1 ^vNow a man from the house of Levi went and took as his wife a Levite woman. 2 The woman conceived and bore a son, and ^wwhen she saw that he was a fine child, she hid him three months. 3 ^xWhen she could hide him no longer, she took for him a ^ybasket made of bulrushes¹ and daubed it with bitumen and pitch. She put the child in it and placed it among the reeds by the river bank. 4 And his ^zsister stood at a distance to know what would be done to him. 5 Now the daughter of Pharaoh came down to bathe at the river, while her young women walked beside the river. She saw the basket among the reeds and sent her servant woman, and she took it. 6 When she opened it, she saw the child, and behold, the baby was crying. She took 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 you a nurse from the Hebrew women to nurse the child for you?” 8 And Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Go.” So the girl went and called the child’s mother. 9 And 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 When the child grew older, she brought him to Pharaoh’s daughter, and he became her son. She named him Moses, “Because,” she said, “I drew him out of the water.”²

11 ^aOne day, when Moses had grown up, he went out to his people and looked on their ^bburdens, and he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his people.³ 12 He looked this way and that, and seeing no one, he struck down the Egyptian and hid him in the sand. 13 ^cWhen he went out the next day, behold, two Hebrews were struggling together. And he said to the man in the wrong, “Why do you strike your companion?” 14 He answered, ^d“Who made you a prince and a judge over us? Do you mean to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?” Then Moses was afraid, and thought, “Surely the thing is known.” 15 ^eWhen Pharaoh heard of it, he sought to kill Moses. But Moses ^ffled from Pharaoh and stayed in the land of Midian. And he sat down ^gby a well.

16 Now the priest of Midian had seven daughters, and they came and ^hdrew water and filled the troughs to water ⁱtheir father’s flock. 17 The shepherds came and drove them away, ^jbut Moses stood up and saved them, and watered their flock. 18 When they came home to their father Reuel, he said, “How is it that you have come home so soon today?” 19 They said, “An Egyptian delivered us out of the hand of the shepherds and even drew water for us and watered the flock.” 20 He said to his daughters, “Then where is he? Why have you left the man? Call him, that he may eat bread.” 21 And Moses ^kwas content to dwell with the man, and ^lhe gave Moses his daughter Zipporah. 22 She gave birth to a son, and he called his name Gershom, for he said, ^m“I have been a ⁿsojourner⁴ in a foreign land.”

23 During those many days ^othe king of Egypt died, and the people of Israel groaned because of their slavery and cried out for help. ^pTheir cry for rescue from slavery ^qcame up to God. 24 And God heard their groaning, and ^rGod remembered his covenant ^swith Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. 25 God ^tsaw the people of Israel—and God knew.