Shemot

1:1 These are the names of the sons of Israel who went to Egypt with Jacob, each with his family: 1:2 Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah; 1:3 Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin; 1:4 Dan and Naphtali; Gad and Asher. 1:5 The descendants of Jacob numbered seventy in all, including Joseph, who was already in Egypt. 1:6 Now Joseph and all his brothers and all that generation died, 1:7 but the Israelites were fruitful and increased rapidly; they multiplied and became exceedingly numerous, so that the land was filled with them. Oppression by a New King (Acts 7:15–19) 1:8 Then a new king, who did not know Joseph, came to power in Egypt. 1:9 “ Look,” he said to his people, “ the Israelites have become too numerous and too powerful for us. 1:10 Come, let us deal shrewdly with them, or they will increase even more; and if a war breaks out, they may join our enemies, fight against us, and leave the country.” 1:11 So the Egyptians appointed taskmasters over the Israelites to oppress them with forced labor. As a result, they built Pithom and Rameses as store cities for Pharaoh. 1:12 But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and flourished; so the Egyptians came to dread the Israelites. 1:13 They worked the Israelites ruthlessly 1:14 and made their lives bitter with hard labor in brick and mortar, and with all kinds of work in the fields. Every service they imposed was harsh. 1:15 Then the king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, whose names were Shiphrah and Puah, 1:16 “ When you help the Hebrew women give birth, observe them on the birthstools. If the child is a son, kill him; but if it is a daughter, let her live.” 1:17 The midwives, however, feared God and did not do as the king of Egypt had instructed; they let the boys live.

1:18 So the king of Egypt summoned the midwives and asked them, “ Why have you done this? Why have you let the boys live?” 1:19 The midwives answered Pharaoh, “ The Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women, for they are vigorous and give birth before a midwife arrives.” 1:20 So God was good to the midwives, and the people multiplied and became even more numerous. 1:21 And because the midwives feared God, He gave them families of their own. 1:22 Then Pharaoh commanded all his people: “ Every son born to the Hebrews you must throw into the Nile, but every daughter you may allow to live.” 2:1 Now a man of the house of Levi married a daughter of Levi, 2:2 and she conceived and gave birth to a son. When she saw that he was a beautiful child, she hid him for three months. 2:3 But when she could no longer hide him, she got him a papyrus basket and coated it with tar and pitch. Then she placed the child in the basket and set it among the reeds along the bank of the Nile. 2:4 And his sister stood at a distance to see what would happen to him. 2:5 Soon the daughter of Pharaoh went down to bathe in the Nile, and her attendants were walking along the riverbank. And when she saw the basket among the reeds, she sent her maidservant to retrieve it. 2:6 When she opened it, she saw the child, and behold, the little boy was crying. So she had compassion on him and said, “ This is one of the Hebrew children.” 2:7 Then his sister said to Pharaoh ’s daughter, “ Shall I go and call one of the Hebrew women to nurse the child for you?” 2:8 “ Go ahead,” Pharaoh ’s daughter told her. And the girl went and called the boy ’s mother. 2:9 Pharaoh ’s daughter said to her, “ Take this child and nurse him for me, and I will pay your wages.” So the woman took the boy and nursed him. 2:10 When the child had grown older, she brought him to Pharaoh ’s daughter, and he became her son. She named him Moses and explained, “ I drew him out of the water.” The Rejection and Flight of Moses (Acts 7:23–29)

2:11 One day, after Moses had grown up, he went out to his own people and observed their hard labor. He saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his own people. 2:12 After looking this way and that and seeing no one, he struck down the Egyptian and hid his body in the sand. 2:13 The next day Moses went out and saw two Hebrews fighting. He asked the one in the wrong, “ Why are you attacking your companion?” 2:14 But the man replied, “ Who made you ruler and judge over us? Are you planning to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?” Then Moses was afraid and thought, “ This thing I have done has surely become known.” 2:15 When Pharaoh heard about this matter, he sought to kill Moses. But Moses fled from Pharaoh and settled in the land of Midian, where he sat down beside a well. 2:16 Now the priest of Midian had seven daughters, and they came to draw water and fill the troughs to water their father’s flock. 2:17 And when some shepherds came along and drove them away, Moses rose up to help them and watered their flock. 2:18 When the daughters returned to their father Reuel, he asked them, “ Why have you returned so early today?” 2:19 “ An Egyptian rescued us from the shepherds,” they replied. “ He even drew water for us and watered the flock.” 2:20 “ So where is he?” their father asked. “ Why did you leave the man behind? Invite him to have something to eat.” 2:21 Moses agreed to stay with the man, and he gave his daughter Zipporah to Moses in marriage. 2:22 And she gave birth to a son, and Moses named him Gershom, saying, “ I have become a foreigner in a foreign land.” God Hears the Cry of the Israelites 2:23 After a long time, the king of Egypt died. The Israelites groaned and cried out under their burden of slavery, and their cry for deliverance from bondage ascended to God. 2:24 So God heard their groaning, and He remembered His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. 2:25 God saw the Israelites and took notice.

3:1 Meanwhile, Moses was shepherding the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian. He led the flock to the far side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. 3:2 There the angel of the LORD appeared to him in a blazing fire from within a bush. Moses saw the bush ablaze with fire, but it was not consumed. 3:3 So Moses thought, “ I must go over and see this marvelous sight. Why is the bush not burning up?” 3:4 When the LORD saw that he had gone over to look, God called out to him from within the bush, “ Moses, Moses!” “ Here I am,” he answered. 3:5 “Do not come any closer,” God said. “ Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.” 3:6 Then He said, “ I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” At this, Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God. 3:7 The LORD said, “ I have indeed seen the affliction of My people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their oppressors, and I am aware of their sufferings. 3:8 I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land to a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey — the home of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites. 3:9 And now the cry of the Israelites has reached Me, and I have seen how severely the Egyptians are oppressing them. 3:10 Therefore, go! I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring My people the Israelites out of Egypt.” 3:11 But Moses asked God, “ Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?” 3:12 “ I will surely be with you,” God said, “ and this will be the sign to you that I have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, all of you will worship God on this mountain.” 3:13 Then Moses asked God, “Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘ The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘ What is His name?’ What should I tell them?” 3:14 God said to Moses, “ I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘ I AM has sent me to you.’” 3:15 God also told Moses, “ Say to the Israelites, ‘ The LORD, the God of your fathers— the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob — has sent me to you.’ This is My name forever, and this is how I am to be remembered in every generation.

3:16 Go, assemble the elders of Israel and say to them, ‘ The LORD, the God of your fathers— the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob — has appeared to me and said: I have surely attended to you and have seen what has been done to you in Egypt. 3:17 And I have promised to bring you up out of your affliction in Egypt, into the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites — a land flowing with milk and honey.’ 3:18 The elders of Israel will listen to what you say, and you must go with them to the king of Egypt and tell him, ‘ The LORD, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us. Now please let us take a three-day journey into the wilderness, so that we may sacrifice to the LORD our God.’ 3:19 But I know that the king of Egypt will not allow you to go unless a mighty hand compels him. 3:20 So I will stretch out My hand and strike the Egyptians with all the wonders I will perform among them. And after that, he will release you. 3:21 And I will grant this people such favor in the sight of the Egyptians that when you leave, you will not go away empty-handed. 3:22 Every woman shall ask her neighbor and any woman staying in her house for silver and gold jewelry and clothing, and you will put them on your sons and daughters. So you will plunder the Egyptians.” 4:1 Then Moses answered, “ What if they do not believe me or listen to my voice? For they may say, ‘ The LORD has not appeared to you.’” 4:2 And the LORD asked him, “ What is that in your hand?” “ A staff,” he replied. 4:3 “ Throw it on the ground,” said the LORD. So Moses threw it on the ground, and it became a snake, and he ran from it. 4:4 “ Stretch out your hand and grab it by the tail,” the LORD said to Moses, who reached out his hand and caught the snake, and it turned back into a staff in his hand. 4:5 “ This is so that they may believe that the LORD, the God of their fathers— the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob — has appeared to you.” Moses’ Hand 4:6 Furthermore, the LORD said to Moses, “ Put your hand inside your cloak.” So he put his hand inside his cloak, and when he took it out, his hand was leprous, white as snow. 4:7 “ Put your hand back inside your cloak,” said the LORD. So Moses put his hand back inside his cloak, and when he took it out, it was restored, like the rest of his skin. 4:8 And the LORD said, “ If they refuse to believe you or heed the witness of the first sign, they may believe that of the second. 4:9 But if they do not believe even these two signs or listen to your voice, take some water from the Nile and pour it on the dry ground. Then the water you take from the Nile will become blood on the ground.” The Appointment of Aaron 4:10 “Please, Lord,” Moses replied, “ I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since You have spoken to Your servant, for I am slow of speech and tongue.” 4:11 And the LORD said to him, “ Who gave man his mouth? Or who makes the mute or the deaf, the sighted or the blind? Is it not I, the LORD? 4:12 Now go! I will help you as you speak, and I will teach you what to say.” 4:13 But Moses replied, “ Please, Lord, send someone else.” 4:14 Then the anger of the LORD burned against Moses, and He said, “ Is not Aaron the Levite your brother? I know that he can speak well, and he is now on his way to meet you. When he sees you, he will be glad in his heart. 4:15 You are to speak to him and put the words in his mouth. I will help both of you to speak, and I will teach you what to do. 4:16 He will speak to the people for you. He will be your spokesman, and it will be as if you were God to him. 4:17 But take this staff in your hand so you can perform signs with it.” Moses Leaves for Egypt

4:18 Then Moses went back to his father-in-law Jethro and said to him, “ Please let me return to my brothers in Egypt to see if they are still alive.” “ Go in peace,” Jethro replied. 4:19 Now the LORD had said to Moses in Midian, “ Go back to Egypt, for all the men who sought to kill you are dead.” 4:20 So Moses took his wife and sons, put them on a donkey, and headed back to Egypt. And he took the staff of God in his hand. 4:21 The LORD instructed Moses, “ When you go back to Egypt, see that you perform before Pharaoh all the wonders that I have put within your power. But I will harden his heart so that he will not let the people go. 4:22 Then tell Pharaoh that this is what the LORD says: ‘ Israel is My firstborn son, 4:23 and I told you to let My son go so that he may worship Me. But since you have refused to let him go, behold, I will kill your firstborn son!’” 4:24 Now at a lodging place along the way, the LORD met Moses and was about to kill him. 4:25 But Zipporah took a flint knife, cut off her son ’s foreskin, and touched it to Moses ’ feet. “ Surely you are a bridegroom of blood to me,” she said. 4:26 So the LORD let him alone. ( When she said, “ bridegroom of blood,” she was referring to the circumcision.) The People Believe Moses and Aaron 4:27 Meanwhile, the LORD had said to Aaron, “ Go and meet Moses in the wilderness.” So he went and met Moses at the mountain of God and kissed him. 4:28 And Moses told Aaron everything the LORD had sent him to say, and all the signs He had commanded him to perform. 4:29 Then Moses and Aaron went and assembled all the elders of the Israelites, 4:30 and Aaron relayed everything the LORD had said to Moses. And Moses performed the signs before the people, 4:31 and they believed. And when they heard that the LORD had attended to the Israelites and had seen their affliction, they bowed down and worshiped.

5:1 After that, Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and said, “ This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘ Let My people go, so that they may hold a feast to Me in the wilderness.’” 5:2 But Pharaoh replied, “ Who is the LORD that I should obey His voice and let Israel go? I do not know the LORD, and I will not let Israel go.” 5:3 “ The God of the Hebrews has met with us,” they answered. “ Please let us go on a three-day journey into the wilderness to sacrifice to the LORD our God, or He may strike us with plagues or with the sword.” 5:4 But the king of Egypt said to them, “ Moses and Aaron, why do you draw the people away from their work? Get back to your labor!” 5:5 Pharaoh also said, “ Look, the people of the land are now numerous, and you would be stopping them from their labor.” Bricks and Straw 5:6 That same day Pharaoh commanded the taskmasters of the people and their foremen: 5:7 “ You shall no longer supply the people with straw for making bricks. They must go and gather their own straw. 5:8 But require of them the same quota of bricks as before; do not reduce it. For they are lazy; that is why they are crying out, ‘ Let us go and sacrifice to our God.’ 5:9 Make the work harder on the men so they will be occupied and pay no attention to these lies.” 5:10 So the taskmasters and foremen of the people went out and said to them, “ This is what Pharaoh says: ‘ I am no longer giving you straw. 5:11 Go and get your own straw wherever you can find it; but your workload will in no way be reduced.’” 5:12 So the people scattered all over the land of Egypt to gather stubble for straw. 5:13 The taskmasters kept pressing them, saying, “ Fulfill your quota each day, just as you did when straw was provided.” 5:14 Then the Israelite foremen, whom Pharaoh ’s taskmasters had set over the people, were beaten and asked, “ Why have you not fulfilled your quota of bricks yesterday or today, as you did before?” The Cry of the Israelites 5:15 So the Israelite foremen went and appealed to Pharaoh: “ Why are you treating your servants this way? 5:16 No straw has been given to your servants, yet we are told, ‘ Make bricks!’ Look, your servants are being beaten, but the fault is with your own people.” 5:17 “ You are slackers!” Pharaoh replied. “ Slackers! That is why you keep saying, ‘ Let us go and sacrifice to the LORD.’ 5:18 Now get to work. You will be given no straw, yet you must deliver the full quota of bricks.” 5:19 The Israelite foremen realized they were in trouble when they were told, “ You must not reduce your daily quota of bricks.” 5:20 When they left Pharaoh, they confronted Moses and Aaron, who stood waiting to meet them. 5:21 “ May the LORD look upon you and judge you,” the foremen said, “ for you have made us a stench before Pharaoh and his officials; you have placed in their hand a sword to kill us!” 5:22 So Moses returned to the LORD and asked, “ Lord, why have You brought trouble upon this people? Is this why You sent me? 5:23 Ever since I went to Pharaoh to speak in Your name, he has brought trouble on this people, and You have not delivered Your people in any way.” 6:1 But the LORD said to Moses, “ Now you will see what I will do to Pharaoh, for because of My mighty hand he will let the people go; because of My strong hand he will drive them out of his land.”