Exodus 2

CHAPTER 2

1After these things a man of the house of Levi went out, and took a wife of his kin into fleshly coupling#2:1 ‘into fleshly coupling’; for she was his wife before, and had childed Aaron, and Marie or Miriam, his sister.,

2which conceived, and childed a son. And she saw him well-faring, and hid him three months.

3And when she might not cover [him], then she took a basket of sedge, and balmed it with tar and pitch, and put the young child within, and put him forth in a place of spires of the brink of the flood,

4the while his sister stood afar, and beheld the befalling of the thing.

5Lo! forsooth the daughter of Pharaoh came down to be washed in the flood, and her damsels walked by the brink of the flood. And when she had seen a basket in the place of spires, she sent one of her servantesses,

6and she opened the basket brought to her, and she saw a little child weeping therein. And she had mercy on the child, and said, It is of the young children of Hebrews.

7To whom the child’s sister said, Wilt thou that I go, and call to thee an Hebrew woman, that may nourish the young child?

8She answered, Go thou. The damsel went, and called the child’s mother.

9To whom Pharaoh’s daughter spake, and said, Take thou this child, and nourish it to me; and I shall give to thee thy meed. The woman took, and nourished the child,

10and she betook him, waxen, to Pharaoh’s daughter, whom she purchased into the place of a son; and she called his name Moses#2:10 In Hebrew, ‘Moses’ sounds like the words for ‘pull out’., and said, For I took him from the water.

11In those days, after that Moses increased, he went out to his brethren, and saw the torment of them, and a man Egyptian smiting an Hebrew man, one of his brethren.

12And when he had beholden hither and thither, and had seen, that no man was present, he killed the Egyptian, and hid him in the sand.

13And he went out in another day, and saw twain [or two] Hebrew men chiding, and he said to him that did [the] wrong, Why smitest thou thy brother?

14Which answered, Who ordained thee prince, or judge, [or prince and doomsman] [up] on us? Whether thou wilt slay me, as thou killedest yesterday the Egyptian? Moses dreaded, and said, How is this word made open?

15And Pharaoh heard this word, and sought to slay Moses, which fled from his face, and dwelled in the land of Midian; and he sat beside a well.

16Forsooth seven daughters were to the priest of Midian, that came to draw water; and when the troughs were filled, they coveted to water their father’s flocks.

17Shepherds came upon them, and drove them away; and Moses rose, and defended the damsels; and he watered their sheep.

18And when they had turned again to Jethro, their father, he said to them, Why came ye swifter than ye were wont?

19They answered, A man of Egypt delivered us from the hand of the shepherds; furthermore and he drew water with us, and gave drink to the sheep.

20And he said, Where is that man? why left ye the man? call ye him, that he eat bread.

21Therefore Moses swore, that he would dwell with Jethro, and he took a wife, Zipporah, Jethro’s daughter.

22And she childed a son to him, whom he called Gershom#2:22 In Hebrew, ‘Gershom’ sounds like the word for ‘foreigner’., and said, I was a comeling in an alien land. Forsooth she childed another son, whom he called Eliezer#2:22 In Hebrew, ‘Eliezer’ sounds like the words for ‘God helps me’., and said, For [the] God of my father is mine helper, and he delivered me from the hand of Pharaoh.

23Forsooth after much time the king of Egypt died, and the sons of Israel inwardly wailed for [the] works, and they cried [out], and the cry of them for their works went up to God.

24And he heard the wailing of them, and he had mind of the bond of peace, which he had made with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob;

25and he beheld the sons of Israel, and knew them, that is, showed love to them.

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Exodus 2

Moses Is Born

1A man from the Levi tribe married a woman from the same tribe, 2#Ac 7.20; He 11.23. and she later had a baby boy. He was a beautiful child, and she kept him inside for three months. 3But when she could no longer keep him hidden, she made a basket out of reeds and covered it with tar. She put him in the basket and placed it in the tall grass along the edge of the Nile River. 4The baby's older sister#2.4 older sister: Miriam, the sister of Moses and Aaron. stood off at a distance to see what would happen to him.

5About that time one of the king's#2.5 the king's: See the note at 1.11. daughters came down to take a bath in the river, while her servant women walked along the river bank. She saw the basket in the tall grass and sent one of them to pull it out of the water. 6When the king's daughter opened the basket, she saw the baby crying and felt sorry for him. She said, “This must be one of the Hebrew babies.”

7At once the baby's older sister came up and asked, “Do you want me to get a Hebrew woman to take care of the baby for you?”

8“Yes,” the king's daughter answered.

So the girl brought the baby's mother, 9and the king's daughter told her, “Take care of this child, and I will pay you.”

The baby's mother carried him home and took care of him. 10#3 Macc 3.24; Ac 7.21. And when he was old enough, she took him to the king's daughter, who adopted him. She named him Moses#2.10 Moses: In Hebrew “Moses” sounds like “pull out.” because she said, “I pulled him out of the water.”

Moses Escapes from Egypt

11 # Ac 7.23-28. #He 11.24. After Moses had grown up, he went out to where his own people were hard at work, and he saw an Egyptian beating one of them. 12Moses looked around to see if anyone was watching, then he killed the Egyptian and hid his body in the sand.

13When Moses went out the next day, he saw two Hebrews fighting. So he went to the man who had started the fight and asked, “Why are you beating up one of your own people?”

14The man answered, “Who put you in charge of us and made you our judge? Are you planning to kill me, just like you killed that Egyptian?”

This frightened Moses because he was sure that people must have found out what had happened. 15#Ac 7.29; He 11.27. When the king#2.15 the king: See the note at 1.11. heard what Moses had done, he wanted to kill him. But Moses escaped and went to the land of Midian.

One day, when Moses was sitting by a well, 16the seven daughters of Jethro, the priest of Midian,#2.16 Jethro, the priest of Midian: Hebrew “the priest of Midian.” But see 3.1; 4.18; 18.1,2-4 where his name is given. In the Hebrew of verse 18 he is spoken of as “Reuel,” which may have been the name of the tribe to which Jethro belonged. came up to water their father's sheep and goats. 17Some shepherds tried to chase them away, but Moses came to their rescue and watered their animals. 18When Jethro's daughters returned home, their father asked, “Why have you come back so early today?”

19They answered, “An Egyptian rescued us from the shepherds, and he even watered our sheep and goats.”

20“Where is he?” Jethro asked. “Why did you leave him out there? Invite him to eat with us.”

21Moses agreed to stay on with Jethro, who later let his daughter Zipporah marry Moses. 22And when she had a son, Moses said, “I will name him Gershom,#2.22 Gershom: In Hebrew “Gershom” sounds like “foreigner.” since I am a foreigner in this country.”

23After the death of the king of Egypt, the Israelites still complained because they were forced to be slaves. They cried out for help, 24#Gn 15.13-15. and God heard their loud cries. He did not forget the promise he had made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, 25and because he knew what was happening to his people, he felt sorry for them.

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