Exodus 1 - 2 — Legacy Standard Bible

Israel Multiplies in Egypt

1Now these are the ^anames of the sons of Israel who came to Egypt with Jacob; they came each one ¹with his household: ²Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah; ³Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin; ⁴Dan and Naphtali, Gad and Asher. ⁵And all the ¹persons who came from the loins of Jacob were ^aseventy ²in number, but Joseph was already in Egypt. ⁶^aThen Joseph died, and all his brothers and all that generation. ⁷But the sons of Israel ^awere fruitful and ¹increased and multiplied and became exceedingly ²mighty, so that the land was filled with them.

⁸And a new ^aking arose over Egypt, who did not know Joseph. ⁹^aAnd he said to his people, “Behold, the people of the sons of Israel are ¹more and mightier than we. ¹⁰“Come, let us ^adeal wisely with them, lest they multiply and it be ¹in the event of war, that they also join themselves to those who hate us and fight against us and ^bgo up from the land.” ¹¹So they appointed ^ataskmasters over them to afflict them with ¹^,^bhard labors. And they built for Pharaoh ^cstorage cities, Pithom and ^dRaamses. ¹²But the more they afflicted them, ^athe more they multiplied and the more they ¹spread out, so that they were in dread of the sons of Israel. ¹³So the Egyptians brutally compelled the sons of Israel ^ato slave labor; ¹⁴and they made ^atheir lives bitter with ¹hard slave labor in mortar and bricks and in all kinds of slave labor in the field, all their slave labor which they brutally ²compelled them to do.

¹⁵Then the king of Egypt spoke to the Hebrew midwives, one of whom ¹was named Shiphrah and the other ²was named Puah; ¹⁶and he said, “When you are helping the Hebrew women to give birth and see them upon the birthstool, ^aif it is a son, then you shall put him to death; but if it is a daughter, then she shall live.” ¹⁷But the midwives ¹^,^afeared God and ^bdid not do as the king of Egypt had spoken to them, but let the boys live. ¹⁸So the king of Egypt called for the midwives and said to them, “Why have you done this thing, and let the boys live?” ¹⁹Then the midwives said to Pharaoh, “Because the Hebrew women are not as the Egyptian women; for they are vigorous and give birth before the midwife can come to them.” ²⁰So ^aGod was good to the midwives, and ^bthe people multiplied and became very ¹mighty. ²¹Now it happened that because the midwives ¹^,^afeared God, He ^bmade ²households for them. ²²And Pharaoh commanded all his people, saying, “^aEvery son who is born ¹you are to cast into ^bthe Nile, and every daughter you are to keep alive.”

The Birth of Moses

2And a man from ^athe house of Levi went and took a daughter of Levi as a wife. ²And the woman conceived and bore a son; and she saw ¹that he was ²^,^abeautiful, so she hid him for three months. ³But she could not hide him any longer. So she took for him ¹an ^aark of papyrus reeds and covered it over with tar and pitch. Then she put the child into it and put it among the ^breeds by the bank of the Nile. ⁴^aAnd his sister stood at a distance to know what would be done to him.

⁵And the daughter of Pharaoh came down ^ato bathe at the Nile, with her young women walking alongside the Nile; and she saw the ¹ark among the reeds and sent her maidservant, and she took it to her. ⁶Then she opened it and ¹saw the child. And behold, the ²boy was crying. And she had pity on him and said, “This is one of the Hebrews’ children.” ⁷Then his sister said to Pharaoh’s daughter, “Shall I go and call ¹a nurse for you from the Hebrew women that she may nurse the child for you?” ⁸And Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Go.” So the ¹girl went and called the child’s mother. ⁹Then 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. ¹⁰And the child grew, and she brought him to Pharaoh’s daughter, and ^ahe became her son. And she named him ¹Moses and said, “Because I ²drew him out of the water.”

Moses Flees to Midian

¹¹Now it happened in those days, ^athat Moses had grown up. And he went out to his brothers and looked on their ¹^,^bhard labors. And ^che saw an Egyptian striking a Hebrew, one of his brothers. ¹²So he turned this way and that, and he saw that there was no one around. So he ^astruck down the Egyptian and hid him in the sand. ¹³Then he went out ^athe next day, and behold, two Hebrews were struggling with each other; and he said to the ¹wicked one, “Why are you striking your companion?” ¹⁴But he said, “^aWho made you a ¹ruler or a judge over us? Are you ²intending to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?” Then Moses was afraid and said, “Surely the matter has become known.” ¹⁵And Pharaoh heard of this matter, so he sought to kill Moses. But ^aMoses fled from the presence of Pharaoh and settled in the land of Midian, and he ¹sat down ^bby a well. ¹⁶Now ^athe priest of Midian had seven daughters; and ^bthey came and drew water and filled the troughs to give water to their father’s flock to drink. ¹⁷Then the shepherds came and drove them away, but ^aMoses rose up and saved them and gave water to their flock to drink. ¹⁸Then they came to ^aReuel their father, and he said, “Why have you come back so soon today?” ¹⁹So they said, “An Egyptian delivered us from the hand of the shepherds, and he actually even drew the water for us and gave water to the flock to drink.” ²⁰And he said to his daughters, “Where is he then? Why is it that you have left the man behind? Call him so that he may eat bread.” ²¹^aAnd Moses was willing to settle down with the man, and he gave his daughter ^bZipporah to Moses. ²²Then she gave birth to ^aa son, and he named him ¹Gershom, for he said, “I have been ^ba ²sojourner in a foreign land.”

God Hears Israel’s Groaning

²³Now it happened in the course of those many days that the king of Egypt died. And the sons of Israel ^asighed because of the slavery, and they cried out; and ^btheir cry for help because of their slavery rose up to God. ²⁴So ^aGod heard their groaning; and God remembered ^bHis covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. ²⁵^aAnd God saw the sons of Israel, and God knew them.