Book | Chapter | Verse | Text |
Exodus |
1 |
1 |
These are the sons of Jacob who went with their father to Egypt, each with his family: |
Exodus |
1 |
2 |
Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, |
Exodus |
1 |
3 |
Issachar, Zebulun, Benjamin, |
Exodus |
1 |
4 |
Dan, Naphtali, Gad, and Asher. |
Exodus |
1 |
5 |
Joseph was already down in Egypt. In all, Jacob had seventy direct descendants. |
Exodus |
1 |
6 |
In time, Joseph and each of his brothers died, ending that generation. |
Exodus |
1 |
7 |
But their descendants had many children and grandchildren. In fact, they multiplied so quickly that they soon filled the land. |
Exodus |
1 |
8 |
Then a new king came to the throne of Egypt who knew nothing about Joseph or what he had done. |
Exodus |
1 |
9 |
He told his people, "These Israelites are becoming a threat to us because there are so many of them. |
Exodus |
1 |
10 |
We must find a way to put an end to this. If we don't and if war breaks out, they will join our enemies and fight against us. Then they will escape from the country." |
Exodus |
1 |
11 |
So the Egyptians made the Israelites their slaves and put brutal slave drivers over them, hoping to wear them down under heavy burdens. They forced them to build the cities of Pithom and Rameses as supply centers for the king. |
Exodus |
1 |
12 |
But the more the Egyptians oppressed them, the more quickly the Israelites multiplied! The Egyptians soon became alarmed |
Exodus |
1 |
13 |
and decided to make their slavery more bitter still. |
Exodus |
1 |
14 |
They were ruthless with the Israelites, forcing them to make bricks and mortar and to work long hours in the fields. |
Exodus |
1 |
15 |
Then Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, gave this order to the Hebrew midwives, Shiphrah and Puah: |
Exodus |
1 |
16 |
"When you help the Hebrew women give birth, kill all the boys as soon as they are born. Allow only the baby girls to live." |
Exodus |
1 |
17 |
But because the midwives feared God, they refused to obey the king and allowed the boys to live, too. |
Exodus |
1 |
18 |
Then the king called for the midwives. "Why have you done this?" he demanded. "Why have you allowed the boys to live?" |
Exodus |
1 |
19 |
"Sir," they told him, "the Hebrew women are very strong. They have their babies so quickly that we cannot get there in time! They are not slow in giving birth like Egyptian women." |
Exodus |
1 |
20 |
So God blessed the midwives, and the Israelites continued to multiply, growing more and more powerful. |
Exodus |
1 |
21 |
And because the midwives feared God, he gave them families of their own. |
Exodus |
1 |
22 |
Then Pharaoh gave this order to all his people: "Throw all the newborn Israelite boys into the Nile River. But you may spare the baby girls." |
Exodus |
2 |
1 |
During this time, a man and woman from the tribe of Levi got married. |
Exodus |
2 |
2 |
The woman became pregnant and gave birth to a son. She saw what a beautiful baby he was and kept him hidden for three months. |
Exodus |
2 |
3 |
But when she could no longer hide him, she got a little basket made of papyrus reeds and waterproofed it with tar and pitch. She put the baby in the basket and laid it among the reeds along the edge of the Nile River. |
Exodus |
2 |
4 |
The baby's sister then stood at a distance, watching to see what would happen to him. |
Exodus |
2 |
5 |
Soon after this, one of Pharaoh's daughters came down to bathe in the river, and her servant girls walked along the riverbank. When the princess saw the little basket among the reeds, she told one of her servant girls to get it for her. |
Exodus |
2 |
6 |
As the princess opened it, she found the baby boy. His helpless cries touched her heart. "He must be one of the Hebrew children," she said. |
Exodus |
2 |
7 |
Then the baby's sister approached the princess. "Should I go and find one of the Hebrew women to nurse the baby for you?" she asked. |
Exodus |
2 |
8 |
"Yes, do!" the princess replied. So the girl rushed home and called the baby's mother. |
Exodus |
2 |
9 |
"Take this child home and nurse him for me," the princess told her. "I will pay you for your help." So the baby's mother took her baby home and nursed him. |
Exodus |
2 |
10 |
Later, when he was older, the child's mother brought him back to the princess, who adopted him as her son. The princess named him Moses, for she said, "I drew him out of the water." |
Exodus |
2 |
11 |
Many years later, when Moses had grown up, he went out to visit his people, the Israelites, and he saw how hard they were forced to work. During his visit, he saw an Egyptian beating one of the Hebrew slaves. |
Exodus |
2 |
12 |
After looking around to make sure no one was watching, Moses killed the Egyptian and buried him in the sand. |
Exodus |
2 |
13 |
The next day, as Moses was out visiting his people again, he saw two Hebrew men fighting. "What are you doing, hitting your neighbor like that?" Moses said to the one in the wrong. |
Exodus |
2 |
14 |
"Who do you think you are?" the man replied. "Who appointed you to be our prince and judge? Do you plan to kill me as you killed that Egyptian yesterday?" Moses was badly frightened because he realized that everyone knew what he had done. |
Exodus |
2 |
15 |
And sure enough, when Pharaoh heard about it, he gave orders to have Moses arrested and killed. But Moses fled from Pharaoh and escaped to the land of Midian. When Moses arrived in Midian, he sat down beside a well. |
Exodus |
2 |
16 |
Now it happened that the priest of Midian had seven daughters who came regularly to this well to draw water and fill the water troughs for their father's flocks. |
Exodus |
2 |
17 |
But other shepherds would often come and chase the girls and their flocks away. This time, however, Moses came to their aid, rescuing the girls from the shepherds. Then he helped them draw water for their flocks. |
Exodus |
2 |
18 |
When the girls returned to Reuel, their father, he asked, "How did you get the flocks watered so quickly today?" |
Exodus |
2 |
19 |
"An Egyptian rescued us from the shepherds," they told him. "And then he drew water for us and watered our flocks." |
Exodus |
2 |
20 |
"Well, where is he then?" their father asked. "Did you just leave him there? Go and invite him home for a meal!" |
Exodus |
2 |
21 |
Moses was happy to accept the invitation, and he settled down to live with them. In time, Reuel gave Moses one of his daughters, Zipporah, to be his wife. |
Exodus |
2 |
22 |
Later they had a baby boy, and Moses named him Gershom, for he said, "I have been a stranger in a foreign land." |
Exodus |
2 |
23 |
Years passed, and the king of Egypt died. But the Israelites still groaned beneath their burden of slavery. They cried out for help, and their pleas for deliverance rose up to God. |
Exodus |
2 |
24 |
God heard their cries and remembered his covenant promise to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. |
Exodus |
2 |
25 |
He looked down on the Israelites and felt deep concern for their welfare. |
Exodus |
3 |
1 |
One day Moses was tending the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro, the priest of Midian, and he went deep into the wilderness near Sinai, the mountain of God. |
Exodus |
3 |
2 |
Suddenly, the angel of the LORD appeared to him as a blazing fire in a bush. Moses was amazed because the bush was engulfed in flames, but it didn't burn up. |
Exodus |
3 |
3 |
"Amazing!" Moses said to himself. "Why isn't that bush burning up? I must go over to see this." |
Exodus |
3 |
4 |
When the LORD saw that he had caught Moses' attention, God called to him from the bush, "Moses! Moses!Here I am!" Moses replied. |
Exodus |
3 |
5 |
"Do not come any closer," God told him. "Take off your sandals, for you are standing on holy ground." |
Exodus |
3 |
6 |
Then he said, "I am the God of your ancestors--the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob." When Moses heard this, he hid his face in his hands because he was afraid to look at God. |
Exodus |
3 |
7 |
Then the LORD told him, "You can be sure I have seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard their cries for deliverance from their harsh slave drivers. Yes, I am aware of their suffering. |
Exodus |
3 |
8 |
So I have come to rescue them from the Egyptians and lead them out of Egypt into their own good and spacious land. It is a land flowing with milk and honey--the land where the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites live. |
Exodus |
3 |
9 |
The cries of the people of Israel have reached me, and I have seen how the Egyptians have oppressed them with heavy tasks. |
Exodus |
3 |
10 |
Now go, for I am sending you to Pharaoh. You will lead my people, the Israelites, out of Egypt." |
Exodus |
3 |
11 |
"But who am I to appear before Pharaoh?" Moses asked God. "How can you expect me to lead the Israelites out of Egypt?" |
Exodus |
3 |
12 |
Then God told him, "I will be with you. And this will serve as proof that I have sent you: When you have brought the Israelites out of Egypt, you will return here to worship God at this very mountain." |
Exodus |
3 |
13 |
But Moses protested, "If I go to the people of Israel and tell them, `The God of your ancestors has sent me to you,' they won't believe me. They will ask, `Which god are you talking about? What is his name?' Then what should I tell them?" |
Exodus |
3 |
14 |
God replied, "I AM THE ONE WHO ALWAYS IS. Just tell them, `I AM has sent me to you.'" |
Exodus |
3 |
15 |
God also said, "Tell them, `The LORD, the God of your ancestors--the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob--has sent me to you.' This will be my name forever; it has always been my name, and it will be used throughout all generations. |
Exodus |
3 |
16 |
"Now go and call together all the leaders of Israel. Tell them, `The LORD, the God of your ancestors--the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob--appeared to me in a burning bush. He said, "You can be sure that I am watching over you and have seen what is happening to you in Egypt. |
Exodus |
3 |
17 |
I promise to rescue you from the oppression of the Egyptians. I will lead you to the land now occupied by the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites--a land flowing with milk and honey."' |
Exodus |
3 |
18 |
"The leaders of the people of Israel will accept your message. Then all of you must go straight to the king of Egypt and tell him, `The LORD, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us. Let us go on a three-day journey into the wilderness to offer sacrifices to the LORD our God.' |
Exodus |
3 |
19 |
"But I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go except under heavy pressure. |
Exodus |
3 |
20 |
So I will reach out and strike at the heart of Egypt with all kinds of miracles. Then at last he will let you go. |
Exodus |
3 |
21 |
And I will see to it that the Egyptians treat you well. They will load you down with gifts so you will not leave empty-handed. |
Exodus |
3 |
22 |
The Israelite women will ask for silver and gold jewelry and fine clothing from their Egyptian neighbors and their neighbors' guests. With this clothing, you will dress your sons and daughters. In this way, you will plunder the Egyptians!" |