Baby Moses Is Hidden and Found
Study note
A couple from the tribe of Levi had a baby boy during the time when Pharaoh ordered all Hebrew boys to be killed. The mother hid the baby for three months, then placed him in a waterproof basket among the reeds of the Nile River. His older sister Miriam watched from a distance. Pharaoh's daughter came to bathe in the river, found the baby, and felt sorry for him. Miriam cleverly arranged for the baby's own mother to nurse him. When the child was older, Pharaoh's daughter adopted him and named him Moses, which sounds like the Hebrew word for 'drawn out.'
1 During this time, a man and a woman from the tribe of Levi got married. And there went a man of the house of Levi, and took to wife a daughter of Levi.
2 The woman became pregnant and had a baby boy. She could see that he was an especially beautiful child, so she kept him hidden for three months. And the woman conceived, and bare a son: and when she saw him that he was a goodly child, she hid him three months.
3 When hiding him became impossible, she wove a little basket out of reeds. She painted it with tar and pitch so water could not get in. Then she laid her baby inside and placed the basket among the tall plants growing along the bank of the Nile River. And when she could not longer hide him, she took for him an ark of bulrushes, and daubed it with slime and with pitch, and put the child therein; and she laid it in the flags by the river's brink.
4 The baby's big sister watched from a distance to find out what would happen to him. And his sister stood afar off, to wit what would be done to him.
5 Soon, Pharaoh's daughter came down to the river to take a bath. Her attendants walked along the riverbank nearby. The princess spotted the basket sitting among the reeds and sent one of her servants to pull it out. And the daughter of Pharaoh came down to wash herself at the river; and her maidens walked along by the river's side; and when she saw the ark among the flags, she sent her maid to fetch it.
6 When she opened the basket, she found the baby inside, crying. Her heart went out to him. "This has to be a Hebrew baby," she said. And when she had opened it, she saw the child: and, behold, the babe wept. And she had compassion on him, and said, This is one of the Hebrews' children.
7 Then, the baby's sister stepped forward. She asked the princess, "Should I go find a Hebrew woman who can nurse this baby for you?" Then said his sister to Pharaoh's daughter, Shall I go and call to thee a nurse of the Hebrew women, that she may nurse the child for thee?
8 "Yes, please do," said Pharaoh's daughter. So the girl ran off and came back with the baby's very own mother. And Pharaoh's daughter said to her, Go. And the maid went and called the child's mother.
9 The princess told the woman, "Take this baby home and nurse him for me. I will pay you for it." So the mother got to take her own baby home and care for him. And Pharaoh's daughter said unto her, Take this child away, and nurse it for me, and I will give thee thy wages. And the woman took the child, and nursed it.
10 When the boy got older, his mother brought him back to Pharaoh's daughter, who adopted him as her own son. She gave him the name Moses, explaining, "I pulled him out of the water." And the child grew, and she brought him unto Pharaoh's daughter, and he became her son. And she called his name Moses: and she said, Because I drew him out of the water.
Moses Kills an Egyptian and Flees
Study note
Moses grew up in the palace of Pharaoh, but he knew he was a Hebrew. One day he went out and saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew slave. Looking around to make sure no one was watching, Moses killed the Egyptian and buried him in the sand. The next day, Moses tried to break up a fight between two Hebrews, but one of them said, 'Are you going to kill me like you killed the Egyptian?' Moses realized his secret was out. When Pharaoh heard about it, he tried to kill Moses. So Moses fled east to the land of Midian, a desert region near the Gulf of Aqaba.
11 Years later, after Moses had grown up, he went out to see how his own people, the Hebrews, were living. He watched them doing their hard labor. Then he saw an Egyptian man beating one of the Hebrew workers. And it came to pass in those days, when Moses was grown, that he went out unto his brethren, and looked on their burdens: and he spied an Egyptian smiting an Hebrew, one of his brethren.
12 Moses checked in every direction to make sure nobody was looking. Then he killed the Egyptian and buried the body in the sand. And he looked this way and that way, and when he saw that there was no man, he slew the Egyptian, and hid him in the sand.
13 The very next day, Moses went out again and found two Hebrew men in a fight with each other. He confronted the one who started it: "Why are you hitting a fellow Hebrew?" And when he went out the second day, behold, two men of the Hebrews strove together: and he said to him that did the wrong, Wherefore smitest thou thy fellow?
14 The man shot back, "Who put you in charge of us? Are you going to kill me like you killed that Egyptian?" Fear gripped Moses. He thought, "Everyone must already know what I did." And he said, Who made thee a prince and a judge over us? intendest thou to kill me, as thou killedst the Egyptian? And Moses feared, and said, Surely this thing is known.
15 Sure enough, Pharaoh found out and tried to have Moses executed. But Moses escaped from Pharaoh and traveled far away to the land of Midian. When he got there, he sat down to rest beside a well. Now when Pharaoh heard this thing, he sought to slay Moses. But Moses fled from the face of Pharaoh, and dwelt in the land of Midian: and he sat down by a well.
Moses in Midian
Study note
In Midian, Moses met the seven daughters of a priest named Reuel, also known as Jethro. Moses helped the women water their flock after some shepherds drove them away. The grateful priest invited Moses to stay, and Moses eventually married one of his daughters, Zipporah. They had a son named Gershom, which means 'stranger there,' because Moses said he was a stranger living in a foreign land.
16 Now the priest of Midian had seven daughters. They came to this well to get water and fill the troughs for their father's sheep. Now the priest of Midian had seven daughters: and they came and drew water, and filled the troughs to water their father's flock.
17 A group of shepherds arrived and drove the girls away. But Moses got to his feet, stood up for the women, and watered their sheep for them. And the shepherds came and drove them away: but Moses stood up and helped them, and watered their flock.
18 When the daughters got home to their father Reuel, he asked, "How did you get back so quickly today?" And when they came to Reuel their father, he said, How is it that ye are come so soon to day?
19 They told him, "An Egyptian man protected us from the shepherds. He even helped us draw water and gave the flock a drink." And they said, An Egyptian delivered us out of the hand of the shepherds, and also drew water enough for us, and watered the flock.
20 "So where is this man?" their father asked. "Why did you leave him behind? Go back and invite him to share a meal with us!" And he said unto his daughters, And where is he? why is it that ye have left the man? call him, that he may eat bread.
21 Moses accepted the invitation and decided to stay with Reuel's family. In time, Reuel gave his daughter Zipporah to Moses in marriage. And Moses was content to dwell with the man: and he gave Moses Zipporah his daughter.
22 Zipporah had a son. Moses named him Gershom and said, "I am an outsider living in a land that is not my own." And she bare him a son, and he called his name Gershom: for he said, I have been a stranger in a strange land.
God Hears the Cry of His People
Study note
While Moses lived quietly in Midian, the Israelites continued to suffer under slavery in Egypt. The old Pharaoh died, but the suffering did not end. The Israelites cried out to God for help, and God heard their groaning. He remembered the covenant, or promise, he had made long ago with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob to give their descendants a land of their own.
23 Many years went by, and the king of Egypt died. But the Israelites were still trapped in slavery. They groaned under their heavy burdens and cried out desperately for help. Their cries rose all the way up to God. And it came to pass in process of time, that the king of Egypt died: and the children of Israel sighed by reason of the bondage, and they cried, and their cry came up unto God by reason of the bondage.
24 God heard every one of their groans. He had not forgotten the promises he made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. And God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob.
25 God saw what his people Israel were going through. He decided the time had come to do something about it. And God looked upon the children of Israel, and God had respect unto them.