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.

Moses and the Burning Bush

3 Now Moses was taking care of the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, the religious leader of Midian. He led the flock to the west side of the desert, and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. ² There the Angel of the Lord showed Himself to Moses in a burning fire from inside a bush. Moses looked and saw that the bush was burning with fire, but it was not being burned up. ³ So Moses said, “I must step aside and see this great thing, why the bush is not being burned up.”

⁴ The Lord saw him step aside to look. And God called to him from inside the bush, saying, “Moses, Moses!” Moses answered, “Here I am.” ⁵ God said, “Do not come near. Take your shoes off your feet. For the place where you are standing is holy ground.” ⁶ He said also, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” Then Moses hid his face. For he was afraid to look at God. ⁷ The Lord said, “I have seen the suffering of My people in Egypt. I have heard their cry because of the men who make them work. I know how they suffer. ⁸ So I have come down to save them from the power of the Egyptians. I will bring them out of that land to a good big land, to a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite, the Perizzite, the Hivite and the Jebusite. ⁹ Now the cry of the people of Israel has come to Me. I have seen what power the Egyptians use to make it hard for them. ¹⁰ Now come, and I will send you to Pharaoh so that you may bring My people, the sons of Israel, out of Egypt.”

¹¹ But Moses said to God, “Who am I to go to Pharaoh and bring the people of Israel out of Egypt?” ¹² God said, “But I will be with you. And this will be something special for you to see to know that I have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God at this mountain.”

¹³ Then Moses said to God, “See, I am going to the people of Israel, and I will say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you.’ Now they might say to me, ‘What is His name?’ What should I say to them?” ¹⁴ And God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” And He said, “Say to the Israelites, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’” ¹⁵ Again He said, “Say this to the people of Israel, ‘The Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.’ This is My name forever. By this name I am to be remembered by all people for all time. ¹⁶ Go and gather together the leaders of Israel. Say to them, ‘The Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, has shown Himself to me. And He said, “I have visited you and have seen what has been done to you in Egypt. ¹⁷ I promise to bring you out of the suffering of Egypt to the land of the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite, to a land flowing with milk and honey.’” ¹⁸ They will listen to what you say. Then you and the leaders of Israel will go to the king of Egypt and say to him, ‘The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us. So now we ask you to let us travel three days to the desert to give gifts on an altar in worship to the Lord our God.’ ¹⁹ But I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go, except by a powerful hand. ²⁰ So I will put out My hand and trouble Egypt with all the powerful works I will do there. After that he will let you go. ²¹ And I will give these people favor in the eyes of the Egyptians. When you go, you will not go empty handed. ²² But each woman will get from her neighbor and the woman who lives in her house, things made of silver and gold, and clothes that you will put on your sons and daughters. You will take the best of things from the Egyptians.”