2.Mose 2,14 | New International Reader’s Version

Moses is born

1 A man and a woman from the tribe of Levi got married. 2 She became pregnant and had a son by her husband. She saw that her baby was a fine child. And she hid him for three months. 3 After that, she couldn’t hide him any longer. So she got a basket made out of the stems of tall grass. She coated the basket with tar. She placed the child in the basket. Then she put it in the tall grass that grew along the bank of the River Nile. 4 The child’s sister wasn’t very far away. She wanted to see what would happen to him. 5 Pharaoh’s daughter went down to the River Nile to take a bath. Her attendants were walking along the riverbank. She saw the basket in the tall grass. So she sent her female slave to get it. 6 When she opened it, Pharaoh’s daughter saw the baby. He was crying. She felt sorry for him. ‘This is one of the Hebrew babies,’ she said. 7 Then his sister spoke to Pharaoh’s daughter. She asked, ‘Do you want me to go and get one of the Hebrew women? She could breast-feed the baby for you.’ 8 ‘Yes. Go,’ she answered. So the girl went and got the baby’s mother. 9 Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, ‘Take this baby and feed him for me. I’ll pay you.’ So the woman took the baby and fed him. 10 When the child grew older, she took him to Pharaoh’s daughter. And he became her son. She named him Moses. She said, ‘I pulled him out of the water.’

Moses escapes to Midian

11 Moses grew up. One day, he went out to where his own people were. He watched them while they were hard at work. He saw an Egyptian hitting a Hebrew man. The man was one of Moses’ own people. 12 Moses looked around and didn’t see anyone. So he killed the Egyptian. Then he hid his body in the sand. 13 The next day Moses went out again. He saw two Hebrew men fighting. He asked the one who had started the fight a question. He said, ‘Why are you hitting another Hebrew man?’ 14 The man said, ‘Who made you ruler and judge over us? Are you thinking about killing me as you killed the Egyptian?’ Then Moses became afraid. He thought, ‘People must have heard about what I did.’ 15 When Pharaoh heard about what had happened, he tried to kill Moses. But Moses escaped from Pharaoh and went to live in Midian. There he sat down by a well. 16 A priest of Midian had seven daughters. They came to fill the stone tubs with water. They wanted to give water to their father’s flock. 17 Some shepherds came along and chased the girls away. But Moses got up and helped them. Then he gave water to their flock. 18 The girls returned to their father Reuel. He asked them, ‘Why have you returned so early today?’ 19 They answered, ‘An Egyptian saved us from the shepherds. He even got water for us and gave it to the flock.’ 20 ‘Where is he?’ Reuel asked his daughters. ‘Why did you leave him? Invite him to have something to eat.’ 21 Moses agreed to stay with the man. And the man gave his daughter Zipporah to Moses to be his wife. 22 Zipporah had a son by him. Moses named him Gershom. That’s because Moses said, ‘I’m an outsider in a strange land.’ 23 After a long time, the king of Egypt died. The people of Israel groaned because they were slaves. They also cried out to God. Their cry for help went up to him. 24 God heard their groans. He remembered his covenant with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. 25 So God looked on the Israelites with concern for them.

English Standard Version

The Birth of Moses

1 Now a man from the house of Levi went and took as his wife a Levite woman. 2 The woman conceived and bore a son, and when she saw that he was a fine child, she hid him three months. 3 When she could hide him no longer, she took for him a basket made of bulrushes* and daubed it with bitumen and pitch. She put the child in it and placed it among the reeds by the river bank. 4 And his sister stood at a distance to know what would be done to him. 5 Now the daughter of Pharaoh came down to bathe at the river, while her young women walked beside the river. She saw the basket among the reeds and sent her servant woman, and she took it. 6 When she opened it, she saw the child, and behold, the baby was crying. 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 you a nurse from the Hebrew women to nurse the child for you?” 8 And Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Go.” So the girl went and called the child’s mother. 9 And 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 When the child grew older, she brought him to Pharaoh’s daughter, and he became her son. She named him Moses, “Because,” she said, “I drew him out of the water.”*

Moses Flees to Midian

11 One day, when Moses had grown up, he went out to his people and looked on their burdens, and he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his people.* 12 He looked this way and that, and seeing no one, he struck down the Egyptian and hid him in the sand. 13 When he went out the next day, behold, two Hebrews were struggling together. And he said to the man in the wrong, “Why do you strike your companion?” 14 He answered, “Who made you a prince and a judge over us? Do you mean to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?” Then Moses was afraid, and thought, “Surely the thing is known.” 15 When Pharaoh heard of it, he sought to kill Moses. But Moses fled from Pharaoh and stayed 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 filled the troughs to water their father’s flock. 17 The shepherds came and drove them away, but Moses stood up and saved them, and watered their flock. 18 When they came home to their father Reuel, he said, “How is it that you have come home so soon today?” 19 They said, “An Egyptian delivered us out of the hand of the shepherds and even drew water for us and watered the flock.” 20 He said to his daughters, “Then 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 his daughter Zipporah. 22 She gave birth to a son, and he called his name Gershom, for he said, “I have been a sojourner* in a foreign land.”

God Hears Israel’s Groaning

23 During those many days the king of Egypt died, and the people of Israel groaned because of their slavery and cried out for help. Their cry for rescue from slavery came up to God. 24 And God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. 25 God saw the people of Israel—and God knew.

2.Mose 2,14 | New International Reader’s Version English Standard Version

Moses is born

Moses escapes to Midian

The Birth of Moses

Moses Flees to Midian

God Hears Israel’s Groaning