1A man from the family of Levi married a woman who was also from Levi's family.
2The woman became pregnant and gave birth to a son. When she saw that he was a beautiful child, she hid him for three months.
3When she could no longer hide him, she took a basket made of papyrus, coated it with tar and pitch, put the child in it, and placed it among the reeds by the riverbank.
4His sister stood far off to see what would happen to him.
5Pharaoh's daughter came down to bathe in the river, and her female attendants walked along the riverside. She saw the basket among the reeds and sent her servant to get it.
6She opened it and saw the child. The baby was crying. She felt sorry for him and said, "This is one of the Hebrew children."
7Then his sister said to Pharaoh's daughter, "Should I go and find a Hebrew woman to nurse the baby for you?"
8Pharaoh's daughter told her, "Go." So the girl went and called the child's mother.
9Pharaoh's daughter said to her, "Take this child and nurse him for me, and I will pay you." The woman took the child and nursed him.
10The child grew, and she brought him to Pharaoh's daughter, and he became her son. She named him Moses, saying, "Because I pulled him out of the water."
11Later, when Moses had grown up, he went out to see his own people and observed their hard labor. He saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his own people.
12He looked around in every direction, and when he saw that no one was watching, he killed the Egyptian and hid him in the sand.
13The next day, he went out again and saw two Hebrews fighting. He said to the one who was in the wrong, "Why are you hitting your friend?"
14The man replied, "Who made you our leader and judge? Are you planning to kill me, just like you killed the Egyptian?" Moses was afraid and thought, "So, everyone knows about this."
15When Pharaoh heard about this, he tried to kill Moses. But Moses ran away from Pharaoh and went to live in the land of Midian. He sat down by a well.
16The priest of Midian had seven daughters. They came to draw water and fill the troughs to water their father's flock of sheep.
17Some shepherds came and chased the daughters away. But Moses stood up, helped them, and watered their flock.
18When they returned to their father Reuel, he asked, "Why are you back so early today?"
19They replied, "An Egyptian rescued us from the shepherds. He even drew water for us and watered our flock."
20He said to his daughters, "Where is he? Why did you leave the man? Invite him to eat with us."
21Moses was happy to stay with the man. The man gave Moses his daughter Zipporah to marry.
22She gave birth to a son, and Moses named him Gershom, because he said, "I have been a foreigner in a foreign land."
23After many days, the king of Egypt died. The Israelites groaned under their slavery, and their cries for help went up to God.
24God heard their groaning, and God remembered the agreement he made with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
25God saw the Israelites and was concerned about them.