A man of the house of Levi went and took a daughter of Levi as his wife.
The woman conceived and bore a son. When she saw that he was special, she hid him three months.
When she could not hide him any longer, she took a papyrus ark for him and coated it with bitumen and with pitch. She put the child in it and laid it in the reeds by the river’s bank,
and his sister stood far off to see what would be done to him.
Pharaoh’s daughter came down to bathe at the river and her servant girls walked along by the riverside. She saw the ark among the reeds and sent her servant girl to get it.
She opened it and saw the child, and behold, the baby cried. She had compassion on him and said, “This is one of the Hebrews’ children.”
Then his sister said to Pharaoh’s daughter, “Should I go and call a nurse for you from the Hebrew women, so that she can nurse the child for you?”
And Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Go.” So the young girl went and called the child’s mother.
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 it.
And the child grew, and she brought him to Pharaoh’s daughter, and he became her son. She named him Moses and said, “Because I drew him out of the water.”
Moses Flees to Midian
And in those days, when Moses had grown up, he went out to his brothers and looked upon their burdens. And he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his brothers.
And he looked this way and that way, and when he saw that there was no one around, he killed the Egyptian and hid him in the sand.
And he went out the second day, and behold, two men of the Hebrews were fighting with each other. He said to him who did the wrong, “Why are you striking your neighbor?”
But he said, “Who made you a ruler and a judge over us? Do you plan to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?” Moses was afraid and said, “Surely this thing is known.”
Now when Pharaoh heard of this matter, he sought to kill Moses. But Moses fled from the face of Pharaoh and lived in the land of Midian, and he sat down by a well.
Now the priest of Midian had seven daughters, and they came and drew water, and filled the troughs to water their father’s flock.
Then the shepherds came and drove them away, but Moses stood up and helped them, and watered their flock.
When they came to Reuel their father, he said, “How is it that you have returned so early today?”
They said, “An Egyptian delivered us out of the hand of the shepherds and he even drew water for us and watered the flock.”
And he said to his daughters, “Where is he? Why is it that you have left the man? Call him, so that he can eat bread.”
Moses was willing to live with the man, and he gave Zipporah his daughter in marriage to Moses.
She bore a son, and he named him Gershom, for he said, “I have lived as a sojourner in a foreign land.”
God Hears Israel's Groaning
And in the course of those many days the king of Egypt died, and the children of Israel groaned because of their slavery and they cried out. And their cry came up to God because of their slavery.
And God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob.