor
6 That same day Pharaoh gave these orders to the slave drivers and foremen: 7 “Don’t give the people any more straw to make bricks as you have been doing. Let them gather their own straw, 8 but insist that they make the same number of bricks they were making before. Making fewer bricks will not be acceptable. They’re lazy! That’s why they’re crying, ‘Let us go offer sacrifices to our Elohim.’ 9 Make the work harder for these people so that they will be too busy to listen to lies.”
10 The slave drivers and foreman went out and said to them, “This is what Pharaoh says: I’m no longer giving you straw. 11 Get your own straw wherever you can find it, but your work load will not be reduced one bit.”
12 So the people scattered all over Egypt to gather stubble for straw. 13 The slave drivers kept hurrying them. They said, “Finish the same amount of work each day, just as when you had straw.”
14 Pharaoh’s slave drivers had placed Israelite foremen in charge of the people. The slave drivers beat the foremen and said, “You didn’t finish all the bricks you were ordered to make yesterday or today. Why didn’t you make as many as you used to?”
15 Then the Israelite foremen complained to Pharaoh. They asked, “Why are you treating us this way? 16 We’re given no straw, and yet we’re told to make bricks. We’re being beaten, but your men are at fault.”
17 “You’re lazy! Just plain lazy!” Pharaoh answered. “That’s why you keep saying, ‘Let us go offer sacrifices to Yahweh.’ 18 Now get back to work! You won’t be given any straw, but you must still make the same number of bricks.”
19 The Israelite foremen realized they were in trouble when they were told, “Don’t make fewer bricks each day than you’re supposed to.”
20 As they left Pharaoh, they found Moses and Aaron waiting for them. 21 So they said, “May Yahweh see what you have done and judge you! You have made Pharaoh and his officials hate us. You have given them an excuse to kill us.”
22 Moses went back to Yahweh and asked, “Why have you brought this trouble on your people? Why did you send me? 23 Ever since I went to Pharaoh to speak for you, he has treated your people cruelly, and you have done nothing at all to rescue your people.”
6 Then Yahweh said to Moses, “Now you will see what I will do to Pharaoh. I will show him my power, and he will let my people go. I will show him my power, and he will throw them out of his country.”
