Exodus 1-2

New Life Version

Children of Israel Suffer in Egypt

1 These are the names of the sons of Israel who came to Egypt with Jacob. Each one came with those of his house: ² Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, ³ Issachar, Zebulun, Benjamin, ⁴ Dan, Naphtali, Gad, and Asher. ⁵ There were seventy people in Jacob’s family. But Joseph was already in Egypt. ⁶ Joseph and all his brothers died and all their families of that time. ⁷ But the sons of Israel had many children, and the people became many in number. There were so many that the land was filled with them.

⁸ Then a new king came into power over Egypt. He did not know Joseph. ⁹ He said to his people, “See, the people of Israel are too many and too powerful for us. ¹⁰ Come, let us be wise in how we act towards them, or they will become more in number. If there is a war, they might join with those who hate us. They might fight against us and then leave the land.”

¹¹ So they put men in power over them to make them work hard. And they built the store-cities Pithom and Raamses for Pharaoh the king. ¹² But the more the Egyptians made them suffer, the more they became until they spread throughout the land. So the Egyptians were afraid of the people of Israel. ¹³ The Egyptians made the people of Israel work very hard. ¹⁴ They made their lives bitter with hard work building with stones and with all kinds of work in the field. They made them work very hard.

¹⁵ Then the king of Egypt spoke to the Hebrew nurses. The name of one was Shiphrah. The name of the other was Puah. ¹⁶ He said, “When you are helping the Hebrew women to give birth, and see the baby before the mother does, if it is a son, kill him. But if it is a daughter, let her live.” ¹⁷ But the nurses feared God. They did not do what the king of Egypt told them. They let the boys live. ¹⁸ So the king of Egypt called the nurses and said to them, “Why have you done this, and let the boys live?” ¹⁹ The nurses answered Pharaoh, “Because the Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women. They are strong. They give birth before the nurse comes to them.” ²⁰ So God was good to the nurses. And the people became many and strong. ²¹ Because the nurses feared God, He gave them families. ²² Then Pharaoh told all his people, “Throw every son who is born to the Hebrews into the Nile. But keep every daughter alive.”

2 Now a man of the family of Levi married a daughter of Levi. ² She was going to have a baby, and she gave birth to a son. When she saw that he was beautiful, she hid him for three months. ³ But the time came when she could hide him no longer. So she took a basket made from grass, and covered it with tar and put the child in it. And she set it in the grass by the side of the Nile. ⁴ His sister stayed to watch and find out what would happen to him.

⁵ Then the daughter of Pharaoh came to wash herself in the Nile. Her young women walked beside the Nile. She saw the basket in the tall grass and sent the woman who served her to get it. ⁶ She opened it and saw the child. The boy was crying. She had pity on him and said, “This is one of the Hebrews’ children.” ⁷ Then his sister said to Pharaoh’s daughter, “Should I go and call a nurse from the Hebrew women to nurse the child for you?” ⁸ Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Go.” So the girl went and called the child’s mother. ⁹ Then Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Take this child away and nurse him for me. And I will pay you.” So the woman took the child and nursed him. ¹⁰ The child grew, and she brought him to Pharaoh’s daughter. And he became her son. She gave him the name Moses, saying, “Because I took him out of the water.”

¹¹ One day after Moses had grown up, he went out to his brothers and saw how hard they worked. He saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his people, ¹² so he looked this way and that way. He did not see anyone, so he killed the Egyptian and hid him in the sand. ¹³ The next day he went out and saw two Hebrews fighting. He said to the man who did the wrong, “Why are you hitting your neighbor?” ¹⁴ But the man said, “Who made you a ruler and a judge among us? Do you plan to kill me like you killed the Egyptian?” Then Moses was afraid. He thought, “For sure the thing I have done is known.”

¹⁵ When Pharaoh heard what had happened, he tried to kill Moses. But Moses ran away from Pharaoh and stayed in the land of Midian. He sat down there by a well. ¹⁶ Now the religious leader of Midian had seven daughters. They came to get water, and filled the barrels used to water their father’s flock. ¹⁷ The shepherds came and tried to make them go away. But Moses stood up and helped them. He gave water to their flock. ¹⁸ When they came to their father Reuel, he said, “Why have you returned so soon today?” ¹⁹ They answered, “An Egyptian saved us from the shepherds. He even got the water for us and gave water to the flock.” ²⁰ He said to his daughters, “Where is he? Why have you left the man? Ask him to have something to eat with us.” ²¹ Moses was willing to stay with the man, and he gave his daughter Zipporah to Moses. ²² She gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Gershom. For he said, “I have been a stranger in a strange land.”

²³ Now after a long time, the king of Egypt died. The people of Israel were sad in their spirit because of being servants. They cried for help. And because of their hard work their cry went up to God. ²⁴ God heard their crying and remembered His agreement with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. ²⁵ God saw the people of Israel and He cared about them.