1 At this time, there was an *Israelite man who belonged to the big family of L

evi. He married a woman who also belonged to that big family. C H N-2
2 A baby boy was born. His mother saw that he was a very beautiful baby. So sh
e hid him for three months. C H N-3
3 Then the woman could not continue to hide him. So she took a basket that som
eone had made from dry river grass. She painted the basket with sticky black pai
nt, to keep the water out of it. The mother put her baby in the basket. Then she
put the basket on the edge of the river, among the river grasses. note
4 The babys sister stood not very far away. She wanted to see what would happen
to the baby.
5 Now the daughter of *Pharaoh came to wash in the river. And her servant girl
s walked by the edge of the river. Then *Pharaohs daughter saw the basket among t
he river grasses. So she sent one of her servant girls to fetch it. C H N-2
6 When *Pharaohs daughter opened the basket, she saw the baby. He was crying an
d she was sorry for him. She said: This is one of the *Israelite children.
7 Then the babys sister spoke to *Pharaohs daughter. She said, Do you want me to
fetch one of the *Israelite women? She can *nurse this baby for you.
8 *Pharaohs daughter said: Yes, do that. So the girl went and she called the babys
mother.
9 *Pharaohs daughter spoke to the babys mother. She said: Take this baby away and
*nurse him for me. I will pay you to do this. So the woman took the baby and she
*nursed him.
10 When the baby was older, his mother brought him to *Pharaohs daughter. He be
came her son and she called him Moses. She said: I will call him Moses because I
pulled him out of the water. note
Moses runs away to Midian
11 Many years later, Moses grew to be a man. At that time, he went out to look
at the *Israelites. He knew that he was an *Israelite too. He saw them as they
worked without any rest. Then he saw an *Egyptian who was hitting an *Israelite.
Yes, the *Egyptian was hitting someone from Moses own country! C H N-2 [C H N-1]
12 Moses looked in every direction. He saw nobody near. Then Moses killed the
*Egyptian and he hid his dead body in the sand.
13 Moses went out again the next day and he saw two *Israelites. They were fig
hting together. Moses spoke to the man who was hurting the other man. He said to
him: Why are you hitting your friend? [C H N-1]
14 The man answered: You should not be a ruler and a *judge over us. Perhaps yo
u are going to kill me, as you killed the *Egyptian. Then Moses was afraid. He sa
id to himself: People know what I have done! C H N-1 [C H N-4]
15 Then someone told *Pharaoh about it. *Pharaoh tried to kill Moses. But Mose
s ran away from *Pharaoh. He went to the country called Midian and he stayed the
re. Moses sat down by a well in the country called Midian. note C H N-1
16 Now the *priest of Midian had 7 daughters. These 7 girls came to get water
out of the well. They filled the long stone dishes with water so that their fath
ers animals could drink. [C H N-1]
 17 But the *shepherds who lived in that place arrived. They made the girls go
away. So Moses stood up and he helped the 7 girls. He gave water to their animal
s. note
18 When the girls came to Reuel, their father, he asked them a question. He sa
id: Why have you come home so soon today?
19 They answered: An *Egyptian saved us from the *shepherds. He also took water
out of the well and he gave it to the animals.
20 Reuel said to his daughters, Where is the man? You should not have left him
there. Ask him to come here so that he can eat bread with us.
21 Moses was happy to stay with Reuel. Reuel gave his daughter Zipporah to Mos
es as his wife.
22 After several months, Zipporah gave birth to a baby boy. Moses called the b
oy Gershom. He called him that because he said: I have been a stranger in a forei
gn country. note C H N-1 [C H N-2]
23 After a long time had passed, the king of Egypt died. The *Israelites were
very sad because they were slaves. They shouted aloud for help from God. [C H N-
3]
24 God heard them crying because they were slaves. He remembered his promise t
o Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. C H N-1 [C H N-1]
25 So God looked at the *Israelites. He knew that they needed his help.