Exodus 2

International Standard Version

Moses is Born

2 A man of the family of Levi married the daughter of a descendant of Levi. ² Later, the woman became pregnant and gave birth to a son. She saw that he was a beautiful^[a] child, and hid him for three months. ³ But when she was no longer able to hide him, she took a papyrus container, coated it with asphalt and pitch, placed the child in it, and put it among the reeds along the bank of the Nile. ⁴ Then his sister positioned herself some distance away in order to find out what would happen to him.

Pharaoh’s Daughter Adopts Moses

⁵ Then Pharaoh’s daughter came down to the Nile River^[b] to bathe while her maids walked along the river bank. She saw the container among the reeds and sent a servant girl to get it. ⁶ When she opened it and saw the child, the little boy suddenly began crying. Filled with compassion for him, she exclaimed, “This is one of the Hebrew children!”

⁷ Then his sister asked Pharaoh’s daughter, “Shall I go and call one of the nursing Hebrew women so she can nurse the child for you?”

⁸ Pharaoh’s daughter told her, “Go,” so the young girl went and called the child’s mother. ⁹ Pharaoh’s daughter instructed her, “Take this child and nurse him for me, and I’ll pay you a salary.” So the woman took the child and nursed him. ¹⁰ After the child had grown older,^[c] she brought him to Pharaoh’s daughter, and he became her son. She named him Moses,^[d] because she said, “I drew him out of the water.”

Moses Kills an Egyptian

¹¹ Years later, after^[e] Moses had grown up, he went out to his own people,^[f] and took notice of their heavy burdens. He saw an Egyptian beating up a Hebrew, one of his own people.^{[g] 12} Looking around and seeing no one else, he killed^[h] the Egyptian and hid him in the sand. ¹³ Going out the next day, Moses noticed^[i] two Hebrew men fighting right in front of him. He told the one who was at fault, “Why did you strike your companion?”

¹⁴ The man^[j] replied, “Who appointed you to be an official judge over us? Are you planning^[k] to kill me like you killed the Egyptian?”

Then Moses became terrified and told himself,^[l] “Certainly this event has become known!”

Moses Flees to Midian

¹⁵ When Pharaoh heard about this matter, he tried to kill Moses. So Moses fled from Pharaoh, settled in the land of Midian, and sat down by a well. ¹⁶ Meanwhile, the seven daughters of a certain Midianite priest would come to draw water in order to fill water troughs for their father’s sheep. ¹⁷ Some shepherds came to drive them away, but Moses got up, came to their rescue, and watered their sheep. ¹⁸ When they returned to their father Reuel,^[m] he asked, “Why have you returned so quickly today?”

¹⁹ “An Egyptian rescued us from the shepherds,”^[n] they replied, “and he even drew water for us and watered the sheep!”

²⁰ “Then where is he?” He asked his daughters. “Why did you leave the man behind? Go invite him to have something to eat.”^[o]

²¹ Moses agreed to stay with the man, and he gave his daughter Zipporah to Moses in marriage.^{[p] 22} Later she gave birth to a son, and Moses^[q] named him Gershom,^[r] because he used to say, “I became an alien in a foreign land.”

The Israelis Cry Out to God

²³ The king of Egypt eventually^[s] died, and the Israelis groaned because of the bondage. They cried out, and their cry for deliverance from slavery ascended to God. ²⁴ God heard their groaning and remembered his covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. ²⁵ God watched the Israelis and took notice of them.