2Exodus 2

The Birth of Moses

1During this time a man from the tribe of Levi married a woman of his own tribe,Select Exodus 2:1

2and she bore him a son. When she saw what a fine baby he was, she hid him for three months.Select Exodus 2:2

3But when she could not hide him any longer, she took a basket made of reeds and covered it with tar to make it watertight. She put the baby in it and then placed it in the tall grass at the edge of the river.Select Exodus 2:3

4The baby's sister stood some distance away to see what would happen to him.Select Exodus 2:4

5The king's daughter came down to the river to bathe, while her servants walked along the bank. Suddenly she noticed the basket in the tall grass and sent a slave woman to get it.Select Exodus 2:5

6The princess opened it and saw a baby boy. He was crying, and she felt sorry for him. “This is one of the Hebrew babies,” she said.Select Exodus 2:6

7Then his sister asked her, “Shall I go and call a Hebrew woman to nurse the baby for you?”Select Exodus 2:7

8“Please do,” she answered. So the girl went and brought the baby's own mother.Select Exodus 2:8

9The princess told the woman, “Take this baby and nurse him for me, and I will pay you.” So she took the baby and nursed him.Select Exodus 2:9

10Later, when the child was old enough, she took him to the king's daughter, who adopted him as her own son. She said to herself, “I pulled him out of the water, and so I name him Moses.”Select Exodus 2:10

Moses Escapes to Midian

11When Moses had grown up, he went out to visit his people, the Hebrews, and he saw how they were forced to do hard labor. He even saw an Egyptian kill a Hebrew, one of Moses' own people.Select Exodus 2:11

12Moses looked all around, and when he saw that no one was watching, he killed the Egyptian and hid his body in the sand.Select Exodus 2:12

13The next day he went back and saw two Hebrew men fighting. He said to the one who was in the wrong, “Why are you beating up a fellow Hebrew?”Select Exodus 2:13

14The man answered, “Who made you our ruler and judge? Are you going to kill me just as you killed that Egyptian?” Then Moses was afraid and said to himself, “People have found out what I have done.”Select Exodus 2:14

16When the king heard about what had happened, he tried to have Moses killed, but Moses fled and went to live in the land of Midian. One day, when Moses was sitting by a well, seven daughters of Jethro, the priest of Midian, came to draw water and fill the troughs for their father's sheep and goats.Select Exodus 2:16

17But some shepherds drove Jethro's daughters away. Then Moses went to their rescue and watered their animals for them.Select Exodus 2:17

18When they returned to their father, he asked, “Why have you come back so early today?”Select Exodus 2:18

19“An Egyptian rescued us from the shepherds,” they answered, “and he even drew water for us and watered our animals.”Select Exodus 2:19

20“Where is he?” he asked his daughters. “Why did you leave the man out there? Go and invite him to eat with us.”Select Exodus 2:20

21So Moses decided to live there, and Jethro gave him his daughter Zipporah in marriage,Select Exodus 2:21

22who bore him a son. Moses said to himself, “I am a foreigner in this land, and so I name him Gershom.”Select Exodus 2:22

23Years later the king of Egypt died, but the Israelites were still groaning under their slavery and cried out for help. Their cry went up to God,Select Exodus 2:23

24who heard their groaning and remembered his covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.Select Exodus 2:24

25He saw the slavery of the Israelites and was concerned for them.Select Exodus 2:25