Exodus - Chapter 2
In Chapter 2 of the Book of Exodus, you can journey through the early life of Moses, from his miraculous preservation as an infant to his flight to Midian. Born into a Hebrew family during Pharaoh's ruthless decree, Moses is hidden for three months and then placed in a basket on the Nile, where Pharaoh's daughter finds him and raises him as her own. As a grown man, Moses witnesses an Egyptian beating a Hebrew. He kills the Egyptian and hides the body, but when Pharaoh learns of this, Moses flees to Midian for safety. There, he rescues the daughters of the priest of Midian, marries one of them, Zipporah, and has a son, Gershom. The chapter concludes with the Israelites' cries for help reaching God, who remembers His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. This chapter marks the beginning of Moses' journey, setting the stage for his pivotal role in Israel's liberation from Egypt.
Birth and Rescue of Moses
1 And a man of the house of Levi went and took [as wife] a daughter of Levi.
2 So the woman conceived and bore a son. And when she saw that he [was] a beautiful [child,] she hid him three months.
3 But when she could no longer hide him, she took an ark of bulrushes for him, daubed it with asphalt and pitch, put the child in it, and laid [it] in the reeds by the river's bank.
4 And his sister stood afar off, to know what would be done to him.
5 Then the daughter of Pharaoh came down to bathe at the river. And her maidens walked along the ripide; and when she saw the ark among the reeds, she sent her maid to get it.
6 And when she had opened [it,] she saw the child, and behold, the baby wept. So she had compassion on him, and said, "This is one of the Hebrews' children."
7 Then his sister said to Pharaoh's daughter, "Shall I go and call a nurse for you from the Hebrew women, that she may nurse the child for you?"
8 And Pharaoh's daughter said to her, "Go." So the maiden went and called the child's mother.
9 Then 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 him.
10 And the child grew, and she brought him to Pharaoh's daughter, and he became her son. So she called his name Moses, saying, "Because I drew him out of the water."
Escape to Midian
11 Now it came to pass in those days, when Moses was grown, that he went out to his brethren and looked at their burdens. And he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his brethren.
12 So he looked this way and that way, and when he saw no one, he killed the Egyptian and hid him in the sand.
13 And when he went out the second day, behold, two Hebrew men were fighting, and he said to the one who did the wrong, "Why are you striking your companion?"
14 Then he said, "Who made you a prince and a judge over us? Do you intend to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?" So Moses feared and said, "Surely this thing is known!"
15 When Pharaoh heard of this matter, he sought to kill Moses. But Moses fled from the face of Pharaoh and dwelt in the land of Midian; and he sat down by a well.
16 Now the priest of Midian had seven daughters. And they came and drew water, and they filled the troughs to water their father's flock.
17 Then the shepherds came and drove them away; but Moses stood up and helped them, and watered their flock.
18 When they came to Reuel their father, he said, "How [is it that] you have come so soon today?"
19 And they said, "An Egyptian delivered us from the hand of the shepherds, and he also drew enough water for us and watered the flock."
20 So he said to his daughters, "And where [is] he? Why [is] it [that] you have left the man? Call him, that he may eat bread."
21 Then Moses was content to live with the man, and he gave Zipporah his daughter to Moses.
22 And she bore [him] a son, and he called his name Gershom; for he said, "I have been a stranger in a foreign land."
Call
23 Now it happened in the process of time that the king of Egypt died. Then the children of Israel groaned because of the bondage, and they cried out; and their cry came up to God because of the bondage.
24 So God heard their groaning, and God remembered His covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob.
25 And God looked upon the children of Israel, and God acknowledged [them.]