2 Now [Amram] a man of the house of Levi [the priestly tribe] went and took as his wife [Jochebed] a daughter of Levi.(A)
2 And the woman became pregnant and bore a son; and when she saw that he was [exceedingly] beautiful, she hid him three months.(B)
3 And when she could no longer hide him, she took for him an ark or basket made of bulrushes or papyrus [making it watertight by] daubing it with bitumen and pitch. Then she put the child in it and laid it among the rushes by the brink of the river [Nile].
4 And his sister [Miriam] stood some distance away to [a]learn what would be done to him.
5 Now the daughter of Pharaoh came down to bathe at the river, and her maidens walked along the bank; she saw the ark among the rushes and sent her maid to fetch it.
6 When she opened it, she saw the child; and behold, the baby cried. And she took pity 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 of the Hebrew women to nurse the child for you?
8 Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, Go. And the girl went and called the child’s mother.
9 Then Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, Take this child away and nurse it for me, and I will give you your wages. So the woman took the child and nursed it.
10 And the child grew, and she brought him to Pharaoh’s daughter and he became her son. And she called him Moses, for she said, Because I drew him out of the water.
11 One day, after Moses was grown, it happened that he went out to his brethren and looked at their burdens; and he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of [Moses’] brethren.
12 He looked this way and that way, and when he saw no one, he killed the Egyptian and hid him in the sand.
13 He went out the second day and saw two Hebrew men quarreling and fighting; and he said to the unjust aggressor, Why are you striking your comrade?
14 And the man said, Who made you a prince and a judge over us? Do you intend to kill me as you killed the Egyptian? Then Moses was afraid and thought, Surely this thing is known.
15 When Pharaoh heard of it, he sought to slay Moses. But Moses fled from Pharaoh’s presence and [b]took refuge in the land of Midian, where he sat down by a well.
16 Now the priest of Midian had seven daughters, and they came and drew water and filled the troughs to water their father’s flock.
17 The shepherds came and drove them away; but Moses stood up and helped them and watered their flock.
18 And when they came to Reuel [Jethro] their father, he said, How is it that you have come so soon today?
19 They said, An Egyptian delivered us from the shepherds; also he drew water for us and watered the flock.
20 He said to his daughters, Where is he? Why have you left the man? Call him, that he may eat bread.
21 And Moses was content to dwell with the man; and he gave Moses Zipporah his daughter.
22 And she bore a son, and he called his name Gershom [expulsion, or a stranger there]; for he said, I have been a stranger and a sojourner in a foreign land.
23 However, after a long time [nearly forty years] the king of Egypt died; and the Israelites were sighing and groaning because of the bondage. They kept crying, and their cry because of slavery ascended to God.
24 And God heard their sighing and groaning and [earnestly] remembered His covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob.
25 God saw the Israelites and took knowledge of them and concerned Himself about them [knowing all, understanding, remembering all].(C)
Footnotes
- Exodus 2:4 They launched the ark not only on the Nile but on God’s providence. He would be Captain, Steersman, and Convoy of the tiny ark. Miriam stood to watch. There was no fear of fatal consequences, only the quiet expectancy that God would do something worthy of Himself. They reckoned on God’s faithfulness and they were amply rewarded when the daughter of their greatest foe became the babe’s patroness (F. B. Meyer, Through the Bible Day by Day).
- Exodus 2:15 “There was true heroism in the act, when Moses stepped down from Pharaoh’s throne to share the lot of his brethren. But it would take many a long year of lonely waiting and trial before this strong and radiant nature could be broken down, shaped into a vessel meet for the Master’s use, and prepared for every good work.... One blow struck when God’s time is fulfilled is worth a thousand struck in premature eagerness” (F. B. Meyer, Moses, the Servant of God).