Exodus 2

New American Standard Bible 1995

The Birth of Moses

2 Now a man from ^(A)the house of Levi went and ^[a]married a daughter of Levi. ² The woman conceived and bore a son; and when she saw ^[b]that he was ^[c](B)beautiful, she hid him for three months. ³ But when she could hide him no longer, she got him a ^[d](C)wicker ^[e]basket and covered it over with tar and pitch. Then she put the child into it and set it among the ^(D)reeds by the bank of the Nile. ^4 (E)His sister stood at a distance to ^[f]find out what would ^[g]happen to him.

⁵ The daughter of Pharaoh came down ^(F)to bathe at the Nile, with her maidens walking alongside the Nile; and she saw the ^[h]basket among the reeds and sent her maid, and she brought it to her. ⁶ When she opened it, she ^[i]saw the child, and behold, the ^[j]boy was crying. And she had pity on him and said, “This is one of the Hebrews’ children.” ⁷ Then his sister said to Pharaoh’s daughter, “Shall I go and call ^[k]a nurse for you from the Hebrew women that she may nurse the child for you?” ⁸ Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Go ahead.” 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 give you your wages.” So the woman took the child and nursed him. ¹⁰ The child grew, and she brought him to Pharaoh’s daughter and ^(G)he became her son. And she named him ^[l]Moses, and said, “Because I ^[m]drew him out of the water.”

¹¹ Now it came about in those days, ^(H)when Moses had grown up, that he went out to his brethren and looked on their ^[n](I)hard labors; and ^(J)he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his brethren. ¹² So he ^[o]looked this way and that, and when he saw there was no one around, he ^(K)struck down the Egyptian and hid him in the sand. ¹³ He went out ^(L)the next day, and behold, two Hebrews were ^[p]fighting with each other; and he said to the ^[q]offender, “Why are you striking your companion?” ¹⁴ But he said, “^(M)Who made you a ^[r]prince or a judge over us? Are you ^[s]intending to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?” Then Moses was afraid and said, “Surely the matter has become known.”

Moses Escapes to Midian

¹⁵ When Pharaoh heard of this matter, he tried to kill Moses. But ^(N)Moses fled from the presence of Pharaoh and ^[t]settled in the land of Midian, and he sat down ^(O)by a well.

¹⁶ Now ^(P)the priest of Midian had seven daughters; and ^(Q)they came to draw water and filled the troughs to water their father’s flock. ¹⁷ Then the shepherds came and drove them away, but ^(R)Moses stood up and helped them and watered their flock. ¹⁸ When they came to ^(S)Reuel their father, he said, “Why have you come back so soon today?” ¹⁹ So they said, “An Egyptian delivered us from the hand of the shepherds, and what is more, he even drew the water for us and watered the flock.” ²⁰ He said to his daughters, “Where is he then? Why is it that you have left the man behind? Invite him ^[u]to have something to eat.” ^21 (T)Moses was willing to dwell with the man, and he gave his daughter ^(U)Zipporah to Moses. ²² Then she gave birth to ^(V)a son, and he named him ^[v]Gershom, for he said, “I have been ^(W)a ^[w]sojourner in a foreign land.”

²³ Now it came about in the course of those many days that the king of Egypt died. And the sons of Israel ^(X)sighed because of the bondage, and they cried out; and ^(Y)their cry for help because of their bondage rose up to God. ²⁴ So ^(Z)God heard their groaning; and God remembered ^(AA)His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. ^25 (AB)God saw the sons of Israel, and God ^[x]took notice of them.